So I've decided to continue posting an In My Mailbox post every Sunday and linking it to The Story Siren. I have my own issues with the whole thing, mainly with the way Kristi chose to deal with the problem, but regardless she created this meme. It seems slightly hypocritical to condemn somebody for plagiarism and then use a version of the meme they created for your own blog. Just my two cents :)
It's actually Saturday as I'm typing this. Can you believe it? For the first time in my very-nearly-a-year of blogging, I actually scheduled a post. If only I could manage to do the same with my Law coursework, my life would be complete.
Actually, the reason for my scheduling kind of coincides with the books above. I have ME/CFS and Lupus, which tends to make Hanna a very tired girl. Thing is, I'm planning on completing my Bar in September, which means a million, gruelling hours a week of hard work and little rest, and at the minute I wouldn't be able to cope. So in an attempt to slowly get up to speed, I started volunteering at a local charity shop for a few hours a week. Thursday afternoon, I stumbled home, threw up and immediately went to bed exhausted.
If that weren't bad enough, last night I went to a music concert. The end result is a Hanna who hasn't actually been able to do a whole lot all day but stay in bed. The end end result is massive progression in my Castleville game and a fair bit of blogwork. Clearly the former is the way more productive use of my time.
So how does that tie-in to my bookage? Well my friends, do you know what charity shops sell? Books. And do you know what you end up buying after staring at a whole wall of said item for four hours? Books!
The Turin Shroud, The Satanic Verses, Misguided Angel and The Last Werewolf were all examples of me not only volunteering my time, but my finances, to a good cause. Nothing to do with just being tempted by the books, I swear.
I'm particularly pleased with The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan - I noticed it when it first came out, but I was going through a bit of an anti-paranormal phase and so didn't really want to fork out for something I might not have liked. Now, however, that phase has vanished and so I couldn't resist when I saw it on the shelves for £2!
Misguided Angel is the latest installment of the Blue Bloods series... which honestly I can't really remember. I read them almost two years ago, but I remember really liking them and I'm usually quite skeptical about YA vampire series. I'll definitely have to reread them before getting to this one.
I wasn't really sure about buying The Satanic Verses, but it's amazing what you'll buy after staring at something for four hours. Actually, it's the cover I like in mint condition, and it's on my Project Fill in the Gaps list, so I was going to buy it sooner or later anyway... *justifies*
I also bought Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon, although it's not pictured at the top because it accidentally got shoved on top on the TBR pile to the right of the one above. What!? I have many!
In Leah's Wake was sent to me by the author, Terri Giuliano Long. She's super nice, and even included a little notecard and a special bookmark along with the book. I love it when authors write a little message inside the novel- it makes me feel all special and loved :) Watch this space for a review!
And finally, because I realise how long this IMM has ended up, we have The Jury Must Die by Carol O'Connell. I haven't heard of the title or the author before, but my Mum's been reading it and I kept sneaking glances at the blurb whenever she put it down. As soon as she finished, I whipped it out from under her and immediately plopped it on top on my TBR pile. I've been in a Law mood recently so this sounds perfect!
What did you get in your mailbox this week? Any experiences with working in a bookish charity shop to share?
The Satanic Verses is really cool, hope you like it :)
ReplyDeletehttp://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/04/in-my-mailbox_29.html
I've read The Last Werewolf, it was pretty good :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes! I used to work in an Oxfam Bookshop, which was amazingly horrendous. I'd be sorting donations and have a pile for the shop and a pile for me... and then the manager would always give me discount too. Most of my student loan went on books in my uni years!
I actually had your review in mind when I saw it on the shelf :)
DeleteI never realised how many of us have worked in charity shops until now! There's at least four of us that I know of... must be all those books tempting us :)
I was horrendous during Uni - almost all my loan and paychecks went on books.
Same problem with the IMM thing. It just seems wrong. *sigh* I decided to not post my haul this week and decide what to do later. Maybe I'll just post my haul without participating in a meme? I always did weeks in reviews after all.
ReplyDeleteIsland of Lost Girls looks intense. o.o
Patricia // My Week in Review
"It seems slightly hypocritical to condemn somebody for plagiarism and then use a version of the meme they created for your own blog." Just have to point out - she didn't. She borrowed the idea from somebody else. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Last Werewolf actually seems like more of a literary paranormal than the usual urban fantasy so I might go ahead and find a copy of that one sometime as well. And I would have bought The Satanic Verses as well - really want to read some Rushdie. I love the little bookmark too!
Did she? Ah fair enough. I feel better now :)
DeleteYeah, that's what I thought. At least it's adult fiction. And for £2 (well, less) I figured it was probably worth it.
I really really like The Satanic Verses! It takes a little bit of getting used to like, stylistically, but once you do it's like 'WOAH, this is the BEST THING EVER!' Or, at least, I thought so, but I'm a nerd and wrote an essay on it even though I could probably have done an easier one... lol.
ReplyDeleteGreat :) You're the first person I know that's actually read it! I'm looking forward to it now...
DeleteNice haul - and oh dear, you've been hit by the Volunteer Buyer Syndrome... You know know that volunteering doesn't mean keeping the charity running single-handedly, right?! ;)
ReplyDeleteI did a lot of volunteering at our local Mind shop while I was at school and in uni holidays, AND to get me back into a routine when I was recovering from agoraphobia, and oh dear, me, THE TEMPTATION! I was occasionally allowed to borrow a book, I bought them by the pile (as well as clothes and other stuff) AND there were multiple other charity shops between Mind and the bus stations when it was time to go home... I'm surprised I ever had any money left at the end of the week! And you're right, when you have time to really browse and stare at them PROPERLY over a shift it's that much harder to resist.
The Last Werewolf is cool beans, I hope you like it. The follow-up is out now I think. And I'll be looking forward to seeing what you think of Satanic Verses - I haven't dared try it yet but if you like it I might be tempted!
P.S. On the IMM thing... Well, I'm choosing NOT to take part anymore - as you know, I often get too enthusiastic about my latest haul to wait for Sunday anyway, so it won't make much difference to me, haha! But if you're interested, I've heard that there might be a UK-based version in the works called 'Letterbox Love' (I don't know if it's a response to this whole mess or whether it was already being planned) that might be a good alternative if it gets off the ground... (Even if it does sound a bit kinky, *cough*)
It seems like all of us have volunteered in charity shops at some point! I had the same idea as you though - getting back into a routine and stuff. The book shelves are right next to the till and that charity shop has ALWAYS had an amazing book selection so I'm a happy Hanna :)
DeletePLEASE don't stop posting your book hauls! I think yours are my favourite IMMs ever - you always have so many interesting and obscure books and it makes me feel slightly less guilty...
It did me a lot of good with the routine thing, especially because my manager there was so darn lovely about it, even when I wasn't doing too well sometimes...
DeleteAnd oh, my little muffin, I would NEVER stop posting my book hauls! I enjoy it too much! I shall simply do it in a whimsical and carefree fashion instead of thinking "OMG I'M SO EXCITED! HOW AM I GOING TO WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY?!" And for me, it's always nice to be able to go back to earlier book-haul posts, realise I still haven't read A SINGLE BOOK from the 30 I'd sneaked past my mum that week, and finally pluck one down from my shelves, just to make myself feel better... ;)
Yeah, exactly - it was just me and the manager for the last hour and after we closed I had to run off and throw up and she was really nice about it. But without that constant fussing people do sometimes when they know you're ill.
DeleteHaha :) I do that too! Every so often an IMM post will come up in that LinkWithin widget and I'll flush shamefully...
Looks like you had a yummy week!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
Dani
http://paulettespapers.com/?p=1992
The Readers Summer Book Club are discussing The Last Werewolf soon. I read it last year and thought it a bit too masculine for my tastes. And I've gone off the author a bit after he went and insulted genre fans in the American press.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know what to do about IMM, I didn't want to get involved but felt doing one or not doing one was some sort of statement. I just did my normal incoming post (which I did before I knew about IMM) and didn't link up. I will rethink when the fuss dies down.
A bit too masculine? That's interesting. In what way?
DeleteAnd also, how did he insult genre fans? I googled it and couldn't find anything.
I tried not to make a statement with mine. I'm not bothering posting my opinions on the whole scandal thing, but that's just how I feel about the tiny concept of doing/not doing IMM.
I feel almost as though I should go out and start volunteering in a charity shop (which, by the way, is awesome) too so that I can bag myself an amazing selection of books!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at high school, I volunteered in the library one lunchtime a week and always grabbed hoardes of books and had to carry them home a couple at a time. Staring at them for an hour finished me off, never mind a whole shift! Oh, and yes, I know what you're thinking! I was horrendously nerdy at school...
AND that cover of Island of Lost Girls creeps me out :s
I did work experience at my local library in Year 10 (YES! I finally got hold of that coveted date stamp and the beepy scanner!) and within a week ended up with a whole pile of books stashed in the little office waiting to be checked out as fast as I could make space on my library card. And I'd say that when I volunteered at Mind (let's not get me started on the few weeks I worked in an Oxfam Bookshop in York) I brought home, on average, two or three books per shift.
DeleteNow I have the bookshop I have a huge illicit stack of books hidden under the counter behind the bin (where Mum doesn't usually look, hehe) waiting to be sneaked home. Maybe it's why I like the bookstore episode of Gilmore Girls so much too - when she's supposed to be 'stocktaking' and just keeps adding all the books to her teetering tower of stuff to buy later! :D
I've been to that Oxfam Bookshop - I'm amazed you survived. There's one in Skipton, West Yorkshire, too and I would LOVE to volunteer there! I can see myself doing the two or three books thing myself...
DeleteHaha, I haven't seen that episode yet but it sounds about right!