(NB – none of these books is actually *on* the table in the pictures below, but never mind….)
I am nothing if not susceptible to suggestion when it comes to books, and I’ve long lamented the bad (good!) influence of Book Twitter. Specific books themselves, too, have often been responsible for other books arriving at the Ramblings; and there does seem to have been a fair amount of that happening lately… I *have* been sharing pictures on Twitter, but I thought it might be nice to update on the blog some of the more recent arrivals – plus some bookish subscriptions I might just have happened to take out…
The “Philosophy of Walking” effect…
One recent subscription which I took out was to the Verso Book Club, and I shared some thoughts about it here. I offered a little giveaway of a spare book and that will go out to Clare Topping, so I hope she enjoys it! However, one book I ordered from their amazing 50% off sale was “The Philosophy of Walking” by Frederic Gros. It called to me strongly recently and I couldn’t resist (and a review will follow eventually…). However, it’s that most dangerous of things, a book which creates all manner of ideas and lists of other books you want to read; it even has suggested further reading in the back! Now the effect of the body of the book was bad enough – I ended up hauling this little lot off various parts of the TBR…
Interestingly, the Wordsworth ties in nicely with the Romantics three part documentary which is on TV currently (I had been dying for lack of decent documentaries…) However, I also have added substantially to the wishlist, and wasn’t able to resist sending for this lovely thing:
In another piece of bookish synchronicity, the photograph on the cover of this edition is by the early pioneer of the art, Nadar, who featured in Julian Barnes’ “Levels of Life“…
Nerval is an author I’ve been aware of for decades; in fact, the little edition of “The Chimeras” you can see in one of the images above was one I acquired in the 1980s. However, I hadn’t looked at it for absolutely ages, and as I was particularly moved by his story in “Philosophy…” I decided I needed to read more. Truly, this book is a *really* bad influence!!
The Harvill Leopard books
There’s been a really interesting convo going on over on Book Twitter, and I wish I could remember who started it (although I know that Caustic Cover Critic was in there at the beginning)! However, the subject was the Harvill Leopard range of books, a numbered series issued between 1998 and 2005. Now, I own a few of these (and they’re lovely) – mine are mainly Russians, but they also issued a lot of Perec. Somehow, the subject of a complete list of the releases came up which caused a lot of interest, with bookish people pitching in. The very industrious Tim of Half Pint Press revealed that he had a spreadsheet he was attempting to compile (as there seemed to be no complete list). This led to loads of research, lots of chat and in the end Tim setting up the wonderful resource which is 300oddleopards! As well as a complete list (as far as can be gleaned at present) there are also pictures of back and front of as many of the books as he’s been able to gather, with lots of us joining in and sending images of our books!
I had great fun pulling out some titles I hadn’t seen for a while (a few of them are above) and was happy to help with pulling together the site. It’s a wonderful initiative – do check it out if you have any interest in these books and authors, though I can’t promise it won’t be back for your bank balance and shelf space….
Bookish Subscriptions
I can’t remember the last time I actually joined up to any kind of bookish subscription; back in the day, I was in a good number of book clubs, but these fell along the wayside before the turn of the millennium and I haven’t signed up for one since. However, there have been any number of recent temptations, and of course the above-mentioned Verso Book Club!
And during lockdown, I did become very aware of the struggles facing smaller publishers and bookshops. I tried to shift my buying habits to support them (some Little Toller purchases resulted) and another couple of interesting presses caught my eye. One of these was Sublunary Editions, who I first stumbled across on Twitter (as I mentioned in my post on publisher Joshua Rothes’ intriguing book, “The Art of the Great Dictators“). They offer a subscription service, they have some wonderful sounding works coming up and so I succumbed – and this was my first delivery!
What’s so interesting about Sublunary is that their works come in a fascinating array of formats; there are more conventional books (although these are often not…), but the package also includes texts on separate sheets as well as art cards. It’s all rather wonderful and I’ll post more as I read my way through them. I’m looking forward to what comes next! 😀
My second subscription was recommended by a lovely Tweeter when I was offering the Verso giveaway; and it’s an initiative to publish more Catalan literature in translation by Fum d’Estampa Press. My reading of Catalan writing is probably non-existence so this was a good way to widen my horizons as well as obtaining some very pretty books – here are the first two:
Fum d’Estampa are on Patreon and they have a number of different levels of subscription (as is often the case of Patreon – I seem to spend a fair bit of time on there lately, as I also support the wonderful Backlisted Podcast, which I can highly recommend). Anyway, the books themselves are quite lovely and I’m looking forward to exploring further.
As for current reading and what’s actually *on* the Book Table? Well, I’m presently reading and loving the new collection of M. John Harrison stories, “Settling the World”, from the wonderful Comma Press (as you can see from the sidebar) and it’s excellent. Coming up soon – well, October of course will be time for the #1956Club, so I think I’d better start exploring some titles from that year! 😀
Sep 25, 2020 @ 09:17:56
Interesting to read about some of your subscriptions as I’m planning a post on them!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 09:22:34
There are some very tempting ones about – I’ll look forward to your post!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 10:12:20
Those Harvill Leopard spines take me back to old bookselling days! Now feeling very nostalgic…
Sep 25, 2020 @ 14:15:23
They’re lovely books! 😀
Sep 25, 2020 @ 11:04:20
Your subscriptions look lovely! What a great way to treat yourself by supporting these publishers directly.
Sep 25, 2020 @ 14:15:02
I thought so – combines indulgence with feeling virtuous about supporting them! 😀
Sep 25, 2020 @ 12:20:10
Did you have any difficulties with customs charges etc., with your subscription to Sublunary. Their offer looks really interesting Many thanks!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 14:14:37
No, none – I’ve only had the one package so far, and it was slim and arrived with no extra charges so that’s promising. And I’ve dipped and like the look of the contents a lot!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 18:50:33
Thankyou!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 20:13:57
😀
Sep 25, 2020 @ 12:21:32
I love those Penguin black classics and so many new and unusual titles to their lists. Just love them! I’m glad I haven’t found a subscription service anywhere in Australia. They all seem to come from England. I joined one but of course it comes from your neck of the woods so postage aside I don’t think about it. I’ll post on it soon. I love your enthusiasm and book stacks.
Sep 25, 2020 @ 14:07:36
Me too – so many interesting books, I could sit and read nothing else happily. And yes, postage would be an issue with overseas ones – for the time being I’ll definitely stick with local ones. Look forward to your post!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 13:38:30
So many books! So many wonders! I’m not sure there are as many subscriptions available in the U.S. (it could be that I’m just not aware of them) but my own weakness is the NYRB Classics Club. The books are lovely and almost always represent unfamiliar (to me) authors. Although I frequently don’t keep current with reading the monthly selections, they do tend to open up my reading universe (right now I’m reading my first Natalie Ginzburg — her novellas Valentino & Sagittarius– what a find! Can’t wait to read more of this wonderful writer). My other big subscription indulgence is “Slightly Foxed,” from your own neck of the woods so to speak . . . . .
Sep 25, 2020 @ 14:03:24
I know! Such beauties! I’m tempted by the NYRBs but I know I wouldn’t keep up with them as they’re often so chunky! But wonderful treats…
And I did have a Slightly Foxed sub once too, and got very behind with it. My mum would say that my eyes are bigger than my stomach (or in this case, my brain….)
Sep 25, 2020 @ 13:44:30
I haven’t been able to afford subscriptions lately (she said, having spent most of her income on books over the past 5 months), but these do look lovely. I have a few Leopards as well, Claudio Magris’ Danube being my favourite from the ones I have.
Sep 25, 2020 @ 14:02:06
LOL! Most of mine is going on books too… I’ve not signed up for many subs in recent years, but I just couldn’t resist these. As for the Leopards – I must be strong…… ;D
Sep 25, 2020 @ 15:09:04
I really need to look at the possibility of a book subscription. It’s something I’ve never done.
Sep 25, 2020 @ 20:50:51
They’re definitely worth checking out. Aside from specific publishers, I think there are places that do themed boxes and the like – all very tempting…
Sep 25, 2020 @ 16:26:07
Now we just need to track down a copy of ‘Hope Against Hope’ for you… The Sublunary Editions look gorgeous!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 17:42:53
I’m so glad to see someone say this! “Hope Against Hope” is one of the finest memoirs ever written, in my not-so-humble opinion . . . although “Hope Abandoned” is good too, and I’m jealous that the copy pictured above looks much prettier than the plain ugly hardcover I have . . . !
Sep 25, 2020 @ 18:38:49
LOL! I’m now off to see if I can track down a matching Harvill edition…. 😉
Sep 25, 2020 @ 21:34:40
Absolutely. An astonishing book especially when you think of the conditions she wrote it under. Though ‘Hope Abandoned’ doesn’t quite reach that level, it would be difficult to match it. Still good though.
Sep 26, 2020 @ 09:01:44
Noooo. Stop making me want to drop everything else and read these!!!!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 18:37:14
I really do want a copy, but it’s not so easy to find….. 😦
Sep 25, 2020 @ 21:38:41
Running a search under the ‘Used Books’ tab in addall.com I’m seeing a few Harvill copies in the UK and though the prices I see are USD, they’re not bad.
Sep 26, 2020 @ 09:01:23
No, but there’s probably a curveball in there in that it came out also in a later Harvill edition, which I suspect the reasonably priced versions are. Being a bit of a pedant, I want one to match my other Harvill Leopard… 😦
Sep 26, 2020 @ 14:52:21
Ah. Yes, I’d want a matching copy myself. Would contacting a largish used bookshop and putting them on the lookout for a copy be a possibility? They might even be able to tell you how likely it is to run across a copy.
Sep 26, 2020 @ 14:55:08
I knew you’d understand…. ;D I may put out an alert on certain book sites – I’ve done that in the past when searching for a particular volume. Fingers crossed…. 😉
Sep 25, 2020 @ 17:32:36
Ooh book subscriptions are so tempting. Like a gift from your past self. I have a books that matter subscription, which I am really enjoying so far.
Sep 25, 2020 @ 18:38:23
They are – treats that turn up when you’ve forgotten then – such fun!
Sep 25, 2020 @ 20:20:00
Yay for subscriptions–what a wonderful way to support publishers. I hope others who have the means to do so have also changed their habits to nurture the arts in these challenging times. Nicely done, you.
Sep 25, 2020 @ 20:48:23
Thank you! I do like to do my bit for small publishers!
Sep 26, 2020 @ 17:38:58
I love the look of those Catalan books! Regarding documentaries, we are really enjoying Afua Hirsch’s Africa Renaissance series, looking at history, art and literature in three African countries we knew very little about.
Sep 26, 2020 @ 20:55:03
They’re very pretty and the contents look tempting too. I’ve missed that series of docs, though the Romantics was great, and the current one on the history of writing is fascinating!
Sep 27, 2020 @ 08:58:22
Funnily enough I seem to be immune to the temptations of book subscriptions. That book about walking, however ….
Sep 27, 2020 @ 09:56:39
LOL! It would depend on me where the subscription was coming from – I know there are plenty where you’re promised a mystery book but I have so many books already chances are I’d get a duplicate or something I’d already read..
However – the walking book is excellent and very, very readable (and also a very bad influence…)
Sep 29, 2020 @ 17:57:02
Philosophy of Walking sounds great – talking about temptation and lists and lists!
Sep 29, 2020 @ 18:35:31
It is – and such a dangerous books to read! 🤣🤣🤣🙄
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