So many great suggestions! I have recently started reading more again (no doubt related to starting to write here, on Substack) and have decided to not buy any more books until I read all the ones I already have and haven't read... May have to review this decision now.
Thank you for such "care-full" (I'm sure there's an actual word for what I mean, can't think of one, using my "I'm not a native" card here...) and thoughtful post. Going back to read more :)
I'm constantly saying I won't buy books till I've read the ones waiting, but then there is always something just too precious to miss and the moment seems right... :)
What an amazing post, Jan. Knowing something of your life, I'm so admiring of your finding the time to write so comprehensively, insightfully and with erudition of all these books. Many of them we have in common, though I have yet to read some (I didn't know Cunningham had a new book out; I still think The Hours is his best).
I was delighted to scroll down to poetry and see that you'd featured my River Suite. Thank you. Am very grateful.
Thank you Roselle -- yes I loved The Hours -- his ability to condense so much into a short book is wonderful, but Day is also excellent -- set on my middle daughter's birthday too :) I was sad not to have a picture of River Suite but it's on safe loan :) xx
I have just bought copies of Wintering and Wrong Norma (the cover is great!), but not read either yet. There are good reasons for this. I have 12 bookcases totally packed with books - poetry, folklore, politics, history, large and expensive photograph books, plus an inordinate amount of novels, mostly science fiction or fantasy, but also romance, gay as well as straight, who-dunnits, and anything in the bookshop that caught my eye.
My latest reading was Tom Cox's Notebook. Then I must finish the non fiction Two for Sorrow and a handful of poetry books, before attacking Dreamsnake, a fantasy that I started at least two years ago but only reached chapter two. That was probably because I picked up another book and just got immersed. I also indulge in Unbound, an expensive habit, but it feels so good to help an author get published. I discovered this bewitching website during the covid lockdown, and it cost me dear. The website that is, not the covid of which I only got a mild dose post vaccination.
I mentioned the 12 bookcases. There is another one, full of music and film, CDs and original vinyl (me being 75, they really are original), plus a few tapes of Yorkshire regional carols, and other unusual items.
I have to admit, the local bookshop really likes me, and even asked for a list of my folklore books. Almost certainly due to the weirdness of some of them.......
Your house sounds like ours -- more books than walls! Even after we rehomed several van loads before coming to France. You are in for treats with Wintering and Wrong Norma -- and yes. amazing cover. Like you the range here is wildly various.
And music -- a little mine, but mostly whole walls of CDs and albums that are my husband's. His go back a ways but the length of your collection sounds amazing.
Tom Cox's notebook looks really intriguing -- I have 30 unbroken years of journals (one before that were sadly lost) and the idea of losing one is awful.
These objects --real books, real music, the journals we keep have such power, I think -- they chart lives, intersect with memories, give us refuge and so much more and I think there is something lovely about the physicality as opposed to digital versions. Our local bookshop is French language so I'm also amassing nature and herbal books in French and the odd novel and one poetry collection, which was beautiful. It's also a café and in the middle of nowhere but seems to do a fantastic trade in books, which I find really heartening.
So many great suggestions! I have recently started reading more again (no doubt related to starting to write here, on Substack) and have decided to not buy any more books until I read all the ones I already have and haven't read... May have to review this decision now.
Thank you for such "care-full" (I'm sure there's an actual word for what I mean, can't think of one, using my "I'm not a native" card here...) and thoughtful post. Going back to read more :)
Thank you
I'm constantly saying I won't buy books till I've read the ones waiting, but then there is always something just too precious to miss and the moment seems right... :)
What an amazing post, Jan. Knowing something of your life, I'm so admiring of your finding the time to write so comprehensively, insightfully and with erudition of all these books. Many of them we have in common, though I have yet to read some (I didn't know Cunningham had a new book out; I still think The Hours is his best).
I was delighted to scroll down to poetry and see that you'd featured my River Suite. Thank you. Am very grateful.
rx
Thank you Roselle -- yes I loved The Hours -- his ability to condense so much into a short book is wonderful, but Day is also excellent -- set on my middle daughter's birthday too :) I was sad not to have a picture of River Suite but it's on safe loan :) xx
I have just bought copies of Wintering and Wrong Norma (the cover is great!), but not read either yet. There are good reasons for this. I have 12 bookcases totally packed with books - poetry, folklore, politics, history, large and expensive photograph books, plus an inordinate amount of novels, mostly science fiction or fantasy, but also romance, gay as well as straight, who-dunnits, and anything in the bookshop that caught my eye.
My latest reading was Tom Cox's Notebook. Then I must finish the non fiction Two for Sorrow and a handful of poetry books, before attacking Dreamsnake, a fantasy that I started at least two years ago but only reached chapter two. That was probably because I picked up another book and just got immersed. I also indulge in Unbound, an expensive habit, but it feels so good to help an author get published. I discovered this bewitching website during the covid lockdown, and it cost me dear. The website that is, not the covid of which I only got a mild dose post vaccination.
I mentioned the 12 bookcases. There is another one, full of music and film, CDs and original vinyl (me being 75, they really are original), plus a few tapes of Yorkshire regional carols, and other unusual items.
I have to admit, the local bookshop really likes me, and even asked for a list of my folklore books. Almost certainly due to the weirdness of some of them.......
Thank you for this Liz
Your house sounds like ours -- more books than walls! Even after we rehomed several van loads before coming to France. You are in for treats with Wintering and Wrong Norma -- and yes. amazing cover. Like you the range here is wildly various.
And music -- a little mine, but mostly whole walls of CDs and albums that are my husband's. His go back a ways but the length of your collection sounds amazing.
Tom Cox's notebook looks really intriguing -- I have 30 unbroken years of journals (one before that were sadly lost) and the idea of losing one is awful.
These objects --real books, real music, the journals we keep have such power, I think -- they chart lives, intersect with memories, give us refuge and so much more and I think there is something lovely about the physicality as opposed to digital versions. Our local bookshop is French language so I'm also amassing nature and herbal books in French and the odd novel and one poetry collection, which was beautiful. It's also a café and in the middle of nowhere but seems to do a fantastic trade in books, which I find really heartening.