Latest Additions

Well, the holidays are over and everything is settling back down to normal. Not a bad thing really. My best sale book finds after Xmas were at the University of Toronto bookstore. They had 20% off the entire stock which was wonderful, but I was very restrained and only bought The Poetry of Pablo Neruda. Just as I was silently congratulating myself I happened to notice a few staff members busily setting up a clearance table. Of course, I couldn't resist taking a peek. Within moments I was holding an armful of books and swatting other holiday shoppers out of the way. I may have even growled at a few. If you were among them I sincerely apologize. I walked away with three novels by Elizabeth Taylor ( someone was blogging about her recently and piqued my interest, plus I tend to like things published by Virago), Cold Mountain (yes, I probably am the only person on the planet who hasn't read that yet) , The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (shortlisted for both the Booker and the Orange prize), Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres and Pecked to Death by Ducks by Tim Cahill. Seven books and they only charged me $5.00!!! That is crazy cheap. I was so thrilled I didn't even mind lugging them around with me for the rest of the day while I looked for other bargains.

I had another interesting find the following day at BMV. BMV is a used bookstore in Toronto with three locations. They are quickly becoming my favourite place to shop. Here's why. While at U of T bookstore I had been hemming and hawing over buying When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers. I'd read a review of it a few weeks before in the Globe and Mail and had jotted down the title. Ultimately I didn't buy it, then regretted it, of course. So the next day while at BMV I had a look for it, not expecting anything since it was so new. Well, they did have a copy for $11.99, but even better they had a review copy, plain white and black cover, that was only $3.99! What a deal! I can't wait to read it.

I also swung by the Pages sale (which it on until Jan 13 - 20% off everything) and got a super cute book called Alternation by Shannon Okey and Alexandra Underhill about DIY fashion projects. I've already made myself a cool shrug from a scrap of polar fleece I had in my fabric stash. So if you bump into me anywhere, be sure to mention how cool I am looking.

And after complaining I never get books for Xmas my honey gave me Mary Oliver's New and Selected Poems Volume Two and Veganomicon, the fabulous new vegan cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. He's such a sweetie, and I'm not just saying that because he might read this.

All this means I have even more books overflowing my shelves and for the umpteenth year my New Year's resolution is to give more books away!