What is the one thing that someone battling her way out of a reading slump does not need? That's right, more books. Yet I am drawn like a moth to the flame by the weekly Friends of the Omaha Public Library Book Sale. Weekly. Just a few blocks from where I work. Open only on Thursdays, the day I get off work early. Seriously people, the only thing that saves me is the fact that they only take checks or cash, both of which I don't always have on me.So recently I've walked out with only one or two books. Thursday I had a crisp new twenty dollar bill. And that's how I came home with five books on audio, four paperbacks, one hardcover and $3.75 in change.
Here's what I picked up on audio:
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl - this is the one I popped in the CD player as I left the library. When the lead in music was from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, I liked the book already.
The Brief and Wonder Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Diaz just won a Genius award so that means I had to buy this one, right?
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant - I read The Red Tent a couple of years ago but I hadn't heard of this one.
In paperback I picked up:
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell - this is one that's been on my wish list for a while
Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes - I've seen the movie adaptation starring Diane Lane. I understand the book is quite a bit different but still...Tuscany? How can you go wrong?
And for a measly quarter, I found A Gate At The Stairs by Lorrie Moore. Every time I go to the sale, I learn something new. This time it was that anything with a red X is only a quarter. This could be a very bad thing to have learned!
Ohhh...I enjoyed The Golden Age; hope you do as well.
ReplyDeleteA Year In Provence is really good! I own the 2 sequels as well, which (quelle surprise!) I haven't read.
ReplyDeleteUnder the Tuscan Sun is good. So, so different from the movie. The book is mostly a journal on the house's renovation. I am not sure where they got the screenplay from. But the book is still really good because Mayes has a way with words. I want to give up everything and move there. Plus she shares recipes!
I agree library sales can be so bad on the wallet. I wish my library had weekly sales, they only do one once a year in April so you have to wait, but maybe that's better for me because I think I would go broke if it was every week. Great books you got there. Hope you like them.
ReplyDeleteKimberlee
http://girllostinabook.blogspot.com
The university where I work is having a book sale right now but they always suck! All they sell are textbooks. All the good stuff is snatched up by the library employees before they hit the shelves.
ReplyDeleteIMHO...it was money well spent!! LOL!! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteOh man, you got some great books there, and I would just about go crazy if I ended up at a book sale with that much money and that many books for a great price!! Good on you for getting such great things at such a great price!
ReplyDeleteI have almost every one of those books. ;O) I love library sales, although I probably shouldn't at this stage in the game. I missed my monthly one last weekend...and it was a bag sale...because we had my son's birthday party. Oh well, there's always next month, right?
ReplyDeleteGreat finds! Cheap books and second-hand stores...I'm a sucker. I've enjoyed every John Green I've read which is two :) Wine and a book; they all sound great.
ReplyDeleteYa know? I thought I had a copy of that Year in Provence but I can't find it.
ReplyDeleteYou can't go wrong with the Diaz! Enjoy (and don't get hung up on any Spanglish - it's on purpose!)
I enjoyed The Last Days of Dogtown on audio several years ago, but don't remember many details. A Golden Age has been on my wish list for a long, long time, and I very much enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun, A Thousand Days in Venice, and A Year in Provence. You have some excellent reading ahead!
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