Honestly. I am trying to convince myself that I really do have enough books. It doesn't seem to be working however. I guess at this point there is really no need to explain myself. If you pop in here from time to time, you already know this is my weakness. I ordered these from Amazon last week, but did you see this already? Now what am I supposed to do? Now is the time to stock up, right? Or I can appreciate (and read!) the books I just bought first:
After reading this post I finally decided I really did need to read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It had never appealed to me. You see, I am not a big fan of musicals, and I just have the musical (not that I have seen it, but this seems to be one of those stories everyone seems to know about regardless of having read the book or seen the musical!) in my mind...and well, that put me off. But now, the book, that is another story. Lightbulb goes off, thank you.
Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I think I am ready to face my fear of Henry. This might just be my next classic read after Robinson Crusoe. Or maybe Colette...undecided at this point, but actively considering. And why not throw in a copy of The Bostonians while you are at it. For later. See, Henry, I am not afraid of you (well, your first books anyway) anymore.
The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker is actually out of print, which I ordered through Alibris. I can blame thank this blogger for this one. I had never considered reading something else by Stoker, though I loved Dracula. Scotland. A black coffin. A sea voyage. A mystery. Perfect. The blurb says this was published in 1902, this story, in which the dead come back to haunt the living. Shall it be this one or Frankenstein for Halloween this year? Maybe both.
The Sea. John Banville. Because I have never read Banville, and he won the Booker. And I am the only person who seems not to have read this. And yet another story in which the sea plays a part.
Basil and Armadale by Wilkie Collins. No reason necessary other than--because they are by Wilkie Collins.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales by Edgar Allen Poe. This is a new Modern Library edition, and it is quite lovely. He is considered an inventor of detective fiction. Dorothy Sayers described The Murders in the Rue Morgue, as "almost a complete manual of detective theory and practice."
And lastly-Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battle. This is perfect for me. "From Boston to Baghdad, from classical scriptoria to medieval monasteries, from the Vatican to the British Library, from socialist reading rooms and the rural home libraries to the Information Age." A bibliophiles book!
...Sorry. No excuse for my incorrigible behavior. I can only say I will try to be better in the future.