I’m in Dallas for several days and I think I timed my visit just perfectly. Today I went to a library book sale and I got quite a few goodies. Let me tell you what I got:

• The Long Haul by Amanda Stern. This is a book from Soft Skull Press, one of those indie presses I’ve been meaning to check out for a while now.
• July’s People by Nadine Gordimer. I’ve not read anything by this Noble Prize winner.
• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Meditations on love, marriage, peace, life…
• The Debut by Anita Brookner. Story of a woman who’s been escaping from life into books. Has she been ruined by literature? Oh this sounds very good.
• The Effect of Living Backwards by Heidi Julavits. A tale of two sisters.
• The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. A novel of the near future. You know, if it hadn’t been for the Once Upon a Time Challenge that I’ve participated in I don’t know if I’d be so keen to read this. Reading challenges and book blogs have definitely expanded my reading interests.
• Alice in Bed by Cathleen Schine. According to the book jacket this is an exceptionally funny first novel.
• Let Me Alone & A Scarcity of Love by Anna Kavan. I couldn’t find a link to this edition of the two stories but according to a quote on the back of the book these are considered Kavan’s best.
• Beacon Street Mourning by Dianne Day. A historical mystery – you know I love those.
• Pride and Predator by Sally Wright. Literary Feline just reviewed one of the newer books in this series and it sounded really good so I’m glad I snagged this copy.
• What is Mine by Anne Holt. Yep, another crime novel but I do like these.

I’m so excited about my books!

In the next few days I hope to catch up with friends, visit one of my former book groups, go to the grand opening of Paper Source (shh, don’t tell my husband because I’m sure to spend a lot of money!) and of course catch up on some of my bookbinding classes. I’m very excited because I’m learning a new technique which is really neat – I can’t wait to show you pics. And, I definitely plan to visit my old library quite a bit. As much as I love Austin, I really miss my public library.

I know I’ve been promising some book reviews and I will get to those but it’s just that I feel like my brain is fried. Seriously, this heat is getting on my nerves! Plus, I am in Dallas which means a lot of family stuff to take care of but hopefully I’ll get around to those reviews soon.

Anyway, I’m off to find something cold to drink and grab a good book.

I missed out on Dolce Bellezza‘s Japanese Literature Challenge last year but I wanted to try it this year. So here I am jumping in right as the challenge is about to start.

I remember a few years ago one of my book groups seemed to be on a big Japanese literature kick and we read books by Haruki Murakami, Kenzaburo Oe, Junichiro Tanizaki and several others. It was fascinating to read about Japan so I’m looking forward to revisiting this country via its authors again.

Starting July 30, 2008 through January 30, 2009 the goal is to read three books (any genre). I haven’t come up with my final list yet but these are some books that I’m contemplating (and are books from my stacks):

• Out by Natsuo Kirino. I actually tried to read this book a couple of years ago but I was definitely not in the mood for something so dark at the time so I put it aside. It’d be great to finally read it.
• The Ruined Map by Kobo Abe. This is supposed to be a mesmerizing crime novel.
• Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima. My book group read this one and I think everyone raved about it so I expect it will be a good one.
• On Parole by Akira Yoshimura. I read his book Shipwrecks and it was one of those books that I couldn’t stop thinking about afterward so I have great expectations of this one.

I also have books by Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto on other challenges so who knows maybe I end up combining some challenge books. Anyway I think this will be great fun!