The Sunday Salon - Why Are the Months Going so Fast????

Please can somebody explain to me how it is already June?? I just don't understand how the year is going so fast! I think the first few months went quite slowly, as I wasn't working much or really doing much at all, but since I've started working full time, weeks have been flying by. I've already been in my new job a month, and feel like I've been there a lot longer. Also, since the death of my book buying ban, I've been acquiring books like a fiend, making up for lost time! In the past two weeks, I've somehow managed to add an absolutely massive THIRTY FIVE books to my collection. I have a serious problem. And since I've started buying again, I guess I need to start monitoring how much I buy again. In the interest of stats, and keeping tabs on how long I've had things, here's my acquisition list for May:

******WARNING- It's VERY long******

Books I've Bought for Myself:

• The Outsiders by S.E Hinton
• Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner  (read about on Sophisticated Dorkiness)
• The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones (after reading Neil Gaiman's tribute to her )
• Dear Fatty by Dawn French
• The Little House by Philippa Gregory (recommended by my friend Judith)
• Peter Pan & Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M Barrie
• Confessions of an Eco- Shopper by Kate Lock
• The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (because the lovely woman at the car boot sale threw it in for freeeeee!)
• Essays in Love by Alain de Botton
• A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
• The Best of Miss Marple by Agatha Christie
• Yes Man by Danny Wallace (Who is totally hilarious)
• Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (recommended by my little sister, the Cheese Ninja)
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 
• In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
• The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters (bought for my mum, but she already has it!)
• Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (see above)
• Vanity Fair by William Thackaray (I read it years ago, but wanted my own copy for the readalong)
• An absolutely beautiful boxset of Faber Poetry comprising: The Waste Land and Other Poems (T.S Eliot), Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (Eliot), Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (Wendy Cope - a poet I've not read before), Ariel (Sylvia Plath), Death of a Naturalist (Heaney), Crow (Ted Hughes), High Windows (Larkin), Tell Me the Truth About Love (Auden), Kid (Armitage), and The War Poems (Sassoon)

Books I've Been Given or Swapped:

• A LOT of Ian Rankin (A Good Hanging, Blood Hunt, The Naming of the Dead, Strip Jack, The Black Book, Mortal Causes, Let it Bleed, Black & Blue, The Hanging Garden, Dead Souls, Set in Darkness, and The Falls) - lots of these are in big books, so I'm counting them as one book, although they're actually three. 
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (result of my appeal for Creative Nonfiction Recommendations)
• The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen (for my July Fairytale Feature - June is Cinderella, and I'm working on it at the moment!)
• Gossip Girl: Love the One You're With by Cecily von Zeigesar
• Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
• The Jacobite Trilogy by D.K Broster
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Three More to Mention:

• Coming Up for Air by Patti Callahan Henry (Review copy from St Martin's Press)
• The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek (Review copy from Plume)
• Promises to Keep by Jane Green (Review copy from Plume - published in the U.K as The Love Verb)

Aaaand breathe! Hugely long list, I know, and it's led to my fiance putting his foot down. Although I'm not back on my ban (I seem to be unable to stop at the moment... ) he has said that from now on, I have to read two books that I already own for every one I buy. This includes reading two for every one that I've bought over the last two weeks... so I won't be buying again for a while! To be honest, though I've got some awesome stuff on my shelves, and it should be fun to rediscover the reasons why I absolutely had to have things!

The thing I'm most excited about, though, is that I've recently got all excited about reading and blogging again! I was going through a bit of a slump back there for a while, and I think it was a lot to do with the fact that I was feeling some pressure (I'm not sure why) to make my blog be a certain way - i.e. to be 'literary' or 'serious' or something, I'm not really sure - rather than just being what I want and need it to be, which is an outlet for all my book related madness! And so, in deference to said madness, here's the list of stuff I read in May :-)

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (read for The Birth Year Reading Challenge)
• Emma by Jane Austen (read for The Classics Circuit)
• Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor
• Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon (read for the Fairytale Feature)
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (read for the Historical Fiction Challenge)
• Meet the Maitlands by Noel Streatfeild (for my Noel Streatfeild reading challenge)
• Of No Consequence by Sonia Rumzi
• Rock and Hard Places by Andrew Mueller
• The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagan (Review copy from Dutton)
• The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
• The Locust and the Bird by Hanan Al - Shaykh

Links go to my reviews, and that's pretty good for me in recent times! Favourite read for May was probably Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon. I loved Mermaid, which I read in April, and I'm thinking I might have found another author to add to my 'favourites' list!

If you've stuck with this post till this point, I am amazed! And if anybody has any tips for managing the book acquistion fever, they will be VERY gratefully recieved! I'm sure my fiance would be thrilled, too, he'll probably even send you a present! :-)

Happy June (my birthday month!) everybody!

Death of the ban! (or, how I came to buy a lot of books...)

Back in February, after some epic failures to fit all, or even any, of my books into the available space, and realising that it's not o.k to come home with a sackful of books every single time I go past a bookshop, I decided to put myself on a Year Long Book Buying Ban. All capitals, all seriousness, and I was determined. I made it to exactly three months and fifteen days... I know that many of you will appreciate how long this is! And why is it that it feels so much longer? I actually feel like I didn't buy any books for an entire year, and when I was counting back, I couldn't believe that I hadn't (at the very least) reached the six month mark!

So anyway, three months and fifteen days... and then, this happened:

 

It really isn't as bad (good??) as it looks, and here's why. The reason that I absolutely had to break my ban, was that we went to Whitstable at the weekend, which has two of the most awesomely awesome bookshops that I have ever come across in my life, and I've been in a lot! The first is Harbour Books, and oh my goodness this place is AMAZING. They stock all new books, and it's in a gorgeous little shop with lots of narrow awkward stairways and twisting turns and secret corners, but here's the great bit; a huge majority of their brand new books are only £2.99! And as if that wasn't enough, piled around the top of the staircase, and on all the shelves lining the walls, are all their sale books, most of which are only 50p each! Seriously, how on earth could anybody expect a person such as myself to be in a place such as this and not buy anything?! No I haven't been paid to plug them, but seriously, if you are (or ever find yourself) in my sunny little corner of Britain, go to Whiststable, go visit Harbour Books, and then make me a cake to say thanks :-)

Ok so, on to the second bookshop. I had to google the name of it, as I was too in awe at the time to notice, but it's called Oxford Street Books, and their website is almost as gorgeous and well laid out as their shop. It's a second hand and antiquarian bookshop, and I was totally thrilled to find it, as lately the fiance and I have been lamenting the horribly disorganised state of both of our local second hand bookshops. You know when bookshops have that slightly damp, musty smell? Our locals are like that, and as far as anyone can tell, the books aren't organised into any kind of system or categories either. Totally overwhelming. Anyway, this place was the exact opposite of that. It is beautiful. Outside, on tables, they have a load of 95p paperbacks, organised in genres by table, and then inside it's literally floor to ceiling books, organised by subject, and then by format. The guy that was in there when we were was amazingly knowledgeable. As we went around a corner we caught a glimpse of his basement storage area, which was literally just piles and piles of books as far as the eye could see, and we had a bit of a joke with him about it. As we were going to leave, my fiance asked him, just on the off chance, if he knew if he had any Noel Streatfeild books in. He told us he thought he had a couple in the basement. I feared for his life (I think he did, too!), but he returned literally minutes later, and apparently unharmed by the gathering hordes of the storage room, with a gorgeous Persephone copy of Saplings, which I'd been after for ages! I was so happy I was pretty much jumping for joy - I spontaneously smiled at two random strangers in the street and asked them how their day was, I think I totally petrified them!

There's my story, and although I'm annoyed with myself for not making it all the way, I'm still very proud of my three months and fifteen days - it's approximately three months and ten days longer than I've ever gone before without buying books! 

Now the story's out of the way, here's a list of the books in the above (not so great) photo:

* The Brer Rabbit Book by Enid Blyton - big childhood favourite of mine, and now we've moved away from my mum, I really felt I needed my own copy to indulge in nostalgic moments. My sister's favourite was always Brer Rabbit and the Butter. We still tease her about it :-)

* Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - after my recent cry for creative nonfiction, Sonia  recommended this, and I'm excited to start it! Doesn't really count as a buy, as I swapped for it, but I included it because during the ban I'd limited myself to one swap a month; a number I've currently gone over by about five...

* Peter Pan & Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M Barrie - bought because I've never read Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and because the copy is beautiful!

* Confessions of an Eco - Shopper by Kate Lock was in the 50p sale section at Harbour Books, and as I love books about thrift, shopping, and the environment, I just had to. 

* Gossip Girl: Love the One You're With by Cecily von Ziegesar - fiance actually bought this for me, again for 50p, as both my sister (not the Brer Rabbit lover, different sister) and I are big Gossip Girl fans. It has to be my biggest guilty pleasure.

* Exit Music by Ian Rankin - got for me by my future parents - in -law but included in the pile as I wanted to showcase what I've got recently, and because I've not read a lot of detective fiction for a long time, but lots of people have recommended Rankin to me.

* Resurrection Man by Ian Rankin - see above :-)

* Saplings by Noel Streatfeild - because it's Streatfeild, I was running out of her books for my challenge, it was only £4, and seriously, have you seen how gorgeous it is??

* The Complete Lewis Carroll - beautiful beautiful collected set of his work, including both Alice books, plus a load of other stuff I'd never read. £3, and I'm excited to read it!

aaaaaand finally!

* The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith - hardback, brand new, £2.99. I love McCall Smith, so does my mum, and she doesn't get bought a lot of books, so I thought I'd read it (very carefully), and then give it to her as a gift next time I see her! 

So that's it, I'm a total failure, and I totally don't care! I got paid today, and the book acquisition fever is baaaaaaaaaack! :-)

Maaaarch!

My reading speeds have been awful the past week, as I've been ill, and March generally has been a pretty terrible month for reviewing, but a fairly good one for reading. I am very behind on my reviews! Saying that, I have failed to finish The Three Musketeers for Allie's readalong - I got stuck somewhere around chapter 40 due to the interference of Tender is the Night. I'm also still in the process of finishing Affinity for Andi's readalong, but my slowness on this is due purely to illness, a visit home to my family, and shopping for wedding and bridesmaids dresses, rather than any problems with the book - I am really enjoying it, and hope to finish it this week.

My book buying ban is still going strong (it's been nearly 2 months!) and I'm supremely proud of myself. I've also managed to acquire a fair amount of free books this month - 7 from my fiance for our anniversary, Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners from Booksoulmates Random Acts of Kindness scheme, from the lovely Susan, and one from teadevotee for World Book Night. Still on the way to me, I've won a copy of The Handbook for Lightining Strike Survivors, from The BookLadys Blog, and have another RAK on the way. A very lucky month! :-)

I read 16 books this month, mostly due to re-reading some really short childhood favourites! These are:

• Apple Bough  by Noel Streatfeild (bookswap)
• When the Siren Wailed by Noel Streafeild (own)
• The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett (library)
• Goodnight, Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson (library)
• The Wild by Esther Freud (library)
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (library)
• Gallery Girl by Wendy Holden (library)
• Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm (own)
• A Vicarage Family  by Noel Streatfeild (library)
• The Comfort of Saturdays by Alexander McCall Smith (library)
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (library)
• Five Go Off in a Caravan by Enid Blyton (own)
• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (library)
• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (library)
• Slam by Nick Hornby (library)
• Anastasia, At Your Service by Lois Lowry (own)
• Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (own)
• Away from the Vicarage by Noel Streatfeild (library)

So that's how terrible I've been with the reviewing, I hope to catch up a bit this month! Having said that, I've got people coming this week so won't be able to post much! But should be back to normal after that.
Quick wrap up of my challenges for the first quarter and how I'm doing with those (mostly not great)....


The Canongate Myth Challenge  (1/12)
Back to the Classics 2011 (2/8)
Graphic Novel Challenge (4/11)
Historical Fiction Challenge (2/10)
Global Reading Challenge (3/14)
Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge (2/20)

At least I've made a start, and summer's on the way! Now I'm off to apply for tickets to the Olympics next year! Happy reading everyone!

Books!

Recently, I've been totally terrible at actually writing and posting reviews of all the many books I've been reading. I will get around to it, I promise, just not sure when... I am reading a lot, and really getting excited about things, but writing isn't one of them at the moment. I'm sure it will be again soon.

So to make up for that, I wanted to share a pretty photo I took. I've been on a year long book buying ban since the beginning of February, and I'm doing well so far. So to reward me, for our anniversary, my fiance gave me a £10 limit and bought me some books, and I think I did pretty well for the money! Here's what I got:



From top to bottom:

• The BFG by Roald Dahl - I've recently started a project to re-read all my favourite books throughout my childhood and teenage years, and had to get this when I found it while searching in a charity shop.
• Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi - Since reading Persepolis, I've got really interested in literature about Iran, and as this is a memoir about the reading of books, and censorship, both things I'm really interested in, it was another 'had to have'.
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I had this on order from the library, but there are about 300 reserves on it, so the chances of me getting it before next year were minimal. Buying it just seemed to make sense. 
• Rabble Starkey by Lois Lowry - For the re-reading project. I used to have a copy of this I bought from the library for about 10p, but it's been lost or given away or nicked by one of my siblings, so now I have another one!
• Anastasia At Your Service by Lois Lowry - Again another one I loved as a kid. This (and the other two I got) are just books I'd totally forgotten about, and when I found them today I went into a little bit of a squealy fit (no, I'm not proud..) and had to have them. It helped that they were only 99p each!
• Anastasia Has the Answers by Lois Lowry
• Anastasia's Chosen Career by Lois Lowry
• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - I've been hearing and reading really good things about this for ages now, and it's a really nice copy. I'm definitely excited to read it!

Now I just have to find shelf space for them, wish me luck!!