IMM (41): A Fool’s Love and Library Loot

“We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.” – Japanese Proverb

Of course we’re not letting ourselves miss the fun. Not even April Fools can stop us, for here we are yet again to share our book finds this week. The fabulous Kristi from The Story Siren hosts this amazing book meme, In My Mailbox, where book lovers and book hunters gather and share their book loot for the week. It’s my turn this Sunday, and this is perhaps my most random book find in the history of book finds. =)

I’d like to start off with my most unexpected finds: Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card and A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison. Both copies were mailed to me by the Science Fiction Book Club (which I truly love dearly) as part of my Featured Selection. The funny thing was that I forgot to “decline” it at the time. ‘Silence’ meant yes, and I learned that the hard way. Haha. Both books are sequels, which only means that I wouldn’t be able to get around to them until I read the prequels. *Sigh* If anyone has heard about any of these books, or the authors, I’d like to hear what you have to say.

If there’s one person I know who loves Nick Hornby, that’s gotta be Iphigene. I’ve heard so many good stuff about him but I’ve never really read any of his books. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby is the second book to add to my collection. It was on sale for $5.97, a hardbound Nick Hornby book, so why not? I haven’t even started on Slam! yet, so I hope I’ll be able to read both in the next month or so.

This next set of books was actually from the 99¢ Store. I love E.L. Konigsburg!!! I’ve read a lot of her YA books, and The View from Saturday somewhat reminds me of Gathering Books. I would always think of the coffee sessions and vibrant book discussions that the three of us used to share with two lovely gifted children when Myra and I were still living in the Philippines. (And, boy, those kids grew up fast!!) Finding (george) by E.L. Konigsburg in a thrift store was better than any other MasterCard ad, for it was beyond priceless. I was also delighted to find Takeoffs and Landings by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I haven’t explored her works, yet, but now that I’ve acquired a copy of her book, I’ll definitely look into her series. Mrs. Scrooge: A Christmas Poem by Carol Ann Duffy is a wonderful treat for Poetry Fridays or this year’s holiday cheer. It’s not exactly a fractured fairy tale, but definitely interesting to read about Ebenezer Scrooge’s wife. Who would’ve thought he had one?! The last book in the set is Barnstomers: Game 2 – The River City by Loren Long and Philip Bildner. Again, a sequel. Don’t ask my why I always end up getting sequels without prequels! I guess that’s the fun of random buys. Haha.

The books above were borrowed from the Chula Vista Public Library as part of our bimonthly theme, Girl Power and Women’s Wiles. How I’ll be able to get around all of them, only God knows. I’ve reviewed 2 so far: Rumpelstiltksin’s Daughter by Diane Stanley and The Crow-Girl by Bodil Bredsdorff. The rest of the books include: Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynn Jones, My Name is Mina by David Almond, The Runaway Princess by Kate Coombs, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman, Just Being Audrey by Margaret Cardillo, The Seven Wise Princesses: A Medieval Persian Epic retold by Wafa Tarnowska, Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings and Maria’s Comet by Deborah Hopkinson, Princess Furball by Charlotte S. Huck, Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges, and Basketball Belles by Sue Macy. I’m really hoping I’ll be able to feature more from the list, but we can only do so much in two months.

As you may have noticed, minus the library loot, I didn’t buy any picture book this week. I’m saving enough to hoard more books from Book Off in two weeks. However, this book was waiting for me in my doorstep when I got home from work this morning. Houghton Mifflin sent us BookSpeak written by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Josée Bisaillon. New picture book for review. Yay! I know Myra wants to get a copy of this book, so I told her I would mail it to her the soonest I get a chance. (Yes, I’m a darling for doing so, but also because I do it for love. Haha.)

What’s in your mailbox this week?

“Even the gods love jokes.” – Plato