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

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

Welcome to the group, Makeda. I don't know about outlawing the libraries' booksales, but maybe Half Prices should be, or at least they should have that warning that casinos do because it is a true enabler of my addiction. ;-)

Got from Thriftbooks.com

Got from Amazon:

David wrote: "I wholeheartedly agree with all the comments above.

Re-readers, unite! ..."

And I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am a chronic rereader. I love to reread since I can go in two directions when I do. One, if I pay close attention as I read I might get something new I missed the times I've read before and two, I don't necesarily have to pay as close attention since I have read it before, I can relax more rereading than I can reading a book for the first time.

I was just wondering if anyone else had ever done this, since I've found myself doing it the last couple of days. I've gone to the book store twice in the last two days as well as ordered from the internet and I plan to go again today or tomorrow because it has been quite a stressful week for me and I must admit I did feel kind of good after adding a few more titles to my shelves, even though I probably shouldn't have bought them since I could be spending money on more important things, maybe. Kind of makes me think I really am a book buying addict. There, I got it off my chest, anyone else care to share? :-)

Sad, sad news. I loved her books.

4:32 p.m. CDT, June 7, 2011
LANDRUM, S.C. (AP) — The author who wrote 29 books in the "The Cat Who ..." mystery series almost quit writing after the third book was published because popular tastes had changed so much, but a casual conversation with her husband convinced her to try again.

Lilian Jackson Braun, who died last week in South Carolina, took an 18-year hiatus between "The Cat Who Turned On and Off" and "The Cat Who Saw Red," published in 1986. She resumed because her husband encouraged her to return to writing after she retired from The Detroit Free Press in 1984.

New York Times Braun and her first publisher parted ways when she refused to add sex and violence to her fourth book, her husband, Earl Bettinger of Tryon, N.C., told The Associated Press on Tuesday. On a rainy day years later, she asked Bettinger if he wanted to read the rejected book. "And I said, 'Lilian, everything about this book demands that you send it back to your agent.'"

So she tried again, and Berkley Publishing Group, an imprint of Penguin Books (USA), not only accepted her book but also reprinted her first three mysteries.

In an obituary provided by Penguin, Braun discusses that time: "They wanted sex and violence, not kitty-cat stories. Gore was not my style, so I just forgot about 'The Cat Who.'"

Braun, 97, died Saturday of natural causes at the Hospice House of the Carolina Foothills in Landrum. She had lived in Tryon, N.C., for the past 23 years. She wrote 31 books, including two short story collections, and worked 30 years at The Detroit Free Press.

"The Cat Who ..." books began with "The Cat Who Could Read Backwards," published in 1966. They ended when Braun retired from writing in 2007 after the publication of "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers." Her books about Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, were regulars on the New York Times bestseller lists and were translated into 16 languages.

Her characters were so real that people wanted to meet them, Bettinger said. "A woman from Germany called and said she was coming to America and said she would like to meet Jim Qwilleran," he said. "That's how real her characters were."

Braun's books were so popular, he said, because her characters weren't mean and the cats didn't do anything that a cat wouldn't do. "No cats danced and no cats sang," he said.

Her books redefined the mystery genre, said Natalee Rosenstein, Braun's longtime editor and vice president, senior executive editor of Berkley Books, a Penguin Group imprint.

Rosenstein said in a statement that she loved the books when she first read them, but "it did take me awhile to figure out what genre it belonged to.

"She ultimately created a whole new chapter in the American mystery, and our wonderful working relationship spanned more than two decades. But most of all, it is Lilian the person I will remember — a strong, dedicated feisty woman who would always speak her mind and not be intimidated by anyone."

Braun wrote her books in longhand, then typed them herself, according to her publisher.

But the woman who wrote about cats didn't own any in the last years of her life. She was losing her sight, and a kitten kept getting underfoot, Bettinger said. She nearly fell three times so the kitten was sent back to the woman in Atlanta who had given the cat to Braun; the older cat had to be euthanized. The couple had about five cats over the years, all Siamese and all named Koko and Yum Yum, he said.

Braun was born June 20, 1913, in Chicopee Falls, Mass. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Louis Paul Braun; sister, Florence Jackson; and brother, Lloyd Jackson.

No memorial service will be held.

Childrens' classics such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass and The Jungle Book I enjoyed greatly as a kid just for the stories they told, but when I read them older I did get much more meaning out of works like them.

Joseph wrote: "I haven't bought a book for the first time because of its cover, but I do tend to collect used copies of books, often classics like Treasure Island, because of their covers and/or illust..."

My words have come back to haunt me, today I actually did buy a book because of its cover. It was a nice bonus that it was autographed too, but it was the artwork that caught my eye:

I did awesome in regards to autographs in the last two days at Chicago's Printers Row Lit Fest. I got JB Stanley/Ellery Adams's autograph on EIGHT books, Chloe Neill's on FOUR books, and Laurell K. Hamilton and Lawrence Norfolk's autographs on one book each. Pretty good, huh? :-)

Did much better today, the second and last day of Chicago's Printers Row Lit Fest. I got: and I also got two ARCs:

Mary wrote: "I'm trying to save money, plus I just adopted a kitten who needs some surgery, but I did manage to buy a few books this month:..."

Mary, congrats on the new family member. :-) Hope he/she will be ok. What's your kitty's name?

Just got back from the first day of Chicago's Printers Row Lit Fest and I have to admit, I'm a little depressed. I expected to find a lot more and all I came home with was and . Hopefully tomorrow I'll do better.

I haven't bought a book for the first time because of its cover, but I do tend to collect used copies of books, often classics like Treasure Island, because of their covers and/or illustrations.

I read what I feel like when I feel like it. The seasons have no impact, if anything does, it is the release dates of new books. I like to read the newest by my favorite authors when they come out.

Summer's pretty much here. Share the books you buy this June.

Got one last book for the month: which brings me to 37 new books this month. Interestingly, I've read 35 books this month, but not all of them were from that 37. :-)

I went on a bit of a Memorial Day sale book buying binge yesterday. From Half Price I brought home and I used a 40% coupon at Borders to get

Congrats! Best of luck with it.
One thing I seem to have never found at a used book store other than Half Price is that it is well organized. Having the books seperated by genre and sorted by author and title is a big plus with me. I like to look for certain titles and having the books just thrown together in a great big mess is so annoying.

Your welcome Ellie. I'm a librarian, I'm glad to provide answers. Besides, if you don't ask a question, you can't get an answer, right? :-)

Ellie, what people in the U.S. call the trunk of a car in England they call the boot of a car. For more info about car boot sales, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_boot...