Today’s the Day!!

YAY!

It’s in my hands! Being read and all! I got it this morning, just before my first class. Happy! 😀

I’ll be back soon with more words and less excitement 😉 Right now, all I want to do is go sit at my favorite coffee shop and read!

Books that came in this weekend!

This weekend was a great week for books! I received some new ones in the mail, bought a few more downtown and then borrowed too many at the library! Considering I am now officially in my last month before the end of the semester, I’m not sure how many of those I’ll have time to read (on the other hand, I’ve already done a good part of the work, and for once I might not be in such a rush!) Here are my latest victims;

• Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. It’s been talked about so much that I wondered if it had been overhyped. I was hesitant on spending my money on it, but borrowing it seemed reasonnable enough.
• Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. It’s on the “1001 books to read before you die” list, plus I can’t resist an author who’s name is Banana! I couldn’t find it anywhere and finding it at the library absolutely made my day.
• The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin. I liked Shopgirl so much that I really wanted to read more from Martin. This one I bought new.
• The Devil is in the Details by Jennifer Traig. Another book on obsessive-compulsive disorder, a subject that is close to my heart. This one looks fun and I love the cover! It seems perfect for the topic!
• Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. I’ve been very curious about that one. I first had a good feeling about it, but the reviews have been so mixed that I’m keeping my expectations on the low.
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. Finally! It’s home! Now I only have to finish the original one and I can jump in the “ultra-violent zombie mayhem”!
• Something Blue by Emily Griffin. Sometimes life is nice to you, like it was when I found, for 5$, the sequel to Something Borrowed the day after reading it! Lucky!
  
• Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsaneka. It takes place in Saudi Arabia, a place I haven’t read much about yet. I feel a bit ridiculous admitting it now, but it caught my eye on the library shelf because of its shiny cover.
• The Commoner by John Burnham Schwarts. Japan! Imperial family! Court life! Drama! Need I say more? If time is missing though, it’s probably one I won’t read. Same thing goes for:
• The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue. London 1864. I love novels that take place in London, especially if it goes back in time. Funnily enough, it has a similar cover to:
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks  by E. Lockhart. I had never heard of this YA novel until a friend recommended it for me. It’s short, so there’s a good chance I’ll actually read this one.
  
• The Monsters of Templeton  by Lauren Groff. Last and not least, one I borrowed with a few expectations. I really wanted to read and like this book, but I know many reviews have been less than great. I tried to not look at them so I could make my own mind. I’m only a few pages in, but so far I find it laborious. 

I sense my 2009 luck with good books might end soon, although I’m sure a few of those will be great. What about you, fellow readers? Have you read any of those? What were your thougts?

Newly Bought + Blog Updates!

My blog being fairly recent, few of you know me, and so few of you know how varied my taste in book is! I think this is fairly obvious if you look at the result of my most recent trip to the bookstore. And as insomnia is a good friend at this moment, I even took the time to make a nice little photo-montage for you (because it’s much funier than doing important things like, for instance, studying a stressful exam).

Before I dive into the new books on my desk though, let me take a moment to talk about the terrific updates (!!!!) I made to the blog this week. I’m really hoping to build a nice and comfy place for my reviews, but also for others to hang around like I hang around other blogger’s place (Is this only me, or does this sentence made absolutely no sense?)

• The Paper Brick Wall page: you can find the link to this page in the top menu. Mostly, it consists of the books that are in my TBR pile on my desk, and are the most likely to be read soon. If you want to make a suggestion on which I should read first, or simply know more about my books, that’s the place!
• The Read and Reviewed page: again, the link to this page is in the top menu. This is not complete yet, but I plan on filling it with the books I read and reviewed since I started this blog. If you see a book on the list that has been read but not reviewed and you would like to know more about, please feel free to ask.
• The Contact and Info page: link is at the top menu too. You can email me, suggest a book, etc.
• Other random changes: a cleaner version of my “star system” rating on the side; categories and tags widgets have been added; more blogs on the blogroll!

This is only the beginning; if you have ideas, comments, suggestions, please feel free to do so! Now, let’s talk about the most recent books to have joined the “Paper Brick Wall” this week! Here they are, in their glorious covers. We have;

– a book for kids made into a movie I have yet to see, by a master storyteller (Coraline by Nail Gaiman);

– a pink chiklit recently highly recommended by Meg, and that I intend to read to relax in between two exams (Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin);

– a rencent best seller with a cool title (The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga);

– an historical fiction located in ancient Rome (The Virgin’s Tale by Sherri Smith);

– and finally,  certainly the one I’m most curious about, a zombie love story (Breathers by S.G. Browne). I wish I could sit, and read and read and read all week until I’m through all the new books (and those previously bought).

My TBR pile is like a teenager; growing, and growing fast!

Cover Madness

I fell in love with The Thirteenth Tale‘s cover when I first saw it in store, a while ago, when it was still new and nobody I asked to knew what it was about.

Since then, it has reached a certain level of popularity and most people, if they haven’t read it, have at least heard of it. Reviews have been written, time has passed, the book went from hard cover to paperback and still, I didn’t own my copy.

Last weekend I went to the used books bookstore, thinking I wouldn’t find anything else new when, on the floor in a box, I saw the side of a book titled The Thirteenth Tale. I took it in my hands, frowned; that was not the cover I knew and loved! Still, I wanted to read the book; it was a large paperback, which are usually my favorites, and it was only 5$. After a few moments of putting the book back in the box, taking it in my hands again, putting it back in the box, etc. I decided to bring it back home.

    

Only today, we went to the bookstore, and they had a sale. 

I hate sales. They sell all those great books I’ve been wanting to read for so long and then I have to make a choice and I can’t make a choice so I end up ruined. It happends every time! And amids all the other great books, was The Thirteenth Tale, all new and in hard cover and with the cover I love. This book looks great in hard cover. Really.

Which means I now have two copies of a same book I haven’t even read yet. It’s Emma all over again! (I have 3 copies of Emma, and I have yet to read it). I just hope I’ll love it. Maybe I’ll giveaway the paperback copy?

Newly Bought + Book Giveaway

I found a great used books bookstore a few weeks ago, and I finally went to do some shopping there last week. I just knew I would come back with more books for my TBR pile, and I was right! Here are the newly added bricks to my Wall of Books.

 First there is The Secret Life of Bees, a popular read recently made into a movie. I will admit that I reluctantly chose this one; I heard so much about it everywhere – from friends, blogs, t.v., magazines, etc. – that I thought I would just skip it. But then, I realized that maybe I was the one missing something! A few dollars isn’t so bad to find out the truth; worst case scenario, I’ll just give it to someone else 🙂

Second book to join the Wall of Books  is Grotesque. I love the cover and the title. I’ve heard a lot of bad stuff about this book, but I personally never read anything by Natsuo Kirino. Many say that Out, a novel prior to this one, is a more interesting read. Only one way to find out! Since I now have both books in my possession, I’ll be able to compare and contrast.

By the way, am I the only reader buying more than one book from an author before having read anything he/she has written? I won’t believe I am! This must me another quirk of the compulsive book buyers!

Third and last book; Shopgirl by Steve Martin. Another book made into a movie I haven’t seen. I only bought it because it was 2$, and because Steve Martin was my favorite actor when I was a kid. Weird taste, I know! (Since I’m sharing my Steve Martin fantasy here, I might as well admit right now that for a full year when I was 12, I fell asleep dreaming I would marry Nicolas Cage. Fortunately, as I grew older, my fantasies moved on to guys a little younger.)

All this to say, I have no idea what’s awaiting me in this book. 

* * *

Book Giveaway at The Novel World!

On an another note, I entered one more book giveaway! It was its title that caught my attention : Jane Austen ruined my life, by Beth Pattillo. Many books seem to use Austen’s name those days (Jane Austen’s Bookclub, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, etc.), but I loved the funny twist in this one’s title.

Interested? You can participate to the giveaway here, at The Novel World.

Uncertain? You can also read her review here!

Good luck! 🙂

This weekend, I brought home…

I went shopping twice this weekend, and both times I brought home some new books!

First, in english :

I was glad to find this edition of Pillars of the Earth, since the small paperback version just seemed too small for the number of pages. This version is more beautiful (I know it doesn’t matter once you read the book, but I love when my books look good! 😉 ) It’s been a long time since I’ve been wanting to read this book, hopefully I will be able to get into it soon.

As for The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, it was an impulse buy; it was on special for a small 5$, and it looked like a fun, light read. Only the future will tell!

I also bought 2 new books in french, because I feel I don’t read enough in my first language;

La Joueuse de Go by Shan Sa
Par une nuit ou la Lune ne s’est pas levée by Dai Sijie
Two books from two authors I had read from previously. I had been wanting to read more from them, so I grabbed those two at the same time. I’m really excited about those two books, I might actually read them soon!