World Book Day

 Today is World Book Day.  I can't imagine being without books.  I have to be reading a book and have books around me.  It's good to escape into the pages of a book especially in troubled times.  By books I mean any means of reading them.  On line, on an e-reader, cloud library, audio book or a physical book from the library or book shop.  I do struggle with font size nowadays so some of the favourite books I've pulled off our bookshelves would probably not now be read as they stand but I still have them and wouldn't want to be without them.

I've read lots of wonderful books over the years but the ones I've photographed are enduring favourites.  

In the centre my very favourite book, read many times 'A Month in the Country' by J L Carr.  Also re-read many times are 'The Enchanted April' by Elizabeth Von Arnim and 'The Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey.  

 

I read 'A Child in the Forest' by Winifred Foley when I found out that one of my ancestors my 4xgreat-grandfather came to Derbyshire from the Forest of Dean in the 1780s.

Two other favourite books I can't find at the moment, perhaps they are in a box somewhere or maybe I loaned them to someone and they never came back. Anyway they are 'Testament of Youth' by Vera Brittain and 'Katherine' by Anya Seaton.  Winifred Holtby who wrote South Riding was a friend of Vera Brittain and the preface of my copy was written by Vera's daughter Shirley Williams.

I did find both copies of a book that introduced me to Georgette Heyer whilst I was still at school in the 1960s.  I read the older version from 1946 from my Mum and Dad's bookshelves and then must have later bought a copy for myself.  It cost three shillings and sixpence.

Many of these books are old, much faded with browned pages but somehow I can't part with them, they are old friends. 

 I haven't even touched on favourite classics or non-fiction.  Perhaps they will be for another day.

Right, I'm off to sit in my comfy chair, with a mug of tea and a good book.  Do share your favourites, it would be lovely to hear your choices.  I expect they will all be very different.

Take care.

World Book Day - Quiz answers

Here, as promised, are the answers to the World Book Day fun quiz:-

1. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
'The Go-Between' by L P Hartley

2. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte

3. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen

4. "Yes, of course, if it's fine tomorrow," said Mrs Ramsay.
'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf

5. I was set down from the carrier's cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began.
'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee

6. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.
'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens

7. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
'The Great Gatsby' by F Scott Fitzgerald

8. 'The Bottoms' succeeded to 'Hell Row'.
'Sons and Lovers' by D H Lawrence

9. In the first place ........ is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women.
'Cranford' by Elizabeth Gaskell

10. A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the grave and beautiful name of sadness.
'Bonjour Tristesse' by Francoise Sagan

Thanks for all you comments on the quiz post and I'm glad you enjoyed taking part!

World Book Day

As today is World Book Day here in the UK I thought I would have a little quiz. I've put together ten first sentences from a few of the books on my bookshelves. Some of them are well known; others not so - see how many you know or can work out!

1. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

2. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

3. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

4. "Yes, of course, if it's fine tomorrow," said Mrs Ramsay.

5. I was set down from the carrier's cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began.

6. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness....

7. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

8. 'The Bottoms' succeeded to 'Hell Row'.

9. In the first place ........ is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women.

10. A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the grave and beautiful name of sadness.

Just a bit of fun - have a go and let me know how you get on - I'll post the answers at the weekend!

Reading Matter(s)

Today is World Book Day here in the UK. I can't imagine a world without books or indeed, my life without a book or two on my bedside table or on the coffee table just waiting to be read. If I love a book I can read it very quickly not wanting it to end but equally desperate to know the conclusion. Other books I can meander through, leave whilst I read another, and come back to, days later and carry on reading again. I like to read for an hour in the afternoon if I can, when the day's chores are done with time before I have to start to prepare an evening meal. I curl up in a comfy chair or stretch out on the bed, usually with a mug of tea and a cat on my lap and just enjoy the luxury of reading. I count myself very lucky to be able to do this. So what am I reading at the moment? Well, two books on the same subject and, as you know from previous posts, one of my literary heroes - William Shakespeare.

The first book, which I've nearly finished reading is by Bill Bryson. I've wanted to read 'Shakespeare' for some time and I haven't been disappointed. You don't get the 'laugh out loud' moments you get with some of Bill Bryson's books, but his gentle, witty and humerous way of writing and his easy way of explaining the historical background makes the book very readable and the sights, smells and language of Elizabethan and Jacobean England are almost within your grasp. The other book The Lodger by Charles Nicholl is waiting to be read. Based on research done by American academics Charles and Hulda Wallace, who in 1909, in the Public Records Office in London, came across a series of twenty six documents which made up a litigation roll from the Court of Requests detailing what is known as the Belott-Mountjoy dispute. These relate to a case from 1612 between Huguenot wigmaker Christopher Mountjoy and his son-in-law Stephen Belott. So where does Shakespeare come into this I hear you ask? Well, he was asked to give a statement, which he signed on 11th May 1612, because he had been a lodger in the house of Christopher Mountjoy in Cripplegate, London in 1604, the year the dispute first started. This house stood on the corner of Monkwell Street and Silver Street. Hence the full title of the book 'The Lodger, Shakespeare on Silver Street.'

I will finish reading 'Shakespeare' in the next couple of days but I'm going to sneak in one of John Harvey's 'Resnick' books before I walk down Silver Street.