Have you already bought your first book(s) of the year? I was hoping to hold out a bit longer but my mom wanted to go to Half Price Books to look for a calendar and I couldn’t resist a little something for me.

I found a copy of Murder at the Portland Variety by M.J. Zellnick. This is a first in a series set in 1894 Portland. A vaudeville actress is found murdered and a seamstress working for the same theater, Libby, isn’t convinced it was a random kidnapping gone wrong. So she sets to investigate.

You know how much I enjoy historical mysteries so I couldn’t pass up on this one.

When I wandered to the Clearance Section I quickly spotted a copy of The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry and I was thinking “oh, lucky bookgirl” until I picked up the book and realized that some of the pages were warped and the book had a lot of writing in it. Now I know why it was on clearance. The book had to go back on the shelf.

I love used books but they have to be pretty good copies before they find a home with the rest of my books. Anyway, it was still a fun visit to the bookstore and I’m glad I found a book that had been on my wish list.

How about you, which books have you recently bought?

Recently I received a few new books which will be published in February. They all sound good and I want to dive into them now but you know how that is. Anyway, want to hear about the books?

First, there’s Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I received this one from the BookBrowse First Impressions program. This book is an epic novel that features twin brothers who grow up in Ethiopia after their mother dies and their father abandons them. Matt recently mentioned this was one of his favorite reads in 08.

Then I have The Vagrants by Yiyun Li. This story takes the reader to Communist China in 1979 when Beijing was rocked by the Democratic Wall Movement, an anti-Communist groundswell designed to move China beyond the dark shadow of the Cultural Revolution toward a more enlightened and open society.

Finally, I also have Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni. American-born journalist Azadeh Moaveni returns to Iran in 2005 to cover the rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While she’s there, the unexpected happens: she meets her soul mate, falls in love, and becomes pregnant. Now she must face a future that she didn’t quite plan.

What about you? Which books are you looking forward to, and have you been lucky enough to score an ARC? Tell me so I can add more books to my list.