The Jane Austen action figure is finally mine. I’ve been ogling her in the window of the library bookstore for the last three weeks, and now she has taken her place on my bookshelf with Bobblehead Chaucer, the two Wild Things, and the Nancy Pearl and Shakespeare action figures. There was a Poe at the bookstore too and I was tempted but not tempted enough. I wasn’t quite sure how well he would get a long with everyone else. Jane has a rather pained and distracted look on her face and the book in her hand, Pride and Prejudice, doesn’t like to stay in her hand and falls out at the slightest jiggle. But I am happy with her anyway. Oh and the back of the box made me laugh. Along with born, died, occupation, etc, is weapon of choice (this is an action figure after all). Her weapon? Character Study. Heh.
Speaking of the library, the volunteer gig is going pretty well. I’ve been there three Saturdays now and each one has been different. This last one began quietly enough, not many people there because of the impending Easter holiday. But then the last hour of my shift was full of a domestic dispute between a divorced couple with a toddler who were using the library as their court ordered visitation location. It didn’t get loud or violent or anything but they were both upset and stood in front of the welcome desk arguing away. Security tried to get them to settle their dispute or leave, they kept deciding to stay. Then they’d go back to the children’s area around the corner and ten minutes later they’d be back in front of the welcome desk arguing again. They were still at it when I left. And I was hoping to get to read too, but only managed it on the train to and from. I started Terry Pratchett’s Moving Pictures, one of the books I chose of the Once Upon a Time Challenge.
Iliana very astutely asked in a comment today if I had done any more book buying to continue celebrating my birthday. The answer? But of course! I had a 10% off entire purchase Half Price Book coupon begging to be used. So I did:
- Independent People by Halldor Laxness. I don’t know much about this book other than it won a Nobel Prize, or rather, the author did, and lots of bloggers have raved about it. The book is in such good condition it looks brand new.
- By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one of his books for some time and this one looks brand new too. I don’t know what this is about but the flap description starts: “A hypnotic deathbed confession revolving around Opus Dei, crazed schemes, poetry, and Pinochet, By Night in Chile pours out the self-justifying dark memories of Father Urrutia, a half-hearted Chilean priest.” The Da Vinci Code this is not. I hope it proves to be both fun and well written.
- Salamander by Thomas Wharton. I was looking for The Logogryph and found Salamander instead. The main character is an eighteenth-century London printer who specializes in novelty books. He is asked by a Slovakian count to create for him an infinite book. I was hooked at eighteenth-century London printer.
- Kangaroo Notebook by Kobo Abe. I was looking for Woman in the Dunes but since I’ve never read Abe before I’m willing to try anything. And this one has a main character who discovers at breakfast one morning that he has what looks like radish sprouts growing out of his shins.
But that’s not all! My sister, remember, gave me a giftcard to Barnes and Noble online. After much mulling, adding to my shopping cart, removing from my shopping cart I settled on:
- The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. It’s next after I finish Herodotus, which will be awhile, but I like to be prepared.
- On Reading Ruskin by Marcel Proust. Proust translated two books of Ruskin’s into French and supposedly wrote fantastic essay introductions to the books about reading Ruskin and reading in general. This book is those two introductions.
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Inspired by Danielle W&P reading, I got the new translation. I have “only” 800 pages left of Clarissa and want to have another huge book on hand when I’m done so I don’t go through big book withdrawal.
In case you are wondering, I went over the gift card amount, but isn’t that what I was supposed to do?
Now the only question is, where are all these new books going to go when I already have piles of TBR books that don’t fit on the TBR shelf? Maybe I should stop buying books. Nah!
The action figure is great. I didn’t know they were available. Something new to search for on the Internet. 🙂
I hope you enjoy Independent People. I loved it and ended up buying other Laxness novels. I’ll be watching for what you think of Kobo Abe. I had Women in the Dunes in my hands a couple of months ago, but it just didn’t appeal to me at the time.
LikeLike
Love the action figure!
Of the books mentioned, I have read Salamander. Enjoyed it. It is a very bizarre book, and I mean, in a fantastical sense…. really quite fascinating, takes place mostly in this huge castle that is like the world’s gigantic-est windup toy! Crazy stuff. A real escape!
And I have had that Laxness book on my shelf for AGES, have not read it yet. It is sort of enormous.
Looking forward to hearing what you think of it. If you love it, I may finally dust the thing off and journey into this Icelandic epic.
According to the back of my book, Laxness did win the 1955 Nobel for this particular work.
LikeLike
Loving the Jane Austen action figure 🙂
And what are gift cards for, if not to encourage you to spend more money?
LikeLike
The action figure is nice, my mother works for a library system so she of course has the Nancy Pearl one. Thanks for posting a picture of your TBR piles, it’s always fun to see what’s in their, I identified a few books that are on my list as well!
LikeLike
Love the action figure, that is so fun!
LikeLike
Action figures for the literary mind! How funny and how charming…
Looks as if you made a great haul with the gift card!
LikeLike
“Maybe I should stop buying books” – in response to this little thought, consider this: I work in a bookstore, so book buying habits like yours help people like the Dark Orpheus (hey, that’s me!) stay employed.
Buy books. Do not beggar us. It’s community service, really. It serves to lubricate the economy.
“When I have a little money, I buy books. And if any is left, I buy food and clothings.” ~ Desiderius Erasmus
Heehee.
LikeLike
I’ve read both Herodotus’ Histories and Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War. If you enjoy the Histories, you’ll love Thucydides. It’s some of the best history reading I’ve ever done.
LikeLike
Funny to hear you have the Chaucer bobblehead. Those were produced as giveaways by the company I used to work for (they also had a Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and a Cervantes bobblehead). Glad to hear your library gig is going well, thus far, and it looks like you’re in for plenty of reading in the future (but we already knew that).
LikeLike
That’s a cool action figure, for sure, Stefanie. I’ve been following your library volunteer experiences with some interest since I suddenly find myself with some free time during the day. I’ve been considering offering some of that time to the local branch here or maybe trying for a part time gig in one of the local bookstores…but that could be very dangerous to my wallet. 🙂
LikeLike
Aha, I knew book purchases had been made! I so want that Jane Austen doll. And, this is the second time in less than a week that I hear of Roberto Bolano. I really must look for some one of his books. Anyway enjoy the books and please keep the library volunteer stories coming 🙂
LikeLike
Love the Jane Austen doll! I never see anything like those action figures locally! Those stacks look like they could take a few more books added on to the tops–I think you are safe for a while! So glad to hear you bought W&P. After Clarissa you will need a nice long read to fill the gap!!
LikeLike
The Jane Austen action figure at last! My hopes for an end to the bickering between Freud and Nancy rest on her slim, green shoulders. She looks fab. And what’s this about a birthday? I AM out of touch.. I’ll be heading backwards through your posts. Good to know the library work is coming along nicely. I’ll bet there’s more people management to that job than meets the eye!
LikeLike
Glad you all like Jane!
Brad, I am glad to know I have a good read to look forward to in Independent People. And the Abe book is rather slim so I hope I will manage to get to it soon.
Oh Cip, you make me want to read Salamander right now!
Gentle Reader, gift cards are delightfully wicked things!
Matt, glad you had fun viewing my TBR piles!
Dark Orpheus, I will gladly keep buying books especially if it helps other bookish folk buy more books as well 🙂
JS, I am really enjoying Herodotus so it’s good to know Thucydides will be possibly even more enjoyable!
Emily, you didn’t happen to manage to get one each of those giveaways for yourself did you? If so, I am so very jealous. If you have a Jane Austen Bobblehead, you need to post a photo 🙂
Tough choice Sam between library and bookstore. Good luck in making that decision!
Iliana, You’re a smart one, you are! I’ll do my best to keep sharing the library stories.
Danielle, you are right, the stacks aren’t teetering yet. I just have to work on the not feeling guilty about having so many books thing.
Litlove, you need to get your own Jane very soon. Freud and Nancy need her!
LikeLike
I have that guilt problem, too. It always seems to escape me while I am at the bookstore, and then comes back as soon as a big enough pile accumulates by my bedside.
LikeLike
Oh, that action figure has me smiling.
Independent People — sounds intriguing.
I may have a copy of Woman in the Dunes floating around my bookshelves. If I can find it, I’ll let you know and send it along, if you can’t find a copy.
LikeLike
Funny, I never feel guilty at the bookstore either Danielle. 🙂
Oh, LK, you’re so nice!
LikeLike
Pingback: Jane Austen on 'Weekend Today' « Turning Pages
Pingback: Why Reading Outside of Your Comfort Zone Will Make You a Better Writer | brittanyekrueger