• Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchett
• Pyramids – Terry Pratchett
• Deadly Decisions – Kathy Reichs
• Fatal Voyage – Kathy Reichs
• Grave Secrets – Kathy Reichs
• Bare Bones – Kathy Reichs

Can you tell I rediscovered Kathy Reichs work? Whilst I whizzed through the first three Kathy Reichs in that list, the last one – Bare Bones, was a different story. I put the book down with about a fifth of the story to go purely because I had to do something else and then it just sat there being avoided for the next few weeks. I picked it up again the other day because it’s more than due back at the library and whipped through it wondering why I hadn’t finished off this interesting story. I’m quite keen to read the next book in the series though I know I should be getting through the existing piles of books. I’ve slipped back into my old habits and have read a sizeable amount of romances and have also recently been through a period where I could only keep my eyes open for a few pages before giving up in disgust at my inability to stay awake.
My current book is Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett and I hope to have it finished in the next two days.

As far as 101 in 1001 is concerned – I should have read 21 books by now and be almost finished my 22. Instead my total is 8 going on 9. So a bit of catching up to do there and unless I have a lot of time on my hands in the short term this will probably require a concerted effort to catch up within 6 months. Not to worry :)
I have to say I’m quite surprised at how little I’m reading – though I guess that’s not entirely accurate as I’m still reading a lot, just not as many books as ebooks, websites, rss feeds, articles etc. This probably explains why the physical books to read are piling up.

Speaking of books piling up, I snaffled up some more books during the booksale season in Autumn. Not only did I get to go to do the customary Palmerston North Red Cross Book Sale, but the Palmerston North City Library held a sizeable booksale at the Convention Centre and the Rangitikei District Libraries held a book sale at the Bulls Town Hall as part of the centenary of the Bulls Library.
Overall I think, though it was the smallest, the Bulls Booksale was the best of the lot. I walked away with a huge box of Children’s non-fiction including some nice reference works for I think it was $30. It probably helped that we arrived not long after it had opened and the volume of people in the room at all wasn’t huge til we were on our way out the door.
The Red Cross Book sale was better than the previous year, but I made some silly purchases that lessened the delight once we’d got home and opened all the bags. Last year the plan to visit the individually priced section paid off, whereas this year there was a lot of good books in the main area (especially in the children’s non-fiction section – which I couldn’t figure out how that could happen!). Best buys there were uncovering a treasure trove of primary school teachers guides and the like. I spent about $300 *gasp*, but on the upside I scored myself an awesome carpark only a few metres from the door care of my vast past experience of the event which came in handy as this year it rained yet again!
The PNCL Booksale is the hardest to recall. I know I filled two grocery bags and that there were slim pickings in the children’s non-fiction (though with the Red Cross Book Sale a few weeks later that became a non-issue). As I recall, the prices were low but I don’t think I had overly full bags when I left and came in under the budget of $50. Next year I’ll definitely be a bit more conservative with the book sale purchasing. We’ve got a nice range at present and I think the gaps might have to filled with brand-new books, which is a scary thought. As it is, I’ve been banned from obtaining more bookshelves – which isn’t that surprising as there are precious few places we could put any more. Though I must say we could always replace some of the existing ones with taller ones – Oops bad thought! :)

Though I won’t go into much detail, earlier this year I did splurge a bit and made an Amazon purchase of some homeschool-type books which I knew I’d have difficulty finding secondhand and cost simply too much firsthand in New Zealand. I know we need to get a few modern guidebooks based in New Zealand and I’m dreading purchasing them due to the cost – I’m such a skinflint at odd moments.