I hope this is okay to post...I was kind of going by the group description of sharing your "latest" book purchases, even if it wasn't today.

The book I purchased most recently (last Tuesday) was actually a book for a friend who was in the hospital. I decided she needed cheering up and went to the bookstore to pick up Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging which cracks me up, but it was the only one of Louise Rennison's books they didn't have. So instead I picked up a kind of cute romance novel which I read about six months ago called Gone With the Nerd. I'm hoping she liked it.

I stopped in at the library on Saturday to return some books. As usual, I came out with more than I left. In addition to the five I checked out, I bought three from the sale pile.

Loredana: A Venetian Tale, by Lauro Martines
The Dragon Scroll, by I.J. Parker
The Portrait, by Iain Pears

All (two hardbacks and a paperback) for the grand total of 60¢!

I ordered volumes eleven to fourteen of Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest books, (in the nice, cheap, compact editions!), about two weeks ago. They arrived last Monday. Otherwise, I've been very good about buying new books.

The last three books I bought (last Saturday) were The Thirteenth Tale by Diane setterfield, The Interpreter of maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.
What shall I read first?
Right now I am in the middle of The meaning of night by Michael Cox, which I warmly recommend to all Dickens and Victoriana lovers. Excellent book, and quite praised in the New York Times Book Review.

I haven't purchased anything in almost a week! But the last two books I did buy were The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury and 1776 by David McCullough. I attended a lecture by David McCullough about a week ago, and afterwards I had a choice--stand in line to buy 1776, or stand in line to have him autograph the copy of his John Adams biography that I had with me. So I opted for the autograph, and took me to Borders a day or so later, where, of course, I could not limit myself to just one book!

John Banville's The Sea, purchased beginning of the month. Finished this morning, and am still quite affected by the ending.
One of those books I shall be rereading many times I think.

Message edited by its author, Sep 30, 2006, 1:44pm.

Paola

The Interpreter of Maladies is wonderful. I would strongly recommend it. Of course, as short stories you could always read a few and then come back (but somehow I expect you'll be hooked once you start)! I've been intrigued by The Thirteenth Tale but resisted buying it in hardback. Somehow I picked up seven paperbacks instead...

All I`ve bought today is a loaf of bread and two cartons of milk !

My recent book purchases are The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth - an impulse buy on holiday, and some books I ordered from Powells in Portland , Oregon for my W E B Du Bois collection - Du Bois : A Pictorial Biography by Shirley Graham Du Bois, W E B`s The Negro Church and David Levering Lewis`s W E B Du Bois : The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963.

Completely unexpected purchase last night - Tigana (cheap copy, decided I had to see what everyone is talking about, plus I quite enjoyed the Fionavar Tapestry), plus the double book set of The Iliad/The Odyssey by Fagles, published by Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. I'm a sucker for the 'bumpy edge' style of the edge of the pages (is there a term for that?)

I tried to buy the last two books in The Wereling trilogy by Stephen Cole but unfortunately Barnes and Noble only carried the first book of the series which I had just read.

This past Wednesday I hit the local Goodwill and The Salvation Army and came up with these four books:

Light in August by William Faulkner
Angus by Charles Siebert
Fearfully & Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey
The Best of Mike Royko: One More time by Mike Royko

On a mini-vacation last week in the Finger Lakes I found these in an antiques barn (where there are always a few good books looking for a home)

1. The Random House photographic re-issue of Light in August, a good condition school library discard. (The woman who had the antiques barn is a former school teacher--maybe she "kifed" it--why else would it have been removed? I shudder to think.)

2. The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Braun

3. The Quest for Arthur's Britain by Geoffrey Ashe

4. Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien

David Kuo's Tempting Faith arrived from Amazon recently. I'm hoping to read it before Election Day.

Message edited by its author, Oct 28, 2006, 11:39pm.

Last week I bought To Tame a Wolf by Susan Krinard and After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros. My mom has already borrowed and read both books.

The problem with buying books is I hardly ever find the time to read the ones I own. I special ordered Reality Chick by Lauren Barnholdt a couple months ago from the book store and still have yet to read it. My library books always seem to take precidence.

There was a book closing sale at a discount book store at the local outlet mall today... and when I heard that cheap books were going to be even cheaper, I kinda went a little nuts! *blush* For $86:

1. The Constant Gardener (paperback)
2. On The Run (hardback)
3. Lady Thief (paperback)
4. The Angel with One Hundred Wings (hardback)
5. The Jasmine Trade (hardback)
6. Sins of the 7th Sister (hardback)
7. Elizabeth Costello (hardback)
8. Animosity (hardback)
9. A Love Noire (hardback)
10. Three Apples Fell from Heaven (hardback)
11. Intent to Harm (hardback)
12. The Dream Life of Sukhanov (hardback)
13. The Goodness Gene (hardback)
14. Absolute Friends (hardback)
15. Valley of Bones (hardback)
16. The Good German (hardback)

Thank goodness my husband wasn't with me! He was upset enough when I called and told him the total... but books are more important than bills, right? ;) Actually, it should be fine. My tattoo from yesterday came in under budget so I had a little wiggle room.

Finally a chance to post my week-end buying expedtion. Attended a 'Friends' sale in a nearby city and bought 26 books for $33 (US). Most were hardcover and in pretty good condition. Had we gone back after getting lunch I could have found that many more but my husband was ready to head home.

Here are a few of the titles-
Non-fiction: 1066, The Story of a Year
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines
The Golden Age of Science
Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs
Fiction: Emma
Knight Errant
Black Horses for the King
The Best of Sisters in Crime

Message edited by its author, Oct 30, 2006, 7:34am.

"bumpy edge" pages---deckle-edge.

Yesterday I soothed my tortured soul with a used bookstore spree:

North Side of the Ancient Plaza Santa Fe by The Old Santa Fe Association
The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
The Wind in the Willows illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Day before that, my husband bought:

Birds of New Mexico by Stan Tekiela

The Santa Fe book published in 1948) has a really cool photo of two girls sitting by a fire inside a bookshop. I wish I could post it here to show you. I also wish I could somehow step through that photo to that bookshop and cozy up to the fire and look through those shelves. :-)

Ah, thanks, laytonwoman3rd

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2006, 10:17pm.

Today I bought The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Dubrovsky and Egyptian Nights by Alexander Pushkin. I'm trying to get to grips with the Russians!

Message edited by its author, Nov 3, 2006, 6:40pm.

Hi AndrewL - In addition to deckle-edge, some other typical terms for bumpy edge pages are uncut and untrimmed. I have to say, though, that I like the term deckle-edge better, as it sounds more descriptive and poetic (thanks for posting that, laytonwoman3rd!)

If you're interested in book terminology, I'd like to recommend the wonderful and classic book ABC for Book Collectors, by John Carter.

In yesterday's mail from Amazon, a copy of Dave Eggers new novel What is the What.

Yesterday I picked up three books for my 15 year old in the teen section of my local book store for his book Christmas gift this year.

They might be a little young for him but considering what he's reading in school I think he needs a break with something fun to remind him he really does like to read. They also had big "local author" stickers on them which helped make the decision for me.

The books are Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood and Sending of Dragons by Jane Yolen. The description on the books kind of reminded me of Eragon which is one of his favorite books. I hope he likes them!

I just ordered Black Beauty, I am the Messenger, Uglies, 1984 and A Wrinkle in Time from Amazon.

Yesterday I ordered a copy of the Urantia Book from Amazon as well as an introductory work to it (who's title escapes me), unfortunately amazon hiccuped or something and sold me a hardback and a paperback edition of urantia and no introductory text. Ah well, guess I'll just have to return the paperback, no big deal, but kind of annoying anyway.

The last two books I bought, though not, admittedly, today, were The Count of Monte Cristo, for book club, and Everybody Was So Young by Amanda Vaill. Really enjoyed the latter for its 'everyone who's anyone in Europe in the 1920s' vibe.

Near fine 1969 first edition of Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. for $1.00. Hooray for Friends of The Library!

demonlover--are you saying that Jane Yolen is a local where you live? I'm totally jealous. I absolutely adore her. My one-month old nephew already has 4 of her books (all from me). I gave him Mightier Than the Sword while he was still in the hospital, all squashy-looking and bald.

Yolen writes for kids, teens, and adults. She's written over 200 books, fiction and non-fiction, including How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, which was the most recent book I gave my new nephew (just this weekend). :)

Friday we went in the local thrift shop because my husband wanted to see if any of their computer monitors would work with the old PC's he using as a firewall,etc. Naturally, I drifted over to the books and for $0.80 got two trade pbs: Sharpe's Havoc and Sharpe's Prey plus an almost pristine MM pk called The Mavericks.

I was feeling very virtuous and then at our next stop (Wal-Marts) as I walked by the small book section I picked up a new copy of Born in Death for $17.34 + tax. A nice discount but it still put a crimp in my almost non-existent book budget.

I just gave in and bought the hardcover edition of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell via amazon.de I don't think I have the time to read a 800 page fat book right now, but I will do it anyway and sleep less instead :P

elenasimona, you will love it!
:-))

Used a 20% Borders coupon to buy My Lucky Star.

beserene - My local bookstore is World Eye Bookstore and they had the dragon books by Jane Yolen plus some kids picture books which she wrote and they all had the "local author" sticker on them so I guess she must live somewhere in my area, Greenfield, MA.

With regards to books I've bought, I went crazy at the used bookstore yesterday and bought 6 paranormal romances (my weakness!)

I bought:

Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Master of the Night and Master of the Moon by Angela Knight
The Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu
Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward
The Demon's Daughter by Emma Holly
and an anthology called Cravings by Laurell K. Hamilton, MaryJanice Davidson, Eileen Wilks and Rebecca York

Didn't buy anything today...only been awake for 4 hours! Yesterday bought The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger. NYC is a minor collection interest for me; major one is books on the rare book, antiquarian book trade.

I purchased Ghost Story by Peter Straub and the box set of the first 4 books in Stephen King's Dark Tower Series.

demonlover--This is too funny, but you keep coming up with authors I am fond of. You'll have to let me know how you like The Red Heart of Jade. I met Marjorie a few summers ago at the Clarion Workshop (I worked for Clarion at the time) and she had just gotten the deal for that book. I haven't read it yet--romances make it into my stack rarely, despite the fact that I enjoy escaping into them--but I've always wondered how people reacted to her books.

As for purchases, I picked up a few used books this weekend, but am still eagerly awaiting delivery of that big book order I placed online last week. Christmas is coming early around here!

On Wednesday I stopped by Borders and bought The Family Trade by Charles Stross. Haven't started reading it yet, and I doubt I will anytime soon.

I went to a local used book store for the 1st time on Friday and picked up:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min

It sure was nice not paying full price for my books!

Went to Barns and Noble last night and got a bunch of books for people on my Christmas list.

These I'm pretty sure won't touchstone but I'll list them anyway. They are find the hidden picture books for:

Pirates of the Caribbean and Happy Feet for my son
Cars for my friends son.
Disney Stories for my nephew

Also, a book called 100 Reasons to Love the Boston Red Sox for my cousin

Eragon for my friend's teen
Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging for my other friend's teen
The first two Captain Underpants books for my first friend's other son

Today I ordered from Amazon:

The Mediator books one and two for my mother in law.

Old Magic and Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging (yes, again) for my sister in law

and Rachel Raye 30 Minute Meals for Health Conscious people (or something like that) for my mom and dad.

Yesterday, I ordered

The fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde for my brother
Match me if you can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips for my sister in law
The reluctant Landlady by Bernadette Strachan for my mum

Nothing for me this time, but I love to buy books for others as well...

The last books I purchased were Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen and The Handmaid and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg. Sadly, though, neither have arrived in the mail yet, so I can't begin reading them.

Yesterday I bought Die dritte Prophezeiung, a thriller about the templars, the pope, a malediction and the third prophecy of Fatima, and today I got Das Buch der Schamanen, a technical book about shamanism in North and South America. Unfortunately, the volume about Asia and Europe is out of print and rather expensive. But only owning one part of a series? I don't think so 8)

Picked up a few over the last month or so:
Battle Cry of Freedom, MacPherson
On Reading, Andre Kertesz
A Passion for Books, LC Powell
Indoor Bonsai
A Mediterranean Society
A Margin of Hope, I Howe
Reading Lolita in Tehran a Nafisi
Ex Libris, Ann Fadiman
Fiedler on the Roof, Leslie Fiedler
American Sucker, David Denby
Lost in America
Library
The Book of Klezmer
The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World
Unfinished People
The Sabbath
Making It
Libraries in the Ancient World
This Man From Lebanon
.....and others
I am happy happy now

Picked up a few over the last month or so:
Battle Cry of Freedom, MacPherson
On Reading, Andre Kertesz
A Passion for Books, LC Powell
Indoor Bonsai
A Mediterranean Society
A Margin of Hope, I Howe
Reading Lolita in Tehran a Nafisi
Ex Libris, Ann Fadiman
Fiedler on the Roof, Leslie Fiedler
American Sucker, David Denby
Lost in America
Library
The Book of Klezmer
The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World
Unfinished People
The Sabbath
Making It
Libraries in the Ancient World
This Man From Lebanon
.....and others
I am happy happy now

Received While I Was Gone by Sue Miller from Amazon last week, but haven't had a chance to read yet. Borrowed Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner and Kissing In Manhattan by David Schickler (gave up on that one after 100 pages) from a friend.

oh wow this was a while ago.... i dont even know when... but i bought the fairy godmother by mercedes lackey.

The New Hermetics by Jason Augustus Newcomb.

L'evangile selon pilate by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. Yesterday, sunday.

I bought three on Friday (I was supposed to be Christmas shopping, but what the heck, it's more fun to shop for yourself).

Saturday by Ian McEwan
The People's Act of Love by James Meek
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

About half way into Saturday at the moment, although work and tidying my chaotic cave of a house are getting frustratingly in the way.

Message edited by its author, Dec 18, 2006, 3:33am.

Last week I bought three Loeb editions of Greek drama. Euripides' Medea / Cyclops / Alcestis; Sophocles' Ajax / Electra / Oedipus Tyrannus and Aeschylus' Agamemnon / Choephori / Eumenides and Fragments. Definitely well-loved already and the recipients of my snazzy new bookmarks bought in Amsterdam.

The bag of books I bought for 50p each the week before has dissolved into my main collection and I can only find one of them - how do they do that?!

I bought two thrillers on friday, The Suspect and Cold Granite. First thing to buy after christmas (to make sure no one got it for me) will be Nabokov's Butterfly. Can't wait!

I just got Cross Creek Cookery by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in the mail, companion to Cross Creek.

Someone just gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card today. I feel like a kid in a candy store. I can't decide what to get. So, here's what I might buy:
The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
Where was God Born?
The Divine Conspiracy or
The Chronicles of Narnia.

Time will tell.

Well, its not a book exactly, but yesterday I bought a pamphlet about the monastic order of the Self-Realisation Fellowship, an order connected with metaphysical and physical yogic practices, in a used bookstore near my house. This was a particularly neat find, as I collect any and every book connected in any way to Eastern Spirituality, and this was an item I could not have gotten, even through the order themselves, unless I was considering joining the order. For a buck ninety-five, I'd say it was a steal.

Josie, if you haven't read it already, I suggest you make sure to get a box set or single-volume edition of Narnia. Heck, even if you have and don't have a copy, I'd get it. The series is not just a famous peice of child fantasy, but, along with LOTR, is famous for creating the classic fantasy genre as we have it today. Most fantasy, even unintentionally, borrow heavily from these two works.

I tried my hands on swapping with the very few books I really want to get rid of, and as a result, today I got Das Kultplatzbuch by Gisela Graichen in the mail. It's about Germanic and Celtic cult and sacrifice places all over Germany. Gisela Graichen is a journalist who did a famous TV series on archaeology. It's not too scientific, so non-professionals can enjoy, but she doesn't report nonsense either, so it's all fine :)

Last night I used up my Amazon gift cert. My reward for spending way too much money with my Amazon credit card LOL The books I ordered were:

Missing You, the new 1-800-Where-R-You book by Meg Cabot which just came out yesterday.

Senses working overtime by Naomi Nash

Light My Fire by Katie MacAlister

The China Garden by Liz Berry

and

Tithe by Holly Black which I've read before but wanted a copy for my collection. Since it was part of amazon's buy three get one free sale it was a no brainer!

Oh, I had SO much fun last night! I used up several Amazon gift cards plus some money I got for Christmas.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days by Shirlee Kalstone
*mutters*

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison

Dark Prince by Christine Feehan

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
(This is my last attempt at Pratchett.)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Cube Chic by Kelley Moore
(Yes, I work in a cube farm.)

Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold

Also, I ordered The Book Lover's Page-A-Day calendar, the magazine Pages and a new Moleskine journal.

Yesterday, actually. I bought The Historian and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test with Christmas Gift Cards.

I picked up three yesterday: Sisters of the Road, Seven Versions of an Australian Badland and Killing Women: Rewriting Detective Fiction.

I just ordered The Christmas Train by David Baldacci on Amazon. I should be getting it sometime this week and then can begin reading it for my book club.

Today I bought Jekyll and Hyde and 'Tis A Memoir by Frank McCourt. Got the second one for half price. :)

I bought a boxed set of His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.

I bought A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson for myself for Christmas and I just ordered A Girl Becomes A Comma Like That by Lisa Glatt and How The Hula Girl Sings by Joe Meno from Amazon.

I most recently bough Birdman by Mo Hayder as it is set in Greenwich, where I work, and recommended by Karin Slaughter (author of Blindsighted), - who writes the brand of forensic detective thriller I'm a fan of!

Bought from Amazon marketplace but not started yet.

Yesterday, I finished off one of my Barnes and Noble cards and bought:

Black and Blue
by Anna Quindlen

In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote

Just got Susan Howatch's The Heartbreaker in the mail today from the UK. I ordered it almost 2 years ago from Amazon and it never arrived. I got sick of waiting for it, but now it's much harder to get hold of.

I bought The Kite Runner today. I was going to buy the new Mitch Albom book, but decided against it.

Wednesday got Crises Do Happen: The Royal Navy and Operation Musketeer, Suez 1956, The Royal Navy in the Cod Wars, and The Battle of Glorieta.

For some reason, the link for "What is the What" sent me to "The purpose-Driven Life." Horrible joke!

Two weekends ago I bought this late-eighties travel book on Yugoslavia, simply called "Yugoslavia," at an estate sale and The Great War in Africa at this synogogue book sale.

Not long after that I received Messerschmitt Me. 109 (vol. 1-2) in the mail via half.com.

Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2007, 10:18pm.

About a week ago a placed orders on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and Half.com to get the hardcover books I needed to finish some of my favortie series. I've read allthese books and loved them but wanted them in hardback. So this is what I ordered:

Catch The Lightning - Catherine Asaro
Joust - Mercedes Lackey
Primary Inversion - Catherine Asaro
The Radiant Seas - Catherine Asaro
Master Of Dragons - Margaret Weis
Spherical Harmonic - Catherine Asaro
Mistress of Dragons - Margaret Weis
Harry Potter #3 - J. K. Rowling
The Quantum Rose - Catherine Asaro
The Outstretched Shadow - Mercedes Lackey

And yesterday at Barnes & Nobel I got the omnibus edition of The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop. I already had the individual books but I wantd the omnibus as it was the same style as Dreams Made Flesh. I also got Afterburn by S.L. Viehl, I had read this in hardback but needed the paperback for my collection. Abd based on peoples recommendations I picked up the first Sookie Stackhouse book Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.

At ALA Mid-Winter, I picked up three books, Life and Fate, Orson Welles: Hello Americans, and Point to Point Navigation. That has to be an all time conference low. I'm almost through Point to Point Navigation and it is pretty bad. Vidal description of his long time companions death is moving, but most of the book seems recycled. Palimpsest was so much better.

At the library used bookstore yesterday:

The group by Mary McCarthy
Behind a mask by Louisa May Alcott
Crime on her mind, Fifteen stories of Female Sleuths from the Victorian Era to the Forties, edited by Michele B. Slung
Wives behaving badly by Elizabeth Buchan
The Times of London Anthology of Detective Stories
Wild berries by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

and at B&N, in the bargain section

Misfortune by Wesley Stace

I love Misfortune, and have recommended it many times.

I ordered three books from Chapters yesterday:

Company by Maxx Barry
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam

Wonder how long they will take to get here?? :)

On Saturday I stopped at Barnes and Noble because I really wanted Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. I also picked up the sequel to Raven's Gate, Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz for my teen and Harry and the Lady Next Door for my seven year old.

I got three for £1.10 at my library!

We need to talk about Kevin, The fashion in shrouds and Once in a house on fire. I've read the first two but like the look of the third. With luck like this, it's off to the Oxfam bookshop tomorrow. :D

Aluvalibri, I think you'll enjoy Misfortune too. One of my favourites in the reading I did last year.

finebalance, I saw that you gave Misfortune a high rating and, so, I will read it soon. Also, I must say I find the plot idea intriguing...
:-))

Well, I had a $5 coupon for Half Price books, but you had to spend $25 to use it, so of course I had no choice, but to buy yet more books to go on my waiting list. I bought The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, Singapore Grip by J.G. Farrell, and The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan.

Touchstone is working slowly.

dougwood, J.G. Farrell's The Singapore Grip is a terrifically entertaining novel, and also the last in Farrell's Empire Trilogy - the first two being Troubles, and the Booker-winning The Siege of Krishnapur, all just great books.

Most recently I purchased Fool Moon by Jim Butcher, The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, Moon Called By Patricia Briggs, The Radon File by Denise Vitola and Myths for the Modern Age by Win Scott Eckert.

the last book i got was for a freind's birthday . i hope she likes it.they were horrid henry's chritmas cracker and megon the monday feiry.

I bought The Robber Bride by Atwood and The Untouchable by John Banville today from 2nd hand bookstore.

The town I live in doesn't have a bookstore (which, believe me, is a blessing in disguise), so the last book I bought was jPod by Douglas Coupland a couple of weekends ago. I haven't read it yet, and since I have never read any Coupland books before I'm rather looking forward to it.

The last two books I bought were The Red Badge Of Courage and The Giver. My nieces are reading them in school so I thought I'd read along also. I finished The Giver quickly but am still working my way through The Red Badge of Courage.

stephen 18: On Reading by Andre Kertesz and Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman are two of my favorites -- both are books a reader can jump into, although one requires no reading. You were lucky to get that one since it is out of print. Reading Lolita in Tehran is another that really speaks to readers. Enjoy!

Oh, I should've posted here since my last purchase wasn't today. I got a couple of books, both hardcover in good condition, from a bargain bookshop last week, March 15:

- Necklace of Kisses, by Francesca Lia Block
- High Lonesome, by Joyce Carol Oates

Happy finds!

I found a beauty last weekend in a local used book store. It was in mint condition, still in the box: The common wealth : treasures from the collections of the Library of Virginia by Sandra Gioia Treadway (1997). It's a 293-page book, packed with maps, photographs and illustrations of the Richmond library's permanent collection.

There's a bookstall outside a local pub that sells books for 4-for-£1. I find it really difficult to pass by ... both the books and the pub. ;)

Last week, I bought these:

Love for Lydia by H.E. Bates
The Names by Don DeLillo
The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchaster
The Vacillations of Poppy Carew by Mary Wesley
Up and Down in the Dales by Garvase Phinn
Sober as a Judge by Henry Cecil
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Farewell to My Concubine by Lilian Lee

Somehow, I managed to pass the stall the other day without even getting out the car. Once I'm out of the car, all hope is lost.

Big book sale in my town over the weekend ... I got:

A personal matter by Kenzaburo Oe

The ark sakura by Kobo Abe

Silent Cry by Kenzaburo Oe

(Yes, there was an oddly large amount of Japanese fiction there.)

Four essays on liberty by Isaiah Berlin

Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan

Everyman by Philip Roth

The Road to Ubar by Nicholas Clapp

The River out of Eden by Richard Dawkins

No country for old men by Cormac McCarthy

Still holding by Bruce Wagner

The lonely crowd by David Reisman

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

The world is flat by Thomas Friedman

The baseball book: 1990, The baseball book: 1991 and The baseball book: 1992, all by Bill James

Epigraph by Gordon Lish

Beasts of no nation by Uzodinma Iweala

100 strokes of the brush before bed by Melissa P.

i recently bought Train Man by Hitori Nakano and another copy of The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

KromesTomes:
wow, great book loot! don't you just love a book sale? (though i wasn't too happy with the melissa p. book. but that's just me.) enjoy!

Today I bought We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow we Will be Killed with our Families. Unfortunately, none of my local bookstores had it in stock, so I had to order it from Amazon. But I think that still counts.

Just purchased at Borders The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. Looking forward to reading it. Dont' know if this counts I got a free ARC of A Thousand Splendid Suns which I had every intention of buying next week when it went on sale. I love free books!

I cashed in some of the points I had earned at MyPoints for $75 worth of B&N gift cards. On Monday I stopped at B&N and purchased:

Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) by Charlotte Bronte
Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet
Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart
Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

I'll start reading some of these when I complete The Lord of the Rings, which I'm currently reading.

I cancelled my book club membership (too expensive) and, to reward myself, spent the money I would have spent on something I wasn't sure I wanted on 2ndhand books from various websites:

Goldengrove Unleaving by Jill Paton Walsh
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

They were all chosen on the basis that they were the last copies!

Last week I bought 5 books outside a bookshop in the Charing Cross Road (book buyer's heaven) and 4 more in a 2ndhand bookshop while I was visiting my mother. I can't list them all because I left some of them behind, but they included a John Buchan, one by Fraser Darling and I'm reading Charles Williams Shadows of Ecstasy, which is a candidate for books no one has ever heard of, but I really like him (he was a friend of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, you have to temporarily abandon all feminist principles to read him).

And with the last bit remaining on my B&N gift card, I purchased:

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

And then, since it was 25% off at Target:

The Husband by Dean Koontz

What can I say, sometimes I like to read literature with depth and insight, sometimes I like to read something where I can turn my brain off and enjoy the ride.

I've been much better at controlling my book spending. I did make one purchase of a YA book last week which came in yesterday called Amber in the Over World by Jonathan Fesmire who is an author who is on my myspace friend's list. The book sounded pretty interesting.

The last non-graphic novel I read in May was Train Man by Nakano Hitori, which I was compelled by. Since I don't have much reading time and I like the medium (and I need to do research for my Art project for school), graphic novels are good for my reading time. Also in May I read more books than I bought, I finally finished reading Watchmen by Alan Moore, and I'm looking at getting Moore of him (horrendous pun I know, but please, the opportunity was there).

>102 Have you ever read a manga called Her Majesty's Dog? I keep thinking the premise sounds really, really good but I've never read a manga before. I've been on the fence about ordering a copy from amazon.

#102 TeenAuthor: i enjoyed Train Man--it was different, and quite refreshing.

i bought a few days ago The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton. it's a nice volume for my library and i'm thinking of giving away copies to friends (the weird ones, at least ;))

Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2007, 10:36pm.

Yesterday I won Devil's Bargain and Devil's Due by Rachel Caine off of ebay. I've already read Devil's Bargain and have been looking a good deal on Devil's Due for months. It was nice to get both books for the price of one :-)

Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2007, 8:11am.