Last Book You Bought and Why [Archive] - Page 5

Janine

11-13-2008, 03:56 PM

Oh my gosh, I bought a bunch of books the other day; Dover Publications had this big sale - called Private Sale with 25% off anything one ordered, even included the bargain bin books. They already said they shipped the order so I better make space for some new books. God knows where I am going to put them. Here are the ones I bought (they were relatively cheap)...and my friend and I placed a full order so we didn't have to pay any shipping.

The Ambassadors ~ Henry James
The Encantadas and Other Stories ~ Melville
The Golden Age ~ Kenneth Grahame, Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
Mother: A Book of Quotations ~ various authors (probably for a gift)
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories ~ various, I believe
The Voyage Out ~ Virgina Woolf
Monday or Tuesday: Eight Stories ~ various
Dulac's Fairy Tale Illustrations in Full Color

Edited this post; Jamesian pointed out to me that The Encantadas is by Melville...my confusion and bad memory.
Original Shirley Temple Paper Dolls in Full Color (either for nostalga's sake or for my grand-daughter)
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream ~ Arthur Rackham Illustrations

Petya

11-13-2008, 04:03 PM

Ulysses by Joyce

After hearing it brought up in nearly every conversation about the greatest books, I just had to get it when I started to read again. Although I am now a little intimidated by it and it's sitting in my door just waiting to be picked up.

aeroport

11-14-2008, 02:28 AM

The Encantadas and Other Stories ~ Conrad (I think, or may be multiple authors)

Not Melville?

Janine

11-14-2008, 02:57 PM

Not Melville?

Jamesian, Yes, you are absolutely right - it was Melville; just that I mixed it up, because I almost bought another similar book by Conrad. Thanks for pointing that out, I edited my former post. I wanted to read the lead story, because it stated that it is about the Galapodos Islands, which never cease to fascinate me; plus can you believe it (?), I have never read any Melville...figured this would introduce me to the author. Do you know the story - is a good one?

manolia

11-14-2008, 03:13 PM

"Naked lunch" W.S Burroughs
"Brideshead revisited" E Vaugh
"Brave new world" A Huxley

Guinivere

11-15-2008, 07:43 AM

I found The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson at a book fair. I'm not a great fan of Tennyson, but I guess I just wanted to extend my poetry collection and complete works of poetry are usually quite expensive so for a bargain I could do worse.
And I also bought Simon Wiesenthal's memoirs, The Murderers among us. Can't wait to start that one.

Janine

11-15-2008, 03:39 PM

"Naked lunch" W.S Burroughs
"Brideshead revisited" E Vaugh
"Brave new world" A Huxley

:wave:Hi manolia, I didn't read the first one, but I can attest for the other two. Both are excellent reads! Huxley wrote "Brave New World" and since I hadn't read it in years, I decided to revisit the book to view in in a new perspective. This came about because I was amazed to find out that he fashioned his protagonist after D.H. Lawrence (they were good friends up until Lawrence early death). I found my second reading really rewarding. Than after that I found this essay by Huxley free at my library "Brave New World Revisited"...I read that and found it quite interesting although one has to project yourself back in time, because some of the ideas are now antiquated, yet some have actually come into fruition, which to me made the two books fascinating.

"Brideshead Revisited" is such a different type of book - very unique. I really liked it and the mini-series, by the BBC is excellent.

Virgil and I just talked about discussing "The Rainbow" in the winter or the early spring of next year. Hope you can come aboard again. It will be such fun.

Virgil

11-15-2008, 05:59 PM

Virgil[/B] and I just talked about discussing "The Rainbow" in the winter or the early spring of next year. Hope you can come aboard again. It will be such fun.

I wouldn't miss it. :D

Janine

11-15-2008, 06:13 PM

I wouldn't miss it. :D

I know; it is your favorite book of L's.:D

Cailin

11-16-2008, 02:10 PM

Marcus Mattheus

11-16-2008, 02:20 PM

Tolstoy´s Anna Karenina and War and Peace. Picked them up from a local flea market, both paperbacks in unread condition and 0.50 euro each :D

aeroport

11-17-2008, 03:49 AM

... plus can you believe it (?), I have never read any Melville...figured this would introduce me to the author. Do you know the story - is a good one?

Janine, unfortunately, of his short fiction so far I only know the stories that are regularly taught (Bartleby, Benito Cereno, Billy Budd - all three of which I recommend); I only recognized 'The Encantadas' because it is frequently the title-story in Melville collections. Do let me know how it is, though. I would welcome an excuse to dive back into some HM.

Just ordered A Modern Instance and A Hazard of New Fortunes by William Dean Howells, along with Richter's The Critical Tradition, all for classes.

Quilp

11-17-2008, 06:51 AM

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

Heard a lot about it and just thought the time was right to try something different.

So far...I like it.

Even if it is all fiction

Scheherazade

11-17-2008, 07:08 AM

East of Eden - because I recently reread Of Mice and Men and was reminded how much I love Steinbeck.

Midnight's Children - because I've never read any of Rushdie's work :eek:and I noticed this one was on the table for Booksellers' Choice of 2008.Both books have been discussed by the Book Club if you would like to join:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17965&highlight=east+eden

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27053

sprinks

11-17-2008, 07:37 AM

Hamlet: A Novel by John Marsden
I got book vouchers with my awards ($90 worth of them, $30 per award) and among some other books and things I got that one because it always caught my attention at work experience. Also, I love the story :)

Cailin

11-17-2008, 01:12 PM

Both books have been discussed by the Book Club if you would like to join:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17965&highlight=east+eden

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27053

Thank you! Will do when I've digested them both - still stubbornly making my way through Shantaram :rolleyes:

stlukesguild

11-17-2008, 08:37 PM

I just purchased four lovely little books: Thomas à Kempis The Inner Life, Seneca On the Shortness of Life, Francis Bacon Of Empire, and Marcus Aurelius Meditations. I largely purchased them... in spite of the fact that I already own copies of most of them... because they are such handsome books: beautiful graphics with letter types based upon the era in which the work was written... letters actually embossed in the cover. All quite beautiful... and also inexpensive:thumbs_up

manolia

11-18-2008, 07:19 AM

:wave:Hi manolia, I didn't read the first one, but I can attest for the other two. Both are excellent reads! Huxley wrote "Brave New World" and since I hadn't read it in years, I decided to revisit the book to view in in a new perspective. This came about because I was amazed to find out that he fashioned his protagonist after D.H. Lawrence (they were good friends up until Lawrence early death). I found my second reading really rewarding. Than after that I found this essay by Huxley free at my library "Brave New World Revisited"...I read that and found it quite interesting although one has to project yourself back in time, because some of the ideas are now antiquated, yet some have actually come into fruition, which to me made the two books fascinating.

"Brideshead Revisited" is such a different type of book - very unique. I really liked it and the mini-series, by the BBC is excellent.

Virgil and I just talked about discussing "The Rainbow" in the winter or the early spring of next year. Hope you can come aboard again. It will be such fun.

I learnt about "brave new world" in this forum and since people are raving about it i thought i'd give it a go. As for "Brideshead revisited" i think it was either you or malwethien that recommended this book :)
I'd like very much to read "the rainbow". I have already purchased a copy and it is right here waiting to be read. So just pick a date, whenever it is most convenient to both of you and i'll join :)

bazarov

11-18-2008, 10:25 AM

Animal Farm, Nobody in Paris and London by Orwell
Hooligan's Confession by Yesenin

Niamh

11-19-2008, 03:41 PM

The Twilight Saga...
I bought it out of sheer Curiosity....cant stop reading it....

Guinivere

11-19-2008, 05:57 PM

The Twilight Saga...
I bought it out of sheer Curiosity....cant stop reading it....

I know what you mean. You hear about it from everyone. I had to buy them too. And all I can say is that I thought the first one good and the second one, well ...... for me it went downhill from there. :)

Niamh

11-20-2008, 10:06 AM

I know what you mean. You hear about it from everyone. I had to buy them too. And all I can say is that I thought the first one good and the second one, well ...... for me it went downhill from there. :)

I really enjoyed the first one...they second one wasnt as good, like the third one, and the last one iritated me to the point where i thought she could have ended the series in a completely different way from the story that was the fourth book and redeemed the power of the first.

Emil Miller

11-20-2008, 03:34 PM

I have just finished The Pit by Frank Norris ( masterly ) and tomorrow will begin The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford which I purchased yesterday.
Why? Because although I read it years ago, I had forgotten it and Virgil gave it his recommendation in another thread recently.

nessgavin

11-20-2008, 04:52 PM

Uh-oh, this thread is giving me ideas for more books I MUST have.

The last book I bought was the new Illustrated Origin of the Species. Next year is Darwin's 200 birthday. I'm reading Origin for a class. I have a copy of the Harvard classics, from l909! Everytime I try to dog-ear a page it breaks! I get a kick out of it but the new Darwin looked so beautiful with it's illustrations and footnotes, I just couldn't resist!

byquist

11-20-2008, 10:54 PM

Used, but good, George Elliot's Middlemarch for $3.50. That's about 3 pages per penny, and many many hours of quality occupation. This is a perfect deal as far as entertainment in this world economy.

Dr. Hill

11-20-2008, 11:30 PM

Janine

11-21-2008, 05:07 PM

Recently had an excursion of sorts in Bethlehem, visiting various used book stores. I picked up a few works of Dickens, "Return of the Native" by Thomas Hardy, "Animal Farm" by Orwell, "A Journal of the Plague Years" by Defoe, and a large, multi-thousand page book of Victorian poetry for twenty dollars in all. Quite the deal.

Oh, I love used book stores - sound like you got lucky and made a killing - twenty bucks for all those - wowy. Those are all good novels to find. I simply adored the Hardy book "Return of the Native". I love all of Hardy's work especially. In fact my first Hardy book I found at a local yardsale - I had not even heard of the author and that reading really launched me on a quest to read most or all of his work.

Welcome to the forum, Dr. Hill!

Captain Trips

11-22-2008, 12:07 AM

The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk.

Why? Because I read McCarthy's book Outer Dark and thought The Road looked interesting, as I do like apocalyptic stories. Chuck Palahniuk seems like a fun author and I wanted to start with something that wasn't his most well-known work (Fight Club) so I decided on Invisible Monsters, especially after I saw that the publishers initially rejected it for being too disturbing or something like that.

Jilvin

11-22-2008, 12:32 AM

"The Structure of Evolutionary Theory" by Stephen Jay Gould.

Dark Muse

11-22-2008, 05:17 PM

I did not get much this time becasue I could not find the books I was looking for, but I picked up a couple of things

Women In Love and The Complete Short Stories of D.H. Lawrence Volume 3

Janine

11-22-2008, 05:53 PM

I did not get much this time becasue I could not find the books I was looking for, but I picked up a couple of things

Women In Love and The Complete Short Stories of D.H. Lawrence Volume 3

Alright - Dark Muse! Good for you. :thumbs_up I thought you read and discussed with us "Women in Love". If not you can look up the discussion we had a year or so ago. It was excellent. Enjoy the book.

Dark Muse

11-22-2008, 06:49 PM

No I have not. I know it feels like I have been here forever. Haha!

But I have only read The Rainbow and Sons and Lovers as far as novels go.

Janine

11-22-2008, 09:02 PM

No I have not. I know it feels like I have been here forever. Haha!

But I have only read The Rainbow and Sons and Lovers as far as novels go.

Yeah, really it does to me; that is because you stay up late like I do.

Well, now you have the three most noted ones. I love "Women in Love" - it probably is my favorite of all of Lawrence's novels. The discussion went quite well here; in fact, manolia wants to us to discuss "The Rainbow" sometime next year. We had thought of doing it this year but already the year is at an end. Virgil agreed that late winter/early spring would be a good prediction. I hope you can join in the discussion group at that time. It is great book.

Dark Muse, you would laugh if you saw my 3 editions of the short stories - two are completely fallen appart. In fact, it got to the point where I simply took them appart; that way I could read each story, without being bothered with the whole book in pieces. I wish Cambridge would come out with one edition containing all the short stories, of which there are 3 editions currently. You were lucky to find the 3rd. Those are not easy to come across. I bought mine off Amazon and as I say, two are now in pieces.

crystalmoonshin

11-22-2008, 09:50 PM

Philip Pullman's "The Amber Spyglass" and "Crystal Legends" (I forgot the name of the author, but the book's a compilation of stories related to crystals.)

aeroport

11-24-2008, 01:20 AM

La France contemporaine - I forget the author
Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
Pudd'nhead Wilson - Twain
Huckleberry Finn - Twain
A Connecticut Yankee - Twain
All for classes.

Everyman - Philip Roth
It was only $6!

Tallon

11-24-2008, 03:04 AM

Today i purchased:

Jude The Obscure - Thomas Hardy: because of all the recommendations on here (the lady at the bookshop said "It's good to see someone reading Hardy" :) )
All Quiet On The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque: because i wanted a book on WW1.
and two lovely hardbacks of The Trial - Franz Kafka and The Portrait Of A Lady - Henry James.
For a total of 30NZD(15USD).

LadyWentworth

11-24-2008, 03:16 AM

All Quiet On The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque: because i wanted a book on WW1.

I love that book! The movie was pretty good, but there is so much more to the story with the book, of course. It is excellent.

jupiter

11-24-2008, 03:26 AM

I just bought Joyce's "Ulysses". The Modern Library edition with the interesting dust jacket photo of Joyce with an eyepatch. He saw the human condition truer with 1 eye and glaucoma then most. The minutiae, the ego, the absurdity of existance. I'm hoping a good long read over these winter months, and help understanding the complexity of the text from new friends here, will quell my anxiety and make me feel good about the accomplishment.

TheFifthElement

11-24-2008, 07:12 AM

Leviathan by Paul Auster

because I need my fix!

Janine

11-24-2008, 03:07 PM

I love that book! The movie was pretty good, but there is so much more to the story with the book, of course. It is excellent.

You know, I never did read this book, but I loved the movie; I saw it not long ago, since my library owns it. Amazing film. I do understand that there has to be so much more in the book though; there always is. Maybe I should put that one on my reading list.

LadyWentworth

11-24-2008, 03:29 PM

You know, I never did read this book, but I loved the movie; I saw it not long ago, since my library owns it. Amazing film. I do understand that there has to be so much more in the book though; there always is. Maybe I should put that one on my reading list.

Did you see the 1930 film? There is one from '79 that stars Richard Thomas, too. I searched and searched for this book, but I could never find it anywhere until I got a job at B&N. I was thrilled to find it there (and The Lost Weekend - have you read that book or seen the film?). After I finished AQOTWF I was very depressed and I remembered thinking "Why did I just read this?". There is something about this novel, for me, that brings me so down, but I love it at the same time. The point of view through the eyes of the narrator is so realistic and, at times, quite haunting. That is how I felt about this. I loved it. I think it is worth a read. Definitely.

Janine

11-24-2008, 03:42 PM

Did you see the 1930 film? There is one from '79 that stars Richard Thomas, too. I searched and searched for this book, but I could never find it anywhere until I got a job at B&N. I was thrilled to find it there (and The Lost Weekend - have you read that book or seen the film?). After I finished AQOTWF I was very depressed and I remembered thinking "Why did I just read this?". There is something about this novel, for me, that brings me so down, but I love it at the same time. The point of view through the eyes of the narrator is so realistic and, at times, quite haunting. That is how I felt about this. I loved it. I think it is worth a read. Definitely.

You know; I don't know which film I saw now but I tend to think it was the older one - the 1930 version. I can't really remember that much about it either. I saw it a few years back; probably due for a second viewing. I just knew I was highly impressed with it. Another film I love about wartime is about these two young men in the south of Africa who are runners, for the outfit. Both youths are Australian - actually one is played by a very young Mel Gibson...the name is maybe 'Calapala' sp? It is about a historic battle fought there.

By the way, who wrote "All Quiet on the Western Front" and how long a book is it?

No, I never read "The Lost Weekend". Who wrote that novel? LW, I did not know you had worked at B&N...how fun that would be. I love being in that store....and my local library...

LadyWentworth

11-24-2008, 03:58 PM

You know; I don't know which film I saw now but I tend to think it was the older one - the 1930 version. I can't really remember that much about it either. I saw it a few years back; probably due for a second viewing. I just knew I was highly impressed with it. Another film I love about wartime is about these two young men in the south of Africa who are runners, for the outfit. Both youths are Australian - actually one is played by a very young Mel Gibson...the name is maybe 'Calapala' sp? It is about a historic battle fought there...
Well, the one in '79 was in color, if that helps with the memory at all. :) Is that Mel Gibson movie called "Gallipoli", or something like that. I have heard of it, but I have never seen it. I will have to look into it. I seem to enjoy war films, and I don't know why. I just do. :)

By the way, who wrote "All Quiet on the Western Front" and how long a book is it?
It was written by Erich Maria Remarque. It isn't too long at all. Maybe the one that I read was around 200 pages. Maybe more than that. I think it is all based on what copy you are reading. It actually is a pretty quick read, I think, though.

No, I never read "The Lost Weekend". Who wrote that novel?
This was written by Charles Jackson. Have you seen the film with Ray Milland? It is the same story, but again, there is more to the story in the novel. If you read it, you will see what I mean. Even if you never saw the movie, you would be able to figure out what wouldn't have been included in a 1945 film.

LW, I did not know you had worked at B&N...how fun that would be. I love being in that store....and my local library...
It really wasn't fun at all. The idea of it was fun, but when I was actually working there (and with some of those people :rolleyes:) , it wasn't pleasant at all. In fact, I always blame B&N for the start of the downfall of my life. Long story! :)

Janine

11-24-2008, 05:13 PM

Well, the one in '79 was in color, if that helps with the memory at all. :) Is that Mel Gibson movie called "Gallipoli", or something like that. I have heard of it, but I have never seen it. I will have to look into it. I seem to enjoy war films, and I don't know why. I just do. :)

Well, I think it was the older one - it was in black and white for certain. Who starred in that one? Yes, the film was "Gallipoli" and it is fantastic. You must see it. I watched it twice now. I think my library owns it. I would even like to buy it but usually I don't buy war films as a rule. Still this one would be worth owning. I may do so someday. Ever see this very obscure film with Mel called 'Tim', with Piper Laurie. I bought it on a dollar bin and I like it. Mel is so young and wears the shortest shorts I ever saw on a guy before - they actually sort of make you laugh. The story is about a mentally challenged guy and the woman who changes his life. It was good I thought, rather sweet story.

It was written by Erich Maria Remarque. It isn't too long at all. Maybe the one that I read was around 200 pages. Maybe more than that. I think it is all based on what copy you are reading. It actually is a pretty quick read, I think, though.

Oh good a short book; seems lately those are the only kind I can tackle and actually finish. I am liking short fiction more and more lately. I can accomplish more that way and not feel overwhelmed. Currently I am plodding through the ending of a 380 plus page book and will be happy when I am done it, alhough I am enjoying it; just can't read that much each night...so it is going slowly.

This was written by Charles Jackson. Have you seen the film with Ray Milland? It is the same story, but again, there is more to the story in the novel. If you read it, you will see what I mean. Even if you never saw the movie, you would be able to figure out what wouldn't have been included in a 1945 film.

Nope, never saw the film, but like Ray Milland. I will see if my library might have it or the book.

It really wasn't fun at all. The idea of it was fun, but when I was actually working there (and with some of those people :rolleyes:) , it wasn't pleasant at all. In fact, I always blame B&N for the start of the downfall of my life. Long story! :)

Yeah, those things always sound like fun, but then routine sets in and sometimes co-workers can spoil it, too and nasty customers for certain; I worked in retail for years, so I know. However, those were the safter jobs I had. I worked around really toxic chemicals at a few printing houses - thought that was a step up, but now I am questioning whether that did not actually cause my health issues. It is highly possible and I might even have a case....long story...but a friend of mine also worked there and has similar issues.

mercy_mankind

12-04-2008, 04:39 PM

-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
-Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Dr. Hill

12-06-2008, 01:38 PM

"The Ancestor's Tale" by Richard Dawkins as a Christmas gift for my best friend.

thelastmelon

12-07-2008, 06:20 AM

The Given Day - Dennis Lehane
I've read and loved his other books, all of them, and simply had to get this one as well.

stlukesguild

12-07-2008, 12:43 PM

The Adventures of Amir Hamza by Ghalib Labhnaul and Abdullah Bilgrami

It is an Indo-Persian epic of tales dating back to the middle ages that was definitively collected in the 19th century by the authors. The work has been described as something of tapestry of tales not unlike the Arabian Nights or the Decameron and a heroic epic worthy of the Iliad and the Odyssey or the great European romances. It certainly sounds quite promising... and relates to by current interests in Persian/Middle-Eastern art and literature.

Cailin

12-07-2008, 12:45 PM

Dubliners with lithographs by Louis le Brocquy - a gift for someone else.

bouquin

12-22-2008, 03:05 PM

American Short Story Masterpieces -- edited by Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks
Crime and Punishment -- by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Heart of Darkness and Other Tales -- by Joseph Conrad
The Good Soldier -- by Ford Madox Ford

And also because I got them for a very good price.

Joreads

12-22-2008, 11:52 PM

The Outsider. It is book club selection for next year

Dori

12-23-2008, 12:15 AM

The Outsider. It is book club selection for next year

Ooops...I still have that book from English class 4 years ago...

Vincent Black

12-23-2008, 12:17 AM

On the Road - Jack Kerouac

I had it recommended to me by several different people, and it was only $10 which is dirt cheap for a new book.

Joreads

12-23-2008, 12:18 AM

Ooops...I still have that book from English class 4 years ago...

Is it any good Dori? I have only just started it so it is a little hard to tell.

Jo

Dori

12-23-2008, 12:20 AM

Is it any good Dori? I have only just started it so it is a little hard to tell.

Jo

It was okay, I guess. I wasn't a big fan, but apparently a lot of people in my class really liked it.

papayahed

12-23-2008, 12:55 AM

Sadly, The Gift by Richard Paul Evans because someone asked for it for Christmas.

Saladin

12-23-2008, 12:15 PM

Time for me to explore the sufi poets. So i bought these three books:

1) Hafiz - The Gift
2) Rumi - The Essential Rumi
3) Omar Khayyam - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

manolia

12-30-2008, 07:48 AM

bazarov

12-30-2008, 10:21 AM

Mesha Selimovich(Meša Selimović) - Dervish and The Death
Finally found it, the best book from Balkan so far, one of the greatest ever; I have quotes from it above my bed :D

Emil Miller

12-30-2008, 11:29 AM

The Luzhin Defence by Vladimir Nobokov.

Because it is about a chess player and, although I don't play it very well, the game fascinates me.

Alexei

12-30-2008, 05:36 PM

"If on a winter's night a traveler" By Italo Calvino.

This one was quite spontaneous, since i picked the book and read the first page (something i never do in general) and it seemed quite fascinating.

I finished reading it a week ago. I think you will like it, it's a great choice. No wonder you've decided to buy after reading the first page. When I started it I thought it is going to be a great read after I read the first sentence. It makes you feel comfortable as a reader, makes you think the book was written specially for you :p. It consist mainly of beginnings and although at some point this become a bit tiring, it is definitely worth it. It's one of the best books I've read lately. I hope you will like it too :)

Silas Thorne

12-30-2008, 06:13 PM

'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak, ostensibly for my baby daughter, but actually for my own visual and verbal devourances.

gypsy_100%

12-31-2008, 05:58 PM

would be south beach diet... why because im over weight:yawnb:

Emil Miller

12-31-2008, 06:15 PM

would be south beach diet... why because im over weight:yawnb:

That has to be one of the most logical answers on this forum.

Alexei

01-17-2009, 03:08 PM

Today I bought three new books :D
"The Complete Poems of Walt Whitman" - the Wordsworth Edition. I've been searching for it for a few months and finally saw it in the book store. It is actually quite hard to find here ;)
"The Collector" by John Fowles - I've heard good things about Fowles and I decided to read something written by him.
"The Sea, The Sea" by Iris Murdoch I've read one of her books and I was quite impressed so I was curious about her other works.

semi-fly

01-17-2009, 07:34 PM

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami - I've heard good things about the author and book in general.
Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper - I misplaced or lost my copy.

Equality72521

01-18-2009, 01:40 AM

The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox

I was looking for a good murder, mystery read....I shouldn't have bought it, I needed the money for something else, but I just couldn't resist. lol.

Chava

01-18-2009, 04:48 AM

The ground beneath her feet - Salman Rushdie, and two seconds later, Shalimar the Clown.

I've been meaning to read Rushdie for a long time, and I just couldn't resist the first title, and since they were both quite cheap (I work in a bookstore, and get a substantial discount) I bought the second one as well, since i've read more about it.

papayahed

01-18-2009, 10:12 PM

Notes from the underground
Possession

I bought them for school

1n50mn14

01-19-2009, 11:31 AM

The Complete Works of Walt Whitman

I bought it because when I was in Grade three, and still excelling academically, my teacher Mr.M gave me a book of poems by old uncle Whitman. I was hooked. Unfortunately, when I moved out of home, I lost all of my books. So this is the re-start of my poetry collection.

~*Dark Faerie*~

01-19-2009, 11:20 PM

Queen, Empress, Concubine, Fifty Women Rulers from the Queen of Sheba to Catherine the Great by Claudia Gold

Why: It was a steal for the price I got on it and it looked like a great reference.

Dr. Hill

01-19-2009, 11:25 PM

http://www.trutv.com/graphics/photos/notorious_murders/famous/nietzsche_crimes/Crime-&-Punishment150.jpg

I don't know why. It was three dollars at the book store. I own three copies of this book, as of now.

Bakiryu

01-19-2009, 11:26 PM

Because I needed new books, they were cheap and I really wanted them:

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained~ Milton
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Death Note 1 and 2
Loveless 1
The Wallflower 1
Traitor to the Blood~ Barb and Jc.Hendee
A wizard of Earthsea
Inkdeath

and some others :)

*Classic*Charm*

01-19-2009, 11:35 PM

Queen, Empress, Concubine, Fifty Women Rulers from the Queen of Sheba to Catherine the Great by Claudia Gold

Why: It was a steal for the price I got on it and it looked like a great reference.

I've been wanting that book for a while! Is that the one about all the evil women, are am I combining two books in my head?

manolia

01-23-2009, 06:40 AM

Portnoy's complaint (i keep hearing about Roth and i thought it was time to have a look)

One day in the life of Ivan Denisovic

kandaurov

01-23-2009, 06:56 AM

Portnoy's complaint, eh? You're in for an outrageous book. I loved it, but I have strange tastes.

haha, three copies of Crime and Punishment! The only book I have multiple copies of is The Little Prince - I started collecting it in different languages some years ago.

I got a shipping from amazon: Marxism and Modernism (I'm hoping what's written there will make sense to me some day), The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett (because it had to be done), and Die Schachnovelle (unfortunately it's in Turkish......)

manolia

01-23-2009, 07:01 AM

Portnoy's complaint, eh? You're in for an outrageous book. I loved it, but I have strange tastes.

Hehe you just recommended the book by saying it's outrageous ;)
I was standing before a shelf of Roth's books and i just picked that randomly. Any other that you'd recommend?

I've read Marx (a bit from Das Kapital) and some works related to marxism..my fav will always be Engel's the origin of family..really really interesting ;)

kandaurov

01-23-2009, 08:16 AM

Oh yes, I do intend to recommend it! I was reading it in boring lectures and sometimes found it hard to suppress fits of laughter. Takes full advantage of the 'shock value' factor :D

Sadly I haven't read any other Roth (though I do have three of his novels in the reading queue) so I'm not the one to give recommendations. Started reading his Everyman but had to abort it because of pressing course work. Did seem to have a completely different tone to it (in relation to Portnoy's, that is).

'Tis a pity the Marxist thinkers of the likes of Adorno and Benjamin aren't as easy to read as Marx. Engel on his own I've never read, will add to my list :)

semi-fly

01-23-2009, 07:39 PM

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Light in August by William Faulkner

I bought Light in August to participate in the reading exercise that *Classic*Charm* & Joreads decided to start up. As for the other books they were on the top 100 book list and I had simply not read them yet.

Aroungaschan

01-23-2009, 11:41 PM

Lets see..
I bought Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, author of the fight club,
for my eng 102 class and absolutely hated it. It has it's points
and views but just disgusting and disturbing. So I want to
scratch that out and say MacArthur Study Bible. Well it was a
gift but I was going to buy anyway. I usually do not buy books
but maybe I will :D

*Classic*Charm*

01-24-2009, 11:28 PM

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams- Wayne Johnston
In the Skin of a Lion- Michael Ondaatje
Unless- Carol Shields

Whittier's Poetry
Milton's works (x2)...These three were old collectible-types

stlukesguild

01-25-2009, 12:32 AM

Janine

01-25-2009, 03:49 AM

I just purchased a big boxed set entitled, Japanese Woodblock Prints. It is comprised of three separate volumes, each devoted to one of the three major Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock masters: Utamaro, Hiroshige, and Hokusai. The volumes are lavishly illustrated with the most marvelous quality reproductions, and the text is an modern edit of the essays of Edmond de Goncourt. The set was fairly expensive... but after having seen it with envy yesterday, it seemed but fate that today I received a differential check in the mail for my position as department chairman in my school. Combined with a 20% off coupon I just had to have it. And how could I refuse it? My own work has been profoundly impacted by Japanese art as of recent, and I am currently preparing for a return to grad school and the completion of a Masters in Art History which will involve a unit on non-Western art (or so I say to myself to justify the expense:lol:)

stlukes, that set sounds marvelous. I think it was worth every penny. How much you will enjoy it and be enriched by your viewing. Fortunate that fate allowed you the pleasure of buying it today and this way you won't feel guilty for your expensive purchase. Coupons always help, too.

Also marvelous that you will be returning to school for completion of your Masters in Art History. That fits you perfectly. You seem to have such a storehouse of thought and knowledge of the arts and artists. I wish you all the luck in the world and great success!

Cailin

01-25-2009, 10:10 AM

The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Biography of Thomas Hardy

Bought them because they were 3 for 2 in the shop. The 1st two had the movie tie-in covers, which I HATE, but I've wanted to read them for a while so bought them anyway!

Have since finished The Reader and will launch into one of the other two once this week of work is over.

Niamh

01-25-2009, 10:53 AM

First edition of The Playboy of the Western world.
Why? Because its a First edition of The Payboy of the Western World!!!!!

Cayenne

01-25-2009, 01:21 PM

The selected works of Virginia Woolf

Because I've wanted to get it for about a year so I finally decided to buy it.

JarethDrakul

01-26-2009, 04:03 PM

The Hellbound Heart by Cliver Barker

I've been meaning to get ahold of a copy for years then I saw it in a supermarket for £1 so I thought I'd buy it.

NickAdams

01-26-2009, 04:16 PM

The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett (because it had to be done)

Yes it did.:nod:

Janine

01-27-2009, 02:40 PM

Sean O'Casey
Three Dublin PLays

The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and Paycock, The Plough and the Stars

Can't wait to read it. Saw the first play performed for the BBC on Youtube; I was highly impressed with the material.

1n50mn14

01-27-2009, 03:44 PM

Salome and Other Plays- Oscar Wilde.
Why: for the boy. He loves Oscar Wilde, and this was a really fantastic, gorgeous leather bound book.

A Passage to India- E.M Forster
Why: because I loved it when I read it in grade eight or so, but lost my copy a few household moves ago.

Phangirl7

01-27-2009, 04:33 PM

I bought 4 new books this past Sunday at WaldenBooks in the mall.
1. Frankenstien- Mary Shelly. (I've been wanting it.)
2. Breaking Dawn- Stephenie Meyer (I have the other 3 and have been wanting this one.)
3. Harry Potter: Tales of Beedle the Bard. (I've been wanting it.)
4. A Joker graphic novel called Going Sane. (I only got it because I couldn't find the 4th book I was looking for.)
P.G.7.

Janine

01-27-2009, 04:35 PM

Salome and Other Plays- Oscar Wilde.
Why: for the boy. He loves Oscar Wilde, and this was a really fantastic, gorgeous leather bound book.

Becca, I read all of Oscar Wilde's plays, but this one. I love his work! I really must do so. Lately, I have been into plays; I saw one on a DVD the other night. Just curious, who is 'the boy'?

A Passage to India- E.M Forster
Why: because I loved it when I read it in grade eight or so, but lost my copy a few household moves ago.

Great book and a cool movie, as well. Have you seen the film based on it? It is an older film and quite good. Another author I totally adore - Forster. His books are wonderful.

bailo

01-28-2009, 04:51 PM

Bought: Watchmen
Because: Everybody was reading it and it was supposed to be really good.
I read it and, yes, it is.

CaptainPillows

01-28-2009, 05:03 PM

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

I'd been meaning to buy this one for quite a while and I'm glad I finally did!

GX4146

01-28-2009, 11:47 PM

Ballad of sad cafe by Mccullers

Bumbeli

01-29-2009, 07:54 AM

Yesterday I bought Pushkin - Jewgeni Onegin (wannted to read it for quite some time), John Updike - Rabbit at rest (after reading his short stories I want to read one of his novels and I really liked the title) and Steinbecks - Grapes of Wrath in a really cool looking edition (I've read so much about here on the forums, I decided to buy it and eventually read it during the holidays).
I had quite a long list of books to buy, including Catch 22, To kill a mockinbird and some of Beckett's english work, but even the best english bookshop in vienna didn't have half of the books, so I ended up ordering "The Sun also rises" by Hemingway, "As I lay Dying" by Faulkner (even though I kinda regret not getting "The Sound and the Fury" instead) and "Portrait of the artist as a young man" by James Joyce (I really enjoyed Ulysses, so I figured it would be only logical if I read more of his work). And my father got me a copy of 1984 by Orwell too, about time I read that one.

johann cruyff

01-29-2009, 08:17 AM

Yesterday, I bought Umberto Eco's On Ugliness, after I'd been saving for it for a couple of months. Such a great book.

positiveion

01-29-2009, 02:43 PM

I don't really buy books because the library here is so great.

The most recent book I bought would be Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, as I was itching to read it, couldn't find it anywhere in this town and just happened to be in the USA. This was almost a year ago, though.

dfloyd

01-29-2009, 03:27 PM

Why?
I collect books published by the Limited Editions Club (LEC). This is the only Verne novel published by the LEC which I don't have and have never read.

Mariamosis

01-29-2009, 04:13 PM

Albert Camus - The Stranger
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
Mark Twain - The Tragedy of Pudd'Nhead Wilson

Why? They were cheap enough and sounded interesting

chrismythoi

01-29-2009, 04:19 PM

wigan pier, by orwell.
i often buy books from charity shops and so this was both a bargain and one of the few orwells i've not read

Wilde woman

01-30-2009, 07:03 AM

When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris, because I'm an unabashedly wild flaming fangirl of his :D

Tales of Beedle the Bard - JK Rowling, an Xmas gift for my best friend, aka Potter fanatic

Dante: The Poet, the Political Think, the Man - Barbara Reynolds, because while I was researching for my Dante paper, I discovered this book conjectured that Dante smoked weed to bring on his spiritual visions. :lol:

AND

T.H. White's The Once and Future King - Elisabeth Brewer for $70 on amazon!! :eek: Why amazon? Cuz I couldn't find it at any of the other SIX bookstores I snooped around. Why else? Cuz I'm an Arthurian superfreak. Oh, and I was writing a paper. :D

Idril

02-01-2009, 11:55 AM

The Sagas of the Icelanders because I've decided I want to read all the sagas and this is a wonderful collection of several of them all in one place, only one of which I've already read so it was quite a bargain.

thelastmelon

02-04-2009, 12:04 PM

I bought following books because I received a gift card for books this Christmas, and I only bought books that I've either been recommended or simply been wanting to read for a while.

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair.
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman: Good Omens.
John Ajvide Lindqvist: Handling the Undead.

Mag Master 21

02-04-2009, 12:50 PM

Went on a bit of a buying spree thanks to this forum... :)

Doctor Zhivago (Everyman's Library)
Boris Pasternak; Hardcover

Oblomov (Everyman's Library)
Ivan Goncharov; Hardcover

The Complete Short Novels (Everyman's Library)
Anton Chekhov; Hardcover

The Adolescent (Everyman's Library (Cloth))
Fyodor Dostoevsky; Hardcover

Notes from Underground (Everyman's Library)
Fyodor Dostoevsky; Hardcover

Dead Souls (Everyman's Library)
Nikolai Gogol; Hardcover

The Collected Tales (Everyman's Library)
Nikolai Gogol; Hardcover

The Portrait of a Lady (Everyman's Library)
Henry James; Hardcover

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Everyman's Library)
James Joyce; Hardcover

The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov

Les Miserables
Victor Hugo; Hardcover

The Child of Pleasure, 1898 edition
Gabriele D'Annunzio

The Triumph of Death, 1st Ed 1923
Gabriele D'Annunzio

The Flame of Life, 1919 edition
Gabriele D'Annunzio

Phranchesskah

02-04-2009, 02:49 PM

I have come up with a plan with my friend, in which we each buy a book from a second hand bookshop (a bookshop which we are both in love with), read the books, swap them a week later, read the swapped books and then re-donate them to the shop a week after that. Today was the first day, and I ended up purchasing three books. I tried to buy things that we'll both enjoy, and I didn't want anything heavy because this week I am hoping to read some other books too.

The first book I picked up was Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg. This jumped out at me immediately because of the word 'snow' in the title. This week, we've had an more snow here than I have ever experienced in my life, so I thought it was quite fitting. I wasn't sure that my friend would necessarily enjoy it though, and I was after something slightly shorter (this around 400 pages; not long long long but I am aiming to read quite a lot this week and wanted something really light).

The second book was Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. This is exactly the sort of thing I was after; entertaining and light.

The third book was JPod by Douglas Coupland. I just couldn't help myself.

Unfortunately when I came home, my mum immediately told me that she has both of the former two books so I needn't have spent money on them. I can't really get a refund as it's a charity shop, but oh well. At least I've donated money to a nice charity and therefore feel like a good citizen. ;p

Bumbeli

02-04-2009, 03:36 PM

I've read the first one, Miss Smilla's feeling for snow quite a while ago, it was a good read. A few weeks later I saw the movie, and was really disappointed.
The movie version of High Fidelity on the other hand is really really great, I never read the book but the movie with John Cusack is among my favourite movies of the last years.

@topic: Finally got my hands on a copy of "The Sound and the Fury", I was looking for that for quite some time and I think it will be the next book after finishing the amazing Anna Karenina.

Phranchesskah

02-04-2009, 04:35 PM

I tend to avoid films made from good books, if I can help it. In primary school I absolutely refused to watch any part of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone during an English lesson, because at the time I sincerely felt that the film had ruined my life. I was somewhat obsessed with the Harry Potter books at a young age, until the first film was released, to which I reacted ...quite negatively.

Films always tend to be disappointing if you've actually read the book, even if the film in and of itself is superb.

...sorry, off topic.

Bumbeli

02-05-2009, 06:47 AM

Lucky me, I never read the book.

And I added Rawls- A theory of justice to my libary.
If I would only read books at the same rate I buy them.

beth01081

02-07-2009, 02:35 PM

I recently went on a book buying trip just because i felt like it. I got three boks. Here they are:
The Importance of Being Earnest-Oscar Wilde- Because I watched the movie and wanted to see what the book was like. Btw, I loved it!!!

The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne- I just started reading it. It seem interesting but the language is complicated. We'll see.

A Passage to India- E. M. Forester- The back of it looked good. And it was relatively cheap. only 5 or 6 dollars.

So, now you know.
Bethy

Janine

02-07-2009, 03:21 PM

Welcome to the forum, Beth! I have read all of the books below and love them all exceedingly. I love other books by the same authors. I read a lot of each. I am sure you will enjoy all three of these books.

I recently went on a book buying trip just because i felt like it. I got three boks. Here they are:
The Importance of Being Earnest-Oscar Wilde- Because I watched the movie and wanted to see what the book was like. Btw, I loved it!!!

I loved the film based on the play "The Importance of Being Ernest"; if you enjoyed that one, try "An Ideal Husband". I like that one even more. I believe that Rupert Everet is in both.

The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne- I just started reading it. It seem interesting but the language is complicated. We'll see. Incredible book; great complex characters; language may be a bit difficult, but stick with it, since it is worth the effort. Several films I found to be good, which are based on the novel. Another novel by Hawthorne which I enjoyed was "The House of the Seven Gables".

A Passage to India- E. M. Forester- The back of it looked good. And it was relatively cheap. only 5 or 6 dollars.

Great book and wonderful film version directed by David Lean. I own both and love them both equally. I also love his book "Room with a View". I read it twice. The movie with Helene Boheme Carter is marvelous.

So, now you know.
Bethy Yes, now we know you real name. Nice to meet you!

pagebypage

02-07-2009, 05:56 PM

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy.

I couldn't help myself. I'm a Dead Head.

shortstoryfan

02-07-2009, 06:05 PM

Sense and Sensibility, because JBI said it was the only Austen novel he wouldn't recommend.

Emil Miller

02-07-2009, 07:24 PM

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy.

I couldn't help myself. I'm a Dead Head.

But of course you are dear boy.

subterranean

02-08-2009, 05:01 AM

I'm reading more non fictions these days and these are the last 3 books I bought in the last few days.

The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything by Robert H. Frank
More or less like the series of Why Pinguin feet don't freeze. The book contains questions on many practical things that we found in every day life, which probably most people in general wouldn't know the answer. Maybe because we, in general, already have lots of important questions to answer, or simply because we just don't care about why milk is sold in rectangular container boxe yet soda drink is packed in a cylindrical can, or why cleaners charged more on women's clothes than men's, or why DVD box is larger than CD box though the two CDs are in the same size.

Why don't Spiders Stick to their Webs? by Robert Matthews.
Same genre, if I may call it genre. Questions and answers on practical things in life or things that we often found or heard every day from epxlained from scientific point of view. And it's pretty good for me personally as some of the explanations in the book deal with things that I used to believe to be true just because my mom told me while I was still a kid :) (don't read with dim light, you'll ruin your eyes!).

Falling off The Edge: Globalization, World Peace & Other Lies by Alex Perry
Award winning journalist shared his investigations and foundings on the victims of globalization, economic disparities, and the international efforts to achieve world peace.

pagebypage

02-11-2009, 07:45 AM

But of course you are dear boy.

:lol::lol::lol:outta the ballpark!

MarkBastable

02-11-2009, 07:55 AM

Hubbub: Filth, Noise and Stench in England 1600 - 1770 by Emily Cockayne

How can you not buy a book with a title like that?

thelastmelon

02-15-2009, 07:42 PM

I just ordered following books:

Out of the Silent Planet - C.S. Lewis
The Elder Gods - David Eddings
Grass for His Pillow - Lian Hearn
Brilliance of the Moon - Lian Hearn
The Harsh Cry of the Heron - Lian Hearn
Heaven's Net is Wide - Lian Hearn

Has anyone read any of these books, and have an opinion about them? :) No spoilers though, thanks.

shortstoryfan

02-15-2009, 07:48 PM

The last two books I bought were "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" by Haruki Murakami and "The Master of Petersburg" by J.M. Coetzee. I loved Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" so I wanted to read more of his works and I read about Coetzee on wikipedia and thought he would be interesting to read.

five-trey

02-15-2009, 08:02 PM

Narrative of the Life - Frederick Douglass

I had just read Invisible Man and found it really interesting and wanted to read more African American literature, so I started with Douglass, since I had already read some of his work.

The Comedian

02-16-2009, 04:07 PM

Green Lantern/Green Arrow Volume 2. Adams/O'Neill

Very good read.

Tournesol

02-16-2009, 04:15 PM

'Nights in Rodanthe' by Nicholas Sparks
I bought it because I wanted to watch the movie, but I had to read the novel first. The novel was waay better!

Kiaroula

02-16-2009, 07:52 PM

A book from Ryszard Kapuscinky, I think that the English title is "Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the Twenty-First Century", but I'm not sure. I bought it because I see a lot of intolerants and xenophobics around me, and I wanted to think about it.

bouquin

02-17-2009, 05:40 AM

Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth - by Naguib Mahfouz.... because I love Mahfouz .... and I was in Egypt, with my head full of the breath-taking monuments I was visiting & of the stories of pharoahs and their gods.

Oniw17

02-17-2009, 09:19 AM

The Good Earth, mostly because I really liked it back when I read it the first time.

GED1

02-17-2009, 02:57 PM

Wallace Stegner - Collected Stories

I started reading Stegner some years ago, first his Pulitzer-winning Angle of Repose, followed by Big Rock Candy Mountain and non-fiction. He is certainly an American master. I wanted to read more of his short fiction and have been rewarded by more interesting tales.

Idril

02-17-2009, 08:14 PM

Red Cavalry ~ Isaac Babel
Collected Stories ~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Case of Comrade Tulayev ~ Victor Serge
Serious Game ~ Hjalmar Söderberg
Soul ~ Andrey Platonov
The Song of the Red Ruby ~ Agnar Mykle

Lord Bas

02-17-2009, 10:58 PM

The Brothers Karamazov, and Notes from the Underground because Crime and Punishment was excellent.

Bakiryu

02-18-2009, 08:59 PM

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Luxe Series
Some manga.

eyemaker

02-20-2009, 01:30 AM

Watership Down- Adams
A required read. :)

Tallon

02-20-2009, 03:43 AM

1. W. Somerset Maugham - The Moon and Sixpence
2. Heard good things about it here.
3. "I confess that when i first made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary."
4. 130/215
5. I love it so far, there are some really funny passages and some really poignant ones, great writing.

sofia82

02-20-2009, 04:40 AM

Paul Auster New York Trilogy, I gave it as a present so I don't have it :D

Wilde woman

02-20-2009, 04:57 AM

Watership Down- Adams
A required read. :)

One of my favorites as a child. :)

Bumbeli

02-20-2009, 07:04 AM

Paul Auster New York Trilogy, I gave it as a present so I don't have it :D

I got that as a present for christmas, haven't read it though.
Bought myself "The book of disquiet" by Pessoa yesterday, wanted to get it for some time now.

Jassica

02-20-2009, 07:05 AM

Anne Bronte - Agnes Grey
James Joys - Dubliners
E.M. Remarque - Black obelisk

thelastmelon

02-20-2009, 08:20 AM

A few days ago, I bought:
Jason Goodwin: The Janissary Tree.
Neil Gaiman: Stardust.
Inger Edelfeldt: Juliane och jag (Translation: Juliane and I)

thinkingsam

02-20-2009, 12:26 PM

Bought 3 books together recently: Eon, Eternity, and Legacy, all by Greg Bear.

When it comes to novels I like two kinds of books. First, anything with a complex and grand plot; second, anything particularly laden with scientific facts. Those 3 books fall into the latter category :)

mono

02-20-2009, 07:56 PM

The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoevsky, simply because I love Dostoevsky; I have read his Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov (by far my favorite so far), Notes from the Underground, and The Double. He has not disappointed me once.

Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac. I read The Black Sheep by Balzac a long time ago, and remember loving it! A friend of mine recommended this one as a good 'next step.'

blondiemcfi

02-23-2009, 08:24 AM

A collector's edition of Anton Chekov plays!
I went to the only bookfair our town has had for ages and couldn't resist as I used to study Chekov at uni and wanted a keepsake!

PoeticPassions

02-23-2009, 08:39 AM

The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoevsky, simply because I love Dostoevsky; I have read his Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov (by far my favorite so far), Notes from the Underground, and The Double. He has not disappointed me once.

I have read all of Dostoevsky's novels, except the one that you note... and I have read most of his stories as well. So I bought The Adolescent for the very same reason as you... and I cannot seem to get through it. D has never before disappointed me, but I fear there is a first time for everything... let me know what you think of it... I have yet to finish it, or actually get past the first 150 pages. For some reason it just does not appeal to me.

Have you read The Possessed (or sometimes translated as The Devils)??? I love that one, though it is more political than his other works. Also, I love The Gambler and his short story "White Nights". Those are my recommendations... as well as THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD, and even POOR FOLK. Ah, so many great ones! :)

mono

02-24-2009, 11:52 PM

I have read all of Dostoevsky's novels, except the one that you note... and I have read most of his stories as well. So I bought The Adolescent for the very same reason as you... and I cannot seem to get through it. D has never before disappointed me, but I fear there is a first time for everything... let me know what you think of it... I have yet to finish it, or actually get past the first 150 pages. For some reason it just does not appeal to me.

Have you read The Possessed (or sometimes translated as The Devils)??? I love that one, though it is more political than his other works. Also, I love The Gambler and his short story "White Nights". Those are my recommendations... as well as THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD, and even POOR FOLK. Ah, so many great ones! :)
Good to know - thanks! Oddly enough, I had a bit of trouble with The Idiot, but still enjoyed it; I practically flew through everything else he write, including, your worthy mentions, The House of the Dead and Poor Folk, which I read loooooong ago - nothing has beaten The Brothers Karamazov, however. :nod:
I have not gotten around to The Possessed/The Devils yet, but have seen them on the bookstore shelves. Would you recommend any specific translator?

PoeticPassions

02-27-2009, 04:50 AM

Brothers Karamazov is definitely my favorite Dostoevsky, followed by Notes from Underground

as for a translator, I read this edition: http://www.amazon.com/Demons-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/dp/0679734511/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235724486&sr=8-2

Two translators on that one... I am not sure if I have a recommendation. Or whether having two translators complicates things, or makes it better... all I know is that I really enjoyed it.

I think I have always read different translators, which might not be a good thing either.

JBI

03-05-2009, 01:46 AM

Just picked up a copy of Don DeLillo's Underworld, hardcover, mint condition, first edition, with a price tag of $34CAD on the dust jacket, all for the great price of $3CAD at a university sale - a great find, if I've ever seen one. The book's been read maybe once, and I doubt in its entirety.

promtbr

03-05-2009, 03:12 AM

Trio- Robert Pinget (of the Noveau Romain group)
Planetarium -- Nathalie Sarruate (ditto)
A Dreambook for Our Time--- Tadeusz Konwicki (old out of print penguin)
Wizard of the Crow-- Ngugi Wa Thiongo
Crossing the Sierra de Gredos--- Peter Handke
Dom Casmurro-- Machado De Assis
Eternal Curse of the Reader of These Pages-- Manual Puig
A Palm-Wine Drinkard--- Amos Tutuola
How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone--- Sasa Stanisic

Phangirl7

03-07-2009, 12:35 PM

My mom and stepdad got me as a present for dogsitting last weekend while they were on thier honeymoon. The entire graphic novel of Watchmen. Haven't gotten into it yet.
P.G.7.

Babyguile

03-07-2009, 04:10 PM

Daughter of the Empire - Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist.

Why? I love me some high fantasy. Must say, I assumed wrongly about the series. They're more about political intrigue and the complications of running and maintaining and ailing empire. Can't win everytime.

Dark Muse

03-08-2009, 04:52 PM

I got a Barns and Nobel gift card for my brithday originally I had gone hoping to find 20 Years After since I just finnished the Three Musketeers but they did not have it so I picked up a couple of other things I wanted to read plus found an interesting sounding book in the bargin books section.

In the Company of the Courtesan ~ Sarah Dunant
Thirsty ~ M.T Anderson
The Age of the Gladiators ~ Rupert Matthews

Chava

03-09-2009, 12:16 PM

One flew over the Cuckoo's nest - Ken Kesey

Just happened to pass the bookstore on my way to grocery shopping. Just another of those books I've read somewhere but never owned...

eyemaker

03-09-2009, 11:14 PM

Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn.. It's a must for us to read her works- a fellow Filipino writer. I adore her works actually, which perhaps is one of the reason why I plead for money for my mother. :)
For some reasons, I like the "title" it captures the nature of Filipinos which is eating "dog meat".. Don't get me wrong- I never ate any cuisine with such ingredient.

rtc143

03-10-2009, 12:22 AM

Added The Great Gatsby to my collection a week ago...great classic. I love Fitzgerald and it was pretty cheap haha. Also, I bought a play called Par for the Corpse...hilarious. Read it...

Zee.

03-10-2009, 03:11 AM

Watership Down- Adams
A required read. :)

Hey - me too :)

Sapphire

03-10-2009, 04:12 AM

Watership Down... I saw the (cartoon) movie as a child and I still don't dare to watch it again. It is scary/sad as can be! I still see that one scene where... Nevermind. Maybe I should read the book to get past it.

Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy)

I needed a book to read on my journey to and from work. It seemed interesting enough on the first glare, it wasn't too thick and it wasn't too expensive. And the cover was OK: something I wouldn't mind holding in my hands :)
I'm not that far in the book yet, but I think I'll enjoy it ;) Really curious about what is gonna happen next.

Sapphire

03-10-2009, 04:18 AM

Oops double post... Who do I have to warn about this?

eyemaker

03-10-2009, 08:59 PM

Hey - me too :)
I certainly love rabbits. How did you find the story?:)

Dr. Hill

03-10-2009, 09:02 PM

The Plague by Camus. To read it . . .

LadyWentworth

03-12-2009, 12:14 AM

Ticket to Ride - Larry Kane
Life Mask - Emma Donoghue

I got them both from the Dollar Store. That seems to be where my store of choice is lately for all of my books.

k.brignell

03-12-2009, 04:21 AM

Isn't it perculier that hardly any of us 'literature junkies' buy one book at a time, always 2, 3 or more!

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Brave new world by Aldous Huxley
The surgeon of Crawthorne by Simon Winchester

Cayenne

03-12-2009, 02:54 PM

Tove Jansson - Moominsummer Madness

Because I love her books, they are so sweet and have very wise thoughts.

chrysalis_stage

03-21-2009, 10:01 AM

Last book bought:
Tess of the D'urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

Why bought it:

Have been meaning to read it for a while, read a little on Google book search and then thought I had to get it because I loved it too much and wanted to underline/highlight bits I loved.

Amethyst2010

03-21-2009, 10:55 AM

The last book I bought, which was last week, was the English translation of The Reader originally written in German by Bernhard Schlink.
The reason I bought it was that Kate Winslet won an Academy Award for the movie based on this book. I was interested by the movie sypnosis. This book is really worth a read. It is short and could be finished in three to four hours. Each of the three parts deal with very different emotions.

Bookthief

03-21-2009, 11:17 AM

Last book I purchased is entitled: You Suck [A love story]

Why?
I was at the Walden bookstore and was planning on buying a journal.
Instead I spotted a light, bright blue covered book with large red letters
and a vampire mouth with fangs. Not only did that catch my attention; the title itself got me curious.
After reading the entire book, I must say.....it did not suck. haha:)

Ophelia20

03-21-2009, 11:24 AM

The last book I bought is entitled: The Penguin Book of American Short Stories
The reason is: I'm preparing for my MA in American Literature and those stories will enrich my knowledge.

papayahed

03-21-2009, 11:28 AM

Bookthief

03-21-2009, 11:35 AM

I'm always intrigued by that book.

YES! I love the authors form of writing.

LadyWentworth

03-21-2009, 06:59 PM

Ghosts of London - J.A. Brooks
The Ghost Hunters Favorite Cases - Hans Holzer
Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser
The Day Loncoln Was Shot - Jim Bishop
Wild Women - Autumn Stephens

Why? They were cheap. I got them from a used bookstore that is going out-of-business for half off of an already decently discounted price.

dfloyd

03-21-2009, 07:37 PM

Justine by Lawrence Durrell. It is one of a quartet of books about the lifes and loves of characters living in Alexandria, Egypt just prior to and during WWII. The first three novels tell the same story but in different perspectives. Time dosesn't move onward until the fourth or last novel. Have just finished Justine and have ordered the second novel, Balthazar. Number three is Mountolive and four is Clea. Very passionate novels and extremely interesting.

Mark F.

03-23-2009, 04:51 AM

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
the Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon

danni.x

03-23-2009, 02:50 PM

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte so that I own a book by each of the Bronte sisters :)

Desolation

03-23-2009, 03:05 PM

Ulysses by James Joyce
Anarchism & Other Essays by Emma Goldman
The Complete Poems of Hart Crane
The Idiot's Guide to Learning French

They were used, and essential.

mtpspur

03-23-2009, 03:10 PM

Enter the Saint by Leslie Charteris--the complete edition. Loved the Saint back in pre-teen days and teen years then went through a snob period when I discovered better (John D. MacDonald, Adam Hall) characters but now the pendulum has swung back and I am going back to the childhood days of more innocent times. And enjoyng it, This would NOT have been possible even five years ago because Charteris never was the great writer HE thought he was but he is entertaining in a Cesar Romero kind of way.

Vicarious

03-23-2009, 03:28 PM

Hamlet--because I had to for my course. I really dislike it :(

qimissung

03-23-2009, 04:51 PM

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I heard it was good.I'm not sure why I waited until now, but I needed something to read, and there it was. It's a very involving story.

oblivion252

03-23-2009, 05:04 PM

The Canterbury Tales - to help with my independent study of the Middle Ages.

Last book ACQUIRED - History of Modern Russia, Robert Service to help with Russian A Level studies.

Scheherazade

03-23-2009, 05:22 PM

Catcher in the Rye as a birthday gift for a boy who has turned 13.

Idril

03-31-2009, 09:35 PM

The Remains of the Day ~ Kazuo Ishiguro
Cursed Days: Diary of a Revolution ~ Ivan Bunin
Martin Birck's Youth: A Novel ~ Hjalmer Söderberg
Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite ~ Anthony Trollope
The Hotel Room ~ Agnar Mykle

LadyWentworth

04-03-2009, 12:04 AM

A Slave No More - David W. Blight
Seeing Redd - Frank Beddor
The Ballad of Blind Tom - Deidre O'Connell
The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation - John F. Barker Jr.
Peter's War - Joyce Lee Malcolm
Hallam's War - Elisabeth Payne Rosen

A local bookstore has closed here after 70+ years. But the idiot that I am, I didn't go until the very last day. So there were hardly any books on the shelves. I found those above. They seemed interesting (and I needed Seeing Redd because it is a sequel to another one that I already have). So, at least I managed to leave the store with these. It is better than none at all, right? :)

MissScarlett

04-03-2009, 05:33 AM

Homecoming by Bernard Schlink because I liked The Reader.

Janine

04-03-2009, 02:40 PM

Recently, I was cleaning up room, trying to make some sense and order out of the discheveled mess and found an entire box of books, I bought not long ago from Dover Publications when they had a big sale. I was rather delighted, since I found these:

The Ambassadors ~ Henry James
The Golden Age ~ Kenneth Grahame, Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
Monday or Tuesday ~ Eight Stories ~ Virginia Woolf
The Voyage Out ~ Virginia Woolf
Crime and Punishment ~ Dostoyevski

Celtic Designs ~ Mallory Pearce
Dulac's Fairy Tale Illustrations
Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Assorted Dover Paper Dolls for my grand-daughter, when she is old enough to play with them....haha...do kids still like paper-dolls?.....haha...they are probably more for me....
Gibson Girl Paper dolls ~ Tom Tierney (probaby use for clipart or design work)

Rather a strange mix, isn't it?

MissScarlett

04-03-2009, 02:49 PM

It's a strange but wonderful mix, Janine. Enjoy! :)

Mark F.

04-03-2009, 06:53 PM

Madame Bovary - Flaubert
The Temptation of St Anthony - Flaubert
The Travels of Marco Polo
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
The Complete Tragedies of Aeschylus

I've been buying too many books recently. Ah well, I'll get around to reading them some day I suppose.

Sapphire

04-03-2009, 07:03 PM

F. Scott Fitzgerald - the Great Gatsby

I've been meaning to read it for a while. The fact that it was named to have some sort of car theme going on pushed me over the edge :)

*Classic*Charm*

04-03-2009, 08:43 PM

LadyWentworth

04-04-2009, 12:55 AM

Assorted Dover Paper Dolls for my grand-daughter, when she is old enough to play with them....haha...do kids still like paper-dolls?.....haha...they are probably more for me....
Gibson Girl Paper dolls ~ Tom Tierney (probaby use for clipart or design work)
I actually own a large variety of Tom Tierney paper dolls. I have regretted cutting some of them out now, but what else was I supposed to do with them when I was a kid? :) But still, I am mad that I did that to the others because the uncut ones look nice in the books like that. I also own a few of his coloring books. But I have said before on here that I am a big fan of coloring books. I love to color in them. I love the different fashions of his. I should look at the Dover site and see if there are any new ones.

Janine

04-04-2009, 04:43 PM

I LOVED paper dolls when I was a kid, Janine!

Haven't bought any books recently...stupid lack of funds!

*Classic*, You sound like my sister, Michele. She was the 'queen of paper dolls' in our house. Everytime she got a little money she would buy a set. I loved them too and I think we still have some of our old vintage ones in the basement somewhere. I hope they are savagable, but it's doubtful. I get all nostalgic, when I see these paper doll books on Dover. I have this friend who lives in Michigan and she makes gorgeous quilts and designs patterns herself. She made the neatest quilt using the paper doll designs from Dover - the Pride and Prejudice ones, or it may have been a general Jane Austen collection. Her quilt is just amazing to see - all apliqued.

Quote by LadyWentworth

I actually own a large variety of Tom Tierney paper dolls. I have regretted cutting some of them out now, but what else was I supposed to do with them when I was a kid? But still, I am mad that I did that to the others because the uncut ones look nice in the books like that. I also own a few of his coloring books. But I have said before on here that I am a big fan of coloring books. I love to color in them. I love the different fashions of his. I should look at the Dover site and see if there are any new ones.

LadyWentworth, Wow, you have a lot of Tom Tierney paper dolls?Cool! I am sort of thinking the same thing now, that I bought these for Brooke. Do we really want to cut them out and ruin the books?
Probably, I will give her certain ones such as the "Little Ballerina";
I bought "Shakespeare" ones which I will probably keep for my own delight.
I also bought "Gibson Girl" and "Shirley Temple"...not sure now they would mean anything to her either. Maybe, what I can do is color photo copy them and we can cut those out; what do you think of that idea? Then you always keep the book intact. I signed up for Dover samples and they send them to me often. I have files of the coloring pages. Same deal - I hope to print them out so I can eventually color with my grand-daughter. What fun that will be and I love the smell of the Crayola crayons, don't you? How that takes one back in time. :) You should look on the site. They offer tons of paper dolls and always present new ones. It's worth it to sign up for free sample of clipart, too.

Lynne50

04-04-2009, 04:50 PM

[QUOTE=*Classic*Charm*;698326]I LOVED paper dolls when I was a kid, Janine!

So did I. I even made my own sometimes. We would play with them for hours

MissScarlett

04-04-2009, 05:11 PM

My cousin and I had hundreds of paper dolls and we played with them all the time.

*Classic*Charm*

04-04-2009, 08:13 PM

[QUOTE=*Classic*Charm*;698326]I LOVED paper dolls when I was a kid, Janine!

So did I. I even made my own sometimes. We would play with them for hours

Yes, I used to trace the outlines of the dresses and make additional pieces for them haha.

*Classic*, You sound like my sister, Michele. She was the 'queen of paper dolls' in our house. Everytime she got a little money she would buy a set. I loved them too and I think we still have some of our old vintage ones in the basement somewhere. I hope they are savagable, but it's doubtful. I get all nostalgic, when I see these paper doll books on Dover. I have this friend who lives in Michigan and she makes gorgeous quilts and designs patterns herself. She made the neatest quilt using the paper doll designs from Dover - the Pride and Prejudice ones, or it may have been a general Jane Austen collection. Her quilt is just amazing to see - all appliqued.

That quilt sounds incredible!! Shakespeare Jane Austen paper dolls? Jealous! I'd keep those for myself as well haha. I don't remember which ones I had. I know there was a Little House on the Prairie set. I think I still have them all in a shoebox somewhere.

JacobF

04-04-2009, 10:31 PM

I haven't purchased any books for a while, I have quite a bit which are yet to be read and I don't really have a lot of spare time on my hands lately to read, but I'm considering buying The Manticore by Robertson Davies. Fifth Business was such a great novel and I loved the subject matter. I don't expect it to be as 'magical' as Fifth Business was, but I think it will be a good read at any rate.

Mark F.

04-05-2009, 06:43 AM

The Complete Sonnets and Poems of William Shakespeare
Selected Poems of William Carlos Williams (American Poets Project)

Janine

04-05-2009, 04:30 PM

That quilt sounds incredible!! Shakespeare Jane Austen paper dolls? Jealous! I'd keep those for myself as well haha. I don't remember which ones I had. I know there was a Little House on the Prairie set. I think I still have them all in a shoebox somewhere.

You had a "Little House on the Prairie" paperdoll set? Oh my gosh, LadyWentworth will freak out. She'll want to buy them from you.:lol:

I wish I could post the photo of the quilt for you all to see. I will ask my friend. She loves exposure and it was simply beautiful. She also made the cutest Barbie one. It had outfits and all. *Classic*, you can still buy the Shakespeare and the Jane Austen paper dolls from Dover Publishing (online). I will look them up for you. They have all kinds of cool paper dolls. Gee, we should have a paperdoll party!

Lynne, that is so cool that you and your sister made your own. I guess we did as *Classic* said. We make some additional clothes for our existing dolls.

Wow, hundreds, Lady Scarlett? That is way more than we had - sounds like great fun. Now I have the desire to go hunt for my old vintage ones - they are in a crawl space in our basement. I fear the dampness and mold may have gotten to them by now, but the floor is cement, so maybe they survived and I can air them out. They would be from the 50's. They might be worth a few bucks, but I would not want to sell them.

MissScarlett

04-05-2009, 04:52 PM

My cousin and I kept our paper dolls in huge boxes shoved under our beds.

Last book I bought was The Awakening - for here.

Janine

04-06-2009, 04:09 PM

My cousin and I kept our paper dolls in huge boxes shoved under our beds.

Last book I bought was The Awakening - for here.

Wish mine were still under the bed; then they might be preserved. Now I have such an itch to go and find those old ones in the basement. What fun it will be to see them again.

Ok, last book I bought was two nights ago. I went to Barnes and Noble with a friend and her husband. I got a book from the sale section on Van Gogh and she bought a book on Dore. We figured we could share the wealth. Can one ever go to B&N and actually NOT buy something?Needless to say, they also had a ton of DVD's on sale, so we both picked up a few of those. I should be shot; I still have some unopened! The Van Gogh book is really nice though. I had not seen many of the paintings in it and the price was incredible, so I am happy. Art books never go to waste!

*Classic*Charm*

04-06-2009, 04:11 PM

You had a "Little House on the Prairie" paperdoll set? Oh my gosh, LadyWentworth will freak out. She'll want to buy them from you.:lol:

AH! I completely forgot that she loves Little House!!

Eugenie

04-06-2009, 04:18 PM

Janine

04-06-2009, 05:08 PM

I purchased some classics, have to use up my membership at the store before it expires.
So I got A tale of Two Cities and The Scarlett Letter and let me see, oh my I can't remember, I am very tired to day. Whatever it was it was wonderful! :)

Both you mention are fine books, indeed. I loved them both. Happy reading, Eugenie and hope you get some rest!;)

Yes, *Classic*...for sure, LadyWentworth will be tracking you down to steal those paper dolls! :lol:

blp

04-06-2009, 08:14 PM

Capital vol. I

Just kind of seemed like the right time.

Scheherazade

04-07-2009, 04:56 AM

Capital vol. I

Just kind of seemed like the right time.Only if you have some capital to worry about! ;)

Mariamosis

04-07-2009, 11:48 AM

Janine

04-07-2009, 04:13 PM

'The Drinking Den' - Emile Zola
'King Solomon's Mines' - H. Rider Haggard
'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' - Mark Twain

I bought the first and latter because I love the authors, and 'King Solomon's Mines' sounded very interesting. I can't wait until they arrive!

Mariamosis, I have read the second and last and enjoyed them both; been years now. I love Haggard's book "She". I would think the Zola would be a very good read, too. My father loved his work.

Emil Miller

04-07-2009, 06:31 PM

Capital vol. I

Just kind of seemed like the right time.

Unless you are one of those masochistic readers who subject themselves to the most turgid of texts in the name of some spurious ideal, my advice would be, don't bother. I know whereof I speak, for when I was young and innocent ( I almost said stupid but it is often the same thing), I too delved into Das Kapital thinking that it had something important to say about economics, but after struggling to read the importance of part-time widget producers in Saxony to the well-being of the world community as a whole, I stopped dreaming and got on with my life. I suspect that in the current economic collapse many of the old copies of Das Kapital are being dusted off by wishful thinkers looking for that Utopia where everyone earns the same salary and the world is full of brotherly love but, realistically, it would be better to return Das Kapitel to its former usefulness as a doorstop.

Eugenie

04-07-2009, 07:17 PM

Thank you Janine, I have been looking thru the books and honestly I cannot make my mind remember at the moment. that is really sad.
But don't worry I do plan to have rest in about oh,,,,,six months or so.
Now back to those books. :(

LadyWentworth

04-07-2009, 11:15 PM

Maybe, what I can do is color photo copy them and we can cut those out; what do you think of that idea?
Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. I really do seriously regret cutting them out. But like I said, what else was I going to do with them then? It just irritates me that I ruined them like that. Also, if I hadn't cut them out I wouldn't have somehow lost one of the dresses for the Marily Monroe set!

What fun that will be and I love the smell of the Crayola crayons, don't you?Oh, it is fantastic! One of the best in the world! :p

Yes, *Classic*...for sure, LadyWentworth will be tracking you down to steal those paper dolls! :lol:
Well, if they are the ones that I think they are, she doesn't have to worry because I already have them. :D And I didn't cut those out, by the way. :)

*Classic*Charm*

04-07-2009, 11:40 PM

Well, if they are the ones that I think they are, she doesn't have to worry because I already have them. :D And I didn't cut those out, by the way. :)

http://www.treeoflifeathome.com/miva5/graphics/00000001/littlehousepaper.jpg

Those the ones?

LadyWentworth

04-08-2009, 12:34 AM

http://www.treeoflifeathome.com/miva5/graphics/00000001/littlehousepaper.jpg

Those the ones?
Yes, actually. :) But I found out that there are some Christmas Little House dolls, too. So I will probably have to get those at some time, too. :D

Chava

04-08-2009, 05:38 AM

The ground beneath her feet - Salman Rushdie. Er, I bought this because the title and the cover appealed so much to me... I'm the worst at judging a book by its cover! jesus. No self control.

k.brignell

04-09-2009, 02:01 AM

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby - because lots of people have recomended it to me and I am reading all the 50 penguin classics and its one!

parapony

04-09-2009, 02:42 AM

I just bought Armageddon In Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut because he is awesome. And I was waiting in the airport for my cousin's plane to get in.

Don Quixote Jr

04-09-2009, 02:55 AM

Last Book Purchased: Collected Stories by Franz Kafka (HB ISBN 0-679-42303-6)
Why? I like Kafka so much I decided to "upgrade" my PB to HB; mostly it was an impulse purchase since I almost always buy used HBs from Amazon.
Bonus Q&A:
What's next on my list? Amerika: The Missing Person: A New Translation, Based on the Restored Text Also by - who else? - Kafka. Altho I might wait awhile to get a better deal on the HB than Amazon has now, and they have a decent deal now...but I try to avoid buying new books at all costs, to save costs!

Lynne Fees

04-09-2009, 12:01 PM

I just finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame. My mind needs a rest. I bought The Associate by John Grisham and The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. For fun.

Carrolb2

04-09-2009, 01:22 PM

The Way of Chuang Tzu - Thomas Merton translation

I read it for class and loved it. I bought a copy just to keep in my bag and read whenever I have a few extra minutes.

TurquoiseSunset

06-14-2009, 05:46 PM

The last book I bought was Spud - Learning to Fly by John van de Ruit. It's the third one in the series and I LOVED the previous ones, so I couldn't say no to this one.

I'm waiting for my next order to arrive (tomorrow) and that will include:
The Hobbit, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Asterix the Gaul...
I'm going through a kiddies' fiction phase and buying all my old favourites from waaaay back :D

Even though I'm not for book-snobbery I will refrain from mentioning some others I have in mind :p

slobone

06-18-2009, 03:40 PM

Memoirs of Margaret Thatcher -- The Downing Street Years.

Why? It was on sale at the thrift shop for $1

Stargazer86

06-18-2009, 04:32 PM

The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I enjoyed reading Steinbeck when I was younger, but I don't own any of his books for some reason. I thought I did. I thought I should try reading him as an adult to see what I think of them now. And I still love the stories!

The ground beneath her feet - Salman Rushdie. Er, I bought this because the title and the cover appealed so much to me... I'm the worst at judging a book by its cover! jesus. No self control.

:lol: I've done that before. Don't you hate when that happens?

Is that the book that got him that big price on his head?

Red-Headed

06-18-2009, 06:28 PM

The New Oxford Book of English Verse, because it was on sale!

:thumbs_up

Frankie Anne

06-18-2009, 07:48 PM

Today I bought "Ballad of the Sad Young Men and Other Verses" by Fran Landesman. I heard someone compare her to Dorothy Parker and I really love her writings. Anyone read her? I suppose I should ask in the poetry section...

Desolation

06-18-2009, 08:19 PM

Two books: 'The Holy Terrors' by Jean Cocteau and 'Guignol's Band' by Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Why? Because I'm curious about Cocteau and Celine is my favorite writer. Plus I got a $25 Borders gift-card, that helped.

crystalmoonshin

06-19-2009, 07:23 AM

Loamhedge by Brian Jacques (my 15th book from the Redwall series). Why? Simply because I adore his works although the plots are pretty similar and I plan to collect his works.

TurquoiseSunset

06-21-2009, 01:59 PM

Yesterday I went to a 2nd hand book shop I've heard about recently, and there wasn't as much as I expected. Half of the shop is filled with Mills & Boons. But I bought:

Where Angels Fear to Tread - E.M. Forster
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
As You Like It - William Shakespeare...another one...
Dune - Frank Herbert...I've wanted my own copy for a while now, and I got it for really cheap! :D

Stargazer86

06-21-2009, 03:43 PM

TurquoiseSunset

06-21-2009, 04:20 PM

Well, what a good mommy you are! I love it when people buy their kids books and take them to the library! :p

Janine

06-21-2009, 05:00 PM

Yesterday I bought "Heart of Darkness"-Joseph Conrad and "My Bondage and My Freedom"- Fredrick Douglass. My friend and I were at B&N and they were having a buy 2 get one free sale on the classics. I've been meaning to read those two books anyway so I bought those and for the free one she picked out a D.H. Lawrence book.
And then I bought a G.I. Joe step into reading book for my 6yr old and "Harry the Dirty Dog" for my baby

Star, good for you and finding a good sale. I wonder if B&N here is having the same sale. I will check their online site. I think I bought "Heart of Darkness" awhile ago, with an order from Dover. We should read it the same time and comment on it. I don't think it's very long. Which D.H.Lawrence book did you get free? I am a big fan of the author, although I don't subscribe to all his ideas. He's still was emensely talented and wrote beautifully, poetically. I have read all his novels, so let me know.

I went to my library after a long absense these past few weeks. Mostly I got movies and CD's but I also happened to check their sale shelf and found out they had just added many books recently. The two visits combined I picked up these:

Dubliners ~ James Joyce (SB)
The Last of the Mohicans ~ James Fenimor Cooper (HB)
The Last of the Mohicans ~ James Fenimor Cooper (SB copy)
Sea Wolf ~ Jack London (HB)
Burning Bright ~ Tracy Chevalier (SB)
Merchant of Venice ~ Shakespeare (SB)
The Keys of the Kingdom ~ A.J.Cronin (SB)
Leaves of Grass ~ Walt Whitman (HB)

Hardbounds were 50 cents and softbounds were 25 cents. I would say I got a bargain! All are in new condition. If I added right, this all cost me $3.50. I guess I will keep my eyes open when I go back to my library; which will be soon to return the DVD's. Now I just have to get reading!

Turquoise Sunset, good for you, too. I love used book stores. I like the list of books you got. I read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" - we discussed it on here a few years back. I would love to read that particular Forster novel. I love his work. I have read 3 I believe: "A Room with a View", "Howard's End", and "Passage to India". Likewise I own all three film adaptations which are marvelous.

You can hardly go wrong with Shakespeare's "As You Like It". I love all Shakespeare. "Dune", I have not read but it sounds good if its anything like the movie. I saw that years ago and thought it was interesting.

TurquoiseSunset

06-21-2009, 05:43 PM

Turquoise Sunset, good for you, too. I love used book stores. I like the list of books you got. I read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" - we discussed it on here a few years back. I would love to read that particular Forster novel. I love his work. I have read 3 I believe: "A Room with a View", "Howard's End", and "Passage to India". Likewise I own all three film adaptations which are marvelous.

You can hardly go wrong with Shakespeare's "As You Like It". I love all Shakespeare. "Dune", I have not read but it sounds good if its anything like the movie. I saw that years ago and thought it was interesting.

I have to confess I've never read any novels by E.M. Forster, but this story looks like something I'd enjoy, and I've heard so many good things about his books, so I had to buy this one! Likewise for Owen Meany.

About Dune: I'm not sure which movie you saw, but I saw the mini-series, so if they are of the same quality you will definitely like the book!

Stargazer86

06-21-2009, 06:01 PM

Star, good for you and finding a good sale. I wonder if B&N here is having the same sale. I will check their online site. I think I bought "Heart of Darkness" awhile ago, with an order from Dover. We should read it the same time and comment on it. I don't think it's very long. Which D.H.Lawrence book did you get free? I am a big fan of the author, although I don't subscribe to all his ideas. He's still was emensely talented and wrote beautifully, poetically. I have read all his novels, so let me know.

I went to my library after a long absense these past few weeks. Mostly I got movies and CD's but I also happened to check their sale shelf and found out they had just added many books recently. The two visits combined I picked up these:

Dubliners ~ James Joyce (SB)
The Last of the Mohicans ~ James Fenimor Cooper (HB)
The Last of the Mohicans ~ James Fenimor Cooper (SB copy)
Sea Wolf ~ Jack London (HB)
Burning Bright ~ Tracy Chevalier (SB)
Merchant of Venice ~ Shakespeare (SB)
The Keys of the Kingdom ~ A.J.Cronin (SB)
Leaves of Grass ~ Walt Whitman (HB)

Hardbounds were 50 cents and softbounds were 25 cents. I would say I got a bargain! All are in new condition. If I added right, this all cost me $3.50. I guess I will keep my eyes open when I go back to my library; which will be soon to return the DVD's. Now I just have to get reading!

Turquoise Sunset, good for you, too. I love used book stores. I like the list of books you got. I read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" - we discussed it on here a few years back. I would love to read that particular Forster novel. I love his work. I have read 3 I believe: "A Room with a View", "Howard's End", and "Passage to India". Likewise I own all three film adaptations which are marvelous.

You can hardly go wrong with Shakespeare's "As You Like It". I love all Shakespeare. "Dune", I have not read but it sounds good if its anything like the movie. I saw that years ago and thought it was interesting.

I've never read Lawrence but I have browsed your thread on him a bit and have heard that he was controversial which usually makes for interesting reading. I told my friend to pick out the 3rd book for herself. I think it was a novel of his but I'm not sure of the title.

They had several classics on this sale on the same display. I really like the ones that B&N publishes as they tend to give a lot of background info on the author/time period/story (including timelines), and fairly extensive translator notes where applicable. I'm not sure if the sales are regional or national. They were selling both novels and some short story anthologies. I ended up getting 3 brand new lovely books for $10. I'll look up the website and see if I can find the sale

*edit*
Here you go :)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/classics/index.asp?cds2Pid=16447&linkid=1412380

Janine

06-21-2009, 10:15 PM

I've never read Lawrence but I have browsed your thread on him a bit and have heard that he was controversial which usually makes for interesting reading. I told my friend to pick out the 3rd book for herself. I think it was a novel of his but I'm not sure of the title.

Star,That is really great that you browsed the Lawrence thread; thanks for doing so. That's my baby on Litnet. Virgil and I collaborated to start it; he came up with the introduction; it has gone so well. We are taking a month or so break and will start a new short story after. I hope you can join in when we announce the next one. I just completed reading all 48 of Lawrence's short stories. Yes, Lawrence's work is absolutely controversial. You will find it very interesting, I am sure. I bet your friend picked "Lady Chatterly's Lover"...everyone not quite familiar with Lawrence chooses that one first....of cource in Lawrence's day it was banned; in fact a whole courtroom drama unfolded bring up pornography; nowdays the novel is mild and would not cause such a stir. LC is actually a much later work for the author. It's a very good book. I figure it's that one, since I saw it listed on the B&N site, under the booksale deal. I hope she enjoys it. Tell her the BBC movie version with Sean Bean and Jolie Richardson is quite admirable, as well. It was directed by Ken Russell and he's a very contraversial film maker, as you may know.

They had several classics on this sale on the same display. I really like the ones that B&N publishes as they tend to give a lot of background info on the author/time period/story (including timelines), and fairly extensive translator notes where applicable. I'm not sure if the sales are regional or national. They were selling both novels and some short story anthologies. I ended up getting 3 brand new lovely books for $10. I'll look up the website and see if I can find the sale

They are really nice editions. I agree. I went to the site you provided and I do see a few books I would not mind buying. I just may go out to B&N near our mall this week to check it out. Maybe I will call first to make sure this sale is on this whole week. Great price - $10 for all three - wow! You are so generous giving one to your friend.

*edit*
Here you go :)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/classics/index.asp?cds2Pid=16447&linkid=1412380

Thanks again for the link! If the store doesn't have what I want I might consider even purchasing them from the online site. Looks like a really good deal.

grace86

06-22-2009, 05:07 PM

Helga

06-22-2009, 05:26 PM

I'm in a classical book club so the last time I bought books it was moby dick and an Icelandic book called angels of the universe, very good, a true story about men in an insane asylum here in Iceland so good...

Janine

06-22-2009, 05:28 PM

I went to the library Saturday morning and spent 3.50 on two movies and several books.

Movies:
Scaramouche (Movie adaptation for Rafael Sabatini's novel)
Wuthering Heights (I bought the movie because my dad saw it in college and cried!)

Books:
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver - don't know if it's good but it looked interesting.
Joy in the Morning - Betty Smith
The Adolescent - Dostoevsky
Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott
Kim - Rudyard Kipling (wonderful hardcover edition for .50!)

Wow, Grace, you made out at your library, too. I have to go back to mine tonight to return some films. I will have to check the sale shelf again, although I am running out of space to store all these books. We never have movies, not on DVD, but they do have some VHS tapes worth picking up. I still own a player, so it works for me. You located some great finds. I loved "Ivanhoe"; been years since I read it. "Kim" was one of my father's favorite books. "The Adolescent" sounds interesting. I have only read D's novel "The Idiot" and found it to be a very gripping story. Wow, which version of "Wuthering Heights" is it? You did get lucky!

Janine I have to get back to Lawrence!!!!!!! I'm currently reading Gone with the Wind though!! I've not yet gotten to Lady Chatterly!

Hey, GWTW is excellent. I got that one from my library, also, awhile back...onsale really cheap. I am yet to read it, but I loved the movie of course...it's on my 'someday reading list'... You should talk to Downing. That's her favorite book.

Hahahhehe...humm...."Lady Chatterly" eh...you're still determined to read that lusty book!:lol: haah...I am sure in this day and age, it's relatively mild, compared to some modern books.

grace86

06-22-2009, 05:50 PM

Wow, Grace, you made out at your library, too. I have to go back to mine tonight to return some films. I will have to check the sale shelf again, although I am running out of space to store all these books. We never have movies, not on DVD, but they do have some VHS tapes worth picking up. I still own a player, so it works for me. You located some great finds. I loved "Ivanhoe"; been years since I read it. "Kim" was one of my father's favorite books. "The Adolescent" sounds interesting. I have only read D's novel "The Idiot" and found it to be a very gripping story. Wow, which version of "Wuthering Heights" is it? You did get lucky!

Hey, GWTW is excellent. I got that one from my library, also, awhile back...onsale really cheap. I am yet to read it, but I loved the movie of course...it's on my 'someday reading list'... You should talk to Downing. That's her favorite book.

Hahahhehe...humm...."Lady Chatterly" eh...you're still determined to read that lusty book!:lol: haah...I am sure in this day and age, it's relatively mild, compared to some modern books.

Janine all the movies were on vhs...50 cents! I bought the 1939 version with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon (my dad saw the later one it turns out), man was it sad! I immediately wanted to pick up the book!

I've wanted to read Ivanhoe, but I remember, I think mtpspur didn't like one part of it, I'll have to ask him. I've never read Kipling and I think his stories would be right up my interests so I can't wait to read Kim. I've not read the Idiot, but I really enjoyed reading Crime and Punishment so I thought I'd pick the Adolescent up. And GWTHW, I've only seen the movie...the book is good so far!

The only Lawrence books I have left to read are The Rainbow and Lady Chatterly...and frankly, the latter one is shorter so I'm more apt to read it with my schedule! :D

Janine

06-22-2009, 06:52 PM

Janine all the movies were on vhs...50 cents! I bought the 1939 version with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon (my dad saw the later one it turns out), man was it sad! I immediately wanted to pick up the book!

Oh wow, you were lucky getting that one. It's a classic and nearly impossible to get online, I believe. I will check out Amazon later tonight. I imagine if it is available, it's super expensive, even for a tape. It's Olivier's signature role.

I love the Timothy Dalton/Anna Calder version and own it. I think it's a fine film and Dalton is super young in it; he was a fine classic actor with very mesmerizing, captivating dark eyes.

The book is truly amazing and heartbreaking. You will love it. It's a very dark novel though, so be prepared. The moors were a dark dismal area of England back then; guess they still are, right?

I've wanted to read Ivanhoe, but I remember, I think mtpspur didn't like one part of it, I'll have to ask him. I've never read Kipling and I think his stories would be right up my interests so I can't wait to read Kim. I've not read the Idiot, but I really enjoyed reading Crime and Punishment so I thought I'd pick the Adolescent up. And GWTHW, I've only seen the movie...the book is good so far! I was super young when I read "Ivanhoe" and I couldn't put it down. I just bought the film adaptation with Anthony Andrews and loved it. It's still good after all these years, a little dated but non-the-less good.

The only Lawrence books I have left to read are The Rainbow and Lady Chatterly...and frankly, the latter one is shorter so I'm more apt to read it with my schedule! :D

Well, I am impressed. That's right; you did read "Sons and Lovers" and "Women in Love" with us here, didn't you? I bet though, you didn't read his other more obscure novels. I read those recently, being a big Lawrence buff. I just finished reading all 48 of the short stories. No doubt, eventually I will read them a second or third time. I started "The Rainbow" again, but didn't get too far this time around; I read it years ago. I will read it again eventually, too. "Lady Chatterly" is much shorter, so go with that one; I think I read it twice - slightly different versions. Now you worked up to it; enjoy all your reading.

Edit: Went to my library and found a few more to add to my sale book list from the library shelves; they must stock the shelves daily...yippee. Tonight I was thrilled to find a copy of "Shackleton's Way". I already own a few Shackleton books and find them all fascinating. I loved the movie and own it. So, now one more item for my Antarctic explorer collection - wow, and it's brandnew looking with dust jacket - perfect! I also picked up an older paperback copy of Orwell's "1984". I have been meaning to read that book for years; I have only seen the movie which was classic. Great purchase today for total of 75 cents!

Kafka's Crow

09-12-2009, 12:38 PM

Just ordered the 1st volume of Letters of Samuel Beckett

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...ref=sib_rdr_dp

I've been waiting for this one to come out for almost five years now. Put it on my wish-list on Amazon who did not notify me of its availability earlier. Just realized that it was finally here! Expensive, but well worth every penny. Now I can't wait. Come on Mr postman!

Stargazer86

09-12-2009, 02:37 PM

"Shock Value" by John Waters. I haven't read it yet, but a friend on another site I frequent recommended it to me as I'm becoming increasingly more of a John Waters fan. It's no classic, but it promises to be a highly amusing and enjoyable read.

African_Love

09-13-2009, 05:01 PM

Yesterday I bought The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and Native Son by Richard Wright. Why? Because I heard that they were good books, why else?

http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

They were on this list and I plan to purchase most of the novels on here (I'm not really interested in Ayn Rand's work). Most of the fiction that I've read has been science fiction so I'm trying to expand.

DanielBenoit

09-13-2009, 07:33 PM

Recently I bought Mann's Magic Mountain. At a garage sale I found a red Complete Works of Shakespeare from 1909 for $5! I also got a better translation of Cervantes Don Quioxte.

dfloyd

09-13-2009, 07:54 PM

The Red and the Black by Stendahl. I always buy used books on-line and this was a nice one in half red leather amd black linen. Haven't read it since 1963 so it will be like a first read. Anyway, I am tired of reading Mickey Spillane.

mal4mac

09-14-2009, 07:29 AM

Richard Dawkins - "The Greatest Show on Earth". Half price in Border's! (Not the only reason...)

alicepalace

09-14-2009, 11:31 AM

The last book I bought was Notes On A Scandal by Zoe Heller. Why did I buy it? It was a pound, bargain!

Three Sparrows

09-14-2009, 01:28 PM

Demons, by Dostoevsky.

Why? Because I have been eyeing it for a long time, and finally got enough money.

Emil Miller

09-15-2009, 09:56 AM

Either of these: Mad World...Evelyn Waugh and the secrets of Brideshead by Paula Byrne.
The secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings.
I went into Foyles with the intention of buying the Waugh biography but I couldn't resist getting the Maugham also.

NickAdams

09-15-2009, 02:19 PM

The book: The Complete Poems - John Keats
Why? It's like you don't know me anymore.:bawling:

Janine

09-15-2009, 02:40 PM

Went to B & N the other night to browse the discount books. I bought a rather nice large size book of Dali prints (portfollio) - suitable for framing. Lynne50 got the same book and showed me the other night when we got together socially and I wanted a copy as well. We both went to the Philadelphia Museum special Dali exhibit a few years ago - marvelous! Very nicely printed works in this book. A few I am interested in framing eventually.

I also picked up this neat book of arial shots all throughout Europe. It showed a lot from the UK, England, Wales, Scotand, Ireland; I loved the various ruins and castles so much, I had to have this book. A thick hardbound book for only $8.49 - a cool photo book I will enjoy emensely. A shame I didn't have this before Petrarch's Love went on her trip. It gave me a lot of good idea on places she could visit.

I also picked up this neat little book called "Must-See Movies"...hahah.. I thought this would aid me in the movie game threads. Each page is a movie with stills and information on the cast, director, etc. I was happy to realise that about 80% of these films, I have seen....guess I do have good taste in films afterall. It also gave me ideas on the ones I need to seek out and see in the near future. It's a mix of older and newer films - all classics in their own right. It was a neat find.

I bought these at my library recently - over 8 volumes of a set of books on various actors...just some of the ones I got were - Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Ingrid Bergman and one thicker one of Cecile B. DeMille films. I was thrilled to find these and found I could even sell them later on Amazon, if I grow tired of them. For now, I am keeping them to browse through. They are large hardbound editions and in really great condition - hey, 50 cents each - you can't beat that!

I also got Butler's "The Way of all Flesh" and "An American Tragedy" by Dreisler. I also bought Emerson's Essays to give to my friend Lynne. I have a book of his essays already. All hard bound books were only 50 cents. I think I get the best buys at my library! hahah....