I’ve probably mentioned that I’m not the biggest Jane Austen fan in the world but this stamp really brightened my day when it arrived on a letter in work:
Sense and Sensibility Stamp
Isn’t it sweet? This is why I should post more letters. Then I might receive more of the same!
When I arrived in work this morning, it had snowed and the view of the trees from my desk was the prettiest it has ever been. I took a picture of it at lunchtime to send to my boyfriend, and was quite impressed with the silhouettes of some of our more recent books as they stacked up against the snowy scene outside so I thought I would share it with you too:
Books, trees and snow
Jacob Portman always thought his grandfather’s tale about fleeing from Poland to escape monsters who he later went on to fight was something like a fairy, a tale he’d concocted to articulate the horrors of life during World War II to his small grandson. But when Jacob is sixteen, a horrible family tragedy occurs. Soon, Jacob finds himself travelling from Florida to Wales, in search of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It isn’t long before he begins to wonder whether there might have been more truth in his grandfather’s stories than he could possibly have imagined.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a haunting fusion of photography and narrative. It represents a labour of love for Ransom Riggs (is this his real name? it’s amazing) and his fellow collectors who salvaged the vintage photographs which are a key part of this eerie scrapbook novel. Though the photographic element of the novel is compelling, this is in no way a gimmick to sell an inferior piece of writing. The story and characters would be engaging on their own, but the photographs do add a disturbing realism to this tale of the paranormal. The designer and production team deserve some kind of award, it’s a real work of art.
Upon finishing this novel, I not only wanted to know when the follow-up is due(Quirk Books has an untitled Miss Peregrine sequel as being available from June 2013, no cover design as yet) but found myself wanting to know more about the improbably named and wholly brilliant Ransom Riggs. Wikipedia tells me that he is an American author, but he must have spent some time around the Welsh because even as an enthusiastic (and slightly prickly) Welshie, I found myself laughing at the realistic representations of Anglo-Welsh dialect “I said shaddap, ya dozy bastards” and the slightly Chavvy boy rappers Dylan and Worm, who might easily have been inspired by Maggot and his friends in Goldie Lookin’ Chain.
Not only am I looking forward to reading about Ransom Riggs’ peculiar children, but I will be experimenting a bit more with titles from Quirk Books. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a little gimmicky for my liking, but I think that Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children demonstrates a genuine commitment to a more experimental type of publishing and they have to be applauded for this.
I’m really excited about some of the promising sequels being released in 2013!
I loved this post from Ellen Peterson’s blog. How cute is this little free library?
If I wasn’t lucky enough to live in central Oxfordshire, where our library services are still pretty intact, I’d be so tempted to make my own little library.
I know that when I went to see Wicked I mentioned that I had a slight obsession with The Wizard of Oz when I was growing up. This may have been something of an understatement.
As well as naming my rabbit and guinea pig Dorothy and Scarecrow, walking around quacking songs from the musical (I might even share footage of this one day) and watching the film on repeat until it wore out, I insisted upon having Wizard of Oz themed birthday parties and for a while would only wear red shoes. For Halloween I dressed up as a witch, every year. I wouldn’t let my little sister dress as anything else either. My grandfather taught in a secondary school that had a production of The Wizard of Oz when I was about two and I went along to watch and meet the cast. It may have been the best moment of my life ever, though I was terrified of the cowardly lion. It’s one thing to have a lion on the TV, but to meet one in person? Terrifying.
Terrifying
Though I have overcome my initial fear of people dressed up as lions, I haven’t really grown out of my Wizard of Oz obsession. I have a Wizard of Oz tray, glasses and mugs. When I had my operation in November, a friend from work bought me a sing-a-long Wizard of Oz DVD. I have been banned from watching this when my boyfriend is at home.
In light of this, you can probably imagine how excited I was when my favourite craft authors Christine Leech and Hannah Read-Baldrey who wrote Everything Alice (and unwittingly led to my house being overrun with lavender-scented dormice…) brought out their new craft book Everything Oz: The Wizard Book of Makes & Bakes. I’ve been feeling rubbish all week with some kind of evil tonsil virus, but when my copy of Everything Oz landed on my doorstep it lit my little world up. It is better than I ever hoped for. I am so excited to start on some of the crafts in there- they will be perfect for making the house and garden very much me. And everything will go beautifully with the “There’s no place like home” print my boyfriend’s sister Laura got me.
This is an absolute must have for any fan of Dorothy and Oz. Since I want to make absolutely everything in the book, I’ve been trying to narrow down my favourites to decide which to start with (I will obviously end up making myself the ruby slippers, but I will need to build up to these). It hasn’t been easy, I’ve even roped my boyfriend in to help me make the final selection, but here goes:
Dress up Dorothy and Toto from Everything Oz, published by Quadrille Press
1. Dress-Up Dorothy and Toto
This doll is unbelievably cute, especially when dressed in her little lion mask on page 13 of the book. I would have loved a doll like this when I was little. As it is I’ve been looking for some nice book ends for my dining room bookshelf for a while now and haven’t been able to find any that I’ve really loved, so when I make this little lady I will fill her with rice or lentils to give her a bit of weight and let her do the job. I will let you see her when she’s done. I think she’ll do a great job.
2. Toto Cushion
Not only does this look incredibly snuggly and cute, but it is the perfect way to recycle the many, many jumpers and cardigans my boyfriend has shrunk recently. He’ll also make a great Christmas present for my mother who has a Scottie and is very slightly bats about them, and my older sister who will appreciate the Radley look (while my bank account appreciates the break).
3. The Decorated Dog House
If my enthusiasm for all things Oz hasn’t made you doubt my sanity, the next thing I’m about to say will. I have an imaginary corgi called Mr Whiffles. So far, so bonkers. But fear not dear readers, I remain in possession of most of my wits- I know that I don’t really have a corgi called Mr Whiffles. I just talk to my boyfriend as though I do in the hope that he will let me have a corgi in a desperate attempt to stop his friends thinking I’m madder than a hatter… a cunning plan I assure you. Anyway, when I have Mr Whiffles, you can rest assured that I will make him this absolutely gorgeous dog house to sleep in. If it transpires that I will not be allowed a Mr Whiffles any time soon, I’ll make one for my rabbit and train her as a dog. Creative solutions, that’s what we’re about here.
4. The Cowardly Lion Hand Puppet
He is so cool, and really makes me wonder how I could ever have been scared of the poor cowardly lion. I think he’d make a great toy for amusing a baby, and I’m pretty sure that my niece who is nearly four would have a great time with him. I have a soft spot for Wizard of Oz themed puppets. After I was run over I had to spend an entire summer in hospital, and my Dad (who is incredibly crafty and a great artist) made me a marionette wicked witch. She’s probably at home in Wales still. I’ll have to dig her out. In addition to the cowardly lion puppet, there are some really simple cut out and split pin puppets which would make a lovely rainy afternoon project for little crafters.
5. The Oz Apothecary
After all of this crafting I intend to do, I am going to have to make everything in the Everything Oz bath time section to chill me out that little bit more than I already am. There’s a great range of lovely looking things including Put a Brave Face on It Skin Tonic which will be good for my dry skin and allow me to make use of the glut of roses in my garden. I also fancy the delightfully named Sleepy-Time Salt Scrub with Lavender but the thing I’m really excited about is the Face Mask of Eternal Youth which looks like it will make something similar to an overpriced product I buy too often in Lush. The savings start here!
Quadrille have very kindly supplied me with a copy of this book to give away to a lucky reader. To be in with a chance of winning it, send an email with the subject header Everything Oz Competition to bookandbiscuit(atsign)hotmail.co.uk replacing the (atsign text) with an @ to outwit those pesky spammers by July 16th 2012.
When I visited my boyfriend’s grandparent’s a few weekends ago, his grandfather (who has the most amazing ability to remember hundreds of lengthy poems by rote) very kindly gave me this 1850 version of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. He said he thinks it might be a first edition, and it is certainly a very early one. I love that it has so much history.
Autocorrected to show title on spine
The poor book is showing its age though, as you can see in the pictures below. I’m going to take it for conservation work to prevent it becoming any more damage and to hopefully buy it a little more time. Luckily a father of a good friend of mine works as a librarian and was able to recommend a reputable conservator.
Damaged spine
I hope that in a few weeks I will be able to show you a much happier looking little book.
Not strictly speaking a book post, but I loved these Harry Potter props that a friend sent me in work earlier. I love the marginalia in the potions book from The Half Blood Prince.
I had the afternoon off work on Monday after visiting an author in London and before going to watch Penn and Teller Fool Us being filmed (it was amazing) so I popped to the V and A for a browse.
I especially liked the Medieval Europe section which had a massive light filled room filled with Italian and French religious sculptures, huge doors etc. but in a darker room I found these sexy little beasts. Sorry the quality isn’t great, I took them on my phone and obviously didn’t want to use my flash.
Some nice illumination in these medieval books
I wrote a post the other day about my first favourite book, and I was saying that part of what I liked was that the pictures allowed me to tell myself the stories even before I was able to read. It seems that medieval artists had a similar idea because these ivory carvings show stories from the Bible to help illiterate worshippers access the stories.
Scenes depicting bible stories
But being a bit of a magpie, what really caught my eye was….
The manuscript dates from 1025-1050 AD and was said to be a gift to Sion Cathedral from the Emperor Charlemagne, so they decided to honour it by blinging it up in this gold, enamel and jewel binding around 1180-1200. Amazing.
How much will one of those set me back?
A collection of short stories from the amazing Susannah Clarke
The picture of this book cover doesn’t really do it justice. Textured fabric book covers became popular around the time that this was released, but this was the first that I saw and bought and I thought it was amazing.
It’s a great collection of short stories from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell. If you like clever takes on fairy tales and a witty writing style then these are books for you.
If you’re a fan of beautiful bookshelves which are functional as well as ornamental then you have to check out Bookshelf Porn. Some are less bookshelves, more libraries, but some will work (or could be scaled down) to fit the smallest spaces ie. my flat. It’s an amazing website and everyone should check them out for some serious style inspiration. All the images below are from their fantastic website.
I could do this if I didn't need my desk for writing
I got questioned at customs for having hand luggage like this on my way to America
I have versions of this going on in my flat, much to my boyfriend’s frustration. They’re less suitable for editorial than these.
And finally, my fantasy reading seat in my future house. Do I need to have some kind of reinforcement put into the ceiling to have a chair like this? I can assure you that I’m only very small…
Proper book and biscuit porn