The past couple of weeks have been good for books. After a trip to Borders, I realized that I didn’t get all the books I’d wanted, so I headed to Amazon and then I headed to Bookcloseouts. Not only that, I also received a few titles from publishers. All in all, I can’t complain.

From Borders

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: Having enjoyed other Gaiman novels, I decided it was time to give one of his grown up books a try and I’ve heard so many good things about this one that when I saw it, I had to buy it.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz: There’s a 99% chance that I already own an older version of this book. I read a great deal of R. L. Stine and Alvin Schwartz when I was a kid, so this is going to be a nostalgic reading experience for me.

Tales from the Odyssey (Part 1) by Mary Pope Osborne: This was a book I couldn’t resist—Greek gods, goddesses, and a cursed Grecian king? I’ve already finished it and must say, what an excellent retelling of Odyssey for a young audience. Already looking forward to the second part. (See the Amazon section.)

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke: The first thing that caught me was the cover: Dark and mysterious. Then I read the back cover and knew that I wanted to read this. It would probably be a good R.I.P. challenge read, but I don’t know if I can hold off on it that long.

From Amazon

Tales from the Odyssey (Part 2) by Mary Pope Osborne: When I got home and got halfway through the first book, I realized I’d made a mistake by not snagging the second book. (Plus, Borders didn’t have it in stock.) So I hunted it down on Amazon and was glad to find it in stock and on special, 4 for 3, which meant I needed to get another three books to take advantage. (Yes, I know there are 6 books, but technically the last 2 were bargain books.)

Soulstice (The Devouring, Bk 2) by Simon Holt: I don’t know how long this book was sitting in my shopping cart just waiting to be bought. Finally, I thought about The Devouring and how badly I want to find out about Ebon which broke me down. I’m trying to save this read until October, but I don’t think I’ll make it. Maybe.

Song of the Wanderer (The Unicorn Chronicles, Bk. 2) by Bruce Coville: I absolutely adored Into the Land of the Unicorns, which was the first book in this series. I was elated to see that the second book was also on special, so I snapped it up. It will make a lovely light fantasy read.

Uninvited by Justine Musk: The title turned me off. I’d already tried a book titled Uninvited and the memory of reading it still hurts. But I read the back cover Musk’s book and the storyline just sounds so intriguing, plus (as far as I can tell) there aren’t any vampires, which is a good sign.

Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart: I don’t know if I’m emotionally ready to read this book yet, but I’ve seen so many people mention the beautiful writing that I just can’t resist. I’ll just steel myself and dive in…one of these days.

Kiss & Blog by Alyson Noel: Some time ago I saw this title mentioned on a blog (sorry I can’t remember it now so I could give some credit) and forgot about it. Then Amazon recommended to me, I saw that it was a bargain book and figured why not? From the description, it feels like it’s going to be a fun read.

From Bookcloseouts

The Tarot Café Vol. 5 & 6 by Sang-Sun Park: I enjoyed volumes 1-4 (well, 1-3 more than 4, but…) and I’m trying to figure out why it took me so long to get the final two volumes. As an aside, I’m a bit sad that book 6 is the final in the series, but all good things must eventually come to an end, right?

The Tarot Reader’s Daughter by Helen Dunwoodie: Pure impulse buy. This may come as a surprise, but I love tarot cards—primarily the artwork. When I was doing a search for the Tarot Café books, this book popped up in the search results. It was cheap, it looked interesting, so it was another why not? moment.

From Publishers

Empty by Suzanne Weyn: When I opened up the package and saw this book inside, I got chills. There’s a soft spot in my heart for dystopian reads and this one was especially unnerving because it deals with the depletion of fuel. What will happen when there are no more fossil fuels? What will people do? What will we become? Can’t wait to find out! (Um…not in real life though.)

Solitary by Travis Thrasher: Let me be honest and say that I have no idea what to expect from this book. I received a nudge from someone who said it would be up my street and the publicist was kind enough to send me a copy. I’ve already read the first couple of chapters and I have to admit, I like Thrasher’s style so far.

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford: The back cover made me laugh. That, my friends, is a really good sign (usually). Rich grannie declaring that she’s about to die and that she’s changed her will to exclude the whole family unless the culprit of a crime comes forward and offers her lawyer a written confession…oh I can just imagine the confessions now.

Remember how I was saying it’s nearly impossible to leave the house and not come home with a bunch of books? Well, it seems that I don’t even need to leave anymore. The books, they will find me. And I think I kind of like it this way.

Two books came in for review on Monday. First up courtesy of Simon & Schuster is a middle grade fantasy adventure titled Jack Blank and The Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch. Second is Passing Strange by Daniel Waters (that cover is the UK version, btw), third book in the Generation Dead saga, courtesy of Price Minister.

The next two just arrived two, courtesy of the UPS lady. I ordered them from Amazon after they sat in my “to be ordered later” shopping cart for a few months. Both are a set of short stories for children. First is The Devil’s Storybook by Natalie Babbitt and the second is Half-Human compiled and edited by Bruce Coville.

That, combined with the other books on my shelf waiting to be read should keep me busy for a little while.

Fresh on the heels of finishing both Pharos by Alice Thompson and Stolen by Lucy Christopher (finally!), I discovered another book, Plain Kate by Erin Bow, waiting for me in my mailbox on Saturday and I couldn’t resist starting it.

Pharos was an intriguing read. The best part about the book was the prose. It was evocative, (usually) spare, and eloquent. The story itself wasn’t bad, but I still need to digest it a bit before I try to express my opinions coherently.

Stolen. Oh, Stolen. What can I say about that book? Well, first I’d say that it’s agonizingly slow in the beginning and although it does pick up somewhat around the later middle and end, it’s still relatively slow throughout. That said, I did like the story. Basically, I kinda wish it was written by someone else. But that one is also digesting so I can write a cogent review.

I’m about two thirds of the way through Plain Kate and I’m enjoying the journey. There is so much to love about this book so far: it’s a fairytale without gratuitous sugarcoating, there’s talk of witchcraft, there’s a blood-sucking ghost, and the protagonist isn’t handed all of her heart’s desires on a silver platter—she actually has to work for it. That said, I’ve spotted a couple of (minor) problems which I’ll address in the review, but as of now, this one’s a winner. (I’m totally in love with Taggle, Kate’s cat, because he’s just plain hilarious.)

Assuming I finish Plain Kate today (which I’m positive I will), I’ll take in a few short stories or possibly read one of the new books that came home with me today.

And speaking of new books, I’m now of the belief that it’s darn near impossible to leave the house without coming back with a bucket-load of books. This morning while grocery shopping, I noticed that they were having a 75% off sale, so I decided to rummage through the remains and have now added 3 new books (technically 4, but one of them is a craft book) to my library. I’m not really complaining though because they were only a buck apiece.

I hadn’t realized I’d picked up two books by the same author, but I’m hoping that I really like her style because she’s a new to me author (both of them actually).  Also, I hadn’t realized that The Wire in the Blood is the second book of a series, so I’ll have to scout out the first one before reading it.

If anyone has read Flynn or McDermid or these books specifically, I’d love to hear about your experiences with them.

I spent yesterday out and about with family and two of the places we ended up landing were Costco and Target. Costco and Target, people. How is someone supposed to resist the draw of discounted books staring her in the face? How, I ask?!?

(Obviously I was weak and ended up with three new books: Tales of Old Florida edited by Frank Oppel, 1,001 Dreams by Jack Altman, and Under the Covers and Between the Sheets by C. Alan Joyce & Sarah Janssen)

Each of the books made it into my cart after I picked them up on a lark and flipped through them and decided they were sufficiently interesting. I would have grabbed more, but I was distracted by shiny pens stopped myself just in time.

And remember my slight obsession with journals? Well, I also came home with some new journals and a notebook.

This is actually a set of three small journals (5.75”x8.25”) by the Banana Paper Company with ruled, grid, and blank pages and a large ruled notebook, by the same company, with dates atop the pages.

These pictures, unfortunately, do not do justice to the gorgeous natural grain, specks, and color of the paper. You can, however, click on them for a slightly larger view.

There were even journals made from stone(!), how awesome is that? I would have grabbed a couple if my sister composure did not grip me and drag me out of the stationary aisle.

And I’m love with another journal I snagged, Native Flowers by Jill Bliss. The floral design and subdued colors make me smile inside.

We also made a 5 minute detour to Office Max, and I didn’t make it out unscathed, but at least I only left with a few essential (or so I prefer to believe) office supplies and…

a Fast Company magazine because (and this is a secret) I think Mark Zuckerberg is pure geek-hotness…

…and two new Sharpies (the clickie kind, w00t!) in orange and hot pinkish red.

But the fun did not stop there. I decided to check my mail when I got home, because The Lazies™ kidnapped me Saturday, and what should be in there waiting for me? Two shiny new ARCs courtesy of Simon & Schuster. (The Lazies™ obviously did not have my best interests at heart.)

The ribbon holding them together was so cute, I had to snap a picture. The attached card reads:

Bound tight for your protection…
But nothing will stop you from falling in love.

And since I know you’re anxious to know which two books they are…

From the back of Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson…

Torn between two destinies…

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she’s the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: She’s a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire’s new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever…

And from the back cover of Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready…

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan’s band playing a crucial gig and Aura’s plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend’s life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan’s sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He’s gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and talk to ghosts. This mysterious ability had always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because Dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn’t help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura’s relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura’s heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.

These two books look awesome.

Sunday was a very fine day, indeed.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I should just not be allowed out of the house anymore. Why? Because every time I leave, I come back with more books…even though I tell myself, no more—for goodness’ sake, your shelves are bowing under the weight. But do I listen? Noooo.

Anyhoo, I bet you can already guess where this post is going…

Yes, you’re right. I went out yesterday (with the intention of only being moral support for my sister on her shopping excursion) and bought more books. Three books and a magazine to be exact. (Four if you count the book I conned my sister into buying so that I could borrow it later.)

Now let me justify. I was reading up on some 24 hour read-a-thon tips and they mentioned getting some short(ish) books. Well, looking back at my reading pool, there weren’t too many short books so I decided I needed some. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is only about 275 pages and has been on my Want™ list for a day shy of forever. I’ve kept putting it off despite all the rave reviews it’s received.

I learned about the Dork Diaries a few months ago (the blog’s name escapes me at the moment) and thought the drawings were “oh, so clever!” and the story sounded adorable. My downfall was picking up the book and leafing through it and realizing that I absolutely had to have it. Luckily it’s only 282 pages (and written in bubbly print handwriting, which means it’s only about 150 printed pages, so even better).

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane was a complete impulse buy. I decided I needed to expand my horizons and pick up a book I normally wouldn’t get. After reading the back flap and having vague reminiscences of the Velveteen Rabbit, I decided to throw it in the cart. Thank goodness it’s only 210 short pages.

There you have it…three more books in the read-a-thon book pool (if I can restrain myself and wait to read them).

Now someone please come and bolt me up inside my home. And figure out how to set the child filters on my computer and block me from accessing Amazon (or any other online book dealer).