Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking: Teacher/Learner, didn't you just go there & get a big box of books in the spring? Sure did. See my March posting, Major Book Shopping Haul. But you see, I had every intention of limiting (ha!) my purchases to children's books this time in preparation for potential job placement in just a couple of weeks. I have a growing collection of kid lit and I wanted to get more kindergarten-primary level books.
If I do say so myself, I was a very good bibliophile book shopper and the majority of my purchases were children's books (no really, they were!). However...I couldn't just ignore the huge adult general section, now could I? Especially when it was full of gems: a great number of classics and even some contemporary (i.e. last year!) fiction available at a great discount.
So, a few books for myself became....drumroll....30. That's not too bad, right? Right? *cricket chirping* Well, my bill might say otherwise. There goes my tax credit refund. But all for a good cause.
Now that I've justified that to death, here's my haul:
The Bonfire of the Vanities- Tom Wolfe--My last stab at Wolfe's work. I didn't particularly like My Name is Charlotte Simmons and I'm not too keen on trying The Kool-Aid Acid Test, so here goes nothing.
The Lacuna- Barbara Kingsolver--Great find! I couldn't believe it was available. I absolutely loved The Poisonwood Bible, so this will be my follow-up read.
Born Standing Up- Steve Martin--Came in a cute pocket paperback edition. I love this "wild and crazy" guy :D I also got An Object of Beauty and his children's book, Late For School, which came with a CD of his banjo-accompanied song. Hilarious!
Me Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris--This was reviewed so much, I had to give it a try. My first foray into Sedaris's humour.
The Old Man and the Sea- Ernest Hemingway--Hopefully not too overwhelming a classic.
The Odyssey- Homer--See comment for above title :)
All's Well That Ends Well- William Shakespeare--I haven't read Shakespeare since university and the comedies were always a favourite of mine.
Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson--I've only seen the Muppet movie version :D
The Last of the Mohicans- James Fenimore Cooper
Pygmalion and Three Other Plays- George Bernard Shaw
An Object of Beauty- Steve Martin
The Taking of Pelham 123- John Godey--So fortuitous that I should find this as its one of my favourite movies and I thought the novel was likely long out of print. Yay!
The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
The Other Boleyn Girl- Phillipa Gregory--This author was recommended for my blogoversary. I saw many Phillipa Gregory books, but this one is most familiar to me, making it an obvious starting point.
Moby Dick- Herman Melville--Hilarious edition cover--see its entry in my Goodreads list :D
The Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas--This has gone right to the front of my TBR shelf. I really need to read this!
Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis- Ed Sikov--A doctored picture of Joan Crawford with her eyes bugged out & crossed made me laugh out loud :D
Send Yourself Roses- Kathleen Turner
The Hour I First Believed- Wally Lamb
The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera
Celebrity Detox- Rosie O'Donnell
True Compass- Edward Kennedy--Another surprising find. I know very little about this Kennedy brother, yet he was so influential to American politics. It should be an eye-opener.
An Exaltation of Larks- James Lipton--This is all about turns of phrase, especially in describing groups (e.g. a murder of crows, a pride of lions). Learning about our language is fascinating to me.
Paul Simon: A Life- Marc Eliot--Wasn't looking for this but I love Simon's (and Garfunkel, too) music and it's a very recent publication.
In Her Shoes- Jennifer Weiner--I read a library copy a while ago and liked it. Maybe I'll re-read it.
Columbine- Dave Cullen--I accidentally picked up the enlarged text edition. Oh well...the pages will fly by faster :D
The Shipping News- Annie Proulx
Running With Scissors- Augusten Burroughs
I Know This Much is True- Wally Lamb
The Road Not Taken- Robert Frost--My dad introduced me to Frost's poetry from the time I could read and the title poem is my favourite. I couldn't resist this book :)
This makes me very much in the mood for some library-building excursions! Fun--enjoy!
ReplyDeleteGreat haul!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great collection of titles! Me Talk Pretty . . is the perfect Sedaris book to start with. Love him!
ReplyDeleteWhat an AWESOME load of books! And it definitely makes me feel better about the 3 that I purchased today :-)
ReplyDeleteSo many good books there! I loved The Lacuna, The Bell Jar, and The Other Boleyn Girl.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading! :D
I love your selection! An interesting mix of classic and modern fiction and memoir. Sounds like you had fun choosing and have hours of enjoyment ahead reading. Thanks very much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I have decided there is no cure for book buying. Indeed, the more limits I try to put on myself, the more books I seem to buy. Especially in Australia, at the moment, as the major retailers are all closing down, and geting rid of masses of realy good titles for a song.
That is an awesome list of books! There are so many classics and awesome contemporary novels in there. I am so jealous. Definitely money well-spent.
ReplyDeleteWow! Wonderful books. That's a lot of reading to look forward to. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThirty at once! Wow! I would love to read The Road Not Taken! One of my ancestors was a friend of his!
ReplyDeleteBefore you award another D to the product of 3 years of a writer's life, get your own facts in order: Bette Davis doctored Joan Crawford's eyes, not her own. Jeez, didn't you even read the caption?
ReplyDelete@Ed Sikov~
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for the misunderstanding. I just want to make it perfectly clear that my comment is not grading your work as a "D". That is a smiley-face icon (eyes with laughing mouth) --> :D I am aware that Ms. Davis doctored the photo but the photo appears to be of Ms. Davis' eyes on Ms. Crawford's face...but perhaps I am mistaken. I have only skimmed the book and not yet read it in detail. Also, I do not grade an author's work without reading it first. That is not only unfair but completely impossible. Again, please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding.