June 29, 2010: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

Finally, the release date for David Mitchell's next book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, has been announced.

I found a description on an English website, http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Deshima+-9780340921579.html ,:

'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet' Description


In 1799, Jacob de Zoet disembarks on the tiny island of Dejima, the Dutch East India Company's remotest trading post in a Japan otherwise closed to the outside world. A junior clerk, his task is to uncover evidence of the previous Chief Resident's corruption. Cold-shouldered by his compatriots, Jacob earns the trust of a local interpreter and, more dangerously, becomes intrigued by a rare woman -- a midwife permitted to study on Dejima under the company physician. He cannot foresee how disastrously each will be betrayed by someone they trust, nor how intertwined and far-reaching the consequences. Duplicity and integrity, love and lust, guilt and faith, cold murder and strange immortality stalk the stage in this enthralling novel, which brings to vivid life the ordinary -- and extraordinary -- people caught up in a tectonic shift between East and West.

I just noticed that the UK release date is April15th, 2010.  Amazon.uk... so tempting...

My Life Post-Harry: What I Am Waiting For

I am not exactly "waiting" for The Tales of Beedle the Bard in the way I waited for Deathly Hallows, but I will buy it and I will read it, mostly for background info.  My capability for anticipatory zeal is not piqued in the slightest by any of the HP movies.  They have not been all that great with the exception of the Cuaron effort.

Here's what I am waiting for.

*David Mitchell's new book about Dutch traders in Japan in the 18th or 19th century on the island of Dejima (or Deshima).

*A new book in Holly Black's Modern Tales of Faerie series or any YA book or any book by Holly Black.

*Wendy McClure's promised tome about disturbing children's books.

*The movie version of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

*Another season of Flight of the Conchords.

*Finding a copy of Sarah Kider's Mermaid Song to purchase on CD or by audio download.

The waiting is not the hardest part.  The real problem is that a good "wait" is hard to find.

Book TV and Booknotes on C-SPAN

I don't have full-strength cable at home, just a diluted el cheapo version that costs about $10.00 a month. I get good reception of the basic local channels, which I want, plus some junky shopping channels, that I block out. I read alot and watch videos so I really don't need more TV channels to tempt me.

Yesterday, while pulling an all-nighter with my successfully post-operative parental unit at the hospital, I encountered Book TV, a C-Span 2 channel that broadcasts nonfiction book authors giving talks about their works. Thought it was pretty interesting stuff, well, interesting to me, anyway. Tom Wolfe was talking about trophy wives and corporate culture at Enron and Silicon Valley and so forth. Apparently there is a related show called "Booknotes" that has been on C-SPAN since 1989. Who knew?

Booknotes offers hundreds of streaming video interviews of authors. Click for link to Erik Larsen's 2003 interview about The Devil in the White City.

I plan to take a closer look at Booknotes and the online version of Book TV. I am going to check out Book TV again, too, the next time I have "real" cable access.