Bücherlust

[muckefuck]

At some point, I have to stop pretending that my desire to accumulate books faster than I can read them is some momentary aberration rather than an ever-present facet of my personality. Sometimes, I have a particular need in mind, as back in February when I was studying Punjabi and made a trip to Devon to obtain a decent dictionary. But it increasingly clear that that's the exception, not the rule. I've been hitting bookstores at the rate of about one/week lately. At first, I thought it was a psychological reaction to winter blahs and personal anxieties, but the pattern is too persistent to be explained away like that.

A friend of mine mentioned recently that he ends up getting more at the run-down bookstores in Evanston than the first-rate ones. Same with me, but that's because I'm cheap. Last week, I browsed Bookman's Alley and found nothing to acquire among its hardbound rarities. Today I hit Amaranth and walked away with just under $30 in paperbacks. From shortest to tallest:

1. The unvanquished Faulkner, William. Slowly but surely, I'll work my way through his oeuvre. So far, I haven't been disappointed in anything I've read. I liked The Hamlet so much I've been trying to track down the rest of the Snopes Trilogy, but someone tipped off the used booksellers and now they're hiding their copies from me.
2. Growth of the soil Hamsun, Knut. (Trans. by W.W. Worster.) I've been interested in Hamsun ever since I read kmon's glowing recommendations here some years ago. I think I have Hunger at home (unread), but this one is generally rated a better work.
3. Naomi Tanizaki, Junichiro. (Trans. by Anthony H. Chambers.) At some point after my first exposure to him in Stir-Fry Civ, I became a Tanizaki completist. This wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't acquiring his novels quicker than I'm reading them. I've got The key and at least one other at home now patiently waiting for the day when I'm in the mood for some Japanese literature again.
4. Swimming lessons Mistry, Rohinton. I've been reading some good press for Mistry and short stories set in Bombay sounds like the kind of light reading I'd've been interested in in any case.
5. Notes from the hyena's belly Mezlekia, Nega. An African writer I've never heard of before? Sign me up! He writes about growing up under Mengistu? Just the thing for me to get a better understanding of my Ethiopian peeps!
6. Missouri wildflowers Denison, Edgar. Dad probably has a copy of this, but I don't mine owning my own to leaf through in moments of nostalgia.
7. Exploring ancient native America Thomas, David Hurst. Bout time I started reading some history of my country that antedates those dipshits on the Mayflower

Comments

[areia.livejournal.com]

You may already be aware of this, but a friend just introduced me to a whole new way of feeding my book addiction: PaperBackSwap.

You list the books you want to get rid of; when someone requests one you mail it to them at Media Mail rate. The system gives you a credit, and you spend that credit on requesting a book from another member.

Just what I needed: more books...

[keyne.livejournal.com]

Just what I needed: more books...

That's pretty much why I gave up on PaperBackSwap — I have to seriously cull my collection, not replace individual volumes :}

[wwidsith.livejournal.com]

Dude. Awesome list.

That's it, I'm going book-shopping after work tonight..