Saturday 29 March 2014

Recent Acquisitions

I've been quite busy on the book acquiring front lately, here's what I've picked up:

Books I Get To Keep:



Most of these were impulse buys from this morning.  I had a pretty tough week at work last week and could not resist the buy one, get one half price deals in Waterstones:
                                   
                                  
  • Burial Rites by Hannah Kent - This is one of the books on the Baileys long-list that I am the most keen to read.  I already had it reserved at the library, but couldn't resist this gorgeous paperback edition with black edged pages.  It's the story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland, and I can't wait to start it.
  • We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo - I've wanted to read this one ever since it first came out.  Darling lives in a shanty-town in Zimbabwe and dreams of moving to America.  When she finally does, it isn't what she expected.
  • On the Map by Simon Garfield - I love a quirky non-fiction book, and this seems to fit the bill nicely.  It's a history of maps and how we have attempted to make sense of the world.
  • The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker - Another book that has been on my wishlist for the longest time.  It's about two supernatural creatures in nineteenth century New York, and the back cover compares with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.  This can only be a good thing!
Mixed in are some review copies:

                                              
  • The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel - A non-fiction title about the women married to the famous American astronauts of the 1950s and 60s.  I've seen some great reviews of this one.
  • The Crimson Ribbon by Katherine Clements - Historical fiction set in the English Civil War.  This book promises to include Oliver Cromwell and witchcraft, so I am intrigued.
And finally, some random acquisitions:

                                             
  • The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber - Picked up in a charity shop.  The Crimson Petal and the White is one of my favourite books, ever, so the author alone was enough to make me buy this one. The story is about the uncovering of a new gospel, and is from the Canongate Myth series.
  • The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang - Lovely hard-cover version found in Homesense, of all places.

Books I Have to Give Back (Library Books):

                             
  • The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood - Borrowed so I can read Madaddam, which I own, and which is on the Baileys long-list.  I loved Oryx and Crake, so I have high hopes.
  • The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert - Another Baileys book, and one I am currently half-way through.  It's a historical epic about a female botanist, and so far I am very much enjoying it.
  • Shark's Fin & Sichuan Pepper - I love a foodie memoir, and this one about eating and living in China promises to be very interesting.
                                              
  • All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld and The Shadow of the Crescent Moon by Fatima Bhutto - Two more from the Baileys long-list.  I hope I get a chance to get to these titles, but they aren't the highest priority on my list.
Have you read any of these titles?  What did you make of them?


20 comments:

  1. Holy Moses, that is a fantastic stack of books! Burial Rites, We Need New Names, On The Map, and The Signature of All Things were all beyond excellent :D You're in for a whole lot of great reading!

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  2. I haven't read any of them but I've recently downloaded the audio of Burial Rites. I also really loved The Crimson Petal and the White so I can't wait to hear about this Michel Faber book!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed Crimson Petal, I think it's a book that deserves wider reading / more praise in general. I hope this one lives up to my very high expectations.

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  3. I really enjoyed On The Map when I read it last year (or the year before). It's really accessible and includes EVERYTHING map-related!

    The Crimson Ribbon sounds interesting. I wonder why there aren't more Civil War fiction books...

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    1. I had a skim through the chapters of On The Map, and it looks fascinating. I think it might be one to dip in and out of, alongside other books.

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  4. Burial Rites, superb (I posted about it on my blog...) and I'd love to read The Golem and the Djinni.

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  5. I just finished Burial Rites, and it is fantastic. I also loved The Golem and the Djinni; it is beautifully written. I'll have to look into Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper. That sounds like an interesting book.

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    1. Really looking forward to both Burial Rites and The Golem and the Djinni. Glad you enjoyed them :)

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  6. Would love to hear your thoughts on The Golem & the Djinni -- I was so excited for that one I pre-ordered it, and yet it's still collecting dust :/

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    1. I do that with books too, and I hate it! I am excited to read all of these titles, but some will inevitably end up sitting on the shelf for years....

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  7. Those Waterstones deals used to get me every time - I say used to because where we live now there is no Waterstones, which is probably for the better to be honest!

    That is a beautiful edition of The Blue Fairy Book... I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Burial Rites, I'm really interesting in that one.

    A great stack of books!
    :-)
    Bits & Bobs

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  8. You're going to be busy for a while! Great looking books though.

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  9. We Need New Names is on my TBR list. I want to get to some of those great looking books on my list.

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  10. Soooooo many books. I feel like patting you on the back or something! I'm trying really hard to avoid libraries at the moment because SO MANY UNREAD BOOKS, SAM, but also, oooh, library books... *drools a tiny bit*

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  11. You got some really excellent books! Many of them are in my wishlist and I cannot wait to read them. Waiting to hear your thoughts!

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  12. Lovely lovely set there! I am starting to enjoy non fiction books and that one about the maps sound highly interesting!

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  13. I love the Canongate Myth series so I look forward to hearing about this one. I have also just treated myself to Burial Rites but on kindle because it was cheap as chips. Had I known the paperback had black edged pages, I would have gone for the physical version instead! Enjoy your acquisitions :)

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  14. I haven't heard of On the Maps but I am all grabby hands at it now! The Golem and the Djinni sounds kind of fun. The Crimson Ribbon looks amazing, I hope it is!

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