How many books is too many? When I was working I found a beautiful set of the Palliser novels in a charity shop - OUP hardback editions on India paper, pristine condition. I visualised retirement, sitting in a Queen Anne chair, sipping a dry sherry & reading Trollope. I retired 24 years ago & I still slump on the sofa, drinking wine & watching streaming services (Ride or Die! So fabulous!) But I will die on the hill of my Pallisers. (Meanwhile, I cannot cope with a human called Mog. There is only one Mog and she sees you from cat heaven.)
Pamphlet comes from Pamphilus, a 12th-century Latin love poem so widely copied it became the word for any small unbound publication. A cheap Puffin book carrying a secret etymology on its cover.
Grow Up, Cupid is not on Kindle. This is a crying shame. There’s a £56 hardback on Amazon or a print on demand paperback (comes with a nothingburger jacket). No ebook available for an impulsive kindle reader with fingers itching to press ‘Buy’. Gives me one to look out for in book shops though.
I was always of the opinion that there was no such thing as too many books, and then my bookdealer dad died and left me an entire shipping container full. Turns out that's about my limit for book ownership... I still haven't completely emptied it, and that was four years ago!
How many books is too many ? We had a roof replaced on our house conservatory a couple of years ago and the builder looking at the 3 full huge bookcases & piles of books on the table( obviously hadn’t seen the boxes of books in the summer house & piles in every bedroom) questioned why I had so many books & with a perplexed stare, why had I not got rid of them once I had read them……… I had to lie down in a darkened room….. 🤦♀️ still haunted by that remark.
Drat you, Lucy, I almost dread reading the blog as a scoot straight over to Abe Books to order at least one recommendation and my teetering stacks of paperbacks are already out of control.
Both Grow Up, Cupid and Femanomics are winging their way to me.
I've just finished 6,000 pages of Brandon Sanderson novels interspersed with Georgette Heyers, and A Gentleman In Moscow. I had actually finished my fiction stacks and was desperately borrowing books from friends to keep me going, which I guess excuses Cupid.
My nonfiction stacks, however, continue to reproach my frivolous self for rarely reading more than 5 or 6 chapters before abandoning them in favour of more novels.
Oh, I remember loving Grow Up Cupid. Doesn't she decide she is going to be a doctor after all, and her brother or someone points out that 18 isn't too late for anything? And she is so practical and resourceful.
This substack would be the perfect place for a chat where we identify 1980s children's books we can only half remember but which have taken up residence in our heads. There is a quite mad one I've never been able to track down.
Thank you! It was set in a (modern) new town and a teenage boy had to somehow make a choice between masculine and feminine principles as represented by a king and queen. He chose the king first, which led to heatwave, drought and people getting fighty, then the queen, which led to endless rain and despond. Conclusion of course that you need both but I don't remember how, or how the whole premise worked. The town was quite vivid though. I thought it had something to do with Sirius the dog star but googling suggests that's a different book that I probably borrowed at the same time. It does all sound mad as cheese (tripping in 1980s Dumfries library) and I probably remembered it because of how much I hate stuck weather patterns, even then.
Alas, I’m afraid I don’t know this one - it sounds like it would have been right up my street though! I have a similar problem with a book that was in our school library in the 80s that I’ve never been able to track down.
It was a picture book, the introduction was from the publisher saying that a man had walked into his office, said he’d written lots of picture books and left him a picture from each to look at. The man had been supposed to come back the next day but never did, so the agent just published the pictures he’d been left. So each page was a random unrelated picture with a line of text underneath. I could never work out whether the story was true or not! The only picture I remember was a house taking off like a rocket.
Just men dying WW2, mutilation, women volunteers, OUP, loads books mentioned being printed etc, women workers, class divisions, ambition. Really good read.
well it happens very early on, so i don’t consider this a spoiler, and it’s not violent or sensationalist so maybe you’ll be able to cope but it’s about losing a child
How many books is too many? When I was working I found a beautiful set of the Palliser novels in a charity shop - OUP hardback editions on India paper, pristine condition. I visualised retirement, sitting in a Queen Anne chair, sipping a dry sherry & reading Trollope. I retired 24 years ago & I still slump on the sofa, drinking wine & watching streaming services (Ride or Die! So fabulous!) But I will die on the hill of my Pallisers. (Meanwhile, I cannot cope with a human called Mog. There is only one Mog and she sees you from cat heaven.)
Pamphlet comes from Pamphilus, a 12th-century Latin love poem so widely copied it became the word for any small unbound publication. A cheap Puffin book carrying a secret etymology on its cover.
Grow Up, Cupid is not on Kindle. This is a crying shame. There’s a £56 hardback on Amazon or a print on demand paperback (comes with a nothingburger jacket). No ebook available for an impulsive kindle reader with fingers itching to press ‘Buy’. Gives me one to look out for in book shops though.
I was always of the opinion that there was no such thing as too many books, and then my bookdealer dad died and left me an entire shipping container full. Turns out that's about my limit for book ownership... I still haven't completely emptied it, and that was four years ago!
How many books is too many ? We had a roof replaced on our house conservatory a couple of years ago and the builder looking at the 3 full huge bookcases & piles of books on the table( obviously hadn’t seen the boxes of books in the summer house & piles in every bedroom) questioned why I had so many books & with a perplexed stare, why had I not got rid of them once I had read them……… I had to lie down in a darkened room….. 🤦♀️ still haunted by that remark.
Drat you, Lucy, I almost dread reading the blog as a scoot straight over to Abe Books to order at least one recommendation and my teetering stacks of paperbacks are already out of control.
Both Grow Up, Cupid and Femanomics are winging their way to me.
I've just finished 6,000 pages of Brandon Sanderson novels interspersed with Georgette Heyers, and A Gentleman In Moscow. I had actually finished my fiction stacks and was desperately borrowing books from friends to keep me going, which I guess excuses Cupid.
My nonfiction stacks, however, continue to reproach my frivolous self for rarely reading more than 5 or 6 chapters before abandoning them in favour of more novels.
Oh, I remember loving Grow Up Cupid. Doesn't she decide she is going to be a doctor after all, and her brother or someone points out that 18 isn't too late for anything? And she is so practical and resourceful.
This substack would be the perfect place for a chat where we identify 1980s children's books we can only half remember but which have taken up residence in our heads. There is a quite mad one I've never been able to track down.
Excellent idea! Though @Harriet may be all you need. What details do you have?! X
Thank you! It was set in a (modern) new town and a teenage boy had to somehow make a choice between masculine and feminine principles as represented by a king and queen. He chose the king first, which led to heatwave, drought and people getting fighty, then the queen, which led to endless rain and despond. Conclusion of course that you need both but I don't remember how, or how the whole premise worked. The town was quite vivid though. I thought it had something to do with Sirius the dog star but googling suggests that's a different book that I probably borrowed at the same time. It does all sound mad as cheese (tripping in 1980s Dumfries library) and I probably remembered it because of how much I hate stuck weather patterns, even then.
Alas, I’m afraid I don’t know this one - it sounds like it would have been right up my street though! I have a similar problem with a book that was in our school library in the 80s that I’ve never been able to track down.
What was yours about, just in case?
It was a picture book, the introduction was from the publisher saying that a man had walked into his office, said he’d written lots of picture books and left him a picture from each to look at. The man had been supposed to come back the next day but never did, so the agent just published the pictures he’d been left. So each page was a random unrelated picture with a line of text underneath. I could never work out whether the story was true or not! The only picture I remember was a house taking off like a rocket.
Not The Mysteries of Harris Burdick? Sounds very similar (and intriguing): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysteries_of_Harris_Burdick
Ah, thank you - hope yours turns up some time too
No women murdered here,
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams-
Just men dying WW2, mutilation, women volunteers, OUP, loads books mentioned being printed etc, women workers, class divisions, ambition. Really good read.
Lilirae Morton
Happy belated!
Happy Birthday! Re the Pastons, have you found Helen Castor here?
Oh Happy Birthday! Does Toryboy still do that sweet thing where he buys you a box of secondhand books, one for every year?
oh sweetheart, you're not going to get very far with A Tree of Hands :-(
Wait, what, WHY?
well it happens very early on, so i don’t consider this a spoiler, and it’s not violent or sensationalist so maybe you’ll be able to cope but it’s about losing a child
I have just read the blurb more carefully, as I should have done before buying but y’know, flush of enthusiasm ‘n’ all that… I’ll give it a go x
Wonderful eclectic post! Thanks - I’m assuming the Pastons you mentioned are the same family that Virginia Woolf writes about in The Common Reader?
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
I can’t add a photo to this comment, so I’ll send you a Womble related message. I think you’ll like it 😁