What I like to read, sometimes

One of the reasons I wanted to open a book store is that I sometimes found it hard to find the books I liked, both locally and when I went elsewhere. Since I opened Booknotes, I have expanded my reading selections. This is especially true now that we are trying to switch the focus of the store to more of a mystery and fantasy/science-fiction type of place. Here are a few of the authors that I discovered through the store, many of whom hadn't started writing when I first opened. Of course, I need to start out with George R. R. Martin and 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. It was first suggested by a customer, and I ultimately had to read them. However, I have yet to watch the series. I have hang-ups when properties cross media; I usually wind up hating the second version I come in contact with. I got in on Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files' after the series was on television, and it's one of the few times I liked the book after I saw it on TV first. Strangely enough, I think I am liking his new steampunk "Cinder Spires' series even more. I actually have a soft spot for steampunk, probably because I love a mash up of genres. My current favorite is Stephen Hunt's 'Jackelian' series. I also find Jim C. Hines' 'Magic ex Libris' series of good quality. But my most favorite author of the moment if Jasper Fforde and his 'Thursday Next' series. It is such a combination of genres, that there is almost something for anybody, even though it calls itself "speculative fiction.' Literally, the books are books in it's own series! Unfortunately, none of these authors are expecting any new books this year. Oh well, there is always nonfiction which has actually been my primary reading for most of my life.