just another dimestore novel
I've found some pretty good books recently, new and second-hand, at discount prices. My favourite used-book store has a shelf for books that have been marked down to low low prices. These books are non-returnable and the covers have been punched with a little hole so the owner will be able to identify them if you try to sneak them back. From there, I got The Virgin Suicides (which I enjoyed), Birdsong (I found the style of writing to be stilted and off-putting and not very engaging at all) and A Fine Balance (I've read this before and thought it was terrific).
And there's another bookstore/stationery (specialises in textbooks, but sells a fair amount of other types of books as well) nearby that's have a sale of novels (except not all of the sale books are actually novels): $2.99 each. That's a bargain. From there I got Beach Boy (good, but I was not at all convinced that the narrator/protagonist was an 8-year old boy), Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything (I began to read this on my lunch break today), High Tech/High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Left on the shelves (but may go back for) The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Cambridge, Higher Ground, By the Light of My Father's Smile (I keep reading Alice Walker despite the fact that most of the time I find her style of writing intensely annoying), and Glamorama.
Along with the three brand-new books I'm expecting from Amazon, I think I'm set for reading material for the rest of the year. Next year, when my credit card has recovered from the Christmas season, I'll move on to tackling the fifty or so books on my to-read list.
And there's another bookstore/stationery (specialises in textbooks, but sells a fair amount of other types of books as well) nearby that's have a sale of novels (except not all of the sale books are actually novels): $2.99 each. That's a bargain. From there I got Beach Boy (good, but I was not at all convinced that the narrator/protagonist was an 8-year old boy), Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything (I began to read this on my lunch break today), High Tech/High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Left on the shelves (but may go back for) The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Cambridge, Higher Ground, By the Light of My Father's Smile (I keep reading Alice Walker despite the fact that most of the time I find her style of writing intensely annoying), and Glamorama.
Along with the three brand-new books I'm expecting from Amazon, I think I'm set for reading material for the rest of the year. Next year, when my credit card has recovered from the Christmas season, I'll move on to tackling the fifty or so books on my to-read list.