Monday, September 12, 2011

Umm, too many books?

How many books bought is one day is too many? Is this too many?



How about this?



How about both of these piles put together? :-)

These are the books I picked up on my day out in Hay-on-Wye, a lovely village on the border between England and Wales, famous for its bookshops. Yes, it's a village full of bookshops! And I got to spend a day there on my own this year, which was fantastic. Well, it was fantastic until my backpack became ridiculously heavy and browsing - squatting and standing up with a huge load on my back - became more like excercise and less like fun. But hey, by then I had over 30 books added to my collection so I suppose it was time to go anyway. :-)

Here they are in list format, in case anyone wants to advise me on which ones to read next - I've already read Dating Big Bird by Laura Zigman (very funny!) and I'm currently reading The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley - I couldn't resist Flavia any longer. What should be next though?

Animal Husbandry by Laura Zigman
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
Cuban Heels by Emily Barr
Dating Big Bird by Laura Zigman
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Hector and the Secrets of Love by Francois Lelord
Holes by Louis Sachar
Ireland by Frank Delaney
The Keepers of Truth by Michael Collins
Lost Souls by Michael Collins
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama
A Morbid Taste for Bones (Cadfael Chronicles 1) by Ellis Peters
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
Private Life by Jane Smiley
Queen Mum by Kate Long
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
Suchi for Beginners by Marian Keyes
Things to Make and Mend by Ruth Thomas
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
Why not Catch-21? by Andrew Dexter
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

10 comments:

raidergirl3 said...

Ha, I have so many of these books on my shelf to read as well, we'll be double posting reviews for years.

First of all, I love the Brother Cadfael Chronicles - they are excellent. And there is a pile of them.
Holes and The Gargoyle are also excellent reads. Holes is really wonderful - my kids have loved it as well, and the movie is terrific.

I'm looking forward to also reading Sushi for Beginners, Big Stone Gap, Enya Burning, The Emperor's Children, Empress Orchid, and Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Unknown said...

That is an impressive haul! I love Hay, but didn't buy many books when I went as most were quite expensive. Did you manage to find some good sales?

Heather said...

That would be my limit for the day as well. As for which to recommend first, hard question. I might be tempted by Holes. Have wanted to read that for quite some time.

Kailana said...

Wow, that is a lot of great books! Enjoy! I am jealous!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

LOL! Never too many books. Though maybe not enough time to go along with those books? ;)

Alex (The Sleepless Reader) said...

On your own for a day in village full of books?! Heaven!

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is in my top 10 favorite books - looking forward to see what you think of it.

Larissa said...

I loved Northern Lights, so I could recommend reading it first, but the tricky thing is it's the first of three books and then you'd have to buy yet more books to get to the end of the story... ;-)

Erin said...

Um, SO not too many books for one day! I think I've at least come close. Whoever said one can have too many books is just plain silly :-)

I've only read Feed from your list (which was really good!), but others are on my TBR. Lovely haul!

joanna said...

raidergirl - Oh cool, I thought I heard good things about the Brother Cadfael series, I'm glad I was right. Maybe it was from you even!

farmlanebooks - nah, they were still pretty expensive... But I live in Belgium so buy mostly new books anyway and they were certainly cheaper than new. Plus the whole experience was too fun to pass up! :-)

Heather - I've heard great things about that one!

Kailana - It's pretty cool, eh? :-)

Trish - omg, I don't think I've read any of the ones I bought there last year even! More reading time would be goooood! :-)

Alex - Joe read it and liked it a lot too!

Larissa - I know, I resisted buying that one for a long time, exactly for that reason... Ah well, if I have to buy more books then so be it, reading is good for you!

Erin - I think you're right, never too many!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

I love Charmed Life! Really different and great :-)