bookish

Just ordered my annual Christmas book for Occasional Helper's little girl. Shopping for a child's library is good fun, and I keep a running list of possibilities throughout the year and choose in November. 

November almost got away from me this year - it's all been a blur since August. Recent rumors of Thanksgiving caught my attention, and now I'm making another list, of Things To Be Done Before The Holidays.

Do you know about Bookshop.org? It's an excellent alternative to the behemoth online seller of books/everything. Bookshop.org was established solely to support independent bookstores, and it's worth a glance at their "About Us" page. Just a fine endeavor in every way. And as easy to use as any other online bookseller.

I now rely on audiobooks for 95% of my entertainment reading, and am fortunate in having online access to an excellent regional library system. But once or twice each year I treat myself to a special hardcover, sometimes an out-of-print book that I watch for on eBay, or something specific from a small publishing house or an academic press or a museum. I've had nothing but good experiences ordering from Blackwell's, which has been a great resource for such books, published in faraway magical places like South Africa and England.

Last year, my "treat" book was this heavily annotated reissue of "A Thousand Miles Up The Nile," by Amelia B. Edwards, the 19th-century English woman who created the Egypt Exploration Fund. It's a satisfyingly dense brick of a book, with two ribbon bookmarkers and many previously unpublished illustrations by Amelia Edwards. Just my cup of tea, especially for the long dark nights of Winter.

Do you own and acquire a lot of books? Is most of your reading for information or entertainment or a combination? Is your reading seasonal? Are there good libraries where you live?

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one special book

The Heywood Hill bookshop is celebrating their 80th anniversary with a drawing, which includes a spectacular first prize.

From their website:

"First prize is a lifetime's subscription to our famous A Year in Books service. The lucky winner will never need to buy a book again. They will be sent a new hardback book, individually chosen to suit their particular reading taste, every month FOR LIFE wherever they live in the world.
Second prize will be a one-year subscription to A Year in Books, and third prize a hardback book every other month for a year."

Nice, right?

It's a free drawing, open to all. To enter, you must answer just one question:

"Simply tell us which single book has meant the most to you, published in English since Heywood Hill opened in 1936."

I have been pondering this question at odd moments for several days now, and still don't have the answer. (But I will, before entries close on 31 October.)

What keeps springing to mind are books I read over and over again in childhood. Or unheard-of books given to me by friends, which I then carried from place to place for years. Books that became old friends, or that broadened my vision in some way. Books that inspired, entertained, instructed, influenced or dazzled me deeply.

But "meant the most to me"? It's a difficult question, but one that I very much enjoy mulling over in odd moments. So, in a way, I have already been given a prize by the Heywood Hill bookshop, and I've not even entered yet!

Which single book would YOU name?

I hope my readers will enter this drawing, and also share your thoughts in the comments below. Maybe some of us will discover shared favorites, or - I'm hoping! - find titles to add to our "must read" lists :)

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