Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Read Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset quite a few years ago, followed by The Master of Hestviken. Both very entertaining.
Just received:Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell; Valentine by George Sand; and, The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson by Anthony Trollope.

Jazzy wrote: "I had a gig this morning in Gateshead across the river, i do go there often but not to the charity shops, so I got off the bus on the way back to nip in and have a cheeky deeks and got a stack of c..."

I love this list too, Jazzy. Fantastic finds!

Rosemarie wrote: "Happy reading, Piyangie! 👍"

Thank you, Rosemarie.

Jazzy wrote: "Piyangie wrote: "The whole collection of the Adventures of Tintin. 😊"
My favourites!!
Did they include Tintin in the Congo too?
It was missing from my collection so I had to get it e..."

No, it is not included, Jazzy. There are only 23 titles in my set. I'll be reading it from Scribd.

Cheers my dears, Piyangie, I thought it well done and learnt something about parrots.

Nice book Gilbert!

Gilbert wrote: "The Master of Hestviken..."

The Master of Hestviken by Sigrid Undset thank you Gilbert! Another to add to my wish list 🎄

I'm so happy to have a brand spanking new hardcover copy of the Everyman's Library edition of Lucky Per by Henrik Pontoppidan. Lucky Per is a Danish classic bildungsroman written in 1898, but only translated into English much more recently. My copy is from this year - 2019.

I also got some more great second-hand books from the internet
A Personal Matter - Kenzaburō Ōe, paperback.
The Penguin Book of French Poetry: 1820-1950: With Prose Translations, paperback
Tevye's Daughters - Sholom Aleichem, hardcover
Dog Stories, hardcover

Received today from internet sites:
New Grub Street by George Gissing;
The Trail of the Serpent by Mary Elizabeth Braddon; and,
Angelique by Anne Golon.

Gilbert you are always finding interesting books I never heard of before.

Jazzy wrote: "Gilbert you are always finding interesting books I never heard of before."
I can say likewise.

Received yesterday:
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth 1785;
The 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings by Marquis de Sade 1785;
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë 1847;
Villette by Charlotte Brontë 1853;
East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood 1861;
Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope 1862;
No Name by Wilkie Collins 1862; and,
The Hand of Ethelberta by Thomas Hardy 1876.
Should keep me busy through the winter.

Smashing lot there Gilbert.

Here is one of the best Christmas adverts ever from Poland, and where a man gets a set of books entitled English for Beginners.

https://www.sunnyskyz.com/inspiration...

A nice group of Classics to get you through winter Gilbert!

I enjoyed the Bronte's and Collins on your list.
Happy Reading⛄

I got to visit two great bookstores this weekend. Newly adopted are:

The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
Quicksand by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
The Richer, the Poorer by Dorothy West
City of the Mind by Penelope Lively
So Big by Edna Ferber
Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man by Jonathan D. Spence
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
The Happy-Go-Lucky Morgans by Edward Thomas
Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi

I really like So Big, mainly because of the wonderful main character.

I once thought Pereira Maintains was actually titled Pereira Mountains.

Rosemarie wrote: "I really like So Big, mainly because of the wonderful main character."

I love everything about it, and am replacing mine with a better quality copy.

Brian wrote: "I once thought Pereira Maintains was actually titled Pereira Mountains."

I blame the font on the cover. lol

Gilbert in Saturdays mail was
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Hardcover of course.
Wish I could read it soon!
Will try to keep it at the top of the pile! I really enjoyed the movie.

Nice finds, Carol!

Carol wrote: "I got to visit two great bookstores this weekend. Newly adopted are:

The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
[bo..."

Read "So Big" awhile ago. Edna Ferber is an amazing writer, really capturing the American spirit. Her many other novels and short stories are just wonderful.

My latest second-hand treasures! (Why buy new when we have the internet?)

The Fireside Book of Dog Stories - compiled by Jack Goodman (ebay)
(I checked this out of the library as a child and just loved it)

Complete Stories - Dorothy Parker (ebay)

The Penguin Dorothy Parker - Dorothy Parker (ebay)

The Collected Stories - Colette (ebay)

The Complete Stories - Bernard Malamud (ebay)

The Good Soldier - Ford Madox Ford (charity shop)

The Little White Horse - Elizabeth Goudge (folio society edition - ebay)

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome (folio society edition - 50p from the PDSA charity shop!)

The Dylan Thomas Omnibus: "Under Milk Wood," Poems, Stories and Broadcasts - Dylan Thomas (Oxfam charity shop)

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Emmuska Orczy (Folio society edition. Oxfam charity shop)

The Little White Horse is a lovely story.

Rosemarie wrote: "The Little White Horse is a lovely story."

JK Rowling says it's her favourite. This is a very lovely folio edition, purple and silver with superb illustrations and end papers.

I added a couple more to the list. I'm sure I got something else but can't remember what, I know there were 3 James Bond penguin paperbacks.

and see that last one? I noticed your author in the game and thought aha!

oh I also got

Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak (ebay. A very pretty hardcover with silvery shiny snowflakes on the front. )

The Last Summer - Boris Pasternak (Amnesty Book Shop. Very old paperback, quite yellowed and worn.)

Right. I was meant to do the shopping and I had a list for what had to be purchased - bleach, sponges, rubber gloves, cat litter, bin bags, and to go to the Chinese supermarket for bicarbonate of soda, so I left home pulling my Rolser trolley behind me. When I got to the top of the road the Oxfam Charity shop is there, and I could not resist going in to see the literature section of books - and found this:



Collected Poems - Robert Lowell

Immediately forking over my precious £6.99, I put it carefully in my Mickey Mouse shopping bag from Tesco's.
It is a handsome hardcover book, 1220pp, so although I've started it, it will be some time before I finish it :)

Here is a link to a poem I like called The Fat Man In The Mirror
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet...

Today's gifts from me to me, based on rationalizing a visit to one of my regular 3 used book stores because it was in the same shopping center as a store I needed to visit for a key gift. Ahem.

Hiroshima by John Hersey
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Sesshu's Long Scroll: A Zen Landscape Journey by Reiko Chiba
and
The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows by Edogawa Rampo

Just received:
Marriage by Susan Ferrier 1818.

Thank you Gilbert! Another to look into.

My husband ordered me a book from ABE books for Christmas and it arrived on January 5, the 12th day of Christmas.
Death and the Dervish by Meša Selimović

Rosemarie wrote: "My husband ordered me a book from ABE books for Christmas and it arrived on January 5, the 12th day of Christmas.
Death and the Dervish by Meša Selimović"

I've consistently heard great things about Death and the Dervish. I hope you enjoy it. I aspire to read it in 2020. lol

Just received: The Wanderer: or, Female Difficulties by Frances Burney 1814

Been looking for a copy of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell following a recommendation from a Facebook group. I live in the Philippines so most of the time looking for a certain book can be difficult. There is a popular bookstore in Manila where you can inquire about a book and they will try to locate for a copy in their branches nationwide. There is literally only 1 copy left of North and South in ALL their branches.

One day though, I was just scanning through the classics section in a secondhand bookstore AND THERE IT IS! North and South by Gaskell. So much cheaper than what I expected.

Looking for books in the Philippines is very challenging. Ordering from Book Depository or any international online shop will take at least a month or two before I receive it. That's why when I visit either the US or the UK, I hoard every book I find interesting :)

Madel wrote: "Been looking for a copBambiy of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell following a recommendation from a Facebook group. I live in the Philippines so most of the time looking for a certain book can be dif..."

I am so glad you were able to find the book!

My recent addition to my library is Bambi and Bambi's Children

It's great when that happens, Madel. It's a good book.

Felicia wrote: "Madel wrote: "Been looking for a copBambiy of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell following a recommendation from a Facebook group. I live in the Philippines so most of the time lo..."

Both are amazing and memorable. I hope you enjoy Salter’s writing.

Madel, I complain sometimes about the lack of a nearby bookstore, but your experience makes me feel grateful for how easily I truly can obtain books here in Louisiana.

Samantha wrote: "Madel, I complain sometimes about the lack of a nearby bookstore, but your experience makes me feel grateful for how easily I truly can obtain books here in Louisiana."

I thought the same thing. We only have two small bookstores with a limited selection. Most of my books I get off ebay or thiriftbooks.

Felicia, where do you live again? I do have a couple used bookstores in neighboring parishes and Barnes and Noble in Baton Rouge. I’ll miss the Book Warehouse in my town closing. I’ve never had a true problem finding a book that I really want, though, even if I need to use Amazon or Abebooks.

Yakima Washington. Our nearest Barnes and Noble is over an hour away :(

I'm surprised Yakima doesn't have a B&N. I think I've stopped in Yakima on the way back from Seattle as it's right on the highway leading into Oregon and Utah and then I-80 back to Illinois.
Where Raymond Carver grew up and Beverly Cleary worked as a librarian.

Brian wrote: "I'm surprised Yakima doesn't have a B&N. I think I've stopped in Yakima on the way back from Seattle as it's right on the highway leading into Oregon and Utah and then I-80 back to Illinois.
Where ..."

We used to have one. They shut down a few years ago The closest one is in Richland (Tri-Cities). Right now we have Encore which is a small Mom and Pop type shop that I love. But unless you are looking for Romance or James Patterson they have a very limited selection. Then we have Inklings and their books even the few used ones they have are really expensive. My husband and I go goodwilling, and there is usually a good selection of classics (I think because of the college).

I had a good visit to one of my fave used bookstores today. Newly adopted and rehomed are:

Lord Arthur Saville's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W. H. and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde

The Sand Child by Tahar Ben Jelloun

The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch

M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang

Felicia wrote: "Samantha wrote: "Madel, I complain sometimes about the lack of a nearby bookstore, but your experience makes me feel grateful for how easily I truly can obtain books here in Louisiana."

I thought..."

I love ebay! A few times I use book lot and got bunch of books for good price.

Found a book called Star Girl at libraires free take a book home small book case.

I've read Ender's Game about 5-6 times. It's probably in my top 5 favorite sci-fi books of all time. So I picked up the rest of the Ender's Game quartet and I love them. Granted the last three can't top Ender's Game but the story is just so much fun. I'm on the last one and I'm kinda sad lol.

Hello John hope your trip to your Moms was good!

Some great finds. It is sad to miss out on a Hardcover slip but I love them anyways so always happy.

I found my edition of with a few tears in the cover but the book is in really great shape (Hardcover of course) for being almost as old as me! It did come with a few crunchies close to the binding too.

Do not forget to check out our Group Photos of some of your favorite Libraries and your more than welcome to add your own bookcase, your favorite library or even store where you shop!

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...

Share with us!

There is a gentleman named Stefano Bartlett on ebay who's father died, and he had collected over 200 Folio Society books, so they're being sold in wonderful condition at superb prices (some like brand new) and I am the proud owner of 3 of them -

The Short Stories of Anton Chekhov (as new, never read)

Wind, Sand and Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (which I am happy to say was actually read by Stefano's father, but still in wonderful condition)

A Traveller's Christmas (collected Christmas stories - as new, never read)

I also found this Folio Society book from another seller, Chekhov's only novel -

The Shooting Party (as new, even smells brand new)

All of these books were cheaper than new paperbacks!

Lesle wrote: "Do not forget to check out our Group Photos of some of your favorite Libraries and your more than welcome to add your own bookcase, your favorite library or even store where you shop!

https://www...."

I have added my photo of the sign outside the British Library in London, Lesle. If anyone visits London it’s an easy place to find as it’s close to St Pancras station. Lots of tourists go there, you can sit in the courtyard, go to a cafe, etc. There’s a lovely gift shop with all sorts of book-related things including postcards, some of which show illustrations from classic books.