My few surviving, battered paperbacks (Penguin editions) of James' novels don't match up to your impressive bookshelf. An itinerant life and a couple hasty departures from places I never went back to have diminished my book collection overall, along with the need to fit myself into a tiny Tokyo apartment. That's why I no longer have the Edel Life, either.
It took me a lifetime to collect what I have, and I always feel like I'm missing so much. I've lost books in moves, too - and it's so hard to give any up when you must for smaller accommodations or other circumstances. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
I'm gutted to say that the paperback copies I had of WMK, TPoaL and a few other James books were lost in a basement flood. My mom told me that a very kind high school librarian, seeing how voraciously my mother read fiction, introduced her to authors such as James, Wilkie Collins, Daphne du Maurier and others. My mom had a real penchant for the brooding Gothic-esque novels in her youth, and all the paperbacks were probably late 1970s-ish vintages -- valuable only for their nostalgia and personal historical significance. I do remember that she always wrote her three initials into the top right-hand corner of the book's first page -- a practice that I've adopted myself! (To be clear, she's still around, just no longer claiming ownership over books by ink, and reading crime novels like they're going out of style!)
oh no - as a lifelong resident of Ohio, I am all too familiar with losing items to the basement muck. I love finding old paperbacks in thrift or used bookstores that have names or initials or notes in them, and I adore the covers. I'm glad your mom is still around and still reading - while there are some good crime novels out there, not much compares to Rebecca or The Woman in White for suspense.
My few surviving, battered paperbacks (Penguin editions) of James' novels don't match up to your impressive bookshelf. An itinerant life and a couple hasty departures from places I never went back to have diminished my book collection overall, along with the need to fit myself into a tiny Tokyo apartment. That's why I no longer have the Edel Life, either.
It took me a lifetime to collect what I have, and I always feel like I'm missing so much. I've lost books in moves, too - and it's so hard to give any up when you must for smaller accommodations or other circumstances. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Dig James. Dig a list. So think this is pretty cool.
I'm gutted to say that the paperback copies I had of WMK, TPoaL and a few other James books were lost in a basement flood. My mom told me that a very kind high school librarian, seeing how voraciously my mother read fiction, introduced her to authors such as James, Wilkie Collins, Daphne du Maurier and others. My mom had a real penchant for the brooding Gothic-esque novels in her youth, and all the paperbacks were probably late 1970s-ish vintages -- valuable only for their nostalgia and personal historical significance. I do remember that she always wrote her three initials into the top right-hand corner of the book's first page -- a practice that I've adopted myself! (To be clear, she's still around, just no longer claiming ownership over books by ink, and reading crime novels like they're going out of style!)
oh no - as a lifelong resident of Ohio, I am all too familiar with losing items to the basement muck. I love finding old paperbacks in thrift or used bookstores that have names or initials or notes in them, and I adore the covers. I'm glad your mom is still around and still reading - while there are some good crime novels out there, not much compares to Rebecca or The Woman in White for suspense.