Saturday, 12 October 2013

Book Shopping & Library Visiting

Today we spent the morning in one of my favourite towns, which has an excellent second hand bookshop and the main branch of my library system.  This always results in book acquisitions!

From the Second Hand Bookshop:

  

  • Among Others by Jo Walton - I've been interested in this book for ages, so was thrilled to see it.  It's a fictional diary of a young girl as she encounters science fiction and fantasy classics and battles an ancient enchantment.
  • The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale - I don't read much historical fiction at the moment but I love the sound of this one as it contains details of how fireworks are made!
  • The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - Both my husband and I have been wanting to own this classic for the longest time.  The devil visits Russia.

From the Library:

  
 

  • The Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford - A memoir of an adult rereading all of his childhood favourites.  I do love a good book about books.
  • Kraken by China Mieville - Another one I've been meaning to try for a while.  A kraken in London's Natural History Museum comes to life and is worshipped by a sinister cult.
  • The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin - I really enjoyed one of Jemisin's other books, The Killing Moon, so I've been meaning to start this series.
  • A Rough Guide to Classic Novels - As if I don't have enough to read already!  I'm sure I will be keen to read lots of classics after flicking through this little volume.

Won in a giveaway:


  • The Secrets of Life and Death by Rebecca Alexander - It has magic and contains the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, so I'm officially excited.
Have you read any of these titles?
If so, I'd love to know what you thought of them.


22 comments:

  1. Good haul! I hope you like Among Others -- it's a sort of weird little book, but I thought it was wonderful.

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  2. Lovely looking books, and any book with Marilyn Monroe on the cover must be great, surely?

    Kind regards,

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    1. Marilyn Monroe and it's about classics, it can't go wrong!

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  3. Lovely looking haul. Always brings a smile to my face when I acquire books!

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    1. Me too, luckily book acquiring isn't the most expensive hobby in the world.

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  4. Wow, what an eclectic list of books! I am always surprised by people with such different tastes as I usually tend to read contemporary novels and crime fiction.

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    1. The more I read (and my reading has increased a lot since blogging), the more I want variety.

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  5. The Master and Margarita is, I think, in my TOP5 books of all time. I've read it more than once. Hope you enjoy too :)

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  6. Ooh, you could read the Jemison for the A More Diverse Universe Tour if you wanted to participate :-)

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  7. I love, love, love The Master and Margarita, it's a great book and there's just so much to talk about when you finish it - perfect for a couple to read and discuss really!

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  8. A really interesting mix. I haven't read any of these. I look forward to hearing what you think of most of these!

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  9. Book eye candy! I love that you got some really good books here. Some are on my list to read. Hope you enjoy them!

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  10. Wow...NICE BOOKS.

    The covers of Book Of Fires and Among Others are GORGEOUS.

    THANKS for sharing, and have a great week.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog

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  11. The Child That Books Built looks interesting. I wish I could do that! I don't remember the books I read as a child--except The Pokey Little Puppy. I remember some, but very few. That would be pretty cool though. You could reflect on what you thought each book taught you.

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  12. These all sound really interesting! The Book of Fire and Kraken sound especially interesting. I've been wanting to read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms at some point, I've heard good things! Hope you enjoy all of them!!

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  13. The Child That Books Built sounds good. It's been a while since I've read a bookish memoir!

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  14. The Child That Books Built sounds fascinating (I seem to agree with everyone else with this). What a great selection of books. Happy reading!

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  15. I've been meaning to read The Book of Fires for so long. Great choice, I've read a lot of positive reviews of it. The cover of Among Others always appeals to me but then I'm not sure if the story is for me or not. A lovely haul!

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