Reading Material
The Snook and I ventured down to Gleebooks yesterday to cash in my gift certificate and take advantage of the secret “Harry Potter’s birthday” sale they have going on. (If you show your train ticket, you get 17% off.) I was armed with a long list of your book recommendations. We dove into the stacks and soon realized that they only had about a third of the titles I was looking for.* Here’s what I ended up getting: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon; The Accidental by Ali Smith; Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. The Snook also picked up two fantasy books. As we headed home, we noticed that St. Barney’s were having their annual fair day and book sale. I picked up secondhand copies of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer; Around the World in 80 Days (illustrated!) by Jules Verne; and a couple others as well. Thanks to everyone who gave me recommendations; I’ll be on the lookout for the other books when I finish these!
* I like Gleebooks a lot, and I want to support local businesses, but man, their shop really isn’t designed for people who know what they want. It’s just such a jumble. If you’re a browser it’s brilliant, but when I have a shopping list I much prefer the Kinokuniya system of being able to look up exactly where a book is located. And Gleebooks doesn’t seem to keep much of a back catalog either… 🙁
Charisse
August 5, 2007 — 6:30 pm
enjoy your books! i love love love middlesex, it’s one of my favourites
Brittanie
August 5, 2007 — 8:10 pm
I love Middlesex too, and I really hope you like The Accidental. I keep waiting for Christopher to finish it so I can talk to someone about it.
Amy
August 5, 2007 — 10:18 pm
Have you read ‘American Psycho’ before? I’d like to know what you think after you’ve finished it.
clare
August 5, 2007 — 10:24 pm
love the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay and american psycho. I just bought BEE’s latest book for $4.95! and that was really good too.
Kris
August 5, 2007 — 11:22 pm
Never read American Psycho before. I actually cracked that one open first tonight while relaxing in the bath. I’m not sure what I think so far. The first three chapters have just been really random scenes with Bateman’s friends and him reciting all the brandnames of the crap in his apartment. (I know enough of the basic plot to know that this is tied in the point the book is making; but if I were just picking it up without knowing anything about it, I’m not sure I’d continue at this point.)
the other andrew
August 8, 2007 — 10:17 am
Kavalier & Clay is one of my all time favourite reads – enjoy!
Oh, and yes, Gleebooks drives me batshit crazy. I’m waaaay too Virgo to shop there…
Kris
August 8, 2007 — 10:19 am
I noticed that both you and Eileen have read the Yiddish Policemen’s Union (or whatever it’s called) recently, so I’m planning to get that one next… as long as I end up liking Chabon! 🙂
jp
August 8, 2007 — 12:29 pm
Wow I love a cluttered bookstore. Gleebooks is fine as it is (both stores!). Everything has a place, it is well signed and you often find things you weren’t looking for due to it’s placement near something you were looking for.
I love a bookstore you have to get to know, but once you do it rewards you over and over. Not to mention the readings and launches always worth the effort.
Better Read than Dead in Newtown is like that too. I like Independent stores that make an effort.
Too many Borders/Kinokuniya huge clean and too defined.
At least with Gleebooks you get heart.
Kris
August 8, 2007 — 12:39 pm
Actually I think Better Read than Dead might be slightly better organised. You can actually get in the door there, whereas at Gleebooks I often feel like I’m in danger of toppling either a customer or a display. It’s just a little too much like Gould’s sometimes. Which is okay, sometimes you’re in the mood for a treasure hunt. But when I have a list of actual books I’m looking for, I prefer to not have to hunt in four different places just to discover that they don’t have it. I guess I’m just a little anal about organisation, and having too many piles of things gives me the heebie-jeebies. (That said, if Gleebooks had a kiosk or something that would show you exactly where something was located, I wouldn’t complain at all.)
the other andrew
August 8, 2007 — 5:39 pm
I love Better Read Than Dead, I can always find something wonderful in there. Plus it’s around the corner from my house which is a huge bonus. It’s much better organised and maintained than Gleebooks. The thing about Gleebooks is that I always feel like I’m going to knock over things, bull in a china shop style.
Kris, “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” is good also but “Kavalier & Clay” is superb.
Kris
August 8, 2007 — 10:53 pm
And apparently BRTD has Miss Jane’s book in the window! So they get props for supporting local writers.
eileen
August 9, 2007 — 8:37 am
Hey, you’ll have to follow up to let us know what you think of the books once you finish them.
Re: Chabon- I agree with T.O.A. that K and C is better, but I will like the new one. I also liked the very different Chabon novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which is being made into a movie starring Sienna Miller, who apparently offended legions of Pittsburgh natives when she referred to the city as Sh*#!burgh during filming.
Have you seen the movie American Psycho? It’s brilliant. Never read the book because I’ve heard that the descriptive chapters are quite tedious.
Kris
August 9, 2007 — 8:54 am
Well, you could’ve told me that BEFORE! 🙂
(No, never seen the movie. I think you’re aware of my Christian Bale fixation, though, so I think a rental will definitely be in order…)