Old English Rose Reads

In my mailbox

“In my mailbox” is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren in which people share the books that they have acquired that week.

Father, forgive me, for I have sinned.  It has been two weeks since my last confession.

Oh dear.  Oh dear, oh dear.  Well, it seems I do nothing by halves.  Not only have I succeeded in going over my 500 book limit for the TBR pile, but I have done so in spectacular fashion. 500 books is now a mere speck in the distance.  Oops.  For me it seems, book limits are like deadlines for Douglas Adams: I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly past.  I think I may have to declare next week ‘short book reading week’ in order to try to reduce this mountain, at least superficially.  Please bear in mind that this is a fortnight’s worth of books, not just one week, and try not to judge me too much.

From local charity shops:

• Black Swan Green by David Mitchell – I have shamefully not yet read any David Mitchell, and feel I need to rectify this
• Good Behaviour by Molly Keane – I’ve been enjoying books set in the early 20th century and this one was published by Virago, which is always a pretty good recommendation
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne – When I worked in a bookshop, I would often have people coming in to ask for this book so I’m interested to read it myself
• Lucia in London by E. F. Benson – I keep hearing good things about these books.  Now to find the first one
• I’ll Never be Young Again by Daphne du Maurier – A Daphne du Maurier that I don’t own.  Do I need another reason?
• Tales from the Country Matchmaker by Patricia Warren – Another wedding book to add to my pile of fluff reading
• Small Island by Andrea Levy – The Long Song hasn’t yet made it into the charity shops near me, so I thought this might be a good alternative
• The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden – I’ve always thought that this was a beautiful book, so I couldn’t resist this hardcover copy for a mere 50p

From BookMooch:

• Sorceress by Celia Rees – I enjoyed the prequel to this book, Witchchild, and so was pleased to receive a lovely hardback of this book.
• Perfume: The Story of a Murdererby Patrick Suskind – I had this book recommended to me when asking what to read next
• The Keep by Jennifer Egan – More gothic goodness
• The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson – This book sounds fascinating and I’ve only heard good things about it
• Middlesexby Jeffrey Eugenides – I acquired this book after copious recommendations on LibraryThing
• In Search of an Impotent Man by Gaby Hauptmann – Another Virago book for the collection, and the story sounds amusing
• Mistress of Mellynby Victoria Holt – Still more, yet further gothic goodness

Gifts:

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick – I was given this lovely book filled with gorgeous pictures for my birthday.  It looks really good and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Bought in a big box from Ebay (After realising that almost all of my favourite books this past quarter have been published by Virago, I’ve become a little obsessed with this publisher, so how could I pass up a box of eleven [well, ten I don't have] Virago Modern Classics for £8?  I’ve not heard of any of these before, but they all look to be good reads):

• Mary Olivier, a Life by May Sinclair
• The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• Poor Caroline by Winifred Holtby
• All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
• Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
• The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann
• A Wreath for the Enemy by Pamela Frankau
• The Return of the Soldierby Rebecca West
• Frost in May by Antonia White

So, in summary:

Books off the TBR pile this fortnight – 7

Books on the TBR pile this fortnight – 26 (gulp)

Change – +19

TBR pile stands at – 514 books

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