Friday, December 29, 2006
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Sunny and cool

Joe Konrath had a fun question about the last ten book purchases, how you heard about them, why you bought them and where. My last purchases totaled around 60 books, and, reading through people’s discussions about the importance or unimportance of print ads (the point of Joe’s post), I found I was more interested in the books they actually bought and their journey to the books than the discussion.

So, I’m a book whore. I admit it.

And here are my last few purchases:

Herbal Folk Medicine: an A to Z Guide by Thomas Squier and Gerard’s Herbal: John Gerard’s History of Plants by John Gerard.

How I Heard About Them: I was searching for more herbals and found them via Strand.

Why I bought them: Study/research

Where I bought them: Strand Books


Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee

How I heard about it: I saw it in a bookstore one day while browsing, but didn’t purchase it right away.

Why I bought it: I like To Kill A Mockingbird; I admire Lee’s refusal to conform either in life or to “the business”.

Where I bought it: Border’s, using a gift card.


Rocky Road to Romance and Smitten, both by Janet Evanovich

How I heard about them: They were mentioned in other Evanovicah books I had collected over the past few months as research for an anthology essay I was contracted to write.

Why I bought them: gifts for my mom, because she enjoyed some of the other Evanovich books I lent her.

Where I bought them: Border’s.


Choice Centered Tarot by Gail Fairfield

How I heard about it: It’s the one tarot book I’ve found useful and I recommend it whenever I teach workshops. I’d originally come across it on New Year’s Eve in an odd little shop in Seattle in the mid-1980s.

Why I bought it: A Christmas present for a friend who is just starting to learn tarot.

Where I bought it: Amazon.com – and they tried to extort extra charges from me. I had to threaten to file a complaint against them to get the book on time, even though I ordered it in November.


Standing Next to History by Joseph Petro and Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent by George Rush

How I heard about them: searching for books on the topic

Why I bought them: research for the rewrite of the novel Assumption of Right

Where I bought them: Strand Books.


Off the Leash by Helen Husher

How I heard about it: I was in the Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont, and picked it up while browsing and talking. Unfortunately, I put it down and forgot to retrieve it.

Why I bought it: It looked like fun.

Where I bought it: Strand Books got it for me.


52 books bought on a trip to Niantic

How I heard about them: I was browsing through the half a dozen buildings or so that make up the complex.

Why I bought them: Because I’m working on various projects, or I’m interested in various topics. Most are out of print history, biography, and memoir. Some are out of print novels.

Where I bought them: The Book Barn, Niantic, CT


Anthology of Vermont Writers, Volume III by various authors

How I heard about it: I was browsing in the Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, VT for local authors, and the owner suggested it.

Why I bought it: I wanted to read local writing and support local authors.

Where I bought it: Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, VT


The Age of Conversation by Bernadetta Craven

How I heard about it: I read the review in the NYT Book Review.

Why I bought it: It sounded interesting, on a topic and a time period in which I’m interested.

Where I bought it: I had trouble finding it, so Strand tracked it down for me; Strand Books.

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Yesterday, it took nearly an hour to get from Grand Central Station to the theatre – a walk that usually takes 20 minutes. Because there are so many people visiting!

To be fair, for once, most of them were pretty nice – there were just so many that there wasn’t any room on the sidewalks or anywhere else. Everyone was trying to be polite and accommodating – but we made a filled sardine can look roomy!

According to the newspaper, this week 1.25 million people are visiting NYC – a city that, on a normal day, has 18 million people swirling around it anyway. That’s quite a bit. It was like being in town on New Year’s Eve around 4 PM – although it’s still a few days until New Year’s. I haven’t seen it this busy since 1998 or 1999.

Work was fine – I was in the men’s ensemble room with two other people, so we worked and chatted. There’s always a ton to do on the costumes – fix the hooks, snaps, seams; stitch up rips in the gloves; wipe out the hats; work on the tin man costume. But we got it all done.

I was so enraptured by Tim Powers’ Drawing the Dark that I nearly missed my stop coming home. The fact that they can’t be bothered to announce the stops doesn’t help, either. But it’s a brilliant, exquisite book.

The New Look patterns arrived for the yoga clothes – they have nice, clean lines and look simple. Now, I have to get to the fabric store and get the fabric so I can try them out. If I find that they work well, I’ll do them in all sorts of fabrics and colors and be all set for my writing and yoga lives! Now, to get the rest of it sorted . . .

The only post-holiday shopping frenzy I entered was to order a few pairs of pants from LL Bean, that were on sale for over 50% off. They’re not jeans, but they’re not quite dress pants either – kind of midway. They’ll do until I can get proper dress slacks, they were on sale, they’re in nice dark colors, and I know the quality and the fit will be right, so it’s all good. I ordered them yesterday and they’ve already shipped, so they should arrive by Saturday. And Strand shipped a couple of herbals that I need, so . . .packages are a-coming!

Errands today and then back to the page. I’m at the theatre all day tomorrow and then, oh shock, it’s the end of another year. This went fast – especially since I lost 7 out of 12 months to The Situation. I’ll post the month-end and year-end evaluations tomorrow, since I’m going on retreat for Sunday and Monday.

Another break-though in my thinking about The Widow’s Chamber. I’d already decided when I adapted it from serial to novel I wanted to switch from third person to first. Now, I think I’ll make it the letters that Nora writes to her friend Louisa – as in Louisa May Alcott, who appears in the first episode of the serial. I think that’s much more of the right direction for the piece as a whole.

Worked my butt off on the Plum essay last night. Had some good ideas; cut and rearranged material. I think it’s more along the lines of what they want. I have one more topic to weave in, and then I’m sending it off and hoping for the best.

Happy Year End!

Devon


Token and Affections – 33,700 words out of est. 35,000

33 / 35 (94.3%)

Need help setting goals for the New Year? Check out questions to help you with your Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions on Wordish Wanderings.