For my birthday I was fortunate enough to be given a Borders book voucher. Now, the idea of purchasing books from an actual shop would usually sicken me, mainly due to the horrific cost involved. Amazons’ heavy discounting has kept me a loyal customer for years now. I also love scouring second hand shops for bargains and I’m a regular user of Readitswapit.

So, a few weeks ago I spent over an hour wandering the stacked shelves of my local Borders outlet. Admittedly the staff were fairly incompetent and they took fifteen minutes to tell me Infinite Jest wasn’t in stock but these gripes aside it was a very pleasant experience.

I plumped for; The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland – I’m a huge Coupland fan. I read Microserfs back in the late nineties and it had a profound effect on me, in fact, I would hazard a guess that the book was my geek catalyst. I’ve gone through his entire back catalogue and I’ve never disliked any of them. He visited Newcastle in about 2000 on a book tour. It was a fantastic evening and my signed copy of Miss Wyoming is safely tucked away. Coupland wrote the screenplay form the Canadian film, Everything’s Gone Green which was released last year – check it out via your favourite BitTorrent Client if you can.

Another selection was Northville by Willy Vlautin. Emma bought Vlautins’ first book, This Motel Life, a few years ago on Amazon and it was so beautifully written I have been eagerly awaiting his next. Willy Vlautin plays with the band Richmond Fountaine and his new work features a CD with music to complement the book. I’m excited to read it.

I’ve never been a big fan of police thrillers by having read The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, I thought I’d try another. Tokyo: Year Zero by David Peace has received great reviews and was another choice.

My big purchase came in hardback, a medium I dislike due to size, weight and most of all cost however the recommendations on the reverse came from Chuck Palahniuk, Katherine Dunn and Willy Vlautin; I could hardly ignore the authority on which this book came. Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock is a selection of short stories charting the lives of the inhabitants of the tiny Knockemstiff, Ohio. It’s a dark, comic and brooding collection full of tragic anti-heroes all scarred by misfortune and circumstance. Each story although only twelve or so pages are so expertly written they leave a lasting impression. It really is something else.

It’s the authors first book and based on the town he lived and worked in for more than 30 years. His prose is so evocative it’s hard to believe that it took him until his fifties to find his voice. Usually I would say, wait for the paperback but for this I’ll make an exception, this really is a book I urge to you read.

So, for this month at least I’ve kept to my pledge but I intend to keep it up. Any books blown your skirt up recently? Recommendations would be gratefully received.

(This is a slightly trimmed down entry I posted at sheriffmitchell.com)