Recently bought (acquired) books! Showing 851-900 of 2,634

[[deleted user]]

Tuesday next week, Barbara. Declan and I are going to Kilmainham Gaol, I pay homage to Chapters, meet Emma after she finishes work and meet Allan that evening in Belfast. it will be quite a day :)

[Paul]

Sounds like quite the fun day planned . I was going to head to Chapters next week so if its Tuesday I'll say hello

[Susan]

Theresa, it sounds like my dream day. Declan and Allan in one day. You lucky lady. Please take pictures.

[[deleted user]]

Now now Paul! My claim to an Irish passport is stronger than the Granny Rule, and indeed my first passport was green with a gold harp embossed on the front ;)

[[deleted user]]

Susan, of course!

[Trelawn]

Kilmainham Gaol is quite spectacular. Paul and I had our first date there oddly enough. I hope you enjoy it Theresa.

[[deleted user]]

Thank you Trelawn. It is certainly an original place for a first date, I'm surprised it wasn't Chapters or an antiquarian book shop (the sort with that distinctive library smell)!!!

[Paul]

A trip to chapters followed soon after ☺

[Trelawn]

Well Chapters did feature quite prominently in our relationship :-) But Paul was being very sweet because Kilmainham was somewhere my Granda wanted to bring me but he died before we got the chance to go. Paul brought me instead.

[[deleted user]]

That is such a lovely story, and one with a happy ending for you two, well three now :)

[Paul]

Its a very interesting spot ☺

[[deleted user]]

Paul wrote: "Sounds like quite the fun day planned . I was going to head to Chapters next week so if its Tuesday I'll say hello"

Paul, I missed this in the flurry of posts. It would be great if we could bump into each other in Chapters.

[Paul]

I'll promise nothing as yet but I have nothing scheduled for Tuesday.

[[deleted user]]

Emma, Paul, I'll pm you both.

[Barbara]

Theresa - as Trelawn says Kilmainham Jail is so impressive. With your interest in women's history, it's a must-see. Meeting up with Declan, touring Kilmainham and seeing Allan in Belfast is a very full day. Wow!

[[deleted user]]

And meeting Emma too!

[Barbara]

Today I went on a bit of a book acquiring spree, all used or swapped (Paperback Swap - PBS):
Killing Rage; The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes: Stories of Tidiness, Self-Esteem and Other Things I Gave Up On (a knitting related book); The Irish Tinkers: The Urbanization Of An Itinerant People; and 3 ebooks -The Absurd Demise of Poulnabrone, Blue Christmas by Peter Robinson and Born & Bred by Peter Murphy.
From PBS, 3 Sebastian Faulk books - Birdsong, Engleby, Charlotte Gray and Zapata by John Steinbeck.

[Sara]

So today I got a chance to checkout a new independent bookstore that opened here in Washington, D.C.

It's a very small cheerful store with a well curated selection. It won't replace my favorite independent store as my go to, but it will be nice for a change of pace or if there's an event there with an author I like. I hope it succeeds.

Exterior shot

Excellent return policy

A shelf curated by James Patterson

Interior shot #1

Interior shot #2

Kid's section

Purchases! (Well 2/3 of them, the other is a gift for someone, and I don't want the person to see it in his/her Goodreads feed)

The Strain
The Master and Margarita

[Trelawn]

It looks like a beautiful store Sara. I love the wood everywhere. It looks like they stock some really nice editions. Their returns policy made me smile.

[Seraphina]

That's a really cool looking book shop, could dwindle an hour away there happily I'd say

[Barbara]

Sara wrote: "So today I got a chance to checkout a new independent bookstore that opened here in Washington, D.C.

It's a very small cheerful store with a well curated selection. It won't replace my favorite i..."

I definitely have to head over there!

[Susan]

It looks like a great store and a new bookstore is always something to celebrate.

[Cathleen]

Theresa wrote: "And meeting Emma too!"

Theresa, it sounds like Tuesday is going to be a banner day for you. How wonderful.

[Allan]

Sara, the bookstore looks like a fun place to browse. Hopefully it is a successful venture, although I suppose it has a pretty good chance, situated as it is in the most literate city in USA! :)

[Allan]

I was at our local supermarket buying a book for a colleague who is off with a back injury at present (I bought her Life After Life, which I and quite a few others in the group enjoyed, so I hope she will!), and couldn't leave without buying myself a book-I bought An Officer and a Spy, which I know both Declan and Fiona rated 5 stars. Who knows when I'll get to it, though...

[Trelawn]

I have that on my TBR pile as well Allan. I really enjoy Harris' books but just haven't gotten round to this one yet.

[Allan]

I have Harris' Fatherland on my shelves unread, having bought it after reading extracts in Heather Reyes', Berlin (which I'd recommend to someone like yourself who loves the city). I've been tempted to lift it recently, and this might just give me that impetus!

[Paul]

Fatherland is a great book well worth the look. I keep meaning to read Officer and aSpy

[Susan]

Allan, I was thrilled you gave a book I had recommended. That happens so rarely. :). I, of course, have spoken to you about buying yourself things right before Christmas. STOP it. How do you know your mother hadn't already bought that for you?

I just read Robert Harris's The Ghost and really liked it. Now if both Declan and Fiona aka LMM gave it five stars then it must be good. I've added it to TBR list.

[Sara]

So today was a trip to the library.

Like someone (Barbara maybe?) said in another thread, it sometimes reduces my will to read a book, if I feel pressured into reading it by the need to return it to the library by a certain date. On the other hand, sometimes it's just the kick in the pants I need to pick up a book my brain is telling me to ignore. There's a balance to be had, but I try to be fairly selective most of the time about what I get from the library.

Today I got:
The Book of Lost Things (Our quarterly read]
Love and Rockets: New Stories #3 and Love and Rockets: New Stories #5 (Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 I finally got from Amazon because the library has had it listed as "on order for the past 6 months" at least)
Some of Us Did Not Die: New and Selected Essays

[Sara]

On the buying book front:

I was very restrained tonight at the Parrish bazaar book sale. In contrast to the 40something odd books I donated to them, I only bought one,Boston Noir 2: The Classics. I get the seeking suspecion this is one Barbara will want to read when I'm done with it.

[Allan]

Sara, good to hear you managed to restrain yourself at the bazaar, but your buy sounds like a good one. Once again, I have to say that over here, there'd be absolutely no chance that you'd find books as interesting as that at any kind of jumble sale...

[Barbara]

Sara wrote: "On the buying book front:

I was very restrained tonight at the Parrish bazaar book sale. In contrast to the 40something odd books I donated to them, I only bought one,[book:Boston Noir 2: The Clas..."

For sure! and a reason I stay away from used book sales. Having said that, I am headed over to my Local Yarn Shop (LYS) and as it is close to the library with the used books store, I will probably stop by to see if I can pick up some Vonnegut etc.

[Barbara]

Two books I order came in the mail today - The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes: Stories of Tidiness, Self-Esteem and Other Things I Gave Up On which was described as Good and was in New condition. And The Irish Tinkers: The Urbanization Of An Itinerant People which was also described as good but had lots of underlining and writing in it. I complained on Amazon. This is a vendor I've ordered from lots of times before and wasn't disappointed, but this time I was.
I went to the library used book store and got 7 kids books with Christmas themes for $3.50. Most were hardbacks. I am giving 5 to a friend'd daughter. At the yarn store I got some yarn, and 3 magazines and won a door prize!

Edited to add: I couldn't find any Vonnegut nor John Connolly and I looked in several places.

[Kevin]

I look forward to your views on The Irish Tinkers book, Barbara. I have always wanted to read more into their lives other than what is told to us by society.

[[deleted user]]

I'm delighted to see you (Barbara and Kevin) have both picked up on my find The Irish Tinkers: The Urbanization Of An Itinerant People. My copy is much used and has a local council 'traveller education' label on it suggesting it was used by the staff to gain better understanding of some of their clientele. I've been too busy this week to look at it :(

[[deleted user]]

Barbara, Vonnegut crops up now and then in Kindle offers and I've bought a couple that way. Worth looking out for. Hope the yarn is special.

[Barbara]

Theresa wrote: "Barbara, Vonnegut crops up now and then in Kindle offers and I've bought a couple that way. Worth looking out for. Hope the yarn is special."

Theresa - I have picked up Breakfast of Champions on a kindle daily special, and Mother Night from Paperback Swap. I got some gorgeous bulky alpaca yarn and some other nice yarn that has silk and cashmere in it at 20% off. The door prize I won was a kit of bulky alpaca yarn to make a cowl.
Sara - I spent less than $70 combined at the yarn shop and library store.

edited to add - there are 2 Vonnegut as Kindle daily specials. I bought God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and decided to get the other, Galapagos, from Paperback Swap.

[Susan]

I just picked up a book from the library that I had reserved several months ago. The thing is I don't remember why I reserved it. Does anybody know why I reserved Good Behaviour?

[Kevin]

I just got in the current issues of the Stinging Fly and Gorse. I must admit I have no experience of literary magazines like this but I'm looking forward to it. Does anyone else read them? If so, thoughts?

[Trelawn]

@ Susan I mentioned Molly Keane a few months ago as I picked up her book Time after Time. Barbara and someone else said they had read and enjoyed her work so maybe you decided to give one of her books a go?

[Barbara]

Susan - Trelawn's recollection is correct:)
Kevin - Sara and I both got a super deal on subscriptions to Stinging Fly. Declan Meade, who publishes it, has done a lot of good work to get young writers into print. Kevin Barry is one of them. If you ever get a chance to see Kevin Barry he is a hoot. His background in theater and that arena is evident in his readings. Lots of fun! He probably scares some people my age, which may add to his appeal.

[[deleted user]]

Susan, I was the other person who enjoyed Good Behaviour but haven't read it in ages as my copy fell apart and went for recycling :(

[Susan]

Well, thank you. I ordered this book so long ago that I had forgotten. So far it is not my favorite but maybe it will get better.

[Susan]

Here's a book I will not be acquiring- Streisand's Early Years in Hollywood. Price- $750.00.

[Cathleen]

Susan wrote: "Here's a book I will not be acquiring- Streisand's Early Years in Hollywood. Price- $750.00."

Susan, your comment just made me burst out laughing :)

[Cathleen]

I went to my local bookstore the other day to buy a birthday present for a friend, and once there, I saw Eleven Days. It's part of a World Noir crime series, it's set in London, it takes place eleven days before Christmas. I'm not familiar with the author but the book blurb made it look too good to pass up.

[Allan]

So, despite the supposed GRI moratorium on buying books, I couldn't resist Barbara's call to the Audible sale, and ended up buying a couple of titles-Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus and Cities of the Plain, the third in the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. I also bought A Constellation of Vital Phenomena using one of my credits, which arrived today, and availed of yesterday's Daily Deal, My Antonia.

Oh, and I was bad yesterday and bought the Mary Costello book that won the novel of the year, Academy Street, only because I was buying other Christmas gifts off Amazon, and it would've been a shame to let the free postage go to waste, considering the book was on sale for £4.99.

I hope Susan isn't too cross about my rule breaking behaviour... :)

[Seraphina]

Your so bold Alan!!! Lol

[Susan]

OMG, Allan. I am hurling things around the room. My grandchildren are staring in amazement. What the He__ am I going to do with an extra copy of Academy Street? It wouldn't be so bad if this is now the SECOND time you've done it to me. You PROMISED.

I made my two grandchildren (4 and 2) promise not to be like you. Do not be like Allan and buy yourselves something before Christmas especially after you promised not to. They solemnly promised not to be like Allan. When their father walked in, they ran to him and said, "We won't be like Allan, Daddy." He said what are you up to now, Mom?

I hope you find lumps of coal in your Christmas stocking. DAMN you.