Nothing makes a long, holiday weekend more enjoyable than a little bit…okay, a lot…of bargain shopping. As sad as I was to hear of the closing of one of the biggest bookstore retailers in the US, you can imagine my excitement at hearing the sales at the store’s closing. My plan was to only take advantage of the closeout sale at Borders to purchase books that I knew were not going to go on sale anywhere else or that I was having a difficult time finding anywhere else. I was relatively tame, I must say and wound up making just three purchases. I feel I must warn you if you are planning on shopping a Borders closeout sale near you – I waited in line for a good half an hour; no exaggeration, but it was well worth the wait! With the entire store marked down between 20 and 40% off, this was one bargain that was impossible to pass up. The girl at the register told me that the sooner they sell out of the books in their stores, the sooner they will be closing so if you have some books on your list that you know you are going to buy soon, I’d suggest checking out the Borders nearest you! For a list of all Borders closing, check out this link:
http://media.bordersstores.com/pdf/Borders_Reorganization_Closure_List.pdf .
The first of the three was a book by an author who is well known for her wit, humor and unapologetically (and very) opinionated thoughts. Anne Lamott’s book on writing, Bird by Bird has quickly become a classic in the how-to section on writing. I listened to a three-hour audio book, called Word by Word, that was a supplemental lecture to Bird by Bird and became more than convinced I had to add Lamott’s book to my collection of writing resources.
If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, what the contents of your school lunches said about what your parents were really like, this books for you. From faith, love, and grace to pain, jealousy, and fear, Lamott insists that you keep your eves open, and then shows you how to survive. And always, from the life of the artist she turns to the art of life. ~ Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The other book I had to have is a little more “light” to say the least. Sara Shepard began her infamous adventures inYoung Adult, Teen Chick Lit and Paranormal book circles with her blockbuster hit and now TV drama series, Pretty Little Liars. This first book in a multi-part series looks every bit as scandalous and tantalizing as the gossip behind it suggests.
Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic, sets in. Are they being betrayed by some one in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back? A strong launch for a suspenseful series. ~ Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Finally, in my Borders expedition, I purchased a special edition of Writer’s Digest Magazine, Write Your Novel in 30 Days.
Nothing rounds out a bargain hunting weekend like shopping at the Christmas Tree Shop, which for those of you who have never heard of it, their tagline says it all: “Don’t you just love a bargain?” For a mere dollar and change (thirty-nine cents to be exact)…no lie...For $1.39 each, I purchased some oldies, but goodies:
Friday Night Cocktails by Allison Rushby
Two best friends, one killer hangover, and a whole world of badly behaved men. Let the games begin...
Gemma Barton, here -- single girl and website creator. Okay, so I m not here to decry all men as commitment-phobes and complete dogs, but you know, sometimes they are. After one more date with Mr. Oh-I-Didn t-Tell-You-I-Was-Already-Engaged and a round of giant margaritas, my friend Sarah and I decided to make "the list": a chronicle of all the guys who ve ever lied, cheated, or tried to have a threesome with your best friend.
Well, our little revenge website seemed like a brilliant idea at the time -- and soon disgruntled women all over the world were chiming in. It was great. Suddenly Sarah and I were stars, I had a male personal assistant, and all was right with the world. Or so I thought, until big trouble started brewing on my computer. There s someone out there in cyberspace who s just made me see the error of my ways. Maybe the male of the species aren t out to get me after all. Could it be time to stop listening to my inner rage queen and start listening to my heart...?
Easy by Emma Gold
Dynamic British newcomer Emma Gold is about to take you along on a search for Mr. Right that has as many highs and lows as a roller-coaster ride and is just as much fun. The sexy, 30-ish narrator of Gold's Easy is totally up front about what she wants in a life partner -- a man she really likes, who really likes her and wants to share his life with her. Of course, she has her standards, which lead her to more specific stipulations: the right man has to be single, stimulating, English, Jewish, at least moderately well off, and someone she really fancies in bed. Unfortunately, finding such a paragon on the North London Jewish party circuit is anything but Easy and the resulting no-holds-barred husband hunt is sexy and heartbreaking, dramatic and romantic, bitchy and hilarious by turns.
Hard by Emma Gold
In Easy, Emma Gold's straight-talking heroine put a randy new spin on the sex life of the single British girl. Now she returns with the adventures of a new woman-about-London. From office politics (fending off the boss's advances; dating the co-worker's son) to bedroom diplomacy (no sleepovers past 3 a.m.; hetero lovemaking must be muffled so as not to offend gay roommate), the only sure bet is that when all the right balls are in the air (so to speak), all the wrong things will become . . . Hard.
The Ex Factor by Andrea Semple
When Martha Seymore finds out about her boyfriend's one-night-stand she doesn't know what to do. And Martha's business is relationships. She's the girl who gets paid to sympathise with the cheated and jilted, the under sexed and over attached at Gloss magazine. Realising she's just as clueless as her hapless readers, Martha finds it increasingly difficult to continue giving relationship advice whilst dealing with her own heartache. Also, there's the distinctly unattractive prospect of admitting a failed relationship not only to her colleagues, but also to her oldest friend, Desdemona, whose irritatingly perfect lifestyle would make even a saint harbour murderous tendencies. Worse, Desdemona's new fiance is Alex, Martha's first ex-boyfriend, who, contrary to all expectations, has matured into an infuriatingly sexy and talented chef. Life just isn't fair. Tired of always doing the right thing, Martha starts to wonder whether her new flatmate has the right approach to relationships after all: is the best way to get one man off your mind, at least temporarily, to get another one into your bed? A novel about sex, relationships, and other natural disasters
Finally, nothing spells bargain more clearly than F-R-E-E to me, so when I finally got off the wait list for two audio books from my library, you know I moved them to the very top of my TBR list:
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them.
For nearly a decade, 34-year-old Claire Waverley, at peace with her family inheritance, has lived in the house alone, embracing the spirit of the grandmother who raised her, ruing her mother's unfortunate destiny and seemingly unconcerned about the fate of her rebellious sister, Sydney, who freed herself long ago from their small town's constraints. Using her grandmother's mystical culinary traditions, Claire has built a successful catering business -- and a carefully controlled, utterly predictable life -- upon the family's peculiar gift for making life-altering delicacies: lilac jelly to engender humility, for instance, or rose geranium wine to call up fond memories. Garden Spells reveals what happens when Sydney returns to Bascom with her young daughter, turning Claire's routine existence upside down. With Sydney's homecoming, the magic that the quiet caterer has measured into recipes to shape the thoughts and moods of others begins to influence Claire's own emotions in terrifying and delightful ways.
As the sisters reconnect and learn to support one another, each finds romance where she least expects it, while Sydney's child, Bay, discovers both the safe home she has longed for and her own surprising gifts. With the help of their elderly cousin Evanelle, endowed with her own uncanny skills, the Waverley women redeem the past, embrace the present, and take a joyful leap into the future. Me, Myself and Why by MaryJanice Davidson
Sweet and innocent with a twist of girl-next-door, Cadence Jones is not your typical girl and certainly not your typical FBI agent. Just ask her sisters, Shiro and Adrienne. (Wait. . . best if you don’t ask Adrienne anything.) But it’s her special “talent” which makes Cadence so valuable to the FBI and it never comes in more handy than when she and her partner, George, get tagged to bring down the Threefer Killer. A serial killer who inexplicably likes to kill in threes, leave behind inexplicable newspaper clippings, and not one shred of decent forensic evidence, soon starts leaving messages that seem to be just for Cadence and her sisters. Could it be that this killer knows all about Cadence’s special “talent”?
In the meantime, love blooms in the most unexpected place when Cadence meets her best friend’s gorgeous brother who is in town visiting—and she discovers that he knows her secret too! When attraction burns hot between them, her best friend isn’t thrilled with the romantic development and this time Cadence just might agree!
Suddenly Cadence finds her unbalanced life turned even more upside down as she tries to date a baker who wants to get in her heart and in her bed, dodge a pesky psychiatrist, keep a leash on her sociopath partner, while trying to catch a serial killer who’s now fixated on her.
Some days it’s not even worth getting up in the morning.
Although not all of these books were the author’s debut (some were, including Garden Spells and Easy), they will each be the first novels I’ve ever read by of these last few authors, and I can’t wait!
‘Til next week….what’s on your TBR list?
***All covers and synopses found on Goodreads.com***
The only other book I have read by Cecilia Ahern was Love, Rosie (aka Where Rainbows End) but I am familiar with her flair for creating worlds filled with magic and fantasy. The Book of Tomorrow is no exception, incorporating something mystical into the reality of life in Ireland for teenager, Tamara Goodwin. After her father commits suicide, Tamara's life changes drastically. Her mother is a mess, unable to even get out of bed. No longer able to afford their posh home in Dublin, Tamara and her mother are forced to move in with Tamara's Aunt Rosalyn, who is as cold as ice. Even worse, something odd is about Rosalyn and ever since they arrived, she won't even let Tamara check on her mother to see how she is doing, always chiding her to “let her be and get her rest”. 
