Today Don put together some more bookshelves here in our office. We keep accumulating1 more books than we get rid of2 so always need more space for them. Why so many books? I guess it’s because we like to read. We check out3 some books from the college library and others from the public library. When new books come out by writers we particularly4 enjoy, we sometimes don’t want to wait until we can get them from the library because we know a book we see advertised5 probably won’t be ordered for one of those libraries soon, if at all.
How do we know about the books we want? I read the BOOK REVIEW section of the NEW YORK TIMES6. It is published each week end and contains both book reviews and book ads.7. It also lists the “best sellers8,” those books of which the most copies have been sold that week. There is a fiction9 list and a non-fiction list. Many authors which we like are on the fiction best selling list just as soon as they come out, so I look for those names. I know I will like anything written by the Chinese American writer Amy Tan10 and the Scottish writer Alexander McCall Smith11. When their new books come out, Don and I don’t want to wait to check them out; we usually buy them. That is when we use the book store gift certificates12 we receive.
This week’s BOOK REVIEW listed a new book about China. Kim has gone to Des Moines for the week end and there are several large book stores there, so I asked her to purchase it, using one of our gift certificates. I also belong to the book shopping club13 of one of the book stores so get 10% off each book I purchase. In addition, that store sends out coupons14 giving me an extra 15% off. Therefore, we can get a hard copy15 of a new book for the price of a paper back16 copy which will come out at a later time, if at all. If a book doesn’t sell enough copies in the hard-back edition, it won’t come out in paper back. Don and I read books by our favorite authors out loud to one another. It is a pleasure for both of us.
This afternoon we started reading The Corpse Walker17 by Liao Yiwu18 which is about Chinese people, a compilation19 of 27 oral histories20 from many different professions and walks of life21; from Erhu player22 to grave robber23. So far, it’s quite interesting. Kim bought it for us. We enjoy learning whatever we can about China, an extremely fascinating24 country to us.
Notes:
1. accumulating: gradually getting more and more possessions, knowledge etc. over a period of time (积累).
2. get rid of: give away something which is no longer wanted (丢弃，处理掉).
3. check out: borrow a book from a library (从图书馆借书).
4. particularly: especially, more than usual or more than others (特别，尤其).
5. a book we see advertised probably won’t be ordered for one of those libraries soon: 我们看到打广告的书很可能任何一家图书馆不会很快订购。句中，we see advertised 是 a book 的定语从句，定语从句为 we see (a book) advertised, 因此 advertised 为过去分词是 a book 的宾语补足语。
6. BOOK REVIEW section of the NEW YORK TIMES: a weekly section of the newspaper in which new books are discussed (纽约时报的书评专栏，该报每周出一期这样的专栏对新书进行讲评).
7. book ads.: advertisements for books (书籍广告).
8. best sellers: 最畅销书
9. fiction: books and stories about imaginary people and events (小说，故事).
10. Amy Tan: a very popular Chinese-American book writer in the U.S. (谭恩美，一位很受欢迎的华裔作家).
11. Alexander McCall Smith: a writer/lawyer who writes sympathetically about the country and people of Botswana in Africa (亚历山大•麦考尔•史密斯，作家兼律师，其著作对非洲的博茨瓦纳人民和国家表现出深深的同情).
12. gift certificates: coupons or cards paid for by one person who then gives them as gifts to be used in stores (礼券，可以购买的票证，然后送给他人，可以在商店使用).
13. book shopping club: a special purpose for which a small fee is paid each year, and which offers special benefits for the club member (购书俱乐部，俱乐部成员可以得到专门的优惠，但每年要为此付出数额不大的会费).
14. coupons: a small piece of printed paper that gives you the right to pay less for something or get something free (优惠卷).
15. hard-copy books: a book with a heavy binding and cover (精装书).
16. paper back: a book with a cover made of thick paper (平装书，简装书).
17. The Corpse Walker: 赶尸人
18. Liao Yiwu: a native contemporary Chinese poet, novelist and screen writer. His articles and translations have occurred in many journals (廖以武，中国当代诗人、小说家和剧作家。他的文章和翻译作品由很多期刊刊登过).
19. compilation: a grouping of writings; in this case, oral histories, bound together (汇编，集，文中系口传历史故事集).
20. oral histories: vocal recounting of lives as experienced by various individuals (口传历史故事).
21. walks of life: vocations, professions, etc. (各行各业).
22. Erhu player: a musician who plays the traditional Chinese instrument known as the erhu (二胡演奏者).
23. Grave Robber: a person who steals items from burial plots or graves (盗墓贼).
24. fascinating: extremely interesting (非常有趣的，令人着迷的)