dtrpath27

Wonderful haul from the book sale!

Congratulations on your new books & happy reading!

Ooh...we always get into trouble at library sales. With paperbacks costing a quarter and most hardbacks fifty cents to a dollar, who can resist! There's a children's publisher here in the States that opens up its' warehouses twice a year for huge book sales. We used to go with ten dollars and come home with literally boxes of books.

What a wonderful start to the year! Do you have your next one picked out yet?

It's been years since I read this, but I don't remember this as being an issue. I thought it fit given the overall theme and the character's circumstances. Now this makes me want to read it again. Add one more to the list!

I love the quotes!

Oh no! Will they send you another? That's so disappointing. For me, one of the joys of buying a brand new book is the freshness and smoothness of the pages and cover. Hopefully this shipment will be unmarred!

It's fun for me to see what they can do with such little space. I would think that it would be a fun exercise from the writer's perspective as well. I think I read it on another post on here, but the "no words wasted" concept appeals to me.

I like that idea! Have a giant reveal of your fabulous haul.

Ditto what everyone else said. That's a lot of books! It should tide you over for awhile.

Ender's Game is wonderful! I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

Thanks so much! I have to admit, I'm a bit hooked on short stories these days.

I cannot do audio books at all, for so many reasons. Probably the biggest is that my mom read me to sleep every night until I was in about fifth grade, so anytime I'm read to, I fall straight asleep. It's a perfect conditioned response. Secondly, I'm a visual-kinesthetic learner, so I just don't always follow what I'm hearing unless I'm taking notes. Who wants to do that when reading for fun? Thirdly, a lot of times I find the voices just plain annoying!

Glad you're feeling better and that you had time to read!

I'm so glad you found a series you like. Hopefully you'll be able to get the ones you need. If not, will you be able to request the others from other branches or do inter-library loan? I'm so glad you're enjoying that book; I found it to be so clever! Don't you just love it when you get on a good-book streak?

So this short story was another Kindle freebie. It's actually from my January reading list. January 2014 - Short Story #1 The Museum of Literary Souls by John Connolly Genre: Fiction Amazon Synopsis: Mr. Berger has spent thirty-four years keeping his life as empty as possible. His job title as a closed accounts registrar doesn’t spark much interest, and his cautious flirtation with a woman at his company was cut short upon her engagement to another man. This doesn’t bother him, however, as he much prefers the company of books to that of people. When a series of fortuitous events leads to an early retirement in the English countryside, Mr. Berger is content to spend the remainder of his years nestled comfortably between the pages of a book. But fate has other plans. His serene life turns strange when he witnesses a tragedy chillingly reminiscent of Anna Karenina as a woman flings herself before a train. When he rushes to the scene, she has vanished, leaving no body on the tracks. Berger’s investigation into this event leads him to Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository, where the line between fiction and reality becomes blurred beyond comprehension. Impressions: What a great story! Apparently John Connolly typically writes a lot of horror/dark/supernatural type novels; this is nothing like that. It's charming and relatable while having enough of the fantastical to keep the imagination rolling along. I'm a sucker for books about books, and this one certainly fits the bill!

Couldn't sleep last night, so I started reading Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay. I only got a quarter of the way through, but I'm really enjoying it so far. Such beautiful prose! I'm going to curl up with it again tonight; hopefully, I'll love it just as much in the morning.

Rabbit

So here is the first in a string of short story reviews. I used to be quite dismissive of short stories; I don't know why, but I was. Maybe it's because I associated them with my elementary school reading textbook, but it took stumbling upon some for free in the Kindle store for me to give them a chance. Let me say, I'm so glad I did! Wonderful characterization, creative storylines...I wonder if the shorter length forces the writers to write that much better, to choose the perfect words, to set the perfect scene. At any rate, I digress. Here it is, the first of a string of short story reviews: March 2014 - Short Story #1 The Dark Age by Jason Gurley Genre: Science Fiction Amazon Synopsis: On the day she was born, he left for the stars. He watches her grow up on screens. Misses her first words. Misses her first steps. She's never kissed his scratchy cheek, or fallen asleep on his shoulder. He's never wiped away her tears, or sung her to sleep. Now she's a toddler, and he's about to enter hibernation sleep -- and when he wakes nearly 150 years in the future, his family will be gone. This is a short story for every father who never wants his daughter to grow up. Impressions: I was not at all prepared for this story. I picked it up for free because I was looking for something new to read for the read-a-thon. Once I started, I couldn't put it down! The characters and their lives just drew me in; within a few pages, I found myself truly caring about them. It was an amazing story that I would happily read time and again. The Amazon synopsis does not do it justice; it's so much more than that. I couldn't think of how to describe it without giving too much away. I think the price is up to 99 cents now, but even so, it will be the best dollar you've ever spent.

Julie, I've lived in several different places both in the States and Japan, and also got to travel a fair amount in my twenties and early thirties. I'm really a city girl at heart, though. Unfortunately, my dearest is a born and bred country boy, so we compromise by living in the suburbs. Pontalba, I didn't mean to seem contradictory. I agree, the French Quarter is so much more than Bourbon Street. Such great shops and restaurants to be found! I just meant that the image that most people have of the whole city during Mardi Gras is that of one giant Girls Gone Wild video, and that if you get out of the heavy tourist areas during that time that you'll see a really different side of things. It's an amazing place!

Interesting is definitely the word I would use. I'm digging the moustache.

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