Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Bloggers Made Me Do It

It's time for another note from the acquisitions department.  Actually, there hasn't been one of these in quite some time.  That's because I've been trying to not acquire books, since I'm pretty well set on reading material until I'm somewhere in my mid-60s.  And by "trying not to acquire books," I, of course, mean, only acquiring about 10 a month and not spending money to come into possession of them.  I am, how you say, not good at not acquiring books.  I haven't tested this, but I'm pretty sure if you gave me a good shake a few books that I had no idea were there would fall inexplicably to the ground. 

Unfortunately, there are some obstacles to the non-acquisition of books, like, for example, all these mailing lists from online book retailers that I receive several times daily.  I'd been fending them off admirably until the Book Closeouts Scratch and Dent sale e-mail landed in my inbox.  Scratch and Dent basically means "good books at rock bottom prices if you don't mind if they're a bit banged up."  Can you blame me for having a look?  Then, the bloggers did most of the rest, because, naturally I came upon several books that book bloggers put solidly on my radar.  Sadly, I am a rotten blogger, and I have a hard time remembering just exactly which blogger to blame for each acquisitions, so I am forced to blame them all, as a unit. 

 
For example, The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandel.  Now, in the little corner of the blogosphere I frequent, you'd be hard pressed to make it through with out getting bonked over the head by somebody recommending an Emily St. John Mandel book, so I'm more than a little pleased to finally have one in possession to read, when I turn 47 or 58 or whenever I get the chance, you know.

And The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet.  You don't quickly forget the bloggers talking up the book about the 12-year-old map-making prodigy who journeys cross country to accept an award from the Smithsonian people who, of course, don't realize he's twelve.  Somehow I missed the part about how visually appealing this book would be, which I suppose, really should be obvious, what with all the nifty maps and everything.  Very excited about this one.

And The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate about the black, female marine biologist at Woods Hole.  More than a few bloggers recommended this one.  In fact, bloggers seem to be fans of Algonquin Books as a whole, so I threw Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West in my cart, too.  It sounds like one of those books where the whole community comes to life, and my mom and I both seem to love those sorts.

Rounding out the collection is Tomorrow River by Lesley Kagen.  Everybody seems to be always talking about Whistling in the Dark by this author, but this one, about a girl trying to crack her family's secrets sounds good, too.  And don't forget Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris.  I've long been curious about Ferris's acclaimed portrait of the twisted office atmosphere. 

So, what should I read first or when I turn 36 or 52 or 63 after I shuffle off these other thousand books I can't seem to stop acquiring?  ;-)

9 comments:

  1. Getting books is almost as fun as reading books, so I completely understand. You definitely have me interested in the Spivet book; I'll have to check it out.

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  2. What a fabulous collection of books! Count me among those bloggers who really like Emily Mandel's work. I thought the T. S. Spivet was WAY overhyped, so maybe I should revisit it now that it's been a few years since publication and try to give it a fair shake...

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  3. I too, am afflicted with this disease. No matter how hard I try, I can't break free from its incredibly strong grip. There is always a terrific book right around the corner that screams my name :)

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  4. Oh I am so so so like you. But I actually TURNED AWAY from the scratch and dent sale!!! After filling my cart with like 20 books, lol. And then I said "Chris, you need the money right now and you have more books than you will ever be able to read sadly already"…so I closed the window :(

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  5. I've read that Mandel, and I liked it, but I didn't love it (although I seem to be in the minority on that, as far as I remember). I'd grab the Spivet right away!

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  6. LOL! I'm not very good at not acquiring books either. Ah well. I've come to accept it. ;)

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  7. I came over from MooseNoose - I love the name of your blog and just had to click on it!

    YOu sound just like me - every time another blogger posts a book review the book ends up on my to-read list. I think I would need tim eto stop for a while to actual get through them all though! Haha. Then We Came to the End has been on my list for a while now, but so far I've resisted buying it.

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  8. I can't wait to read your thoughts on The Taste of Salt. Some things I loved about it, but others. . . meh. If we couldn't tempt you with good books, we wouldn't be bloggers. :-)

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  9. I love Lesley Kagen. I've enjoyed all her books, although TOMORROW RIVER is my favorite. I just got an email from Kagen talking about a new book she's got out now. Yippee!

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