What Book(s) have you just Bought, Ordered or Taken Delivery Of? Showing 1,301-1,350 of 2,344

[Aprilleigh]

Helen wrote: "Library book sale today $5.25 :

Atonement by Ian McEwen
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Orphan Train Kristina Baker Kline


The Devil's Arithmetic made me cry. It was an amazing book.

[Jim]

Good evening!

I caught a Black Friday Weekend sale at Barnes and Noble, and my wife encouraged me to get some collectable editions at 50% off. I had some of them already from previous sales in past years so I didn't want to duplicate. I got the following books at no more than $US12.50 apiece:

F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic Works by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940). They include his debut novel This Side of Paradise (1920); his second novel The Beautiful and Damned (1922); and the short story collections Flappers and Philosophers (1920) and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922).

Invisible Man, Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison (1913-94). It includes his first and most famous novel, Invisible Man (1952) and his second novel Juneteenth (published posthumously in 1999).

The Iliad and the Odyssey attributed to Homer (c. 8th century BCE). Although I already have a 1950 Modern Library omnibus edition and last year read the Iliad but not the Odyssey, I have no access to it, as it is in a box in an extremely cluttered bedroom; therefore I purchased this 2014 B & N Classics/Fall River Press hardcover omnibus edition for $US7.98.

H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). All 68 works by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, including discarded drafts, stories he wrote as a boy, and an essay entitled "Supernatural Horror in Literature".

John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). This 945-page omnibus contains the first five novels of the eleven novels in what is known as the Barsoom (a fictional representation of the planet Mars) Series, namely, A Princess of Mars (1912); The Gods of Mars (1913); The Warlord of Mars (1914); Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1916); and The Chessmen of Mars (1922).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Other Stories by Lewis Carroll (1832-98). Includes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865); Through the Looking Glass (1872); Sylvie and Bruno (1889); Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893); and a lot of poetry.

by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). Includes The Sun Also Rises (1926); A Farewell to Arms (1929); For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940); and The Old Man and the Sea (1951 or 1952).

A Wrinkle in Time Trilogy by Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007). Includes A Wrinkle in Time (1962); A Wind in the Door (1973); and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978), the first three books in the A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, of which the last four are not classics by the age of the books.

Borrowed from my local library, through interlibrary loan, are three books near the top of my TBR:

Life of Chopin (originally published 1863) by Franz Liszt (1811-86). The 2005 Dover edition, translated from the original French by Martha Walker Cook, came to me from the Montclair (NJ) State University library.

My Life and Music by Artur Schnabel (1882-1951). Originally published in 1970, this Dover edition came to me from the library of Georgian Court University in Lakewood, NJ.

Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician by John Worthen. Originally published in 2007, this book came to me from the Ashland (OH) University library.

[Rosemarie]

You have some great reading ahead, Jim. That was a good deal.
Your interlibrary loan system sounds amazing, if you can get books from different states.

Our church had its Christmas bazaar yesterday and I only bought two books, for a dollar each- The Gathering Storm and Their Finest Hour by Sir Winston Churchill.

[Rachel]

Do digital editions count?

Went on a bender on Nook for titles that cost $1.99 or less. Got Shirley since it’s on the list for January and looks good. The others are Passing by Nella Larsen, a collection of Aphra Behn, Her First American by Lore Segal, and The Mabinogion. Plenty to get me through holiday travel and the dark winter months!

[Carol]

Rachel wrote: "Do digital editions count?

Went on a bender on Nook for titles that cost $1.99 or less. Got Shirley since it’s on the list for January and looks good. The others are Passing by Nella Larsen, a col..."

Yes, they certainly do!

I'm a fangirl of Passing. I hope you love it.

[Carol]

Rachel wrote: "Do digital editions count?

Went on a bender on Nook for titles that cost $1.99 or less. Got Shirley since it’s on the list for January and looks good. The others are Passing by Nella Larsen, a col..."

So ... I've not heard of The Mabinogion. Is it this book (I don't mean this publication, but generally?

[Rachel]

Yes! I first heard of it on In Our Time. Good podcast if you want to learn more about the stories.

[Luke]

Rachel wrote: "Do digital editions count?

Went on a bender on Nook for titles that cost $1.99 or less. Got Shirley since it’s on the list for January and looks good. The others are Passing by Nella Larsen, a col..."

'Shirley' and 'Passing', in addition to Larsen's work in general, are all greatly rewarding. I hope you enjoy them.

[Michele]

Darren wrote: "...I feel justified in buying a measly 2 for the Guardian 1000 Group's December reads, namely:

Travels With My Aunt and Microserfs..."

Funny, I was just looking at my copy of Microserfs yesterday, trying to decide whether to keep or sell :)

[Michele]

I just bought four back issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland (from the 1960s) for my brother and his son for Christmas, also four issues of the old Ripley's Believe It or Not Ghost Stories comics. Ah, the nostalgia...

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

I went crazy over the Kindle deals available Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So I feel your pain

[Darren]

Michele wrote: "Funny, I was just looking at my copy of Microserfs yesterday, trying to decide whether to keep or sell :) "

Microserfs was cheap as chips so don't think you'll get much for it unless you've got a signed first edition or something!

[Pillsonista]

Ordered it yesterday:


Inhuman Land: Searching for the Truth in Soviet Russia, 1941-1942 by Józef Czapski

Also bought their Portraits Without Frames, but I'll definitely be reading Inhuman Land first.

[Pillsonista]

My birthday is always a good excuse to binge, albeit selectively:


Artemis Cooper's biography Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure (!!!)
The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro
The Discovery of Middle Earth: Mapping the Lost World of the Celts by Graham Robb
The Complete Short Stories of Graham Greene
Three Novellas: The Fox / The Captain's Doll / The Ladybird by D.H. Lawrence

Absolutely, incandescently thrilled to have finally found Cooper's biography of the great Patrick Leigh Fermor. All I need now is Abducting a General and I will have every book of his published by the NYRB and their Classics imprint.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

Merry bday Guru!

[Darren]

I just got January's Short selection The Postman Always Rings Twice - a lovely glossy little slim volume:


I have also just ordered a couple of other books, but won't jinx them by saying what they are until I have them in my hands...
(ooo the excitement mounts!)

[MK]

Pillsonista wrote: "My birthday is always a good excuse to binge, albeit selectively:..."

Happy Birthday, Pillsonista!


Darren wrote: "I just got January's Short selection ......"

Your comments always make me smile, Darren. You have a great sense of humor!

[Darren]

MK - how am I funny? funny like a clown? funny like I amuse you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfcy1...
(don't click link if you don't like Goodfellas humour!)

[MK]

Darren wrote: "MK - how am I funny? funny like a clown? funny like I amuse you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfcy1...
(don't click link if you don't like Goodfellas humour!)"

Like you make me smile :D

I'll save the YouTube for later, I'm not on a computer with speakers at the moment

[Darren]

one of my two recent purchases arrived today

as hoped for, a 1970 hardback for William Eastlake's The Bamboo Bed


this title currently (and inexplicably) has a grand total of zero reviews on Goodreads - maybe I could be the first...!?

[Laurie]

Go for it, Darren. Dare to be the first.

[Lynn]

Darren wrote: "one of my two recent purchases arrived today

as hoped for, a 1970 hardback for William Eastlake's The Bamboo Bed


this title currently (and inexpl..."

Such power. Your review will determine the star rating.

[ALLEN]

However, the book has two five-star reviews at Amazon.

[Luke]

Latest book sale haul:

Diving Into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich (!!!)
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
N or M? by Agatha Christie
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts
Joséphine Baker by Catel, José-Louis Bocquet

Not very plentiful this time around, but two were on the list already and one of the others will help me with my Quest for Women Authors challenge. The rest looked plain old interesting.

[Pillsonista]

I doubt know if three qualifies as a binge, but each one is still a damn good score (especially the Agnon):



A Book That Was Lost and Other Stories by S.Y. Agnon (!!!)
The Collected Poems of Bertolt Brecht (!!)
& The Collected Tales by Nikolai Gogol, tr. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (!!)

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

Y'all put !!!! And I'm sitting over here not knowing these books at all. I'm excited for you, but obviously I still have a lot of work to do.

[Darren]

ok, the second of my two recent purchases recently arrived...
...er... and did I mention that I'd also bought another...? no? well it's difficult to keep track isn't it (blush)
anyhoo
two hardbacks, both original year of publishing (1969 and 2003 respectively)
Vassilis Vassilikos' Z and Tatyana Tolstaya's The Slynx

both in astonishingly good condition for the measly prices that my skinflint self was prepared to pay
happy book-buying camper that I am :oD

[Luke]

Eyyyy, 'The Slynx' is one of my absolute favorites, and that's the exact edition my copy was. Nice choice, Darren.

[Michele]

Darren wrote: "ok, the second of my two recent purchases recently arrived...
...er... and did I mention that I'd also bought another...? no? well it's difficult to keep track isn't it (blush)
anyhoo
two hardbacks..."

Ooh, pretty!!

[Darren]

Aubrey wrote: "Eyyyy, 'The Slynx' is one of my absolute favorites, and that's the exact edition my copy was. Nice choice, Darren."

I noticed your 5 star review Aubrey - think it was that wot tipped me over the edge to buy it! ;o)

shame we can't nominate it in this group, as it was written in 2000 :o(

[Luke]

Darren wrote: "shame we can't nominate it in this group, as it was written in 2000 :o( "

Well, perhaps we'll get a 'Potential 21st Century Classic' group read every once in a while. There's already a bingo category for it. Also, technically, 2000 is part of the 20th century, not the 21st.

[ALLEN]

A technicality, but if it's a reeeeally good book (of which I know nothing), why not?

[J_BlueFlower]

Aubrey wrote: "Darren wrote: "shame we can't nominate it in this group, as it was written in 2000 :o( "

Well, perhaps we'll get a 'Potential 21st Century Classic' group read every once in a while. There's alread..."

Like 2 times a year?

I would like to nominate House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski published March 7th 2000. It is on the 1001-list of books you should read.

Or perhaps include the year 2000 in the new school?

[J_BlueFlower]

Just got myself a copy of Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau

A wonderful little book. A very short story is told in 99 different ways and styles. Maybe a bit 1960-1970 modernistic/experimenting. Highly recommended to anyone who like experiments. It is not hard to read. Fun and playful.

I read it some years ago and gave it 5 stars. For me 5 stars are “want to own and re-read”. I have been looking for a copy since then. Preferably in Danish. Recently it was published in a new translation and I bought two copies. One for a present and one for myself.

Someday I will suggest it in the short-catagory.

[Pink]

With regards to our cut off date, we’ve debated and voted on this in the past and the majority plumped for a 1999 cut off (not me, I’d cut off even earlier, in the 60s or 70s! 😮)

As always, buddy reads are available for books that don’t meet our classics criteria. To be honest, sometimes a buddy read generates as much, or more discussion than our group reads anyway. So, we’ll always have someplace to discuss non classic books. Hope that clarifies things.

[Renee]

Pink wrote: "With regards to our cut off date, we’ve debated and voted on this in the past and the majority plumped for a 1999 cut off (not me, I’d cut off even earlier, in the 60s or 70s! 😮)

As always, buddy..."

I agree with you Pink. 1999 is hardly "classic". Another classic group I was in had a 50 year rule. That would seem to be a better definition I would think.

[ALLEN]

I'm happy to follow what people want. I notice that the Southern group picks two books every month: pre- and post-1980. That's going on 38 years.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Personally I think a book should be 40-50 years old to be considered a classic, but that is not what the majority of the group thought when the vote was taken. The vote was decided on June 1, 2014 and 1999 was established as the cutoff date, winning with a 20% margin over second place. I imagine there are many different ways to classify a book being a classic, but I think age would be a part on any definition.

[Michele]

Just ordered some books for christmas prezzies - City, 'Salem's Lot, possibly Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture, haven't decided on that one yet (my giftee might already have it).

[Darren]

ok so what goodies did Santa bring?

I have been generously gifted with six beauties:
Milkman by Anna Burns
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver
Provenance by Ann Leckie
Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
More Tales of the City by Amistead Maupin
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie


don't you just LOVE the smell of new books! :oD

[MK]

YES, I do! :)


These were gifted to me by my thoughtful sister -




And these I gifted myself (because my library doesn't have them, and they're not on kindle!), but they're shipping from the UK, so they'll be a few weeks:

[Michele]

I got Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold and Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures, both by Stephen Fry; Michele Obama's Becoming; Daemon Voices (essays on writing, by Philip Pullman of His Dark Materials); Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind which my mom has been unable to stop quoting for the past six months (!); and Mink River. Oh and also Personal Recollections of Mary Somerville - Somerville, a 19th c mathematician and friend of Charles Babbage, was known in her time as "the Queen of Science."

[Luke]

I've finally acquired a copy of Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivan.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

Oh Aubrey that’s a good book!

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

I think a went a little crazy on Audible in December. I bought maybe 40 books? They had a HUGE sale then their credits were on sale. So I used my credit card. Yes y’all may spank me I was bad. But I’m now the proud owner of 341 audiobooks. I’m not even going to list all of those unless someone wants me to. I also bought several books on my kindle; they’ve had some great deals lately. Lastly I downloaded a few books on my iPad. Someone tell me to stop!!!!

[Kirsten]

BAM wrote: "I think a went a little crazy on Audible in December. I bought maybe 40 books? They had a HUGE sale then their credits were on sale. So I used my credit card. Yes y’all may spank me I was bad. But ..."

Oh, God. That IS bad. I only bought 4.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

I get quite OCD when it comes to purchasing books. It’s also an escape from anxiety. I want to own ALL THE BOOKS mwahahahahaha

[Katy, Old School Classics]

LOL

[Christopher]

For Christmas I received Mark Twain’s complete works Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Jules Verne all in lovely leather bindings by Barnes & Noble. A week on and I have read Huckleberry Finn and am now two thirds through Jane Eyre.

[MK]

MK wrote: "...And these I gifted myself (because my library doesn't have them, and they're not on kindle!), but they're shipping from the UK, so they'll be a few weeks:

"


These (books 2 & 3 in a Treasure Island prequel series) arrived today! :)
Will be a few weeks before I can read them tho, I have three library books, and 2 audio cassettes to finish and return first. Their due dates are fast approaching, two of them with no renewal options left to take advantage of :p