Book News Night #1: The Casual Vacancy and The Mark of Athena

Welcome to the first Book News Night! Every week, on a random night, I will report the latest newsworthy items in the world of books with some thoughts from myself.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling top several best-selling lists on release date!

It also set the record for biggest "started reading" date on Goodreads!

And I'm not going to pretend I'm surprised for this one. J.K. Rowling, affectionately dubbed "The Queen" by her fans from the Harry Potter days, is probably one of the most prominent and influential authors of our times. And so it goes without saying that anything she publishes is going to get the hype, not only from Harry Potter fans, but also from critics waiting to see if she is just a one-hit wonder (or in this case, a one-series wonder). The Casual Vacancy is the first (and hopefully not the last) one to get this treatment...

And how has it fared? Reviews for The Casual Vacancy have been mixed. But according to the author, she wasn't worried - especially after having Harry Potter accused of promoting Satanism. For a book that is aimed towards more adult readership and contains controversial problems such as The Casual Vacancy, diverse opinions is unavoidable.

As to myself, I'm avoiding any reviews before I start the book (which I will absolutely do, because I love JKR's writing style). I just don't like having another person's impressions about a book before I actually read it. But it will be a while before I get to it: The Casual Vacancy just doesn't hold that I-have-got-to-read-this-like-right-now feel for me, and my TBR list is simply getting too long.

[If you'd like a spoiler-free review for The Casual Vacancy, here's one on Hypable. Bear in mind that this review is written before the book is published - actually, I'm not sure if that has any effects on the review, just thought you might want to know.]

In other news regarding The Casual Vacancy: Some issues with the font size and color and other technical settings of its eBook was reported on the release date. Since then, eBook distributors and retailers have fixed the problem by asking customers to reload the book on their eReaders, just like a physical book recall. Is this proof that the gap between traditional and digital publishing is closing?

Get this book on Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble Nook!

The Mark of Athena, third book in Rick Riordan's Greek-mythology-inspired series The Heroes of Olympus, hit the shelves October 2nd.

If you're a fan of retells and/or mythology, don't forget to check out this book! I'm not a huge fan, but I'll have to give it to Rick Riordan for an easy prose and some wicked sense of humor that can endear you to his books immediately.

One more thing about the series: it (along with its predecessor, Percy Jackson and the Olympians) can really help you brush up on your Greek (and Roman) mythology knowledge - and impress your friends! That's one more thing I like about his books - now I (and Percy, for that matter) am not the only one confused about Chiron and Charon.

If you want to get a feel of The Mark of Athena, read the first chapter here. Also, take a look at Rick Riordan's blog for more characters descriptions, arts, and information!

Pre-order this book on Amazon | Amazon Kindle | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble Nook now!