A Work in Progress

Library Book Sale: $30 of Used Books!

This past weekend I went to the monthly public library sale.  It had been quite a while since I went (mostly in need of a few more Sue Grafton Alphabet Murder Mysteries . . . ).  The weather was perfect and maybe everyone else was outside enjoying it, or I just came late enough to avoid the crowds, but I was able to actually browse the shelves.  Normally it is only a quick scan to see if something pops out at me.

I think I have satisfied my desire for new-used books.  I came away with a book bag full.  In looking at them all now, maybe this was sort of an excessive book binge?  It's amazing how much $30 will buy.  Several more Kinsey Millhone novels to fill in gaps and see me through the next few months.  A couple of British Library Crime Classics--and I only picked up a couple.  Various other mysteries.

A few award winners that I always look at at the bookstore, but then figure I can check them out of the library (but how could I pass them up at $1.50 each?).  A couple books in translation.  A NYRB Classic.  A Virago Modern Classic and two books by a Nebraska author.

And a few 'oldies'.  A few books I had never come across before.  A book of short stories (creepy cover on the Prager!).  And two older books by Terry McMillan that I had been looking for at the bookstore (does no one carry her books these days?).  

I am feeling ever so slightly queasy now by my indulgence-I mean I have to find spots for them on my shelves or in my piles, but it was so hard to resist.  I think I can safely some forthcoming library sales in favor of spending time reading these (or other books on my shelves . . . ).

Last New (or Used) Acquisitions of the Year

Last library book sale of the year (was actually the first Saturday of this month, but I am only now getting around to sharing my finds).

Lots of goodies as you can see.  Not only did I get all these books for less than $24, but they gave me a reusable tote bag to carry them in.  This is the first tote of the sort that is actually quite spacious but not overly large.  It has this rounded shape and holds an amazing number of books.  Even these two piles were sort of dwarfed inside.  And the bag is even reversible.  

My great finds were the Guernsey book, which I wanted to reread (but the library copy I had checked out had to go back before I had a chance to get far into it), the book of short stories by Penelope Lively, and the novel about Georgia O'Keeffe, which for ages I had been contemplating buying.  How can you beat an almost new copy for the low low low price of $1.00?  I am unfamiliar with Frances Molloy and Janet Hobhouse, but I am willing to try new authors when I can get their books at a library sale.  I admit the Freeling mysteries were more because I love those old Penguin editions with their cool covers, but I know some of his books have won awards, so we'll see how I get on with Inspector Van der Valk.  

I usually only scour the fiction room, too tired out to move on to the room where all the nonfiction books are, but this time I did take a quick peek.  I need to check that room out more often.  I scored a Peresphone, though it has library markings.  A biography of Sylvia Plath, a travel memoir set in Italy, a coffee cookbook, and Rebecca Mead's book about reading Middlemarch.  Wouldn't that make a great pairing?  Reread Middlemarch and the Mead book together.

And a few 'new' new books and all of them nonfiction.  I am not sure how I will do it, but I do need to make reading NF a priority in 2019.  I keep buying these fantastic sounding books but slowly (glacially slow) reading them.  Imagine spending a year reading almost exclusively nonfiction?!  Maybe three nonfiction books and then picking up a novel or mystery.  That might be too ambitious for me, but I think I might make the Camille Laurens book on the top my first read of 2019.  Nonfiction.  A book about art.  And then I can go to my local museum and see the Little Dancer statue by Degas as we have one here in Omaha!

Can I make it through the end of the year without another book purchase?  I should be able to.  I expect I might get to the used bookstore or my local B&N (and should make the special trip out to one of our few indie stores that is unfortunately off the beaten path for me) that might make that hard.  And I suspect that I might just get a gift card or two this season.  I only wish I could read them as fast as I acquire them.  (You see now, why I always have so many books in progress . . .).

Books, etc: Catching Up

This was meant to be a Tuesday or Wednesday sort of post, not a nearly the end of the week Thursday post!  I am sorry I seem so absent here these days.  Time just gets away from me.  I'm not quite sure what is keeping me so busy, but I spend less time on the computer than in the past (which is not an entirely bad thing, but I do miss all the bookish chatting).  

Anyway, over the weekend I went to my public library's monthly (every first Saturday) book sale.  It had been years since I regularly went, but I stopped in last month and they had such a great spread of books I couldn't resist going again this month to see what I could find.  And as you can see, I found quite a lot!  I have been find more of the Kinsey Millhone mysteries and as you can see they are in almost new condition.  How can you beat a 50 cent paperback you know you will be reading sooner than later.  (And the money goes to the Friends of the Library, so a win-win situation).

Years and years ago I belonged to the Book of the Month Club.  I thought, to be honest, they were defunct, but I came across them on Instagram and my curiosity was sparked.  It is set up now like an Audible subscription.  You 'buy' a credit and then you can choose a book to apply it to that month or the next.  So I bought a credit and as a new subscriber also got a free credit.  I have one in reserve and used my other one for Kate Morton's new book.  I couldn't wait to start it, and it is so good so far!  I tend to be hit or miss with her books, but I love this one.  It is one of those dual storylines, one set in contemporary times and the other in the Victorian era.  There are artists and a bookish young woman.  Maybe a ghost . . . so far so good!  Is anyone else reading this right now?

Ooh, and last but not least.  I have once again pulled out my sampler.  I had run out of the main floss color, London Fog, and dug around in my stash over the weekend and found a spare skein, so I am back to work.  Honestly I wouldn't mind starting something new, but I will persevere with this as I am getting close to finishing.  The wording is from a Christmas Carol so it seems a good sampler to work on now.  I desperately need to go through my stash and do some serious weeding.  What to do with all the old charts and kits that I don't think I will ever work on?  I have more than I could complete in several lifetimes, I think.  Do I give it to the Goodwill?  Any stitchers out there have ideas of what to do with unneeded stitching supplies?  I would definitely prefer to let people who like needlework to have the designs I am no longer interested in.  I will still keep my favorites, kits that are ready to go with really nice supplies (silks, etc) and my floss and linen collection.  But I think it would not be a bad thing to thin the collection down a bit.

What is everyone else up to?  Having a good Fall (it is colder than normal and really wet and rainy here).  Reading lots of good books?  Doing any crafting?  Traveling?  Planning for the holidays.  Yikes, holidays?  I am feeling out of touch, but as always I do hope to still regularly post (what to do about those books I have read and not written about?).  Until next time!  Happy reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Trying to Choose

I don't think I can look at my new pile of books without picking one out to start reading now.  Lately when I reach for a new book it is almost always a mystery, but as I already have several started I will opt for something else for a little variety in my current reads pile.  I have it narrowed down to three and thought I would share a little teaser of each to help me decide. 

So, Helen MacInnes is practically a mystery writer, but since her books fall into the suspense/espionage category I'll let her slide by.  I like the sound of Decision at Delphi with its Greek setting.  Newsweek is quoted on the back of the book as saying she can "hang her cloak and dagger right up there with Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.  Now that sounds like quite a high accolade to me.  The story begins:

"Now there's a pretty girl, Kenneth Strang thought, as he relaxed his efforts to open the porthole of his cabin and glanced down at the cluster of upturned faces planted along the pier's edge.  For a moment, he wondered who had won that smile and wave.  Then, quickly, he renewed his attack.  The porthole swung open with a surprised shriek, letting the cold March air pour into the overcrowded cabin."

In its favor--I love suspense stories, it has a groovy 1960s cover, and I could get back to my season of spies if I were to pick this up.  Helen MacInnes made the list, though not this particular title (I'm flexible, though!).

I mentioned that I've read and enjoyed Katherine Mosby's books before, and Twilight always appealed to me--I just never quite got around to reading it.  This is the story of a woman's "unlikely blossoming in the face of war".  It begins in New York in the 1930s and moves to Paris before the war.  It has a great opening paragraph, too.

"It would be misleading to say that the course of Lavinia's life was diverted by a kiss, or that a chance remark would change the continent on which she lived, although both things were true.  Lavinia Gibbs was not known for being either sentimental or a helpless romantic.  There was nothing nothing helpless about Lavinia at all.  She was, in fact, among the most practical members of her graduating class at Miss Dillwater's Academy, a trait much commented upon in her 1917 yearbook.  Born at the turn of the century, Lavinia seemed always older than her years, but this was due to her reserve rather than her wisdom."

In its favor--It's certainly just the right time period and I could read this in anticipation of the Paris in July readalong.

If the comments I received about J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace are anything to go by I definitely need to read it sooner rather than later.  A coworker prompted me to borrow this from the library a while back, which I didn't get to before it had to be returned.  Now I have my own copy to take my time with. 

"For a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.  On Thursday afternoons he drives to Green Point.  Punctually at two p.m. he presses the buzzer at the entrance to Windsor Mansions, speaks his name, and enters.  Waiting for him at the door of no. 113 is Soraya.  He goes straight through to the bedroom, which is pleasant-smelling and softly lit, and undresses.  Soraya emerges from the bathroom, drops her robe, and slides into bed beside him.  'Have you missed me?' she asks.  'I miss you all the time,' he replies.  He strokes her honey-brown body, unmarked by the sun; he stretches out, kisses her breasts; they make love."

Well, that was a little surprising.  I hadn't read anything before cracking it open just now for my teaser. 

In its favor--I've heard many good things about Coetzee, I've read very few books by South African writers and its won a number of awards.

I'll let you know which one I choose!

Yet Another Library Sale

A week ago was my library's quarterly library sale, though I'm only now getting around to sharing the books I found.  I'm trying very hard to be particular over which books I choose as there are so many books it is easy to come home with books that would only be impulse choices and will end up never reading.  Still, as you can see I bought more than enough to keep me busy for a very long time.  From top to bottom:

The Corpse on the Dike by Janwillem van de Wetering - I've yet to read any of the Grijpstra and de Gier mysteries that are set in Amsterdam.  The author began writing these in the 1970s, and this is an early novel.

The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor - It's always nice to find a first book in a mystery series (I found several this time around).  I can't remember who told me about this author (Sherry maybe?), but it was written in 1931 and set in (no surprise) Cape Cod.  I'm very much a reader who is drawn to setting as well as story, so I tend to very often choose based on geographical region even if I know nothing about an author.

Bad Debts by Peter Temple - I hadn't heard of Peter Temple until I read Maxine's review of a more recent novel, and then serendipitously came across his first book featuring Jack Irish.  He's won all sorts of awards in his native Australia.  Although this is a library discard it is in near perfect condition and it cost a mere quarter, which seems almost indecent to pay so little for a book.

Voices by Ardaldur Indridason - There is obviously some reader out there who loves mysteries and crime fiction and is very good at recycling their books as I seem to find an Indridason novel every other library sale I go to (and I always finds loads of other mysteries, too).  I think it's time to finally pick up the first Inspector Erlendur novel and start reading since I am slowly acquiring his entire backlist on the cheap.

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee - Not too long ago a coworker raved about this book, which I duly checked out from the library, shared here and then decided that maybe it was too heavy duty to read at that particular moment, so I was happy to find a nice used copy to read at  my leisure. 

Twilight by Katherine Mosby - I read a novel by Katherine Mosby years ago and recall looking this one over when it first came out.  This is set in the 1930s--in the run up to WWII in NYC and Paris.

Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Linda Lawrence Hunt - This book had my name written all over it since I am an inveterate walker.  Apparently Estby was a Norwegian immigrant and mother of eight children who was behind on her taxes.  A mysterious sponsor was willing to pay a woman $10,000 to a woman who would walk across America, so Helga set off.  I think this sounds like a great read--I would have been tempted to do it myself if I were her!

The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman - Another book I eyed when it first came out and probably checked out from the library but never got around to reading it.  It is set in 16th century Constantinople--for when I'm in the mood for a little historical fiction (haven't read much of that this year).

Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey - This was shortlisted for the Booker award last year and also a finalist for the National Book Award.  I tried to listen to it on audio but didn't get on well with the reader, so maybe reading it will work better as the story appeals to me.

Mary Olivier: A Life by May Sinclair - This is my one Virago find.  "This important, too-long neglected novel is about the plight of a young woman growing up in a Victorian household."  It is a mother-daughter novel where the daughter sacrifices love to duty, though finds a certain intellectual freedom nonetheless.  I have never read May Sinclair but I have this idea she is a formidable writer.

And for the short stack of mass markets--a few really old books with those great 1960s gothic suspense types covers:

The Marx Sisters by Barry Maitland - This is the first detective Kathy Kolla, chief inspector David Brock mystery that is set in London's Jerusalem Lane which is inhabited by Eastern European immigrants (according to the blurb). 

Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron - This and the book above were both on my list of authors to look for so it felt quite a coup to actually find them--that rarely happens when I go to sales with a list.  Maron is an Edgar winner.  I can't remember now who recommended this book to me--it features attorney Deborah Knott who is trying for a district judge seat in North Carolina (the only woman) who gets caught up in an eighteen-year-old murder mystery.

Clutch of Phantoms by Clare Layton - This was an impulse choice as I had never heard of Clare Layton previously.  The story is set in a remote English village and is about three women who seek "to escape the clutches of the past".  It sounds sort of cozy-Miss Marple-ish, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes - I'm reading another mystery at the moment where a character refers to books in her parents bookcase--those old Penguin mysteries with the green covers--and here we have one.   Yet another 1930s mystery--this one with a college setting.

Black Amber by Phyllis Whitney - I used to read Phyllis Whitney when I was a teenager.  This is set in a crumbling, exotic villa on the Bosporus.  "She was about to return to her warm bed when she heard a slight sound behind her, and whirled.  The veranda lay still and empty and her bedroom was dark.  Yet there had been a sound somewhere near."  I'll be saving this for a moment when I need a little escapism from life.

Assignment in Brittany and Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes - I mentioned Helen MacInnes earlier when I was on my spy novel kick (which I have never really gotten over so will be returning to it...).  She seems like perfect summer reading as well--exotic settings, average people getting caught up in frightening circumstances, a little cloak and dagger and a hint of romance.

I, of course, want to start reading one of these right now, but the question is--which will it be?

Library Sale Finds, Part 2

I'm really happy that I saved a few library sale finds to share today as it has been a long week and I'm waning.  It's good to have easy posts to fall back on now and again (or more often than 'now and again' as seems to be the case with me lately).  Happily tomorrow is Friday, so I have the weekend break to look forward to.  So without further ado, here are the rest of my new (new to me anyway) books.

I think I already own a cheap paperback copy of Katherine Anne Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider, but I couldn't pass up this lovely Modern Library edition.  It contains three novellas: Old Mortality, Noon Wine and Pale Horse, Pale Rider.  I'm tempted to see if anyone would like to read along with this one as I have wanted to read it for ages and suspect I will not do so until I get a little push.  I love Modern Library editions by the way, especially the smaller ones that fit so nicely in the hand.

I found one lone Virago.  George Eliot's The Lifted Veil.  I'd never heard of this before.  "A chilling tale of moral alienation and despair, this forgotten novella testifies to George Eliot's little-known interest in the supernatural."

A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin is about the fate of the Princes in the Tower.   To be honest I'm not sure how much the subject matter actually appeals to me, but I've heard good things about the author.

Where I've Been, and Where I'm Going by Joyce Carol Oates is a former library copy, so not very pretty, but it's what's inside that counts, right.  It is a book of essays, reviews and prose.  I'm very curious about her essays.

It seems like a group of readers got together in the past year or so to read Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus (or maybe I'm imagining that?), so I had to pick this one up.  It sounds a little larger than life, but in the right mood that could be a lot of fun.

No explanation necessary for picking up another Maigret novel by George Simenon, Maigret and the Man on the Bench.  Is it true that "murders are rarely committed on Mondays"?   Why have I not read more Maigret mysteries?  Short, good, what's not to love?

I've not yet read any of the Miss Silver mysteries, but I've heard they are good.  I found a copy of Patricia Wentworth's The Catherine-Wheel.  Cozy mysteries are the best.  I can almost guarantee that I will leave a library sale with several mysteries.  It's no wonder I have no more room for them on my shelves.

I've read On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, but to be honest I didn't exactly love it.  It was at the time when it was shortlisted for the Booker and I think so many other people were reading it and writing about it that I never had a chance to really make up my own mind about it.  I thought this is one that I might like to read again now that lots of time (and many books) have passed and I can see what I really think.

Alan Bradley's The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie sounds very quirky.  Another book I meant to read but never got around to.  I think he's written a few more since this first Flavia de Luce story. 

And Herman Wouk's War and Remembrance looks like a nice, long undertaking.  It's a sequel, though, so I suppose I should start wit the first book, The Winds of War.  I love historical fiction and I bet this one would keep me busy for a good long while.

Now, you would think I'd be totally satiated when it comes to acquiring books.  For a little while at least.  But I still have a desire to order a few new books.  See yesterday's post.  I am trying to resist.  I mean it is certainly not as if I don't have plenty way too much to read already.

Library Sale Finds, Part 1

Maybe it's the weather, which while no longer sunny as it was early this morning, is still warm enough to allow me to open my windows and wear short sleeves, but I'm in a very lazy mood, so expect a very lazy post.  As a matter of fact, this whole week may be filled with lazy posts, save for tomorrow when I need to write something about Shirley Hazzard's The Transit of Venus, an extremely rich and often challenging read.  While the reading didn't defeat me (I had a few iffy moments truth be told) the writing about it just might.  But I'll worry about that later and instead share some of the books I found at my public library's most recent book sale. 

It's always good to see readers out in force looking for the perfect book, but my first thought when I got there was that a swarm of locusts had swept through as the shelves seemed awfully empty and picked over.  I almost despaired finding anything worth taking home until I started looking more closely.  As you can see I found plenty in the end.

The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken was purely an impulse buy.  I've come to appreciate those pulpy, dramatic covers of the 1960s.  This is a gothic story with an ancestral mansion, and a young governess--in the Mary Stewart vein.

I've watched every episode of Prime Suspect and think I'm ready to move on to some of Lynda La Plante's fiction.  From what I've heard some of her books are a bit uneven, but I'm willing to give her a try.  Above Suspicion is the first in a series featuring Anna Travis, a rookie female detective. 

I had never heard of Francis Beeding's Death Walks in Eastrepps, and while the book design does little to recommend the story, I picked it up anyway and was glad I did.  This was written in 1931 and according to the book description this is/was regarded as a masterpiece of the mystery genre. 

I'd also never heard of Sara Jeannette Duncan who wrote The Pool in the Desert which is a series of "portraits of women who attempt to defy convention".  The Canadian author was the first woman to achieve international success as a journalist.  The backdrop of the novellas in the collection is India.

How had no one already snapped up the lovely Europa edition of A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé?  I was happy to take it off their hands.  This is apparently a mix of literary genres (including mystery) and a tribute to bookselling.

I've not forgotten my season of spy novels.  It's just a long season.  Alan Furst will fit in quite nicely somewhere in my reading this year.  Dark Star is set in Paris, Moscow, Berlin and Prague in 1937.

Jetta Carleton's The Moonflower Vine is a rediscovered classic.  I like that as I'm very much into finding good books that have fallen out of vogue and gone out of print.  It was published in 1962 and is set on a farm in Missouri.  I suppose it would fit in the "family drama" category (though I sometimes hate categorizing books like that as it puts some readers off).  It's about four different daughters and I've already got this one sitting on the top of the pile.

Just recently I discovered Robert Goddard and from the comments I've received it sounds as though he's an author worth reading.  I totally lucked out when I found not one but three of his books (and have since ordered yet another that was recommended as it has a WWI setting).  I brought home Borrowed Time, Sight Unseen, and Play to the End, which all sound like good suspenseful stories.

I'm quite tempted to start one of these now.  Should I give in to impulse?   I could go and sit out on the porch and read!

General Bookish Badness (Not Really)

Hello.  My name is Danielle and I'm a book addict.  This is something I've been grappling with for the better part of my life.  The problem is, I don't really want to be cured.

Yes, this weekend was my public library's quarterly (no semiannual sales here--they do this four wonderful times a year!) book sale.  I contemplated not going, but as you see I changed my mind.  Had I known that all purchases were half off, I probably would have bought more, but perhaps it is just as well, as I doubt I could have carried home many more books on the bus.  I have a very roomy bookbag needless to say. 

The thing with my sale is--there is lots of popular fiction to choose from, and often some really great finds, but usually the popular fiction isn't exactly the sort of thing I like to read, or else I've already bought or read it.  I tend to go for the mysteries and crime fiction, which is fine as I love the genre, but I wouldn't mind finding some more off the beaten track sorts of books (or else someone else just beat me to them most likely)--maybe a few Viragos, or a Persephone or some foreign fiction, or more classics.  But here I am with a massive pile of book and I'm complaining.   Silly me, let me share what I found, instead.

I think one of the most depressing books I have ever read is John O'Hara's Butterfield 8.  So, what the heck, why not follow it up with his first novel Appointment in Samarra?  Actually I wouldn't mind rereading Butterfield 8, though I expect it's as bleak as I recall it being.  Depressing is okay in small doses, so I am looking forward to reading something else by him.

I was very happy with this find--Fools of Fortune by William Trevor--and a nice, pristine Penguin edition.  I like Trevor and it's been far too long since I've read any of his work.  Graham Greene called this Trevor's best novel.  Post WWI Irish setting about revenge.  More darkness.

"Deserted by her rakish husband, the beautiful Roxana abandons poverty, morality and her five children and embarks on a career of sexual intrigue and fraud in England, France and the Netherlands."  Roxana, or The Fortunate Mistress by Daniel Defoe is definitely one to read next year, I think.  More classics, and more early works.

A coworker told me I must read Nikolai Gogol's short stories, particularly "The Nose" and "The Overcoat".  Both are in this edition of Diary of a Madman and Other Stories.  The blurb on the book reads "Gogol is in some ways to Russian literature what Laurence Sterne is to English, a peculiar and brilliant original who created a world of his own."

Mary Beth Keane's The Walking People is a contemporary novel set in New York City about an Irish immigrant.

I've read and enjoyed one of John McGahern's novels, have another on my shelves and found The Barracks to add to my small collection.  From what I understand he is one of the finest Irish authors writing today.

I couldn't pass up a historical fiction novel about WWI--Carol Ann Lee's The Winter of the World.

Eudora Welty is another author I AM going to read next year, or maybe even sooner (you never know).  I keep collecting books by her.  The Eye of the Story is a collection of essays and reviews.  It even has "A Sweet Devouring", which I read earlier this year and loved (and what actually started my Eudora Welty kick).

I loved William Styron's novel, Sophie's Choice.  It was an absolutely gut wrenching story, and one that seems to elicit strong opinions.  For me it was one of those near perfect reading experiences, so I'm curious about Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness.  Newsweek notes "Never has Styron used so few words so effectively." 

Yes, there's more!  This is getting to be a long post, so let me run through my mystery finds quickly. 

Three by Agatha Christie--none are Poirot or Marple stories, though one is a collection of short stories.  I brought home: Towards Zero, The Witness for the Prosection and The Seven Dials Mystery.

Two Anne Perry's--both part of her WWI mystery series: Angels in the Gloom and At Some Disputed Barricade.

Thomas Cook's The Cloud of Unknowing--I really like his work.  Another author to read soon.

I've not yet read Henning Mankell, but from what I understand I think I will like him very much.  I have the first Wallander mystery and couldn't help grabbing Sidetracked and The Pyramid, which are later novels.

I've already read Gerri Brightwell's The Dark Lantern, but it was a library book and I'd like to own a copy.  It's one I'd like to reread.

The Becket Factor by Michael David Anthony is the first Canterbury Cathedral mystery--a "good ecclesiastical thriller".  Hmm.

I used to read a lot of Minette Walters but her more recent books have appealed to me less than her earlier books.  However, I did listen to a recent novel on my MP3 player in the summer and found I enjoyed it more than I expected (good reader?).  The Devil's Feather takes contemporary events as her inspiration, but maybe I'll like this one as well.

Rennie Airth's River of Darkness is another book I read years ago when it was first published.  I have his second John Madden mystery but thought I might reread the first since so much time has passed.

Edward Marston's The Parliament House is a historical mystery set in 1670.

I like Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's Morland Dynasty series, but I've never tried her mysteries.  This is a Bill Slider mystery--Orchestrated Death  Who's likely to list this?  Fans of wordplay, classical music and Elizabeth George according to the blurb.

Another author I really must read--Fred Vargas.  I snapped up Seeking Whom He May Devour.  Great cover illustration by the way.

And The Maze of Cadiz by Aly Monroe is a spy thriller set in Franco's Spain.  I checked this out earlier this year but it went back unread.  Now I can read it when the mood strikes.

So, there you have it.  The books will mostly get absorbed into my piles for later reading, but I like to play this little game when I have a new pile of books...which would I read first?  At the moment it is a tie between the Airth, the Trevor and Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials Mystery.

Oh, and these books put me out all of $22.00--less than the cost of one new hardcover!  It comes out to something like 88¢ a book.  And it's for a good cause--the proceeds go to the public library for new materials.  So, really, I did a good deed this weekend.   Guilt free book buying.  I highly recommend it.

I warned you this was coming . . .

Okay, so I freely admit it.  I am bad, very, very bad.  I really thought I would be able to limit myself when it came to making choices, but when faced with so many really good books I couldn't help myself.  I will say that I went through my piles not once, but twice and put things back.  I added everything up ahead of time to make sure I could fit them into my budget and decided it was for a good cause, so here I sit with three stacks of practically new books.  When averaged out it comes to something like $1.89 a book, and how can you beat that?   So, here's the run down.  This is my general fiction, nonfiction, and classics stack.

Selected Short Stories, Guy de Maupassant
A Few Green Leaves, Barbara Pym -- her last novel
Amerika, Franz Kafka -- a new translation
The Bachelors, Muriel Spark
The Beet Queen, Louise Erdrich -- she's part of my reading American authors project - I've never read her and wasn't sure where to start
My Antonia, Willa Cather -- I have a mass market edition of this, but how could I pass up a lovely Virago edition?
Journal of Solitude, May Sarton -- one of her famous books I hear
Human Voices, Penelope Fitzgerald -- I have lots of her books now, must read one of them soon
The Blue Afternoon, William Boyd
Making It Up, Penelope Lively
The Essays of E.B. White, E.B. White
Unwise Passions: A True Story of a Remarkable Woman--and the First Great Scandal of Eighteenth Century America, Alan Pell Crawford

Mystery novels, the first stack:

Destination Unknown and Passenger to Frankfurt, Agatha Christie -- standalone novels
The Chalk Circle Man, Fred Vargas
Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis, Murder in Clichy and Murder in the Rue de Paradis, Cara Black
Winter in June and When Winter Returns, Kathryn Miller Haines

Someone obviously recycles their murder mysteries and crime novels--luckily for me, as there were so many to choose from.  And most are in near perfect condition.  I feel quite spoiled.

Vienna Secrets, Frank Tallis
Wolf in Man's Clothing, Mignon Eberhart -- Nebraska author
Death of a Nationalist, Rebecca Pawel
An Advancement of Learning, Reginald Hill - the second Dalziel & Pascoe novel
The Peking Man is Missing, Claire Taschdjian
Black Ice, Hans Werner Kettenbach
Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian Crime Fiction, edited by Giancarlo de Cataldo
The Spoke, Friedrich Glauser
Flesh & Blood, John Harvey

Not too shabby, eh?  I think I'm going to be reading a lot of mysteries and crime fiction this winter.