Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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Archived Chit Chat & All That
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What Book(s) have you just Bought, Ordered or Taken Delivery Of?
in other news...last night unwrapped two more where I was sweating on receiving the specific cover I was after... and in both cases YES! :oD
Elizabeth Jenkins' The Tortoise and the Hare and
Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine
I put in an ILL request for Magnificent Dishonor and it's finally here, yay! I requested it because of this thread. I don't know yet if it's the right book, but it was worth a try.
another one which may well be queue-jumping to the top of my TBR pile just cos the cover is so nice:Steven Sherrill's The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
Darren wrote: "another one which may well be queue-jumping to the top of my TBR pile just cos the cover is so nice:Steven Sherrill's The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
[bookcover:The Minotaur Tak..."
Okay--I had to add that one! Anxious to see what you think, Darren.
Here's my latest library sale haul:The Buddha in the Attic - Julie Otsuka
The Warning Voice, The Debt of Tears, The Dreamer Wakes - Cao Xueqin (!)
Some Prefer Nettles - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri
Mandela's Earth And Other Poems - Wole Soyinka
The Dew Breaker - Edwidge Danticat
Owls Do Cry - Janet Frame
Silas Marner - Mary Ann Evans
Lake Superior - Lorine Niedecker
The World I Live In - Helen Keller
I'm most pleased with having finally completed my volume set of Story of the Stone (Dream of the Red Chamber), as now I can start it whenever I pleased. I also managed to finally get my New Zealand classic for this year's bingo, as well as a few I actually had on my to aquire shelf. The rest are by authors I previously liked and am hoping for more good things from.
been after a copy of W.R. Burnett's noir crime thriller The Asphalt Jungle for a while now (as part of my books-of-movies-wot-I-like quest)spotted one going cheap on eBay - ex-library hard-back...
...turns out it's original 1949 US First Edition!! :oD
(and mine's in better condition than the above shown!)
Darren wrote: "been after a copy of W.R. Burnett's noir crime thriller The Asphalt Jungle for a while now (as part of my books-of-movies-wot-I-like quest)spotted one going cheap on eBay - ex-librar..."
Nice grab! I can't believe that one wasn't on my TBR already, but it has been added now :)
Quite a number of them:The Princess of Cleves by Madame de Lafayette and translated by Nancy Mitford
Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge
Osbert Sitwell's Before the Bombardment
The Inhabited World and Blue Spruce: Stories, both by David Long
The War: 1941-1945 by Ilya Ehrenburg
& Latin American Writers at Work: The Paris Review ed. by George Plimpton
I was also finally able to replace my lost copy of Illywhacker as well.
Those are some swell scores, Darren and Pillsonista! I actually received a few books in the mail this week, too.Reader’s Block by David Markson
Omensetter's Luck by William H. Gass
Steps by Jerzy Kosiński
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
I have so many books from the library that it might be a while before I can get to these!
Just got myself a couple of my favorite Beverly Cleary books--Beezus and Ramona and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. I'd forgotten how funny Mrs. Cleary was!
Tammy wrote: "Those are some swell scores, Darren and Pillsonista! I actually received a few books in the mail this week, too.Reader’s Block by David Markson
Omensetter's Luck..."
That's quite the list you've got there, yourself!
Anyway, I just received Galen Strawson's Things That I Hate: Death, Freedom, the Self, etc. in the mail and only today placed an order for Henri Cole's Orphic Paris. There was also another good hall:
Letters to Vera by Vladimir Nabokov
House of Names by Colim Toibin
Transit: A Novel by Rachel Cusk
Family by Ian Frazier
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
& The Fall Guy: A Novel by James Lasdun
Plus two works of non-fiction: Dreamland by Sam Quinones and Browsings by Michael Dirda.
I'd been saving up for these for months:
Usually I don't buy hardcovers, especially when newly released. Aside from the price, they're much more clumsy and inconvenient not only to read but to carry, and I never feel comfortable making notes in the margin and I worry about doing anything that might spoil their condition.
But from time to time, depending upon the author and the book (and to a lesser degree the publisher), I make an exception. The Complete Poems of A.R. Ammons is definitely one of those exceptions.
I also managed to pick up Mark Strand's Collected Poems and I finally replaced my irreparably battered copy of Octavio Paz's The Labyrinth of Solitude with one that doesn't fall to pieces when I pick it up.
Good evening!I didn't actually purchase any books.
A friend of mine from work, and his wife, are decluttering their house by unloading a lot of books over a period of time. I offered to give his books a good home, but realize that I don't know where to put them.
He gave me the first two books (all he could carry at one time) today, after asking me if I liked history. to which I replied that I love history:
The Beatles by Hunter Davies
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer
Jim
Jim wrote: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer"If you like that one, then I can't recommend his Collapse of the Third Republic highly enough. Frankly, I've never read a better book about its particular subject.
Jim wrote: "I offered to give his books a good home, but realize that I don't know where to put them."lol I feel your pain...
Pillsonista wrote: "Jim wrote: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer"If you like that one, then I can't recommend his Collapse of the Third Republic high..."
It's on my TBR mountain range.
Jim
"my TBR mountain range" lol Yeah, that is so me.
Books gained at my latest library sale:The Death Notebooks - Anne Sexton (!)
The Starry Rift - Alice Sheldon (I'm too used to only dealing with Mary Ann Evans when it comes to perniciously prolonged nicknames, else I would've acquired a work of hers sooner. Shame on me.)
The Ladies from St. Petersburg: Three Novellas - Nina Berberova
Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism - Chandra Talpade Mohanty
A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War - Susan Griffin (!)
Aunt Résia and the Spirits and Other Stories - Yanick Lahens (!)
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Atul Gawande (to replace a copy indefinitely loaned to my sister)
Exclamation marks denote books that were actually on my list previous to purchase, not counting the replacement copy. Considering my book buying habits, this is a high percentage indeed.
Looks like a great selection. It's always nice when you find books that are on your list to purchase. It would be rude not to buy them!
Fathers and SonsThe Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
The Falconer
The House on Mango Street
The Return of the Soldier
Ten Days in a Mad-House
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
I wanted to pick up possible future reads while I had the cash.
Also I don’t know about y’all but GR Deals bite my wallet! I buy a few a week.
Jim wrote: "Pillsonista wrote: "Jim wrote: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer"If you like that one, then I can't recommend his [book:Collapse of the Third R..."
Your TBR mountain range lololol I think I have one of those too
BAM wrote: "Fathers and SonsThe Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
The Falconer
The House on Mango Street
[book:The Return o..."
I've read three of those recently and they were all great!
Bought Educated ($6.99) and Salt to the Sea ($2.99) for Kindle as they were on sale today.
Just ordered a used copy of Forever Undecided: A Puzzle Guide To Gödel (doesn't seem to be anywhere as new). While I like ebooks, I prefer a puzzle book as print. I found the suggested books in the second line rather interesting:
How come that from an interest in mathematical logic and puzzles, I should be interested in communism? The strange thing is that I actually do want to read the communist manifesto.
don't get me started on the recommendations!it's not like they're even just random, some of them couldn't be more diametrically opposed if they tried for a laugh/bet
meanwhile, yesterday I received from the US (Brooklyn Library no less!) a bargain copy (bagged on eBay) of
de Roberto's The Viceroys
Now I really want to go check my Amazon recommendations!Okay....I did and it was hilarious. It went something like this:
Faulkner, Gass, Balzac, Cat Butts: A coloring Book, Zweig, Denis Johnson, Zola (This is not a joke...there was one other coloring book listed, but the title is so dirty I can't even repeat it! Apparently I'm like school on Sunday....no class.)
Anyhoo...I just received:
This book got zippy votes on new school classics, but I am so excited to read it. Hopefully it is sans cat butts.
Michele wrote: "Just picked up a battered copy of Lest Darkness Fall"ooh L. Sprague deCamp - there's a blast from the past! - think I read some of his back when I was a teenager - will bosh that one onto my TBR pile right now!
Darren wrote: "ooh L. Sprague deCamp - there's a blast from the past! - think I read some of his back when I was a teenager - wi..."I have a friend with whom I'm kicking around the plot for a time travel novel, and this is the one he mentioned as inspiration. So it's kinda homework lol
Darren wrote: "meanwhile, yesterday I received from the US (Brooklyn Library no less!) a bargain copy (bagged on eBay) of de Roberto's The Viceroys"
I have that one on my TBR shelf/shelves as well. Anyway, I was a bit inundated today. These arrived in the mail...
Ivory Pearl by Jean-Patrick Manchette and Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig.
And my local library had their monthly clearance sale this week, so of course I went to town:
Exemplary Novels by Cervantes and translated by Edith Grossman
The Letters of Kenneth Tynan
James Baldwin's Collected Essays
Observatory Mansions: A Novel by Edward Carey
Trick by Domenico Starnone
Looking for "The Stranger" by Alice Kaplan
Falstaff: Give Me Life by Harold Bloom (the book he was born to write)
The Best of Myles by Flann O'Brien
Pillsonista wrote: "Darren wrote: "meanwhile, yesterday I received from the US (Brooklyn Library no less!) a bargain copy (bagged on eBay) of de Roberto's The Viceroys"
I have that one on my TBR shelf/shelves as we..."
I would be very excited about the Baldwin essays. His writings are looming large on my need to read soon radar.
Laurie wrote: "I would be very excited about the Baldwin essays. His writings are looming large on my need to read soon radar."Oh, that's not even the half of it. I didn't even list what I found in non-fiction and poetry (that was the real coup, imo).
It's rather incredible what I've been able to find at these sales over the years, not just the titles themselves but the actual condition of many of the books. This isn't the first LoA collection that I've purchased from them in essentially brand new condition, and at a mere fraction of the retail price.
It's the delight in the surprise that always keeps me coming back. I know if I want a title badly enough I can always go online and order it. But that's not nearly as much fun as the search itself, and usually it's what I unexpectedly discover during the hunt that's even more exciting than finding what I'm looking for.
My buddy Dave gave me two more books:A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing by Lou Michel
Check out what I got at a library book sale for TWENTY FIVE CENTS each!The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Paula by Isabel Allende
Making it Up by Penelope Lively
and
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
All smiles here. :-) ♥♥♥
I went to a large church rummage sale nearby and picked up these three books for a dollar!Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
and
Adventures of the Greek Heroes by Mollie McLean & Anne Wiseman
This board isn't specifically for this, but as I've recently moved, I wanted to show off having finally started properly configuring my library.
It's not very impressive or all of my books, but as a working college student I'm quite proud of it. It's also double shelved on the bottom three shelves, which is hard to tell from the photo.
Aubrey wrote: "This board isn't specifically for this, but as I've recently moved, I wanted to show off having finally started properly configuring my library.It's not very impressive or all of my books, but as..."
Well done, Aubrey. It does feel like an accomplishment to organize one's books. Since you have double shelving, you can pack quite a lot in a small space which is impressive.
Aubrey wrote: "It's not very impressive or all of my books, but as a working college student I'm quite proud of it. "I'd say that's pretty good for a working college student. My only complaint is that I can't zoom in and read the titles so I know what you've got!
Michele wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "It's not very impressive or all of my books, but as a working college student I'm quite proud of it. "I'd say that's pretty good for a working college student. My only complaint is..."
Ha ha, thanks Michele. I'll post better pics after work.
Laurie wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "This board isn't specifically for this, but as I've recently moved, I wanted to show off having finally started properly configuring my library.
It's not very impressive or all of m..."
Thanks Laurie. I'll be able to fit some more in of the second batch, but most of it will have to go either under or between my bed and the wall. We'll see how alphabetizing goes with that.
The Phantom of the Opera and a 150 pounds of books about Baseball. I don't know what I'll do with all these but I figured it's baseball season and I love opera.
Congrats on the well-stocked shelf, Aubrey! I recognize a few from my own stacks. There's nothing like actual paper books--funny how looking at these pictures is much more fun than reading someone's Goodreads shelf. :-)
Kathleen wrote: "Congrats on the well-stocked shelf, Aubrey! I recognize a few from my own stacks. There's nothing like actual paper books--funny how looking at these pictures is much more fun than reading someone'..."Thanks, Kathleen, and yup. So many more of the library owner's quirks and specific editions come through.
Good evening!My buddy Dave from work gave me Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate by Bob Woodward
Jim
Aubrey wrote: "Better pics of my shelves for Michele:"Ha! Thank you :) What an interesting and eclectic assortment. Yay Dorothy Dunnett!! And The Last Samurai - I loved that book, very unusual and really drew me in. Tell me about Secondhand Time and The River Ki, both of those intrigue m.
I just took receipt of a copy of this book, a gift for a friend's daughter who graduated with a degree in zoology :) And a copy of Politics and the American Television Comedy: A Critical Survey from I Love Lucy Through South Park, a birthday present for my brother.
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Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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maybe go on my xmas list or might just get it on Kindle as it's reasonably inexpensive... "
I've had its release date marked on my calendar for weeks, so this was one of the few times I was willing to pay full price (no matter what it was... within reason).
And I can't wait to get started. It's going to be very interesting reading this side-by-side with The Magic Mountain, both modernist masterpieces released within five years of one another and both use the satirization of the bildungsroman as their over-arching framework.