I'm off to Cornwall tomorrow for a fortnight, so am knee-deep in packing tonight. Should I take wellies? (Yes, obviously). Raincoat? (Ditto). But what about a sundress? (Tempting fate -- the weather forecast is dire). As for the books: well, Gondal-girl has very kindly sent me a book from Australia, which has just arrived and is now top of my list, so it goes something like this:
1. Svengali's Web, by Daniel Pick (thank you Gondal-girl, for proving that the web doesn't kill books, it actually saves them from extinction).
2. Journeyman, by Ewan MacColl (Ewan was my father-in-law; this is his autobiography, which I've decided to re-read, after all these years).
3. The Wouldbegoods, and The Story of the Amulet, by E. Nesbit (both are my original Puffin editions from childhood, so I hope they don't fall apart in my hands).
Yes, I know that's an odd mix, but they're the books asking to be read at the moment. I'm not packing any others, because I want to go and buy some holiday reading from my favourite bookshop, Bookends of Fowey, and catch up with my favourite booksellers, Ann and David Willmore. I'm sure there's also going to be book-buying temptations next Tuesday, when I'm doing an event at Dartington Hall with dovegreyreader. If anything of you are in the West Country, please come! It's at 5pm on July 15th at the Ways With Words festival. And as you might expect, we will be talking about Daphne.
8 comments:
Enjoy yourself and relax! :)
Cristina.
Have a fantastic time. That does sound like an interesting selection of reading.
Have a good holiday. I've only recently discovered your blog and would like to say how much I enjoyed your Telegraph piece on J M Barrie. You should mention or post it on your blog.
Please remember me to Ann at Bookends, and tell her I will try to call in and meet her in person sometime soon.
Robert
Hello Justine -
I wanted to know if there was a contact email I could reach you on to send you a more lengthy message? I really admire your written work and as a budding journalist having some correspondance with you would be a fantastic opportunity.
My email is emmiefoister@hotmail.com, I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Emily Foister
I've only read the Nesbit books, out of the ones you listed- but I do hope the others aren't too heavy, it can be a pain carrying large books in your hand luggage (I'm not from the UK, so I have no idea how you get to Cornwall). And have a nice holiday!
Enjoy your Cornwall break. It sounds lovely. Cornwall is one of my very favourite places on earth. Don't you love preparing books for holiday reading? It is one of life's joys. I too enjoye your piece on J M Barrie in the Telegraph. Safe journeys
Thanks for all your kind comments, and apologies for the delay in replying -- but I'm back from Cornwall now, and will be less tardy. I'll also post a link to the Barrie piece, as suggested.
Hi Justine, I have arrived at you via your remarks on collecting the original Virago books with dark green spines. I would like to read them from the start in the original Virago Classics edition. How do I describe them on a website so as to make sure that I get the correct edition. Were the original ones in paper or hard? Sorry to be a newbie. Thanks, Dorothy Smith PS I came to Virago via Nell's Quilt because I am a quilter, and, boy, is that a weird one in the quilting lit.
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