I should never go to the bookstore!

I saw SO MANY books I wanted to get when I walked into Barnes and Noble today! And guess how many I walked out with? NONE! It was like sensory overload or something. I would pick up a book that I wanted, then walk around some more and then, oh wait, I see another book that I want! Let me get that one! Then I would look some more...and you get the idea. I couldn't choose so I just ended up leaving empty handed. Well, not empty handed...I did end up getting my sister-in-law a couple of birthday gifts. At lease someone got something today!

One good thing that did come out of the whole thing is that I found out that there is a sequel out to a great book I read last year! I read "Heartsick" when it came out and I absolutely LOVED it! Imagine my surprise when I saw "Sweetheart" by Chelsea Cain sitting on the shelves! The book jacket sounds deliciously good so I can not wait to read this one! Just another book to add to the "books I want to read" list!

Sunday Reading Update

Well, due to being layed up in bed most of the weekend I have had a chance to make a nice dent into "The Garden of Last Days". I am on page 136 and I hope to get another big chunk read today. This is one of those books that starts off very slowly, introducing its characters, building suspense.

Each chapter alternates between several different characters. The main character is a stripper named April. One night, her baby sitter cancels on her so she is forced to bring her 3 year old daughter, Franny, to work with her. Once at work, all kinds of things happen. A mysterious foreigner names Bassam shows a liking for April and buys her for a private show. A regular named A.J. gets thrown out of the club for holding hands with his favorite stripper. Meanwhile, Franny is left alone in the back room of the club to watch Disney videos while her Mom works. All of these things are leading up to something big. I am definitely enjoying the book so far.

Sometime today I am hoping to get out of the house with my husband and get to the mall for some shopping. And I am hoping I can talk him into stopping in the bookstore so I can maybe pick up a little something for myself :0)

Bookmarks Magazine, Issue #37

After perusing the newest Bookmarks magazine tonight, I have added the following books to the "Books I Want to Read" pile (clicking on the title will bring you to the amazon.com review of the book)...

-Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan
-Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
-Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King
-The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
-The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
-The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
-The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
-A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
-Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
-Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
-The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
-Lush Life by Richard Price
-Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
-Now You See Him by Eli Gotlieb
-The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
-The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
-So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger
-The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
-The Gathering by Anne Enright
-The Legal Limit by Martin Clark
-The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
-The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
-The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
-Goldengrove by Francine Prose
-American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
-Iodine by Haven Kimmel
-The Turnaround by George Pelecanos
-The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson
-When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
-The Grift by Debra Ginsberg
-The Likeness by Tana French
-Real World by Natsuo Kirino
-Out by Natsuo Kirino

And there is one book I read about somewhere else that I wanted to add:

-The View From the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier

Trip to the library

I ended up with 5 books from the library today. Not a bad haul! I checked out the following books...

-The Garden of Last Days by Andres Dubus III

-Man in the Dark by Paul Auster

-Where the River Ends by Charles Martin

-The Cure for Grief by Nellie Herman

-Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian

I am familiar with 4 out of the 5 authors and each book called out to me for different reasons. It is always fun for me to browse stacks of books. Sometimes a particular cover calls out to me or an author I have heard about or have read before peaks my interest. Sometimes it is just the title of the book that draws me in even though I know nothing about the subject matter. I will read the dust jacket and then the first sentence and if those grab me enough I will keep the book. If not, it goes back on the shelf.

I must admit that I am woefully out of touch with the current popular fiction books. I have not read a book review or gave books a 2nd thought for a year now and let me tell you, walking in blindly to the library was a little scary! But also a little fun. Since I have no idea what books I wanted to read I got to wander the aisles and take my time choosing just the right books. It was good to be back again!

New Year, New Start

I used to be really into reading and all things bookish. In 2008, though, reading took a back seat to other things in my life and I didn't read one single book for pleasure. If you knew me you would know how crazy that is. My average for the number of books I read in a year is anywhere between 50-70 books. So to not have read one book in 2008 is just not right.

Due to some recent events in my life I am now able to focus on reading again. I think this will be good for me as I have definitely missed reading every day.

So, since 2008 is drawing to a close and I am jumping back on the reading bandwagon I decided to start a book blog to keep me motivated. I will post about the books I have read, books I want to read and other bookish things. I hope to keep this up for years to come. Welcome to my book blog.