A teeny tiny obsession with books, or, how I cope with life's stresses

I'm the first to admit that I like books. I'd expand that to LOVE books ( I can hear my family laughing hysterically in the background). There's no problem with that, at least between you and me, my dear Gentle Reader. However, this is turning into the year of Stress for me, and as I am beginning to understand in myself, when I am stressed, I turn to books. I visited Ottawa's best independent crime bookstore, Prime Crime, today, with my mother who is in town for a quick visit this weekend, and I thought I would buy a few books. This is what I actually came home with:

The Price of Darkness ((book 8 in Joe Faraday series) - Graham Hurley
The White Lioness - Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander series)
Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series) * Ranger! Morelli! Laughs a minute!!
Deadly Web - Barbara Nadel *is it good that this is my free book because I filled up the first whole row in my new card at the bookstore? I think it is, but my husband didn't look very cheery when I mentioned it, as in, "I bought (mumble mumble) books today and ONE WAS FREE!!"
Damage Control - J.A. Jance (Joanna Brady mystery)
This Night's Foul Work - Fred Vargas
A Beautiful Blue Death - Charles Finch *Bride of the Book God! this is because of you!
Deadlight - Graham Hurley (book 4 Joe Faraday series)
Death's Half Acre - Margaret Maron (Judge Deborah Knott series)
Lie Down With the Devil - Linda Barnes (the VERY LAST Carlotta Carlyle mystery!!! Both my mother and I bought a copy of this one.)
Maisie Dobbs - Jacqueline Winspear *somewhere out there is a blogger who reviewed Maisie Dobbs recently - Gentle Reader at Shelf LIfe? Molly at Molly's Book Nook? - and brought this to my attention. And it does look good.
The Grave Tattoo - Val McDermid
and the only non-mystery book :
The Daily Writer - Fred White (366 meditations for a writing life)

That's 13 books! And I put some back. And I ordered one, Raven Black by Ann Cleeves, the first in a series, and I asked about The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards, which they don't have listed so is possibly out of print. And while I am very very happy with my purchases, I know it's not over.

Tomorrow my mother and I are going to try and see the new movie Julie and Julia, which features among many other fun things, one of which is Meryl Streep being Julia Child, a cookbook : Julia Child's first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I don't have it. And I completely, utterly expect that when I walk out of the theater tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to want to buy it.

So.......do you think I have a teeny obsession with books? I myself prefer to think I am just completely in love with them, and they make a wonderful shelter when life throws its challenges.

Happy reading!

It's here. It's finally, finally, finally here. Once Upon a Time 3 challenge is HERE

Look at that. Isn't that just stunning? And doesn't it just describe what a journey into a fantasy book is like for a reader? Well done, Carl! It's that time again! I'm so happy, I've been waiting it seems since RIP3 ended, for this one to start. That is not to say the other challenges I'm in aren't also exciting, they are, and I'm busy counting down to actually, possibly, completing Book Awards Challenge in time *happy dance*......but Carl's challenges have a little bit something extra, possibly because they are about genres of books that I can't live without: fantasy, and horror. Today he announced the beginning of Once Upon A Time 3. *sighs very happily* Go here

for the link to sign up.

Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge 3
I am going to do:
-Quest the Third: read 5 books in any of the 4 categories, plus reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. Well, you know me. It will be much more than five! And I read A Midsummer Night's Dream last year and enjoyed it very much. I'd like to read it again, this time taking time with the language and play-on-words Shakespeare used.
PLUS I want to do
-Quest the Fourth: Read two non-fiction books, essay collections, etc. that treat any one or more of the four genres covered in this challenge - since I am still half-way through Le Guin's The Language of the Night, this qualifies.....
And, because I don't know how to say no and I'm such a big sucker for anything fantasy, I'm going to do
- the Short Story Weekends also. This would have everything to do with the numerous short story collections I have, both openly on my TBR shelves, plus squirreled away on my other shelves, that need reading.

Now, because I told Chris at Stuff as Dreams Are Made On that yes, I would love to see the list of potential books he might read, I thought I'd better do the same here. Fantasy book lovers, this is my list of potential,' books I have right now' to read for the challenge:

Quest the Third:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (tbr in June before midsummer)
and any from:
-Changeling - Delia Sherman
-Blood-Bound - Patricia Briggs
-Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale *library book
-The Wood Wife - Terri Windling
-The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue
-The Naming - Alison Croggon
- We Never Talk About my Brother - Peter S. Beagle
- Tithe - Holly Black
- Red Moon and Black Mountain - Joy Chant
- The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar
- Territory - Emma Bull
- Forests of the Heart - Charles de Lint
- Blue Girl - Charles de Lint
- Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
- The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
- Briar Rose - Jane Yolen
- Unshapely Things - Mark del Franco
- Lord of Snow and Shadows - Sarah Ash
- The Once and Future King - T. H. White
- Tam Lin - Pamela Dean *Library book
- Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

Quest the 4th
- Language of the Night - Ursula K. LeGuin
- TBA

Short Story Weekends
some collections I'm considering reading from are:
- The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet - ed Kelly Link
- St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves - Karen Russell
- Harrowing the Dragon - Patricia McKillip
- Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City - ed Martin Greenberg *library book

Are you drooling yet? Because looking at the books I have to choose from, is making me love fantasy all over again, and this wonderful challenge.

Before I end my post today, I would like to give a wonderful shout-out to my husband. It's been our March break this week, and it has also been the week from hell. On Monday morning my daughter woke up with a fever, and she has had it ever since. On Tuesday I found out I didn't pass the interview for the job at work I'd applied for. On Tuesday night, picking up a toy, I put my back out worse than the previous week. Wednesday I had a terrible meeting with my managers. Thursday and today, I have been home, unable to do much. My husband stayed home the first three days, and my eldest has come to help out for these last two, since I really can't do much while my back heals. Some books came in at my bookstore, and my husband, my wonderful husband, went and picked them up since I can't get there. I dropped a big hint about a certain new hardcover by Dan Simmons, and

HE BOUGHT IT!!!

He came home with (first three I'd ordered):
Blood Bound - Patricia Briggs
Iron-kissed - Patricia Briggs (I'm considering putting this one in the challenge too.)
New and Selected Poems, vol 1, - Mary Oliver
and
Drood - Dan Simmons.

Please don't laugh too hard. Drood is so heavy that I can't lift it while my back is out!! In fact, I'm having problems reading Watchmen for the same reason.

Isn't my husband a wonderful man?

Happy reading everyone, happy Friday, happy OUT3 challenge day, and - Happy Spring!!!

Thursday update - and new books!!

Middlemarch - p 134, still Chapter 16.

Missed one bus doing last minute decision this morning on when to meet teachers for both parent-teacher interviews next week.

Missed next bus because forgot purse at home.

Read five pages while waiting for bus at Chaudiere, 15 minutes before anything showed up. Because 50 mins late for work, had to work through lunchtime.

Made birthday cards for daughter's upcoming birthday party after children finally asleep.

pages read: 5. Time to read: priceless!

On the guilty book-shopping before Christmas front, I went to an author signing tonight! Mary Jane Maffini was signing her books. She is a local mystery writer, has published several books, and was part-owner of Prime Crime Books, which readers will know is Ottawa's primary mystery bookstore. I went to the signing with two friends who know Mary Jane through their book club. While we were standing there talking, Mary Jane looked at me and said she had seen me before. I told her in Prime Crime, and then she knew! It is so fun to be recognized by an author!! I bought books for my mother and myself, and they are each signed. The Cluttered Corpse is the second book in her second mystery series, starring Charlotte Adams, a professional organizer. Mom gets the first book in the series. It looks intriguing!



I also bought the latest collection of mystery stories collected by The Ladies Killing Circle, a group of local mystery authors. These stories are from authors around Canada. Going Out With A Bang is a crime and mystery collection.



This looks like a good introduction to new Canadian mystery writers.

I also found two very special books - The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries by Zsuzsanna E Budapest,



best described as a women's spirituality book on paganism and the Goddess, and I thought it had gone out of print, so I wasn't even looking any more!

And the last book is one that long ago, Nymeth picked for me when a meme went around asking the blogger to choose a book that would best describe what the blogging friend was most like. She had chosen Transformations by Anne Sexton for me, which funnily enough was a book I had long been looking for. Well,tonight, The Complete Poems Anne Sexton was on the shelf!



I am going to go spend a little time leafing through my lovely books now.