What books have you just bought, borrowed or been given?

[Tina]

Letters from Bohemia, by Ben Hecht, and New York Days by Willie Morris...among (um) about 20 books found at the annual Newberry Library used book fair.

[Tina]

Also ordered a used copy of All Done By Kindness, by Doris Langley Moore, based on a review on the Furrowed Middlebrow website.

[Bronwyn]

I've quite a bit recently!

I was given a bunch of older, (mostly/all?) historical fiction ARCs from a friend: The Philosopher's Flight, The Gospel of Mary, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires, The Stolen Child, Speakeasy, The World of Tomorrow, Ecstasy, White Houses, A Mask of Shadows, Warlight, and Sold on a Monday.

At the used bookstore last night I got The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry Into the Salem Witch Trials, Ladies and Not-So-Gentle Women: Elisabeth Marbury, Anne Morgan, Elsie de Wolfe, Anne Vanderbilt, and Their Times, American Cassandra: The Life of Dorothy Thompson, and finally found a copy Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Tina wrote: "Letters from Bohemia, by Ben Hecht, and New York Days by Willie Morris...among (um) about 20 books found at the annual Newberry Library used book fair."

I love library book sales. When the price is so right, I can always find a few true gems and plenty of others to fill in the gaps.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Tina wrote: "Also ordered a used copy of All Done By Kindness, by Doris Langley Moore, based on a review on the Furrowed Middlebrow website."

I looked at this author a moment. I love the photo on her GR page. Fashions during her young womanhood were so interesting,

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Bronwyn wrote: "I've quite a bit recently!"

Quite a haul!

[Bronwyn]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Bronwyn wrote: "I've quite a bit recently!"

Quite a haul!"

Yes! I couldn't believe how many my friend just gave me! :)

[Jan C]

Tina wrote: "Letters from Bohemia, by Ben Hecht, and New York Days by Willie Morris...among (um) about 20 books found at the annual Newberry Library used book fair."

Did you also hit Printers Row this year? I used to live in Evanston.

[Tina]

Jan C wrote: "Tina wrote: "Letters from Bohemia, by Ben Hecht, and New York Days by Willie Morris...among (um) about 20 books found at the annual Newberry Library used book fair."

Did you also hit Printers Row ..."

I did go to the Printers Row fest this year! I meant to just look around, but staggered out with more than a dozen. So I guess I shopped in your stead, as well! ;-) I am hoping for a snowy winter with a lot of reading time!

[Tina]

Bronwyn wrote: "I've quite a bit recently!

I was given a bunch of older, (mostly/all?) historical fiction ARCs from a friend: The Philosopher's Flight, The Gospel of Mary, [book:Th..."

A friend just enthusiastically recommended the St. Vincent Millay biography! She loved it.

[Tina]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Tina wrote: "Also ordered a used copy of All Done By Kindness, by Doris Langley Moore, based on a review on the Furrowed Middlebrow website."

I looked at this author a moment. I love the photo on ..."

That is a great photo!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I've been on another buying spree! (And I must slow down, I'm not a fast reader.)

Paperbacks ordered:

Instructions for a Heatwave
A Dry White Season
The Stone Carvers

Kindle:

River Thieves
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919
To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918
The Haunting of Hill House
Winter
Faulkner: A Biography
Red Gold
Devil in a Blue Dress
Laura

[Nigeyb]

Wow, that should keep you busy for a few weeks Elizabeth. Happy reading.

[Judy]

A great haul there, Elizabeth.

I can't equal that, but I have just visited a wonderful second-hand bookshop in Felixstowe (Treasure Chest Books), where I picked up:
Life at the Top by John Braine - TV tie-on with a photo of a very mid-60s man, despite the book being set in the late 50s, I think.
Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell - one of the Virago reprints with a beautiful cover.
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell - first in a crime series I've been meaning to try for ages.

[Roman Clodia]

I loved Adonis and the other Caudwell books I read - I picked up brand new copies at the Oxfam bookshop and felt very smug at the time! Hope you enjoy it Judy, Caudwell is a wonderfully witty and clever writer.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Added the Caudwell to my wish list. Thank Judy and RC!

[Tania]

I've just bought far too many books. In the Oxfam shop I picked up The Blank Wall, Minnie's Room: The Peacetime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes and Miss Ranskill Comes Home. £3 each! How could I refuse.
Also, some lovely penguin editions of Scoop, Vile Bodies Black Mischief and Put Out More Flags and a lovely old hardback edition of Chatterton Square.
Think I'd best avoid bookshops for a few days.

[Nigeyb]

Great haul. Bravo.

[Tania]

Thanks, now I just need to find more hours in the day...

[Judy]

Sounds like a great selection - I would love to read Minnie's Room in particular.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

You got a good handful, and especially some for Evelyn Waugh. I need to get back to him.

[Susan]

I can never read Waugh too often. He remains one of my very favourite authors.

[Tina]

I just bought used, and quickly read, the adorable "Men Are Like Streetcars" by Graeme and Sarah Lorimer. It was mentioned in a 1932 journal entry quoted in a biography of one of my favorite well-read surgeons (C. Rollins Hanlon). Luckily the next three in the series are still available on the used book sites, so I ordered them: "Stag Line," "Heart Specialist," and "First Love, Farewell."

[Tina]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I loved Adonis and the other Caudwell books I read - I picked up brand new copies at the Oxfam bookshop and felt very smug at the time! Hope you enjoy it Judy, Caudwell is a wonderfully witty and c..."
I agree--she was a very funny author!

[Greg]

"For me, World Within World is without any question the best autobiography in English written in the twentieth century." These words are by John Bayley that begin the Introduction to
World Within World: The Autobiography of Stephen Spender https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

A big call? No I think not from the beginning of the book I've read so far. Incredibly impressed at the start by the quality and insight of Spender's writing.
"With my father it was as though his sense of the dramatic made him inhabit a world of rhetorical situations. Everything for him was a scene in a play written by some rhetorical journalist. If I had to play football, he impressed on me that this was to harden the tissues of my character. His own accomplishments were to him difficulties surmounted with unflinching resolution at the cost of infinite pains. He spoke often in parables which illustrated the point that life was a personal confronting of oneself with vague immensities. He told me that once when he climbed a mountain, the peasant who kept a hut at the top asked him and his friends why they climbed. This why (Pourquoi? she had asked) became for my father the question at the centre of the universe. Whence the spirit of adventure? Why does man essay to scale the stars?"

I found this Modern Library hardback in as-new condition for $2 at a caravan park book swap.

Do we have a thread for Stephen Spender?
An important writer who was initially one who went to Germany with Isherwood.

I like that Spender cuts to the chase at the start of his autobiography. As he says himself in the Author's Introduction "Many autobiographies have irritated me, when I wanted to read about the writer's achievements, by beginning with a detailed account of his early days, forcing me to wade through a morass of ancestors, nurses, governesses, first memories, before I get to what really interests me."

Spender wrote this autobiography between 1947 and 1950 when he was forty, 'wrote much of it on Frieda Lawrence's ranch two thousand meters above Taos, New Mexico.' He shared the first week at the ranch with Leonard Bernstein.

[Judy]

Greg wrote: "Do we have a thread for Stephen Spender?
An important writer who was initially one who went to Germany with Isherwood ..."

We don't have a thread for him, Greg, but you are welcome to start one in our favourite authors section, or I can start one for you - let me know if you'd like me to.

Spender is also one of the authors whose experiences in Germany during the immediate post-war period feature in a book coming up soon as a buddy read, The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich by Lara Feigel.

[Greg]

thanks Judy, it would be better if one of the moderators set up a thread on Stephen Spender. You would do better job. I can't add photos or book covers, so it would be more interesting if you started the thread.
Thanks for the buddy read link. I'll try to get a copy for that discussion.

[Story]

I've just borrowed Guard Your Daughters which I know many here think highly of. I only made it through chapter one before sleep overtook me last night but so far, so good.

[Judy]

A thread for Stephen Spender has now been set up:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Greg]

I've just returned home from travelling through the Outback and around Australia. 100 days, 18,000 kms.
Travelling is also about what one finds along the way. I'd packed a box of books to take, some of which I was already reading. One of the joys of the road are books I find. Op-shops and Roadhouses and caravan park book-swap or buy or free to take. I collected fifteen great finds, collectively to the grand total of $17. Seven of which were free.
One gem I found in Vinnies at Katherine NT for $2. a well travelled 1984 paperback, The Great Crash 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith, first published 1954. Coincidentally I finished reading a few days before the ten year anniversary of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. If you need to sharpen your sense of scepticism, and cynicism, read this book. The last paragraph says it all.
.
  "As noted, all this might logically be expected. It will not come to pass. This is not because the instinct for self-preservation in Wall Street is poorly developed. On the contrary, it is probably normal and may be above. But now, as throughout history, financial capacity and political perspicacity are inversely correlated. Long-run salvation by men of business has never been highly regarded if it means disturbance of orderly life and convenience in the present. So inaction will be advocated in the present even though it means deep trouble in the future. Here, at least equally with communism, lies the threat to capitalism. It is what causes men who know that things are going quite wrong to say that things are fundamentally sound."

I would have thought that the economy is supposed to be important in a capitalist system. The last paragraph of The Great Crash 1929 shows how regardless of subsequent safeguards put in place after a financial collapse won't prevent it happening in future.

And also
Chapter X Cause and Consequence.
"Many things were wrong, but five weaknesses seem to have had an especially intimate bearing on the ensuing disaster. They are:
(1) The bad distribution of income.
(2) The bad corporate structure.
(3) The bad banking structure.
(4) The dubious state of the foreign balance.
(5) The poor state of economic intelligence."

Sound familiar?

The other books I found are:
Who Killed Channel 9? by Gerald Stone. As new hardcover. This looks like a cracker. Free.
The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton. Book swap, first edition hardcover signed by the author, as new condition. The previous owner left a messsage in red coloured pencil on the title page. "To the finder of this book, good story 'enjoy', language warning lots of swearing 'nameste', Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu". I love it.
A Thinking Reed by Barry Jones. As new hardcover. $2 Geraldton WA.
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. As new Penguin Classics, $2 Geraldton WA.
The Underground Man by Mick Jackson. As new paperback. Free
Running In the Family by Michael Ondaatje. As new paperback. Free
Roland Barthes by Andy Stafford. This is great. $3 Port Augusta SA
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. (I've already read this from the Library, good to read again.) Hardcover, free.
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand. Penguin Classics $3 Broken Hill.
World Within World by Stephen Spender. "Is without any doubt the best autobiography in English written in the twentieth century." As new hardcover. Have to agree so far. $2 Geraldton WA.
The Third Man by Graham Greene. Free
Europe, Europe: Forays into a Continent by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. $2 Geraldton WA.
September Roses by André Maurois. Now this is interesting, a 1958 Penguin in virtually new condition from a roadhouse on the Nullarbor. $1
The Last Days of America by Paul E. Erdman. 1981 Hardcover.

[Nigeyb]

That's a very good haul Greg - and what a bargain


Coincidentally Judy, Susan and I were discussing that Galbraith book the other day.

It's sounds well worth a read.

Sadly, it's not currently available in Kindle or eBook otherwise me might have suggested it as a book for the group to read.

[Tina]

What an amazing and fascinating collection!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Greg wrote: "The Last Days of America by Paul E. Erdman. 1981 Hardcover."

To quote Mark Twain: The report of my death was an exaggeration.

[Judy]

Quite a haul, Greg. I can't compete, but I picked up a few goodies at Cromer in Norfolk:

Four Days' Wonder by A.A. Milne - a spoof detective novel about a teenage girl who can't resist trying to solve a mystery after finding her estranged aunt dead. The only detective story by Milne that I've read previously was The Red House Mystery, which I liked, so I'm really looking forward to trying this one too!

Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor - I've been meaning to try another book by this author, as I think the only one I've read up to now is Angel.

Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin - I've read the first book in this series, about 19th-century Russian detective/spy Erast Fandorin, and wanted to read on ... but now I've discovered this is actually book 3 in the series, even though the publisher listed them in the wrong order inside to trick me. ;)

Also, at Cromer Museum, I picked up a beautiful book of photographs, Fishermen and Kings: The Photography of Olive Edis - the author was behind the counter so he kindly signed it for me! Olive Edis was a fascinating character - a pioneering photographer who travelled to France and Belgium to photograph the aftermath of World War 1, and also took pictures of many famous and ordinary people from her Norfolk studio, hence the book's title!

[Jan C]

Nigeyb wrote: "That's a very good haul Greg - and what a bargain


Coincidentally Judy, Susan and I were discussing that Galbraith book the other day.

It's sounds well worth a read.

Sadly, it's not currently ..."

It is available on Kindle in US. You almost had me buying it - thought to check and I already have it on Kindle. I saved $9.99.

[Tina]

Judy wrote: "Quite a haul, Greg. I can't compete, but I picked up a few goodies at Cromer in Norfolk:

Four Days' Wonder by A.A. Milne - a spoof detective novel about a teenage gi..."

Judy wrote: "Quite a haul, Greg. I can't compete, but I picked up a few goodies at Cromer in Norfolk:

Four Days' Wonder by A.A. Milne - a spoof detective novel about a teenage gi..."

Oh, so glad to know about that Milne book! I will look for that!

[Greg]

Elizabeth (Alaska) Greg wrote: "The Last Days of America by Paul E. Erdman. 1981 Hardcover."

To quote Mark Twain: The report of my death was an exaggeration.

Hi Elizabeth, I'm happy to report this is fiction, a "spellbinding novel" that "takes the reader into the world of high finance, megabusiness, international politics, European diplomacy, and high-level corruption."
What could go wrong? Ha.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Greg wrote: "Hi Elizabeth, I'm happy to report this is fiction, a "spellbinding novel" that "takes the reader into the world of high finance, megabusiness, international politics, European diplomacy, and high-level corruption."
What could go wrong? Ha. "

His The Swiss Account looks interesting.

[Susan]

I was under the impression that Milne had only written one mystery. However, I now find that Four Days' Wonder is on kindle... Wonder how so many people got that wrong, as Red House is always listed as his only foray into the genre. Even if it is a spoof, it should count.

[Lynaia]

I was just notified that I won an Early Reviewers copy of The Gospel in Dorothy L. Sayers: Selections from Her Novels, Plays, Letters, and Essays. Of course this means I will need to write a review after reading it which is something I rarely take the time to do but I am excited to get this. I know she was part of the Inklings group with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and am curious how her apologetics compare to theirs.

[Tina]

I just received the new reprint by Handheld Press of John Buchan's inter-war stories, "The Runagates Club":

https://www.handheldpress.co.uk/class...

It's a lovely paperback, and came with a bookmark advertising the John Buchan Society.

[Judy]

Susan wrote: "I was under the impression that Milne had only written one mystery ..."

I've seen that in lots of places too, Susan - I get the impression this type of statement is often copied from one website to another, so it becomes accepted fact - then I suddenly come across a book I wasn't aware of! I think I have read that he also wrote a couple of plays with mystery plots.

Four Days' Wonder looks very light, involving bright young things of the early 1930s. I gather Pan Macmillan have reprinted a number of his adult books.

[Lynaia]

I read the excerpt on Greyladies site for While the Music Lasted and decided I had to buy the book. This is the sequel to She Shall Have Music which I just finished and loved. More money than I usually spend for a book but I just couldn't resist. I loved the first book so much!

The sequel starts just before the start of WWII and may extend into the war years. The author, Kitty Barne, apparently studied the piano at the Royal College of Music so that would explain why she was so spot on with her story of the young musician in the first novel. Cannot wait to get this sequel!

[Judy]

Sounds like a great buy, Lynaia. I was a bit sad that I'd failed to buy Parson's Nine by Noel Streatfeild from Greyladies as they are a bit pricey for me too - I was tempted by this one as it relates to her autobiographical books which I read as a girl, but when I went back to the site it had gone out of print. I get the impression they are not reprinting their titles, sadly.

However I've now discovered that Pan McMillan have just brought the same title out on Kindle, so I will be able to read it after all. :) They seem to be reissung a lot of old titles.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

My copy of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes arrived today. (And sorry, I didn't mean my scan to be so big!)

[Nigeyb]

Wonderful cover Elizabeth - perfect perhaps


I'm really looking forward to reading this

[Susan]

Me too, downloaded on Audible in readiness :)

[Val]

I have just bought The Gilded Chalet by Padraig Rooney.

In the summer of 1816 paparazzi trained their telescopes on Byron and the Shelleys across Lake Geneva. Mary Shelley babysat and wrote Frankenstein. Byron dieted and penned The Prisoner of Chillon. His doctor, Polidori, was dreaming up The Vampyre. Together they put Switzerland on the map.

From Rousseau to Nabokov, le Carré to Conan Doyle, Hemingway to Hesse to Highsmith, Switzerland has always provided a refuge for writers as an escape from world wars, oppression, tuberculosis... or marriage. For Swiss writers from the country was like a gilded prison. The Romantics, the utopians and other spiritual seekers viewed Switzerland as a land of milk and honey, as nature's paradise. In the twentieth century, spying in neutral Switzerland spawned the finest espionage and crime fiction.

Part detective work, part treasure chest, The Gilded Chalet takes you on a grand tour of the birthplace of our best-loved stories, revealing how Switzerland became the landscape of our imagination.

I anticipated that in addition to the names mentioned it will include Thomas Mann (mention of tuberculosis), James Joyce (pictured on cover), D. H. Lawrence (maybe), W. Somerset Maugham (mention of spying) and a few more writers, and not just be another book mainly about the Romantics.

[Judy]

Do you know if that cover is from an early film version, Elizabeth? It has that look about it - great cover.

[Judy]

The Gilded Chalet sounds great from that description - I will be interested to hear what you think of it, Val. Adding it to my TBR.