Went to the local used book store, McKay's, to trade in some hardcovers that I had received in recent months that I had never any intention of reading. Got almost $80 in store credit for the dozen or so books I brought in, so I thought I'd see what would catch my fancy that would be close in price to it. The books above and below were close to $70 in value. I like to think I got quite a bit for those unwanted books, but let's see what books here interest you and which you wish I'd never consider (much less actually completed) buying.
Above, from Top to Bottom: Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (hadn't ever gotten around to reading her poetry before, thought why the hell not); Jaime Martínez Tolentino, Cuentos Fantásticos (saw this in the foreign language section, thought it might be worth a shot for $1.50); Camilo José Cela, Los vasos comunicantes (saw this on a list of Nobel Prize winners and thought I'd add to my list of those authors of whose works I had read at least one example); Gabriel García Márquez, Olhos de Cão Azul (Portuguese translation of one of his earlier collections; bought in large part for the price - $1.50 -, language, and the cover, which I'll post shortly); Italo Calvino, The Path to the Spiders' Nests (hadn't read this one before, want to get more Calvino in the near future); Hayo Miyazaki, Nausicaä: Of the Valley of the Wind (curious about this author, for several reasons).
Top: J.M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello (another Nobel Prize-winning author I've been meaning to read for quite some time); Paul Auster, City of Glass (gift for someone); Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (I might be in a Rushdie reading mood soon and thought this collection needed to bought soon); Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children (wanted to own my own copy of this delightful book); Samuel Delany, Neveryóna (bought despite the cover, which I'll put up shortly); Pat Barker, The Man who Wasn't There (Barker writes great tales; this is one I hadn't yet read); Robert Holdstock, Lavondyss (part of the Mythago Wood cycle of stories, so I thought it was about time I bought/read it).
Top: Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis (I enjoyed his White Noise, but hadn't read anything else by him); Nadine Gordimer, A Guest of Honour (another Nobel Prize-winning author whose works might interest me some); Scott Mills, Big Clay Pot (graphic novel whose artwork looked interesting); Mary Doria Russell, A Thread of Grace (I enjoyed her The Sparrow and Children of God, but for some reason never got around to buying her third book until now).
So...which one(s) of these do you think would make for good reading for me?
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2 comments:
i hope you like lavondyss :) it's pretty different from mythago wood, but just as cool all the same.
Pat Barker, The Man who Wasn't There
This is probably considered a minor Barker novel but a minor Barker novel is still a very impressive piece of work.
Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis (I enjoyed his White Noise, but hadn't read anything else by him)
Cosmopolis is a funny one. It is probably the novel which is closest to White Noise but (perhaps because of this) I enjoyed it rather less.
I would strongly recommend reading Underworld, it really is a masterpiece. I also really like End Zone.
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