In My Mailbox is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Story Siren, in which book bloggers post about the books they have bought, borrowed or received in the past week. Since it began it has become fairly popular, and numerous book blogs post their weekly In My Mailbox meme. I have come across such posts and pretty book blogs a few several times ever since I have been in the blogger business, but what really grabbed my attention was Emma's blog titled Her Nose in a Book. She's 21, lives in Ontario, Canada, a recent college grad, reads immensely lot, and her taste in books is more than very similar to mine. (Not to mention that she posts utterly pretty photos of books on her tumblr page.) Anyhow, I thought I would give In My Mailbox a try. If I like it, it might get regular.
There are seven books in my mailbox this week, all of which I purchased. Yep, there goes my "I'm not going to buy any more books this year" resolution. (Well, the fine print did say "or as few as I possible can".) But let me explain how I got this far.
Every once in a while I get this sudden yearning to go to the book store, my favorite bookstore, visit my friends there, browse them and stroke them, and have a sniff or two of the intoxicating scent of the printed word. And, if I really really really love a book, and it won't stop whispering my name and chewing my ear, then take her home with me. Well, I did get such a yearning about a week ago, so on Tuesday I went to Red Bus and browsed their stacks for a rather large number of minutes. To my utter surprise and delight, I found The Friday Night Knitting Club on the "On Sale" shelf. I have kept bumping into this book on various sites recently, last time on One Sheepish Girl's blog, and I also found the review of its sequel on Emma's blog. So as I glimpsed at it at the store, it was an instant must buy.
Then I got to the "classic lit" section, where I found The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, and I just could not leave it there. Now, I never got to write about it, but in 2011 my favorite movie was Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which I have seen three times so far, and most certainly am going to watch it for the fourth and fifth time. (Go, do yourself a favour, and watch it asap!) Every time I see the way Woody Allen presents the 1920's Paris with its bustling cultural life, with the members of the Lost Generation (Hemingway, Scott Fiztgerald and Zelda, Picasso, Matisse, G. Stein, etc.) seizing their days, with all those literary figures and references popping up, I am utterly and completely mesmerized. I had already been quite interested in the Lost Genereation & the Parisian expats at university, but never really had the time to dig deep. I got this very same book from the library once, but had to return it unread, and soon I forgot about it. But then came along this film, it most certainly grabbed my attention and made me want to read American high lit again. Gertrude Stein's memoir is about pretty much the same thing as some of Midnight in Paris: her life in Paris in the first three decades of the twentieth century, how she became well known as a writer and all the friends and artists she made and meet along the way. Anyhow, it's a wonderful book, I ought to write a reveiw about it some time very soon.
The third book of the week is A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. As you probably know, I recently read Writing Down the Bones. In it Natalie Goldberg mentions this book, and suggests to read it, because it is a great one and Hemingway writes about his method of writing and his experiences as a beginning writer in Paris in the '20s. Plus, I had also known that it had something to do with the Lost Generation and the expats of Paris, G. Stein's influnce over Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald, etc. As I was reading (and ohh, how much enjoying!) Stein's book, I got this sudden urge to get A Moveable Feast ASAP, and read it as soon as I was finished with The Autobiography of A.B.T. I ordered it via internet from Libra books; then when I went to pick it up, I found out that Libra has recently opened a new bookstore, right across their old textbook shop in Kölcsey Street.
Naturally, I took a look around, you know, just have a sniff of the nice book scent, and to see what kind of books they have. Well, they had a number of books on sale, all for 500 forints apiece which was an absolute bargain. This is how I bought The Last of the Savages by Jay McInerney (I loved his Bright Lights, Big City.); Anne's of House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery (I recently grew fond of the Anne series, I ought to write about it too.); The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman by Sue Townsend (Oh, the dear Mom of our beloved loser Adrian Mole and her English humour! I wonder whether it will be as hilarious as the A.M. series.); and The Nice and Good by Iris Murdoch, because I have never read anything by her, although I did read her biography written by her husband.
Well, that's how I ended up buying six books this week instead of none (Or two. I really really had to read A Moveable Feast and the Stein book.) I will try and moderate myself from now on though. Because, for some mysterious reason, my to be read pile just keeps getting higher and higher...
So what have you got in your mailbox this week? Feel free to join in!
Then I got to the "classic lit" section, where I found The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, and I just could not leave it there. Now, I never got to write about it, but in 2011 my favorite movie was Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which I have seen three times so far, and most certainly am going to watch it for the fourth and fifth time. (Go, do yourself a favour, and watch it asap!) Every time I see the way Woody Allen presents the 1920's Paris with its bustling cultural life, with the members of the Lost Generation (Hemingway, Scott Fiztgerald and Zelda, Picasso, Matisse, G. Stein, etc.) seizing their days, with all those literary figures and references popping up, I am utterly and completely mesmerized. I had already been quite interested in the Lost Genereation & the Parisian expats at university, but never really had the time to dig deep. I got this very same book from the library once, but had to return it unread, and soon I forgot about it. But then came along this film, it most certainly grabbed my attention and made me want to read American high lit again. Gertrude Stein's memoir is about pretty much the same thing as some of Midnight in Paris: her life in Paris in the first three decades of the twentieth century, how she became well known as a writer and all the friends and artists she made and meet along the way. Anyhow, it's a wonderful book, I ought to write a reveiw about it some time very soon.
The third book of the week is A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. As you probably know, I recently read Writing Down the Bones. In it Natalie Goldberg mentions this book, and suggests to read it, because it is a great one and Hemingway writes about his method of writing and his experiences as a beginning writer in Paris in the '20s. Plus, I had also known that it had something to do with the Lost Generation and the expats of Paris, G. Stein's influnce over Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald, etc. As I was reading (and ohh, how much enjoying!) Stein's book, I got this sudden urge to get A Moveable Feast ASAP, and read it as soon as I was finished with The Autobiography of A.B.T. I ordered it via internet from Libra books; then when I went to pick it up, I found out that Libra has recently opened a new bookstore, right across their old textbook shop in Kölcsey Street.
Naturally, I took a look around, you know, just have a sniff of the nice book scent, and to see what kind of books they have. Well, they had a number of books on sale, all for 500 forints apiece which was an absolute bargain. This is how I bought The Last of the Savages by Jay McInerney (I loved his Bright Lights, Big City.); Anne's of House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery (I recently grew fond of the Anne series, I ought to write about it too.); The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman by Sue Townsend (Oh, the dear Mom of our beloved loser Adrian Mole and her English humour! I wonder whether it will be as hilarious as the A.M. series.); and The Nice and Good by Iris Murdoch, because I have never read anything by her, although I did read her biography written by her husband.
Well, that's how I ended up buying six books this week instead of none (Or two. I really really had to read A Moveable Feast and the Stein book.) I will try and moderate myself from now on though. Because, for some mysterious reason, my to be read pile just keeps getting higher and higher...
So what have you got in your mailbox this week? Feel free to join in!
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