Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Book serendipity

I had planned to write a post this evening about a book I've actually read, but instead I have to share some books that I found today, serendipitously. (The spell-check thinks that isn't a word; if not, it should be.) I enjoy tracking books down on-line, and there is a particular joy in finding an elusive title. Then there are the books that turn up when I least expect them, often the unusual ones - and frequently completely new to me.


The first, on the left, came from a charity shop where I will soon be volunteering. I went to a lunch for new recruits today, and according to the people at my table, the book section needs workers. I have to circulate through the different areas at first, to get a sense of the operations, but I'll be putting my name in for the book section. After the lunch I had my first real browse through the shop, and there in the book section I found Give the Lady What She Wants, a history of Marshall Field and Company, the iconic Chicago department store. This is where Emily Kimbrough worked, and the book even has a picture of the Charley who guided shoppers Through Charley's Door. I might not have bought it just for that, or for the mentions of Kimbrough and Cornelia Otis Skinner, but the jacket copy promises "the story of Woman's Century in which females won their right to buy, dress and live as they chose..." and "the rise of militant Feminism, paced by the marching Bloomer girls." I'm curious, I admit, to see how the two male authors define "militant Feminism" in a book written in 1952. I will say, the pictures are fascinating, particularly of women's clothes (I haven't found the Bloomer costumes yet).

Later, just to kill a few minutes, I stopped in at Half-Price Books. First, in the "old and interesting section," I found The One I Knew Best of All, an autobiography by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's a lovely hardback from 1895, in a green binding with gold decorations on the front cover and spine. She wrote in the Preface,
I should feel a serious delicacy in presenting to the world a sketch so autobiographical as this if I did not feel myself absolved from any charge of the bad taste of personality by the fact that I believe I might fairly entitle it "The Story of any Child with an Imagination."
Next, in the general fiction section, I passed right by a small grey book before my mind registered it as a Persephone. And not just any title, but Dorothy Whipple's High Wages, the book of hers I've been anxious to read next. (I talked myself out of a visit to the Persephone site to order it just three days ago.) It is in perfect condition and even has the bookmark. I will continue to order directly from Persephone, because I want to support their work, but I can't pass one up one of their books for a good price and no international shipping costs.

Finally, in the travel section, I saw Jerome K. Jerome's name on a title I didn't recognize: Diary of a Pilgrimage. Published in 1891, it is an account of a trip to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play.  I think Germany brings out the best (or the worst) in Jerome, and I'm really looking forward to reading this.  Since I was going to break the TBR Dare anyway, this might be the perfect book for Easter time.

I was going to break it with Emily Eden, but there has been a slight delay in that plan. Despite what many booksellers apparently believe, her book Up the Country is not Volume II of her Letters from India. Thinking that I had already read the second set of letters, I only bought Volume I of the Letters. Now I've realized my mistake and I'm waiting on a copy of Volume II, before I start Volume I.

12 comments:

  1. I do enjoy seeing what books other people have purchased. You got some good ones!

    High Wages is the first Persephone I ever bought. I am sure you will enjoy it. How could you not?

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    1. I do too, Jennifer, particularly the older books - such a variety that people find! The copy of High Wages was such a lovely surprise, I'm thinking of it as my Easter present :)

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  2. I love book serendipity, and I'm a little envious of the Frances Hodgson Burnett autobiography. Glad it went to a good home. :) Volunteering in a place like that would be dangerous for me; I'd be bringing home new books every other day.

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    1. The Hodgson Burnett autobiography was such a complete surprise, and completely irresistible in its green and gold cover :)

      Fortunately, I'll only have two shifts a month at the shop, so I may be able to restrain myself (and there wasn't a wide selection yesterday anyway).

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  3. It sounds like you have some great bookshops in your neck of the woods. I'm jealous!

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    1. The Half Price Book stores in this area really vary in the quality of their stock - I've mapped out the best ones :)

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  4. I agree that serendipitously should be a word, it is how we book lovers find books, and authors new to us. You found some fascinating books; I like memoirs and travel memoirs so those two interest me. Plus the green with gold cover.

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    1. Most of my travel these days is armchair or book travel! I love the variety of travelogues that have come my way.

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  5. I hope you have a lovely Easter with your new serendipitously-found finds. *So* a word.

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    1. Thank you - between that and the Easter candy on sale, it should be a great weekend :)

      I've noticed that Microsoft's vocabulary has some strange blind spots.

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  6. The spell check is woefully fond of objecting to words in adverb form that it has absolutely no problem with in adjective form. I DO NOT CARE FOR IT.

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    1. The grammar check also has some strange quirks, and I pretty much ignore its suggestions at this point.

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Thank you for taking the time to read, and to comment. I always enjoy hearing different points of view about the books I am reading, even if we disagree!