Yes, I admit it: I have a problem with buying books!

So obviously by the title of this entry (and the melodramatic hook), I bought more books and want to share them with you.  Some of these I bought and others I received via mail from authors looking for a review.  Here they are:

• Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones
• The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart
• Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
• A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
• Firelight by Sophie Jordan
• Starlet’s Run by Carla J. Hanna
• Fun to be Russian by Theodor Rasputin
• Black Crow White Lie by Candi Sary

The first three books were bought used either because a) I read and liked the author or b) the owner of the bookstore was really, really trying to free up space because he’s getting so many used books.  Only Cathedral of the Sea is really the latter, but The Wicked Day and Mary are by authors I know and/or have enjoyed.

Of course A Feast for Crows is the fourth book in A Song of Ice and Fire and I really just had to get my hands on it after the third book.  I’ve already started it and so far, it’s amazing.  Firelight is one I picked out because there was quite a bit of hype about it a couple of years ago and the blurb sounded intriguing.  I had a passing interest in it when it came out in 2010, but by now my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I bought it.

The last three books I was sent by authors.  Starlet’s Run was part of the giveaway prize pack that Carla J. Hanna awarded to everyone who participated in my giveaway (which included myself for hosting it).  The other book she sent me, Starlet’s Light is not pictured because I left it at work where I was last reading it.  Fun to be Russian sounds like it could be ridiculously funny, so I’m actually quite anxious to read it.  White Crow Black Lie also arrived from Candi Sary and it’s one of those books that I’ve had my eye on for a bit, but never got around to buying.  That’s why it’s awesome that the author contacted me first.

But it’s not only books that arrived this week!  Yesterday evening I got something in the mail that made me tear up just a bit:

It’s kind of hard to tell from the admittedly terrible picture, but that is a ‘Get Better’ card sent to me by my blogger-friend Savindi of The Streetlight Reader.  How she got my mailing address, I really don’t care, but what I do care about is that she went through the trouble to obtain it, write out a really thoughtful message and send a physical card, not just an email!  So yes, I did tear up just a bit when I received it and read the message.  That’s why it now sits in a place of honour next to my late grandmother’s portrait on my desk.

So thank you for caring, Savindi.  And thanks to everyone else who has offered their sympathies and get better wishes.  It really does mean a lot to me.