Thursday Thirteen #2

Graphic courtesy of Kelly @ Diary of the Nello

 

This week I'm doing 13 books I bought from Amazon.com this year. Usually if I buy from Amazon.com, it means that I can't get it in my local bookstores, and trust me, there are a *lot* of books I can't get from local bookstores. =( 

 

I used to buy a lot more from Amazon, because the shipping isn't so expensive in bulk, and the exchange rate was lower before. Recently though, I can't afford it anymore, so it looks like I gotta stop buying for a while. =(

 

Oh well, it's time for me to start reading the books I've already got anyway!

 

Presenting, 13 books I bought from Amazon.com this year!

 

	1. The China Study by T. Colin Campbell I bought and read this early last year when I found it recommended on a blog because I was so impressed with what the blogger wrote about how it affected him. It was the best book I have ever read about health and diet, and I highly recommend it to anyone who cares even remotely about their health. I ordered 5 more copies earlier this year from Amazon.com for my father and his friends who were interested.
	2. Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack This book is supposed to be about the Tarot, but I was interested because it actually contains a lot of wisdom in its pages. The Tarot cards, their histories, and their symbolizations to life are very enlightening. I'm reading it very slowly because I have to stop every few sentences to think and reflect, and meditate on their wisdom. Wonderful book!
	3. Black Thorn, White Rose edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling This is one in a series of fairy-tale retellings, each book is filled with short stories of an alternate perspective of a fairy tale. I read my first book of the series many years ago and I've been hooked since. I'm trying to collect the whole bunch.
	4. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell I've heard of Joseph Campbell but never knew what he was about. So I browsed Amazon.com for his books and decided to start with this. I've only looked through it, I haven't started reading it, but it looks very thought-provoking.
	5. Critical Path by R. Buckminster Fuller I heard about Bucky from Money N' You, he's almost all they ever talk about, but some of the stories about him and the radical ideas that he had are really interesting. What pushed me to buy it though, was when they talked about how hard it was to read, but someone they knew were able to read it in a month. I took it as a personal challenge, but I haven't started it, so I don't know if I'll actually read it faster.
	6. The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin This is only the first book in the series of five. A friend asked me to order them for him as he couldn't find them here. Apparently, they're about some Chinese history that written on a stone or something to that effect. I'm not so sure, I was only able to browse through them for a while before I had to pass them over to him. They're worth finding out more about though, I think. I'll do it soon.
	7. Stitch 'N Bitch by Debbie Stoller I'm trying to learn how to knit. I'm doing ok, I guess... still on the simple stuff at the moment, but the book gives some really great tips.
	8. Secrets from the Masters edited by Don Menn My fiance's a very talented guitarist, and I was looking all over for the perfect gift for his birthday. I asked him, very subtly, what kind of books would he buy if he wanted to learn more about playing guitar, and he told me he wanted to read bios of guitarists but full length bios are too long and there are too....(cont'd)
	9. Legends of Rock Guitar by Pete Prown and HP Newquist (cont'd) many guitarists for him to read each one's bio one by one. So I spent a lot of time browsing for books that had a compilation of short bios and interviews of guitarists. I found these two, and surprised him with them. He loved them!
	10. Unmasqued by Colette Gale I found this while browsing Amazon.com's Bargain Books, and it intrigued me because it was an erotic novel about one of my favorite stories, The Phantom of the Opera. There are a lot of conflicting reviews about it, but I personally thought it was great.
	11. September Sacrifice by Mark Horner Another friend asked me to order this for her. I don't know much about it except that it's true crime and she saw it on TV.
	12. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Boxed Set) by Patricia C. Wrede Amazon.com recommended this to me, and it seemed like the kind of book I'd love, so I got it and it was great! I love stories about dragons, and this series is fun and hilarious!
	13. Swan Sister edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling Also recommended by Amazon.com, it's just the kind of book I like, fairy-tale retellings, and any book with Datlow's and Windling's names always catches my attention.