A Book Haul – The Farnham Edition

We recently took a little trip dahhhn sarrf to visit relatives and were told of a ‘glorious’ Oxfam charity bookshop in Farnham. Now Farnham itself is bloody lovely! But even lovelier still was indeed the glorious secondhand bookshop!

I do have to say that whenever I’ve ventured into an Oxfam bookshop they’ve always been superb. Can’t fault them.

Anyway, enough rambling. I thought I’d just show you the 6 books I picked up all for the princely sum of £15. I could have purchased more but I showed a very tiny minuscule modicum of restraint.

First up:

The Tooth by Shirley Jackson – Penguin Modern Classics

I know nothing about this one to be honest so let’s discover together via the blurb:

BLURB:

The creeping unease of lives squandered and the bloody glee of lives lost is chillingly captured in these five tales of casual cruelty by a master of the short story. Portraying insanity, disturbing encounters, troubling children and a sinister lottery, Shirley Jackson’s work has an unmatched power to unnerve and unsettle.

Wowsers! I’m even more intrigued now! I do love a short story and ‘creeping unease’ is what I live for! Oooh this sounds like a good one!

I have to admit that I STILL have We Have Always Lived In The Castle on my shelf unread but I’m planning to get to it this autumn, I promise!

The End We Start From by Megan Hunter – Picador

BLURB:

As flood waters close over London, a woman gives birth to her first child.
Days later, they are forced to leave home in search of safety. They head north through a Britain that is changed beyond recognition: a familiar place made dangerous, its people become refugees. 
Yet, against all the odds, the baby thrives. He learns to smile, to laugh, to crawl. And as their story unfolds and the country falls apart around them, this mother’s world promises new life and fresh hope.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve picked this up and put it back down again in Waterstones. I think the reason being, it’s quite a short book and I like a bit more heft for my money! I’ve been meaning to take it out of the library but keep completely forgetting so I thought I’d pick this copy up and read it at my leisure.

The Dream Mistress by Jenny Diski – Phoenix

BLURB:

When Mimi discovered an unconscious bag lady huddled behind a London cinema, a sense of duty prompted her to call an ambulance. Later, she wondered if the tramp, who could have been anybody, might not be somebody after all. Could she be her abandoning mother? Or Bella, a bomb-blast victim?

I’m not entirely sure why I picked this one up other than I was intrigued by the cover! I’ve since read the Goodreads reviews and it really doesn’t come up very well! Oh well!…….we live and learn. It could be fabulous! *crosses fingers*

Sexing The Cherry by Jeanette Winterson – Vintage

BLURB:

Sexing the Cherry celebrates the power of the imagination as it playfully juggles with our perception of history and reality. 

It is a story about love and sex; lies and truths; and twelve dancing princesses who lived happily ever after, but not with their husbands. 

I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never read any Jeanette Winterson but I have 3 of her books unread on my shelf Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Why Be Normal When You Can Be Happy? and Frankisstein. I know that the world and his wife are raving about Frankisstein at the moment so I think in all fairness this will be the one I head to first but it’s nice to know you have more of an authors work to fall back on if you find you enjoy their writing. Let’s hope I do!

Mother’s Milk by Edward St Aubyn – Picador

BLURB:

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Mother’s Milk is the fourth of Edward St Aubyn’s semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels, adapted for TV for Sky Atlantic and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as aristocratic addict, Patrick.

The once illustrious, once wealthy Melroses are in peril. Caught up in the wreckage of broken promises, child-rearing, adultery and assisted suicide, Patrick finds his wife Mary consumed by motherhood, his mother in thrall to a New Age foundation, and his young son Robert understanding far more than he should. But even as the family struggles against the pull of its ever-present past, a new generation brings a new tenderness, and the possibility of change.

In looking up that blurb I have discovered that this book is the follow up to a book called Some Hope and is part of a 5 book series surrounding Patrick Melrose. I hate it when that happens! I will never read a book out of order. Ah well, this means only one thing……I now need to buy Some Hope and start from there!

Devil’s Day by Andrew Michael Hurley – John Murray

I recently read Andrew Michael Hurley’s upcoming novel Starve Acre and absolutely loved it! In fact I think I’ll stick my neck out and say it’s my favourite book of the year so far. Suffice to say, when I saw Devil’s Day in the charity shop I knew I had to have it. I’ve not read The Loney because my husband read it and didn’t enjoy it so he put me right off! Let me know if you’ve read it and whether I need to! I’d hate to miss out. My review of Starve Acre will be up in October. You really don’t want to miss that one!

So there we have it. A cheeky little southern book haul that I’m (mostly) pleased with!

Let me know if you’ve read any of them and what your thoughts were.

See you all soon.

Amanda – Bookish Chat xxx