New (used) book purchases. I already had these books, but not with these covers. Yay thrift shops! 

I couldn't resist starting my Virago Modern Classics marathon before I finished Inkdeath---sorry Cornelia Funke. I've accumulated quite a few VMCs, so I figured it was time for a marathon. Ah...my first Virago. How perfect it be this...
This is a novel of independence, femininity, self-satisfaction, {in the best of ways} what living really means, but also of masks and facades and when to tear them off. Lady Slane is a woman after years of being in the public eye and basically babied and severely underestimated by her selfish children, whom are all almost as old as her, mind you, peels away her suit of gentle obedience and boldly faces the world, wanting to live freely and finally make herself happy. She decides, after all this time, to let herself have what she wants and live a life of peace and quiet, rather than letting it be chosen for her. Better late than never, I'd say. She is very admirable in this way, and I'd like to think that there's a lot of her in all of us, some of us more afraid to jump into the ocean of life like Lady Slane. Even if you knew you didn't have much time left, but you had the means to live out even your simplest dreams {mine being retiring in a cottage with lots of gardens and lands and a dapple grey to ride everyday--I suppose that's why I related to this story} would you do it? I should hope that we would. Because even men, when they're trapped in a conformist or unhappy lifestyle have this yearning---of course in Lady Slanes period, it was much more difficult and questioned by her peers for a woman to claim independence, especially on their own. Sure, it may be easier now--and while I believe in gender equality; who's to say much has changed? A woman who ants to become independent is still questioned, perhaps for different reasons.
Even at the beginning of the novel, I could tell Slane's children were fake--through their characters I could practically see the dollar signs in their eyes. I won't even mention when they sorted through her late husbands jewels, as you can imagine how that went. It's sad to think about what age and circumstance can do to you: we recount a memory of Henry, Slane and their children rollicking through the house, then as their father became more succuessful, they had become selfish and uncaring, leaving their father to wonder if he even cared for them. It seems that the children's have been passed down their fathers ruthlessness and coldness, never expressing genuine feeling and only doing things for their own gain. Lady Slane is the complete opposite, stuck in the middle of money hungry monkeys and used for their benefit.
At the final pages, I felt a pang of regret for Lady Slane, a woman who had to give up her dreams because other people stifled them and she had no other options. I wanted to will her to carry on and paint at least one landscape before she left us, but she left in peace and had people around her that truly cared for her as never before. The ending really affected me, showing the differences between human hearts, particularly those of Lady Slanes daughter Carrie and Lady Slanes closest friends, her landlord and carpenter. I adored almost all the characters and enjoyed this novel thoroughly. It is a thoughtful novel full of real people and not so honest people and lots of "what ifs". This is a Virago you will not want to pass up. Perfect reading with a cup of chamomille on a sunny fall day.

So, a week or so ago, I went out thrift shopping with my mother and found a load of great stuff--mostly fiction. And then, some time after, my dad and I found this place called Ollies, which sells bargain books. A lot of YA titles, but I did find some interesting ones.

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Oh my GOSH! When I found Sorcery and Cecilia, I literally squealed...in front of everyone..in the middle of the shop. Don't judge me. WSS was just stuck in between two random books at Ollies, and it looked so lonely, I felt the need to take it home. It may be just a summarizing of the story which everyone knows and I love, but I'm hoping I enjoy it anyway.
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I found the second Temeraire series book--I do own the first but have not yet read it, but I found this and I just could not pass it up--now I'll be able to read both of them together. Beauty by Robin McKinley had been sitting on my PBS wishlist for quite a while and it was offered up to me when I actually had a credit, unlike usual, where I have to turn down dozens of wishlist books because I'm lacking in creditz. Woe is me. It's a retelling of Beauty and The Beast, one of my favourite fairytales.
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Two classics that I have never read--how exciting. Just your average paperbacks, but I'm happy I can read them now. I've always loved anything to do with sailing--maritime is one of favourite genres and yet I have so much in that area to read--The Aubrey/Martin series, Moby Dick, and the Hornblower saga, among others. I love this cover and I've been told it's a very good book, and I'm an addict for the classics.
As much as I dislike this "looks like a Halloween costume" cover, I've heard mixed things about The Scarlet Letter and it sounds like a good book.
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I found two Puffin classics at Ollies: Kim by Rudyard Kipling, the same guy who wrote The Jungle Books, which I have also not read. {On a side note, imagine that little black and white face peeking out at you from behind little red leather books--wouldn't you pick him up?} I also found The Phoenix and The Carpet by E. Nesbit, who I only just found out was EDITH Nesbit. *facepalm* Forgetting that stupidity, I am happy to report that the book that comes before Phoenix is also available as a Puffin Classic- Five Children and It, which has now gone on my Wishlist. Very excited for these. {I fear I say that about almost every book, get used to it}.
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Yet another classic I have yet to read, I found this little red hardback right in front of Kim at Ollies--there were a bunch to collect, including Jane Eyre, Little Women, a lot of Dickens and The Woman In White, all of which I already own. A nice little copy with a ribbon bookmark, my only complaint is that the illustrations are extremely blurry--I assume because of that that this is a scanned copy. At least I can read it now. Then I found a Readers Digest Select Editions {no, I don't collect these, because what's the fun in only having parts of novels?} that includes: Letter From Home by Carolyn Hart, PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, The Promise of A Lie by Howard Roughan, and the reason I got this in the first place, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I've heard many things about "Curious Incident.." and I've been well....curious to read it. :P There's interesting mini-bios, afterwords and interviews after each chunk of their novels, giving insight into the author and the story, which is nice.
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I won "Songs For Ophelia" on Goodreads giveaway, and it was sent signed by Theodora herself. She also sent me a sweet card with a bird on it, thanking me. It's a small collection of fantasy poetry by her, and from I've read so far, they're lovely.
I've been dying to read the Gormenghast Trilogy for a while, on recommendation of many many people. Thank you so much to a LibraryThing member from my Virago Modern Classics group from sending this to me all the way from the UK! Another plus is that the actor from the mini-series, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is on the cover, and while it's a moderately evil face, it's still a hot face. :P
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A modern cover of a Virago Modern Classic sent to me from a member of the VMC group on LibraryThing. =D
The Elric Saga, I believe, is a series of six books. The one I found at the thrift store is an omnibus edition of the first three {what a great cover!} and I know there's a second omnibus just as beautiful of the last three, I just need to find it {if I like it, that is.} High fantasy is more in my taste, so I should enjoy it.
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Attracted by the lovely cover, I found A Country Life at the first thrift store I visited. It's a collection of insights and memories of Roy Strongs time in the English country with his wife. It severely piqued by interest, so I snatched it up like the book gobbler I am. In a similar vein, and for the same "loved the cover" reasons {being an Anglophile helps a lot, too} I found "My Love Affair With England" by Susan Allen Toth, a travelers memoirs about her time there. This will be the perfect book with a cup of camomile and some biscuits--the British meaning of biscuits that is.
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Sons of Moriarty is the first thing I spotted at Ollies, being the Holmesian I am. It is yet another collection of further adventures of Holmes, edited by Loren D. Estleman. It includes Anne Perry, Adrian Conan Doyle and the man himself, among others. It is authorized by the Doyle estate, which gives me hope that they are well selected stories.
Speaking of mysteries, I found a book that has long been in my TBR pile {or mountain, rather} and a sentence of the inner flap made me pick it up " "To Auriel, I will give the gift of gold..." So begins the letter that young Ned Warriner possesses, stuffed inside the pages of a leather bound book" Enough said. It's set is 1609.
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I was so happy to find I Never Promised You A Rose Garden! The cover is amazing and I've been told to read it over and over again by almost everyone I've met, as they said I could relate to it. It's the story of a mentally ill girl who creates a fantasy world inside her head, refusing to come to terms with reality, and the doctor who helps her. A vintage copy, I found it right beside Indian In The Cupboard, {also a nice cover} a children's classic I have never read. It should be a short sweet read.
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I found these two together, as if they were meant for my shelf. Secondary to Regency and Victorian Eras, I love anything arthurian, medieval or renaissance themed. I've heard that Sharon key Penman is the queen of writing historical fiction in this period, so when I saw this I decided that it would be my first by her. I hope that it lives to the promise of the epic cover. Gilt, with its beautifully embossed cover, is a YA novel of love and betrayal during the times of Henry VIIII. {Can you expect anything else in that court?} From what I've seen on Goodreads, it has reasonably low ratings, but I'll give it go anyway.
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These two I only picked up for the covers, and I'm very unsure about. The first being what I'm guessing is a mystery in 1950s New Orleans and the second being a post-apocalyptic fantasy about a demon girl that's got archangels and stuff? *shrugs* I won't be reading these for some time, as I'm starting my Virago Modern Classics marathon soon, but I'll definitely give them a chance.
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Another YA. From the gist of the inner flap, I'm hoping that it's a historical fantasy about a girl who's a witch. The cover reminds me of Ophelia from Hamlet. {Here's to hoping she doesn't meet the same fate!} It's the first in a series. The Blood Of Flowers is a historical fiction novel about a girl who weaves carpets in 17th century Persia. I hope it's wonderful.
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And lastly, my two books from PBS. Lady's Maid is a historical fiction novel about the fictional maid of Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and Robert Browning, the famous Victorian poet lovers. I'm ecstatic to read this as well as A Good Woman, a novel set in 1912, about a woman's experiences with the Titanic sinking, love and the First World War. These books are totally me.

Today I decided to start reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I'm also currently reading Aesop's Fables but reading fable after fable tends to get a little monotonous. I want to get the most out of them so reading a whole bunch at one time without taking the time to really think about the lesson defeats their purpose in my opinion. Anyways. I tend to buy most of my books from thrift stores. And if you were ever to see my vast book collection you would find that most of them bear a Goodwill or Salvation Army or Half-Price Book sticker still stuck haphazardly along their bindings. But I'm also a huge supporter of e-books! But I do only tend to buy an e-book if it cheaper than the actual book itself. I do download a lot of books that are now in the public domain and are free for my kindle through different sites. I also on occasion buy a few books here and there through amazon. One thing that I don't do often anymore is buy from bookstores. And it's a shame. At one point my dream job was to own my very own bookstore. But bookstores are becoming…dare I say it, obsolete. And also I love chemistry. Anyways. a person's got to keep up with the technology. And in my opinion. If a person is reading. Who cares how or where they get their reading materials. Reading is reading! And a persons imagination shouldn't be limited to paper pages. BUT…when I can afford it (being a super poor college student and all that will soon be forced to start paying back her student loans…) I do on occasion try to support book stores. And that's where I bought this book. Bargained Priced. But it still counts.