Loading Up On Books

I know I have shelves filled with unread books, but for some reason (could be my fixation in one of Freud’s psychosexual stages of development), I can not help but collect books. Of course, the ideal is for me to have several months off to do nothing but just read, read, and read and post my thoughts on GatheringBooks. But since, I do not have that luxury of time, allow me to sneak in a few peeks in this blog and share with you some of my loot, thus far.

There’s a place that I usually frequent to purchase not-too-expensive books in SG: it’s in Orchard, Lucky Plaza, Basement section. I forgot the name. Next time that I visit the place, I’d be sure to take a picture. They note that they don’t sell secondhand books, rather they merely dispose of the overruns by publishers and such, so we get a really good deal as consumers. Last Sunday, as per usual I can not help myself and bought the following:

I got Eragon’s Guide to Alagaesia for 9.90 sgd. Not bad for a hardbound book with lovely illustrations. While I don’t have the ERAGON collection, I have seen the film and enjoyed it. Plus, a hardbound, complexly-illustrated book such as this should be read and touched and smelled in my own place. Haha. I am bad at rationalizations.

I am a Maurice Sendak fan, regardless of how other people find his stories creepy and weird.Outside Over There apparently is also a Caldecott Honor book, in addition to being an ALA Notable Book and other awards. I got this for 5sgd.

I got Paul Fleischman’s Graven Images and Walter Dean Myers’ Somewhere in the Darkness for a “2 for 3SGD” bargain price. You have got to love that little basement bookstore in Orchard. Of course you’d have to comb through everything in order for you to see rare finds such as these:

And as if that was not enough, I couldn’t help but purchase some books yet again from Harris (I prefer this bookstore over Popular – well at least the ones we have in Jurong Point): people are much friendlier and the children’s section IS children-friendly, with kids allowed to sit on the floor to read through some of the books – something which is disallowed in Popular. My eight year old got a stern “can not sit here” in Popular – so very quickly we flew to Harris to buy books there instead.

I’ve been hearing about Ilustrado for a long time. The fact that it’s written by Miguel Syjuco, the first Filipino I think to receive The Man Asian Literary Prize – I figured it was worth the 30 sgd that I’d be paying for it. Plus that’d count as support for local authors, right? My mentor, Dr. Bernardo, who has been writing snippets of his thoughts about this book in his FB, told me that I shouldn’t read this yet since I might not want to go back to the Philippines. Hmmm. Intriguing. All the more reason to read it.

While my heart belongs to children’s lit and young adult fiction, I also am in love with Isabel Allende (and Marquez and other grown up writers) – and when I read the luscious way through which Aphrodite has been summarized and packaged at the back of the novel, I know it’s a wonderful read-aloud to the husband in one of these cold rainy nights. Ok. Done with PG-13 allusions. Back to regular YA lit programming.

I am not sure how the transition would be for me from the light reading and quick wit of Pseudonymous Bosch to AS Byatt’s The Children’s Book. I know that even if it is entitled as such, the contents would be hardly what can be called juvenile or elementary reading. Just going over the first few lines gave me a headache. But I love AS Byatt that way. I fell in love with Possession, and I am sure I would also fall in love with The Children’s Book.