What Book(s) have you just Bought, Ordered or Taken Delivery Of? Showing 2,001-2,050 of 2,344

[Luke]

Jon wrote: "I'm thinking of buying The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Has anyone read it? What do you think about it? it's not probably the best book to be introduced in Mann's work..."

That one's an absolute favorite of mine, but I'm glad I was first introduced to Mann through the much briefer 'Death in Venice.'

[ALLEN]

"Death in Venice" is a good starter, I agree.

[Pillsonista]

Jon wrote: "I'm thinking of buying The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Has anyone read it? What do you think about it? it's not probably the best book to be introduced in Mann's work..."

Probably my favorite novel, alongside Anna Karenina. And you're right, not (usually) the place to start.

Most start (wisely) with Death in Venice, but by accident I started with Buddenbrooks, the work that made him famous and, personally, I loved it. But that book was written/published when Mann held very different values than when he started to work on The Magic Mountain.

And I would add a caveat to what Allen wrote: The Magic Mountain is *the* masterpiece, and there's Buddenbrooks, but Joseph and His Brothers, Doktor Faustus, and The Confessions of Felix Krull are all outstanding.

Felix Krull was unfinished when Mann died (in self-imposed exile, buried in Switzerland), but it might not be a bad idea to start with it (at the end, if you will). It's a genuinely funny novel about a character whose only substance is his own vitality. One of Mann's most underrated qualities as a writer was just how funny he could be, even in works of serious gravitas like Doktor Faustus.

Just avoid the H.T. Lowe-Porter translations. Full of antiquated "thees" and "thous", Mann was dissatisfied with them even during his own lifetime. John E. Woods is absolutely the way to go if you're looking for English translations of Mann.

[Luke]

I squeezed in a used bookstore visit at the very end of Women in Translation Month 2020 in hopes of replenishing my stocks a tad. Thanks to my being more strategic about this visit than the last one, I was able to last a lot longer and get quite healthy batch this time around.

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit - Leslie Marmon Silko
The Queue - Basma Abdel Aziz (WIT)
The Heartsong of Charging Elk - James Welch (!)
The Alexiad - Anna Comnena (WIT, !!!)
When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America - Ira Katznelson (!)
Aaron's Leap - Magdaléna Platzová (WIT, !!!!)
The Borgias: The Hidden History - G.J. Meyer
White Truffles in Winter - N.M. Kelby

Only two of these were spontaneous additions to the TBR, and I've been looking for 2/3rds of the previously TBR'd ones for at least five years, so a very respectable haul indeed.

[Anne]

Jon wrote: "I'm thinking of buying The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Has anyone read it? What do you think about it? it's not probably the best book to be introduced in Mann's work..."

I've read MM and Buddenbrooks twice. Also Death in Venice. The shorter Death in Venice is, of course, easier. Buddenbrooks is next easiest because once you get to MM you have a "novel of ideas" and there is so much going on at many levels, intellectual, societal, psychological, political, etc.. . Buddenbrooks is a family saga from which Mann draws a great deal from his own family. The narrative is straightforward.. I enjoyed both books; they are both terrific in their own ways and very different. MM is a bit more work but is very interesting and even funny sometimes.

[Michele]

Mom recently sent me Who Discovered America? The Untold History of the Peopling of the Americas and When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433. For a class I'm taking, I bought Kindred and Sacred Space. For my own pleasure, I bought Riviera Gold and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,

[Terry]

John, I actually really enjoyed The Magic Mountain when I read 40 years ago. I read Death in Venice this year and, although good, didn’t enjoy it as much.

[[deleted user]]

I managed to get a copy of Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener through the library system, which is able to locate hard-to-find books on my reading list. (And it is free!)

[ALLEN]

Don, if you like that one, try The Bridges at Toko-ri next.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog]

Not sure anyone want to hear about the text books I have been receiving.
Among the Not a Text books:
Playships of the World: The Naval Diaries of Admiral Dan Gallery, 1920-1924
Dan Gallery was a hell raiser as a Jr. officer and the man who lead the task force that collected U 505 now on display up near Allen in Chicago.

He also wrote lite comedy that is now hard to find, at least at a reasonable price
Captain Fatso
Clear the Decks
Stand By-Y-Y To Start Engines
If I can find them I may re-read them.

[J_BlueFlower]

Seriously, I am done with Trump tell-all books. Wait, Woodward is writing one more? Oh, well. Pre-ordered.

[Wreade1872]

Just received tha latest in the only urban fantasy series i read . I thought 'oh cool, it doesn't have that annoying stripe down the front that distracts from the cover art'.
Then i went to put it beside my other books and its... tiny.. its a tiny little book compared to the previous three. Turns out this is the US editon the other 3 are UK.


So now i'm stuck with that annoying decision, split the set or ruin the sweep of my shelf with tiny book next to big ones... i think i'll have to split the set :| .

[[deleted user]]

ALLEN wrote: "Don, if you like that one, try The Bridges at Toko-ri next."

Thanks for the heads-up. I waiting for library system to send it.

[Anne]

Don wrote: "ALLEN wrote: "Don, if you like that one, try The Bridges at Toko-ri next."

Thanks for the heads-up. I waiting for library system to send it."

I know that we are talking books here, but I remember the movie The Bridges of Too-ri which I watch many years ago. Amazing movie. Great cast., etc..

[Michele]

My favorite bridge movie is The Bridge on the River Kwai. Fun fact: original book was written by same guy who wrote Planet of the Apes!

[Anne]

Michele wrote: "My favorite bridge movie is The Bridge on the River Kwai. Fun fact: original book was written by same guy who wrote Planet of the Apes!"

Yes, that was a very good movie too! Interesting that the books for both movies were written by the same author. The 2 couldn't be more different.

[[deleted user]]

In the age of Covid-19, do you do anything differently when getting books from a library or book store?

[Star Geek]

Yesterday, I bought --

- An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I tried using the library and finally gave up. They either don't have what I'm looking for or its an 8-10 week wait. I use a combination of Scribd (subscription but a good selection), Thriftbooks (prices vary but I've found some good deals for $4), Amazon (harder to find a good price though), and my local Barnes and Noble.

Also recently purchased:

- Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
- Breakfast at Tifanny's by Truman Capote
- Beowolf (translation by Seamus Heaney)
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

[Kirsten]

Star Geek wrote: "Yesterday, I bought --

- An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I tried using the library and finally gave up. Th..."

Another good option is betterworldbooks.com. Good prices and they donate a book to a literacy project for every one you buy. I love them.

[Star Geek]

Thanks, Kirsten. I'll add Better World Books to the list. And to answer Don, I've been using a variety of sources for some time now - even Pre-Covid. eBooks, while convenient, are often as much as an actual book and I've found that shopping around for the same book on multiple sites is needed to get the best price ... and as you know, every dollar saved is another book that can be bought.

[Kirsten]

I got my delivery from Betterworldbooks.com yesterday:

Breeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough (horror)
Rules of Engagement by Kathryn Caskie (historical romance)
Uncentering the Earth: Copernicus and The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres by William T. Vollmann (biography/history of science)

[Robert-]

I've ordered World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 2 and World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 3 since I'm currently reading the first volume.

Until they are delivered (takes like a 1-2 weeks), I'll have to go shopping Friday and buy a classic to read. I was thinking of The Brothers Karamazov or Anna Karenina, especially since I just finished War and Peace which kinda hooked me.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

ALLEN wrote: "Received and am reading John Hersey's Hiroshima."

That is such a good book, but hard to read for obvious reasons. I read it as a teenager and still vividly remember sections.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Don wrote: "In the age of Covid-19, do you do anything differently when getting books from a library or book store?"

I have not done either, sad to say. I have focused on books I already owned or ordered from Amazon like I usually do. A few ordered books were physical and a few more were ebooks.

[Star Geek]

Just got Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Atonement by Ian McEwan.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

[Luke]

I've decided that allowing myself to visit this one recently discovered used bookstore that I've rapidly come to love at the end of every month will be good for my mental health, so here's this month's haul. Quality over quantity this time around (I wasn't willing to shell out thirty bucks at a place whose entire point of existence is devoted to circumventing such costs), but there was some very good quality indeed.

Stone Butch Blues - Leslie Feinberg (!!!) (I probably could've just found this and still would've been happy)
The Taverner Novels: Armed with Madness and Death of Felicity Taverner - Mary Butts (gunning for Quest for Women 2021)
Rust - Gui-ja Yang
He Who Searches - Luisa Valenzuela (the last two for Women in Translation Month 2021)
The Faerie Queene - Edmund Spenser (an unabridged edition at last!)

I'll also finally be able to pick up the hold for my final Quest for Women 2020 work on Friday, so I have some happy reading in my future.

[Wreade1872]

Got some gifts but luckily for my tbr shelfs they're all novelty books more or less
Modern Penny Dreadfuls: Tales of the Monstrous and Banal
Alien Next Door and
Raven: A Pop-up Book , i'm quite happy :D , i 've wanted an adult pop-up book ever since the Pushing Daisies tv show some years back :) .

[Ila]

I just received Circe by Madeline Miller. I've been waiting to read it since a long time.

[Cendaquenta]

Ila wrote: "I just received Circe by Madeline Miller. I've been waiting to read it since a long time."

Oooo enjoy, it's gorgeous 😁

[Ila]

Cendaquenta wrote: "Ila wrote: "I just received Circe by Madeline Miller. I've been waiting to read it since a long time."

Oooo enjoy, it's gorgeous 😁"

Thanks a lot.

[Tara]

I just received 2 brand new, signed titles from American Mystery Classics:

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by Anthony Boucher

The Egyptian Cross Mystery: An Ellery Queen Mystery by Ellery Queen

[Luke]

Extremely mixed bunch this month's book sale visit, but variety is the spice of life.

A Lexicon Of Terror: Argentina And The Legacies Of Torture - Marguerite Feitlowitz (!!!)
Death and the Dervish - Meša Selimović (!)
I Am Pusheen the Cat - Claire Belton (balance out the tone a tad, especially that of the first)

[Darren]

second-hand prices on eBay/Amazon have got a bit more affordable recently, so this weekend saw the arrival of:
Concrete Island Ballard, J. G.
A Whole Life Seethaler, Robert
Atomised Houellebecq, Michel
Three to See the King Mills, Magnus
The Day of the Owl Sciascia, Leonardo

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Darren wrote: "second-hand prices on eBay/Amazon have got a bit more affordable recently, so this weekend saw the arrival of:
Concrete Island Ballard, J. G.
A Whole Life Seethaler, R..."

Nice haul!

[PinkieBrown]

Ordered Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood which I was drawn to reading because it echoes The Berlin Novels and current events; where fear of a communist threat in Austria in the mid-30s pushes the right to the extremes of fascism. Of course, history has no power to teach anyone and, sometimes, the only way to learn a mistake is to make it yourself; not a joke ... unless human nature counts as one.

[Richard]

Earlier this week I bought Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet from the Amnesty International bookshop in Bristol.

[Tara]

Just got Murderers Abroad: Five Complete Novels by Agatha Christie, which is a nice mix of mystery and thriller books.

[Robert-]

I bought The Adolescent by Dostoievski, I'm set on reading his books

[Darren]

couple more where I've managed to avoid dreaded film tie-in cover:
Carol and Out Of Sight
happy with these:

[Tara]

Added to my collection of Dell mapbacks with a copy of

[PinkieBrown]

Ordered Dead Souls, Gogol; a lot of roads seem to lead back to this supposedly very funny classic.

Also, The Razor’s Edge, Somerset Maugham; reading about Isherwood and his friends, brought me here. Both seem to write fictional autobiography which brings an honesty to the writing ... as long as they can leave their ego at home.

[Luke]

I snatched 43 books at the heavily socially distanced semi-revival of my fave book sale yesterday. Three cheers for $5 USD a bag and skinny editions. I'll input individual titles of some of the more interesting ones at some point, but for now, here's my shelf for the bunch: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Kathleen]

I'll second Matt's wow, Aubrey! Babette's Feast and Cane and Robber Bridegroom and so many others that sound really good. I love those $5/bag sales and it looks like you really made the most of it!!

[Pillsonista]

NYRB Classics and NDBooks have been on. a. roll:




I've been waiting for a collection of Claire Malroux's poems ever since I first encountered a selection of them in the The Vintage book of Contemporary World Poetry (which I still cherish). The fact that this edition is bilingual is just an added gift which enhances the beauty and precision of her language.

I'll read anything by written Richard Howard or David Bromwich, anything. The former is arguably America's greatest living poet and the latter easily the most interesting and insightful public scholar writing today.

The Last Libertines and A Dictionary of Symbols are both a delight. Both are the kind of books that you get lost in, and without even realizing it you've been reading for five hours straight. There was a poster around here not long ago looking for books about French history, particularly during the time of the monarchy. The Last Libertines is the kind of little known but indispensable history that fits exactly what she was looking for.

I was most skeptical about J R and The Recognitions. I tried to read both years ago and finished neither. I'm not a huge fan of post-modern fiction. Chaos and rule-breaking does not equal talent, and Gaddis is one of those authors whom I felt tread a very thin line between authenticity and fraud. But I trust NYRB Classics, and if Tom McCarthy has written the introduction and William H. Gass the afterword, then I'm will to try again.

Erpenbeck is Erpenbeck. Her nonfiction is just as good as her fiction, and that's saying something.

And arguably the greatest gift of all, Michael Hofmann has translated Wolfgang Koeppen's Pigeons on the Grass. Now all that's needed is an updated translation of Death in Rome and one of the most important sequences of Post-War German fiction will finally be accessible in the way it should.

[Tara]

I came home to a bevy of books on my doorstep:

The next installment of the American Mystery Classics from Otto Penzler, and one of my favorite mystery sub-genres, transport!

I also got a passel of books from one of my go-to independent booksellers, most of which are sci-fi/fantasy, recommended by the inestimable Dr. Tom Shippey:

[Darren]

it's that time of year when we all eagerly await what Santa will bring...
buuut there are always a few books which are maybe a little too obscure for us to expect Santa to source, so what I like to do is
buy myself some book pressies for crimbo!
first of which arrived today (well ahead of its scheduled delivery):
Margaret Jull Costa translation of Eça de Queirós's The Maias

714 page doorstop of new-book-smell, aaahhhh...

[Richard]

I've taken delivery of and read about 40 pages of Michel Houellebecq's Serotonine in the original French, and am awaiting Barefoot in the Head by Brian Aldiss.

[Margaret]

Darren wrote: "it's that time of year when we all eagerly await what Santa will bring...
buuut there are always a few books which are maybe a little too obscure for us to expect Santa to source, so what I like to..."

Jealousy! This is on my Santa list, hope he's paying attention....

[Wreade1872]

Got Ready Player Two for a gift despite my lukewarm reception of the first one.
But also Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash whose previous book i compared a little to Ready Player One but it was vastly superior.
So this will be another interesting comparison to see if Yahtzee has waned or Cline has improved any :) .

[Luke]

Came back today from my last bookstore visit taken during this accursed year. Could've been better (browsing time was restricted to 40 min per person), could've been worse.

Outlaws of the Marsh (4 Vol Set) - Shi Nai'an (!!!) (This will probably end up being my 2022 long read)
The Promised Land - Mary Antin
Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms - Daniil Kharms (!)
Hons and Rebels - Jessica Mitford (I'm that much closer to a full set for my Quest for Women Decade challenge)
Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Here's to 2021 being the year when I can finally go back to buying books like these for a fifth of the amount I'm currently spending.