A couple weeks ago I moved back to my home in Minnesota for the summer. Now that I don't have to pay for my own food for a while, I have a surplus of unused money and nothing to feel guilty about. So, naturally, I bought a ton of books.
I probably shouldn't have. My bookshelf has no more space. I have enough things I need to read. My surplus isn't a REAL surplus in the eyes of anybody else. But Half Price Books had a Memorial Day Weekend 20% sale and, you know, I had to go to that once. Or maybe three times. To three different stores. I don't want to talk about it.
1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - I've obviously seen parts of the movie, because I go to film school. But I had no idea it was a book first!
2. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf - I need to read everything by Virginia Woolf. I want to marry her ghost.
3. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko - I've heard good things and only $3!
4. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - I've only ever read Fight Club and a few short stories. Only $2 and in such good condition!
5. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk - Also only $2 and this plot sounds really really funny.
6. Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro - I really need to have read Munro by now.
6. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie - I love hearing Adichie talk about feminism and Nigeria. It was about time I checked out one of her novels.
7. The Sea by John Banville - I don't know anything about this book, but I trust Man Booker Prize winners.
8. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs - Late on this boat. $2, so WHY NOT.
9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - How was this one also $2? My body's ready to be won over by Junot Diaz. No, I've never read him before.
10. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides - I'm uncertain how I feel about Eugenides after reading Middlesex, but... do I need to mention the price again?
Here are the books that I DIDN'T get at that life ruining sale.
11. The Frangipani Hotel by Violet Kupersmith - Won this from the Daily Mayo blog! Thanks again!
12. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - I'm always hearing about this from one of my favorite podcasters, so I had to.
13. Threats by Amelia Gray - Ok, I definitely bought this at Half Price Books, but at $7. Because my friend told me to and I'm suggestible.
14. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursala K. Le Guin - Finally read something of Le Guin's (a short story) and felt inclined to support my favorite used scifi bookstore in Chicago. Even though I went to that part of time to get boxes. For the books I was sending home. Because I wasn't supposed to have any more books in my apartment...
15. Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto - My brother and I are huge fans of True Detective, so he bought the book written by the creator of it. Now he won't leave me alone until I read it! I am excited, though.
16. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - My friend gave me her World Book Night leftover for free!
17. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - Nabbed this at a garage sale. I've only read part of this Sedaris book, but I'm a fan.
Yikes, I didn't realize how many it was until I wrote it all out. Anybody else grab too many books for summer?