Retail Therapy

Phones are dangerous things. It’s so easy to just be scrolling along and think “what a deal – I’ll have that.” And suddenly you’ve bought $30 worth of digital books. The bad news: buying books does not cure pneumonia. The good news: it does keep me entertained! Things I couldn’t resist include (but are probably not long limited to):

Dead Boys – I chose this one because of its connection to my dissertation, the “vampiric economy” in Our Mutual Friend (and it was on sale for $0.99). 

The Art of Taxidermy – Since I was searching for dissertation-related themes after stumbling across The Doll Factory, “taxidermy” seemed a natural keyword, and this work came up in the search results. Not only does it feature taxidermy – which fascinates and repels me in equal measure – it’s in verse! 

Pulp – This title intrigued me because I’ve always wanted to write a story where the past and present dialogue with one another – and what better topics to dialogue about than love and writing? 

To Night Owl from Dogfish – I chose this title because I loved Because you’ll never meet me; it’s also epistolary and deals with many of the same issues. 

The Huntress – About ten years ago (which is a strange thing to type, by the way) I became very interested in Soviet Partisans and watched the documentary Stalingrad. The interviews were fascinating and sometimes chilling. I remember the light in the blue eyes of a Russian soldier who asked what they did with Germans taken back to Partisan camps. You can no doubt imagine his answer! When I saw that this title combined behind-the-lines fighting with a female cast, I was intrigued! 

Manikin – Another taxidermy-related title and it seemed made just for me! It features a man who creates a house museum (modeled on Sir John Soane I assume) and the daughter of a domestic who comes to live among the mounts and trophies. 

The New and Improved Romie Futch – One final taxidermy-related title. This one looks at a taxidermist who becomes a research subject and his obsession with a feral hog-monster. Who doesn’t want to read about that? 

Wasp Farm – This book was $80 when I became interested in it. It’s an entomology classic. I scored a copy for $5 from Betterworld Books. 

Pale Ones – Another $0.99 find about used books!

Dog in the Chapel – This one made me think of Gerard Manley Hopkins. It’s the first in a trilogy so I hope it proves good!

Red Man’s Bones  -  I had encountered Catlin's story before, but I didn't know he was a figure of controversy. He just popped up in Short Nights of the Shadowcatcher, which I am currently reading, so it felt like a good time to learn more. Interestingly, one of the negative reviews of the book was more useful to me than the positive ones; it said the book was too much like a PhD thesis and full of speculation. Well, I like speculation and PhDs don't usually scare me too much!

The Chain – I’m always on the lookout for animal fiction and this seems like a good one to pair with Slaughterhouse which I’m currently reading. 

Mink - I found this title by accident on a Reddit post but the discussion of invasive species and killer minks intrigued me, as did the comparison to Animal Farm. 

Gift Books

My husband passed through a pop-up used book sale during his travels on Friday and generously found me a few very cool titles: a first edition of The Fountainhead which is one of my great favorites, The World of Whitetail Deer, and Snakes Alive which is by an author I know well – Clifford Pope! He also got me Everything is Just Fine, an epistolary novel told through emails, on my Google account.