Stuck in a Book

So, I didn’t buy any books on holiday this year….

…of COURSE I am lying to you. I bought fourteen. Most of these came from Bristol, where my brother lives – and thus before we started the holiday proper, I suppose. Books for Amnesty on Gloucester Road in Bristol is something of a treasure trove – I recommend you get there if you can. They even had a half-price sale on whilst I was there, so my books came to an average of less than a pound. A sale at a charity shop does feel a bit odd, but… well, at least I bought a lot.

Diary of Virginia Woolf vol.2

For years I’ve had volumes 1, 3, 4 and 5 – all bought just as I came across them – but I’d never found vol.2 before. Nice to have a complete set now!

Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamund Lehmann

One of these days, I will actually *read* a book by Ms. Lehmann. One day, one day. And I get more and more choices…

Robinson by Muriel Spark

This was her second novel, and will be the second reworking of Robinson Crusoe that I read, after Foe by J.M. Coetzee – having not actually read Mr. Defoe’s book, I might miss something…

Self-Control by Mary Brunton

I read 1.5 novels by Brunton a few years ago, but they were from the library – and I never finished the second half of this one. Brunton is mentioned in Jane Austen’s diary (with some irony) and she’s much more fun than her serious sounding titles appear.

In My Own Time by Nina Bawden

I’ve never actually read anything by Ms. Bawden – although I’ve got a couple of hers, including the wonderfully-titled Tortoise by Candlelight – but she sounds interesting.

The Education of Harriet Hatfield by May Sarton

I keep amassing Sartons, and must read The Magnificent Spinster soon, which came courtesy of Rachel/Book Snob. I picked up this one because I thought I’d seen it reviewed on a blog somewhere… but I can’t find the link anywhere.

And then I got another couple of books in a fun boutiquey little bookshop/cafe – the name of which, sadly, I can’t remember.

The Mighty and Their Fall by Ivy Compton-Burnett

I bought this because it was the nice Virago Modern Classics edition, intending to give away the duplicate – but then it turned out that I didn’t actually have it in the first place! Her titles are all so similar that it’s impossible to remember. I’m feeling ICB-withdrawal, so might head onto this soon. I read one a year, maybe, and it feels like longer than that since I last had an Ivy moment.

Curriculum Vitae by Muriel Spark

This is described as ‘a volume of autobiography’, whatever that means – I hadn’t realised this existed until I saw it mentioned by Frances. So, stumbling across it for 50p was rather serendipitous!

And on into Shropshire – these came from Much Wenlock and Clun. So, despite venturing into Wales, I bought nary a book there. To be fair to our Welsh cousins (and, incidentally, I do have Welsh cousins) I didn’t go to any bookshops whilst there.

Silence in October by Jens Christian Grondahl

I loved Virginia, which I read earlier this year, and was happy to stumble across another novel by Grondhal tucked under a bookshelf in Wenlock Books.

Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford

This nice Penguin edition adds to my Mitford-mania…

Treasure Hunt by Molly Keane

I bought this partly to stock up on more Keanes to read, and partly because I loved the cover.

Women Against Men by Storm Jameson

I’ve been meaning to read Jameson for ages – maybe this one will be my first?

My Next Bride by Kay Boyle

And where better to finish off my haul than a book I bought simply because it was a cheap Virago Modern Classic? Nice rationale, Simon…

Hi everyone – I’m back from my holidays, which were fun – some photos soon, and reports on my (fairly limited) reading. The last four books I’ve read have all been over 400pp., so I’m not rattling through them as I usually would on holiday. Here’s one photo to be going on with (all these years with no photos of me on here, and now you’re spoilt with three in the space of a few weeks… maybe this means I’m getting more confident!) This is me, weary and wet and wholly inadequately dressed, at the top of misty Snowdon.

But, before I do any recapping (and of COURSE there will be a post on my new purchases) I’d like your advice… my camera gave up the ghost on holiday, after having survived a respectable six years. Could you help me with advice for buying a new digital camera? I don’t want anything too fancy, but reliable would be nice, and with good close-up focus thingummy…

Right, this time I really am off on holiday, to Shropshire and Wales sans internet, sans everything. See you in a week’s time!

Thanks for playing along – do keep your sentences coming! Just thought I’d let you know the answers – and point out my bit of trickery, which nobody spotted!

1.) is a rather lovely sentence from The Diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner.

2.) is in fact not Emma, but Mrs. Elton in America by Diana Birchall. Sneaky, no?

3.) was correctly identified by several people as The Bible.

I spotted a fun and familiar idea on Facebook, to celebrate National Book Week, courtesy of my friend Katie. It comes with an unrelated picture of a horseshoe-horse, from Town Tree Nature Garden, which I visited yesterday.

The idea is to grab the nearest book (I wonder if any of us are more than arm’s-length away from a book?), turn to p.56, and copy out the fifth sentence without identifying the book. Fairly pointless, but also fairly fun. I’ll do three – and probably edit to add the book info in after a while. Guesses are welcome! And then, of course, have a go yourself.

1.) ‘It is like turning such a brilliant light onto a tangle of wool that one doesn’t see the woollen tangle at all, only some peculiar rhythm of curves.’

2.) ‘This Miss Woodhouse was intolerable!’

3.) ‘”Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.”‘

So… everyone (including my bro) seems to be reading One Day by David Nicholls – but the 3-for-2 tables and newspaper musings don’t give me the views I rely upon. I’m throwing this open to my ready-made decision-makers. One Day… thoughts? (I’m setting aside the fact that I totally had the idea for this sort of book years ago… except mine was going to cover eighty years… yeah, probably why that didn’t get written.)

Quick blog post, for Wikio blog rankings – always a bit of fun. Tomorrow – expect some Somerset photos, and a list of the books I’ve been buying… although, so far, I’ve bought almost as many for other people as I’ve bought for myself. Almost.

Ranking made by Wikio