Pop Culture Princess

Pop Culture Princess
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Tuesday, November 07, 2017

Bits of book hauls for a fall bouquet of reading

I buy books the way other people might buy shoes-somewhat practical but can quickly get into impulsive territory. Having a church rummage sale near my house doesn't make that urge any easier but I do try to shop as smartly as possible there.

My book purchases were few at the rummage sale this time out(one book, I found out later that I already had, so it will be donated during my next shelf clearance run). However, I did get a nice three-in-one deal by picking up Paul Auster's New York Trilogy, a snazzy Penguin Deluxe edition no less.

This trio of off beat noir novels have become cult classics, with City of Glass starting things off by sending a mystery writer named Quinn out on a late night odyssey through the streets of New York. That's followed up by Ghosts, with characters that have names right out of an early Tarantino script hunting each other and the finale is fittingly entitled The Locked Room.

I've heard of Paul Auster over the years but never read any of his works,they just didn't call to me. That doesn't mean I won't give this set of his most famous stories a try,bargain price or not. Maybe this is the right moment for me to see what he's all about, at least fiction wise:


Another fortunate find was The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker, a novel that was a big hit in Europe a few years ago but didn't do quite as well in America(sort of like that film adaptation of Jo Nezbo's The Snowman at the box office these days).

The plot of the book is rather bookish as a successful young writer,Marcus Goldman, seeks inspiration for his next book via a visit to his former college professor of the title. Upon arriving at the seaside New Hampshire town where Quebert lives, the body of a dead girl  who had been missing for over thirty years is discovered with the professor being the prime suspect.

Despite the mixed reviews, I'm willing to give this a go. Turns out my purchase is rather timely as the book is being turned into a cable TV series for Epix, with Patrick Dempsey signed up to play Harry Quebert. Granted, I don't get that channel but this is still a good way to get introduced to this tale one way or the other:


My book bargain buying also extends to online(and Better World Books does give to charity,so more justification!) as well and yes, I really did need a new edition of Anna Karenina.

I've been doing well reading War & Peace in the Maude translation and since I've tried in the past to read AK but to no avail with the Constance Garnett version, it made sense to get the Maude edition. I did donate my older Anna Karenina before getting the new one(newish,so to speak).

My new Maude AK happens to be a movie tie-in edition, the latest big screen film starring Keira Knightley. I do like movie covers on books,plus the print size is good which is important for such a long read. I intend to read Anna Karenina as soon as I finish with W&P(yep, doing the full Tolstoy there) and who knows, I might see this film version,too:


 Also, I have a good excuse for getting The Black Moon by Winston Graham. It's the fifth book in the Poldark series,which is being featured on the new season of the PBS series(along with Four Swans, which I should really have as well). True, I'm a little behind in my Poldark reading yet I do have a plan as to how to fix that.

My Series-ous Reading challenge for 2017 will be wrapped up soon, with Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, and my reading blog goal for next year is Stephen King's The Dark Tower books.

However, that series has only seven titles(I know, there's a side story as well but sticking to the main books for this one) and for a full reading year,perhaps adding some of my Poldark TBR to this literary quest might be a good idea. Series-ous Reading 2:Electric Book-a-loo, how does that sound?

 A little corny, I know but being overwhelmed by unread books is something that most readers face and it's certainly a solution. Another round of catch-up is not too bad and it's better than being jinxed at birth by a black moon,that's for sure!:


Seriously, I do need to slow down my book buying as the holidays draw near, not to mention that I have a few library books to return soon. I'll do my best but so many sales, so many books, so little resistance to temptation....:


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