I really ought to be ashamed of myself

After all the books that made their way into my home two weeks ago, one would think I could have exhibited a bit of self-control last week. Well, one might think that if they didn't know me anyway.

So, what couldn't I resist last week?

One for Sorrow and The Love We Share Without Knowing, both by Christopher Barzak. And the blame for both of these sits squarely on Nymeth's shoulders, thanks to these reviews. Oh, but just wait...I'm not done heaping blame on her. She's also responsible for this:

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. Because of this review. This means 3 points for the lovely, but very hard on the wallet, Nymeth!









The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've almost bought this on a few different occasions. Finally just put myself out of my misery and got it.









The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. Well, just because it's high time I read it, don't you think?

just doesn't have quite the same ring

Mailbox Tuesday, that is. I'm not sure what my problem is...it's not like I didn't read other people's Mailbox Monday posts yesterday. So how on earth did I forget to post my own acquisitions. Oh well, my brain isn't always the most cooperative of body parts.

The good news for the old wallet is that they all came from PaperbackSwap. And even more good news, I get to pass off the blame for a couple of them. So, what did I get?

Best Science Fiction Stories of H.G. Wells. This is another book for that class I'm hoping to use with Annie next school year. But man, do I want to just crack it open right now!








Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Just one of those books that I've always thought I should read, so when I happened to see it at PaperbackSwap, I just ordered it.









Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. This is one of those duel point-winners. Eva's review made me add this to the old wish list to start with, then Melody's review made further resistance futile.









Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres. I'm afraid poor Chris is taking the rap for this one. Sorry, Chris...I know you haven't even reviewed it yet. But when you go posting your own acquisitions like that, it tends to make people curious. Then they have to go investigate those books they've never heard of. And occasionally one of those books will just sound so damn interesting that they cannot even make themselves wait for a review and they'll just haul off and order the book. And when that happens, well, I'm afraid you're just going to have to shoulder the blame.

those "not enough time in the day" blues

I did something depressing this morning...I weeded down my Google Reader a bit. Oh my, that makes me so very sad. I just can't keep up, no matter how hard I try. And believe me, I do try! I know I don't read nearly as many blogs as some of you, and I know everyone has busy lives...so how do you all do it?!!

What's even sadder is that I know I really should pare it down even further. But I'll save that torturous task for another day. *sigh*

Okay, let me move on to happier subjects. As in new books! If it weren't for A.) the fact that many of these books are for school, and B.) the fact that many of them came from PaperbackSwap, I'd almost be embarrassed by the amount of new (well, new-to-me) books I brought into the house this past week. Oh, and I do have a couple of points to award as well.



Neuromancer by William Gibson. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Blindness by Jose Saramago. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Orlando by Virginia Woolf. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. All for a class I will probably be using for Annie's schooling next year. Hence, they don't count against me, right? We, however, does count against Carl. I've had it on my wish list ever since I read his review, and would have picked it up eventually anyway.















The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz. Another book for school.









Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski. The Collected Stories by Amy Hempel. And here I guess I finally have to take some responsibility. I've picked up Fieldwork and carried it around at the bookstore at least half a dozen times, so it was inevitable that I was going to buy it one day. I still had a gift card from Christmas, so I put myself out of my misery and just bought it. And as for the Amy Hempel book...well, I'm passing on the blame to that little book seductress Eva because of this post.

Can't wait to see what arrived in all your mailboxes!

in the mail this week...

Almost let Monday get by without doing Mailbox Monday. Just been a tad overwhelmed lately, which is also why I'm soooooo far behind on my blog reading. But I thought I'd better squeeze this in as once again I have a few of points to award.


Two points for Nymeth! Her review of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel made it irresistible! It's an added bonus that I can use it for the Lambda Challenge. And I've had Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides on my wish list for such a long time, simply because Nymeth loves it so much and she has yet to steer me wrong.

The blame for Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri goes to NPR. I'm afraid they're to blame for a lot of books on my wish list, so heck, why not let them in the game, right? I'm sure they'd be glad to get a little more of our money should they win.








The Ha-Ha by Dave King and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe don't earn anyone points, but they are further proof that I'm giving Paperback Swap quite a workout lately.

better late than never...

Okay, I was waaaaay too happy finally having Rich home yesterday to do any blogging. But I didn't want to skip Mailbox Monday altogether...'cause I got me some good looking books! Plus, I thought I would use this as a chance to start up the Blame Game again. I'd stopped the last game early, because in my heart, it was so closely associated with Dewey. As any of you who would read the comments on those posts already know, Dewey and Nymeth had a hilarious little competition going on. The two of them never failed to make me smile, or laugh right out loud, when I posted the most recent tallies. Anyway, when I stopped the game, Nymeth was the winner. And when I asked her if she used the U.S. version of Amazon, she asked that instead of sending her a gift card, I donate the money to RIF in honor of Dewey. (Nymeth, I so hope it's okay that I shared that...it just was such a perfect thing to do.) And Nymeth's wonderful idea inspired me to start the game again...

Yep, the Blame Game is on again. And Dewey will still earn her points. And should she win, RIF will again get the prize. It just feels right.

So, what arrived in my house during the past week? And who's to blame?

*The Starry Rift edited by Jonathan Strahan. Arrived just in time for Carl's mini-challenge over the weekend. But it was Becky's review of the first several stories that made me absolutely need to order it. :)









*A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet by Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela and The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D. Sachs. These two don't actually earn anyone any points. Though I sort of feel like I should being giving Eva part of the blame. See, I put those books on my wish list long ago, without help from anyone. But...Eva's World Citizen Challenge gave me just the excuse I needed to go ahead and order them. Thanks, Eva! :)

*Pay the Piper by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple. The blame for this one is laid solely at Nymeth's feet for her review. I'd put this on my Paperback Swap wish list right after her review, and someone finally added it. :)








*Freak Show by James St. James. This is one of those dual points books. It was the combined "efforts" of Dewey's and Renay's reviews.










(This game will last through June 30th.)

By the way, I'm having a lot of fun watching the blame pile up over at Chris's and DesLily's, too!