Book Buying

I have just had the pleasure of spending money that wasn't mine, on books I wanted to read. The books in question mostly came to my attention from various blog posts, so in case you wonder if anyone buys the books after you review them, the answer is yes.

My spending money came from my most recent Friends of the Library book sale, which was, as usual, a shattering amount of work. My reward is shopping, with the blessing of our children's librarian (and some specific requests). So here's what I bought, with titles linked, when relevant, to the blog reviews that inspired me (although some of these titles have been floating around on random scraps of paper so long that I have no clue why I though the book was a good idea):

I`m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean Kevin Sherry, 2007
The Neddiad Daniel Pinkwater, 2007
If I Had a Dragon Amanda Ellery, illustrated by Tom Ellery, 2006
Out of the Egg, Moonsilver, The Silver Bracelet, and The Silver Thread Kathleen Duey and Omar Rayyan. I know for a fact that I read about this series on someone's blog, around January, judging from where the piece of paper was stratigraphically, but I can't find it.
Good Enough Paula Yoo, 2008.
The Willougbys Lois Lowry, 2008
Imaginary Menagerie Julie Larios and Julie Paschkis, 2008. And this should have a link to it to, because I read about it on someone's blog, darn it, but can't find anything via technorati, blog search, or jacket flap. Was the little snippet buried deep in a post over at Seven Impossible Things, saying just that the book was coming, all that it took?
Dumped by Popular Demand P.G. Kain, 2007 ok, so the link here isn't actually to the book I bought, but to its sequel. But it made me buy the book. If you want Jen's review of Dumped you can read it here.
Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood Timothy Knapman, 2008
When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm Hannah Bonner, 2007
D Is for Dragon Dance Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Yongsheng Xuan 2006. Yeah well, every other library in the state had it on display last month, so we're a bit behind on this one. But as my husband says, "Better late than too late."
Caddy Ever After, Hilary Mckay. I can't believe I hadn't gotten it for the library before now.
Grumpy Bird Jeremey Tankard, 2007. I've wanted this one for ages.
The Way We Work, David MacAuley, 2008. I saw MacAuley talking about the writing process for this book about 2 years ago, during which (if I remember correctly) he shadowed anatomy students dissecting corpses. He passed around a few of his sketchbooks, which we handled reverently...
The Compound, by S.A. Bodeen 2008. I just reviewed the ARC of this book, and I bet it will go off the shelves quite nicely.


and finally,
Vulture View, by April Pulley Sayre, 2007. Everyone needs Vultures.





But I'm not going to order Love and Other Uses for Duct Tape, by Carrie Jones, 2008. I'm going to head down to the book store right now to see if they have it...