2018 Times Colonist Book Sale Haul – Part Two

Part two of our consumerist – nay, charitable – tour of what I found at the book sale. The first post covered the left column of books, and here I’ll go over the right column.

The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories by Muriel Spark
Last year I read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Driver’s Seat, and I have basically decided to read everything she’s written now. Which is actually quite a lot, with twenty-two novels and some non-fiction, poetry, and short stories. I’m also trying to get back into the habit of reading a few short stories each month, so I hope to incorporate this soon.

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
I really enjoyed Garlic and Sapphires, despite finding myself a bit annoyed with it in parts, so I do have high hopes for this. This is a food-based memoir of her childhood, and I have a feeling I’ll have to stop myself from reading this in bed to prevent late-night-hunger induced sleep deprivation.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
I’ve been seeing Exit West everywhere since it was nominated for the Booker Prize last year, so I thought I’d give this earlier book a try. The Goodreads reviews are definitely mixed on this, so we’ll have to see.

Acquired Tastes by Peter Mayle
I’ve read a few of Mayle’s books now, and I’ve enjoyed them all, although I did have issues with The Vintage Caper. This one’s a bit different from his usual memoirs. He’s on assignment for GQ to sample luxuries from around the world, from caviar to hand-made shoes. Not a bad gig if you can get it. There’s a good chance that this was more fun to write than it will be to read, but we’ll see.

Raw Spirit by Iain Banks
Iain Banks wrote both science fiction and literary fiction, a cross-over that not many authors seem to make, but he also wrote this non-fiction memoir of travelling around his native Scotland to tour whisky distilleries. I love whisky, I love Scotland, I love travel fiction, and I’m quite fond of Iain Banks, so I’m hoping to really enjoy this one.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Annie Spence went on about this book so enthusiastically in Dear Fahrenheit 451 that I had to pick it up when I saw it. It even has a horrific movie tie-in cover. Annie Spence did the impossible and got me to buy a movie tie-in cover.

Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
I have this hobby of buying Salman Rushdie books, never opening them, and then later dropping them off for donation. Some people knit; this is what I do.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A mystery in which a bookseller’s prized rare book collection disappears from his bookstore. This novel sounds like a bibliophile’s dream, but I’m not sure if I’m going to love it or hate it. It seems perfect for me, but it also feels like there’s a chance it will pander too much and come across as a bit saccharine.

In One Person by John Irving
I read A Prayer for Owen Meany a couple of years back and thought it was great. I’ve had The Cider House Rules for nearly as long but haven’t managed to get to it. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that the size of this did play a role in the purchase. His novels are just all so long, and this was under five hundred pages. I did also remember seeing an interview where he discussed this and it sounded interesting. I believe it’s the story of a bisexual man’s life, starting in a 1950’s boarding school, as he struggles with his sexual identity.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith
Once again, I managed to purchase unconnected books in a series, this time by buying the first and third book. These are novellas by the author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which I haven’t read, but they seem like a lot of fun. They are absurd comedies that follow the antics of a German professor of Romance languages, and that’s about all I know.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
The last book of the bunch! A comedy, I’m assuming, about twelve Greek gods living together in a modern-day London townhouse. I really have no idea if this will be interesting and funny or just a load of fluff, but I thought I’d give it a try.

Have you read any of these books? I think this was a fairly successful book sale, if I do say so myself. And it’s all for charity, so we also get to feel a bit smug about how gracious we were.

You’re welcome, world!