I seem to have been AWOL for a little while, not for any particular reason but one 'good' reason was that I had a brief visit from Constance at Staircase Wit. She was in London for most of the month of June and just before she flew home she came to visit us for her final weekend. We took off for Cornwall on the Saturday for what was very much a flying visit but we still managed to see St. Ives and Fowey and two lovely bookshops therein. My phone played Silly B*****s all weekend so I still have to look and see what I have but I thought I would do a bookhaul post (photos from my tablet) in the meantime.
The two bookshops we visited were The St. Ives Bookseller and Shrew Books in Fowey. We found both to be delightful with a good choice of books and friendly staff.
So, books hauled last weekend.
From the top:
Rebbecca by Daphne Du Maurier needs no explanation from me. I've wanted to reread this for years, in fact I think I've only read it once, in my teens. Constance and I thought we might try to get a look at Menabily while we were in Fowey but despite a lovely walk from the car park to the beach the house is not visible.
Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald, the author of H is for Hawk. This book is an anthology of essays by her.
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker is the second in the author's proposed trilogy of the same name.
The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex is a novel about the disapearance of three lighthouse keepers from a lighthouse off the Cornish coast.
Outlandish by Nick Hunt is a non-fiction book about walking places in Europe which are odd and shouldn't be there. Right up my street of course.
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley sounded good and Constance recommended it, so I grabbed it!
The second pile. From the bottom:
The Pink House by Pip Benveniste was a charity shop grab and is about a childhood in Newlyn, Cornwall.
The final three are books Constance brought with her for me that she'd read and didn't want to haul back to the US.
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin is a novel about working in a bookshop in London in WW2.
The Stranger by Kate Riordan is another WW2 novel set in Cornwall.
From a Distance by Raffaella Barker is a double timeline story set just after WW2 and in the present time in Cornwall and Norfolk.
And some of these have the loveliest covers!
And The Lamplighters has this wonderful painted edge showing birds in flight. I gather this sort of thing is really popular now.
So that was my lovely bookish weekend with Constance, and you'll be pleased to know there was also a lot of icecream and Cornish pasties involved. And endless bookish chat of course.
18 comments:
It was a fabulous weekend! I have not finished unpacking because I went right back to work on Wednesday morning but my pile of books also includes The Lamplighters. Those were excellent small bookstores. I could have done more damage but I still have a welt on my shoulder from my heavy luggage. Still, they let me take it on the plane!
The book I bought for my sister by Jo Spain is really irritating me. There is a character who is a Harvard graduate student living in my actual freshman dorm as a proctor, supervising students. She is known for her alcoholic parties for people not old enough to drink - these days she would be fired immediately and the book is set in the present. Spain also seems to believe the dorm is just for women which is not true now and was not true when it was new. There were other things that were inaccurate and I thought, why not check these details if you want to be taken seriously and are setting a book in another country?
It sounds as though you had a wonderful weekend and you definitely picked a couple of the most picturesque Cornish villages to showcase (at least when it is out of season and there aren't too many grockles around).
Your haul of books is impressive and I do hope that you enjoy getting reacquainted with 'Rebecca', one of my all time favourite books/TV series/films.
Painting book edges is definitely the 'in thing' right now and there are some great clips on YouTube. However one of the most talented and self-taught artists, recently featured in this BBC article...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-61647597
I do wish I could draw or paint, however along with sewing, they are skill which completely elude me!
Nice Post! :)
Oh, Cath, you got some lovely books! I need to re-read Rebecca, too, so I'm glad you reminded me of it. And The Last Bookshop... looks really appealing. Of course, I have a very soft spot for bookshops in my reading! I like the Cornwall setting for several of your choices, too. I think you're going to have some great reading experiences!
A good looking heap of books there.
I've read two out of the 10 so have made notes of a few more!
Bookish weekends are the best! And you got some great books. I love both The Winter Sea and The Last Bookshop in London. You are in for some good reading. :D
How fun! Glad you got to have a nice visit and also take in some new bookstores. Thanks for showing us what you picked up. My new mystery group here is reading REBECCA as our October selection. I think that will be perfect! Enjoy your new books!
Hi Cath,
Sounds delightful, and how I wish I might have been with you both on this jaunt!
I have more to say about the books, and will leave another comment later. Enjoy!
I can tell that you and Constance had a wonderful time together and Cornwall sounds like a perfect place to visit. I am very envious.
That cover for Rebecca is gorgeous. I look forward to your reviews of all of those books. Eventually.
Lovely books! Rebecca is one of my favourite books and I still have my mother's copy. I first read it as a teenager and was fascinated by it - rereading it many times. I last reread it in 2009 (I know this from my blog) and so it is definitely time for a reread. It's a shame you couldn't see Menabilly! The other books look great too. Happy reading!
Constance: I'm still thinking about our weekend, it was genuinely delightful so thank you for taking the trouble to visit us.
I know from experience how hard it is to be in a foreign country, in a bookshop, and not be able to buy what you want because you can't get it back. So I really felt for you. I went a bit mad because I hadn't been in a real bookshop in such a long while.
I understand your frustration with the Jo Spain book. I can't think why they don't get these things checked. A simple tweet would bring up people who would be more than willing to fact check your writing for specific details.
Yvonne: Yes, we did pick a couple of nice towns to visit although I'm not such a huge St. Ives fan. I had, however, forgotten how much I like Fowey and Peter and I are thinking we might find a hotel there and have a whole week in the area. Possibly 'out' of season though.
It's so long since I read Rebecca or saw the film that I don't remember a lot about it. So I think it's going to read more like a new to me book.
Thanks for the link, I'll check that out later. I can sew and draw a bit but for some reason tend not to. It's probably a shame but there are only so many hours in the day.
Margot: Thank you. I went a bit mad because I haven't been in a real bookshop for such a long time. And heavens! there were so many others I could've bought! I like bookshops featuring in my reading too, and you see it more and more now I'm pleased to say.
Sue: I'm glad I supplied you with a few books to think about. What a pity we're not neighbours, I could pass a few on to you when they've been read.
Lark: Oh yes, I 'love' bookish weekends and meeting people who love to read to chat to. And we had such a good time. Good, I'm glad you like those two books, it probably means I will too! :-D
Kay: Thank you, it was a brilliant weekend. Constance was excellent company. Oddly enough, I was thinking Rebecca might be a good read for October, it being such a gothicky read.
Judith: It was such a delightful weekend. I wish so much I could meet more blogging friends like this. A week's get-together of all of us who know each other, in a place where we could visit bookshops and sit around reading in the evenings would be perfect. A big log-cabin place in a forest would suit nicely.
Tracy: Yes, we certainly did have a brilliant time. Non-stop chat, not just about books but about 'everything'.
'Eventually' is correct for reviews of these books (LOL!) but I think I'll be rereading Rebecca in the autumn.
Margaret: It's such a long time since I read Rebecca that I can't remember a lot about it. So I think it's going to feel like a new read. Hoping to get to it in the autumn, I think that'll fit nicely. We couldn't actually see Menabily but the little beaches around it and the lanes were delightful. So quiet and peaceful and very pretty.
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