(no subject)

[oyceter]

Book loot!

There was a library sale ^_^. And since the bookstore is so close to this library, the library ends up getting tons of books that we don't end up buying as donations from other people. So the overall quality of the books there was pretty good. I also had some pretty funny moments in which I was looking through the books and thinking, yup, this one we rarely take, yup, M (in charge of the fiction section) has way too much of these, oh yeah, it's all the Oprah books.

I ended up getting:

Dan Brown, Angels and Demons (to give to my dad or sell to the bookstore)
Greg Critser, Fatland (to scare myself? Because Fast Food Nation has awakened an interest in this subject now)
Michael Cunningham, The Hours (I feel I should read this sometime)
Richard Ellmann, Oscar Wilde (I wrote a critical biography on James Joyce back in high school and idolized Ellmann and his biography of Joyce, so why not?)
Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate (Another one I feel I should read. Plus, food!)
Matthews Masayuki Hamabata, Crested Kimono (Japanese business families... not sure how good it will be, given that it was written in the eighties, but might as well)
Diana Wynne Jones, Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. 1 (Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant) (I have, but the condition was too good to resist)
Louise J. Kaplan, Female Perversions (looks vaguely interesting)
Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Country (feel I should read more Japanese literature)
Madeleine L'Engle, A Wind in the Door (like new copy! Luckily I have found that while I own it, this one matches the other copies of the Murray family books that I own)
Ruth L. Ozeki, My Year of Meats (looked interesting)
Sharon Kay Penman, The Sunne in Splendor (I keep hearing this title, or the movie, or something. And am on a bit of a historical fiction kick, thanks to Dunnett)
Saito Chiho, Revolutionary Girl Utena, vol. 3
Mark Salzman, Lost in Place (some customer at the store was looking for him, and it looked interesting)
Dorothy L. Sayers, Clouds of Witness
Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter
Dorothy L. Sayers, Unnatural Death (haha, now that I have bought three Sayers books, I shall be forced to read the entire series!)
Dan Simmons, Hyperion (Person at work recced it)
Paula Volsky, Illusion
Paula Volsky, The Wolf of Winter (I have no idea how I heard of her... through Amazon lists, I suspect, so I shall see if they are any good)
Jane Yolen, Briar Rose (read before, am glad I found it, though I suspect it will not be a frequent reread due to depressing-ness)

Free books:

If anyone wants L'Engle's A Wind in the Door (slightly beat up, mass market with green cover portraying Proginoskes), Utena book 3 (English trans, very good condition), or DWJ's Chronicles of Chrestomanci vol. 1 (mass market, very good condition, the one with the cat on the cover), drop a comment!

Also, knullabulla, I think your email with your address got lost or something =(. Could you email me your address again at oyceter at gmail dot com, and I'll ship you Wise Child. Thanks!

Comments

ooo!

[crushw-eyeliner.livejournal.com]

My Year of meats - i bought it at my school bookstore, because my American Ethnic professor last semester recommended it to me, and it is gripping reading - think Fast Food Nation, only about cows, and throw in a tale of Genji/pillow book poeticism about two couples - one Japanese-American documentarian and her relationship with a musician, and a traditional Japanese housewife and her husband.

Re: ooo!

[oyceter]

Oh, cool! I think mostly my interest was piqued because, hey, book on food ;).

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Great bookspoils!

If not already claimed, I'd love the Chrestomanci--I adore Charmed Life but don't, sadly, yet own it!--and the Utena; I used to own five volumes (all?) of Utena in Japanese, and passed 'em on to people far likelier to learn to read the language, but have been curious about the English translation. Besides, roses! angst! improbable duels!

Oooh. Report on the food book! I, too, was deeply struck by Fast Food Nation.

[oyceter]

Sure thing! Gah, I love Utena ^_^. But I already have the entire series in Japanese (5 vols)...

Fast Food Nation scared me off eating fast food ever again. Blech.

Anyhow, email me your address (oyceter at gmail)!

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I liked the movie of Like Water for Chocolate much better than the book, since the book was originally in Spanish and the translation felt rather clunky to me. But the book does have some great recipes.

And Hyperion is totally worth a read. It's warped and beautiful and a very, very fine piece of work. But stay the heck away from the sequels.

[oyceter]

Gotcha.

I love library sales ^_^. Lowers my decision threshold so I pick up a lot more than I normally would.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think The Fall of Hyperion is worth reading, though not in the class of the brilliant first book. Endymion is not good, with a boring main character, annoying and boring supporting characters, and very bad plot developments, though I liked the society of the ice people. Rise of Endymion is very very very bad, and has the absolute worst reveal of the Secret of Life, the Universe, and Everything that I've ever come across. (Unless the answer is 42, no author should ever attempt to unveil the secrets of the universe to their readers. Unless they're God or Philip K. Dick.)

[oyceter]

LOL!

Will keep in mind.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.

And, welcome back!

[oyceter]

Hee, now I'm going to have to start doubling up my bookshelves!