December Purchases or Gifts FOR ME! ME! ME!

I just thought I'd work against the holiday trend of "thinking of others" and brag a bit about what I did for myself.

I just bought a Kindle version of Steve Allen's An Object of Beauty after seeing him interviewed on Sunday Morning (TV show).

I got 4 books from the library:

The Atlas of Middle-earth
The Hobbit Companion
The Road to Middle-earth
The Complete Tolkien Companion

That last book will be returned unread since it doesn't even have an entry for the Lone Lands, something my 1985 copy of The Complete Guide to Middle-earth certainly didn't omit.

Bought my first convertible. Bad timing though. It has snowed everyday so it's sitting in my garage.

I got 2 DVDs about the Giants' World Series winning season. My husband will enjoy them, too, tho.

I was going to forgo buying books this month as I have a fairly decent sized 'to read' pile on my shelf already but in the end, I couldn't do it. I bought 3 books yesterday, Job: The Story of a Simple Man by Joseph Roth, A Life (no touchstone for this book) by Italo Svevo and The Pastor's Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim. I also bought a new pair of black boots, an eternal quest of mine, finding a cute pair of black boots that don't kill my feet.

I just went on a spending spree buying six books, all of which are part of The Dragonriders of Pern books. Spending too much time reading. Usually that's not a bad thing, but when I don't care about anything else except books, disaster happens. Oh well.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN, Vol. 1

Present to myself.

Wonderful! This is what I call Enlightened Self Interest!

I ordered Folio Society editions of The Wind in the Willows and Ballet Shoes. *contented sigh* I love Folio books.

I *love* Noel Streatfeild! I bought a 99 cent book for my Kindle of Raffles, gentleman burglar, but I'm not really enjoying it that much.

I've been eying some books illustrated by Arthur Rackham, but haven't caved yet.

I'm ramping up for two reading clubs. Women in Fantasy and Women in Sci Fi so I've purchased the first two for each.

Dust by Elizabeth Bear
The Dispossessed by Ursula LaGuin

and

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Elfland by Freda Warrington.

Needed some grocery shopping today so managed to drag myself outside and stopped off in the local Oxfam shop. Picked up 3 books, 2 of which were even on my wishlist:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada aka Every Man Dies Alone
The One from the Other by Philip Kerr

Just when I was despairing of finding something I might really get into and want to read, the price finally dropped on the Kindle version of Parrot and Olivier in America. Yay.

Okay, it's not a book, but I just bought two of these Hallmark ornaments. One for me and one for a sibling.

Where's the "like" button for clammy's post?

Love it clam :-D

Thanks, ladies. I can't post it on FaceBook for fear the word will somehow get back to my brother and ruin the surprise. :oD (He's not on FB, but several of my other siblings are.)

I bought The Problem of Pain for my Kindle for my book group.

I found a book about maps, that has been on my wish list for over two years, at Kroger yesterday evening. At the freaking grocery store. I almost did a happy dance in the soup aisle. - Cartographia

I just got my new 2011 calendar, The Reading Woman. It's a tradition, I get a new version of this calendar every year and that's where I record the books I read during the year. I usually get it at my local Barnes and Noble but I didn't see it there this year so I was a little panicked but no worries, I found it online!

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Woman-2011-Wall-Calendar/dp/0764952455/ref=sr_1_1?...

Today while christmas shopping I bought for myself:

a new ceramic flat iron

a perfume called "Mediterranean" by Elizabeth Arden.

Last week I almost bought a netbook but decided to wait, and then luckily received one yesterday as an early christmas present. Yay!

Got to the mall here for a bit of Christmas shopping, and bought myself 3 books and a scarf. Also got a really nice sweater for Dad.

I browsed around the "other" used bookstore here in town on Saturday and found prestine copies of The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett and last but oh-so-not-least The Hitchhiker Trilogy in a beautiful, boxed set. I'm tickled. But I really do have to stop buying and read more TBRs now. I think I'll make it my New Year's resolution, fewer books, more reading, lol.

Other than Folios and stuff for the Kindle I'm getting, of course ;-)

I got myself some nice bedroom furniture and True Grit, which the Coen brothers convinced me to read before watching their remake. I have promised not to be disturbed by a remake of my favorite Western until I see it for myself. It might even be better.

*doing a happy dance*

I was finally able to justify to myself getting an ereader. I am now the proud owner of a Sony ereader and I've downloaded school material onto it (besides some project gutenberg goodies of course to start up my eLibrary). No more printing out hundreds of pages of reading material for each course. Still have to lug around the textbooks but I can live with that.

Congrats! You might also check with your public library. Many use Overdrive here in the US for e-book lending, and it works best with a Sony reader.

I just discovered a website that has some great t-shirts... outofprintclothing.com I got the Master and Margarita t-shirt but I think I'll go back and get a couple more. So cool!

27 - Thanks, DrNewt. I use Overdrive quite a bit for audiobooks, but I'd always ignored the ebook section. Looking through the selection now I can see several books I'd like to try. They have an awful lot of romance books though. Would prefer more fantasy and sci-fi!

'works best with a Sony reader' - music to my ears :o)

Should had bought some clothes yesterday but the one item I wanted had a slightly ripped seam and at the price it was I decided I wouldn't pay and mend. I had some time left before I was supposed to meet my colleagues for some after work so I slipped in at the SF Bookshop.

For a group read I'm participating in (because I'd had bought/read those anyway)
Surface Detail, by Iain M. Banks
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

and two more -
Trading in danger, by Elizabeth Moon
The City and the City, by China Miéville

It feels good.

I haven't had much money to splurge but when I got my Christmas bonus yesterday I promptly went home and ordered BBC's Sherlock on DVD from Amazon. I'm totally mad for it and was so bummed when I had to return it to the library.

Great choice! We got the BBC Sherlock dvd as a present for our daughter who lives in town, knowing one benefit would be borrowing it. :-)

Picked up a few titles this last week including my Christmas present to myself:

Dr Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick
Orpheus Rising by Colin Bateman
Death of an Ordinary Man by Glen Duncan
Deadmeat by Q
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

and the pressie:

The Absolute Sandman Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman

Sexual Shakespeare by Michael Keevak - a guilty pleasure academic purchase (for $5!). For some reason, understanding Shakespeare's dirty puns and innuendos is a real secret pleasure of mine. I just love to giggle over it.

The Tao of Pooh arrived in our store the other day and I just had to get it. I read it awhile ago, borrowing it from a friend. It's nice to have my own copy now.

I just got my copy of Totally Tangled which is about a drawing technique called Zentangle. I am kind of jazzed to spend sometime doing artistic doodles...a great stress relief.

But really I don't need stress relief; I am all ready for the holidays. Yay!

Just hit the library sale table. Came away with:

How to Disappear for an Hour by Geoffrey Hellman
Sunrise on Mercury by Robert Silverberg
The President's Lady by Irving Stone
The Butler Did It by P. G. Wodehouse
It All Started with Marx by Richard Armour
The Queen's Bastard by Robin Maxwell
Fred Allen's Letters by Fred Allen

All for $1.75. A nice eclectic mix.

Soulless
Changeless
Blameless
All came into my possession today. Seemed like a reasonable way to spend gift voucher (not a Christmas gift, I hasten to add).

I've heard good things about those ones, Tane. I hope you like them.

I got Vermeer's Hat from PaperBackSwap. It goes into my gigantic TBR pile.

Tane, I love those books! I hope you enjoy them.

I bought myself a few books.
The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
Echo by Jack McDevitt

#37 - I love books by Irving Stone. Have you read that one yet?

Nope. I've read Immortal Wife, Love is Eternal and The Agony and the Ecstasy. I'm really looking forward to this one.

My cell phone conveniently died this week. Yesterday Monsieur took it to the store to see if there was any chance of resurrection and returned with an early Christmas gift - an LG Windows Phone. Now when I go to a book store, I can go on LT and make sure I haven't already bought a book before buying it and I don't have to print out my wishlist. My kids were very, very jealous but, hey! Get a job and buy the phone of your choice, dearies! (I didn't rub it in too much since I will need their help to learn how to use it.)

I bought a Kindle version of Hogfather to cheer myself along through the rest of these holidays. hehehehe

Mamzel - I love that idea! What fun.

I bought myself The Black Moth for my Kindle. Only $2, but I am such a sucker for Georgette Heyer.

Christmas books!

Eric and Blind Descent from SantaThing. Excellant choices!

1001 books you must read before you die from my parents - which seems to be more about artwork than books, but needs more exploration,

and for my Other Half, Beautiful Sheep. Yes really!

I bought (and have already finished) All Clear, Connie Willis' latest - a follow up to Blackout. So many twists and turns, and they all resolved themselves well.

I received Captain Wentworth's Diary from my cousin for Christmas, and then at Boxing Day sales I bought Northern Light, a biography about Tom Thomson. I also got gift certificates for Chapters and Amazon. Sweet!!

Last night, after we watched "Wonder Boys" as a Netflix download, we ordered a copy of the book on-line. It cost 1 cent (plus $3.99 postage). . . big time spenders.

Will, what's the order for the Connie Willis books? I just finished To Say Nothing of the Dog.

Used some of my Christmas money to order the Weapon Brown Megaton Pack.

Definitely NOT for all (or even most) tastes, it follows a grown up and oddly buff Charlie Brown in a violent dystopian post-apocalyptic romp. I don't usually go for extreme violence and sexual content in a comic book, but it is SO bloody WRONG to do this to good old Charlie Brown that I just had to check it out online, and am glad I did!

#3 - Convertible! Oh Darrow my good man, you will flove it! I used to have a convertible, BOY do I miss it! You'll have to post a pic of you sitting in it.

Here's me in leaner times!



#7 & 41 - I'll eventually pick up Twain as well, but i've got so much stuff on my TBR pile that would go before it that I will wait.

#15 - OOOOooooOOOOooooh! KONG!!! Next stop Amazon...

#16 - Ya know, I love LT the way it is, but I am continually looking for "Like" buttons as well!

51 - Chronologically (so to speak), it's Fire Watch, Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog and then Blackout and All Clear, but they're pretty readable in any order, except Blackout and All Clear, which are actually one novel in two volumes. There are a few back-references in later books, but no spoilers and you don't miss out on anything at all from not having read them.

I bought (despite my budget) a book of budget recipes this morning. Irony is not lost.

Great idea, Will. Some of my most fav meals came out of a cookbook called Cookbook for Poor Poets. It was the author's opinion that no matter how poor a person is they should always use real butter and find money for a glass of wine. The rest of the meals were quite frugal.

Always use real butter. That's for sure. I'm not so worried about the wine. I will, however, always find money for chocolate.

I bought a book, Introverts in the Church:Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Church, by Adam S. McHugh. Hoping it has some interesting insights for me and why I'm so tired of going to church. It's not my faith that's lagging, it's that I just can't face all the smiling faces.

My father in law used to bring us real butter from the dairy where he volunteered. So nice. It is better for you, but pricey.

The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

I was browsing B & N while killing time before a medical appt. today and saw this marked at 50% off. With my member discount it came to 60%. Didn't even hesitate, mine now.

America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated are the best.

I'm glad maggie started this thread. I have no idea why I feel a bit guilty about ordering myself an expensive present for Christmas: I know it's irrational as I spent much more on presents for other people; but it's nice to have a little validation.

Anyway, I've ordered a hardback Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems (it's printed on demand so there's a small wait).

I've loved Hardy's poetry since I discovered it at school almost fifty years back but I've never had anything remotely like a 'complete' collection. When I discovered this publication, and with a hardback edition - well - I didn't have any choice in the matter!

Good for you! My Christmas indulgence is french soap, and other nice smelly things, from L'Occitane. But that doesn't mean I don't spend money buying books for the Kindle.