The Loot!

I had an urge to visit the used bookstore yesterday so F and I went by after a late lunch. Sometimes my local used bookstore does not have a great selection, but this time there was so much to choose from I had to leave several books I really wanted behind. All F. could do was shake his head each time he came by the aisle I was browsing in. The pile in my arms was bigger each time he saw me. He knows once I have my heart set on my stack that there is no going back or trying to convince me that I don't need to buy so many since I have stacks of unread books at home. Alas, I always win (particularly when I point out how expensive his hobby can be, hehe). Without further ado, here is what I took home:

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Been Down so Long It Looks Like Up to Me by Richard Farina
Slam by Nick Hornby
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Revolutionary Road by Ricard Yates
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

It was hard to put some of the other books I had selected back on their shelves, but I decided not to be greedy.

Arrivederci 2008...Buongiorno 2009!

It's already 4 days into the new year and I've already fallen behind on plans I have for the year. I have a list of things I want to accomplish this year. I hate the word resolutions so let's just call them dreams and wishes. I'll post them tomorrow to remind myself that I can accomplish what I feel would help me to grow as a person in the year to come.

A look back at my favorites of 2008...

Favorite books of the year:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Persuasion by Jane Austen

Favorite albums:

M83: Saturdays=Youth
Santogold: Santogold
Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
Coldplay: Viva la Vida
Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs
The Gaslight Anthem: The '59 Sound
Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
She & Him: Volume 1
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
Ladyhawke: Ladyhawke
Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles
Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours
Adele: 19
Beck: Modern Guilt
Jamie Lidell: Jim
The Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack

Favorite movies:

Pineapple Express
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Manhattan
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Control
La Vie en Rose
August Rush
2 Days in Paris
Once
Bonjour Tristesse
Paris Je T'aime
L'Avventura

Tomorrow I'll post my 2009 list of dreams and wishes.