Shuttin' 'er Down

It is with a heavy heart that I officially shut down Mark’s Book Blog, a.k.a. Mark’s Book Diary.  (If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one around. . .)

I’m just not posting as often as I’d like.  A blog must contain fresh information.  As with all readers, the time it takes for me to finish a book, as well as the time that I may take between books, varies.  I had intended to supplement book-specific posts with features like, “The Classics Never Die” (about classic novels), “Quick Hits” (featuring a sentence or two on previously-read books), “Random Musings” (which were frequently random and discussed book resources, other blogs, etc.) and other book information (like e-book reader developments, award-winning books, etc.).  I have let myself down by not posting regularly.

I intend to continue to maintain a list of books I read and books I want to read.  I will also jot down a note or two about each book I read since a big reason that I started the Blog was to keep track of what I read.

I want to THANK the 2 or 3 (ok, 1 or 2?) loyal readers out there who wasted their valuable time on my ramblings.  Please keep in touch with book recommendations and let me know if you want to know “what I’ve read recently and whether I recommend it.”

LIVE LONG, READ AND PROSPER.  WE’LL LEAVE THE LIGHTS FOR YOU.

Seinfeld Post - A Post About Virtually Nothing

So, there I was, browsing my list o' books, undecided about what to read next.  I still haven’t read all of my “misses” from 2010.  And who knows if I will ever pick those up.

I stumbled upon some information regarding HBO’s upcoming series, “A Game of Thrones.”  A book, I might add, NOT on the list o' books.

[Aside:  If you are “A Song of Fire and Ice” devotee, you will note that the remainder of this post is written from the point of view of me, “A Song of Fire and Ice” and George R.R. Martin neophyte.  When I question the double middle initials below, please don’t post that I’m a heathen who is undeserving of reading the books because I don’t know the backstory.  And, if I misidentify a reference to one of Mr. Martin's books below, please don’t call the world wide interweb police on me.  I hadn’t read Word 1 written by Mr. Martin before last Friday, and I am only about 1/3 of the way through “A Game of Thrones.”  While I’d love a succinct list of characters or family tree (to keep all of the characters straight), I was unable to easily find one that didn’t have spoilerability (a newly-coined term (by me) meaning, “the power or capacity to crush a reader’s hopes and dreams by exposing a significant narrative event”).  As a result, some of the family relations (heh heh) and geographic connections are difficult to follow.  Therefore, instead of pointing out my inadequacies, any assistance on this front would be greatly appreciated.  End of aside.  Question, if an “Aside” turns out to be the focal point of a post, does that render it not an “Aside” and instead render the rest of the post as the “Aside”?  Tough question for a Monday.]

The book, “A Game of Thrones,” is the first in George R.R. Martin’s series entitled, “A Song of Fire and Ice.”  (OK, what’s with the two middle initials?  Am I the only one of finds that a bit much?)

The series had been recommended to me in the past and had actually been compared favorably to Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series (more on that in an upcoming post).  Apparently, Martin’s series was initially meant to span three books and now in intended to span seven.  Of which four have been published, one is scheduled for release, one is titled and the last is nowhere (as far as I can tell).  Martin is 62, and I am reluctant to invest the kind of time necessary to read the approximately 3,000 existing pages much less the 2,500+/- that will comprise the last three novels, if Martin makes it that far.

That being said, I am greatly enjoying the first book.  I am particularly fond of Martin’s approach to character development.  There are several characters that Martin uses for the telling of his story.  Each chapter has the title of a character’s name, and the chapter is then written from that character’s point of view.  As a result, you learn more and more about each character in each of the character's “chapters.”

I will post on “A Game of Thrones” once I complete it.  I do not expect to immediately pick up the second book, but assuming that I intend to forge ahead, I will probably read one or more books before doing so.  Just in case you’re keeping score at home.

Live long, read and prosper.  We’ll leave the lights on for you.