best get this out of the way

So, I was having a bit of a breakdown last night--just overly tired and worrying about getting things done. Rich decided I just needed to get out of this house, so he hauled us all off to Taco Bell for supper (yes, we are pathetic enough to eat at Taco Bell--what can I say, their classic limeades are pure heaven). Anyway, aside from the limeades, Taco Bell also has the fact that it's located by a decent little used bookstore going for it. Well, I was obviously too exhausted to practice any self-restraint...I bought 9 books. Despite the fact that I knew that I would be buying truckloads of books this coming week when Chris is here--yes, enablers we definitely are to one another (and face it, neither of us even need enablers to go overboard).

Figured I ought to get this one last post out of the way now.

From the used book store:

 *Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. Just been wanting to read this one for a while.

*I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Young-Ha Kim. Okay, so the gorgeous cover might have been enough. But then I read the blurb on the back...it sounds dark and original and...well, I'm not really sure what it will be like. But I am incredibly intrigued.

*Homeland and Other Stories by Barbara Kingsolver. Justification for this purchase? Hmmm...well, I haven't actually read anything by Kingsolver before, but I'm convinced I'll enjoy her writing. And, well, despite the fact that I haven't read many short stories lately, I really do love them. How about--the price was right? Or--I'm supporting small business?

*Oscar Wilde: The Fisherman and His Soul and other Fairy Tales. This volume collects the tales from The Happy Prince and The House of Pomegranates together in one book. And an adorable little book it is, too! Now I just have to get the guts to read it...because yes, he intimidates me.

*The Plague by Albert Camus. Yes, and speaking of being intimidated. But I've really wanted to read this...so maybe someday I really will take the plunge.

*City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende. I've been wanting to try Allende for quite a while. But it was Kelly that really, really got me excited about it here recently during an email conversation. And while this was not one of the books she recommended I start with, I picked it up anyway since it was the only one I saw there. Thus, I am passing off all blame to her anyway...you know, because no one can stop me. ;) POINT FOR KELLY.

*Generation X by Douglas Coupland. And speaking of Kelly. Well, I'm blaming her and Ana and Chris and Nancy for this one. Possibly not a fair thing to do, but tough. See, I've yet to read one of his books...but I've gotten pretty good at picking them up whenever I see them. And it's all because of them...every time they talk about Coupland, it just gets me so excited. I know, I know, so why haven't I read any of them then, right? Yeah, good question. POINTS FOR KELLY, ANA, CHRIS, and NANCY.

*I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron. More blame. This time, it's Eva's fault. Absolutely, positively, without question. This book went immediately to my wish list when she reviewed it. In fact, if I'm remembering correctly, that particular post added several books to my wish list. POINT FOR EVA.

*French Milk by Lucy Knisley. And I'm pawning off responsibility for my final purchase from the used book store on Eva as well. While she wasn't head-over-heels in love with this book, it was her that first brought it to my attention. Not entirely sure if I'll enjoy it or not, but for the price I figured I couldn't go wrong. POINT FOR EVA.








From elsewhere:

*The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston. Yep, yet more blame for Eva. I was so excited to find this in the used book section at Barnes & Noble the other night. Eva got me really excited about reading this series, as they were childhood favorites of hers. And over the past year or so, I've managed to find a couple of them used. But never the first one...until now. :) POINT FOR EVA.

*Women of Science: Righting the Record edited by G. Kass-Simon and Patricia Farnes. Originally found this in the used section at B&N as well, but as it was still a bit on the expensive side, Rich looked it up on his phone for me and managed to find a much cheaper copy online. As you can probably tell from the title, it's about many of the largely unacknowledged women of science. Know what I already really love about it--the dedication, which reads: To those we didn't find.

*Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. I always feel guilty blaming someone else when they were kind enough to send me the book in question. (Oh okay, I'm a big fat liar--I don't feel guilty at all!) Sorry Kara, but you're going to have to suck up a point for this one---it was *you* that made me really want to read this one, after all. And despite blaming you, I am extremely appreciative--thank you so much for sending it to me! POINT FOR KARA.

*The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. And then there's this one...and I actually paid retail for it (well, minus the B&N discount anyway). I just couldn't help myself. I've been wanting to buy it ever since it came out, and well, what can I say--I was just caught in a moment of weakness. And hey, you know what--I'm not even sorry! :P  I've been trying to convince myself that I can blame this on Eva...but that might be stretching it even for me. See, it was because of her that I read Bacigalupi's story, "The Fluted Girl," a year and a half ago. And I fell utterly in love with his writing. And thus the extra-strong desire to buy this book.




So who's read what? And what did you think?

I just can't help myself...

Okay, new strategy...I'm working hard not to let the mess rebuild in our bedroom, which means I need to stop letting the books I acquire pile up beside the computer. So as I get them, I'll just pop them into a blame game draft, and then just publish whenever I reach six or eight or so books. Yes, I bored you with that little blurb just so you would understand if these posts sound disjointed. (You know, because sounding disjointed isn't my usual modus operandi--ha!)

*Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin. Honestly, this was not the book I was dying to get my hands on. The one I really, really, really wanted was Larkin's other book, Everything is Broken. But I'm too stingy to shell out that new hardback price. So for now anyway, I'm waiting until my turn comes up at PaperbackSwap, or it comes out in softcover. I thought that maybe ordering this book would take away some of that urgency I was feeling. After all, Eva really loved this book. Unfortunately, while I'm happy that I was able to get this from PBS, it didn't really do anything to quench that desire for the book I actually wanted. Oh well. POINT FOR EVA.

*Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock that Shaped the World by Tom Zoellner. I honestly have no idea how to explain this acquisition. Once I saw it, I absolutely *had* to have it. I don't even know why, but it just sounded so incredibly interesting! And really, I can't even believe I'm saying that. If someone else had told I'd be unable to stop myself from buying a book about uranium, I would have thought them utterly loony.

*Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. Picked this up from the used book store. One of her retellings. I think it's a Cinderella retelling, but I'm not entirely sure. I don't want to try to find out for sure though, because it seems like it would be more fun to just read it and see for myself.

*In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien. I have no earthly idea what this book is about. There's no cover synopsis or anything. But it is sticking in my head that I've heard of this somewhere, and had a positive reaction. Plus, since I've never heard a bad word about O'Brien's The Things They Carried, I figured I couldn't go wrong. Especially at used book price.

 *Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden. Rich and I spent a little of our anniversary yesterday at the bookstore. Yeah, big surprise, huh? Anyway, there were a couple of things that compelled me to bring this one home. First, I was pulled in by the cover blurb. Here's part of it:

Africa is a complex continent of people. The West so often treats African as if it were one country, and its interventions, therefore, often misfire. Richard Dowden teases out the web of history, myth, rivalry, alliance, ambition, and protest that comprises the current reality... Their daily challenges, innovations, and dreams provide a sweeping, illumination and often uplifting portrait of modern sub-Saharan Africa.

And then I read the foreward by Chinua Achebe. Again, a piece of it:

Africa, as most people are aware, has endured a tortured history, and continues to persevere under the burden of political instability and religious, social, racial and ethnic strife. Many chroniclers of the African condition often find Africa overwhelming. As R.K. Narayan once said about new stories: 'there are often too many stories out there to be told.' The writer is often faced with two choices: turn away from the reality of Africa's intimidating complexity, or conquer the mystery of Africa by recognizing the humanity of African people.
Richard Dowden makes the brave choice. In Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles, he tackles Africa's problems without fear, sentimentality or condescension.

 Now I just hope that I find a way to make time to read it!

two for the price of one

Okay, that title doesn't really make sense. It's more of a "killing two birds with one stone" kind of thing, but I really despise that saying. So what the hell am I talking about anyway? Well, I've reached our bedroom in my major decluttering/super-cleaning/reorganizing-the-house mission for this summer. And obviously, these books sitting here by the computer must make their ways to their proper homes. So, I get my blame handed out, and I deal with a miniscule portion of the bedroom all at the same time.

Most of the books that have made their way into our home during the past few weeks are simply for school. The literature course Annie will be taking this coming year has a pretty extensive reading list...and I just decided to fill in all the gaps of the books we didn't already own right now, so I wouldn't have to worry about it later. What I could, I ordered from PaperbackSwap; what I couldn't I ordered used. Obviously, these have no blame attached:



Tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann edited and translated by Leonard J. Kent and Elizabeth C. Knight

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

The Metamorphosis, The Penal Colony, and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology edited by Eric S. Rabkin

The Erasers by Alain Robbe-Grillet

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.












And these are the books that are not for school, a couple of which do come with blame attached:

Ismael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn. (I've been wanting this book ever since Ana told me about it many months ago. Finally, it is mine. POINT FOR ANA.)

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. (Had this on my wish list, and Rich just surprised me with it out of the blue. Sweet guy.)

Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio. (Yeah, like I need to explain this acquisition.)

The Year of Ice by Brian Malloy. (I honestly can't even remember what this is about, but I do remember how excited I was to add it to my PaperbackSwap wish list after Staci's review. And my turn finally came up. POINT TO STACI.)









YAY! A blame post done and a computer table cleared off.

passing the buck yet again

Well, this is overdue. Of course, just about everything in my life is "overdue" these days. Seems to be the state of normal around here. Anyway, I'm not sure why I even make these posts, except that I have such fun keeping track of when I picked up a particular book...and whose to blame for it. Yes, I'm very easy to amuse. ;)  But hey, I've always figured that was a good thing.

So, in no particular order, my recent acquisitions:

Whiteout: Volume 1 by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber. Murder mystery type graphic novel set in Antarctica. I read about this somewhere, but can't for the life of me remember where (so someone may be getting let off the hook on this one). Anyway, our local B&N had all their used books half off the other day...so this is one of several books that made its way home with me.

A Woman Like That: Lesbian and Bisexual Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories edited by Joan Larkin. Title sounds pretty self-explanatory. Another from the half-price used book sale.

Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori. A previously unheard of by me book. Gotta admit, it was the cover that first drew me in. The numerous references to Lemony Snicket in the review blurbs kept my interest. And well, the fact that it sounded like a book the boys and I would love to read together--that cinched it. Well, that and the fact that it only cost $1.50 at the book sale.

Rosalind Franklin & DNA by Anne Sayre. This book has been on my wish list for ages! I can't believe I found it (actually Rich found it) at the book sale for just $2.00. :D

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Now this is what I call good timing. I'd never heard of this book until just days ago when Pat reviewed it. I knew immediately that I wanted it...and then there it was in the used section on sale. POINT FOR PAT.

Bachelor Girl: The Secret History of Single Women in the Twentieth Century by Betty Israel. This one popped onto my radar thanks to Ana. She talked about it in a coveting post. While I wish she would write coveting posts more often as she always talks about the most amazing books I've never heard of, her coveting leads to coveting of my own. ;)  And this was the last of the books bought at the half-price sale. POINT FOR ANA.

The Backyard Homestead edited by Carleen Madigan. Okay, so blame for this falls squarely on Chris. He emailed and told me all about this amazing book. (And Chris, if you don't mind, I'm now going to skip the part of the story about my feeble brain. :P ) Rich actually ordered this one for me because he knew how badly I wanted it. POINT FOR CHRIS.

Urban Farm: Summer 2010. Okay, so I've never dished out blame for a magazine before. But then, no one has ever made me want to buy a magazine like this before.  And it cost more than all those half-price used books, so why shouldn't it count, right? (Sorry Chris, but I'm just not taking responsibility for this one. :P) POINT FOR CHRIS.

Brains: A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker. Total impulse buy. Just sounds ridiculously fun. And Rich thought so, too. So we sort of shared blame for this one. It's about a college professor turned zombie who is on a crusade for peaceful coexistence with humans. Described as dark and humorous. I'm looking forward to it.

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan. Oh, poor Chris. He didn't even love this book, and here he is taking the blame. ;)  What can I say, he still made it sound good to me, so when I saw it at the library, I just had to bring it home with me. POINT TO CHRIS.

Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children's Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green edited by Dan Gutman. Uhhh Chris, you might want to take it easy on me here. If our library decides to cave in during your visit, I'm afraid it will partially be falling right where you're sleeping. :P  In other words, stop filling my house with books! This review is at fault...picked it up from the library shortly after reading it. POINT FOR CHRIS.

Get Crafty: Hip Home Ec by Jean Railla. A total impulse grab from the library. Looks like it may be one of those rare craft books that I actually read cover to cover--yep, it looks that fun! (No idea why the picture came out so blurry when I added it.)

Junk Beautiful by Sue Whitney & Ki Nassauer. As soon as I read Carl's post about this book, I went immediately to our library website and ordered this. All the photos he shared, not to mention his review, made me knew immediately that I would love this book. POINT FOR CARL.

Junk Beautiful: Outdoor Edition by Sue Whitney. Fair or not, I'm also blaming this on Carl. If I hadn't gone looking for the first, I never would have run across this one. So I'm saddling him with the blame for both. POINT FOR CARL.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden. How is it that I've never heard of this series before? Or have I, and I've just forgotten about it? I really don't think that's likely though--it sounds so up my alley that I can't imagine forgetting about it. But then again, my brain is not what it used to be. Whatever. This is the first book in a series about a group of teens fighting back after their home country, Australia, is invaded by unspecified country. Anyway, this was a total impulse purchase.

Incantation by Alice Hoffman. Saw this in a used book store. While I couldn't, from the back cover description, get a good feel for what it's about, it definitely sounds intriguing. And I absolutely adored the one Alice Hoffman book that I have read (Green Angel). Figured for the price, I just couldn't go wrong.

Cobwebs by Karen Romano Young. Talk about not having a clue what it's about! But the combination of the vague description, the cover, and the price had me picking this one up at the used book store as well.

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier. I read his book, After the First Death, a couple months ago and really, really enjoyed it. In looking into his other books, this was the one that most caught my eye. (I know The Chocolate War and I Am the Cheese are much more popular, but they just don't interest me.) I've kept my eye out for this one at the bookstores, but they just don't seem to keep it in stock. So I was extremely excited when I not only found it at the used book store, but found it for practically nothing.

She Looks Just Like You: A Memoir of (Nonbiological Lesbian) Motherhood by Amie Klempnauer Miller. A book that Rich just surprised me with out of nowhere. Isn't he sweet?

Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World edited by Robyn Ochs & Sarah E. Rowley. Another one Rich just surprised me with out of the blue. Though this one had been on my wish list.

Love & Lies: Marisol's Story by Ellen Wittlinger. Been on my PaperbackSwap wish list for a while, and it finally became available.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It was actually something in one of The History of US series by Joy Hakim that made me want to pick this one up. And lucky for me, it was immediately available at PBS.

Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala. Been getting a lot of requests for books from PBS lately. While this is a very good thing--I love getting books out of here--it's also a dangerous thing. Because when I log into PBS to print the mailing labels, they display all those books there that can be mine just for the asking. ;)  Yep, that's what happened with this one (and the next one). I've never heard of this book before, but it seems like a book I should have heard of. Anyway, it's a novel about a child soldier in an unspecified African nation. And I needed it because having two (non-fiction) books on the subject, that I can't seem to make myself read because I know they're just going to be so heartbreaking, just isn't enough. ;)

Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict by Michael T. Klare. Sounds fascinating. But of course, it is bound to be somewhat speculative, which makes me extra wary. I was happy to see an extensive notes section at the end when it arrived though. Anyway, I eager to read it, though I'm sure it will be unnerving.

 An Open Book by Michael Dirda. Hmm...again with the blurry picture. :(  Well, Ms. Ana is to blame for this. Not that she reviewed this book in particular. But she has reviewed a couple of his other books. And I ended up adding every single one of his books to my PBS wish list in the hopes of eventually getting my hands on one of them. And it finally paid off. POINT FOR ANA.







Note to self: Stop waiting so long between these posts, you idiot!