I was good book-buying-wise for awhile, but splurged tonight. I went to Powells to see Christopher Moore speak and bought slightly more than just his latest. The only other book I'd bought very recently was, of course, the latest Harry Potter which showed up Saturday from amazon. I haven't started it yet.

Tonight's Powells purchases:
Rose by Jeff Smith & Charles Vess
Cunt by Inga Muscio
Bone vols 2, 4, and 6 by Jeff Smith (those are the only 3 they had)
Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Fluke by Christopher Moore (the one book I meant to get)
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (heard about today on NPR)
Lanark by Alasdair Gray (read about repeatedly on BookSlut)

I've got to guess that the Jeff Smith that writes Bone isn't the Frugal Gourmet.

posted by kristin at 1:29 AM

I got behind again (and blogger keeps not wanting to keep my archive pages updated!). Last week I read Creatures of Light and Dark by Roger Zelazny. It's science fiction based on Egyptian mythology. I didn't dislike it, but it took me awhile to get into. I think Lord of Light was a lot better.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett was as good (or even better) than I'd expected. I always like his but I think this one was even better than most.

A friend was talking a few weeks ago about a series of comics she really likes and was thinking about using as a litmus test for dates. It's called Bone and she finally remembered to bring me the graphic novels to read. I read the first one Saturday night and really liked it. Volumes 2 and 3 are sitting here waiting for me. I've never been that much of a comic book fan (Sandman excepted) but I quite liked this one.
posted by kristin at 4:05 PM

This morning blogger wasn't working or I'd have posted what books I actually bought at the book sale and Powell's, but now they're put away and I'm too lazy to go find them again. The other thing I was going to post this morning that I DO remember was that for however much I liked Iain Banks' Feersum Endjinn (which was quite a bit) it was very very very annoying to read the third of it that was written phonetically (or is that fonetiklee).
posted by kristin at 5:47 PM

Yesterday's lack of willpower wasn't nearly as bad as usual since it was at a library book sale. $8. I wasn't quite so lucky at Powell's today. Ah well.

Since my last informative post I've finished 4 books (yes the reading rate has gone up lately). The Armchair Economist by Steven Landsburg was actually interesting reading, something I'd never have thought possible in a book on economics. It's one of those areas I just know nearly nothing about and figured I should learn a little something.

I've picked up a few books by Graham Joyce based on online recommendations that say I should like them if I like Jonathan Carroll. Apparently Indigo was the wrong one to start with though. I like bits and pieces of it, but think that any book that has characters who take trepanation seriously is a bit not quite right.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was wonderful in a depressing sort of way. It was a lot shorter than The Gulag Archipelago and a lot more personal since we follow only one character through a day instead of a series of statistics (interesting statistics but nonetheless stastics).

Notes from a Small Island is Bill Bryson's look at Britain. I have wanted to visit for awhile, but mostly London which is the place he spends the least amount of time on.
posted by kristin at 8:27 PM

Have I mentioned my lack of willpower in bookstores?

Recent purchases:
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
Bones of the Earth by Michael Swanwick
Worlds Enough & Time by Dan Simmons
The Armchair Economist by Steven E. Landsburg
On by Adam Roberts
Witpunk edited by Claude Lalumiere & Marty Halpern
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Little People by Tom Holt
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett
Cities edited by Peter Crowther
The Eyptian Jukebox by Nick Bantock
Paint Your Dragon by Tom Holt
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh
The Kindness of Women by J.G. Ballard
The Rainy Season by James P. Blaylock
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay (signed hardcover)
The Clueless Baker by Evelyn Raab
posted by kristin at 7:39 PM