My biggest bookfair haul yet!
Janelle says…
A couple of weeks ago was one of our most anticipated events of the year – the spring Lifeline bookfair (the other annual event we anticipate being the summer bookfair, of course). I took a leave day from work to go to the bookfair….using the excuse that I was taking the day off in lieu of my birthday which was 3 days earlier. But who am I kidding, I would have taken the day off regardless! Despite the fair being held in a smaller venue than usual this time, resulting in quite a squishy and uncomfortable experience, Mel and I (and baby Phoebe!) still had a ball as we always do. We were there for around 4 hours which is a bit of a record for us, and really made a morning of it, stopping for a coffee and a snack and a peruse of our books halfway through.
In my years of attending the bookfair I have learned some valuable lessons-
- the best time to go is always 9am on the first day – somehow, this is when the best books are up for grabs;
- you mustn’t rely on a tote/grocery/shoulder bag to carry your books in, lest you be in pain. Rolling suitcases are the only way to go;
- always carry water and a snack, just in case;
- if you see a book that you’re not too sure about, just pick it up anyway. You can review your finds and cull them later if you must, but just go go go!
You see that picture up there? Probably one of my favourite pictures ever. And let’s face it, probably one of my best days ever! Anyway, the excitement still hasn’t worn off for me yet. I still have the massive book pile on the floor next to my bed (because I’ve run out of bookshelf space) which I look at every day, and it both makes me smile and makes me hyperventilate because WHEN AM I GOING TO FIND THE TIME TO READ THEM ALL?!
I went to the bookfair with no specific “list” in mind. I just know in my head what books are on my TBR, and my plan was – if you see them, grab them! So, what did I grab?
Books I don’t really know much about, but bought because I have heard either it or the author mentioned somewhere before, and/or because I liked the cover:
The World Without Us – Mireille Juchau
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: and other lessons from the crematory – Caitlin Doughty
The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell
After the Crash – Michel Bussi
The Paying Guests – Sarah Waters
Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
Clade – James Bradley
Swamplandia! – Karen Russell
The Hive – Gill Hornby
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August – Claire North
Books I bought by authors I haven’t read before, but because I’m jumping on the bandwagon:
The Passage – Justin Cronin
Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell
Carry On – Rainbow Rowell
Landline – Rainbow Rowell
Books I bought because I have the first books in the series and want to have a full set, even though I haven’t read those first books yet:
Home – Marilynne Robinson
Lila – Marilynne Robinson
A God in Ruins – Kate Atkinson
Books over which I audibly squealed when I found them, such was my delight:
The Natural Way of Things – Charlotte Wood
Girl Waits with Gun – Amy Stewart
Gold Fame Citrus – Claire Vaye Watkins
Oryx & Crake – Margaret Atwood
Books I found which weren’t previously on my TBR, but which spoke to me at the time:
A Journey to Peace through Yoga – Lynette Dickinson
Ice Cream & Sadness – Cyanide & Happiness Vol. 2
So this brought my total of books I own and haven’t read up to 135, noting that I have since read The Natural Way of Things. I don’t want to think about how many years it will take me to read the other 134….
Have you read any of the above books? If so, what did you think? Did you go to the Lifeline bookfair?
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