On My Shelves: A fresh batch of booky goodness

Tuesday is ‘On My Shelves’ day and today, instead of highlighting a particular book(s) that’s already on my shelves, I thought I’d turn instead to present the fresh batch of titles I picked up for my shelves, today in Waterstones (Edinburgh). I’ve built up quite a lot of points on my loyalty card over the past few weeks, and there’s currently a 3 for 2 on selected titles running in-store, so I thought I’d treat myself. What did I treat myself with?:

• Blindness by Jose Saramago – This is a title on my ‘50 Novel Challenge‘ list (I love the cover too )), and it’s one I’ve had a really difficult job getting a hold of in second-hand stores. When I found it as part of the 3 for 2 offer I jumped on it.
• Diary by Chuck Palahniuk – I love Mr. Palahniuk and anything I’ve read of his has enthralled me. I see him as a modern day Poe, only gorier and more shocking (although it’s probably comparative given how desensitised we’ve become in the 21st century). Diary is on my ‘50 Novel Challenge‘ list too and like Blindness this has been a notoriously difficult book to buy second-hand. I actually yipped when I saw this with a 3 for 2 sticker on it, drawing a few stares from surrounding browsers ).
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne – With the movie adaptation on current release, this is a much talked about novel right now (although I’ve managed remarkably well to steer clear of any major spoilers). It’s one all in my family want to read so I picked it up as my third, and free title (my wife has first dibs on it though…grrr! ))
• Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe – Now call me a cheapskate but sometimes I buy a book for practical, utilitarian reasons and for that, when it comes to the classics, there’s nothing better than the Penguin Popular Classics range which offers ‘no-frills’ titles printed on fully recycled paper for the measly price of £2 ($3.50). I guess you can call them ‘cheap and cheerful’ but sometimes that’s all you want.

  And that’s all I wanted from this Edgar Allan Poe anthology I picked up. I could easily have gathered up all of the stories contained in this anthology for free online, and for the most part I’m doing that already (and that’s where my Sony Reader really comes into its own), but sometimes it’s nice to have the option of reading in the bath (my favourite reading place) so I bought this solely for that purpose. Anyway I’m actually getting close to revealing the ‘flavour’ of my next upcoming reading challenge so I’m going to move swiftly on to my next purchase.

• Dracula by Bram Stoker – Hooked on the opportunity to buy awesome classics for peanuts, and eager to get my daughters reading more classics, I picked up this title. It’s coming up for Halloween too, so I guess it’s a bit of a topical choice )
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – Same reason as above with the added shameful admission that I’ve never actually sat down and read Mary Shelley’s version of Frankenstein. I know! I know! I bow my head in shame but come on guys! Give me a break. I’m making amends now ).

So there we have it – the latest additions to my fictional bookshelves. Are any of these titles your absolute favourites? Have you read and reviewed any of them? Any comments to make on my choices? Whatever you have to say, I’d love to hear it.