Bookgirl's Nightstand | When I'm not reading books, I'm making them.

Books Out & In

iliana Nightstand January 4, 2011

Over the holidays I set to work on my bookshelves. I got rid of several bags of books but of course to fill in the few empty pockets left by those books I did a bit of shopping at Half Price Books. I found some amazing bargains.

Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell.
The First Cut by Peter Robinson. I’m a big fan of his Inspector Banks series but this one is a standalone thriller so it’ll be interesting to read about a different character.
The Girl of His Dream by Donna Leon. I also enjoy the Brunetti series quite a bit.
The Brambles by Eliza Minot.
The Man in the Window by K.O. Dahl. I enjoy Scandinavian crime fiction so I’m excited to try this Norwegian author.
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.
Among Other Things I’ve Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney.
The Accidental by Ali Smith

Very excited to have found several books that have been on my wish list for a while and better yet, all of these for $1 a piece. Can you believe that? Gotta love HPB.

Have you gotten any good book deals recently?

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Presents!

iliana Nightstand January 3, 2011

I hadn’t mention all the bookish loot I got for Christmas as I was still waiting on some presents but boy did I get lucky.

My husband got me books for my bookbinding/craft library:

The books are Eco Books by Terry Taylor, Collage Lab by Bee Shay, Re-Bound by Jeannine Stein and Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists by Ann Baldwin. I’ve wanted all of these books since I saw them in the bookstore. They’ve got some wonderful projects that I’m looking forward to trying out as I continue to grow and learn.

And, he also got me some books that had been on my wish list. Aw, he does read my blog.

The books are Heartbroke Bay by Lynn D’Urso, How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu and Family Album by Penelope Lively.

Needless to say, I’m a very happy Bookgirl. Of course I wish I could say I was set but you know that a bookworm is never set with enough books. Over the last few days I’ve used up my gift cards, some Borders Bucks I and I went to Half Price Books. I’ll let you know about those books in another post though because I’m still sorting my shelves.

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Art Journeys & Giveaway

iliana Nightstand January 2, 2011

We kicked off our year with an artsy day by going to the Blanton Museum of Art to see the Turner to Monet exhibit. It was the last day of the exhibit so it was a bit crowded but still got to see some beautiful art, I especially liked this painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

Every time I see an art exhibit, whether it’s the Masters, contemporary art or even a up and coming local artist, I get so excited about art. It sparks in me a need to create.

Which is what I did when I came home. I sewed some signatures for some new books. In my last post I mentioned I had some plans for the studio. It’s simple really, I just want to add more variety in my shop by adding more sketchbooksÂ and I want to do another craft show.

Also, I’ve thought about the rewards I find in journaling. I think a lot of people like the idea of journaling but don’t know where to start and/or fall in a rut. That happens to me too. I think no matter how long we’ve been journaling sometimes you need some kind of jumpstart to the process.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to share a weekly (hopefully) journal prompt/tip idea. If you’ve been wanting to start journaling or need to dust off your journal visit me on my Fan Page. I’ll try to have the prompts on the weekends. And, don’t worry I won’t be doing hourly/daily notices so I hope you’ll become a fan. You don’t need to turn in anything, you just wander over there when you get a chance and try what works for you.

To those of you who are willing to jump into journaling this year, whether it’s your first time or you are a seasoned journaler, let me know and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a journal (of your choice from my shop) and an art pack. See, you’ll be on your way to journaling in no time. I’ll announce the winner on Friday.

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