Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Bad Bad Bibliophile and her Acquisitions

Every year my hometown library has a gigantic sale and every year I attend. I was all set to go this year--my parents were going with me like always and maybe a few coworkers like last year. I literally look forward to this sale 11 months out of the year. This year, however, my cake decorating class got in the way. In an utter state of depression, and armed with several coupons to Half Price Books, I went a little crazy making up for the lack of the sale. Maybe "a little crazy" is an understatement. But you would do the same, right? Before you die of shock, please note that most of these were found at the clearance section of Half Price Books (i.e. used).



Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey: Recogonized from 1001 Books list
Saturday - Ian McEwan: Loved Atonement
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson: Multiple Blogger Influence
Saffron Dreams - Shaila Abdullah: Received from Publicist
Twilight of Avalon - Anna Elliott: Received from Author
What I Lived For - Joyce Carol Oates: Who knows why
Drood - Dan Simmons: Multiple Blogger Influence


Inheritance - Lan Samantha Chang: Cover was pretty
The Probable Future - Alice Hoffman: Loved The Ice Queen
Nefertiti - Michelle Moran: Multiple Blogger Influence
Master Butchers Singing Club - Louise Erdrich: Like her short stories
This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen: Multiple Blogger Influence (for author)
Ten Little Indians - Sherman Alexie: Liked The Absolutely True Diary...


Frenchman's Creek - Daphne du Maurier: Received from The Lovely Dar
The Woman in the Dunes - Kobo Abe: Received from The Lovely CJ
Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man - Joseph Heller: Was reading Catch-22
Yellowknife - Steve Zipp: Received from Author
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell: Multiple Blogger Influence
The Love of a Good Woman - Alice Munro: For Canadian Book Challenge
Chalktown - Melinda Haynes: Liked Mother of Pearl


A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle: Have wanted to read for 20 years
A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam: (not pictured) for book club
Goodbye Tsugumi - Banana Yoshimoto: Multiple Blogger Influence
Sorrow Floats - Tim Sandlin: Dad's recommendation
Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde: Loved The Eyre Affair
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher - Kate Summerscale: Multiple Blogger Influence

And since Maggie is no where to be found, Miss Spoon (the poppet) sits atop Mount TBR to keep watch. That exclamation point seems fitting, huh?

What good reasons do you have for buying books? Have you spoiled yourself to any good ones lately?

53 comments:

samantha.1020 said...

You definitely should read Speak asap! It will be worth your time...and enjoy all of your new books :)

Paxton said...

Wow, Trish, the only one off your list that I have read is Wrinkle in Time. FYI...it was not as good as I expected it to be. I read it several years ago and I think I built it up in my mind as many consider it a classic. *shrugs*

The public libraries here in Jax also have similar book sales. I went to one last year. I talked about it on my blog here.

I missed this year's sale because they didn't advertise they were having it and I found out by accident the weekend after it happened. I was so pissed...

raidergirl3 said...

Love the line: Multiple Blogger Influence

That is one huge pile of awesomeness. I don't even know where to start, with so many great books there that I've read. Enjoy!!

Amanda said...

This is great! We all deserve to treat ourselves sometime. :) I'm glad you found so many good books!

Lezlie said...

Who needs a reason? :-) Nice job, Trish!!

Lezlie

Meghan said...

Wow, you have a fantastic haul here. Trust me, I would react in a similar way to missing the library book sale! In fact, I think I've bought 4 new books in the space of a week, for no reason but that I'm stressed and wanted them. Not even missing a library sale!

I'd start with Nefertiti or Twilight of Avalon ... I loved them both!

Missy B. said...

I'm like you...our county library has a huge sale every November and I go EVERY year...can't miss it. I usually don't need a reason to buy books...if the mood strikes me, then I buy! You have a lot of good ones...A Wrinkle In Time was my favorite book growing up. Enjoy it!

Janssen said...

What an awesome stack! Have fun :)

Lisa said...

Speak! I know you started it, but have you gotten back to it? This Lullaby was my first Dessen, it's pretty lightweight. I really enjoy her writing a lot.

Hope Yellowstone is treating you well.

Serena said...

Wow, you cleaned out the place!

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

YUMMY!!! It all looks so good ;) I have been wanting to read some of those,I want Nefferetti really bad.

thanks for sharing your book love.

Madeleine said...

Oh I just love to look at all those books.

Can't wait for my library o have a sale also last month I won 6 yes 6 books from Hachette giveaway group:))))) and all of them are books I wanted to read, what a great giveaway, YEA for Hachette !!!

Jenny said...

Wow!! What did the person at the register say? =)

The library system a couple hours from here in a big college town has a HUGE sale every year... I've actually spent almost $100 on like $1-$2 books, haha. My sister used to go to school there and she graduated last year so now we don't really have a reason to go there except for that.

Unknown said...

That is an amazing haul! I tend to go a bit overboard whenever I spot a bargain.
So many of your purchases are really good - enjoy!

Unknown said...

How fun!... and they are all second hand so you should not feel guilty at all. Just think how much you saved by not buying them new and to a good cause... your local library!

serendipity_viv said...

See now I just look at that pile in complete awe, no shock what so ever, just pure envy.

I would just sit and look at them all evening. You have some great finds there. I have Speak and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher too.

Enjoy them.

Laura said...

Wow--you found some really good ones! I haven't read any of them except Nefertiti. I love that you decided on "Miss Spoon" for the name of your Poppet. :) I hope you are thoroughly enjoying your trip!

Debi said...

Oh my gracious, my heart is palpitating at all that lovely book goodness! Nice work, Trish!!!!

bermudaonion said...

Wow, you found some great bargains! Drood and Speak stand out for me.

Shanra said...

I didn't even notice that exclamation point on Miss Spoon... (You have to admit it does have something spoonish about it, though. ^-~)

I've only read two of these, but have the same du Maurier book lying around my bookshelves! (Languishing like so many others. Oops.)

I hope you'll enjoy them all whenever you get to them!

Megan said...

What a great haul! If I were going on a crazy book binge, I think I'd buy a bunch of the ones you did. Speak is a fantastic books, and so is The Master Butchers Singing Club.

Library book sales turn me into a certifiable lunatic. In the face of cheap books in good condition, I suddenly forget all about how my house has limited space and I've used up all of it. All of it. And then I start knocking little old ladies out of the way and grabbing everything I can carry (and then some). (Un?)fortunately, we have quite a bunch of said sales in the surrounding towns which may be one of the reasons why I have such a book "problem."

I require the only flimsiest of reasons to buy books. (They're cheap! They're pretty! They sound entertaining! It's a day that ends in Y! Let's buy some books!) LOL!

Jeane said...

I do love a good library sale- too bad you missed yours! but what a great haul of books. I would come home and make stacks and just sit drooling at them, delicious knowing I could pick any one I wanted, to start reading next....

The Reading Momster said...

You got Nefritti!!!!!!!!!

No reason, just take the plunge!


I did recently - http://nidhiveens-loveforbooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/monday-and-long-overdue-update.html

Sheila (bookjourney) said...

These just look great. I adore book sales.... I swear I can breathe in books.

Melody said...

Wow, what a lovely haul!

I love book sales! For some reason, I always miss the library sales and plus, it's not easy battling through those crowds with two young children in tow.

Happy reading!! :)

The Great Catsby said...

Um Half Price Books gave me a calender once when I bought about 40 books at one time (all paper back thus half off) I think I paid someones paycheck for the week haha it was great. I am on a first name basis so don't worry.... we know hot it is haha.

chrisa511 said...

Whoa! I am totally impressed! And I'm pointing people to this post for now on when they give me a hard time about how many books I've acquired ;)

J.T. Oldfield said...

LOVE IT!!!!!!

kay - Infinite Shelf said...

Such a great pile of books! I recognize many titles I want to read - some I already have on my TBR pile even! I wish there was a huge sale on books at my library, I missed the last and was incredibly sad.

Sylwia said...

You definitely won't regret buying Oscar and Lucinda. After reading that book, I always buy Peter Carey when I have a chance.

sara said...

Looks like you have the same "book problem" I have....

Happy reading.

Anonymous said...

Wow…how cool is this. All these books look great, I have heard of almost all and have read Saffron Dreams and Nefertiti. I liked both. Nothing like bringing a stack of books home :)

Hope you enjoy all.

S. Krishna said...

Wow, great haul!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a great list. Enjoy them!
I wish our library had sales.

Bookfool said...

Oh, my gosh, what wonderful stacks!!! Half of those are on various wish lists. I've wanted to read Yellowknife for ages. Frenchman's Creek is one of my favorite DuMauriers and Speak is awesome. Love, love, love Sherman Alexie and A Wrinkle in Time is one of my all-time favorite childhood reads. Wow. You are going to have such fun.

Alice said...

Hi Trish, this is the first time I'm visiting and I'm in awe! Look at the stacks of books! I've read about lots of good things about SPEAK and it's my wish list. Lots of the other books in your pile are in my TBR as well. Enjoy them!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

The Houston newspaper used to have an incredible book sale that I organized my life around. Newspapers aren't doing well lately, so, sadly, this sale is no more.

tanabata said...

What an impressive stack! I've only read a handful of those but would love to read quite a few of them. :P

I loved your explanation "Multiple Blogger Influence" and "Cover was pretty" also made me smile. I've done that on occasion. Happy reading!

Wendy said...

Wow, Trish! What an amazing array of books you acquired! I see a few I can tell you I loved:

Nefertiti - Michelle Moran
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher - Kate Summerscale

And some I want to read (which are either already in my TBR stacks or on my wish list):

A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam
Yellowknife - Steve Zipp
Frenchman's Creek - Daphne du Maurier
Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey
Saturday - Ian McEwan
Saffron Dreams - Shaila Abdullah

Kailana said...

That's a great pile of books! I'm jealous. :)

Ana S. said...

Nothing wrong with going "a little" crazy every now and then :P And those were some great finds!

I started Twilight of Avalon today and so far I'm really enjoying it. I hope you do too! And I hope you're having a wonderful vacation. Miss you!

Mel u said...

some serious loot here-I bought all of Penelope Fitzerald's novels last week-getting Drood half price is really cool

Susan said...

Wow! I would feel better about my book-buying binge if I hadn't paid full price for most of them! lol Sometimes a girl has got to do what she has to do, doesn't she? I love your pile of books. YOu have a mix of books I want to read, books I have read, and books I'm just about to read!!! what a lovely haul of books, Trish. Now for time to read them all!!!

Karen said...

What a fantastic pile!! I am living vicariously through your book buying! I read Drood earlier this year and loved it - a huge book but I felt like it went too quickly (always a good sign!). Enjoy!

Veronica said...

'Saturday' was GREAT! Enjoy.

Darlene said...

Wow what a pile of books and there looks to be a lot of really good ones in there! That should keep you busy for a while. lol. I need absolutely no excuse to buy books. Just a whim or one I want or think I want is plenty enough reason for me.

Anna said...

Wow! Now there's definitely no shortage of reading material in your house!

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

Lauren R. said...

I'm curious to see what you think of The Woman in the Dunes. I had to read it for Honors English sophomore year of college and somehow my prof turned the novel into one big representation of the "feminine" and all sorts of fun stuff. I think it ruined it for me. I'll be interested to see what others think without the bad influences of overthinking.

Lezlie said...

I didn't notice the first time around that you had Woman In The Dunes in this pile. There are just so many! :-) I'll be curious about your thoughts on that one, too!

Lezlie

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I don't know what's making me smile more: the pile of books on my desk (that I'm still admiring) or all of your lovely comments. Thanks for cheering me on, comiserating, giving me places to start, and sharing your own book binge stories.

Really, you guys are so special to me. Thanks for coming by.

Based on your comments, I think Speak is going to move to the top of the pile! Woohoo!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

LOL LOL LOL >> after all it was your bithday recently so you treated yourself right?

The flowers are simply out of this world. Happy belated birthday Trish. Enjoy your books.

Jodie said...

That is quite some pile! You're testing my book buying ban.

Thoughts of Joy said...

I hope each and every book brings you hours and hours of pleasure - even if that pleasure is just a visual of them on the shelves or in the boxes!

As for library book sales, I frequent 4 libraries that always have books out for sale and my home library has two a year, along with a massive sale at the local mall! I love shopping for books. :)