Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - a book I knew nothing about until I picked it up a few weeks ago in Ottakar's in Wells. (Apparently it had just come out that week). I bought a black copy.

I'm only about 1/5th of the way through, so this isn't a review. It's just odd that I should

1. purchase a book which I'd never heard of before
2. purchase a book by an author I'd never heard of before
3. purchase a book by a female author (I'm no sexist, it's just the way things go - although I do have all five Harry Potter books ready to read at home)
   
4. purchase a new, hardback book
   
5. purchase a book mainly because the cover(s) looked good

Strange that it was that almost instantly reviewed on /. and then I saw loads of adverts on the tube in London. Do geeks have an in-built sense of "we must read this"? Are we attracted to the same thing? Or is the book more mainstream than I think it is? (I never really have understood why certain things I like are mainstream and some aren't).

The book so far is very good - I keep trying to cram in moments when I can read it between work, parenting, food, talking to Debbie and sleeping.

The associated web site www.jonathanstrange.com is an intriguing idea - good looking, extra content, associated stories and more. If only all web sites were like this (reminds me of the original Blair Witch one).