Books Brought Home - November 2009

Another month, another thread, another step closer to winter... Time to get stockpiling books for those snowy evenings and lazy holidays, folks! ;-)

That's what I kept telling myself last weekend at my local library's annual Friends of Library sale. Over the course of 3 days I came home with 49 books for under $20. Far too many titles to list, but included are cookbooks, works of fiction, memoir, biography, and history.

I have three new ones from vine..

The Mist by Carla Neggers

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

The Man with the Golden Flute: Sir James, a Celtic Minstrel by James Galway

I just bought A Child called "It" by David Pelzer and The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien for 500 Yen each which is sooo cheap!

I think I read the first one years ago and I gave the Ring-Triology a try when the first movie was released but I thought it was so boring... So I will try it again, hopefully it's better this time.

Included in yesterday's mail was a copy of the latest release by Archipelago Books, Translation is a Love Affair by the Canadian author Jacques Poulin.

Went to B & N last night and bought Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie and The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

About a third of the way in to Spooner by Pete Dexter, I'm a Pete Dexter fan, but honestly, this one hasjn't hooked me yet. Oh well, Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving just came in the mail, so I've got another to look forward to.

At Borders today bought Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn and From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris.

I am new to this website and I just finished "The First Crusade" by Thomas Ashbridge. I really want to study ancient Europe or CE - Catholic Europe. Any suggestions on how best to follow the crusades?

nzurisana--wow that many books for $20--outstanding!!

I carried the following home from vacation: "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" and Married to a Bedouin. I recommend both.

@9, Kelly: You can always check the Medieval Europe group (http://www.librarything.com/groups/medievaleurope), but from my collection I would recommend:

For the early Middle Ages and the rise of Christianity (in all its forms):
- The Rise of Western Christendom by Peter Brown
- Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom by Tom Holland
- The inheritance of Rome by Chris Wickham

For the crusades:
- The Crusades by Terry Jones (humorous but factual popular history book)

You can always check my Medieval History collection: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/divinenanny/medievalhistory

And see my reviews for my thoughts on some of these books.

Back to book buying and/or getting:

I just spent the weekend cataloguing my FIL's books into LT (do I get a commission for selling a lifetime account ;)), and discovered a couple of doubles. He gave them to us :D.

Een barbaar in China (A barbarian in China) by Adriaan van Dis about the author's travels through China.

Het Spookklooster (The Haunted Monastery) by Robert van Gulik about Judge Dee (7th century China) and a mystery he has to solve.

Picked up a very out-of-character book at B&N yesterday. The Love Dare by Stephen Kendrick. It was recommended by our premarital classes counselor. Ironically, we deliberately chose to use a secular agency and then she brings up this and mentions it's what the Kirk Cameron 'Fireproof' film was based on. But some poking around showed that people from a range of (and even a lack of) religious backgrounds found the first half of it helpful, and it was only $10, so we agreed to try it.

I also placed a Powells.com order yesterday but it feels it would be bad luck to list the books until they actually arrive. Especially since they're all used and I don't want to jinx myself on something being already-sold after all.

Today our flirty postie arrived at the shop bearing a new hardback copy of The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman. I read it from the library but when I ordered my own copy a few weeks ago, it was all torn where someone had scraped a sticker off the front. Since it was advertised as 'Like New' I got a refund and ordered another one from someone else... and now I have one of my favouritest books for my very own. :-D

Oh, and on my tiny errand run to the local newspaper office, I managed to fall into the remaindered bookshop next door and buy Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I've never read any of his but Fiesta and A Moveable Feast are the two I really want to try - and now I have them both waiting for me.

WHEN AM I GOING TO HAVE TIME TO READ ALL THESE BOOKS? But still I can't help myself...

Ellie , I just started reading A Moveable Feast . I have the new edition which was edited by his grandson Sean Hemingway .

Jonathan Ames's book of essays,I Love You More than you Know- out loud funny. the man has no gumptions to share his more embarrassing thoughts and perspectives...most of which both you and i also harbor.

i was driven to read one of his books out of watching the new HBO comedy "Bored To Death" written by Ames and his fictionary self being the lead character. Ted Danson steals the show on most weeks.

>15 elliepotten: I'm forever falling into any place that sells books ;) although my wallet has been quite fortunate recently in that I can't usually find anything I really want (I miss my British Heart Foundation stores)
About the time issue... give up sleep? get a caffeine IV drip to keep a permanent state of alertness :P

I picked up three for $1.50 at a library sale in Vegas over the weekend.
Snow Falling on Cedars
To Sir, With Love
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this one a tie-in for the Johnny Depp movie with a photo section.

I've just bought The Plastic Mind by Sharon Begley for a book group. I'm thinking I need some winter-esque, snowy landscape type books, so think I might hunt out snow falling on cedars. Any other suggestions for my seasonal reading? I've already tried reading Smilla's Sense of Snow but couldn't get into it.

Just picked up two free books from the giveaway bookcase at work, two Week of the Book (Boekenweek) gifts:

Het theater, de brief en de waarheid: een tegenspraak by Harry Mulish and Spitzen by Thomas Rosenboom.

Yay for free books!

I received my 3rd member giveaway today in the mail.

Act like a Gentleman Think Like a Woman by Maria Bustillos

I haven't read Steve Harvey's book but it is one that I want to read. Now I think I have to buy it next week.

The Girl On Legare Street by Karen White

Thank you so much. I looked at your book list and will heed your advice. I accidently found this website last week and was so excited. I have always been an avid reader but after spending a couple of weeks the last 2 summers in Belgium and Italy I became absolutely facinated with the architecture of the early crusaders. I love history anyway. Thanks again.

These are both strong LT recs!! (like what's new,right?)
From Bookmooch & LT friend:
The Believers by Zoe Heller
Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas
Both look so good!!

From Bookmooch today Elegance and Danziger's Travels.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - Anne Brashares

From Sam's Club The Heretic's Daughter and Though Waters Roar. Reading Lavender Morning which is so good right from the get go that I put Unhallowed Ground on a back burner.

I bought a book for my studies: Walther von der Vogelweide a book af his poems. In Germany he is the most popular medieval poet, don't know if he is known in Great Britain/America as well.

>20 emsienumber1: I have a "Let It Snow" group of books on my 1010 Challenge thread. Of course, since I haven't read any of them yet I can't really recommend them but I thought it might be helpful anyway.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/71146

>30 Jenson_AKA_DL: Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have a look.

Brought home three today from Chapters,

Warrior Daughter by Janet Paisley
Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Yesterday, I left Barny Noble's without having bought anything and expected to head to church to take a nap before the book group met. My car, however, apparently recognized the 30% coupon lying in the passenger seat and took me to Borders. I came away with Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount, Jr., which had gotten good notice on the radio, on-line, and maybe in print. Usually (for the past couple of years) I leave new books downstairs until they are entered in LibraryThing, but I wanted easy reading, so I did not delay disappointment. I'll finish it but it is not great; I expected great from what I had heard of it.

Today's mail brought me two books from Barny Noble:

More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman. I really enjoyed The Areas of My Expertise and feel that more of the same must be a good thing.

Blunder by Zachary Shore. At 65 sometimes I try to figure out what happened.

Robert

I went to get just one or two at a book sale down the street and instead returned with these:
Pigs Have Wings
The Man With The Golden Arm
My Enemy The Queen- I've never read Holt but I know I've heard the name.
Summer of my German Soldier- I remember reading this when I was nine or ten.
The Complete Father Brown
In The Woods
The Ax

#34 mstrust: "just one or two" -- famous last words of LTer approaching book sale

I'm teasing you . . . "just one or two" is a favorite mantra of mine also. Besides, it looks as though you found some treasures, and how can you be expected to walk away from those? Enjoy.

"Just one or two," the sister cry of "I'll only be five minutes." Either way, immediately guaranteed to elicit knowing looks/deep sighs/utter despair when uttered outside a bookshop by an LT-er to, well, anyone else...

I received three books in the mail this week:

The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller
A Woman's Story and Shame by Annie Ernaux

Just received the latest Indiespensable shipment : Sam Savage's The Cry of the Sloth.

Lots of books in the mail Thursday and Friday!

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White and Still Lifeby Louise Penny came from Amazon Thursday, plus three of the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace for review

Friday the USPS delivery person brought me The Return by Victoria Hislop (my October LTER book), The Island by Victoria Hislop from bookmooch, and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters for review. I then had to go to both FedEx and UPS to pick up books they had tried to deliver: Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Queen Mary by Julianne Lee and Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan

Mollygrace and Ellie- the reasonings were piled on top of the fact that maybe a week ago I had told, no, VOWED to my husband that I wouldn't need to buy anymore books until the new year as I just returned from New York with two boxes of books. When I showed him the bag of my books yesterday he just looked at me and said, "I knew it!" LOL!

I went to Borders today to use my coupon for buy 1 get one 50 percent off. I had 3 books I really wanted to buy so I had to choose a 4th one to make sure I go 50% off at least 2 books. Here is what I bought:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (need to read for library book club by Nov. 18th. I just joined the book club and I am thrilled that they decided to read this book.)
Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert (This I chose because of a recommendation from a fellow LTer. Will probably read for my 1010 challenge)
3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares (just a book I kept seeing at the store so I figured I better buy while I had a coupon)
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey (going to read this book because I just read Act Like a Gentleman, Think Like a Woman by Maria Bustillos and I want to see what all the fuss is about Steve Harvey's book)

Happy reading all!!

Monic'a

I have fallen behind on posting my books :( I have books from Amazon, from a Local used store and from local chains.

Seraglio by Janet Wallach, Historical Fiction
An ARC that I got for free from the used store. It is fiction based on the true story of a young girl from the French Caribbean who is kidnapped by pirates, and sold into slavery in the Sultan's harem. She eventually becomes powerful and involved with several Sultans.

Housecarl by Laurence Brown, Historical Fiction
Set in Saxon England just before the conquest, follows Harold and Saxons.

The Pyramid by Henning Mankell, Mystery
Short stories that are prequels to the Kurt Wallander Swedish mysteries.

Psycop: Property and Camp Hell by Jordan Castillo Price, Fantasy, Mystery, Gay Romance
Books in the Psycop series. Future mysteries where cops use those with psychic powers to investigate crimes. The first book is an omnibus of books 3 and 4 in the series (Body and Soul and Psycop:Secrets) and the second book is book 5. The series follows Victor the psychic cop and another cop who is also his lover, Jacob.

Terminal Cafe by Ian McDonald, SF
Set in the future, very dark. About nanotechnology that brings resurrection of the dead, and the social structures that evolve to exploit them.

The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper by Paul West, Historical Fiction
Authors fictional study of the women and their milieu, and his theory of who Jack was.

My Dead Body by Charlie Huston, Vampire,
Book 5 (and possibly the last ?) in the Joe Pitt series. Set in modern day NYC, very noir setting of vampire Joe Pitt (its a disease) trying to live free of entanglements of the other vampire clans in Manhattan.

Veil of Lies .by Jeri Westerson, Historical Mystery
First book in a new series set in the England during the Medieval period (1384) about a private sheriff,

The Killing Moon by Chuck Hogan, Thriller
Mystery set in Massachusetts that involves the local police in the crime and cover up.

Never After by Laurell K. Hamilton, Fantasy Anthology
Short stories by 4 authors who take the idea of a failed wedding and run with it.

Search the Dark by Charles Todd, Historical Mystery
Book 3in the Ian Rutledge . Set in England after WWI, the main character is a shell shocked Scotland Yard Inspector. He hears the voice of the soldier he executed for refusing to advance, and the 'two' of them are sent around the country to investigate crimes.

Beat the Reaper by Jack Bazell, Black Humor
Story of a criminal, a doctor, a hospital and the mafia, the witness protection program, and the grim reaper.

2 Non-Fiction:

Before the Pharaohs by Edward Malkowski, Speculative History
Looks at Egyptian pre-history with a different interpretation.

The Mind of Jihad by Laurent Murawiec
It looks at contemporary and historical religious violence as the worship of violence and power.

Spent two days in Maastricht with my boyfriend, and did some book shopping and giving and getting:

- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (for my reading classic resolution)
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Booker Prize 2008)
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (many times recommended to me, and I have already finished it, and liked it)
- Thomas Aquinas: A very short introduction by Fergus Kerr (My first Very Short Introduction, already finished it)
- Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman (A free gift because they are promoting the English book this week)
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Booker Prize 2009, and a gift from my boyfriend ;))
- Amigurumi; Gehaakte dieren by Annie Obaachi (A how to book about Amigurumi)
- Merklapmotieven en hun symboliek by Albarta Meulenbelt-Nieuwburg (About Dutch samplers, including charts)
- Noble House by James Clavell (A gift to my boyfriend, who wants to collect the Dutch hardcover editions of Clavell's books from the early eighties)

That's not too much is it?

Brilliant load of books! Pride and Prejudice - great place for an early foray into classics. A copy of Slaughterhouse Five arrived here yesterday too, in a load of brilliant books given to us by a friend, so I'm looking forward to it!

> crazy4reading- The Book Thief is a terrific read and you should be able to finish it in time!
Ficus & divinenanny- Both very nice hauls!
From my sister (bless her heart):
Dracula & Frankenstein combo from International Collectors Library. Nice!
From library sale:
America America by Ethan Canin I did not even know what this book was about but I've seen a lot of LT praise! We'll see!

Our Books-A-Million had a one-day sale Saturday so I had to hit the bargain rows!

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell (a Shakespeare mystery, looks interesting)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (I have The Kite Runner already so I'm excited about this one!)
Miles From Nowhere by Nami Mun (my Postcolonial Lit class is broadening my interests)
The Lynne Truss Treasury I love Eats Shoots and Leaves and this was only $1.40

Got two more in the mail from PBS this week too:

Daggerspell by Katherine Kerr
The Sacrifice The First Book of The Fey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Not sure when I'm going to find the time to read these...but I am thrilled to have them!

On Friday I picked up Black Bird volumes 1 and 2 from the local indie bookseller and on Saturday I received Madame Bovary and Beautiful Monster from BookMooch.

5 new books arrived in the mail today

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor. 2nd book in trilogy
Surviving Antarctica by Andrea White. A YA book
Flood by Andrew Vachss - crime mystery
Strega by Andrew Vachss - crime mystery
Crow Killer by Raymond Thorp - Mountain Man saga

Just finished Kelly Carrigan's mid-life drama, breast cancer surviving, toddler parenting, Irish family supporting, humorous book, "The Middle Place". ER choice, "When She Flew" by Jennie Shortridge just arrived so it's next for fun stuff. Meanwhile, upstairs are the on-going, more studious books, "Reading like a Writer" Francine Prose (really a writer named Prose), my classics challege book, "Wuthering Heights" and the Short Stories Collection of John Cheever.

Actually, the above mentioned memior is by Kelly Corrigan (I did not intend to misspell your name, Kelly...which is central to her life, as you will read) and the title, which I also got wrong is more correctly: "Middle Place"...delete 'the'. I did, in fact, read and very much recommend the book.

Brought home from a book sale:
Malice Aforethought
Come Along With Me
Murder in Mesopotamia
The Golden Ball and other stories
Peril at End House

I'm very, very close to having the whole Agatha Christie collection.

A friend called last week, announcing he's finally sold his house & is moving to Virginia. Did I want a crack at his bookshelves before he left?

I came home with four boxes of books, mostly American military history. Fortunatly, we had a bookshelf crisis at our house that made acquiring many more feet of shelving mandatory, so I had room for them all.

What kind of bookshelf crisis makes more shelves mandatory, and how can I get said crisis?

Absolutely, I could definitely use that kind of crisis right about now! Since apparently I can't stay away from a bookstore!
Went back to Books-A-Million today...

Lucinda, Darkly by Sunny - I'm a fast reader so i just finished that one, review to follow if I can stay awake long enough.
Trade editions of part of my all-time favorite - the Black Jewels Trilogy: Heir to the Shadows book 2 and Queen of Darkness book 3. Love trade size so now I have to find book 1, too.

#50.....I also loved Kelly Corrigan's Middle Place. It was a wonderful book.

The other day I got Nature Girl from the library .

>53 emaestra: I had about 400 knitting and quilting books on a pair of stackable bookcases. The weight of the books made the stacked cases list heavily to port. They were clearly going to go at any moment. So I emptied them, stacking the k&q books on the floor of my sewing room. I planned to swap them onto another nearby bookcase, but its shelves aren't adjustable and are too narrow to accommodate the k&q books.

The old stackable cases were moved upstairs & swapped with another pair of stackable cases which had been living with much lighter loads. The 'new' stackable cases came downstairs to receive the four boxes of books and my history collection. KB has promised to build me new bookshelves this weekend for the k&q books.

I'm not sure you want to go through all this if it's not absolutely necessary.

I went and sold some books back at Half Price Books, but somehow I managed to buy enough to still spend money after applying what they paid me for the books as well as the gift card I got for my birthday. I brought home:
Gardens of Water by Alan Drew
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
The Concubine by Norah Lofts, which LT says I already own. I'll have to double check, and I may have to take it back and return it
The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman
The Secret Bride by Diane Haeger
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

I also got Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat by Claire Mysko for a blog tour in January.

Oh darn the evils of Oxford with it's six squillion bookshops!! One day wandering round the shops and I came away with four books and a rather sore shoulder from lugging them about- but on the bright side I spend less than a tenner! :)
Got:
Dracula - in a bright green penguin classics edition for only £2.50 in Waterstones
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chawick from an Oxfam bookshop
The Lies of Locke Lamora also from the Oxfam shop
and I was really chuffed with a never-read copy of The Shadow of the Wind for a POUND!! :O
All in all a rather good day if you ignore the abominable mizzle that persisted all day.

Ugh.. after a couple months of putting off adding new aquisitions to my LibraryThing library, I finally updated it and there's way too many to list. So, I'll just name a few of my favorites that I'm looking forward to reading and some more unusual ones:

I picked up several children's books at a recent library sale (as well as three Stephanie Plums) including:

Samantha's Surprise by Bethany Tudor- I'm only one of two LT members with this title, AND my oldest daughter's name is Samantha :-)

Maggie and the Pirate by Jack Keats- it's a cute and bright little illustrated children's book, AND, of course, my youngest daughter's name is Maggie ;-)

Goodbye, Vietnam by Gloria Whelan. We always buy up all the books on Vietnam, as Maggie's dad is from Saigon (he doesn't call it Ho Chi Minh City so neither do I, accepting him as an authority on the subject. My landlord is one of Maggie's many "uncles"... in Vietnamese culture, close friends of your parents are called aunts and uncles, just as if they were blood relatives... and also calls it Saigon, so there you go... lol) ANYWAY... lol... the book is about a family leaving Vietnam for the US.

From Anderson's Bookstore:
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell Looks like my kinda crime fiction!
From local used-book shop ( .93 each!!):
The Blue Star by Tony Earley I loved Jim the Boy and want to continue that story.
Five Skies by Ron Carlson This looks like a major winner!
In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent Much loved author, here and elsewhere, I need to give him a try.

#52 I want a friend like that who lets you empty his shelves. Mind you I don't need such a friend because I have nowhere to put said books, but I definitely want those books anyway.

Found at the Friends of the Library:
The Forsyte Saga by John Gallsworthy
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

and from BetterWorldBooks the first of the 11 I ordered in order to have the 2010 books chosen by my RL Book Club:

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

#63 The sad part is he's moving to Virginia and I'll have no one locally to discuss history with. Which is why I hang here.

>59 DevourerOfBooks: DevourOfBooks - Nefertiti is brilliant - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Gah was bad again today and bought Rachel Vincent's new book My Soul to Take from Borders before I got my train. Oh and I read it all before halfway through my 5 hour journey back to Uni... darn things never last long.

From BookMooch:
Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

From Early Reviewers:
Liver by Will Self

From Open Letter Series II:
Season of Ash by Jorge Volpe

From QPBC:
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

From The Book Depository: Small Memories, a childhood memoir by José Saramago that was released last week in the UK.

M'lady - darn those railway station bookshops, right?! When I was at York I always used to 'pop in' to WH Smith before I caught my train home, 'for a magazine and some sweets', and I'd always end up with at least one book as well! And don't even get me started on airport bookshops, with all those temptation-laden hours waiting in the departure lounge...

>59 DevourerOfBooks:,

Having read two of her other books I think that is a safe assumption!

#67- I loved The Little Giant of Aberdeen County- I hope you like it

I just received Under The Dome, Stephen King's new book, through the wonderful folks at Amazon

I went to the library today and brought home Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and Robin Hobb's The Dragon Keeper. I bought a copy of A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller.

>Ellie It wasn't even the railway bookshop! I had to walk past the Borders on the way there and I asked my bf if we could make a quick stop in there cos I wanted to get a book I'd seen the other day but didn't buy at the time. It's all my friend's fault though she told me to get it cos it hasn't actually been published over here so getting that imported copy would save me a whole lot of money getting it shipped from the US. But luckily it was a very enjoyable book so I forgive her hehe ;)

Movie, dinner, new footwear, and a Borders coupon:

Moral Clarity by Susan Neiman. This is subtitled "A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists." Though I question the notion of psychological or social maturity after, say, adolescence, I thought maybe it was a handbook for me. I certainly would like to be morally clear.

Robert

From a generous LT friend:
Long-Legged Fly & Moth by James Sallis The first two Lew Griffin novels and both sound very tempting.
From Bookmooch:
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt Due to serious LT love, I had to have it!

Two mooches came today-
Abandon Ship and Worst Nightmares.

From PBS:
Up the Country: Letters from India by Emily Eden and Daughter of Earth by Agnes Smedley.
From ebay: Illyian Spring by Ann Bridge, The Virago Book of Erotic Myths and Legends, The Virago Book of Fairy Tales, Provincial Daughter by R.M. Dashwood, Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewett, Love in Winter by Storm Jameson, The Echoing Grove, A Note in Music and The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann, Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau, The Doctor's Family, Phoebe, Jr and Miss. Marjoribanks by Mrs. Oliphant, Pepita by Vita Sackville-West, Pemberly by Emma Tennant, Agape Agape by William Gaddis, The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, Clouds Among the Stars and Sommerball by Victoria Clayton, Heritage and The Easter Party by Vita Sackville-West, Moments of Being and The Years by Virginia Woolf, The Provincial Lady in Russia, The Provincial Lady in London, and The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield, As Music and Splendour, English Diaries and Journals and The Flower of May by Kate O'Brien.
And two ARC/ERs: The Privileges by Jonathan Dee and Thin Threads: real stories of Life Changing Moments compiled by Stacey K. Battat.
I think I have had a month of spending to make up for something else I was needing. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.........it had better stop soon or I will have to go back to work to support this habit.
belva

I went to the Half Price Books mecca in Dallas today. I thought today was the day for the 50% off coupon, but it wasn't. Like I need an excuse. I started with a huge stack that I knew I couldn't afford and weeded it down to:

Slumberland by Paul Beatty
Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo - I should not have bought a book this fat that I've already read from the library
Beethoven was One Sixteenth Black by Nadine Gordimer
Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Blue Flowers by Raymond Queneau - a first edition in English that is in great condition, and I've been on the hunt for this for about two years. SCORE!

Wow Belva, SOMEBODY'S been enjoying herself this week... Enjoy dearest, you deserve it!

I've been having more fun than an individual should be allowed to have. Two days in a row I went out to eat, bought a book, saw a movie, and other stuff. Yesterday's book was The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson on an in-store only coupon at Barny Noble's. It fits a current minor interest.

Robert

In probably the order I'll read them, I just picked up:

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
The Last Tycoon - F Scott Fitzgerald
Songmaster - Orson Scott Card
Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis
The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
Atonement - Ian McEwen
Napoleon Symphony - Anthony Burgess
Cujo - Stephen King
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Aaaaand my mother just loaned me a copy of a book she just read for a book club: In The Lake of the Woods, by Tim O'Brien. So I've got a lot of reading to do this month! I'm sure I'll make good use of my Thanksgiving break from school.

Where to start?? Whilst doing the Home Reno....any and all book deliveries were tossed into the downstairs closet, abruptly and rudely....the books are still protesting!...Long story short, once i opened the packages and shelved the books, i realized..there were way too many to list in one fell swoop...so, i'll add some of the choicer titles......

10 of the Forgotten:

Memoirs of Hecate County by Edmund Wilson
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
Sleeping with Extraterrestrials by Wendy Kaminer
Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott
Drawers and Booths by Ara 13
Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton
Precious Bane by Mary Webb
Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor by Brad Gooch

..........and there are still more left un-catalogued.

>krysbrezinski- That is a heck of a list! Good luck!

Just stopped off at the little book shop today to drop off a few books for credit.....and I left the little book shop today with more books to take home. I love that place!

I got:

Foreign Body by Robin Cook
Twelve Times Blessed by Jacquelyn Mitchard

and for hubby:

Rough Weather by Robert B. Parker

I just received The Jane Austen Book Club which I bought ob ebay as a second-hand version. I hope to read it soon, it will probably be the next. I fell in love with the film, so the book can just be better I guess.
I also bought The Complete Novels of Jane Austen which I intend to read in parallel to the book club, but I don't actually know if I can handle that.

Received from Book Depository yesterday as I was leaving work. (The only reason to be glad that you stayed late at the office is receiving a book as you are heading out the door.)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

I can't wait to start reading it tonight!

>85 Tallulah_Rose: Wow, that's quite an undertaking! Good luck.

From Open Letter Series II:
The Wall in my Head by Words Without Borders

From QPBC:

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Our school's library had a book sale and I came back with only two books. Not because of my amazing self control, but because there just wasn't much there...

I got The Caine Mutiny and Second Child. I have so many on my shelf I haven't read, though, it's kind of pathetic. I think I'm just addicted to buying books, which is sad, because I'm completely broke right now.

I made a promise to myself, though, to help keep my self control. I told myself that for every 5 books I read on my shelf, I could buy 1 book this summer. Rereads, borroweds, and books for school don't count.

I'm currently at 3. School ends in May. :S

Just received a very nice box from Powell's. All used copies, I think. Certainly well marked-down. But all hardcover, which I always prefer.

Replacement copies of two books that I had owned and read and loaned out to people and then moved to another state and thus never saw again:
A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan
What She Saw In... by Lucinda Rosenfeld

Three books that I originally read via the library and enjoyed enough to want to own:
Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

And then the big indulgence (but I did have some store credit to use):
The Helene Hanff Omnibus
containing 84 Charing Cross Road, Underfoot in Show Business, Apple of My Eye, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, and Q's Legacy, only the first two of which I've read so far. Nifty British edition to boot.

90 kristenn: Some wonderful selections. O'Nan is a favorite of mine. Last Night at the Lobster was one of my top five books of last year -- very deceptive little book -- seems as though it's about not so much, and yet . . . and yet . . . (That O'Nan fellow is some writer.)

89 leannerd: Self control -- especially as it applies to buying books -- is, alas, not my strong suit either. I always promise not to buy books for myself as I do my holiday shopping, but there are so many new books out there -- I wind up coming home with more "gifts" for myself than for anyone else. Not exactly the "spirit of the season," is it?

Anyway, I wish you well with your plan, leannerd. May seems a long way off, but seeing the tbr pile get smaller while your bank balance gets bigger may provide you with the strength you need.

From B&N for book clib this month:

So Long See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

Next to a big bunch of embroidery and handicraft books (chrismas is soon, so I need to start crafting christmas presents) I bought Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux on tuesday and ordered Mort by Terry Pratchett on the internet which will arrive todat hopefully.

Just came back from my first library book club and our book for December is Testimony by Anita Shreve. I know I have seen one of her books mentioned on here. I can't wait to start reading this book.

>93 Teipu: Ooh, I haven't read Phantom of the Opera since I was younger, but I remember really enjoying it. I keep meaning to reread it one of these days--I'll have to look around for my copy.

>89 leannerd: leannerd - "I told myself that for every 5 books I read on my shelf, I could buy 1 book this summer." Hmmm, like we've never heard THAT one before on these threads! May you have better luck than most of us did! ;-)

>93 Teipu: Teipu - I'd like to read Phantom of the Opera soon too. It's a hot contender either to read when I have some time off over Christmas, or as part of my 1010 challenge next year...

Yesterday I bought a sweet little book called Trüffel und Pralinen (engl. Sweets and Chocolate) with pretty useful recipes for christmas as well, so I will have a nice time in my kitchen this december. Tried one today but either it isn't cold enough outside or I just did something wrong...
And I received The complete novels of Jane Austen today, which is a very big book.

Well, I had to order presents from Amazon, and there was some extra room in the box....

Christianity: A very short introduction
Let the right one in
Excession and
Wicked Lovely

Made it over to my shelves...

Then I was on a business trip, and had some foreign currency left over to spend on the airport, so I got

The Poison Maiden and
Julie and Julia

Which saved me from not having anything to read on the plane... :D

>98 divinenanny: divinenanny - I've been doing that recently too, but mainly with DVDs so far. I've bought more presents for myself online recently than I have Christmas presents for everyone else!

I was Christmas shopping, too, when I picked up The Knife of Never Letting Go for myself. Oh, and I should have Cutting for Stone waiting for me when I go into the library today.

91 & 96: Thanks, guys. It's fine right now because I'm in college and have no money and no job anyway, but I'm going home and back to my part time job over Christmas break, so that might be a little rough. I know I'm getting books for Christmas, though, so maybe that will make it easier. :D

Library Sale! Library Sale! They had quite a few good ones, too. They always do that. On months I can afford to splurge, they have old and irrelevant non-fiction, 50's romance novels and phone books. Then, when I really can't afford to buy anything, they have all the books I've been dying for! They hate me! lol

I did get a few good ones, though...

Edgar Sawtelle... I actually was sure I'd find out I spent $1 on a duplicate copy, but I hadn't actually got this one yet.

Glass Soup by Jonathan Carroll... this makes my 2nd Carroll book, and I've not really read him yet. He's been recommended by LT friends, though.

Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker, a man who scares my pants off no matter what genre. Candyman, the book version, still creeps me out.

The Painted Veil sounded familiar, so I bought it.

The Bodhran Makers I grabbed up because I knew a Bodhran is a Celtic drum, and then when I read the description, I couldn't resist. A poor but proud people rebelling against the oppression of the church and choosing to celebrate their Celtic heritage.

From PBS, I also got Johannes Cabal The Necromancer and I'm dying to get into that one. It sounds like a mixture of Faust and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Mister B. Gone was a fabulous book. I got it on Christmas Eve and finished it Christmas night. If you like Barker, you will love it.

Amazon came to call at my home today bringing the much dreaded Clarel, the much anticipated Winter Evening Tales and the exciting The Civil War: A Narrative. I am very excited to add to my Civil War collection. I hope Shelby Foote is as good as everyone claims him to be.
Oh, and let us not forget the very lovely Norah Jones singing her "The Fall" CD, even though it has a rather Eweeeeeeeehy cover on it.
belva

#93 and #96, you have me intrigued with your mention of Phantom of the Opera. I just yesterday finished watching the movie, the 1943 or so version with Claude Rains, it was amazing! Then I made a note to look for the book. Off I go to look at my library's catalog....

My Latest books:

Howling Legion by Marcus Pelegrimas, Urban Fantasy
Book 2in the Skinners series. Secret society of warriors who fight the monsters in the real world.

Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett, Cozy Mystery
This is book 3 in the Booktown series. It is set in a local town down the road from me (though the NH town in the story is fictional). Main character owns a mystery store and is involved in local murders. Wonderful supporting cast.

Odd Girl Out by Timothy Zahn, SF, Space Opera
Book 3 in the Quadrail series about a future civilization, of which humans are a small part, that includes aliens and a space train called the Quadrail. Stories follow Frank Compton, a detective as he tries to prevent disaster and find wrong doers.

Sometimes We're All Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch, Fiction
Story of an Eskimo mother and her son who are living in LA. The son gets into trouble with gangs and their life is not good. The mother moves them back to her remote Eskimo village in Alaska. Culture shock ensues for her son.
(touchstone not working).

Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SF
Story of a salvage diver (ocean, space) who comes upon a wreck in space with a difference.

The Sand Fish by Maha Gargash, World Fiction
Story set in Dubai, about a poor woman trying to survive. She ends up forced to marry and then has other survival issues to deal with.

In The Courts of the Sun by Brian D'Amato, Thriller
Book about the modern day and the past. It deals with the Maya prophecy about the end of the world on 12/21/2012.

I got an Ipod touch and found out that you can read Kindle books on it. I was sick and wanted the next book in a series, and couldn't go out. So I thought I would give an ebook a try. I don't like reading on my PC, so I thought I wouldn't like ebooks on a reader. I have read really short stuff on-line but this was my first time trying a full length book. Loved it. Easy to read. So now I have another book buying option (still miss the lack of a physical book though).

Rituals of the Season by Margaret Maron, Mystery - ebook
This is book 11 in the Judge Deborah Knott series, and the first ebook I read. Sad things happen around Christmas, but her personal event works out well.

Wetlands by Charlotte Roche, Fiction - ebook
Story of a young woman in the hospital. The book is her musing about her life, her experiences and her attitudes. Incredibly gross and disgusting , but interesting. Though her attitude towards abusing others becomes annoying. Its all about her body, fluids and excretions and her approach to hygiene.

Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement, SF -ebook
Old time SF book that is oop, except in a couple of collections. It is the January book for my RL SFF book group and I didn't want to order it.

Well I was out with my daughter to get our nails done and afterwards we went to get some breakfast. I noticed our small library was having a book sale. So I decided to stop there after we ate. My daughter's boyfriend also decided to buy books. They were having a dollar a bag book sale. I have never been to one and was thrilled to be able to buy books for such an inexpensive price. I only bought one bag. Rob, my daughter's boyfriend bought 2 bags plus 2 DVDS. Here are the books I bought:

A Stranger in the Mirror by Sidney Sheldon - I have read a few of Sidney's books and am usually quite pleased with them.

Match Point For Murder by Kin Platt - The title just caught my interest.

Famous American Plays of the 1950's by Lee Strasberg - The plays are: Camino Real, The Autumn Garden, Tea and Symphony, The Zoo Story and A Hatful of Rain

King Lear The Yale Shakespeare - Edited by Tucker Brooke and William Lyon Phelps - Shakespeare that is all I have to say

The Persian Expedition by Xenophon - Mainly got for my ABC challenge

Patriot Games by Tom Clancy - For my 1010 challenge next year, need books for my books to screen category. (I actually have many books for this category just always looking for more.

At Wit's End by Erma Bombeck - Just saw the authors name and decided it would be a great read.

Scandals by Barney Leason - Just looked interesting

Get Your Kids to Clean Their Rooms and other impossible tasks by The Parenting Resource Group - my daughter thought it would be good for my son since I can't get him to do anything, or it seems like that.

That Was Then This is Now by S.E. Hinton - Love S. E. Hinton

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury - I believe I have heard about this book on here.

Dances with Wolves The Illustrated Screenplay and Story behind the Film by Kevin Costner, Michael Blake, Jim Wilson

IT by Stephen King - I have never read Stephen King and I want to give him a try.

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King - same as above, plus I think my son may like some Stephen King books

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - another one I think I heard about on here.

Those are all the books in my bag. Now to add them to my library.

Monic'a

Well when i came home yesterday there was my new french-spanish dictionary and The Reader which i need to read for my uni class and today I came back from a day out with my lovely chum Jess with two books admittedly one was borrowed (Splendor) and the other I bought for £2 in the oxfam bookshop and I was very chuffed to find it - I capture the Castle which I've been wanting to read for a while. It was very amusing since Jess wanted a copy as well and it took trekking round 5 bookshops to find another one - there would have been fisticuffs if we hadn't ;)

# 103 crazy4reading
you really should give King a try, he wrote some very terrific books. It is a good book to start with, it was one the first I read by him either and I it really scared me to death. I couldn't stand having the cover looking at me, so I have to turn it when I wanted to sleep.

Tallulah_Rose- That is what I am afraid of with Stephen King, being scared to death. My sister reads his books all the time and my son has read a few. So I guess it is time for me to give him a try.

From Borders:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel This was bought for a gift! :-( Now I need my own copy, after hearing such glowing LT praise!
My Dead Body by Charlie Huston This is the final Joe Pitt book and a must have!
Looking For Alaska by John Green I've heard great things about this YA novel!
From a Library Sale:
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. I loved The Lincoln Lawyer!
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver This makes the 2nd of hers, I have in my tbr.

>110 crazy4reading: I've read a lot of Stephen King, and I'd recommend reading one of his shorter works to get a taste of what his writing style is like, and whether it's too scary for your enjoyment. Some of my personal favorites are Misery, The Shining, Carrie, and The Long Walk.

#110
That might be a problem, although King wrote a lot of books which aren't that scary. Haven't read Tommyknockers so can't say anything about it. He has this great "Dark Tower" series which is totally different from all his books and mostly not scaring in the usual way. You maybe should give that a try.
edited to enter: Das Mädchen was not so frightening, at least for me... But with It you got one of his better books. Enjoy! ;)

Rachel - I Capture the Castle is so beautiful and quirky and uplifting, I hope you love it! There's a movie too, which is very good, though Rose Byrne gets a bit irritating in it...

From Early Reviewer:

The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan

three today from PBS:

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George

Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley

................Happy Thanksgiving to all of you people, y'hear.............

It wasn't me this time, really! But the boyfriend had to read for class, and what better to do than buy? So now we got:

Saturday by Ian McEwan on our shelves...

After a week of visiting relatives and a visit to one of my favorite bookstores, I have added the following to my collection:

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
The Templar by Paul Doherty
Where the Buffalo Roam by Michael Zimmer
Tipperary by Frank Delaney
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume I & II by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Last Stand at Majuba Hill by John Wilcox
The Heart of the Family by Annie Groves
The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis
An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor

Went to the Friends of the Library used book store. They were having their buy a bag of books for $15.00 per bag. I bought Ruby in Her Navel. I already have Land of Marvels by the same author and can't wait to get to these two books. Also got Breathing Lessons, Wide Sargasso Sea, and Widow for One Year. I also got a recorded version (cassettes) of Shadow Divers, All Over Creation, and Warrior Queens. I still have a cassette player in my car so will be able to listen to these even if they have no resale value. It wasn't a huge haul because the sets of cassettes took up lots of space. But that is OK as my house is overflowing with books to listen to or to read.

Earlier this month I got used copies of the following books.

Fasting Feasting by Anita Desai
Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook

I've been hauling in the used books and just loving it. Even if I can't possibly read all of them this month.

I forgot to mention that I went to the library to get Connie Willis' book Doomsday Book and the recorded version of Deep South by Nevada Barr. Which I did. I am going to drive the Natchez Trace over Thanksgiving and wanted to read the second, (for me, but actually the first of the two) of the books about the Natchez Trace written by Barr.

from the library - The Gathering Storm (Brandon Sanderson's continuation of The Wheel of Time series)

second hand - A Christmas Carol and St Patrick's Gargoyle

In today's mail, two boxes from Barny Noble. The post office says that they've had one of them at the local post office since Saturday and that the other is yet to leave Kearney, New Jersey.

The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang. I've been aware of this book for many decades; I may even have a copy. The question of the importance of living remains fresh to me, however, so I am hopeful to become informed about it. Maybe it is not important, though; we'll see.

Handbook of North American Indians: History of Indian-White Relations series edited by William Sturtevant. I am native American, but my ancestry in America does not go back very far (a few generations ago we were celtic and teutonic). I like from time to time to read about those whose ancestry in America does go way back. This is the second volume in this series that I've acquired; I think that there are few more that I want, but I will not likely acquire the whole set.

Music I-LXXIV by August Kleinzahler. I like music. I am hopeful that Mr. Kleinzahler will help me understand how and why.

Shadow and Claw and Sword and Citadel both by Gene Wolfe and altogether comprising The Book of the New Sun. I loved science fiction at the age boys are supposed to love science fiction and gave it up, not because I stopped loving the genre, but because it was so rarely well-executed. These are supposed to be good; I'll try.

The Hour of the Star and Selected Cronicas both by Clarice Lispector. I didn't know how to tag the second of these. I used a tag I've already established, 'ideas,' but I think I haven't captured it.

Eugene Onegin: a novel in verse by Aleksandr Pushkin and translated by Vladimir Nabokov. From time to time I like to settle into a long poem. I hope the touchstone I have selected is a reasonable one. The translator's commentary is in another box that has not yet left Kearney, New Jersey.

The Best American Comics, 2009 edited by Charles Burns. I have 2006 and 2008 so I thought I might could add the others to my unread pile, and this one was much cheaper than 2007.

All but two of these came out of various enthusiastic discussions on LibraryThing. I don't seem to be in synch with anybody else, but I share many of the interests held here.

Robert

PS I lost a touchstone on editing.

R

I stopped at our little book shop on the spur of the moment today.....was pleased to find The Likeness by Tana French. This is the follow-up to her debut thriller, In The Woods. Looking forward to reading this.

My latest books:

Why We Suck by Denis Leary, Humor, Rant
found a cheap copy in paper at BJs Warehouse. Looked like fun. His comments on current culture.

Winter's Child, Death's Half Acre, Hard Row all by Margaret Maron, Mystery
They are the 12-14th books in the Judge Deborah Knott series.

The Akhenaten Adventure by P.B. Kerr, Childrens
An adventure book for kids looks like fantasy and historical fiction. Got it for me. They were in a pile at the B&N register, and I am a sucker for anything with Akhenaten's name on it.

Green Plums by Herta Muller, fiction
Story of life for ethnic Germans who lived in Romania under Ceausescu's communism. There has been talk of it on LT after it won the Nobel Prize, so I picked it up when I found it at the store.

Second Line by Poppy Z. Brite, Collection
This is 2 short novels set in her Restaurant series in New Orleans Liquor. It is a reprint, the first story was from The Value of X about how Ricky and G-Man hooked up and started Liquor and then second one is from the book DUCK, which is the most recent and possibly last story in the series.

A small haul:

The Book of Shadows by James Reese.....Hinky, creepy and a tad perverse...yum yum

Skels by Maggie Dubrus...one would think this would be hinky etc., but it's not...it's a heartbreaker

Blonde by J C Oates...a masterpiece!

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George....because i'm a completist geek

Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley...a modern-day Decameron...what's not to love?

Happy Thanksgiving, all
J

In today's mail were two books from Amazon:

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel: recommended by rebeccanyc and others

Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics by David Grossman: recommended by SqueakyChu

There was also my final book from my 2009 Archipelago Books subscription: A Time for Everything by Karl O. Knausgaard

Got more of my stash from BetterWorldBooks in the mail today:

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Rebecca By Daphne Du Maurier
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

All but the last two are for the 2010 Classics Book Group I belong to, with only The Awakening being a new read for me.

In Costco yesterday to load up on pies for a quarter dozen pot-lucks I ran across:

The Prisoner by Thomas M. Disch.

This is the novel on which the 1960's television series and the forthcoming AMC series are based. I loved the former and will look for the latter on DVD.

Merry Thanksgiving,

Robert

Lost a couple hours in Borders...

The Invisible Ring in trade size...slowly completing the trade collection

How to Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas Foster

Already got my coupon for Black Friday in BAM

Another haul....but included herein is the Coup of Coups (couscous???):

Intimate Apparel by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
The Black House by Paul Theroux
Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble

....and that Coup thing
Cages by Dave McKean......i won't say how much i had to pay for this...USED.....i scare myself at times

oh, and Touchstones are on strike, it seems

J

Seven Stories Press is offering free copies of several of its classic titles, not including shipping. I just found out about the sale 10 minutes ago, and bought five books. The sale ends at 4 pm EST, in less than 15 minutes!

Black Friday Titles from Seven Stories Press

I suppose the Post Office is trying. One box got through from Barny Noble.

Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Lovett and Stephen J. Dubner. I know that the guy can get things wrong. He is, nevertheless, provocative and not stupid. I would have waited for the paperback, but I had a good coupon for a hardcover.

Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse, volume II by Aleksandr Pushkin and translated by Vladimir Nabokov. This is actually the companion volume to the novel poem itself, a commentary by the translator.

Perfect Poison by M. William Phelps. This is the odd duck, not only because it is a mass market paperback. Somebody posted mention of it without a touchstone; hoping to ease the burden on other people interested in it I merely posted a message with the title touchstoned and forgot about it. Sometime later somebody referred to my message, and I wondered why I had put it there. I clicked on the touchstone. It sounded macabre in a way that I might appreciate, and it is set not far from the home of my first seventeen years, so I put it on a wish list and finally ordered it (mass market paperbacks are not as cheap as they were in my youth (29¢) but they are way cheap compared to trade paperbacks). Later on something reminded me why I had made the post in the first place.

I wish that author touchstones were more reliable and that title touchstones were easier.

Robert

Went Black Friday shopping with my mom today and the only book I bought for myself (finally spent that Target gift card that's been burning a hole in my wallet!) was Beat the Reaper A Novel by Josh Bazell. I had never heard of it before, but the cover/title called out to me and it sounded pretty good, so I'm excited to read it. I also bought a crochet book, a cross stitch book and Plush-o-Rama Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp, which has some fabulous stuff in it that I'm excited to make. :D

Had Thanksgiving with the family yesterday and found out that I have basically the BEST big brother ever. He and his fiance cleaned out their bookshelves and gave me a BUNCH of stuff that they could easily have sold. It just shows what an amazing family I have. From that haul, I got:

The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
In the Flesh by Clive Barker
The Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Galilee by Clive Barker
The I-5 Killer Revised Edition by Ann Rule
Thinner by Stephen King/Richard Bachman (which I already owned, but this is a nicer copy)
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Inside Pop: America's Top Ten Groups by David Dachs
The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway
The 1988 Annual World's Best SF ed. by Donald A. Wollheim
The Wolfen by Whitley Streiber
Fractured by Karin Slaughter
Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The Face by Dean Koontz
The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
False Memory by Dean Koontz
The Mask by Dean Koontz
Cold Fire by Dean Koontz
The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
Hideaway by Dean Koontz
Watchers by Dean Koontz
The Husband by Dean Koontz
Strange Highways by Dean Koontz
The Servants of Twilight by Dean Koontz
The Voice of the Night by Dean Koontz
Darkfall by Dean Koontz
The Bad Place by Dean Koontz
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
Memory and Dream (Newford Book 5) by Charles de Lint (I've never heard of this one...anyone read it?)
Brother Termite by Patricia Anthony
Ice Trap A Novel of Suspense by Kitty Sewell
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories to Be Read With the Lights on by Alfred Hitchcock
Where Are You Now A Novel by Mary Higgins Clark
Weep No More My Lady by Mary Higgins Clark
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Go Down Dead by Shane Stevens
The Last Dragonlord by Joanne Bertin
Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter by Shelly Brady
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
Booked to Die by John Dunning
The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning

Also, a couple of random anthologies of poetry and philosophy. So, yeah, I made out pretty well. Most of the stuff he gave me was on my TBR list anyway or was something I had never heard of but would like to read.

I kind of need a new bookshelf now...:S

Ooops, what happened there?! Anyway, we've collected two lots of books recently for the bookshop - one from my Mum's old GP and one from the charity shop I used to volunteer at. Since both actively encourage me to read some of the books before we sell them, I've acquired a few, including:

A better copy of The Canterbury Tales
Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned
To the Hermitage by Malcolm Bradbury
Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann

Plus a selection of fascinating-sounding psychology-type books from the good doctor. Now I just have to get reading!

Made a Goodwill run today.....got a nice haul. Can't beat paperbacks for 49 cents!!

True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman
Nothing To Lose by Lee Child
One Shot by Lee Child
The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffrey Deaver
Quentins by Maeve Binchy
The Face by Angela Hunt
The Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum
The Arctic Event by Robert Ludlum
Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods

Also got some for hubby and also a few just to turn in for credit at our little book shop on the corner.

From Bookmooch & Half.com:
A White Arrest by Ken Bruen I cannot read enough of this talented Irish crime writer. This is the 1st in a crooked cop series.
The Dramatist by Ken Bruen Another Jack Taylor book!
Bottomfeeder by B.H. Fingerman Another gritty New York vampire mystery series? I'm there!

From Internet Book Database I won:

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce I have never read any of her books so decided to take a chance on the book. Will be reading after the new year most likely.

I could not pass up a 40% coupon, so there I was in a brick and mortar Barny Noble's disappointed in what was on the shelves.

The Classical World by Robin Lane Fox. I used my coupon on this after I compared it with a Modern Library collection of some of Camus's writing. I have read about the classical world; I, of course, have not mastered it. Reading more will do me good. Robin Lane Fox is a polished writer. It wasn't on my wish list.

End the Fed by Ron Paul. This was way discounted and on a subject I have looked at recently. There is so much said across such a wide spectrum, and an amateur like me has to take sombody's word for it, the more I read the better I can decide on which authority to appeal to. (I wonder whether I could parse that sentence.)

So I have to shop online to use up the rest of the 40% coupon before it expires. An expensive book on American Indians might do it.

Robert

I celebrated my first Sinterklaas (Dutch gift giving celebration, instead of gifts at Christmas) yesterday, with my boyfriend, and since all books are ours, we got, from each other:

Two Very Short Introductions:
Sociology: A Very Short Introduction and
Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction

Three Red Classics from Penguin (Boys Adventures):
She by H. Rider Haggard
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

One great book that will add to my TBR pile:
1001 books you must read before you die by Peter Boxall

Two adventure/travel/exploration books:
Congo Journey by Redmond O'Hanlon and
Personal narrative by Alexander von Humboldt

One box set of the first eight Sookie Stackhouse books all by Charlaine Harris:
Dead until Dark
Living dead in Dallas
Club dead
Dead to the world
Dead as a doornail
Definitely dead
All together dead and
From dead to worse

>divinenanny- Happy Sinterklaas! You made quite a haul!

>msf59,thanks! And it is only Part 1 (of 4), 3 more to go and I know two will include at least some books :D Of course, as this was a private exchange between me and my boyfriend, I was very helpful by suggesting gifts ;)

Another Haul.....but this time i have shelf space!!!

New England White by Stephen L Carter.....the other day i got Palace Council as well....

The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell andThe Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc both by Loraine Despres.......Southern Gals Misbehavin'!!!

Helen of Troy and The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George...hefty tomes both..if i don't actually read them i can use them as weights...

A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer......huh? never read him before.....

......oh, and Mark...thanks so much for "another gritty New York vampire mystery series"....as if my Wishlist isn't a gazillion miles long as it is....oh well...

;-}

From Bookdepository.com

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Just received today. I got it for $6 or $7. It was 50% off. So was The Hunger Games, I should be getting that one in the mail any day as well. I am looking forward to reading them.

Thanks, to another LT'er I was able to receive an ER book of Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. May have to put my Civil War book aside for a short time or read them both at the same time. I have done it before.

Jude- Sorry about adding to the wishlist but that's what we do around here! And remember that title could eventually make it's way to you! :-)
>jmaloney17- I read The Hunger Games recently and loved it. Looking forward to the follow-up!

In a package from Barny Noble today:

One Second After by William R. Forstchen. This is a novel congruent with my interests as an amateur apocalyptician.

Robert

I received two mooches today-
The List of 7 and Man of Two Tribes, a Napoleon Bonaparte mystery by Arthur Upfield.

Long shortly..this might work:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/78129&newpost=1#lastmsg

if not...please forgive me.........

As part of my Christmas present my dearest darling got me The Museum of Innocence by Ohran Pamak