Monday, April 13, 2009

mishmash Monday again

I've totally been off my blogging game lately. Not posting much. Not commenting much. Sickness in the house. Mostly just busy. Hope to get back on track a bit this week in preparation for Dewey's Read-a-Thon. Oh, and speaking of the read-a-thon, Annie would love some help in narrowing down her book pile. If you'd like, pop over here and vote for the first sentences that sound most intriguing to you. I haven't made my pile yet, but am really looking forward to it. :)

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Don't you just love the feeling you get when you finally get someone to read a book you just love? Yeah, like with Herding Cats. And it's even more fun when you get to witness it in person. Thanks to Carl's Once Upon a Time III Challenge, I was able to convince Rich to finally read American Gods. Just a few of his comments thus far--"This guy can sure write an engaging story, but I don't have a clue what the hell is going on yet" and "I just encountered the most bizarre sex scene I've ever read!" And yes, in case you're wondering, he really is enjoying it. :)

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And I do have some new acquisitions. With points to award! Now, this pile might seem a bit large--well, not when you compare it to Chris's normal hauls ;) --but I have a lot of excuses to throw out there. First being that I skipped posting last week, so this is actually two week's worth. (Other excuses will be forthcoming.)

Mission Planet Earth: Our World and Its Climate--And How Humans Are Changing Them by Sally ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy. Guide to the Planet by Matthew Murrie and Steve Murrie. Ready for another excuse? See, these two wonderful looking books can't be counted against me because I won them from the lovely Amanda. Thanks again, Amanda! I think they both may end up in my read-a-thon pile (unless Gray asks to take them with him on their boys weekend out, that is).

Okay, so as far as excuses go, I'm going to have to go with that old standby, "But these were free!" This next batch all came from PaperbackSwap. And while I will take no responsibility myself, I'm more than happy to pass out the blame. ;)

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green. Okay, I'm actually going to award two points for this one. While it may seem a bit unfair to blame Nymeth for this one when I asked her directly for a recommendation for a place to start with Arthurian literature, I'm going to do it anyway. After all, she didn't need to be such an enabler, did she? ;) And well, Becky's getting herself a point, too. If not for her Arthurian Challenge, I might have been able to resist ordering this book for a little while yet.

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. Straightforward case of blame. Another point for Nymeth.










Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. Hmmm...no one to blame. But hey, it was still free.











Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. Nymeth narrowly avoids blame for this one because her recommendation to Chris might have been enough to push me over the edge...if I hadn't already been pushed over the edge by this review. Point for Rhinoa.







We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S. Beagle. I manage to avoid responsibility for this purchase by pointing out two things. One, it was a purchase worth making beyond anything having to do with me. (For explanation, read link at number two.) Number two, Nymeth is a wonderful sales person. And I actually did order it the day she wrote about it, they just had some slight problems getting things shipped out...but all is fixed up now. Anyway, yet another point for Nymeth.


Crap. My excuses seem to be getting weaker and weaker here. All I've got to go with on this next group is that they were on sale. But it was a really good sale! Book Closeouts had all their Manga on sale for 99 cents each, so I let Annie pick out a whole truckload for herself. And well, I figured at those prices it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few I wanted too. Seriously, you can't argue with that logic, can you? Well, pretend you can't.




The Dreaming 1 and 2 by Queenie Chan. I really wanted to read these after reading Rhinoa's reviews. And our library supposedly has them, but no one can find them. :( But this made it very exciting to find them priced so inexpensively. Two more points for Rhinoa.

Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP.












A Midnight Opera 1-3 by Hans Steinbach.
























And finally, this last bunch were all picked up at B&N yesterday. Rich gave me a gift card for Easter. What could I do?

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert. These are actually the two books I went into the store determined to buy. These points really belong to Nick Hornby.


The Monsters of Morley Manor by Bruce Coville. Juliet Dove, Queen of Love by Bruce Coville. An Enemy at Green Knowe by L.M. Boston. A half-price sale on all their used books led me to these three, each only costing $1.50. And Eva gets a point for the last one, because she's talked so lovingly about the Green Knowe series. Of course, that means there will be more points in her future, as I'll need to read others in the series first.

The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French. The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going. The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. As I was hanging in the kids' section with the boys, these three just begged to come home with me...what could I do, right?











Whew. If typing this post wasn't enough to make me stop acquiring books, I don't know what will.

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Annie really wants me to do the first sentence game to weed down my read-a-thon pile, too, so perhaps I'll do that tomorrow. Of course that means actually gathering up my pile to start with. And yes, I know from previous experience that it will need some serious weeding down.

15 comments:

chrisa511 said...

Well, well, well...I'm in good company ;) I don't feel so bad now, lol....seriously, something needs to change with my book buying (or accumulating) habits! I'm running out of space! I succumbed to Bookcloseouts too :/ My order should be coming in soon...they had tons of fiction books for $1.99! I couldn't pass that up...I picked up a few giveaway books too!

Let me guess what scene Rich was talking about....was it the guy getting eaten by the vagina? I actually laughed at that scene...lol.

Kailana said...

The guy getting eaten by the vagina? Okay, so now I have to read American Gods because, well... um... It does not sound good that I want to read it for that alone does it? hahaha! I have been planning to read it in this century, anyways...

Anyway, that's a lot of books! I am so happy to see so many people reading Douglas Coupland! I didn't like Eleanor Rigby, but I blame it on timing... The Dreaming is a really good trilogy! I really really liked it! I am right interested in A Midnight Opera for the covers alone. Must see if the library has... There are a few others there that look interesting too. I really don't need anymore books, though, so I am going to try and erase them from my mind...

Kailana said...

Nevermind, I went to the library website, so I imagine you will have a couple points coming to you... I give up. lol I can't get the library pile down, but at least I am not buying...

kreed said...

I am so glad Gray is feeling better. Sounds like he was pretty darn miserable.

Glad you got some new books - I have been worrying about you running out of things to read ;)
I have a few to send you when I finally get a box in the mail. and thanks for the books you sent me...I got them today!

Ana S. said...

(yayayayayyayay it works. Um, sorry, it's that I couldn't access blogger for a good 4 hours, and I had a feeling there's be a Debipost for me to read. So imagine my despair!)

lol! Kailana's comment made me laugh out loud. That sex scene IS crazy. And awesome in a creepy sort of way. And Chris has an awfully twisted sense of humour :P

That's one fantastic haul, Debi. And who indeed can argue with the Manga for 99 cents logic! I've been meaning to get The Dreaming since Rhinoa first mentioned it. And oh, I hope you love Eleanor Rigby! It's one of my favourite books ever.

You should totally post those first sentences, btw!

Staci said...

I have American Gods in my bookshelf and now I find myself trembling with fear...man-eating vaginas? good lord what next? LOL!! Your haul looks great and I totally am with you on passing the blame on to others!!

Debi said...

Chris,
There was no mistaking what scene he was referring to, was there?!! But I can't believe you laughed! I was creepily fascinated, but I think laughing was about the furthest thing from my mind. :)

Kailana,
I nearly spewed coffee when I read your comment...so now we all know what you look for in a book, huh? ;) You know I'm kidding, of course. And you really should read it!

Kara,
"I have been worrying about you running out of things to read ;)"...smartass! Good thing I love you, or I might take offense at such a comment. ;)

Nymeth,
Awww...aren't you sweet?!!
I know what you mean about Kailana's comment; I could not stop laughing! But that is one unforgettable scene...we've all known just exactly what he meant!

Staci,
O.K., I know this is going to sound unbelievable, but it's really not as bad as it sounds! Well, it is sort of shocking. But seriously, it works. In the book. Yeah, I'll shut up now, but really, you should read it!

chrisa511 said...

LOL...I'm laughing hysterically at the comments on this post. I don't think I laughed while actually reading the scene, but the whole idea of it got me after...I mean, come on...it add's new meaning to the song "Man-Eater"

Melody said...

Wow, you've a haul there, Debi! I just love reading your book acquisitions and not to mention the blame game list, hehe. It's so fun! ;)

Eva said...

That sex scene made me laugh too...especially the second time around.

I'm sooo happy that you're going to read the Green Knowe series. I think you'll love it, and Annie will love it, and I bet the boys might enjoy it too (no cats, but lots of birds and dogs and a horse and a deer and all sorts of pets). :D

Anonymous said...

I thought Field Notes from a Catastrophe was a really good book. I read it for a class when we were talking about global warming, and I found it well-balanced and informative (plus it's a quick read, which was awesome for a school book!).

Kim

serendipity_viv said...

I thought my book buying was getting out of hand. You have now added lots more books I want to read. AARRGH!

Tom's Midnight Garden is one of my favourite books!

Kailana said...

Yeah, that comment sure doesn't sound right... lol I am glad it made people laugh, though!

Anonymous said...

Big, biiiiig haul. And I notice Nymeth getting most of the blame for those books. ^-~

I hope you'll enjoy them! (And that I recognised more of the titles as books I've read, but... Maybe I should move to reading graphic novels, period. Then I'll read more/faster...)

Anonymous said...

Woo three whole points for me I love it! I hope you love Eleanor Rigby and The Dreaming series. The Midnight Opera books you got have great covers, am off to investigate what they are about.