Reading matters

Sunday haul

I haven't published one of these look-at-all-my-new-books photographs for quite some time, but I've made an exception today for no other reason than I need to bump the last post -- The Iraqi -- from the top of my blog and I don't have the energy to write any of the reviews I'm behind in writing.

I purchased these four books during a let's-see-what's-on-offer trip to Waterstone's in Putney. I had never been to this store before, and was impressed with its easy-to-browse fiction section -- so much roomier than my normal haunt at the Kensington High Street branch. There's also the added benefit of a Costa Coffee outlet upstairs with plenty of seating, so I took the opportunity to  sit down for a bit with a pile of books and a cappuccino. All very relaxing.  In many ways, it felt like I was on holiday in a foreign city, because the shop was new to me, as indeed was Putney High Street (I very rarely go south of the river on the weekends).

But enough about the merits of my shopping expedition. Here's a rundown of what I bought:

The Islamist by Ed Husain -- a non-fiction book about a man who joined radical Islam in Britain when he was 16 and then left five years later. Ed Husain is a regular media commentator on all things Islamic, especially home-grown terrorism, so it will be interesting to read this one. The Times described it as "a real eye-opener".

Boy by James Hanley -- this is part of the Oneworld Classics series which promotes works that have been unjustly neglected. This particular book, written in 1931, was banned for 50 years on the basis of obscenity. According to the blurb it "charts the short and brutal life of a boy forced out of school and into the unforgiving adult world".

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid -- an international bestseller, this was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007. According to the bookseller who rang up my purchases today, it's one of the store's most popular books at the moment. I didn't let on that I had seen the posters in the fiction section for the "Thursday Evening Book Club", which will be discussing the book next week as part of its monthly get together.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller -- I admit to buying this solely on the cover image, which is very striking. It's only now I realise that the author is the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller. But the story about the life of a happily married woman slowly unravelling sounds intriguing. "It brilliantly captures the challenges, confusion and excitement of modern life," says the blurb, "and all the possibility that it holds".

Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple -- this is part of Persephone's new Classic series (ie. the ones with the pictorial covers rather than the normal dovegrey ones) and, not having read anything by Whipple before, I thought this would be a good place to start.

It's a good start to the weekend...

... when the postman knocks on your door at 9.30am and hands over two parcels.

Parcel number one contains a secondhand copy of Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces, which I "mooched" last week from BookMooch.

Parcel number two contains a brand new copy of Jose Saramago's Blindness, which I have wanted to read for several years. I have only been spurred into action by the knowledge it has been made into a film, currently screening at the Cannes Film Festival, and I did not want to purchase any horrid screen tie-in version. I can be a bit snobbish like that.

Oh, and the second parcel also contains a DVD box-set -- House, series 3.

Looks like that's me all set then...

Adding to the collection...

It's a bit hard to resist buying anything when The Book People make regular appearances at your place of work, tempting you with lovely new stock at heavily discounted prices. Today they set up shop, quite conveniently next to our in-house cash machine, so there really was no excuse not to purchase something -- anything -- which is how I came to get my hands on a copy of Long Way Down by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman this afternoon.

I've just finished watching the BBC TV series of the trip the pair made from John O'Groats, the northern-most tip of the UK mainland, right down to the southern-most tip of South Africa, so the timing couldn't be better. And while this series was nowhere near as good as Long Way Round or Boorman's own Race to Dakar -- it was too commercial, too calculated -- it was still enjoyable. And when the hardcover is just £6, you can't really go wrong, can you? I'm looking forward to reliving the journey all over again...

More books about Venice

No sooner do I publish a post about books set in Venice than I suddenly see Venetian-themed novels everywhere. I had a little peruse in my local Waterstones this evening and there were loads of books jumping out at me, calling my name. I stress that I wasn't looking for them and that they were all on display tables in prominent view.

First, there was Francesco's Kitchen, a lavish-looking travel and cookbook, by Francesco Da Mosto. I have to admit I am a bit of a Francesco fan -- his BBC TV series on Venice was absolutely brilliant -- so while I didn't buy this cookbook tonight I'm hoping someone (are you reading this T??) might buy it for me for Christmas. Hint, hint.

Then I came across two novels I had not heard of before: Journey By Moonlight by Hungarian author Antal Szerb and The Black Violin by French author Maxence Fermine. Both looked incredibly interesting with exotic-sounding storylines, but I decided I'd add them to my wishlist instead of buying them on the spot.

But in the end temptation proved too much and I ended up purchasing The Haunted Hotel--A Mystery of Modern Venice by Wilkie Collins. This is a lovely Nonsuch Classic edition, only released in March, that has a nice feel in the hand, slightly squat but very lightweight. And I like the sound of the story -- a psychological thriller which swings between London and Venice in which a woman receives an envelope containing a thousand pounds after the mysterious murder of her husband. I'm not much of a classics reader, but this one -- written in 1879 -- sounded so intriguing I just had to get it. I'll keep you posted as to whether it lives up to my expectations...

A Venice reading list

I seem to be building up a nice little collection of books set in Venice, one of my favourite -- if not the favourite -- cities in the world, with the arrival of two more novels, via Bookmooch, this week.

I'm looking forward to reading Justin Haythe's The Honeymoon, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2004 and has been on my wishlist for a year or more.

The second book that thudded through my postbox, via the same "moocher", is Michelle Lovric's The Remedy. Ms Lovric seems to be a self-styled Venice-phile, setting all her books in Venice. I read Carnevale'  several years ago and am currently part-way through The Floating Book, which I put down prior to my holiday to Ischia in the summer and have just never got around to picking back up again. I must do something about that soon.

Ms Lovric has also edited a collection of Venice-inspired fiction and non-fiction called 'Venice: Tales of the City', which I read earlier this year and gives a real flavour of the watery city, perfect if you want to know more about its impact on writers across the centuries.

Other Venice books reviewed by Yours Truly are as follows:

A "wow" of a book that's almost too good to give away

In my post about my NYC haul I forgot to mention one important purchase: Kathy Jakobsen's My New York, a giant-sized picture story book that I bought at the last minute while perusing the shelves of a gift store at JFK Airport. As soon as I picked it up I knew I had to have it: I know a little girl who will treasure it when I send it all the way to Australia at Christmas time.

Basically the book is like a glorified tour guide to New York City for kids, because the story is about a little girl visiting Manhattan's many attractions with her family and friends. There are trips to Central Park, the Rockefeller Centre, Wall Street, Grand Central Station, Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Natural History, Chinatown and Harlem, among others. Visits to the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building are celebrated with absolutely huge gatefolds that are triple the size of this already enormous book!

I have to say that the illustrations are absolutely stunning, the type of pictures you can pore over and still not fully appreciate until you've looked at them about a million times. Every page is jam-packed with so much detail that it hurts your eyes to look at.

I flicked through the book a couple of times before noticing the reader's challenge at the back, where Jakobsen has listed items to find within the book, including notable New Yorkers -- everyone from Bruce Willis to Woody Allan -- who are scattered throughout the illustrations. I'm now beginning to wonder whether I shouldn't keep My New York for myself because it feels almost too lovely to give away... don't you just hate it when that happens?

My NYC haul

Despite the strength of the British pound against the US dollar right now, it doesn't make book-buying any cheaper when you're a Londoner in New York! In fact, I was surprised at how expensive books are in the States.

At one independent store I paid the equivalent of £8 for a paperback, and I can't remember the last time I paid that much for a book in the UK. Not that I mind paying that much if I'm supporting an independent bookseller, but it did come as a bit of a shock to the system given I've done so much book-mooching this year and scored so many free review copies.

That said, I had a wonderful time browsing shelves and hunting out books with a New York theme during my recent trip. I was very conscious of not exceeding my baggage limit so I confined myself to just five books. They are as follows:

Two packages, three books

There's been much postal chaos here in ol' Blighty these past two weeks, with strikes and stoppages and no bloody mail being delivered. Alas, tonight I came home to find someone from Royal Mail had actually dropped off a couple of book packages for me today. Woo hoo.

The first package contained two review books from Legend Press, an independent book publisher based here in London.

Salt & Honey, by Candi Miller, is set in South Africa during Apartheid and tells the story of a young girl who is taken away from her Kalahari Desert tribe after witnessing the murder of her parents. Sounds grim, but intriguing too. And a quick flick of the book's pages reveals there's some delightful little drawings throughout.

The Well-Tempered Clavier, by William Coles, is set in the poshest of English schools -- Eton College -- and has been described as "an evocative, tempestuous, passionate novel with classic tragic undertones". It's not released until October 27, so it's lovely to get a sneak peek before it hits the bookstore shelves.

Find of the year!

The best bit about hunting for books in second-hand stores is finding something really special. For me, that usually means a title I've had my eye on for awhile but never bothered to buy full price, or something from my homeland that I know isn't available on this side of the world yet.

Today, perusing the shelves of my local Books for Amnesty store, I discovered Alexis Wright's Carpentaria, which, as far as I am aware, is not available outside of Australia and New Zealand. It was published in 2006 by Giramondo, a small publishing house based in NSW that is affiliated with the Writing and Society Research Group at the University of Western Sydney.

What's more, Carpentaria has won pretty much every Australian literary award going, including the 2007 Miles Franklin Award, the 2007 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal and the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Literary Fiction Book of the Year.

I had to stop myself from clapping with glee when I discovered it wedged in between a slew of second-rate novels. The best bit was discovering its rock-bottom price of £2.50! Now that's what I call a bargain!

Today's finds

I had a very bookish day today. I took the day off work and stayed in bed for most of the morning reading. Bliss!

In the afternoon I pottered in my local Oxfam store and came away with two books: Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise (am I the only person who hasn't read this?) and Sarah Hall's The Electric Michelangelo (which has been recommended to me by several people).

And this evening I've written a few reviews (I'm sooooo behind and still have about four to go!!) and chosen the books up for vote in the next round of Reading Matters Online Book Group.

A good day all round, then.