FABULOUS Thrift Store Finds

Today Beau and I had to get out of the house, and we could think of nothing else to do besides shop.  And so shop we did!  The first place we hit was the local Goodwill, and it was there that we hit the jackpot!  While looking for more books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, we discovered most of the Lemony Snicket series.  Now, I have never read this series. All I really remember about it is the Jim Carrey movie, but I could not be more excited.   I was able to purchase 10 of the 13 books in the series for $9!  I couldn't believe my good luck.  Now all I have to do is find time to read them.

Here is a list of all 13 titles in case you have any desire to read them for yourself.

1. The Bad Beginning
2. The Reptile Room
3. The Wide Window
4. The Miserable Mill 
5. The Austere Academy
6. The Ersatz Elevator
7. The Vile Village
8. The Hostile Hospital
9. The Carnivorous Carnival
10. The Slippery Slope
11. The Grim Grotto
12. The Penultimate Peril
13. The End

I am going to start reading the books tonight after Masterchef.  Yes, I do have to get my reality TV fix in before I can do anything else tonight.

All I can really say now is, "Bring it on, Snicket! Let me see what events you have in store for me!"  (And yes, I did rush home after our shopping trip and ordered the last three books on Amazon.)      

I am a slacker.

Yesterday I realized that I have not posted in over a year.  A year!!!  So, even though I am pretty sure I have said this before, I promise to be a better blogger and post more.  I have recently started using Audible.  Have you heard of Audible?  If not, it's amazing,  and you should check it out.  Here is how it works.  For a monthly fee you download an audio book onto you phone, computer, I Pad, etc.  It is that simple.  I have been able to get a lot more "reading" done.  And by reading, I mean listening.  My I Pad is now officially attached to my hip.  I listen while cooking, cleaning and driving.  It has been a real life saver.

So far I only download one book a month.  (Unless there is a sale.  I make no promises when there is a sale.)  And the last book I downloaded was A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

Synopsis: Diana Bishop is a Yale educated historian who is completing research at Oxford for her latest book.  One day while conducting her research she discovers a manuscript that will change her life. Diana, along with the 1500 year old vampire named Matthew Clairmont, embark on a journey of discovery that she could have never imagined.      

As the first book in the All Souls trilogy, I expected this book to contain a lot of background information.  But I found myself at times wondering why was this relevant to the topic?  How does this tie in to the overall mystery that Diana and Matthew are trying to solve?  A mystery, which I loved and could not wait to be solved.  Now, don't get me wrong, the plot did grow and flourish at the end of the novel.  It set up for a second book, which I will be reading here in the next few weeks.  The first two-thirds of the novel developed very slowly, however.  Leaving me to take longer to complete this novel then it normally would have done.

I don't want you to think that this novel isn't one that should be read.  It is.  I mean, all three books are on the national bestseller list for a reason.  Just don't expect a lot of action in this first novel.  It builds for the second two novels.  It develops a love story.  I'm not sure how I feel about the love story either, but I will let you make your own conclusions on that one.          

And if you have any inclination, please do try Audible.  The narration of this novel is amazing.  It is a work of art in and of itself.  And I am willing to bet that you can even find narrations from some of your favorite actors.