I absolutely love the cover of this book. I love it so much, I think I am going to buy it! Actually I like Andrea Barrett and have greatly enjoyed some of her earlier books, and this one sounds very appealing as well, so I won't just be buying it for the cover, but the cover is a definite bonus. It is called The Air We Breathe, and it has just been released. It is another novel with a WWI setting, this time American, so I guess it is right up my alley. If we are going for blue toned covers, how about Dalia Sofer's The Septembers of Shiraz? It's quite nice, too. I have always thought it would be a totally cool job to design book jackets!
I know a lot of people have read Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. Did you know she's writing a sequel (link via Bookslut)? I enjoyed it--though some parts more than others. I think I was expecting more of a travel narrative, but that was really only a small part of the book. In her sequel, it looks as though she'll be writing about her romance with the Brazilian man she met in Bali.
I found some ghost story anthologies at my library yesterday that I can use for Carl's RIP Challenge. I have been enjoying reading short stories every weekend for it, but I was afraid I didn't have much of a variety to choose from in the few books I own. Although we had several, I opted for The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Ghost Stories edited by Michael Cox and Witches' Brew: Horror and Supernatural Stories by Women edited by Marcia Muller. Thanks to Eva for the heads up on the second book. I looked for it at the public library, but they didn't have it. I must have assumed the library where I work wouldn't have it, but when I went looking for the Oxford anthology, there it was on the shelf. As it is out of print, I am happy to have found a copy and purely by chance at that. There are lots of good possibilities in both books, and the introductions look interesting as well. I think this weekend I'll be reading Ann Radcliffe's "The Haunted Chamber" (for more Gothic fun), and Marghanita Laski's "The Tower". Other authors I'd like to give a try: Ellen Glasgow, L.P. Hartley, Edith Wharton (I've never read any of her ghost stories), H. Russell Wakefield, Elizabeth Bowen and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In any case, whichever stories I decide to read, there should be plenty to choose from now.
I didn't mention it, but last Friday I stopped by the bookstore after work. I was looking for a specific needlework magazine that comes out once a year at this time. I had heard shops have it, so I was hoping the bookstore would have their copies as well. No luck. However...drum roll please....I didn't buy a single book. Not even one magazine. Not a sale book. Not a bookmark. Nada. I was quite pleased with myself. I did see a few things I might happily have left with, but even with those few, I wasn't impressed with what they had on display. I've complained about this before, but I suppose I should be happy now about it, if it means I can leave the bookstore with my wallet intact. They have the same old stuff on display that they seemed to have last time I was there a couple of months ago. Well, perhaps that is a small exaggeration. But they had the same "type" of book out that they always have on their main tables, and I guess what they had on display just isn't what I find appealing at the moment. I did write down a few titles (to get from the library of course).
One title I've already picked up from the library. Peter Charles Melman's Landsman caught my eye. I don't usually read a lot of Civil War fiction (or nonfiction for that matter), but this had a bit of a twist to it, so I hope it's as good as it sounds. The public library has been undergoing some changes lately. The newest one is that they will now charge $1.00 per book that is being held and is not picked up. In 2006 they had over 289,900 items placed on hold (I'm sure a few of those were mine), and something like 39,000 of them were never picked up (I can't remember a time I have not picked up a hold--as a matter of fact I check my account online several times a week). I don't blame them, it's pretty annoying waiting in line for a book and then the person ahead of you doesn't pick it up. They are very generous about holding books--they give you ten days! Imagine $39,000 dollars for all those books!
One last note. I think I am going to have to cut myself off from ILL for the foreseeable future. Today I brought home Nicola Barker's Darkmans. I decided I had to read it based on Victoria's review. It is one whopping huge book. And now I have until October 17 to read it. No renewals (how could they?). Can I get through a 800+ page book in less than four weeks? At least the text is not so tiny you need a magnifier to read it. I think I will have to do the same thing I did last year at about this time. At the moment I feel as though I am floundering in a sea of unfinished books....