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

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

I went to Half Price Books today and picked up:

Tammy wrote: "I can only seem to read one book at a time. Sometimes I have a hard time starting another book when the previous one was so good that my mind hasnt accepted the fact that I am finished with it."

Tammy, that's a called a Book Hangover: Inability to start a new book because you're still living in the last book's world. :-)

Batsap wrote: "Yes please to Moomin Valley :) I would love to go there.

...And Gotham from the Batman comics should be added to the sign. Do comic book places count?"

Sure, I say go ahead and share any of your favorite fictional locations, be they world, country, or city.

Throughout my high school and college years I would buy only paperback because I often could not afford the more expensive hardcovers. Since becoming an adult and joining the workforce I have gone back and bought the longer-lasting hardcovers of those favorite titles that I bought in paperback long ago.

Another world that came to mind is Prydain, from Lloyd Alexander's works.

Tammy, don't ever feel that just because you are an adult you cannot buy, read, and enjoy young adult and even children's fiction. I'm a Youth Services Librarian and I recommend plenty of YA fiction to parents of the kids who come to my department.

Hazel, welcome to B.B.A.A. I just have to say, that map is AWESOME! :-)

I came across this cute picture on the 'net the other day:


I would add Wonderland and Oz to it, though. What other fictional worlds have you come across in your reading that you would want to add to this signpost?

Got delivered today.

I just learned one of my favorite children's mystery authors passed away recently, on July 11, 2012. I grew up reading his Encyclopedia Brown books and as a librarian I love to recommend them to 3rd-5th grade readers. I'm going to miss him.

'Encyclopedia Brown' Author Sobol Dies at 87
MIAMI July 16, 2012 (AP)

Donald J. Sobol, author of the popular "Encyclopedia Brown" series of children's mysteries, has died. He was 87.

Sobol died in Miami from natural causes July 11, with his wife Rose by his side, his son John Sobol told The Associated Press Monday.

Sobol's series featured amateur sleuth Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown, who would unravel local mysteries with the help of his encyclopedic knowledge of facts great and small. The books, first published in the early 1960s, became staples in classrooms and libraries nationwide. They were translated into 12 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.

"Thanks to Donald, generations of children have learned to read and solve mysteries alongside Encyclopedia Brown, one of the most iconic characters in children's literature," said Don Weisberg, president of Penguin Young Readers Group, which publishes Sobol's books.

The Encyclopedia Brown books also featured Brown's friend and detective partner, the tough and athletic Sally Kimball. John Sobol said his father was ahead of his times in creating a strong female character.

"That was groundbreaking back in 1963 when the series was first published," Sobol said.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the Encyclopedia Brown series. Donald Sobol's latest Encyclopedia Brown adventure, "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme," will be published in October, according to a release from Penguin.

Sobol was a New York City native. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers during WWII and graduated from Oberlin College. He later worked as a copywriter at the New York Sun, where he eventually worked his way up to reporter. His first Encyclopedia Brown book was rejected two dozen times before it was published, his son said.

In 1958, Sobol became a successful syndicated columnist with his "Two Minute Mystery" series before publishing "Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective" five years later to launch the most popular series of his career. He and his wife moved to Miami in 1961.

The Encyclopedia Brown concept — in which the solutions to the mysteries are shown after the story — came to Sobol while he was researching an article at the New York Public Library, and a clerk mistakenly handed him a game book, with puzzles on one side and the solutions on the other.

Sobol decided to write a mystery series with the same premise. He earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America award for the Encyclopedia Brown series.

John Sobol said his father would frequently test out story ideas on his four children. "We would talk about it sitting around dinner," he said, adding, "My mom also helped inject humor into the stories."

The series inevitably attracted Hollywood, which tried for decades to adapt the books for the big screen, with Anthony Hopkins, Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn among those interested in the project. But legal disputes over who controls film rights have prevented any feature film from being made.

Sobol's work never brought him the financial success of blockbusters like the "Harry Potter," series, his son said, but his father loved hearing from countless librarians and parents about children who hated to read until they picked up an Encyclopedia Brown book.

Sobol authored more than 80 books and wrote on a daily basis to the very end.

His family has asked that donations in his memory be made to The New York Public Library at www.nypl.org/donaldsobol. Check donations can be mailed to The New York Public Library, 476 Fifth Avenue, Room M-6, New York, NY 10018, payable to The New York Public Library.

Chrissy wrote: "Joseph wrote: "To be honest people, reading all this hurts! ;-) You do know that buying books is not a bad habit, right? Everything in moderation. What I am trying to say is if you can afford it..."

Chrissy, I understand what you are saying and I agree with you. You are correct, at least if we are talking about those who buy only books to be read. Now, just playing devil's advocate here, there are some book buyers who are collectors as well as they are readers. Crazy as it may sound, some of us don't plan to read every book they own but they buy books to have as part of a collection. For example, I know someone who likes to go to used book sales at the public libraries to find books that have something, anything, to do with steam locomotives, fiction or nonfiction. For a bibliophile like him, so long as he stays within budget, I'd tell him if comes across a book he sees that fits his theme, go ahead and buy it. But again, a collecting buyer is a different case than a reader buyer, which I do think is in the majority here. I guess what I was trying to say before is kind of a merge, that if a reader buyer sees a new publication of a favorite author, one whose series they have been reading for years, I would say go ahead and "get off the wagon" and buy it so you'll have it, then get back on the wagon. But of course, there is always the public library, as well, for you to get that title, so buying isn't a necesity. Just my opinion, of course. :-)

To be honest people, reading all this hurts! ;-) You do know that buying books is not a bad habit, right? Everything in moderation. What I am trying to say is if you can afford it and you come across a book you really want, I say go ahead and buy it. Even if you don't think you'll have the time to read it right away, at least then you'll have it for when you do have the time or are in the right mood. Don't just buy to buy, of course, but it is not a bad thing to buy yourself a book you want every so often. No need to go cold turkey necesarily. I don't mean to be an enabler, but you don't need to cause yourselves pain, just slow down, you don't have to stop entirely. Just budget your time and money and buying is ok then. I'll get off my soap box now and return you to your regularly schedule program. :-)

Paul, beautiful bindings! I love collecting sets like that.

I've currently read 180 books toward my goal of 365 books, almost halfway there (49%)! But still 4 books (1%) behind.

New month, so please share your July purchases here.

Well, that's not quite true, it's just that I have about 12 new books I just got, a combo of books I bought that just came out and holds from the library that just arrived, but I don't feel like reading any of them now! You ever have this happen? What do you do? Read them anyway even if you are not in the mood for those particular new ones, reread an old favorite, get one more new read and let the others sit, what? I've tried to read these new ones but I can't seem to get very far into them before I have to just stop reading. I hate having waited all this time for these books to get here but I can't get into them! I'm currently instead reading yet another new book for me, yet an old publication, it first came out in 1989!

Erin, I'm sure you wouldn't anyway but definately don't give up, sometimes it only takes the just right book to hook a kid.

Another delivery in of one I am really looking forward to reading:

Just got my order of:

Huw wrote: "I agree with Thom's approach. Sometimes I buy a book with the best possible intention and then find that my mood doesn't suit what I am reading so have to stop before negativity sets in. The tric..."

Huw, Goodreads provides an easy solution for that problem. I have a started-but-could-not-finish shelf on Goodreads, you could make a try-again-later shelf too.