May Acquisitions

Apologies if anyone has started one but in my excitement I couldn't find the latest one. As I'm travelling a lot I'm reading a lot but I'm infrequently in my normal office which is where I get Amazon too deliver too so I'm back there briefly and excited by my new haul.

Bold Spirit Helga Estby's forgotten walk across Victorian America which was second in my unsuggestions but you've got to live a little.
Consider Phlebas I just read Matter having never read any of Iain M. Banks SciFi before and loved it so thought I should start closer to the beginning.
The Children of Hurin I never fancied this when it came out but got fed up with reading good reviews so...
Judas Unchained Sequel to Pandora's Star also just read
Oxford pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage as my wife has just started teaching English again and we've realised our own knowledge of our language is actually pretty poor. I came across Reading Fox's review of another version of this which was also useful - so thanks.

Also got a couple of videos and am waiting for a CJ Cherryh from another source.

Happy May reading

Which Cherryh? I'm curious, and I like her writing :-)

Since we did Foreigner as the group read I've been picking through the sequels (slowly) so now I've received Inheritor which arrived this morning after having written the first post.

Ah. That one's good, even if it to my memory was very slow in the start. But almost all her books are - she elaborately sets the stage, and then *swoosh* she throws in some burning matches.
Not everyone likes it. But I do :-)

Yesterday I went book shopping with LT friends and picked up King's Dragon by Kate Elliott. It has been recommended by friends and although it looks like it might not be my thing, it was only 8 bucks. If I like it, there's 6 sequels, already written.

The Time Thief, Linda Buckley-Archer (I've not read The Time Travelers, but my partner just finished it and needed the sequel)

Nocturnes, John Connolly (really enjoyed Book of Lost Things; thought we'd give him another go)

Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities, Jason Cromwell (for my English honors project and to bulk up the trans section of my personal queer library)

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (Which I apparently already owned, but couldn't check my inventory... I will be SO HAPPY when there's an LT app for my iPod, or I have a cell phone with a better browser)

Mistborn: The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson (giving this a shot per several LTers' recommendations since Alcatraz was not without promise, just not my style)

Laia, Mistborn is way different from Alcatraz, it's not played for laughs. It's really good.

I'm very glad to hear that; I felt like a bit of a stick in the mud for not appreciating the "cleverness" of Alcatraz.

Alcatraz is meant to appear clever to 12-year-olds. Mistborn is very much an adult book.

That looks interesting. I'll have to check into it. Does anyone else come to these threads to make a list of books to look for? Or am I just weird?

I decided to get Chronicles of Amber from the library after last month's thread, so I'd say you aren't alone.

#10 I'd say your questions are not mutually exclusive, kirby, dear. But yeah, I come here for ideas.

:p~~~~

My wishlist expands everytime I read these threads!

Good call, LG; ten pages into Mistborn and I'd never even guess it was the same author. Glad for the nudges :)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies finally came today. And when I went to pick it up, there was Michael Chabon's Summerland on special (Au$5!).

#11 That's not my fault, is it? More on topic, I love seeing what other people are getting and snooping around for potential books to add to my wishlist as well. And I'm still waiting on books like the impatient thing I am. It's not like I don't have plenty of books to read lying around as it is...

>>It's not like I don't have plenty of books to read lying around as it is...

I joined the TBR challenge today, thinking it would be SO easy for me to select 12, or even 24, of the books on my physical TBR shelves that fit the requirements.... ummm... not so much.

I've acquired the VAST majority - as in, more than 270 minus 24 (hell, minus 12) within the last six months. Probably the better half within the last three.

It's a bit disgusting, I'm sure. To someone. Somewhere. Though not likely anyone on this site.

We had our lovely weekend getaway and I visited a couple of the used bookstores in Sidney, finding:
The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen.
William and Dorothy by Helen Ashton - a fictional biography about William and Dorothy Wordsworth.
Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb - such a lovely edition, and inscribed with a wonderful, copperplate handwriting inside that just reminded me of my great aunt, I had to get that edition of the many they had.
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, my husband picked this one up, it'll keep him busy for awhile.
And last but not least Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley.

I'm happy because I picked up two new releases from the library that I've been looking forward to; City of Glass by Cassandra Clare and Raven by Allison van Diepen. I'm a little sad because there is no clear indication when Corambis will be in *sigh* Apparently it was taken out again the day it was returned by mistake despite my hold on it.

#19 - Either he'll love it and read all of the other books loosely connected with it as well (another 3000 pages) or he'll loathe it.

I loved it. Others... don't.

The halfway-decent fantasy bookshop up the road recently changed name (and, presumably, ownership) recently. Went there Saturday and was relieved to find the knowledgeable staff still there, and a good selection of books. Cape out with 2 batches of 3-for-R99 (about 3-for-$12) cookbooks plus an el-cheapo Vietnamese cookbook.

The Last Olympian and I am so engrossed, I can hardly stop to type. But I'm waiting for my new iPod to synch, so I'm here.

I have to read now.

Early days yet, but so far I've added The Norton Anthology of American Literature, My Name is Asher Lev, and Blue Like Jazz to my stash. Now where can I put a third book case in an 8x10 room?

*chuckle* That's what I told him Busifer. I said that you and Jasper had loved it and that others had loathed it, but it certainly had inspired lots of discussion either way! He shrugged and said it looked like it was worth a try :-)

We're five days into May now, and I haven't acquired a single book! I'm very proud of myself. So proud, in fact, that I bet I'll have two waiting for me when I arrive home. Sneaky mail faeries, cutting in on my withdrawal high. :)

5 days!!! Send me your address and I'll mail you a book. You have to overcome the no book curse.

#26... me too! I still wait for two packets to arrive..

...inner peace... inner peace......

...they are late for at least 1 week already....

...inner peace.... *must resist temptation to buy more before packets arrive*....

*plays soothing music and dims the lights*

I think all you good people who have avoided book purchase so far are very righteous and to be admired.

In fact I think you are so fine you deserve a treat....

...maybe a book or something?

I bought four books off the $1 shelf at the library yesterday. :oD

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

#30 - Bwaa haa haa!!!

I bought one at a church rummage sale - an old kid's book called No boats on Bannermere which I really enjoyed. Actually I bought two, but the other one was in Italian and is a gift for my mother-in-law.

The mail faeries are still holding out on me. I'm pleased because the ol' TBR list is slimming down without all those new additions, but I'm also a bit miffed. Come on, mail! Be faster! One of the books I'm waiting on is an ER title from December or January. (I should probably contact Abby about it, but I can't remember the protocol and I don't want to be a pest).

We've been on a bit of a YA sf/f bender lately: last night, we picked up Evil Genius and Genius Squad, as well as The Reformed Vampire Support Group and Coraline. Also grabbed The Dante Club and The Elegance of the Hedgehog off the BOGO table. The mail fairies brought Daughter of Fortune this week, too...

Oh, I really enjoyed Evil Genius! I haven't read Genius Squad yet though.

I need to start noting where I get the additions to the TBR pile; I keep wanting to say, "Oh, I read so-and-so's review and thought it sounded fun," but I can't remember who so-and-so was! :)

Aglaia, I use the comments function on my Amazon wishlist for easy referencing, but as I started it somewhere after having seven pages, it's a little bare! ^-~ It's a very fun idea, though.

I haven't received any books yet, but I did order some. ^-^; One is a set of The Dark Is Rising Sequence since loose copies are easier to carry around for me. (And the rest is all hush-hush until they actually arrive! I haven't acquired books until I have them in my home after all!)

The Reformed Vampire Support Group is out?!

*runs to bookstore*

No books yet for me, but I've requested one special one for Mother's Day, so we'll see if it comes through...

Just downloaded the new Laurie R. King, The Language of Bees. Woo hoo! New Mary Russell books make me all excited!

*back from bookstore*

Now I have The Reformed Vampire Support Group, and I found that Richard Harland has a YA steampunk novel out, Worldshaker, so I left with that, too. That wasn't good for my bank, but it was good for my reading!

I just got a pop-up version of Narnia as a gift for my granddaughter. That Deadalus catalog is a killer. If I don't throw it out right away, I'm sunk.

New Glen David Gold book Sunnyside is not yet kindle-ized! Grrrrr! I loved Carter Beats the Devil.

I went to the used bookstore, and came out with a whole bag of books! Two from my wish list, and the rest ones I couldn't resist.

A Countess Below Stairs
Ashes to Ashes - Emma Lathen
both from the wish list

The Long Farewell
Wizards at War
both from favorite authors

Cry, the Beloved Country
for my 999 challenge

Mad Hatter's Holiday
The Cheyne Mystery
The Trouble in Thor
Mask of Evil
Waxwork
All ones I didn't know I wanted until I found them. And I got a great bargain! I paid $6 for the Alan Paton book, but I got all the rest for $20! So I feel very happy. Now I guess I'd better be good for the rest of the month. But I'm hoping for a book for Mother's Day. Although given my TBR list, I think a DVD or game would be great too.

cmbohn, that is the perfect sentence. "All ones I didn't know I wanted until I found them." That's what happens to me all the time in used bookstores and when my husband asks me "Was that on your wish list?" I have to respond "Well, no, but it would have been, if I'd known about it!" lol

Exactly!

YA steampunk, Will? *pounces* I want that on my wishlist!

I just got a book in the mail, but I doubt it'll touchstone. It's an (ezine) anthology a friend of mine got published in. Semaphore Annual 2008. My day is ending on much squee as a result! *so very proud of her friend*

#44 - ooh, A Countess Below Stairs is amazing! It was one of the best books I read last year. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Seven days in now, and I'm still acquisition free! Horray! If nothing comes in tomorrow's mail, I'll have gone two whole weeks without adding anything to la TBR.

#40 - I am green with envy! I have a rule that I can't read her new ones until they come out in paperback. *pouts*

47 - You've read Larklight and Mortal Engines, right? And you must see The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello (youtube link).

New month? Here we go again :)

Judas Priest: Heavy Metal
Blue Oyster Cult: Secrets Revealed!

These entertaining books go into each song, album, shenanigans surrounding the bands, and a good time was had by all

Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin. So far, it's great!

My brother owed me some money and added some books I wanted to his amazon order, but now I owe him money, which I'll pay back by adding books he wants to my next book order, which will probably mean he'll end up owing me some money...

It's a lovely, vicious circle :oD

He just brought over:
Alphabet of Thorn
The Bell at Sealey Head, both by Patricia McKillip
and The Language of Bees which I couldn't resist getting right away although I may reread the previous Mary Russell books before starting this.

# 50 - Alas, no. I'm still very much new to the genre. (So by all means, recommend away if you're so inclined.) *bookmarks YouTube link for when she's a little more awake and able to appreciate the finer points of it* Thankees! ^-^

#48 I second that for Countess Below Stairs. It was a really good book. Does anyone remember the original title it was published under?

I logged in several books last night. I've been buying quite a few (for me and my classroom) from garage sales in the past month. We'll probably go again tomorrow. I won't pass down a good book for $1 or less. I'm trying to be good and not order any books from B&N or Amazon. My birthday is next week, and I'm very positive that I will be getting gift cards.

Still no books this month, but I ordered 3 Balinese Shadow play puppets for our living room wall:

#55 - it's called The Secret Countess in the UK and Canada. I imagine it's the same in Australia and New Zealand, too.

I went a little crazy this afternoon and drove into town during my free period and went to the library and one of the many charity shops in the high street and came back with four books and only spent £3!
From the Library:
Parasite Positive
Sabriel
Warwick the Kingmaker (touchstone auther is wrong)
From the British Heart Foundation shop:
The Bronze Horseman (super happy to find this it was on my must-buy-as-soon-as-poss list)
Now i need to go home and somehow prevent my parents from discovering my insane activities *gulps*

I picked up The Road at Half-Price Books last night.

#56 - Those are great! Are they actual puppets, or just pictures of them?

#60: They are actually the real puppets. About 60cm each. We were searching for nearly two years for something to put on our living room wall over the sofa. I found these ones in an online shop. They are made from buffalo hide, wood and then painted... and shipped directly from Bali.

I will make some photos when they arrive and we put them on the wall

First new (not second hand) books this month Black Ships that I've been desperate to get since I read the first chapter, seems like historical fiction to me so I went straight there but I couldn't find it and asked for it and she led me to - fantasy, which is where I would have gone next anyway, maybe reading it might show why it got the fantasy label. Also got Graceling and people say you don't get strong women in fantasy.

the Color of Magic
Dragonflight
Terrier

Friends have been recommending Pratchett to me for ages, and I've finally started reading Discworld. Last Continent and Small Gods were both amazing. Can't wait to read this one. Dragonflight was another recommendation from some RL friends, and I know three people, including another guy, that are reading Tamora Pierce, and I like being able to discuss books with people IRL, so I picked up a copy of Terrier too. All three were bought from my local independent bookstore.

I went to the library's book sale today and got some books.

The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Coined by Shakespeare by Stanley Malless
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

A couple of them have the library stickers on them, but they were only a dollar each so it's not that bad.

I'm still at 0 additions in May! Go me! (Boo to the postal service, though. Seriously, could they be any slower?)

My mother informed me today that she'd like to go out for lunch tomorrow, then head off to a bookstore. We'll see if I can resist the urge to buy myself a little something. Maybe I'll be able to stave off the withdrawal demons by buying her a book.

Got Toll the Hounds yesterday. All 1295 pages of it! (Rubs hands together gleefully.) Now, just for a quick reread of Reaper's Gale to pick up the threads . . .

I just got two books for my birthday- the first book in the new Laura Childs series, Eggs in Purgatory, and Chocolate: A Collection of over 100 essential recipes. I can't wait to 'read' that one!

Another fantastic book-buying day, though not as successful as I'd hoped. Can't find a copy of Reading the Romance ANYWHERE, and I feel as though books recommended by your prof for a final project should be incorporated somehow... Ugh. AAAAaaaanyway, on to the goods.

We watched the movie The Seeker not long ago, so Mare picked up The Dark is Rising boxed set, continuing our YA sf/f run. She also found Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less, which sounds like watching linoleum curl to me, but hey, whatever makes her happy!

I found what seemed to be the only remaining copy of Lessons from the Fatosphere in San Francisco; it's written by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby, and came out just this week. They both have incredible online presences, and I'm anticipating more of the same here. I also snatched up Sarah Waters's new novel, The Little Stranger, and am very much looking forward to that. Got The Well of Ascension too, since I'm blazing through Mistborn.

In book-related purchases, I picked up one of these fun doohickeys:



Not something I'll die without if I change books and don't have it, but worthwhile for oversized paperbacks especially, and maybe more useful for slower readers who don't have to move it every thirty seconds when they get to the bottom of a page.

Picked up a book that I had been searching for for a while, Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes at Half-Price Books. Sweet.

Received for Mother's Day, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún by J.R.R. Tolkien. Touchstones must not like the title. I love the cover, woodcarvings which remind me of Edoras.

#55 & 57 I think The Secret Countess must be a recent title change for A Countess Below Stairs as I have an older pb edition, published here in the UK, and mine has the latter title, so I think it must be the original title.

I can't remember if it was that one, or a different book by Eva Ibbotson that I saw in a bookshop and thought it was a new book by her, then looked and found it was one I already owned, with a changed title. :-( Why do they do that?

# 68 - The Dark Is Rising! I'm so looking forward to getting my boxed set for easy rereading!

My own haul of May is...
The Swan Maiden by Jules Watson
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson (this one. It doesn't want to touchstone with two books of the same title, apparently.)
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Aaand... I think that's it so far, but I still have books coming in later in the month, so...

Laia, thanks for the Sarah Waters tip. Just downloaded it for my Kindle and I don't care that it's $15. I love Sarah Waters.

I don't even know what this one is about yet; I just saw that she had a new one out and had to have it. Fingersmith has probably been my favorite so far, but they're all so beautifully written.

#74 Yeah, she's def one of those authors whose new work I will just buy without partaking of the hype. Hasn't let me down yet.

Forgot to add that I got The Annotated Pride and Prejudice, and promptly began boring everyone within earshot by reading it aloud, notes and all. This promises to be good as the annotator's comments are very similar to the ones I made when we read it for book club.

Just got the Gnostic Mystery in the mail for the ER program. Also got the Graveyard Book and Anathem through bookswim. Almost positive I'm keeping Graveyard, might keep Anathem.

Just downloaded the new Colson Whitehead novel, Sag Harbor. My Kindle is stuffed with great TBRs right now!

I picked up The Bloodhounds of Broadway and In Pursuit of the Green Lion today.

I got Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith and The Glass of Time by Michael Cox from Audible yesterday. I also found out that my daughter, who is not a reader, was inspired to read Twilight after watching the movie. She's enjoying the first book so much I bought her New Moon yesterday. Anything to encourage her to read more.

I'm no longer acquisitionless. My copy of Alien Earth by Megan Lindholm arrived in yesterday's mail.

Just bought the copy of the Graveyard Book I borrowed from bookswim.com. Its a Gaiman, so I knew I was going to buy it when I requested it, just thought I'd wait till now since I didn't technically own it yet. :D

I held Tea Time for the Traditionally Built and The Language of Bees in the bookstore the other day. Does that count? I put them down because I have no money for hardbacks right now unless they are on a killer sale.

In addition to the usual produce stalls, crafts, coffee and what-have-you, there was a stall from the SPCA with second-hand books, four of which begged to come home with me. Well probably more than 4, but these made it:

The Complete Book of South African Cheese by Leslie Richfield -- like I could pass that up, even though it's nearly 20 years out of date!
The best traditional recipes of Greek Cooking
Tropical Plants and Flowers by Stirling Macoboy
Encyclopedia of Garden Plants and Flowers by Lance Hattat

I've quite a few books that have found a home with me now.

The Dark Is Rising Boxset by Susan Cooper (Because I like my time books for hauling them around.)
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Little Grrl Lost by Charles de Lint
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Max Havelaar by Multatuli

I've no idea what I want to read next. So many choices!

My dad's birthday is tomorrow and I still hadn't bought him a present when I saw a new Tolkien book at Target. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. It's a nice looking book too, so I hope he will like it.

I never bought textbooks when I was a student, (they were too expensive, and we never used them), so I've been filling in the gaps in my library as the opportunity arises. Yesterday I got:

Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History by Sarah B. Pomeroy et al.
Athenaze I by Maurice Balme
Classical Myth by Barry B. Powell

It cost me $11 for the lot. Thrift stores are glorious.

I had a nosy in Waterstones yesterday (both of them) and came home with 3 books found in the 3 for 2 offer :
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Uncommon Reader
Company of Liars
All of them look to be pretty good books and were all recommended on here so I feel hopeful that i'll like all 3.

the Marriage of Sense and Soul
the Golden Bough
Varieties of Religious Experience
Voyage of Slaves

I have a love/hate relationship with Powell's.

One of the employees at my workplace wrote a book! He gave me a copy to read, which was very generous of him, because they are expensive, being self-published. Journey to Sunset, by Michael Alan Todd. It's the story of his uncle, who was a pilot during WWII.

The touchstones sadly bring up only Danielle Steel books, which, I'm pretty sure, are nothing like this one!

As a treat to myself for getting through my History final without crying, vomiting, or both, I headed to Phoenix for a bit of lit porn. My partner picked up The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (I need to try the Artemis series again; couldn't get into it the first time), and we'll both read John Twelve Hawks's The Dark River. I found copies of Oliver Twist, which I've just started reading on my iPod e-reader app, Mrs. Dalloway for a second V. Woolf after reading To the Lighthouse for school last semester, and Reading the Romance thanks to a recommendation from this semester's English professor. Gah, they're even infiltrating my TBR, someone HALP!!! :-P

I got Threads from the Web of Life in the mail today and it's wonderful so far. The first stories are all about the ocean, which fits right in with my latest obsession, Endless Ocean for the Wii.

I got Daylight by Elizabeth Knox in the post today. Clearly, I need to grow a few more brains so I can read more books at once...

Went a little nuts tonight... I think the total was 17. Full list is on my blog, along with mini blurbs on why for each book. Have I mentioned that I have an addiction?

Foliofiles

So this serves the dual purpose of also introducing the new blog; I'd love to have more visitors :) It's still very much in the "becoming" stages, but it's been a long time coming, and I'm really excited about it.

I have been a naughty boy this month:

Tekkonkinkreet

FLCL Vol. 1

FLCL Vol. 2

Dramacon

Dolis

Star Trek: The Manga

RE Dark is Rising sequence: Much better than the movie. I was really dissappointed in the movie after having read the books. However, the books were fairly easy reads.

I just picked up for my birthday:
Tuck (I've been waiting for this one for a while)
The Reluctant Heiress (speaking of Ibbotson)
The Last Apprentice
and several Manga titles (I'm trying to find a series I like)

I also ordered several more Manga titles and the True Blood first season DVD. Someone said it was really good, so we're giving it a try. Anyone read the books?
I'm itching to buy more. I'm going to go check out the must read thread.

I put off buying books during my move, but that's over now. I had a friend in town this week and we visited a local independent bookstore while she was here -- I made up for lost time by buying:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (recommendation off of the Perceval Press web site)
Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, which is a compilation of essays and recipes for one
Chesapeake's Bounty -- a cookbook by Katie Moose
and Pure Simple Cooking by Diana Henry

Also, I perused my Amazon wishlist to see what was available used and picked up a couple of genealogy books:

The Complete Book of Emigrants (1661-1699) by Peter Wilson Coldham
and The Genealogist's Address Book

#95 Teenauthor: hope you enjoy Tekkonkinkreet. I thought it was great.

I found a gorgeous Everyman edition of The Iliad at my favourite bookstore. Best of all, it's translated by Robert Fitzgerald, the guy who changed my mind about The Odyssey. I think it may be my next read; I can't wait to dive in.

The Annotated Pride and Prejudice finally arrived! I'm so excited. My sister was here when the mail came and reacted so enthusiastically I think I'll have to get a copy for her. And my daughters. This could get pricey.

Strange but true: when I added the copy of Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud I picked up at the airport, LT told me I have the only copy, but now the touchstone assures me I don't own it but others do.

Got cornered by the bookshop at National Herbarium to courier stuff home and, well, does any good Dragoneer come out of a bookshop empty-handed? I didn't; and claimed I was getting ready for a planned holiday in November, and so need
Field Guide to the Trees of the Kruger National Park by Piet van Wyk,
Field Guide to the Acacias of South Africa by Nico Smit
two parts of the Flora of Southern Africa
and a new fern book I didn't have to pay for.

And I was given a fungi book by a good friend who works with Taliska.

It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm super-psyched about ordering Watcher in the Woods today, used off of Amazon. I was reminded of the really creepy Disney movie version starring Bette Davis after reading a "Name that Book" post earlier today. I was about 6 or 7 when I saw it and it scared the bejeebus out of me. I can't wait to read it!

#101 hfglen, A spot of combining and Ptolemy's Gate is fixed for you.

I tried to make a little room in my bookshelves and coaxed my husband that he really didn't want to keep those paperbacks that he hadn't read and probably wouldn't read. He agreed, so I took them to the used bookstore and low and behold I came back with Conceit by Mary Novik, one of our own LT Authors, Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson (very funny stuff), and two more Barbara Pym's Excellent Women and Quartet in Autumn. *sigh* Yup, I'm really glad I'm made room in the bookshelves. lol.

I'm proud of myself. I went into a bookstore yesterday to buy a gift for someone and I only bought the gift!

Wow!

Picked up Hero of Ages on the final day of our San Diego trip; was beginning to think I'd never find a copy! My partner also got me the current Writer's Digest for the plane, and I'll be subscribing once we get home. Happy birthday to me :)

#102 - I remember seeing that movie when I was little! It scared the crap out of me. I'm still pretty leery around mirrors.

#103 -- thank you, Musereader!

#105 Congratulations!

I came home to two packages today. I'd been waiting for one of them for over a month now, so I'm very happy it's finally arrived! In the packages were:

Alabaster by Caitlín R. Kiernan
and
Seven for a Secret by Elizabeth Bear

#108, xicanti: LOL! :o)

Manna from genealogical heaven arrived with the mail today: The New A to Zax: A Comprehensive Genealogical Dictionary for Genealogists and Historians.

Okay, I've broken my ban on buying... LOL

I bought these used:

Run by Ann Patchett
French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano

These new:

The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
Thomas Jefferson: Author of America by Christopher Hitchens
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

And this is my latest ER book: Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak

*pats Clam* Does it console you any if I tell you you bought a fraction of the books I did after breaking my ban?

I now also have:

The Rescuers and Miss Bianca by Margery Sharp
The Faery Flag: Stories and Poems of Fantasy and the Supernatural by Jane Yolen

#112 Clam,

should we ever meet, please ask my wife about French Women don't get fat. It's a fun read but she holds strident (and lengthy) opinions on the main subject suffice to say she believes the title might more accurately be "Parisian women of a certain social group don't get fat"

#113 - It does help a little. But this was my second 'binge' this month. LOL

#114 - Yeah, I kind of figured that. I bought it because I figured there would be awesome descriptions of fabulous French foods. The more I think about it the more I worry that it will probably end up making me eat MORE.

Funny thing is, I bought that book for a few dollars used at the library, and the librarian said "Why French women don't get fat? I just assumed it was because so many of them still smoke." Is there still a largish smoking culture over there? I haven't been to Europe since 1990, but I was shocked to see how many people were smoking, especially in Ireland.

I'll... probably still be way ahead of you... *goes count* I'm at 19 this month. *does quick check* Yep. One book more and I'm at double your number for the month. (Was it you who recommended BetterWorldBooks to me, Clam? I can't remember and I'd like to thank the person who did. I found several books I'd been wanting for ages there!)

I don't know how large the smoking culture here is, by the by, but it seems that most every EU country is moving towards banning or curbing smoking in public areas such as restaurants and the like. While I doubt that answers your question, I hope it does offer some insight. ^-~

I think the smoking culture is on the decline but it's still fairly prominent, again particularly amongst women it seems to be more resilient. It is seen less due to the restrictions that Shanra mentions but it means when you do see people smoking it's often a small group of people hanging around the entrance to a bar or a restaurant.

To be fair though the small dark cups of coffee also play a part as do their lifestyles. Generally the food that they do eat is pretty healthy and many people are surprisingly active, playing tennis and the such like.

*sigh* i did it again and bought 2 new books while i was out today though frankly i blame my sister and bf for not being better chaperones and stopping me!
got The Notebook and The Lucky one - i've already read the first one this afternoon and loved it, not sure when i'll get round to reading the other.
Will probably be back here again tomorrow since my amazon order tried to arrive today but i missed it by 15 mins *grrr* so i've got to fetch it from the depo tomorrow. Three more books in there... when will i get a grip on myself??

My Kindle finger is itching to buy the new Iain Pears Stone's Fall, but I've bought so many new books lately that I don't know what. Maybe I should just read a few of them and then reward myself.

Kindle is dangerous, y'all. It's so easy to buy and own immediately with just one click!

#119 - Okay, I'm staying clear, then. I daresay, new Kindle purchases are easier to hide, too. LOL There's no need to walk in the door with the B&N bag held sideways behind the back so it's not so obtrusive, is there littlegeek?

#116 - Yep, you've doubled my total, Shanra. I have been trying soooo hard to read more of what I own. I consider almost two thirds of my catalog to be my TBR pile. That's a ton of TBRs. :o/

#119, 120: I would get in so. much. trouble. This is probably 90% of why she won't buy me one :-P

#120 I hear ya. However, hubby & I have an agreement: he doesn't comment on my book or yarn purchases and I don't give him crap about his video games.

#123, This is similar to our arrangement, but harder to track - my purchases are $100 in books here, $75 in makeup there, and hers are $500 appliances or $1,000 computer software/hardware every few months.

#123 - My husband doesn't comment, either. He doesn't have to. I just project all my lapsed Catholic guilt instead. Heh heh.

My husband has found it's harder to hide piles of wood or fancy new woodworking equipment than books, fabric or yarn. Well, maybe not the books . . .

#124 - Can I just say how much I love your profile picture, aglaia531!

I don't think your deal sounds too fair to me, BTW.

Thanks, clam! It makes me giggle :)

It works out pretty well (though I pretend it's fully in her favor!), considering that her big purchases are really for us - I use our computer at home far more than she does, we don't have to go anywhere to do laundry anymore, the dishwasher means no more petulant me, pouting about it being my turn to wash... :-P

I've been trying not to buy books, but... Well, you can see how that's going. I was trying to get five books read last weekend, though, to make up for the ones I ordered last. (That didn't work either.)

I'm just grateful my catalog isn't half-TBR pile... Although I am slowly creeping towards the 200 unread books. (Ah, well, soon I'll have a big cut in income and I'll be forced to be more careful with what I buy.)

Wow, Mare sounds like a really cool gf.

btw, hubby is looking forward to meeting you two.

We're excited to meet you two, too! We really need to scout for a good time to head to a Giants game, too...

Totally! Did you see Lincecum's start last night? Chipper Jones' reaction to being struck out in the 6th (?) was priceless.

Tim is my hero.

I'm so out of this season's loop, I haven't even been using my gameday audio to listen to the sox at work; I've been seriously out of my mind at both job and school until this weekend. Now, I'm beginning to recover from the crash from the mini-vacation over the holiday, and zombie Kirsten is slowly returning to life. Thankfully, one of the hospital aides has been keeping me up to speed on wins/losses, LoL

Well, trust me, you have to see him.

/hijack (sorry)

Getting the thread back on track, I visited the local independent bookstore today and came away with a copy of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience.

Did it again. Went to the back door of Goodwill and dropped off two storage bins full of stuff (including books), and then went to the front door and bought some books. Not too many though. The List:

The Night Lives On by Walter Lord
Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust by Allan Zullo
In Our Humble Opinion by Tom and Ray Magliozzi
The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam

A couple weeks ago a couple friends went to a Tamora Pierce event. I was reading Terrier at the time and loving it. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the event because of school work. One of my friends was nice enough to buy me a copy of her new book Bloodhound and even got it autographed by Pierce. She's been holding it trying to catch me for the past week or two to hand it over, and we finally connected tonight at dinner.

Forgot to mention I didn't make just one fall off the wagon this weekend. I also stopped at Hastings Book/Music Store and got these:

Quotable Quotes: The Book Lover
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
When You Lunch with the Emperor by Ludwig Bemelmans

They look like fun.

After these posts I feel virtuous. Tuesday the phone rings, and it's the SPCA bookshop with a rare and valuable book they thought I'd like, for "only" ZAR3000.00 (slightly over US$320). I saind thanks, I already have it. A friend bought it, and is well pleased with the purchase.

#120 clam: You mean I'm not the only one who does that? If I'm strong enough to only buy 1 or 2 books I can hide them in my purse. That doesn't happen often.

I went and ordered Magic Kingdom for Sale for the HE book read, and ended up buying about 3 more things. I've really got to stop ordering my books online. It's way too easy.

>137 DeusExLibrus: I am uber envious of your friends- Tamora Pierce is my favourite author but i doubt she makes it over to this side of the Pond very often so what i wouldn't do to be able to go to one of those events.... *wistful sigh*

Anyways ! I had a pleasant surprise this morning when i found that a Mooch arrived for me (which incidentally hasn't been "accepted" or "sent" yet it still says "requested" - how odd) So now i have The Lovely Bones which looks rather interesting although methinks i will have to ration myself to read slowly after last night's/this mornings binge (finished my latest read at 3am -_- )
Picked my amazon order up from the Post Office inside was:
Pagan's Crusade
Wicked Lovely
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
How long this lot is going to last i have no idea cos i've already got a major hankering to read Pagan's Crusade and I've read the first chapter or so of the Sebold book... must.resist.books... argh!

To all those worried about hiding books. I just keep them at work until I know the man will be coming home late from work. Then I bring some home. He doesn't notice if I just add a couple here and there. It is really for his own good.

#142 - I like the way you think...

jmaloney17==wow I never thought of doing that--but my problem is I buy on my way home from work so to bring them back is a hassle. I just hide them in the basement til he's distracted or out and sneak them in.

>142 jmaloney17: unfortunately for me I only work saturdays and i only have a tiny locker to call my own so leaving books there is out of the question. I'm only a student so i still have to go through the spanish inquisition with my parents when i come home with new books cos they want to know why i'm spending more money and then using up the time i should be revising in to read my new books. Hence my sneaky tendencies when it comes to books - the less the parents know the better ;)

A very retro-looking copy of Crimson Is the Eastern Shore arrived today in addition to the aforementioned Watcher in the Woods.

LadyViolet - I love the Pagan books. They're really good! (You know there are 5 of them?)

Cashing checks at bank + Too much free time + Book store nearby = Stupidity!

For $30 USD:
The Lynne Truss Treasury
Mr. Knightley's Diary
Captain Wentworth's Diary
Edmund Bertram's Diary
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels
Interred With Their Bones
The Children of Hurin
Slay Ride- for a gift

That's on top of I Used To Know That, I Before E (Except after C), The Man Who Loved Jane Austen, and Top Secret Recipes the other day. As if this isn't enough, two hours after I bought all these books Abby informed me that I won The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy! That makes seven Austen-based books this month. I have no clue what you people mean by banning yourself from buying books- it's not like it gets out of control or anything... :)

My postman happily handed over another packet of books for me today. My wallet is very, very cross with me. The new additions are

- The Swan Maiden by Susan King
- Fudoki by Kij Johnson
- Hush by Donna Jo Napoli
- Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle

Yayy. After waiting almost 3 months I finally got my Feb ER book. Bozo and the Storyteller, sent all the way from England. And there's a personal autograph in it by the author, which makes the wait worth it! Very nice touch :o)
Here's hoping it meets expectations.

I did pretty well for a while with not buying books, until the past week or so, when I got:

The seven towers by Patricia C. Wrede
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Hammered by Elizabeth Bear
The realms of the gods, The Emperor Mage, and Wolf-speaker by Tamora Pierce

I've still been really, really good about adding to my TBR, (only four additions all May!), but I figure I get a free pass on books that I don't intend to read. With that in mind, I bought an old, old trade paperback of The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice today. It's one of my very favourite books, and I'm a little odd about owning multiple editions of my favourites. It was only $1.04 with tax, too, so it's not like it broke the bank.

Fire Watch arrived in the post on Friday. Huzzah!

>WillSteed yes i do know that there are 5 - the four Pagan books and then Babylonne. It's proving quite difficult for me to find the other 3 Pagan Chronicles since amazon isn't stocking them at the moment so i'm not sure when i'll be able to read the others after I've read Pagan's Crusade. But it does look pretty awesome though I can see myself laughing *a lot* when i read it later.

ETA: hell!! i just *had* to go into town at lunch and look what happened!! I come back with THREE more books (admittedly one is a library book but still) ARGH i am my own worst enemy i simply cannot be trusted to keep my debit card to myself! Now i've gotta smuggle *more* books into the house and this time i need to keep them hidden from my sister as well or she may actually grass me in. *sigh*
Came back with: Ink Exchange, Gossip Girl: The Carlyles, Take a Chance on me and borrowed First Sight

I picked up Pagan In Exile on a whim while on vacation a couple years ago and even though I read it out of order, I loved it! I then flew through the others of the series although I have to say I was slightly disappointed by both Pagan's Scribe and Babylonne. The first three books were wonderful!

Pagan is now one of my favorite literary characters.

Over memorial day weekend, Half Price books had a 20% off sale, and I went a little crazy. Picked up a lot of stuff I'd been looking for, and still left behind a lot of stuff I just couldn't quite justify buying. Here are my acquisitions. Mind that I've never read any of these yet (besides some of the Lovecraft stores). In fact, besides Traviss, Card, and Lovecraft, I haven't even read any of these authors yet:

- The entirety of Karen Traviss' Wess'har series: City of Pearl, Crossing the Line, The World Before, Matriarch, Ally, and Judge
- Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Keeper of Dreams by Orson Scott Card
- Shadows of Death, an H. P. Lovecraft collection
- In the Eye of Heaven by David Keck
- The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney
- War and Peace by Tolstoy (for 80 cents, I couldn't pass it up)
- A Feast For Crows by Martin
- Star Wars: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn
- Star Wars: Patterns of Force by Michael Reaves
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

LadyViolet: The Pagan books are all still in print here in Australia, so any Australian booksite (for example bookworm.com.au) should stock it, but you'll have to pay the postage. The Australian edition of Babylonne is called Pagan's Daughter.

Over the weekend, I picked up several used books. From a sale at my friend's library: Harvard College (no touchstone, yet) by An Oxonian (1906). And from Lorem Ipsum in Cambridge, Mass.: Boston Inside Out! Sins of a Great City (also no touchstone that I can find just yet) by Rev. Henry Morgan (1883), Macaulay's History of England Vol. V and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass (someone's 1960 copy, obviously used in class and containing some amusing doodles).

I went to Half-Price today intending to sell a bunch of freebies I picked up at the end of the book sale at my college library's sale this past year. Unfortunately the box had gotten wet and moldy, so I made zippo on the books after lugging them all the way there. However I did walk away with a copy of Facing a World in Crisis by Jiddu Krishnamurti, one of the most engaging, thought provoking philosophers in recent history.

I was really really bad, really, I was in Oxfam and had spent £9 on 3 books - Wizards and witches, Spensers poetical works and English Literature in the 16th century by C. S. Lewis - then I saw in the locked cupboard behind the till a blue book called Tales and Legends of the english Lakes, I am a sucker for anything Mythological and Legendy and it was £45, This is unspotted and 2/3rds uncut 1st ed from 1891, I only had £40 though, but the woman at the till saw how much I wanted it and she sold it to me for £40, and then put another £5 in the till herself, 20 minutes later I found a cash machine went and got some money out, went back to the shop and gave her the extra £5 back, she said thst she hadn't expected to see me again, it was so nice of her to do that for me, I'm unemployed and I shouldn't be able to afford £45 but I couldn't let her pay for it for me.

Also got Hero of Ages and The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun in the post from Amazon today.

It isn't May anymore, I'm gonna start a June books thread if it hasn't been done already.

*Kirby is seen writing something, with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.*
Don't mind me. I'm just making a list for my B&N trip tonight.
*scribbles on several sticky notes*

Edited to fix spelling