What Book(s) have you just Bought, Ordered or Taken Delivery Of? Showing 1,651-1,700 of 2,344

[Mike]

I was at it again and ended up buying a bunch of books at a thrift shop. I was there just as the cast was being rolled out of the new additions. I really upped my classic collection with this load. I picked up In Cold Blood, A Room with a View, The Big Sleep, The Razor's Edge, Jude the Obscure, The Way We Live Now and The Portrait of a Lady.

I had to stop myself because there were some others I wanted but I wasn't even planning to buy books today.

[PinkieBrown]

Got my copy of Pale Fire; couldn’t help myself, read the foreword straight away and I totally doubt the reliability of the narrator. 😜 What a fascinating construction.

I’ll try to wait for August to continue.

—-

[Luke]

A handful of books acquired from this month's haul, with almost half previously on the digital shelves:

Among Others - Jo Walton
The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from around the World - Ethel Johnston Phelps (!)
Pereira Declares: A Testimony - Antonio Tabucchi
A Tower for the Summer Heat - Li Yu
Cindie - Jean Devanny

If a work's old enough and/or translated, I'm much more likely to acquire it on a whim.

[Pillsonista]

Well, I did it. I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the monster:



Main Currents of Marxism: The Founders - The Golden Age - The Breakdown (in one volume) by Leszek Kołakowski

The great analysis of the philosophical foundations of the true believers who either supported, justified, and/or perpetrated the worst totalitarianisms of the 20th century.

[Pillsonista]

Just ordered these these two:



The Whole Difference: The Selected Writings of Hugo von Hofmannsthal ed. by J.D. McClatchy and Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith.

I enjoyed Simon Sebag Montefiore's history of the Romanov dynasty so much that I'm desperate to read Smith's biography of Rasputin because he, the monk, turns out to be one of the most sympathetic persons to figure in the entire tragedy.

[Darren]

good news/bad news time

firstly the Bad News:
received a copy (purchased on eBay) of Stan Barstow's "A Kind Of Loving"...
turns out to be an "adaptation"!? think it is a "condensed" version for school consumption
um-ing and ah-ing over whether to ask for a refund (didn't cost much though)...

secondly the Good News:
just bagged an item on eBay
(allegedly) published in 1890 so would be my oldest book
can't say exactly what yet, cos don't want to jinx it!
but if the seller doesn't wriggle out of the deal, and it arrives safely through post, and it is as described, I will be WELL HAPPY! :oD
sorry for the suspense, but hopefully full details/photos will appear soon...

[Katerina]

The abyss and Pride and prejudice

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Darren wrote: "good news/bad news time

firstly the Bad News:
received a copy (purchased on eBay) of Stan Barstow's "A Kind Of Loving"...
turns out to be an "adaptation"!? think it is a "condensed" version for sc..."

I had that happen to me once. I ordered a copy of Middlemarch online, or so I thought. The version I was sent was less than 100 pages long. I have since purchased an unabridged paperback copy, but I was quite surprised when the first one arrived.

[Cendaquenta]

Same, I ordered "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" at one point and received a study guide for it. Amazon page didn't mention it wasn't the actual book.

Lynn wrote: "I ordered a copy of Middlemarch online, or so I thought. The version I was sent was less than 100 pages long."

Oh nooo... I can't imagine how it must've been butchered to fit so short a length. 😖

[Luke]

Lynn wrote: "I had that happen to me once. I ordered a copy of Middlemarch online, or so I thought. The version I was sent was less than 100 pages long. I have since purchased an unabridged paperback copy, but I was quite surprised when the first one arrived."

Ha. Reminds me of whenever I see editions 'The Tale of Genji' or 'The Story of the Stone' or 'Journey to the West' floating around that don't threaten to break your wrist. It's just laughable.

[Cynda]

This year I have read and will continue to read some heavier literature and nonfiction, so I have started a more fun stack for (mostly) next. All used books, as usual for me:

Solomon and the Ant: And Other Jewish Folktales by Sheldon Oberman. To be read for Jewish History Month 2020 for a personal folktale year 2020.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales by Kate Bernheimer for personal folktale year 2020.

In the Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl for a 24-hour readathon this weekend.

[Darren]

latest addition in my ongoing quest to buy up the complete works of Thomas Bernhard: Woodcutters

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Bernhard is great. One of my favorites.

[Darren]

my reading plans for August are pretty choc-a, but I'm going to try to squeeze in Wittgenstein's Nephew as it's quite short... ;o)

[Pillsonista]

Darren wrote: "latest addition in my ongoing quest to buy up the complete works of Thomas Bernhard: Woodcutters
"

This was my first Bernhard.

[Mike]

I have never read Bernhard. He sounds right up my alley so I added it to my TBR list. Thanks.

[Pillsonista]

Really looking forward to both of these:



Heaven's Breath: A Natural History of the Wind by Lyall Watson


Gathering Evidence and My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard

One of the last few of Bernhard's works translated into English that I don't own.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

Guru I wondered if you saw the NYR sale

[Pillsonista]

BAM wrote: "Guru I wondered if you saw the NYR sale"

Yup, I did B, and I'd probably go a little crazy if I didn't already own every title on offer.

It's a great selection, though.

[Darren]

pretty sure this is the 1890 London reprint of the original 1888 Indian printing
it's had the cover page cut off and pasted onto plain green card re-binding
it comprises 4 stories, including the main reason I wanted it - the first appearance of The Man Who Would Be King
v.happy :oD

[Pillsonista]

A bit of variety:




The Collected Poems of Louis MacNeice
Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin
Nada by Jean-Patrick Manchette
& The Last Stone: A Gripping Account of Cold Case Investigation by Mark Bowden

MacNeice is one of the major lacunae plaguing my collection of poetry, so I'm thrilled to finally have this book.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

MacNeice translated an edition of Agamemnon that I thought was extremely good. I don't know how available it is--I found it in an old paperback anthology of Greek Drama: Ten Greek Plays in Contemporary Translations

Contemporary for 1957, that is. Anyway--I've been wanting to sample some of his poetry as well, after running across that.

[Gavin]

Ordered The Three-Body Problem

[Darren]

Gavin wrote: "Ordered The Three-Body Problem"

don't mean to depress you, but I snapped this up on kindle for 99p a couple of weeks ago when it was an Amazon Daily Deal
I probably won't get round to reading it til next year though!

[ALLEN]

Recently received new pbk. copies of OF MICE AND MEN
and OUR MAN IN HAVANA to replace one moldering, one given-away coy of same (respectively).

Also "unearthed" a used copy bio of Eric Snowdon in graphic-novel style. I protest that I read and reviewed a standard bio of the man published a few months after his defection.


Up next: Donna Tartt's GOLDFINCH, which I have looked at and sighed over for quite a while now.

[Leni]

Darren wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Ordered The Three-Body Problem"

don't mean to depress you, but I snapped this up on kindle for 99p a couple of weeks ago when it was an Amazon Daily Deal
I probably w..."

I did the same. But reading it already next year would be optimistic for me. LOL
I find that when I get things on Kindle it takes me longer to get around to them then when I have a copy doing the eyeless inanimate object analogy of eyeballing me from the bookshelf.

[Leni]

The Spouse and I are currently waiting in giddy anticipation for the 35th anniversary box set of Akira to be delivered.



Where we are going to put it, I don't know. But the handy thing with these boxes is that they are practically their own little book case. Can stack sets on top of each other if you make sure to remove no more than one volume at the time from the lower boxes. Unfortunately we are rather running out of wall space to stack things against as well.

[ALLEN]

Leni wrote: "The Spouse and I are currently waiting in giddy anticipation for the 35th anniversary box set of Akira to be delivered.



Where we are going to p..."

Leni, yo no comprende ,,Akira''. Here in Chicago it's a trendy boutique!

[Kirsten]

Leni wrote: "The Spouse and I are currently waiting in giddy anticipation for the 35th anniversary box set of Akira to be delivered.



Where we are going to p..."

Has it been 35 years already??

[Darren]

I don't buy many kindles; in fact, miserly skinflint that I am, I've never paid full price for one, I just snap up cheap offers when I can
(oh and it was a massive 1.19 for 3-body-prob not 99p!)

I like having something electronic to read late at night as I find it easier than reading paper under artificial light
so kindles tend to work their way to the top of my tbr pile faster than dead-tree

[Carol]

ALLEN wrote: "Leni wrote: "The Spouse and I are currently waiting in giddy anticipation for the 35th anniversary box set of Akira to be delivered.



Where we a..."

Those are hot! Who knew my fave Catching up on Classics thread could also tip me off to great shoes? lol

[Carol]

Back to Sunday's acquisitions from my used book store:

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

The Living Is Easy by Dorothy West

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

[Leni]

Carol wrote: "ALLEN wrote: "Leni wrote: "The Spouse and I are currently waiting in giddy anticipation for the 35th anniversary box set of Akira to be delivered.

Those are hot! Who knew my fave Catching up on Classics thread could also tip me off to great shoes? lol

Truly excellent footwear! I'm sadly out of practice wearing high heels, but I can imagine myself wearing them just sitting down in a fancy hotel lounge, possibly reading Akira and drinking martinis. lol

But ALLEN, you mean you haven't even watched the animated movie adaptation of Akira? It's a gory and surreal dystopian film classic. A very different aesthetic from those shoes.

[ALLEN]

Sounds like my cuppa tea, Leni. So many films, so little time and all that. Tonite we're gonna haul and watch THE MUSIC MAN for the umpteenth time, if we can find it. I may sing along (;-) ) .

[Pillsonista]

For the first time, I've pre-ordered a book before its scheduled release:


Correspondence by Paul Celan & Ingeborg Bachmann

He was the son of German-speaking Romanian Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust, which he managed to survive. She was an Austrian whose father was a member of the Nazi Party (she fled to Rome in 1953, never to return). Their love affair was as brief as it was periodic, but their friendship was deep and enduring.

I'm expecting something along the lines of Letters to Milena, only with the added burden of happening after the historical catastrophe, rather than before.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Pillsonista wrote: "BAM wrote: "Guru I wondered if you saw the NYR sale"

Yup, I did B, and I'd probably go a little crazy if I didn't already own every title on offer.

It's a great selection, though."

They've got noir/crime books on sale this week. Good grief, my bank account can't take much more of this!

[Lynn, New School Classics]

I love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but it is a bit sad and last night I needed a break from it. I ended up downloading the entire John Carter series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The only thing I knew about John Carter was the movie from a few years back. I am reading / listening to A Princess of Mars. It is really fun pulp fiction, but it has a surprising amount of social commentary thrown in. Plus the Libravox audiobook on Youtube is quite good.

[Terry]

I picked up used copies of Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow and Curtains for Three (Nero Wolfe) by Rex Stout. As to the second, I have never read any Nero Wolfe crime novels, BUT I have owned The Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout and the Editors of Viking Press, since 1973!

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Almost all of my book purchases now come from thrift stores or library sales, so I end up doing a lot of scrounging. I have to look through a lot of stuff that I have no interest in at all before I find anything that I think might be interesting. The trade-off for all that scrounging is that I rarely pay over 2 bucks for a book, and most often significantly less.

Of course, when books only cost around 50 cents, it leads to too many 'why-not' purchases. I have entirely too many 'why-not's' on my shelves.

Recent pick-ups--

Dante In Love by A.N. Wilson, which seems to get some mixed reviews here

and

The Bridge in the Jungle by B. Traven, which, according to the blurb on the cover, is considered by many to be his best work. What a sucker I am for blurbs! And to think I actually get angry when I don't agree with them

[Luke]

Books acquired at this week's sale (there's another happening in a couple of weeks, so this'll be a good month for me):

Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral - Gabriela Mistral
Original Letters from India, 1779-1815 - Eliza Fay (!!!)
Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America - Annie Jacobsen
El Dorado: Further Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel - Emmuska Orczy
The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 1 - Kore Yamazaki
Mimosa - Zhang Xianliang

Two of these were already on the TBR, including the Fay; my acquiring of the latter will allow me to finish up my Quest for Women sooner for expected. For the rest, a measure of reasoning went into the purchase: for example, both Mistral and Hughes (who translated the Mistral) are well regarded, so I figured buying this edition meant two birds, one stone.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

Operation Paperclip sounds like something I need to add to my library

[Luke]

BAM wrote: "Operation Paperclip sounds like something I need to add to my library"

That part of history isn't known about nearly as much as it should be. It's funny, though. I immediately picked it up when I saw it, but I didn't realize at the time that I had already previously added it to my online TBR. Thank goodness for a consistency in interests.

[Pillsonista]

Just arrived today:



The Novel of Ferrara by Giorgio Bassani

Also known as The Ferrara Cycle, it is Bassani's fictional requiem for the destruction of Italian Jewish life in the city of Ferrara, where the author spent his youth. Newly translated into English by Jamie McKendrick, it's the first time all six of these novels, including The Garden of Finzi-Continis, have been published in one volume by a single translator.

[Pillsonista]

EEG: A Novel by Daša Drndić

Barnes & Noble are still good for something. Who knew...

[Tami]

I was at Powell's this past weekend and found a used copy of A Simple Story at an incredible price.

Red or Dead, used, arrived this weekend. I'm enjoying it so much that I purchased a copy, and returned my library copy, so I could pass it on to my son when I'm done.

I also bought a new copy of Three Theban Plays at Barnes and Noble, since we're going to be reading Antigone. Barnes and Noble classics are $5 right now and I had a $3 credit.

[Luke]

Tami wrote: "I was at Powell's this past weekend and found a used copy of A Simple Story at an incredible price.

Red or Dead, used, arrived this weekend. I'm enjoying it so much ..."

Congrats on finding 'A Simple Story', Tami. I'm looking for a copy of it myself. I don't see myself coming across it at this weekend's sale, but stranger things have happened.

[Tami]

Aubrey wrote: "Tami wrote: "I was at Powell's this past weekend and found a used copy of A Simple Story at an incredible price.

Red or Dead, used, arrived this weekend. I'm enjoyin..."

The only reason I was able to acquire it was because I could see that Powell's had it available online and a VERY helpful gentleman saw me trying to read the titles at the very upper levels of the section it should have been in. He asked if he could help. I showed him the online record. He then excused himself to check the store computer. He came back with a ladder, climbed up to the top shelf, they get to 12+ feet at Powell's, and got it down for me. It had been there for years!

[Luke]

How exciting! I sure hope someone at the store was glad to have finally found a person for the copy.

[Piyangie]

William Shakespeare: Complete Plays. I've always wanted to have Shakespeare's entire play collection.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Usually my thrift store hunts turn up more than what I've found recently, but I did pick these up:

The Green Pope by Miguel Ángel Asturias. For a Nobel winner, I don't think Asturias is very well known. This is actually the middle novel in a series--I also have Mulata on my shelves...I broke my own rule about not buying more from an author until I'd read something of theirs already, but for a buck, it ended up being another 'why-not'.

The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton. I'm expecting this to be an easily digestible history of Greece after the Peloponnesian War. Kind of a nostalgia buy--I remember being infatuated with her Mythology when I was a kid

Aristotle by John Herman Randall. At 50 cents, another why-not

and A Shortened History of England by George Macaulay Trevelyan. I actually had in mind something like this, I just didn't know anyone had written it. This can take the place of the Penguin History of England in 8 volumes that I had, which I just couldn't absorb--too little narrative and too much social and archeological detail. I'm hoping this hits the high points--especially through the English Civil War, which I'm a bit hazy on.