Nonsuch Book

the estrogen collection

Last weekend, Teresa and Thomas and I went to a used book sale at a local girl's school. Annual event. Very large. Jam packed with tables of books that Thomas contended made him start menstruating. But at the end of the sale, the books are all so cheap that one could not help but pick things up just for the fun of it. There is nothing in the stack above that sets my heart aflutter. But for $15.90 I was more than happy to take them home. The haul and the justifications:

• Innocence by Penelope Fitzgerald - Only one of her books that I have not read. Makes me believe that one is never too old to pitch it all in to just write.
• Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - It's Stella Gibbons. I actually own a copy of this one. But not this edition.
• Making Things Better by Anita Brookner - Thomas is a Brookner enthusiast extraordinaire. I liked the one novel I read by her even though I suspect that "scary" might be the word to describe this author in real life. Oops. I meant "chain-smoking scary." 
• Tigers Are Better-Looking and Sleep It Off Lady by Jean Rhys - I have only read The Wide Sargasso Sea by Rhys. Appreciated the writing more than the plot. But they were a dollar each.
• The Leopard by Guiseppe Di Lampedusa - Have actually meant to read this for a long time. And Teresa reminded me that this is the next read for Slaves of Golconda.
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - Love, love this book. Psyched for the upcoming BBC series. Own the black covered edition but a friend made off with my red cover. A replacement was required.
• Still Life by A.S. Byatt - Same story as the Fitzgerald one above.
• The Night Watch by Sarah Waters - Teresa practically pushed it in my bag.
• Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym - Just recently read my first Pym novel and was mightily entertained by it. I would read another Pym in hopes of more clothing and food descriptions alone.
• Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - Don't know. Peer pressure from the bookish all around. And I think that I saw someone else eyeing it which made it more attractive.
• Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor - Huge fans of her short stories. We have the same birthday. I appreciate her weirdness.
• A Frolic of His Own by William Gaddis - I wanted to shake up the hormonal composition of the bag.

 

Ironically enough, given his earlier remarks, my most estrogen-infused acquisitions of the day came from Thomas over drinks after the sale. The titles you see above. He is a truly generous soul.

Recommendations from the haul?

day at the bookstore

 

Fundraiser time again at my favorite bookstore, Politics and Prose. Now this benefits the school where I work and is technically another day on the job, but the reality is that I get to hang out in a fantastic bookstore all day, and read, browse, talk to people and finish off the day with a wine and cheese happy hour. Not exactly a difficult day.

Last book fair day, I purchased a ridiculous number of books. Today, I displayed admirable self-restraint though. Just the stack you see above. All selected from the remainder section. $26 total. Awesome.

See anything you would recommend?

amazon author stores

The random associations of the internet are one of the things that make it so attractive to users. One never knows where one will land. Can be like a surprise gift every time you log on. Might also be what is shortening our attention spans. In just a few minutes yesterday, I happened across a sidebar "Born Today" list on a literary blog that informed me it was Umberto Eco's birthday which reminded me to check if I added in those Eco books of mine on to my Library Thing book list. I then discovered I had not added them yet but found some lists of other users' Eco lists and saw a book I had not read and do not own so I cruised over to Amazon to check if the book is currently in print/available where I typed in "Umberto Eco" and discovered these new Amazon Author Stores. Surfing is a run-on sentence.

On December 29, Amazon unveiled the beta version of approximately 2,500 individual author stores:

"Amazon Author Stores (beta) are new corners of our bookstore dedicated to offering customers a new way to browse and shop favorite authors, discover new books, and more. Today each Author Store includes a bibliography, and can include a biography, author photo, and discussion board. But stay tuned--we'll be adding more features in the months to come."

Smart. Refine your access points based upon consumer usage data generated by current Amazon functions. But Amazon search engines are genius. Could teach librarians a thing or two. Here are a couple of samples you might want to check out and see what you think.

• Umberto Eco
• Evelyn Waugh 
• Jane Austen 
• Alice Hoffman 

bas bleu, champion of the odd little book

The new Bas Bleu catalog arrived in the mail this week, and my fall reading wish list has grown in length once again. There are many great reasons to shop this catalog or the online store. They are an independent bookseller who still manage to produce a charming print catalog several times a year. They celebrate the bluestocking or literary woman among us with inspired book and product selections for us smart girls. Most of all, their offerings cover the great expanse of human creative and personal endeavor instead of aggressively foisting upon us the latest bestseller, Oprah selection or Bookmarked pick. This is not to say that these books do not have merit, but I feel even my own reading selections have become too "of the moment" of late.  I pick up the Bas Bleu catalog and seem to re-connect to my own reading desires in this unique and wonderful catalog that champions the "odd little book." They are not selling Watching the English, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, or Proust and the Squid at the local Target.