Oh, they’re wonderful. Library and college booksales.
NCL lovelies
(Sinclair Ross’ The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories; Robertson Davies’ Samuel Marchbanks’ Almanack; Ethel Wilson’s Swamp Angel…an old addiction)
John Wyndhams
(Day of the Triffids* and The Chrysalids: why don’t I already have these? Maybe because that BBC mini-series* in the ’80s scared the snot out of me.)
Chinua Achebes
(Arrow of God; No Longer at Ease: because Things Fall Apart isn’t enough)
Cyprian Ekwensi’s People of the City
(but how could I resist when they “match”: a new addiction?)
Wayson Choy’s The Jade Peony
(because I loaned out my copy, which is fine, because this one is lovely)
Beverly Cleary’s Dear Mr. Henshaw
(because I have this thing about letters these days and I re-read all the Ramona books this summer)
Charlotte Smith’s The Old Manor House
(because I once read many of her works on microfiche and it was painful)
Penelope Fitzgeralds
(At Freddie’s and The Golden Child: she’s one of my MRE authors)
Timothy Taylor’s Stanley Park
(Canada Reads reading)
Maureen Jennings mysteries
(the first, Except the Dying, which I loved and the second, Under the Dragon’s Tail)
P.D. James’ Cover Her Face
(the first Dalgleish, which somehow I am missing, and I’ve a hankering to re-read those)
And, then, standing in the back row:
Bernard Assiniwi’s The Beothuk Saga (Trans. Wayne Grady)
(because I’m freshly hooked on such things)
Joe Fiorito’s Union Station
(more Toronto reading)
Laura Goodman Salverson’s Confessions of an Immigrant’s Daughter
(because it won the 1939 GG and I’ve this idea someday I’ll make a reading project of those too)
Rosamund Lehmann’s The Swan in the Evening
(she, too, is one of my MRE authors)
Stella Gibbons’ Here Be Dragons
(because I’ve never, ever even *seen* one of her books other than Cold Comfort Farm)
Gloria Naylor’s The Men of Brewster Place
(because I didn’t realize she’d written a companion to The Women of BP)
Kelley Armstrong’s No Humans Involved
(it’s the one after the one that I’m ready to read in the series and I like to have one in reserve)
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
(and what exactly happened to my copy of this one?)
Charles deLint’s Dreams Underfoot
(because I keep trying to read this from the library and it keeps getting pulled away from me again and I can’t read any of the other Newford books I’ve collected until I read this one, right?)
Now. Please. Tell me that you would have done the same thing. Except maybe with different titles.
And then tell me which ones you’ve read or which ones you want to read.
::rubs palms in anticipation::
I love PD James and am reading Talking About Detective Fiction right this minute. I also recently bought a secondhand copy of a Kelley Armstrong novel too:) It’s normal, all this book buying. Really.
Thanks, Sakura. I left a copy of her earlier non-fiction work at that sale and I’m still kicking myself; she really is “something else” indeed.
Nice list! I’m curious about the Charlotte Smith novels you’ve read. I’ve read The Young Philosopher, which was pretty good, but would like to read more at some point. She seems like an unjustly neglected early novelist. Her poems are interesting as well.
I read them in such a blur that I’d have to check the bibliography to know for sure; I liked them all well enough at the time, but I know I didn’t do them justice plowing through with only an eye to finishing, so I hope to collect them all and make myself a proper reading list. I don’t have The Young Philosopher yet, so I guess I’ll have to go to another booksale after all!
Of course I would have done the same thing! And probably even worse! I’d start with either Maureen Jennings, who I have heard many good things about, or Rosamund Lehmann who I have read and want to read more of! I missed the last library book sale. Unfortunately we only have public library booksales locally (so lots of popular stuff, but I always find some good unusual books, too).
I bet you would like the Maureen Jennings books quite a bit, actually, Danielle. I wonder if they stock them in your amazing library, or if you’d be left to the miracle of ILL once more…
Didn’t you do well?! I missed Vic but hit Word on the Street today, two kids in tow, and towed home significantly more than two books home. Thinking that someone might have to do an intervention soon….
I was remarkably well-behaved at WOTS today. And a lot of that had to do with the Vic insanity. (And with my untouchable powers of list-making. Because just because I didn’t buy them there doesn’t mean I won’t buy them in a week or so when the guilt surrounding this bulk purchase has faded a tad.) We’re probably about even. ::grin::
WOW that’s quite a haul! I love booksales. I go whenever I can find one and never, ever leave empty-handed!
Let’s see. I read Dear Mr. Henshaw, but years ago, so I don’t think it counts anymore. However, there are a few on there I’d love to read (let me know if/when you pick them up and I’ll try to read along!): something by Chinua Achebe (I have Things Fall Apart but would try anything), Here Be Dragons, and Invisible Man.
Enjoy your new acquisitions!
When is it that books-read-once become fresh-reads anyway? When are they no longer re-reads because the time that has passed is so lengthy. Funny, isn’t it!? (Yes, I’ll be sure to let you about those titles that overlap between our reading plans. With pleasure!)
I love The Day of the Triffids! It’s terrifying but worth reading. I’ve never seen the movie. If I had, I might not have read it either.
*shudders** Uh oh.
I love when book sales are so fruitful! And like you I can rationalize every purchase. My favorite is, “it’s the one after the one that I’m ready to read in the series and I like to have one in reserve.” Oh right, because if you didn’t do that you wouldn’t have anything else to read would you? ::grin::
Looks like a great list — I’ve only read Invisible Man but would have snapped up the Gibbons and Lehmanns too.
That’s right, Laura. I would not have a single other book to read if I didn’t have the one after the one that’s next in the series to read. That’s right. *Hopes that repetition makes it sound more plausible*
I would have done the exact same thing. Now, you’ve picked the best Achebe in my view: Arrow of God. I would love to the Ekwensi book. I also wonder how it is that I’ve not read Day of the Triffids. I’m yet to read a Penelope Fitzgerald though she is on my list of authors to try. BTW, I like your MRE authors. I’d love to compile a list of my own. Ah, Invisible Man deserves a re-read for me. Enjoy your reading but read Arrow of God first! All the best.
Oh no, oh no. I want to, Kinna. Just because you’ve said so. But reading it puts it out of chronological order. I’m not sure I can… ::looks nervous:: Maybe I should collect them all first, and then I won’t have to worry so much about reading order when they’re all sitting right in front of me.