Monday 19 April 2010

Monday Mailbox

By the end of May I am definitely going on a book ban. I just have far too many books and not enough time to read them, so I intend to stop buying them unless they are part of a series that I am desperately waiting to read. I will have to wait until the end of May, as I have another two parcels of books arriving. In my defence again, they were bought with book vouchers, just as the ones pictured above were. Once the third parcel is in, then that will be it for awhile I am promising myself.

I also plan to finish all the books I have from the library and then stay away from the library for at least a couple of months. This is not because I don't adore the library, because you know I do, it is just that I want to make a serious dent in the books that I have on my own shelves. My only reason for breaking this will be for books for my American Journey challenge which I know I will need, but as I still have a pile to go for Alabama, I know I won't need any for a while.


So back to the lovely books sitting in my birthday pile.


1) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have been wanting to read Ishiguro for ages and this one has been recommended to me.


2)Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. After reading Un Lun Dun, this seemed like an ideal book to read and as I understand from other book bloggers, Neverwhere is better.


3) The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. I loved her book The Unfinished Angel, which I read earlier this year, so I couldn't resist buying this one, which I got for a pound.


4) White Cat by Holly Black - this was sent to me by Amanda from 'Life and Times of A 'New' New Yorker' who won't be a New Yorker for much longer as she is moving to Kentucky. She wasn't keen to read it and knowing how much I love Holly Black, she asked me if I wanted her copy, which isn't even out yet over here. I can't wait to read it.


5) The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly. When I mentioned I had bought Connelly's book 'The Gates' earlier this year, a lot of you mentioned this book as being really good, so I couldn't resist it as it was selling for just a pound too.


6) Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman - couldn't resist this one as it is set in Alabama around the time of Rosa Parks arrest. It is a true story that has been made into fiction.


7) The Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda - a young adult book dealing with the Knights Templar, a society I have been fascinated with for a while.


8) Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. This one has popped up a few times to recently.

When I went up to the counter to purchase these books, the lady serving looked at me agog. 'My you have a mixture of tastes, don't you?' she said. Well I suppose I have, because basically I will read anything and everything, (except Shakespeare, because I just don't understand it) I don't want to be someone who only reads one genre, I would definitely get bored. I cannot help but see all those different books as new doorways into new worlds and new subjects and I have such a thirst to read everything and anything. Is that bad?

These books came to me courtesy of my brother and his wife. My brother is a bit of a hero as he ran the Brighton Marathon yesterday, which is about 26 miles. He raised money for the Lupus Charity and I am really proud of him. Today he plans to get drunk as he hasn't had a drink since before Christmas, due to all the training. I can't say I blame him at all.

Off now to clean my house from top to bottom, as now the kids are back at school I can have a clean house again. Yay!

Have a great day everyone.

TTFN

25 comments:

  1. Variety is definitely not bad! I'd get bored too only reading one genre.

    And your brother IS a bit of a hero! That was lovely of him. I can't imagine running 26 miles, but then again, I hate running with a passion :P

    Never Let Me Go, Neverwhere and The Book of Lost Things are all so brilliant. Enjoy!

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  2. The Book Of Lost Things is one of my very favourites. It did make me cry but in my defense I was pregnant at the time and blame the hormones! Lucky you picking it up for a pound. I'll have to add those others to my list too as you have recommended some crackers of the ones I have actually got round to buying :P (did that make sense? I dunno!)

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  3. I hope you are able to clean the house early and then enjoy some down time reading :)

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  4. The Book Of Lost Things is on my wish list. I loved The Gates by this author. Though I'm also thinking of having a book ban (until Christmas?). My to-be-read pile is getting ridiculous - if it was to fall on anyone, serious damage could be done.

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  5. So many good books on there!! Can't wait to see what you think of Never Let Me Go and Thirteen Reasons Why! and that's cool about the Holly Black book. :) I agree with you, variety is key!

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  6. This is my first visit to your blog and I have to say that those cupcakes are making me hungry!

    I read Scottsboro when it was on the Orange list last year. I enjoyed it and hope you do too.

    I've been wanting to read Never Let Me Go for ages - I've heard so many things about it.

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  7. Your books look wonderful Vivienne! I love variety in my books! Enjoy them all and I can not wait to hear what you think of Thirteen Reasons Why! :)

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  8. Lol, a mix of genres it the best taste to have ;)

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  9. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the books, especially on Neil Gaiman's book as I have one waiting for me as well, namely, The Graveyard Book. This will be my first book by this author and I am really excited to find out if I like it.

    I will check out the other books as I don't really know anything about them. Happy reading Vivienne!

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  10. Nice bunch of books! I really want to read Never Let Me Go, so I'll be watching for your review.

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  11. Great list of books,will be waiting for the reviews!

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  12. This looks like a great list. I hope that you enjoy "never let me go"

    thanks for sharing your lovely blog

    hannah

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  13. Nymeth - thank you. My brother is a bit of a hero. He is knackered today though.

    Gautami - that I do!

    Carmen - I wonder if it will make me cry too.

    Molly - no chance of that. After I finished the cleaning, the ironing called me.

    Petty - lol, your reading pile sounds like mine.

    Amanda - I just have so many good books that I have had recommended to me, yet I still never have time to read them.

    Sheila -thankyou

    Blodeuedd- thankyou too.

    Andreea - so far I have really enjoyed the Neil Gaiman books that I have read, so I would definitely recommend reading it.

    Bermudaonion - thankyou

    Tribute Books - thankyou

    Hannah - thanks for visiting my wee blog.

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  14. Those books look spectacular! I sympathize with your problem of too many books. And even though I am trying to have self-control I still can't help at least browsing the library sale shelf each time I visit. Haven't bought anything in a few weeks though, so that's good at least. :)

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  15. Some great book choices there Viv!
    My Kindle has helped with the 'over-run by books problem' unfortunately not with my self control but can't have everything LOL
    I have 13 Reaasons Why on Kindle, it's supposed to be excellent and I love Neil Gaiman's books so I've just picked up Anansi Boys on a bloggers recommendation.
    Happy reading :-)

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  16. Vivienne , you are so funny. Many of these are books I'd love to read. I have read The Book of Lost Things and think you'll enjoy it.

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  17. great mailbox viv.
    I really want to read Neverwhere and I have The Book of Lost Things on my shelf.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  18. I sooo wanna hear all about John Connely's book and John Asher's book! Read them first and review quickly. :P

    Never Let Me Go was brilliant! Enjoy.

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  19. Congrats to your brother -26 miles is awesome. Wow to your books. I always laugh when I see the pile of books you get each week. I've tried putting myself on a book ban so many times. For some reason I just can't seem to succeed at it. lol.

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  20. that is a great list! i love ishiguro! i haven't read castle corona or unfinished angel and both look good! happy cleaning!

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  21. I really didn't like the John Connolly book and I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on it.

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  22. Congrats to your brother for being a hero - great job!

    You did get quite an eclectic mix there. I read 13 Reasons Why last year and I really liked it. I hope you'll enjoy it. So glad I saw Scottsboro mentioned... I had forgotten I wanted to add that book to my radar! :)

    Enjoy your new books.

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  23. What a wonderful collection of books! I particularly loved Neverwhere, Never Let Me Go and The Book of Lost Things!

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  24. Great mailbox, Viv! I loved NEVERWHERE and THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS. I hope you will like them too. :)

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