Retro Reads discussion
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The Poll is up for our November read. Edit: We have a winner!
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This is one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments—I nominated Gentian Hill and voted for it, and I’ll definitely read it, but I now have more than 2,000 pages of mandatory reading for November! Better stop chatting and knuckle down.
Sorry, I can’t join in this one - my library doesn’t have it, and I’ve got a pile from the library! Can’t complain, I requested them, but why are they always all available at one time?! Enjoy, everyone!
Will be sorry not to see your comments! I hope you’ll follow the discussion with an eye to maybe seeking it out later.
Abigail wrote: "Will be sorry not to see your comments! I hope you’ll follow the discussion with an eye to maybe seeking it out later."Thanks! I will definitely lurk to read comments. I guess I was lucky my library had The Dean's Watch last year, and it was quite a battered old hardcover. The only Elizabeth Goudge title they have, and I’ve not had much luck finding her in ebook. Hopefully, my big local used book sale, closed the last two years by covid, will be back next spring! Have found treasures there in years past! Shipping is so iffy, I hesitate to order online…I’ve learned, only nominate books I own, or can get through Scribd or my library - hence, Thirkell’s books, Queen Lucia, Auntie Mame.;)
That’s why I love Carol’s “book pool” idea - much better chance of finding more available titles!
Yes, I didn’t nominate any Goudges for the book pool because I didn’t see any ebooks. Such a pity, she's a lovely writer! Maybe I should be writing to the Furrowed Middlebrow series to recommend her for reprints. Or Persephone.
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You can always change the books you have chosen Abigail - as long as you do it before the 31st of December (my time)
Abigail wrote: "Yes, I didn’t nominate any Goudges for the book pool because I didn’t see any ebooks. Such a pity, she's a lovely writer! Maybe I should be writing to the Furrowed Middlebrow series to recommend he..."It really is surprising her books aren’t more widely available- maybe something to do with heirs and her estate and copyrights?
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Are there no paperback editions on Abe's or any of the other used book sites? I did buy an actual almost new paperback copy of The Dean's Watch a few years ago, (I think I spent $10!) but I've owned the rest for quite a while, so I'm not much help.
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I'm lucky - I live in a town full of charity shops. I've picked up quite a few free or nearly free.
I am almost speechless! I have just returned from a visit to my library to collect a book on hold. While I was there I thought I'd just check their stock of Elizabeth Goudge works, and was absolutely dumbfounded to see they had three of her books, and one of those is Gentian Hill!Because they have such a stringent deselection policy/practice it is extremely unusual to find anything older than 3-5 years, depending on genre. They even come up really short on the fiction classics.
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I think it might be a copyright thing as Elizabeth Goudge books are coming up for me as kindles - but other than a children's one called The Runaways (which doesn't appear to be on GR) the prices a..."The Runaways is also known as Linnets and Valerians. It’s one of my favorite Goudge books.
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Awesome. Our library has a really brisk delete policy too - for fiction anyway. Even the Jane Austen's went. They have had a big funding cut so that may have changed & they are getting new editions of some of the retro books.
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I am almost speechless! I have just returned from a visit to my library to collect a book on hold. While I was there I thought I'd just check their stock of Elizabeth Goudge works, a..."Oh, there's nothing like Austen, Dickens, Bronte etc there, unless it is in the form of recently published graphic novels. New Zealand fiction comes into their stringent deselection practice - that's if they have bought anything in that category of late. They outsource a lot of the collection to an Australian library supplier, so there's an abundance of Aussie authors, but not NZ writers. In the last 12 months I've put requests to buy in for 14 works by NZ authors. I was asked how I knew of these titles!!! When I told them of the various sources they just laughed and said maybe I could keep requesting new books and build their collection. My response was what are you paying?
Mind you, other than a couple of the staff, none would know anything about what was published before Twilight Saga anyway.
When I was in NZ in 2018, I found it quite strange that most bookshops where I looked on the South Island had no dedicated NZ fiction section. Some of the museums were more useful and I remember a place in Hokitika with a few books on a separate shelf. I didn't expect that there would be so little promotion of NZ literature. In South Africa, even secondhand bookshops will have separate shelves for African fiction, South African (English) Fiction and Afrikaans fiction plus a dedicated non-fiction section. So I expect that you do need a resource like Goodreads to find the new authors.
Peggy wrote: "Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I think it might be a copyright thing as Elizabeth Goudge books are coming up for me as kindles - but other than a children's one called The Runaways (which doesn't a..."Mine, too! Some really good quotes in that one!
Carolien wrote: "When I was in NZ in 2018, I found it quite strange that most bookshops where I looked on the South Island had no dedicated NZ fiction section. Some of the museums were more useful and I remember a ..."Our little library has an Idaho section for adults and one for kids, plus a couple of shelves for "Western" authors. But like everyone else, the classics are sometimes missing. We do have a big homeschooling population, so that does help with keeping the classics in stock!
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It is something where "it depends." I'm lucky enough to live where there is an Indy book shop & the NZ non fiction is separate. I can't recall about fiction. I know our library has some NZ non fiction separate, the NZ books have a sticker with NZ or NZ author on the spines.
For NZ book recommendations I used to rely on a weekly magazine the NZ Listener but I have stopped our subscription because both of us got behind reading it. Now I check New Zealand book awards - mainly the Ockham's, (NZ awards) Ngaio Marsh Awards (crime fiction & non fiction) & a small one, Adam Foundation Prize.
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Carolien wrote: "When I was in NZ in 2018, I found it quite strange that most bookshops where I looked on the South Island had no dedicated NZ fiction section. Some of the museums were more useful ..."It is a 'depends on' but I have noticed more and more libraries don't have good NZ author collections. It has always felt to me that New Zealanders tend to look at their authors and works as being of a lesser standard than international, including Australian. They miss out on so much!
There are several library suppliers who curate lists of forthcoming titles and provide electronic lists of fiction, junior, non-fiction - broken down by subject - etc. etc., to aid collection developers in libraries, all for free and direct to their email inbox. Through my pre-retirement working relationships (it's not what but who you know) I continue to get the lists relating to fiction (NZ and general), and NZ Non-Fiction.
But, Carol, you might be interested in a couple of sources that are free to use by non-librarians.
Wheelers NZ - this link to pre-release for December, but you can navigate the site for already released ...
https://www.wheelers.co.nz/spb/date/d...
Booksellers NZ have good information on NZ publications
https://www.booksellers.co.nz/new-rel...
UBIQ (bookshop at University of Auckland and supplier to libraries) are a good source also, but because they are closed just now, their listings aren't truly current. Good site to explore though.
https://ubiq.co.nz/
If ever you are needing to find kids stuff then Scholastic NZ are a good source of what's around
https://www.scholastic.co.nz/
Umm, dormant member, first post... Gentian Hill (1949) is available in English for borrow via openlibrary.org. That's where I hope to read it.
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Good to see you, Anne!
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Anne wrote: "Umm, dormant member, first post... Gentian Hill (1949) is available in English for borrow via openlibrary.org. That's where I hope to read it."Good to see you, Anne!"
Thank you, Carol!
Retro Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
Linnets and Valerians (other topics)The Dean's Watch (other topics)
Gentian Hill (other topics)
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