My Week in Books: January 30-February 5

Welcome to my weekly Saturday feature here at Erin Reads, where I highlight new books that have entered my life, what I’ve been reading, and what’s happened on Erin Reads over the past week.

New Acquisitions

No vlog today–it just didn’t happen this week. It should be back next week. As for acquisitions, my husband and I did make a trip to Half Price Books, where I pounced on a couple exciting finds:

• All the Names by Jose Saramago: I’ve been a little bit obsessed with Jose Saramago ever since I read Death with Interruptions last year. I haven’t yet read anything else by him, but I’m pretty sure he’s one of those authors whose entire bibliography I’ll read eventually. Steph of Steph & Tony Investigate! reviewed All the Names before I read her blog, and I discovered her review while perusing their review database. I didn’t find this one in the clearance section, but I think Saramago is worth a little more.
• Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris: I’ve only read Chocolat by Harris, but it was a dreamy sort of book and I’ve wanted to try something else by her. There’s something intriguing about the title of this one, so when I found a hardcover copy in the clearance section, I picked it up. The woman at the register gushed a bit about it when she saw what I was buying, so my hopes are high.

TBR Additions

I’ve added lots of books to my TBR list this week, and I haven’t even gotten to my reader for the second half of the week!

• The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister: Recommended on audio by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, who assured me it wasn’t cheesy!
• Mozart’s Journey to Prague by Eduard Morike: I was intrigued by this one after reading about it on Vishy’s blog. What hooked me was when Vishy wrote: “While reading this book, I felt like I was reading an episode in one of those massive Russian novels, like ‘War and Peace’.” I’m loving War and Peace and am intrigued by a book compared to a slice of Tolstoy’s tome!
• The Tapestry of Love by Rosie Thornton: I wish I could remember all the bloggers whose reviews of this one I’d read. Each time I’d read one I’d think, still doesn’t sound like me. But Heather’s review on Raging Bibliomania put me over the edge…The Tapestry of Love is now on my list. Thanks to all the bloggers who’ve been slowly wearing away at my wariness!
• If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous: When I worked in the bookstore, I’d look at this book each time I shelved it. Something about the cover drew me in. I forgot about it until Amanda reviewed If You Follow Me on the Zen Leaf. What’s even better is that she had good things to say about it!
• Excellent Women by Barbara Pym: I’ve never read anything by Pym, but JoAnn at Lakeside Musing made Excellent Women sound wonderful.
• Lex Trent Versus the Gods by Alex Bell: After reading Charlie’s review on the Worm Hole, I’m intrigued to try this new series for myself…if it’s ever published on my side of the Atlantic, that is!

Read This Week

I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and read this week, it’s seemed. I did finish The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carre, and I’ve gotten about halfway through Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I refuse to rush my reading of Jane Eyre, as I only get to read it for the first time once! I also finally opened The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, one of this month’s Reading Buddies books.

On audio, I’ve been switching between The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (the second Reading Buddies book for February). They are, as you might guess, quite different from one another, but I am enjoying listening to both.

Erin Reads Recap

• I started the week with a Sunday Salon post in which I rolled out the Reading Buddies project. If you’re curious about the project, this is the post to read!
• On Monday I gushed about Flight by Sherman Alexie on audio.
• Next up was a January wrap-up post in which I looked back on the previous month in terms of reading and blogging.
• Wednesday’s Classics Reclamation Project post looked at the second half of The Notebooks of Male Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, which I didn’t like nearly as much as the first half.
• Thursday I shared my thoughts on Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, which I finally got around to reading.
• Finally, yesterday, I wrote the Reading Buddies discussion post for A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

Your Turn!

How was your reading week? Do tell!