More fantastic finds

Are you sick of these yet? I hope not, cause it’s good fun to share newest finds, and it’s nice to demonstrate the kind of good stuff you can get if you look for it. This batch came courtesy of the Bookends Sale at the Toronto Reference Library. I’m a huge fan of Bookends (the regular store) for its rock bottom prices, so I thought I’d give their annual sale a try. The sale didn’t disappoint, though it was more like a mini Victoria College sale (which is this weekend, along with Word on the Street in Toronto!), with great offerings at slightly than usual prices.  Though my numbers won’t be as impressive as they usually are, I was willing to shell out a bit more for good books in support of the library. And here we go again:

(Clockwise from the top left):

Long Story Short, by Elyse Friedman: Anansi makes beautiful books, and since I may be coming round to short stories, I thought, why not?

Man of My Dreams, by Curtis Sittenfeld: I was shopping with my friend Reeder (check out her finds here), and Prep (see below) is her favourite book. So I figured I’d take advantage of finding a second book by the same author in case I love it as much as Reeder does.

Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld: Peer pressure. See above.

The Pleasure of Reading, ed. Antonia Fraser. This book has great coffee table book potential (despite the fact that I’ve dispensed with my coffee table). Famous authors talk about their early reading experiences, favourite books and so on. Gorgeous four colour book with specially commissioned paintings to suit each author.

Submarine, by Joe Dunthorne. I discovered this book last summer, and the jacket copy + reading random selections had me laughing and intrigued. Cheese bought it and found it a bit too weird (saying something for her), but I couldn’t resist giving it a try.

Total Spent: $12

Read Full Post »

Previously Loved Finds

This week's spoils

I went book diving again this weekend, so I thought I’d take the time to share (/brag about, I mean, really) my conquests. Clockwise from the top left:

The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss (PB). I’ve already blogged about  this one, and indeed I have a copy. But when I really like a book, I always pick up extra copies to thrust upon unsuspecting friends and family members, because one of the greatest pleasures of being widely read is match-making  books and their ideal readers.

The Dutch Wife, by Eric McCormack. (HC) This was an amusing and fortuitous find. I was reading Corey Redekop’s Shelf Monkey a couple weeks ago, and the novel’s fugitive protagonist writes letters to a prominent Canadian writer . . . who, embarrassingly,  I’d never heard of. And then, it seemed, the bookish fates intervened, and I now have one of his  books.

The Red Queen, by Margaret Drabble (PB). I’ve never read anything by this Dame of British letters, and I thought it was time. Plus, I love hist fic, and admittedly, put a lot of faith in M&S books.

The Accidental, by Ali Smith (HC). Another writer I’ve been meaning to get around to (I’ve got Girl meets boy) on my shelf. Plus this one was shortlisted for the Booker. Fabulous use of a spot gloss on the cover as well — it mimics the texture in the painting on the cover.

The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls (PB). Proof that product placement works. Yes it’s got great reviews and Heather’s purple-stickered endorsement, but really what has kept this book on my radar is that it seems like it’s consistently been on front of store tables at Indigo for about four years.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling (PB). A not-so-subtle hint for  Cheese, who avoided all things HP for years, but now has decided to start watching the movies, but NOT READ THE BOOKS. Unacceptable.

Total spent: $5.25

Read Full Post »

More Buried Treasures

I went on another successful book diving mission this weekend, and I couldn’t resist sharing the spoils:

Clockwise from top left:

Deafening, by Francis Itani (PB). A KIRBC recommendation (read Emily’s review here) has had me on the hunt for this one for a while. Not to mention it’s won the Commonwealth Prize and has Canada Reads street cred.  This one will probably jump up in the reading queue pretty soon.

Muriella Pent, by Russel Smith (HC). I’m not going to lie, the thing that has really captivated about this book, is the painting on the cover. It’s one of my faves at the AGO (which has free admission on Wed nights, Torontonians). The painting, The Marchesa Casati  byAugustus Edwin John, hangs in one of rooms crowded with rather stuffy portraits and old-timey landscapes in heavy gilded frames, and this woman just pierces right through all that drab and dreary. I do love a firey read head, but it’s more than that: is she sad or scheming? With the blustery skies in the background it could be either. But one thing is for sure, that knowing gaze is (in the words of Tyra Banks) FIERCE. I’ve also been meaning to read more of Russell Smith than his weekly man-style column in the Globe, and while he offers sage advice, I’m sure he has more to give.

Pilgrim, by Timothy Findley (PB). It being Findley is enough for me, though the painting on this cover is more unsettling than the the last: The Virgin Mary meets Obi Wan Kenobi. And is that supposed to be as vulgar as I think?(Clearly my brain is a little over-sexed after finishing Diablo Cody’s Candy Girl.)

We So Seldom Look on Love, by Barbara Gowdy (PB). I’m not a big short story reader, but I’m making an exception for Gowdy. Also, I like the look of Gowdy’s Harper Perennial editions.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini (HC). Kind of a big deal, you know? I liked The Kite Runner, so I’m into reading this. Plus this edition was like one of those used book miracles — it doesn’t even look read (which, of course, I hope isn’t the case).

The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter (PB). I was introduced to Carter through The Magic Toyshop, a book I studied for a research assistant position which focused on modern gothic novels and the family (if that topic makes you think big incest, you would be more right than you care to know). But Carter’s writing has more to it than lusty trysts between blood relatives, and certainly she’s a master of her genre. Plus, this book has some of the more hardcore marginalia I’ve seen. And though I loved the Hosseini for being pristine, I’m completely intrigued by how this one has been colonized by overzealous pencil scrawls and multi-colour highlighter. We’ll see if I can crack the code.

Brokeback Mountain, by Annie Proulx. (HC – That grey mystery sans dustjacket.) I’m a sucker for forbidden love and am a big fan of cowboys (even if these ones wouldn’t be big fans of me). Plus, I’ve been meaning to read Proulx for a while, and this slim little novella seems perfectly tailored for my subway reading convenience.

TOTAL SPENT: $6.25

Read Full Post »