I always find that around Christmas time my book-buying calms down a bit – probably a combination of anticipating nice parcels under the tree, and not wanting to risk picking up something I might be given! Plus I’m focussing on what other people might want… However, I have to confess to a few recent arrivals, both by post and via the lovely local charity shops.
First up, an addition to the ever-growing pile of sci-fi on the shelves, and a Russian one at that (I have a number of Lems and Strugatskys and Soviet sci-fi anthologies lurking there too). This had a glowing review on Science Fiction Ruminations, and so I felt impelled to send for a copy…
Next, a couple of lovely editions from the Hogarth reboot in the 1980s. The Stafford book is one I was very keen to read (though for the life of me I can’t recall where I read about it – I should write these things down, really). The Anthony Berkeley is a classic Roger Sheringham tale; I enjoyed the several stories about him I read recently, and I remember this book being championed when the Hogarth Crime list was launched though I don’t think I owned a copy. The Stafford was from the Samaritans, and the Berkeley from the Oxfam.
It’s a long while since I read any Angela Carter, but when I saw this in the Age Concern charity shop my interest was piqued. It’s Carter non-fiction and oft quoted as a classic and a book I really *should* have read. So for £1 I brought it home.
Another strange one, again from the Samaritans. I’ve read about Themerson somewhere, but goodness knows where. But it sounded quirky and intriguing and it’s an old Faber so it’s definitely worth a try!
And finally, my current read. More about Katayev will follow but this is thanks to Shoshi, and it’s biography/autobiography with fascinating portraits of Bunin and Mayakovsky. I stumbled across it while researching Katayev and had to send for a copy straight away (I need to own *anything* to do with Mayakovsky!)
I took the opportunity to revamp the shelves a little because of the new arrivals and with Christmas coming; I don’t keep a formal TBR but I do have a kind of ‘currently interested in’ section and it now looks like this:
Slightly tidier, and with a little room for some new additions. Must get the poetry pile down a wee bit, though….. 🙂
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P.S. And here’s a little late arrival that turned up after I’d scheduled this post, courtesy of Youngest Child on her return from university for Christmas – lovely! 🙂
Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings 
Dec 14, 2015 @ 07:06:12
I’ve not read any of these – love the covers though! Some good-looking books you’ve acquired there 🙂
Dec 14, 2015 @ 08:59:30
They’re an interesting bunch – I like unusual and quirky!
Dec 14, 2015 @ 07:12:50
Goodness,it’s a wonder you cane even get the door to your house open with all those books. These posts always make me feel better about all the books that find their way to my house… 🙂
Dec 14, 2015 @ 08:59:08
It’s getting a bit dodgy here, I must confess! The books have spread to one of the offspring’s old rooms too….. :s
Dec 14, 2015 @ 09:00:41
I just want the Carter for the cover!
Dec 14, 2015 @ 10:15:17
It’s rather wonderful, isn’t it?
Dec 14, 2015 @ 10:05:41
What a lovely range of books. I believe that Audrey at Books & Foos is reading Boston Adventure for the Classics Club Spin, so maybe that’s where you spotted it.
Dec 14, 2015 @ 10:15:05
Maybe it is! I just had it in the back of my mind from somewhere, but I can’t recall where – as I said, I really *should* write these things down!
Dec 14, 2015 @ 11:52:11
Yes, I am! Though it’s been on my shelves for so long that I don’t remember where I heard about it either! I just read now that it’s a little darker than the nice title suggests and I wonder if I knew that at the time! It will be fun to hear your thoughts on it.
Dec 14, 2015 @ 13:21:21
I’m still trying to recall where I heard about it – oh, my memory!
Dec 14, 2015 @ 12:20:19
I’m glad you bought Half A Life! But, I haven’t read it yet! It was an recent SF acquisitions post 🙂
Dec 14, 2015 @ 13:20:51
Ah well – you made it sound so interesting I had to investigate! 🙂
Dec 14, 2015 @ 12:48:43
Will be interested in what that Anthony Berkeley is like.
Dec 14, 2015 @ 13:20:22
I must admit I’m looking forward to this one, as I like the short stories by him I’ve read this year.
Dec 14, 2015 @ 13:46:48
And you managed to sneak them in past the guards. Well done.
Dec 14, 2015 @ 13:58:20
Indeed – I hid them under my shopping…. 😉
Dec 14, 2015 @ 15:09:50
I found the perfect way to avoid buying any books from the local charity shops this morning. I went into the supermarket and bought a mop first. When you are wandering round wielding six foot of red plastic with a blue spongey thing on the end you are too self-conscious (and too dangerous) to go in anywhere else.
Dec 14, 2015 @ 15:34:10
Clever! I think even I would fail to succeed in book buying while knocking things over (though you never know…)
Dec 14, 2015 @ 18:37:23
Oooh, so excited about the Katayev – really looking forward to hearing your views (and, of course, in the nature of sprawling and uncontainable reading projects, I’m adding the Russian poets to my post-prose reading list…)
Dec 14, 2015 @ 18:44:02
🙂 Russian poets are great!
Dec 14, 2015 @ 19:49:16
What lovely finds. Great post! I’d like to find the Carter in my local Oxfam shop. She’s due a revival I’d say. Your post has reminded me that I can visit the bookshops tomorrow. And I’m just thinking about my Christmas reading. And I must pick up those books I reserved in the library ….
Dec 14, 2015 @ 20:03:46
It’s always a treat when you come across something like this unexpectedly. Have fun in the bookshops tomorrow!
Dec 16, 2015 @ 11:48:55
Ooh, I like the idea of a “currently interested in” shelf!! I try to cut down on my book buying around Christmas / birthday so as not to disappoint anyone who’s bought me anything from my wishlist, but I did pick up Jane Smiley’s “The Greenlanders” wickedly the other day when buying some gifts for someone else … Hope you enjoy this interesting-looking selection!
Dec 16, 2015 @ 11:50:29
I find it’s not too limiting – I can keep the shelf fluid and move it around, add and take away as my mood takes me. And I expect Christmas and birthday will bring a few more additions….. 🙂
Dec 18, 2015 @ 09:58:15
It’s always nice to get books in the mail! I have a weakness for those Hogarth books with the fox logos. Jean Stafford was the favorite writer of a friend’s mother,. I do think she is excellent. Merry Not Buying Too Many Books for Christmas!
Dec 18, 2015 @ 10:19:45
The Hogarths are great and I’m looking forward to the Stafford (if I could only remember where I read about it….) Have a lovely Christmas, Kat! 🙂
Dec 20, 2015 @ 20:44:56
Gosh, you organise your TBRs? I’ve been looking at the IKEA corner unit Billy bookshelf to get organised. It’s huge, but it’s about planning. Where does one draw the line with £1 books? So easy to buy. Do you have a way of organising the guilt? A sort of internal Billy corner unit?
Dec 20, 2015 @ 21:30:59
Not exactly…. It’s just a shelf my OH put up in the back room so I could keep the current books I’m considering reading. It changes according to my mood…. 😀