Book Porn

My favourite annual used book sale was yesterday, and I think I did quite well. I usually feel guilty acquiring new books these days, considering I have dozens kicking around here that I haven’t yet read, but this is for charity you guys. Jeez, have a little heart.

• Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
• Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
• The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Their Eyes Were Watching God is on my Back to the Classics Challenge list, so I figured I’d grab that. Allan Quatermain was apparently a strong influence for the character of Indiana Jones, so King Solomon’s Mines is something I need to read. I really have no choice in that matter. I’ve never read Ian McEwan, so I figure I may as well start with his most famous work. And the rest are new books by authors I’ve previously enjoyed.

• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
• About a Boy by Nick Hornby
• The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
• Makers by Cory Doctorow
• Lives of the Poets: Six Stories and a Novella by E.L. Doctorow

I wasn’t sure about Holidays on Ice, but it’ll be a nice quick holiday read when the time comes. About a Boy has Hugh Grant on the cover, which I find profoundly bothersome, but I’ll learn to deal with that. I know nothing about The Accidental Tourist, but it was thrust upon me by my co-shopper. I bought two entirely different Doctorows. In the case of E.L., I’ve never read anything by him, and this was short. That is the worst reason ever to buy a book but there you go.

• Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
• The Tailor of Panama by John le Carré
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Captain and the Enemy by Graham Greene
• The Cider House Rules by John Irving

Graham Greene is the only author I’ve read from this group, but they’ve all been on my mind. The Kite Runner and The Time Traveler’s Wife are two that I probably wouldn’t have picked up in passing, but they’ve both been highly recommended. John Irving has always scared me a bit with the length of his novels, they seem like quite a commitment for my short attention span, but having this on my shelf should force me to eventually get around to it. That’s the plan, anyway.

Overall, that’s a pretty good haul I think. Combined with my already imposing to-read pile, I shouldn’t have to buy another book for a couple years. I will, of course, but I don’t need to.