Yellow books in Piccadilly

I was in London on Saturday, seeing various different friends for much-overdue catch-ups. The first thing I did, actually, was go to a private gallery for the first time in my life. I love Raoul Dufy so didn’t want to miss an exhibition of his work at Connaught Brown – and Karen of Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings came along with me. We had a lovely time, though decided, on the whole, not to pay £30,000 for a painting. A difficult decision to make, I’m sure you’ll agree.

But just before that, actually, I spent a birthday book token from my friend Malie – and I did it in Waterstones Piccadilly, which has an excellent section devoted to independent publishers. It’s next to the ‘Black writing’ shelves, which is why a non-independent-publisher snuck into my pile. (Also, query, Eudora Welty was under ‘Black writing’… she was white, wasn’t she?)

Here are the books I bought with my book token, clutched in what my friend Lucy refers to as my ‘serial killer gloves’:

 

yellow-books

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Yes, secondhand copies of this are ten a penny, but I am so in love with the covers to these 4th Estate reprints. Three down, one to go!

The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis
I spent quite a while going through the NYRB Classics, trying to decide which I wanted, and chose this novella in the end. It sounds quite dark (about a grandmother murdering her grandchild) but also potentially really interesting. And maybe my first Greek novel?

Burning Secret by Stefan Zweig
I read Confusion in the same style reprint from Pushkin, and couldn’t resist a matching edition.

Only when I took the photo did I realise that I’d apparently been drawn to yellow books particularly… Have you read any of these?

9 thoughts on “Yellow books in Piccadilly

  • November 22, 2016 at 12:49 pm
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    The pictures *were* lovely, but in view of the cost I think we made the right decision…

    And the books are very pretty with their yellow theme. The Zweig one sounds wonderful – I do love his books!

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  • November 22, 2016 at 2:27 pm
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    Most unlike you Simon to buy a crime novel! But the covers are gorgeous and this sounds like a great selection.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 3:53 pm
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    The Murderess looks really interesting. I’d never heard of the author before but have added it to my ‘to read’ list.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 8:00 pm
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    Your books are pretttttttty. I love Half of a Yellow Sun, I can say for sure! If I saw such an attractive edition at the shop, I might not be able to resist. Also, yes, Eudora Welty was definitely white. Someone at the shop must have been confused.

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  • November 22, 2016 at 8:09 pm
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    Somehow it surprises me that there is a ‘black writing’ section. Is there an Hispanic section? Asian? Women?

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  • November 23, 2016 at 2:17 am
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    Eudora Welty defo mis-filed.

    I like those Golden Age Murder style gloves. It must be cold there!

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  • November 23, 2016 at 6:44 am
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    Maybe Eudora Welty was accidentally included because she is a Southern writer? It’s the only explanation I can come up with. Definitely a white woman, though.

    I haven’t read any of those though I have read The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig which I loved. I do have his collected short stories which is massive so I’ve been terrified to tackle it. My library has some of the shorter story collections on e-book, so I’ve downloaded one and hope to read a bit at a time that way.

    Also yellow is apparently ON TREND in the fashion world, so there you go! Obviously, you are very fashionable.

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  • November 24, 2016 at 3:19 am
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    Oh my that IS expensive art! How great that you have new books to read :)

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  • November 24, 2016 at 2:18 pm
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    Book tokens are always such a gift, and what a lovely day out! Have suddenly realized my husband has a pair of ‘serial killer’ gloves in the hall closet…thanks for that image, Simon and Lucy!

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