Recently bought (acquired) books! Showing 551-600 of 2,634

[Allan]

Just to report, my £2 Paris photography book arrived today, and the 'acceptable' second hand rating was given because the dust jacket has a slight-and I mean very slight-crease at the bottom of the spine of the book. The book itself hasn't been opened, as far as I can see. Given that it was an Amazon warehouse deal, I reckon that it's maybe been 'damaged' while new on their shelves. What a steal! :)

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a cheap copy of the Berlin edition now...

[Sara]

So to report, I've also made a few purchases lately. I know you are all shocked.

So while I was at my local bookshop for my friend Dylan's reading, I picked up (along with a second copy of Dylan's book) Read Harder. I recently finished another collection of essays from the same magazine [[book:Read Hard: Five Years of Great Writing from the Believer|6092501]. While I only gave it 3 stars as a whole, several individual essays were 4-5 star reads. Upon first glance, this collection looks to be stronger, with no essays on weird music or avaunt garde film.

Most libraries in Barbara and I's area have a small "Friends of the Library." cart where donated books are sold.. I was unable to resist two books (The Saffron Kitchen and Bitter Fruit). In total I paid $2 for them.

[Sara]

Speaking of the library, I took back several books I knew I was going to get to, and I now have only 6 out (down from 12).

My latest pick up is Happiness, Like Water by a Nigerian author.

I also have out:

Hild
Shades of Milk and Honey
Truth and Bright Water
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (which I've already started)
and of course our quarterly read (which I plan to start very soon) At Swim, Two Boys

[Barbara]

While at the reading at "my" bookstore Tuesday, I picked up a kid's graphic novel titled El Deafo as well as another book for young readers titled Strike!: The Farm Workers' Fight for Their Rights. The first book is related to my work teaching young people who want to be teachers of deaf children. The second would be banned in Colorado under their new curriculum proposal to teach nothing about civil disobedience etc. - so no Thoreau and many more.
Here's the story I linked in another discussion
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_265...

[Seraphina]

That is just complete censorship. We should ban all history books then so that nobody knows how people had to fight for the rights to enter schools, to vote, to survive...

[Allan]

Barbara, I missed the last post, but it's good to see the students fighting the ban on books about civil disobedience with some good old civil disobedience!

The closest notion of such meddling that I can think of here-and apologies for it being off topic-is when individuals within our largest local party, the DUP, attempt to force Creationism to be taught as Science in local schools. Thankfully, schools told them where to go...

http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/M...

[Allan]

Sara, your restraint in leaving 6 books back to the library is admirable, but it's always good to read of your purchases! I look forward to reading your thoughts on the Quarterly read. :)

[Barbara]

Allan wrote: "Barbara, I missed the last post, but it's good to see the students fighting the ban on books about civil disobedience with some good old civil disobedience!

The closest notion of such meddling tha..."

The teaching of Creationism if often an issue here. I just realized how late it is over there. Do you have a holiday tomorrow?

[Allan]

We've no kids in the morning, but have straining day-an early night last night has resulted in me lifting my phone when letting the dog out when I awoke there-I'll never learn! :)

[Barbara]

Allan wrote: "We've no kids in the morning, but have straining day-an early night last night has resulted in me lifting my phone when letting the dog out when I awoke there-I'll never learn! :)"

And that's why I tend to leave my phone downstairs...:)

[Susan]

My book club meets in the library and they had a great display of banned books. They had books in brown paper bags with their name on it. It listed the places where it's banned.

Banning book reminds so much of Hitler. I just can't believe how we censor books in this country. Disgusting.

[Barbara]

Allan wrote: "We've no kids in the morning, but have straining day-an early night last night has resulted in me lifting my phone when letting the dog out when I awoke there-I'll never learn! :)"

This also reminds me one of the challenges of pet ownership - middle of the night outings or pets demanding you get up at 5 am.

[Allan]

I'm well used to it, Barbara, and without doubt the benefits far outweigh the responsibilities when it comes to our wee dog! :)

[Barbara]

Allan wrote: "I'm well used to it, Barbara, and without doubt the benefits far outweigh the responsibilities when it comes to our wee dog! :)"

Though I don't have a dog (I hope to some day when I have the time to train one), I concur.

[Cathleen]

I've been trying to curtail my book buying for lots of reasons, but I just relented and bought two. My town library had John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things (but checked out) but not Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy. So, I dropped into the town bookshop. I only intended to order the Roddy Doyle book, but once I got there, I ended up browsing and also picked up a ghostly mystery: Yrsa Sigurðardóttir's book I Remember You. Since it's close to October and the Halloween month, I figured a ghostly mystery would fit the bill.

[Allan]

Were you able to get a hold of the Doyle book alright, Cathleen? It'll definitely be a contrast to a ghostly mystery anyway!

[Barbara]

This week I bought 4 books for younger readers - 2 I already posted. today I added Birmingham Sunday (Orbis Pictus Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children and one suitable for teens and adults titled 12 Million Black Voices by richard Wright. I also picked up I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, our November read for my Sat. book group, and also on the list of banned books.

[Allan]

Emma, I was interested by the Dubliners 100 when it came out, so it'll be good to see your opinion on it. I enjoyed Dubliners when I read it a number of years ago as well. And I'm confident that everyone will enjoy the Doyle, if the first two in the trilogy are anything to go by...

[Paul]

I just bought a Old Mans War by John Scalzi for a book group read next month. Its a scifi about a 75 year old heading off to war after humanity tried to colonise space.

[Trelawn]

I ordered Espresso Tales the second installment in the 44 Scotland Street series. On Jamie Lynn's recommendation I read the first one and loved it.

[Kevin]

I have The Bell Jar by Plath coming in the post. I'm a fan of some of her poetry so I thought I'd give her book a go too. Anyone have any thoughts on it?

[Trelawn]

I've not read any Plath but I think Seraphina enjoyed it Kevin.

[Cathleen]

Allan wrote: "Were you able to get a hold of the Doyle book alright, Cathleen? It'll definitely be a contrast to a ghostly mystery anyway!"

Yes, Alan. They've ordered it for me, so it should arrive this Tuesday or Wednesday--a quick arrival. The woman who took my order was in her mid-late 20s and was exuberantly enthusiastic about Roddy Doyle's work. She had read all three novels, but didn't know they were published in a single volume. Talking to her for those brief minutes made me even more eager to start reading him.

[Cathleen]

Emma wrote: "My recent purchases have been very Dublin-centric.

I bought a new copy of Dubliners because I couldn't find my old copy. Its the kindle edition though so it only cost 70p and thereby justified. I..."

Dubliners is one of my favorite books, Emma, so I'll be very interested in hearing about the Dubliners 100 event. How lucky you are :)

[pauline_nlp]

I bought "Emma" and "Orgueil et Préjugés" ( Pride in Prejudice) by Austen :D and "Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth" by J.R.R Tolkien for my sister, in French. I'm very happy !

[pauline_nlp]

Emma wrote: "My recent purchases have been very Dublin-centric.

I bought a new copy of Dubliners because I couldn't find my old copy. Its the kindle edition though so it only cost 70p and thereby justified. I..."

Who is the author of Dubliners please ? :)

[pauline_nlp]

Thanks :)

[Barbara]

I just discovered Coming into the Light: the work, politics and religion of women in Ulster, 1840-1940
By: Holmes, Janice on my Irish History MOOC and got a NEW copy for only $2 with free Priority shipping on Amazon!

[Trelawn]

Well done Barbara, that's quite the bargain!

[Allan]

Barbara, that book's a new one to me, but it sounds like you've got a good deal alright, as many of those niche small print run histories tend to sell for quite a bit, which makes the fact that my folks left all of my history uni related purchases in their old house when they moved about 15 years ago all the more galling!

[Allan]

Cathleen, as I've posted elsewhere, I was put off Doyle by his second Henry Smart novel, and had avoided The Barrytown novels as a result of this, and also the hype around The Commitments in the 90s. I decided to read them though, as I wanted to read The Guts, which a number of group members recommended, and the first two are 5 star reads in my opinion. I'm sure The Van will be the same. Btw, like your bookseller today, Willy Vlautin is also a massive Doyle fan...

[Allan]

You should dip into the monthly read, Cphe-the first two of the trilogy are very short reads. :)

[Susan]

I just ordered the trilogy.

[Sara]

Cphe, the first book (The Commitments in the trilogy is a scant 144 pages according to Goodreads. Per Paul's request I'll be opening separate spoiler threads for each, so maybe you could read at least the first one.

[Allan]

Cphe / Sara, The Snapper is even shorter than The Commitments, and as both contain loads of dialogue, people will fly through them. I wouldn't have proposed a trilogy otherwise. :)

Hopefully it's the case for people that the trilogy is cheap, rather than the individual books being expensive btw-can I alert folks to the fact that there are multiple old edition copies on Amazon for a penny plus postage, if you want to go second hand, like I did!

[Susan]

Allan, that's exactly what I did. It cost me $4 with postage. And ha ha about otherwise not nominating the trilogy. 600+ pages is nothing to you. You are just putting us through the paces. You are the new Pied Piper of GRI.

[Barbara]

Emma wrote: "My recent purchases have been very Dublin-centric.

I bought a new copy of Dubliners because I couldn't find my old copy. Its the kindle edition though so it only cost 70p and thereby justified. I..."

Emma - a couple of months ago I bought the Penguin Classic Deluxe edition of Dubliners with an intro by Colum McCann -
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/dub...

There's a class on Dubliners in Nov. at my local bookshop but it filled before I could sign up. I hesitated because it starts on Halloween and I will be traveling in Nov. The instructor has extended an open invitation to drop in but seeing that people pay over $100 for a 4 week class, and it's a big group, I may not.

[Donna]

Mods, please move this if I posted in the wrong thread, but I am curious. I basically don't buy books these days because I have NO place to put them. We live in a fairly good sized townhouse but I really don't have any more room for books so I usually take them out from the library.

Where do you put yours?

[Paul]

Myself and Trelawn got custom built bookshekves for the big alcoves in our sitting room. I think we've space for about 550 to 600 books on them. Then we've shelves for college books, history books and kids books in our storage room which take a few hundred more. I've a pirate style chest in our hall which is also full of books and we've two wall shelves for tge little fella. Plus one or two live on the bedside tables . ☺

[Kevin]

I think everywhere is the only suitable answer for me I'm afraid :) I've a small bookcase in my room that is overflowing, with piles in front of it and on top, with books squeezed in at all angles.
Wouldn't it be dream to have a library room ... (drool)

[Allan]

You mean like mine, Kevin? :)

[Paul]

I'd love it Kevin. Thats the dream. I want one that needs a ladder on wheels .

[Trelawn]

I want the library from Beauty and the Beast :-)

[Kevin]

Allan.... No curse words could ever full encapsulate my hatred right now. :)

[Thomas, Moderator]

Kevin wrote: "Allan.... No curse words could ever full encapsulate my hatred right now. :)"

I have 1100 books in my kindle. I also get books from the library

[Allan]

Lol, Kevin! I'll just have to console myself with my wall of floor to ceiling bookcases jam packed with books, while reclined in my reading chair, with our wee dog snoozing in her bed beside me-it is idyllic, I must admit! :)

[Trelawn]

Wow Allan, who knew you had an evil streak? :-)

[Paul]

I remember when i was still in the parents house and had a small bookshelf and a wardrobe full of books , plus an unknown floor

[Kevin]

Allan, google never fails to provide images that fit the picture in my head.

http://atyourlibrary.org/sites/defaul...

How I imagine you at home :)

[Paul]

We need the villainous laugh to match ☺