An October Reading Wrap-up and some Spooktacular Books

What I read in October:  October was a terrible month for reading.  I only completed three books.  I usually at least read five a month and normally I'm reading heavily during the cool, Autumn months.  I think I can chalk this up to a sick kiddo, a big party for the kiddos, painting bedrooms, hauling off garbage and donations, and all other manner of incredibly useful but not conducive to reading activities.  In October I finished Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton; this was book about dragons with their own Victorian-like society and it was heavily influenced by Anthony Trollope's Framley Parsonage.  Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale was a non-fiction book concerning a Victorian woman's diary that seems to tell of a tawdry sexual affair.  While interesting, Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace seemed to barely dance upon a feminist perspective of marriage, law, sexuality, and creativity.  I either wanted the book to be more exciting or "novel-like" or really plum the depths of women in Victorian society.  The last book was my re-read of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling.  As always, it was delightful. 

All Hallow's Read Swap:  My All Hallow's Read Swap came in last week!  I received a book of Edwardian and Victorian Gothic tales (yay!) and an adorable little wind-up Dracula!  Thanks Alexandra (aka thesleeplessreader.com).  She sent it all the way from Brussels.  I feel so special.  I mailed mine on Friday (I know, cutting it close).  I hope it has arrived.

Library Book Sale:  In other exciting news, I broke my book-buying ban!  I haven't bought any books since May 30th.  I spent $26 for 25 books.  Behold!

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
In Hazard by Richard Hughes
Anasi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The King's Grace by Anne Easter Smith
The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson (NYRB)
A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton Burnett (NYRB)
Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette (NYRB)
Wish her Safe at Home by Stephen Benatar (NYRB)
The Wives of Henry the Eighth by Antonia Fraser
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins
Father Melancholy's Daughter by Gail Godwin
Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott
The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith
I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Whew!  An excellent haul!

Goals for November:  I'm motivated by my recent purchases and things seem to be settling down at home into a normal and cozy fall routine.  I'm ready to kick my reading up a notch in November; after all, I still need to complete 13 books to reach my goal of reading 50 books this year.

On the docket for November:

Finish up The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories by MR James
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill
84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

Cheers to blustery days indoors with a homemade decaf pumpkin spice latte, a quilt, and stack of books!

On Babies and Books and E-Readers

Baby #3 is due in February.  I told Sam that I absolutely want an e-Reader for Christmas.  I remember Atticus nursing every 2-2.5 hours for 30 minutes to an hour at a time FOR THE FIRST 4 MONTHS. I'm not a TV gal and one can only watch so many Masterpiece Drama DVDs.  I tried to read ...but I ended up propping the book on Atticus at times.  And then there was the time I decided to re-read Harry Potter because I didn't think my brain could focus on anything else. I was screwed, propping those monster books up and turning pages was awful.

Now, I have never really wanted an e-reader. I like the feel, smell, and texture of good ole tangible books. I don't want an e-reader to be an expensive -- at least expensive to me -- something and I only use it for 6 months.  I know I will mostly download free classics and library books. No Fifty Shades of Bleh for me.

Book buying...my one addiction (excepting coffee).  You know what this means..... collection development policy update time.

I notice that I've really moved away from buying random titles and I do much better with buying authors, titles, and publishers that I collect. I'd really like to move to completely collecting titles either with a particular publisher I am already collecting (Virago, Persephone, NYRB) OR move to getting "nice copies". For example:

The Penguin English Library (paperbacks)

Hardback Puffin Classics

Penguin clothbound books

Penguin threads

Penguin deluxe classics

I have to hand it to Penguin, this press is really thinking ahead.  I think in this day of e-books the artistry of monographs will be what people will look to buy.  My plan is to limit my purchases to 1). presses I collect 2). beautiful copies and 3). good condition vintage copies of authors I love.  I also plan on slowly replacing some of my worn out thrift store books and ex-library copies with nice copies. I'm also putting aside classics for the kids. I know Hope isn't a big reader, but my Dame Darcy illustrated copy of Jane Eyre will be for her -- if she wants it.

Here is what I'm envisioning -- e-reader for nursing sessions, at the cafe, and on my work lunch breaks. Then when I'm at home and the kids are in bed I will brew a pot of tea, curl up on the couch, and read a beautiful, pristine, artistically rendered edition of the classic I am reading on the e-reader.  The best of both worlds indeed.

What do you think of my plan?  If you have an e-reader, how do you determine what to buy electronically versus hard-copy purchases?

Readerly Rambles: 06/06/12

My blogcation lasted a bit longer than I intended.  The brief rundown:  I went out of town for a library training on Wednesday, returned on Thursday, stayed late at work on Friday, cleaned house on Saturday, grocery shopped and worked over 8 hours on Sunday, and then worked on Monday and Tuesday.  We have a new employee who started this week and she got my old office and I moved to a cubicle.  I had the biggest office, but I gladly gave it up.  The new employee, Amy, is an administrative assistant and she will be doing ALL THE BILLING, ACCOUNTS, AND ORDERING!  I hated the secretarial aspects of my job; now I can concentrate full-time on my library work and specifically interlibrary loan.  I'm stoked.

Despite the crazy busyness of the last week or so I have managed to have a delightfully bookish time.  In addition to finishing Hilary Mantel's Bring up the Bodies -- expect a review early next week -- I increased my book pile.  I went with three librarians (I'm a paraprofessional) to Chattanooga for a training.  The training started at 9am on Thursday and is about a 3 hour drive away so we went up the night before.  We had a chance hit up McKay Used Books, CDs, Movies, & More which came highly recommended by a fellow booknerd (thanks, Rachel)!  We spent roughly 2 hours in the shop -- until they closed -- and I didn't even make it to the second floor to look at music.  I shopped mostly with my booknerd friend Melissa and we continually had bookgasm after bookgasm.  She was thrilled to find a copy of The Wide, Wide World (a novel Jo March read in Little Women).  I was pretty thrilled with my finds; here are my spoils:

•  A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen
• Dolly by Anita Brookner
• The New House by Lettice Cooper (Virago!)
• Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
• The Queen of Subtleties by Susannah Dunn (I didn't realize this was large print, but it was only a $1)
• Taking Chances by M.J. Farrell (Virago!)
• An Elizabethan trilogy by Patricia Finney (Firedrake's Eye, Unicorn's Blood, and Gloriana's Torch)
• The Virgin in the Garden by A.S. Byatt
• The Ship of Widows by I. Grekova (Virago!)
• The New York Stories of Henry James (NYRB!)
• The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison 
• The Third Miss Symons by F.M. Mayor
• The Bell by Iris Murdoch
• A Message to the Planet by Iris Murdoch
• A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
• Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
• The Children of Henry the VIII by Alison Weir

I only spent $37!!!

19 books for less than $40.  It was pure heaven.

Over the weekend I realized that even my wee bedroom bookshelf was overwhelmed with books to read.  I selected seven books to concentrate on in June.  I've finished the Mantel novel and I'm still plugging through the Bowen stories.

Other books in the June TBR pile:

• This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
• A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen
• My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier (a re-read)
• The Music at Long Verney by Sylvia Townsend Warner

I'm pleased as punch with the bookish direction my summer is going.  I have a few vacation days in June and I planning on devoting a chunk of the time to reading.

I'm hopeful I'll make a dent in this book pile by next Wednesday!

TSS: A Bookish Birthday Wishlist

On April 27th I will turn 32.  I know I should be over birthday excitement and making gift lists and such, but I like to use my birthday as an excuse to splurge on books.  Let me define a splurge for you; typically a book splurge is around $30.  Before I had two kids (yay daycare costs) I would sometimes spend $80 - $100 once a year at my birthday on books.  This is where the wish list is exciting.  I hardly ever buy new books or books online and most of my purchases stem from thrift store shelves or charity bookshops.  The chances of me running into that wishlist book on a random jaunt to the thrift store are slim, so I keep a dream book list to whittle away at on my birthday.  Birthday money is being saved for bookish purchases!

Alright, here we go, 32 books for a 32nd birthday:

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (I eventually want all of these)
No Name by Wilkie Collins

 

The Glass of Time by Michael Cox
Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman
The Reckoning by Sharon Kay Penman
Cousin Rosamund by Rebecca West

 

The Red and the Green by Iris Murdoch
William -- An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton (Persephone!)
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford

 

 

The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh
Man of Property by John Galsworthy (vintage Scribner's)
To Let by John Galsworthy  (vintage Scribner's)
 Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writings by Angela Carter

 

To the North by Elizabeth Bowen
Elizabeth Bowen by Victoria Glendinning
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Autobiography of Henry VIII with Notes by his Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George

 

Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee
The Diary of Virginia Woolf, volume 1
The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Element of Lavishness:  Letters of William Maxwell and Sylvia Townsend Warner, 1938-1978

 

Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and Power by Susan Hertog
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

 

The Shadow of the Sun by AS Byatt
The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Tales by HP Lovecraft
Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by MR James
The Haunted Doll's House and Other Ghost Stories by MR James

My Collection Development Policy

I work in a library as a library assistant and am quite familiar with the useful purposes of a collection development policy.  Essentially a collection development policy guides a library's purchasing choices and also assists with weeding.  Collection Development policies ensure that a collection meets the needs and desires of users.  I can't believe I didn't think to write a policy for my own book-buying until a few months ago.  And it has taken me until last week to go about actually writing it down.

This is how I knew it was time:

Summertime.  The night of the Harry Potter 7.2  midnight movie.  In Barnes and Noble.  $25 in my pocket.  Absolutely panicked.  Finally I have a chance to buy books.... but what?  I can only buy one or two items and there's so much!  Fiction? Classics? Non-Fiction?  Ack!!!!!!!  I finally chose a novel, but the process was disconcerting.  I was overwhelmed with choices, limited with funds, and had no idea what I even wanted.  I had a title or two in my head, but when I couldn't find those on the shelves I felt severe anxiety.  Booknerd Anxiety.

A few weeks later, a repeat.  Same summer, but this time a used bookstore.  $20 in my books and too many choices.  Same issue.

Then this fall a completely different problem.  I blew $20 at the charity library sale and came home with close to 40 books.  I just grabbed what looked interesting and now I don't know where to put them all. 

Okay.  Seriously.  I need a collection development policy. 

Amanda's Collection Development Policy

General Scope:  Mostly British / Classics / Women Writers / Historical Fiction

Collected Presses:  Virago / Persephone / NYRB

Areas of Collection Growth:

Poets:  Sylvia Plath / Anne Sexton / Edna St. Vincent Millay / T.S. Eliot / W.B. Yeats

Story Collections:  From collected authors (see Authors list) / Mystery / Gothic and Ghostly / Historical / Fables and Fairy Tales

Historical Periods and Interests (for topical fiction and non-fiction collection):  Victorian / History of the Book / Memoirs and Biographies by and/or about writers / British History 1400-1600 / Bohemian Leftbank / WWI, WW2, and in between / Classic Art / Fables and Fairy Tales

Authors:  Sharon Kay Penman / The Brontes / Elizabeth Gaskell / Charles Dickens / Wilkie Collins / Evelyn Waugh / Angela Carter / Elizabeth Bowen / Shirley Jackson / Margaret George / Simone de Beauvoir / Virginia Woolf / George Eliot / E M Forster / John Galsworthy / Sylvia Townsend Warner / Rebecca West / Emile Zola / Iris Murdoch / Barbara Pym / Patricia Highsmith / A S Byatt / H P Lovecraft / M R James / Margaret Atwood

Those are the basic parameters. 

Here are essential questions to ask before buying a book:

• Is this item in good shape?
• Is it from a press I collect or an area of collection growth?

Questions to Ask After Reading (must answer "yes" to at least four of the following questions to keep the book:

• Will I read this again?
• Will I wish to consult this item again?
• Do I wish to lend this title to friends/family or save it for my children?
• Is this a press I collect?
• Does this fall within the areas of collection growth?
• Is this a quality item (in good shape, excellent translation, etc....)?

Now I have a plan when I shop.  First check for the presses I collect, second check my author list, third check for poetry and short stories, and fourth check for non-fiction titles.

This really really really makes me want to buy more books just to check out the policy.  My next book-nerd clean up task is to do a massive book reorganizing, create a plan of attack for reading my books that I'm not sure I'll keep, and then updating my LibraryThing (which is vastly incorrect and hasn't been updated in two years). 

Cheers for my nerdy OCD! 

Give me some feedback?  What do you think of my policy? Do you have a policy?

Date Day, with a special appearance by John Galsworthy!

 About once a month Sam and I try to go on a date,; every once in a while we are able to sneak away for a date day.  That's right, an entire day kids free.  This Saturday we had eight glorious hours of not cleaning house, not wiping up drool, not arguing with a tween, and generally acting like grownups.

We started the day off by becoming inordinately enraged.  Sam went to cash his check at the bank (the bank he has an account with -- Regions Bank) and they wouldn't cash his check.  Yup.  The bank he banks with wouldn't cash his check,  scary.  Apparently you must have the same amount in your checking account as your check.  That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.  We considered staging an Occupy Regions, but decided against it.  Luckily, Wells Fargo cashed the check since that is where Sam's employer banks.  Guess who's moving to a credit union next week?

After that we went to Target.  It was glorious.  No shoveling goldfish.  We didn't look at a single Selena Gomez CD.  We bought a shower curtain and a baby gift for some friends.  It rocked.  Then on to Athens!  We don't give a flip about football and so we didn't even realize that it was the Georgia vs. Auburn game.  Whoopsy! We were stuck in traffic for a bit.  Surrounded by GINORMOUS SUVs filled with folks wearing red and black.  I watched with fascination as one debutante styled her hair with gallons of hairspray and she teased her hair like a Harpie in heat.  I nearly wept for the ozone. 

Once we arrived we decided to fork out $10 to park outside of a thrift store and spend the day walking.  It was lovely out.  We went to said thrift store and it was a bust.  I picked up one book.  We place was so bare.  I tell you -- good thrifting occurs on weekday mornings (that's when you can get the good stuff). 

Next, lunch at Siri Thai.  I had some delicious noodles and then Sam had a curry.  Then a walk to Avid Books, the new book store in Athens.  The store is adorable and while the selection is small it is very well selected.  I'll take a fiction section of 300 well-chosen titles over miles of crap any day.  I picked out a board book about bugs for Atticus's Christmas and The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald for myself. 

Then we walked over to the vintage shop Modern Star and I promptly spent all of my money.  I luv this place.  I passed up a mid-century modern teapot when I saw these:

a treasure trove of vintage Scribner's John Galsworthy novels.  The Forsyte Saga for the win!  Sam bought a vintage suitcase to make a portable art kit and then he bought me a Trifari enamel owl brooch.  These increases my enamel brooch collection AND my owl collection.  She is such a cute little owl.

At that point in time we realized we shouldn't spend any more money so we left to go visit our friends Becca and Jacob.  Their daughter, Clarice, was born three weeks ago.  I held her for the longest time.  She is so sweet and seems so tiny to me!  She is not quite 7 pounds and 3 weeks old; Atticus was nearly 10 pounds at birth and a 12 pounds by the time he was 3 weeks old.

We stayed for a bit and then it was time to head home.  The ride home was lovely -- golden, serene, and filled with beautiful autumn leaves.  We had a quick coffee at Inman Perk and then it was home to an exhausted and happy little Atticus and an equally exhausted Shannon the Coparent!

I can't wait until our December date!

L is for Lots of Books!!!

I hit up the gigantic charity booksale on Thursday night and again on Saturday.  I bought loads of books for just under $25 (which was my budget).  However, I just realized that I sat down a pile of books and didn't go back and pick them up.  Sigh.  Oh well.  I guess I can say that I stayed on budget and that someone else will get to enjoy those titles I left lying in a pile.

On to the bookish spoils!!!

I won't list out all the titles as they are all pretty clear in the picture.  It is a bit difficult to read the title on that top, left-hand side book.

That's right.  A copy of Carson McCuller's A Member of the Wedding with a funky embroidered copy.  SCORE!!!

Sweet.  I am one happy booknerd with incredibly cramped shelves.  I need to start reading off my shelves more, but I realize I'm saying this with plans to visit the library in the morning.  I am a book glutton and I'm totally okay with that.

Things I'm Loving...

1.  Bright green, thrifted cords

2.  Exciting Rumer Godden news from Virago (Thanks, Verity, for keeping us up to date!)

3.  Baking with apples.  I cannot get enough baked apples and I know I will be making some apple butter soon! 

4.  This autumn cowl (I'm starting it this weekend!)

5.  This be-cupcaked face:

6.  Easy birdfeeders!  

7.  A tattoo-idea.... This vintage owl embroidery pattern on my leg and the ink looking like embroidery stitches.  Whatcha think? 

8.  Made these pumpkin pancakes this week and they were FABULOUS!

9.  Super huge book sale!  I took a peek last night, but I plan on spending tomorrow hunting through thousands of books! 

10.  Lana Del Rey.  Lovin' her!

Readerly Rambles: 10/19/2011

What I've finished:

• In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden:  I inhaled this book about a group of nuns.  I'm one of those agnostic types with a protestant background who is inexplicably fascinated by Catholicism.  I enjoyed learning about the life of a nun, but I most enjoyed the different characters in the book and how they each met with different challenges (personal and related to their convent).  This is my first Rumer Godden book and I'll definitely be reading her again.   This book was for the TBR challenge.
• Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon:  This book was such fun!  Lady Audley has a secret -- which the reader will discover soon after beginning the book -- and that secret threatens to destroy her current wealth and position she's obtained by marriage.  Of course she will stop at nothing to ensure her status and everyone is shocked at her evil insanity because she is such a blonde, pretty, angelic creature.  Oh Victorians, how horrific when the Angel in the House proves to be nefarious! This Victorian sensational novel was for Carl's RIP challenge.
• The Bad Seed by William March:  I picked this book up for Carl's RIP challenge because I love the campy film version.  Oh WOW, the book is far darker, violent, and terrifying.  Little Rhoda is bat shit crazy and one evil little sociopath.  It was weird/interesting that I read this right after Lady Audley's Secret.  Both books address society's views on beauty and innocence and deal with themes of maternal hereditary insanity.  If I were in grad school I'd probably write a paper about the two novels.  But I'm not.  So I won't. (sticks out tongue)

What I'm Reading:

• Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman: this is a group read over at Carl's blog.  I'm enjoying this collection and you can read more about it here, here, here and here.  
• Clermont by Regina Maria Roche:  Oh my goodness this is a fun one!  A classic Gothic novel, this book stars one dim witted, overly good, heroine who is either trembling with emotion, quivering with fright, blanching with fear, or crimsoning with modestly.  There are gobs of "hithers" and "whilsts" and flowery speeches.  I must say I'm loving it and I feel all Catherine Morland when I'm reading it.  This book is for The Classics Circuit.   

What's Up Next:

It it mother-effin' Readathon time!  (throws confetti).  I have my stack of Readathon books below and Sam is watching the babies so I can read my eyeballs out.  I can't wait to nerd-out with all of you on participants on Saturday, October 22nd at 8 a.m.


Recent Purchases:  

• The Evil Genius by Wilkie Collins
• The House by the Churchyard by J. Sheridan LeFanu
• A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith
• A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel 

Happy Reading!

Readerly Rambles: 08/27/2011

What I've Finished:

• A Word Child by Iris Murdoch:  I haven't read a Murdoch book in YEARS and I don't know why.  I love her novels.  Characterization is key in Iris Murdoch novels; each character is so human.  My human, I mean completely imperfect.  Much of the plot is driven by misunderstandings, secrecy, and strange acts of coincidence.  While this description may seem to describe the book as a light-hearted farce, that is not true.  The wit is biting and often harsh and the plots are generally less than cheerful.  A Word Child aptly suits that description; Hilary Burde as whiz at languages, works a boring job, is fiercely devoted to his sister, and carries a harrowing secret.  I simply couldn't put this book down.
• Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin:  I liked this book while I read it, yet feel a bit ambiguous towards it now.  The novel is a fictionalized account of Alice Liddell, Lewis Carroll's inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.  It is well-written and interesting, but when I completed the book I felt like much of it was forgettable.  Benjamin writes very well about uncomfortable topics (like weirdly close relationships between grown men and little girls), but I felt as if she were skimming the surface.  I wanted a bit deeper of a read. 

What I'm Reading:

Currently, I'm only reading one book and this is because I can't imagine diverting any of my reading time to another volume.  I've wanted to read this book for years and now I've finally gotten to it.  The story is about a nunnery and one nun in particular, Phillipa, and I can't even begin to describe how much I love this book.

Recent Purchases:

I'm too tired to bother whipping out a camera for a bookporn picture of my recent book purchases, so you'll all have to use your imaginations:

• The Virago Book of Ghost Stories
• The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
• Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
• The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton
• The Living Dead (zombie short stories!)
• Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Milford
• London: a Biography by Peter Ackroyd

yay!!!

Speaking of piles of purchased books, I'm contemplating a massive reorganizing of my book shelfs.  Here is my current set-up:

• Two sets of shelves in the livingroom has authors A-Z (fiction, poetry, short stories, children's books, etc)
• The buildt-in shelves next to the fireplace has short story and poetry anthologies, non-fiction, Viragos, odd ball books, and library books.
• Also, the shelves are overly crammed and sloppy.  bleh

The new set-up I'm thinking of:

• Fiction authors A-Z on the double shelves (this will leave some room for growth!
• The white built-in shelves will have Viragos and non-fiction
• A small bookshelf I'm stealing back from Atticus (it did have toys on it, but now Atticus is attempting to scale it) will go in my bedroom and hold all poetry and short stories, library books, and my monthly TBR pile.

Any ideas on organizing?  How do you decide what goes on your shelf?

Expect a spooky reading challenge list soon and I'll be doing something cool in September!!!