And also the local charity shops, of course. I *have* been diligently taking books to donate every week I can recently, as many as I can carry (and this week’s pile was particularly heavy). However, that hasn’t stopped the incoming volumes, and I suspect the ratio of out to in is only keeping the amount of books in the house static 😦
Nevertheless, this week’s finds were particularly lovely! The first came from the Samaritans Book Cave, where I mostly donate:
I used to read a *lot* of sci-fi/fantasy in my youth, but have tended to drift away from it. But it’s been rather calling to me, and I never did read McCaffrey, so I thought I would give this a whirl. I think it’s one of her more famous titles, plus it has a lovely vintage cover! 🙂
Next up was a call into the Oxfam, who were having a buy one, get one half price promotion on all their fiction:
Another Nigel Williams title – yay! And no, I don’t know why Wildwood was shelved with fiction either, but I came home with these two for less than £3 which has to be good. Roger Deakin seems to get plaudits everywhere so I’m looking forward to this.
And finally I had to return a library book, so it would have been rude not to check out their summer book sale, especially as this nice Hesperus volume screamed at me while I passed:
And it cost – 20p…..
I now have three lovely Francoise Sagan volumes, all different editions and all lovely in their own way@
I reviewed Bonjour Tristesse here a while back, and I recently read A Certain Smile, which I will eventually get round to reviewing. Sagan’s an intriguing writer, capturing very much her time and her age in the first two books I’ve read – I’ll be interested to see what her other works bring!
So some nice (and very reasonably priced!) finds! It’s a shame libraries can’t hold on to all their stock, but it does work to my advantage sometimes… 😉
Aug 10, 2015 @ 08:42:10
I do like to know I’m not the only person who uses charity shops to buy and donate books! You’ve got a nice mixed bag there. I love Wildwood. I like the way Roger Deakin writes, and it’s one of those nice meandering sort of books which takes in nature, conservation, history, geography, legends, personal opinions etc, and manages to meld it together and reveal truths about the human condition and the world about us. You don’t have to read it all the way through – you can dip in and out as the mood takes you.
I wasn’t keen on The Ship who Sang, although I’m a great fan of her Pern series (but only the early books). And I envy you the Sagan novels. We had a stash of her work donated to the Oxfam Bookshop recently, and I thought about buying them, but when I looked again they’d gone, and I really regret missing out.
Aug 10, 2015 @ 09:36:57
I’ve done that *so* often – if you don’t grab these things straight away, they’re gone! I’m looking forward to the Deakin – sounds very much like the sort of thing I like. And the McCaffrey was a sci-fi title I’d heard of, which might have influenced my purchase…. 🙂
Aug 10, 2015 @ 08:56:56
I shall have to look out for library sales – not so frequent and easily forgotten. One of my locals used to have a permanent For Sale stand. The prices are, of course, ridiculously low, so it’s possible to take a lot of gambles. As an Oxfam volunteer, I’m aware of our higher price mark, and being on a tight budget, I’m aware of cheaper secondhand outlets, but the quality of these is usually lower. Library sales have the best of both: great stock and ultra, ultra cheap. I wonder now whether there’s a way to know in advance when library sales are on?
Aug 10, 2015 @ 09:31:08
My library has an ongoing sale shelf but periodically bumps them up with extra sales. Since I go past it pretty much weekly it’s easy to keep tabs on them! I tend to gravitate towards Oxfam despite their higher prices as more of the type of book I like is usually there. Having said that, the new local manager seems to have dropped the prices a little which must be good for sales!
Aug 10, 2015 @ 09:06:19
Love the look of the Francoise Sagan 😊 I have Wildwood on my kindle ( you’ve just reminded me). The piles never seem to get much smaller do they?
Aug 10, 2015 @ 09:29:38
No they don’t – however much I try…..!
Aug 10, 2015 @ 10:46:19
That is a wonderful collection of books. I can join in the chorus of approval for Wildwood, and I do like the look of the Hesperus Sagan. We’re still keeping the outs ahead of the ins here, but I suspect that’s only because I’ve barely had time in town over the last few weeks.
Aug 10, 2015 @ 12:11:59
Sounds like I was right to pick up Wildwood from all the positive response I’m getting! I suspect the in-out ratio would be better if it wasn’t for the pending shelves i.e. the swapping/selling site books. I may just lose patience altogether and donate the lot! 🙂
Aug 10, 2015 @ 12:11:54
yup another fan of Wildwood here! But ohoh, that cover of “the ship who sang’ that is one for on display. My youngest is quite a fan of Anne MacCaffrey. Bonjour Tristesse…ahw, one of those ultimate high school books I shared with my bff..
Aug 10, 2015 @ 12:29:43
It’s coming highly recommended! And yes, that vintage cover art – I’m trying to fight off the urge to buy books just because of their covers…… :s
Aug 10, 2015 @ 13:09:02
I can’t remember if I reviewed A Certain Smile, but I meant to if I didn’t. It chimed with me greatly at the time because I was much younger and more naive when I read it, and when I re-read it, it brought back that aspect of “young-ness” to me, thankfully not as the cringeworthy thing I might have expected, but as something very natural and unavoidable.
Aug 10, 2015 @ 15:03:23
I remember The Ship Who Sang – one of my favourite McCaffreys from way back in my 20s though!
Aug 10, 2015 @ 15:30:38
🙂 I used to read quite a lot of sci-fi – Gene Wolfe I remember liking a lot. Don’t know why I stopped really, but I must try not to start another collection….
Aug 10, 2015 @ 17:31:26
Gene Wolfe is excellent. I’d like to read more of his books now.
Aug 10, 2015 @ 17:39:59
Well I confess to having sent off for a collection of his short stories…. 😉
Aug 10, 2015 @ 19:44:29
I have a penchant for vintage paperback sci-fi/fantasy by women authors too; I’d’ve snapped up that one as well! Last night I was pulling a book from a backstack on a shelf and spotted my old Vonda McIntyre paperbacks and was thinking that I should reread some of those. McCaffrey would make for good rereading too!
Aug 10, 2015 @ 20:06:01
It’s a bit of a gap in my reading history – somewhere I need to explore a bit more!
Aug 10, 2015 @ 21:19:12
I’ve a certain smile have read the Deakin one my favourite nature writing books and little confession I read a anne mccaffrey years ago as a teen i liked fantasy
Aug 10, 2015 @ 21:22:41
🙂 Maybe SF/fantasy is something we grow out of…. !
Aug 10, 2015 @ 21:45:41
I have that Hesperus Sagan, which survived my Sagan cull after I really didn’t like Sunlight on Cold Water. But I did like Bonjour Tristesse, so maybe I shouldn’t have been so hasty in getting rid of 3 or 4 of the Sagans I had unread (besides the Hesperus one)…
Aug 11, 2015 @ 08:56:30
My fear with Sagan is that she’ll become a one-trick pony. I’ve enjoyed her first two books, but thinking about them the subject matter is very similar once you peel off the superficialities of settings and names. We’ll see – I’m prepared to try a few more!
Aug 11, 2015 @ 14:19:03
I will be intrigued to know what you think of the Sagan. I realised I’d only read Bonjour Tristesse by her (and loved it), but I think I’ve got a big paperback anthology of several of her novels. Will have to dig it out. Love your loot!
Aug 11, 2015 @ 14:33:40
It *was* lovely loot! As for the Sagan – I shall review eventually… 🙂
Aug 14, 2015 @ 01:35:22
I’ve never read Francoise Sagan and I do have a few on my “nightstand” (floor). Good haul! Loved McCaffry’s The Ship Who Sang. It was my favorite long, long ago.
Aug 14, 2015 @ 09:13:27
One day I’ll go through my books and make a list of what I have and what I still need to read – just to frighten myself a lot…..