I should call this a temporary last hurrah of new books, as I am officially only four payments/months away from paying off my credit card! I made two large payments earlier this month and have whittled it down to an almost respectable amount, so the end is now in sight. As you see there are a few splurges here, though two of these books are actually used (Casanova and Galdós) and one I bought while grocery shopping (Brashares), so I paid cash. But over the course of the next few months I'll need t be especially frugal when it comes to book buying so that I can put all my extra money towards those final payments. Then I can set myself a small monthly limit for book buying and not feel guilty and hopefully save money (like for a proper go away from home vacation...).
Until then I have a few new books to choose from, and I'll have the library to keep me busy as well. My most recent finds:
I usually like to read 'beach books' in the summer, being books with seaside settings, but this year I didn't plan anything special. I did find Ann Brashares's The Last Summer (of You & Me) at the store while food shopping last weekend. I think she's written YA novels before, but this is written for adults, though I expect it is something of a cross over book. It's about a love triangle--two sisters and neighbor they grew up with--set in a 'modest beach house'. Sounds perfectly summery.
I'm sorry to say I had never heard of Fortunata and Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós before. I was looking at Penguin classics in general online and came across this Spanish novel, which is now out of print (in English anyway). It is "arguably the greatest novel to have come out of nineteenth century Spain, and certainly one of the most important European masterpieces of its period" according to the Penguin blurb. He's been compared to Balzac, Tolstoy and Dickens, though he's supposed to be especially good at his range of characters and insight to human nature as well as an ear for social dialogue. It's a hefty book with over 800 pages, but I wouldn't mind reading it sometime this fall perhaps. I've read very few Spanish classics, and this one very much appeals to me.
Giacomo Casanova's The Duel is an autobiographical novel about a duel fought over a ballerina--a lady neither he or his Polish rival had the slightest interest.
I'm hoping to finally give Rainer Maria Rilke a try with The Notebooks of Malte Brigge (one of Litlove's summer reads). This is another semi-autobiographical novel, and Rilke's only fictional work. It's set in Paris where Malte Laurids Brigge "lives in a cheap room, with little but a lirbary reader's card to distinguish him from the city's untouchables."
My Sister's Hand in Mine by Jane Bowles is a collection of writings including a novella, short stories, and a play. I've always been intrigued by her and Paul Bowles (read and loved his The Sheltering Sky). I'm not sure if this has all of her books but it seems to be a good place to start.
And I think I mentioned Dawn Tripp before? I have her recently released Game of Secrets. Originally I was in line for this at the library, but since I own her previous two books in hardcover and enjoyed both immensely I decided I should have this one as well. Dawn Tripp's novels always have a New England setting, as does this but a slightly later time period--the 1950s and then half a century later. It's about the secrets surrounding the death of the father of a young girl. I can't wait to start it (and am happy to see all the Amazon reviews so far have been favorable).
I've been reading quite a few novels by international authors and hope to continue to do so as the year goes on. Out of 47 books read so far twelve have been written in a language other than English and three of my current reads are also works in translation. I'm trying to read widely, but I would like to read more books originally written in German. Classics would be good, though I wouldn't mind contemporary novels either. A book that really gives the feel for the country and the people and culture would be great. Any suggestions for something really good (I know I have Rilke to look forward to, but other authors?) would be appreciated.