I've not had any time for 'real-world' book shopping this week, (apologies to our local bookstore friends) but I've tried to do the next best thing by buying four of this week's five new purchases from a second hand bookstore in Perth, Elizabeth's Bookshops The prices are very reasonable and the website is well worth a visit if you can't get to your local independent retailer.
As you can see I've increased my little Penguin collection with the addition of a couple of C.S. Forester novels, Brown On Resolution and Death To The French. In Brown On Resolution, Leading Seaman Albert Brown is serving aboard H.M.S. Charybdis at Singapore. It is the story of an enlisted man cut off from his comrades in his fight against the enemy. Looking forward to this one.
The wonderfully politically incorrectly titled, Death To The French (give the author a break, we English were at war with them for a good few centuries, that sort of thing takes a while to get out of the national psyche....) follows a similar theme to Brown On Resolution, a soldier working alone against the enemy, this time set in the Napoleonic Wars. Rifleman Matthew Dodd could well be an inspiration for Bernard Cornwell's great series of Sharpe novels a few decades later, I don't know, but that's what brought it to my attention.
Thirdly, 1066 And All That is a tongue in cheek look at history through the eyes of W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman that has become a 'classic' of the satirical world since it's publication in 1930. As a massive fan of history, I had to give this one a go.
Finally from Elizabeth's Bookshops, I went for 1867 How The Fathers Made A Deal. I have to confess, as an aficionado of British themed historical writings, I know virtually nothing about the history of Canada, outside of it's overlap with the history of the United States. I'm hoping this well received book from Christopher Moore will rectify that.
My final addition this week is brand spanking new, from Book Depository. I know, one of the enemies of independent booksellers but hey, with a book this specialised, I might have waited decades before one came available in Melbourne's second hand independent book world, so it is what it is. Mad Man by Dick Knight is a tale of football, or more specifically a football club, Brighton & Hove Albion, and how Dick Knight changed their fortunes. My Dad recommended this to me, (as you can read about in my blog a few days back...) so I was going to get hold of a copy any way I could.
In other news this week, I'm still reading The Better Angels Of Our Nature by Steven Pinker and loving it, and The Devil's Decade by Claude Cockburn, but I've also sneaked in a bit of Agatha Christie, with a Penguin copy of The Labours Of Hercules, a collection of short Poirot stories, for some light entertainment value.
Finally, I'd like to say a big thank you and welcome to new 'likers' on our Facebook page, I hope we can continue to entertain you!
That's it for this week's post, enjoy your reading!!
Stevie at B.L.M.
