Book Purchases - As of Feb 11, 2016

I've purchased a few more books since my last update. However, I have still managed to cull more books off the book shelves than I've added to them. Since the beginning of January, I've traded in 136 books my favourite local used book store, Nearly New Books in Comox. That drain to the book store might slow down a bit though over the next few months as I've pretty well vetted most of the book shelves in the house. As I read them, I will probably return more books than I will keep so that will help. Hopefully by the end of the year, the outflow will slightly outweigh the input. :0)

Since the beginning of the year, I've 47 overall. I provided a listing of books purchased up to Feb 10 in one of my previous Blog entries, so let's move along with a list since then (I've bought a few more this time, I'm afraid). Any of them interest you?

I'll try to break down by genres -

Mystery

1. Colin Dexter - Last Seen Wearing (#2 Inspector Morse - set in Oxford)
2. Fred Vargas - The Chalk Circle Man (Inspector Adamsberg #1 - set in Paris)
3. Ken Bruen - Priest (Jack Taylor #5 - set in Ireland)

4. Karen Kijewski - Wild Kat (Kat Colorado #5 - set in California) (a new author for me)
5. Jasper Fforde - First Among Sequels (Tuesday Next #6 - set in a Fantasy world)
6. Margery Allingham - Mr. Campion: Criminologist (Arthur Campion #9 - set in England)

Adventure (some new authors here and some series continuations)

7.  Michael Cordy - The Miracle Strain (a new author for me - I think he's been compared to Dan Brown)
8. Wilbur Smith - Shout at the Devil (set in Africa during WWI)
9. Tom Bradby - The White Russian (another new author - the story is set in St Petersburg in 1917)
10. Clive Cussler - Blue Gold (the 2nd book in the NUMA files series
11. "                 "   - The Mediterranean Caper (the first book in the Dirk Pitt series. I've been looking for this so I can start this series)

Spy

12. W. Somerset Maugham - Ashenden: The British Agent (loosely based on Maugham's experiences in British intelligence during WW1)
13. Alan Furst - Midnight in Europe (a great series, Night Soldiers #13)
14. Daniel Silva - The Unlikely Spy (a new writer for me)
15. Agatha Christie - The Secret Adversary (this is the first book with Tommy and Tuppence)

Science Fiction/ Fantasy / Horror (kind of all encompassing)

16. Ira Levin - Rosemary's Baby (Horror) I've never read but I've seen the movie. I was thrilled to find this hard cover version.)
17. Jim Butcher - Turn Coat (Fantasy) (#11 in one of my favourite series, the Dresden files.)
18. John Brunner - Players at the Game of People (Science Fiction)
19. Richard Matheson - I Am Legend (Science Fiction/ Horror) (The basis for various films; The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971) and, of course, I Am Legend (2007))

20. Gene Wolfe - Storeys from the Old Hotel (a new author for me. A collection of science fiction/ fantasy stories)
21 & 22. Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas and Brother Odd. I've read some Koontz, but not for ages now. The Odd Thomas series has been getting excellent reviews from some of my Goodread friends so I want to give it a try. Odd Thomas is the first book and Brother Odd, the third.

Young Adult (they would fit in the Fantasy section, but they are focused on Young Adults)

23. Maggie Stiefvater - The Scorpio Races (one I've wanted to try for awhile)
24. Veronica Roth - Divergent (another I've been interested in)

Classics

25. Gaston Leroux - Phantom of the Opera (first published in 1909)
26. H. Rider Haggard - King Solomon's Mines (1885 - Alan Quartermain series)

Fiction

27. Betsy Tobin - Bone House (don't know much about it, except to say the story looked interesting)

Non-Fiction/ True Crime

28. Paul French - Midnight in Peking (a chance buy, the story and the setting looked very interesting)

So there you go, my latest purchases. I do have two on order but I won't add them until I receive them. (How cruel, eh?)

Like I said, I've been pretty good this year so far. Now the missus and I might be heading down to Victoria near the end of the month and that might provide me an opportunity to visit a couple of stores I haven't been to in a couple of years, but I will still try to be good. As well, the bi-annual Rotary Club book sale is coming up at the end of the month. Still haven't totally decided if I will go to this one. The price is always right. We'll see.

I hope some of these books might intrigue you enough to check them out. If so, enjoy. Keep on reading!! It's a good thing.