I’m going to be spending the weekend with family, which is the nicest way to spend a weekend. Apparently it’s going to rain for much of it – which has been very welcome, but isn’t ideal for a BBQ. But I’m certainly not going to complain, after the heatwave we’ve been having. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and here’s a book, a blog post, and a link to help you do so…
1.) The link – this oral history of The Parent Trap (1990s remake) is the article you didn’t know you needed, but also sort of did know you needed.
2.) The book – I love Daunt Books choices of books, and their designs. How lovely does this edition of Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker look? If I didn’t already have an (unread) Virago Modern Classic then I’d be snapping it up. Anybody read it? (You can find out more at their website.)
3.) The blog post – my friend Tom (who runs the Indie Fic Lit blog) has written really interestingly about the benefits to publishers and authors of buying directly from their websites – something I hadn’t really thought of before, and which I will from now on!
Thanks for the mention in this Simon – that’s certainly not been my most popular Post lately, I think because telling people that buying second-hand books might be harming authors incomes feels like a criticism (poor Joanne Harris got a rough ride when she did it) – but I do think it’s an important discussion to have.
Great point about buying directly from publishers — I’ve been trying to buy directly from Persephone now that I’m on this side of the Atlantic. I used to buy mostly from The Book Depository just because the shipping was so expensive. Of course many of the books I buy have dead authors or are out of print. I do realize I’ve been relying on the quick shipping of Amazon far too often. It’s just so easy.
That is a stunning edition of Cassandra at the Wedding, a quite brilliant novel I highly recommend it. I have the Nyrb edition but Daunt do make pretty books.
I saw the tweet about the difference between buying from publishers direct and Amazon and although I was vaguely shocked I wasn’t surprised. I do try to buy directly from smaller publishers when I can – Salt, for example, and Verso. The latter are particularly good as they often have big discounts for email subscribers, and also if there is an ebook version available they bundle it with your order. Certainly it seems to be a case of thinking befor you click and deciding where to click.
As for second hand books – well I couldn’t afford to buy all the books I want to read new, so if I didn’t buy the charity shop copy I often wouldn’t buy at all. So the author is not really missing out from me not buying their work new…
I didn’t know that about Verso – well worth knowing. Salt are terrific, though, especially now they’ve started offering a loyalty card scheme.
I’ve read Cassandra at the Wedding, and it’s the book I picked a few years ago when you asked us to choose books that, in our opinion, were unjustly overlooked. I really loved it.
Thanks for the link to Tom’s article. I do buy direct from the publisher when I can’t easily get it from a bricks and mortar store. Like books from welsh authors – nigh on impossible to get from Waterstones even in the capital city
I think it’s worth saying that second hand bookshops play a vital part in the reading chain. Most of my author discoveries have come from taking a chance on a 99p purchase, and that’s brought me huge joy. But the question is, next time that author has a book out, do I wait until I can find it second-hand or pay for something I know I’ll love?
As Joanne Harris pointed out on Twitter, no one’s being robbed – that book has still been paid for by someone – but given that I know I like that author’s work, I find myself increasingly feeling rather selfish buying those books second hand, especially as I can actually afford them new.
Hahahahaha, no matter how many times I think “oral histories of movies and TV shows are way overdone”, no matter how many times I think that thought, I STILL CLICK THESE LINKS, and I always enjoy them a lot. So thanks for this! I love the 1990s Parent Trap!
I loved it SO much. But have somehow never joined the Maggie Wheeler dots that JANICE was in this!
The Parent Trap link is amazing. Thanks for sharing! I’ve seen that movie so many times. Ha!