I’ve just spent a glorious weekend in this AirBnB in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border, with good friends and great weather. And, yes, it just happened to be near Hay-on-Wye, the town of secondhand bookshop. It also happened (though we didn’t realise this when we booked the holiday) to be the Hay Festival.
When I found out it was the festival, I was a bit worried that all the bookshops would be overcrowded, and all the good books would be gone – but I managed to come away with quite a great haul. AND I saw Jon Sopel talking about Donald Trump, which was entertaining and terrifying in equal measures.
It’s been a little while since I went to Hay, and it was lovely to go back – and, staying nearby, we were able to get there early and leave quite late. ALL THE MORE BOOKSHOPPING. And here are the *cough* 21 books I bought – a haul I’m really pleased with. Bonus: the view from my window at the AirBnB.
Do Butlers Burgle Banks? by P.G. Wodehouse
Company for Henry by P.G. Wodehouse
Barmy in Wonderland by P.G. Wodehouse
One of the bookshops I went in is, sadly, closing down – there do seem to be fewer and fewer each time – and it was holding a half price sale. There were SO many P.G. Wodehouse novels available, and I would have loved to picked up armfuls of the novels I didn’t have yet. I restrained myself and picked three that looked interesting.
Concerning Books and Bookmen by Ian Maclaren
This is a short book about how great books are, and what book obsessives are like – and it was published in the 1910s, which just gores to show that not all that much has changed.
Tantivy Towers by A.P. Herbert
I think APH has appeared in a few of my recent ‘hauls’, and this is a comic opera, of all things.
The Little World by Stella Benson
Here’s a top tip for book hunters: never overlook the ‘pocket classics’ section. I’d long assumed that there were filled with small editions of the standard classics – the Dickens, Gaskell, Wordsworth, etc that could be found anywhere. WELL, not so. It’s where I found this book (travel writing by Stella Benson) and the next one…
Lovers and Friends by E.F. Benson
I was hoping to find some more E.F. Benson in Hay – more on that later – and was really excited to stumble across Lovers and Friends, which I don’t remember ever hearing about before.
Murder at the Manor
Thirteen Guests by J Jefferson Farjeon
More books for my growing British Library Crime Classics shelf! My assumption is that I’ll be reading them for years and years.
Buttercups and Daisies by Compton Mackenzie
I’ve started reading this one already – it’s a very funny novel about a well-meaning tyrannical father and husband who disastrously moves his family to the countryside. I’ll feed back soon!
In the Purely Pagan Spirit by John Lehmann
Having just read some Rosamond Lehmann, I thought I’d read one of her brother’s novels – well, I didn’t know he’d written any novels (despite having read his vituperative memoir of the Woolfs) but now I have one!
Ivy Compton-Burnett by Frank Baldanza
I. Compton-Burnett by Charles Burkhart
Some ICB fan had obviously sold a pile of books to one bookshop, and I was happy to sweep them right UP.
English Journey by Beryl Bainbridge
Apparently this is something of a response to J.B. Priestley’s book of the same name (which I haven’t got or read), but who more entertaining to give her own eccentric and unique perspective on England than Beryl Bainbridge?
The Challoners by E.F. Benson
And another Benson! This was in a shop that had quite a few in stock – though this was the only one I could afford. The man running the bookshop confidently suggested that £250 (which one of the rarer books cost) was “only the price of dinner for four or five people”. Which means that I’ve convinced a stranger that I look like the sort of person who spends at least £50 on dinner, so that’s something.
The Fool Hath Said by Beverley Nichols
News of England by Beverley Nichols
For Adults Only by Beverley Nichols
The Powers That Be by Beverley Nichols
A couple of the people on our trip had popped into Hay the day before I went, and I’d been forewarned about lots of Nichols books – and I swooped in and bought all the ones I didn’t already have. This range seems to encompass novel, essays, journalism, and theology. Versatile!
Rose Macaulay by Jane Emery
I did read bits of this biography of Macaulay in the Bodleian once, but it’s good to have it on my shelves.
Have you read any of these? Or any particularly catch your attention? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Drooling. How lovely your view from the AirBnB was too. I love Hay, so really wish I could have gone but it wasn’t to be. What a wonderful haul though. I knew of John Lehmann’s connection to the Woolfs but I hadn’t known he wrote novels either. Thirteen Guests is entertaining. Very interested in the Macaulay biography.
Ha ha ha, nearly as much as my haul, so thank you for not making me feel too bad about my temporary lapse of reason.
An exciting Hay haul there, Simon. Your accommodation looked gorgeous. I stayed in a sort of up-market horse box (known as a Caboose) on the edge of the town. It was one up from camping, but only just. I also came away with an enormous pile of books. Well, it would be unseemly not to!
Nice haul! I need to go to Hay again, haven’t been for ages. But my TBR went BOOF the other day, as we know. Hm. Which bookshop is closing? On noes!
Lovely! I haven’t been to Hay for ages either. When I lived in Pembs, I could do a day trip. And I stayed for the ENTIRE Festival for about 6 years running. I think shopping is actually nice during the Festival as most of the crowds are on the festival site and the town can be quite quiet.
Which bookshops have lots of Beverley Nichols? I had a struggle dfinding much by him last November. Thx
I don’t know what I am most envious of–the books you bought, the place you stayed, or the fact you were in Hay. I would so love to go. I’m glad you had so much success finding books. They all look wonderful.
Feeling slightly envious of the Stella Benson book!
The photo of the stack of books is pure heaven!
A view like that plus ridiculous numbers of new books? That sounds like the perfect weekend. Also, very close to my childhood dream of perfect adulthood (reality has not consistently lived up to that).
That view is AMAZING. And the books are lovely too. I always love your hauls because you pick the most interesting titles. I haven’t read any of them (unsurprisingly).
The photo shows a stunning view, the lush greens and books too. Wow. I would have gathered a lot of P.G. Wodehouse, he is a spirit lifter. You got a nice armful of books.
Wow, great haul and photo. Many of these are new to me.
I will be interested in reading your thoughts on any or indeed all of these! I have just re-discovered Beverly Nichols after many years (and stupidly giving away my old copies in a rare albeit necessary book culling back in the past) .
Nice haul, and I’m envious of your trip — Hay-on-Wye is one of my dream vacations. Of your purchases, I’ve only read Thirteen Guests, which I thought was OK — but from that period I’ve really only read Agatha Christie and she has set the bar really high.
I also own Barmy in Wonderland, but one of the newer Overlook editions which are also nice. And who is this bookseller that can afford 50 pounds per person for a meal? I’d like to work in that bookshop! You must look like a big spender.
This was the first year I went to Hay when I didn’t come away with a stack of new books. There was nothing in the Oxfam shop on the site that caught my attention (not surprising since I was there right at the end of the event so all the good stuff had gone). But I was with a friend who wasnt keen on mooching in the shops in town so apart from a quick visit to Richard Booth’s cinema bookshop I was denied my normal pleasure! Next year I will go on my own I think.
Hah! I think we may have stayed in the same AirBnB – I was there last year and it was fantastic. I too ended up with a large haul from my last trip to Hay. Only one or two now left on the TBR shelf.
How funny! It was pretty amazing.
I visited there in 2001, and was having a wonderful time until my visit was marred by the news of 9/11! Yeah… really. We saw it on TV when we got to the poetry bookshop. I really must go back again to correct that experience.
What a beautiful view – both the landscape and the books. And all those Beverleys! You certainly were blessed…. ;)
Beautiful place to stay and an impressive haul of books. Envy from me too, I’ve wanted to go to Hay Literary Festival for decades. Perhaps one day I might manage it.
What a haul!!! Well done, you ;) makes my paltry purchase of one (finally found an edition of The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing that I’d been hunting for aaaages) seem downright sad. Enjoy!!
That’s a beautiful view and a beeeeeautiful pile of books, friend! I’m so envious! One of these days I’m going to make it to Hay-on-Wye just like all the cool kids.
YES YOU MUST. And I will also be there, pls.