The Literary Acquisition Thread (2 Viewers)

[m0ofin]

Dear Tiny Sepuku - Ken Cursoe
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette - Carolly Erickson
The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory

 

[SituationNoir]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll, I work in an Angus and Robertson store so, during work I'm usually scoping out what I want. There's lots of interesting things around, I've bought alot of poetry anthologys, quote books etc lately. And I've been ordering alot of stuff in, the one I ordered in most recently was called "Three Vampire Tales" and it had 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker, 'Carmilla' by Sheridan Le Fanu and 'The Vampyre' by John Polidori. It also has some of Coleridge and Byron's works in it and tracks the emergance of the Vampire character and myth in early literature. I've really enjoyed it!!

The other book I bought yesterday was 'City of Bones' by Cassandra Clare. It's a reasonably new book and I bought it because I'm interested in stories about vampires etc [EXCEPT THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES *STABSTABSTAB*] and yeah, this sort of plays on that but not fully. It's more about demons and forces that attempt to stop them. It's a bit of a mystery aswell. Located in teen fiction. I've started to read it and yeah, it's suprised me. Very well written, you really get a feel for the surroundings of the characters and the situations they find themselves in. I'm enjoying it, hard to put down.

 

[Artemis.]

Finally got around to getting the Diary of Anne Frank. Hopefully read it soon.

 

[DownInFlames]

I bought The Ballad of Desmond Kale but I'm not going to start it till the HSC is over cause it's so long.

Can anyone tell me if it's any good?

 

[m0ofin]

Some obscure books:
Stroke a Martian and 99 Other Things to do Before you Die - New Scientist
The Moonlight Chronicles: A Wandering Artist's Journal - Dan Price
Sweets - Sylvia van Ommen
Just Like Heaven - Patrick McDonnell

 

[ekirii]

acquired today when i raided 2nd hand book store (when i should have been studying for exams):
- rubaiyat of omar khayyam (absolutely adore it)
- tennessee williams - 3 plays

acquired in past month:
- mark z. danielewski - only revolutions (anyone read house of leaves?)
- ayn rand - the fountainhead (finally got around to buying my own copy!)

and i have another list of books i need to get around to buying. a few old fantasy books, some classics, have to get some russian stuff coz i am seriously lacking in my own copies.

 

[walrusbear]

is that new danielewski just as gimmicky as leaves (haven't read either)

picked up some david foster wallace - oblivion

 

[ekirii]

is that new danielewski just as gimmicky as leaves (haven't read either)

picked up some david foster wallace - oblivion

i haven't read only revolutions yet as im in middle of exams and if im going to read a danielewski, i'm going to lock myself in a room with food and a sign on the door that says 'dont disturb'.

yeah, but flicking through it is quite confusing. this one is very intense on the 'how' of reading, like leaves. a lot of, well, revolutions of the book. side notes of historical data. stories merging etc. coloured words. all that jazz.

 

[Kwayera]

Recent literary acquisitions:

NON-FICTION
Harpoon, Andrew Darby - a sobering and disturbing look at the past, present and future of whaling.
Whatever You Do, Don't Run, Peter Allison - recollections of an Australian safari guide in Botswana. Hilarious, occasionally moving. I also knew the author
The End of Faith, Sam Harris - required reading for the religious and non-religious alike.
If a Lion Could Talk - basement books cheapie; essays and investigations on animal intelligence.

FICTION
Ratha's Creature & Clan Ground, Clare Bell - astounding 'teen' science fiction/fantasy, set amongst a clan of prehistoric cats. Reprinted - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Of Fire & Night (Saga of Seven Suns, book 5) - excellent addition to the series, mixing politics and technology with an epic future storyline.
The Silver Wolf, Alice Borchardt - interesting werewolf premise (one of my literary kinks), and well executed by Anne Rice's rather more talented sister.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

I just bought:

War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy (I swear I'm going to read the thing in the next holidays)
Planet Simpson - Chris Turner (As a reference book for my nerdism)
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (been looking for aaages, so I'm very pleased to have found them).
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling (Nan & Pop gave it to me yesterday because the family copy is derelict, and I wanted my own).

Pity all books don't come in Penguin Classics forms. The ones I have look so sexy upon my bookshelf.

 

[walrusbear]

reading Planet Simpson i felt alternately happy and shameful

 

[Big80smullet]

I got some marz and chaucer from the second hand bookshop today. Im gonna try and read them.

 

[walrusbear]

is it one of those modern translations of chaucer?
or the more nerdy transcripts in ye olde english?

 

[chocolatecookie]

i bought Catch 22 yesterday from Dymocks... i wanted to buy Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, but Dymocks, Borders and Myer were all out of stock =O

 

[Tulipa]

Picked up a few books cheap from a great second hand bookstore

Douglas Coupland - Miss Wyoming
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
Roald Dahl - Switch Bitch
Robert Louis Stevenson - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 

[KFunk]

Today I found a couple second hand bookstore gems. Both have genuine leather hard covers, gold inlay with pretty designs, 22k gold trim on the pages, page marking ribbons attached to the spine and are in good-as-new condition. At $33 each I was quite pleased with myself.

Politics - Aristotle

Philosophical Works - Rene Descartes

 

[Hatta]

I'm cheap (and on limited, sparse income), so I go to op shops. There are some really brilliant ones around the Blue Mountains/Lithgow. For anyone who lives in Lithgow, the Lithgow Bargain Mart (big warehouse-looking thing across the train tracks from the main street... sort of near the blast furnace) is a f*cking goldmine. Usually, the books are 50c-$1 each (depending on hardback/paperback), and there's always something good. I've found so many good authors i'd usually never look at, because I got them for a quick read as they were cheap (the best being Moliere - complete works for $1!). Haha, I just gave away my secret ... book-getting place. Thing. You'd better leave me some *shakes fist*

Recently found a book sale in Katoomba - books were 20c each . Got:
-First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, by Stephen Donaldson
-A few of Ibsen's plays
-Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
-The Secret Diary of Grumpy Old Men, can't remember the author, but bloody hilarious.
-Door to December by Leigh Nichols
-Giant book of Werewolves, short story collection edited by Stephen Jones and someone else.
-Giant book of Zombies, again, short stories edited by Stephen Jones and someone
-Giant book of Fantasy, short stories, Stephen Jones and someone.

There are more, but all this talking about books is making me want to read - the big flaw in English as a subject (of no relevance, I'm just rambling).

 

[selablad]

I just conned my sister into buying me Candide

 

[lisajf]

I am reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer atm. Its fantastic i have fallen in love with the characters and am scared for what is going to happen in the end!! i love love love this book and recommend it to everyone!!! its fantastic

 

[bawd]

Just bought the Penguin Red Classics version of Emma. Very sexy cover. You can check out Penguin Red Classics here:
http://www.penguin.com.au/redclassics/default.cfm