Friday 10 April 2009

Look what I found lurking in my garage!

I have to blame somebody for this so I think I will blame Nymeth. She recently reviewed a book called Gorillas In the Mist by Dian Fossey,which I knew I had but had never read. So off I went to dirtiest depths of despair known as our garage and came out with not just one book, but seven books that I had kept in my collection since my teens and of which had never been read. Only joking Nymeth, it isn't really your fault, in fact I really should thank you because I have been searching for my Moonacre book for ages to coincide with the release of the film Adventures in Moonacre. I would definitely recommend everyone popping over to Nymeth's blog which is here, as she reviews the most interesting of books.

So here are all the books I found in my garage.
Close Range by Annie Proux - this a book full of short stories about Wyoming. Annie Proux is probably most famous for The Shipping News.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - for when I am really sick in bed with flu, this should definitely keep me going.
The Music Lesson by Katherine Weber - I can't quite remember what this one is about - has anyone read it?
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens - always wanted to read this and never got round to it.
Dune by Frank Herbert - one of my favourite films, the main reason why I bought the book.

Yesterday, on my travels, I discovered a new little book shop called Choc a Book, which not only sells very cheap brand new books, but also sells yummy chocolate. What could be more heavenly! The books may not be the latest bestsellers, but the shop owner had a lot that were definitely only out last year and they were all selling for a pound each. I picked up the following four.
A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong - ideal choice for my X author for my A To Z Challenge
In Arcadia by Ben Okri This book is about a group of angry and ill-assorted people who accept an invitation to make a journey. Inspired by a painting and financed by a mysterious benefactor, they set off to discover the real Arcadia. Or what remains of it.Their journey begins in ignorance and chaos at Waterloo station and takes them through superstition and myth to harmony. In the Louvre, in front of Poussin's masterpiece they begin to understand.Ben Okri won the Booker Prize for The Famished Road in 1991.
Lying Tongue by Andrew Wilson - a Gothic thriller set in Venice
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters is the first of the Amelia Peabody series, for which there seems to be hundreds of books, originally released in 1975 and recently re released.
In all of these books, it was definitely the covers that attracted me first.

I thought I would show you the four books I am reading at the moment. I don't normally read so many at a time, but I seem to have quite a lot of books belonging to other people, so I am trying to be clever and read them altogether.

Bad Blood by Lorna Sage won the 2001 Whitbread Biography of the year. This book is set in post war Wales and I am finding it strange as it talks about places that a lot of my family still live in. Especially in Tonypandy,where my nan and mum grew up and my aunts and uncles still live. I cannot help but wonder if their paths may have crossed as the authors family owned the local grocery store. If only my nan was still here to ask.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. A vampire hunter book. Need to get a regular vampire fix! My librarian did recommend this.

The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delany - fabulous book about ghost hunting. A young adult book.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - if someone had told me how beautiful this book was before, I would have read this years ago.

What are you reading this week? Do you read more than one book at a time or is it just me?

Thanks for stopping by.

12 comments:

  1. Hi! you are a bad person - fallen angels kept me up till quarter to one last night am absolutely just absobing it through every pore!!! I quite fancy the crocodile book - keep that one for me please. Hopefully time to read ths aftenoon - I have a new trick - put a cake in the oven and you can't go anywhere or do anything till it comes out Voila!!! (My lemon drizzle cake take s about an hour hee hee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, how fun is it that you can go out to your own garage and come away with all those lost treasures?!! The only one of all those I've read is Gorillas in the Mist (and though it was probably 25 years ago, I still remember how powerful a book it was). I've had Dune on my shelf waiting for me, but I keep putting it off...I think the size is intimidating me.

    I wish I only read one book at a time, but I just can't seem to manage it (in part due to homeschooling my daughter). If I just counted correctly, I have eight books going right now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, you had some great finds! Your garage sounds like my basement, but I'm scared to go down there - too much junk to make my way through to my older books :)

    I can only read one book at a time. I guess my attention span isn't too good :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of these days I'm going to read Les Mis. I started Memoirs of a Geisha a few years ago, but couldn't get into it at the time. I loved the movie though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is quite the book loot! I used to read multiple books at a time but I can't juggle all the plots these days. Right now I'm reading The Reader and liking it okay. I might read The Host next - or else Angels and Demons finally. Or something else. :P

    ReplyDelete
  6. lol, I'm glad it's not really my fault :P I have a copy of Close Range somewhere, but I haven't read it yet. And Choc a Book! What could be more perfect :) I read Ben Okri's The Famished Road last year, and though it was slow going in the end I enjoyed it a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. lol-You had some good ones lurking. Too funny.

    Memoirs of a Geisha is a really good book. I loved it. Guilty Pleasures is a part of a series of Anita Blake books. I think this year will be the 16 th one maybe. I've read the whole series and enjoyed it. I haven't read last years unfortunately so I'll end up with two to catch up on.

    Happy Reading!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Choc a Book sounds like such a cute place. You're lucky!!! Memoirs of a Geisha and Guilty Pleasure are SUCH good books. Enjoy!

    I only read one book at a time usually but I also usually keep a long term read that's usually a biography. Right now I'm re-reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and slowly getting through Child Star by Shirley Temple Black.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yay for lost treasure :) I love finding books in unexpected places. I never read more than one book at a time. I just don't have the concentration for that.

    This week, I just finished Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway and now I'm reading After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates. I'm liking it so far.

    ReplyDelete
  10. how cool that you found those books in your garage! And that book shop sounds great, books and chocolate are two of my favorite things. If I could find a shop that sells books, chocolate and yarn, i'd be in heaven lol
    happy reading :O) Memoirs of a Geisha is one of my favorites.
    Right now i'm finishing up 'The Ten Year Nap'
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  11. You found so many good stuff in your garage? What treasure you have stored in there! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Who'd have thought--discovering treasure in your own house! It's always fun to rediscover books and it looks like you've got some good ones (albiet long ones!).

    ReplyDelete

Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.