Saturday, February 5, 2011

Bad Megan Goes to the Book Sale

I wasn't going to go this time. Really, I wasn't. Even though it was 5 days worth of book sale affording me many opportunities to go and peruse used booky goodness, I made other plans to do other things. I went to work, went to a Zumba-thon, I avoided, avoided, avoided. But it was a frustrating week with a caught cold that derailed my planned avoidance and made me cancel plans and get depessed about canceling plans, and it's the middle of winter and I just needed something to look forward to that's closer than spring, and every time I drove past the library, I thought, "I'll stop, just for a second," until on the 2nd to last day, my resolve broke down and I spent an hour scanning the shelves. Thankfully, on the 4th day, the stock is fairly picked over, but not so picked over that I wasn't still forced to exercise some restraint, which I think I accomplished admirably. Enough about that, though. We all know you're just here for the pictures and the list of delicious acquisitions. So here they are - with assorted and haphazard commentary (of course).




The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Not sure this is going to be my thing, but I'm a sucker for a prize winner.)

Carry Me Across the Water by Ethan Canin (I bought this for the title. Terrible, huh?)

Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty (I read Sloppy Firsts just before I started blogging, and put the next book in the series on my wishlist. Now I've got a sparkly new used copy.)

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich (Interested to see the results of her quest to see how people live on $6 or $7 an hour when I can't seem to swing life on my own making better than twice that.)

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (I've read about this one all over the place, but Danielle's review is the freshest in my mind.)

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (I'm blaming this one on Eva.)

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary (I'm pretty sure this one will always get blamed on Dewey.)

Chosen By a Horse by Susan Richards (And I'm a sucker for broken and then healed animal stories!)

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by Jim Wallis (Love the subtitle to this one. I'm tired of being fed this crap about how because I'm a Christian I should love right wing politics. Blargh!)




The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano

Drood by Dan Simmons (Okay, bloggers, I'm not sure how you did this, but somehow you made me want to read this crazy huge tome about Dickens. With glee did I pluck it from the shelf. Crazy this.)

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh (Here's one of those authors I collect but have never read. I know you have these, too. Know it.)

The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart

Cold Rock River by J.L. Miles

And that's all. Remarkable restraint, right? So, which one should I read first?

11 comments:

  1. It was your duty to go to that sale and help support the library! A lot of your books look brand new. I loved Drood and The Girl She Used to Be, but I think you should start with Nickel and Dimed because I have it in my TBR pile and I'm curious about it.

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  2. I've wondered about Nickel and Dimed. Some say it's awesome; others not so much, so I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on that one. I have the Oscar Wao one unread on my shelves.

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  3. wow! I wish my library had sales like this (but maybe it is for the best that they don't!).

    You have a great selection there - Nickel and Dimed is a book that changed the way I think and it is fresh in my mind even more than 5 years after reading it. I am interested to see what you think about God's Politics - I have had that one on my wish list for quite some time. Enjoy!

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  4. I'd have liked to see the results if you'd just gone hog wild. :P

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  5. And what is so bad about that?? Educate me please :)

    They look like beautiful copies too.

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  6. in my wildest dreams I never thought I'd enjoy a book about Dickens but Drood is a wonderful book! (I'll even reread it one day!)I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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  7. No...Good Megan! Good Megan! Congrats on such a great stack.

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  8. Kathy - Well, since I don't really support my library by checking out books, it *is* only right that I should support my library at the book sale, so I do so faithfully. ;-)

    Trisha - A friend of mine had to read Nickel and Dimed the year before her freshman year of college. I don't even know what she thought of it, but I've been interested to read it ever since.

    Colleen - Good library sales are definitely a blessing and a curse to me. The libraries in both my neighboring towns have a great sales both in summer *and* winter. Definitely my downfall! Looking forward to reading Nickel and Dimed - seems to be the one everyone's pushing for here!

    Debi - It gets ugly. When I go on the first day, and it's crowded I've stopped only just short of elbowing little old ladies out of the way to come away with more books than I can read in a year. This waiting 4 days and only picking up less than half my usual total is a huge concession! haha

    Diane - Hmmm...what's bad? Well, my shelves are double stacked. My mom and I just yanked some 7 boxes of books off of them for spring yard sale purposes, and uh, the books still don't all fit on the shelves. That's, uh, kind of bad in a good kind of way...right?

    DesLily - It's definitely a book I wouldn't have thought twice about wanting without book bloggers, but once the book blogosphere was done with me I was entering giveaways for it left and right. So glad I finally have it, and I hope I enjoy it as much as you did, too! =D

    Bybee - haha, thanks! I'd be lying if I didn't say it made me very happy despite the fact that I feel some small guilt about my lapse... =)

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  9. Great haul. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Oscar Wao. I read it last year, and I absolutely loved it. :)

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  10. I hope to have a pile like that next weekend when I go to my library book sale!

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  11. Hey, that's not so bad, all things considered! I think you showed admirable restraint. :-)

    I've read a few of the books you got and would suggest Nickel and Dimed, Chosen by a Horse and The Myth of You and Me, in that order.

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