It seems I can't go into town without coming home with at least one new book. Today I came home with four, but two of them were borrowed from friends and I only paid a grand total of £1.48 for the other two, so I don't feel so guilty:

Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold (borrowed)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk-Kidd (borrowed)
The Sooterkin by Tom Gilling (48p)
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman (99p)

However, three other books arrived from Green metropolis yesterday:

Dying Light by Stuart MacBride (signed hardback)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Those three were £3.75 each, so they were still bargains (and 5p from the price of each goes to The Woodland Trust, so I feel virtuous!).

So, yet again, my mountain of books to be read is growing faster than I can read them, no matter how quickly I get through them!

So, which books came into your home today?

NONE!(Hopefully)

Self-imposed book embargo:P

I went by the library and checked out Finnegan's Wake just to peruse. Somewhere else there was a discussion of hard books to get through, and I wanted to satisfy my curiousity. Nope, I'm never actually reading this book cover to cover. Whether it's genius, madness, or an elaborate practical joke, I have no idea, but damn is it strange.

Mr. Dustin - I'm under a hubby-imposed book embargo and have been all year. ;)

I've been working at Barnes & Noble for a couple weeks now and yesterday I finally decided to use my employee discount . . . after all, I'm going to buy these books eventually and I might as well do it now. I have a feeling I'm eventually going to be beggared by this employee discount. I purchased only fantasy books though:

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Protector of the Flight by Robin D. Owens

All library books - yay! Trying seriously to save money, since have hundreds of unread books that I own.

The Remains of the Day - I loved Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, so I am hoping this brings me more of his quiet, understated drama.

The Thirteenth Tale, which the library held for me well past the date they said they would!

The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left by David Crystal. I loved Lynn Truss' book Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation and this is sort of an alternative perspective on the issue, so I'm looking forward to it. Plus, I like David Crystal's writings on language.

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa, which I will start soon, as it is our first group read for the LT group "Reading Globally - Fiction". I am excited about the book and about trying out a group read on LT.

I've just picked up the following from a second-hand bookstore:

The Assistant by Malamud
Singular Rebellion by Saiichi Maruya
The New York Trilogy by Auster
The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

Our public libraries have been on strike for the last 10 weeks, which I see as an opportunity to buy, buy, buy.

Today I got a book of poetry by Rose Auslander, and a lovely book of paintings by Tamara de Lempicka that had a great many full page reproductions in beautiful color, a chronology, and a narrative that was not sensationalized. The Auslander was disappointing in that it was in English only, and did not contain the original German, and the poems were from her late period, rather than selections from all of her writing. However, she is rarely anthologised, and hard to find, so I am grateful for the book. In the last few days I also received Turlupin by Leo Perutz and Poet' s Choice by Edward Hirsch.

Sara,

Good luck with keeping your book buying under control.

I took what was supposed to be a temporary Christmas position with Barnes & Noble. I had always wanted to work at a book store. That turned into a year and a half part time job on top of my regular forty hour a week job.

It was grinding, but the discount was so worth it! Wait until later this year when you get an extra 10% off!

Oh, to keep on topic I bought Gaunt's Ghosts: The Saint and Fiends Of The Eastern Front.

Message edited by its author, Sep 19, 2007, 9:15am.

I came home with a hardback copy of Dracula Cha Cha Cha by Kim Newman for only 99p- I could hardly resist a bargain like that! (I recently mooched Anno Dracula from Book mooch).

I also received, through the post, The Messenger by Andrew E Shipley, for review from TCM, so i'll be reading that one after I finish The Stand...

Jseger . . . a 40% discount over the holidays! I drool at the thought!

Yesterday I brought home I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle, but it was a freebie ARC from B&N. Yay for free books!

However, I was very tempted to use my discount to get The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox, which I've been waiting to come out in pb. I'll probably break down and get it soon.

Technically, this was yesterday, but Lost in a Good Book was on my doorstep when we returned from breakfast. Yee!

#11 - SaraHope
The Meaning of Night is a good book! At least I think so.....but I am pretty easily pleased when it comes to reading material....
You should just get it now, doncha know hardcover books make you cooler?;)

Mr. Dustin, I just purchased The Meaning of Night trade pb yesterday actually. I had ordered a book for myself from B&N (The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It, by Lisa Shanahan) so I figured I'd buy other books at the same time. I also got Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Complete novels and other writings by amy Levy, an anglo-jewish victorian writer who died by her own hand at 27. She wrote Reuben Sachs, the Romance of a Shop, Miss Meredith, poems and essays.

Bit of a bumper book day for me today:

From Green Metropolis - for Book Club Forum reading circle:
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

From The Works (3 for £5 classics)
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Except I discovered when I got home that I'd actually only got Vol.2 of Les Miserables, so I'll have the perfect excuse to buy more books tomorrow, as I really HAVE to get the first volume, and if I'm getting one, I might as well make it three for that deal...!

Message edited by its author, Sep 25, 2007, 5:10pm.

Just received in the mail an anthology of German Women Poets called After Every War which contains poems by Rose Auslander, Ilse lasker-schuler, Nelly Sachs and ingeborg bachmann among others. i have a book by Auslander called mother tongue but it doesn't contain any of the original german, so i was thrilled to get this anthology, even though there are fewer than 10 poems per poet. The translations were done by Eavan Boland the Irish poet. Her translations seem very close to the original german. The poetry is extraordinary. (I have dual language books by Nelly Sachs and Ingeborg Bachmann, luckily).

Sara,

Yeah, gotta love the 40% discount. I'd used it as an excuse to buy the annual boxed set of The Complete Peanuts for the last three years as a Christmas present to myself.

This year, I'm still going to buy the box, but paying full price will sure hurt!

Message edited by its author, Sep 26, 2007, 4:21pm.

Another three books from The Works today, courtesy of their wonderful 3 for £5 classics:

Les Miserables Vol. 1 by Victor Hugo
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Gee Kell, what a cheery selection of stories, lol.

And Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier arrived today too... ;)

Just received the first volume of the writings of Arno Schmidt, called Collected novellas translated from the german into english. He is considered rabelaisian, or joycean and is famous in Germany. There are four volumes in this series.

I, Claudius by Robert Graves (from Green Metropolis)
The Olive Readers by Christine Aziz (£1 from Asda)
Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Morag Prunty (£1 from Asda)

I just can't resist a bargain!

Message edited by its author, Sep 28, 2007, 9:42am.

Got a bunch of Muriel Spark novels that I seem to have lost or lent!, so I replaced them from Better World. I also got a group of Mary Wesley's books because my other set is in Florida, and they are cheering on a cloudy day. I got 3 volumes of short stories by Ivan bunin, a novel and a critical study. What a treasure trove!!! I also got a polish cookbook, and onE that covers the danube area. My library is growing apace. I got replacement Jane Austens because mine are in the Florida house. I thought I could just get them from the Library, but that really doesn't work. I got a big book with Pand P, Sand S. Persuasion and Emma, and a paperback of mansfield Park. I saved a fortune on shipping.

Message edited by its author, Sep 28, 2007, 5:08pm.

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (ok, why does the touchstone for FMF come up Ernest Hemingway?)

Was just reading Joseph Conrad: A Biography, so I figured I'd pick up some of his friends/contemporaries that I hadn't read yet. From what I could learn from the spines, I think these two books are supposed to be among the authors' best, so we shall see. Assuming I get to them eventually; the TBR pile is getting a lot of sizable books in it these days. I apparently have decided to educate myself by weight.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf arrived today, courtesy of Book Mooch.

Don Quixote (pronounced "quicks-hotee", right?) I've read bits in Spanish in college, but I wasn't that good at Spanish ...

I've really got to try this book embargo thing I've read so much about. Can anyone recommend any good books on how to curb book-buying?

I snagged an ARC of Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the D&D Game by Shelly Mazzanoble from BookMooch yesterday. I'm already a little put off by the first sentence (Let me just lay it out here: I am a girly girl), so if I end up not liking it, at least I didn't pay full price.

#28 jmskon - I think it's pronounced "Kee-hotee"

I received The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney yesterday, courtesy of Green Metropolis.

Correctamundo Kell, one does not pronounce the x. As well, the e is short, not long, so it's just "key-hoe-teh".

Interestingly, the adjective derived from the name Quixote is pronounced "kwix-aw-tick" with stress on first syllable.

And no books came into my home today, well at least not yet.

Edited because "ironic" does not mean "interesting." Bad citygirl, bad.

Message edited by its author, Oct 11, 2007, 3:05pm.

Or "donkey otey" as I like to think of it. However you pronounce it, it might just be my favourite book of all. One day I'll be fluent in Spanish and have a go at the original.

>28, did you get a translation? If so, which? I read Smollett's and absolutely loved it - really riotous and rumbustious, but tender when necessary.

"Donkey otey" :) I like that.

I was being facetious about the pronunciation, but thanks nonetheless. Well, facetious might not be the right word ... "silly" is better. We rarely call things by their proper names in my house for some reason. ("Dancing with the Stars" is always "Dancing mit da Feebs" and "So you think you can dance" is "So you think you can fall on your face", "Jeopardy" is pronounced like its common misspelling, "Jepoardy" je-POOR-dee). And speaking of Jeopardy, I'm screwed if I go on there and they ask me about chinese food because a poorly-edited menu has forever changed my favorite appetizer to "crab raccoon".

yarb, I got the Penguins Classics version, translated by John Rutherford. There were a bunch of them and I didn't know which one to get, so I went with the most familiar publisher. Good luck with the Spanish! I almost got a minor in it but I hit a point where not only did I not understand the teacher, I didn't understand the other students, and realized I was done.

I found a copy of "Don Quixote" revised for children (in easy Spanish) in a bookstore in Mexico. Later i took a class in Spanish literature & we had to read it in Cervantes original Spanish which is a bit like Shakespeare's original English. Fortunately there were a lot of footnotes. I have yet to read an English version.

Sorry to swing the post away from Don Quicks-Hotee (I know it's wrong, but it sounds so funny!).

Today I got Epicure by H.R. Howland (a cheesy horror book) and Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. The whole Stockholm Syndrome thing is fascinating.

My local public library had their monthly sale. I got 46 hardcover books for $21. In them were some of the Patricia Cornwell's that I have been looking for Black Notice and Cruel & Unusual. Some Michael Crichton. Found a Collector's Edition of The Harvard Classics. Now I just need to install another shelf on the wall in my library area to put them up with the growing pile on the floor from previous purchases.

Message edited by its author, Oct 12, 2007, 4:07pm.

Going back to the pronunciation of Donkey-Otee, I've just run across this rhyming couplet taken (out of context) from Canto XIII of Byron's Don Juan:

"A jest, a riddle, Fame through thin and thick sought!
And Socrates himself but Wisdom's Quixote?"

It's pretty clear old Byron's pronouncing it "Kwix-ot". I think he's probably having a little joke though.

Received a copy of The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, courtesy of a very nice person on book Mooch. I'll look forward to getting my teeth into it...

Yesterday I received The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and today I brought home Join Me by Danny Wallace (I'm already a member of the Join Me Collective, but I've never yet read the book...).

A women's group from the university is having a big book sale right now so I got FIFTEEN books today for $15 and tomorrow I will probably go back in the last couple hours of the sale when they start telling people just to fill up a bag and take as many books as they can because they can't keep them.

However, the books I got today are:
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
How Real is Real? by Paul Watzlawick
Four texts on Socrates : Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Aristophanes' Clouds translated and with notes by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West
The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki
Century of Conflict: The struggle between the French and British in colonial America (Volume two of the Canadian History Series) by Joseph Lister Rutledge
From Sea Unto Sea: The Road to Nationhood 1850-1910 (Volume four of the Canadian History Series) by W.G. Hardy
Thrust for Canada: The American attempt on Quebec in 1775-1776 by Robert McConnell Hatch
The Wild Frontier by Pierre Berton
King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson
Great Stories of the Sea & Ships edited by N.C. Wyeth
The Ancient World by Wallace Everett Caldwell
World Religions: From Ancient History to the Present edited by Geoffrey Parrinder

Message edited by its author, Oct 20, 2007, 5:23pm.

Went back to that book sale today since it was the last day and I had heard rumours of them pretty much giving away books in the last few hours, and they were true!

The deal was as many books you can fit in a grocery bag for $2 and as many bagfuls as you want.

I ended up with 36 books for $4, not too bad at all, more than doubled my library in the last two days:P

$4 worth of books:
Ethics by William K. Frankena
Lower Canada 1791-1840 Social Change and Nationalism by Fernand Ouellet
For Queen and Country: Britain in the Victorian Age by Margaret Drabble
A Brief History of the Western World by Thomas H. Greer & Gavin Lewis
Rebellion: The Rising in French Canada 1837 by Joseph Schull
The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9 in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany,: With some examination of the previous thirty-three years by C. Edmund Maurice
The French Revolution and the Poor by Alan Forrest
The Outline of History Volume 2 by H.G. Wells
Medieval Europe by C. Warren Hollister, Marc A. Meyer, Joe W. Leedom & David S. Spear
Christian England by David L. Edwards
A History of the Western World: Ancient Times to 1715 by Shepard B. Clough, Nina G. Garsoian, David L. Hicks, David J. Brandenburg & Peter Gay
A History of the Western Wolrd: 1715 to Present by Shepard B. Clough, David J. Brandenburg, Peter Gay, Otto Pflanze & Stanley G. Payne
The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money, 5th Edition (I casually collect coins and various monies as a hobby passed down from my grandfather)
Colony to Nation by A.R.M. Lower
The Great Powers and the Decline of the European States System 1914-1945 by Graham Ross
A Broken World 1919-1939 by Raymond J. Sontag
Moral Issues edited by Jan Narveson
Aesthetics edited by Harold Osborne
The Philosophy of Action edited by Alan R. White
Plato's Gorgias translated, with an introduction, by W. C. Helmbold
Plato's Protagoras B. Jowett's translation extensively revised by Martin Ostwald and edited, with and introduction, by Gregory Vlastos
The Eighteenth Century Background by Basil Willey
The Trial and Death of Socrates, Third Edition translated by G. M. A. Grube and revised by John M. Cooper
The Art of Making Sense: A Guide to Logical Thinking by Lionel Ruby
Macaulay's History of England Volume 2: From the Accession of James II with an introduction by Douglas Jerrold
The Use and Abuse of History Revised Edition by M. I. Finley
The Identity of France Volume One: History and Environment by Fernand Braudel
Canadian Confederation: A Decision-Making Analysis by W. L. White, R. H. Wagenberg, R. C. Nelson & W. C. Soderlund
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada by Garrett Mattingly
Mark Twain's Best by Scholastic Book Services
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift with an introduction by David G. Pitt
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Plato's Rebuplic translated by B. Jowett
The Greek Philosophers by Rex Warner

Message edited by its author, Oct 23, 2007, 4:45pm.

Wow, Mr Dustin! What a bargain! I wish we had book sales like that around here in Aberdeen! Although, my husband would probably kill me if I came home with all those extra books - LOL!

I just got back from helping organize my grandparents' remaining things for an estate sale, and came across a real treasure in a box in the garage:

Library of American Literature published 1887-1890. All eleven volumes in pretty good shape, which is amazing since they've been in a drafty garage for 20+ years. They were apparently my great-great-grandfather's. Needless to say, they came home with me. And now I have some idea of where my booklust came from.

I've received The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover the other day. Also expecting 6 books to review for the authors and 3 course books for my evening class (I'm learning Teeline shorthand).

Over the last week or so I've received:

Boy A by Jonathan Trigell
Legend by David Gemmell
E11even Terrible Months by R L Royle
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

I got Casa Rossa by Francesca Marciano in the mail today. I just love door service.

I bought a whole bunch of books this last week due to extra discounts at B&N. Today specifically it was Mutiny on the Bounty.

French The Easy Way by Christopher Kendris & Theodore Kendris because as of late I've been feeling like re-learning/expanding my mandatory core French that I took in elementary school:P

That and I'm taking a year off before going into university so I need to learn SOMETHING during this time, right?

Went to the bookstore today....

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Mask Market by one of my favorite crime novelists, Andrew Vachss.

Can you believe the bookstore did not have David Copperfield? Chapters in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The only three Dickens books they had were Great Expectations A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities. What is the world coming to?

Et, M. Dustin, bon chance avec le francais.

Message edited by its author, Dec 23, 2007, 7:27pm.

citygirl,

I didn't know a bookstore could legally open with less than six Charles Dickens novels in stock. What's next, no Jane Austen? (Ever notice it's the most popular authors that won't touchstone? Wonder why?)

Merci beaucoup citygirl!

This year, Santa must have decided I’d been a VERY good girl, because I got an impressive stack of no fewer than twelve books, all of which are tickling away at those braincells reserved for reading (i.e. ALL of them!):

1. Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong
2. Scottish Folk Tales (Lamond Books)
3. Scottish Myths and Legends by Judy Hamilton
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling (adult hardback)
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling (adult hardback)
6. The Wit and Wisdom of the Discworld by Terry Pratchett
7. How to do just about everything (Collins eHow)
8. The Lost Barkscrolls by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
9. Making Money by Terry Pratchett
10. Peony in Love by Lisa See
11. Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre
12. The Generals by Simon Scarrow

The two Harry Potter books are to replace the children’s cover paperback versions I already have, as I originally bought the first four in paperback, as I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like them (numpty!) and then bought the last three books in the series, as they were released, in hardback with the beautiful adult covers, so I decided to replace the earlier ones so they would all match up. In the case of the Pratchetts, the Armstrong, the Brookmyre and the Scarrow, I get all their books are they are released, but I had been banned from buying them for myself, so had to wait till now to have them. The Lost Barkscrolls will complete my set of The Edge Chronicles. I recently read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and instantly knew I wanted whatever she next wrote, so that one was in the bag. The others were complete surprises and very welcome ones at that!

So, I now have a dozen extra books to add to Mount To-Be-Read, and a massive smile on my face to boot!

This year Santa came early for me--he came during the approximate time of employee appreciation week at Barnes & Noble, during which I bought myself, er, over 20 books, including the following:

Wright 3 by Blue Balliett
If You Dare by Kresley Cole
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore
Her Secret Fantasy by Gaelen Foley
See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
Day Watch and Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
The Warrior by Kinley Magcregor
The Bronx is Burning by Jonathan Mahler
Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip
Bloody Jack by Louis A. Meyer
Frogs and French Kisses by Sarah Mlynowski
The Complete Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Heart of Stone by C. E. Murphy
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
The Novels of Tiger and Del Volume 1 by Jennifer Roberson
The Terror by Dan Simmons
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
Blind Submission by Debra Ginsburg
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

I was also lucky enough to snag the ARC of The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes that we got in at my B&N (I've never even tried to get any of the Early Reviewer books from LibraryThing)

Sara,

I bought The Wright 3 (and Chasing Vermeer) a birthday presents for my niece that lives out of state. Tell me how you like it. They sound like GREAT books for kids.

I've been waiting to see if The Terror would come out as a mass market paperback.

Ah, fun day at the bookstore.

I picked up The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril (man, this looks fun!) and the Jim Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive. I'm not a big fan of The Doors, but Jim Morrison always seemed like an interesting cat.

I also picked up two cheesy science fantasy shoot 'em up books: Rogue Star and Star of Damocles.

Message edited by its author, Dec 29, 2007, 1:07am.

Received from Green Metropolis:

The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Man Who Smiled by Henning Mankell

Charisma: The Gift of Grace, and How It Has Been Taken Away from Us by Philip Rieff. Procured it via a gift card from my boss for ye olde local giant independent bookstore, kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinda disappointed in the whole experience because I wandered around for two hours and didn't get anything the first time I went to use the card, and the book was nearly double the amount of the card when I wanted to spend only the card. Buuuuuuuuuut I think it'll be a good read...if I ever get to it...

Jseger,

I very much enjoyed Chasing Vermeer. It was entertaining, fun, and smart--a very good middle-grade read. Scholastic also has a great related web site that allows users to play with pentominoes like the kids in the book. I'm definitely looking forward to reading Wright 3.

Today I decided to burn through my Barnes and Noble gift card.

I've finally replaced my long lost copies of Animal Farm and 1984.

I also picked up The Devil in the White City. I've been looking that one over forever.

Yesterday and the day before I was picking up textbooks, because, well, I kinda last-minute decided to go to university for second term:P

I'm just taking a few classes with no real implications toward anything so that next year when I go in full-time I will hopefully better know what I want and what to expect. In my mind I am still "taking a year off".

Let's see if you can figure out what three classes I'm taking based on my texts!

Cañar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador by Judy Blankenship
Cultural Anthropology: Adaptations, Structures, Meanings by David W. Haines
Canadian Government in Transition by Robert J. Jackson & Doreen Jackson
The Basics of American Politics by Gary Wasserman
Canadian Government by Carmine Bello (It's actually just a reference chart, but it has a ISBN and on the course booklist it was listed as required)
U.S. Federal Government by Carmine Bello (Again, just a chart, buuuut I figured if I was resorting to reference charts that I might as well get both of the ones that were available, even if this one is only listed as "recommended". I don't like taking notes anyway:P)
Critical Thinking: Logic and Argument by Eric Dayton (Which is really just a reading package, not a real textbook)

I was given some book vouchers, so I HAD to go into Waterstones and spend them on a 3 for 2 offer! Am pleased to have come home with the following:

Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones:
'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' It is Bougainville in 1991 - a small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of "Great Expectations". But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne:
The story of "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence.

Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders by Gyles Brandreth:
This work is set in London, 1889. Oscar Wilde, celebrated poet, wit, playwright and raconteur is the literary sensation of his age. All Europe lies at his feet. Yet when he chances across the naked corpse of sixteen-year-old Billy Wood, posed by candlelight in a dark stifling attic room, he cannot ignore the brutal murder. With the help of fellow author Arthur Conan Doyle he sets out to solve the crime - but it is Wilde's unparalleled access to all degrees of late Victorian life, from society drawing rooms and the bohemian demi-monde to the underclass, that will prove the decisive factor in their investigation of what turns out to be a series of brutal killings. "The Oscar Wilde Murders" is a gripping detective story of corruption and intrigue, of Wilde's growing success, of the breakdown of his marriage, and of his fatal friendship with Aidan Fraser, Inspector at Scotland Yard!

Set against the exotic background of fin-de-siecle London, Paris, Oxford and Edinburgh, Gyles Brandreth recreates Oscar Wilde's trademark sardonic wit with huge flair, intertwining all the intrigue of the classic English murder mystery with a compelling portrait of one of the greatest characters of the Victorian age.

Today I made the costly mistake of going to Half-Price Books.

I left with No Fear Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet, Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels, Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, Greg Bear's Forge of God and Psychlone and a horror novel called The Freakshow.

I meant to see if they had anything by Haruki Murikami but I forgot. My wallet thanked me for that though...

Lonely Planet Great Britain (Lonely Planet) by David Else

...

Guess where I'm going...for all of May...

Kell, I'm looking at you for the "local's advice" on your crazy land full of caber tossing and haggis.

My Early Reviewers book!
Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China by Monroe E. Price and Daniel Dayan

>67, good to know it's coming. I just left a message for Abby since I thought perhaps they weren't sending them out. Two members reported receiving their copy on April 1 & April 3, but here it is April 11th and mine has not yet come. I look forward to reading your review.

Haha, yeah, the night before it came I was thinking about how it hadn't come yet and how I should check if anyone else had received theirs yet:P

Hello everyone! I'm new to this group (or any group in fact on LT).
Since I became a LT member, I buy books more often. There's a "discount" Goodwill store in the area. All unsold goods come to this final stop - and at an even more discount: paperbacks 0.25 and hardbacks 0.50. These prices are hard to beat.
Anyways, here's today's "loot":
Saki: The Unbearable Bassington
James O'Shaughnessy: How to Retire Rich
Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin
George Frederick Kunz: Rings for the Finger
Depak Chopra: The Return of Merlin
Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
and
"A Soldier's Reader" - edited by George Macy.

Happy reading!