In The Forest Of Stories: Murchie Plus Books

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Murchie Plus Books - July 22nd to 26th

When I started this blog, I decided I was no longer interested in reviewing things purely for the sake of reviewing them. I'd write about the books I really, really wanted to write about, and I'd leave the rest unremarked upon.

I like this way of doing things. It's not entirely stress-free, but it's a hell of a lot less hectic than the sort of post-per-day-everything-reviewed-no-matter-what blogging I used to engage it.

It does leave me with a rather spotty public record of my reading, though, so I've decided to combine my two favourite things into a new feature. Murchie, my beloved pup, has kindly offered to pose next to all my reading and listening material henceforth, barring the stuff I read on Marvel Unlimited. (Neither he or no I wants him flopping across my laptop.)

Y'all can follow the action on Instagram as it happens, and I'll post all the pictures here on a weekly (or semi-weekly) basis, sometimes with brief comments on the books in question.

A tiny, fuzzy grey poodle--Murchie--laying next to both a hardcover UK edition of Days of Blood & Starlight and an iPod with the North American cover displayed on it. Murchie's face is blurred. The hardcover is dark blue with a gout of flame on it, while the iPod shows a pale person's face with the eyes outlined in a masklike red tracery. The books and the dog sit atop a rumpled red tapesty comforter.

For his inaugural picture, Murchie lay down beside both my personal copy of DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor and the audio edition I borrowed from the library.. As you can see, he had yet to fully embrace the whole photography schtick, though he did enjoy sleeping on my bed while I listened to the book. That rumpled comforter? Totally his doing.

Murchie lies atop a fuzzy, sheep-shaped pillow with an e-reader propped in front of him. His head is twisted slightly to our right as he looks at something outside the frame. The e-reader displays a black and white cover for Asimov's Science Fiction, showing a pale woman removing a featureless mask as she hovers in space.

Murchie was much more cooperative when it came time to hunker down next to the September 2013 issue of ASIMOV'S, which I read for the Hugo Awards. I loved the magazine; he loved curling up on my lap while I read it. Win!

Murchie yawning with his eyes closed. A paperback copy of The Shadow Rising sits in the background, with an e-reader beyond that. The paperback's cover shows the top edge of a wagon; the e-reader's screen is largely invisible due to glare, but it's just possible to make out two wheels and serpent.

Alas, his attitude soured again when I asked him to pose with THE SHADOW RISING by Robert Jordan. I thought he ought to lay his head atop the paperback (which I used to mark my progress) while the e-book (which I actually read) hovered in the background. He thought he should yawn loudly and run away before I could try for another shot.

Dogs, man.

Will Murchie begin to cooperate with my schemes, or have I doomed myself to a future of blurry dog-plus-book photos? Come back tomorrow for another round of catch-ups.