Bring in the Fall- Bring in Yard Sales with Books for Cheap

Many cities around the US of A are experiencing cooler temperatures, along with the nostalgia-producing changes of verdant greenery to bursts of bright flame-like variation along the roadsides. It's officially Fall, and expected.  But I'm in Atlanta, the city that resists such violent interruptions to it's sweltering, sweat producing temperatures, and doesn't go cool until late OCTOBER.  Nevertheless, the Druid Hills neighborborhood, meaning giant houses and meticulously manicured lawns to match, kept their promise and hosted their annual yard sale.  


And I couldn't resist.  


It was hot.  I was sweating profusely- dressed in black and dark denim! But I got what I went for and here are five finds that cost me only five dollars and fifty cents!

To accommodate this find, here are some little previews of the selected titles:

•  Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits

A narrative that follows four generations of a family in Latin America.  The novel provides magic realism, and features strong female characters.

I've heard and seen this novel for years without picking it up.  Magic realism sometimes turns me away, as I've never been much of a fan, but I'm giving it another go.  Finally, when I sat down with an acquaintance to discuss books for a feminist book group we'll be leading starting October (details to come later) this book was on a list of books that explores women's issues and provokes discussion.

• Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children

An infant born at the exact moment that India gains independence spends his life with otherworldly capabilities.  This novel exposes the emergence of modern India through the narrative of it's protagonist. 

I've shamefully never read any of Rushdie's work, so I thought now would be the time to get to it.

• Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge

Mrs. Kitteridge is a creature of habit, and detests abrupt changes to the life she leads in a small town in Maine.  After self-reflection and a closer look at the characters that surround her, Mrs. Kitteridge begins to see the world in a new light.

I've seen this book at nearly every book shop I've stopped in, and once I found it on a must-read for book clubs on Bookmovement I thought it imperative that I purchase it for the 1.50 the woman had priced it.  Furthermore, this synopsis alone sounds remarkably similar to Julia Glass's The Widower's Tale, which I'm currently reading and really enjoying.

• Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin

A novel that captures New York in the 70s, features a mesmerizing tight rope walker, that just happens to be making his way between the Two Towers.  An intricate story filled with various characters around this dynamic city, it's sure to tug at the heartstrings.

I befriended a fellow on Goodreads that could not speak more highly of this novel.  That being said, I felt that I really just had to get it.  It's also a National Book Award winner and that speaks volumes to me.

• Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Other Stories 

I cant' do this summary justice so I'll just take it from the back of the book:

Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find that he is not the man he was.  What he has become forms the starting point for a piercing, painful, and sometimes comic look into human connection and isolation.

Again, another literary great that I've never managed to pick-up. Better late then never, right? 


Read these titles?  Have some suggestions?  Want to share some great finds you've made recently?

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