Is there anything better than a brand new book? The crisp pages, the unbroken spine, the adventures ahead! Swoon.
I could get lost in a bookstore every. single. day. That is, if I had the budget to come out with the ten books that I invariably pick up every time I set foot in a bookstore. Recently, I put myself on a book-buying freeze. I realized that since I had started writing this blog, I thought that it was justification for buying myself every book that caught my eye. The result? I have about twenty new books on my shelves that I still haven't read yet. Still, keeping myself away from the bookstore is a difficult task. I can't be the only one with this problem, right? (Right???)
So, while I was suffering from withdrawal, the beautiful angels at Penguin publishing sent me a little relief. A few months ago I had participated in a pilot test for the MTEL, the state-licensure test for teachers that I'll be taking soon. It was good practice for me (the test can be super tricky) and for my two hours of hard work I was granted a gift card to Penguin. I was saving it for a rainy day, but a few weeks ago I received an e-mail that, gasp, my gift card would be expiring soon! So you see, I just had to get a few new books.
After browsing the (virtual) shelves at Penguin, I selected five books to greet me when I got home for Easter weekend, (aka my little brother's birthday weekend, aka Patriot's Day, aka Marathon Monday!). Below are my picks:
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| {on Goodreads} |
I chose this one to come back to school with me for rest of the semester and I'm already halfway through. It's a non-fiction story (usually not my wheelhouse), but it reads like a mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie. Victorian-era ghost stories give me the creepy-crawlies; this one is full of public deception and family secrets. It all plays out in correspondence between family members whose lineage can be traced back to the middle ages. I came across it in a newsletter from Oprah magazine on perfect Spring Break reads featuring books that are good picks when your brain is feeling fried. Seeing as how I have four days left in the semester and then final exams, "fried" is the perfect adjective for the state of my brain. Thank goodness for books, they keep me (mostly) sane.
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| {on Goodreads} |
Speaking of books that are super easy to read and perfect for times when your brain is feeling overworked-- this series is it. I bought the first book in the series in the bargain section at B&N and flew through it. I'm not going to say that the writing is superior or that the plot is super complex, but it did provide me with some good laughs and I'm going to continue to follow the series.
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| {on Goodreads} |
This book made it onto my list of books to look forward to back in January. Can I just say, every single edition of this book has a beautiful cover. Sue Monk Kidd blew me out of the water with The Secret Life of Bees and I am really looking forward to diving into this one as soon as summer starts.
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| {on Goodreads} |
No Book but the World by Leah Hager Cohen
A confession about why I bought this book: the cover is so beautiful that I want to frame it. So, the moment I saw it, click, into the shopping cart it went. For the record, the story also sounds really compelling and the major theme is sibling relationships. As my little brother just turned 18 last weekend (no, it's not okay...and yes, I do feel really old now), we're starting to interact more as adults than kids so the theme is relevant to us. Though, in this tale the brother winds up in jail, so not all of it will be relevant. I hope.
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| {on Goodreads} |
This book gave me another case of cover crush. The bright colors, the lettering...it's perfect. This is the first draft that Kerouac wrote of his infamous work. Fun fact: he wrote it in just three weeks. Impressive, right? I actually bought it because I saw that one of my favorite bloggers (also a bookworm) was reading it. I love that you can happen upon a new read in the most random of places.
Counting down the days until summer is here. I can't wait to tote these books to the beach and finally relax!
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