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This & That

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was wonderful, I went to two bookstores (yay) but believe it or not, I didn’t buy anything. I wish I could say the same for the husband. heh.

I did spend quite a bit of time reading but I didn’t get to most of the books in my previous picture post, aside from When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I’m loving that book. I did start a very good mystery, The Last Kashmiri Rose by Beverly Cleverly. This is one of those books that I’d been meaning to get to for a long time and so far I can say it was well-worth the wait but more on it later.

Most of the weekend I spent it reading The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig. It’s a wonderful character study about a woman who has been living a dreary life after the war and once she gets a chance at a week full of pleasure, riches and so on she “awakens”. Of course she has to go back to her real life of work and pinching pennies and well, you can only imagine how that must make her feel. I’m hoping to finish this book just in time for The Slaves of Golconda discussion on Tuesday so feel free to drop in on the conversation and hear more about the book or if you’ve read it then share your thoughts.

So that’s about it on the reading front for me but I had to leave you with some very cool links I’ve recently found.

  • Did you know that only about 3% of all books published in the U.S. are works in translation? Well, boost your knowledge of foreign literature by checking out Three Percent.
  • Want to know what the 25 most influential books of the past 25 years are? Check out the March/April issue of Mental Floss magazine. I see some Atwood, Morrison and Murakami.
  • Remember covering your schoolbooks with kraft paper? Well, thanks to Book City Jackets you can do that again but with a bit more style. Right now they only have Fiction, Favorite and Non-Fiction. I think Poetry should be next given that National Poetry Month is just around the corner don’t you think?

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 7:54 pm and is filed under Nightstand.

21 Responses to “This & That”

  1. Literary Feline http://www.literaryfeline.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 4:50 am

    Hi, Iliana! I am glad you had a good weekend. I went to the bookstore twice this weekend too (only in my case, I went to the same one twice–once on my own and the other with my husband). I was able to find some discounted books I’d been considering getting so it worked out well. :-) You should have seen his face when I came towards him with four hardback books in my arms. LOL I quickly pointed out they were all considerably discounted.

    Thank you for the links! Have a great week, Iliana!

  2. Melody http://www.mel-reading-corner.blogspot.com/

    March 30th, 2009 at 5:29 am

    I wish I could walk out of a bookstore empty-handed once in a while, LOL! My husband casually mentioned to me the other day that I bought too many books because I’ve created another ‘tower’ for my TBR pile in our store room, haha.

    I’m glad you had a great weekend, Iliana! :)

  3. Maree http://justaddbooks.blogspot.com/

    March 30th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    Walking out of a bookstore empty-handed is very restrained.
    Beverly Cleverly? Really? Because that’s the best name I’ve ever heard _ I keep wanting to say it out loud; it rhymes so well. :)

  4. jenclair http://bookgarden.blogspot.com/

    March 30th, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    :) I’m with Maree about Beverly Cleverly! And I like the title of her book, too. I get Mental Floss and read the list. Some, of course, I agreed with, but as with all such lists, some I wondered about. I do love lists!

  5. Nicole http://www.nbbaker1102.wordpress.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    I always say I’m going to the bookstore to browse, but I never leave empty-handed. That’s why I try to frequent the library more than the bookstore.

  6. Care http://bkclubcare.wordpress.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    I stopped in to a bookstore to purchase ONE book – for my bookclub and walked out with SIX! All of them were books I’ve been wanted to read anyway and I decided not to go to DSW shoes so I think I was OK, all in all.

  7. Lisa http://www.booknotesbylisa.blogspot.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

    I love the book covers! Thanks for the link.

  8. Stefanie http://somanybooksblog.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

    Sounds like you had a nice weekend! I did manage to buy some books ;) Great links. Love the book covers, though most of the time my school didn’t provide the paper and we used brown grocery store bags to do the job.

  9. Bookgirl http://www.bookgirl.net

    March 30th, 2009 at 7:53 pm

    Literary Feline – Oh that’s happened to me especially at Half Price Books. I’ll come toward my husband with arms full of books and he’ll be freakin’ out. Although maybe it’s not at the price but at the thought of where will we put all of these books! haha… I hope you found some goodies. I need to stop by and see what you got.
    Melody – Isn’t it funny how little book towers start to appear as soon as one goes up? :) I’m glad you had a great weekend too.
    Maree – I know, I really held back! :) You know I don’t think I’d even realized that about her name but of course now I’m saying it out loud – too funny!
    jenclair – I hadn’t picked up Mental Floss in a while so I’m glad I saw that one. You are right, there are always books left off or those that make you wonder about the list maker but I love book lists too :)
    Nicole – I’ve gotten quite good about just browsing as I’ve been on a bit of a book budget lately. Now, when I go to Half Price Books though I tend to forget but that’s because the deals you find there are just too tempting!
    Care – Ha, I love it! And, see you did good as you skipped out the DSW trip :)
    Lisa – Isn’t that fun? Glad you liked it.
    Stefanie – Ooh I wanna hear about the books you got! Really, your school didn’t provide the paper? We had some bookcovers with a lot of advertising from local businesses but they were the kraft brown covers. I loved drawing on them :)

  10. Dawn – She Is Too Fond Of Books http://www.sheistoofondofbooks.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Great links! thanks for the reminder about Three Percent, haven’t looked at it for a while.

    Your comment on Mental Floss reminded me … I forgot to thank you … you mentioned BookForum in one of your posts and I went online to subscribe to it. Great magazine! I’m not crazy about the oversized tabloid format, though.

    Yes, we get Mental Floss; that list is a good one!

  11. Samantha http://samsbookblog.blogspot.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    It sounds like you had a good weekend full of reading! I can’t walk out of the library empty handed let alone a bookstore. It is an addiction :)

  12. Claire http://moodyclaire.blogspot.com/

    March 30th, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    I can’t believe you managed two bookstores and no purchases!! Wow, that’s very restrained! Sounds like a wonderful weekend. I can’t wait until we’re moved and I stand a chance of reading more than one page in a sitting again!

  13. Rowan Rose http://www.thegirlsonbooks.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Wow, The Post Office Girl sounds like a good one. I will have to check that out since I am at a crossroads in my life right now. Great Blog, my first time here… I will keep coming back :)

    Rowan Rose
    http://www.thegirlsonbooks.com

  14. Vasilly http://classicvasilly.wordpress.com

    March 30th, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    I can’t wait to read The Post Office Girl myself. I forgot all about Mental Floss. I can’t wait to read that issue. Happy reading!

  15. bookworm http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

    March 30th, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    The Post Office Girl sounds interesting, happy reading :)
    thanks for the fun links!

  16. Wisteria http://BookwormsDinner

    March 31st, 2009 at 12:21 am

    I don’t think I have ever left a bookstore without buying a book. Am I bad!!!
    The Post Office Girl sounds interesting I’m glad you like it so far.
    I spent the weekend reading The Recovery of Ecstasy for the second time. It gets better each time.

    And about those book covers…I remember brown paper bags and then drawing all sorts of stylistic doodles and quotes of importance. I would love to see one now. Have a good night.
    Wisteria

  17. Isabel http://booksandotherstuff.blogspot.com

    March 31st, 2009 at 2:56 am

    Great post.

    You always find the most interesting reading news and books.

    I am looking forward to your review of Post Office Girl.

  18. Bookgirl http://www.bookgirl.net

    March 31st, 2009 at 3:46 am

    Dawn – She is Too Fond of Books – I’m so glad you are enjoying BookForum. It’s such a great periodical with really in-depth articles. I’m not too crazy about the large format either. My subscription lapsed so I’m a bit bummed out but hopefully I’ll renew later in the year.
    Samantha – It is an addiction isn’t it :) I typically can’t resist a book but I guess when I saw the price tag on my husband’s book that’s what made me think twice! ha.
    Claire – Moving is definitely not conducive to reading. I bet you can’t wait to get settled. Sending you some good vibes girl :)
    Rowan Rose – Thank you so much for stopping in! I hope you’ll check out the Post Office Girl quite different from what I expected but a very good story.
    Vasilly – Isn’t Mental Floss a fun magazine? I always forget to look for it though as it’s always in the sections I don’t visit as much.
    bookworm – Glad you are enjoying the links! :)
    Wisteria – Hee,hee.. It is bad isn’t it? I think it’s actually a must to buy something but I just escaped this time :) Yep, I doodled a lot on the covers too and probably wrote down the names of boys I liked and who my best friends were :)
    Isabel – Thanks girl and you will definitely have to nominate Post Office Girl for your group! I am not done just yet but I think you’d like it. I am really looking forward to the discussion.

  19. tanabata http://tanabata.blogspot.com

    March 31st, 2009 at 6:52 am

    I hadn’t visited Three Percent for a while, thanks for the reminder. It is sad that there is so little literature in translation. I have a hard time leaving a bookstore without anything, so maybe it’s a good thing I haven’t been by one in a while. The online shops are tempting enough!

  20. Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit) http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com

    March 31st, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    Wow, I’m glad you had a great weekend…and thanks for the link to Three Percent. I am always interested in expanding my reading. mental Floss Mag sounds like another great one for me.

    Have a great week!

  21. Bookgirl http://www.bookgirl.net

    April 1st, 2009 at 1:14 am

    tanabata – It is sad. It just makes you wonder of course at all the stuff out there that we won’t get a chance to discover. Bleh. See, I’m also staying away from some of my favorite online book shops just for a while. Although I feel the need to buy soon :)
    Serena – I hope you enjoy both of those!