We’ve all changed in some way as the world has changed around us since March. Maybe you’ve taken up baking or running or oil painting. I’ve not done anything so productive (although…matter of opinion?). I’ve turned my back on a lifetime of frugality and started buying books with reckless abandon.
Alright, my reckless abandon over the course of six months doesn’t compare with what some of you can manage in a single afternoon but it’s all comparative.
Here’s what I’ve accumulated:
In the spring all I wanted to do was garden so it’s no surprise that I worked just as devotedly on building out my library of gardening books.
The Five Minute Garden by Laetitia Maklouf – published this spring, I love Maklouf’s sweet little book (based on her popular series of Instagram tips) of little jobs sorted by season. For days when you just can’t be bothered to do anything ambitious this is the perfect inspiration. And, as with everything, five minutes a day really does help you make progress.
Good in a Bed and Better Against a Wall by Ursula Buchan – two collections of Buchan’s gardening columns for a variety of papers. I’d read some of these before when I borrowed the first volume via inter-library loan but I’m so happy to have them readily to hand.
Rootbound by Alice Vincent – Vincent has established herself as an enthusiastic gardener with her popular Instagram account and newsletter, neither of which I was familiar with before reading this. I’m interested to hear about any other garden-loving millennials and read this as soon as it arrived. It was a disappointment for me and I might eventually find the energy to expand those thoughts into a full post but, in short, Vincent is a bit too self-absorbed and self-pitying (being a millennial is not that hard – or that different from what others have experienced before. Oh my god, get a grip).
Thoughtful Gardening by Robin Lane-Fox – like with Buchan, I’d borrowed this previously from the library. Lane-Fox can set my teeth on edge every so often with his casual chauvinism but my interest in his topics and my enjoyment of his writing overrides that. I’m delighted to have this now to dip in and out of.
Cheerfulness Breaks In and Growing Up by Angela Thirkell – such disappointments! I pre-ordered these as soon as I saw Virago was reissuing them but I was devastated to see the green spines when they arrived. The covers are lovely and match the rest of the Thirkell titles Virago has been reissuing but these spines are so jarring against the others and I’m really bothered by it. I had also ordered Peace Breaks Out but it was so badly water damaged when it arrived that it went straight into recycling (I was able to get a refund).
Abigail by Magda Szabó – Pure whimsey on my part. As soon as my local bookstore reopened in late spring (only 3 people at a time in the store) I had to visit to show my support, naturally. And how better to show support than with a purchase? I trust the NYRB Classics series and had been hearing only good things about this so it seemed like a safe purchase.
Business As Usual by Jane Oliver & Ann Stafford – Is there anyone who hasn’t loved this book? I read a library copy back in January (I will eventually review it, really!) and was delighted to add it to my own shelves when the Handheld Press reissue came out in the spring.
British Summer Time Begins by Ysenda Maxtone Graham – as a devotee of Slightly Foxed and social histories, I’ve loved Ysenda Maxtone Graham’s Mr Tibbits’s Catholic School and Terms & Conditions. Here she looks at summer holidays from the 1930s to the 1980s. I’m saving this one for dark, long nights when I need a taste of summer.
With the libraries now reopened my buying has slowed back to normal rates (almost exclusively Slightly Foxed new releases) but it was fun to comfort myself with new books during the most uncertain months of the year. It looks like we’re headed into an excellent winter for reading (all winters are excellent for this but one with prescribed social distancing makes it especially so) so I’m happy to have well-stocked shelves.
We all need good things to look forward to right now. So, in case August 20th is not already circled in your calendars, I give you notice: Virago is finally releasing paperback editions of the three wartime Angela Thirkell novels they had previously only made available as e-books (presuming, of course, no massive delays as a result of the pandemic).
For someone who reads a lot, I don’t have much of an interest in acquiring books. The library is my friend, as is all my hard-earned money. And when I do buy books they are usually ones I’ve already read (thanks to the library) and know I want to reread.
A few weeks ago, to reward myself after reaching a professional milestone, I placed a massive book order from Slightly Foxed. And now it has arrived!
The Captive Reader 