For your own reading, I mean, and why you bought it.
The last book I bought was Mystic River because I had loaned out my first copy and didn’t get it back and I wanted to reread before seeing the movie. As to why I got it originally, I really liked Dennis Lehane’s series, but Mystic River wasn’t part of that series–but I read the first paragraph of and it just grabbed me.
Obviously I liked it; I bought it twice.
I bought 3 at a used bookstore:
‘Second Foundation’ by Issac Asimov, because I read the first two of the series (LOVED THEM) and haven’t had time (because of law school) to read the last one until now.
‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis, because I was interested in Lewis but never really thought about picking up any of his Narnia books until my friend told me how much she loved it.
‘The Yellow Admiral’ by Patrick O’Brian, because I heard O’Brian’s novels were great for on the sea adventure, and just having saw ‘Pirates of the Carribean’ I got interested in the subject and wanted to read something :D. I’d have prefered ‘Master and Commander’ (never knew the movie was based on a book), but this book was the only one they had by O’Brian at the bookstore.
Purchased tonight - “The Sex-Starved Marriage” and “The Unofficial Guide to Divorce.”
Hopefully self-explanatory.
I bought Girl with a Pearl Earring because it sounded like a good story, and it is. I’d like to see the movie now.
I also bought The Bounty by Caroline Alexander because I’m into Bountiana.
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb, because I had it recomended to me, and it sounded pretty good.
At the same time, Being Alexander by Nancy Sparkling. It caught my eye on the shelf, and sounded interesting.
I bought <i>Master and Commander</i> after seeing the movie. I’ve been trying to find <i>Post Captain</i> (second in the series) ever since but every single bookstore in two counties is out of it.
The Silmarillion, because I’ve been told I MUST read it, and Mater and Commander, because I’ve yet to see the movie, but would really, really like to. You say it’s a series, eh? Any way I could get a full listing of the titles in it?
The 5th book in the Dark Tower series The wolves of the Calla .
Um… I looked it up on Amazon and there are around 20 books in the Aubrey/Matarin series, IIRC. You want them all listed? 
Ouch. No, thanks. I’ll find 'em myself.
20 books? That’s gonna take awhile…
1421: The Year China Discovered the World
It’s about china circumnavigating the globe in 1421. The main reason I bought it is because it looked interesting. Nothing more interesting than that I’m afraid. I haven’t finished it yet so I can’t comment it.
It is called The year china discovered america in the united states for some reason.
Wow, look at my coding. I keep switching between here and LiveJournal and forgetting to change coding protocol.
The series is Master and Commander; Post Captain; HMS Surprise; The Mauritius Command; Desolation Island; The Fortune of War; The Surgeon’s Mate; The Ionian Mission; Treason’s Harbor; The Far Side of the World (which is the other book the movie was based on); The Reverse of the Medal; The Letter of Marque; The Thirteen-Gun Salute; The Nutmeg of Consolation; The Truelove (which was called Clarissa Oakes in England IIRC); The Wine-Dark Sea; The Commodore; The Yellow Admiral.
I don’t have that memorized, by the way; I looked it up in the frontispiece of my copy of M&C.
I’m not sure whether or not to be embarrassed about this: Now We Are Six, by A.A. Milne.
…actually, I’m not the least bit embarrassed.
Stupid White Men by Michael Moore, about a month ago. Because I had heard enough about it and decided to see what all the hype was about.
Well, it turned out to be a fascinating read.
The Natural History of the Rich by Richard Coniff. Not really sure why, other than possibly to understand my prejudice against the wealthy.
Naked by David Sedaris. I was heading toward the magazine rack at Target to get something to read while having my vehicle worked on and this caught my eye on the book rack. I’ve seen him on Conan and I’ve heard it’s a funny book, so I bought it. I’m not far into it, but it is indeed funny and interesting.
Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America’s First Nuclear Accident Because I grew up next to National Reactor Testing Station, and heard lots of rumors about what happened. Informative but a little too sentimental.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. It came highly recommended from friends. I read the thing in about 8 hours. It’s now one of my favorite books.
Joy. I got a major gift card to B&N for Christmas and just couldn’t wait to make some purchases:
Two art books by Taschen (my fav publishing company):
[ul][li] Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives[/li]It was super cheap, and Riefenstahl is someone I’d like to know more about; I find her compelling. Additionally, I find it nearly impossible to ignore marked-down Taschen books.
[li] a small Klimt book[/li]I probably have about 15 of Taschen’s small paperback art books on major artists and just really love them. Since I’ve actually had very few courses in art history, they’re a great bite-sized read. And, again, even for little pop books, the production quality of the books is quite good.[/ul]
Two books relating to art exhibitions:
[ul][li] Kandinsky Compositions from MoMA[/li]Don’t know a lot about Kandinsky, but really liked the way the book was broken down painting-by-painting. Also, my husband has been wanting to read more about the artist due to a reference to him in Neuromancer.
[li] Georgia O’Keeffe: The Poetry of Things from The Phillips Collection[/li]This is, like, my 5th or 6th O’Keeffe book, and I’m going to have to start a “just say ‘no’” campaign. I was compelled by some of the unusual images in the book (not just all flowers or skulls). Now I just need an O’Keeffe book with a reproduction of her waterfall painting (in the BMA’s collection), and I’ll be done. I hope.[/ul]
Miscellani:
[ul][li] The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin–Loved the Earthsea books, and this’ll give me an excuse to reread them before setting into this new novel.[/li][li] Leaving a Trace by Alexandra Johnson–It’s about journaling, and I’m on a creativity binge. Other than flipping through the Leni book, this is the only one I’ve started thus far.[/li][li] Nancy Drew 2004 calendar–Must remember my mother-in-law’s birthday. Must.[/ul][/li]
As you might notice, I’m trying to build up my art library. If only Taschen.com had a “wishlist” feature!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I don’t buy many books. Usually I’m content to wait for a new release to be available at the library. (Dear Lord, people need to read The Da Vinci Code faster.)