Saturday 19 June 2010

My latest book purchases

I am quite lucky I live near a couple of 2nd hand books shops and charity shops. The quality of books found in these places are quite good and often I find books which are on my wish list. I can only assume that the people have Surrey have great reading tastes ;) Of course this also means that I have to buy them when I see them as they might not stay there for long. A couple of weeks ago I saw Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell which I didn't buy at the time, when I went back in there today it had been sold.

Here are the books I was lucky enough to pick up over the last couple of days.



Perfume by Patrick Suskind – The idea of this book sounds very intriguing to me.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink – I have the film recorded but want to read the book first. For some reason the previous owner has underlined certain passages in pen.
The night Watch by Sarah Waters – I was very pleased with this find after just finishing Fingersmith.
The shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – For some reason this edition has the American cover which I quite like.
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann – The best bargain of the lot, £2 for a hard back edition. I had to throw out the cover sleeve as it looks like the previous owner spilt abit of coffee or something on it, but I'm not complaining as the book itself remained unscathed.

So there you have it, five more books added to my shelf all for under £10 (just)

Posted by Jess

12 comments:

  1. Along with the folding over of page corners, marking passages in books also really annoys me.

    I've heard that Perfume is a good read, I'm waiting for my sister to pass on her copy.

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  2. i never mark my own books, but i quite like it when i find someone elses underlines or notes in a book. as long as they underline intersting bits.

    a tip: if you're still looking for Cloud Atlas, try your local 'The Works'. I work in the Norwich one, and we got it in in paperback for £1.99 yesterday.

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  3. I read The Reader years ago and while a lot of it's fuzzy, I do remember that I absolutely loved the book!

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  4. I'm still not brave enough to head into a 2nd hand book shop. There are loads near me, and I should really take advantage of it. Maybe I'll give it a go!

    I'm interested to see what you think about Perfume. I was intrigued by the story too, but if the book is close to the film (and I mean the ending in particular) then I really don't want to read it. The film put me off picking up the book! Uh oh!

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  5. What a great lot of books. Ill be looking forward to seeing what you think of The Reader!

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  6. Petty - the marking doesnt bother me that much but I want to know why. I mean if you were going to give the book away anyway why do it?

    Ben - thanks for that, there is a works nearby but Ive never gone in there.

    Shan & Becky - Im looking forward to reading it as I have wanted to watch the film for ages now. Its not a very thick book which surprised me.

    Bethany - sometimes its pot luck with 2nd hand book stores. Some ones Ive gone into just seem to sell Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper.

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  7. Only one of those I've read is the reader and it was a fantastic book. It's also a really quick read. I have the Colum McCann on my TBR, I've heard nothing but good things about it. Enjoy!

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  8. Perfume has often caught my eye, although at first it was because I thought it was about fragrance! Now that I know it has something with murder, I'm still intrigued, but not in the same way.

    I have Let The Great World Spin too; am anxious to read it after all the great reviews I've read about it.

    You made quite a good catch, all those lovely novels for such a good price!

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  9. pete - I think Ill have to move The reader up my TBR list, I know very little about let the great world spin aside from the great reviews its been getting.

    Bellezza - Perfume appealed to me because of the murder I think. I thought it would be a brick of a book for some reason but its only about 300 pages.

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  10. I've read 4 of these 5 & really liked 3 of those 4. Perfume is on my top 10 list of all time favorites. Really remarkable! Looking forward to reading what you think about all of them! Sarah Waters is new to my radar, so I need to read more of her!

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  11. Elisabeth - Im curious to know which of the 4 you weren't so keen on now ;)

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  12. Let the Great World Spin is the one I didn't care for... the writing is beautiful, though. See my review here: http://www.babbettesbookblog.com/2010/03/book-review-let-great-world-spin.html

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