This is Progress...

So I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a book buying obsession...

It kind of started when I worked part-time at Barnes & Noble my first year out of college. Gah. I was so broke back then, at one point I was working 3 jobs. 1 full-time, and 2 part-time. Yeesh. I don't miss those days.

Anyways, while working at B&N, I got a nice little employee discount. That is when I started buying more than 1 book at a time. I would often buy 5-6. (Side note: I wonder how much of my check I spent on books??) Well, that trend has continued over the years. I am ever bookstore owner's dream...

This winter, when I was thinking I was going to list my place, I started getting my place organized. I put one of my bookshelves in storage, which required me to go through my books and figure out which ones should be left out. I started making a pile of unread books. Um, I have almost 2 shelves of unread books. Obviously I don't need to keep buying books - I have quite the back-up at home.

Knowing this, I've still gone on a few book-buying-sprees in the last couple of months. See, the reason I always buy multiple books is because I tell myself: "Self - if you don't buy these books right now, you are going to forget the titles/authors, and never find them again. So you better buy it now so you don't miss out on the opportunity to read what looks like a fabulous book."

But yesterday, I managed to walk out of B&N. And it's all thanks to a trusty little notebook that I have been carrying with me lately. Instead of buying the 5 books I wanted, I wrote them down in my notebook, and updated my Goodreads.com "to-read" list. Here is what I came up with! They are all travel memoirs (my favorite genre).

Words in a French Life by Kristin Espinasse is a collection of short stories about an American women who falls in love with a Frenchman and moves to France to raise a family with him. Each chapter is themed around a french word that rarely gets taught in a typical French class. The book was inspired by her blog, "French Word a Day." I think this is the 3rd book that I've encountered that was inspired by a blog...

If you ask my best friend Brooke, "what is something that Lisa is obsessed with?" One of the things she'll probably list is Cuba. Yes, it is very random that I am obsessed with this country, but I am. Maybe it is because I can not travel there? I can't resist reading a book about the country. So far I've read Es Cuba, Waiting for Snow in Havana, and Thirteen Days. So when I saw Cuba Diaries by Isadora Tattlin, I have a really hard time not buying it. It is written by the wife of a European energy consultant who is posted to Havana in the 90's. The book sounds really interesting - at one point, they have a dinner party and Fidel Castro is one of their guests!!! I might just have to buy this for myself as a 'Congrats you are done w/ Grad School' gift.

Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk is a book about the history of the city. Pamuk was born and raised in Istanbul. In this book, he tells us on his city and the huzun: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire. I am so fascinated by this part of the word, and would love to visit Istanbul some day. It's important for me to know as much about the part of the world I am visiting, so this is definitely a book I would read before traveling to Turkey.

Aside from possibly purchasing the Cuba book as a gift to myself, I am going to attempt to go an entire month without purchasing a book. This maybe sound like a small feat to most people, but to me, it will be quite the challenge!! Wish me luck! :)