63) The Real Life of Sebastian Knight - Vladimir Nabokov (new, paperback)
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Okay, so, I really want to read Paul Russell's latest book, The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov.
About a month or so after deciding I wanted to read it, and checking if I could find it shelved locally (no), or digital w/out drm (no), I was working up to deciding who I'd order it from and realized that I already have a book by Paul Russell on shelf that I hadn't even started. So I made myself read it before I committed to buying any more books by him. In case I didn't like it. Save myself some money, savy?
So far so sensible. But while I was doing that I found the time to read the Lev Grossman article about Nabokov's younger brother, which inspired Russell to write The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov. (And it is really worth reading).
After that it became clear to me that to put it in the proper context I really ought to read Nabobov's own book about his brother first. It's just sensible.
Sensible, and illustrative of why I will never make it to the end of my reading list and will die a pauper, surrounded by paperbacks
The Damage: €15.10 (is that a sick price for a classic paperback or what?)
64) Grail - Elizabeth Bear (new, paperback)
Where? Hodges Figgis
I got HF to order this in for me. They send a text when the book comes in, which is better than being rung because I always miss the call and have to ring back.
Why?
Anyway, final book in Bear's Jacob Ladder series.
I think when I started reading Bear back in September I made some sort of deal with myself that I would not race through her backlist like some sort of demon bookslut but instead space them out slowly.
Aaaand in the intervening 6 months I have read 14 of her books. When I finish Grail I will only have one trilogy and her two stand alones left to finish her backlist and have to start waiting on her new publications (which, thank god, are frequent).
The Damage: €7.40
Total Spend: €584.79
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Books Bought Feb 17th
61) Embassytown - China Miéville (new, paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
I love China Miéville. He's intelligent and articulate, I'm always happy to read an interview with him, or watch a youtube video of him speaking. I just havn't actually read any of his books.
I'm trying to think of a less lazy sounding way to say that I haven't read any of his books because they seem like they'd be a lot of hard work. But, yeah, they do sort of scream hardwork.
Quite why I decided to finally start out with his first book that is straight up sf rather than fantasy when hard-work-sf is one of my least favourite sub genres is a little mystifying. But I read somewhere that Embassytown is partially a responce to The Sparrow, so that could hold my attention, right?
The Damage: €10.05
62) Children of God - Mary Doria Russell (used,paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
I did really love The Sparrow.
Sequel time.
The Damage: €4.99
Where? Chapters
Why?
I love China Miéville. He's intelligent and articulate, I'm always happy to read an interview with him, or watch a youtube video of him speaking. I just havn't actually read any of his books.
I'm trying to think of a less lazy sounding way to say that I haven't read any of his books because they seem like they'd be a lot of hard work. But, yeah, they do sort of scream hardwork.
Quite why I decided to finally start out with his first book that is straight up sf rather than fantasy when hard-work-sf is one of my least favourite sub genres is a little mystifying. But I read somewhere that Embassytown is partially a responce to The Sparrow, so that could hold my attention, right?
The Damage: €10.05
62) Children of God - Mary Doria Russell (used,paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
I did really love The Sparrow.
Sequel time.
The Damage: €4.99
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Books Bought Feb 14th (cntd)
60) The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land - Diana Wynne Jones (used, hb)
Where? eBay
Why did I never think of buying used books on eBay before? It's so obvious,
Why?
I notionally writing a fantasy novel. By this what I of course mean is that I am not at all writing a fantasy novel, but am occasionally putting some mental work into making my fantasy world 'go.' That 'aha' moment I get when something clicks into place and another aspect of the geography/culture/politics goes from not making any sense to making a little bit of sense is very satisfying.
Diana Wynne Jones is another one of those writers who I should feel properly ashamed for never having read before.
Oh look, synergy.
The Damage: €7.27
Where? eBay
Why did I never think of buying used books on eBay before? It's so obvious,
Why?
I notionally writing a fantasy novel. By this what I of course mean is that I am not at all writing a fantasy novel, but am occasionally putting some mental work into making my fantasy world 'go.' That 'aha' moment I get when something clicks into place and another aspect of the geography/culture/politics goes from not making any sense to making a little bit of sense is very satisfying.
Diana Wynne Jones is another one of those writers who I should feel properly ashamed for never having read before.
Oh look, synergy.
The Damage: €7.27
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Books Bought Feb 14th
59) The Magician King - Lev Grossman (new. trade paperback)
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Uck, did I really just cave in to the madness and buy a large format papaerback. More fool me.
I really loved The Magicians, but I was totally intent on waiting for The Magician King in mass market paperback.
After two circuits of the bookshop and no sign of anything else I wanted I caved.
The Damage: €15.10 (Why do Hodges Figgis charge such strange prices? This is information I need).
Total Spend: €539.98
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Uck, did I really just cave in to the madness and buy a large format papaerback. More fool me.
I really loved The Magicians, but I was totally intent on waiting for The Magician King in mass market paperback.
After two circuits of the bookshop and no sign of anything else I wanted I caved.
The Damage: €15.10 (Why do Hodges Figgis charge such strange prices? This is information I need).
Total Spend: €539.98
Books Bought Feb 11th
58) Tamburlaine must die - Louise Welsh (used, hardback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
This was a Saturday, and I was suffering under the notion that I was going to have to go into work eventually to do final prep for our audit on Monday. But at least being a Saturday I didn't have to be go in in the morning, I think I ended up working 4pm - 8pm, which is when I'm at my most awake and productive.
Anyway the audit hanging over me like a cloud raining anxiety and terror I needed a book to calm me down.
Most specifically, I need a short, junky, book I could read in one sitting before going to work.
This is also part of my slow progress through every modern fictionalized portrayal of Christopher Marlowe.
It was terrible.
The Damage: €4.99
Where? Chapters
Why?
This was a Saturday, and I was suffering under the notion that I was going to have to go into work eventually to do final prep for our audit on Monday. But at least being a Saturday I didn't have to be go in in the morning, I think I ended up working 4pm - 8pm, which is when I'm at my most awake and productive.
Anyway the audit hanging over me like a cloud raining anxiety and terror I needed a book to calm me down.
Most specifically, I need a short, junky, book I could read in one sitting before going to work.
This is also part of my slow progress through every modern fictionalized portrayal of Christopher Marlowe.
It was terrible.
The Damage: €4.99
Monday, February 13, 2012
Interlude - The book buying habits of Americans
Verso advertising have released a presentation of their study on book buying habits, which is nice because I've found it difficult in the past to find stats on how many books an average person buys per year.
The survey describes an 'avid book-buyer' as one who has bought at least 10 books in the past twelve months.
I wonder how they'd describe my book buying habit.
You can view the presentation here : http://www.versoadvertising.com/DBWsurvey2012/
The survey describes an 'avid book-buyer' as one who has bought at least 10 books in the past twelve months.
I wonder how they'd describe my book buying habit.
You can view the presentation here : http://www.versoadvertising.com/DBWsurvey2012/
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Books Bought Feb 4th 2012
57) The German - Lee Thomas
Where? Weightless Books
Weightless books is another awesome little ebook site specialising in independent presses. Some good spec fiction, periodicals, etc. Has a lot of the ugly I now assosiate with small ecommerce sites too unfortunatly.
You're able to redownload your purchases in any of their available formats, which is both cool and sensible. Why can't all of my life be this simple?
Oh and it's drm-free, as all the ebooks I buy are.
Why?
The German was on Gemma Files 2011 reading list. She said of it, "this is a darkness in the hearts of men and at the edge of town story about every type of Othering, and really begs to be read widely."
Sounds good to me.
The Damage: €6.25
Where? Weightless Books
Weightless books is another awesome little ebook site specialising in independent presses. Some good spec fiction, periodicals, etc. Has a lot of the ugly I now assosiate with small ecommerce sites too unfortunatly.
You're able to redownload your purchases in any of their available formats, which is both cool and sensible. Why can't all of my life be this simple?
Oh and it's drm-free, as all the ebooks I buy are.
Why?
The German was on Gemma Files 2011 reading list. She said of it, "this is a darkness in the hearts of men and at the edge of town story about every type of Othering, and really begs to be read widely."
Sounds good to me.
The Damage: €6.25
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Pay Day Books Buying Bonanza
52) Chill - Elizabeth Bear (paperback, new)
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Sequel to a book I read and enjoyed.
As an aside, the buyer for Hodges Figgis's Science Fiction section is an absolute god. There is so much there that I cannot find on shelf anywhere else in Ireland, including plenty of imports, and not just from the big six, small press stuff as well. It is sometimes hard not to buy all the things purely as a thank you for stocking them.
So pleased am I with the selection that I am trying not to make a big thing about the fact that they have two copies of Chill, which is the second book in Bear's Jacob Ladder series and no copies of the first or final book.
The Damage: €6.90
53) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (hardback, new)
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Heard about this on The Guardian Books Podcast (because I'm fancy) a few months ago. Sounded worth checking out.
It's a retelling of the Illiad.
I had a picture book full of (I suppose) Greek myths when I was a kid. All I remember of it was Achilles dragging Hector's corpse around behind his chariot, which I guess was rendered with suitable gore to have made such a lasting impression. Man I wish I could get my hands on that book again. I don't think books for kids these days are nearly as violent as they oughta be.
This was also available in trade paperback for about €5 less but I turned my nose up despite the price differential. Have I ranted about large format paperbacks already? Here's the shortened version.
They have all the awkwardness off a hardback, combined with the flimsy impermanence of a paperback. They are ridiculous and should not exist.
The Damage: €23.90 (I think, I've lost the receipt and it didn't have a sticker, it was definitely 23 something)
But, for the first time in my life I managed to fill a Hodges Figgis discount card without losing it first (they are specially designed to be too big for your wallet, and so get lost in handbags). So that's a €10 discount on all that.
54) Worldwired - Elizabeth Bear (used paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
Okay, so this is the final book in a trilogy. I bought the first book in my big Massachusetts binge, but have yet to read it.
But I've been eying this up in Chapters for months now and growing ever more paranoid that someone will steal this bargain away from me before I'm sure I want it. The precious.
And this is exactly the sort of weird compulsive behaviour that this blog is supposed to be helping me curb.
The Damage: €3.99
55) The Last Colony - John Scalzi (used paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
Third book in Scalzi's Old Man's War series which has been reliable popcorn scifi so far.
The Damage: €3.99
56) Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Where? Chapters
Why?
I was in the R section looking (somewhat optimistically) for The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov ,which I suspect I'm going to have to order online.
I'm not entirely sure where I heard of Sparrow, but it was on my to-read list, so I guess I musta had my reasons. Am I interested in space Jesuits? I suppose I'll find out.
The Damage: €7.99
Total Spend: €513.64
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Sequel to a book I read and enjoyed.
As an aside, the buyer for Hodges Figgis's Science Fiction section is an absolute god. There is so much there that I cannot find on shelf anywhere else in Ireland, including plenty of imports, and not just from the big six, small press stuff as well. It is sometimes hard not to buy all the things purely as a thank you for stocking them.
So pleased am I with the selection that I am trying not to make a big thing about the fact that they have two copies of Chill, which is the second book in Bear's Jacob Ladder series and no copies of the first or final book.
The Damage: €6.90
53) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (hardback, new)
Where? Hodges Figgis
Why?
Heard about this on The Guardian Books Podcast (because I'm fancy) a few months ago. Sounded worth checking out.
It's a retelling of the Illiad.
I had a picture book full of (I suppose) Greek myths when I was a kid. All I remember of it was Achilles dragging Hector's corpse around behind his chariot, which I guess was rendered with suitable gore to have made such a lasting impression. Man I wish I could get my hands on that book again. I don't think books for kids these days are nearly as violent as they oughta be.
This was also available in trade paperback for about €5 less but I turned my nose up despite the price differential. Have I ranted about large format paperbacks already? Here's the shortened version.
They have all the awkwardness off a hardback, combined with the flimsy impermanence of a paperback. They are ridiculous and should not exist.
The Damage: €23.90 (I think, I've lost the receipt and it didn't have a sticker, it was definitely 23 something)
But, for the first time in my life I managed to fill a Hodges Figgis discount card without losing it first (they are specially designed to be too big for your wallet, and so get lost in handbags). So that's a €10 discount on all that.
54) Worldwired - Elizabeth Bear (used paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
Okay, so this is the final book in a trilogy. I bought the first book in my big Massachusetts binge, but have yet to read it.
But I've been eying this up in Chapters for months now and growing ever more paranoid that someone will steal this bargain away from me before I'm sure I want it. The precious.
And this is exactly the sort of weird compulsive behaviour that this blog is supposed to be helping me curb.
The Damage: €3.99
55) The Last Colony - John Scalzi (used paperback)
Where? Chapters
Why?
Third book in Scalzi's Old Man's War series which has been reliable popcorn scifi so far.
The Damage: €3.99
56) Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Where? Chapters
Why?
I was in the R section looking (somewhat optimistically) for The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov ,which I suspect I'm going to have to order online.
I'm not entirely sure where I heard of Sparrow, but it was on my to-read list, so I guess I musta had my reasons. Am I interested in space Jesuits? I suppose I'll find out.
The Damage: €7.99
Total Spend: €513.64
Books Bought Jan15th 2012
51) Family Values - Wendy Cope (hardback, used)
Where? Chapters
Why? I have Cope's previous three collections in paperback, I had intended to wait until this was out in paperback too so it could sit nicely with them and by other Faber & Faber books in the poetry section. But that was taking ages, so I said, fuck it.
Looking upon my bookshelves now I regret this rash action.
The Damage: €8.99
Where? Chapters
Why? I have Cope's previous three collections in paperback, I had intended to wait until this was out in paperback too so it could sit nicely with them and by other Faber & Faber books in the poetry section. But that was taking ages, so I said, fuck it.
Looking upon my bookshelves now I regret this rash action.
The Damage: €8.99
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