These stacks are a from a few different visits to the bookstore and one online purchase (for an out of print title) in the past few weeks. I wasn't going to share, as I think I already have a bad enough reputation these days (and guilt is gnawing away at me a little bit), but for lack of anything else to share tonight new books it is. I have put my gift cards to good use (the out of print book is the only one I have actually purchased with my own money), so at least I don't feel guilty about spending too much. I do think I will be rationing out what is left of my gift cards. I always like to see how far into the year I can make them stretch (I received a few for my birthday last month, hence the influx of new books).
- The Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham. I have a couple of his books, which I have meant to read for a while now. I hope to remedy that situation soon.
- Candide, Voltaire. Jenclair's recent post piqued my curiosity about this book, and made me want to pick it up. The Barnes and Noble edition is also quite nice (and inexpensive).
- A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens. Recently I started David Copperfield (which I plan to get back to very soon) and am enjoying it so much I want to seek out more of his other works.
- Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens. See above.
- Women in Love, D.H. Lawrence. I really want to read him!
- Scaramouche, Rafael Sabatini. This falls into the rollicking good romp category. At least I hope so.
- The Age of Shakespeare, Frank Kermode. I want to read Shakespeare this year, and I'd like to read more about him and his times.
- Dance with Me, Victoria Clayton. This author has come recommended by several other readers. Unfortunately her work only seems to be available in the UK, and some of her books appear to be out of print. I ordered a cheap, used copy from Alibris, which actually turned out to be in pretty good condition.
- The Last Witchfinder, James Morrow. It seems I read a few good reviews by book bloggers about this one last year and now it is out in paper. The author has been compared variously with Neal Stephenson, John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, T.C. Boyle and even Jonathan Swift. That should be an interesting read.
- Black Swan Green, David Mitchell. I know this has gotten very mixed reviews, but I am willing to give it a fair try.
- Silent in the Grave, Deanna Raybourn. A Victorian mystery--this sounds right up my alley. I seem to get lots of good book recommendations from Jenclair!
- The Terror, Dan Simmons. Aside from the fact that the story takes place (primarily) on a ship, it has come highly recommeded by Susan. That's enough of a sell for me.
I have to share these great notecards, which I found at B&N. A coworker's birthday is next week and I have been looking for some little gift to give her as she is also a reader. If they had had more than one box of these left, I would have gotten them for myself as well. They are notecards of Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and James Joyce and there are sticker quotes included. They are made by a company called The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild. I think I will have to request one of their catalogs. I like these quirky kinds of gifts.