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It's that time of year again...

The Friends of the Seattle Public Library Book Sale! - this year attended by me and my friend Laura (who visited this blog earlier as Bellatrix Lestrange). We woke early and arrived at the Magnusson Park hangar at the ungodly hour of eight on a Saturday morning, but kept each other occupied with strategic planning and other stories.



To my utter surprise, I remained within my budget (I can say no after all!) and financed by a birthday gift from my brothers, I found many treats:

The Brontes Went to Woolworths - Rachel Ferguson (This title always makes me think "The Brontosaurus went to Woolworths." I have no idea why. I never think of Jane Eyre as being written by Charlotte Brontosaurus. Complete mystery. At any rate, this is being reprinted by Bloomsbury and available in the US next March.)

Monday or Tuesday - Virginia Woolf (Lovely slim volume published by Hesperus - though sadly underlined in some places...)

Days of Abandonment - Elsa Ferrente (Published by Europa. I have been thinking about Italy a lot recently, and Ferrente is an Italian author I've been meaning to try.)

Four books from E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia series

Experiment in Criticism - C.S. Lewis (which I just finished reading and will talk more about very soon as this was a work of sincere and concise genius.)

Confessions of an English Opium Eater - Thomas De Quincey (Reading this at work at the present, and so far De Quincey is a fat head.)

Women Against Men - Storm Jameson (Virago)

Jane and Prudence - Barbara Pym (I love Barbara)

Sisters: the saga of the Mitford family - Mary S. Lovell (The Mitfords being a fascinating aristocratic British family famous for their six daughters who turned out to be writers, duchesses, and Nazis. This is a relatively new fascination of mine.)

A Far Cry from Kensington - Muriel Spark (I don't know what this one is about, but have much respect for Ms. Spark's fine pen.)

Eustace and Hilda - L.P. Hartley (NYRB - enough said. Bought it for the cover.)

Sorrows of Young Werther - Goethe (The book that sparked the Romantic novel!...relatively)

Winter Sonata - Dorothy Edwards (Virago Press)

Month in the Country - J.L. Carr (which I've heard is good)

And my favorite: Silk by Linda Chaikin, which was the novel most beloved by my twelve to fourteen year old self, featuring a beautiful (but fragile) British heiress, a sea-roving rogue, Indian orphans/maharajahs, exotic plantations, and palace intrigue. Note the awesome front cover:



Since it's out of print, I was thrilled to find it for $1! Kristin and I have firm plans to read this one aloud...

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