Biblio-healing

Amazon has brought some great things to my doorstep last week (as well as PaperBack Swap, but mostly Amazon this time.) I am fighting off a bad cold and need to rest, so I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.

The Rose Bride by Nancy Holder. From the "Once Upon a Time" series, this one is based on "The White Bride and the Black Bride," which is a fairy tale I am not familiar with.

Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey. Also from the "Once Upon a Time" series, this one is based on "The Ballad of Mulan" which I am only familiar with from the Disney movie (and I hadn't realized it was considered a fairy tale.)

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God edited by Frank Warren. The newest PostSecret book, the fifth one so far. I buy these faithfully within a week of release. (Unfortunately, my copy had a torn page and I will have to exchange it.)

The Interpretation of Fairy Tales by Marie-Louise von Franz. Jungian analysis of fairy tales, recommended to me by a commenter on this blog!

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson. Who doesn't love some Jeanette Winterson? Or lighthouses, for that matter?

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Sandell. A story, told in poetic verse, or Elaine from the Camelot mythology.

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. This arrived from PaperBack Swap just in time for Banned Books Week, and also ironically coincided when the book was being challenged at some high schools.

Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. If I see Patricia A. McKillip's name on something, I take it with me. That's just the way it works.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. Audrey's new book! Her second offering only earned a C+ from Entertainment Weekly, but maybe that's only because it's no easy task to live up to her previous novel The Time Traveler's Wife. I'm sure this is awesome in its own right, and I can't wait to discover that for myself.

Catwoman: The Visual Guide to the Feline Fatale by Scott Beatty. Catwoman, my favorite DC universe lady. Purrrrfect.

Two other non-book-related pieces of news:

I've broken down and gotten a Twitter. My blog features my three latest tweets over in the sidebar, with the option to follow me.

I have officially entered in National Novel Writing Month. It seems that being busy with school and not being able to find the time to read for pleasure, study, or do homework wasn't enough of a challenge for me. I am displaying my participant web badge proudly over there to your right, and as soon as November blows in I will show off my word count progress bar there for my loyal blog readers. (All two of you.)

Queer Dimensions

I've been pretty darn excited since I got in the door just a little while ago, because there was a package from Amazon.com waiting for me. Packages from Amazon are always full of awesome, but today it is even more so. Today, the book waiting for me inside this box was a book of short stories put out by QueeredFiction, a small press that publishes genre fiction featuring gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters.

But WHY am I particularly excited about this book?

Because one of the contributors featured in the sci-fi collection Queer Dimensions is one of my very good friends, Lacey Louwagie. I also had the privilege of reading an early draft of her contribution, "The Man in the Mirror" (back when it was titled something else), while lounging in the bathtub on a cold winter day and trying to muster up some haphazard critique for it. Now here I am months later with a copy of the published book beside me. Very cool. I'm anxious to start reading it right now, instead of doing some last minute studying for an algebra test tonight. Sigh. Duty calls.

A very giraffe-y, kitty cat, corset, moo-cow, fairy tale birthday

So last Tuesday was both my birthday and the autumnal equinox. This year's harvest brought beautiful book bounty from my Amazon wish list. Joys!

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray. My Gemma Doyle trilogy is now complete! (The interview with Libba in the back of the book made my day.)

Going Bovine by Libba Bray. Libba's new book came out on my birthday. I got this one for myself with an Amazon gift certificate. By the way, the book trailer is not to be missed. FOR ANY REASON.

Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood by Maria Tatar. This book was very helpful to me for one of my psychology projects, but I couldn't finish it in time and had to return it to the library. Now I have it for my very own!

101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats by Rachael Hale. Last year, right before I got my kitten, I went to Borders and looked through this book for inspiration for kitty names. I adore Rachael Hale's photography, but ultimately the inspiration for his name came from a Beatles song.

Zarafa: The Giraffe Who Walked to the King by Judith St. George, illustrated by Britt Spencer. I've been pining for this book since I saw it in a bookstore in Boston. Now the zarafa is all mine! This also reminds me of the awesome site One Million Giraffes, which I discovered around the same time I found this book. I plan on submitting some of my own giraffes just as soon as I make some.

The Annotated Brothers Grimm edited by Maria Tatar. I love these Annotated books. I now have all three fairy tale collections edited by Maria Tatar. Because I rock. On my birthday.

Lobsters make everything better

The last book sale I went to had a curious method: A tote bag needed to be purchased from them for the price of two dollars. Then it could be filled for a fee of seven dollars. No other kind of bag was permitted. If you could not fill your bag, you had the option of paying for the books individually (something like $1 for hardcovers, $0.50 for paperbacks, etc. Usual book sale fare.)

After driving a half an hour to get to this library, which I've never been to before, I got suckered in. Even though most of the books I filled my brand spankin' new tote bag with weren't for me. Since after one walk-around of the whole place while carrying a little map, I decided to focus on picking out books for my fifteen-year-old niece. She ended up rejecting most of them and now they're sitting in a box in the basement, waiting to be donated to the next book sale and/or the Book Barn. Sigh.

I did find one particular gem that made the whole thing all worth it: Ocean Playground Snappy's Surprise finger puppet book. I was so elated when I saw this book, I grabbed it and looked over both shoulders guiltily when I shoved it in my tote bag. Surely that much joy meant I was doing something I shouldn't have been.

Some of the highlights of what I managed to find for myself:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I used to have an ARC of this book, but got rid of it when I tried to lighten my load. (How silly of me to even try!) At the time, I had no idea that this was a book written during National Novel Writing Month. (Which is something I would like to try again this November, but I fear that schoolwork will keep me out of the game.)

Chosen By a Horse by Susan Richards. I picked this up at a store just the night before to read the back of it, and made a mental note to remember to put it on my wish list or borrow from the library. Behold, the Book Gods can hear my thoughts! I magically found it at the book sale the next morning.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Sedaris is one of those authors that I always wanted to read just to say I've read, to see what the big deal is.

Scottish Wonder Tales from Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie. When it comes to any kinds of myths, legends, or fairy tales: resistance is futile. It's a good thing I never try.

Elidor by Alan Garner. I admit it, I only picked this up because there's a unicorn on the cover. I'm sorry.

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Who could resist the lure of Pooh? Or Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie?

Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green. But of course.

8 Plus 1 stories by Robert Cormier. After reading I Am the Cheese, I do not pass up anything Robert Cormier.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I've been looking for a nice copy of this at the last few book sales, and I didn't know until I got home that this still isn't it.

The Celts: An Epic Novel of Ancient Ireland by Elona Malterre. Celts, why not? Everything all goes back the Middle Ages. At least, this semester it does.

I finished reading The Secret Life of Lobsters this morning, and it's a trip back to the library for that book. Good thing I have my Snappy finger puppet to console me if I experience any lobster withdrawal.

Library book sale action, comin' atcha!

Even after going to the preview sale and the regular sale, I couldn’t resist the bag sale on the third day. Most of the books I snagged were picture books for my five-year-old niece, and some teen fiction for my fifteen-year-old niece and are not shown in the photo. Actually only three of them are from that sale. The rest are from PaperBack Swap, or swiped from elsewhere. (Hint: an ever-growing stash of books collected by someone who spends far more time and money at book sales than I do.)

Metamorphoses by Ovid. I ordered this on PaperBack Swap after reading about it in my History of the Middle Ages textbook.

A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller. My favorite Arthur Miller play. Yes, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible are great -- but this is the one that really won me over.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. I saw the movie and didn't think it was all that great. Probably because I'm not familiar with enough Austen. But I kept seeing this book at sales, I had to finally give in and put it in my bag.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Bought this to replace a very worn-in mass market copy.

Blood Red Horse by K. M. Grant. Recommended to me by the woman at the last book sale after she saw all of my finds. They didn't have a copy there, but PaperBack Swap did.

St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves stories by Karen Russell. The holy grail of all of my finds, and I didn't even find it myself. (This came from the earlier-mentioned elsewhere.) This had been on my Amazon wish list since it came out and I hadn't even realized it was released in PaperBack. Excitement!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Saw this at all three days of the book sale and I found the cover so emotive that I put it in my bag. I have no idea what it's about, but it was a BAG SALE and that's what bag sales are for, after all.

The Thing of the Cats And Other Feline Fairy Tales edited by John Richard Stephens. Does it get any better than cats and fairy tales?

Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams adapted by Andrea Posner-Sanchex. I can't stop collecting these little square Disney Princess picture books.

Oh-em-gee! Book sales!

Holy library book sales, Batman! There were two different library book sales in the area last weekend -- but I was able to make it to only one of them. Three times. The books above are from the preview night for Friends of the Library, as well as some books I had hanging around from the Book Barn and received from PaperBack Swap.

The Monopoly Book by Maxine Brady. I used to borrow this book from the library ALL the time when I was a kid. That doesn't mean I've ever won a game of Monopoly, however.

Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath

From Fatigued to Fantastic! by Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D.

Low-Fat Vegetarian Meals in 30 Minutes by Faye Levy

The Complete Book of Pizza by Louise Love. I guess there's not much in the world about pizza that I didn't already know.

The Little Mermaid Disney picture book

The Little Mermaid retold by Patricia Lakin, illustrated by Roberta Collier-Morales. I love this one because the mermaid totally has 80's hair. Behold.

Ultimate Spider-Man #18: Ultimate Kings by Brian Michael Bendis. I already had #s 15 and 16, so I guess I need to get #17 for an smooth succession.

Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter by Diane Stanley

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. A woman working the book sale saw me book up one of the Gemma Doyle books, and she recommended this trilogy to me.

A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle

Yesterday We Saw Mermaids by Esther M. Friesner. I have no idea what this is about. But when I see the words "mermaid" in a title, I usually do the grab & clutch.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

King Arthur’s Avalon: The Story of Glastonbury by Geoffrey Ashe

Medieval Myths by Norma Lorre Goodrich. Thought this (and the previous) might be interesting since I taking a course in the history of the Middle Ages this semester.

Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling. Whoops, this one managed to sneak into this photo, even though I mentioned it in an earlier post. Sneaky book!

TTYL by Lauren Myracle. A positive review from a friend piqued my interest in this series.

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

The Wish by Gail Carson Levine. Anything Levine rocks. I think I've said that before.

East by Edith Pattou. Based on the Norwegian myth "East of the Sun West of the Moon." I was not familiar with it, despite taking two Children's Lit classes. But when I read it recently it called to mind the Greek myth, Cupid & Psyche, a tale I'm very familiar with. I'm always amazed by similar stories from completely different cultures, which was what my first project back from Psychology was all about.

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. Sequel to Poison Study. Now I just need Fire Study, and I have the complete set!

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares. And I'll have the complete Pants set as soon as I find the fourth book in this series.

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker. It's that whole fairy tale thing again that I just can't resist.

The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw. Lobsters are my newfound love. Not to eat, but to read about.

The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt. I loved Samantha Hunt's first novel, The Seas, which I thought about a lot in Maine. I hope her second novel, a fictional book about the non-fictional Nikola Tesla, is as beautiful and reality-bending as her debut.

Mary Called Magdalen by Margaret George. I think maybe I had this already. Oh well.

Pilate’s Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Antoinette May. I'm in the Middle Ages mode. Though I probably won't get a chance to read this during the semester.

Immortal by Traci L. Slatton. This caught my interest also because of my Middle Ages class. About the Black Death and the Inquisition. Fun stuff.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I tried to read this last year, but I couldn't get into it. Too many people whose opinion I respect love this book though, so I will attempt it once more.

The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman

The River King by Alice Hoffman. Though my interest in Alice Hoffman is declining, I couldn't help but nab these two titles.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Two Picoult hardcovers! Woo.

Since I've run out of room on my book shelf and under my bed, I've decided to reinforce my walls by piling books up along the floor. I figure they should keep me warm in the winter.

And now I must go do some graphing homework for algebra, and write a paper about Constantine.

Very Nearly Autumn

Oh, September - how I adore thee. Today was the first day I got a real twinge of the feeling that summer is really ending and the fall season is almost here. There was that sharp, cool, distinct very nearly autumn air hovering as I walked across the campus parking lot this afternoon. Hoodie-wearing season is nigh! Autumn has quite the special place in my heart (if not only because I was born on the autumnal equinox, and my name was very nearly Autumn). There’s all this totally awesome junk the impending season brings. Pumpkin Spice coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts, fallen brown leaves crunching beneath my Skechers, the scent of new school supplies wafting through the aisles of Target, navigating the corn maize, new TV shows, razor blades hidden in apples . . . what’s not to love about autumn.

That last sentence was not phrased as a question because there isn’t anything to not love about autumn (except when it snows), and that is why I decided to get in the autumn-y spirit and get these books.

The Apple Cookbook: More than Sixty Easy and Imaginative Recipes edited by Nicola Hill

There is clearly a LOT about apples that I don't know. These recipes certainly are imaginative. Turkey Kabobs with Apple, Trout with Apple, Pork & Apple Pasties, Apple & Avocado Pasta Salad, etc. There are more meat recipes than I would've expected, so I probably won't end up using most of them, but that's what you get when you order a cookbook from PaperBackSwap without ever having looked at it before. I got this mainly for dessert recipes anyway. I would like to hit up the apple orchard soon. Fun fall times ahead! My favorite part of the book is the first couple pages where it gives a little description of all the different kinds of apples.

Let's Look at the Seasons: Autumn Days by Ann Schweninger

A very cute and informative picture book to teach children about Autumn, complete with poems, a look at fall holidays, an explanation of why leaves change color, and a leaf wreath making activity.

Autumn's First Leaf by Steve Metzger, Illustrated by Aaron Zenz

Instead of a story about the life cycle of a leaf, this story uses the backdrop of autumn to preach about how friends are friends no matter what they look like. The illustrations are so adorable I want to cry.

The Fairest of the Fall: A Disney Princess Book

Ariel finds what Scuttle tells her is a jack-o-witchy floating in the water, and decides to organize a Halloween party under the sea. Meanwhile, Briar Rose walks around the woods pretty darn confused about this whole autumn thing.

Sweet and Spooky Halloween: A Disney Princess Book

Not so much spooky, but sweet enough. Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White (though she's not pictured on the cover! Oh nos!) celebrate Halloween in their very special, very Disney Princess ways. The best part is when Cinderella and her Prince drive off in a carriage that really is a giant pumpkin! Ha, ha. I get it.