Recent acquisitions

A lunchtime walk on a sunny afternoon results in...

For the husband. He had just finished "The Loop" by Nicholas Evans which he really enjoyed, so fingers crossed he likes this one. Kane & Abel is up there with one of the best books I've ever read, so it probably won't be long until I have my nose in this one too!

 

I have seen this advertised on London tube station walls, displayed in bookshelves, and commented on in newspapers, but I have never purchased, nor read it. But it has always intrigued me, so I guess it won't be long until I can find out what it's like! Although going by the height of my TBR pile, it may be a while yet!

This one looks fabulous!

And a challenge. Will see if I can find six minutes each morning to get into a few of these positions! It will mean six minutes of valuable reading time is lost...

A right royal splurge

I hadn't quite intended to shop up a storm yesterday, but the sunshine was simply too nice to resist, so I decided a lunch time walk into town was much needed. (And yes, I was also trying to ignore all emails and the deadlines that will no doubt quickly pile upon me this week!)

But what was a relatively innocent walk into town (although I did happen to walk the way that would allow me to go past the most bookshops!), turned out to be a right royal splurge. But then, if this isn't the week to do so, I don't know when is.

I came away with books from the thrift shop, books from the bargain table, cookbooks, classics, and the trilogy I was desperately seeking. So here's a look at my purchases:

From the $2 table at Chapters bookstore:

For all of $1.50 at my local thrift store

Another bargain from Chapters. These two Gordon Ramsay cookbooks were only $15... total! 

What's more, husband cooked a recipe from them last night for dinner. Now that's what I call a good investment!

And then my trilogy:

I'm already halfway through the second one - I can't put them down!

This one's a struggle

I returned to my local thriftstore yesterday in search of book #10. It wasn’t that long ago that I was in front of these bookshelves (illuminated by the lights that “weren’t for sale”!), looking for books numbers eight and nine. Having spent time browsing the shelves, I realised there weren’t too many new additions to the selection, so chances of picking up one of my reject books from a few days before were high.

After some time picking up and putting back other options (too old, too romantic, too western, too dusty, didn’t like the front cover, no synopsis on the back), I sure enough resorted to those I’d contemplated earlier in the week: one was about a women’s knitting club in New York City (doesn’t sound quite right to me – a cocktail club possibly, or a SATC fanclub, but a knitting club in one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world?!); another was a futuristic tale of women’s roles in society (possibly a little too heavy for the beginning of the year at least!); so I finally settled on The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean. A New York Times bestseller the cover told me, a true story of beauty and obsession, and the inspiration for the movie Adaptation, starring Nicholas Cage and Meryl Streep. Not a bad recommendation if I was looking for one.

I’m now four chapters in, 50 pages later, and I’m in despair. I don’t like it! It’s boring, confusing, too many big words, technical and I can’t quite get my head around what is going on. I know the first few chapters set the story up, and usually I would persevere to page 100 at least, but something is holding me back on this one – and I’m wasting valuable reading time!

Why is it that a “runaway best seller”, obviously purchased by thousands of readers around the world, isn’t capturing my attention?  But a thought has occurred. It may be a runaway best seller, but how many of those buyers actually made it through the book to the last page? How many made it past chapter four and read page 51?

The Orchid Thief may be the first book of 2011 that I put down without finishing. That’s not to say I won’t return  - the competitor in me won’t be beaten – but I think I may need to go in search of another.

Any recommendations?

One that caught my eye

It’s funny how you can stand in front of a bookshelf, looking at hundreds of books, and one just jumps out at you. That’s what happened to me with Recipe for Bees. I’d stepped into my second Thrift store in Canada and headed straight for the bookshelves in the right hand corner. They were easily found, under some spotlamps with the sign “These lamps are not for sale” Message received loud and clear – fortunately I wasn’t in the market for reading lamps.

Anyway, there on the bottom shelf at foot level, sat Recipe for Bees, hidden – but not – among the other paperbacks. It caught my eye as my father is a bee keeper and makes the best honey there is to have. I’ve grown up with it spread on my Vogel’s Bread toast in the morning, and for our wedding almost a year ago, every guest was given a jar of Pa G’s honey.

As I took the book off the shelf to read the back cover, something else caught my eye and it was enough to tell me this is the next book on my reading list. The author – Gail Anderson-Dargatz – lives on Vancouver Island... my new home! I’ve traded London for the streets of Victoria and to be honest, it’s taking a little while to get used to. Hopefully Recipe for Bees will enlighten me on what my new home has to offer. 

Right – time to turn the first page

Oh and check out my Teaser Tuesday for today!

Added to the collection

When I first announced my goal for this year was to read 111 books, a girlfriend of mine said “Give yourself a real challenge”. But when I explained to her that to achieve 111 books in a year required me to read one every three days, she realised that perhaps I did have a challenge on my hands.

I was then asked if audio books were included. “Only if I get desperate,” I replied.

“Is War and Peace on your list?” asked another friend. “Depends how far ahead of my schedule I get!”

These questions brought to light some logistics surrounding my “Year of Reading”. Was there a minimum number of pages per book? Did short stories count? What about children’s books? Poems – could they be included?

But I’ve shied away from such rules and have just decided there are no rules. I’ll read what I feel like reading. So far, my shortest book has been 150 pages; my longest 460 – I figure it will all balance out in the end. But I did still feel the tiniest bit guilty when I chose from the bookshelf Tinkers, by Paul Harding.  

A small, A5-sized paperback just 190 pages long. Yet I couldn’t put it back. For starters it bore the sticker “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize” – surely that’s worth a read. Then I noticed it was set in New England and the author himself lives near Boston – my favourite place in the USA. And as I read the synopsis...

“An old man lies dying. As time collapses into memory, he travels deep into his past where he is reunited with his father and relives the wonder and pain of his impoverished New England youth. At once heartbreaking and life affirming, Tinkers is an elegiac meditation on love, loss and the fierce beauty of nature.”

... I realised this was a book I had to have.

If it only takes me an afternoon to read, so be it. And what’s more, the kettle has just boiled, so I’m putting my feet up, cup of tea in hand, to read Tinkers