Haul

Those of you who thought I’d buy myself more than 20 books in Edinburgh – well, sorry, but you lose. I did buy myself 19… and I did buy four for other people. That includes two copies of William by EH Young – one of which I gave to Karen (aka Cornflower – lovely to see her again!) and the other will be up for grabs when my review is posted. Enough about that… I’m sure you want to see the haul that (somehow) accompanied me home in the train.

Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell – Their Correspondence
This was perfect for my recent piqued interest in theatrical history and so forth – Mrs. Patrick Campbell seems such a fascinating character, and I can’t wait to dip into this one. In another shop I held a book signed by Mrs. PC – but it was £75. (Which reminds me; today at work I held a book signed by Vita Sackville-West!)

The Grasshoppers Come – David Garnett
You probably know that I love Lady Into Fox; this one was on my ‘should probably read’ list, although I don’t remember why I chose this title in particular for that list…

Moor Fires – E.H. Young
I hadn’t heard of this one, and have since found it is incredibly scarce (if you don’t want a nasty POD copy) – so my £2 purchase was a bit of a find! Critics do say her early novels aren’t as good as her later ones, though…

The Loved and Envied – Enid Bagnold
I do believe that Carol’s review of this was awarded Best Review of Virago Reading Week by Rachel – it certainly led to me picking up a copy when I spotted it.

Thunder on the Left – Christopher Morley
After loving Parnassus on Wheels and The Haunted Bookshop, I’m keen to try more Morley – and this one has an encouraging introduction from Hugh Walpole.

Designs for a Happy Home – Matthew Reynolds
I read about this on Karen’s blog ages ago, so it was appropriate that I finally snared myself a copy whilst on my way to visit her.

A Model Childhood – Christa Wolf
The first of several VMCs, I have a feeling I left this in the bookshop when I was last in Edinburgh, 16 months ago. This time I was tempted enough to pick up an account of a childhood under Nazi Germany.

A View of the Harbour – Elizabeth Taylor
LibraryThing tells me I already have this… but I certainly don’t have this beautiful edition. I’ve already promised to send my duplicate up to the friend with whom I was staying… once I find it. Also, when I bought it (in a charity bookshop) the sales assistant was a very friendly, knowledgeable man who’d read all Taylor’s novels and said this was his favourite!

Our Spoons Came From Woolworths – Barbara Comyns
Ok, I knew I already owned this, but not with this cover – I love Stanley Spencer’s paintings so much (and they’re so Comyns-appropriate) that I couldn’t leave this on the shelf.

Fraulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther – Elizabeth von Arnim
One day I will read another E von A, after loving The Enchanted April… here is more fodder, when that moment comes.

The Caravaners – Elizabeth von Arnim
And here’s a bit more…

Three Came Unarmed – E. Arnot Robertson
Do you ever find, even when you’ve not read a word an author’s written, that you’re so sure you’ll enjoy them that you fill your shelves with their novels? This is the fourth or fifth EAR novel to be waiting in the wings… (Picture is of McNaughtan’s Bookshop, from which this and several other books came.)

William: the Pirate – Richmal Crompton
One of my ambitions this year was to accumulate as many old William books as I could, if they were a reasonable price. One down, so far!

Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary – Ruby Ferguson
Yes, I have the Persephone edition of this pleasing tale, but I couldn’t resist this beautiful, interesting old edition. And the money from it went to charity… so, basically, I did good.

Maurice – E.M. Forster
Having loved Howards End (oops, still haven’t written about it) I thought I’d see which EMFs I loved and which I didn’t by adding more to my arsenal.

Apricots at Midnight – Adele Geras
I know little about this, but Clare (the friend whose flat I was staying in) bought it for me as she loves it and wanted me to have a copy – thanks Clare!

How Can You Bear to be Human? – Nicholas Bentley
Need I even say that I bought this entirely for the title?

Joy and Josephine – Monica Dickens
I have plenty Monica Dickens waiting to be read, but someone told me the other day that this novel is about twins – and you know how I can’t resist those.

Violet to Vita – the Letters of Violet Trefusis to Vita Sackville-West
More Bloomsbury stuff to read one day…

I was going to list the books I bought a week or two ago in London, but that’ll have to wait for another day, as there’s more than enough to be going on with for now!

You know the drill – read any? Want any? Thoughts, please!

Yes, Project 24 has begun (as I intend to call it) – I’ll keep you updated throughout the year with the twenty-four books which find their way into my home, that’ll be something to look forward to, won’t it – but on the 29th December Our Vicar’s Wife and I took a trip to the wondrous Bookbarn. It’s the biggest secondhand bookshop (nay, barn) in the country, and happens to be a mere thirty-one miles from our house in Chiselborough. So, I went out on a high, buying a pile of books so tall and so unstable that it prompted comment from more than one bystander.

As with my recent Hay-on-Wye haul, I bought lots of Ivy Compton-Burnett novels:
– More Women Than Men
– The Last and the First
– Elders and Betters
– Men & Wives
I’ve stocked up on so many ICBs now that I doubt I’ll have finished them in a decade’s time… but still three or four more to look out for!

Most of the rest of these are novels which I’ve heard talked about in books like A Very Great Profession, or from people who like Persephone books, or Virago Modern Classics… the Yahoo Group dovegreybooks would simply describe them as ‘doveish’, but if you liked any of my Top Books of 2009, then you’ll probably be interested…

– A Wreath of Roses – Elizabeth Taylor (I came away from Nicola Beauman’s biography of ET very keen to read this one)
– An Autumn Sowing – EF Benson (a recommendation from Elaine at Random Jottings)
-The Match Maker – Stella Gibbons (of Cold Comfort Farm fame)
– A Child in the Theatre – Rachel Ferguson (of Brontes Went To Woolworths fame)
– Anne Severn and the Fieldings – May Sinclair
– Mary Olivier: A Life – May Sinclair (since I loved Life and Death of Harriett Frean, I’m intrigued to read more)
– Staying with Relations – Rose Macaulay
– Grand Hotel – Vicki Baum
– High Table – Joanna Cannan
– Guard Your Daughters – Diana Tutton (where have I heard of this? Hands up if you’re guilty!)
– Red Pottage – Mary Cholmondeley (I’ve heard this called one of the best Virago Modern Classics, if memory serves…)
– The Stone Angel – Margaret Laurence (read this in 2007, really enjoyed it, and finally stumbled across a cheap copy. I also bought the film a couple of months ago, and still haven’t watched it.)

– The Silent Traveller in Oxford – Chiang Yee (one of the men working in the Bookbarn somehow found out that I am at Oxford, and so recommended this – it’s a travel diary with beautiful Chinese illustrations. Usually I don’t like travel literature, because I don’t have a visual mind, but I know all the places he’s going already!)

That’s it! (Well, I also bought a book as a gift, which will be flying across the blogosphere soon) Phew. 17 books which, as Mum pointed out, is the equivalent of eight and half months-worth of my book-buying in 2010. That’s quite a sobering thought.

But let’s ignore that, eh, and I’ll just revel in that lovely pile of books. Comments, of course, both welcome and solicited. Green-eyed venom optional.

As you may remember, next year I’m starting Project 24. Not only am I 24 myself at the moment, but that is the number of books I’m intending to buy (for myself, anyway) in 2010. So, before privations set in, my friend Lorna, my brother Colin, and I all went off to Hay-on-Wye for a day’s book buying. It’s a three hour drive from here (if you’re still a fairly nervous driver in the dark, like I am) which left us with 4.5 hours book shopping in Hay – in which time we managed seven shops. Lorna, believe it or not, spends even longer in a bookshop than I do – which makes her the perfect person to take. Colin, wisely, abandoned us as soon as we got there. Not for him the hours looking at every book in the shop.

I realise that I’ve not explained what Hay-on-Wye is, for the uninitiated – it’s a town filled with secondhand bookshops. Yes, filled. We went to seven, but I believe there are over thirty. Some specialist, some general, some tiny, some huge – but something of Elysium for book-lovers. I came away with 15 books, but three of those are presents for other people, so I won’t include them in this list…

The Present and the Past – Ivy Compton-Burnett
A God & His Gifts – Ivy Compton-Burnett
Daughters and Sons – Ivy Compton-Burnett
Secrets of a Woman’s Heart: The Later Life of ICB – Hilary Spurling
As you can tell, the trip was quite a successful one, as regards ICB. And these books actually all came from different shops. Luckily I had my notecards with me, listing every book that I own, so I didn’t get any duplicate ICBs. As I’ve said before about her, I need to ration her novels out – now I have enough to keep my going for a few years at least.

The Love-Child – Edith Olivier
The Seraphim Room – Edith Olivier
Yes, I do have the Virago edition of The Love-Child. Two, in fact. But this was a lovely 1927 edition, and… well, I shan’t bother defending myself. People are in two firm categories when it comes to buying books you already own. Either they find the idea so ridiculous that no amount of rhetoric will persuade them otherwise, or it seems so natural a thing to do that no explanation is necessary.
And then, having seen The Love-Child, I came upon The Seraphim Room. I don’t know about you, but when I’m making special trips to book-towns or big bookshops, I wait for the moment which makes the journey special and memorable. The discovery of a book which will make the excursion worthwhile (above and beyond its intrinsic fun) – and this book was it. I’ve wanted to buy it before, and not been able to find a copy online for less than £70. But this one accompanied me home, having set me back… £4! Hurrah and huzzah!

The Curate’s Wife – EH Young
Though I’ve still not read anything by EH Young, I am now the proud owner of five of her novels.

Sing Me Who You Are – Elizabeth Berridge
I know her as the Persephone author of Tell It To A Stranger – this little novel looked intriguing.

The Debt to Pleasure – John Lanchester
Book Group is reading this later in the year, so I thought I’d pick it up whilst I saw it.

Rose Macaulay – Constance Babbington-Smith
A biography to accompany one of my ‘discoveries’ of 2009 (I am aware that everyone else discovered her before me, but still…)

Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper – Harriet Scott Chessman
Lynne (from dovegreyreader) lent this to me years ago, and I’ve been keeping an eye out for a cheapish copy ever since. In fact I saw half a dozen copies in Hay – like waiting for a bus, I suppose.

Prince – Ib Michael
I’m keen to read more Scandinavian literature, so I pored over the Scandinavian section of the Hay Cinema Bookshop (which is one of my favourites). This Danish novel, subtitled ‘a novel of icebergs and amber’, looks very atmospheric and perfect for a cold winter evening. And trust me, it’s pretty cold here in Somerset at the moment…

As always, I welcome and cherish comments on recent purchases – do feel free. I’m tentatively planning a visit to the Bookbarn before the end of the year, so these couple of weeks are the book equivalent of a huge feast before going on a diet.

I spent the weekend with my brother in Bristol – of course I wanted to see him, but I also wanted to go to the Books for Amnesty shop. It has its own website, which is quite impressive for a charity bookshop, and I documented my first visit to it about a year ago. It’s good quality, cheap, quick turnover, and for a good cause. Of the six books I bought there, all had been put on their shelves in the last month (they date them when they put them out) so the shop really does warrant frequent visits. And of course I also bought three books in another shop… these nine came, in total, to £8.40. A success, I think you’ll agree. Keen eyes will spot 12 books in the Recent Acquisitions pile below… two came from the Albion Beatnik Bookshop in Oxford, one through the post after being recommended by my friend Barbara-from-Ludlow.

Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury
This is the one Barbara-from-Ludlow recommended, as being in the same sort of area as my dissertation.

English Short Stories of Today – ed. E. J. O’Brien
Includes a story by David Garnett, Edward Sackville-West, Antonia White etc. The ‘Today’ in question is 1934.

The Sandcastle – Iris Murdoch
I keep piling up the Murdochs that I *will* read one day… Someone recommended this to me once, I think.

Summer at the Haven – Katharine Moore
A friend of Joyce Grenfell, wrote some non-fiction (e.g. this on maiden aunts) – this slim novel is about an old people’s home, and is apparently amusing and optimistic. Might make interesting reading alongside Elizabeth Taylor’s Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont.

Howards End – EM Forster
Despite not having much luck with his novels so far, I thought I’d persevere. Mostly because of the beautifully inviting cover to this edition. I snapped this up before it even reached the shelves – the shop assistant was putting it out, and I took it from her very hands…

Family Money – Nina Bawden
Not read anything by her yet… but her name has always been on the peripheries of my reading. I’ve had Tortoise by Candlelight forever, though no idea from whence it came.

Family History – Vita Sackville-West
This rang a bell in my mind… I was reminded later that someone was going to send me their spare copy of this. Goops.

The Shutter of Snow – Emily Holmes Coleman
I know nothing about this author, would love to be enlightened. The 1930s novel is about madness, a theme I love reading about… will let you know.

Clash – Ellen Wilkinson
Another author about whom I know nothing, but a £1 Virago ought not be left.

Writing Lives: Conversations Between Women Writers
Newer Virago writers interview older Virago writers – what’s not to like? I can give a full list of authors later, if anybody’s interested?

Among You Taking Notes – The Wartime Diary of Naomi Mitchison
I thought I had other books by her… but apparently not. I always like to have letters or diaries on the go.

Behindlings – Nicola Barker
Sounds quirky and weird, and maybe my cup of tea… at 40p, I thought I could risk it.