I hate to mention this word. If I had my way the Christmas shopping frenzy would be restricted to December only but I know the stores have a living to make and so it has begun. I was in Cambridge yesterday and wandering through John Lewis, my favourite store, all their Christmas gifts etc etc were in place. I find JL a pretty classy outfit and the layout and displays are terrific but most shops go in for glitter overload and it all gets a bit wearing. I try and do most of my seasonal shopping on line now and have done so for several years. Certainly makes life easier.
I am going to recommend some books for Christmas. Sure I will find plenty more but this year I have to mention the British Library. Their publishing arm is doing great stuff and I have been the lucky recipient of their largesse. I have reviewed books by John Bude on here, recently Oppenheim (ripping yarn par excellance) and last Christmas I read and loved The Santa Klaas mystery.
As well as John Lewis, I had a roam around their Waterstones which is one of the best I have been in and, as my feet were aching and so was my back, sat down in the crime section and had a look at what was on offer.
Delighted to see on the display tables several British Library titles. They catch the eye as the covers are stylish and glossy and in period and immediately make you want to buy them. One that I spotted and thought 'Mmm that looks interesting' was Mystery in White A Christmas Crime Story by J Jefferson Farjeon with a terrific pic of a snowbound train on the front. Shades of Murder on the Orient Express come to mind. I love murders set at Christmas time, there have been occasions during the enforced jollity of the Day when I have felt like murder but a second vodka usually helps. Seems the passengers of this train have to take shelter in a deserted country house where the fire has been set for tea BUT nobody is home.
Right up my strasse thinks I, must contact the British Library and blag a copy. I arrived home and open a parcel waiting for me and, yes, there it is! I am saving it up to read in December so my review must wait till then, but thought I would mention it now as it is the perfect stocking filler for (a) crime afficionados and (b) lovers of mysteries written in the thirties.
Two other books I must mention. I am not sure when I will review them as they are not the kind of books you sit down and read right the way through. The first is London, A Literary Anthology and so far I have spotted E F Benson (Lucia in London), Hugh Walpole, Doris Lessing, Defore, Dickens (of course) and John Buchan to name a few. It is one of those publications that are just a joy to look at and hold, printed on gorgeous paper, beautifully illustrated and full of joyful things. If you have a lover/friend/partner/parent who loves London and literature, then you must buy them this.
Second is The Ladybird Story a history of those marvellous books for children that I am sure most of us can remember fondly. They are still going strong and my granddaughter Florence, now nearly five, learned her shapes and colours from two Ladybird books I bought her, as did her mother at her age. Too many wonderful things to list here but it is a tremendous book and guaranteed to bring happy memories to mind.
And finally, a book which perhaps is better suited to Halloween - The Face in the Glass and other Gothic Tales by Mary Elizabeth Braddon who is probably better know as the author of Lady Audley's Secret. I have never read it I am ashamed to say...
So a positive cornucopia of glorious books. Books I receive for review from this source are not passed on to friends or anybody else, I keep them and gloat over them and these are no exception.
I am not going to say Merry Christmas just yet but do recommend all the above. If somebody gave me one of these for a present I would love them for ever. Sadly, nobody buys me books any more in case I already have them or, as my lovely old mum would say, 'You don't need any more books. You have got enough'
You can never ever have too many books....
All of the above books can be purchased from the British Library website which has other treasures to look at and yearn after. Do go and check them out at http://shop.bl.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/BritishLibrary/_87293/1/Books
