Weblog Love on Wednesdays

I don't have a blog-ish post for today because I don't have "The Situation" on my Google Reader under control this week. Lots to read that I haven't yet read.

But, rather than disappoint all [three] of you, I determined that I'd contribute a different sort of love-ly post. Namely, a post dedicated to my general love of buying books. I don't participate in book mooch-ing or paperback swap-ing, and I've only received a total of four free/ARC/contest win books (three of which I've reviewed, one to be read/reviewed at a later date) in my auspicious days of book blogging. I am a book buyer--used and new--and a library user.

And tonight (I'm writing this on Tuesday to post on Wednesday, I don't have time control like Kronos) I went book-shopping and picked up four new books. Then I came home and purchased another five online. Which meant, much to my excitement, that it was time to reorganize my TBR shelves. I'd like to post some photos here for you all (with a little link love after the pictures):


The Overview: The TBR book shelf and reading rocker


Top Shelf: Young Adult and Middle Grade Novels
These are given precedence in my reading agenda. I put them in chronological order of "radar"... things that were on my "wish list" that I specifically went to the store and picked up (pictured on the left) are read first, based on the order that I became aware of them (usually through your lovely blog recommendations); things that are impulse purchases at the book store or library are read, presuming I don't have any "wish list" books to read, in order of procurement (first in, first out, keeping in mind those all-important library due dates).


Bottom Feeders: Adult Fiction and Nonfiction
It's kind of hard to tell but these are doubled up--two rows on each shelf. These are ordered chronologically by date of original publication (because I'm anal-retentive). And I read in reverse chronological order. The next one up: Not My Daughter by Delansky, which just came out about a month ago. I'm not sure that I'll ever actually get around to reading Paradise Lost by Milton (the oldest book on my shelf), because I'm constantly buying more books, newer books, but I can always hope, right?

But, on to the link love...

My online purchases tonight were:
The Vinyl Princess by Prinz

Thank you, Mandy [EO17] for putting this on my radar... you were also responsible for The Heights and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood... you're costing me a lot of money.

Troy High by Norris, Troy and Ithaca by Geras, and Gods Behaving Badly by Phillips

Thank you, Rick Riordan, for getting me obsessed with Greek Mythology... my new reading fad is going to cost me a lot of money.

All that to say, I picked up one of these titles through the Barnes & Noble dealer network; you can also purchase through dealer networks on Amazon and Borders. Some might say that you should shop local, shop independent, and to that I say, "These dealer networks include independent book stores--such as Powell's, libraries de-accessioning their inventory, and wholesalers who are supporting literacy. As somebody who's nearest indie book store is a 40-minute drive away, I give link love to dealer networks that help the greater good and can get me what I need."

What about you? Where do you love to get your books? (Or book recommendations?)

It's Alive!!

I am back from the dead, returned, to try and get this blog up to date.

I've been pretty slacker-ish about updating (obviously!) for a number of reasons. The primary reason, though, is not something that's going away any time soon. (Nor is it something bad.)

I got a part-time job as a book seller at a book store (of all places) and I'm pretty stoked. Yeah, yeah, I still have to work "the day job" in research, but I get to spend my nights roving the stacks, helping lost souls connect with the perfect book. Actually, tonight I had the EXTREME pleasure of helping a lady order 11 back-listed titles from the Little House series for her granddaughter for Christmas. That was pretty boss. I loved helping her find the books that her granddaughter, who is in second grade and had spent two hours pain-stakingly writing out her Christmas list by hand, had requested. The woman hadn't been hopeful to find them when she came in, but we got 11 of 14, and I gave her the hook-up for how to search the used dealer network for the out of print titles. Cool-ness abounds in book stores.

The other fantabulous perk, the thing that solidified that I'd gladly take a $25K pay cut per year to work in book retail full time, was the fact that on the first night I scored an ARC of The Maze Runner by James Dashner from the store's buyer. I've been wanting this book for a while. Sure, sure, with the two jobs and trying to keep up on everything else (including allocating copious amounts of time for playing tennis on Wii) it'll probably be months before I have a chance to crack it open, but still, that's pretty cool, no?

All that to say: I'm still here, still fitting in reading whenever I can, and I'll still do my best to post new content (reviews and the what-not) on a regular basis. I am sad to report that the Weblog Love on Wednesdays feature is going to take a bit of a hit. I'll get back to posting it weekly, but I think I'm going to have to pare it down to (perhaps) the one best weblog thing that I consumed from the previous week (rather than all the goodies). Sorry about that.

But enough of this, I've got an audio book that needs reviewing.

[Image Source]

Libraries Are Getting Play

A week or so ago E.B. over at The Reader's Quill did a post about a fantabulous library of a mogul and it was a fascinating look inside the beauty of an amazing personal library. Below is the photograph that was featured over there:



Well, the Books on the Nightstand blog had a post today about some of the most famous and beautiful book stores around the world. They link to this website, so cleverly titled, "Most Interesting Bookstores of the World," and I've given you a sample of the photos below.


These photos [above] are from Selexyz Bookstore in Maastricht, Holland, which was built inside an old Dominican church. Note that the book store's coffee shop is housed in what used to be the altar of the church.


This photograph [above] is of The Academic Bookstore (Akateeminen Kirjakauppa) in Helsinki, Finland. It was built by famed architect Alvar Aalto, the father of modernism, and is the largest book store in Scandanavia.

That photograph [above] is of Lello Book Store in Porto, Portugal. This book store is considered to be the most beautiful in the whole world.


The above photograph is of the book store El Ateneo in Buenos Aires, Brazil, which used to be a theater before conversion to its current functionality.


The above photographs are of Shakespeare & Company Antiquarian Books in Paris, France, which some believe to be the most photographed book shop in the world.

I could seriously lose myself in any of these book stores... I'm thinking I'd like to do a touring vacation of each of these shops. Head on over to the "Most Interesting Bookstores of the World" website and check out the others and the tons of gorgeous photos they have.

A Need for Books

I have a friend, Jamie, who lives in Knoxville, TN, that I've been pestering to read the first book in the Twilight Saga. I did a quick web search and found a link for this awesome used book store in Knoxville--McKay Books. I'm totally jealous... it looks like the kind of place I could get lost in for hours.

Then I did a web search and found some pretty cool-looking used book stores in the central Indiana area (within an hour of the city) such as the Uncommon Corner Book Store, Bookmamas, and Forgotten Treasures Book Shop.

I usually shop at the Half-Price Book Store on the south side of Indianapolis. Anybody else (including the huge numbers of Indiana bloggers) know of other great used book stores?