New Arrivals

I’ve been feeling a bit down lately – I’m blaming it on the heat – and nothing cheers me up more than buying new books. Here are a few I’ve acquired over the past month:

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger – I bought this at my local Barnes & Noble after finishing My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff. I tried reading The Catcher in the Rye earlier this year and didn’t connect with it so I think starting with some of Salinger’s short stories might work better for me.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh – I’ve checked a copy of this out of the library a few times and couldn’t bring myself to read it because it was grubby and smelly. Sometimes you just have to buy your own copy.

Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart – I bought this in anticipation of Mary Stewart Reading Week ( Sept. 14-22), but I might read it before then as I am looking for escape these days.

God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam – I read Claire’s post about Jane Gardam with curiosity and made a mental note to read her some day. While foraging at Half Price Books just a few weeks later I came across this novel and knew it was meant to be.

Mrs. Ames by E.F. Benson – I found this book on the same Half Price Books trip and, though I know nothing about it, it’s from Bloomsbury Group and by the Mapp & Lucia author. In my basket it went.

Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser – Our last book sale at the library was for half-off all paperbacks and this was included. Originally $1 I was able to buy it for only .50 during the sale. I couldn’t pass it up! I might read it for Paris in July.

What have you bought lately? Does buying books cheer you up?