FABULOUS FINDS FIFTEEN (15, Yes!)

New thread, taking up from where we left off.

I'm not sure any of these are Viragos, but they're certainly Virago-ish (or Persephone-ish). I had a field day last week in Hay scouring the bookshops, and I bought gorgeous hardback copies (some with dust jackets) of:
Poor Caroline by Winifred Holtby
Linden Rise and Weatherley Parade by Richmal Crompton
T. Tembarom by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Misses Mallett and The Vicar's Daughter by E.H. Young.

I did pick up one actual Virago, Mandoa! Mandoa! by Winifred Holtby.

But my biggest thrill came in finding a signed first edition of E.H. Young's Chatterton Square.

I love hearing stories of Eureka! moments at book sales. In fact, I started a group here long ago, but it never took off.

I just joined that group, LInda. I had never known it existed!

Atta girl, Paola! Maybe we can resurrect it.

I sure hope so!

So, EVERYBODY, go join the group!!!

A signed first edition of Chatterton Square! Be still my beating heart!

I'm off to join that group!

What a fabulous find! I was quite surprised to find a copy of Father by Elizabeth von Arnim on the free shelf at the recycling center this morning. I'm about twenty pages in and so far it's delightful.

Can't seem to make the touchstone work for the title, but it shows up under the author...

How bizarre that that touchstone takes you to Maus. There must be so many other titles with "Father" in them that would be more likely candidates. Here's the proper link: Father

I had a fortuitous time on Tuesday when the training session I was attending in York was cut short because of technical difficulties. I spent the afternoon shopping in York instead!

I found the following green VMCs in very nice condition:

The Rector and The Doctor's Family by Mrs Oliphant
Devil by the Sea by Nina Bawden
The Judge by Rebecca West
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
Tell Me a Riddle and Yonnondio by Tillie Olsen
Taking Chances by Molly Keane

plus a non-Virago from my wishlist:

On the Golden Porch by Tatyana Tolstaya

I am particularly excited about the Mrs Oliphant as she's an author I've been looking out for and Tillie Olsen sounds very good.

The Fountain Overflows is actually a replacement for my very tatty copy. If anyone is absolutely desperate for a copy, I'd be happy to send you my original but it is very battered especially around the spine.

>10: what a nice bit of luck, Dee! Technical difficulties usually just means everyone has to sit around until they sort it out and then everything gets delayed. Nice finds from your shopping spree!

>11: I know what you mean, Laura but in this case the internet server appeared to be down and the trainer was relying on some online training to finish the session. I wasn't too disappointed!

Lucky you Dee - I love York and would love to shop for Viragos there. I too replace my tatty copies as I see better ones.

I also made quite a haul yesterday. Miss Buncle Married arrived from Book Depository but when I opened the package I found The Journal of Economic Integration and 2 - repeat 2 - copies of Why God Why, which appears to be a fundamentalist text peppered with numerous references to Satan. If they let me keep these I'll be posting them on the duplicates thread. Any takers?

PS - Laura what are you doing up at 6.22 am on a Sunday morning? Milking the cows?

>13: What a strange package. Maybe someone at Book Depository is sneeking those extra books in, hoping to make some religious (or economic) converts?

>13: LOL! I'm always up early ... I can't help myself!

No Miss Buncle, Dee. I am presuming that she went to the Christian economist and I got his selections. Just some bored teen doing the packing I expect. The journal comes from Sejong University which Google tells me is in Seoul and has some really interesting articles: Bilateral Trade Flows in the Gulf Corporation Council Countries and Multi-factor Gegenbauer Processes and European Inflation Rates. I might go out to the hammock and give them a good peruse. (Cough, hack... excuse me... hairball - to quote our darling Belva.)

I hope the Christian economist has the decency to send Miss Buncle back!

Neither of us has any obligation to send them back Helen. It was Book Depository's mistake and I guess they have to send replacement copies. However, I wouldn't mind knowing who the Christian economist is... such an odd choice of books.

This probably doesn't qualify as "fabulous"...but I discovered my first Virago in a bookstore today and was ridiculously excited. :) I passed it over three times while browsing the discount shelf, because it's a black Dial Press not a green Virago, and the author's name is male ( Henry Handel Richardson ). But finally I thought, "Well, it certainly *looks* like a Virago!" and pulled it off the shelf. So, for $1, I got a copy of Maurice Guest. Yay me!

One's first Virago is always fabulous! Congratulations and welcome to the fun of collecting Viragos.

>19
Oh, that is exciting! Especially when it was only $1. Definitely deserves a "yay"!

Dale - I don't remember much about that book which I read about 16 years ago, but her other one - The Getting of Wisdom is lovely.

Dee, an enviable haul and Tillie Olsen is one of my favourite writers, although her output was not very big - this book of short stories, an unfinished novel and a book called Silences about the difficulties women writers (and many men) face in having time to think and write. She also published poetry in left wing literary journals in the 1930s (she was a committed political activist) and later wrote introductions to collections of women's writing. She died a couple of years ago in her 90s.

>18: I wonder what the Christian Economist will make of Miss Buncle.

>19: Oh, wonderful! One never forgets one's first Virago :)

>23: Thanks for that, Luci. Tillie Olsen is one of those authors that I feel I should know about but don't. Your recommendation has moved her considerably higher up the TBR!

I beam from ear to ear with only a few internal tremors for the content! Grant sent me The Passion of New Eve, and I'm grateful and excited!!!

Grant's book arrived for me today, too. At Still Point. Thank you, thank you, thank you Grant. Sooooo kind of you!

24 - I don't know what the Christian economist made of Miss Buncle Married. All I do know is that because he got my copy there are no more copies at Book Depository to send me. They have exhausted their supply and canceled my order. Grrrrrhhhhh!

>26: NOOOOO!!!!!!!! It looks as though the book's temporarily out of stock in the UK too. I really do hope Persephone get some more printed and sent out very soon. And to think of your copy going to someone who really wanted Bilateral Trade Flows...

>26: oh that's totally annoying.

There is a VMC copy of Four Frightened People on Ebay right now for $48.77. Just thought you all should know...

that's good to know...

I would bid Elaine but unfortunately I've spent all my money on a boxed set of Angela Carter's.

Funny! ;-)

Yok! Yok! Yok!!!

There are two Penguin copies going in my local used bookstore should anyone out there still be looking for a copy ...

And several green-spined ones available on abebooks.com for less than $15.00 US. Or are we back to Miss Buncle? I was referring to Four Frightened People.

>13: a couple of months ago I got a book written in Spanish from the BookDepository. Don't speak a word of it so I sent it back.

Just listed my fabulous finds in the duplicates thread. Didn't find anything for myself today. : )

A Virtuous Woman from PBS today. In very nice condition.

Bought Strangers today.

Received Women against Men from Paola today (thank you Paola). According to LT I now have 101 VMCs although I know at least one of those is a duplicate. When I joined this group I had just nine (yes 9!). So I would like to commend the members of this group for their many contributions/selections/donations/suggestions for my acquisition-cum-TBR piles.

Always a pleasure to send you books, Grant.

And I've got a box with your name on it, almost ready to send off to Wellington. I just need to find those pesky customs forms I got at the post office a few weeks ago.

Yes, Elaine, you are absolutely right!

And it is such a pleasure to send books to any and all of you, because I know the books go to people who love and appreciate them. This is one of the reasons I keep buying Viragos whenever I find them.
:-))

I was very fortunate today to obtain all of the following:

Angela Thirkell Trooper to the Southern Cross
Katharine Susannah Prichard Winged Seeds
Martha Gellhorn A Stricken Field
Ellen Glasgow Barren Ground
Kate O'Brien That Lady
Mary Webb Armour Wherein He Trusted
Elizabeth Taylor At Mrs Lippincote's, The Blush and Angel (at last!)
Mary Benson At the Still Point (duplicate, reserved for Belva)

The same source also has copies of these which I could get if anyone wants them:

Storm Jameson Company Parade
Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop
Mary Webb Precious Bane
Margaret Laurence The Diviners
Elizabeth Taylor A Game of Hide and Seek

Whoa! I'll say you were fortunate! And all from the same source? How lucky!

Grant - you got a Virago Trooper to the Southern Cross????? Lucky you! Well done!

Today I stumbled across a copy of Marcella, by Mrs. Humphry Ward, and ordered a copy of Moonraker, by F Tennyson Jesse online. I think I'm going to have a lot to choose from when All Viragos All August rolls around!

I was at Hay-on-Wye last Friday (wonderful!) and amongst the 19 books I bought were 3 Viragos, and 1 Virago author in a non-VMC edition.

The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Jenny Wren by E.H. Young
The Vicar's Daughter by E.H. Young (this wasn't Virago)
The Swan in the Evening by Rosamond Lehmann

So pleased to find more EH Young - I have most of hers now, including my best find - Moor Fires in a charity shop in Edinburgh for about £2!

Hello Simon, how lovely to see you here! I'm a regular visitor to your blog but don't think I've ever posted on it.

What fabulous finds indeed! I enjoyed Jenny Wren very much and also The Curate's Wife which is a sequel of sorts but each book focusses on a different sister. Finding Moor Fires for £2 is beyond lucky!

Dee

Words guaranteed to turn me pea-green with envy: "I was at Hay-on-Wye".

Thanks, Dee! I think I recognise your name, so maybe you've commented once or twice? Or perhaps I've just seen you around somewhere... I've only read William by E.H. Young and Miss Mole but I am keen to read more - Chatterton Square next, maybe.

laytonwoman3rd - I know! I could spend my life (and my life-savings) there...

>50: ditto!

Things to do before I die:

Shop for books at Hay-on-Wye

You have to! I've been about six times, I think. I used to live about an hour from it; now it's 3.5 hours - which isn't much, but makes going there and back in the day quite irksome.

Found a signed first edition of A Wreath for the Enemy for $15 on Abebooks last night!

>55: My goodness, how did you manage that- fantastic!

Must be your reward from the Virago goddess for your constant generosity on the duplicates thread!

I was looking for a VMC edition of said book, but when I saw "First, signed" and the price, I couldn't resist.

#55 That belongs on the Eureka! Finds thread as well.

I stumbled across a signed copy of Rebecca West's Harriet Hume (non-VMC, of course) in Hay-on-Wye - at £40 I suppose it was reasonable, but I still left it there. If anyone hankers after it, the 'Hay Book Centre' is the place to go!

So, $65 for us Yanks. Not bad, but I could get at least six more VMCs for that amount.

@ # 31:
romain;

****snortz**** **hack** hack** ****snortz****;

sorry,,,just a hairball!~! You crack me up!~! I think I need to run & change my undies. LOL!~! hee hee; guess I haven't been over here for a while.

***rolling on the floor dying***

In preparation of ALL VIRAGO/ALL AUGUST just in case I want to read something I don't own I went to AbeBooks, found and ordered:

Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim,
Persimmon Tree and Other Stories by Marjorie Barnard,
Tortoise by Candlelight by Nina Bawden,
Saraband by Eliot Bliss,
Her Son's Wife by Dorothy Canfield,
Camomile by Catherine Carswell,
Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather,
Touch of Mistletoe by Barbara Comyns,
The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson,
Paris was Yesterday by Janet Flanner,
Curious, if True by Elizabeth Gaskell,
Stricken Field by Martha Gellhorn,
Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons,
Adam's Breed by Radclyffe Hall,
Knight of Cheerful Countenance by Molly Keane,
The Reef by Edith Wharton,
and a real treat for self: Our Three Selves, the Life of Radclyffe Hall by Michael Baker

Probably common to most of you but FAB for me. Yea!~!

that is indeed fabulous, Belva.

I thought so Grant. And I haven't purchased any for so long as school is taking almost every extra cent we have. So I just felt I deserved a nice little treat or two. I have been a very good Virago girl.

Belva - what a fantastic haul. I think A Touch of Mistletoe will probably be one of the ones I read this August, although I am reluctant to come to the end of my Comyns pile... after that, there is only Mr. Fox left to read...

#62 Wow! When you fall off the wagon, you land solid. Great haul, girl.

Maybe those of us in the UK should have a meet-up in Hay one day! Although I can't get there and back in one day on public transport, there's a lovely guest house I like staying in there ...

62: I trust you're going to read all 17 books next month, then? Some of those are quite rare too. Congratulations.

Andrews two books arrived today, The Sheik and Thank Heaven Fasting, both of which look fabulous and which I will almost certainly be reading in August.

Belva - I own some of those but have read very few. Her Son's Wife which you sent me at Christmas, and which I read immediately, is wonderful!

Hi Barbara. I knew you wanted that so badly so I sent you my copy. I've not read it yet. But I trust your taste in books so much that I have been looking for it again ever since. I am so happy that you enjoyed it. I had so much fun being your Secret Santa.
big hug,

Good Times!!!!
My copy of Strangers from Andrew arrived in today's mail too. Great thanks!!! Even though I generally don't care for short stories, I read "A Surprise Visit" right off and was sucked right in (and spat right out).
>48 & 49 I was going to say that ANY copy of Moor Fires was a find when I stopped to look at Amazon. It is now safely on my Kindle for $0.00, a very good price too. Thank you for leading me there!
Congratulations on your plunge into VMC-land, Belva. I own 7 of your new finds but haven't read any of them. I should be very busy in August.

It will be awesome Peggy. We will both be very busy. I am up to a 292 count now so this should get me over the 300 mark. Yea!~!
Have you ever read any of Joyce Carol Oats short stories? She is a master of the short story. You should try one.

Peggy, thanks for the lovely note.

I don't have a kindle but I did find a reasonably cheap copy of Moor Fires on Abebooks. Now if I could just find Young's first two novels, I'd be a happy camper.

>62: Wonderful haul, Belva.

I did a little count-up and I own six of them but I have just read one: A Touch of Mistletoe which I loved. It's quite similar to Our Spoons Came from Woolworths in it's autobiographical feel. In fact whilst I read each of them, I was convinced that they were entirely true stories. It was only later that I realised that there were significant differences which meant they couldn't both be!

>65: I understand that reluctance to come to the end of your Comyns pile. I enjoyed Mr Fox too but not quite as much as the others which I've read. That might have been because I read it at the end of a Comyns binge, however and it was time to move on!

I may read The Skin Chairs in August.

>74 The Skin Chairs is wonderfully surreal. I think I'll read Mr. Fox next, if it's a bit of a disappointment, and keept A Touch of Mistletoe to finish on a high! (Also haven't read more than the first ten pages of Out of the Red, Into the Blue but I'm unlikely to ever find it.

I bought a copy of The Virago Book of Shopping in the Cumbria Bookshop in Bowness, Lake District today - the book was only £4.99 and the bookshop was lovely and deserved a sale!

LyzzyBee; I have never even heard of that Virago. Good score girl!

Found two Du Mauriers in the Virago editions at the Strand in New York on Sunday: Castle Dor and The Loving Spirit.

Good find, Kasthu!

>78: really, you found Viragos at The Strand? I've never found any there, but that store is so massive and I can't say I looked everywhere. I typically look in that sort of classics area on the first floor towards the back on the right, but wonder if they are shelved among all the other fiction along the back? Or somewhere else?

Laura, they are usually shelved with the other books, alphabetically by author. I have never found them among the classics, but the few I did where in fiction.

>81: good to know, I guess if I find them it will be mostly luck, because there are so many miles of books to comb through!

When I find them it is always luck. The last time I was in Texas (almost 3 years now) I found 6 or 7 at this huge used book store. I think it is a chain but we don't have them up here. That is also where I found many of my Civil War books. I had to ship them home.
There is one little bookshop about 45 miles from me whose owner emails me whenever he gets a Virago in and I think I have got 3 from him. What a blessing these small shops are. But I have never found any out in the R/W other than those.

I picked up Winter Sonata by Dorothy Edwards yesterday - it looks beautifully sad, but I don't really know anything about it. Anyone?

(I did read a good review here: http://fleurfisher.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/winter-sonata-by-dorothy-edwards - apologies if there is a better way to include links in a message!)

>84: "Beautifully sad" is a good way of putting it. At least that's how I remember it - I read it ages ago.

Not a Virago but today I received in the mail I'll Stand by You. It was a nice UK copy at a good price and thank you to those of you who recommended I get it when I asked.

Also last weekend I stumbled across a bookfair at the local rowing club(!) and found a copy of Black Narcissus, among others. How many years I've been looking for that one I can't even work out. So I was very happy indeed.

When a local used bookstore went out of business last fall, I scooped a whole armload of Rumer Godden at $1.00 each, but neither Greengage Summer nor Black Narcissus were there. Great find!

I loved Black Narcissus but she has at least two that are better than that and many that are as good. The movie of BN is as good as the book.

I have only read her Greengage Summer with a blog reading group. (one day I will learn how to set up and use a blog....looks like so much fun)
But Godden has so many books out, is it pretty much a sure bet that they are all going to be fair to good to great? just askin' because I so trust your opinions

Well it's all down to personal preference Belva but I discovered her very early and devoured her entire body of work. Some duff ones but not many. My personal faves are In this House of Brede, Kingfishers Catch Fire, Black Narcissus and The River.

Thank you Miss Barbara. My list has begun.

...added three more to mine. I have my eyes on a copy of The Greengage Summer at the moment too.

#77 I've seen it before actually, I think it's quite new. It's little excerpts from books including Jane Austen, India Knight, etc. If people are interested I can grab it and note down the ISBN etc ...

There are a great number of Virago Book of.. type books listed back here.

I read The Virago Book of Food a while back, and it was heaven.

Today I found these on the discard table at the library for .25 each. (They aren't library books, so I suspect someone just dropped them there.) I don't collect that many children's books but I couldn't pass these up so if anyone can tell me anything about these books I would appreciate it. Does anyone here collect books like this? I've posted some pictures of the illustrations in my profile photo gallery.

Flower Children by Elizabeth Gordon Copyright 1910. Illustrated with a flower child on every page.

And for your edification here are some examples of the poetry!

Young Sweet William, sad to tell,
Rang the Canterbury's Bell,
"Just for that," his father said,
"William, come out in the shed!"

Mother Earth's Children The Frolics of the Fruits and Vegatables by Elizabeth Gordon 1914,

Said Brussels Sprout: "I am so glad
That I'm a good-looking lad,"
Horseradish said: I'm glad I'm plain
If good looks make a chap so vain."

Bird Children The Little Playmates of the Flower Children by Elizabeth Gordon 1939

Canary Bird said to his mother:
"Is that bird in the tree my brother?"
Mama Canary said: "Oh, no!
He's just a cousin--wild you know."

Runaway Rhymes by Alice Higgins 1931

I feel so queer
Behind and before
I don't think I
Like jam any more.

And finally, a lovely illustrations copy of American Indian Fairy Tales by W. T. Larned 1935

Found a copy of Mandoa! Mandoa! on ebay today. And it wasn't hideously expensive, either!

95> Elaine, it sounds as though you've found a nice small collection of Volland books! They published beautifully illustrated books for children in the early 20th C, and first editions in fine condition can be worth a nice amount of money. I have a few, though none of the ones you found. Their books were reprinted by the Wise-Parslow company. Quite a few people collect these. Others here who collect illustration may know more than I do, but I'd say you made a fabulous find, for sure!

>89: The only one of Rumer Godden's books that I found disappointing was Pippa passes. Very cliched and even the Venetian setting and ballet company behind-the-scenes bits couldn't redeem it. The river, In this House of Brede and Greengage Summer are probably my favourites, plus The rocking horse secret of her juvenile output.

I liked The Diddakoi and The Kitchen Madonna when I was a kid. I don't remember much about The Greengage Summer, alas.

Oh yes, the Diddakoi was lovely too.

I loved all her doll stories as a child, and The Kitchen Madonna is still one of my favorites. I think her best is probably In This House of Brede, although I have never read Black Narcissus. I have owned The River for quite a while, but somehow have not managed to read it yet. I thought the Renoir movie was marvelous, though. I read The Greengage Summer and several of her other coming of age stories in my teens and young twenties, and remember being struck at the time by the darker, unresolved threads of adolescence she revealed in her stories, which were so different from the happy ever after teen books I'd read and enjoyed when I was younger. It would be interesting to reread these now and see how they hold up.

Excellent score on those Elaine. And thank you for sharing some of the little poems. I quite enjoyed them and they put a much needed smile on my face.
U R A dear.
hugs,

Checked out Annerley Community Bookshop this afternoon which was just lovely but I was parked in a clearway so it was a speedy visit....managed to pick up Rebecca West The Judge and Vita Sackville-West All Passion Spent - no duplicates thank goodness!!

Good for you, Alex!

Yes, good on you!~! Loved All Passion Spent so much that I searched to find every single one of Sackville-West's books that I could. She is such a treasure!
I know that if I had been living back in the day when she, Woolf and others of that caliber were writing, I would have been a lesbian or at the least a bi-. The women who wrote in that day absolutely fascinate me, as do their works.
You have a wonderful treat ahead of you.

Maybe in your next life, Belva :)

Literally laughing out loud here................. ;-)

Not a VMC, but a Virago author... I found Elizabeth Jenkins' memoir A View from Downshire Hill in London yesterday for only £10 - not the cheapest book in the world, but the cheapest copy on Amazon is £75!

Excellent score Simon!

My order from AbeBooks is trickling in and I just have to say that the cover of Radclyffe Hall's Adam's Breed is really exquisite! Very beautiful cover-art.

Found Katherine Susannah Prichard's goldfields trilogy all in one place the other night.

Ooohhhh, Andrew! That is so good!!!!!!

Yes, every other time I've run a search on her I've only got results for two of the three and one is either listed as "acceptable" (which in my vocabulary is synonymous with "trashed") or hideously expensive or something.

Simon, I read The View From Downshire Hill from the library a while ago, and I loved it. You will find much to enjoy in her words about home, family, her literary comtemporaries, inspiration for her novels ... and I am quite sure you will warm to the lady herself. Enjoy!

Hi Jane - I actually have read it, in the Bodleian, earlier this year - but I wanted a copy for myself. I really loved it, and the anecdotes she told. Literary folk in the past seemed to know everyone!

Two volumes of Sylvia Townsend Warner's short stories have arrived, one being the VMC edition, the other a lovely little hardcover of previously uncollected stories. Also managed to find all three Mary Hocking titles on Abebooks this afternoon, so that made me a happy camper.

Returning to an earlier conversation, a copy of The Greengage Summer arrived today, along with Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Not sure yet if the latter is my sort of book.

ETA: Also Wednesday's Children by Robin Hyde, who I think deserves to be better known both within and outside NZ than she seems to be.

Good haul guys.
Ms. Hyde is not a well known author and I agree, she should be. Perhaps we can help her out with that here on L.T.

I am definitely going to have to break down and purchase a new keyboard. The letters have all worn off mine and it is like typing in the dark.

Andrew, may your luck in finding elusive Viragos continue! :-))

I spotted a familiar name in a box of used books outside a shop this afternoon, and was both pleased and surprised to find a biography of a lesser known Virago author - Jessie Kesson: Writing Her Life by Isobel Murray.

Willa Cather The Song of the Lark at Boswell's books yesterday....as I continue my foraging in the 2nd hand bookshops of Brisbane.

I was delighted to find the Penguin ed. of Noblesse Oblige ed. by Nancy Mitford at the market in Oxford today - I've been hoping to find a copy for a few years, and it's very expensive online. Successful day!

Simon, I just found a copy on Amazon for 14 dollars. Compared to the other prices (none less than 50 dollars), it was a real bargain! Hurrah!!!!!!!

I've found that one hard to find here too, though I've read a library copy.

Found and ordered Prichard's "Goldfield Trilogy" tonight. After all the chatter about it, I couldn't resist the hunt. Will be excited awaiting their arrival. I also ordered O' Pioneers!. I cannot believe that after all this time I yet do not have a copy of this classic Virago. Shame on me.

>122 - well done you! I hadn't realised that the U and non-U essay *wasn't* written by Nancy Mitford.

Belva, I love love love Katherine Susannah Prichard!

Glad to hear all the praise for Katherine Susannah Pritchard, as I'm planning to start the Goldfields trilogy in August.

Today, in the mail, a beautiful green copy of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Thank you, Alex!!!!!!!

The Goldfields trilogy arrived this afternoon, about half an hour after I finished Backwater. I sampled the first chapter of The Roaring Nineties - looks very promising.

I am sure you will enjoy it, Andrew, a nice antidote to the brutal heat :-))

I was very tempted to just keep reading, but I don't want to have two series going simultaneously. But I am keeping in the aussie spirit by watching Masterchef Australia 3 this weekend. : )

Ahhhh, enjoy Andrew. I am so glad I saw your chatter about the 'Goldfields Trilogy' as I now have them to look forward to as well.

Shopping yesterday in my favorite used book shop I found:
a couple of Kafkas I did not have: The Trial and The Castle which I know are connected somehow,
a couple of Whartons I did not have (one I had read a library copy: Summer, The Buccaneers, (which I believe was finished by another author but not sure) and Old New York which I so loved when I read it,
Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful & Too Late the Phalarope (which I believe ties in to another I have but don't know which one) by Alan Paton and
Lark and Termite which has been recked to me over and over again so I was happy to find it.

#128 - ooh that was quick wasn't it? so glad you like it - it is a nice copy - unread I would venture to suggest - perhaps we could read it next month and compare notes?

I told you it would get here quickly! Yes, it is a nice copy indeed, and we should read it next month, since it is All Virago All August. Thank you again :-))

Found a reasonably-priced copy of The Fool of the Family, the sequel to The Constant Nymph. I also learned that there is a movie version, Escape Me Never which I will be on the lookout for.

>136: I didn't know there was a sequel - I'll start looking for it!

I was very happy to find a copy of The stone angel at the local Oxfam bookshop this lunchtime. It's been on my want list for a while, and this copy is a nice italicized Virago edition.

^ Yes, according to the description I read the focus is on the Sanger brothers, Caryl and Sebastian.

I just looked it up on amazon, and see that it has recently been reprinted by Faber; one to add to my wishlist :-)

>137 The Stone Angel is great. I bought A Jest of God ages ago, but haven't read it yet... maybe for All Virago All August?

Oooh a fabulous find in the letterbox today from Paola Stevie Smith The Holiday - thanks Paola!! Beautiful bookmark too :)

PAOLINA IS A ROCKSTAR!~!~!

You are VERY welcome, Alex :-))

Belva, I wish I were...I am sure my bank account would be better ;-)

LOL!~! love you girl!

I got sucked into the South Bank book market yesterday and came away with Strangers by Antonia White and, not a VMC, but right up my alley, There's something about a convent girl. I'm always happy to add to my "nun" collection!

Although not a Virago it is by a Virago author: I found a copy of Avalanche by Kay Boyle at my favourite used bookstore last Saturday.

Sheep's Clothing by Celia Dale arrived this afternoon.

I came home from an overnight stay at my sister's and found a box on the doorstep. It had travelled all the way from the good ol' USA. Inside I was impressed/pleased to find the long-desired Omnibus version of The Diary of a Provincial Lady, and The Ladies of Lyndon and Maurice Guest in very nice Dial press editions. Also as a bonus a copy of Cassandra at the Wedding. It was like several Christmases arriving at once. Thank you very much indeed, Andrew.

You're very welcome, Grant. I'm glad it arrived safely.

Books two and three of the Mary Hocking trilogy arrived here, as well as E. H. Young's Moor Fires.

The Clever Woman of the Family and Mandoa, Mandoa! arrived yesterday. Nice copies too.

The Fool of the Family arrived today.

Nice haul Grant. I especially love the cover art of Mandoa, Mandoa.
♥

And Andrew;
You are reading it in French. You go dude!~! How many languages does that make you fluent in? I am fluent in English, baby talk, pig latin & gibberish. But I don't think that cuts it. LOL!~!
There is nothing on the book page so you will have to let us know about this one. It has a 5 star rating so it must be a doozy. I see that there are several editions, but I couldn't get to the one I wanted. (computer stooooopid)
♥

I received a small order of books today and among them were Golden Miles and Phoenix Fled. My little Virago library is slowly but surely building. I love just looking at them.
And my three granddaughters (25, 21 & 18) squabble over who will inherit them. I have already told the family that they can do what they want with the rest of my library but those go to one of the grands. It's so funny when the young ones get teasing over these generations older books. I love it.
belva

Belva - I won't say fluent, but I get along all right in German, French, Italian, and Spanish. Mighty convenient whenit comes to lesser-known writers whose work has not been translated into English.

You ARE fluent in Italian! And if I say so, that is the tuth!!!!

Grazie, Paola.

The Mary Hocking trilogy is now complete. Book One arrived yesterday.

The 2-volume autobiography of Storm Jameson arrived today - in hardback, not the Virago edition. Not bad for $4 plus postage.

ETA: I think they are first editions as they were published in 1969/1970.

Nice score Grant. Very nice!

Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy arrived today, a very nice first American edition.

The guys are getting the good scores ladies!

Two, yesterday, from Paperback Swap (US)

On the Side of the Angels by Betty Miller

The Willow Cabin by Pamela Frankau

.........and the Hunt continues!

The Willow Cabin; Yea!~! Love, love, loved it!~! Sure hope you do too.

>163 I know you did, Belva...that's why I've been trying to find a copy!!!

;-)

Oh, so many wonderful recs and my poor pocketbook. Just for the books, I wish I were still working for pay. Day caring the grands does not pay well. Just in love and appreciation. Well worth it.
But I am going to seek a copy of Mandoa, Mandoa. That one sounds right up my alley. And I just heard on the radio the other day, an ad for Half Price Books. I thought I had to go to Texas to find them. But apparently there are 8 stores within a 200 mile radius of me. Something to think about. Road trips for books //////// gotta love 'em.

The Hours before Dawn and The Rising of the Moon arrived today, thank you, Barbara! Also found a Virago Fiction edition of Union Street at the used bookstore this evening.

Picked up another Barbara Comyns today: The Skin Chairs.

The Skin Chairs is wonderful!

Since joining this group I find myself always checking in every second-hand book shop and charity shop, to see if I can find any VMCs, particularly the old green editions. I had acquired quite a few over the years, but not deliberately, just when I wanted that book by that author.

Today, in an Oxfam Shop in Chester with a large book section, I found my latest VMC: The Wind Changes by Olivia Manning - only £1.49: a bargain!

Today I found Poor Caroline on ebay for $6.99. Product description says its a Penguin version of the Virago; have fingers crossed that it's as described.

I found Illyrian Spring in the local Marie Curie shop for £1 on Saturday. Good condition as well. I'd hoped to get to a couple of Crouch End charity shops on Sunday but decided against trying to get a bus through the scene of part of Saturday night's troubles.

@ 170:
Kasthu; I love my Penguin editions of the Virago Modern Classics almost as much as I love the green. They actually are very nice.

@ 171:
elkiedee; excellent score, that!~!

AWESOME BOOKS has a good selection of VMCs.......quite a few are in the Bargain Bin!! Just type in Virago Modern Classics in the search space......i found 10 the other day, that I'd wanted for a while...I bought them!

http://www.awesomebooks.com/

****Free Shipping to the US****

#173 the news is better than that, there's also Free Shipping to AUS/NZ if you purchase more than 2 books. Needless to say I got a little bit carried away.

that's good to know (or it was until I saw how many there were). Bother!

>171: Great find! I had never seen Illyrian Spring "in the flesh" as it were, until my copy came from amazon!

And Sakerfalcon; was it a 'green'? I have never been able to find it in a green. But I did find, & was happy to after such a long search, the orange Penguin edition. And it must be worth something as the cover is on the book upside down. LOL!~!

Poor Caroline WAS a green Penguin version, in nearly pristine condition (ex library)!

S-C-O-R-E Kasthu!~!~! Excellent!~!

This morning I found a green copy of Our Spoons Came from Woolworths in a charity shop in St. Ives! Yaye me!

>177: Yes, it's a green Virago. I'm not sure I knew it ever was a Penguin; I did look at hardback editions but the VMC was the cheapest option (about £4.00 as I recall).

Excellent score!~!

Some great finds here. Illyrian Springs in Virago green seem particularly elusive, so well done, Luci and Claire!

Well, I ordered mine from amazon, so not the same thrill as finding it in a real bookshop!

During lunch I stopped in to the hole in the wall bookstore near work (literally a hole in the wall, it has fewer books in stock than I probably have in my whole apartment!) and stumbled across a windfall:

Cindie
Company Parade
Mary O'Grady
Open the Door!

I think all I left them were two copies of The Rising Tide!

So those in addition to receiving a copy of Persephone's To Bed With Grand Music makes this a very good day indeed!

Found a copy of The Skin Chairs on abebooks last night - am crossing my fingers that it's a VMC edition.

ETA Lantana Lane arrived today, in perfect condition.

Today I found Their Eyes Were Watching God, which I owned before but not in green, and The World My Wilderness.

All Passion Spent and A Little Tea, A Little Chat arrived yesterday. I decided to keep the former for completeness even though the story is also in my Virago Omnibus. The latter is in excellent unread condition.

Back from holiday with a few VMCs among the books I bought... at work now, but they included My Next Bride, The Mighty and their Fall, Women Against Men and a few more, I think...

oh, and Treasure Hunt

Had a lovely meet up with Lyzzybee (who I have known well for 6 years anyway) and Liz1564 - who is visiting from Chicago. We hit the charity book shops in Kings Heath in Birmingham, which are very good.

I bought the most - there confession over - but then I own the fewest : )

Liz (lyzzybee) has a list of the books Elaine bought to post later. I believe, though, that Elaine found 3 VCM to replace old copies.

I bought:

The House of Mirth Edith Wharton - read previously but no longer have a copy
The Lying Days Nadine Gordimer
The Grain of Truth Nina Bawden
O Pioneers! Willa Cather
Losing Battles Eudora Welty
Frost in May Antonia White - read previously but no longer have a copy

so quite a haul - and I also bought 3 non Virago books on our Virago hunting trip.

An unsuitable attachment - Barbara Pym
Family and Friends - Anita Brookner
Undue Influence - Anita Brookner

189, 190: Isn't book shopping on holiday particularly special? I really must get round to listing my "fabulous (holiday) finds". Well done for liberating those VMCs!

Simon, I think I saw on your blog that you'd been to Lyme Regis on your travels. Did you visit a bookshop called The Sanctuary whilst you were there? I haven't been myself but very much want to. It looks wonderful and also does bed and breakfast. I am determined to book myself in there one day, for as long as possible! Link below...

http://www.lyme-regis.com/

192: Hi Dee - I did go to The Sanctuary! I always do when I go to Lyme (which is only about 20 mins from my parents' house) - to be honest, it's all a little too cramped, and for some reason they've dumped a piano in front of the shelves holding books by authors T-Z, so it's impossible to reach them. I like a bookshop to be filled with books, of course, but you have to be able to see them..!

Whereas there is another little bookshop even nearer the coast, quite new, which was wonderful.

Further to our lovely day of meeting up and boo buying - I have pictures - thanks to Liz (lyzzybee) of us and the books we bought.

Hope the links work

1. Elaine's (Liz1564) books
http://yfrog.com/gz56rzrj

2 Liz's books
http://yfrog.com/kkhkokzj

3 Elaine looking through her VMC list
http://yfrog.com/h4cryxqj

4 My books
http://yfrog.com/hsogmspj

5 Me looking through my purchases - Elaine surpessing a smile? : )
http://yfrog.com/kl7cvrkj

We had such a lovely time - thanks Liz and Elaine.

Thanks for posting those, Ali (I've been paying for my fun morning by working all afternoon/evening - but it was worth it!)

Just wanted to point out ...

We made Elaine buy Astonishing Splashes of Colour because it's partly set on a bus route we took her on (Ali and Elaine and I did a clever thing and ended up on the same bus to Kings Heath!)

I'm so sorry I didn't buy any Viragos - just didn't see any I needed on the day. But Elaine kindly gave me a Storm Jameson so I did acquire one!

The cafe we're in is the fab Urban Coffee Company in Birmingham - a small chain of 2 coffee houses and Simon, one of the owners, stood guard in the city centre one all night every night through the riots!

Sounds like a great day. Nice to see some photos too.

It seems very apt to buy something published by Tindal Street when in Birmingham (it's a Birmingham based indie publisher).

I thought you were all rather restrained, though! No one's purchases hit double figures.

Glad to see the lovely pics and congrats on all your purchases!

The Skin Chairs arrived today and it's a VMC edition.

Thank you ladies, for letting us share your meet-up with you and congrats on all of your new finds. I am so happy that you had this opportunity to get together and have a 'play day'.
hugs,
belva

Yea Andrew!~!~! Was hoping for you.

Thanks, Belva. it's a lovely green VMC, one of the old editions with the penguin in the upper right corner of the front cover. I'm quite happy with it.

It is always nice to get a happy surprise like that Andrew.

Today THE POSTMAN COMETH and brought:
The Misses Mallett and
Celia by E.H. Young.
The Glimpses of the Moon,
The Mother's Recompense and
The Gods Arrive by Edith Wharton.

All lovely green spines, so a very good day.

Belva, you're doing well, especially with three Whartons.

>193: What a ridiculous place to put a piano. I know from experience it can be difficult to house a piano but in front of the T-Zs?!!! How could one see if there were any Sylvia Townsend Warners? I am not completely put off however and the wonderful new bookshop sounds promising.

>194: Oh piccies! It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Please do it again one day so that I can join you! Is that An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym that I can spot amongst the Viragos, Ali? I love that book! I'll join in with the endorsements of Astonishing Splashes of Colour too, even without the benefit of having "done" that bus route!

I will finally record my VMC purchases from my trip "down south".
These Viragos were all from Kim's bookshop in Chichester. Kim said she always looks out for VMCs but she doesn't see as many as she used to and they tend to get snapped up very quickly. Despite that there were over twenty, all in green. I restricted myself to this ten...

Women against Men by Storm Jameson
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins
Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson
Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
A Sea-Grape Tree by Rosamond Lehmann
O Pioneers by Willa Cather
Plagued by the Nightingale by Kay Boyle
Winter Sonata by Dorothy Edwards

Winter Sonata was a duplicate which has been sent to Kerry. Also found lots of non-Virago goodies at other shops including Claire Tomalin's Jane Austen biography at Oxfam and an original Penguin edition of Rebecca West's The Harsh Voice for fifty pence at a funny little bookshop just opened at Hayling Island where my mum lives.

Edited to say that I originally missed post 191 (I think I was posting at the same time yesterday). I can now see that yes, you did find a copy of An Unsuitable Attachment, Ali!

Yes indeed - I forgot to point out that Astonishing is published by Tindall Street Press, a local publisher - and in fact I have met the author, too!

>194: I'm so sorry I didn't buy any Viragos - just didn't see any I needed on the day.
Needed? NEEDED? Tell me, LyzzyBee, what does "need" have to do with it?! :)

The meetup sounds like it was great fun! Thanks for sharing the photos, Ali.

>207 erm ... I'm sorry - we didn't find many and those that we did find were either ones I already had, ones the other 2 did need, and that teen series I don't collect!!

I did still buy 5 books and considering the facts that a) my TBR is pretty static at the moment owing to Too Much Work and b) me telling the others not to let me, was pretty shocking!

If I ever meet any of you I will not be trying to discourage you from buying books, believe me. In fact, I think I probably owe you at least one book, in return for the Miss Pettigrew book for my Persephone collection.

Oh, how lovely to see the pics and hear about your purchases! Thanks for sharing :-))

What a lovely day - books, food and good company! Perfect.

>208: OK, that makes sense. I thought for a moment you were walking past green spines you did not yet own, based on some misguided belief that you did not NEED them. If anyone starts doing that, they just make it harder for the rest of us to justify acquiring with reckless abandon!

*sigh* Everybody is doing wonderfully well, I think! Many thanks for the pictures; it looks like a fabulous day. And I knew that our Liz was not walking past green spines that she didn't own yet.

A nice copy of The Loved and Envied arrived today in the first mail after our "once-in-a-lifetime" polar storm.

I got another copy of I Capture the Castle from PBS. I seem to have no luck with this book. My first copy was a green but so battered I did not keep it. I then found a hardback copy which I still have, new and lovely but not a Virago. Then I ordered another paperback Virago on line and this one was both hugely battered and the movie tie-in. So this time when I came top of the wish list I made sure it was both GREEN, in good condition, and not the movie tie-in. I even confirmed that it was exactly the book cover advertised. So it arrives. It is indeed a green Virago but a pastel green new cover, it is not the cover advertised, and it is not in great condition. But at least it is not the movie tie-in cover. Onwards and upwards!

Thanks for the pics of the lovely piles of books - and nice to see faces too! I bought quite a few VMCs on my recent holiday - which I've listed on my 75 books thread but not got round to doing here yet. I hope to come back later with an update.

Jenny Wren begged me to take her home today, so I did. :).

Not a VMC, but my first Margery Sharp, Britannia Mews, arrived yesterday.

Two of my Barbara Pyms have arrived - Some Tame Gazelle and Civil to Strangers - they're in great condition. And I found The Second Virago Book of Fairy Tales for a pound in a charity shop today.

#218 Britannia Mews was my first Margery Sharp, too, and I absolutely loved it.

Back from my holiday, which was wonderful apart from no chance to visit bookshops. However I did find an Oxfam shop in Manchester city centre with a small number of Viragos and I bought:

My friend says it's bullet-proof by Penelope Mortimer
Union Street by Pat Barker
Losing Battles by Eudora Welty

and Winter Sonata arrived from Dee while I was away.

Losing Battles is a duplicate so I shall post it on the duplicates thread.

Andrew, I adore Margery Sharp!!!!!!!

The Postman Cometh:

Letty Fox: Her Luck
The Puzzleheaded Girl
The Beauties and Furies
Miss Herbert
The Salzburg Tales: all by Christina Stead
A Wreath of Roses
Dangerous Calm
The Blush: all by Elizabeth Taylor
The Harsh Voice
The Thinking Reed: both by Rebecca West
From Man to Man by Olive Schreiner
The White Bird Passes by Jessie Kesson: (a duplicate copy that I will be posting on that thread
Cecilia by Fanny Burney: (all 5 in one)
Plagued by the Nightingale by Kay Boyle
One Way of Love by Gamel Woolsey
Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton
William by E.H. Young
The Clever Woman of the Family by Charlotte M. Yonge
_______________________________________________
A Book of Secrets by Michael Holroyd
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse: (another duplicate, I believe)
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn and
Affinity by Sarah Waters

and I think that is all.

>223: Wow! Your postman deserves a medal for carrying all those books :-) What a wonderful package to open up!

>223 - wow, great haul! My book group is reading Siddhartha soon, and I've yet to get a copy...

Holy moley, Belva! And how soon will you have read all of these? :)

Gulp! Belva. Laura - she IS a fast reader.

Paola - a few weeks ago I watched a stinker of a movie that I had loved in my teens. It was called The Notorious Landlady and starred Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire. I remember that what I loved about it was the fake London scenes in the fog but as a 60 year old it seemed so BAD I was just glad I'd not urged anyone to watch it with me. Anyway, the point of this post is that it was based on a short story by Margery Sharp. I'm sure the ss was just fine before Ms Novak and her director boyfriend got their hands on it. Unwitting man rents a room from a beautiful woman who has - supposedly - murdered her missing husband. Is it one you know?

Belva, you think that is ALL???!!!!!!!!
I certainly don't know your movie, Barbara......I have one M. Sharp which I've never read.
I came here, though, to say that in unpacking my books from the neighbor's house, I just found a first edition copy of The World My Wilderness! It's not a particularly pretty book since it was published in 1950, but I'm excited to have it.

No, Barbara, I don't know the story. But then, I have only read some of her novels, no short stories. I shall investigate, though, and report my findings.

Barbara, it might be in The lost chapel picnic and other stories. I have a copy, but have to look for it.

Most of my parcels from last week's review earnings and reward for overspending at Amazon (a credit card with a loyalty points scheme) have turned up and included 3 Barbara Pyms, and 2 Stella Gibbons books in Vintage Classics editions.

My A.L. Barker omnibus arrived today. It contains A Case Examined, John Brown's Body, and The Gooseboy.

Oh Andrew, you will have to give us a bit of a review; ie comments when you have finished this one as there are none on the book page. Really interested to see how John Brown's Body goes.
b

I'm not so sure if I'll manage The Gooseboy - the description makes it sound rather Angela Carterish. I'm definitely interested in the other two, though.

Gee Andrew, did my love for the lady rub off on you? hee hee
hugs,
~belva

I'm ambivalent about Carter. I liked Wise Children; Shadow Dance was off-putting; The Bloody Chamber (so far) has fallen in the middle.

***snortz*** ***hak, hak*** ***snortz***

s'cuse me; a hairball....you understand.

Um, yeah, sure, Belva. One day you will cross over to the dark side...MWAHAHAHAHA....

I've always been embarrassed that I don't like Carter. I feel that I should like her, just as I feel I should try harder with Christina Stead and Toni Morrison. But at this stage in my life I have too many other books calling my name, some of which will be perfect tens.

And besides Barbara:

You hoo hoo,
You wanta be like me hee hee,
You wanta walk like me,
Talk like me, dee dee dee dee dee,
You see it's true hoo hoo,
Someone like you hoo hoo,
Can learn to be ..... like someone like me!~!

And just 'love' Angela Carter til she makes you gag & heave. Ewwwwwww

Andrew; I am loving thinking of the possibilities....perhaps usurping the 'Mother U'? Hmmm

I got my haul from Awesome Books...a while ago...didn't know if I was allowed to post here

?????

#241> Of course you are "allowed" to post in here!!

Please post in here. Inquiring minds want to know what came to Judith from Awesome Books!

Okay....these aren't necessarily the Beloved Greens:

Frost in May
Some Kind of Black
The Weather in the Streets
Without My Cloak
The Dud Avocado....always loved that title
The House of Mirth
The Sugar House
Invitation to the Waltz
The Return of the Soldier
Kinflicks

i love 'em all...now to find time to read the buggers!

Good choice! Enjoy!!!

Yes! So many books, so little time.

Has anyone read all of the Virago books they own? I have only skimmed the surface.

247: Not even close! I own about 90 Viragos (VMCs and Travellers) in various editions, and I've only read about 40 of them! And I expect to find more on my trip to England starting next week...

Me either! I own about 200 and have read 83. But my rate of acquisition has slowed over the last year, so I am hoping to reduce the gap between those two figures. I try to think of it as having lots of great reading to look forward to.

I have 124 in my Virago collection (including some Travellers) and 64 are marked To Read. I can't understand why it was so difficult to choose what to read for All Virago/All August.

Belva, you are joking, aren't you? I don't even know how many I have, but I have not even read half of them!

Well sheesh; just askin'.............

I just consulted my LT library and it tells me that I own 271 real Viragos, a further 71 non-Virago versions of books in the catalog, and that I have read 152. So I've read appx 44% of them.

I have read 103 of my 271 Viragos. So, 38%. I've read 18 of those since April. I like that statistic a bit better.

I haven't read anything like all my Viragos (260+ - the 270 in my "collection" includes a few library loans) but I've also read most of the ones I have read a very long time ago - I started buying them and reading them in my early 20s. I didn't own all those I read by any means - some from the library but I borrowed a lot from my aunt who was on the Virago Advisory Board so had a great collection. But I don't necessarily remember those well. I've also read or reread some more recently since joining LT, eg Barbara Comyns, but even that was probably about 8 years ago. I''ve probaby read between 50 and 100 ever, 20+ of those in the last 2 years and perhaps another 10-15 in the last 10 years.

Two by Vera Brittain arrived a couple of days ago: Testament of Experience in a Virago paperback edition and Lady into Woman. The latter is not very common on LT and is a first edition from 1953.

>255: So cool that your aunt was on the Virago Advisory Board! ;-)

What did that involve? Was she one of those women looking out for forgotten classics in the eighties but being warned by Carmen Callil not to go beyond "the Whipple line"?!

I noticed while perusing my LT library yesterday that a few Viragos had not been entered. So I took care of that. Then today the mailman delivered two more. Both in lovely condition - The World My Wilderness and Peyton Place. Of course, as some of you will remember, Peyton Place is one of my least favorite Viragos, but at least this copy is in like-new condition. Both came from Paperbackswap, which lately has been very slow for Viragos.

My aunt is very cool! I don't know about the Advisory Board, I'll have to ask her.

THE POSTMAN COMETH:
and brought to me Palladian, Young Entry, The World My Wilderness, A Very Great Profession, Familiar Passions, The Birds on the Trees and A Fine of Two Hundred Francs, plus a plethora of non-Virago books. It appears I am building up stock for my winter hibernation.

That's quite a haul, Belva.

Discovered by serendipitous chance today the Last Word bookstore in Philly, where they had quite a number of Viragoes literally piled on the floor! Here's what I came away with:

Adam's Breed
Two Days in Aragon
Women Against Men
Millennium Hall
Family History
One Fine Day, all of those in the green Penguin edition
The Constant Nymph
The Misses Mallett both in the black Dial editions and
Full House in the original green Virago. I got a couple of others, which I'm going to post in the duplicates thread...

I had another great moment today when, seeing me greedily ripping apart the stack of Viragos, this other older woman came up to me and asked me if I'd read any, and what I'd recommend. I practically shoved Crossriggs into her hands! So I got to watch someone buy her first Virago!

262: Fabulous finds indeed, Kasthu!

I love it when I find Viragoes piled up on the floor. Well it's only actually happened to me once but it was pretty fabulous!

I have Viragoes piled up on the floor....

>262: I had a similar experience at the same bookshop about 6 months ago! Looks like they're a pretty good source.

Ever have one of those dreams where you find a trail of money? Well that's what finding a pile of Viragos would feel like.

>262, 265: I do miss Last Word. Glad to hear it is still going strong and yielding up great books. The House of Our Own bookshop nearby used to have piles of black Dial editions on a fairly regular basis too.

I am surfacing after 24 hours of jet lag. The flight home was smooth and we even landed 15 minutes early. What a lovely time we had in the UK. The row house in Stratford had a wonderful garden and a timbered living room with a flatscreen tv. I indulged myself in the property shows that seem be on all the time. (Humm....do I want a Georgian in Cheshire with an acre of formal garden or a thatched cottage in the Cotswalks with a walled garden....plus a bolt hole in London. Then, again, my own island off the coast of mainland Scotland has a ring to it. Me and the puffins and the guano. Decisions, decision, decisions)

The riots brought out the best of the Brits. The way the citizens of Birmingham came out and literally cleaned up their city was amazing. I met Liz and Ali the Tuesday after the riots and I didn't see a shard of glass or any evidence except neatly boarded windows with businesses open behind the plywood.. Not only that, there were families with small children all over. It is as if the folks were saying, "No one is going to take away our city or make us afraid to go downtown." The riots ended with the reality of the sudden death of three young men, run over as they tried to defend their block. The father of two of the murdered young men spoke with such dignity about how the family did not want their sons become a flashpoint for more violence. Why don't men like him ever run for public office?

Books...books....books. All were purchased in charity stores and one trip to fantasy land...Hay-on-Wye. My friends and I had a perfect day in Hay. The weather was perfect and I think I got into every shop except the specialty shops like the one selling cook books. Some shops were great; other contained over-priced books. Why would anyone charge double for a book still in print and readily available at Smith's or Waterstone's? Others were so reasonable I almost felt like offering more money, like the last shop. This was a tiny store, just out of the main area where I picked up three Persephone's for 3GBP each. It was run by two retired teachers who loved books and kept their prices deliberately low so that their stock was always fresh.

So, without further babbling here is the list:

Virago original green covers

Precious Bane*
Diana of the Crossways (looks unread)
The Corner That Held Them
Mr Fortune's Maggot
Not So Quiet (!!!!!!! an unread, uncirculated copy of my favorite VMC!)
The Holiday
The Skin Chairs
My Brilliant Career*
Letty Fox:Her Luck
Occasion for Loving*
Tell Me a Riddle*
Cassandra at the Wedding*
Beyond the Glass*
The Lost Traveller*
The Sugar House*
The Birds Fall Down*
The Fountain Overflows*
Miss Mole*
The Weather in the Streets*

*books replaced because they were Dial editions, modern reprints, or nonVMC.

Persephone Books

House-bound by Winifred Peck
The Closed Door and Other Stores by Dorothy Whipple
They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple
Princes in the Land by Joanna Cannan
The Young Pretenders by Edith Fowler
The Village by Laski
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer
Tell It To A Stranger by Berridge
Manja by Gmeyner (YES!!!! My own copy of this powerful novel!)

Misc:

Women's Room-new Virago edition
The Little Stranger-found for 50p at a charity store
Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Morrall (I was on the featured bus with Liz and Ali!)
Another Self-James Lees Milne
Counting My Chickens-Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire
Still Glides the Stream-Flora Thompson (memoirs)
Bad Blood-Lorna Sage (disfunctional families also live in country vicarages)
Last Post-Max Arthur (memoirs of WW I)
Portrait of a Marriage-Nicholson (anniversary edition with lots more photos)

Thanks to my shurpa husband, I was able to get all the books into carry-on luggage. Two wheeled carry-ons and two shoulder bags cunningly packed so they looked lighter than they were. If we were challenged I would have had to check the bags. Oh, I did leave my underwear in the UK to make room for the books! Knickers or books? No contest!

Two best days? Meeting Liz and Ali in Birmingham and Hay-On-Wye. Oh, the Shakespeare was interesting, too, but that's another post.

Elaine

Oh, I did leave my underwear in the UK to make room for the books! I'm hooting and hollering over that one, and I'm holding it in reserve for the next time my husband accuses me of buying too many books! "At least I've still got my underwear."

Underwear can always be replaced. Viragos in original green, on the other hand ...
Well I think you made the right decision! Welcome back Elaine!

Welcome back, Elaine! That was a marvellous day we had with you and I'm glad Hay came good for you too! Thank you for your kind words about our beloved City.

Must've been a hell of a lot of underwear! Welcome back my friend. You were missed.

@ Elaine;
Missed you, missed you, missed you.........we did indeed! I laughed so hard at the last part of your post that I very nearly wet my nickers.
So happy that you had such a wonderful time of your holiday. Lovely haul on your books. Now you shall need to find a home for those you are replacing. lol!~!
Next U.K. holiday, I am wiggling my nose, becoming a cute lil mouse and stowing away in your luggage.
big warm welcome back hug,
~belva

Elaine, I read your report as if it were a fairy tale. To such an anglophile as I am, every little crumb about England, or Scotland or Wales is precious. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the findings.

Much more modestly, I will add my latest addition to my collection, which arrived today from England: The Vicar's Daughter by E.H. Young.
There are still some I don't have, but the list is getting shorter!

*sigh* I don't know why I'm only now getting here, but I'm thrilled about your holiday and your books, and I don't regret your knickers at all. I agree absolutely with Paola - fairy tale stuff!

OK, so not a fabulous book find, but rather a fabulous house-of-Virago-authors find: the house in Doughty St, London, where Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain used to live. How funny is it that I got more excited over seeing it than the house several doors down that Charles Dickens lived in for three years? My sister thought I was mad!

The Provincial Lady also lived there for a while.

I'd rather visit Winifred and Vera's too- though I suppose if they're only a few doors apart, I won't ever have to chose!

Sounds like you're having a great time, Katherine. Hope there are many more fabulous finds awaiting you!

What does it look like? Grand, shabby? Did they have the whole house or just a flat? I've been to Dickens house on the Kent coast, as a child on holiday. That was very nice. What was his London home like?

PS - Truman Capote's home in Brooklyn would interest me. I'd have to lose the drapes but the rest I could live with :)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/truman-capotes-house-on-s_n_570202.html...

You are right, Barbara, without those drapes it would be perfect!

>276: oh that's wonderful !! Hope you took some photos !

@280:
Barbara, the house and little garden as well, are to die for but as Paolina said: quite right about the window treatments.

@ 276:
Kasthu; I too, hope you took pictures. Funny, but I always think of that too late.

Does LibraryThing have an AuthorHouseThing? Because they really should! I'm fascinated by this stuff. Thanks for the link to Truman Capote, Barbara. And, yes, I'd love to see Vera and Winifred's house too, so I'm hoping there are pictures!

I must have a look at the Brittain/Holtby house, it's quite near where I work. I got really excited a few months ago when I got lost near Hampstead Heath and saw a blue plaque on a house where Katherine Mansfield once lived.

Edith Wharton's house The Mount can be toured. It's extremely ostentatious. Robert Graves house in Majorca (?) can also be visited. I've seen pictures of both but have never been. Someone should commission a coffee table book.

I love houses in general. The only thing I envy about the rich is their ability to buy lovely homes. Of course many of them buy crap homes, but that's another issue. My favorite - and forgive me if I have talked about this before - is the actress Beryl Reid's house.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23545965@N02/5988771154/

I'm with all of you in being fascinated by houses. Thanks for the great links. Maybe this should at least be a thread until LT does something professional about it???

I visited The Mount. It is grand indeed, and the grounds are lovely.

@284: Yes, yes, indeed.........that would be lovely if we had a thread like that. I think all of us here are thrilled by the seeing of the houses of our wonderful authors and would love to see pics of them.
Barbara, that is a very unusual and beautiful home.
thank you for the link.

Yes I did take pictures of the Brittain/Holtby house! And the plaque. I'll post photos on my blog when I get back. It's not grand, nor shabby; couldn't tell if they had the whole house or just a part of it. But I nearly got run over by traffic when I crossed the road to take pictures!

there's a lovely book about writers' houses titled funnily enough Writers' Houses by Francesca Premoli-Droulens which I often borrow from the library and drool over. My favourite is Marguerite Duras's house. If you look it up at amazon you can have a peek inside (I'm not clever enough to provide a link - sorry).

>268 - what a wonderful trip, and incredible haul! I usually come away from Hay with at least 15 books, but I can't match your gems.

Comes the postman and he bringeth:
Every Secret Thing: My Family, My Country by Gillian Slovo and The Little Company by Eleanor Dark. I had to search and search to find proof that the former is a Virago and indeed, it is. (at least published by Virago Press)

Errata - Alas no copies of that book in my library. It sounds wonderful and I will have to investigate interloan. Thank you!

As promised on my thread in the 75 group, here's a list of a wonderful recent haul of original greens from the amazing Barter Books shop in Alnwick, Northumberland. I visit there maybe once or twice a year, but I hadn't been since I consciously began collecting VMCs earlier this year. Whether they always have this many in stock, I do not know. I didn't even buy them all - there were a few in less good condition that I left, and probably others that I didn't spot.

My Next Bride and Year Before Last - Kay Boyle
The Ballad and the Source - Rosamond Lehmann
The Matriarch - G B Stern
The Brimming Cup - Dorothy Canfield
The Lying Days - Nadine Gordimer
Sapphira and the Slave Girl - Willa Cather
The Rector's Daughter - F M Mayor
Poor Caroline - Winifred Holtby

I've only heard of five of these eight VMC authors, and know nothing about any of these particular books. I'm enjoying how collecting VMC (and eventually reading them, I hope!) is widening my range of authors.

Great haul, Genny!

The last time I was in Barter books (a few years ago), they had a large selection of VMCs and a few Persephones. I only bought a couple of Viragoes and an Alice Hoffman novel though, as I was short of money and wasn't collecting Viragoes in the way I am now! I seem to remember the Persephones were close to the price they would have been new so had to ignore them completely :-(

From Paperbackswap, but actually from Elaine: A Stricken Field in green, and Cassandra at the Wedding in a more modern edition but with an authentic Oxfam price sticker :)

#296 I didn't spot any Persephones, but I was looking for green, not grey, in any case. It's good to hear they have had lots of VMCs in the past also. I will certainly keep looking out for them there, and will also check for Perseophones next time if I remember.

OK, so here's the damage I did while on vacation in London and York:

New, from Waterstone's:
The Flight of the Falcon
I'll Never Be Young Again
The Doll
Rule Britannia
Civil to Strangers

From various secondhand bookshops:
Luminous Isle
Aurora Floyd
Testament of Youth
Zoe
Treasure Hunt
The Weather in the Streets
The Roaring Nineties
Ordinary Families
Elizabeth and her German Garden
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton

...and then a number of Persephones...

Wow!

Wow- and that's just the Virago Modern Classics! Well shopped!!

Nicely done!
I loved loved loved Testament of Youth.

What a great haul! But the real question is, did you manage to bring back all those books and your underwear? ;-)

Isn't shopping for VMC's fun in the UK!!!! Did you get your Persephone's at the shop or were you lucky enough to find them used?

(I have some lovely new underwear...)

LOL!~! Nicely done; great haul Kasthu!~!

Congrats on the new nickers Elaine; will there be photos?

Haha! the stack of books that AREN'T VMCs is even larger! I love the Vintage classics they have over there. I had to bring an extra suitcase on the plane just for the books. So, luckily, I didn't have to leave my underwear behind.

I bought my Persephones at the shop, I had an opportunity to sit in on one of their monthly teatime reading groups, where we discussed Reuben Sachs; lovely!

A Death in the Life and Tortoise by Candlelight arrived today. a nice end to an otherwise completely sh*tty day.

Glad your sh*tty day is coming to a close Andrew. Mine is yet going on.
I have spent all day working on the spend-down for mother at the Adult home she is in and at the funeral home doing her funeral directive, which she no longer has the money for (she took out a funeral policy & thought it paid for the whole thing; not....only 1,000.00 of it) so guess who is stuck with a 5 year contract for the remainder of her directive? Yes, that is correct....her daughter of the nervous breakdown whom she regularly says she never wanted (out of 7 children) and that she hates, who has with the help of just the hubby moved her three times, cooked for her, wiped her poopy butt, cleaned for her, taken her to her dr. apts, etc. So I would really like to see an end to my sh*tty day too, thank you very much. Terrible to say but I just keep telling myself: "She can't live forever!"
Anne of Green Gables, come to me........

Your mother sounds like my father, Belva.

But on to my sh*tty day!! Some of you may remember that the school where I work threatened to take away health benefits last year. They have always paid minimum wage but everyone in the place, including those with huge families got full benefits. That changed in January when they reduced all the teacher assistants to single benefits. The teachers' union, which assistants are forced to join, fought for the teachers, who all kept their package, but threw us under the bus. And today we got our first pay check under the new arrangement.

Single people got their usual pay check. I get my healthcare elsewhere but was getting $5000 a year as a buy back for not taking theirs. I now get $2,500 buy back and did manage to make up $1100 of the missing $2,500 with a previously negotiated pay increase. So I am down $1400 a year under the new arrangement.

Others were not so lucky. They offered us a second rate family healthcare package (with multiple co-pays) or a premium package for those with chronic illnesses in their families. Today those who opted for the second rate package got pay checks of about $600 and those who took the premium package received a TWO WEEK pay check somewhere between $250 and $300. Indeed one of our lowest paid, unqualified workers was called to the office and told that she not only was not getting any pay check but that she owed the school $50.

Those women who were just working for pin money will survive but we have many single mothers on staff and they will not.

#307, 308 & 209 Oh ow, ow, ow for all the sh*tty days. :-( I'm so sorry.

I was going to sneak in a post to say my copy of The Diary of a Provincial Lady arrived - thank you ever so much Belva, it's beautiful. Just reading the first paragraph made me smile. At least when the world has gone mad there are always books...

Oh soul; trust that someone would bring us back to 'our' real world. Thank you. Our books often times keep us sane.
I am ever so happy that you are pleased with your treat. Thank you for being part of AV/AA. It has become my very favorite month of reading.

I am going to try to think up other little treats to go along with the drawing for next year. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

hugs all round,
belva

Barbara, that is absolutely horrible. Hard at times to realize what things are coming to. I know they have to make cuts but people really cannot live without insurance in this day. I am so sorry that things have come to this for you and your co-workers.
Like soul says: dive into a good book and forget the cares of the world if you can.
thinking of you,

>309: That is just shocking. I can hardly imagine how devastating it must have been for your poor co-worker to be told she OWES money, instead of receiving a paycheque. The system seems totally unjust.

Sending positive thoughts and good vibes to all those with troubles.

309: Disgraceful! Sorry for everyone who is stressed right now.

Comes the postman bringing:
Pilgrimage: Volumes 1 thru 4. I know this seems to be a difficult and boring read for most of the ones who have attempted it but I just couldn't help myself.

And I picked up my book for my 'Women's Lit' class:
The Norton Anthology of LITERATURE BY WOMEN. It is huge and of course I had to peek in and we will be going back as far as 1170. WOW! I wish it did include the first novel ever written The Tale of Genji which I believe was written BC and was written by a WOMAN. That one is difficult to find an unabridged edition of. Anyway I am excited for classes to begin.

I'm not going to lie to you, Belva - Pilgrimage is challenging and parts of it are boring. However, there's lots of good stuff in there as well, and, as I said in another post, I suspect that the dull sections might have been intentional, since we all have dull patches in our lives.

I have an unabridged edition of The Tale of Genji. It's massive. I believe it was published by Random House, so you should be able to find a copy.

ETA: Unabridged edition of Genji

Thank you Andrew. I'm on the hunt.

De nada.

The talk about The Tale of Genji has intrigued me so I've added it to my wishlist. I found this website which goes through the different translations into English quite helpful. I'd be very interested in hearing what people think of the different translations.

I think I will make The Tale of Genji my Massive Tome Read for 2012. I won't tackle it this year since I'm still working on Pilgrimage- yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to persevere with the non-adventures of Ms. Miriam Henderson. I may not make it to the end, but I will give it the old college try.

Good for you Andrew. I am going to tackle Pilgrimage in 2012 but I think I shall read Dorothy Richardson's bio before I begin. Then take on The Tale of Genji in 2013. Good luck on finishing and thank you for bringing it to our attention.

I'm happy to have *Genji* and tried to read it eons ago. The translation in the Modern Library volume that I have is really ---- not very good. I wish you all well. Maybe let me know when you start, Belva, and I'll see whether I'm up to it.

I know that The Tale of Genji is not an easy read Peggy. But my therapist has read it and says it is wonderful and well worth the effort. (Ain't that great? I pay $150.00 per 50 minutes to talk books....my kind of therapist.)
Mine also, is the First Modern Library Giant Edition volume. But it is really hard to find this book in an unabridged edition so like you, I am happy to have a copy at all. (Thank you Andrew) I have the abridged and now the unabridged, which is the one I want to read. I plan to start it January 2013....as it stands now. So how bouts I meet you then with it? Hmmmmmmmmm?
Ya said ya would.
Ya wanna, doncha?
Hmmmmmmmmm????????
~belva

That soon!!!?????!!!!!! *gulp* Let me think on it, Belva. Let me see if I can find it - I know where it used to be.............. Maybe. Probably.

The best unabridged edition of The Tale of Genji is Edwin Seidensticker's translation published by Knopf. I've gotten about half way through it. It needs to be read slowly and savouringly as close to nature as possible.


We did authors' houses on our trek out West this summer if anyone is interested -- Zelda Fitzterald, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Mark Twain, Helen Hunt Jackson, Willa Cather: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/photoPicker/albums.jsp

Peggy;
I am doing The Tale of Genji in January of 2013.......not......2012. I am going to allow myself a year to work on it. 2012 is my year for Pilgrimage 1,2,3,&4. I don't want to do both in the same year. So you have a year and 3 months to get ready if you do wish to do it with me.

Jane;
That is the same edition that I have so I am thankful that it is a good one. Thank you for your input.

big hug,
~belva

FABULOUS FINDS SIXTEEN NEW THREAD CAN BE FOUND HERE...............

http://www.librarything.com/topic/123795

Andrew says to carry on.................so let's!