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Original poster

What's the last book you bought, new or secondhand?

138 replies

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 09/08/2023 07:22

I'll start with The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe by Alexander McCall Smith.

I've bought it for DFIL who is a little bit poorly and is enjoying some lighter reads. It's a lovely hardback edition and was from a great little charity shop.

What's your latest purchase? Wink

OP posts:
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5
FloNightingale · 09/08/2023 14:05

The Textbook of Non-Medical Prescribing. 😒

Looking forward to getting back to my non-fiction books on my kindle. Will use this thread to hopefully add a few more.

JaneyGee · 09/08/2023 14:04

I bought three at once:

Peter Ackroyd's biography of William Blake

The Collected Letters of Ted Hughes

Virginia Woolf: Jacob's Room

JaneyGee · 09/08/2023 14:01

Ariela · 09/08/2023 12:15

I'm getting into Jane Austen at the moment - I think this was the last book I actually bought (SO many in my to read pile) https://www.waterstones.com/book/jane-austen-at-home/lucy-worsley/9781473632202, got there via https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-mistresses-of-cliveden/natalie-livingstone/9780099594727 which I highly recommend, very well researched and written

The Claire Tomalin biography is great. She also wrote a brilliant biography of Thomas Hardy.

JaneyGee · 09/08/2023 13:58

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 09/08/2023 11:16

AngloSaxon Oxfordshire. Read it some time ago, managed to get a secondhand copy for £8 instead of the £40 usually being asked.

Comprehensive and very interesting . ( I’m a bit of and Anglo Saxon nerd).

Have you tried learning the language? I ordered a copy of 'Teach Yourself Old English' literally this morning. I've been reading a biography of Tolkien, who was professor of Old English/Anglo-Saxon, and it sparked an interest.

Also, have you watched Michael Wood's documentary series on the dark ages? You can see it on youtube. It's really good (the book is very good as well).

Ariela · 09/08/2023 12:15

I'm getting into Jane Austen at the moment - I think this was the last book I actually bought (SO many in my to read pile) https://www.waterstones.com/book/jane-austen-at-home/lucy-worsley/9781473632202, got there via https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-mistresses-of-cliveden/natalie-livingstone/9780099594727 which I highly recommend, very well researched and written

Sgtmajormummy · 09/08/2023 12:08

Given by a friend: The Thursday Murder Club. Finished
Bought on Facebook Marketplace (€5) to read on holiday: Normal People. Only read the Kindle preview to see if I wanted it.
Bought new at Shakespeare and Company Paris: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Only read the introduction…

JaninaDuszejko · 09/08/2023 11:46

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 09/08/2023 07:43

Last weekend I bought Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, plus a copy of Windrush a ship through time.
Both impulse purchases.
The book about the Windrush is absolutely fascinating.

I read Grey Bees last year and loved it.

The last book I bought was Watch Us Dance by Leïla Slimani. Loved In the Country of Others so looking forward to reading it.

beguilingeyes · 09/08/2023 11:29

I get most of my books from the Little Free Library down the road these days..read them and put them back, but I just bought Niccolo Rising because everyone keeps raving about Dorothy Dunnett and I've never read one.

PeskyRooks · 09/08/2023 11:23

I didn't buy these, got them on borrow box, but on Tuesday I got The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell (read the whole thing in one day and bit of the night!) and The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. Read a bit of The Five this morning, very gripping but sad.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 09/08/2023 11:16

AngloSaxon Oxfordshire. Read it some time ago, managed to get a secondhand copy for £8 instead of the £40 usually being asked.

Comprehensive and very interesting . ( I’m a bit of and Anglo Saxon nerd).

BestIsWest · 09/08/2023 11:09

Lots on Kindle but the last physical book was
This is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles since Punk and Disco Paperback - Gary Mulholland as a gift for DS.

Phos · 09/08/2023 11:06

I’ve not read it yet as it’s only just arrived but it was Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Teachers by Katharine Birbalsingh. A lot of people on here don’t like her but I respect her approach and what she’s done at Michaela. I read her earlier memoirs and I liked how she refuses to make excuses for the kids.

FreshStart12345 · 09/08/2023 11:02

Tell Me How This Ends by Jo Leevers
£1 kindle deal yesterday so haven't read it yet
Prior to that it was a Beast Quest bundle and Percy Jackson set for the dc

TabbyM · 09/08/2023 10:41

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir from York Waterstones on holiday.

luckydaytoday · 09/08/2023 09:08

Two holiday reads, both 2nd hand:
CJ Samson - Dissolution
Lily Allen - My Thoughts Exactly

Coastalcreeksider · 09/08/2023 09:05

Christmas before last I actually bought three, all by Carl Hiaasen. It was my Christmas present to myself and I really enjoyed reading them.

I normally only get library books, rarely if ever, buy them.

JaukiVexnoydi · 09/08/2023 08:46

My most recent purchase was "The Gendered Brain" by Gina Rippon - I borrowed the audiobook from the library and listened to it but had to return it and wanted to be able to refer back.

It's a very interesting book - collating and explaining all the different attempts to define the differences between "male brains" and "female brains" scientifically and exploring what gender really means.

It's fascinating and very educational. I used to dismiss anything to do with gender as "just sexism" but it's actually a lot more complicated and nuanced than that (still a lot of sexism, but not therefore something we can dismiss/ignore)

LadyOfTheCanyon · 09/08/2023 08:38

@CurlewKate

I see what you did thereGrin

Mine is The Marriage Portrait. Really enjoying it but finding it hard to find time to read as I have a very short commute.

CurlewKate · 09/08/2023 08:34

Alasdair Campbell's But What Can I Do? A rare unsigned copy.

Helpmefly · 09/08/2023 08:30

The hundred year old man who climbed out of a window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson from a charity shop. ( normally use libraries but holiday emergency ). It's quite good so far

WarIsPeace · 09/08/2023 08:25

Bought Fourth wing at the airport but haven't read it yet.
Last week I read The love of my life, Rosie Walsh and enjoyed it much more than I expected to - lots of twists some predictable /some not. I've already got The man who didn't call that's hers too, will bump it up the TBR list

mynameiscalypso · 09/08/2023 08:24

Demon Copperhead here too. I'm not a fan of Dickens so had been ignoring it but so many people have told me how fantastic it is. I've enjoyed the first 50 pages or so but struggling to find time to devote to it.

BarbedButterfly · 09/08/2023 08:21

Fourth Wing as I gave into the hype

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 09/08/2023 08:20

Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K Jerome, charity shop.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 09/08/2023 08:12

The Odyssey. I hadn't read it for decades and bought a new (to me) translation on Kindle. Read it while we were away on holiday. I only buy Kindle books these days. I prefer physical books, but not the space they take up in my house!

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