BOOK NOOK; Luxury Books & Curating a Library

I

Love

Limited

Editions

I always think of books as luxury items - we don't need them to survive, but they certainly do help to make everyday life more interesting and fulfilling.  Buying books is an affordable luxury and with public libraries closing down all the time, it makes sense to build up a library of your very own.  This is something I have been doing since I was a young girl, when I would spend my pocket money on new books.  I loved the sense of ownership, because I didn't have to take them back to the library when I had finished reading them - they were mine to read again and again.

Curating a personal library is the hobby of a lifetime.  It will never be finished as there are always new books to discover.  Your library will grow and evolve over time and the books you read as a teenager are unlikely to still fill your shelves in your dotage, apart from the odd sentimental favourite.   As a youngster spending my pocket money, I didn't care what edition I purchased, so long as I had the story and so my early library was made up of inexpensive paperbacks, apart from the red leather-bound set of classics my parents bought for me when I was fifteen. 

As an adult with more disposable income, I have developed a love of limited and collector's editions.  These editions are designed to be durable and to last for years, so they are the backbone of any library.  More than that, they have beautiful details that make them a joy to own, such as the stunning gothic cover art of the Bronte Deluxe Duo pictured above.

I was thrilled when I found these collector's editions of two of my favourite classics.  I've had editions of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights since I was a  young teenager, but they are slightly abridged and they are not a matching set.  So when I saw this gorgeous matching duo I bought it immediately and I love them!

Not only is the cover art evocative and eerie, just like the Bronte's stories themselves, but the artwork continues on the back covers and also on both the inner French flaps.  Plus they have deckle edged pages to add to that vintage, old library feel.  I love the windswept look of Cathy's hair and the glinting gold metallic of Jane's lantern.  They really are beautiful books; they make me feel lucky to have them each time I read them as they are such gorgeous editions.

I have quite a few classics from this deluxe collection, but the Bronte ones are my favourites.   I also have collector's editions of fairytale anthologies, which have gold or silver leaf page edges and ribbon bookmarks.  They are the kind of books that are wasted on children!  Much too nice for grubby little hands to ruin.  Some of these anthologies come in matching slip cases to help protect them. I have a few, but my favourite is The Blue Fairy Book...

You can probably see why!  The gilding on this book gleams like magic!  It's a Folio Society edition and sadly it's not available anymore.  But that is one of the risks of collecting limited editions  - you have to get them when you see them, because once the print run is sold, they will go out of print and are unlikely to be reissued in the same way again.  

Over time you will have a library that is uniquely yours and with the exception of Folio Society, collector's editions are not always expensive. On first release they tend to cost just a few pounds more than the standard edition, so you might as well buy the special edition and have something wonderful!  Curling up with a cup of hot chocolate and a stunning book is one of the simple joys of life.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - it takes no extra effort and only a few extra pounds to buy pretty, so why settle for something plain and mundane?  When your bookcase is full of gorgeous books like this Bronte Duo, you can peruse the shelves knowing that whichever book you choose to read, it will look absolutely gorgeous on your bedside table.  You don't get that from a Kindle!

Happy Reading Bookworms! 

MUSICAL DOLL; Lover by Taylor Swift

After a long day at the practice yesterday I came home to the arrival of Taylor's new album Lover, which I had pre-ordered some time ago.  It was a lovely home-coming.  I decided that I wanted to get one of the deluxe versions because they just look so pretty!

Of course, I got the pink one as that is my favourite colour and I just love the aesthetics of this album - everything about it is just beautiful; hearts, glitter, pink clouds, blue skies...it's like Taylor has tapped into the hearts of feminine women everywhere and created a pink and pretty album from what she found there. 

As always, her lyrics are incredibly relatable and the melodies are catchy and fun.  In places this album has echos of the sound of 1989 - that definitive Taylor sound that she has become known for.  Some of the songs are quite raw, such as Soon You'll Get Better - this is a heart-breaking song of losing someone you love to illness and as I have lost half my family to cancer, it had me in floods of tears! It did leave me in awe of her talent though as it is such a powerful song.

The album soon picks up the pace again with her singles You Need To Calm Down and ME! putting out the good vibes once more.  I think my favourite tracks are The Man and also, The Archer.

These deluxe versions have voice memos of two of the songs which shows the raw talent at work, before the pizzaz of production is in place. It has a very intimate feel to it - like you're eavesdropping while she works.

The Pink deluxe version also incorporates lots of photos, a poster, lyric booklet and extracts from Taylor's own diaries ages 13- 27.  This insight into her personality shows a young woman growing up in extraordinary circumstances; signing a record deal one month, then taking part in a school talent show a few months later, just like any other school girl; shopping with her mother and declaring it a better day than all the concerts and tours she'd performed; her plans to move to New York (which birthed 1989) and to get a kitten and call her Meredith Gray; vignettes of her curled up 'watching Gray's Anatomy with Meredith' -  all these diary entries show a thoughtful young woman who demonstrates gratitude for all the little things in life, which is probably why life has given her the big opportunities.

She comes across as a kind person who is thoughtful, who knows the value of creating a homemade gift for  her brother and who never takes anything for granted.

We could all take a lesson from this, because it is the little moments in life that count.  Rarely does life happen in a bells and whistles way, but in a random way, as you go about your daily routine.  Showing gratitude for the little things is what brings about the bigger things and this is how dreams come true and achievements are made. 

I also think it is very brave of her to open up her diaries to the world as she has.  Yes, I'm sure she was very selective in what extracts she chose to publish, but still, it is a very personal and vulnerable thing to do.  I have boxes and boxes of diaries and journals from the age of 15 and I have never shared them with anyone, least of all thought about publishing any part of them!  But it does give the whole deluxe album a very personal feel and is another symbol of the trust this artist shares with her fans, in that she treats them like friends and even lets them read her diary! I don't think I would ever trust anyone that much!  

All in all I'm really glad I went for one of the deluxe versions of Lover and if you like Taylor Swift's music and you love pretty, feminine things then you will not be disappointed with Lover.  If Pink is not your thing there are three other deluxe versions available, Blue, Mint and Lilac I believe, so you might prefer one of those instead and each one is slightly different. 

I have a feeling I'm going to be playing this album on repeat for a while yet.  Here are my favourite tracks from Lover...

 

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Soon Be Autumn

 

As summer begins to draw to a close, with lots of wet and windy weather here in Yorkshire, I can't help getting excited for the dark season.  Darkness falls for 9pm now and I love it!  I always love the dark half of the year, but I have so much to look forward to this autumn.

For me, autumn is a natural fresh start.  This year it is especially so because I begin the Masters degree next month!  I have all the back-to-school vibes that I missed out on last year and I recently went shopping to get the stationery that I need for university in September.  I wanted to get this done in summer because if you wait until September, all the best stuff is gone.  So I went and filled my shopping basket with all the  pretty things I could find - notebooks, projects books, A4 ring binders, project folders and a new water bottle, all with a beautiful purple and pink butterfly design.   

I think it helps your studying if you have pretty things you love to use. I got all the boring things too, like pens and highlighters and page markers etc, but I tried to get them in pretty pastel colours.  I'm looking forward to getting my reading list through from uni so that I can go book shopping as well.  I have no idea which texts we will be studying from and they change every year, so it should be a fun surprise to get the actual academic reading list for this year.

I also finally got the date through for my graduation from the counselling course.  There has been a staff reshuffle which resulted in a long delay, but we now have the date for our official graduation ceremony, which is to be held this autumn too.  I already have a lovely new dress for it and I'm going to enjoy the day so much, as it has been a long time coming. It will be nice to see fellow students again - we haven't been together as a full group since the course finished. 

Towards the end of autumn I go off to Loch Lomond and this is something I've been planning for ages.  I love Scotland in autumn, when the mists are clinging to the mountains and treetops and all the scenery is made up of beautiful autumn colours.  It's all green and gold and bronze - a world of sheer beauty.  The stags are rutting, the red squirrels are darting about looking for nuts and seeds to store away, the lochs reflect the low autumn sunshine and there is the smell of petrichor on the air everyday.  

Scotland revitalizes me and lifts my spirits so high - maybe it's the mountain air, but it does me the world of good and I can't wait to be back there again, walking loch side and listening to the pipes in the evenings, sitting by a toasty fireside and getting to know the locals.

With pine log fires, wood paneling, tartan carpets, antler light fittings and snug cable knit throws, Scottish hoteliers know how to do cozy! It makes you never want to leave. 

So as far as I am concerned summer is already over and autumn can't come quick enough for me, but in the meantime there is always the atmospheric comfort of a Glade Honey and Chocolate candle burning and a nice new book to curl up with.  I'm about to start reading a witchy novel, which should give me even more cosy vibes and put me deeper into the autumnal mood.  There's nothing quite like flickering candles, a cup of spiced tea, a warm blanket and a good book on a blustery, rainy night.  

If you love the dark season too here is a lovely ambient video I found on You Tube.  I have this kind of thing playing in the background when I'm writing, journaling or studying.  It's very relaxing and will help to put you in the mood for autumn. Enjoy!

xxx

BOOK NOOK; The Woman in the Wood by Lesley Pearse

The Woman in the Woods by Lesley Pearse is a very dark book.  It is a crime novel and not the kind of thing that I usually read, but I did find it interesting.  Set in the 1960's it tells the story of twins Maisy and Duncan who are packed off to live with their crotchety grandmother at Nightingales House on the edge of the New Forest. 

Their mother has recently been committed to an asylum and their father is a workaholic who shows them very little affection, so they find comfort in the local woodland that surrounds their new home. 

There they manage to befriend a strange woman who lives in a little croft, despite her attempts to see them off!  

Grace is a woman who knows enough about people to want nothing to do with them! She keeps herself to herself and lives a quiet life in the forest with her faithful collie dog.  But the twins need a friend and they are determined to find out if the village gossip of her being crazy or a witch are actually true.  What they find is a gentle soul with a troubled past, who finds safety in solitude and peace in the woods.

When Duncan goes missing, it is left to Maisy and her new friend Grace to find him and when she discovers that several boys have gone missing from the local area in recent months, she is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and find out who is responsible. 

At this point the novel takes a much darker turn.  It is a novel with a theme of pedophilia that makes for harrowing reading at times, but as a crime novel it is well constructed, with plenty of red herrings to keep the reader guessing.   I was surprised when I found out whodunit - which is exactly what you want in a crime novel. It has a satisfying story arc and denouement, with a fairly happy ending to finish.   

It does have some graphic descriptions of child abuse so it is not a book for the faint-hearted. In parts, it is told through the eyes of a psychopathic killer and as a psychotherapist I found this quite fascinating.  There is a scene outside a school playground where the pedophile is picking his next victim which is particularly disturbing.  The author had clearly done her research in to how the mind of such a person works, but again, it's not for the faint-hearted and could act as a trigger for some, so bear that in mind if you decide to read it. 

I have mixed feelings about this book. One the one hand the author is writing about a pedophile and she has a duty to all such victims to tell it like it is.  On the other hand, she is writing a novel for entertainment purposes, so do readers really need graphic descriptions of what a pedophile does to a 13 year old boy?  I'm not convinced that they do and maybe it would have been better to leave out the graphic paragraphs.  Having said that, I do admire the fearlessness of the author in tackling such a subject - but I will think twice before I read any of her other novels!

The Woman in the Woods is available from Amazon here for those of you who like to read gritty realism.  As for me, I'm going to read something a little more light-hearted and magical now because on reflection, I don't think crime novels are my cup of tea! 
BB, Marie x