I read one Sophie Hannah book -- Little Face -- and it was really odd, and sort of weirdly disturbing. I've heard so many good things about her, I feel like I should give one of her other books a try, but I'm not in a huge hurry.

I have Tana French's In the Woods, too, and I've been meaning to read it for ages.

If you like British procedurals with a lot of heart and character development, I LOVE Deborah Crombie's mysteries. They all feature Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, and they've gotten better and better the longer she's written them. They're full of detail, and just creepy enough to give you a good chill, but they're always emotionally rich, too.

So, I read a big chunk of House of Leaves on my trip. And, while I thought I had the King James Bible on my tablet, I did not, so I couldn't check a reference where Zampano cited one verse, Johnny corrected it to another, and then the editors corrected it to a third. But I marked the place, and I just went back and looked them up (I now have the King James on my tablet), and I want to give props to the writer for finding 3 verses that fit so well with the characters and then burying them in the footnotes.

100 Books that SHOULD be written.

Finally got around to reading gone girl and...whoa. Very engaging by also somewhat horrifying. I couldn't put it down but also found myself more cranky than usual and having serious doubts about humanity as a whole.

Ha, Tom. I love the James Joyce one.

I'm just starting book 2 of Gone Girl, and OMGWTF! I did not see that coming.

Girl,

the shit gets super cray cray. You have no idea.

I couldn't resist finishing Gone Girl tonight. I kept thinking I could put it down, but then I couldn't. I still want more.

I want to know if she kills him for that last insult or if they end up raising a monster together. I'll go back to see what other people posted about it tomorrow, but for now I really should go to bed.

Have people seen this? Book covers redrawn as if the author were the opposite gender. It's a neat little thought experiment. I love the female Clockwork Orange cover:

[link]

I like that! It's cool.

I don't actually mind gender-marketed covers, though. My problem is with the men who want to read the books more pitched toward women but get embarrassed by the cover.

A) get a Kindle
B) or just read the pink book. Who cares? Anybody who judges you for liking Shopaholics wouldn't be your friend if you knew them, so why cater to them?

Frankly, I like the fact that I can easily tell which books are by Sophie Kinsella or might as well be from a mile away - as a male who really enjoys reading that genre, I appreciate the clear signal. I have learned that I enjoy books marketed in that manner. Similarly, I enjoy the Serious Thriller mass market covers that inform me this book is by Dean Koontz or might as well be, because I let my eye wander right past them. Show me an alien? I'll at least read the summary.

I am part of the target markets that I choose to be part of. The marketing itself then serves me. Although I may like to preach "Don't judge a book by its cover", I would find a coverless bookstore to be intimidating and confusing.