DNF

Besides being the year of D.E. Stevenson, 2010 is quickly becoming the year of the books I can label DNF - Did Not Finish. I've been casting things aside left and right.


I just like this cactus picture I took.

My personal revelations and goals for this blog have carried over into my reading in a big way. The older I get, the more I read, the more I expect from my books and the less of a chance I am willing to give a book that I consider to be sub-par. I want to read great books, amazing and moving books, that entertain or give me insight or just plain take me away. Friends, I have lost patience.

In years past I would plod through a book that I wasn't thrilled with. I'd sigh and moan and by the end, look at it with loathing. At least I finished the darn thing. Now I know that is no way to read.

How do I decide what I'm going to finish and what I'm not? I like the idea of the 50 page rule I read somewhere: Give it 50 pages to see if you like it. If you're over 50, do some subtracting and give it less pages. Presumably, you have even less time available in this lifetime for bad books. Often though, I don't even need 50 pages. One chapter can be enough to know I don't want to spend 350 pages with this story.

Sometimes it takes longer. A month or so ago I whined that nothing I was reading was catching my fancy. Kay told me to cast them all aside. What good advice! I stopped reading a 600+ page book 250ish pages in. I gave up on a 400 page book 150 or so pages in. The library books, I don't so much care about, but I get annoyed by the ones I've spent money on. How could you sell me this lousy book!

It's easy to tell when you've made the right decision about giving up on a book. It's when you look at it after you've decided and you feel great relief. A sigh of calm. You don't ever have to go back to that if you don't want to. There's a great book, and it's just around the bend. Or in that pile in the corner.

Feel like a chat? Plus book porn.

I'm feeling rather chatty today. It's been a busy morning. Before eleven AM I dropped the girl off at school, got gas and groceries, made 6 jars of butterscotch (see last post), wrapped my Christmas gifts, and am on my fourth load of laundry. Whew! I am rushing, rushing, rushing, because I have a movie date with my coworker/friend this afternoon. It is a rare day that we can get together and see a movie in our favorite genre - The British Period Film - we are seeing An Education. My husband thinks I'm nuts to go see this since there are all sorts of 'nominated' films out there. Whatever. If he was being really nice today, he'd let me see a double feature and go to Young Victoria, as well, but it is not to be. In addition to all this rushing, our Christmas plans are now up in the air due to this new storm coming through the Midwest. I'd just as soon stay home than go to Iowa (so not festive), so perhaps I will get my dream to stay home this year. Doubt it.

I really, really, want to get a few reviews, well, not reviews, my reactions to books up in this space before the end of 2009. I am going to try, but not kill myself over it - I am operating on Blog Simplicity here you know. Next week will be devoted to my 2009 statistics and favorite books of the year, as well as sharing a book project I've been working on all year and my husband wishes would disappear (it's messy). I am a general pessimist in life, but must be an optimist about books, as I've been reluctant to post favorites until now. What if the best book of the year came along? But alas it has not.

In lieu of reviews/reactions and the like, here are the books that have come into my home over the past few months.

These are from Bookcloseouts -they were having a crazy 50% off fiction sale. I'm really curious about the Sarah Rayne (it sounds creepy and suspenseful) and excited about the Linda Holeman, an author under published in the US.




Well this is a lousy photograph, it's very grey here. I'm super excited about The Madness of a Seduced Woman, I loved this author's book, Anya. Has anyone read this?



Here are some new books I couldn't resist.



And here are some more. I'm reading Daphne: A Novelright now and it's quite good.



If I had more time, I'd give you more links here, but I've got to go! Cheers!

Eye Candy

I don't think I've done one of these posts for awhile! I think my book buying slowed down a bit this year which is good for my wallet anyway. I should warn you, these aren't the best photos ever taken.

I've been having a bit of a British book binge lately.



I keep ordering things from The Book Depository! I love to boost the British economy, you know. I think the free shipping on all orders makes it so easy to order one thing here, one thing there...I have 2 books on their way here right now.

Danielle actually talked me into the top book, The Forsyte Saga: The Man of Property,the first book in The Forsyte Saga. These new single book editions are so much more reader friendly than the huge tome. I actually found this UK edition at a US store. I also found the second title, The Book of Love at Border's and had to snatch it up after the good press from the UK book bloggers. The other titles are ones I've had my eye on for some time, except for the Emily Barr which is a new release that I'm already reading.

Here are some books that were given to me.




A friend in Chicago handed me Tales of Burning Love by Louise Erdrich book when I told her how much I enjoyed The Master Butcher's Singing Club. She said she really liked this one.

The other two books are ARCs. I requested Alice I Have Been - this sounds amazing and I feel really lucky to have scored this one. The John Irving book came unsolicited - and it is huge. I've read one book by Irving and since it's here, I'll give this one a try.

This final stack contains other books I've bought.




Pass the Polenta: And Other Writings from the Kitchen fits into that food memoir category I'm so fond of. I'll be reading The Gargoyle soon for bookclub. The bottom two books I found at a used book store in Chicago. The Bretts was apparently a Masterpiece Theatre presentation in the 80s. The Second Sister by Leslie O'Grady is a book I'm quite curious about. It sounds like a blend of romance and suspense - has anyone read this author?

Finally, you'll see Boston 2010 there. My last copy of Frommer's Boston is from 1997 and I'm thrilled to be returning there next month. Any suggestions?

The Midwife

I've been a moody reader lately. It all started with something I read in Adam Roberts' The Amateur Gourmet. Roberts' had lunch with Ruth Reichl, and he worried out loud about what he 'should' wear, and what he 'should' order. Reichl set him straight. She told him (and I'm paraphrasing here) that it's his meal, his experience. He should wear what he wants and what he's comfortable in, and he should order what he wants to eat. Not what the restaurant's necessarily known for, not what will impress your date or Ruth Reichl, but what you want.

That got me thinking about what I want to read. Not necessarily what books people want me to review, or what the readers of this blog might be most interested in, or what looks impressive out in public. What I Want. And What I Want to read lately is this:

Memoirs.
Food Memoirs.
Other books about food.
First person. (isn't that a strange one?)
Historical Fiction.
Women's stories.
Strong women.
Hard times.

That is what I've been in the mood for. Not mysteries, or books set in Asia. So, I guess what I'm saying is that these are the sorts of books I'll be reviewing here in the coming week or two. Because that's what I want to read. And you know what? I'm sure that will change.



Lesley wrote about The Midwife last month and as sometimes happens to me, I knew I needed to have that book right away. So I literally went and bought it the next day. And then it sat on the big stack and said 'read me. read me!' for a while, and then finally, because I am reading What I Want, I picked it up and I can tell you, it was perfect.


The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times is Jennifer Worth's memoir of her experience as a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950's. Times were different then when most women gave birth at home, and midwives were most involved in their pre and post natal care. Boy, does Worth have some amazing stories! Worth lived in London with a group of Nuns who were experienced midwives themselves - this provided some interesting stories without even delivering babies! Worth's patients were working class people, living in differing levels of poverty, some better off than others, and to think people still lived in homes with communal bathrooms and water that must be carried upstairs in the 1950s is really something.

The Midwife contains the stories of the woman who has given birth to 25 babies, the differing response to babies whose skin color does not match their parents, young mother's who seems unsuited to the job, and prostitutes who fell on hard times. The stories are sometimes difficult and heart-breaking, but are also life-affirming. Worth writes with just the right amount of compassion and mater-of-factness. Worth is at her best when she writes about the women whose lives she entered, though there are more personal essays as well.

If you're interesting in the subject, I couldn't recommend this more. I will tell you that it's quite graphic in terms of childbirth - all aspects of it. The good news is that Worth has written 2 follow up books to this; as yet unpublished in the US, so I'm thanking my lucky stars for The Book Depository.

It's a good day for chocolate cake....

Because today is My Birthday!

I woke up to a homemade card that reads: I love you so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so MUCH! Fabulous.

I received some new earring to replace the ones that were stolen in November (house was broken into). Nothing fancy, just costume jewelery.

I am going out to dinner and then I am going to eat Chocolate Mousse Cake from Buttercream Bakery. They make wedding cakes and use all natural ingredients. Yum!

I am going to treat myself to some new Persephone books thanks to their 3 for 2 anniversary offer; it seems we share a birthday.

Finally, it seems like a good time to share some books that have creeped into my house lately.



Here we have some books I ordered from The Book Depository when they were having a sale.

Persephone's Miss Buncle's Book. The Cranks Bible which is a vegetarian cookbook with a Middle Eastern twist. Singled Out which I've had my eye on for ages. The Blackest Streets - subtitle is The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum - just my thing, and another Barbara Ewing novel - loved The Trespass a few years back.



Here are new advance copies that have arrived.

This Lovely Life: a memoir of premature motherhood - I've skimmed this one a bit - it looks heartbreaking, devastating, and wonderfully written.

Sarah Dunant's new book Sacred Hearts about a 16 year old sent to a convent against her will in the 16th century.

Gifts of War - a love story set against the backdrop of WW2.

Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine and the End of France - food, wine, France? Sounds good to me.



Here are the books I've purchased, new and used.

The Moonflower Vine - 'A timeless American classic rediscovered, An unforgettable saga of a heartland family' This was a bestseller in the 1960s.

Ruth Rendell. Of course.

Laurie Colwins's cooking memoirs - I got tired of seeing these all over the place and not having read them. I'm on a bit of a food memoir binge, anyway.

The Silent Raga - the story of two sisters in India - the cover is gorgeous - I couldn't resist.

American Cookery - A family saga complete with recipes. I kept picking this up and putting it back until finally I found a used copy and brought it home. Has anyone read this or anything by author Laura Kalpakian?



Finally, here are some books that I've won or mooched, or scored from paperbackswap.

Highlights here include What the Butler Saw:Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem and Barbara Vine's latest, The Birthday Present which is of course worth mentioning today.

Cheers!

Have You Heard About THIS???

So, during a lull at work yesterday I was browsing through Amazon's list of popular pre-order books in my two favorite categories. I was excited to see a release date for Nigella's Christmas Book as well as a few other cookbooks I've had my eye on. I then went to the Literature and Fiction list, and what do you suppose I came across?






A new, full-length Margaret Atwood novel to be published in September. Just what I've been hoping for.

Here is the blurb from Amazon:

The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood is a dystopic masterpiece and a testament to her visionary power.

The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners—a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life—has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.

Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers . . .

Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away . . .

By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive.

It sounds like a book that will not be for everyone.
But.
I.Cannot.Wait.

I'm Back... and With More Books

The girl and I returned from the thrilling suburbs of Cincinnati yesterday afternoon. We had a great time visiting my sister and her family, and this year the kids played together better than ever. There was little time for reading and while I'm enjoying both books I brought very much, I only read a total of around 175 pages on the whole trip. I'm still dreaming of that reading vacation too, Nan! Thanks so much to everyone for your well wishes. I was peeking in to see what everyone was up to while I was gone, but I still have over 150 posts to read in my bloglines account. Since I cannot offer any reviews today, I thought I'd share the books that have made their way into my home lately.



Here are some ARCs and review copies that I've received lately. The Blue Notebook looks to be an important but devastating account of child prostitutes in India. Secrets to Happiness on the other hand looks like and easy, breezy read. I'm intrigued by The Lace Makers of Glenmara and it's Ireland-set, cozy-seeming storyline. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is probably the nicest looking ARC I've ever seen - they're not kidding about a major marketing campaign, and finally I was thrilled to open up the envelope containing Lisa See's newest book, Shanghai Girls. I adored Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and have recommended it often.



Here are a few used/swapped/new books. Judith Lennox is somewhat of a comfort author to me, so I was happy to obtain The Winter House. Consequences of Sin is one that I just keep reading about on various blogs (Iliana? Danielle?) so I picked up a used copy along with another Ruth Rendell mystery. Cocina de la Familia is a Mexican-American cookbook that came from Paperbackswap - nice!



I'm really intrigued by this book, The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart. It's part of the 'Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading' that I'd never noticed before. The Circular Staircase is described as a 'popular 1908 thriller' complete with a 'feisty spinster' and a 'disastrous summer house rental'. Has anyone heard of this author or read this?


I thought I was done. But UPS showed up today and delivered these.



Tessa Kiros' Falling Cloudberries is gorgeous. Gorgeous! Thanks to Librarything's Early Reviewer program for that one. And finally, The Walking People, described as an old fashioned novel (yeah!) that fans of Meave Binchy are sure to love (another plus) in the tradition of The Memory Keeper's Daughter (hmmm). This one looks great actually, like something I'd enjoy.

So, I have my reading cut out for me.

I have brown rice in the oven in my newly painted kitchen (thanks hubby) and am off to devour my new cookbooks. Have a great weekend - I'll be stopping by!

The Dam Has Broken

I wrote a few weeks ago that I hadn't bought many books in January. Well, I made up for that in February. Let's check out my latest arrivals!



From the top:

East of the Sun is a UK publication I've had my eye out for. Harriet Devine wrote a great review of it here. I was lucky enough to mooch this one!

Grange House is another mooch/swap book - a turn of the century ghost story I understand.

I read about Minette Walters in my Good Reading Guide and ordered The Ice House and Laurie King's second book in the Mary Russell series with my Amazon giftcard. I won Among the Mad from Danielle's giveaway - yeah for Maisie Dobbs!




Here are the latest ARCs that have arrived here. A Lucky Child is a memoir written by a holocaust survivor, The Crimes of Paris, also nonfiction, details the period in 1911 when the Mona Lisa was stolen. The bottom three are novels.




Ahhhh. Here is my latest order from Bookcloseouts (how do I love thee, let me count the ways) minus a Clarice Bean book for the girl. I purchased all 8 books, with shipping, for 42 dollars. What a steal!!

Gallowglass - a Barbara Vine that I didn't have, love her.

The Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters -curious about her.

The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates - my bookclub is reading this later this year. Goodness, is it ever long!

A Letter of Mary is the third in the Mary Russell series.

Scapegallows by Carol Birch is a book that Danielle wrote about not long ago. This is the story of a British woman, the cover states "Sentenced to hang not once, but twice, she escaped, and became and Australian pioneer." Sounds good, no?

Sophie Hannah's The Point of Rescue - Hannah's suspenseful books have grabbed me in the past and won't let go. Check out the synopsis.

And finally, A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam is the story of woman and her family set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence. I've wanted to read this since it first came out and was happy to find this copy - I love the cover.

I'd love to hear your comments if you've read any of these.

I guess I'd better get reading! But first I have to clean the bathroom. Have a nice weekend!

What is So Great About Book Blogs

About a month ago I read this post at Books on the Brain. Lisa was so genuinely taken in by this book, Life As We Knew It that I knew I wanted to read it; I hadn't even read her review - just the fact that she was completely enthralled by it.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a novel meant for a teen audience about the end of civilization as we know it, from the point of view of Miranda, a teenage girl. Something goes awry with the moon which disturbs the equilibrium of the earth and chaos ensues. When presented with a story like this, I choose to go along with it - that is to say, I didn't really question the science behind the story - could this really happen? I couldn't say. What this story is really about though, is how Miranda and her family and her town deal with what could be the end of civilization. Miranda comes to learn how strong she really is and how important her family is to her. I think I didn't like it quite as much as Lisa, but it's a terribly compelling story and I recommend it.

Well, What is so Great About Book Blogs? If it weren't for Lisa and her blog, I never would have picked up this book. It would really never have occurred to me to read from the teen section. Most of the books at the bookstore in this section are about vampires or girls in short skirts. So I have broadened my horizons. And hopefully, sometimes, I get the chance to broaden the horizons of others. It's a great feeling to have comments like I did on my last post about Keeping the House - so many had never heard of it, or weren't sure about it since maybe it didn't get a lot of press.

And there is the struggle. I go back and forth about how I feel about reading review copies. In most ways, it's great. I get free books, feel flattered that someone might value my opinion, and because I'm picky about what I accept or request, most times I enjoy the books. But there is down side. I become one of many who are reading the same book. Sometimes it is hard to get to 'my own' books because of these commitments. And finally, sometimes I feel like a bit of an advertisement. I want to share more here than just new releases that I've liked, because there are a lot of books that were published last year or five years ago that are terrific too. When I think about what sort of posts I like to read, I certainly do like reading about the new great title out there, but I feel most blessed by learning about books that I've never heard of or never thought to read. Just think - when I go to bookstores, particularly in big ones where I don't usually shop, isn't my goal to find something that I haven't seen a million times already? Who knows. We all know times are tough and publishers are struggling. Perhaps the review copies will dry up. But perhaps, since our opinions are free, they will not. Time will tell.

Do you struggle with this? How do you reconcile your feelings on this?

A Special Guest

So, I'm still watching Lost and I'm nearly done with the first season. This is seriously cutting into my reading and blogging time.

I told my husband, who's done a fair amount of reading lately, that if he put together a list of his favorite books of the year I'd post them. He read 50 books in 2008, and what is most impressive, and puts me shame, is that all but 2 or 3 them of them are non-fiction. Besides the ones below, he also finished 1776, The Devil in the White City, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, Alexander Hamilton, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and a slew of other political, history, economic, and religious books. This guy is a serious intellectual, but don't tell him I said so!

So without further ado, here are the books of the year for Mr. Books and Cooks:

Manhunt by James Swanson:
Probably the best book I read this year, it covers the chase to track down the killer(s), following Lincoln’s assassination. It’s very informative, covering the entire event in detail (including the additional attempted assassinations that occurred that same night, as well). It reads like a novel, covering all of the action as John Wilkes Booth is tracked down (including the infamous Dr. Samuel Mudd).

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely :
The book is among many in the line of behavioral economics books that have been out recently (following the popularity of Freakonomics). In my opinion, this book is better than Freakonomics. It delves into why we do the things we do – often repeatedly – if it’s not the “right” thing to do. Economics often start from the premise that people act rationally – this book points out that the premise may not be all that useful in some circumstances. There are a number of fascinating studies that are always fun to have at the ready to share at the next dinner party.

The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb:
This book became very pertinent in light of the current financial situation. This book looks at why we are caught off guard with unexpected outcomes. Our current financial models are not adequate (and we put too much blind faith into them) to explain the likelihood of potential outcomes (and specifically catastrophic losses). The Black Swan represents something that we don’t believe exists – until we see it. We don’t think that a certain outcome is possible, simply because we haven’t seen it yet. But just because we haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs:
This is a lighthearted look at the Bible and its interpretation. Jacobs (with a Jewish background – but not a practicing one) decides to live as close to a literal interpretation of the Bible as possible (including not shaving, eating only as the Bible prescribes, etc.). Given the Jewish slant, it’s focused on the Old Testament and Jacobs is not a professed believer, to begin. But he enters with an open mind and it’s a very entertaining read, regardless of belief.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller:
This is a very thoughtful book about evidence pointing to a belief in God. This book stands somewhat in opposition to the plethora of recent books pointing the other direction (e.g., Dawkins, Hitchens, etc.). It attempts to respond to a number of the most common doubts that this pastor has heard over the years. It’s certainly going to be 100% persuasive (which is certainly impossible regardless of book size, let alone in 200+ pages). But it is a brief, compelling counterpoint, on the side of faith.

Bookishness, Mostly

My book club had our last meeting of 2008 last Thursday evening. Everyone enjoyed A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but the downside of that, was that it did not generate much general discussion. How do you handle it when that happens? Then we voted on our books for 2009. Here is the list:

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch
Emma by Jane Austen
The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Tourmaline by Joanna Scott
Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I am really quite excited about our list! Most of my top picks were chosen, and I've only read three of these. In comparison, some years I've read up to seven of the chosen books. I was thrilled that everyone voted for The Book Thief, which was one of my three suggestions along with The Birth House by Ami McKay and another book by Louise Erdrich with a long title. There will have to be some purchasing, too, since I don't own most of these. I would like a new and pretty copy of Emma. Does anyone have any Austen books from the Vintage Classics line? Here is the cover of Emma. I'm wondering what the quality is.



In other news...

* I am reading three terrific books right now - that rarely happens. I can't wait to share them.

* Soon, we are going to be talking about a book reading goal that I had for 2008 that I think I'm going to reach.

* And one that I'm not going to reach.

* Has anyone seen the price of maple syrup? Real maple syrup? Holy cow, at Whole Foods today the 32 ounce jug of B grade was $16.99. EEEK! There was a note saying that warmer weather has simply not made it possible to produce as much and the shortage will last the next couple of years.

* Now, I am going to go make Creamy Tomato Soup and grilled cheese for dinner. Yum!

* Then, I am going to rest my feet, since I've been Christmas shopping all day. Cheers!

Live to Tell

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post!

I survived the night shift. It's not the work itself that's bad, it's the toll it takes on your body that made this shift so difficult for me. I'd say I lost around 10 hours of sleep over the course of the nights and my brain is still quite fuzzy. Though, I may actually accomplish something today and hope to shower before 5:00 which will be an improvement.

I realized that I haven't done a new books post lately and things are piling up around here. In lieu of having anything more interesting to say, here goes:

Some books came from swaps. I was thrilled when The Toss of a Lemon became available!


Some of them I won - great prizes, no?



I've been buying a lot of books lately. These.



And these. No wonder my husband is telling me to take it easy!


There is a definite theme here - mystery and suspense - that wasn't prevalent in my reading a year or two ago. Does anyone have any opinions of any of these?

Now I have a question for you. What is your opinion of reading books in a PDF format for review? Is this something that appeals to you or just the opposite? Inquiring minds want to know.

Books, Glorious Books!

Let's see what we have here, shall we?



I purchased these two books the same evening at a small independent bookstore. Jonis Agee, the author of The River Wife, is considered somewhat of a local author, having lived in Saint Paul for many years. Wave of Terror by Theodore Odrach has recently been translated into English; it is a novel of Belarus under Stalin. What really strikes me about these two books, and what I did not notice until I brought them home, is how very similar they look. Both have green as the dominant color, both have writing in white, both show water and branches across the cover.



The Bloomsbury World Fiction book was an impulse buy on the same evening I bought the books shown above. There's nothing I like more than a book full of lists of books. Naturally, I had to see if Bloomsbury had any other books in this vein, and promptly ordered the Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide from The Book Depository. Both are wonderful, though I prefer the World Fiction Guide. The entries are arranged by country, with short descriptions of each book, longer ones for others, and the books and authors are oftentimes not familiar to me - a plus.



The top three books in this stack were part of my Book Depository order. I've been eyeing Michel Faber's The Apple for some time now - it is a book of short stories based on the characters that appeared in The Crimson Petal and The White, a book I found absolutely delicious. The Sophie Hannah book came from a swap, and the other two books are about the neighborhood in Chicago where I used to live, Old Town.



Here we have some books I am meant to review. The 19th Wife was actually a prize from Allison's Attic.

Quite a lot of lovely new books here, now I need only the time to read them.

Make Yourselves at Home on My Shelves

Here are most of my new to me books! (Pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.)




The Heretic's Daughter and American Wife are ARCs. I'm reading American Wife right now - have you heard the controversy surrounding this book? Karen reviewed Resistance some time ago which sounded wonderful and I've had it on my list ever since. The final three on this stack are some of my new Vegetarian arsenal - a couple were bought with birthday money, the other I found at Half Price Books.




How I love those green Virago covers. The book at the top is not a Virago Modern Classic, but was published by Virago. The title is Her People - The moving story of a working-class Birmingham childhood by Kathleen Dayus. I'd never heard of this and came across it on one of the swapping sites. Dayus was born in 1903, grew up in the slums and was widowed at the age of 28 with four young children. Has anyone read this or the sequels to it?




Most of these are from used bookstores. I won the Persephone book from Nan - thank you Nan! A local bookstore had loads of these Hesperus books for really inexpensive prices - 4-6 dollars each. Most of these other titles have been blog recommendations. I've read all of Sarah Waters novels except for this, Tipping the Velvet. I wasn't sure about the subject matter, but decided to take the plunge since I enjoy her work so much.

It must be that time of year

This is my first experience with the 'end of the school year' and it's a doozy. I can hardly keep track of everyplace we need to be let alone gather my thoughts and write an intelligent review of anything. I've watched my girl in 5 'performances' since last Thursday, not including t-ball or swimming, or the kindergarten art show or girl scouts...whew. So, since I haven't shown any book stacks in some time, I thought I'd share some recent acquisitions.

Lots of these books came from bookcloseouts. I was thrilled to find Dark Hearts of Chicago there - I'd read some great reviews of this a year or so ago and wouldn't you know it hasn't been published in the US. Similar story applies to A Hidden Life. The Louise Erdrich book was bought used since I enjoyed The Master Butcher's Singing Club so much.



The four books on the bottom of this stack were purchased at a book sale. I went to the same sale last year and had better luck. There were a lot of 'dealers' there - they had scanners and would scan the codes on the books to see if they matched what they were looking for. I found them irritating since they would block whole sections of shelves and the space was quite cramped. I was happy to snatch The Blood Doctor right out from under someones nose before he could scan it. Ha! This pile is heavy on suspense, including another mooched Barbara Vine and the Sophie Hannah book, an author I became aware of through other book bloggers and who is not published here as far as I can tell. Can you see that Agatha Christie? It's And Then There Were None - I've yet to read her but read a great review of this recently.


This third stack is quite a mishmash. Book Crush is Nancy Pearl's version of Book Lust for children and teens. I've found loads of great suggestions for my daughter and for friend's children as well. My daughter tends to go straight for the 'character' books (barbie, princesses, etc.) and I'm trying to steer her gently away. Karen wrote about Can Any Mother Help Me? some time ago and I've been waiting for the paperback to come out (bookdepository). The subject is fascinating - a group of women in England in the 1930's form a secret magazine which they write and pass around - and leave each other comments on! It sounds like blogging but without computers. Let's see, more nonfiction, A Fatal Waltz compliments of Harper Collins and finally a book I was excited to pick up this past weekend, The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook. It's filled with stories of restaurants, farms, and recipes using local ingredients. So far, I'm the only owner of it on LibraryThing! I just realized I forgot to photograph another book which seems timely - The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly - which is set in Burma. I read about it on a blog, I think, but cannot remember where.


As I look over these books, I am again astounded by how many have been purchased as a direct result of book bloggers. I never would have known about many of these or thought I would have been interested them. I thank you, as always, for letting me be a part of this amazing community.

Hopefully, regular programming to return soon.

The book gods have been good to me lately. Very, very good.

This isn't even all of them. I'm frankly too lazy to go hunt down the rest.


I didn't purchase all these. Six of them came from paperbackswap. A few are gifts. A few are prizes - thanks Iliana and LibraryThing!


I did not arrange them into any sort of order here. Let's see...we have 13 fiction books, 6 nonfiction, 2 Viragos, 4 about India, many that would not be there if it were not for all of your recommendations.


I promised myself I wouldn't write about this publisher again after what Elaine has so aptly named Yammergate. I figured I'd still buy from them but not advertise anymore. But I have to show you this book. It's available from US Amazon. It only cost around $10. And it's really, really lovely. The same size as the others, it is beautifully published with a gorgeous cover and luxurious paper inside. It does look a little more bookstore-friendly than their other editions. I hope there will be more to come. That I don't already own.


Here is the inside cover. I love the flap.

Booking Through Thursday

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”


I couldn't resist the opportunity to mention a book I read a few years ago and have yet to meet anyone to discuss it with. The book is Anya by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer. Written in 1974, Anya is a novel about a Polish woman's experience during the Holocaust. I don't have words to tell you how beautifully written this book is, but I think it is an important book for several reasons. First of all, its publication date - 1974 is not that far removed from when these atrocities occurred. Secondly, the first portion of the book deals with Anya and her family's life before the Holocaust. The life of a happy and well-to-do family. I think so many times, Holocaust literature begins with the holocaust. In this book, we see these people in the beginning not as victims but just as people. Like you and I. I know some people just cannot bring themselves to read books about this period, but if you can, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

A List

We have snow.

Plenty of it already - as far as I'm concerned - and more on the way. We might have a total of 20 inches by this weekend. I am so thankful for my new tires we bought last winter.

I have a habit of browsing my bookshelves as though they are a bookstore. Sometimes I do it when I'm looking for my next read, sometimes when I'm just waiting for someone to arrive. But what I always realize is, why haven't I read all these amazing looking books? I bought them, and now they're just sitting here. So I've decided to make a list. A list of books that I will make some sort of attempt to get to in 2008, and I hope that having this list will prompt me to go back and look at it. The books on this list are on it for a reason. Some have been on my shelves for years, some are newer but I made a big fuss about obtaining them. Some were obtained when I was on a kick about something that has now passed. In any case, all deserve a chance to be read and I hope to give it to them. I've chosen 24 books, 12 fiction and 12 nonfiction. Interestingly I had a much easier time choosing the nonfiction list. And for the record, this is not a challenge, just A List.

Fiction

Maggie Now by Betty Smith
The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower
Cranford by Mrs Gaskell
The Real Charlotte by Somerville & Ross
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
A London Child of the 1870s by Molly Hughes
Something by Shirley Jackson
Something by Elizabeth Taylor



Nonfiction

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Hungering for America by Hasia R. Diner
Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser
Consuming Passions by Judith Flanders
Period Piece by Gwen Raverat
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
Triangle by David Von Drehle
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Maximum City:Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta
Diane Moseley by Anne de Courcy
Nightingales by Gillian Gill
The Working Poor by David Shipler

What books do you want to read in 2008?