New Arrivals

I promised to tell you the books which arrived over the past fortnight or so... and so I will! It's quite a big pile, and that has something to do with a rather incredible bookshop I've mentioned before. It's the Book & Comic Exchange in Notting Hill Gate, and has three huge basement rooms filled with books for 50p each. The books upstairs are mostly a pound or two as well. If you head there now, Londoners, there's a Virago copy of The Tortoise and the Hare in the small Virago section in the basement... Not all of these are from there, but the total (except one pricier gift to myself) was about £20.

From the bottom up:

Dear Fatty - Dawn French
DF's autobiography, looks like it could be fun.

Granite and Rainbow - Mitchell Leaska
A mammoth biography of Virginia Woolf, and for only 50p!

A Long Long Way - Sebastian Barry
Thinking ahead, because it's a book group choice for next year

The Ante-Room - Kate O'Brien
I've eyed this up a few times, but it's just made the grade at 50p

Our Spoons Came From Woolworths - Barbara Comyns
Yes, I already have this (Colin, hush) but not in this nice Virago edition.

Unexplained Laughter - Alice Thomas Ellis
The Birds of the Air - Alice Thomas Ellis
My friend Barbara-from-Ludlow suggested a trilogy of her books, and I couldn't remember the titles of them... so took a guess and bought these ones... they turned out to be the wrong ones, but should be fun nonetheless.

Iris - John Bayley
I love the film, but have somehow never read the book.

The Adventures of Sally - PG Wodehouse
Can never have enough!

Celia - EH Young
Looking forward to reading EH Young - I have three or four, but somehow haven't opened them yet.

The Winslow Boy - Terence Rattigan
Read this in Spring, but didn't have my own copy.

Singled Out - Virginia Nicholson
Yes, I already have this too... but it was only 50p...

Stevenson Under the Palm Trees - Alberto Manguel
Looks interesting, and is in a beautiful edition.

The Crowded Street - Winifred Holtby
A nice Virago edition to complement my Persephone edition.

Fine Feathers and Other Stories - EF Benson
Love Mapp & Lucia, amassing others to read...

Jane Austen: A Family Record - Austen-Leigh & Deirdre le Faye
Thank you Epsie for my birthday present!

Pink Sugar - O. Douglas
And a birthday present from Clare, published by Greyladies

Time Will Darken It - William Maxwell
Barbara-from-Ludlow heard about my recent Maxwell interest... when I happened to mention it to her! Wasn't fishing, promise, but it's a lovely gift.

The Innermost Room - Richmal Crompton
My birthday present to myself...

The Unbearable Bassington - Saki
More Saki needs to be in my diet!

That was fun - let's see how many I've read by this time next year...