Score!

As I have mentioned, the books that I read are borrowed from the library, bought at used book sales, or received as gifts.  I almost never buy new books.  An exception is Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen which I am reading now for my book group.  I had to buy it because I would have been 28th on the waiting list at my library, and would have never been able to read it before our meeting. At least I had a 40% off coupon!  Today, I went to a rummage sale, and found some good books to add to my shelves!

These are the books that I bought to add to my nightstand full of books waiting for me to read them:

Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper
by Harriet Scott Chessman

I'm looking forward to reading this one, because I really liked Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland, and I think this one has a similar premise - telling the story of the painting of a famous painting.

Not Becoming my Mother
by Ruth Reichl

I really liked Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl (see below), so I am hoping that I'll like this one too.  It looks crazy short and gifty though.  We'll see how it goes.

and

Empire Falls
by Richard Russo

I don't know much about this one, but it looks good.  It won a Pulitzer, and was a NYT Notable book, so I have to wonder why I haven't read it before.







Also, I got three books that I have already read and loved, but which I don't own because I checked them out of the library to read them.  They are:  Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.  Although my kids are in 5th and 7th grades, I still read to them at night, and my son has been wanting to read The Art of Racing for a while now.  I'm looking forward to reading it again, but I seem to cry more when I read out loud.  This could get soggy.

Still Reading:  Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.  This is not going as quickly as I thought it would.  I am sort of bogged down in the middle now, and trying not to pass judgment on it yet. 

Listening to:  Yes, I'm multitasking!  I have been listening to The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards in my car.  I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I was reading them at different times, but Freedom and TMKD have a lot in common.  I'll get to that in the next post.