I’d resigned myself to not buying any books this week, I wasn’t expecting any parcels to arrive and had no intention of going book shopping. Then my Dad roped me in to spending a day exploring op shops and second hand bookstores. It took a lot of convincing, but I happily tagged along:

• All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
• Howards End by E. M. Forster
• My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
• Where You Find It by Janice Galloway
• Island by Aldous Huxley
• Setting Free the Bears by John Irving
• The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer
• Chickenhawk by Robert Mason
• Harold Pinter: Plays Volume Three by Harold Pinter
• Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Over the past year or so I’ve become more inclined to buy new/remaindered books, mainly thanks to a.) working in a remainder bookstore, b.) working in a “normal” bookstore and c.) The Book Depository. When I was younger, and even sometimes now, I bought a lot of second hand books. What I love about them is thinking about the journey they’ve taken to end up in a particular store. How did a Vintage Classics copy of Aldous Huxley’s Island bought in Indonesia for 40 000 RP end up for sale for $2 in a suburban Salvation Army store? Why did someone buy Volume 3 of Harold Pinter’s plays from Monash University bookstore and how did it end up unread in a second hand bookstore by the train station? What was originally in the envelope in All the President’s Men that was then used as a bookmark, forgotten about at page 42? I like to think about these stories, in addition to those contained within the text.

This week I was also suffering from what I not so fondly refer to as perma-headache. Not quite as intense as a migraine, but painful enough to be constantly aware of the throbbing pain in my head. Very annoying. And in my birthday week as well! There were some exciting things happening despite perma-headache. My favourite band, Manic Street Preachers, who I’ve loved since my early teens, announced their first Australian tour in ELEVEN YEARS! This means I’m currently planning another trip to Sydney to see them play in two capital cities in November. I’d been looking for an excuse to visit Sydney again after going there (again, for a band) in March, and this is the perfect reason. There’ll be more about this band in tomorrow’s review, as the tour was not only announced on my birthday but while I was reading a biography about them. Pretty amazing coincidence.

This week Bret Easton Ellis was in town, and I went and saw him interviewed at the Athenaeum Theatre on Friday night. It was such a great night, Ellis was in top form, funny and irreverent. I met him briefly afterwards, he signed a couple of my books (including the battered copy of Less Than Zero I’ve been reading and rereading since I was sixteen) and posed for a few photos with me. I look insanely happy. He was very lovely, chatty and warm. When my sister accidentally took a photo of us while he was looking away he insisted that she retake it as he wanted to be looking at the camera. While I don’t really get the whole book signing thing, I’m very happy that I got to meet him.

I read Imperial Bedrooms this week, and I’m not going to review it for the blog. It was difficult to get out of review mindset and just read for pleasure, to really immerse myself in the book and enjoy it – that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the books I do review but it’s a completely different approach to read without that critical distance. Does that make sense? I’m sure that I’ll be rereading it in the future and then I will write up my thoughts on it, but for now I was really pleased to just read the latest book from one of my favourite authors. Heh, maybe some time in the future someone will pick up my signed copy of Imperial Bedrooms and wonder who Jess was and why the book ended up in a second hand bookstore.