This is sort of a haul post, but the books have come from quite a lot of different places on many different occasions over the past month or so. I’ve decided to do Project 24 next year – where I only buy 24 in the year, in an effort to tackle the tbr mountains. And I think something in me has gone into panic mode and I’m stockpiling books. Despite clearly having thousands of the things unread.
ANYWAY.
Here are some books I’ve bought or got recently – I’d love to know if any of them leap out at you.
The City of Belgium by Brecht Evens
I love Brecht Evens’ beautiful graphic novels, and so was delighted to get a review copy of this from Drawn and Quarterly. I think I’ll be reading this one for Novellas in November, though I’m not sure it quite counts as a novella.
The Dust Never Settles by Karina Lickorish Quinn
Karina is a friend of mine I’ve known since university, so I was very excited when she had a novel published – this is a work of magic realism, drawing on Peruvian and British cultures, and I’m excited to try it soon.
The Last Englishman by Byron Rogers
This is a biography of J.L. Carr – one of a pile of books I bought from a lovely bookshop in Tiverton, all of which were very reasonably priced. I think someone mentioned it as being brilliant in a comment on StuckinaBook sometime…
The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam
Black Faces, White Faces by Jane Gardam
I bought these in different shops, but apparently I want to read more Gardam. I think I’ve only read one, God on the Rocks, which I did like a lot, though didn’t love. And I’ve bought and culled a couple of others over the years, so maybe my house is just a resting point for Gardam novels on their journeys.
The Service of Clouds by Susan Hill
Hill’s literary novels are reliably wonderful and hadn’t heard of this one. She is a very varied writer, and I have found the streams of her writing that I enjoy most – this looks like it could be one of them.
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
I have a feeling that JW could be one of those writers who, now I’ve really enjoyed one of her books, I stockpile and never get around to reading. But hopefully I will actually read this one? Maybe? Anyway, The Gap of Time was wonderful so at least I have options now.
The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor
Somehow I’ve never read any William Trevor and he is recommended so often and so winningly – though I never seem to hear any particular book recommended. During Project Names I got really into novels with people’s names in the title, particularly if they are The X of Full Name. I don’t know if that’s the most scholarly approach to choosing where to start, but at least it’s a choice.
Wintering by Katherine May
I was a bit lukewarm on May’s The Electricity of Every Living Thing, but when I was reading more about it, Wintering sounded much more up my street. And this one was signed, which is fun.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Maybe Jenny from Reading the End recommended this to me?? Well, someone did and I added it to a wishlist years ago. And then the other day I found it for 60p in a ludicrously cheap charity shop near me. The sad thing, for me, is that this charity shop almost never has anything in it that I could possibly want to read. So this was a delightful change!
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
AND they had Olive Kitteridge in the same charity shop. Lightning struck twice! I thought I’d read it, but I realise I read two other books by Strout – for a Tea or Books? episode. And I knew I hadn’t read The Burgess Boys, which I found in another bookshop.
The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Theriault
I don’t know anything about this author, but the book looked short and intriguing – I’m hoping it leans odd rather than fey. For some reason reading the blurb reminded by of Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill by Dimitri Verhulst, which I really enjoyed.
Amaryllis Night and Day by Russell Hoban
I’ve bought a few Hobans since loving Turtle Diary, and have been told that his career took a turn for the tawdry at some point. I don’t know where this came, but it’s about a couple who meet in each other’s dreams? Maybe? That is a premise I will either love or loathe. Maybe one day I will find out.
Obscure Destinies by Willa Cather
Cather is one of my favourite prose stylists, so I buy up anything I see by her that I don’t have. But this is a fusty old paperback that I can’t imagine touching for any prolonged periods, so… who knows if I will ever read it.
Two Names Upon the Shore by Susan Ertz
Why are there so many authors that I read once and then buy book after book? Welp Ertz is another. I’ve only read Madame Claire, and I just keep buying up more and more Ertz novels without reading any of the others. Perhaps this one will tip me over the edge – the edition looks very trashy, but I suspect it could do the contents a disservice.
Something to Declare by Julian Barnes
I’ve only been lukewarm about the two Barnes novels I’ve read, but I wanted to give his essays a go – there are already some about art on my shelves; these are about France, I believe.
Cold Water by Gwendoline Riley
Andy Miller and others have mentioned Riley a lot on social media recently – specifically her most recent novel, but I thought this backlisted title would be very appropriate.
Sweet Desserts by Lucy Ellmann
Similarly, I’ve never quite got the courage to launch into Ducks, Newburyport, but would love to try Ellmann and this novella is about a twentieth of the length.
Here We Are by Graham Swift
I’ve only read one of Swift’s novels, Mothering Sunday, and really liked it. But, if I’m being honest, what got Here We Are into my hands was the beautiful cover.
I truly love Winterson and buy every book I find that I don’t already have – Written on the Body is one of my two favorites.
Oo that’s good news, thank you!
Agreed! Written on the Body and Oranges are Not the Only Fruit are my two favorites.
Excellent!
Where’d You Go Bernadette is wonderful. I think it was a short lister a couple of years ago for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Anyway, it made me laugh. Enjoy.
Oh excellent, thanks!
Nice haul. I too have bern in panic buying mode recently althoughI had no intention of participating in Project 24 next year. Maybe I should? 🤔
Haha! Tbh, if you have space for more books then I wouldn’t put yourself through the pain. My flat is very small!
I read The Queen of the Tambourine and The Peculiar Life of the Lonely Postman this year and loved them both, especially the Gardam. I’ll read anything by William Trevor but prefer his short stories to his novels. Project 24 looks like a good idea for me, too.
Oh that’s all very encouraging, thanks Grier!
I’m glad someone buys books as randomly as I do. I think I also stockpile them in times of anxiety, despite knowing full well that I have enough to last at least one lifetime and probably several…
I love Jane Gardam, and have done so ever since I read A Long Way From Verona and Bilgewater, which remain my favourites. I’ve not (yet) read the two you bought, nor the one you have read. I saw Gardam being interviewed at an Edinburgh Book Festival event once. Judith Kerr and Penelope Lively were also involved. They were all brilliant, sharp as knives (Kerr almost ran onto the stage and she was probably around 90 by then.)
I too found Olive Kitteridge in a charity shop, together with its sequel, Olive Again. I too haven’t even opened it yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about both books.
The only Julian Barnes I’ve read and enjoyed is his very early novel Metroland. I tried with Flaubert’s Parrot, I really did…
Project 24 would take away one of my great pleasures, ie browsing in charity shops. I know it’d be good discipline, but at the moment it’s just a step too far!
Yes, losing, the browsing is a sad loss – but space is such an issue in my flat. And good to know about Gardam, thanks. How lovely to see that trio together!
I forgot to add, I read William Trevor’s The News from Ireland last year. It’s a collection of short stories, and I am not usually a fan of that form at all, but I enjoyed this very much. He was a fantastic writer. I spent a bit of time in the rural south of Ireland years ago, and to me he captures the essence of the place perfectly.
Oh excellent news!
Very nice haul, Simon. I’ll be most interested in hearing what you make of the Carr biog as I’ve loved the books of his I’ve read. And the Barnes too I don’t think I have one and it sounds great!
I have been mixed on the Carrs I’ve read – but, at his best, he is just extraordinary. I wonder what he was like…
A lovely, eclectic selection, Simon, with lots to look forward to there. I’d love to hear more about the J.L Carr biography, as and when. That’s definitely something of interest, assuming it’s good!
Yes, he sounds like he had such an interesting life
I read Semple’s subsequent novel (Today Will be Different) and I was NOT impressed. As for Strout – I wasn’t crazy about Olive, but I adore her Lucy Barton books. I’d like to read more of her back-list.
I’ve only read two of the Lucy ones so far,and I did like those
I’ve been acquiring horribly recently and not sure why – and then I have my TBR challenge so maybe I’m trying to fill in the space all the reading for that is going to make me (I’m reading books 1 and 2 of 85 and should have finished 7.1 by the end of the month so THAT’s not going to happen). Enjoy these, or having them, and I’ll look forward to that post next year when you share what happened to them all!
I always envy what a high percentage of your books you’ve read!
Ha – there’s something, I suppose! Thank you!
I adore Jeanette Winterson, even though some of her books go off the rails–or maybe because they do? She’s a high-stakes writer, I think, who bets everything on her own passion and intelligence and charm. And she’s big into Love.
One of my favorite books of hers is one I wouldn’t have expected to love so much but now give to everyone at holiday-time: her Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days. She celebrates Christianity and ritual in an irresistible, sometimes wacky way that is somehow irreverently reverent.
Interesting! I would not have thought of her as someone who would write well about Christianity, so that’s intriguing.
Well, maybe I overstated, and it’s really Christmas and tradition she’s celebrating. But there’s a thread of healing and forgiveness throughout, and she takes us right into the manger in the final story . . .