My Husband's Books from the 2023 Book Sale

Below are a few of the books that my husband found at the annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale this year.  The sale lasts about 10 days; the first few days and the last few days are the busiest; we went five times this year. Mainly, he focuses on photography, architecture, and performing arts; books about history; then fiction, including mysteries and science fiction.

Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) by Thomas Hardy

My husband's comments on this book:

I recently read A Month in the Country and liked it for its quiet tone and nostalgic mood. 

The introduction to the edition I read mentioned Thomas Hardy's short novel Under the Greenwood Tree as very similar in tone and mood so I made a point of looking for the Hardy work at the book sale. 

And I was very happy to find it.

The Whalebone Theatre (2022) by Joanna Quinn

Summary on the book cover:

One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, it belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household—her sister, Flossie; her brother, Digby, long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitcat, kitchen maid; Taras, visiting artist—build a theatre from the beast’s skeletal rib cage. Within the Whalebone Theatre, Cristabel can escape her feckless stepparents and brisk governesses, and her imagination comes to life.

As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman, World War II rears its head. She and Digby become British secret agents on separate missions in Nazi-occupied France—a more dangerous kind of playacting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart.

Ten Years in the Tub (2013) by Nick Hornby

Back in 2003, Nick Hornby started writing a monthly column for The Believer, "Stuff I’ve Been Reading.” Ten Years in the Tub includes all of the columns Hornby had written through June 2013. Each month he lists the books he bought, the books he read, and talks about the books he read and other miscellaneous topics. I read some of the earlier columns years ago, and enjoyed them.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy (2015) by Karen Abbott

The subtitle of this book is: "Four Women Undercover in the Civil War."

This is a nonfiction book about four women who were spies during the Civil War. Two of them worked for the Confederate side, two worked for the Union. 

The following details are from the publisher's website:

After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring, right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives.

Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die (2019) by Giles Milton

The subtitle of this book is: "How the Allies Won on D-Day." My husband just started reading this book yesterday. If he likes it, I will be reading it too. 

Book details from the publisher's website:

A ground-breaking account of the first 24 hours of the D-Day invasion told by a symphony of incredible accounts of unknown and unheralded members of the Allied – and Axis – forces.

....

Giles Milton’s bold new history narrates the events of June 6th, 1944 through the tales of survivors from all sides: the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French resistance fighter. From the military architects at Supreme Headquarters to the young schoolboy in the Wehrmacht’s bunkers, Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the front line of Operation Overlord. It also gives voice to those who have hitherto remained unheard – the French butcher’s daughter, the Panzer Commander’s wife, the chauffeur to the General Staff.

Atlantic (2010) by Simon Winchester

The subtitle of this book is: "Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories." 

From the description on the book dust jacket:

Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues profoundly to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams.....

Spanning the ocean's story from its geological origins to the age of exploration, from World War II battles to today's struggles with pollution and overfishing, his narrative is epic, intimate, and awe inspiring.....

Atlantic is the summation of Winchester's years of research and travel—from the rocky outcrops of the Faroes to the effervescent ports of Argentina and Brazil to the slave castles of West Africa and the seaside villages of Ireland. More than a mere history, this is an unforgettable journey of unprecedented scope by one of the most gifted writers in the English language.

Have you had any experience with these books or these authors? We would love to hear about it, if you have.

My Husband's Books from the 2022 Book Sale

 

In September we went to the annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale.  The sale lasts about 10 days, and we visited the sale on five of those days. This is my third post on books we bought at this year's book sale.

These are a few of the books my husband found at the sale. Mainly, he focuses on photography, architecture, and performing arts; books about history; then fiction (including mysteries and science fiction). 

The Herring in the Library by L.C. Tyler

This is the 3rd book in the Ethelred and Elsie Mystery series. Ethelred Tressider is a mediocre mystery writer and Elsie Thirkettle is his literary agent. It seems to be a humorous, cozy mystery series. Neither my husband nor I have read any books in the series so he gets to give it a try first. Has anyone read any in the series? Does reading in order matter?

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White

From the description on the dust jacket flap:

In The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon—what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world.

The book’s twelve chapters illuminate different aspects of Hitchcock’s life and work: “The Boy Who Couldn’t Grow Up”; “The Murderer”; “The Auteur”; “The Womanizer”; “The Fat Man”; “The Dandy”; “The Family Man”; “The Voyeur”; “The Entertainer”; “The Pioneer”; “The Londoner”; “The Man of God.” Each of these angles reveals something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived but also the various versions of himself that he projected, and those projected on his behalf.

My husband started reading this book shortly after he purchased it and has now finished it.

Stately Passions: The Scandals of Britain's Great Houses by Jamie Douglas-Home

From the description at Goodreads:

This historical exploration details some of the most notorious scandals to have engulfed the British royal family and aristocracy, capturing not only the events and their era but also the essence of some of the world's greatest and most beautiful private dwellings. From the Hampton Court of Henry VIII to the modern scandals that saw the present Lord Brocket jailed, center stage is given to the British stately homes that have played witness to centuries of aristocratic indiscretion. Whether examining the "Profumo Affair," the call-girl scandal at Cliveden, the affairs of the lesbian Vita Sackville-West and her bisexual husband at Sissinghurst Castle, or the goings-on at Fort Belvedere, the Surrey hideaway where the Prince of Wales conducted his affair with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, this account provides a fascinating insight into the lives, loves—and morals, dubious though they may be—of some notorious denizens of the aristocratic world.

Metropolis by Philip Kerr

This is the last book in the Bernie Gunther series. Before World War II, Bernie was a policeman in Berlin; then he worked some as a private detective. He served in the military in both World War I and World War II. The first four novels are set  between 1936 and 1949; the fifth book is set in Argentina in 1950. The sixth book, If The Dead Rise Not, takes Bernie back to 1934 Berlin, when the city was chosen as the site for the 1936 Olympics; later, the novel hops to Cuba in 1954. That is as far as I have gotten in the series. 

Metropolis takes Bernie back to Berlin in 1928, the last days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler came to power.

From the description on the dust jacket flap:

Metropolis, completed just before Philip Kerr’s untimely death, is the capstone of a fourteen-book journey through the life of Kerr’s signature character, Bernhard Gunther, a sardonic and wisecracking homicide detective caught up in an increasingly Nazified Berlin police department. In many ways, it is Bernie’s origin story and, as Kerr’s last novel, it is also, alas, his end. 

 

London 1945: Life in the Debris of War by Maureen Waller

From the description at Goodreads:

A new social history of London, during a crucial year in the city's history, from the acclaimed writer of 1700: Scenes from London Life. London at the outset of war in 1939 was the greatest city in the world, the heart of the British Empire. The defiant capital had always been Hitler's prime target and 1945, the last year of the war, saw the final phase of the battle of London. The Civil Defence could not have succeeded without the spirit, courage, resilience and co-operation of the people. London 1945 describes how a great city coped in crisis, how morale was sustained, shelter provided, food and clothing rationed, and work and entertainment carried on. Then, as the joy of VE Day and VJ Day passed into memory, Londoners faced severe shortages and all the problems of post-war adjustment. Women lost the independence the war had lent them, husbands and wives had to learn to live together again, and children had a lot of catching up to do. The year of victory, 1945, represents an important chapter in London's—and Britain's—long history.

Three Science Fiction Novellas by J.-H. Rosny aîné; 

Translated and Introduced by Daniele Chatelain and George Edgar Slusser

From the description on the dust jacket flap:

Along with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, J.-H. Rosny aîné was a founding father of science fiction. He was the first writer to conceive, and attempt to narrate, the workings of aliens and alternate life forms. His fascination with evolutionary scenarios, and long historical vistas, from first man to last man, are important precursors to the myriad cosmic epics of modern science fiction. Until now, his work has been virtually unknown and unavailable in the English-speaking world, but it is crucial for our understanding of the genre. Three wonderfully imaginative novellas are included in this volume. "The Xipehuz" is a prehistoric tale in which the human species battles strange geometric alien life forms. "Another World" is the story of a mysterious being who does not live in the same acoustic and temporal world as humans. "The Death of the Earth" is a scientifically uncompromising Last Man story. The book includes an insightful critical introduction that places Rosny's work within the context of evolutionary biology.

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester

From the description on the dust jacket flap:

The bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman and The Map That Changed the World examines the enduring and world-changing effects of the catastrophic eruption off the coast of Java of the earth's most dangerous volcano—Krakatoa.

The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa—the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster—was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly forty thousand people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round the planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light. The effects of the immense waves were felt as far away as France. Barometers in Bogotá and Washington, D.C., went haywire. Bodies were washed up in Zanzibar. The sound of the island's destruction was heard in Australia and India and on islands thousands of miles away. 

Cath read and enjoyed this book. She reviewed it at her blog, Read-Warbler. 

Shakespeare: The Illustrated and Updated Edition by Bill Bryson

From the description at Goodreads:

Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition is an exquisitely illustrated, updated edition of Bill Bryson’s bestselling biography of William Shakespeare that takes the reader on an enthralling tour through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship. With more than 100 color and black-and-white illustrations throughout, and updated to include recent discoveries, Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition evokes the superstitions, academic discoveries, and myths surrounding the life of one of the greatest poets, and makes sense of the man behind the masterpieces.