Book Haul #3: Buys & Grabs

Twice in April? This is what happens after a book-buying ban, I go overboard. Shortly after returning from my travels in Pennsylvania I received 2 coupons in the mail from Barnes & Noble. I was so elated that I ran to the store the very next day. I grabbed so many books that I didn’t know which ones to get so I had to sit in the café and weed them out. I whittled down my pile to these:

ImagineFx Sketchbooks: Volume One

Since I already have Volume 2, I found it hard to pass up purchasing Volume 1. I bought Volume 2 on a whim last year at B&N. I was in the store and wasn’t searching for anything in particular and when I saw a magazine featuring artists’ sketchbooks, I had to buy it. At the time I was upset that I couldn’t find Volume 1. But now I have it! I can’t wait to start reading! What I love about these magazines is that they present commentary from the artists alongside their sketches so you get some insight about what the artist was thinking while he sketched and why he chose that image or style and much more!

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“The Call of the Wild” by Jack London

I love the title.

I’m way behind on my Classics Reading Challenge, I think. It’s just that my stereotyping the classics as stiff, boring books is so strong that whenever I think of reading a book commonly referred to as a classic, I get turned off and run to the comfort of a fantasy novel. At the beginning of April I treated myself to a trip to Philadelphia and read Jack London’s The Call of the Wild on the way there. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did (I do believe this sentence pops up in all my reviews of classic novels). As soon as I read the first sentence, I was hooked and knew I would have to pause reading Mary Norris Between You & Me until I was done.

Quick Summary:

The Call of the Wild is about Buck, a half St. Bernard and half Scottish shepherd dog, who is abducted from his sheltered life in Santa Clara Valley, California, and traded into the toils of the unforgiving North to repay a debt. Though taken from the comfort and surroundings he knew, Buck proves to be intelligent and resourceful, quickly learning how to maneuver his surroundings and adapting to the changes and strangers he encounters. His adaptability, instincts, observant nature, and large size help to keep him alive and prevent other dogs from picking on him. He is owned by several masters but never loses his independence. After the loss of John Thornton, his master and friend who loved him dearly, Buck loses all vestiges of civilization and returns to the wild as a leader of a pack of wolves.