A Book Haul from Waterstones
Because, at present, I don't own enough books ...
‘Knowledge sets us free, art sets us free. A great library is freedom.’
- Ursula K. Le Guin
How It Happened … (Hint: I Wasn’t at Fault!)
It was late on a Sunday night when the email landed in my mailbox.
At the time, I was mentally preparing myself for the start of a new week. The next day, a Monday on which the majority of the English population would be off, I was to grind for I hadn’t booked it as Annual Leave. What was the point? My partner had to work in the morning anyway. And, truth be told, working on a Bank Holiday Monday isn’t a bad idea. It’s quiet which gives me a fighting chance to sort out – or start to sort out – the stuff that never climbs to the top spot of my ‘To Do’ list because something else always comes up. Always.
The date of the fateful Sunday? 25th August 2024.
I didn’t seek out any books. I minded my own business, and not in the slightest thought about literary acquisitions. But, then, Waterstones sent me an email claiming their Double Points event was to close at midnight on Monday, 26th August.
For reference, I needed two stamps. (It may have been a stamp and a half.) Two stamps away from £10 off my next purchase. You’d better bet I ignored my beloved, who announced with an air of self-importance from the other side of the couch, that ‘You’ve to spend a minimum of £50 to get it, though!’
Non-readers, eh? They don’t understand and we can’t blame them.
Don’t Tease Any Longer and Give Us the Books Already!
Alright, alright. I apologise but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do. I hear that treating ‘em mean is keeping ‘em keen. Let me know if that technique pays off.
After a large dose of reflection, whereby I considered my options – of which they were many, since the application of the Double Points was across everything vs. selected stock – and settled on the three books below: (And, yes, three: very well-behaved, indeed!)
‘The Doll’s Alphabet’ by Camilla Grudova
‘The Suitcase’ by Sergei Dovlatov
‘Deliver Me’ by Elle Nash
Why Those Books (And Not Others)?
If I could provide a literal response, it’d be money! I’d buy more, but a mortgage bill awaits to be paid every month. A girl’s got to do what she’s got to do. (Have I already made that point?) In other words, she needs to take hard decisions.
If I should reply without being facetious, I’d give the following bulletproof reasons:
Grudova’s been on my TBR for several years. I first heard about her and that specific book in a Kirsty Logan interview, and then Heather Parry recommended her in an ‘Orpheus Builds a Girl’ interview (Heather writes General Observations on Eggs on Substack). Grudova (check out Camilla's Substack) was the judge on a Writing Competition I’d entered a while back, too. The edition of ‘The Doll’s Alphabet’ is by Fitzcarraldo, the all-blue covers, and now matches the cover of another book on my shelf. Whoop Whoop! The surreal stories that ‘The Doll’s Alphabet’ promises will be a further exploration of a genre which I don’t read much of.
I read a story by Dovlatov for a Domestika Creative Writing course I completed. It had humour; it had sass; it had musings. I needed more. His personal story – his evacuation at the beginning of WW2, his draft into being a prison guard in high-security camps, his exile from Russia and into the United States on account of his writings and journalism – is equally fascinating. Recognition of Dovlatov, after his untimely death, has grown exponentially, and he’s now considered among the most influential Russian authors of the twentieth century.
Elle Nash (whose Instagram is here, should you wish to follow her) is a young, contemporary writer whose work I encountered in a Bookstagram post. Since then, I’ve watched a couple of YouTube interviews with her and think her literature will be my cup of tea. It may be bizarre to suggest this, since I’ve read neither but, to a degree, Nash and Grudova might be similar in genre and themes in which they both probe the spooky, ‘disgusting’ and unpopular albeit in different ways and from different angles. Peculiar for me, but I decided to pick up her latest novel. (As opposed to her debut, which is what I’d have normally done.)
When Do You Plan on Reading These Books?
Well, aren’t you a tiny angel of death?!
N.B. In light of my post from Sunday, 12th January 2025, being a tiny angel of death must also mean being a tiny angel of right. Reading slump anyone?
It’s embarrassing to admit but I’ve got c. a hundred-and-something unread books on my physical shelf.
‘How?’, you ask.
A combination of placing too much trust in myself, and alternative sources of books.
Trust that I can go window shopping vs. actual shopping! I can resist buying most things (when I know I don’t need or really want them, and I’m being a spoilt brat), but window shopping often fails when it comes to books. Shocking, eh?
Easy access to a library. I’m lucky enough to have a library on my doorstep and a web of others in a relatively close proximity. One, in particular, is deadly for it’s the largest, and I often visit the town it’s in anyway. Temptation, temptation.
Back to your question. The answer is I’m not a hundred percent certain, but what I do know is that autumn season is upon us (Future Me Editing: Autumn season was upon us…), and it calls for spooky reads. At least two of the above books can, with ease and convenience, fall into this category. Keep your eyes peeled because you may see a review of either / both in the not so distant future. (Future Me Editing: Not yet, folks. Not yet.)
I’ve mentioned this on my Bookstagram (you can find me here), but I may revert to my TBR jar for the month of September. (Future Me Editing: I did revert to the TBR jar but it didn’t drag me out of my reading slump.) Which reminds me that a post on my reading habits should be published on Nooks Full of Books in short order! (Future Me Editing: Time is…relative.)
What About You?
Enough about me!
Have you bought any new books recently? If so, please visit the comments section and don’t be shy in telling me about them. I’d love to hear what you’ve found (a planned purchase or not) and what made you choose this particular title over the hundreds of thousands of others …
Perhaps you’re on a book buying ban? A heartache shared is a heartache halved. Let’s talk about it. Been there, and I can lend a listening ear. (Even if it’s over the Internet!).
Until Next Time and With Love,
Nooks Full of Books
Well, I can't even begin to guess how many books are in my TBR piles. (yes, plural. There are piles on the floor in two rooms, on the bedside table, on another bedside table next to a bed I don't even sleep in, on my desk ...) And they will continue to grow as I buy more books & don't actually sit down to read any of them! I recently bought a book that I already had, and hadn't read, because I'd forgotten about it at the bottom of a pile & saw it in a bookship & thought it looked really interesting. Ouch! I think my time allocated to reading is similar to yours. Something I need to do something about!