Books, etc.

The book ban is officially over! As soon as I mail off my cheque to Folio, that is. Unfortunately, this does not mean I'm going to rush out and buy piles of books tomorrow. The Folio books were a one-off deal to keep my membership in, and until I make a serious dent in the Books By the Bedside pile, I'm going to try my darndest not to buy new ones.

That being said, this week is Banned Books Week - go out and buy/read a copy of Little Black Sambo or anything by Lois Lowry, Robert Cormier, Mark Twain, etc.

Meanwhile, I've had an interesting summer of not buying books - I've gotten free books instead! Let's see... I picked up both The Far Side Gallery 3 and Britannia Mews from those "free books" boxes people put on their lawns, I got a Peter Hoeg book that I haven't read yet from my uncle and a Robin Pilcher (son of Rosamunde Pilcher) and a Maeve Binchy from friends at work.

And of course I've been relying on Google Books a lot.

However, the best event by far was the Montreal Antiquarian Book Fair, where I got to gauge just how much my Folio books may or may not appreciate and meet Quebec author Roch Carrier! As part of the admission fee (six dollars!), the first 1000 patrons received a copy of his chapbook on book collecting in Istanbul. This was a lovely short piece about his first visit to Istanbul and other parts of Turkey a couple of years ago, and the spirited bargaining he engaged in at the Sahaflar Ҫarşısı, the book bazaar of the Grand Bazaar.

As for my own book... I've written four scenes in the past two days and drawn up a master list of everything that's missing. Two pages worth of snips and snits and words to change/translate. And waaay more scenes left to write. So while I'm on vacation (coming up soon!), instead of sending queries, I'll be writing. I hope. And then typing it all up when I get back...

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