The books I got for my birthday

I’m back from my holiday – staying on the Menabilly estate, which is where Manderley from Rebecca is based on! We weren’t in the old house, so no need to worry about unhinged housekeepers – we were in the rather lovely gardener’s cottage. It was a relaxed, fun week. And then I stayed with some friends while my bathroom were redone, so it’s like coming home to a different home. Well, one different room in the same home.

It was my birthday while I was away and, unsurprisingly, I got quite a few books. Hurrah! Some of these were from my wishlist, while others are lovely surprises. From left to right…

Remainders of the Day by Shaun Bythell
If it weren’t for Project 24, I’d have bought this as soon as it was published – as it was, I was delighted to get a copy of it from my parents. And, indeed, I’ve already read it. More soon! It’s the third of Shaun Bythell’s hilarious diaries about running a secondhand bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland. It’s just as brilliant as the others, and I hope he keeps writing them forever.

You Don’t Look Like Anybody I Know by Heather Sellers
The first of two books my friend Malie selected from my wishlist – I don’t remember where I originally heard about this memoir of prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, but it’s a topic I find fascinating.

The English Library Journey by John Bevis
I hadn’t heard of this memoir – of a man trying to get a library card for every library in the UK. But gosh it sounds exactly up my street. A bookish, quirky tour of the country? Yes please. Thank you to my friend Lorna for spotting this and knowing it would be perfect for me.

How To Be A Heroine by Samantha Ellis
The other one from Malie – a delightful-looking book about learning from literary heroines that has been on my wishlist for such a long time. Really pleased to have the opportunity now to read this one.

A Natural History of Ghosts by Roger Clarke
I added this to my wishlist after Rachel mentioned she was reading it on an episode of ‘Tea or Books?’ – it sounded so weird and interesting. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I am very intrigued by the history of people believing in ghosts, and the lengths they’ll go to to find out more. My friend Clare bought it, having also read and loved it, and I think it’s next on my non-fiction reading list.

The Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret
This is the other book from Clare – I added it to my wishlist earlier this year after reading Keret’s brilliant collection of short stories Suddenly, A Knock on the Door.

The Trouble With Sunbathers by Magnus Mills
Sunbathers in a Bottle by Magnus Mills
These were from Colin – I love Magnus Mills, as long-time readers of Stuck in a Book will know, and he got quite prolific in the past few years. I’m going to line these up for Novella A Day In May next year, I think,

The Forensic Records Society by Magnus Mills
And another Mills! Fittingly, this one was from my friend Mel, who introduced me to Mills in the first place. I actually gave this one as a birthday present to another friend a couple of years ago and had to resist reading it myself first, so now I have the chance.

What Writers Read edited by Pandora Sykes
A lovely book about books from my friend Phoebe (aka Esther Rutter, author of This Golden Fleece). Everyone knows how much I love these!

The final ‘book’ on the pile is actually a book of postcards – Tom Gauld’s wonderful bookish cartoons, collected as The Snooty Bookshop, which were a gift from my friend Emily.

Very pleased with my birthday haul – anything you’d enjoy or recommend?