April's Ample Acquisitions

I got my latest ER book today! Just got the comment on my profile yesterday, and the nice FedEx man came calling already.

Edited to add title: Dead End Gene Pool

Hooray! I wondered if you did indeed get one this month. Congrats! I'm still waiting for my March book, written by the grandson of J.R.R.T. and my newest, the Laurie R. King book. Too, too exciting!

The Clive Cussler book Spartan Gold in as new condition for $1! at a library sale. Woohoo!

My daughter and I spent some non-rushed time in a used book store. I managed to snag the whole series of Charlaine Harris' Shakespeare mysteries, Runaway by Alice Munro, and Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.

I'm still waiting for my March book, The River Between by Jacquelyn Cook. If I recollect correctly, this is supposed to be in E-book format, so it should not take forever to be delivered.

The darned touchstones hate me, I guess... or at least this one isn't working... :(

I was making a B&N order for a few Easter gifts, and had to sneak just one into the order for myself.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

I brought home Art of the Slow Cooker from the library today. Sitting here with my iPad taking notes on which recipes I want to try out.

My brother owed me money and I took it in books. He has Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay waiting for me at his place. He was away over the long weekend so I couldn't get it then which means I'll have to wait until this next weekend to get my hands on it. Argggg.

Oooh, Fleela. How do you like the iPad?

I've been very bad this month already:
The Peshawar Lancers
The Lies of Locke Lamora
World War Z
The Magician - the one by Michael Scott

And will buy as soon as I can find it in the right format:
Changes the latest Harry Dresden

So far, only three from Bookmooch:

Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent
The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery

But a trip to my wonderful thrift store with tons of books is in the offing.

>9 sandragon:
It's great.

#8 - What?! In Sweden it's not available in another month!!! Argh!!!

13 - Busifer, it was released Mar 30. One of the benefits of GGK being Canadian ;o)

I'm rereading The Darkest Road at the moment, after which will be the dilemma: Green Dragon Group read or a new GGK?

#14 - I thought many genre books were released simultaneously everywhere, nowadays, especially imports. But I guess Roc wants to favour the Canadian home market.

ETA - a lot of other books gets here earlier than announced, like those from DAW. For a recent Cherryh release or two I got my pre-ordered book 3 weeks before everyone else, including the US.

15 - I'd assumed Under Heaven would be released in the US at the same time as Canada, I thought most books were, but I just looked and it's not released there until Apr 27. So I guess we are being favoured for some reason.

I've been very deliberately staying away from bookstores, but I have to go downtown today and will be right next door to The Laughing Oyster (my delightful local independent bookstore) which I know will have GGK's new book. *sigh* I think I'll just have to get it. Wrinkle in Time will take absolutely no time at all to read and then I can just delight in a new Kay book. Oh lovely!

And then, Elizabeth Peters is coming out with a new Amelia Peabody book on Friday, A River in the Sky! It's been a few years since there's been a new Amelia book. Hmmmmm.

sandragon, is GGK coming to Bolen's again?

Hmm - Just looked up Pegasus by Robin McKinley, it'll be released in Canada a month earlier than the US.

But Mockingjay by Suzanned Collins is being released at the same time in both countries. And so is Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey.

(I'm using Amazon.ca and Amazon.com to find release dates)

AND! I noticed on Audible.com the last time I visited that quite a few of GGK's books are now on audible, or in audio book format, which is delightful. I'm going to get the Fionavar Trilogy I think, Simon Vance does the narration and I like his readings.

17 - katylit - YES!! They must have just posted it on their site over the weekend. May 4th, 7pm. Come with me? Anyone else like to go with us?

YES!!!!!! I can do that, yes I can. W00T!

15 - Nope. They've still got release dates all over the calendar. Some don't even get published in certain regions. Bemuses the heck out of me. I've no idea as to the why of it, though.

I had two books arrive today:
All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear and Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. ^-^

#22 - I know it varies for some publishers, but most books that I read are released at approximately the same date at least in the "western" world.

Then of course there's no local publisher involved. If it is, like with the HP books or other hit list items, then it's another thing. Also, sometimes a local house has publishing rights for a certain author and if they decide not to release a book then anyone who wants to read it has to import it.
With global internet shops I don't think this will last for long.

My only recent acquisitions have been Early Reviewer books (for March, and April) that arrived extremely promptly.

Time of Terror
The Bread of Angels

they have landed on my TBR pile

I almost have all my books from my last splurge-order!

Today saw the arrival of:
Chill by Elizabeth Bear
After by Amy Efaw
As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams by Lady Sarashina
A Mango-shaped Space by Wendy Mass (which doesn't seem to touchstone, sorry...)
The Shifter by Janice Hardy

Council Bluffs, Iowa has the best book selection of any Goodwill store I know!

Last weekend - lovely hardcover copies of 2 Susan Wittig Albert titles - Indigo Dying and Mistletoe Man.

I'm still waiting on Dragon Haven from the Book Depository. I think I need to send them a check-up email.

From Bookmooch:
Blue Adept and Juxtaposition, both by Piers Anthony
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
and more to come, but not certain when they will arrive.

Pending, from Paperback Swap
Elizabeth Barrett Browning : Selected Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Mystery of Ireta : Dinosaur Planet Dinosaur Planet Survivors by Anne Mccaffrey
The Dark Half by Stephen King - a hardcover, to replace my mass market paperback.

From Amazon.com
Received:
Bradbury Stories and The October Country both by Ray Bradbury

Pending, a nice mix of new and old titles scheduled to arrive this month:
The Coelura by Anne McCaffrey
Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, book 4) by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Emerald Cavern by Mitchell Graham
March by Geraldine Brooks
The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien (no touchstone)
Watcher of the Dead: Book Four of Sword of Shadows by J. V. Jones
The Desert Spear Peter V. Brett
Final Witness by Simon Tolkien

Also, other pre-orders pending from Amazon.com but they won't arrive this month.

From Bell Bridge Books (my ER book from the March batch)
The River Between by Jacquelyn Cook (for which the touchstone hasn't been working)

I finally got my February ER book, The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick by Elizabeth Hardwick. I think this will be very good, but it needs to be read slowly. You don't do short stories any favor by swallowing them whole.

Just one so far this month The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories by Susanna Clarke.

I'm only waiting for one more book now as today saw the arrival of House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. Whee!

#23 "With global internet shops I don't think this will last for long"

I wish. especially for ebooks where it makes no sense at all. But until authors/publisher agree non-exclusive global versus exclusive local deals so that the author gets to make money and publisher can cope with competition, regional variation is here to stay.

I finally found ebook shops willing to take my money for hero of ages, and apprentice magician as well as downloading my ER book heart of stone and the Closed Circle offering from Lynn Abby and CJC's Sword and Sorcery communal story.

My copy of Changes by Jim Butcher that I really should never had ordered came in from Amazon yesterday. The upside is that I only wound up paying $9.99 for the book which is quite a bargain! I'm afraid to start it because I know I won't want to put it down. It may wind up being my Sunday.

When I received my ER copy of The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley there was a note on the cover that said the author would be going on a promotional tour to various cities. So I checked it out and found he was going to be very close to where my husband is working at the moment. I mentioned it to my hubby (also mentioning that I don't have nice copies of either of Bradley's books...hint, hint). I truly have a wonderful partner. I received in the mail a copy of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag both signed by the author, with personal notes for me 'cause my husband had showed him the email I'd sent!

Hopefully I'll get to meet him myself when his next book is published.

Yesterday I bought a "dead tree" version of The Secret Life of Bees as I broke the last CD I was listening to in the car. Bummer. But I did finish the book! Now I am listening to the audio of World War Z for the Green Dragon group read. I also bought a Photoshop 8 for Dummies to supplement a class I am taking; and, a vegetarian cookbook for kid friendly stuff. If you really want the titles in their completeness check out my profile. I'm rushed for time....

>34 katylit: I'm so jealous - both that you have such an excellent partner and that you have both books signed.

>35 maggie1944: As I was reading your post the thought jumped in my mind of listening to Photoshop 8 for Dummies on CD and how that would work?!

Regarding listening to Photoshop 8 for Dummies....probably would not work. hehehehe I'd be running off to try things and get side tracked for sure.

Yesterday I bought Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (one of the few authors I buy in hardcover) and a paperback of Living Witness by Jane Haddam. I'm starting the paperback first - saving the Kay for the weekend when I can really curl up with it.

I'm trying to restrain myself as I have quite the TBR pile and also my favourite charity used book sale is coming up in a couple of weeks and I know I'll go mad there.

>32 reading_fox: Reading Fox I also won an E-book of Heart of Stone and was rather bad and read the whole thing yesterday instead of doing the work I should really get finished. But on the bright side it was a surprisingly enjoyable book.

Went shopping today and got duped by Waterstones' 3 for 2 offer
Bought: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles (I've already read this one and WOW it's awesome)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Vampire Diaries The Return: Nightfall by L.J. Smith

On the whole I've been quite good so far this month- nearly 10 days in and only 3 books bought! It's quite possibly a record.

I went to the planetarium with the kids today and bought myself a book from the gift shop - Copernicus' Secret.

#30 - I thought that was so charming!

I received in the mail today, Except the Dying, but now I have no time to read it until I finish the grim WWZ book and run through the Wrinkle book.

Recieved Changes in the mail today. Now I'm conflicted. I started my reread of the series earlier this week, and now I've still got most of it to go, AND the newest installment in my hot little hands! Given my experience last time though, of not rereading first, and not remembering some of the details, I will most likely be making myself complete the reread in its entirety this time. However, I'm not sure how well I will stick to the reflections on my blog bit. (might see about doing the Dewey reading challenge tomorrow, that could help).

Still have three books on the way: White Night, the Sword: a novel for ER, and the first Xanth book, whose title escapes me.

Went to the free day at my college library's sale today (free-for-all on everything left all weekend) and picked up in no particular order: the Broom of the System, the Geneology of Morals and Ecce Homo, Fundamentalism and American Culture, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Letters to a Young Activist, and Defending Everybody: a History of the American Civil Liberties Union.

I should also note that I have broken the 500 book mark. No idea why, but I find that kind of cool. Of course, it'll be interesting transporting all the books I accumulate to wherever I go to live after I graduate, but I've still got another year before I have to worry about that.

I met my brother for dinner tonight and he brought me my copy of Under Heaven. I'm very excited to finally get my hands on this book. I love the cover, with its illustration of a clay horse overlaid with columns of Chinese characters. Any chance anyone here can provide a translation? Otherwise I'll have to wait until the summer when I visit my folks.

#44 sandragon - in a recent forum discussion, Guy Kay revealed that he got a huge amount of inspiration from ancient Chinese poetry - poetry in general being an intense interest of his - could be (?) this is from one of the scrolls? Who knows...

I cannot wait to get Under Heaven, too, I've heard it's the best thing he's done since Lions of Al Rassan which is my hands down favorite title by him.

Oh! That is extremely high praise for Under Heaven there. Must get my hands on it too. I suck at dates, so I'm glad I have you all talking about it to remind me to get myself a copy. ^-^

Now I'm having a really hard time deciding whether to read Under Heaven or World War Z next. May have to throw a coin.

# 46 - Shanra, the reviewer in question writes for the site, http://fantasyliterature.com (Stefan Raets) - his taste contour is close to mine, so I trust his take.

I've not seen any counter opinions, either, which bodes for a great book.

Speaking of that reviewer, he's one of two currently doing the Malazan re-read at Tor.com, if there are Erikson readers interested in a book by book discussion of that series.

The public library here had its booksale this weekend. I spent $14 and got 20 books. I may not keep them all, but I passed the break-even point where further books in the bag were free, so...
(-:,

Oooh I've been waiting for a work from GGK that could rival/equal Al-Rassan and Tigana. Sadly, I'll have to wait for the paperback version - matter of money, personal taste and room on the shelves! I found I couldn't even read Ysabel so I'll be anticipating this for some time to come!

Today, the last of my Amazon shipment arrived:

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

The Boy and I went to Goodwill to donate some clothes so I thought I would check out their bookish offerings. My kid brought home every edition of the Guinness Book of World Records they had.

Filling his head with useless trivia, just like his mom.

Flee, you'll be surprised what good use can be made of some of the trivia. Sometimes years later.

God of the Hive by Laurie R. King arrived Friday. As soon as I finish The Language of Bees, I can jump right in.

White Night arrived in the mail today.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I picked up Peter and Max from the library today. So excited to meet the author, Bill Willingham, at C2E2 this weekend!

New science fiction: A MIGHTY FORTRESS (Safehold Book 4) by David Weber.

And some reading about my fierce ancestors: HIGHLANDER: The History of the Legendary Highland Soldier by Tim Newark.

#50 - Like me, then, except I actually finished Ysabel... The official release is yet to be but I just saw the local SF bookshop now announces they have the UK version in stock. So as soon as I can find my way to there tomorrow, to see if it's true.

Not buying ANYTHING, at the moment (except replacement Chucks, lol), eagerly awaiting above mentioned plus the next Foreigner book, Deceiver...

I liked Ysabel a lot, but I just finished Under Heaven and I loved it. Really rich and satisfying. Only the fact that I have an ER book to work on is stopping me from starting it over again.

God of the Hive arrived today! *Bounces a little*

I'm also eagerly awaiting C.J. Cherryh's next book.

Have fun, MrsLee! I really enjoyed it.

Another one eagerly awaiting Guy Gavriel Kay's new novel. I am first on the reservations list at the library for Under Heaven. But while waiting for that a visit to the library today got me A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin (AKA Catherine Webb) and Who Cooked the Last Supper? the women's history of the world by Rosalind Miles.

I also visited a couple of charity shops and found
The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
and The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco.

I now own Under Heaven!!!
*makes mad happy dance*

Now I'll just have to finish two other books before I'm allowed to start reading it... hurry hurry!
;-)

Thanks to Ebay I have Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price.
I read a post about it in the "Name that Book" thread and I had to find it!

Next week I shall get Under Heaven. I keep looking at it at the bookstores, but it's a little hefty for packing in a suitcase, so I'll wait until I get home. *sigh*

But I did manage to sneak into a used bookstore (funny how I can find them anywhere...) and I found pristine copies of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, which are hefty enough to cart home. But they were each $5.00, I just couldn't pass that up!

I'm so glad you didn't have to wait Busifer, it would have driven me crazy knowing everybody else could get the book, but it wasn't available in my country. I'm counting the days until I get home and can get it! Then sandragon and I will go and hear GGK read. Hurray!!!

I am excited to hear about Under Heaven, but I will not mind waiting because I have only just finished my first of Kay's, The Lions of Al-Rassan. I didn't want it to end, but I am thrilled with the idea that I now have his entire catalogee ahead of me. I own A Song for Arbonne so that will probably be next though I have a huge TBR pile waiting.

Severn, what was the problem with Ysabel for you?

Yay, Busifer! And thanks (to you and others) for the recommendation to start with Lions.

I just sold 7 books to a nearby used bookstore and bought 5 (though one of them is for my sister):

Victory of Eagles and Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

Briar's Book and Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce (It's possible I already have a copy of Wolf-Speaker - I mean, my LT says I do - but I haven't been able to locate it.)

For my sister, I got Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane

I was in need of some retail therapy and now I have:

The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography Of Desire
Dragon's Lair and
Ladies of the Grand Tour: British Women in Pursuit of Enlightenment and Adventure in Eighteenth-Century Europe

Just got the Sword: a novel of the Chiveis trilogy in the mail from ER. I'm rather intrigued, although the fact that its put out by a Christian publisher may not bode well on the independent thought/inventiveness index.

I'm supposed to be getting The Sword as well. I hadn't realized it was from a Christian publisher but I did know the author is a Theology professor. The book sounds good, so here's hoping...

W00T!! #68, glad you found a copy of the Ladies of the Grand Tour book sandragon, very cool :-)

I swear I was headed to Hy-Vee for nummies, and the car just took a right turn and forced me to go to Barnes and Noble. Forced me. Totally beyond my power. Seriously.

My acquisitions:

Visual Reference Guides: Mythology by Philip Wilkinson
Kingdom Keepers - Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers II - Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson
The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I got quite a haul today: Bookfair!

A Touch of Strange by Theodore Sturgeon
Learn Jawi
Abbyr Shen (introductory Manx)
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Stratman's Middle English Dictionary
Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem
and a bunch of geeky linguistics books

I also got a reprint of an 1836 map of Sydney for $1. It's pretty!

I just finished lunch with my girlfriend in the university district (it's a beautiful day here, by the way!) and on our way back to her work, we passed my favorite used bookstore- Magus. I saw 1000 Nudes in the display window and immediately went inside to snap it up. Me and the gal will look through it tonight.

I went out today with the best intentions of not buying any more books (then why did I take my wants list and a bag with me?) but stopped off in a charity shop and added another 4 to the tbr pile:

Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Bandits by Elmore Leonard

Cost me £10 for the four but not one was on that aforementioned list.

*chuckle* Ahh, AHS-Wolfy, I hear you. I always have such good intentions and then I see the most delightful, tantalising books that just call to me ;-) Now I have a whole mountain range of TBRs as a result. I'm very proud of myself when I do find one of my wishlisted books in the used bookstore and get them. But then, I just cross those off, and add lots more books on the wish list. LT is so dangerous.

I didn't know Captain Blood was a book, I always thought it was just the Errol Flynn movie, are the stories even close?

Four preorders arrived from Amazon this week:

Rides a Dread Legion by Raymond E. Feist

Who Fears the Devil by Manley Wade Wellman

Saltation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Mirror Kingdoms by Peter S. Beagle

Three out of four go to my TBR shelves. I had already read Saltation as an e-book.

Trip to B & N last night brought home:

Two expriments: The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett and The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke, whose website author bio was fascinating enough to sell me on giving her work a try.

Preordered, to be sent on release date, Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and Deceiver by C. J. Cherryh

Last, because I'm about to embark on a new endeavor (bee keeping), the beautiful, fascinating tome Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Superorganism by Jurgen Tautz

Stuff to look forward to once the work schedule eases.

@76 katylit,

I didn't know Captain Blood was a book, I always thought it was just the Errol Flynn movie, are the stories even close?

I won't know until I've read it but as the author was also responsible for Scaramouche then I don't think it's too much of a stretch to rule it out.

@78 Janny, I hope you don't get stung by any of your purchases. (I know it's a terrible pun but somebody had to say it.)

There's been a lot of good buzz about Janny's last one. Sounds like a real honey of a book.

Captain Blood is a fun read, although the writing style is pretty ornate. It's been too long since I've seen the movie to compare the stories, but the basics seemed quite similar.

More science fiction of course.

THE LOTUS EATERS by Tom Kratman.

Friggin touchstones.

We went to an antique store and I found The Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. I had it as a kid and have been looking for it for a while.

Most odd. I went to the Botanic Gardens gift shop on Tuesday to look for a card to send the mother of the bride (see last weekend's comings and goings) and, while I was chattering to an acquaintance who came in after me, two long-desired and, I thought, out-of-print books jumped off the shelf and begged me to take them home ;) So now I am the proud owner of my very own copy of The Palm Collection of the Durban Botanic Gardens by Ann Lambert -- a delightful person and much missed here since she emigrated to Australia. The other book is Exotic subtropical Trees in Durban by Louis Paola.

Then that very same evening I went to an Archaeological Society meeting, and the same thing happened again! This time it was Discovering southern African Rock Art by J.David Lewis-Williams -- which was highly recommended, with good reason -- and the Collins concise encyclopedia of Archaeology.

Books know when they want you.

I just got Chapel in the Sky by Lance Factor, a professor at my alma mater. It looks very cool. I hope to start it when the pile on my nightstand has thinned out a bit.

I preordered God of the Hive yonks ago, it's probably in my Kindle books waiting to be downloaded. I will read it if I ever finish the Kristen Lavransdatter books (which I am really enjoying, but it's looooooong!).

I bought Recorded Attacks at C2E2 Sunday. There's a picture of it in the weekend thread.

From the library this week:
The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Medieval World
The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot
Annotated Guides: Myths and Legends

I spent my volunteer credits at the book sale today - 46 credits got me 37 books. Two are for gifts - a copy of The Lost Symbol for a co-worker and Crazy About Gardening by Des Kennedy for my mother-in-law. The rest are MINE, ALL MINE!!! *Insert maniacal cackle here*

The prize, I think, is a gorgeous huge hardcover called The Book of Plants : The Complete Plates which cost me the equivalent of $2.00.

I shall not list the rest individually, but there are 14 gardening books, 10 mysteries by assorted authors (Marsh, Sayers, Allingham, Peters, Penny, Douglas), 2 ripping yarns, Little, Big, Life of Pi, Sabriel, Theater Shoes, Menagerie Manor, 46th annual Giles cartoon book, a book on stencilling and printing, and a decorating book.

And I might just go back for another look around :)

Recently discovered E-Bay. Picked up a used first edition first printing (hardback reprint) of White Night for like $3+shipping. Yesterday I bought a copy of the subscriber's edition of the Mississippi Tales Mark Twain volume published by the Library of America for $10+shipping (about $13 total).

Daughter and I tried to be a little conservative with our first order with BookCloseout.com. I think I found some good ones. If not, not much lost.

Jamaica Me Dead by Bob Morris
Dead Man Docking by Mary Daheim
Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler
The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
My French Whore by Gene Wilder
The Paris Enigma by Pablo De Santis
Grand Designs by various authors
Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker
The Year of Disappearances by Susan Hubbard
The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Midori by Moonlight by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

My FIL gave me a big box of books to recycle (take for trade in), and I pulled these out as possible reading fodder. I've never read any of these authors before, but have heard them talked about here and there. Mostly here. ;)
Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell
Death of a Stranger by Anne Perry
Homeland and Other Stories by Barbara Kingsolver