Oh goody. My Powell's order arrived today. I promise these are the last books I am buying in 2012 but I am such a sucker for free shipping and these four are all 'previously owned' and I am happy to have them.
As I am late in discovering the very funny author Bill Bryson (here is My fan letter to Mr. Bryson), I went on a bit of a tear and ordered three of his books: a hardcover edition of At Home and paperback editions of The Lost Continent (who better to take a road trip of small towns in America than with Mr. Bryson) and Neither Here Nor There about his adventures in Europe.
I am so in the mood to do some armchair traveling.
The final book in the order is Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson. Yes, that Shirley Jackson of the creepy short story "The Lottery," The Haunting of Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
This book will not keep me up at night unless it is because I am laughing. I am not sure where I read about it, but it is really a series of short-stories-turned-into-a-novel. It is one of those books about domestic chaos - based on her own experiences raising four children in a big, rambling house - that can be so charming and hilarious. Think Diary of a Provincial Lady and anything written by Erma Bombeck.
I am all set for a little light reading to wind up the year.
