Wednesday 4 April 2012

The pleasure and treasure of books.

I'm a big reader and have to have some books on my bedside table at all  times.
Usually there's another few dotted around the house in various corners too.

This is the current state of my side of the bed...


Bit of a theme going on I here I think!

I had a bit of a Jane Austen spurt at the local library last week. I typed her name in the search catalogue and all these related books came up. I have read a few of the Rebecca Collins sequels to Pride and Prejudice but had no idea there were quite so many other spin offs - there were pages and pages...

The Amanda Grange books are the classic Jane Austen stories retold in diary format from the male character's viewpoint. The plot follows the familiar tale of Emma  in Knightley's diary,  Sense and Sensibility  with Colonel Brandon's diary and of course Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of Mr Darcy. Fascinating reads.  You get to glimpse some expansion of the sub plots of the original and I'm lapping it up.
Knightley is still my absolute favourite Austen male though...a true romantic.
Are any of you Austen fans? Do you have a favourite?

I don't think I've ever seen Neil read a fiction novel. He's a scientist - just a 'facts and figures please' kind of man! Look at the contrast....


 I bought him the "Help I'm turning into my Dad!" book. It's pretty funny and we've had a giggle at the accuracy of many a topic.

Then there's Sibs...
Her bedside table doesn't always look this tidy. It's school holidays, so the bedroom has had a major clean up. There's usually pencils and a school diary and three or four other books there.



I devoured the Enid Blyton St Clare's and Mallory Towers books when I was her age and I'm so delighted that she's got the same reading bug.

Talking about Enid Blyton...

When we were on holiday last year exploring a bit of the Queensland coast we stumbled upon a bit of a junk shed. There were some interesting things there but being confined to a small camper van we couldn't buy much and I couldn't persuade Neil that the old ladder was an essential item to get!
Anyhow, Sibs and I found some old Enid Blyton books and even though I thought that they were a little pricey at $6, we'd spent so long there that I felt obliged to buy something. So we picked up a few and that was that.

Recently I was looking for something online and came across some second hand Enid Blyton books.
They were how much???
I rushed upstairs, had a look at our little collection...and it turns out after a bit of research we have a 1st edition! All of a sudden $6 was a steal!

There's a name in the front and someone has crayoned a few of the illustrations so it's not pristine, but still... what a lucky find!

You see - books are real treasures!

Easter school hols here, so we're loving the change of pace and routine. We're off to the dentist this afternoon. There was lots of cake eating happening yesterday as we went for a high tea. I'll get sorted with the photos and share - it was quite spectacular!

8 Comments and thoughts:

  1. I love Jane Austen and Enid Blyton!! We must have a few collectors items ourselves. Charlotte's Enid Blyton books originally belonged to my mother before they became mine (and now hers!). For some reason this latest blog of yours show up on my computer without the beside photos though??

    Happy holidays Beth and Sioned, the perfect weather for it! Love Jazmin

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  2. Loving the choices Beth, Never got into Jane Austen,really should try again, did all Enid Blyton's and have read Chris Evans!! Just read the The Help, about black maids in Mississippi working for the whites in the 60's, very good. Sounds like your Easter Hols are fun. We got blanket of snow today with gale force Winds?! Hope clears up for weekend. Enjoy rest of your hols much love Wend xx

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  3. love a little peek at a beside table reading pile...

    I loved Jane Austen at school and Uni- I need to probably re-read it...

    & there is nothing like a good dose of Enid B...

    Sorry to hear the ladder didn't make it home with you though ;)

    Melissa xx

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  4. I love Jane Austen! I've never heard of Enid Blyton though. I'll have to look her up. Right now, I have The Tiger's Wife, Sarah Canary (a bargain book at my local bookstore), and Gorgeously Green on my nightstand, and Vogue!

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  5. Reading is one of my great loves - I voraciously devoured the Enid Blyton books when I was a younger and loved every one of them. The last time I read Jane Austen was in high school - I think I need to go back to her as I might have a better appreciation now. It was lovely to get a peek at your bedside tables, hope you enjoy the rest of the holidays!

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  6. So, it's clear that you have a fixation with Mr. Darcy Beth...hmm what does your hubby think?? I'm struggling through Dicken's Great Expectations at the moment...with the bookclub....I'm finding it very tedious...hard to read the 'common English'...and as Dickins was paid by the word...wherever he can use 10 words instead of one...he does. The best book I've read in a long time is The Help...absolutely terrific, as was the movie. I have a hankering to read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books again...read them when I was 10, might look them up on Amazon. Have a great Easter. Robx

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  7. Great post Beth. I need a nudge to regain my love of reading books. Reading/writing blogs has kind of taken over which is a time management dilemma I'm still working on. As a young girl (probably Sibs age) I was addicted to the Trixie Belden series of adventure books. Now I'm wondering if they're still in print?
    Had a giggle about your hubs choice of reading matter, I can relate. My hubs is an engineer...say no more!
    xx

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  8. Yes, I'm a Jane Austen
    addict ~ love them all!
    And I had to laugh, as
    I always have a stack of
    books on my bedside
    table and Eric might have
    one. My last book was
    The Hunger Games as my
    girl had read them two
    years ago and the whole
    family made a deal to read
    it before seeing the movie.
    Not my usual genre, but I
    was happy to give it a go.
    My son is not the reader that
    my daughter is, but even he
    is reading that series, so I
    say, bring it on....

    Hope you are enjoying a
    wonderful Easter break with
    your little one. Happy Easter!

    xx Suzanne

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