Book Shopping

Can we talk for a minute about buying used books?

I love books. I love buying books. I love supporting writers. I do not love the big store prices. And as an eco-nerd, I do not love wasting things. So many times, the books I buy are used or come from a place that sells used books.

Last weekend, I popped into my favorite local thrift shop and found three books that needed a new home in my personal library. All are on my TBR, and since I was at the thrift store, I spent a grand total of $5 for them. I can tell you that two of these books have never been read. They are hardbacks with perfectly crisp spines and pages that don’t fall open, and I paid $2 each for them.

Now, I understand that I am not financially supporting authors by purchasing used books. But I also understand that buying books, especially paperbacks, for $20 is not necessarily within a person’s budget. So, if someone wants to grow or start a book collection, buying used is a great way. Especially right now, when basic necessities are expensive, buying oneself a book as a treat shouldn’t be looked down upon if it is done cheaply. And, realistically speaking, any author who isn’t Stephen King likely has another job that pays their bills, a spouse with a well-paying job, or a fellowship grant, so I don’t feel guilty about buying a used book and not financially supporting writers.

Upcoming Releases

I don’t know about you, but I love reading all of those articles out there about the best upcoming books. So, I’m taking some inspiration from those articles and giving you a list of and links to 8 books coming out this spring that I am really excited about.

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Slow Noodles, by Chantha Nguon–coming February 20th
A haunting and beautiful memoir from a Cambodian refugee who lost her country and her family during Pol Pot’s genocide in the 1970s but who finds hope by reclaiming the recipes she tasted in her mother’s kitchen.

Listen for the Lie, by Amy Tintera–Coming March 5th
Lucy’s best friend was murdered years ago, and Lucy coped with her grief by leaving town. Now, a true crime podcaster is digging into her friend’s case, and she is going to have to finally deal with what happened all those years ago.

The Swan’s Nest, by Laura McNeal–coming March 12th
A tender and engrossing historical novel about the unlikely love affair between two great 19th-century poets, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett.

Jaded, by Ela Lee–coming March 19th
A young lawyer wakes up the morning after a work gala with no memory of how she got home the previous night and must figure out what, exactly, happened—and how much she’s willing to put up with to make her way to the top of the corporate ladder.

Off the Air, by Christina Estes–coming March 26th
A debut novel about the drama in journalism. When a talk show host dies suspiciously, a local journalist realizes that she conducted his last interview and feels compelled to help solve the mystery of his death.

The Sleepwalkers, by Scarlett Thomas–coming April 9th
A surprising and suspenseful modern gothic story following a couple running from secretive pasts and very present dangers while honeymooning on a Greek island.

Days of Wonder, by Caroline Leavitt–coming April 23rd
A tantalizing, courageous story about mothers and daughters, guilt and innocence, and the lengths we go for love.

Granite Harbor, by Peter Nichols–coming April 30th
A small town in Maine finds its detectives trying to stop a serial killer who is targeting the town’s teenagers.

Not only am I excited about these upcoming reads, but I have been lucky enough that the publishers and NetGalley have given me an advanced copy of each of them, which means that there will be a full review post of each of these books coming during their release weeks! So take a look at the links and their full descriptions, and let me know which ones you are looking forward to reading.

Diva

I have read and enjoyed Daisy Goodwin’s books before, so I was excited for her newest book, Diva. It tells of Maria Callas, an opera Diva and long-time lover of Aristotle Onassis before his marriage to Jackie Kennedy. 

I am an affiliate member with Amazon and bookshop.org, so any purchases through this post’s links will give me a commission back. Check out the About page for more information on that and how I get my hands on these fantastic books.

My excitement turned to boredom by the 25% mark. It isn’t that she chose a poor subject, nor is it because of her writing. I think this time it is me. 

I have read hundreds of other books and authors since the last time I read Daisy Goodwin’s books, and I think I have outgrown her writing and style. I also was terribly disappointed in the adaptation of her book, Victoria, and I still hold a bad attitude towards it.

All this being said, I won’t write off her books forever, but right now, at this point in my life, it just doesn’t feed my soul to read her books. And while this was my first unfinished book of 2024, I foresee plenty of people devouring it.

2024 Reading Goals

The new year has arrived, and with it, it is time to decide what I want to achieve with my reading this year. I’ve had the same reading goal for a few years now: to read as diversely as possible throughout the year. And that will continue to be this year’s goal as well.

While I am working on my attempt to read books set in every country, I also hope to shake up the authors I read. I would love to find some authors who I have never heard of. And I am going to try to read more authors that I haven’t tried yet (I have a Jodi Picoult on my list for later this year, thanks to book club). I would also love to finish my checklist for all 50 states this year. I need about 11 yet, so send your recommendations, especially for the Dakotas.

So the next question is, what am I going to do this year to achieve these goals?

Well, I have joined a few more book clubs in my area. Yes, I know, years ago I wrote about not joining book clubs, but well, things have changed since then. I promise I’ll try to write about that change soon. By participating in 3 book clubs, with different types of members choosing the books in each, I am being introduced to books and authors I haven’t read before. I am also not shying away from books recommended to me by friends. While these suggestions might not be my usual things to read, one could turn out to be an amazing read for me.

I think that by opening up to additional suggestions and then actually reading them, my continual goal of diversifying my reading and thus educating my life is always achievable.

So, what are your goals for this year?

Reading with Global Intentionality

I turned 40 earlier this month. It’s big, but I always knew it was coming. Two years ago, I set myself on a reading challenge to see how globally I could read by my 40th birthday. 

I have always been a diverse reader, but I know I can get stuck in location ruts, so I set out to see how many places I could read about in two years. This could be done through the setting in a fiction book, a location for a memoir or biography, or just learning about that location in a non-fiction book. Going in, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do every country within the two-year deadline, so it was more about seeing how far I could travel when being intentional about my settings.

By being deliberate about finding new locations, I’ve read books I would never have picked up otherwise; I enjoyed some that I did not. By seeking new places, I found my literary horizons expanding not just globally but with new authors, new types of stories, and new understanding of cultures other than my own.

Where have I been able to travel read over the last two years? I have read books set in 33 of the 50 states (taking recommendations for the Dakotas and Idaho). And I have read books set in 47 countries, including El Salvador, Lebanon, Tanzania, and Croatia. I am working off of a list of 201 certified and named countries, so ending at around 25% isn’t bad, especially since I know that I read some countries more than once (default of a historical fiction junkie). 

Just because my 40th birthday has now passed doesn’t mean that I am finished. Far from it, I’ve already got books set in far-off places waiting for me to dive into soon. I will continue to read with global intentionality, and now I want to see how long it takes for me to mark off every state and country from the list. 

Do you have a favorite book set in a place where you don’t live? Drop the title so I can check it out!

Southern Redundant

Why is it that many books set in the southeastern states aren’t very unique in the plot line? Aging parents, changing relationships, and family secrets uncovered that would completely upend all everyone has ever believed. Don’t get me wrong, those can make for really good stories, but I feel like the majority of books set in Georgia or the Carolinas have this storyline. And most of them involve some cross-racial or cross-social class relationship that would have been illegal or scandalous, so they ended up being covered up in illegal ways.

I brought this up with my husband, who responded, “Southern Gothic.” Ok. Fair point. But are those the only stories to tell set in that region? Not all novels set in Germany are about World War 2 (yes, a lot are, but many are not). Not all novels set in Texas are about cowboys. Not all books from Japan are about Geishas and Samurai.

I guess I’m saying that for a region steeped in such a rich history and diverse cultural background, why is it so difficult to find a story set there that is unique and not already overdone?

Late last year, I read two fairly recent books that fit this trope, Carolina Moonset and The Kingdoms of Savannah. One of these I finished, and the other I did not. And that choice to finish came down to whether I cared enough about the characters to finish it. You can probably guess which one I finished if you read them and have followed me for a while.

I am an affiliate member with bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me. Check out the about page for more information on that and how I get my hands on these fantastic books.

But this isn’t a recent development in Southern literature. Looking back at other books I have read set in the Southeast, they are all the same. 

So, here’s my plea: If you have a book suggestion set in Georgia or the Carolinas that doesn’t fit this trope, let me know because I would love to read it.

*Note that I have read The Last Carolina Girl, which came out earlier this year. I loved it, and my review is coming soon.

Classic Literature

Let’s talk about classic literature.

Do you love them? Do you avoid them? Do you adore one author but hate others?

I love Dickens and Hugo but cannot stand Austen or Tolstoy. I’m a big Jane Eyre fan but I can skip the other Bronte sisters’ work.

Maybe it’s our technological century, but so many of these are easier to ingest by watching a movie version (even though I still can’t stand Tolstoy that way either). I feel like this goes for kid classics too. My kids, and at least one set of my nieces and nephews, all hate Beatrix Potter books, but they have enjoyed watching every film or television version of them. The same goes for Paddington and Mary Poppins.

A part of me is frustrated by my inability to read through so many pieces of classic literature, but I will keep trying. In fact, I put a Nabakov book on hold at the library and will be attempting that as soon as it comes in.

Walking away from books

As you know, I read a lot. I am typically a 115+ books a year type of reader. It is just who I have always been.

Lately, I have hit an unusual reading conundrum in that I am getting about 60-70% of the way through a book, and then not caring about finishing it. I have done that with three books this year. They cross genres and story types, so it isn’t that I am bored with anything specific I can point at. But for some reason, I am getting bored after reading ⅔ of a book.

Typically, if I am not enjoying a book, I notice it early into the reading process, and then I’ll walk away. But this far in, I feel like I should stick it out, and yet I have had no guilt about setting them aside and moving on. I think that as I get older, I don’t have the patience to push through with anything that I am not enjoying, and that includes books. There are so many things in our daily lives that cause displeasure that we have no control over, so maybe walking away from a boring book is a way to take back some control in my life. We regularly walk away from plenty of other things when we tire of them, and they no longer feed our soul–movies, hobbies, meals, conversations, jobs, relationships–so why not leave a book behind to find one that brings pleasure back into my reading time?

Is this just me? Do you walk away from books that far in?

Cookbooks

There is something nostalgic and self-reflective about revisiting my old cookbooks that have been gathering dust on my shelf. Recently I decided to flip through them. As I went through I found notes I had written marking recipes that had once been favorites. I saw recipes with new eyes and taste buds as our eating habits have changed over time. Things that I had looked over before are now things that I want to try.

As the kids have grown, and life experiences have happened, we have been able to expand horizons and discover new tastes we enjoy. Up until our son was about 8 years old, appetizers never fit into our meal plan, and now we regularly make them at home or order them when we’re out. Living and traveling in Europe for three years introduced us to cheeses we have grown to love and are now staple finds in our fridge.

But the old favorites come back into view as well. The recipe for graham crackers that my son loved so much that he picked it for his contribution to his preschool classroom cookbook. Or the Jewish recipes that have introduced me to parts of my culture that I knew nothing about.

Food has become a way for me to share new experiences and new knowledge with my family and myself. And now that I see some new things in our old books, it is like getting a new cookbook all over again.