Incoming…

It’s not often that I do one of these posts these days, but I had two recent great charity shop visits. Please note – I refuse to use the words ‘book haul’ to describe my purchases, it’s an ugly term. The word ‘haul’ to me infers a bit of a chore, which buying books can never be!

Now, one of these piles cost me £3, the other £4.50 – can you guess which is which?

Pile the left:

  • The Voices by F R Tallis – been meaning to read him for ages. He’s a clinical psychologist who writes psychological dramas and more. This one’s set in that hot summer of 1976, and a couple with a young child move into a Victorian house which makes noises… Oo er!
  • The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe – Sequel to the Rotters Club following the same characters around the millennium. (Middle England, his latest reviewed here, did the same for Brexit). I used to have a copy of this, but it’s lost, so I’ve replaced it.
  • Peculiar Ground by Lucy Hughes-Hallett – dual timelines, 1660s and the 1950s, a country house, secret gardens, hiding in the forest, and a weekend of ‘erotic entaglements’. Should be fun.
  • How We Live and Why We Die: The Secret Lives of Cells by Lewis Wolpert – published in 2009. Doubtless developmental biologist Wolpert will educate me on the subject.
  • Things My Mother Never Told Me by Blake Morrison – Having written a memoir about his father, Morrison turned to his mother for this volume, to tell her story.
  • Superfreakonomics by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner – more bold and funny stories about all kinds of controversial topics to make you think. I haven’t read the first volume, but have heard a lot about it.
  • The Anatomy School by Bernard MacLaverty – coming of age in late 1960s Belfast. Looking forward to reading this.
  • Before the Year Dot by June Brown – I have actually seen June Brown on stage supporting Judy Dench (in Rodney Ackland’s Absolute Hell at the National), so I know there’s more to her than Eastenders‘ Dot Cotton, (not on our screens at the moment – she is 92 and suffering from macular degeneration).

Pile the right:

  • A Nail, A Rose by Madeleine Bourdouxhe – translated by Faith Evans. I couldn’t believe my luck at finding this, it’s only been out a couple of months. I loved Bourdouxhe’s other books (see here).
  • Pastoral by Nevil Shute – WWII romance between a flight captain and a WAAF officer. I read this in my teens – great that Vintage had brought Shute back into print.
  • Game for Five by Marco Malvaldi – translated by Howard Curtis. Four old times meet in a bar and try to solve a murder. First in a series – Goody!

Now which should I read first???

By the way, the left pile cost £3 and the right £4.50. The left coming from the charity warehouse (supporting SSAFA) down the road from me – if you persevere you can find good books amongst all the dross there, the right pile was from my favourite charity shop in Abingdon town centre.

13 thoughts on “Incoming…

  1. Marina Sofia says:

    Excellent finds! By the way, I call mine hauls, because then I have to carry them on the train home, which is a bit of a chore.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      Only the Coe was a little tanned – but for just 10p, I wasn’t complaining! Mind you, unless it’s an urgent need, I don’t buy tatty second-hand books.

  2. kaggsysbookishramblings says:

    Wow! Talk about bargains! I think sometimes hardbacks are priced lower because the shops think people don’t want to lug them home. I have a copy of the Bourdouxhe now too – Ali kindly gifted it to me yesterday! 😀

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      I read all of Shute as a teenager, loved them. The Far Country, Pied Piper and On the Beach were favourites.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      I loved the two Daunt Bourdouxhe reprints, so leapt on this the minute I spotted it – so many others including you having recently reviewed it.

I love reading and responding to your comments - do share your thoughts...