This is an almost impossible question for me to answer. If a book is in print and I want it, then I acquire it, either purchasing it myself or if it might be a title for Glenogle & Bell subscribers then I ask the publisher for a reading copy. So if I’m dropping Christmas present hints (too late now but my birthday is in early February…) then it needs to be a book that I wouldn’t ordinarily buy for myself.
I adore Folio Society books – those beautiful cloth bindings, the slipcases which although not pretty in themselves save the books inside from bumped corners, and the the paper… oh the smell of their paper! Folio editions are produced in short print runs and so if I’m too late for a copy or too stingy to buy one at full price then I have to hunt around for a secondhand copy.
I’ve written before about how I adore the novels of Dorothy L Sayers and if I was to unwrap anything under the tree it would be one of the two box sets – this one or preferably this one as it contains Gaudy Night – that The Folio Society produced. And I still haven’t read most of the Lord Peter Wimsey short stories. But as no-one buys me books for fear of duplication maybe I’ll just have to treat myself…
I hope you’ve found this Advent Calendar interesting and that I’ve suggested a few books that you might want to discover yourself. As I spend so much time with new books I’ve enjoyed looking back and thinking about what are my favourite books and which have influenced me the most. Thank you for reading along with me.
