You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

What have you found in a sale lately? What have you dug up at a bookshop? What have you snaffled at the secondhand book stall?

We love to know what you have found, so we can appreciate it, but more importantly, so we can add it to our own list. Let us know what you have added to your collection so we can too!

Audible's 2-1 sale ends today, and I bought The Midnight Man and Foul Lady Fortune.

This is why I don't make New Year's resolutions. I had a notion last year (a few days ago), that I would behave and slow down in purchasing books. Jan 1, and two new books are added to the pile.

That is why I don't do New Year's resolutions anymore. Lol

I'm tidying away the end of year things for the new year. Including my "newly" (loose term here) acquired books.

Birthday gift:
Odyssey

Christmas gift:
Ottolenghi Comfort

Little Library snaffles:
To Sing of War
Smoke
Metamorphosis and Other Stories
Of Love And Shadows
All That's Left Unsaid

Bought:
The Covenant of Water
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Palpasa Cafe - prep for my 2025 random around the world read - Nepal.
Turkuaz Kitchen
Time for Dinner
RecipeTin Eats: Tonight: Dinners for every night of the week from Australia's favourite cook

One of my goals in 2025 is to read more poetry. Something I used to do, but it had fallen by the wayside since I started on Goodreads. I culled my shelves over the holidays and brought them to the Book Exchange yesterday (a used book store). As they were assessing I was of course browsing. I found a first edition copy of President Jimmy Carter's book of poems Always a Reckoning and Other Poems which I thought was kismet, so I quickly snagged it.
Also picked up The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut Jr..

Christmas gifts:
365 Poems for Life: An Uplifting Collection for Every Day of the Year
The Longing In Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World

BOTM:
Babylonia
Most Wonderful
Definitely Better Now

Glad I culled my shelves :)

I don't really like poetry but I try as I think I should keep on with it. That said, one of my favourite reads in 2023 was Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter. It was poetry dealing with issues I never had found in poetry before.

Highly recommend if you can get your hands on it.

I thought THE LITTLE STRANGER was excellent, Jayme.

I've never appreciated poems. I think it stems back to school daze and the curriculum's interpretation of the meaning of the poem was the only acceptable one. I came to the conclusion that the symbolism in poetry is as individual as the person who wrote it. I admire anyone who enjoys poetry.

It's funny, because I even used to write poetry and even had one published in one of those vanity books. I should go looking for my poems. I think they're downstairs in a box somewhere.

@Rus - That looks really good Rus. Just put it on my TBR and will start the hunt.

@ Janice - I had one of my poems published in a vanity book in the 90's too. It would be funny if you and I are published in the same one :)

I also don't appreciate poetry. I feel like I just 'don't get it'. Probably for the same reason Janice struggled. I always disliked that teachers would say THIS is what it means and I'd think they were looking awfully hard at that poem. Maybe the author really just meant what they said? Or had a different interpretation in mind? Either way, I left school with a distaste for it. I'm actually put off when I come across it in a novel.

However... I have started dipping my toe in with books written in verse. I find them more enjoyable because there is an actual story to follow and you know what the author is trying to say without analyzing anything. One of my friends had Enemies in the Orchard on her favorites list from 2024, so I might pick that one up this year. I do find more middle grade novels written this way. Maybe there will be more poetry readers coming up.

Edit - On a side note, that book is stated as being written for 9-12 year olds in the GR blurb, but on Amazon customers have recommended it for 12+ years. I wonder if the author over-estimated the emotional maturity of 9-12 year olds. Just because you can write something in simple terms doesn't mean a child is ready to read about it.

Jayme wrote: "@Rus - That looks really good Rus. Just put it on my TBR and will start the hunt.

@ Janice - I had one of my poems published in a vanity book in the 90's too. It would be funny if you and I are pu..."

That would be funny. I'm not sure I even have the book any more. I'll have to go looking for my poetry and hopefully the book is still there. When I left my ex, I threw away a lot of books (I know, sacrilege). I only kept my favourites.

Kristie wrote: "I also don't appreciate poetry. I feel like I just 'don't get it'. Probably for the same reason Janice struggled. I always disliked that teachers would say THIS is what it means and I'd think they ..."

Exactly! I was reading The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life. Amy Tan mentioned that university students were analyzing her books and ruminating that the number 4 was significant to Tan. She said, it was just something she wrote and had no significance, but the students were worrying away with it like a dog with a bone.

I remember my teacher going on about "green" mentioned in the poem we were dissecting. To me, it was just the word. But the interpretation being hammered home were the things green symbolized.

I preordered Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth): A Memoir. It will be released Jan 21st and I'm going to use it for my list challenge dog theme, and it's a 2025 release.

@ Rusalka - I also got an Ottolenghi cook book.

I also struggle with poetry. I'd like to like it or appreciate it in some way but I just don't seem to be able to.

Sarah wrote: "@ Rusalka - I also got an Ottolenghi cook book."

Enjoy your delicious creations!

I just got some book post:
Rule Against Murder
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Time Shelter - for random 2025 world reads - Bulgaria
Dust

The Thursday Murder Club finally came on sale and was being offered in the Kindle Deal of the Day, so I snagged it. Scent of a Garden also caught my eye, so it "came home with me" too.

We'll Prescribe You a Cat and Ubac and Me: A Life of Love and Adventure with a French Mountain Dog (The Dutch edition of this one.)

My most recent purchases were Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.

I got a few bargains in audible UK 2 for 1 sale:

The Forbidden Queen
Spirited
Charlotte
The Smallest Man
Medea
Psyche and Eros

Nice haul, Margo. We get different selections and I opted to not participate this month. I have a couple of books I want to get and they are not in the sale. That seems to be my bane in all kinds of sales.

It's the first sale in while that I was tempted into. I've found the books offered not to my taste for the longest time. My credit card was glad of the break though 😂

Nice, Margo. I took a quick look at the US 2 for 1 sale, but haven't purchased any. I actually have a couple of credits to use too, but unfortunately nothing in my wishlist is in the sale. (And I have 164 titles in my wishlist!)

I'm doing a Christmas "book flood" thing for my older daughter this year, purchasing books that are released for each month of this year, wrapping and tagging for her to open each month of NEXT year.

She's sort of like all of us. She's a manager for Barnes & Noble, surrounded by books, no time to read. I talked to her about this idea, and she said it sounded like fun and might be an incentive for her to sit down with a book in the evenings after work.

My 2025 purchases so far:
January
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls (which will be her Christmas Eve gift for 2025)
We Could Be Rats

February
Black Woods, Blue Sky

May for sure will be
My Friends
(which I expect may be the book of the year for 2025)

That's a wonderful idea, Pat.

So cool! Black Woods sounds good. It's on my "anticipated 2025" shelf... Actually, I think they all are. :)

Love that idea, Pat. I also bought Black Woods and pre-ordered My Friends.

♞ Pat wrote: "I'm doing a Christmas "book flood" thing for my older daughter this year, purchasing books that are released for each month of this year, wrapping and tagging for her to open each month of NEXT yea..."

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls has just landed in my library account! Can't wait to dive into it - I'll probably have to wait till after the toppler though 😂

Good dirt in-hardback

I want to read that one, Mary.(Good Dirt) It sounds really good and I liked Black Cake by that author.

I picked up autographed copies of We All Live Here and Three Days in June for my library.

I bought Remarkably Bright Creatures today. It's March pick for my IRL book club.

I enjoyed that story, Margo. I hope you do as well.

I'm half way through and loving it! Unfortunately it's been taken off the table for our bookclub meeting as the hard copies haven't arrived to the library. Apparently we're going to "discuss classic literature" instead!!! Yeah, right LOL

That's disappointing, Margo. It's a cute book.

That's too bad. It would make for great discussion.

I had a field day this morning. These sales are too irresistible. I should get a big jar and put equal cash in it for every book I buy. That would equate to $15.00 today. I could likely pay for a holiday in no time where I could read these books.

Kindle daily deal - Fangs for Nothing (couldn't resist the title, and for $1.00 - pfffft)
Audible - My Mother Cursed My Name
Audible - The Tainted Cup

That's a great idea, Janice. I'd be curious to find out how much I spend over the course of a year.

Notice I said "big jar".

Slush fund started. I'll need to go to the bank and withdraw some small bills. I don't carry much cash anymore.

lol, yes! A very big jar. I don't carry much cash either, especially small bills.

whenever I go to the bank machine it only seems to give out give out 50 euro notes - kinda suitable for my book buying binges! Who needs small notes? LOL

One of the banks here has a bank machine where you can specify the denominations you want you withdrawal in. I usually get larger bills because my housekeep will only accept cash, and that's usually the only reason I pull out cash.

I just bought a bunch of whispersync deals for $1.99 each. Husband was looking for something to read and apparently couldn't find anything in the 2,000 titles or so that we have. lol These were all titles that I got for free through the Kindle First Reads program, so I only had to pay for the audio addition. Not bad for a total of $23.88!

The Killing Plains
She's Up to No Good
Mr. Whisper
Find Layla
Broken Bayou
Along the Broken Bay
The Secret Witness
A Fire Sparkling
The Lobotomist's Wife
Close Your Eyes
The Seventh Girl
The Cipher

I currently have 8 more titles in my cart from the sale that ends today. Most of them are just $2.99, but I really don't need more books.

I have a bunch of whispersync $1.99 in my wishlist too. I should just do like you and buy them. It's not like I'll be adding new titles since I already have the ebook.

For a long time I wasn't getting them because I thought that I can just buy them later if I ever want to listen to them, but then I was thinking that there really is no guarantee that they will always be $1.99. So, I figured why not and he is very happy with them.

I bought the complete works for a few classic authors. They are %50 off, so $0.99 each. In case there is another classics crazy person in the group.

The Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville: The Complete Collection
The Complete Works of Charles Dickens
The Complete Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald
Henry James: The Complete Novels
The Collected Complete Works of George Eliot
Thomas Hardy: The Complete Novels

It we don't hear from you Sandra, we'll know where you'll be.

Lol. I hope you are right!

OMG Sandra, that's some pile!!!