Chocolate Cobwebs

The Lonely Strangers by Charity Blackstock

2008-09-17T19:18:00.003+10:00

First published 1972; cover shown is the 1973 Hodder & Stoughton (UK) hardcover edition.
Jacket art by William Randell.
287p. Historical fiction.

First sentence: When Coll was a small boy, his father took him to Edinburgh.

The Wicked Flee by Anne Hocking

2008-09-16T20:26:00.002+10:00

First published 1940; cover shown is the undated probable first edition paperback from Geoffrey Bles (UK) and George Jaboor (AU).

Back cover of the same book, showing a WWII related advertisement. The book is printed on cheap paper and features advertisements on the back cover and both inner covers.
211p. Mystery fiction.

The Pretty Pink Shroud by E. X. Ferrars

2008-09-14T19:23:00.003+10:00

First published 1977; cover shown is the 1979 Penguin Books (US) paperback edition.
Cover design by Neil Stuart/cover photograph by Joseph Marvullo.
186p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: Ingrid woke with a sense of depression.

Teach Yourself Dressmaking by Isabel Horner

2008-09-12T19:35:00.001+10:00

Cover shown is the 1939 hardcover edition by English Universities Press (UK).
Cover design by B.P.
232p. Technical non-fiction.

First sentence: "Some women dress - others merely wear a few clothes!" a witty old lady once remarked... the art of dressing is well worth studying.

Dumb as They Come by Mark Corrigan

2008-09-11T19:10:00.003+10:00

Cover shown is the 1958 first edition from Angus & Robertson (UK).
224p. Australian crime fiction.

First sentence: The Windy City, they call it.

Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain

2008-09-10T17:33:00.002+10:00

First published in 1949; cover shown is the 1994 Virago Press (UK) paperback edition.
Cover photograph of Nancy Spain by Angus McBean.
280p. Crime/Comedy fiction.

First sentence: "Of all the stinking, boring, belly-aching tunes," shouted Johnny DuVivien passionately, "that one jest about takes anyone's cake!"

'Til Death: An 87th Precinct Mystery by Ed McBain

2008-09-09T20:32:00.002+10:00

First published 1959; cover shown is the 1975 Signet Books (US) paperback edition.
165p. Mystery/Series fiction.

First sentence: Detective Steve Carella blinked at the early Sunday morning sunshine, cursed himself for not having closed the blinds the night before, and then rolled over onto his left side.

Fright by Cornell Woolrich

2008-09-08T19:42:00.002+10:00

First published in 1950 under the pseudonym of George Hopley.
Cover shown is the 2007 Hard Case Crime (US) paperback edition; cover art by Arthur Suydam.
254p. Crime/Noir fiction.

First sentence: He was twenty-five that year, 1915, and his name was Prescott Marshall.

Where is She Now? by Laurence Meynell

2008-09-07T20:50:00.002+10:00

Cover shown is the 1955 first edition by Collins (UK).
192p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: "I thought it might amuse you to have a shot at it," Arun Dorset said; and the good-looking, dark girl came in with a tray and a cup of tea.

Maigret's Little Joke - Georges Simenon

2008-09-04T21:32:00.002+10:00

First published in France in 1957; cover shown is the 1961 Arrow (UK) paperback edition.
160p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: The little old man with the small goatee beard was again emerging from the shadow of the warehouse, backwards, looking to left and right, with a movement of both hands as if to draw towards himself the heavy lorry whose manoeuvre he was guiding.

The Case of the Straw Man by Doris Miles Disney

2008-09-03T19:17:00.002+10:00

First published in 1951; cover shown is the 1958 first UK edition by W. Foulsham & Co.
Cover artist unknown.
192p. Mystery fiction.

First sentence: At five minutes to five Lucy Graham closed her typewriter and cleared her desk.

Boys Will Be Boys by E. S. Turner

2008-09-02T20:33:00.002+10:00

The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al.
First published 1948; cover shown is the 1976 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition.
Cover by John Gorham/Danny Posner/Hassall.
304p. Non-fiction/Reference.

First sentence: Charles Addams, the macabre-minded artist of The New Yorker, has a sketch of a sinister-looking building which bears a notice: 'Beware of the Thing'.

The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima

2008-09-01T21:10:00.002+10:00

First published in Japan in 1954; cover shown is the 1971 Berkley (USA) paperback edition.
Cover shows a detail of Katsushika Hokusai's iconic The Great Wave woodcut, circa 1831.
142p. Classic fiction.

First sentence: Uta-Jima - Song Island - has only about fourteen hundred inhabitants and a coastline of something under three miles.

Almost Blue by Carlo Lucarelli

2008-08-31T18:21:00.003+10:00

First published in Italy in 1997; cover shown is the 2004 Vintage (UK) softcover edition.
169p. Crime fiction.

First sentence: The first carabiniere to enter the room slipped on the blood and fell to his knees.

Choice Cuts by Boileau & Narcejac

2008-08-30T23:26:00.000+10:00

First published in France in 1965; cover shown is the 1968 Panther (UK) paperback edition.
Cover photograph by Dennis Rolfe.
191p. Crime/Horror fiction.

First sentence: I venture today to send you this report because I have every reason to believe that the case of René Myrtil has never been presented to you in its true light, and even that certain aspects of it, known only to two or three people, have been deliberately concealed from you.

Cover: Moonlight Flitting by Maurice Procter

2008-07-06T17:41:00.003+10:00

First published 1963; cover shown is the 1966 Panther (UK) paperback edition.
190p.

"When an important man vanishes, and his resplendent Rolls is found abandoned in a shabby neighbourhood, Chief Inspector Martineau is faced with a situation which seems to have arisen by coincidence. But Martineau does not believe in coincidence. He always looks for the reason."

Cover: The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands by Erle Stanley Gardner

2008-07-06T17:38:00.003+10:00

First published 1968; cover shown is the 1971 Pan Books (UK) paperback edition.
A Perry Mason crime novel. 174p.

"Audrey Bicknell was a fiery brunette whose figure was as hard to believe as her system for picking horses. Collecting her winnings from the race track landed Perry Mason in a punter's nightmare of embezzlement and murder - where his client stood to lose more than just money..."

Covers: Heyer, Brown, Taylor & Fleming

2008-07-03T19:35:00.005+10:00

Not a crime novel, but I couldn't resist the cover.
This is an early undated German hardcover edition of Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy, first published 1950.
No details of the wrapper artist. 349p.

Not sure why I picked this one up. A previous owner has gone through it and used a blue pen to tick all the racy paragraphs.
The Girl From Outer Space is one of the many pulpy titles in The Carter Brown Mystery Series.
This is the 1966 first edition paperback from Horwitz (Aust). 126p.

Our Father's Lies by Andrew Taylor.
First published 1985, this is the 1986 Penguin (UK) paperback.234p.
Cover art by David Shannon; cover design by Neil Stuart.

I found this in the $2 clearance bookcase at a local used bookshop.
The Good and the Bad by Joan Fleming.
First published 1953, this is the 1975 Fingerprint Series hardcover from Hamish Hamilton (UK).
Wrapper design by Beverly Lebarrow. 213p.

Cover: The Fingerprint by Patricia Wentworth

2008-06-30T18:49:00.002+10:00

First published 1956; cover shown is the 1963 Pyramid Books (USA) paperback edition.
Cover by Paul Bacon Studio. 236p.

Cover: Off With His Head by Ngaio Marsh

2008-06-29T14:23:00.003+10:00

US title: Death of a Fool.
First published 1956; cover shown is the 1958 Readers Book Club (Aust) hardcover edition.
Jacket art by Vern Hayles. 272p.

Cover: The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart

2008-06-26T19:32:00.001+10:00

First published 1926; cover shown is the 1959 Dell Publishing (USA) paperback edition.
Cover art by Victor Kalin. 224p.

Cover: Silhouette in Scarlet by Elizabeth Peters

2008-06-25T19:59:00.002+10:00

Cover shown is the 1984 first British edition, published by Souvenir Press.
Jacket art by Mike Head. 216p.

June Wright: A forgotten Australian crime writer

2008-06-24T20:39:00.003+10:00

June Wright, Charlotte Jay, Pat Flower, Patricia Carlon... four female Australian writers whose contribution to crime and mystery fiction was immense, yet they are all but forgotten nowadays.

One of these writers - Melbourne-born June Wright - started writing in 1941, at the age of 22. Her first novel, Murder in the Telephone Exchange, was published in 1948 by Hutchinson, the result of a competition win.

It's said that most first novels are semi-biographical, and this one could well have been: Wright worked in a telephone exchange for the four years preceding the novel's publication.

Her novels aren't scarce, but are certainly not available in most second hand bookshops - not that I've seen, anyway. As far as I know, they have never been reprinted. I have only managed to find one: a hardcover first edition of So Bad a Death (1949, Hutchinson). This was her second novel, and it features the same female protagonist from the first. It's an enjoyable read, with a strong Mary Roberts Rinehart flavour to it, and an interesting setting: an outer suburb of Melbourne that is described rather like an English village from a Christie novel.

Wright wrote six novels in all, the last being published in 1966. According to Continent of Mystery: A Thematic History of Australian Crime Fiction by Stephen Knight (1997, MUP) Wright then retired from writing to assist her husband with his business. In her fourth novel, Reservation for Murder (1958, Long), Wright introduced a nun as her detective - Mother Paul. Said to be the female/feminist version of Chesterton's Father Brown, it's somewhat a disappointment that Wright decided to stop writing just when she'd created such an interesting character.

(Pictured: Make-Up for Murder, 1966 first edition by Long (UK), jacket art by William Randell.)

Agatha Christie: old & new covers

2008-06-22T14:26:00.009+10:00

Pictured are two different paperback covers (earlier and later editions) for three separate Agatha Christie titles. All art work is by Tom Adams.

The Murder at the Vicarage, first published 1930. The early cover above is the 1963 third impression paperback; the later cover below is the 1977 eleventh impression. Both by Fontana (UK).

Evil Under the Sun, first published 1941. The cover pictured above is the 1973 US edition paperback by Pocket Books; the cover below is the 1977 twentieth impression paperback by Fontana (UK).

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, first published in 1960. The early cover above is the 1963 second impression paperback; the later cover below is the 1980 sixth impression. Both published by Fontana.

My favourites? Definitely the early edition of The Murder at the Vicarage, and the UK edition of Evil Under the Sun. The voodoo doll with its twisted, misshapen limbs is one of my favourite Tom Adams' covers, period.

Ngaio Marsh cover story

2008-06-20T18:52:00.010+10:00

The recent post on http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/ regarding cover art and how it can not only seem a surprising choice for a particular author but also vary greatly between editions, made me take a look at my collection of Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh titles. Both authors have been reprinted many times over the last 80+ years. The contents of the books haven't altered, but it's interesting to see how the style and quality of the covers have changed.

Overture to Death was first published in 1939. The cover above is a 1944 Collins (UK) White Circle Pocket Novel paperback, printed in Australia on cheap wartime paper. There's no reference to the cover designer. It's one of my favourite Marsh covers; simple yet menacing. The Woods' Great Peppermint Cure ("For coughs and colds, never fails!") advertisement on the back adds an extra point of interest.

Surfeit of Lampreys was first published in 1941, and is incidentally my favourite Marsh work. The cover above is the classic green and white Penguin cover (it's a 1955 paperback edition). Again, a very simple look, but it works. As does the colour combination, for a different reason: the spines are easy to spot in secondhand bookstores.

Death at the Dolphin was first published in 1967. The cover above is the dust jacket from the Collins Book Club (UK) edition of the same year. The only clue to the artist's identity are the initials G.C. in one corner. This cover shows much more blatantly than the first two that the book is a mystery title. I don't like this cover, apart from that nicely shaped skull. The images of the corpse, skull and two masks seem to have simply been cut and pasted on.

One of Marsh's many Fontana paperback editions. Enter a Murderer was first published in 1935. The cover above is a 1968 edition. It features a photograph instead of a painting or drawing, which is one of my pet hates for cover art, especially when it looks as fake as this. When I read a book I know it's a work of fiction, but I don't need to be confronted with something like this. Definitely a step back from the simple Penguin days.

False Scent was first published in 1960. The cover shown is a 1975 paperback impression. It's another Fontana (UK) publication, with cover art by Philip Hood. Hood did a number of Fontana covers for Marsh titles. He didn't match the style and originality of Tom Adams, Agatha Christie's paperback cover artist at Fontana, but he still produced interesting artworks. I like the layout of this cover, with the author name and the book title neatly boxed up the top, letting the cover tell its story.

Artists in Crime was first published in 1938. The cover above is the 1987 impression. Another Fontana paperback cover, and one of the more recent ones. Compared to the earlier paperbacks pictured, this is positively boring. There's no class to it, and I think that's what's missing.

Cover: The Loner by Otto Friedrich

2008-06-19T20:18:00.002+10:00

First published 1965; cover shown is the 1968 New English Library (UK) paperback edition.
Cover artist unknown. 127p.

Otto Friedrich (1929-1995) was a US writer who worked as a newspaper journalist and editor on such New York institutions as The Saturday Evening Post, Time and Newsweek. He wrote many non-fiction works, a series of children's books and two novels (of which The Loner is one).

Friedrich continued to write on a Royal typewriter until his death from lung cancer; he was even given special permission by Time to do so, despite their conversion to computers.

Cover: The Bachelors by Muriel Spark

2008-06-18T19:37:00.002+10:00

First published 1960; cover shown is the 1969 Penguin Books (UK) paperback reprint.
Cover art by John Farman. 215p.

From the album: St Lawrence, Central QLD, 1989

2008-06-18T19:14:00.007+10:00

Erik's hand-me-down BMX bike.

This was taken just after dad had lowered the seat so Erik's 6yo legs could reach the ground. He crashed the bike a couple of weeks later, and still has a scar on his knee from it. Great big sister that I am, I remember telling him he was going to die... and he believed me. He still likes to tell that story.

Cover: Tiger Standish Does His Stuff by Sydney Horler

2008-06-17T19:21:00.002+10:00

First published 1942; cover shown is the 1952 Hodder & Stoughton (UK) Yellow Jacket edition.
Cover artist unknown. 192p.

Cover: After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

2008-06-16T19:54:00.002+10:00

First published 1953; cover shown is the 1954 Book Club (UK) hardcover dust jacket.
Cover artist unknown. 192p.

Cover: Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin

2008-06-16T19:47:00.002+10:00

First published 1948; cover shown is the 1964 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition.
Cover art by Germano Facetti. 128p.

This is the diary of one night of brainstorm and violence in the life of a teenage boy - a night of initiation into sex and sudden death and heroism.

The lonely, introspective mind of George LaMain had been nourished on Kipling and Dumas. Seeing his father mercilessly flogged by a fashionable sports columnist, the boy simply picks up a gun and goes after the bully. To kill.

Cover: Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

2008-06-15T17:58:00.002+10:00

First published 1928; cover shown is the 1963 Penguin Books (UK) paperback reprint.
Cover art by Romek Marber. 281p.
Penguin Book #1779.

A Staffordshire Bull Terrier smorgasbord

2008-06-13T19:52:00.014+10:00

Since Bean - my 2yo Staffordshire Bull Terrier - came to live with me early last year, he's been fed a raw diet. That means no commercial pet food: no dry food, no canned food. He gets the occasional table scrap, but generally his diet is exactly what it should be for the wolf descendant carnivore that he is: raw, unprocessed meat, along with bone and offal. It makes for a highly varied and interesting diet, and he has the whitest teeth and freshest breath a dog can have!

Here he is with half a fat chicken - his 2nd birthday present. This took approximately 10 minutes to eat.

This is a hunk of lamb... not sure what part. Most of the lamb he's fed is lamb neck.

This is a rabbit's hind leg, complete with fur and skin. He'd never eaten a 'furry meal' before, and I thought he might balk at eating it... but he ate the lot and looked for more.

Two lamb hearts. Three of these make a full meal for him. At 80 cents each, it's an expensive meal compared to chicken or fish. Generally, I spend - in total - between $2.00 and $7.50 on his meals each week. I spend more on squeaky toys than I do on food for him!

A salmon head, bought from a local fresh fish shop for 50 cents. It's a big meal, with a lot of meat, a couple of fins, eyes, teeth etc. A fish head takes him half an hour to eat and leaves him with fish breath for another half hour.

This was taken late last December. I was able to source Christmas turkey frames from a local butcher who would have otherwise thrown them out. The frame pictured above was only 3/4 there I think, but still a huge meal for him. It took him more than half an hour to eat, and he fasted the following day because his little stomach was so bloated.

Kangaroo tail pieces! These are great - really meaty. Kangaroo is one of his favourite meats, along with rabbit.

Yes, this is Bean eating a banana peel. I dropped it on the way to the compost bin and he (as usual) decided that if it was good enough for me, it must be good enough for him. Two seconds after this photo was taken, he spat it all out and shredded it for fun instead. He loves apple cores though.

Bean loves these! Pig trotters take Bean a solid hour to gnaw through, and they're only 50 cents from a local butcher. There's not a lot of meat on these - and he does have gas issues after eating pork - so he only gets one every week and a half or so.

Cover: Too Much of Water by Bruce Hamilton

2008-06-13T19:18:00.003+10:00

First published 1958; cover shown is the 1983 Perennial Library paperback edition.
Cover art by Irving Freeman. 272p.

Cover: Crime of Silence by Patricia Carlon

2008-06-12T19:39:00.001+10:00

Cover shown is the 1965 Hodder & Stoughton (UK) first edition dust jacket.
Jacket art by Edward Pagram. 192p.

Cover: The Works of Edgar Allan Poe

2008-06-11T05:20:00.001+10:00

Cover shown is the 1995 Wordsworth Poetry Library edition, published by Wordsworth Editions (UK).
Cover shows a portrait of Poe by Thomas Corner.
106p.

Cover: Death of a Sardine by Joan Fleming

2008-06-10T20:11:00.004+10:00

First published 1963; cover shown is the 1964 Fontana Books first paperback edition.
Cover artist unknown. 192p.

Found: 1970s flapper print shirt

2008-06-10T19:57:00.004+10:00

This long sleeved 1970s button-up shirt may never be worn, but was just too unusual to leave behind! It was $2.50 from the RSPCA shop near my work, and feels and looks like it has never been worn.

The shirt features a repeated image of a 1920s woman in a cloche (hat) on an oyster pink background. Made from 100% Federated Fashion Fabrics polyester by Bon-Ton Fashions of Melbourne.

Slow Speedy Death

2008-06-10T19:45:00.004+10:00

If you're interested in viewing some Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Gladys Mitchell first edition covers, check out this link to my friend Phil's blog - Slow Speedy Death.

http://gladdog.blogspot.com/

I recommended one of my favourite authors to Phil last year - Pamela Branch. He bought a first edition of Murder's Little Sister (pictured - cover art by Sax) on that recommendation, only to find Branch's writing doesn't draw him in the way she does me. I still feel bad about that... Although it must be said that Murder's Little Sister is not her best.

Cover: The Crime at Honotassa by M G Eberhart

2008-06-09T16:37:00.005+10:00

Cover shown is the 1962 first British edition dust jacket from Collins Crime Club.
Jacket art by John Rose. 256p.

From the album: Bundaberg, QLD, 1945

2008-06-09T15:59:00.004+10:00

My paternal grandparent's wedding picture, taken at an Anglican church in Bundaberg, Queensland.

The groom, Vernon Richard Atkinson, was 30 years old. He had enlisted in Maryborough on 3 November 1939, aged 25, and served - amongst other postings - in Tobruk. He was discharged in 1944.

The bride, Jessie Evelyn Spencer, was 22 years old.

Cover: Forensic Medicine by Bernard Knight

2008-06-09T15:54:00.000+10:00

Hardcover*, Gower Medical Publishing (UK), 1985. 82p.

* This book should come with a warning. It contains colour photographs of every kind of death (violent, suicide or natural) that you can think of. I was only able to look through it once. Now it sits with my other reference books (though just why I'll need to reference it in the future remains a mystery).

At the moment...

2008-06-08T16:50:00.006+10:00

I'm reading... The Cheshire Cat's Eye by Marcia Muller; The Lady Investigates: Women Detectives and Spies in Fiction by Craig & Cadogan and the Winter 2007 issue of Stiletto magazine by Sisters in Crime.

I'm cooking... Lamb & Mushroom Casserole, roasted lamb chops with vegetables and gravy, Florida Chicken Drumsticks, Oxtail Stew - warm and comfortable winter foods.

I'm dreaming... of a trip to Canberra in early August to visit my brother and my friend Ali (hard to believe it's been over five years since I was last there), and a pet friendly coastal holiday in the not-to-distant future so Bean can run on the sand, swim in the sea and chase seagulls for the first time in his life.

I'm wearing... workwise, my favourite item of clothing: woollen man-style trousers that are so comfortable and warm, teamed with my ever-increasing range of brightly coloured long-sleeved 70s shirts and a blazer or cardigan; and cargo pants and four layers of jumpers for early morning and nighttime dog walks (with beanie and mittens if it's really cold).

Q & A Time.

What is your favorite food? Milk chocolate. Roast meals. Milkshakes. Queensland mangoes straight from the tree.

Which schools did you go to? Capella Pre-school, followed by Capella Primary School, followed by St. Lawrence Primary School, followed by Flora Hill Secondary College, followed by Bendigo Senior Secondary College.

What is your favorite color? Green or blue or brown.

Who is your celebrity crush? Vincent D'Onofrio.

Dream vacation? Europe.

What did you want to be when you grew up? An author. A fashion designer. A mother. A librarian.

What makes you happy? Simple things, like seeing a beautiful sunset, sitting in the sun and reading a good book, or watching my dog play.

Beggar's Choice by Patricia Wentworth

2008-06-08T16:34:00.002+10:00

First published 1931; cover shown is the 1990 Warner Books paperback edition. Cover art by Bob Scott. Cover design by Anne Twomey. 252p.

Wentworth interspersed first-person diary entries with straight third-person narrative in this glamorous late-1920s novel of social status, drugs, high intrigue and more twists and turns than you can poke a stick at.

In three long, lonely years Carthew Fairfax ('Car' to his friends) has gone from wealthy heir to impoverished gentleman, with no food in his stomach and barely any leather left on the soles of his shoes. Since the suicide death of his swindling employer, Car has been shunned by his friends and - through the machinations of his scheming cousin, Anna - disowned by his uncle.

When he is down to his last few pence, a piece of paper is shoved into his hand in the street. "Do want 500 pounds? If you do, and are willing to earn it, write to Box Z. 10, International Employment Exchange, 187 Falcon Street, N.W."

So begins a roller coaster of an adventure for Car, who soon meets up with the love of his life, the beautiful Isobel, and with Anna, who has many things in store for the man who once spurned her - and absolutely none of it is nice.

This was a little over the top in some places, but great escapism. I love how Wentworth took the time to describe little details - such as a woman's cocktail dress, or Car's first real meal in weeks. I really enjoyed this.

Castlemaine book sale

2008-06-07T16:22:00.004+10:00

I can never resist a second hand book sale. Today there was one in Castlemaine, a small town about half an hour's drive away. I brought my Staffordshire, Bean, with me. While he's not a fan of long car trips, he never complains, and is happy to lounge on the back seat of the car for as long as it takes while I'm searching through stacks of books. Now, if only I could find a man who'd do the same...

My finds: The Crime at Honotassa by M. G. Eberhart (1962 Collins hardcover, with dust-jacket); Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide by Kenneth McLeish (apparently an 'indispensable companion for all book lovers'); 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories edited by Dziemianowicz, Weinberg & Greenberg (1993 hardcover with DJ, with great jacket art by Jack Eckstein); Ludmila's Broken English by D. B. C. Pierre and three magazines, one of which is the Winter 2007 issue of Stiletto, the Australian crime fiction magazine published by Sisters in Crime.

After fighting my way to the little old ladies manning the make-shift cash registers (and fighting off a little man who wanted to carry my books for me), I loaded my books into the car and drove to a local sports reserve, so Bean could have a run off lead. I'd brought along a squeaky toy (shaped like a bone with an American football in the middle - he loves it) and we spent ages running around, chasing each other. When we both couldn't run another step, we headed back to the car.

There was enough time left to visit two nearby op shops. I didn't find much: two long-sleeved 70s blouses for $1.00 each, one red and the other cream, Margaret Fulton's Book of One Pot Cooking, a collection of Erin Pizzey essays, and a first edition copy of E. R. Braithwaite's Paid Servant.

Cover: Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

2008-06-03T19:17:00.003+10:00

First published 1915. 124p.

"Turn-of-the-century social critic Charlotte Perkins Gilman (author of 'The Yellow Wallpaper') employs humour to engaging effect in a story about three male explorers who stumble upon an all-female society isolated somewhere in South America. Noting the advanced state of the civilization they've encountered, the visitors set out to find some males, assuming that since the country is so civilized, 'there must be men'.
A fantasy vision of a feminist utopia, the story enables Gilman to articulate her then-unconventional views of male-female roles and capabilities, motherhood, individuality, privacy, the sense of community, sexuality, and many other topics."

From the album: Melbourne, VIC, 2005

2008-06-01T18:02:00.004+10:00

Who knew shopping centre photo booths could be so funny?

Bee and I ended up paying for three lots of photos (the one pictured is Attempt No. 2) because Attempt Nos. 1 and 3 just show four photos exactly like the bottom photo pictured.

Second to the bottom is our 'serious face', which led directly to a complete loss of control three seconds later when the bottom photo was taken. We both fell off the stool straight afterwards, with me banging my head on the opposite wall of the booth.

And this was before we had all those drinks with dinner.

Found: 1970s yellow casserole pot

2008-06-01T17:30:00.002+10:00

RSPCA Opportunity Shop, Hargreaves St, Bendigo.
Price: $4.00.

I bought this mainly because I like the colour and shape - it will also be perfect to use for my new Lamb and Mushroom Casserole recipe.

Cover: Sister Kate by Jean Bedford

2008-05-31T23:02:00.000+10:00

Cover shown is the 1982 first paperback publishing by Penguin Aust). Cover art by Sidney Nolan (Constable Fitzpatrick and Kate Kelly, 1946). 152p.

Cover: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes

2008-05-29T07:02:00.000+10:00

First published 1913; cover shown is the 1996 Oxford University Press (UK) paperback edition.
Cover art by Mark Thomas. 203p.

Found: 1960s child's coat

2008-05-28T19:22:00.003+10:00

I found this amazing child's tweed coat about five years ago in a Ballarat op shop which has since closed down. I paid $7.50 for it, which seemed a lot at the time, especially as I didn't have a child and still don't. But it was too exquisite to leave behind. It's in amazing condition - no doubt the original owner thought it was too nice and the poor child it was bought for never got to wear it.

Made by 'Hunting' brand and stamped a size 26, all indications say it's a 1960s item. Measuring 50cm from shoulder to hem, it is double breasted and features a fake fur collar and lining. There are six pockets on the front, four with zips, and both sleeves have decorative buttons just above the cuff. The tweed fabric is quite heavy, and it would be a very warm and cosy coat, especially with the fur collar and lining.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

2008-05-25T17:59:00.002+10:00

First published 1963; cover shown is an undated Faber and Faber Ltd (UK) paperback edition (circa 1990s). Cover art by Donna Muir. 258p.

In the summer of 1953, twenty-year-old Esther Greenwood is in New York, writing articles for a magazine while on a break from college. Pretty, intelligent and gifted, she seems to have it all. She also has strict ideals, and a certain knowledge of what she wants to do with her life.

She doesn't want to be just another wife and mother; just another person like all the thousands of other people she sees each day, scurrying to work then scurrying back home again. Sexual inequality, love, men, her writing... it is all making less sense and becoming harder to deal with.

Back in her home town, the glamour and importance of life in New York is replaced with sharing a bedroom with her neurotic mother, and the knowledge that maybe her writing isn't going to take her where she wants to be after all. Esther starts leaving her hair unwashed, her clothes unchanged. Suicide is a constant thought, and she makes a number of halfhearted attempts.

Eventually, after a terrifying botched electric shock treatment and visiting her father's grave and venting the anger she's held inside since childhood, she takes a bottle of sleeping pills into the cellar and crawls into a hole in the brickwork. She is found three days later.

The second part of the novel details Esther's treatment in a number of mental institutions, which includes further electric shock treatments. Combined with the life changing events of losing her virginity and experiencing death, Esther begins the long journey back to sanity.

This is a fascinatingly honest book, made all the more real because many of Esther's fears and dreams are all too familiar to me. The author, Sylvia Plath, succeeded in committing suicide just one month after the semi-autobiographical book's publication in 1963.

From the album: Clermont, Central QLD, approx 1982

2008-05-22T21:18:00.005+10:00

Taken at a church picnic.
L-R: Geoff, Brett, Michael, me, Robert, Renee, Scott, Diane, Rachel, Katie.

Hansel and Gretel circa 1916

2008-05-21T19:16:00.004+10:00

I found an exquisitely illustrated children's book in the local RSPCA op shop for 10 cents during my lunchbreak today - a reprint of Margaret Evans Price's 1916 edition of Hansel and Gretel.

Cover: A Spy in the House of Love by Anaïs Nin

2008-05-20T20:36:00.003+10:00

First published 1954; cover shown is the 1985 Penguin Books (UK) paperback reprint. Cover photograph by Brassaï. 124p.

Found: 1960s chainmail purses

2008-05-18T11:54:00.005+10:00

I found these two vintage purses at one of the best hidden op shops in town - connected to a local church, they're only open on Fridays and they don't seem to advertise. I got lost in the suburbs a few years ago and found the shop on my way back to civilisation.

It's a treasure trove, with stacks of bags and racks of clothing, mostly 80s and 90s stuff but here and there you'll find some amazing things. I've come across leather saddle bags from the 70s in mint condition, French-made scarves, a 60s sundress, a jar of diamante buttons and a stack of old Phantom comics.

The two purses were $1.00 each. The white one is a genuine Oroton piece, with gold fixtures. It had a few marks but they wiped right off. The gold one has no tags or logos, and is in perfect condition.

Found: December 1938 issue of The Oracle

2008-05-16T06:05:00.000+10:00

The best thing about old papers and magazines - especially ones targeted at a female readership - are the advertisements. There are ads for Snowfire Powder Cream ("Banish shiny nose - your greatest menace to beauty - forever!"), Sta-blond products ("When his lips meet yours, remember, his eyes are on your hair!"), Milton Feminine Hygiene Products ("What attracts men? It's the girl that radiates personal freshness!"), and Erasmic Vanishing Cream ("All the thrills of a woman who is courted and adored can be yours!"). So many exclamation marks, so little sense.

And I wonder what happened to "Anxious Mary", who wrote a letter in to Ruby M. Ayres, the paper's agony aunt: "Bill and I are in love, and he wants us to become engaged, but I am not going to agree until I know something more about him. If I ask him any questions about his life before he met me, he closes up like a book and evades the answer. I often wonder if he's done anything he's ashamed of..." Wasn't there a serial killer named Bill active in Australia in the 1930s?

From the album: Near Rockhampton, Central QLD, approx 1983

2008-05-15T19:07:00.003+10:00

Looking at this camping trip photo reminds me of the rubbery smell of the family tent, the goat we cooked on a spit and the exciting, hole-in-the-ground outdoor toilets (I was easily amused). That's me on the right, wearing a very groovy t-shirt and terry towelling shorts combo, with my friend Joe on the left.

Cover: Bullitt by Robert L. Pike

2008-05-12T18:29:00.004+10:00

First published as 'Mute Witness' in 1963; cover shown is the 1969 Penguin Books (UK) paperback reprint. Cover photograph taken from the film starring Steve McQueen. 175p.

Books and a cupcake

2008-05-11T15:59:00.008+10:00

A cupcake from the batch I baked this morning for mum's Mother's Day lunch - vanilla with butter cream icing.

I didn't have long to wait after the Clunes 'Booktown' weekend for another book fix - the local library held a book sale yesterday. I picked up a few things, including another copy (you can never have too many) of one of my all-time favourite children's books - The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden.

'Sewing and Knitting' by Helen Allen is technically a children's how-to guide, but if my plan to knit a scarf is ever going to succeed, a simple step-by-step approach is the only thing that's got a chance of getting me there. Now I just need some decent wool, a pair of needles and a free evening to sit down with a mug of hot chocolate and this book.

Crete is a work of verse fiction by Dorothy Porter, author of The Monkey's Mask. Here's a taste:

Stain

If you must mark me
make it pretty

give me a birthmark
the colour of an orchid
so inviting
my lover will sniff it
like a blissed bee

embroider my wrist
with a tattoo
so my talking hand
can trail in the air
a glimpse of the exquisite

if you must keep me
in this skin

if you will never let me out

don't make me live inside
stained walls

make them pretty.

Remembering Agatha's Handbag

2008-05-08T19:14:00.002+10:00

Many years ago I started up an eBay business, selling collectible books and clothing. I called it Agatha's Handbag. Sometime during that heady first couple of months, my younger brother drew a logo for me on a tiny scrap of paper. I thought I'd lost it, but came across it the other day while cleaning out a chest of drawers.

I love it just as much now as I did back then. Not only did my little brother do an awesome job, but I hadn't even asked him to! It's quite precious to me now.

Sadly, Agatha's Handbag as a business didn't make it - though I gave it a very good try. I still register the name every year, as you never know what's around the corner...

Cover: The Woman in the Woods by Charity Blackstock

2008-05-07T19:02:00.000+10:00

First published 1957; cover shown is an early undated paperback edition by Leisure Books (USA). Cover art by Copeland. 233p.

"Two young boys found the woman's body in the woods. And soon the police learned that the woman had been dead at least a year... she had been stabbed... she had two gold fillings... and she wore just one shoe.

But that was all they found out until everyone in the little English village began to think back, to remember the female stranger who'd suddenly appeared in their midst a year ago.

Then another boy did remember something... something he should not have spoken about, for from that moment he was the focus of evil forces of destruction and death."

See also: http://chocolatecobwebs.blogspot.com/2006/10/woman-in-woods-lee-blackstock.html.

Found: Funky 80s necklace

2008-05-06T19:13:00.004+10:00

I bought this necklace yesterday for $4.50 from the local St Vinnies. Beautiful deep blue colour, with two slightly overlapping pieces on a silver backing. It's quite short, as Deirdre is demonstrating.

Definitely my new favourite.

Cover: The Spinster's Secret by Anthony Gilbert

2008-05-05T18:52:00.004+10:00

First published 1946; cover shown is the 1951 Collins Crime Club (UK) hardcover edition. 192p.

"Y'see, what the average layman don't understand is that murder begins in the mind. That's why murder's so interestin' to most people. It's the amateur's crime, and most folks are amateurs. Any one might commit a murder, because you don't need any specialised knowledge... It's only when it comes to gettin' away with it that your special knowledge comes in. That's why most murderers get hanged - just through bein' amateurs."

Found: vintage photograph

2008-05-04T20:32:00.004+10:00

Something about the couple (let's call them Richard and Violet) in this vintage photograph made it impossible to leave behind. I'm not sure whether it was his Adam Gilchrist ears, or his Tintin outfit, or her funky beret and perfect curls, but I couldn't leave it behind.

The photo was made into a postcard by Sunbeam Photos in Margate, a major seaside resort in England. No date, but going by the plus fours (kind of like knickerbockers) worn by Richard, and Violet's generously cut, side fastened trousers, it's a fair bet that the photo is circa early 1930s.

Clunes booktown weekend

2008-05-03T21:30:00.005+10:00

Clunes (20 minutes from Ballarat, Victoria) is holding its annual 'Booktown' extravaganza this weekend. I visited for the first time, driving down from Bendigo and somehow not getting lost on the way - even with a wrong turn.

The main drawcard for Booktown are the 50 or more booksellers, with makeshift shops set up in community centres and old buildings dotted throughout the CBD. If you're like me you may be disappointed, as I'd set off for Clunes with a vision of a giant secondhand bookshop overtaking the town... and instead found just a handful of actual used book sellers and many more antiquarian/collectibles sellers.

All but two of the books I bought in Clunes came from the charity book sale held in a community hall. Here I found some great buys, including a 1959 Ace Books edition of Chester Himes' If He Hollers Let Him Go (pictured), in great condition for just $1.00. There was more original pulp fiction there, which at that price I'm now wishing I'd picked up.

I also took home The Religious Body by Catherine Aird, The Girl From Outer Space by Carter Brown, a (nameless) book that was embarrasing to buy (the elderly man who took my money looked scandalised that such a refined lass as me was buying such filth - but it was too interesting to leave behind), Ten Plus One by Ed McBain and Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron. Away from the charity book sale, I picked up Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin and a copy of Janet Morgan's biography of Agatha Christie, which I haven't read yet.

On the way home from Clunes I stopped at the secondhand bookshop in Campbell's Creek, just outside of Castlemaine. This is one of my favourite bookshops - it has a large crime section and so many awesome nonfiction books. I spent more money here than I did in Clunes, even with the 20% off sale that the bookshop has run on a continual basis for years.

Here's what I found: Continent of Mystery: A Thematic History of Australian Crime Fiction by Stephen Knight, The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book by Rosenberg & Wiener, The Spinster's Secret by Anthony Gilbert and Clothing Liberation by Laura Torbet. And I found a crime reference book that I'd been looking for for years: Colin Watson's Snobbery With Violence.

Found: homemade evening dress

2008-04-30T22:22:00.007+10:00

I found this sleeveless dress in a Shepparton (country Victoria) op shop, and took it home with me for the amazing outlay of just $3.50. It's homemade, but of definite wear-in-public quality, and is a gorgeous shade of mauve/rose.

The full skirt (a true "circle" skirt) ends a good inch or two below the knee, and the unknown dressmaker even included hidden pockets on either side of the hips.

It has an elasticised waist that seems a bit high (obviously this is a big reason why things are homemade: to fit particular measurements perfectly), but I've solved this by adding a wide, black elastic belt from the 1980s. The belt is also an op shop find - I think it was 50 cents.

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard

2008-04-29T22:03:00.000+10:00

First published 1980; cover shown is the 1981 Penguin Books (Aust) reprint. Cover taken from Girl with Cherubs by Geoffrey Proud. 337p.

The Transit of Venus is a novel of place: Sydney, London, New York, Stockholm; of time: from the fifties to the eighties; and above all, of destiny: of the two beautiful, orphaned sisters, Caro and Grace Bell, and the men in their lives.

First paragraph: "By nightfall the headlines would be reporting devastation. It was simply that the sky, on a shadeless day, suddenly lowered itself like an awning. Purple silence petrified the limbs of trees and stood crops upright in the fields like hair on end. Whatever there was of fresh white paint sprang out from downs or dunes, or lacerated a roadside with a streak of fencing. This occurred shortly after midday on a summer Monday in the south of England.

The unfinished skirt

2008-04-28T21:04:00.006+10:00

Two or three years ago I signed up for sewing classes, held every Monday night for six weeks at a local adult education centre. For three hours every Monday night for six weeks, with my Janome Excel and more ideas than talent, I learned the basics: how to read a pattern, choose fabric, cut a pattern, fit a zip, iron the fabric regularly and sew in a line that was straight 60% of the time.

The aim of the course was to work on and complete a project. Of the 10 women there, I was the only one creating something for myself. One woman planned to sew a Christening gown for her niece; another wanted to learn how to sew underwear to sell on eBay; and a woman with a nose stud had big plans to sew parachute pants for her husband out of home-dyed fabric.

I chose the New Impressions 50's Style Skirt pattern (pictured) from Spotlight, on special for just $5.00 (bargain!). I'd recently found a huge length of vintage 70's fabric for just $2.00 in an op shop, a sample of which is pictured. It's a thick cotton, with a creamy background and a busy print featuring gypsies, cowboys, old movie posters and Wild West steam trains. It was perfect for the skirt; although I did have to take some extra time to match up the prints when cutting the various pieces, so it didn't look too strange.

Apart from never knowing what I'm doing bobbin wise (if I successfully thread a machine, it's pure luck), creating something wearable and unique is a big enough buzz to keep me going. And yet somehow the skirt never got completed. I'm so close - all that's left is the hem. The hard bits - the hidden zip and the inclusion of interfacing (I had no idea what that was until doing the course...) in the wide band at the waist/hip - have all been done.

If I can handle the horror of unpacking my Janome and threading a bobbin all over again, I think my masterpiece may finally be finished this winter. I can just imagine it, teamed with boots and a black turtleneck. And maybe when I've got the machine out, I'll swallow my fear of creating something that isn't perfect and start on my next project... which I'll keep under wraps for now.

A Pin to See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse

2008-04-27T19:15:00.002+10:00

First published 1934; cover shown is the 1952 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition. 380p.

This was one of those completely satisfying books that come along once every 15 books or so - a book that took longer than usual to read and digest, but one I almost didn't want to finish, simply because the pleasure of reading it would then be over.

Set before, during and after WWI in London, this is the detailed, almost moment-by-moment story of Julia Almond, who grows from a girl into a woman yet never loses her naivety; her complete lack of understanding of the realities of life. She sweeps through her school years, knowing she has that 'something' that makes all others look up to her, and then begins work at an exclusive fashion boutique, quickly gaining confidence in her looks, her style and herself.

When her father dies and she is forced to share a bedroom with her much younger cousin, she marries Herbert, a family friend and a man 15 years her senior, simply as an escape. While the Great War rages outside of the country, and her husband is stationed overseas, Julia is free to live the life she has always wanted - the life she has always lived in her daydreams. In fact, much of Julia's life is based on dreams and imagination, with reality to simply be ignored.

By the time Herbert returns, Julia knows she has made a mistake. Her solution is to force Herbert to sleep in the back bedroom, or to lie passive and unresponsive if he forces his 'rights' on her. When she is 27 years old, and having been married to Herbert for some seven years, a much younger man named Leo comes into her life. She once oversaw Leo's school class, and paid a pin to look into his peepshow, a children's craze at the time. Now, she sees in him someone that can finally give her what she thinks she deserves: 'real' love - primarily of the physical type. Frustrated with the strict British class system that enables women of the higher classes to have affairs and gain divorces - and yet looks with censure upon women of her lower class who do the same thing - Julia decides to break a few rules.

Leo becomes the sole focus of her life, her thoughts. Herbert is forgotten, left to seethe with jealousy and disbelief as Julia grows more confident, happier than she has ever been before. As Leo is in the navy and often away, Julia makes do with Herbert, pretending it is Leo touching her instead. When she becomes pregnant as a result, Leo arranges an abortion. Julia, as usual, is thinking only of herself - as the baby isn't Leo's, she doesn't want it. Meanwhile, Leo is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their clandestine relationship, which primarily consists of letters and the occasional stolen moment. When Julia begins to suggest that Herbert's death would be the answer to their dilemma, Leo takes it seriously - while Julia, as always, is simply spinning more daydreams.

Julia's life begins its final chapter the night Leo brutally and fatally attacks Herbert in the dark street near their home. Her letters to Leo are discovered, and they are both arrested and put on trial for the murder. Julia had no idea Leo was going to do what he did, but as far as the class-conscious jury of her London peers are concerned, her crimes of adultery and abortion have signed her death warrant.

While 'A Pin to See the Peepshow' is classed as crime fiction, it is so much more than that. Julia's buying trips in Paris for the boutique, the descriptions of wartime London, the cold realities of poverty, social status, male/female dynamics and the terrible price Julia pays for never mentally growing up all combine to make an absorbing read.

The romance of vintage negligees

2008-04-26T18:10:00.000+10:00

Slips, negligees, nightgowns, petticoats... whatever you want to call them, it's one of the first sections I check out in any op shop. I love the lace details, the scalloped necklines, the side splits, the see-through fabrics.

I have no problems with the synthetic, man-made nylon, rayon or Terylene slips that were rampant in the 1970s and 80s - in fact, I quite like them (let's face it, it's so much easier care-wise). The shiny fabric and polyester feel simply adds a different element to them. It's the little extras I look for: the lace work, the patterns and the fit.

Pictured is a lilac slip I picked up for $2.50 from an op shop in Ballarat a few years ago. It's one of my favourites - I love the bodice, and the wide strip of lace at the hem. Sadly it's way too large in the bust for me, and because of the way the bodice is constructed, I just look ridiculously little-girl-like in it. No tags. It looks and feels new.

My retro slip collection is always growing, and apart from the lilac one, they're all in regular use. My work wear is centred around the ladylike look, mainly comprising pencil skirts with vintage blouses, or a belted shirt dress. A retro slip underneath adds that extra element of romance to each look, and I now feel naked without one. They can also double as a camisole under a suit jacket.

I have two "regulars". One is a plum coloured synthetic slip which is quite long, ending just above the knee. Perfect for those just-below-the-knee pencil skirts, and longer dresses. Lacework features on the bodice and runs around the sides to the back panel. The hemline is also trimmed in lace. Again, no tag. It fits like a glove.

The second often doubles as a nightgown, as it's too gorgeous to only wear to work. It's a 1980s nylon number, bright white with a raised pattern. Again, lacework features on the bodice and hemline. This one also fits like a glove. It has a tag, but no brand name is mentioned.

The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden

2008-04-26T13:17:00.003+10:00

Cover shown is the 1972 Macmillan Ltd (UK) first edition hardcover. Jacket art and illustrations by Creina Glegg. 140p.

This was a favourite childhood book of mine - I went through a phase when all I wanted to be was a gypsy, travelling round the countryside in a brightly decorated caravan, wearing lots of jewellery, dancing round the campfire and having some handsome gypsy boy fall in love with me. Embarrassingly, I think this was first influenced by reading an Asterix & Obelix comic...

"A diddakoi is someone who is half-gypsy, but wholly-gypsy was how Kizzy felt and wholly-gypsy was how the children in school treated her - which was bearable as long as they, Kizzy Gran and Old Joe the caravan horse, were left alone in Admiral Twiss's orchard. But Gran was really Kizzy's great-great-grandmother, and there came the night when Kizzy, bereft and desolate, heard the other campers discussing her future over her head - no child of theirs and a diddakoi at that - and Boyo whispered that Joe was going to the knackers to be 'torn up' by the hounds. That was why Peters, the Admiral's man, found Kizzy sitting half-frozen on the threshold of Amberhurst House, with Joe's halter clutched in her hand.

Mrs Cuthbert was sure she knew what would be good for Kizzy; the Admiral and Miss Brooke wondered and worried. Kizzy herself, fiercely, wanted nothing from anyone. Give in to 'them' she would not. Except for Peters and the Admiral and Nat the bowlegged groom... but what could three men alone in the woman-less Great House do with one small diddakoi?

This is a deliciously satisfying story of the human spirit. It reflects Rumer Godden's long-held interest in the ways of the 'travelling people', her rueful understanding of the casual cruelties of childhood, and her vividly communicable relish in sights, smells, sounds, places, people and all small things."

The Witch's House by Charlotte Armstrong

2008-04-25T06:30:00.001+10:00

Cover shown is the 1963 Fawcett Crest (USA) first edition paperback. Cover art by Harry Bennett. 175p.

"For sheer edge-of-the-chair suspense no one beats Charlotte Armstrong. Her stories have the compulsive fascination of a ticking bomb...

The moment-by-moment horror of this gripping tale of a young professor who stumbles onto a colleague's deadly secret and into the private nightmare world of a demented old woman and her killer dog is a brilliant example of Miss Armstrong's matchless skill. See if you can read through this without turning up the lights or locking the door... "

The Gazebo by Patricia Wentworth

2008-04-24T23:02:00.002+10:00

First published 1955; cover shown is the 1965 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition. Cover art by Leif Anisdahl. 239p.

'Nicholas Carey' were the last two words Mrs Graham uttered in the presence of her murderer. At first the evidence seemed conclusive - especially as the man in question admitted he was on the scene of the crime only a few minutes before. But there are other suspects.

Why, for instance, had Sid Blaunt and Fred Worple been so keen to buy the Graham's house? Why did Ella Harrison try to establish an alibi? It needs Miss Silver to unravel it all, and luckily she's there to see justice done.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

2008-04-22T06:45:00.000+10:00

First published 1924; cover shown is the 1974 Dell (USA) paperback edition. Cover artist uncredited. 223p.

"As much as the man with the scar repelled Anne, he fascinated her. What did he know? Why was he involved with a heinous crime that no one could solve, and driven halfway around the world by a strange compulsion he could not reveal? Who was the haunting enigma in the brown suit... and just how much time did Anne have to find out?"

The Chocolate Cobweb by Charlotte Armstrong

2008-04-21T05:22:00.000+10:00

First published 1948; cover shown is the 1975 Berkley Medallion (USA) paperback edition. Cover artist uncredited. 256p.

"When Amanda Garth found out that she might have been switched at birth with the son of the famous artist Tobias Garrison, she decided to go and see for herself if she was a child of the Garrison family.

And very quickly Amanda was caught in a perilous web of jealousy, suspicion and murder. For only the slim possibility that Amanda was Tobias' child stood between his son Thone and sudden, violent death..."

The Ghosts' Who's Who by Jack Hallam

2008-04-19T07:48:00.002+10:00

Jacket shown is the 1977 first edition by David & Charles (UK). 157p.

A dictionary of spectral biography, listing alphabetically over 450 English phantoms, from a Bronze-Age man to a pilot of World War II with a geographical index of ghostly locations.

One such 'ghost' is Polly Nicholls, who is said to haunt Durward Street in London. She was Jack the Ripper's first victim and was a 42-year-old prostitute when she died in the gutter of Durward Street, Whitechapel on 31 August 1888. Her ghost is said to be seen huddling in the gutter.

Another is Herbert Kay, a 52-year-old dentist who died in London when a wartime landmine exploded outside a pub in the East End. In 1975 his ghost was seen to walk through walls, bang doors, shake beds, drink beer and flood the pub by turning on the beer taps. Those who saw the ghost before it was exorcised described it as 6ft tall and 'well built'.

And then there's Edwin Fry, who haunts The Blueberry Inn in Blewbury, Berkshire. He was the landlord of the pub, dying in 1951. His ghost is said to walk from his old upstairs bedroom to the bar downstairs. The footsteps are described as 'hollow and rubbery', the sound made by somebody walking in wellington boots.

George & Rue by George Elliott Clarke

2008-04-17T23:56:00.002+10:00

First published 2005; cover shown is the 2006 Vintage (UK) paperback edition. 223p.

"The facts are clear. It was, by all accounts, a 'slug-ugly' crime: in 1949, George and Rufus Hamilton, two African Canadians, bludgeoned a taxi driver to death with a hammer in the dirt-poor settlement of Barker's Point, New Brunswick. Less than eight months later, the brothers were hung for their crime.

George and Rue's brutal act lives on in New Brunswick over half a century later, where the murder site is still know as 'Hammertown'. George Elliott Clarke draws from this disturbing chapter in Canadian history in his first novel, brilliantly reimagining the lives - and deaths - of the two brothers.

Fiercely human and startlingly poignant, George & Rue shifts seamlessly through the killers' pasts, examining just what forces would reduce these men to lives of crime, violence, and ultimately, murder."

The Sculptress by Minette Walters

2008-04-16T06:38:00.000+10:00

First published 1993; cover shown is the 1996 Pan Books (UK) paperback edition. Cover shows Pauline Quirke as Olive Martin in the BBC TV production. 441p.

"The facts of the case were simple: Olive Martin had pleaded guilty to killing and dismembering her sister and mother, earning herself the chilling nickname 'The Sculptress'. This much journalist Rosalind Leigh knew before her first meeting with Olive, currently serving a life sentence. How could Roz have foreseen that the encounter was destined to change her life - for ever?"

The was the first Walters I ever read - I remember reading it in my Geology class at high school (I was failing anyway). Her subsequent novels 'The Dark Room', 'The Scold's Bridle' and 'The Ice House' were published in quick succession and were equally as good. Then came 'The Echo', which I struggled with. Then 'The Breaker', which semi-restored my faith in Walters. That was in 1998. Her more recent work is still, from what I've read, good, but I haven't been tempted to try them - apart from 'Chickenfeed', her fictionalised account of a true 1920s murder. This was published as part of the Quick Reads series, and was reviewed on this blog last year.

The first paragraph of 'The Sculptress' is one of the best openings of a crime novel I've ever read:

"It was impossible to see her approach without a shudder of distaste. She was a grotesque parody of a woman, so fat that her feet and hands and head protruded absurdly from the huge slab of her body like tiny disproportionate afterthoughts. Dirty blonde hair clung damp and thin to her scalp, black patches of sweat spread beneath her armpits. Clearly, walking was painful. She shuffled forward on the insides of her feet, legs forced apart by the thrust of one gigantic thigh against another, balance precarious. And with every movement, however small, the fabric of her dress strained ominously as the weight of her flesh shifted. She had, it seemed, no redeeming features. Even her eyes, a deep blue, were all but lost in the ugly folds of pitted white lard."

If you want to create a monster, an opening description like that is definitely a good start!

The Violent Friend: The Story of Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson 1840 - 1914 by Margaret Mackay

2008-04-15T19:20:00.002+10:00

First published 1969; cover shown is the 1970 J.M. Dent & Sons (US) Readers Union hardcover edition. Jacket art by Terry James. 376p, including index and photographs.

From the author's dedication:

May one dedicate this adventurous life story to the memory of Fanny's favourite in the Robert Louis Stevenson circle - her compatriot, Henry James, the only one with whom she never quarrelled?

He was fascinated by the phenomenon of the controversial marriage, and must often have thought of using this tiny pioneer, brave and strong - 'tiger and tiger lily', her husband called her - in his portraits of brash American heroines seeking their fortunes abroad.

'They are a romantic lot,' he wrote of the Stevensons, 'and I delight in them.'

'...A violent friend, a brimstone enemy... Is always either loathed or slavishly adored; indifference impossible...'

(From Stevenson's description of his wife in a letter to James Barrie.)

The Thief by Ruth Rendell

2008-04-13T07:44:00.000+10:00

Cover shown is the 2006 Arrow Books (UK) first edition. Cover photograph by Richard Dunkley. 86p.

The Thief is part of the Quick Reads series, designed to encourage adults who wouldn't normally read, to do so. This may explain the simple wording and sentences, but it doesn't explain why the book is so horribly bad.

The story is interesting enough: Polly, a 20-something Londoner who stole and destroyed family and friend's valued items as a child - and who still lies regularly as an adult - meets Trevor on a flight to New York. He is rude and twice as good a liar as she is. He accuses her of being an alcoholic (which she may well be), purposefully spills his coffee on her pants suit and scares her silly. She then meets him again on the flight home - where he lies to the flight crew about her and makes it known she is an alcoholic.

After the plane lands she spies Trevor's distinctive suitcase on the luggage carousel and, still smarting from his treatment of her, she steals it. She leaves it in the ladies toilets and takes the contents home, where she discovers it consists of dirty clothes and $10,000 in cash. What follows is several days of torment for Polly as she attempts to locate Trevor in order to return the money, while spinning lie after lie to her live-in boyfriend to cover her tracks. Her boyfriend values honesty above all else, and Polly has spent years "bettering" herself for his benefit - now, all that is gone and she is back to where she was as a child.

As expected, it is Trevor who will have the last laugh - he is simply too clever at lying.

There was little tension build-up in this book, and I certainly didn't care what happened to any of the characters. The description of Polly's lying, thieving childhood activities seemed quite tame and certainly didn't explain why she should get her comeuppance in such a terrible way. Her relationship with her boyfriend came across as one-dimensional and stilted, and Polly herself seemed to be a bit of a halfwit. The one shining light was the obnoxious Trevor, who, for all his rotten ways, was at least interesting.

The Wrong Set by Angus Wilson

2008-04-12T07:45:00.000+10:00

First published 1949; cover shown is the 1959 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition. Cover illustration by Ronald Searle. 201p.

"The first thing that one notices about these twelve stories is how they make one laugh. Only later does one realise what a skilled exposure the author has made of those self-righteous and hollow conventions, those smug clique ideologies, those whimsical sayings and philosophical attitudes, in fact, the protective devices with which people seek to mask deep-laid egotism.

There is the wallowing in self-adulation on the part of the 'crazy Cockshott' family, as they delight to dub themselves. There is the search for really nice standards on the part of Vi, singer at the Passion Fruit nightclub - as hopelessly bemused a spirit as ever lived in sin at Earl's Court and attempted to lecture a young Communist nephew with untidy hair and spectacles.

There is the humbug of the bullying new curator at the provincial art gallery. And the staff dance at the South Kensington hotel, where lives the lady who spends her time trying to achieve á Knightsbridge appearance on a Kensington purse', and where, as the evening progresses and the drinks begin to tell, the lady-like facades and gentlemanly courtesy of the clientele crack up with a vengeance."

Taste of Fears by Margaret Millar

2008-04-11T06:38:00.000+10:00

Details: First published 1950; cover shown is the 1988 Penguin Books (UK) paperback reprint. Cover photo by David Fairman. 218p.

Lucille Morrow is 40-something, the second wife of a prosperous doctor. Her husband's unmarried sister still lives with them, as does his two adult children, who make no attempt to hide their resentment and dislike of their stepmother. Lucille believes she is happy, and loved. But she has been having nightmares, and when a paper-wrapped parcel arrives at the house one day, she is heard to scream - before stealing her maid's coat and disappearing.

When she is found days later in a nearby hotel, she is dazed, hallucinating and terribly afraid. She is admitted to a home for the mentally infirm, and Mr Sands, police detective, begins his investigations. He has been interested in the Morrow family for more than 15 years - since Mildred, Dr Morrow's first wife, was found in the snow, her head beaten in by an axe.

The paper-wrapped parcel is located, and found to contain a human finger. The small-time criminal who delivered the finger is found murdered. And small incidents begin occurring at the hospital where Lucille is holed up - incidents which Sands realises are aimed at breaking Lucille's fragile mind into an irreparable mess.

This is not one of Millar's best works: the number of plot cliches used stretched believability to the limits. But there were some good characters, especially Sands, and a denouement I certainly didn't see coming.

UV by Serge Joncour

2008-04-10T19:19:00.004+10:00

Details: First published in France in 2003; cover shown is the 2005 Black Swan (UK) edition. Cover art by Gillian Blease; design by Gavin Morris. 187p.

$5 at a book clearance in a badminton centre.

Blurb: "On a hot and lazy sun-drenched afternoon, when one affluent family are at their most docile, most vulnerable, most ripe for the picking, a handsome stranger unexpectedly turns up, and lingers poolside. A master of the art of deception, Boris introduces himself as a friend of Philip, the feckless brother. No matter that Philip has been unreachable for days and yet to arrive for the summer holiday, Boris is welcomed with open arms.

As the island's spectacular Bastille Day fireworks celebration looms ever nearer, and Philip's arrival feels increasingly imminent, Boris is embraced wholeheartedly into the family fold. No one seems to notice as he carefully exerts a powerful and sinister influence over them all..."

From Russia, With Love by Ian Fleming

2008-04-09T23:50:00.000+10:00

Details: First published 1957; cover shown is the early Book Club/Jonathan Cape (UK) hardcover jacket. Cover art by Richard Chopping. 253p.

Blurb: "SMERSH is the Soviet organ of vengeance - of interrogation, torture and death - and James Bond is dedicated to the destruction of its agents wherever he finds them. But, in its turn, the cold eye of SMERSH focuses on James Bond, and far away in Moscow a trap is laid for him: a deathtrap with an enticing lure."

Goodbye to a little gentleman, Nicky (1993 - 2008)

2008-04-07T20:04:00.001+10:00

You were around for half my life, and it's been harder to let you go than I thought it would be. Thank you for the long walks together, along the railway tracks and around the lake. Thank you for the hugs and the kisses, the comfort when you sensed I needed it. Thank you for always being happy to see me, no matter what.

I'll miss you, gorgeous Nicky.

November 1993 - 7 April, 2008

Seven Books for Grossman by Morris Lurie

2008-04-06T11:07:00.003+10:00

Details: Cover shown is the 1983 Penguin Books (Aust) first softcover edition. Cover art by Janet Goodchild-Cuffley. 110p.

Blurb: "In debt to gangsters, hitmen in hot pursuit, Fielding, a Professor of Literature, holes up (disguised as a woman) in a classy hotel, pounds out pornography to save his neck... fierce sleazy parodies of Hemingway, Faulkner, Vonnegut et al, the literary greats. These are for Grossman, the wily proprietor of Grossman Press, a master of wit and parody himself. The professor meets the pornographer. And the games begin."

Verdict: This rather strange, rather dirty book was read in less than an hour. I enjoyed it... it made me laugh and kept me constantly entertained. On the negative side, it conjured up some disturbing visual images that will no doubt linger in my mind for days to come. The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway will never be looked at in quite the same way again! Nor will archy and mehitabel by Don Marquis, which is on my To Read pile.

And Fielding is nothing if not classy: "His shirt and jacket were classic Chanel, his silk blouse from Jaegar, his handbag and gloves and high-heeled pumps matching and authentic Gucci. He wore a Number 7 eyeliner by Elizabeth Arden with lashes colour-cued, his cheeks and lips were Helena Rubenstein, his scent Paco Rabanne. A small amethyst set in platinum rode on the froth of silk over his Warners Formfit bra."

The aptly named Grossman was my favourite character (despite the pink tutu and fairy wand).

The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus by John Burke

2008-04-04T06:38:00.001+11:00

Details: Cover shown is the 1967 Pan Books (UK) first paperback edition. Cover artist uncredited. 349p.

Blurb: "Four films from the House of Hammer, supreme makers of nerve-tingling screen horror, here presented as four spine-chilling novels."

The Reptile: From the steaming jungles of Borneo to a remote Cornish village came the fiendish curse that turned a lovely young girl into a nameless horror.

Dracula, Prince of Darkness: Blood mingles with ashes and so becomes a life-giving force to the evil desires of a vampire.

Rasputin, The Mad Monk: Hypnotist, seducer, libertine and drunkard... he ruled he Tsar's court like a devil incarnate.

The Plague of the Zombies: Infamous voodoo ritual casts its barbarous shadow over a village of 'the undead'.

The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories by Muriel Spark

2008-04-03T23:50:00.001+11:00

Details: First published 1958; cover shown is the 1963 Penguin Books (UK) paperback edition (No. 1912). Cover art by Terence Greer. 189p.

Blurb: "Before she began to pour out her startling spate of novels, Muriel Spark was best known as a writer of short stories and criticism. The eleven stories in this collection demonstrate the strength and quality of her work.

Rejection is the theme of the title story. Daphne, a South African orphan, comes to Europe, which for years has been the glowing subject of her dreams: but reality shatters her illusions and she returns to the Cape to fulfil her role in a horrific drama. At the climax of the story, which often cloaks despair in irony and humour, she exclaims, 'God help me. Life is unbearable.'

Several of these stories take place in South Africa and some employ supernatural devices. 'The Black Madonna', on the other hand, is a searing exposure of high-minded insincerity on the question of race and colour."

The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

2008-04-02T21:11:00.001+11:00

Details: First published 1973; cover shown is the 1985 Flamingo (UK) paperback edition. Cover by Jean-Paul Tibbles. 160p.

Blurb: "If Liverpool, 1944, was grim for Rita and her two aunts Nellie and Margo, Rita knew that life in America was gay and rich - she'd seen it in all the films. So when her G.I. came to call, she was sure that love and escape had come at last.

But Nellie, who slaved for them all, kept the town in clothes, knew different: the boy would have to go.

And in the end, it wasn't really her fault..."

Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame

2008-04-01T20:15:00.000+11:00

Edited by Robin Robertson.

Details: First published 2003; cover shown is the 2004 Harper Perennial (UK) softcover edition. 289p.

Blurb: "Mortification is a collection of writers' tales of ignominy, a grimly compelling anthology of shame... Anyone who has ever fancied an author's life would find this book an eye-opener. All the degradations of the profession are here exposed: the readings unattended, the signing sessions ignored, the doltish queries put by interviewers..."

Verdict: As someone who often says the wrong thing, or does the wrong thing, or thinks the wrong thing, I enjoyed this book and its dozens of tales of humiliating moments which - Yes! - happened to other people.

Imagine having the stitching on your pant legs come away while travelling to a reading. Or being embarrassingly patronised because you're a crime writer, and being made to sit away from the 'intellectual' table. Or losing the crown from a tooth in the midst of speaking before a group of people (and watching it fly out into the audience). Most stories involve alcohol, and many feature empty rooms or readings/book signings attended solely by the event organiser and the red faced writer.

Many of the writers featured were unknown to me (most are poets, which would have something to do with it). There are, however, contributions from names I recognise, such as: Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Roddy Doyle, Margaret Drabble, Carl Hiaasen, Michael Holroyd, Patrick McCabe, Val McDermid (the patronised crime writer), Edna O'Brien, Chuck Palahnuik, D. B. C. Pierre, Matthew Sweeney, and Irvine Welsh.

Coda by Thea Astley

2008-03-31T18:44:00.001+11:00

Details: First published 1993; cover shown is the 1994 Minerva Books (Aust) paperback. 188p.

Mooched from Australia.

Blurb: "Granny Dumping has become a popular Christmas phenomenon. Kathleen sees it as only a matter of time before she too is a dumped granny. Between her son Brian and his straying wife, and her daughter Shamrock and hubby, there is no longer a place for Kathleen. But Passing Downs Old People's Home is also not the place for a woman like Kathleen. She is not ready for that and they're not ready for her.

Thea Astley's brilliant satire on old age shimmers with grief and irony. Our most important contemporary novelist, Thea Astley is at her most wickedly funny and pertinent in Coda."

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

2008-03-30T16:42:00.004+11:00

Details: First published 1934; cover shown is the 1968 Fontana (UK) fourth impression paperback. 191p.

Blurb: "The act of murder has a final fascination. Sir Hubert Handesley thought so and arranged to play the game called 'Murder' during his weekend house party. The murderer's identity was secret, but when the lights went up none of the guests were prepared to see a grotesque corpse, savagely stabbed. Seven people had the opportunity, seven people had made up amusing alibis..."

Verdict: This Marsh kept me company while it was cold outside and I was curled up in front of the heater with a chest infection. Marsh, like Wentworth and Christie, are perfect rainy day/sick/lonely/premenstrual reads. The pre-1950s English language, settings and people are so familiar to me now that reading one of the aforementioned authors is all it takes to cheer me up.

A Man Lay Dead is a bit far fetched in places, especially when Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn decides to carry on the house party's game of 'Murder' in order to uncover the killer. I'll also never understand the British love of "de-bagging", where some poor soul is held down while his trousers are pulled off him, to the delight of the rest of the house party. And the instigator of the de-bagging is in his 40s! But the writing is good, if a little dated, and the murder itself (by antique Mongolian dagger, no less) is ingenious.

Vintage photograph - taken in 1912

2008-03-28T14:10:00.003+11:00

archy and mehitabel by Don Marquis

2008-03-27T17:31:00.006+11:00

Details: Cover shown is the 1930 Doubleday Dolphin Books (USA) paperback edition. Cover art by Sydney Butchkes; cover design by George Giusti. 193p.

Mooched from the US.

Blurb: "Don Marquis first introduced archy the cockroach and mehitabel, a cat in her ninth life, in his newspaper column, 'The Sun Dial', in 1916. In a previous incarnation archy was a free-verse poet, while mehitabel's soul once belonged to Cleopatra.

She is toujours gai, but archy is more philosophical. It is he who records their songs and observations on the boss's typewriter late at night. But he is not strong enough to make capital letters so it all comes out lower case."

The Watersplash by Patricia Wentworth

2008-03-26T20:03:00.001+11:00

Details: First published 1954; cover shown is the 1961 Penguin Books (UK) paperback reprint. #1402. 218p.

Mooched from Australia.

Blurb: "Greenings is a quiet English village, its life revolving round the church, the big house, and Mrs Alexander's general shop. All seems as peaceful and innocent as the baby's vest which Miss Silver, a guest at the Vicarage, is knitting for a past client. And the watersplash beside the stepping stones is hardly two feet deep. Of course, a man might drown in it if her were drunk. But Miss Silver is not satisfied.

She is also suspicious of the Friday evenings when the work party meets at the Vicarage. Against a background of gossip and cats and afternoon tea a sinister mystery builds up, involving a vanished heir and a hypothetical will. But Miss Silver, slipping out unostentatiously in her ladylike coat and sensible shoes, has a plan...

Verdict: Ah... Miss Silver and her sensible shoes! I love this "Cosy" series - perfect for curling up with on rainy days. The Watersplash is one of the best in the Miss Silver series, and the trap which Miss Silver sets for the killer (who is thought to be guilty but it can't be proved) in the final stage of the novel would have to be one of the finest (and most exciting) moments in her career.

2008 Easter Book Fair - Day Four

2008-03-24T19:56:00.003+11:00

It was the last day of the book fair today, and somehow I managed to find some gems amongst the dregs that were left. My next book fix won't be until May, when I'll be heading to Clunes for the first time to check out the massive CFA 'Nothing Over $5' book sale - part of the Clunes 'Booktown' weekend. I may even get to meet some of the visiting writers, which will include John Marsden and Nigel Krauth. See www.clunes.org/booktown for more info.

I spent $10.00 today, and all were paperbacks.

Catch as Catch Can by Charlotte Armstrong
Running Wild by J. G. Ballard
Little Caesar by W. R. Burnett
Matrimonial Causes: A Cliff Hardy Novel by Peter Corris
The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B by J. P. Donleavy
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
Death in the Bunker by Ian Kershaw
Seven Books for Grossman by Morris Lurie
Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb
Dead and Not Buried by H. F. M. Prescott
Moonlight Flitting by Maurice Procter
A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
Shadow Alley: Nine Crime Stories compiled by Lucy Sussex
Julie by Cora Taylor
An Evil Love: The Life of Frederick West by Geoffrey Wansell

Death in the Bunker by Ian Kershaw is another title in the Penguin 70s series. It's an excerpt from Kershaw's biography of Adolf Hitler, detailing the last few days of his life.

Shadow Alley: Nine Crime Stories features a Phryne Fisher short story by Kerry Greenwood, in which Phryne is a 14-year-old boarder at a girl's school in England. I'm guessing she solves her first case.

I have a hardcover copy of Dead and Not Buried by H. F. M. Prescott, but I haven't read it yet. And as I much prefer reading paperbacks (and they were all just 50 cents each) I picked this one up. Quite a nice 1960s cover as well.

A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens was bought because I liked the opening paragraph: "Miss Hawkins looked at her watch. It was two-thirty. If everything went according to schedule, she could safely reckon to be dead by six o'clock."

2008 Easter Book Fair - Day Three

2008-03-23T11:52:00.004+11:00

I only had 15 minutes to spare this morning, and came away with five paperbacks and some assorted magazines. The grand spending total today was just $4.00, and that included a book for a friend and the armful of magazines.

Appleby's Answer by Michael Innes
A Private View by Michael Innes
A Spy in the House of Love by Anaïs Nin
Bullitt by Robert L. Pike
Simply Super 8: A Basic Guide to Moviemaking by Roger M. Sherman & Barry Schonhaut
The Penguin Poets: Edith Sitwell (A Selection by the Author)

The Edith Sitwell poetry collection is a very well read 1952 copy, with illegible pencilled-in notes throughout. I have always liked Sitwell's poem Song (Now that Fate is dead and gone... And that Madness reigns alone) - it is deliciously disturbing.

The Bullitt by Robert L. Pike paperback (Penguin, 1969) has a great cover image showing Steve McQueen, taken from a scene in the film of the same name.

2008 Easter Book Fair - Day Two

2008-03-22T14:15:00.002+11:00

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.

2008 Easter Book Fair - Day One

2008-03-21T18:03:00.004+11:00

Oh how the bibliophile in me loves the YMCA book fair, held over each Easter long weekend in my home town. One large hall filled with rows of thousands of second hand books: paperbacks, hardcovers and magazines. This year they even took the time to create a 'Penguin' section, loading two trestle tables with stacks of old Penguin paperbacks. It was my first stop, and I came away with some great finds - all for $15.

Girl With a Monkey by Thea Astley
The Lonely Strangers by Charity Blackstock
The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
The Lives of Animals by J. M. Coetzee
Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Death of a Sardine by Joan Fleming
My Side of the Mountain by Jean George
A Writing Life: Interviews with Australian Women Writers by Giulia Giuffré
Men Without Women: Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
Pet Owner's Guide to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier by Clare Lee
False Scent by Ngaio Marsh
The Heckler by Ed McBain
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
It Must Be True: Classic Newspaper Howlers, Bloomers and Misprints by Denys Parsons
Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame edited by Robin Robertson
Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers
Stranger in the House by Georges Simenon
The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories by Muriel Spark
Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al by E. S. Turner

I'm especially excited about Girl With a Monkey by Thea Astley. An Australian writer (1925 - 2004), she won the Miles Franklin Award four times. Girl With a Monkey was her debut novel, first published in 1958.

Death of a Sardine by Joan Fleming (first published 1963) was bought mainly for the amusing title and cover (which depicts a skeleton hand holding a sardine in the midst of a cactus bush... where did that idea come from?!).

Memories of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy (author of the classic, The Group) is a collection of McCarthy's childhood memories. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is part of the Penguin 70 series, and has a beautiful Art Deco-esque cover.

Mortification: Writer's Stories of Their Public Shame is a collection of real-life stories by well known authors, debunking the myth that their lives are perfect. There are contributions by Margaret Atwood, D. B. C. Pierre, Val McDermid, Margaret Drabble, Edna O'Brien, Carl Hiaasen, Irvine Welsh and Roddy Doyle, just to name a few.

I've been wanting to read a Carson McCullers title for a while now, and particularly The Member of the Wedding, so I was very pleased to find a nicely tatty paperback (my favourite kind) in the Penguin section.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean George (first published 1959) was one of my all-time childhood favourites. It's the story of a boy who runs away to the Catskill Mountains with just a penknife and an axe. He learns to hunt and forage for food, he makes a shelter, he tames a falcon... he basically does what I often wanted to do as a child: he escapes.

My last good find was Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al by E. S. Turner. First published in 1948, it's a guide to the world of pre-1950s boy's comics and their characters. This is the revised and updated edition, with a great cover illustration taken from a painting by Hassall.