The Keepin’ It Real Book Club

Are you sick of these yet? I hope not, cause it’s good fun to share newest finds, and it’s nice to demonstrate the kind of good stuff you can get if you look for it. This batch came courtesy of the Bookends Sale at the Toronto Reference Library. I’m a huge fan of Bookends (the regular store) for its rock bottom prices, so I thought I’d give their annual sale a try. The sale didn’t disappoint, though it was more like a mini Victoria College sale (which is this weekend, along with Word on the Street in Toronto!), with great offerings at slightly than usual prices.  Though my numbers won’t be as impressive as they usually are, I was willing to shell out a bit more for good books in support of the library. And here we go again:

(Clockwise from the top left):

Long Story Short, by Elyse Friedman: Anansi makes beautiful books, and since I may be coming round to short stories, I thought, why not?

Man of My Dreams, by Curtis Sittenfeld: I was shopping with my friend Reeder (check out her finds here), and Prep (see below) is her favourite book. So I figured I’d [...]

This week's spoils

I went book diving again this weekend, so I thought I’d take the time to share (/brag about, I mean, really) my conquests. Clockwise from the top left:

The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss (PB). I’ve already blogged about  this one, and indeed I have a copy. But when I really like a book, I always pick up extra copies to thrust upon unsuspecting friends and family members, because one of the greatest pleasures of being widely read is match-making  books and their ideal readers.

The Dutch Wife, by Eric McCormack. (HC) This was an amusing and fortuitous find. I was reading Corey Redekop’s Shelf Monkey a couple weeks ago, and the novel’s fugitive protagonist writes letters to a prominent Canadian writer . . . who, embarrassingly,  I’d never heard of. And then, it seemed, the bookish fates intervened, and I now have one of his  books.

The Red Queen, by Margaret Drabble (PB). I’ve never read anything by this Dame of British letters, and I thought it was time. Plus, I love hist fic, and admittedly, put a lot of faith in M&S books.

The Accidental, by Ali Smith (HC). Another writer I’ve been meaning to get [...]