New books. Ahh. The joy of perusing the shelves of a bookshop and carefully selecting my favorites; clicking add-to-cart in an online bookstore and waiting for the books to show up on my front porch; and signing up for review copies from authors or advanced reader programs and actually winning one all make me feel a little giddy inside. And bubbly on the outside. Ask my husband. I'm pretty sure I'm bordering on book addiction, but you know what? I'm just not that interested in being helped.
Over the past few weeks I've added to my book collection a bit {yippee!}. I made a trip with the hubsy and kiddo to Vintage Stock, a store about thirty miles away that is an all-around geek-fest and specializes in new and used books. Here, I found the first five James Bond books with ultra cool covers...
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| complete with femme fatales, of course. |
I've been meaning to read these for ages but have never gotten around to them, though my husband picked the first one up the minute we got home. Hm.
I discovered a privately owned second-hand bookshop in the town we're trying to move to sixty miles away. The owner is very nice and carries a great selection of genres and authors. She bought a couple of books from me, the money from which I turned right back around and spent. Plus some, ha. Here are three of the books I purchased:
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
- A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Twelfth: The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
The fourth book I got is Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid, also by Lemony Snicket. Unfortunately, it has been misplaced and didn't make it into the photo showcasing my mad photography skills. You'll hear about it in future, though, when it surfaces...
In Tuesday's Shelf Awareness e-newsletter for readers there was a message from Jamie Forbes, author of Unbroken, saying that she was giving away five hardcopies of her book. Interested readers/reviewers could email her and request a copy, as well as share a few words about a particularly meaningful book. I've heard a bit about Unbroken and am interested in reading it, so I emailed Ms. Forbes and requested a copy, also including a bit about To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (fantastic book -- if you haven't read it, you need to). Earlier this evening I received word that I'm receiving a copy and it should be here within the next couple weeks! I'm pretty darn excited.
When I got my Kindle I signed up for Pixel of Ink's daily e-newsletter with links to newly- discounted and currently-free Kindle books. I don't always find ebooks I'm interested in, though I have found quite a few. I would leave a few book links at this point, but looking through my Kindle, I can't remember which ones I've gotten through Pixel of Ink and which ones I found through other sources. I hear sleep helps with short term memory loss. Maybe I should try this theory out ;)
Speaking of my Kindle, I really like it. Nothing will ever replace the feel and smell and, well, friendliness of paper books. But I must admit it is extremely convenient when requesting ARCs and review copies from authors, especially since most of them come in an ebook format. I went with the Kindle 4th Generation with wi-fi and special offers because a) I'm cheap and it is $79 and b) the special offers are not nearly as annoying as some people made them out to be. Sometimes the special offers are even coupons for Kindle books. This is how I got Tinkers for free (which I am really looking forward to reading). Hooray!
I'll post some more free Kindle books I've found later on. Blogger is starting to act a little squirrelly (hence the reason the image of Tinkers is stuck all the way up there instead of down here where it belongs) and I need to go saw a few logs before The Great House Hunt starts up tomorrow. Wish us luck & happy reading!
Mary Beth
Sweet! Books! Feed the addiction!
ReplyDeleteI like the James Bond books you got. I've ready 4 or 5 of the original Ian Fleming books. Some of them were pretty good, but some left me thinking "um... what?"
I'm with you on the Kindle. I got the cheap one too, and the ads honestly don't bother me. I'd say it was worth saving the $40.
And you're house hunting now? Good luck. It can be nerve-wracking and exhausting, but it's totally worth it.
This looks like a great selection! I've particularly been meaning to read The Thirteenth Tale. Looking forward to hearing what you think about it.
ReplyDeleteI've had my Kindle for over a year now, and I love it. I don't have enough space in my apartment to keep all the books that I want, so it has been a great way to maintain my reading addiction without being required to sleep on top of my books.
Jonathan: Absolutely! haha. And heck, I haven't read any of the 007 books yet, but some of the back covers leave me thinking the same thing, lol. Still look forward to reading them, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you like your Kindle w/ S.O., too! And I completely agree that the ads are worth the significant drop in price.
Yes, the house hunting saga has begun once again. And thanks! We'll need all the luck we can get, ha. We're focusing on selling the house we're in now, but keeping an eye out for another property in the meantime. We've looked at several houses but nothing has come of any of them. I'm sure the right one will turn up at the right time, though :)
Shannon: Thanks! I'll make sure to read The Thirteenth Tale soon. Classes started back up again today and reviews might be more spaced out than they had been, but I'll do my best.
Kindles are so great for small living spaces- I wish I'd've had one when my hubby and I lived in our first apartment, haha.
I loved loved loved (LOVED!) Strange & Norrell and if it wasn't so huge I'd read it again right now. But there's so much to read and I'm behind and trying not to let it stress me out! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you got Tinkers. It was the first book I got for my Kindle over a year ago. I hope you liked it as much as I did. The writing is gorgeous and it's very short.
I've always wanted to read the 007 books - you'll have to tell us if you like them!
I have a wonderful second hand book shop locally too. The books are as new, and with shelves overflowing, they're piled in tall hazardous columns on the floor. Best of all, a dog called Bertie lives there. He trots up to the door to welcome visitors then back again to see them off. If you address him by name he stops dead in his tracks and his eyes go wide and filled with love, as if to say, "You know my name! I'm so honoured!"
ReplyDeleteBrooks, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Strange & Norrell! I heard mixed reviews but thought, "Oh well, if I don't like it I'll just give it away". I'm sure I'm going to like it, though. It is a big book! And I completely understand about being behind. I mean, I was behind on reading anyway and then classes started yesterday. Eek! haha. I started Tinkers and really enjoyed the bit I actually got read. I started the first 007 book and fell asleep. *Ahem*. In its defense, though, I was very tired already.
ReplyDeleteSusan, your local bookstore sounds charming, and it would be so fun knowing you were going to be greeted at the door by Bertie, haha. I must admit, if I owned a bookshop (which I would LOVE to some day) I think I would have a resident pet, lol. They really do make it so homey :)