Haul

It’s time for another haul post. But this teetering pile isn’t all from one trip – it’s from various different bookshops I’ve been to over the past month or two. That makes it ok, right??

Let’s go from the top, including a tour of the bookshops I’ve been to.

1. Regents Bookshop in Wantage, Oxfordshire

This is my nearest secondhand bookshop, about half an hour from my house, and I love it deeply. It is rammed full of stock, very affordably priced and with pretty good turnover. I’ve never come away empty-handed. Lockdown gave them a chance to neaten it out a bit, and I have my fingers crossed that it bucks the trend and manages to stay open for many years to come. And in it I bought…

The Rising Tide by Margaret Deland
I didn’t know anything about this book, but apparently it’s about New Women at the turn of the century, first published in 1916.

Women’s Weird ed. Melissa Edmundson
A collection of ‘weird’ stories by women, whatever weird means – I guess I’ll find out! I think there’s an E. Nesbit story in there, which intrigued me.

Up and Down by E.F. Benson
This was shelved in the letters section, but it is a novel in letter-form – and who doesn’t love that? Particularly from a favourite like EFB. I hadn’t heard of this one before, but always glad to add a Benson to the shelf.

The Girl from the Candle-Lit Bath by Dodie Smith
We all remember the scene of Cassandra hiding in her bath in I Capture the Castle – this is Smith’s last novel, and I wonder if it is tonally at all the same? Finding it did remind me that I have a few of her novels yet to read, and really must get onto them.

2. The Last Bookshop in Oxford

This bookshop began as The £2 Bookshop, then The £3 Bookshop, and is now The Last Bookshop – where most of the books are £3.99, but you can get 3 for a tenner. And there’s a secondhand department downstairs. As remainder bookshops go, it has really good quality stock.

The Heavenly Ladder by Compton Mackenzie
I got this from their secondhand stock. I’ve said a few times that I won’t buy more Mackenzie novels until I’ve cleared the decks a bit, but I’m a liar.

An Impossible Marriage by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Apparently this was reprinted four or five years ago – which surprised me, as I’m usually pretty up to speed with mid-century women writers getting reprinted. I’ve read three PHJ novels to varying success, but presumably whoever chose this one for reprinting was picking from her best?

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The reason I went to the bookshop – because my book group is reading this next year. I guess it’s a glaring omission to have read no Faulkner. But I’m not terribly excited about rectifying it.

Hidden Symptoms by Deirdre Madden
Time Present and Time Past by Deirdre Madden
I was very pleased they had these in stock. Madden has been one of my favourite discoveries in the past couple of years, and certainly keen to read more.

3. The R&R Bookshop in Stroud

I had a day trip to Stroud to meet up with some friends, and obviously did some research first to see if there were any secondhand bookshops. There were TWO. This one is very cheaply priced with some interesting stuff, and I came away with so many books that I had to pop straight back to the car and leave them there.

The Bookshop that Floated Away by Sarah Henshaw
Everyone was talking about this non-fic about a bookshop on a barge when it came out, but I (wait for it) missed the boat then.

Jenny Villiers by J.B. Priestley
One day I’ll read some of the Priestley novels I’ve been stockpiling. There’s just something so pleasing about these editions.

Stars of the Screen 1932
I really love popular culture books from this period – this is basically a series of photos of actors and short bios of them. It’s all info I could find on Wikipedia, I’m sure, but I love having a snapshot of how these people were considered in 1932.

The Cat Jumps by Elizabeth Bowen
My previous attempt at Bowen’s short stories was a bit mixed, but I’m keen to try more AND this one has ‘cat’ in the title.

A Pound of Paper by John Baxter
A book about books? Yes please.

A Smell of Burning by Margaret Lane
I think Lane is best remembered for her biography of Beatrix Potter, but she’s one of those once-popular novelists I’ve been meaning to try for a while.

4. Fireside Bookshop in Stroud

Stroud has TWO bookshops! This one is rather more expensive and had less stock that appealed to me, but looked like it would have a lot for specialists and antiquarian hunters. I came away with one book.

Beyond The Lighthouse by Margaret Crosland
The subtitle is ‘English women novelists of the 20th century’. I spent some time flicking through the book, trying to work out how academic it is. I really don’t need to read any more Eng Lit academia anymore, and this book would be much more fun as a reader’s journey – I’m not sure it’s quite that, but hopefully won’t be too dry.

5. Dean Street Press

These aren’t actually from a bookshop, but they’re in the pile and I wanted to mention that they’ve sent me review copies of Green Money and Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson.

6. Oxfam, Witney

It’s always tempting to pop into the Oxfam bookshop in Witney, the town where I work. And it’s pretty seldom I come out without at least one book in my hand.

Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg
Hmm. I don’t remember why I bought this one, except that NYRB Classics are beautiful.

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
I heard about this one somewhere recently – a blog? a podcast? a book? – and wanted to try it. It’s about a baron who decides to move into a tree. The surreal nature of that story really appeals to me.

7. The Madhatter Bookshop, Wantage

This is cheating a little, as I didn’t buy these in this little independent bookshop in Wantage (a ‘new books’ bookshop), but did order it via them over email. These are some books that were on my birthday list – and so, when I got different books, I was entitled to buy a few for myself, yes? Yes?

Iphigenia in Forest Hills by Janet Malcolm
Nobody’s Looking at You by Janet Malcolm
My unread Malcolm pile was getting dangerously – yes, dangerously – low, so I had to top it up a bit.

Keeper’s of the Flame by Ian Hamilton
And I think this one was mentioned in a Janet Malcolm book. She certainly has a devastating eye for the idiosyncrasies of literary estates, and I’m hoping this non-fic book about them will be as gossipy and scandalous as some of the things Malcolm writes about in her books.

Ok, that’s it! As usual, would love to know your thoughts about any of these…

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 spent Saturday in Hay-on-Wye – the bookshop town in Wales, as I’m sure you know. I was meeting up with some friends who moved to Wales near the beginning of the pandemic, and it was wonderful to hang out. It was also wonderful to dive into the bookshops.

A few months shut really meant the shops had had a good sort out – fewer piles of books on the floor etc. And I think I came away with my best ever haul. Seventeen books, many of which I was really excited to find.

I’ll divide into authors I know and authors I’m going to experiment with – starting with the familiar faces, who make up most of the books I got…

The Glass Wall by E.M. Delafield
Love Has No Resurrection by E.M. Delafield
The biggest excitement was seeing some very hard-to-find E.M. Delafield books in the window of Addyman Annexe. They initially went right back in the window, as they’re a bit pricey – but I couldn’t leave them there. Thankfully everything else was very reasonable.

The Solange Stories by F. Tennyson Jesse
I’ve just finished a re-read of A Pin To See the Peepshow, so was really pleased to find some short stories I hadn’t heard about – and they look to be detective stories, which is really fun.

The Freaks of Mayfair by E.F. Benson
I’ve got a lot of unread EFB books on my shelves, but for a couple of quid I added another.

The Stiffsons and other stories by Herbert Jenkins
This week, I did decide to part with my Bindle books – I tried one and the Cockerney dialect was more than I could stomach – but they’ll be replaced with this more promising looking book.

The Hills Sleep On by Joanna Cannan
An author you may well know from her Persephone book Princes in the Land – I looked this up afterwards and it seems I was very lucky to find it. Must actually read it…

Download Echoes by V.L. Whitechurch
I have only read a couple of Whitechurch’s novels, but really like him so was delighted to find another. The Cinema Bookshop truly had amazing stock in this time.

Rude Forefathers by Ursula Bloom
Ursula Bloom – known to readers of the British Library Women Writers series as Mary Essex – wrote quite a few volumes of autobiography, I think. This seems as good a place to start as anywhere.

Son of Amittai by Robert Nathan
It’s rare to find Robert Nathan novels in the UK, so this was a nice surprise. Son of Amittai seems to be based on Jonah from the Bible, which I’m a little on the fence about as a topic, but we’ll see.

Odd Come Shorts by Mrs Alfred Sidgwick
Mr Sheringham and Others by Mrs Alfred Sidgwick
I’ve only read one novel by Mrs Alfred Sidgwick – Cynthia’s Way – but I enjoyed that enough to keep amassing more of her books. Though maybe she isn’t as rare a find as I’d thought, so I don’t need to snatch up every one I see…

Tish by Mary Roberts Rinehart
This was initially in my ‘authors I’ve not read’ section, but when I googled it I realised I have read Rinehart’s mystery novel The Circular Staircase. Tish looks like it’s about an eccentric older woman – my favourite genre – and possibly the second in a series?

A Lion, A Mouse, and A Motor Car by Dorothea Townshend
The first of the authors I haven’t read before – though grabbed this eagerly off the shelf. You might have read Scott’s review of it the other day, in which he made it sound wonderful but also said no copies were available anywhere in the world online. Imagine my delight when I found it in that brilliant Cinema Bookshop.

Cottage Loaf by A.A. Thomson
Not gonna lie, I picked this up because the initials made me think of A.A. Milne. There were quite a few by this author, and I picked one with a title I liked – I don’t even know if Thomson is a man or a woman. Well, I’ve just googled and he is a man who is mostly known for his books about cricket. Fingers crossed it’s a good’un…

The Self-Portrait of a Literary Biographer by Joan Givner
Givner apparently wrote a biography about Katherine Anne Porter – I don’t know it, nor have I read Porter, but my recent reading of Dreaming of Rose by Sarah LeFanu has whetted my appetite to read more behind-the-scenes books about being a biographer.

Fever of Love by Rosamond Harcourt-Smith
I’m always on the look-out for potential BLWW authors – this one has a terrible cover and title, but the description of gradually swapping husbands, and the writing I read, are a bit more promising.

Simon Learns to Live by Mary Mitchell
Well, I couldn’t leave behind that title, could I?

I haven’t done a proper trip to a secondhand bookshop for such a long time. I did pop into Barter Books in Alnwick last August, but my trip to Regents in Wantage this morning really felt like a step back to normality. It’s less than half an hour away from me, and it’s comfortably the best secondhand bookshop in Oxfordshire. There aren’t many, but this would be a great bookshop anywhere – and, what’s more, has a good turnover. So I came away with an impressive little haul…

The Card by Arnold Bennett

I am slowly adding to my stockpile of Bennett novels, and always enjoying them when I get to them – The Card has been on my horizons ever since Kate reviewed it for Vulpes Libris (which led to me defending Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room passionately in response).

The Cheerful Day by Nan Fairbrother

This is apparently the sequel to a memoir about raising a family in the countryside. In The Cheerful Day, they’ve all moved to London – my heart breaks for them at the thought, but the title and the cover make it sound much happier than I’m imagining!

None-Go-By by Mrs Alfred Sidgwick

I enjoyed Cynthia’s Way by Mrs Sidgwick, so was pleased and a bit surprised to find another book by her. This one is one of her best, according to the doubtless honest description inside – about a couple who move to a small cottage to escape their friends and relations.

The Field of Roses by Phyllis Hastings

I’ve always got an eye out for obscure women writers for the British Library series, and so I’m picking up more or less any early- or mid-century women writer I’ve not heard of. It’s a numbers game!

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

Of the books I found, this was the only one I was expressly looking for – though when I found it, I almost left it on the shelf. I didn’t realise it was quite so very, very long. But I’ve heard good things about it – a novel about Mary Bennet from Pride and Prejudice – so maybe one day I’ll be in the mood for 650 pages.

The Tale of an Empty House and other stories by E.F. Benson

I’ve never read E.F. Benson’s ghost stories, though have heard them mentioned a lot. To be honest, I seldom read ghost stories cos I’m a huge coward – and I don’t even believe in ghosts, so I’m not sure what I’m scared about – but now I have the opportunity, at least.

The Doctor’s Wife by Brian Moore

This sounds a bit closer to The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne than the most recent Moore I read – and it is his centenary year, after all.

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer

Since I’m the latest convert to the altar of Ms Heyer, I was pretty confident I’d find something in the shop to keep going. I can’t remember if this is one of the books that people recommended here or on Twitter, but I didn’t recognise any of the other titles in the pile on their ‘women’s writing’ shelves. Not quite sure what qualifies books to get onto that single bookcase, but curiously the first book on it was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe…

I spent much of this week in a castle in Scotland, which was a rather wonderful way to escape the coronavirus headlines – this castle, to be precise. There’s a group of us who try to get to a Landmark Trust property at least once a year, and this location was chosen because it’s not far from Wigtown. That’s the Scottish equivalent of Hay-on-Wye, and the book town made famous by Shaun Bythell’s Diary of a Bookseller. Many of the group love his books and were keen to meet him – as well as a little nervous, in case we said anything stupid and ended up in a sequel.

On the way up, we stopped in Carlisle and went to the extraordinarily good Bookcase bookshop. I hadn’t been for quite a few years and had forgotten how enormous it is. Not the cheapest, but a real Aladdin’s cave.

Anyway, between the Wigtown bookshops and Bookcase, I came away with quite a haul. Here we go…

Three Things You Need To Know About Rockets by Jessica Fox
If you’ve read Bythell’s book, you’ll know about his on/off American girlfriend Anna. Well, turns out Anna is Jessica and she wrote a book about moving to Scotland and helping run a bookshop.

The Finishing Touch by Brigid Brophy
I’ve still only read one book by Brophy, but… now I can read more.

Middle Class by Sarah Gertrude Millin
I’ve never heard of Millin, but I’m increasingly on the look-out for books that could be contenders for the British Library Women Writers series. Which means I’m buying a lot of obscure books and not reading very many of them…

Rose Under Glass by Elizabeth Berridge
And the only Berridge book I’ve read is her short stories published by Persephone, but I’ll add another to the shelf.

Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather
I thought I already had this, but when I was looking for a copy for the next episode of Tea or Books? I realised I did not. Well, too late now for that episode, but good to have on the shelves nonetheless.

The White Riband by F. Tennyson Jesse
All I know about FTJ is the two books Virago published by her – of which I’ve read only the brilliant A Pin To See The Peepshow – so it was fun to find another.

I’m Not Complaining by Ruth Adam
Speaking of Virago, I’ve seen a lot of love for this Virago Modern Classic over the years, so thought it was worth nabbing a copy.

The Cheval Glass by Ursula Bloom
I’ve only read Bloom under her Mary Essex pseudonym – and I’m delighted that Tea Is So Intoxicating will be one of the BL Women Writers reprints in the autumn. This one has a fantastical premise and you KNOW I love a fantastic premise.

Calypso by David Sedaris
I also love Sedaris! Always happy to add another of his hilarious and observant essay collections to my shelves, though it’s been too long since I read one.

Twenty-Five by Beverley Nichols
Some would argue that 25 is too young to write an autobiography, but Nichols alleges it’s the oldest age that one should. It’s a tongue-in-cheek statement, of course, and this looks like it’s more about the period. His book about the 20s written from a distance, The Sweet and Twenties, was my favourite the year I read it – this one is more up close.

Raspberry Reich by Wolf Mankowitz
I really like the offbeat charm of A Kid For Two Farthings and Make Me An Offer. This one looks heavier on the offbeat than the charm, but I’m keen to give it a go.

Turnabout by Thorne Smith
Thorne Smith is one of those names I’ve seen around for many years and never really explored. Bookcase had a big and inviting pile of his books, and I was quite tempted just to buy them all, but I thought I should exercise restraint and try just one. Smith usually does comic, fantastic books, and this one is a body-swap comedy. What’s not to like?

I spent years wondering why I hadn’t been to Astley Book Farm, and now I seem to go at least once a year. And I’m certainly not complaining! The other day I went for the third time and I didn’t come away empty-handed. Or empty-stomached, because the cake there is incredible and the toasties and soup are also incredible. Seriously, even if you hate books, you should go for the food. But also why are you reading this book blog.

I bought four books – and a couple for other people. It’s not an enormous number, partly because the turnover isn’t massive, but I’m really pleased with them all. Here goes…

Banvard’s Folly by Paul Collins

Paul Collins’ book about Shakespeare’s First Folio was my favourite read of last year – and I also read his book about Hay-on-Wye, Sixpence House. In that book, he talks quite a lot about the writing and editing of Banvard’s Folly – which is a book about ‘renowned obscurity, famous anonymity, and rotten luck’. Or, to cite its working title, Losers. But apparently it was thought that wouldn’t fly in the US market.

A Letter to Elizabeth by Bettina Linn

Since I got asked to come up with suggestions for the British Library Women Writers series, I’ve been keeping an eye out for more obscure titles that could be promising. I hadn’t heard of Linn or this novel, but I was drawn by the cover – which you can see here. The description of it sounds quite complicated, involving the illegitimate child of an anthropologist, polio, and affairs that might be renewed.

Father Malachy’s Miracle by Bruce Marshall

You know I love a novel with a fantastical premise – and this one is about a feud over the possibility of a miracle, which leads to a ‘rowdy dance-hall’ being transported to the Bass Rock in the Firth or Forth. And then the band manager decides to sue. I am always here for a novel that uses supernatural things in a wry way.

The Birds of the Innocent Wood by Deirdre Madden

OK, Simon, you loved Molly Fox’s Birthday but you should stop buying so many books by her without reading any more of them. This is the last you can buy without reading more. Be STRONG.

Incidentally, the other book I got this week was from my friend Leen – Menfreya by Victoria Holt, with a garish schlocky cover, that is apparently good fun. Aaaand let’s try to have a whole week without buying a book, Si.

The new decade is still very young, but I’ve been busying myself with buying books…  These aren’t all from the same shop, but represent trips to a couple of old reliable shops and a couple of books I bought online. The reliables are the bookshop in Wantage and Notting Hill Book Exchange. They’re both shops I’ve been to time and again, and they always turn up affordable gems. But the first two came from the great wide internet…

Proud Citadel by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
When I wrote about the wonderful O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith, Sarah said that she’d read and loved Proud Citadel. And so I had to have it, didn’t I? Watch this space.

Another Year by R.C. Sherriff
Every Sherriff novel I’ve read has been amazing, and so obviously I need to track down as many as I can. Watch this space AGAIN. Just keep watching spaces.

Return Journey by Barbara Goolden
I’ve already read and reviewed this one, so you know what I think about it and why I bought it!

Sing For Your Supper by Pamela Frankau
I loved A Wreath For The Enemy so much, and have been stockpiling Frankau ever since – but have yet to read any of the others on my shelves (though did read one in the Bodleian). Let’s throw another on the pile. Anybody read this one?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way by Nancy Spain
I’ve been keeping eyes out for this autobiography for a while because apparently it includes an account of meeting A.A. Milne. She was also a fascinating person for many reasons, so it’ll be fun to find out more about her from her own mouth.

Authenticity by Deirdre Madden
You know how much I loved Molly Fox’s Birthday, and I’ve now bought a couple of Madden novels to try next – the title is intriguing in a Milan Kundera sort of way.

Vestal Fire by Compton Mackenzie
I definitely said I wouldn’t be buying any more Mackenzie novels until I’d read some of the ones I own. When I saw this, I thought ”I won’t buy this unless it was published in the 1920s”. And I picked it off the shelf and saw it was from 1927. The decision was OUT OF MY HANDS.

The Brickfield by L.P. Hartley
I have so many unread Hartleys and I don’t know anything about this Hartley novel, but it was only a quid so why not.

Present Indicative by Noel Coward
I’ve seen this one around a few times, and finally succumbed. Will Coward be as funny in his autobiography as he is in his plays?

Embers by Sandor Marai
I don’t know anything about this but I’m trying to read more translated fiction, after my all-time record of eleven last year. And this one looked interesting.

The Shadow of a Sorcerer by Stella Gibbons
Continuing the theme of this post, I have so many Gibbons novels I haven’t read – but it felt like quite a coup to stumble across one I haven’t even heard of. And there’s surprisingly little info about it online…

Have you read any of these? Any that should race up my tbr pile?

Hope you all had a really lovely Christmas! It was a new and different Christmas for the Thomas family, as it’s the first one since my dad retired as a vicar – Our Vicar and Our Vicar’s Wife will have to change their nicknames! I’ve been in a vicarage for every Christmas of my life until now, and it’s very odd to have it as a quiet time when we can all stay in the house together, rather than madly going to a dozen carol services and never having all four of us in a room for many hours at a time. I missed some things, but it was lovely – Colin hosted, and we had a Christmas BBQ. I made roast potatoes in the kitchen, because even a BBQ needs added roast potatoes at Christmas.

I thought I’d share the pile of books I got among my presents. A few aren’t shown in the photo, because a couple were Secret Santa presents opened earlier, and one was packed somewhere else, but I’ve listed them all.

Told in Winter by Jon Godden
Also published as Winter’s Tale, this is by Rumer Godden’s sister – real name Winsome!! The top four books in the pile were all from a Secret Santa in the Virago Modern Classics group on LibraryThing. This Secret Santa always ends up bringing me such interesting things.

The Possessed by Elif Batuman
This one was on my wishlist – the subtitle is ‘adventures with Russian books and the people who read them’, and doesn’t that sound amazing?

The House in Norham Gardens by Penelope Lively
I love a bit of Lively – and, fun fact, Norham Gardens is where I started my driving lessons. The widest roads in Oxford, so it’s where you’re taken to learn a turn in the road!

Twelve Poems by Sylvia Townsend Warner
I love Warner and thought I had more or less everything she’d written, but somehow hadn’t heard of this one. Fab!

A Little Original Sin by Millicent Dillon
This is a biography of Jane Bowles, who wrote the brilliant novel Two Serious Ladies – it’ll be fun to find out more about her. [Or potentially not fun… I have a vague memory that her life wasn’t great… but interesting!]

Grandmothers by Salley Vickers
My friend Lorna got this for me – you might have heard her on the latest episode of Tea or Books? – and it’s not only a very pretty book but signed too!

The House Party by Adrian Tinniswood
Another one where the subtitle tells you how perfect this is for me – ‘A short history of leisure, pleasure and the country house weekend’.

Trouble With Lichen by John Wyndham
This and the book above were from my friends Paul and Kirsty, and they’ve been keen for me to read this – not least so I can talk about sci-fi more authoritatively on the podcast in future!

Albert the Dragon and the Centaur by Rosemary Weir
I loved Albert the Dragon as a child and I haven’t read all of them – this was among the presents Colin got me, which is lovely.

Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading by Maureen Corrigan
I mean, the title says it all, doesn’t it? Thanks Mum and Dad for recognising the limits of my sociability!

The Bride of Northanger by Diana Birchall
A sequel to Northanger Abbey by my friend Diana – who wrote a brilliant sequel to Pride and Prejudice called Mrs Darcy’s Dilemma – and another great choice by Colin.

Stanley Spencer by Kenneth Pople
Mum and Dad got me a biography of my favourite painter – not pictured is a lovely book that functions as a catalogue of an exhibition from the 80s.

And, not pictured, a couple of books I got at book group Secret Santas – Inventing Love by Jose Ovejero and Lanterns Across the Snow by Susan Hill.

What a great bunch of books! Hope you also got lots under the tree, and have some nice time off to read.

A couple of weekends ago I went to the Bookbarn in Somerset. I’ve been many times, ever since I stumbled across it by accident while getting lost. It used to be an absolutely enormous barn of books – as the name applies – and you could only really look at a tiny section each time. I’d go just looking at authors A-D, say. It was extraordinary.

Then they put most of it into an internet-only section, leaving a smaller, newer ‘barn’ where all the books were £1 each. Smaller but still big. And with lots of unsorted shelves where you could find gems – and a cafe, which was good for long-suffering relatives who didn’t want to look at books for hours at a time.

And then I went a couple of weeks ago…

My first thought was disappointment. And my second thought, and my third. They’d closed off two-thirds of the smaller barn. The cafe was bigger, but there was no unsorted section. There were shelves and shelves of cheap, rubbishy paperbacks. And the books weren’t £1 each anymore. The rubbishy paperbacks were, but anything from before about 1960 was in a ‘vintage’ section, where everything was £4. And I’m talking anything. Out-of-date algebra textbooks. Cheap editions of Milton’s poetry. The sort of thing you’d pay 20p for at a church fete.

But… things got better. I made the conscious decision not to compare it to previous trips to the Bookbarn. I would look carefully at the paperbacks. I didn’t find anything I wanted worth £4 in the ‘vintage’ section (and I did hear one old lady say to a staff member “They’re not vintage; they’re just old”), but did get a lot of the paperbacks.

And then I remembered that you could search their warehouse inventory, fill out slips, and get them to bring books out for you. Obviously that did mean no serendipitous finds – but did mean a handful of books I was very pleased to get my mitts on! And, oddly, at very reasonable prices – some rather less than the £4 they’d slapped on unsellable tat in the front of the shop.

Anyway – a rather long intro to the books I did buy! The last five are the ones I ferried from the warehouse catalogue, and the others are the cheapy paperbacks.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
One of those books – or, rather, three of those books – that I’ve intended to read for a while. I don’t remember where I’ve heard good things about it, other than… everywhere, I guess?

The 27th Kingdom by Alice Thomas Ellis
I’ve still only read one Alice Thomas Ellis novel, Unexplained Laughter, but happy to add another to the shelves – particularly one as intriguing as this.

Chapman’s Odyssey by Paul Bailey
As above – read one novel, the brilliant At The Jerusalem, but at one quid I can definitely add another Bailey to the pile.

Nice Work by David Lodge
I haven’t read any Lodge novels yet, but this is on the list for my book group next year.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
It’s on brand for me to read a book years after everyone was talking about it. Rachel mentioned we could do this one for ‘Tea or Books?’ and then stopped replying to messages, as per.

Linger Awhile by Russell Hoban
This one looks quite trashy and odd, but I loved his Turtle Diary (which was odd but not at all trashy) so will give it a go. Someone falls in love with an actress long after she dies? Something like that?

Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
I’ve never read any Stewart but my friend Kirsty, who was one of the people I went with, had recently read and loved this one and pressed it into my hands.

Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer
Perhaps more surprisingly, I’ve never read any Heyer. Whenever someone writes a blog post about her, I say that I intend to try her – and have never even bought any before. Now I have one of her detective novels – hopefully a good’un?

The Color of Evening by Robert Nathan
Nathan is one of those authors I really, really enjoy but don’t remember ever seeing mentioned in the blogosphere (though I have seen The Bishop’s Wife mentioned, a lovely film adapted from his novel of that name). His books are harder to find here than in the US, so was pleased to get this one.

The Bridge by Pamela Frankau
Road Through the Woods by Pamela Frankau
One of the authors I looked up on the warehouse catalogue was Frankau, hoping to find one of her rare, early novels. They didn’t have any of those, but I was also pleased to add these late novels to my Frankau shelves.

Sheaves by E.F. Benson
Paul by E.F. Benson
They did have quite a few scarcer E.F. Benson novels – some out of my budget, but these two were priced relatively low. I was particularly pleased to find Paul, which has intrigued me for a while – and might sneak into Project Names. And onto my overcrowded shelves of unread Bensons.

All in all, I came away with a pile that I was very pleased with – having thought for the first twenty minutes or so that I’d come away empty-handed. Goes to show that even bookshops that have got worse can hold gems, and the intrepid book-hunter shouldn’t be dismayed by initial appearances!

Remember early in 2019 when I said I wouldn’t be buying any books this year? Except special occasions? Well, that is increasingly looking stupid. Cos I’ve bought a lot of books this year. I’ve also read a lot, but still…

Anyway, the silver lining to my total lack of self-control is that I get to do a haul blog post! It’s not all from one place, but here are books I’ve bought over the past month or so. Many of them on two trips to a great secondhand bookshop in Wantage.

Here’s some more details, from top to bottom…

This Other Eden by E.V. Knox
I love a collection of essays – to the extent that my essay shelves are bursting. Might need a shelving rethink.

Don’t, Mr Disraeli by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon
I’ve not read anything by these two, but I keep seeing A Bullet in the Ballet around. I guess they were good at titles! This mystery novel will tick Project Names anyway, and that’s enough to convince me that it’s a good purchase.

Alexander’s Bridge by Willa Cather
Another that will work for Project Names, and a novel by Cather that I hadn’t even heard of. I think she might now be on my list of “stop buying books by them and actually read one” now.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
I haven’t bought a book by Christie for ages – mostly because I bought dozens when I was around 14, and have still not quite made my way through them. But I am coming towards the end of that pile, so picked up some cheaply in a charity shop.

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
I can’t remember how I came across this book, written by a severely autistic boy about his experience, but I do know that I thought it could be a good way for me to try and understand autism better.

Heat Wave by Penelope Lively
I do have a few unread Livelys, but it was a heat wave when I picked this up, and clearly I’m that suggestible.

Wine of Honour by Barbara Beauchamp
Peace, Perfect Peace by Josephine Kamm
Spam Tomorrow by Verily Anderson
Table Two by Marjorie Wilenski
I’m grouping these because they’re all among the latest reprints from the Furrowed Middlebrow series from Dean Street Press. I got three as review copies, and then bought these four on top – it is such a fascinating looking batch this time around. They’re all connected with WW2. Do check them out!

Sixpence House by Paul Collins
One of my favourite books of the year so far is The Book of William by Collins, all about the First Folio. So it was only a matter of time before I got hold of his book about living in Hay on Wye, and I finally crumbled.

Keep The Home Guard Turning by Compton Mackenzie
Rich Relatives by Compton Mackenzie
Mackenzie is DEFINITELY on the list of authors I should stop buying and start reading – but I’ve made an exception here because the first one was recommended by a couple of people, and because the second is a sequel to Poor Relations, which I loved. At least I think/hope it is.

The Question Mark by Muriel Jaeger
I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but Karen made this one sound so interesting that I went right out and bought the British Library reprint.

There’s a Porpoise Close Behind Us by Noel Langley
I read a fun little book by Langley a while ago, and I couldn’t resist (a) this title, and (b) the fact that it features theatre actors. That’s one of those elements of a novel that I cannot resist.

The Sun in Scorpio by Margery Sharp
The Innocents by Margery Sharp
I am increasingly loving Sharp, and so was delighted to find a couple of her novels in the wild. In Wantage, to be more precise.