I have been eagerly looking forward to purchasing Geraldine Brooks's new novel, People of the Book, so gift card in hand (I'll be rationing what I received for the holidays for as long as I can!) I headed to the bookstore after work yesterday. I also had a list of specific books/authors I was looking for (they only had one aside from the Brooks novel unfortunately). I've been much better lately about avoiding impulse buying. In the past I would have picked up a stack of new books without a second thought, but now I am far more particular about what I buy. If I am not sure about a book I will try and mooch it first. With new books, however, they generally are books I have thought about or read about before going to the bookstore.
I've read Geraldine Brooks before and enjoyed her work, and I've heard good things about her new novel, People of the Book. It sounds as though it begins in present day and goes back in history detailing the provenance of a rare book back to its original owner. Susan Vreeland did this effectively in Girl in Hyacinth Blue, in which she traced a 'fictional' Vermeer painting back to its beginnings. I find this type of story intriguing and can't wait to start the book!
I also finally remembered to look for Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Matt has recommended this to me on more than one occasion, and I seem to recall that Eva also calls it a favorite (I hope I am remembering correctly). It is a satire of of Soviet life, and I hope it is not too over my head! I plan on reading it sometime in the coming year. I never feel guilty about buying classic literature. Some of my former impulse buys have long since faded into obscurity, but classics remain for a good reason. So I also opted for Johann von Goethe's Elective Affinities. I'd never heard of this before, but the blurb on the book called it "one of the greatest works of the Romantic era: a rich exploration of love and conflict, and the inescapable force of fate."
I found a P.D. James mystery in one of their "hurt books" boxes. So for a fraction of it's original price I added Death of an Expert Witness. I'll get to it eventually, as I'd like to read all the Dalgliesh books in order. One more--I finally bought a copy of Ian McEwan's Atonement. I've read this before and want to read it again. There's a story behind this book that I have probably mentioned in the past. I owned a lovely hardcover edition of this--ordered from the UK right when it was published. A nice splurge, but one well worth it as I loved the story. I made the mistake (?) of talking about it to a coworker who wanted to read it, so I generously lent it to her. I didn't mean to be quite so generous though as to let her have it forever. I never did get it back. She then retired. I always (figuratively) kick myself for not having asked for it back (yes, call me wimpy). She is the sort of reader who recycles, trading books with other readers, so it's anyone's guess where my lovely hardcover has ended up. I only hope the current owner appreciates it as much as I did. I wouldn't have minded losing it so much if it had just been a paperback, but it was cloth and from the UK. Sigh. Needless to say I am much more particular about loans these days.
There are a couple of books I contemplated buying, but in the end left them at the bookstore. I've wanted to read Georges Simenon for a while now. Penguin has redesigned the Inspector Maigret books (I spotted them during the holidays), and I personally think they are very lovely. They have a wonderful noir-ish feel to them. The problem, they are about the size of a mass market book, and much shorter in length, however they have a price tag of $12-$13, which I think is sort of steep for the packaging, no matter how lovely I think they are. I stood in the bookstore trying to talk myself out of it--I can find these in the library and read them for free...I can keep my eyes out at the used bookstore or a library sale. So for now, anyway, I've talked myself out of buying one. I also was tempted by Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, which is about a cholera epidemic in 1850s London. The thing is, it was on one of those buy one get one half off tables, and I always sort of feel like they are strong arming you into buying more than you want to buy (like when they give you coupons attached to your sales receipt to tempt you back into the store to buy more--but the discount is always only good for one book only). Now, I understand they are just trying to make money, but I'm trying to stick to a budget. And I can never find two books that I absolutely want to read. So I end up buying something that I am only half thrilled with. And if you just buy the one book you are thrilled with, you feel like you are not getting a good deal. Silly, eh! So I wrote down the title and will look for it in the library!
Sorry. This post is getting far too long and chatty, but I wanted to mention two more things. I have the first disc in the series of The Tudors from Netflix. I wanted to see this when it first aired, but I don't subscribe to any movie channels, so I had to wait patiently to rent it. I hope it is as good as it sounds. And tomorrow Persuasion is airing on Masterpiece Theatre--the first of it's Complete Jane Austen! I rarely watch TV (mostly I watch Netflix movies on the weekends), so I am looking forward to it.