spurts
I go through book acquisitions in spurts. I didn’t buy any large quantity of books for years. I don’t want to admit how many of the mere 216 cataloged into LibraryThing are recent acquisitions. Especially when I define recent to mean within the past three months. Despite those lean years, I read many books thanks to my awesome local library (Please donate).
Where is this going?
Last night I realized that all my library borrowed e-books were set to expire within the next few days. Because I only have about six Public Domain books unread on my Sony Touch, I downloaded four more that will expire in 21 days. (There will be a post on licensing to read. I need to figure out whether that’s a post for PenguinGirl, for Work, or for both. Oh and write it.)
This afternoon I returned three books, only to withdraw four more.
A swing by Book Off on my way to the train and another book decided to come home. It’s a book I want to reread because I was discussing it with a friend and it’s been a while. It was a dollar. How could I not? Book Off appears more prosperous in their new locale. I like the expansion of the English books, but feel that the Japanese craft books that I adore are no longer strategically placed. They’re still in the basement so there is some peace and quiet, but they straddle three cases and these cases are taller than the ones in the old location. I need to stretch.
I meant to write this post earlier and all my reviews were to be polished and use techniques found in my favourite guide but that was not to be. Why? I seem to be stuck between finding time to read all the books I want to— and to find the time to write properly about them.
Following are a few books I finished in the past two weeks. The reviews are nothing that I desired. I hope next time to do better. My goodness, it will be June!
Empire in Black and Gold
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I stumbled across this author and this series by accident. I purchased the second book at Strand as a book proof a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure if I’d like the series at all, the nomenclature often felt as ornate and detailed as a dragonfly-kin prince’s coat. But once I read past that and it became part of the language and cadence I was quite impressed at the depth of both world and character building. continue reading »
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
by Michael Ruhlman
The best kitchen purchase I made after acquiring a good set of knives, and a sharpening stone, was my kitchen scale. I love it so much I bought a second. I’ve been looking for a book to supplement Alton Brown, McGee, and my knowledge that most recipes really hinge more on the balance than of worrying if I’ve put exactly ⅓ of a cup into the mixing bowl. continue reading »
Catfantastic 1
by Andre Norton (editor)
Short stories + an editor/writer I adore + a subject I’m partial to (cats) + scifi/fantasy? Yes! It took severe discipline and a good amount of bribery to let this one last more than one sitting. I’m now on the hunt for the other four…
The Elvenbane, Elvenblood, and
Elvenborn
by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
Overall this is a very enjoyable series by two authors I admire. The first two in this trilogy fit more snugly together than the last, but the entire world and character building shows experience and skill that many writers only dream of.