Mailbox Monday PLUS some Birthday Loot!

Admittedly, the books I am about to show you are mostly birthday gifts and NOT books I received in my mailbox, but I figured I would include it all in this post.

First up, my actual mailbox loot.  I only received two books in my mailbox this week but I am super excited about both of them.

 

 

 

Waiting for Robert Capa, by Susana Fortes was sent to me by the publisher for a TLC book tour.  Watch for my review towards the end of the month!

The True Memoirs of Little K, by Adrienne Sharp is September’s choice for Jen and Nicole‘s BOOK CLUB.  The discussion starts September 27!

Now, as far as my birthday goes, I hit the motherlode! My mom came up with a great gift for Christmas 2010.  She took my Borders wishlist and found a bunch of the books for just a few dollars used and then filled up a huge box o’ books for my gift.  Given how much I loved it (it was my favorite gift for sure!), she stole her own idea and redid it for my birthday.

Mrs Craddock, by W Somerset Maugham: I know it looks like it’s upside down BUT the spine is just upside down . . . the book is face up! That’s not even the beginning of the problem.  I noticed a huge issue with this book when I started reading the back of it.  It’s in GERMAN.  My poor mom never noticed! So I won’t be reading this particular edition.

The Other House, by Henry James: This one was another strange edition.  It is in large print! My mom strikes out again . . .

The Raising, by Laura Kasischke: I saw a few reviews of this one and it seemed really good.

The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank: Another one I really wanted to read!

Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell: I JUST finished The Wordy Shipmates . . . and I didn’t really like it.  But I have high hopes that I’ll enjoy this one!

A Curtain Falls, by Stefanie Pintoff: This is the second book in the Simon Ziele series.  I enjoyed the first book, so I went ahead and added this to my wishlist.

The Silver Swan, by Benjamin Black: I didn’t really like Christine Falls BUT I felt like this series had promise, so I want to give it another shot.

Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc: I saw this in a recent issue of Bookmarks magazine and wanted to read it.

And then I got all these NYRB books! I didn’t have a single one, but obviously my wishlist was chock full of them!

Summer Will Show, by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Hons and Rebels, by Jessica Mitford

The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy

The Slaves of Solitude, by Patrick Hamilton

Fatale, by Jean-Patrick Manchette

The Fountain Overflows, by Rebecca West

Short Letter, Long Farewell, by Peter Handke

Classic Crimes, by William Roughead

A Meaningful Life, by LJ Davis

Madame de Pompaudour, by Nancy Mitford

LASTLY, I got a cover for my Kindle! I recently saw that Vera Bradley had an e-reader cover so I mentioned it to my mom and she surprised me with one!

Have you read any of these books?  If so, please spill!

Borders Haul

I said I would resist.  I have vowed to save money recently, and I told myself that I definitely do not need any more books! But I work in a mall, and in said mall is a Waldenbooks.  I innocently went to browse during my break yesterday and low and behold, I spent some money.  I am so weak!

Fiction was 60% off and the shelves were pretty well picked over. I didn’t have a chance to really look over anything else.

Here is what I got.

Claude and Camille, by Stephanie Cowell: This one sparked my interest and it was only $5, so why not?

Cecilia, by Linda Ferri: I have a weakness for Europas, so this one was a no brainer.

The Irresistible Henry House, by Lisa Grunwald: I have been dying to read this one since I started seeing reviews reviews for it.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility, by Toni Weschler, MPH: I have heard great things about this and so far what I have read of it, it seems like it will be a great resource.

Please share your input on the books I bought!

BEA loot #2

I have already been to Half Price Books twice this week, but as Trish and Erin reminded me, this weekend is their annual Memorial Day sale, with everything in the store being 20% off.  With that type of incentive, how could I resist?

As is always the case when it comes to spending money on books, I was pretty successful.

Incendiary, Chris Cleave: I have Little Bee, but I haven’t cracked it open yet. Usually I would try not to buy a second book by an author if I have yet to read the book I already own, just to insure that I like the writing style, but this time I figured what the heck.

Smart Women, by Judy Blume: Earlier this week I bought another of Blume’s adult books, Summer Sisters, and I have already read it.  Once I read this one, I am fairly sure I will have read Blume’s entire canon.

The Journal of Dora Damage, by Belinda Starling: I can’t remember which blog it was, but I read a great review of this book a few months ago and it’s been on my TBR list ever since.

The Painted Veil, W Somerset Maugham: I have On Human Bondage but haven’t yet read it.  I picked this one up because I have seen some good reviews for it around, especially this one from The Zen Leaf.

The Virgin Blue, Tracy Chevalier: Chevalier’s books are usually a hit with me, so this one was a no brainer.

A Novel Bookstore, Laurence Cosse: I won’t lie–I bought this one solely due to the fact that it was published by Europa.

Zeitoun, Dave Eggers: My sister was reading this one on our vacation last week.  I have had my eye on it for awhile, but she is the one that finally convinced me to go for it.

Zeroville, Steve Erickson: Again, another Europa.  The book flap really intrigued me; “It is an August afternoon in 1969. A hippie “family” led by Charles Manson commits five savage murders in the canyons above LA.” I didn’t even need to read more. I was hooked at “Charles Manson”. I’ll let you in on a little secret–I have a creepy fascination with the Manson Family.  Helter Skelter is one of my all time favorite books.

Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier: Again, I like Chevalier.  I have wanted to read this one since it was published, but just hadn’t purchased it yet.

A Gate at the Stairs, Lorrie Moore: “The best American writer of her generation”, Nick Hornby.  If she’s that revered by Hornby, I definitely want to give her a shot.

So that’s it.  I am all shopped out and I can’t justify anymore spending.  Was I the only one who who used my absence at BEA to justify book buying?

Recent Acquisitions: 4/14/2011

Now that I am out of my slump, I have been having a hard time keeping myself from purchasing new books.  To give myself credit, I am pretty good at scouring the discount racks at B&N and they usually have some great deals, so I didn’t pay full price for most of these books.

Little Face, by Sophie Hannah: I just read The Wrong Mother, by Sophie Hannah, and that turned me into a convert.  I noticed that Tana French and Hannah seem to be linked a lot, so I thought I should give her a shot.  She is not quite the phenomenon that French is, but I really enjoyed The Wrong Mother so I thought I would go back to the beginning and read Hannah’s first book.

The Tsarina’s Daughter, by Carolly Erickson: This one has been on my TBR list for quite some time.  I have long been an avid reader of anything dealing with the Romanovs, and although I usually go for non-fiction as far as that subject matter is concerned, I definitely want to give this one a shot.  Plus it was only $5.98!

When Will There be Good News, by Kate Atkinson: Another discount deal.  I have never read anything by Atkinson but have long meant to remedy that, so I couldn’t pass this one up.  Anyone read it?

Lady of Quality/Charity Girl, by Georgette Heyer: I have read a few Heyer books and thought them witty and fun, plus Charity Girl has been on my radar for awhile, so I thought I had better pick this one up.

Delirium, Lauren Oliver: I have seen this around the blogosphere and I really enjoyed Before I Fall, so I took a chance.  I am a bit sick of dystopian fiction, but I have high hopes for this one.

Have you read any of these books?  Any thoughts?

Birthday Loot!!

As I mentioned in my last Sunday Salon, Monday was my birthday, and my plans were to go to a local indie bookstore, The Book Loft, and then go to dinner with my family.  As we all know though, even the best laid plans go awry, and I happened to wake up Monday morning with an awful stomach bug.  Oh, the injustice of it!  The virus then proceeded to make its rounds through my household, so we weren’t completely recovered until today.  I finally got my shopping trip today!  Here are the goodies I bought.

Recent Acquisitions

I went to Barnes & Noble last week and wonder of all wonders, I actually controlled myself.  I only bought one and a half books.  One and a half, you may ask.  Well, my husband chose the first book for us both to read, and now that Amanda at The Zen Leaf is hosting a read-a-long, it seems that he made the perfect choice.

Seriously, how can you pass up the B&N Classics?  They are so affordable that there is no reason to pass them up.

No way could I pass up the new Tana French book!  I have had my eye out for it since it was published a few weeks ago.

Now this last book was sent to me in the mail, sent to me as a surprise from my mom since I had told her my book club was reading it for October and that the waitlist at my library was SUPER long.  What a nice mom!!

Anyone else get some good books recently?