Thursday, August 22, 2013

All the books I bought today


... or, how I felt like I just robbed a bookshop.


The bookshop near here, which sells used books, had a sale today - lots of books for half price. I bought 11 books, and boyfriend bought 6. For this lovely pile up here I paid 18 euros, which explains how I felt a bit like a criminal - most of these look like new or are in an extremely good condition.

From the top:

* Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger - I don't have Holden-hate in me, and I devoured Salinger's Franny and Zooey, so continuing with his works is a natural progress. Love his Glass family dynamics and characters.
* The Turn of the Screw/Daisy Miller by Henry James - first of them is for my Classics Club list. This book is tiny! Perfect to carry around.
* A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving - there has been so much positive fuzz around it lately in the book blogs.
* A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - I haven't read anything by him and probably would never had purchased those books for full price; on the other hand, for 2 euros each, I figured I might look into this phenomenon.
* Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather - I haven't read any Cather so far, so I grabbed this slim volume.
* North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - it's a Penguin Classics edition that looks brand new and I've wanted to read it anyway.
* The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
* The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - oh, so long have I wanted to get my hands on this book, and now I did, for a ridiculous sum of money. Lovely edition.
* Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett - I want to read this! Leaving my cover whore out now, I have to say it's the prettiest of all the books I got today.
* Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James - it might just happen that I read this book before Pride and Prejudice :)
* Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - this is a lovely hardcover edition, with illustrations - and it cost me 2 euros. Blasphemy :)

It was a successful day.

12 comments:

  1. I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous. Keep repeating this, maybe it will help... ;-)

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    1. Hehehe :) It was a sale so such book hauls definitely do not happen very often. But I'm very happy with this one!

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  2. Wow wow wow wow wow wow. Such a great selection! Khaled Hosseini really is as good as everyone says he is. I preferred A Thousand Splendid Suns to The Kite Runner but both are excellent and very tear-jerky. Happy reading :)

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    1. Somehow I feel more encouraged knowing you enjoyed Khaled Hosseini :) I'll start with The Kite Runner as it was published earlier. Thank you, Ellie!

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  3. Wow! You've got some fabulous books in your pile. I LOVE North & South, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and A Prayer for Owen Meany. I also thought The Poisonwood Bible was good. I wasn't a fan of Death Comes to Pemberley, but I hope you have a better experience than I did.

    Enjoy all your new books!

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    1. I'm glad there are many in the pile that you have liked! Death Comes to Pemberley I actually picked more out of curiosity than the expectation of great reading pleasure - I just want to see what it's all about :) Thanks!

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  4. All those books for only 18 euros? Lucky you! :) So many good books, too. Especially North & South - I hope you will enjoy it!

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    1. Thanks, yes it's an awesome price indeed. I haven't yet read any Gaskell novels but I'm really hoping I like her writing.

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  5. Such an awesome pile! I am a little envious ;-) I've been itching to read A Prayer for Owen Meany as well, it's been getting a lot of hype lately even though it's an older book. The Kite Runner is fantastic, as is The Poisonwood Bible. I really want to read North and South one of these days. Book shopping WIN, my friend!

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    1. A Prayer... is quite a big book (my copy is over 600 pages), and I'm on about 140 or so, and I can't really say yet what I think - it's kind of slow-going and stage-setting and can come out spectacular or then, not. :) Glad you've liked some of the books, I'm quite confident I will enjoy most of them, if not all.

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  6. Ah, what an amazing haul! The Poisonwood Bible is one of my favourites. And I read Daisy Miller recently for the Classics Club, and it was a really great read for such a small book.

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    1. Thanks, Sam! I can't wait to read The Poisonwood Bible, because since I liked Flight Behavior (though I didn't love it), I am confident that this one will be even better.

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Leave a comment if you feel like it - it warms my little bookish heart. :)