To me, one of the great joys in life is picking up a trashy thriller at the airport and channeling any flight/travel anxiety into said book. During a recent vacation, and with only a few minutes left before boarding, I popped into the airport newsstand, where a big red sticker on the cover of a Brian Freeman’s Stalked caught my eye: "As good as MICHAEL CONNELLY or your money back," it blared, and my mind was made up. So what if I’ve never actually read a book by Michael Connelly? I mean, dude’s name was in ALL CAPS, and hello, who doesn’t love a money-back guarantee? The good news is, Stalked did the trick: Moved along at a rapid pace, scared the tarmac out of me, and never once forced me to think deeply (an activity that’s strictly verboten during vacation travel).
This got me wondering: What was your most recent book impulse buy, what factors actually prompted you to part with your hard-earned cash, and most importantly, were you satisfied with your purchase? Spill the beans, PopWatchers!
First of all, I LOVE Nightstand Inspections! They’re one of my favorite PopWatch features…keep ‘em coming!
A couple of weeks ago, my sister was visiting and requested we go to Anthropologie (fun store, but way more her taste than mine). Anyway, they also have home furnishings and books. I picked up a copy of “Males, Nails and Sample Sales”–kind of an overall how-to for today’s woman. There’s everything from work advice to purchasing a home to good wines under $15. I ended up buying it and loved it–very practical, but in a conversational, intelligent tone.
(If I had the book with me, I’d give the author, but oh well, just look it up on Amazon!)
I hope you liked the book. I have read all Brian Freeman’s books, Very good.
My last impulse buy was The World is Flat by Tom Freidman of the NYT. I saw him somewhere and the ideas are interesting, but I can only read about a chapter at a time about once a month. It isn’t boring per se, but I just can’t get into it like a good mystery.
My daughter’s burgeoning hormones (and a rough morning with her) prompted me to get on Amazon.com and buy “Get Out Of My Life! But First Could You Take Me And Cheryl To The Mall?” A friend had mentioned it years ago. It is excellent and has already helped me deal with her new 13 year old attitude(s).
I was at the bookstore last week buying a birthday present and impulsively bought “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson for myself. (I loved her “Gilead.”) However, right now it’s just sitting on my nightstand because I needed something a little less ponderous for Labor Day weekend. So I got Karen Joy Fowler’s latest, “Wit’s End,” the other day.
I bought Madonna’s Brothers book (for the kindle), it’s very poorly written, way to first person and boring.
My flight was delayed three hours so I went to the bookstore to buy Chuck Palahniuk’s Rant. I had read most of his other books so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into. Read it and finished it on the flight. Great book!
Usually my impulse buys gravitate towards romance novels, so the last impulse buy was the latest Julia Quinn novel that I can’t recall the name of. Worth the price, her books always are, but you can leave your brain at home for those.
“Secret Diary of a Call Girl”– worth the $$ though not as spicy as the guy at Borders said it would be.
“Sex Toys of the Gods” by Christian Mclaughlin. Over the top and completley brilliant.
I generally read the FBI mystery/suspense novels so my sister insisted I try something new. She sent me “Good In Bed” by Jennifer Weiner…..I caught myself laughing outloud at times! Good read:)
I love airport book buying, it’s one of the best parts of traveling. it also lead to my current addiction to Phillipa Gregory novels, as i bought “The Constant Princess” randomly off the shelf. I have now read her entire Tudor series and can’t wait for her new book about Mary Queen of Scots
“The Other Boleyn Girl” by Phillipa Gregory. I liked the movie and wanted to give the book a shot.
I picked up Chelsea Handler’s “Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea” in the airport a couple of weeks ago. I love both vodka and her show on E!, so I took a chance and paid FULL PRICE (in hardback, no less). I have to say, her humor loses a lot in print. It was the worst book I’ve read since “Scarlett” back in ’91. No joke.
my last impulse buy was “Twilight” which was on the cover of ew at the time. I read the whole thing and just don’t get all the excitment. It was so bad I actually took it back to the bookstore and got a refund – I did not want to waste the $$ or shelf space.
Shout out to all the Phillipa Gregory lovers – I started with “The other boylyn girl” when the movie came out and have read most of the other books – “constant princess” was quite good.
I was at the airport last month waiting for my flight, decided to go to the bookstore and ended up buying ‘Are You There Vodka, Its Me Chelsea’ by Chelsea Handler. Word of advice: do not read while on a plane. Too many inappropriate laughs for a small confined place. I loved the book so much that I bought her first one, detailing her numerous one night stands. Of course I read this one on a plane as well. You think I would have learned my lesson the first time!