Joseph ’s Comments (group member since Jul 28, 2009)

Joseph ’s comments from the Book Buying Addicts Anonymous group.

Went on just an itty bitty bit of a book buying binge this last week. ;-)

Over the weekend at Half Price Books I picked up:

At a public library bag sale I got:

An order from Thriftbooks:

And an Amazon order arrived:

Got a nice surprise when two books I order online used arrived, they were both autographed! The Merchant of Venus and A Small Sacrifice both came signed by Ellen Hart.

I really like Bookriot. Check out this article, found at http://bookriot.com/2016/02/09/10-boo...

10 Bookish Feelings We Need English Words For ASAP
BY SHARANYA SHARMA
FEB 9, 2016

I’m sorry, but I have to say it: English has failed us. Which is shocking, coming from me, given that I’ve been in love with the language for most of my life. But recently, I discovered The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows — a series of made up words that capture that feeling of melancholy/pain/nostalgia/etc. that there is no exact, real word to describe. Feelings like “vellichor,” which is now the strange wistfulness of used bookshops. And that got me thinking of other “untranslatable” feelings and situations, some of which you can find words for in other languages. Words like tsundoku, a Japanese word that roughly means: “Leaving a book unread after buying it.” (I am so very guilty of this. Sigh.) And sure, we have the phrase “book hangover” for that melancholic daze that comes at the end of a good book. But what about all those other especially bookish situations/feelings that we desperately need words to describe?

So, I’ve compiled a list of those inexplicable feelings below! Guys, we need to make up words for these. Immediately.

1. That dawning realization that you will not be getting up from your couch for the rest of the day and/or will not be going to sleep all night, because this story is completely unstoppable.
Like when I began reading The Wrath & the Dawn, or Leigh Bardugo’s The Six of Crows. Or, surprisingly, when I read Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell.

2. That queer rage/pain you feel when an author butchers a character’s arc by having them do something that makes no sense.
…I’M LOOKING AT YOU, BREAKING DAWN.

3. That feeling you get when you see rain and/or snow outside and know this is going to be a snuggle-in-bed-and-read day.
Snow Day Reading is the best reading.

4. The strange flip/flutter/squeeze your heart does whenever the two characters you ship are in a scene together. Also that extra squeeze when they do something particularly relationshippy
Most recently, Kaz/Inej from Six of Crows, but also Celaena/Chaol from Sara Maas’s Throne of Glass series, Bran/Liadan from Juliet Marillier’s Son of the Shadows, Rachel/Gabriel from Archangel…I could go on.

5. That swelling/floaty feeling you get when someone LOVES that amazing book you recommended to them.
Most recently and prominently, Renée Ahdieh’s The Wrath & the Dawn, which I have not been able to shut up about since I read it over the summer. Happily, everyone I’ve recommended it to has also LOVED IT. By the way, you should get on that, dear reader. I’m just saying.

6. That intense feeling that’s not quite rage but not quite just annoyance when someone tactlessly interrupts you while you’re reading (the strength of which is directly proportional to the quality of the book).
Really? Do they not SEE my “Go Away I’m Reading” mug? Do I need to wear a “Go Away I’m Reading” t-shirt and a “Go-Away I’m Reading” tattoo on my forehead?

7. That feeling of homecoming when you reread your favorite book (series). Again.
Oh, Harry Potter. Need I say more? Sniff.

8. When you finally start that book nobody can stop talking about and pretty soon into it you realize you totally, completely get why.
Definitely happend with Cinder, for me. And thank GOD you have other people to fangirl with when the ride is over and you have to get up off your couch, amirite?

9. That combination of shock, awe, and glee when the plot turns on an excellent twist you never saw coming.
I will forever remember that moment when I first read about Tom Riddle rearranging his name to spell I am Lord Voldemort. Also, IT WAS GINNY?!

10. That moment you find exactly what you’d been dreaming of in the bookstore
This feeling is somehow both triumphant and gleeful all at once. We’ll forget our sense of tsundoku just this once, shall we?
As I said, we really need to find words to describe these feelings ASAP. Know what we can call them, readers? And what other feelings do you get when you read that just can’t be described in a single word?

Anybody got ideas for what these terms ought to be? Share them here and you could check out the link to Bookriot to share your ideas there too.

Clare wrote: "I would like this challenge too, can any of the books be in audio format?"

Yep.

DONE! 4-24-16 :-)

Edited: As of 4-19-16, I only have 1 left to go!

I think it should be doable. As of 2-15-16, I've already got 16/20:

1. Mystery: Scene of the Brine by Mary Ellen Hughes
2. Fantasy: Darkness Raging by Yasmine Galenorn
3. Science Fiction: The Zodiac Legacy: The Dragon's Return by Stan Lee
4. Realistic Fiction: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
5. Historical Fiction: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
6. Futuristic Fiction: Arena by Holly Jennings
7. Graphic Novel: Neverland: Hook by Joe Brusha
8. A book written before you were born. Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
9. A book written for kids or young adults.: Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff
10. A book by an author whose last name begins with A or B or C or D or E.: Wickedly Powerful by Deborah Blake
11. A book by an author whose last name begins with F or G or H or I or J.: Staked by Kevin Hearne
12. A book by an author whose last name begins with K or L or M or N or O.: Path of Needles by Alison Littlewood
13. A book by an author whose last name begins with P or Q or R or S or T.The Pirate Code by Heidi Schulz
14. A book by an author whose last name begins with U or V or W or X or Y or Z.: The Sisters of APF: The Indoctrination of Soror Ride Dick by Zane
15. A book written by a man.: Revisionary by Jim C. Hines
16. A book written by a woman.: River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz
17. A nonfiction book.: Sex in the Museum: My Unlikely Career at New York's Most Provocative Museum by Sarah Forbes
18. A book, either fiction or nonfiction, about an animal. A Familiar Tail
19. A book, either fiction or nonfiction, about a sport or a team.: Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan's Soul: Inspirational Stories of Baseball, Big-League Dreams and the Game of Life
20. A book, either fiction or nonfiction, about a famous person.: Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder by Kenn Kaufman

I decided to create a folder and get a simple reading challenge going for anyone interested. Check it out here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is this:
By the end of the year, read one book of each of the following categories:
1. Mystery
2. Fantasy
3. Science Fiction
4. Realistic Fiction
5. Historical Fiction
6. Futuristic Fiction
7. Graphic Novel
8. A book written before you were born.
9. A book written for kids or young adults.
10. A book by an author whose last name begins with A or B or C or D or E.
11. A book by an author whose last name begins with F or G or H or I or J.
12. A book by an author whose last name begins with K or L or M or N or O.
13. A book by an author whose last name begins with P or Q or R or S or T.
14. A book by an author whose last name begins with U or V or W or X or Y or Z.
15. A book written by a man.
16. A book written by a woman.
17. A nonfiction book.
18. A book, either fiction or nonfiction, about an animal.
19. A book, either fiction or nonfiction, about a sport or a team.
20. A book, either fiction or nonfiction, about a famous person.

Another delivery:

I finished January with 36 read, not a bad start. :-)

Not a bad way to start the month, met the postman at the door with these for me:

Ashley *Hufflepuff Kitten* wrote: "I've always wondered, what's the difference between paperback and trade paperback? I know mass market are the short fat ones (which I'm partial to) but I'm not sure about the other two."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperba...

A paperback (also known as softback or softcover) is a type of book characterized by a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover or hardback books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth; although more expensive, hardbacks are more durable.

Paperbacks can be differentiated by size. In the US there are "mass-market paperbacks" and larger "trade paperbacks."

A mass-market paperback is a small, usually non-illustrated, inexpensive bookbinding format.

A trade paperback, sometimes referred to as a "trade paper edition" or just "trades", is a large-sized paperback book, typically with dimensions of 135 mm x 216 mm.

This year we have one extra day to buy books! Hooray! Share your February purchases here.

Another neat find on Bookriot:

The Myers-Briggs Types of 202 Fictional Characters
BY KATE SCOTT
JAN 28, 2016

For those of you who are not familiar with Myers-Briggs, it’s a personality profiling system based on Jung’s typological theory that was developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. In the Myers-Briggs typeology system, there are sixteen personality types consisting of four letters: E for extrovert or I for introvert, S for sensor or N for intuitive, T for thinker or F for feeler, and P for perceiver or J for judger. You can read more about Myers-Briggs here and find books about it here.

Go to this link for the Myers-Briggs types of a whole lot of fictional characters.
http://bookriot.com/2016/01/28/myer-b...

My type is INFJ – The Counselor
Creative • Observer • Avoidant • Cautious • Private

INFJs have an inner world filled with ideas, symbols, and possibilities. They are passionate, idealistic, and have a deep concern for others. INFJs make up about 2% of the general population, 2% of women, and 1% of men.

INFJ characters include Sonmi-451 (Cloud Atlas), Will Graham (Red Dragon), Sayuri (Memoirs of a Geisha), Theodore Lawrence (Little Women), Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), Andy Sachs (The Devil Wears Prada), Lord Varys (Game of Thrones), Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia), Remus Lupin (Harry Potter), Hercule Poirot (Hercule Poirot Mysteries), Georgiana Darcy (Death Comes to Pemberley), and Galadrial (The Lord of the Rings).

What's your type?

Wanted to share this, hope you find it helpful:

http://bookriot.com/2016/01/27/crash-...

When faced with unknown acronyms, folks seem to fall into three categories: the ones who ask, the ones who research, and the ones who neither want to ask nor research. Hopefully, this little glossary will satisfy the needs of folks in all three of these categories, since I’ll have done the research and put everything in one neat little page anyone can bookmark for future reference. Of course, if there are any bookish acronyms I’ve missed, feel free to helpfully drop them in the comments below. I’ve only listed the ones I see regularly around the bookish web, so it’s definitely possible.

I’ve gone ahead and separated my acronyms here into sections, which should make it easier to find exactly the right one.

General Reading:

TBR: To Be Read
DNF: Did Not Finish (can be verbed as DNFd)
ARC: Advance Review Copy
DRC: Digital Review Copy
TBB: To Be Bought
OOP: Out Of Print
MC: Main Character
Genre and Demographics:

SF: Science Fiction
SF/F: Science Fiction and Fantasy
UF: Urban Fantasy
PNR: ParaNormal Romance
MG: Middle Grade
YA: Young Adult
NA: New Adult
Organizations and Events-related:

ALA: American Library Association
PLA: Public Library Association
OIF: Office for Intellectual Freedom
BEA: BookExpo America
BRL: Book Riot Live
S&S: Simon & Schuster
PRH: Penguin Random House
NBA: National Book Award
GR: GoodReads
BBW: Banned Books Week
WBN: World Book Night
Formats:

GN: Graphic Novel
PB: Paperback
TPB: Trade Paperback
MMPB: Mass-Market Paperback
HC: Hardcover


Other Fun Stuff:

LCS: Local Comics Shop
LFL: Little Free Library
ILL: Inter-Library Loan
M/M (in romance, male-to-male. Which brings us to…)
F/F (female-to-female romance)
HEA: Happily Ever After
HFN: Happy For Now
OOC: Out Of Character
POD: Print On Demand
ROUS: Rodents Of Unusual Size

Got a big order in:

and you can call on up to three characters from one book to come rescue you. What book by what author and what characters do you choose. And since it would probably be too easy if you chose something like magic users, give me two answers, one from fantasy or sci-fi and one from realistic fiction.

For the fantasy/sci-fi category, I'd go with Isaac Vainio, Lena Greenwood, and Smudge from Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines.

For the realistic fiction, I'd go with the Honourable Phryne Fisher, Detective Inspector John 'Jack' Robinson, and Lin Chung from Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood.

Just got back from getting The Swans of Fifth Avenue signed by Melanie Benjamin at Anderson's Bookshop. I picked up a copy of Roller Girl signed by Victoria Jamieson there, too.

Kamal wrote: "PS: How do I add the cover images in reply."

Kamal, two ways. When you click the "add book/author" link above the message box, at the bottom of that pop-up box you'll see two radio buttons labeled "add: 0 link 0 cover" Just click the circle in front of "cover." Or if you enter the link like you did, you'll see it in your message box as "[ book:Unbreakable: an Autobiography|19474786 ]" If you just type in "cover" right after the "[book" part, as in [ bookcover:Unbreakable: an Autobiography|19474786 ], you'll see it then appear as when you post your message. Hope this helps.

P.S. Welcome to B.B.A.A. :-)

Lára wrote: "I agree with both of you, Erin and Joseph, except that I´d stopped giving reviews. I just don´t feel the need to do it anymore. Most of the authors (just look at them rating their own books with 5 stars) don´t see anything less than "amazing" so why bother at all. "

Lára, it's kind of funny you say that, about not bothering with reviews because the authors don't see anything less that 5 stars, because I never really thought about writing reviews or rating as being for the authors. I do it for fellow readers, to suggest books that are just so great you don't want to miss them, or some that are enjoyable but nothing amazing, or some so bad you shouldn't waste your time. Authors I have met range across the spectrum when it comes to reviews and ratings, some take them extremely serious and others never even bother to look at them. I guess people are people, I'm sure readers are the same way.