I loves me some book shopping, and the whole affair is made ever so much more delightful when one sets out armed with a couple of gift cards from a big brother who really knows his little sis.

My snazzy new Orwell collection has a spot of honor atop my snazzy new bookshelves. Normally, I prefer paperbacks because they’re lighter and easier to lug around in my bag. However, for things like whopping great collected works or dictionaries or reference books that I want to look pretty and last a long time, I’m all about the hardcovers. The Everyman’s Library editions are particularly swell, I think, and Amazon’s not too stingy with the discounts as far as they’re concerned, either (the list price on that Orwell is $35; A Common Reader has it for $30 and Amazon has it for $24.50).

Speaking of discounts, I’ve also noticed that both Borders and Barnes & Noble stores (although perhaps not the sites) are having a buy-two-get-one-free fiesta on the new editions of some Penguin Classics. It doesn’t look like they’re much changed except for de-uglification of the covers and slightly nicer paper, but it’s probably a good time to pick up ones you don’t already have. I’m ashamed to say I don’t actually own a copy of Madame Bovary or Moby Dick so I suppose now’s the time.

I also picked up the new version of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual. You may remember I fell in love with the first edition, and it’s been recently updated to cover Jaguar. According to the introduction: You won’t a single page that hasn’t been changed since the first edition. Not only are the new Jaguar features covered in depth, but you’ll also find a great deal of refinement in the discussions of original Mac OS X features: more tips and tricks, clever uses for old ideas, and greater context borne of the passage of time. I can’t verify that there isn’t a single unchanged page, but it is substantially heftier and, incidentally, it’s currently 20% off at both Borders and Barnes & Noble stores, 30% off at Amazon.

Finally, I grabbed this Lovecraft collection, which happens to be selected and introduced by Joyce Carol Oates, who is pretty swank in her own right. I’ve read a lot of bits and pieces of Lovecraft over the years, morbid little youngun that I was am, but it was all from the library, so it’s nice to finally have a little Lovecraft of my very own.