I like to read. Unfortunately, I also lead a very busy life that doesn't leave me with much time to sit down and get lost in a good book. A few years ago, I joined a book group in order to get myself disciplined to not only read regularly but to comprehend and be prepared to discuss a book. It did help and we have read some great books together. It also has reawakened my desire to make time to read no matter what.
One of my favorite indulgences is to go out and purchase a brand new hardbound book. Usually it is by an author that I am already familiar with and whose newest book I am anxiously anticipating. Very occasionally, I buy a hardcover edition of a new book by an author with whom I am unfamiliar because the book has caught my imagination and I don't want to wait six months to find it on a used bookstore shelf. Sometimes, I have been disappointed that I purchased a hardback book at full price but mostly, I'm not sorry when I do.
Earlier this month, I was at Powell's in Portland, Oregon (a must-visit bookstore) and while my husband browsed through geology and history, I made my way to the literature section and hunted down a copy of The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I have not read anything by this author before and I don't know that I will read her other books but this novel has caught my fancy and so I plunked down full price for a gorgeous, hardbound copy. Just the feel of it, the weight of it, makes me anxious to read it straight through. I will try and write a review after I have finished and let you know if it was worth it.
Novels I have purchased at full price in hardcover without regret in no particular order:
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
A Common Life: The Wedding Story by Jan Karon
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (a memoir not a novel but worth every penny)
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