Wednesday, September 19, 2007

New Books!

We just returned from a relaxing, albeit hot, vacation/visit with hubby's family in the Phoenix, AZ area. The temperatures barely dipped below 100 and were more frequently between 105-110. Needless to say my 32-week pregnant self spent a large amount of time in the pool!

I always return from visits with my in-laws with new books; they generously pass on paperbacks they have already read. Here are my latest acquisitions:

1. The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood
SIGNED!!! After finding out that Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors, my father-in-law completely surprised me by giving me his signed copy of The Robber Bride. Woohoo!!! This book is added to my small, prized collection shelf.
2. The Egyptologist - Arthur Philips
3. The News from Paraguay - Lily Tuck
This one won the National Book Award but only averages 2 stars on Amazon. My in-laws liked it, I look forward to finding out for myself how it is.
4. The Great World - David Malouf
5. The Winter Queen - Boris Akunin
This is the first book in a historical mystery series that is very well known in Russia.
6. Seven Types of Ambiguity - Elliot Perlman
7. The Peppered Moth - Margaret Drabble


The little monkey is one of the gifts we received at the baby shower that was given for us. This little guy, a Miyim organic monkey (no pretensions here, he's as natural as can be), also happens to be a book lover! Until Maya is old enough to name him, we shall call him Darwin.

6 comments:

Lotus Reads said...

Welcome back, those are some neat books you picked up from your inlaws!

"The Winter Queen" sounds intriguing, I can't wait to find out more. I have read "The News from Paraguay" and have to confess that I wouldn't give it more than two stars either, but that was only because Tuck's writing style is a little dry (she writes like a reporter who just states the facts) but that's me, I certainly don't want to put you off, it did win the National Book Award after all!

Literary Feline said...

How nice of your father-in-law! Now that's a very special gift. :-)

I have The Egyptologist and Seven Types of Ambiguity in my TBR collection. I'll be curious to hear what you think of them when you read them. :-)

Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

I love new books, whether they come from a bookstore or another book lover. Thanks for visiting my blog and entering my contest. Good luck!
Stephanie
www.thewrittenword.wordpress.com

Nyssaneala said...

@lotus - The Winter Queen ranks towards the top of that list of new acquisitions. Which means, hopefully I'll get around to it sometime in the next year!!

@literary feline - I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when he gave me that book!

@stephanie - I think sometimes I find it even more fun to acquire used books, especially if you know where they come from!

Ted said...

I'll be interested to hear what you have to say about Seven Types of Ambiguity. It looked so intriguing in the bookstore in which I found it (in Louisville, KY). I tried to read it twice - no luck.

Nyssaneala said...

@ted - That book will probably languish on my shelf for a bit. It didn't catch my eye as much as some of the others I have waiting to be read.