Has it really been a year and a half since I did an Overhaul post? How did that happen? For those who haven’t seen the others in the series (click the tag for more), I go through previous ‘haul’ blog posts and see how many of the books I’ve ACTUALLY read. It’s basically a form of self-reproach. Enjoy!
The Overhaul #8
The original haul is here.
Date of haul: April 2015
Location: Washington DC and environs
Number of books bought: 33 (!!)
One of my best friends moved to Washington DC for a few years in the mid-2010s, and I took a couple of trips out there to see her. While I was there I also got to meet quite a few bloggers, some of whom are still blogging and some aren’t. On my own, with my friend, and with those bloggers I bought a whole heap of books. Here’s what I got in my second trip, in 2015.
So, what did I buy, have I read them, and what are my excuses if I haven’t…
The World in Falseface – George Jean Nathan
I haven’t seen this book about the theatre for a while. Do I still have it?? Let’s assume yes, and I think I even started it once, but didn’t get very far.
The Small Room – May Sarton
I don’t think this is regarded as one of Sarton’s best works, but I liked this novel about a teacher facing a moral dilemma more than the other two Sarton novels I’ve read.
Last Leaves – Stephen Leacock
I have read more books by Leacock in the past few years, but I don’t think this is one of them.
Nabokov’s Butterfly – Rick Gekoski
A book about books – specifically book dealing with 20th-century classics – and I read it on the plane on the way home! I really enjoyed it, with the usual caveat that I don’t much care how much books are worth, or about first editions etc, and that was something Gekoski did care about.
The Pilgrim Hawk – Glenway Wescott
Haha, at some point I somehow ended up with three copies of this book? Well, clearly I thought it would be something I’d like – and I was right. A beautiful, sinister book about a relationship with a bird becoming all-consuming.
Alien Hearts – Guy de Maupassant
I didn’t read this, and I culled it when I realised I was just gathering NYRB Classics because they were beautiful and was hardly ever reading them.
Portrait of an English Nobleman – E.F. Benson
Janet – E.F. Benson
I’ve read lots of Benson since this haul – I’m reading one now! – but not these.
The Shelf – Phyllis Rose
Oh how I loved this book, about choosing to read books just from one shelf of a library. I read it while I was in DC and it was one of my best reads of the year – maybe my favourite of all.
Soap Behind the Ears
Nuts in May
The Ape in Me
Dithers and Jitters
Family Circle – Cornelia Otis Skinner
This wasn’t a lucky stumble across a pile of Cornelia Otis Skinner books in a bookshop. I love her writing and she’s hard to find here, so I had a parcel of them sent to my friend’s apartment before I arrived. The problem is that they’re all so similar that I don’t really know which I’ve read. I know I haven’t read Family Circle, which is a memoir rather than a collection of sketches. But I’ve definitely read at least three of the others. Who knows which three.
Barrel Fever – David Sedaris
Naked – David Sedaris
Sedaris is another one who is readily available in the US, and a little less so here, so I bought up a couple – and I’ve read Naked.
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House – Eric Hodgins
I watched the Cary Grant / Myrna Loy film the other day! And I read the book on a lovely holiday in January 2019.
Classics for Pleasure – Michael Dirda
WHY haven’t I read this book about books? But I have not.
Why I Read – Wendy Lesser
I think I have read this one, but I wouldn’t swear 100% to it. Except for sake of totalling up this blog post, in which case let’s say I’m certain.
Benefits Forgot – G.E. Stern
G.B. Stern had languished on my shelves for a long time, but last year I had a bit of a Stern binge and read a few – including this volume of her idiosyncratic memoirs. Which are really just a series of thoughts, references, memories, allusions tethered loosely around a theme, and very enjoyable.
Bookends – Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern
Another book about books which I have not yet read…
The Ironing Board – Christopher Morley
I must read more Morley. I have not read this one. But PLEASE believe I have bought others since. And not read those either.
By Nightfall – Michael Cunningham
Oh Michael Cunningham, PLEASE write more books. I have read everything he’s written now, including this one – not among his best, but still excellent. I particularly remember the affectations of the conceptual artist, and the moment when they come crumbling down.
Mr Whittle and the Morning Star – Robert Nathan
The Enchanted Voyage – Robert Nathan
Robert Nathan’s books are so easy to find in the US and so hard to find in the UK. They’re always short, light, fun and these two were no exceptions. I’ve read them both, and enjoy the wonder he can somehow bring to something as silly as ‘sailing’ a boat across land.
Absence of Mind – Marilynne Robinson
I’ve not read it, and now that I have read another book of Robinson’s essays, I can’t imagine I’ll race to it… I didn’t understand very much of When I Was a Child I Read Books.
Family Man – Calvin Trillin
Remembering Denny – Calvin Trillin
Yessir, I’ve read these! And particularly got a lot out of Remembering Denny, about a high school friend whose promise didn’t (in Trillin’s eyes) materialise.
Literary Feuds – Anthony Arthur
This was so fun! A non-fic book about different feuding authors through time. Gossipy and probably unnecessary, but I lapped it up.
Letters from the Editor – Harold Ross
Turns out you can be the editor of the New Yorker and still write incredibly boring letters. I read this, but I don’t have it anymore.
The Year of Reading Proust – Phyllis Rose
Another book by Rose that I bought and read while in America – as with The Shelf, she writes about a reading project in such an interesting way, bringing her life into the mix just as much as the books.
The Faithful Servants – Margery Sharp
Another author I’ve read a lot of in the eight years since this haul, but not yet The Faithful Servants.
Two-Part Invention – Madeleine L’Engle
A favourite of Claire the Captive Reader, I also really got a lot out of this moving memoir. The third in a trilogy, it turns out, so I’ll have to read backwards through them.
Overall, I don’t think I’ve done too badly from this haul!
Total bought: 33
Total still unread on my shelves: 12
Total no longer owned: 2
Gosh, that was quite a haul, and you *have* done well in reading a lot of them!
I think this is my highest success rate, despite being my most recent haul I’ve covered in the Overhaul!
I should do this too. Monthly I blog my reads and my purchases, but I haven’t yet looked back to see how good I am at actually reading what I buy.
The Shelf sounds great! I put it on my TBR shelf. I’m also going to peruse my local library see if it wouldn’t be too horrible to try the same thing. :O
It is fun to look back, and only sometimes dispiriting :D
I want to reread The Shelf now, though part of me worries it won’t be as good as I remember. Do let me know if you try something similar!
Did you know I’m from the Maryland suburbs of DC (Silver Spring and Bowie)? I must not have been following you in 2015 or I would surely have begged details of where you went and where you shopped! I am very impressed by how many books you managed to take back. I’ve managed similar feats on some occasions, but usually by having a second suitcase. (I agree Marilynne Robinson’s essays are impenetrable.)
Oh, I didn’t know! I stayed in Maryland suburbs for a couple of nights while there, I think the Chevy Chase area. I don’t remember which shops we went to except, of course, Capitol Hill Books.
If you ever get back to MD, you’ll have to get to one of the branches of Wonder Book and Video — I worked there in college and it’s great for bargains on secondhand and vintage books, as well as remainder copies of new ones. 2nd & Charles (a nationwide chain) is where I stock up on used paperbacks of recent stuff, often for just $1 or $2 from the clearance shelves.
Golly your suitcases must have been heavy! I never found any second hand stores when I was in the US sadly – just outlets of Barnes and Noble. Prices were quite high I thought – maybe the second hand ones are cheaper?
When you’re in the US, search for Half-Price Books. It’s a chain and in quite a few states. In some cases, there are several.
I was casually trying to walk through security with my shoulder bag filled with books – looked less casual when they spilled all over the conveyor belt!
This is a dangerous post. I have added a few to my TBR. History will tell when I finally get to read them, lol
You can have them unread on your shelves to match mine :D
Pretty good going Simon! Only 12 unread is impressive. The Faithful Servants I thought wasn’t as sparkling as some of Sharp’s work (I think it’s one of her later novels, written after her husband died) but still plenty to enjoy.
How organized to keep such good track of your book hauls! And good job with this one, hopefully you’ll get through the remaining books in time. I have fond memories of reading and watching Mr Blandings in the course of my Reading New England challenge some years ago. And Madeleine L’Engle’s Crosswicks books are lovely, although the reality was sadder than her portrayal — it seems she was never able to write about the alcoholism in her family.
I must read something by Michael Cunningham…
I didn’t realise Mr Blandings was based on a book, I love that film and it’s just got better!
Yes, come on Cunningham, do another (good) one, please!
I have been inspired by these posts, however sparse they are, to report at the start of a review on the status of the books acquired at the same time as the book under review. Quite interesting as I claim to read in acquisition order but often find I’ve actually picked up a few in advance!
My husband has two trips to America coming up and he foolishly said to me “I imagine I’ll be near bookshops so give me a list of the books you find it hard to get over here in case I can get them”. “Why, here is your empty suitcase, my dear …”
Yes please Michael!! And what an interesting way to look at the tbr pile, I really like that.
Haha, your poor, kind husband!!