These books have made there way into the Whitehead household over the last... I don't know, three weeks? I've been fairly restrained lately, so there didn't seem much point in doing one every week.
Anyway. Firstly, On The Map by Simon Garfield was an impulse buy from that pokey little bookshop in King's Cross Station because I thought my Kindle was going to die on the train home from a Law event. As it happens, it managed to survive and I dragged my fellow Law-ees around the store for twenty minutes for no reason. Still, it was already on my wishlist and I love maps in general, so I'm happy. My friends might not be, but hey ho.
The three books underneath that in the picture were the result of a binge on Read it Swap it. On a festive note, I'm planning to read Santa: A Life closer to Christmas (or, as I like to call it - 'that brief period in the middle of exams.') I discovered it while browsing through Ellie's reading analysis with an Amazon tab open in the browser - perhaps not the best of ideas.
Under that is Look At Me, by Jennifer Egan of A Visit from the Goon Squad fame. Below that is one of the books I'm most excited about from this haul - Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I haven't even seen the TV show but I've been informed by multiple sources that it's amazing. It's the crappy TV-show cover, but I'll rebuy it if I end up falling in love with it.The small brown vertical book is a 1951 edition of The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves, and it's in perfect condition. I love Greek mythology and old books, so I couldn't really have done any better when I saw it in a charity shop in York.
My Kindle isn't new; far from it. Unfortunately though, I have just discovered NetGalley. But Hanna! I hear you cry. You've been blogging for a year and a half! How have you only just discovered NetGalley!? Well I haven't, not really. I've signed up twice before, not requested anything and then my profile was inactive and was promptly deleted. But now, oh dear. I've been requesting.
I don't think four is too bad, not really. Not when I've already read, reviewed and loved What's Left Of Me. My fear with NetGalley is that I'd request everything, read nothing and neglect the physical books I own, but I'm doing okay so far. It helps that I'm kind of picky with YA, I suppose.
Finally, I've added to two of my collections this week. Unlike some people, I managed to not buy ALL THE BOOKS during Penguin's half price sale, but I did treat myself a clothbound edition of Persuasion. I also found a Pride and Prejudice that not only didn't own, but that I'd actually never seen before, and that's becoming quite rare. Say hello to Pride and Prejudice #52!
What's in your mailbox this week?
I have the same kindle as you (although a different cover) and I'm scared it will break as none of the new kindles are half as good. I don't want back-light!
ReplyDeleteAnd netgalley is dangerously addictive, I have way too many books to review from there. I have the Philip Pullman too, looking forward to reading that one :)
I know! The best thing about the Kindle is how it looks like proper book paper and having a backlight seems to defeat the purpose somewhat. Plus the new ones just don't look sturdy enough. I like mine, thank you very much.
DeleteMe too :) I didn't even know about it until I saw it on there!
Congratulations on an unusual P&P - I'm constantly on the lookout for you but everything here so far has been booooring. Also, I only bought THREE books on the second Penguin sale. Yes, I bought fifteen the first time, but THREE! I CAN CONTROL MYSELF! *stares around wildly and wonders why people are backing away slowly*
ReplyDeleteI totally went on Netgalley for the five minutes I used my Kindle, but I couldn't make head or tail of all that 'when you have finished a book, press this, or write here, or whatever really, and if you don't review a book click here, and if that's the case then DOOM AND HELLFIRE, but maybe not, who knows - and hey, let me make that a bit more complicated for you...' stuff. So I never did a bleedin' thing.
P.S. "SAAAANNNTTAAAA! OH MY GOOOOD! I know him!" Total Elf moment. :P
P.P.S. Apologies for the general madness of today's various comments. It's just been one of those weekends! :D
DeleteEllie, if a fellow blogger (me) links to your post as an example of How Not To Do Things, chances are that you bought a lot of books :/ Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but just saying!
DeleteI missed the second Penguin sale though, else I might have bought a good few more.
That was what put me off too, but they've changed it now. Everything is on one dashboard, and you click 'Feedback here' when you've read it and that's kind of it really. It seems friendlier too. Much, much easier. And it's got me back into my Kindle too, which is much easier at Uni.
Oh dear... *eyes Kindle sitting idly under sink and wonders whether she should go back for a little look* Noooow you've done it.
DeleteTECHNICALLY I've toned down my book buying quite dramatically. Like, say, I might go into ONE charity shop in town and buy two books, instead of FOUR charity shops for fifteen. And last year - this is amazing, looking back - I was somehow getting away with ordering boxes of books (up to twenty or so at a time) pretty much EVERY WEEK over the winter. Even I'm a bit awed by myself when I read my blog back at those moments. Sooooo, y'know, progress. :)
Haha, I know, I remember! I used to do the same thing, although not on such a drastic level. Mind, my TBR pile is about four times the size of what it was, so that might have something to do with it.
DeleteYou SHOULD order another box of books though - those are fun posts :D
I am so much worse with NetGalley now that it's been redesigned than I used to be - before I used to get grumpy with all the clicking around before I could do much damage. Now though...*sighs and shakes head* Too. Much. Requesting.
ReplyDeleteAlthough on the plus side, it means that I got to read Scent of Power early! On the subject of which, I just finished it and it's good (although not as good as the first...) but you might want to recap on the first before you start it. I spent quite a lot of the first few chapters trying to remember who everyone was and what they were doing. Kind of like with Insurgent before Roth's recap thing became more common knowledge!
Now, what else did I want to say...? OH! That I love the shoes in the clear box below the books, which I know that I probably wasn't supposed to be looking at but which is true all the same. And ALSO that I love Greek myths a lot and one day (as with so many things) I WILL read some more in a form that isn't an Usborne graphic re-telling one.
Exactly! I never bothered before and now I want ALL THE BOOKS. Although I only have three to read, so that's not too bad... right?
DeleteI wasn't as big a fan of the first one as everyone else, so maybe it means I'll like the second one better? Uhhhh, why can't they just RECAP!? I just read the second Percy Jackson book in the second series and it took me aaaages to remember what was going on.
Haha, I just looked at them and they look like I put a banana in a clear box...
It might sound sad but I always get a little gleeful when I see you've found a new P&P edition. I really love collections!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Penguin's clothbound editions, they're so pretty! Unlike *cough* Ellie *cough* I managed not to buy all of them when I went to Waterstones last month (although it was pretty hard to resist the temptation).
ReplyDeleteI have seven now, I think. It's probably a good job I missed the Penguin advent calendar sale or I might have ended up with a good few more!
DeleteLes Miserables next, I reckon :)
Nice haul! I have to warn you though that Darkly Dreaming Dexter is pretty terrible, at least in comparison to the show. I LOVE Dexter, and then I tried reading the book and it was awful - the only reason I still own a copy of it is because the honeyman bought it for me, so I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that the TV show is better. I'll keep that in mind and not let the book put me off! :)
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