Confessions of a Bookaholic

I was gifted money for Christmas (thanks Mom & Dad). I bought a few "grandma toys" but saved most of it, waiting for the Whitney finalists to come out, because I knew I'd need to buy more books. I also had one Twilight themed Borders gift card that my sister gave me which I was saving specifically for Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George.

So yesterday, with $60 and gift cards in hand, I headed out to buy as many books as I could. I was hoping I could find most of them on sale because I had 16 titles on my shopping list (15 Whitneys and the aforementioned Princess book).

First stop, Deseret Industries because sometimes I can find gently used LDS books there. After 45 minutes of browsing, I left with Free Men & Dreamers: Dark Sky at Dawn by L.C. Lewis because I already have book 2 but haven't read it yet; Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver because I really liked The Poisonwood Bible; The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas (Read this several years ago and loved it. It's a mystery that I not only didn't figure out until it was revealed, but I was totally shocked by it—in a good way.); and Murder Among Friends (a collection of short stories by various authors) because it looked cool. Okay, so none of these books were actually titles on my shopping list, but they were cheap and...well, cheap.

Next I went to Seagull. (Shhh, don't tell my boss.) I love hitting their discount table in the back of the store. I found a board book called In Grandma's Arms by Jayne C. Shelton and Baby Einstein See & Spy Counting—both titles were only $1.99 and I had to get them because, well, I'm a grandma. Then I got Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson. (Yea, check one off the Whitney list.) While there I also got Ghost of a Chance by Kerry Blair because I just read her book, This Just In and LOVED it. I also got a copy of Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage. (Yes, I have the ARC but I wanted a copy with the illustrations in it.) Last, I got Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack. I'm sure Lemon Tart will be a Whitney finalist for 2009, so I'm simply starting early. So, I left with six books, only one of which was on my shopping list, but they were ALL on SALE! I refuse to feel guilty about that.

Then I went to Deseret Book. I scored there. They had Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want by Obert Skye for only $1.99! Cool! Yes, I know there's a newer one out, but I'm behind in that series. I also got Pillage by Obert Skye for 50% off. Yea! Oh, wait. Neither of those were on the list. But still. $1.99??? How can you pass that up? And if you average that with Pillage, that makes them what, 75% off each one? Isn't that smart shopping?

Last, I went to Borders to get the Princess book. Not. In. Stock. What??! It's an "online only" title. That is just crazy. I was informed that they could special order it for me or I could order it online and have it shipped to the store for no extra charge. That's nice. It would cost me the same in gas to go pick it up. I was so frustrated! They didn't have any of the remaining 14 books on my Whitney list either! I almost left in a huff but then I remembered I had a gift card and I had to spend it here. So I browsed and browsed, and I found a copy of Peeps by Scott Westerfield that I've wanted to read for a long time and my library doesn't carry it and I've never been able to find it in stock at any bookstore. They had one copy so I snagged it. I still have $10.13 left on the card, so I guess I'll be forced to shop at Border's one more time.

By this time (four hours later), I was pooped and my feet hurt. I came home, jumped online and did some price checking. I ended up ordering three titles from Amazon: Princess of the Midnight Ball (only $11.55; $5 less than stupid Borders); Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card ($9 cheaper than Borders); and Alcatraz vs the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson ($5 cheaper than Borders). AND FREE SHIPPING TO MY HOUSE! Hah! What do you think about them apples, I'm-too-lame-to-stock-your-books-Borders?

All told, I got sixteen books—three of which were actually on my list. Now I only have two questions:

1) Who can loan me some Whitney titles?

and

2) Which book do I read first?

© 2010 It's a Book Affair