Books I done bought

Oooooops.  Yeah yeah, I know I'm meant to be clearing OUT the books, but I just get so giddy when I go into town sometimes!  The sun was shining and there were ducklings and I was thinking about holidays and... and... ooooooops.

So, once I'd finishing mucking about with my passport application ("Your eyes aren't quite level on your photo" - thanks, I'll just go fix my face and come back), taking books back to the library (I'm freeeee!) and buying suncream (HOLIDAYS!), what did I accidentally buy from that lovely Air Ambulance shop I haunt so frequently?  Well....

First, let me just say that I actually only went back to buy The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, which I'd spotted when I visited with Hanna a couple of weeks ago.  But hey, come on, did you REALLY think I was going to manage to sweep in, pluck the book down from the shelf, and walk away without scouring the rest of the bookcases as well?  *coughs guiltily*  I picked up The Child in Time by Ian McEwan, about a father whose daughter is kidnapped, partially because it sounds so thoughtful and interesting, and partially because I loved Atonement so much last year.  So that's two and counting...

Next up was Stephen King's Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, which I'd been eyeing up in OUR shop until Hanna swept in and bought it during her first visit, haha!  When I spotted not one, but two copies of it in the Air Ambulance shop, it seemed it was meant to be...  I also internally debated and eventually bought the paperback edition of Heavier than Heaven by Charles Cross, which is pretty much the definitive biography of Kurt Cobain.  I already have it in hardback, but I'd much rather give that up and have a paperback copy to lug around instead!

 When I spotted Sarah Winman's runaway success When God Was a Rabbit I snatched it up.  It was on my 'maybe I will, maybe I won't' library list anyway, and I also know a customer who's looking for a copy.  I reckon it might be light enough to read at the shop during the early summer tourist onslaught, then I can pass it on to the lady free when I'm done.  I also snapped up The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach (originally published in 2004 as These Foolish Things, FYI).  I've heard great things about the movie, so I think I'll enjoy reading the original novel, then I can buy the DVD later!

Finally, I picked up a couple more non-fiction books to add to my already-towering stacks.  I've heard great things about Sara Wheeler's The Magnetic North and it's been on my wishlist forever, so I snatched that one up.  If it's a relatively compelling read it might be a good one to keep me cool when we're baking on sunloungers come September!  (HOLIDAYS!  Sorry, couldn't help myself.)  I also bought 1700: Scenes from London Life by Maureen Waller.  I already have at least one or two of her other books at home and this one is separated out into aspects of life (rather than running it all together in a linear fashion) which always seems to make history books that little bit more accessible!

One more book dropped into my life today - this time via our poor long-suffering postie - in the form of the third Percy Jackson novel, Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan.  I loved the first book and already have the second, AND I loved the movie and am eagerly awaiting The Sea of Monsters on the big screen.  Maybe I'll take the series on holiday with me, who knows... watery poolside reading might be quite appropriate, him being the son of Poseidon and all!  This may be slightly wrong given that he's only 20, but I have a teensy tiny weeny crush on Logan Lerman, so I'm having a lot of fun with this particular franchise!  ;)

In other news, I've finally finished reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and immediately ordered the original 1967 film adaptation which arrived yesterday (I love you, Amazon Prime!).  I've seen photographs of Truman Capote with Scott Wilson and Robert Blake (who play Dick Hickock and Perry Smith) which whetted my appetite a bit - it's always reassuring to see the author floating around there somewhere when a movie's being made!  I might watch it tonight, if I can get everything done early enough!

Now, last but not least, a word on another of my recent reads, The World According to Karl Pilkington (Harper Perennial, 2008).  I've decided that since it's so wacky, and since another read-a-thon is starting on Monday, and since I already have In Cold Blood to review as well, I won't write a proper review of this one.  I'll just blather here for a minute instead!  Basically, if you're already a fan of Karl Pilkington's offbeat musings, you'll like this book.  If you're a fan of The Ricky Gervais Show, you'll like this book.  It's mostly made up of scripts from the Ricky Gervais podcasts/TV series, in which Gervais and the wonderful Steve Merchant chat, philosophise and explore the wonderful world that exists inside Karl's little round head.  In true Pilkington style, the book is rounded out with some of Karl's musings, an excerpt from his famous diary, and plenty of his original and quirky drawings.  Read, marvel, laugh, enjoy!

Soooo, that's it for now!  Have you read any of these already?  Do I need to boost any of them straight up Mount TBR - or perhaps some of them would be better suited for a summer behind the shop counter, or even for September on a sun lounger?  Let me know in the comments!