On My Shelves: Sisterly ‘book love’

During that crazy time called Christmas I’d forgotten to post about on a batch of books I’d added to my shelves; books that were only able to come to me thanks to the generosity of both of my sisters-in-law. So I’m using the return of my weekly feature – ‘On My Shelves’ (sorry it went ‘offline’ for a bit) to run through the batch. First up from the sis-in-law No. 1 was a ‘juicy’ book voucher for Waterstones. Here’s what I picked up with it:

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell – Even though I knew I could download and read this in its entirety for free (courtesy of george-orwell.org for instance), this was a title I really wanted to put on my shelves in a physical sense. A sort of ‘hands on’ study by Orwell on the more abject side of life and living in Paris and London, but presented in a more fictional style, the moment I read the synopsis for this book I saw it as something a bit special. It brings to mind a big favourite of mine – Ernest Hemingway’s Moveable Feast, a memoir focussing of his time spent in Paris as a struggling writer during the 1920s.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Remember I evangalised the Penguin hardback Classic range exclusive to Waterstones, the ones whose covers were mouthwatering-ly designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith? Recognise anything? *Grins* Yep I couldn’t resist picking up at least one which I could lovingly stroke, and it had to be the one I mentioned in that previous post, to already having a perfectly good paperback version of. Hehe I’m incorrigible! )

The Complete Short Stories by Frank Kafka – When you love short stories as much as I do, and your offered Kafka’s entire bibliography of short stories in a single title, how can one resist? Answer: I couldn’t! I eagerly lapped this one up, and I’ve since been caught a couple of times by my wife hugging it a lot closer than what’s considered normal )

The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald – The first time I became aware of this novel was when I heard writer Andrew Miller evangelising about it on an episode of the Book Show on Sky Arts. He couldn’t stop talking about how incredible Fitzgerald’s prose was, and he sold it so well I had to add it to my wishlist. I’ve since heard many other people speaking about the quality of Fitzgerald’s authorship so I couldn’t resist any longer.

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski – This one’s been on my ‘50 Novels’ reading list since the beginning. It was one I was going to pick up when I needed to but its price fitted perfectly, what I had left to spend on the gift card. I’m chuffed it’s on my shelves now.

My other sister-in-law decided to go down the ‘physical book gift’ route, and not simply hand over a gift card; a risky business because like most bibliophiles I’m a tough customer to please ). She knows me well though, and she lovingly wrapped a shiny new copy of Michael Burleigh’s intriguing Blood and Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism for me. Come to think of it though I’m sort of worried my sis-in-law sees me as the kind of guy who looks like he’s into the bloodthirsty and callous world of terrorism. The shocking thing is – she’s not far wrong )

Ok that’s the lot. Thoughts? Comments? Opinions? I’d love to hear them!