In My Mailbox #7

 

Well apparently I must think there are 56 hours in a day, and all of them are for reading. I've obtained a stupid amount of books this week (just like last week really...), and not only will I never have time to read them all, I've run out of space on my TBR shelf. The plan was to no longer buy books if they wouldn't fit on there, but as I never quite believed it myself... well, the squashed green pig speaks for itself. 

This is my bookishly-obsessed week. Isn't it a sight for sore eyes? Doesn't it make you want to skip and dance and laugh? Don't you suddenly feel lighter and brighter for seeing it? And that, my friends, is why we have Problems. 

But anyway.

From Amazon:

 

Forever Barbie is a non-fiction account of the creation of the Barbie doll and the impact it's had on society and feminism. It was recommended by the author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter (my review is here - it's definitely worth reading) and I do have a weakness for for investigations into gender stereotyping on small children. What can I say, I'm a strange girl.

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story was recommended to me (more than once!) by Bex from An Armchair by the Sea. I bought it the day after I imposed a book-buying plan, which shows just how seriously I take these things. I blame you Bex.

Chocolate & Vicodin was actually recommended to me by my Doctor, of all people. No, we're not in the habit of sitting comfortable chatting about books over tea and cakes, although that would be a nice change. It's a semi-memoir by Jennette Fulda, who suffered a constant headache for years of her life, with no discernible cause. It's a light-hearted look into chronic pain of all types and its alleviation.

From the library:

Sheffield Central Library has been shut for refurbishment for one long month, so I went to one of the mini-libraries to alleviate the corresponding withdrawal symptoms. It's obviously aimed pretty much exclusively at old people and pre-teens, because they don't have much but large-print family sagas and ancient computers surrounded by hordes of half-dressed terrors minors.

I refused to leave empty-handed though, so I grabbed Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and What Alice Forgot by Liaue Moriarty on a whim. I started The Graveyard Book on the way home, as when faced with a handbag empty of other books and a long train ride, it's amazing what you'll read. But hey, you know what? It's actually pretty good. My review is here.

From swaps:

Looks like I've gone slightly crazy on swaps this week then... But hey, you can never have too many, so my swap list is here if you want to take a look :)

Before I Fall looks to be one of the more mature YA books out there, but as soon as it arrived, I squeaked over the perfect condition... and then promptly lost it. Why is it that the books you most want to read are always the ones that get stolen by the Book Fairies?

I have a bit of a mixed opinion of Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper is one of my all-time favourite books (my review of the book and film are here and here respectively), but I didn't like The Pact or Salem Falls. I figure that maybe I'll only like her children-with-odd-medical-and-legal-problems books (a specific genre, I know), so I'm going to give Handle With Care and Keeping Faith a go.

Postcards From The Edge is Carrie Fisher's first novel. I wasn't even aware she'd written any at all until a month or so ago when I read (and loved) her autobiography, Wishful Drinking (review here). 

I only accepted a swap for Divine By Mistake because I'd declined a couple of swaps in a row and felt bad, but when I thought about it, I realised I actually really want to read it. I liked P.C. Cast's House of Night series, so I'm sure this will be equally as good :)

 From Sheffield Space Centre:

The Space Centre isn't nearly as interesting as it sounds, unfortunately. Well, it is pretty cool, but severely lacking in shuttles, aliens or moonrock. It's a comic book/graphic novel store thah has a huge wall of science-fiction and fantasy novels. It's a handy little place, as I can park The Boy by Batman and return to pick him up later :)

I've read Mercedes Lackey's Phoenix and Ashes before (it's a Cinderella retelling), but it was the only one of the Elemental Masters series I didn't actually own and it's my favourite by far.


The Stepsister Scheme is another retelling, but ti's been on my wishlist for ages. I've nevr read anything by Mr. Hines before, but I know he's written a lot of reltellings and light fantasy. This one has Cinderella, Snow White and Red Riding Hood teaming up to rescue.. someone from something. Sorry.

From ASDA: 

 

 

Okay, so I have absolutely no idea what any of these three books are about, but ASDA had them on clearance for 87p for a box set of all three, so why wouldn't I buy them? (shh, I'm still under the illusion I'm going to actually read them...)

Well, I loved Farenheit 451, that's my excuse.

From the second hand book stall:

 

The owner of the second-hand book stall in Shipley underground market actually knows me by name, it's that bad. Well, he's cheap and usually has a really good selection, so I stop by every couple of days.

Once again, I can't remember what The Rapture is actually about. I have a disease people, I tell you.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on the other hand, I've wanted to read for a good while now. It's just my kind of science-fictiony, dystopian, robot-y novel. I've heard wonderful things, so I doubt it'll be too long before I read it. Well, that and the fact that it won't actually fit on the damn shelf... 

From HMV:

Finally, this is one of those Taschen art books. They're huge, and hardbacked and full of shiny, glossy art prints. Mmm... They're also usually quite expensive, but this one was only £7 and I really do like 1950s pin-up paintings.

Argh. I'm buying fewer books this week, I swear, just so I don't have to sit here and write about them all next week!