Books, books!
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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habeo just gave me an amazing Christmas present: a 10% discount card for Fully Booked! It's even better than actually giving me a book, because I get to pick out the book(s) myself, and going through a bookstore is an experience all its own. Especially now that I have money. Mmm, money. Mmmmmm, books!Got lost in the bookstore and ended up going through the generic fiction area first, where one book caught my eye: The Food Taster by Peter Elbing. Was intrigued by the title, the setting, and the description of it as "a sparkling tale of love, intrigue, and dodgy food". Sounds like it could potentially be delicious.
I next went through the YA section, which tends to have cheaper but very fun books, then went down to the sci-fi/fantasy section.
From the YA, I picked out a couple of books by Diana Wynne Jones (Castle in the Air, House of Many Ways, The Merlin Conspiracy) and Gaiman's M is for Magic -- both of them are authors I've read before and trust. I also picked up Charles de Lint's The Dreaming Place, because it caught my eye. I feel like I should know this author; name is vaguely familiar, but I cannot place him!
Initially had a few more books lined up from this section, but decided to go back for them another time (and there will be another time), after I got to the counter and realized I may not have enough to pay.
One of those I left behind was the Bartimaeus trilogy, because I remembered someone telling me something about it, but I forgot if it was good or bad, so I decided to go home and do my research first. Septimus Flynt series caught my eye, but they didn't have the first book, and I wasn't sure if it was good. I also almost bought Coraline. What stopped me was that there was a much cheaper edition in YA, and another edition in the non-YA fantasy section, which cost almost twice as much. I wasn't sure which one I should get. I wanted to get the cheaper one, but was worried it might have been simplified for younger readers; didn't want to risk it.
Ohh, and we found a parents' guide to Harry Potter, which (from the admittedly brief scanthrough I gave it) was full of
I could have stayed in the YA section longer, but there was still the sci-fi/fantasy section and it was almost time to go home, so we headed to the first floor. I knew a few more authors in this section than I had in YA.
Got the fourth Temeraire book, by Naomi Novik (though, leafing through it now, I don't really remember what is going on. I may need to reread the first three). Two books by Ellen Kushner -- Thomas the Rhymer, The Privilege of the Sword, because I vaguely recall one of my friends recommending her. A book, Snare by Katharine Kerr, because I keep seeing her name/Deverry, but I wanted to try her first (standalone novel) before committing to buy what seems to be her three or so series set in the same world. Dragon Fire by Charlie Ashton, which I know nothing about, but it caught my eye and it's an omnibus edition (three-in-one), so I figured I'd try it.
Three books by Elizabeth Bear! Recognized her name from a friend's recs, and from Shadow Unit (which I haven't read yet but seems cool): Hell and Earth and Blood and Iron, both novels of the Promethean Age, and Dust which I think is a standalone. Windhaven by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle (saw while trying to see if there was a new book in the ASoIaF series -- no there isn't, which I knew since I would have heard from my friends otherwise, but...). And finally Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber, which I got because the summary caught my eye (swashbuckling! Giant barbarian warrior and master thief! Most of the stories I've seen involving thieves have been good) and it had a blurb by Gaiman on it. Normally, I hate blurbs*, but this seemed to be an unusually sincere blurb from an author I respect.
* Tell me what the book is about, not who read it. How hard is that?
I'm wondering if I should have picked up some Tanya Huff. Her name sounds familiar, but I can't remember if I have ever read anything by her. Meant to get the Kushiel series, but I forgot which book (singular) I already have. May go back for it at some other time, but I had no money for another book. Literally had only forty pesos in my pocket after everything.
I bought 16 books in total, about 5.5k pesos. Bye money, mmmmmmm books!
You know, I just realized I was so busy in 2008, I did not finish a single book, at least not in dead-tree form, though I did manage to go through a few books on my computer That... is a very sad realization. This year I am definitely going to change that.
My loot:
PS. I would kill for a public library in the Philippines with a decent selection of books. Or at least, severely MAIM.
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Date: 2009-01-03 02:50 pm (UTC)I got Privelege of the Sword, hope we both like it.
Tanya Huff (
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Date: 2009-01-03 03:25 pm (UTC)Tanya Huff is
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Date: 2009-01-03 05:18 pm (UTC)di pa ata ako nakakapasok ng national library natin... how pathetic...
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Date: 2009-01-04 05:22 am (UTC)PS. I have only been in the National Library once, on a field trip, and I'm not even sure what's inside anymore. Parang sobrang bata pa ako noon.
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Date: 2009-01-04 08:26 am (UTC)hahaha iba na nga siguro itsura nyan XD
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Date: 2009-01-03 06:03 pm (UTC)The Bartimaeus Trilogy is brilliant, particularly book two. You'll probably also like the Dark Reflections series by Kai Meyer; the first one is called The Water Mirror. Have you read Inkheart, yet? That's another good series.
5.5K just for that? I remember when my allowance (generous, even for ISM) was 150 pesos a day...
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Date: 2009-01-06 05:57 pm (UTC)There are now three main bookstore chains (not counting the ones that sell used books, or the ones that sell office supplies):
National Bookstore - which you know! Has office supplies, textbooks, reference books, generally a tiny collection of fiction books.
Powerbooks - started by a relative of the owner of Natio (niece, I think?). Has a better collection of fiction books than Natio, and it was *so amazing* for me to wander through it when it came out. But the focus seems to be on more mainstream fiction (romances, thrillers, etc), and on specific hobby interests (huuuge sections on say, art or pottery or gardening).
Fully Booked - newer than Powerbooks. Has, IMO, the best fiction collection of the three. Reserves more shelfspace for fiction kasi, though it does still have the business/biography/hobby sections.
Noting the other books for later reference! Thank you <3
I've read Inkheart (the first book in the series), and it was charming, but it didn't absorb me as much as I expected it to. I think it was because the way the kid handles her books is very different from how I handle them, and that stopped me from connecting fully, when I expected I'd have no problem empathizing (disappointed expectations?)
When I was a kid, my allowance (highschool) was a hundred a week! Or, uh, was that for a day? And when I was in uni, it got upped to 200 a day. Books used to cost about 200-250. Now it's more like 250-400 for the paperbacks, 600 or so for omnibus editions, 800-1000+ for hardbound.
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Date: 2009-01-04 08:10 am (UTC)But I just want to :O! over the fact that you didn't finish any books-on-paper last year. I spent pretty much the whole year
drowningimmersed in digital-format gay porn, but I still managed to read a few books the old-fashioned way. So... :O!(Also, happy new year, sweetie! ♥)
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Date: 2009-01-06 05:03 pm (UTC)Also, yes. ARGH I just got so busy with work and drama and and. ARGH. Stupid stuff. It feels like such a waste of a year.
(Belatedly, happy new year to you too <333)
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Date: 2009-01-04 11:25 am (UTC)Dang. Need to get myself that discount card too. Hahha. I still don't have one! :D
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Date: 2009-01-04 03:11 pm (UTC)OH DEAR SWEET JESUS GOD, YES!!!! And the first thing I would do is donate all my old Oprah magazines to the periodicals section. ::nods::
The one thing that studying at the International School spoiled me for, was the glory that is their Media Center. The endless rows of books...::sighs in deep nostalgia:: I would seriously consider pawning my honor to be in a public library like that.
:)
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Date: 2009-01-06 06:17 pm (UTC)My elementary/highschool library sucked, but I had access to the Xavier library through my brothers, which was much better <3 And Ateneo library was nice! (Fiction mostly old, but the reference stuff/academic books were constantly updated and really nice!).
I have been in a "proper" public library thrice: each time in the San Francisco/San Mateo area *G*. I also saw the Vancouver library from the outside. Once!!! Man, it was gorgeous, though.
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Date: 2009-01-04 03:49 pm (UTC)I have a friend who reads a lot of YA, so Charles de Lint was familiar too. I hear he's pretty good. :)
Isn't Wynne Jones' Castle In The Air the same one Miyazaki made into his anime? It's either Howl's Moving Castle or Laputa: Castle In The Sky? Haha I can't remember if it was one or both. :))
BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY IS GREAT. Get the hardcover boxed set if they still have it! Worth it, trust me. (Or you could wait when they have sales...) XD
I don't think the two editions of Coraline would be different. The book itself was written for young readers; I don't think you could compress it any more.
Is Lankhmar from one of those Gollancz Books collections?
Oh, for more generic/common books, it might help to compare them to NBS/Powerbooks prices! Sometimes one store offers the same edition for a much cheaper price. :)
/insanelylongcomment XD
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Date: 2009-01-06 06:21 pm (UTC)Castle in the Air == Howl's Moving Castle. I don't think it is linked to Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
Re: Bartimaeus:
Ooooh. I will aim for that! Though if I'm impatient I may just get all three in the trilogy in paperback if I can.
Re: Coraline:
Neat! Good to know. The people at the bookstore said they may be different, but they were really unsure.
Re: Lankhmar
Yup! It says Gollancz Books in a box on the back.
Re: NBS/Powerbooks
Oooh. Good tip! IME, Fully Booked offers the best selection, but if I can find the more popular ones at Powerbooks... And I have a card for PB as wel :-D
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Date: 2009-01-09 09:10 am (UTC)Re: Bartimaeus: If you're getting the paperbacks, the UK covers are pretty cool. :))
Re: PB card: Doesn't the regular card's discount only kick in when you spend a minimum (2k I think?) Or did you get the Plus version? :-/
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Date: 2009-01-12 10:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-13 01:37 am (UTC)But for regular, and/or rare stuff, my card's got lots of run. :))
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Date: 2009-01-09 12:54 am (UTC)Ellen Kushner, yay! I enjoyed both THOMAS THE RHYMER and PRIVILEGE very much, though SWORDSPOINT remains my favorite.
Kushiel tends to be love/hate; I fall on the former side, so I will refrain from babbling.
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Date: 2009-01-09 03:39 pm (UTC)I have PRIVILEGE in my bag right now to read after my current book (DUST by Elizabeth Bear). As far as I can tell, there's no order between the two, or they're not linked so, crossing my fingers.
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Date: 2009-01-09 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 10:13 am (UTC)Need to pick up SWORDSPOINT when I can