Tea or Books? #14: reprints vs original editions, and The Time Traveller’s Wife vs Her Fearful Symmetry


 
Tea or Books logoReprints or original editions? That’s the first question we ask ourselves, courtesy of Michelle of Book Musings, and have a lot of fun discussing it. In the second half of the episode we get uncharacteristically modern – pitting two Audrey Niffenegger novels against one another, The Time Traveller’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry. You might be able to tell that we’re better off talking about old books… but we tried, y’all.

As usual, we’d love to hear your feedback, which you’d choose, and any topics you’d like us to debate in the future. We love your suggestions, and sometimes have even read the books/authors you ask us to talk about… all too often the suggestions make me feel terribly ill-read. But keep ’em coming!

Listen above, download via an app, or via our iTunes page (reviews and ratings always welcomed!) and we’ll be back in a couple of weeks or so. And here are the books and authors we mention in this episode…

Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
London Belongs To Me by Norman Collins
The Story of Alice by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
Peter and Alice by John Logan
Dorothy Whipple
E.M. Delafield
Nancy Mitford
Henry Green
Penelope Fitzgerald
Daphne du Maurier
Elaine Dundy
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Elizabeth Taylor
Jane Austen
Edith Olivier
Vita Sackville-West
Mary Hocking
As Far As Jane’s Grandmother’s by Edith Olivier
An Unexpected Guest by Bernadette Murphy
Mrs Parkington by Louis Bromfield
Private Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller by Anon [William Darling]
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Marilynne Robinson
Sarah Waters
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

6 thoughts on “Tea or Books? #14: reprints vs original editions, and The Time Traveller’s Wife vs Her Fearful Symmetry

  • March 22, 2016 at 2:31 am
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    I prefer the original hardbacks too. However, they are hard to find in used bookshops here in the US so I’m grateful for reprints. Thanks for taking my topic suggestion. :)
    Also, I just read The Moving Toyshop this weekend and it certainly was a fun read.

    Reply
  • March 22, 2016 at 12:23 pm
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    I am a bit of maniac when it comes to books. I love hardbacks too and whenever it’s possible I buy an Everyman’s library copy, even if I already have the paperback. What I find most irritating is the differences in size between books published by the same publisher ! Why on earth do they do that ? Then, there is the quality of the paper. I love the new Oxford classics but the paper is rubbish, turns an ugly brownish colour in no time, and reading a Penguin is like reading a newspaper with the ink coming off and staining your fingers. Am I the only one to feel like that ? P.S. I have just received a hardback copy of Molly Keane’s Good Behaviour published by Virago Press with a superb black, white and red cover featuring rabbits designed by Eley Kishimoto. I had ordered it from The Book Depositery. It’s made my day !

    Reply
  • March 28, 2016 at 4:51 pm
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    Maybe you have already done a similar topic to this suggestion, but I just finished reading Richmal Crompton’s Family Roundabout, and I felt it had similarities to (and differences from) Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple. What do you think about a compare and contrast for Tea and Books?

    Reply
  • March 29, 2016 at 2:53 am
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    Loved this episode!

    Just picked up a copy of Crispin’s novel, which I’ve had on my TBR for quite some time.

    I prefer original hardbacks. But, if reprints are only available then I prefer a matching set. I loathe when only certain books in a series or by an author are published and then the rest by a different publisher or in different editions. Especially when it’s just one or two additional books.

    Looking forward to the next episode!

    Reply
  • March 30, 2016 at 2:16 pm
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    Okay, I’m going to my library to get The Time Traveller’s Wife!. After that, I’ll stop. I was wondering, what do you think of genre fiction? Are there any genres you like? Any you usually avoid? If so, are there books which stand out enough to make an exception? (A friend of mine reads Romance novels. I read a couple she recommended, but thought, “This is basically the plot of Pride and Prejudice, adapted for modern times.” ) Thank you for your blogs/podcasts. You’re expanding my horizons.

    Reply

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