Saturday, March 22, 2008

2008 Easter Book Fair - Day Two

I enjoyed today's book searching much more than yesterday's: it was less busy, which means I wasn't constantly pinned between people who had decided not to bother with deodorant or toothpaste. I held my breath so often yesterday that it's a wonder I'm still alive. It seemed worse at the Science Fiction and Theological tables...

I spent $7.00 today, mostly on paperbacks.

A Kindness Cup by Thea Astley
Boiled Alive by Bruce Buckingham
Incident at Badamya by Dorothy Gilman
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
Photo Finish by Ngaio Marsh
Down and Out in Britain: Revised Edition by Jeremy Sandford
The Reckoning by Georges Simenon
The Bachelors by Muriel Spark
Written for Children: An Outline of English-Language Children's Literature by John Rowe Townsend
The Emperor's Pearl: A Chinese Detective Story by Robert van Gulik
The Wrong Set and Other Stories by Angus Wilson
Street Haunting by Virginia Woolf
So Bad a Death by June Wright

The Reckoning by Simenon (first published 1948 in France) sounds like a great story: a retired businessman strangles a young woman for no apparent reason, and as the police close in on him his perception of himself changes in a most disturbing way.

Written for Children: An Outline of English-Language Children's Literature by John Rowe Townsend was bought to replace my much older copy, which had been referred to so often that it had broken into three separate pieces. I'm not too happy about what Townsend has to say about Roald Dahl's work, but it's a comprehensive book nonetheless - although I wish there was an updated version.

I picked up Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (first published 1925) because of the awesome pulp cover. It reads like a pre-Manolo Blahnik Sex in the City. It's a short novel - only 96p, and that includes an introduction by Loos.

Dorothy Gilman's Incident at Badamya was bought mainly for nostalgia reasons. The first adult mystery fiction I read was Gilman's The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax (1966), which I found amongst my mother's books (and which has since been thrown out). It's classed as spy fiction, but it was also chock full of crime, mystery and hilarity. I remember it had a great 1960's cover as well, and I'm still searching for a copy.

1 comment:

albert said...

I have greatly enjoyed having Book Worm Central as my Virginia book fair vendor. They are efficient, courteous, and endlessly helpful. I have always been pleased with the book When I call, I speak to someone who really knows the business and can get me the answers I need. I know the staff’s names and they know mine, unlike some larger companies where I feel like I’m just another unknown customer. I highly recommend Book Worm Central as the best Virginia book fair experience you will ever have in this area