Book Shopping!

I had way too much fun at the bookstore tonight! I went in with no budget in mind (got a shock at the check-out) and picked up a few books based on either the title or a peek at the back blurb.

I think y'all are going to be proud of me!

I have already started to read Calamity Jane by Kathleen Bacus and this author is right up my alley! I got hooked by the title and then the cover has a huge ice-cream cone on it. Then I read only part of the blurb because I don't like spoilers and decided, what the hell, I need to branch out. I am 15 pages in and I'm hooked. It's probably a bad sign that I can relate to a 24 year old character when I myself am a goal free 35 year old. I've decided I'm a late bloomer. I'll let you know how this goes. I would still be reading but Bob wanted to watch TV and I really can't do two things at once. There, you know my secret.


The next one I grabbed off the shelf had a cupcake on it. The novel is called Fat Chance by Deborah Blumenthal. I'm not sure how this one'll play. According to the blurb the heroine is a non-dieter and proud of it. She writes a weekly column about loving one's self or some such. Then she has to meet some Hollywood star and secretly begins to diet. I hope it is a fun book and doesn't make me feel guilty about my own hefty self.




I was then wandering around in the Canadian section and saw a book called Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw by Will Ferguson. C'mon, look at that polar bear!

'Who's da preddy bear? Is it you? Yeah, you're da preddy bear.'

Ahem. It has a Stephen Leacock medal of honour on it so I figured it might be a good one to try. I really should support my Canadian authors. Says it's funny. Better be or it'll be dog food.

I then decided to look at that handy dandy list that I brought with me.

Susan Carroll, hmmm, I have heard much about her.

Let's see if she's here. Oh, here it is in fiction so get it in your head - not a romance.

The back blurb got me at 'consort'. Holy crap! A real live consort! IN!!!


Now, here is where Rosario is going to bust a nut.

I know I'm a talker but, I saw The Secret Pearl by Balogh, immediately thought of Rosario and BOOM BABY, it landed in the special little tote bag a nice clerk got for me. Never knew they had such a thing. Luckily Bob wasn't with me or he might have keeled over at the sight of such a convenient way to lug books to the counter. Also explains the number of books I managed to carry around the store! So I have another Balogh in the house. It is only a matter of time before I am forced by the sheer number of them to read one ;) Easy, no guilt tripping on me now!

Mental break (take that as you wish)! So there I am in the bookstore sure as can be that this is one of Rosario's all time favs of Balogh and then suddenly the rickety brain of mine fires up and goes 'are you sure, sure?' I mean, maybe she said it was the worst one of Balogh. Crap. Well I have to buy it but, was it the best or the worst? Does it matter? Other people's worst normally turn out to be my best. So does that mean her best might be my worst?

And repeat.

I need a holiday from my brain.

I heard that!

Onwards!

Then comes the self-help portion of the book buying extravaganza! This may be more telling than I wish it to be but what the hell, we're here already.

What Should I Do With My Life by Po Bronson.

The puppies ate the hard cover edition of this book and no, I haven't read it yet. Just in case I do decide to do something with my life, it's good to know I have a book for just such an occasion.

Shut up.

I'm a late bloomer.


Then I decided to waste some money on a book called The Portion Teller by Lisa R. Young blah blah. (sorry, apparently she has lots of degrees and stuff) I saw this on CNN while channel flipping and I wanted to see what portions I should be eating.

I already know the whole 'a portion of meat is the size of a deck of cards' and I pretty much decided last year that I should just halve everything I eat. Didn't say I *did* halve everything but, I figured it out without any fancy degrees or anything. Hmm, this is getting bitter. Anyways, I thought it would be enlightening and here's hoping I find time to read it before the 2010.

What I did like was that when the author was told there were 'thirty seconds left, can you boil down what people should be doing?' she answered quickly, honestly and informatively. I remember the part about halving your portions but she gave two other ideas also. I thought that was very sporting of her because I have seen too many authors say things like 'you'll have to read my book'. A sure way to get me to avoid your book is to act like I *have* to buy your book.

Are you tired yet? Good. We have one more.

When the Body Says No by Gavor Mate, M. D. This one caught my eye and then I thought 'damn, my body says no all the time!' Oh, looking at the cover the author has written another book called Scattered Minds. Damn. That's the book I should have bought. Anyways, Bob has been having some health issues that I think are directly related to how he feels about his job. I thought both of us might find some useful information there. The cost of hidden stress.

Yeah. I know all about the body and the way it reacts to stress.

Poorly is an understatement.


So there you go! Way too much information about me and self-help books. I do so love them although I rarely if ever read them - I think I like the idea of them. What Should I Do With My Life? Oh look, apparently there is a book that tells me what to do. Perfect. Can't read it because then I may discover that the book doesn't know what I should do either and that'd just be messin' with my head. Better to think there is an answer and all I have to do is read about it someday.

Hey, again, I've never claimed to be sane!

After all, they'll let anybody get a blog nowadays!