Half Price Books shopping last Friday night was a success. I said yesterday that I wasn’t going to buy as many books, but these were bought in 2007 so they don’t count.
New to the teetering piles:
- The Winter’s Tale by Shakespeare. It is the Signet edition. I love Signet Shakespeares.
- What Does a Woman Want? Reading and Sexual Difference by Shoshana Felman. What would it mean for women to reclaim Freud’s question? Can this question engender “a woman’s voice as it’s speaking subject?” Through close readings of the autobiographical texts of Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, and Adrienne Rich, Felman explores the questions.
- The Common Reader by Virginia Woolf. I can’t believe I didn’t have this. I’ve read it before, but it is a book that asks to be read more than once.
- The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam by Barbara Tuchman. I almost passed this by but I love history and since I just read Homer, I talked myself into it.
- Sylvia’s Lover’s by Elizabeth Gaskell. “A strange and tragic love story” set during the Napoleonic wars. Gaskell wrote a bunch of books I hope to read someday. I add this one to the pile.
And winging their way to me as I type, bought on December 30th with the Barnes & Noble giftcard my wonderful sister gave me for Solstice, are the following:
- Republic by Plato. I debated over which edition to get. In the end I got the one that was on sale.
- The World of Odysseus by Moses Finley. A NYRB Classic and useful context for all the Homer I read and all the “Greek” reading I have been doing.
- The Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography by Alberto Manguel. A timely book for my reading and it’s Manguel upon whom I have a little crush because he is so smart and he looks so much like a cuddly teddy bear that I just want to hug him:
(image via)
So far in 2008 I have not bought a single book. I know the year isn’t even out of diapers yet, but I must celebrate little victories otherwise it just gets too depressing. And I am happy to say at this lunchtime hour that we have made it to two degrees above zero on the fahrenheit thermometer!
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Oh you guys are having a heat wave
I agree, must celebrate those little victories. I went to HP yesterday but left without a single book! Anyway, enjoy your books!
Lol! I haven’t bought a book yet this year either, but I did get a review copy in the mail today.
Stefanie, you may have already explained why/how the snow falls on your blog, but the first day I noticed it I was migraining and was convinced that for the first time I was experiencing some kind of ocular side effect. It was freaky.
Barbara Tuchman is a personal favorite of mine, and The March of Folly is a great one. The last section is perhaps the best, most concise, explanation of the Vietnam War I’ve read. If you like this one, try her Distant Mirror. It’s about the 13th century, and you’ll be amazed at how little humanity has actually changed!!
Happy Reading and Happy New Year!
Stefanie, I also like the Signet Shakespeare’s best.
I just love the way they have the little circles at all the exactly right points, and the annotations at the bottom of each page.
The Signets are the best.
They always have great little essays at the back, too.
I should pull out my copy of the common reader and read it again — it IS a book that asks to be re-read! I’ve already bought books this year — I did it on Jan. 1st in fact! Yikes.
I, too, have already given into my impulse to buy books (three, in fact), but I used a gift card Mr. Inkslinger and I received for Christmas . . . so I don’t think that should count against me.
I love Alberto Manguel as well. Early in our relationship, Mr. Inkslinger decided that a good, romantic date should include a Manguel reading. He happened to be in town promoting one of his delicious books. So we went. Manguel was as erudite and charismatic (in a gentle, unassuming way) in person as he always is on the page. Sheer joy.
Ah, the Common Reader. Everytime I pick it up at the bookstore, I tell myself I can get it from the library — and I put it back on the shelves. That’s the way it was with Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris and Re-readings. I don’t have them, but I keep borrowing them from the library.
I wonder why?
This is a nice list. Enjoy! I too have pledged to not buy as many books in 2008, but I know I won’t be able to stick to it. But, I feel like I must at least make an effort. I hope you and yours have a healthy and happy 2008!
I will be happy to send you an ebook of Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel. Just email me at Irvingk57 at aol dot com
I think with your reading tastes, you will enjoy it
Yummy new books, Stefanie! I have read the Shoshana Felman and I enjoyed it very much. I’m also saying I’ll buy fewer books this year, but I haven’t done so well so far. I have managed to get cheaper copies, though, so I guess that’s a sort of a plus! Oh and I agree, Senor Manguel is kind of cute in a cuddly intellectual way!
Iliana, I know! I almost got out the shorts and flip flops! Going to HP and leaving with nothing is a hard thing to do!
Susan, you are the expert at not buying new books. It was nice to get a little binge in though. The snow was a temporary extra from wordpress for the holidays.
Red Room Librarian, I am glad to know March of Folly is so good. And thanks for the tip on Distant Mirror. Happy New Year to you too!
Cip, I thought of you when I pulled the Signet off the shelf. I love that the notes are at the bottom of the page and I’ve already been peeping at the essays in the back!
Dorothy, buying books on the first day of the new year. Setting the tone or one last spree before cutting back?
Inkslinger, I’d say the giftcard books don’t count at all. Cool that you got to hear Manguel. And how nice to know that he is as pleasant in person as I imagined.
Dark Orpheus, hmm, why indeed? Maybe you are waiting for the perfect moment? Next time though, take the plunge. You won’t regret it.
Lisa, thank you! I’m sure publishers are hoping we will all break our buy fewer books resolutions! Happy New Year to you too!
Thanks Darvish. Let me think about it a bit.
Litlove, I thought of you when I found the Felman book. I am not surprised you have read it and I am glad to know you liked it. I do wonder how I will manage to stick to buying fewer books. Maybe I will have to go your route with the cheaper copies!
Signet classics–am I the only one who also loves the smell of them? Is that weird?
The Common Reader–great essays, I agree. There are actually two volumes of them, both of which are available online, though it isn’t the same as having them in book form:
1st series: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91c/
2nd series:
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91c2/
I love Half Price Books. I never get out of there with less than five. Happy reading.
Rizwan, I’m not sure about the smell, but I don’t think it’s weird at all. Thanks for the links for the Common Reader. I knew there were two volumes, but I had no idea they were available online. Cool!
sleepyhead, I think I have managed to leave HPB only once without a book and I’m certain there must have been a good reason for it. Happy reading to you too!