Not happy with my initial haul of 2nd-hand pre-Christmas reading additions (what bibliophile would be? 
)), and pleased that for once all of my Christmas shopping was finished (although that’s more down to my wife’s exceptional organisational skills than anything I did), I headed out on Christmas Eve to visit a couple more 2nd-hand book shops. I’m glad I did because I ended up with three more great titles to add to my collection, one of which I’m fanatic about:
- Steal You Away by Niccolo Ammaniti – Wahooo!!! – If you’ve been reading this blog lately then you’ll know there’s quite a bit of ‘Ammaniti fever’ going on around here as the Italian novelist is fast turning into one of my favourite contemporary authors. I’ve not long finished reading his most noted novel to date – I’m Not Scared (afterthoughts will be following soon but my forethoughts can be found HERE), and I’m currently reading, and massively enjoying his latest novel The Crossroads, which receives its translated UK launch on January 14th (more on that soon).
So the excitement is well and truly building around RobAroundBooks so imagine my absolute delight when I strolled into the 2nd-hand bookstore and staring me in the face (quite literally because it was on a display stand) was a pristine copy of Ammaniti’s first novel Steal You Away. Published by Canongate to the same exacting standards as the other two novels, this is a beautiful copy and I was almost falling over myself to hand over the paltry cover price to the bookshop shop assistant. I don’t think she’s ever seen anyone so excited to be buying one of her books (it’s one of these shops that’s sells all kinds of charity thrift), but I’m all for spreading the ‘book love’ so I didn’t mind being a bit overly excited
). This ‘liquid gold’ discovery means I get to read ALL of Ammaniti’s translated novels published so far, and back-to-back which makes me stupendously happy….yaaaayyyyy!! - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – So many readers, included my good friend Clare over at Blue Archipelgo, have said so many good thing about Khaled Hosseini’s follow-up novel to The Kite Runner, that it’s been on my radar for ages. However I’ve never got around to buying a copy. Thankfully the ‘book gods’ were smiling on me and being in the right place at the right time I managed to pluck up a mint condition 2nd-hand copy for buttons. I’ve got The Kite Runner in my collection already and now I’ve got A Thousand Splendid Suns too. Am I happy? You bet I am! )
- Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs – As far as memoirs goes this title, from what I’ve heard, is considered to be one of the best. It centres on Augusten’s unhappy childhood, and while I’m no fan whatsoever of the the so-called ‘misery memoir’ genre, but apparently the way in which Burroughs relates his tale, both in terms of his prose and humour, makes this an unmissable read. I’ve been so desperate to get my hands on this work that, for this time only, I’ve even forsaken my strict rule of not buying books with movie tie-in covers (I abhor them)
So another trio of great titles added to the ever-expanding bookshelves at RobAround Mansion. Rest assured I’ll pass on my views once I’ve read this little lot, but I bet you can’t guess which one I’m going to be reading first? Here’s a clue – Ciao!! )
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