Bookstore Haul: Volume 19 — The Movie

broderic on December 31, 2016

Last trip to the bookstore of 2016. I went just for coffee like I always do. This time I didn’t get decaf; I went regular which I have done a couple times during this Christmas break. Maybe I won’t get the jitters. Maybe I will, but at least I can sleep on my couch.

I bought movies. I doubt I finished the last set from the last time I bought movies at B&N. Maybe by the end of 2017 I would see these films.

High and Low directed by Akira Kurosawa. BluRay
The Mermaid directed by Stephen Chow. DVD
Love and Friendship directed by Whit Stillman. DVD

Bookstore Haul: Volume 18 — The Last Couple of Weeks

broderic on December 19, 2016

It’s getting hard blogging about my bookstore purchases if I am purchasing something almost every week. Especially during Christmas, I buy presents there. So SPOILER ALERT! Some of these are presents. Others a presents for me.

This is my haul for the last two weeks. I’ve been to the bookstore about 4 times. I should stop. Yet I keep going.

It is a place to buy Christmas presents. Sometimes I want to shop for everyone there. Except no one reads books let alone in paper back. Not too sure why not. I wish for all the books in the world.

Developer Testing: Building Quality Into Software by Alexander Tarlinder
Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki by Martin Cate with Rebecca Cate
Dune by Frank Herbert
Modarri Cars
Godiva Chocolate

Bookstore Haul: Vol 17 and Volume 16 addenda

broderic on December 4, 2016

I guess if I do this I have to go all the way.

First off, I forgot to put this manga on the previous haul. I picked it up because it should start to get awesome. It’s about ballroom dancing, and I figure that it will be like a sports manga where the main character has to overcome his weakness to excel in ballroom dance. Perhaps. Maybe. Or I won’t be getting the next volume.

Welcome to the Ballroom Volume 1 by Tomo Takeuchi

To get to the next part, let’s say I have already tons of cookbooks about Japanese food. What do I do with another one besides not reading it? Sure. Maybe make something. This one’s the Iron Chef’s cookbook about home cooking Japanese style. Perhaps it will get me a Japanese girlfriend? O. Perhaps not.

Mastering The Art of Japanese Home Cooking by Iron Chef Morimoto

Bookstore Haul: Vol 16 Criterion Sale!

broderic on November 23, 2016

I’m still buying DVDs. I’m still trying to find myself in the bookstore. I’m still trying to find my bookstore girl. This time around I bought 2 more DVDs during the B&N 50% off Criterion Collection sale. It happens bi-annually, so every 6 months I’m buying another couple of foreign or arthouse movies. Maybe someday I will find that girl.

The Makioka Sisters directed by Kon Ichikawa
A Touch of Zen directed by King Hu

Bookstore Haul: Vol 15 Pays to Be A Member

broderic on November 12, 2016

Barnes and Noble is having their bi-annual Criterion Collection sale. That means 50% off any and all Criterion DVDs and BluRays. It’s the best time to stock up on any of the Criterion Collection that you’ve been salivating for. You can wait for few months, mark and spy on which you’ll get, then buy, buy, buy once the sale hits.

I usually buy a few even though I’ve seen most all of the collection I want to see or own. If they find any new Ozu, I’ll be there. But there are no more Ozu. So I’ll make due when something comes along that intrigues me.

But let me get to the big thing. I just bought 2 Criterion Collection BluRays for cheap because of the sale. I mean I got the hookups. Check this out: not only the 50% sale and the 10% membership discount, but also the 15% off one item coupon. So I saw that the Lone Wolf and Cub box set came out. It usually cost $100, but applying all those discounts which finally amounted to a $39 deal. Now it didn’t add up to 75% but that is really good for a Criterion BluRay box set considering that the other disc I bought, Mulholland Dr., sticker price was $40. That disc I got for $18!

So it pays to have been a member of the B&N club. That $25 a year always saves me more than that if you look at the last few Bookstore Hauls. Those are only the few I started to write about. There have been tons more than that…

Lone Wolf and Cub BluRay box set
Mulholland Dr. BluRay

Bookstore Haul: Vol 14 The Graphic Novel

broderic on November 6, 2016

Before each and every “Bookstore Haul” post, I put some preliminary sentences trying to sum up something I thought of as I browsed the aisles. This is one such sentence.

In reality, I don’t know what I am going to say about the group of books I bought this past trip. Yes, they are comics. I’m hoping that the blue monday one is also a slice of life comic. The Bride’s Story is sort of. It’s really good. I’m hoping that blue monday is as well.

This is a sentence to end this segment. Bye bye!

blue monday volume 1 by Chynna Clugston Flores
Bride’s Story by Kaoru Mori

Bookstore Haul: Volume XIII Zombies Roam The Cities

broderic on October 30, 2016

Is it the weekend? Do I hate being home? Did I end up at the bookstore?

Yes. Yes. Most certainly yes.

I arrived late in the evening, but not late at night, and the bookstore was quiet. There wasn’t too many people wandering around. It wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t filled with people.

I’ve been going to the bookstores for a long time. Back when the big box bookstores started opening up in the late 19990s and early 2000s, there were a lot of people going. It was a very lively scene. The bookstore cafe would be filled with revelers drinking coffee and having desert. The aisles had people browsing. The register would always be ringing.

Nowadays, it is quiet and only the hard core readers would be there. Is it because of the digital revolution? Is it because millennials don’t read books anymore? Is it because big box bookstores are on a decline? I have no idea, but it is like the zombie apocalypse in there. And I am the last survivor.

I Am Hero by Kengo Hanazawa
Halloween card for the niece

Bookstore Haul: Volume XII — いただきます

broderic on October 28, 2016

I wander into the bookstore usually without a care in the world. It’s a place that I find myself because I can’t stand being home by myself with nothing doing. Let me go to the bookstore to find myself with nothing doing. OCD. It is what it is. Ritual. It is a hard habit to break. Because I will buy a book. Almost all books are tempting. I found this book in the food essay corner. It looks more like another travelogue of Japan. I need to get there one day.

いく！

Super Sushi Ramen Express: One Family’s Journey Through the Belly of Japan by Michael Booth

“I am not a mindless drone. Mindless drones should not be allowed to use technology.” “You are the Unabomber, aren’t you?”

broderic on October 1, 2016

Bookstore Haul: Volume 11 — This Is The End of NewsRadio Quote Month

Why did I have to leave work early? Now I had to find some place to kill time. And I went to my favorite hang. Fudge. I bought some stuff. Again. Why? I haven’t even cracked the other stuff I bought the other times. This is getting to be ridiculous.

Also, the end is neigh for NewsRadio Quote Month. One more into the books. Shit. Another year. And more around the waist.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu as translated by Ken Liu. Science fiction. I haven’t taken a look at fiction in a while. Let alone sci-fi. I hope this is good.

Sushi: Taste and Technique by Kimiko Barber and Hiroki Takemura. There’s dashi maki tamago. I need to eat less sushi. And make it more.

“Judge Reinhold is not a member of the Brat Pack.”

broderic on September 24, 2016

Bookstore Haul: Volume X Marks the Spot!

There is an itch that needs scratching: travel to Japan. To begin scratching, I am learning Japanese. I should’ve done this many years ago when I was full on into anime and manga. I’ve picked up a few books over the years, but my learning has only begun in earnest this year, because of the beautiful members of Nogizaka46 or in kanji, 乃木坂４６. Their videos are being pulled from lots of the video aggregation sites that housed hundreds of episodes of their variety programs. The subbed versions of said programs are disappearing quicker. Now you only find their videos on YouTube untranslated and in miniature. I am trying to learn as quickly as possible so as to understand the members. The 3rd gen is there I need to meet them.

Anyhow, I went and got a couple things this time: a map of Japan and a book on the history of the Philippines. Aye, the Philippines my motherland which seems to have taken a back seat to Japan.

Maybe once I get done with the current book I am reading I will get to these. I haven’t read a page of the current book I am reading in 12 days…

Travel map of Japan from International Travel Map & Books.
A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos by Luis H. Francia