Bookbuying Spree

Today I indulged myself in a small bookbuying spree at Borders, where one can often find staggering deals in the "bargain books" department. The store had sent me a 40% coupon for one book, and the last day to use it was today. So I went and used it! And I got several bonus books besides!

My prize acquisition, and the book on which I spent my 40%-off coupon, is titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. The concept is simply too priceless to pass by. This is an "expanded edition" of the "classic regency romance, now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem," which "transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read." Stand by for a review...though I have several others to write first.

Other new additions to my Home for Wayward Books include Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye - sure to lift one spirits after reading such books as The Black Tattoo; The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart, finally out in paperback; Triskellion by Will Peterson, a "Borders Exclusive" that I have resisted buying until now; and Edward Bloor's London Calling, which seems to be about an antique radio that transports a present-day boy back in time.

I have already read and enthused over previous books by both Stewart and Bloor, so I am eager to get into these new finds. As for the others, my choices were driven by a combination of curiosity, whimsy, and a sort of thrifty extravagance that regards it as imperative to buy any interesting, new paperback -- as if the book might go back into hardcover if I'm not quick about it.

Meanwhile, I continue to make slow progress through Mervyn Peake's seminal novel Titus Groan. If you've been keeping an eye on "What I'm Reading Now," you may have wondered why that's been on there so long. Usually when I start reading something, I finish it within a day or two. Only when I grow weary of a book do I let it sit on the list for a while, only to take it off in a moment of honesty. The fact that I have done neither is no reflection on the quality of Titus Groan, though it is a book best taken in small doses. I've been catching a couple chapters a day during breaks at work, where I keep the omnibus edition of the three "Titus Novels" in my locker. I'm delighted to report that I'm reaching the climax of the first book. So again, expect a review in the not-too-remote future!