Their loss is my gain ...

It is not nice to be smug about gaining from someone else's loss, however ...

As many know, Borders and Angus & Robertson, who are owned by the company Red Group, went into receivership recently. At the moment not all A&R stores are closing, but the one at Erina Fair - which is closest to me - is. All stock is 50% off!

I picked up these two books, both of which I have been coveting for some time.

I am a fan of Royal Historical Books, and I have anxiously awaited the release of the second in Philippa Gregory's War of the Roses Trilogy (the royals immediately prior to the Tudors), The Red Queen.

Blossoms and Shadows by Lian Hearn, has captured my attention the last few times I've been into book shops, but as a book-buyer-aholic I have to curb myself. She is an Australian writer, and has a very nice website - www.lianhearn.com,

Blossoms and Shadows is the story of the birth of modern Japan, told by Tsuru, a young woman who breaks every stereotype of the Japanese lady. We meet her on the day of her sister's wedding, and soon realise that she will not accept the same domestic role that her sister is about to take on. Instead, Tsuru is ready to embrace the new world, defend her beliefs, look for love, and follow her career as a doctor working alongside her husband on the battlefields.

In the mid 1860s Japan was in the grip of a revolution almost as tumultuous as the French Revolution 100 years earlier, yet we in the West know very little about it. This book lets readers feel they are there among the revolutionaries, guided by the engaging character of Tsuru. By the end of the first chapter readers will feel they know her, and want to fight with her as she battles against the conventions of the day and falls into a forbidden love.

so, if one near you is closing, and you love books as much as I do, pop in and bag a bargain!
xdls