Books - other buys and presents

While I was in Wigtown, I stayed at Mora House (http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/morahouse_wigtown ). When I left early one morning to catch the bus and train to Manchester, Marje made me a little travel bag with some snacks and this book: Men! by Women - A Helen Exley Giftbook.

I also had a nice conversation with Roy Macgarva in his furniture store. I saw a little secretary desk that would have been perfect for my writing and laptop storage, but alas, I couldn't ship it overseas. However, Roy did give me a lovely doily.

I bought some books at the Houston - Bush Airport, before I left to the UK.
52. F451 - Ray Bradbury
53. Foundation - Issac Asimov

I guess that I won't need to buy books for a long time.

Books - Bought in London

London Book Buys

Before and after going to Wigtown, I made more book purchases.

The numbering continues from the previous post.

A Book Discount Store (can’t remember the name.)

26. TheConjurer’s Bird – Martin Davies

Borders – Islington (I can’t find either magazine at home.)

27. Time Out Magazine (about the Tube)

28. Mslexia

Books, Etc. – Gatwick Airport

New regulations from the UK allow only one carry-on bag and mine was full. However, there were little signs in the shops saying that since one had already been inspected, whatever one bought at this time would be allowed on the planes. So, I got:

29. Moscow 1941 – Rodric Braitwaite

30. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

31. Bloody Foreigners – The Story of Immigration to Britain – Rober Winder (so I can explain to children that English is borrowed so much from other languages that it’s a hard language to learn and not to get frustrated with spelling.)

32. Moleskin

http://www.moleskineus.com/storybook.html (I hadn’t seen this one yet either. Great for journaling.)

British Library Shop

33. Oscar Wilde – Shorter Fiction

34. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and other stories – Robert L. Steveson (a present for a relative)

35. Aesop’s Fables (I think that my sister has the kid version of the book; I can’t find it.)

I Knit London

36. Pub knitting – Rachel Hendersen (I like the fingerless gloves.)

I also got a lot of vintage buttons that the owners found in the Carlisle area

http://www.iknitlondon.com/iknitlondonshop.html

Loop – Islington

http://www.loop.gb.com/shop.html

37. Simply Knitting Magazine

Oxfam on Bloomsbury St, near the British Museum

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/index.htm

38. My Dream of You – Nuala O’Faolain

39. Star of the Sea – Joseph O’Connor

40. The Two Pound Tram – William Newton

41. Good Women – Jane Stevenson

42. A Dead Language – Peter Rushworth

43. The Children of Men – P. D. James

Persephone Books on Lamb’s Conduit (love the name of the street)

http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/index.htm

44. William – An Englishman – Cicely Hamilton

45. An Interrupted Life – The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum 1941 -9143

46. The Victorian Chaise Longue – Marghanita Laski

47. Journal of Katherine Mansfield

Southbank area of London – outdoor bookseller

48.The Life of Sir Ernest Shakeleton – Hugh Robert Mill

Tate Modern Gift Shop

49. What’s in a Name – Cyril M. Harris

W.H. Smith – Gatwick Airport

50. The Guardian Newspaper

51. The Times

Books - bought in Wigtown Scotland

I am finally over my jet lag and feel like blogging again.

Here are the books that I got in Wigtown, Scotland, with a brief review of the stores:

Wigtown

http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/

Byre Books

http://www.byrebooks.co.uk/about.htm

The garden is fabulous, and the inside is cozy. I loved sitting in the chair made of branches.

1. The Pretenders and Two Other Plays – Henrik Ibsen (I hang around the Norwegian Seaman’s Church to swim in the summer; I think that I better know something of their culture)

2. Angus Macvicar - Lost Planet (Scottish novelist)

3. Magnus Mills – The Restraint of Beasts (Booker Longlist – Funny, funny; I read it on the bus/train ride from Dumfries to Manchester)

4. School Girl’s Pocket Book – 1961 edition (a present for a relative; has some Girl Guide information; she is a Girl Scout)

AA1 Books at Windy Hills

http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/bookshop_info.asp?businessID=1

A very organized bookstore. I ran into the bookowner about an hour later; he was taking his dog on a walk.

5. Through the Lens – Glimpses of old Wigtownshire with Notes by Jack Hunter (most the the buildings look the same; the people’s clothes are not.)

6. Ward Lock’s Red Guide – Highlands of Scotland (Guess where I want to travel?)

7. Blue Guide of Scotland – L. Russell Muirhead, editor

Artyfacts

http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/bookshop_info.asp?businessID=3

Unfortunately, they are going out of business in the next few months.

I bought some watercolor supplies and

8. 19^th Century Costume booklet from the Victoria and Albert Museum

9. English Embroidery Booklet

10. Melin Wlan Brynkir – Brynkir Woolen Mill (in Wales)

Book Corner

http://www.book-corner.co.uk/

It is really on a corner. I loved exploring both floors.

11. F. M. and L.T. Duncan – Plant Traps and Decoys (great pics to use edit onPhotoshop and use for collage)

12. Human Geographies – The British Isles (a great little textbook; not used anymore)

13. Ward Lock - Western Scotland – Skye, Fort William, Oben

Plus four great postcards from National Scottish Day

http://www.spl.org.uk/card_npd/index_2006.asp

and the knitting one from 2005 http://www.spl.org.uk/card_npd/index_2005.asp

Bookend Studio

http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/bookshop_info.asp?businessID=40

14. I got a three volume, hardback set of War and Peace by Tolstoy. I remembered that Work in Progress was having so much trouble keeping her copy together, that I decided to get when I am ready to read W&P.

(My poor little paperback copy is starting to show wear and tear. I just had to glue part of the cover down as it was peeling off! I don't suppose anyone has decided they must now go out and read this? I really do recommend it. Now to find out what the last 500 pages bring!)

If I hadn’t bought alpaca yarn before my trip, I would have been tempted to buy some of the Shetland wool. There were also a couple of nice bookcases that I couldn’t buy and take home, large baskets, and handmade scarves. journals and soaps. Maybe next time…

GC books – Unit 10 Warehouse

http://www.gcbooks.demon.co.uk/

Located in an old creamery, it’s one of the coolest (temperature-wise and bookish-wise) bookshops in town. The books are in order by number, since most of the sales are via internet on abebooks.com

15. I did manage to find Sir John Hammerton - ABC of the RAF, which has a transfer sheet for RAF badges (and I also discovered that there was a major RAF training base in Wigtown during WWII.)

M. E. McCarty – a small shop run by a very nice lady.

16.Charles Dicken – Barnaby Rudge (never heard of it; a must read)

17. Van Gogh booklet

The Old Bank Bookshop

http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/bookshop_info.asp?businessID=22

This building was a bank in its former life. The vault is still visible. They have great selections of history books, and it’s open and airy. One of the owners is a hometown girl who returned home.

18. Adam the Gardener – Week by Week Gardening

19. Thomas Pickles – The Bristish Isles (another great, tiny textbook)

20. Fort Amity – The Story of French Canadian Life in the Time of Wolfe and Moncalm by Q (not the Star Trek – Next Generation annoying, omnipotent character, I hope)

21. How to care for your dog (for a present)

Wigtown Newsagent (also houses the post office and sells toys, ice cream, candies, post cards, greeting cards, lottery, etc)

22.Amateur Gardening Magazine (for my mother)

23.Daily Telegraph (Edinburgh edition)

24. People’s Friend magazine (with a fab sweater to knit and lots of short stories)

24. Galloway Gazette (news of the county)

25. Riding Magazine (as a present)

Books - vacation reads and Manchester

I am sorting all the books that I bought in Wigtown. Basically, most are hardback and small. They are books that I wouldn't be able to find in the US, such as the Blue Guide Books to various parts of Scotland, an embroidery of an RAF WWII badge with a short history of the RAF, gardening books, how cloth is made. I will list them when I get back home.

The last book that I bought in Wigtown was a paperback copy of Magnus Mills', The Restraint of Beasts, a shortlisted 1998 Booker book. Funny, funny. Two very hapless guys and a somewhat hapless foreman are putting up fences in Northern England. I was laughing a lot during my train ride.

My friend, K, let me borrow one of her Surrey County library books. Falling Leaves by Adeliine Yeh Mah. A very insightful memoir that shoes how a family was separated by political forces in China and Hong Kong. It also relays the sorrow of the author, because she is the unwanted daughter. Book review will be upcoming.

I made a short stop in Manchester and went pubbing with Andy and Kev. Interesting cultural experience. I enjoyed being with my guy friends. The pubs were neighborhood pubs, so it was not touristy and I was able to participate in authentic living. Andy's parents also came into Manchester; his mom made one of the yummiest cakes that I have had. All of us also went to the Lowry Museum and saw very cheerful Chelsea soccer fans before the semi-final game with Blackburn at the Manchester United Stadium.

I am now in the London area. I hope to make one more trip into London. I am taking the touristy bus ride and getting off at a couple of bookstores to check out the new books.

Books - Reading on Vacation

I didn't think that I would be reading so much.

I missed the London plane from Houston.
So, I did a lot of reading:
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
Foundation - Issac Asimov
haven't started yet - Ray Bradbury - F451

I bought the following in London:
What's in a Name? Cyril Harris (names of tube stops)
The Life of Sir Ernest Shakleton bye Hugh R. Mills (on South Bank of the Thames from used bookseller - outdoor stall - 1924 edition)
Martin Davis' The Conjurer's Bird (I read the first 20 pages, good so far)

My friend K lend me some of her Surrey county Library books. I finished Minaret by Leila Abeoulela. Very good.

I have enough room in my suitcase to buy more books at Wigtown, Scotland.

Write more later!

Stuff - On vacation

I will be gone for a few days. If I have a chance to get on an internet cafe', I will update the blog. Otherwise, please come back in a couple of weeks.

If you register for the challenge, send me an email to workingwords100@yahoo.com

I will update the challenge blog entry when I can.

I have three book reviews to write, but I think that I will wait.

bye for now.