It’s been a long time coming.
In August 2022, I was able to pull myself out of a book slump by way of some inspiration from a BookTuber who had been documenting her reading journey. I visited a bookstore and came home with a haul, then went again, and again, and again….
Additionally, Turtle, who is often around books and film, has on several occasions created special bundles for past Mother’s Day, birthday, and Christmas book gifting. He chose a few singleton volumes, but then also curated a set of six, each chosen from specific genres: historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, literary fiction, romance, and non-fiction. On top of that he periodically came home with a title he saw and thought, “She’d love this.” Often it is an Alexander McCall Smith book (he grew up hearing me talking endlessly about them), maybe a coloring book with a theme he knows I enjoy. Once it was a new title about Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox of the Revolution. He still has a memory like a steel trap and remembers well my childhood story of his grandfather coming home from a walk, during which he passed a church book sale and picked out a book for me about that same historical figure.
So, in these past nineteen months I have acquired a fair number of books, but never got around to part two of this blog. Luckily, I’m here to remedy this today.
In between parts one and two there have been other books, and you can see some in the slide show at the top of the sidebar. They are not all there yet, so do check back every so often to see them plus others I acquire after today. Note: I do thrift a lot, so if this blog puts a bug in you, remember that you don’t have to go wild with spending money to have a nice little collection. Many, many of my books cost 10¢ – no joke! Also, even buying new at a bookstore, many of the titles I have picked up are sold at “buy one get one 50% off” (BOGO) and the store I go to price matches to their website (just let them know, it’s a simple button they press), so you stand to get some really good deals.
In college I fell in love with The Odyssey – not in an I must pursue this for the rest of my life type love, but rather one that recognized a previous gap in my reading experiences. So, I was pretty stoked to find Claire North’s Ithaca, the story of Penelope with the how and why behind the pressures mounting on her in the continued absence of Odysseus, and her role in a civil war that may yet be, depending upon the choices she makes. But no pressure, right?
And then comes book two in the Songs of Penelope series: House of Odysseus, more about Penelope’s balance of power, now in her existence between two mad kings and amongst other strong women with their own plans and perspectives.
Considering that in college linguistics was – and even then I knew this – only a casual interest, as fascinating as I knew I would always find it, I was a little surprised to find the author name on the book I happened upon was one I recognized as belonging to an academic whose words I’d previously studied. Deborah Tannen was not an author I expected to see amongst the browsing of books one generally reads for pleasure, but there it was: Finding My Father: His Century-Long Journey from World War I Warsaw and My Quest to Follow, and for a mere dollar. I’d not seen it when it was published in 2020, and somehow, I was a bit saddened that it was on what we call the “dollar rack.” But I also have snapped up great finds in the bargain section (Grey is the Colour of Hope is one that stands out), fiction and non-fiction. The Great War era also is currently one I would like to know more about, so it had to be mine.
Note: Link shows book price as $18, so you may wish to check your local store before purchasing online.
In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small house in the smallest of towns, is an apple tree rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. I read about another enchanted tree once, one that gave way to a massive peach, which I know in my telling sounds like the blurb for one of the thousands of fantasy tales that doesn’t stand out. I assure you, however, James and the Giant Peach touched millions of lives. Our beloved third grade teacher read it to us, and I still love it. Plus there is another connection that piqued my curiosity, mythical plants, the casting of spells…Garden Spells pretty much wrapped its tendrils around me.
Wild and Wicked Things comes straight off the poster of “judging a book by its cover,” as just the sight of the design made me want the volume, not to mention its nice, stocky appearance and deckled edges. Lucky for me it’s set in the 1920s, a decade that falls within the era before and after the Great War that has lately captured my interest. There is a Beatrice, and witchcraft in this era is a theme I’d never really considered – I more often consider it of the Middle Ages, or seventeenth-century Salem. But Emmaline Delacroix – a name that seems to contradict accusations of witchcraft – does seem to belong here, in this time of excess and dripping decadence. I have an idea where at least some of this may be going, so we’ll have to march on and see if it plays out.
I often play word games on my phone, usually two that involve letters to create words. (I used to turn the phone upside down to look at the letters from a different perspective before I realized a click arranges them for you in a different order.) Brain Games Bible Word Search: Psalms is a bit different in that here are whole words you are searching for, but I thought it a nice twist that adds a bit of variety to how I exercise my brain. There were several Bible-themed titles, as I recall, and I chose this one because I’d like to become more familiar with the psalms; this not only does that but also places biblical poetry within the course of my day, rather than a small, sectioned-out portion that is set aside when it is complete. So far, I’ve done one puzzle and just as I was thinking, “Is this really too easy for me?” I stumbled upon the reality that I simply could not find the final word.
A big part of the appeal of The Lost Bookshop was it being set in Ireland. The blurb, which spoke of three strangers, a vanishing bookshop, and transport to a world of wonders, remains elusive, really giving nothing away in terms of what the book is about. Sure, we have the three strangers, etc., but what does that mean? What is the gist of the storyline? I found myself willing to take the chance on the three – could it be the promise of Irish accents? – even though I was told there is a bit of depressing content. But it is also set in the 1020s, and the cover displays beautiful vines that look a lot like the fairy lights-eucalyptus leaves I’d hung on my living room curtains just that day. Really, book beckon us to them is so many amazing ways.
Have you ever seen a unicorn? I have not, though I also don’t have a lot of experience reading fantasy. To be honest, The Crystal Cave, my favorite book in the whole world, may be partly to blame, in truth, because no other fantasy could really measure up, an intriguing reality given Merlin’s insistence upon its anti-fantasy content. He always had “real-world” explanations for events, though I continued to believe there is room for non-evil magic in our world. So perhaps The Last Unicorn will open that up for me, and maybe explain why it took so long for me to even hear about this novel said to be a classic. (Or maybe I have heard of it but dismissed it in the past?) It was recommended to me just last night and so far, I’ve read only the anti-introduction, which spoke such truth about introductions and made me laugh in just the right places. I really hope I love this book!
Honorary Mentions
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, paperback, had a familiar look to it and I was attracted to the blurb. The cover design nagged at me; I knew I’d seen it before. I ended up adding it to my “I’ll come back for you” pile behind the counter – buying a stack of books over the course of a few days is my attempt to alleviate the guilt, and I keep doing it even though it doesn’t really work – and when I came back the familiarity haunting me deepened. I knew I not only had seen this book but also owned it. The design was just too unique. Upon my return home I walked directly to where it was and picked it up. My copy is hard cover and the inside, unlike the paperback, is beautifully decorated with handwriting that must be from the physick book itself. So this isn’t really a purchase, but it is “re-discovered,” as has been my intrigue with the Salem witch trials, a topic I once wrote about in elementary school and aim to again. The bones of the story reside in my memory, and I hope Deliverance Dane will re-acquaint me with my long -lost protagonist.
Kate Sedley’s The Wicked Winter is also not a new purchase, not even a purchase, in fact, but rather a library book. I’d carried it from home to the bookstore coffee house side for a spot of reading and side of people watching. It also came up in conversation with the person who recommended The Last Unicorn, and I’m excited to report that he wrote the title in a small book he keeps in his pocket, an act Turtle (who knows him) assures me is a mark of serious interest rather than passive politeness. (He also noted in his book the Hawkenlye info I provided – huzzah!) Sixth in the medieval mystery Roger the Chapman series, within it Roger himself records his adventures as a traveling salesman and solver of mysteries, the former part of his passion – also a key reason why he had left his place as a Benedictine monk – and the latter a combination blessing and seeming punishment from God, whom Roger often tries to talk out of leading him toward violent crime, plots, and intrigue.
Note: This book seems to have a strange status in that it appears to be out of print, though available in e-book format. Used paperback copies are easy to procure, but I’m not sure if new ones are available, which is really a shame because this is such a great series.
I am so thankful for the many gifts I have been given.