October Obtainments

Hope I'm not stepping on any toes, but I thought I'd start the October thread. I bought For All the Saints: Volume I a prayer and devotional book that runs about $35 per volume. Over two years you cover the whole bible, the psalms, and it includes the daily offices.

Wow, I want to check into a copy of that. How many volumes is it?
--BJ

4, here's a site for more info http://www.alpb.org/for_all_the_saints.htm

I received Four Kings from Amazon today.

And, I received the quirks and quarks guide to space.
p.37 "...astronauts on early Space Shuttle missions and cosmonauts on the Russian space stations used to routinely dump their garbage overboard and even human waste overboard rather than return it to Earth. NASA put an end to that when the risks of doing so became clearer."

Talk about your IcyBMs. 8-D

Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines was in my door last night when I got home from work. Woohoo!

The North by North West Screenplay by Ernest Lehman arrived today, I'm on a bit of a screenplay crusade at the moment.

The Last Theorem, which is Arthur C Clarke's final story - and a collaboration with one of my favourites... Frederik Pohl also found its way in to my hands today (via my brother's book club). Can't wait to start that one.

I recently browsed the Bookcloseout.com site - very dangerous thing to do and consequently, my order arrived today.

The Terror by Dan Simmons
Victory by Susan Cooper
Burden of Desire by Robert MacNeil
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
A False Mirror by Charles Todd
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Guppies for Tea by Marika Cobbold
Shooting Butterflies by Marika Cobbold
Lady Franklin's Revenge by Ken McGoogan

It was like Christmas unpacking the box. Well, it is actually, an early Christmas present ;-) I really need a new bookcase now!

Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith from Amazon Vine showed up today.. I didn't buy it, but I did obtain it...

The Dreaming Tree by C.J. Cherryh - omnibus of the Ealdwood duology. What caught me was the comparison to Lord Dunsany.

Read the first chapter with lunch, and it's lovely thus far.

I have no other obtainments, but I'm obstructing JPB's ointment obsession.

Hungry Hill, by Daphne du Maurier, in an orange hardcover, and Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace.

Both were from my library's free books pile, and so had the requisite dewey numbers on them, but since I only got them to read myself, no problemo. I hope both turn out to be good, because I haven't read anything by du Maurier yet, and I haven't heard anything about Alias Grace!

#12 - I recall liking Hungry Hill, but then I'm a die-hard Du Maurier fan. :) Even if it's not your favorite, don't give up on her, because all her books are so different from each other.

katylit, what are their shipping charges like? I've been leery of ordering from them as they don't have much info on shipping on their website, and I'm worried the postage and handling will erase all my savings.

To your scattered bodies go which I'm happy about because I have the other 3 riverworld books, and have been waiting to find this one.
The Compleat Enchanter, Camp and Pratt, what is it with misspelling the word complete?
Fall into Darkness, Pike. The Outlaws of Sherwood, Mckinley. Strange Seas and Shores, Avram Davidson. And and Anthology of British SF from 1989 called Zenith.

Yesterday, Amazon sent me Frommer's Paris 2008 which I bought so I could re-experience that wonderful city. Also, I think I am starting a new savings account to save up for my next trip! I think I'd like to fly to Paris and just spend a week there exploring, all by myself. I am feeling a little burn out over travelling with someone else. But maybe in a year or two I might reconsider. It is helpful to have someone to share expenses.

#14 xicanti, for all those books, my shipping costs, taxes & handling were just over $22.00. So I feel I still got a really good deal. For example Daughter of the Forest is a beautiful trade paperback, gorgeous edition, and cost $1.00!

#12, amaranthic, I agree with MrsLee, while Hungry Hill isn't my favourite Du Maurier book, I still enjoyed it. After Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel I love The House on the Strand the most. And I really liked Alias Grace, it's a very interesting story. I liked reading about my home town (Toronto) in the "olden days".

#15, Musereader, I don't think compleat is spelt wrong, there is a book called The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton, written in 1653. I think that compleat is just an old-fashioned way of spelling complete.

#17 Katylit, Yeah I was just commenting on that because thats the second book I have with Compleat in the title and I've seen others too, and so I don't know if it's an intentional mispelling, means something different, or is just an old variant of complete.

Looking it up on the internet gives - Dictionary.com
1. Of or characterized by a highly developed or wide-ranging skill or proficiency: “The compleat speechwriter … comes to anonymity from Harvard Law” (Israel Shenker).
2. Being an outstanding example of a kind; quintessential: “Here was the compleat modern misfit: the very air appeared to poison him; his every step looked treacherous and hard won” (Stephen Schiff).
Which seems to me to have an added connotation of 'best' - huh, learn something new every day

#17 - They were horrible spellers back then! ;)

I bought that book, The Compleat Angler, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, for my brother when he was in his fly-fishing phase. He had better love it, because it was like pulling my fingernails off to give it to him.

>#15 Musereader, there are 5 main books in the Riverworld series, plus some related books. Let me know if you need any Farmer books, i still have a bunch of them gathering dust.

I bought What Color Is Your Parachute for Retirement and The soup bible today. I really didn't need to do that. I have to stay out of book stores. Or I won't have a happy retirement....

Untamed: The Autobiography of the Circus's Greatest Animal Trainer Gunther by Gunther Gebel-Williams ...used from Amazon

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay...Amazon vine program

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Rising to the Occasion: A Practical Companion For the Occasionally Perplexed by Edith Hazard

The Keeper by Sarah Langan... all from mooch

I will begin with Sarah's Key so I can get it reviewed...

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I was being a very diligent girl at the church today, pluckily entering books in our new LT account, when my OH called and informed me that the library was having its semi-annual sale! So of course I told him to bring me some money and hot footed it over to the library. :) I went knowing that I have a plethora of unread books, but thinking I would just browse...

Lost Empires by J.B. Priestley
Augustine: Confessions and Enchiridion by Augustine
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (I've wanted this for some time.)
The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Peabody Hale (This brings back fond childhood memories of read aloud days in 1st grade)
Vaca-Peña Los Putos Rancho and the Peña Adobe by Wood Young (An historical society publication from Solano, CA)
Tortilla Flats by John Steinbeck
Hidalgo's Beard: a California Fantasy by Conger Beasley
Tales of Yuletide Murder Christmas Stalkings by Charlotte Macleod
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seirstad
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Don't tell me anyone, if you hate the following two books, I want to find out on my own. ;)
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe's Triumph by Bernard Cornwell
I'm finally giving in and reading at least the first two of these:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Good thing I stopped by the store and got a little more cash than my OH gave me. ;)

Um, I didn't even tell you about the bag full of books I bought for my church library, or the two I bought for my daughter, or the four I bought for my niece. Nope, I won't even mention those.

Heart of Gold by Michael Pryor
and
Saturn Returns by Sean Williams

Today in the mail I received a book from Library of America called American Earth: Environmental Writings Since Thoreau. I am expecting a couple of books from Amazon.com, too.
--BJ

Today I got The Courts of Chaos, Sign of Chaos, The Guns of Avalon, Trumps of doom by Zelazny
The Ships of Merior and Shadowfane by Wurts
Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King
Elidor by Alan Garner
The Deeper meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams, Don't Panic by Gaiman
A Dictionary of World Mythology, and The book of Myths by Amy Cruse 1925 which I am very plesaed with since it includes a couple of myths from Japan China and Australia as well as the usual Norse, Greek, Egyptian, there's North American, Mexican and Babylonian too.

MrsLee - I have Vagabond by Cornwell, got it at a thrift store or something, but I didn't realize that it was the second in a trilogy. So I haven't read it yet.

I rewarded my son for his improving grades with a new book - The Ranger's Apprentice book 2. And since I was there, I figured I'd better get a new book too, so I got Mistborn. I really enjoyed Elantris, so I'm hoping this one is good too. It has a sticker on the front saying autographed. Apparently both James Dashner and Brandon Sanderson were at Barnes & Noble for a book signing, but it was on my daughter's birthday. Next time they need to plan their signing according to my schedule. Anyway, the so-called signature looks more like a line or two drawn with a Sharpie. Could say anything. Could even be a remainder mark. Who knows?

I received from Amazon yesterday: Photoshop CS3 for Nature Photographers and Frommer's Memorable Walks in Paris. The latter I bought to replace a book I borrowed and trashed. I'll keep the "trashed" one with my notes inside and give this newer one to my friend. I don't want her to be sorry she lent me the book.

Now! I must read the Photoshop book!

My parents decided to come home today instaed of tomorrow so I have
Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel and Leah by Orson Scott Card
Fablehaven, Rise of the Evening star, and Grip of the Shadow plague by Brandon Mull

My husband didn't want to pay full price for another Dean Koontz book, as he doesn't read very much, so we went to the used bookstore instead...

I found lovely editions of Kim and The Jungle Books and a Nancy Mitford omnibus which includes The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate, The Blessing and Don't Tell Alfred. I'm very glad hubby saved money on his used Dean Koontz ;-)

#29, what a good friend you are maggie. I'm sure your friend will love the new Frommer's!

Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-Gazer: A Novel by Sena Jeter Naslund

The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud ... by Jenny L. Cote in the mail.

The first, from Amazon because of some inadvertent enabler here, the second from the Author.

Muse, I have never heard about those Card books. Interesting!

Out-of-town reading matter -- yay that Johannesburg has bigger suburban bookshops than Durbs!

To ride hell's chasm by our very own Janny Wurts -- I nearly missed a significant chunk of the conference, and still think I got more out of the book than some of the presentations! and
First among Sequels by Jasper Fforde -- still busy, but never has the wait for a plane gone so fast.

I've suffered a relapse. With an upcoming vacation and teetering piles of TBR books, I decided I wouldn't purchase any more books until I got through at least half of my last order. I wouldn't even drive past the B&N just to avoid the temptation. My dear OH was completely unaware of this (owing to likely attempts of sabotage) and decided to stop in while we were running errands.

I found two books I had to have (and more I would have grabbed) right in the vestibule between the inner and outer doors, four more books that I'd been waiting for, and one book that I couldn't live without. Here's what I walked out with:

From the vestibule:
A Field Guide to Monsters
Vampires, Wine & Roses

Been waiting for:
The Glass of Time
Company of Liars
The Wordy Shipmates
Paul of Dune

And I just couldn't live without:
The New Annotated Dracula

I've had a bit of a "problem" with buying books this month - though I did notice that compared to others here, I really haven't ended up with that many:)

Kafka:Toward a Minor LiteratureDeleuze
Wizard of the Crow Ngugi wa Thiongo
The Wind up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami
The Fourth Cleansing Fiona McGavin
Teatro Grottesco Ligotti
The Trial Kafka
King, Queen, Knave Nabokov (hardback for $1!)

and at the end of this month is the seasonal library book sale, so I will no doubt end up with many more.

I started the Nabokov and read about half of it before I became distracted by the Ligotti short stories (Teatro Grottesco), which has kept me from doing schoolwork this weekend. I really like his style, and will probably buy some of his other collections.

I picked up a couple of Tom Holt titles this weekend, In Your Dreams and The Divine Comedies. He's a new-to-me author, but I'm really enjoying what I've read so far.

I had thought I'd pick up Hero of Ages from the SF Bookshop today, but apparently they're on TOR's shit list and had no idea when they would stock the book. So despite my intent to support a RL bookshop I ended up ordering it online instead.
I've been looking forward to this one since I finished Well of Ascension this spring, so...
*goes off to stare at the mailbox*

Edited to add: They seemed pretty sure that they'd not have this problem with DAW, so I pre-ordered Regenesis (previously known as Cyteen II) while I was there. Not out until January, but I've waited for ages and work on the theory that if people pre-order the book maybe they'll actually put some effort into having it.

My copy of The Name of the Wind came in. I'm going to stop reading threads here now, make myself some tea and go and read.

My Handbook of 'Phags-pa Chinese (by Coblin arrived yesterday.

Also, one of my friends is moving, and said that she had a box set of Chinese translations, and would I like it? I had a look. It turned out to be James Legge's annotated 5-volume parallel versions of the Chinese Classics with lovely hard-cover binding. I've determined to give her a hearty contribution to her trampoline fund in return.

I had the BEST book day today! I arrived home from work to find two fat packages waiting.

Package #1 was an order from BookCloseouts.com. I went ahead and took the plunge after katylit posted about them. :) I got:

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - one of the best books I've read in 2008!
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Nineteenth Annual Collection, ed. by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Eighteenth Annual Collection, ibid.
Vanishing Acts, ed. by Ellen Datlow

Package #2 was a bunch of ARCs, courtesy of Harcourt Books. Their publicist contacted me after I reviewed Flora's Dare by Ysabeau S. Wilce on my blog. I had no idea she was going to send me this many!

Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez
Oddest of All by Bruce Coville
The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem
The Faerie Door by B.E. Maxwell
The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi

I should get a finder's fee or something from BookCloseouts! ;-) I think I "inspired" (my husband would say it's more like "enabled") somebody else I know to get some books from them too. Isn't it great to come home to boxes of books xicanti? I love it. Even just the envelope with one book today was very satisfying.

I got The Duchess by Amanda Foreman at Costco today, for about half the cover price :-)

katy, I am waiting for an order too.. I know porchy is hooked in it as I am..
Your husband is right! LOL

LOL!! If our dollar would only go back up - I'd be buying some more books from them too. It truly is an addiction! For once my husband is relieved the Cdn dollar is low ;-)

I just bought, for the Kindle, American Prince: A Memoir about Tony Curtis and The Great Transformation to read with the folks in Pro and Con (Religion).

I am feeling very smug about the Kindle. I don't have to make room on the book shelves.

I've really cut back on my 'new' book purchases, though I did have to order a book for my ladies' book group, and I made the mistake of visiting bookcloseouts.com. *gulp* They were all BARGAINS, though! I ordered these three:

The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay

You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down by Alice Walker

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

And I picked up this on the library swap shelf:

Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Note: Don't you just hate it when an author touchstone doesn't work, but you can see the author's info is loaded on LT, because his name shows up next to the book's touchstone? *sigh*

Note: Don't you just hate it when an author touchstone doesn't work, but you can see the author's info is loaded on LT, because his name shows up next to the book's touchstone? *sigh*

Yes. This happens frequently with Kay, LeGuin and Cherryh, all of which are favourite authors of mine.
*double-sigh, in sympathy*

Yeah, I've just about given up with touchstoning most writers, I think it's the more popular ones with several variants of spelling mostly because more obscure writers seem to do fine.

I've given up touchstoning authors too, they never seem to work, very frustrating, I agree.

My first bookmooching book arrived today, The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. And I found The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester at the used bookstore too, in excellent condition, very cheap. I've listened to the audio, but I want to read it too - it's such an amazing story!! This is definitely one of those tales when fact is stranger than fiction.

I thought of you at the used bookstore Busifer, they had a hard cover edition of Cyteen, looked brand new. I was tempted, but thought I should really read Invader first and finish that series before I get into another of Cherryh's series. My TBR pile is so huge now I really do have to stop buying more. Stop. STOP!!! Really.

The Reincarnationist by M. J. Rose

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier

Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman

all came today.

#27
Oh my! I have serious book envy now!

#49
The Professor and the Madman has been in my wish list forever!

Y'all make me feel so po'! :9

Seriously, I hadn't even dared to peek inside this thread because I 1) hadn't bought anything new and 2) didn't want to feel tempted.

But this evening I went to the drugstore to buy some meds for this icky cold, and saw a book on the shelf that caught my attention, so I bought it for my mom, who's been complaining lately of not having anything to read.

The title is The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax. I have absolutely no idea who that is, but her name is pretty interesting, to say the least! Also, I read the back blurb (I don't do that with books I buy for myself, because I don't buy on impulse, I buy because I know the author, and blurbs spoil the surprise!) and it seemed like the kind of tale mom would like. Plus, it's set in Spain (mom's parents were from Majorca) and in a Catalan village to boot! I know mom will get a thrill out of it, and I can't wait to read it after she finishes it! :)

I've added the Path Toward Spirituality, and Baha'u'llah's Teachings on Spiritual Reality to my collection. Already finished the first one, but its one of those that I'll probably be revisiting a couple times and using for reference.

Last night we ordered from amazon -- after all there is super slow super saver shipping! I ordered The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse and The Day of the Triffids. My husband thought those were two odd titles. But who could resist?
--BJ

#47 - Cyteen could be read as a separate novel, as can almost all of her Alliance/Union books - they ARE connected, but only as, say, Leviathan is connected to Neuromancer, kind of.

Cyteen is VERY good. It's sequel, Regenesis, is due out in January 2009.

I bought...

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Selling Out by Justina Robson (and think the publishers could have been a little clearer on the fact that it's the second book in a series as I only found that out when I entered it here on LT)
De rover Hoepsika by Paul Biegel (which I think was actually translated to English as 'The Robber Hoepsika'. That'd be an accurate title translation anyway.)
Hasse Simonsdochter by Thea Beckman (title translates as 'Hasse Simonsdaughter', but the book itself isn't available in English, last I saw. Pity.)

A friend of mine sent me a postcard book (but I'm not 100% sure it counts. It has an ISBN number). I'm sure there were more, but I just had to get the rest of my parents' books catalogued. They were driving me mad. (At least the cookbooks are where I don't semi-regularly see them and the ones in storage are scary to get at.)

*sorts through her LT shelf* Oh, cool! You can actually sort things by entry date. Yay! Let's see...

I also got
Crazy Games by Sandra Glover
The Foreverness of Friends of a Feather and Solomon's Fine Featherless Friends by Esther Hicks
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Sword of God by Chris Kuzneski (watch me dislike it intensely; I have no aptitude for picking Shanra-safe books when they're not in the fantasy genre.)
I also got a book as a present for someone else, so I'm not listing that. ^-~

And... lastly (so far. *scuffs feet*) is The Goose Girl.

I loved The Goose Girl! I just got an ARC from Good Reads, Greasy Rider. It sounds like a fun book! and it was free, which automatically makes it even better.

Cmbohn, I like the little I've read of The Goose Girl so far. It's just about my favourite fairy tale as a child, so when I found out someone had written a retelling of it, I had to get my hands on it. I've always thought of Falada as a mare, though, so that's (understandably) been confusing me a little. Funny how minds work. I've had no such problems with any of the fairytale retellings I've read before this.

I was naughty. But I fell in love with a book yesterday. Curse those beautiful children's picture books!

The Cloudchasers was the culprit this time. It seems to be untouchstoneable at the moment. I'll link to an outside place. It's very pretty.

OMG, Will... thats is beautiful!!! Why do you taunt!?

not available here near as I can tell :P

It's only just available here. And it's only half the story. Grr... silly sequels.

Just picked up some Camus. The Rebel (murder), and The Myth of Sisyphus (suicide). Cheerful subjects.

WillSteed, you just made my credit card cry... its on the way to China now.

For those who can't buy the book, the teachers notes on the page I linked to has some of the illustrations in larger size.

Ok, except from the little accident above, I got:

The invention of Hugo Cabret (I love that book, I finished it in one evening
The Frankling Library Edition of The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel
The Folio Edition of The Canterbury Tales
A very cool old bilingual edition of T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien

There are still two huge packets from The Gryphon Press out there waiting for me... I found out that they sell their books directly over ebay for much lower than normally

I found the first three volumes of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King today in a used bookstore. Used up my credit there and they only cost me $7.25. I bought them for my daughter, but we always share good books. She reads faster and then tells me whether to bother with the book or not.

In the past few weeks, I've bought two steampunk books, The Alchemy of Stone and Extraordinary Engines; a classic SF that I've never read, The Lathe of Heaven; and a book about fandom (specifically Buffy/Angel fandom, but a lot of it applies to fandom in general), Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby?. I also received in the mail a book that my sister ordered for me a long time ago (for my birthday in June) but only just came out - Your Hate Mail Will be Graded by John Scalzi.

#66 blue: Oh, The Lathe of Heaven is a fantastic book - I hope you enjoy it!

Got Blood of Elves delivered from amazon this morning, then I went to the charity shop and got The Fourth Bear Fforde, The House of Arden Nesbit, A Rude Awakening Aldiss, The Shattered Goddess by Darrell Schweitzer, More tales of unknown Horror and The Bumper Book of Ghost Stories

A new Books-A-Million opened two blocks from my office and I had to go check it out. And, I couldn't leave a brand new bookstore with no books now, could I? So, I left the store with:

Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
The Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (believe it or not, I've never read this - nor have I seen the movie. I'm told I've been missing out)

I really, REALLY need to take myself in hand. Mount TBR will crush the house if it topples . . .

We went to the art museum and they had an exhibit of picture book art. We didn't buy any, but the wish list just got a LOT longer! Here are some ones I liked:

Mrs. McBloom, clean up your Classroom

600 Black Spots This one was mine and my son's very favorite!

The Frog with the Big Mouth My oldest daughter's favorite

Balloon Farm Youngest daughter's favorite

Bone Soup for Halloween

Rapunzel's Revenge

Fanny's Dream - I do already have this one

And bunches more! It was my favorite exhibit at the museum. I'm glad to see them recognize that book illustrations are art too.

I came home to find a large cardboard package waiting for me. I figured it was my copy of Any Given Doomsday, at long last, but it was actually two more review copies: Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex. I'm really looking forward to both of them; I've heard great things about Graceling, and the picture book looks like a ton of fun.

That sounds like a gorgeous exhibit, Cmbohn! I wish they'd have such an exhibit in my country! (We do have a few musea for specific artists, though... I've been meaning to get to the museum of what I can only describe as the Dutch equivalent to Arthur Rackham and a friend has been wanting to go to another... Hmm... I foresee outings in the future...)

I was fully expecting these books to arrive next month (Amazon told me that's when they'd arrive!), but instead I've received them this month. So now I've got

The Lady and the Lion, a picture book retelling by Laurel Long and Jacqueline K. Ogburn. (The illustrations are gorgeous.)

Beyond This Dark House by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Seeing Things by Seamus Heaney (whose name I can't spell to save my life. >>)

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Possession by A.S. Byatt

and Low Red Moon by Caitlín R. Kiernan. Half of them are even books I'm supposed to be reading for next semester, so I don't feel too guilty about the purchases. Now all I have to do is read them! ^-~ I'm quite excited about all of them.

Bought Bambi Vs. Godzilla by David Mamet for his Christmas present, I'm giving it a good read through because I'm trying to figure out if he'd like it, so far I am loving it, and movie producers are revealed for what they are. My brother does film school so I know he needs this book.

The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman

Joshua: A Parable for Today by Joseph F. Girzone

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

And three very young child books that I picked up for my niece's shower all arrived today from bookcloseouts.com

eta touchstone fix... the wouldn't work ...

I couldn't wait until the end of the month. (my intention was to avoid buying anything until then). Went to the library to study but they had a book sale, and this isn't even the big one at the end of the month.

So, I bought:
The Fencing Master
The Queen of Spades and other Stories
Exquisite Corpse
Fathers and Sons
and
American Indian Myths and Legends, but its for someone.

Depths: A Novel by Henning Mankell was in the mail today. Used from Amazon

I just managed to get one of the limited editions of Balzac's Droll Stories with the illustrations by Ralph Barton (he was one of the original cartoonists of "The New Yorker"):

>77 J_ipsen: Those are fantastic illustrations! I love the color palette. Nice find, J_ipsen!

I found these at our meet up in Pleasanton, CA: Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson and The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith.

These I found at the Borders on the way home: The Children of Hurin by you know who, Making Money by Terry Pratchett and The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I think I'll read Jane Eyre again before I read the Fforde book, it's been awhile.

In Pleasanton I bought Alcatraz versus the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson for my son, who has been eagerly awaiting it, and for myself I got two other children's books: Robin McKinley's The Stone Fey with beautiful illustrations by John Clapp (signed by the illustrator), and a very funny music "history" book, The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven. The bookstore also had a "treasure chest" of ARC's that you could choose from if you spent over a certain amount, and I pulled out The Dark Volume by Gordon Dahlquist. I think it is a sequel of sorts, so I may have to read The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters first, although there is a fairly lengthy synopsis at the beginning of The Dark Volume.

I was having so much fun in the children's section of Town Centre Books that I never really looked at the "grown-up" books! The owners were very pleasant and helpful-- served us coffee and lemonade for our Green Dragon meet-up, and even brought books to us when they heard us talking about them. If you are anywhere near Pleasanton, the store is worth a visit.

I just got when you are engulfed in flames by david sedaris. This is the first book I have bought in a store since I don't know when. Probably three years at least. I usually always buy on Amazon or other internet stores.

I love those illustrations J_ipsen, they're wonderful!

#77 WOW! Just... wow.

Woohoo!!! Last night I was at the corner bookstore with some friends. We had gone there for an informal panel on language and the media, blah blah etc. When it was over, we decided to go for coffee at an all-night coffeeshop.

BUT FIRST: I had to roam the bookstore's aisles, of course. And got me two treats:

Duma Key by Stephen King
and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

Yay!

I did another impulse buy at Amazon and did not get what I wanted because I did not read everything I should have read. Damn. I got Baseball Tarot book and didnot get the cards. The pictures in the book are wonderful, and I want the cards. I want them. I want them. I want them.

OK, temper tantrum is over.

I also obtained, yesterday, Organizing for Your Brain Type. Nakone suggests that if your house or office continues to be a mess it is partially because you need to understand your way of organizing and do it that way, not the way your mother taught you. We will see what we will see.

Maggie, I'd be interested in that one! I haven't found any good way of organizing for myself, and am coming to the conclusion that my brain type is... Disorganized.

#84 & 85 I am eagerly waiting a review of the organization book. Maybe there is a reason for the way I am. I like when things are organized; I just don't get it done.
--BJ

oh! I think the first step is to be kind to yourself. The author gives a 50 item questionnaire and then lets you see where you are most of the times and so forth. The four types for me - most often: Innovator, 2nd maintainer, 3rd Prioritizer and 4th harmonizer. Then she gives you info about what is strong and not so strong about these different types. So far I have only read a little. So I am not yet saying whether I think this is brilliant. I am spending some time today cutting pictures out of magazines and trying to give some passion and vision to the idea of a neat and clean and organized home! It all starts with motivation.

The book is Organizing for Your Brain Type by Lanna Nakone, M.A.

If you get it I'd be interested in your thoughts on it, too.

I also like this other book I have - Time Management for Unmanageable People. If you really think you are "disorganized" you may be, like me, visual and creative.

Good luck with "organizing yourself". I don't know if that can be done, in my case. lol

Hemlock Bay by Catherine Coulter

Promise Not to Tell: A Novel by Jennifer Mcmahon

arrived by mail today. One from mooch and one used from Amazon.

but I have cut back...
seriously... I have..

Yay, my first Gryphon packet arrived!!! It contained:

Treasury of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
On Compromise by John Morley
Twilight of Authority by Robert A. Nisbet

Today I took advantage of a "3 for 2" sale at Borders and picked up:

Fishy Wishes by Tom Holt
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Rough Weather by Robert B. Parker
Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky
Mistborn and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (I'd already read both at the library, but wanted my own copies)
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (I needed a replacement copy; loaned the old one to a friend and I think I may not ever see it again)

Oooh, you lucky. I am so hooked on Sanderson now. And it's all LT's fault.

I was trying to resist the lure of the bookstore, but today I broke down and bought three. Blah. One of them was from the Friends of the Library sale, though, so it helped benefit literacy. I had to buy it! Really!

I got:

Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar. It was in the bargain section at my favourite bookstore, and I've heard so many rave reviews of late that I just couldn't resist.
Affinity by Sarah Waters. The library sale book. I didn't want to buy it, but I felt it was my duty. Really.
The Haunted Dolls' House by M.R. James. This one is a prize for my very first blog contest/special event. Go check it out! The more entries, the better!

I found Company of Liars by Karen Maitland for 50p at a library book sale the other day. I was pleased! I've heard a lot about this book.

Tong Lashing from the Apropos of Nothing series by Peter David
A Matter for Men by David Gerrold, despite the misogynist sounding title
Thraxas by Martin Scott (the touchstones all say Martin Millar for some reason - a pseudonym?)
Word of Honour - the third of the Laws of Magic Australian Steampunky series by Michael Pryor.

Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco Stork

An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor

from vine

#32 mckait - inadvertent enabler - I like that phrase. It is soooo true.

The other day an ARC arrived, Blindspot by Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore.

Yesterday The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley came from a BookMoocher.

Free books are quite wonderful.

karen, I hope you like Mists as much as I do, even half as much would be a lot!

I finished Marcelo in the Real World and I have to say it is a very good book.
I loved Marcelo and most of the other characters. His dad gave me hives though...

I went to the bookshop today, holding tight to my '49 SEK per kilo books' coupon. I was, as predicted, disappointed. Bargains at non-genre bookshops here in Sweden usually don't includes anything I'm interested in.

From the bargain table I picked Ferrari, a coffee table book with nice pictures in - both me and husband would very much like to own one... Yeah, right - dream on, the day money grows from trees, etcetera... ;-) and a cookbook focussing on cooking with nuts (Nötter : 100 recept). Looked yummy.

Then I went looking for Collected poetry by Robert Frost but couldn't find one single volume of english language poetry. So I picked Kafka on the shore by Murakami instead.

The story behind my search for Robert Frost is that I discussed his poem 'The road not taken' in the context of the Star Trek motto 'to boldly go...' with a colleague at work last week and decided I wanted to read more.

I just went and spent a gift card...and picked up:
Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
The Way of Shadows (second in the series.....so annoyed they didn't have the third one at the store)
Making Money by Terry Prachett (long time discworld junkie)
Warcraft: the Sunwell Trilogy
and finally
The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox

ah.....some books for the month *yay* books always make it a better month

evedeve, the third one in Brent Weeks's trilogy hasn't been released yet. It should be in stores around the end of November. :)

ah ha! that would explain why it wasn't convienently (sp) located on the bookshelves for me...dastardly authors not having the books out instantly when i want them......*adds it to *THE LIST* .....

ps: thanks for the info xicanti :)

Yay!!! I gots me some new used books! Woo-hoo! *does a little dance*

Today, on my trip back from the mountains to scout the bookstore I'm planning on buying, I stopped at an out-of-the-way used books store. I was awe-struck by the amount of titles I've been meaning to get but which are very hard to find here. I've resorted to online used book stores in the past, of course, but it's sooooo nice to be able to actually hold the book in my hand before buying it! :D The owners are American, so that makes the difference (because local stores here in the city usually carry selections that, well, aren't to my taste at all.)

I finally managed to decide on just seven (because I ran out of money and also because my friends were outside waiting for me.)

Going Postal & The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (I have the entire series on e-book form, but I like holding my books.)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein
Mona Lisa Overdrive, William Gibson
Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions, Edwin A. Abbott
Legends II: Shadows, Gods and Demons, edited by Robert Silverberg

Also, a friend lent me his copy of A Clockwork Orange because I haven't read it yet. This doesn't technically qualify as an obtainment, since I didn't buy it and I have to return it, but...

==

Yeah, I know. I went on a trip to go buy a bookstore, and end up buying books at another bookstore. Go figure. :9

Edited to spank the touchstones into submission. Bad, bad touchstones.

Yesterday I decided to make a trip to B&N (after seeing that my favorite used bookstore hadn't rotated their stock at all in the last month) and picked up:

Scar Night by Alan Campbell
The Hickory Staff by Jay Gordon and Robert Scott

Both are "new to me" authors, so hopefully I'll like the books.

I also picked up Cyndere's Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet which is apparently a work of Christian SF/Fantasy that got shelved in the wrong section (the author's other book is in the inspirational fiction section). I'll probably return it unless someone here has a desire for it (free).

This morning when I went to the office, my second Gryphon packet was waiting for me...hmm, I like the smell of fresh leather bound books..

Going Postal was the first Terry Pratchett I read. I loved it!

#104
I like the smell of old paperbacks with yellowed pages... ;D All my current "new" ones smell like that to some degree. I also like old hardcovers, and old leather bounds, too. All the ones that smell of time. That's the way I like 'em. A new, freshly minted book just doesn't smell like anything. It's like a stranger to me...

#105
Ohhh there were several Pratchett books and I just couldn't decide on which ones to buy. When I decided I wanted to start reading the Discworld novels, I chose the Death series as a starting point. But yesterday at the bookstore I didn't remember which titles were in that series (I already have the first three.) But then, the copy of "The Colour of Magic" said that it's the first Discworld novel, which is good. And when I got home, I read online that "Going Postal" introduces a new character. So all in all, good choices. :D

Some of the good things about Pratchett is that you can start pretty much anywhere and if you want to know the order, there are plenty of fans willing to help out. ^-^ *very grateful for the reading order list when it comes to Pratchett* I'm hoping to get Equal Rites at some point... not this month myself. *still playing catch-up on the Pratchett she missed out on*

I've also received Broken Wings: Genesis (by A.J. Rand, but the touchstone refuses to cooperate with me) in the post today. Silly Amazon keeps telling me it'll take the packages about a month to arrive (international standard shipping and all that), but the packages just don't seem to listen. It bemuses me greatly. (When I'm done going 'Argh! Did you secretly change shipping times and costs on me?!' anyway. ^-~) Can't say I'm complaining about getting the books I ordered faster than anticipated!

Another Mother's Life by Rowan Coleman from vine

Finally treated myself to teh next volumes of Janny's saga Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark supposed to arrive while I was on holiday but i have them now..

Also Riven Kingdom as a sequel to Miller's Empress. Bloodthirsty but good fun.

What's even better there are more books on the way, when the postman gets around to it.

More books is always good!

I was pleasantly surprised when the rest of the shipment arrived later in the course of yesterday. Only I wasn't home, it was delivered to our neighbours and I could only pick the package up today.

Now I've added:

Disgrace by Coetzee and Omeros by Walcott for my courses. (I nearly have all my books now!)

And... Heart of Stone by C.E. Murphy and Into the Dreamlands (but I'm not sure which is the right touchstone for it), which is an anthology. And I just remembered I forgot to add the tag for that, so I'm off to add it now! I'm looking forward to whenever I can dive into them!

I picked up Markings by Dag Hammarskjold. For $2 at the seminary book sale.

That sounds like a great price!

Yep, wish I could have been at the beginning of the sale, would have gotten more good stuff, but this was a nice find.

I just bought the Kindle version of A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss. He is an author with an Early Reviewer's book - Whiskey Rebels - and is on Author Chat. He seemed very interesting and I thought I'd give one of his earlier books a try. Only Kindle it only cost $7 something. Bargain.

Got 4 more Christopher Pike books, Remember me, Gimme a Kiss, Chain Letter and Slumber Party that's half way with the collection now - 26 down 25 to go. (But I'm not collecting the Spooksville books though).

Also picked up The solaris book of new Science fiction volume 2, no I don't have volume one but what the hey?

I just got The Last Kashmiri Rose in the mail through BookMooch. It'll be a nice, light mystery read.

In the post today I got The Wandering Prince and Sabriel from Bookmooch. Unfortunately, they both have to go to the bottom of a very big tbr pile!

I bought Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue without any idea whether I will enjoy reading history of language. So far...it is pretty interesting.

Also, The Book of Plans for Small Gardens in the futile hope that reading a book will get my yard work either looking more attractive to me, or maybe some fairies and gremlins and trolls will just do it for me.

Oh, my bad....I should have started the November thread...

DO NOT POST HERE! Start a new thread, it is a gift to folks with "dial up".

Your wish is my command, my dear. I started a new thread and labeled it November Nabs.

hey i need help i'm doing a book report on amy cruse's the book of myths can any 1 help me

cautionss, you might want to contact Musereader directly. I realize now you posted in this thread because the book you are working on was referenced.