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?
Linda wrote: "The library at my school discarded a bunch of Harry Potter books and I swiped them up before anyone had a chance to! I read the first HP book a long time ago but was not very interested after that...."Oh do they ever GET BETTER! You fall in love with the characters and can't wait to see how they solve all the challenges they face. Read them with your son and the two of you will have so much fun!
I got Chekhov's The Early Years second-hand from an outside company via Amazon. Good condition.
Linda, one of the nice things about Harry Potter series (NOT including the stupid No. 8 just out) is that the heroes and the projected audience grow together. But this means that though your 9- or 10-year-old will like the first, say, three books, he probably shouldn't read the 6th and 7th too early. In any case, you'd better read them ahead, to judge for yourself.
Thanks Nente! I'll have to give them a try. I'm looking forward to it!!
The Awakening by Kate Chopin purchased for one dollar at a symphony fund-raiser
I've been trying not to buy any books and put the money towards Christmas gifts. I did good for about 6 weeks but had a bit of a slip over the weekend. Luckily, 2 were bought from the library sale and the rest from bookoutlet so they were relatively inexpensive. I bought 7 books for under $25.00 so can't beat myself up too badly.From the library - Shine Shine Shine and Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters
From Bookoutlet - About Grace, Black Beauty, Black Beauty, Counting by 7s & The Gracekeepers
I did buy 2 different editions of Black Beauty. One for myself and one for my daughter's collection
I just ordered The Infinite Sea and The Sun Is Also a Star I absolutely LOVED the first by both these authors.
I'm so excited! I just bought a 1792 copy of "Rights of Man" by Thomas Paine! I squealed a little inside when I added this to my shelves!!!
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Whoa, how did you score that?
Through half.com I got a used copy of Recollections of Things to Come pub 1963 by Mexican writer Elena Garro [$4.25 incl shipping]. A Mexican member of a goodreads group suggested it when I asked her for recommendations. The City and county library systems here have large collections, but they had this only in Spanish, which I speak a little but not enough for novel-reading.
Kathy - it's been on my list of "to buy" for a long time! Bauman Books found a nice copy for me and my contact there said they finally got one in. So I jumped on it! I'm so stoked!
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I am thoroughly impressed and a bit book jealous. Congratulations!
2 more arrived together yesterday :oDI've been after a copy of David Lindsay's seminal 1920 A Voyage to Arcturus for a while now (having read it for free off gutenberg, and it having "blown me away") and although there are more modern reprints available, I really like the cover of the 1980 edition, so bagged that one:
plus the eBay seller was offering 15% off when getting 2 or more, so it seemed rude not to take advantage ;o) and I went for Beryl Bainbridge's The Bottle Factory Outing and was surprised to receive an alternate cover for the ISBN than that which I was expecting, but which is actually the nicest cover I've seen for the title - result!
Mod
I just bought the Kindle version of A Game of Thrones for $1.99. I haven't been that interested in reading this but I couldn't pass up this cheap price. Now I'll have to read it.
Cyber Monday!!! Elon Musk: Inventing the Future
Isaacs Storm
Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths
Wahey! was going to buy the recent re-issue of Anthony Berkeley's landmark crime classic The Poisoned Chocolates Case
but spotted a vintage 1929 hardback on eBay... and I was the only bidder!
so happy! :oD
Darren! You are too funny! So, what did postie bring (rubs hands together, waiting in anticipation!)? :)
Darren--love this. Thanks for sharing your excitement!
not long later...
Black Wings Has My Angel
The Poisoned Chocolates Case
The Twelve Chairs
any one of these would've made my week, so feels like Christmas come early for them all to arrive on same day!
Excellent book haul! Thanks for sharing Darren! :)
Haha, looks like some great recent purchases Darren :)
Book Outlet had a Black Friday sale. I bought a few more..Crossing to Safety
Eleanor
How to be both
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Oliver Twist
The Prince and the Pauper
The Scarlet Letter
Just used the last of my credits at the used book shop to get Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks On A Road and Mules and Men. Yahoo!
Oh want both of those too Kathleen, I might treat myself in the new year to some second hand copies :)
Darren wrote: "ooh what has postie brought?"
That's so funny Darren. The same thing happens to me when I buy books or CDs on the Internet: I look forward to the day they arrive. :D
I've had "Absalom, Absalom" for months now and now that school is winding down I will finally get a chance to read it. If this goes the same way as my other Southern Gothic readings. I will have to re read it to grasp it.
just placed an online order for 3 books: Shame, Disgrace and Decline and Fall
then realised titles all seem to go together!
and I was in quite a good mood honestly! ;o)
Well they do all sound a bit bleak don't they! They're also all on my tbr, so I'll be glad to know what you think of them :)
Pink - I noticed Decline & Fall in one of your challenges I think?deffo compare notes on that one...
Yep, it's on my Old and New classics challenge. I'd like to read more of Evelyn Waugh's books and have a few on my shelf. The only thing I've read so far is Brideshead Revisited and The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, both of which were fantastic.
I've read Scoop and thought it was excellentalso by curious coincidence one of my other "Author More"'s for 2017 is Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate !
I was going to include some of Nancy Mitford's books on my challenge list, but I had so many already on my list that I cut her. Apart from her letters I've only read Madame de Pompadour, so I haven't actually tried her fiction yet.
There was a book sale at the library a couple of weeks ago and I managed to buy "only" seven books, for the grand total of 3.5 Euro for used library books in pretty good condition. I tried not to look too closely...I got
The Charterhouse of Parma
Season Of Anomy*
The Vagrants*
The Bridge on the Drina* (These three * were published in the "Yellow Library" so they are always easy to spot and I can't resist them...)
The Long Season of Rain
The Turkish Gambit (Already have three of this series, missing at least one or two.)
The Lucky Ones (Already have the earlier two parts of the trilogy for lighter reading.)
Of course I have been getting BC books from meetings, even though I always promise not to get any. But I also moved recently and now I finally have room for a real bookcase.
I also got a smart phone and one of our publishers let us choose a book from five options, so now I have The Forgotten Garden on my phone.
But yesterday finally arrived the book I have been waiting for: The Book Lover's Journal: My Personal Reading Record! I wanted to get one because I want to know what is inside and start ticking off books on its lists and using it for any personal thoughts and so on. I have also been dreaming of designing one (or several) book journals for Finns, especially for children, but also for adults with Finnish book lists etc. I even run into one special teacher by accident and she was very excited about the idea of getting them to school children who are learning how to read.
I love/hate sales.... Audible had a deal earlier this week, followed by a 50% off sale this week, and I'm buying too much.I ended up buying :
Selected Readings from the Portable Dorothy Parker (I have the paperback for the full thing, but I like switching back and forth, so partial is better than nothing.)
My Cousin Rachel by Du Maurier
To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Frenchman's Creek by du Maurier
The Third Man by Graham Greene
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (For my 2017 challenge.)
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams (I've had the hardback on my bookshelf since it was published back in 2004, but put it aside until he finished writing the series - but now that it's done, I know the full thing is >3,000 pages long, so I keep putting it off. Maybe having it in audio will help me tackle it sooner.)
I should be getting a $10 off coupon in the next couple of days, so I'll probably use that on some of the books from next year's challenge.
When I was a kid, before the internet and before used bookstores became trendy, thrift stores had great selections of books. So I still check them out from time to time. Today I made several great finds for only 25 cents each:The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Aeneid translated by Robert Fitzgerald
Hamlet - Folger Library edition (with no writing in it)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Larsson
All in pretty good shape. The Aeneid and the Larsson book look unread. Not bad for a dollar. :)
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Kathy wrote: "My sister has a lovely thrift store by home -- when I visit we always peruse the bookshelves -- somedays great finds, other days nothing. But always fun to look ."True. It's something my parents still enjoy doing. They live relatively close and when I visit my Dad knows the best places to go to. This one is near my home and I had never been before, so it was a nice find.
Susan wrote: "When I was a kid, before the internet and before used bookstores became trendy, thrift stores had great selections of books. So I still check them out from time to time. Today I made several great ..."I've found some real gems in an antique store I frequent. I love when that happens! Course, they're not dollar for three! Great find Susan!
I can't take advantage where I live because of bed bugs in our city but that is a great way to buy books. That is a great haul Susan.
Brina wrote: "I can't take advantage where I live because of bed bugs in our city but that is a great way to buy books. That is a great haul Susan."That's a shame, but completely understandable. Not a risk I would want to take either.
And it is a shame because the goodwill near me has a great book section. I used to love going to used book stores as a kid so it is a total bummer but one I can live with because I have a great public library system. Today however a children's author asked me to review an ARC of her book about a girl wanting to be president. When I told her I have three girls at home, she answered that she would send 3 copies of the book. What a nice gesture. I am looking forward to receiving that package in the mail.
Brina wrote: "And it is a shame because the goodwill near me has a great book section. I used to love going to used book stores as a kid so it is a total bummer but one I can live with because I have a great pub..."What a great opportunity! I imagine your girls will love knowing that their input is important to the author.
I visited the library to leave one of my books to the swap cart (where I had picked it up years ago) in order to clean my shelves... But first there was Maurice and also The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell which isn't very long and should be a quick read, but my biggest find was A Dream of Red Mansions, I am guessing as the only Finnish edition of the book from 1957. So if I had wanted the book and started looking for it, it probably would have been difficult to find.
For next year I bought these
The Mill on the Floss
Three Men in a Boat
The Glass Palace
Annnd Dracula
I've bought a few books ready for next year too - In Search of Lost Time volumes 1 to 7 (Centaur Classics) The 100 greatest novels of all time - #13 for 99p on kindle
The Three Musketeers for £2.50 on audible
The House of Mirth for £2.99 on audible
All in my preferred translations/ narrators. As a library user and non book buyer, this was majorly splashing out for me!
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Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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It says it's about, Captain Kidd, a Civil War veteran (I'm pretty sure this is fiction), who is escorting a 10-year-old orphan girl, who had been kidnapped by Kiowa Indians, from Wichita Falls to her relatives in San Antonio. And it sounds like it's a pretty adventurous trip! They compare Captain Kidd to Rooster Cogburn in True Grit and Lonesome Dove's Gus & Call. I'll let you know what I think :)
I think I'm going to have to enter a "book shelf" give-away next!!