Inbox: New Books in Jan/Feb

I decided to keep track of the books I purchase this year, just because I'm curious. I'm not trying to change any habits, except for trying to buy as many of my books from my local independent book shop as possible. The store is pretty small, so it isn't the easiest place for an impulse purchase, (they just don't have the inventory,) but if I know I want a book I'll order it from them.

Typically, I like to own my books...though I have no problem getting rid of them either.  A book does have to merit space shelf—usually that means I'd reread it, loan it, or it's collectable for some reason. With the exception of the history books I bought from Sonlight, all books in Jan./Feb. were purchased from my local shop, except for my Powell's Indiespensable shipment of course. I didn't think I'd bought so many until seeing them all spread out in this post!

      

I ordered some school books from Sonlight Curriculum. We'd been working through early modern history in our homeschool but I got too frustrated with the program we were using (History Odyssey) and decided to bail mid-year. I'm excited to be moving onto American History a bit early. The new edition of Landmark looks wonderful, as does the DK history. I pre-read the two others and found the first (The Light & the Glory) too intent on pursuing the Providential view to maintain logical and cohesive organization in the stories. From Sea to Shining Sea, on the other hand, was written in a way that makes it easy to use the stories and have open discussion about the people and facts.



      

On the more Classic side, (of some sort...all were written more than 50 years ago,) I have some books I'm excited about.  The Belknap Press annotated editions of the classics are incredible, and I can't wait to learn new things while rereading Northanger Abbey. The Shirley Jackson was wonderful...more on that in my monthly roundup. I have to wait another month or so to read The Edge of Sadness, as this is a book with a purpose—my husband told me that the first book I read in our newly remodeled home should be a book from the time it was originally built, so I chose the 1962 Pulitzer prize winner. The intro was completely fascinating and I can't wait to dive in...just a couple more months. The Magnificent Ambersons caught my eye off the Pulitzer list too.  Since I loved Main Street so much, it seemed logical to give this one a shot also.



        

Some current fiction also found its way into my house these last couple months. I stalled out in Ruby right before it was announced as an Oprah book; I loved the writing and was interested in the story, but was having a hard time with the spiritual component. When Mystical Creatures Attack! was a fun one, but a bit of a downer in the end. I haven't yet picked up Fourth of July Creek or the newest Indiespensable: Wolf Winter.



    

On the more NonFiction side, Woodson's memoir sort of thing was well deserving of all those medals on its cover. The First Time We Saw Him was in one of Book Riot's posts or round-ups or something, and I was hoping that it would truly put the gospels in a different light, but nothing so intriguing so far.  In Flour Water Salt Yeast, however, there is much to be captivated by, and I can't wait to get my new bread-making tools and experiment with the science of bread. Mmm.



I've been itching to order some more books, but have put it off so far.  I'm wanting the new Nick Hornby, and am running out of patience with Pioneer Girl (Laura Ingalls Wilder's autobiography) being so hard to get. I also want to read The Almost Nearly Perfect People - nonfiction about Nordic cultures. First, though, I have to get through a couple more of the ones listed above...that's motivation!