I still haven’t decided whether I have enough will-power to go without buying books for a year (or indeed a few months)- see here But just in case, I thought I’d start picking out titles from the shelves – not too many though, a few at a time might be best.
I came up with three candidates for my already-owned reading list.
Two titles are books I bought on trips to the second-hand book shops in Hay-on-Wye.
Hay is one of my favourite places – what bibliophile wouldn’t appreciate a whole town filled with books. When I used to live within an hour or so’s drive away, I managed to exert some self-control on my book buying habit, but now that we live further away, trips to Hay have taken on special status. Now, whenever we go, I have to try to contain the urge to fill the boot of the car with everything I find (and believe me, you can get an awful lot of books into the back of a large estate car). It’s probably something in my mind that worries it might not get any more books, so had better make the most of it while it can.
Now do you see why I’m not sure about going for months without a new book…
Anyway, bulk buying does tend to mean that the odd book or two gets forgotten on the shelf before I get around to reading it.
This is what’s happened to Memoirs of A Highland Lady, by Elizabeth Grant, and Greater London, Its Growth and Development through Two Thousand Years, by Christopher Trent.
The third title I’m putting on my list is Alison Weir’s book about Isabella of France – Isabella She-Wolf of France, Queen of England. This one I have definitely read although it was a few years ago now. I watched the repeat of Helen Castors programme about the early queens of England, and thought I’d like to reread this title.
I can pinpoint my initial interest in Isabella to a school trip to Berkeley Castle in the 1970s, and seeing the room where Edward II was reputedly murdered. I think one day I might work out an Isabella & Edward tour, there are still quite a few places they would have known where you can visit, including Berkley Castle, Gloucester Cathedral and Castle Rising.
Right well, things to do and books to read.
PS: (A Time To Keep Silence hasn’t come yet)
Mostly Motley 