Me: 1 (Well, $50) Barnes & Noble: 0

Upon receipt of a$25 gift card--a graduation present--I stifled my conscience and headed over to the Barnes & Noble site to bask in all of the corporate conglomerate goodness. I filled my virtual cart in a flash, as I am wont to do, and felt the satisfaction of clicking the "place my order" button.

All was good and well in my world as I anticipated the arrival of my items. Then the shipping confusion ensued. I was in no hurry, and my items arrived within what I would consider a typical shipping time frame. Me and Man's Search for Meaning and Less is More: Teaching Literature with Short Texts Grades 6-12 were all very happy together.

Two months pass. . .

Alas, a B&N email heralded the unexpected and much welcomed news: "A refund has been processed for the item(s) below. Credit has been issued to the original form of payment that you provided. If your method of payment was a credit card, that amount will be reflected on a future credit card billing statement."

Fortunately, I had decided to hold on to that gift card though it was spent down to the last penny. Don't ask me why--they usually go straight in the trash. But I didn't have time to contemplate. I scurried out to Barnes & Noble in a thunderstorm to spend my extra $25 immediately, lest they discovered their error.

Here's what I bought:

for self:

Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (after reading wayyy more than my fair share of an online excerpt. O how do I love Amazon Reader? Let me count the ways. . .)


for classroom library:

Nothing But the Truth, Avi -- A Newbery Honor Book

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie (ok, this is sort of for self too. I so love the Poirot mysteries.)

Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli



A few notes on my purchases:

-This is the first I'll be reading of Avi's. I've heard so many great things.

-Agatha Christie books were such a hit with the students I worked with for my junior year practicum a while back. I think it's important to encourage students to cast a wide net when it comes to considering genre, and mystery is one that I personally can't help but love. And the Christie titles offer plenty of challenge to those readers ready to try out some adult fiction.

-I know it seems like I'm spending a lot of time on the WWII era books and/or books that examine the struggles faced by people of Jewish decent, what with Letters from Rifka and my review a while back of Man's Search for Meaning (Frankl--not for my classroom lib, of course, though I'm sure it would be great as a high school title), but I want to be able to provide students with a wide perspective if/when we examine the Holocaust and literature related to it, and this means having plenty of resources for them and being personally informed, too.


Thanks, B&N, for the extra $25. I'm sure you won't miss it.

Now, back to the booktrader!

Your thoughts on any of these titles?