Mirthful's bookblog

Books bought in Copenhagen this weekend:

• What I Loved – Siri Hustvedt (Flipback-edition, to test the format)
• Ned til hundene – Helle Helle
• Bankstræde Nr. 0 – Einar Már Gudmundsson
• Kære Landsmænd! – Huldar Breidfjord
• Kongen af Syspanien og hele balladen – Iselin C. Hermann
• Nu og da – Benny Andersen (nytt, signert eksemplar)
• The Story of Forgetting – Stefan Merrill Block
• På broen – Benny Andersen (second-hand)
• Svantes viser – Benny Andersen (second-hand, but uncut)
• De Profundis og lidelsens mening; En bog om Oscar Wilde – Bo Green Jensen (second-hand, but uncut)

And via the internet:

• Comfort and Joy – India Knight (amazon.co.uk)
• The Thrift Book – India Knight (amazon.co.uk)
• Flora at School – Gwendolen Freeman (abebooks.com)
• Bare kirka sto igjen; Fortellinger om krigen i Finnmark – Marion Palmer (bokkilden.no)
• Guttaperka – Marion Palmer (antikvariat.net)
• Utsatte strøk/Rasis guovllut – Marion Palmer (antikvariat.net)

And I want to start all of them first. Dearie me. Well, at least I’m already almost done with Ned til hundene.

I meant to do a lot more book browsing in Scotland than I actually ended up doing, on the other hand we came home with, well, rather a lot of books, so perhaps it was just as well I didn’t.

From Amazon.co.uk, delivered at our friends’ house:

• The Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home: First Dictionary
• The Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home: Handbook – Helping Your Child to Read: This is the system they’ll be using at the lass’ school, so I figured it would be useful to know a bit about it.

Supermarket purchases:

• Smoke in the Lanes by Dominic Reeve: There seems to have been a veritable epidemic of gypsy-related memoirs in Britain lately. This was the first I saw, and I purchased it before I’d seen any of the others, which is just as well, because the sheer number would have put me off otherwise. As it is, this looks very interesting (£4.49).
• Jamie’s Great Britain by Jamie Oliver (£9.99)

Strathisla Distillery, Keith:

• Taste Ye Back: Great Scots and the Food that Made Them by Sue Lawrence (£8.99)

Waterstone’s, Elgin:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• The Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home Level 1: First Stories, 6 books.
• I Left My Tent in San Fransisco by Emma Kennedy
• The Great Escape – Adventures on the Wild West Coast by Monty Halls (£7.99)
• Adventures on the High Teas by Stuart Maconie (£7.99)
• Hope & Glory: The Days that Made Britain by Stuart Maconie (£11.99)

Mor Books, Broadford (second hand books):

• The Gypsy by Stephen Brust and Megan Lindholm: Never even heard of this, but Lindholm… – yeah (£3).
• Made in America by Bill Bryson: Which, for some strange reason we didn’t already have (£3).
• Ranger’s Apprentice Book 1: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan (£3.50).
• Out of Time’s Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs (£1).
• Mothership by John Brosnan (£3).
• Max – A Biography by David Cecil (£3).

Charity shop, Portree:

• Our Hidden Lives – The Remarkable Diaries of Post-War Britain by Simon Garfield (ed.) (£2).

W.H.Smith at Aberdeen airport (last chance to shop!):

• Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer: New Archer novel! Yay!
• The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith
• Just My Type – a book about fonts by Simon Garfield
• A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin: The husband’s reading these. I guess I will, too, now that the last of the planned seven volumes is out, apparently.

And, also, quite a few children’s picture books.

As we went for a spur of the moment trip to Hitra this weekend, we were not able to attend any of the large jumble sales in town. However, we discovered there was one in Fillan, where we could conveniently stop on our way back to town on Sunday. This resulted in the perfect reading lamp for the living room, which was very satisfactory. It also resulted in a bag of books, as it was a case of “fill a bag for 30 kroner” and the pile I picked happened to juuust fit in one bag. A rather good haul for the price, I’d say:

• Det magiske hjertet by Salvador de Madariaga, 1946 – no idea what this is, but it looked interesting
• Ina inviterer and Ina på isen by Annik Saxegaard
• Lyset fra heksas hus by Thore Hansen
• Den ensomme Arthur and Buffalo Arthur by Alan Coren – it strikes me I ought to find these in English, these two I may bookcross as they’re duplicates
• River Cafe Cook Book Two by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers – they had One as well, but I already have it
• Elvis! Elvis! by Maria Gripe
• Kva tåler så lite at det knuser om du seier namnet på det? by Bjørn Sortland
• Ikaros igjen by Philip Newth
• Klar ferdig gå! by Paul Maar
• Julias reise by Bente Lohne
• Syvsoverskens dystre frokost by Tor Åge Bringsværd
• Barnas romskip by Alpers and Hahn
• Thank you, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
• Bombadillas sirkus by Thore Hansen
• Robot i rommet by Philip Newth
• Det står i stjernene by Evi Bøgenes – 1st edition
• Kjenn mitt land: Med Pentti i Finland
• Randi bor i Lofoten by Anna Riwkin-Brick and Astrid Lindgren
• Maria bor i en kibbutz by Anna Riwkin-Brick and Cordelia Edvardson
• Noy bor i Thailand by Anna Riwkin-Brick and Astrid Lindgren
• Salima bor i Kashmir by Anna Riwkin-Brick and Vera Forsberg
• Ping fra Hong Kong by Søren Koustrup
• Frost og varme by Thore Hansen

A large number of the books on offer were ex-library, probably school library, and most of my haul are children’s and YA books. Some I was very happy to find (and would have paid A LOT more for), like Julias reise. The “N bor i M” (N lives in M) series are picture books in a series called All the world’s children and I remember Maria bor i en kibbutz (Maria lives in a kibbutz) from when I was a kid. Probably very edifying, must test them on the lass.

One of the bookshops in town has been sold out of one chain and is reopening in another, but first they’re having a clearing out sale. Yesterday they were at 80% off everything, and we shopped…

• Pablo går på jakt – Giffard & Tutt
• Espens hemmelige dagbok: Øglenes konge – Einar Lunde
• Tallenes verden – Eirik Newth
• Vida Vagabond blir haimat – Marit Liabø
• Dette er: Hanne Krank – Marte Thingstad
• Piray: For en gjeng – Karine Haaland
• The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce – Paul Torday
• Watching Trees Grow – Peter F. Hamilton
• I am the Messenger – Markus Zusak
• The Camel Bookmobile – Masha Hamilton
• Rex Rudi: Go Cat Go!
• Taxi: En fotografisk reise – Sigbjørn Sigbjørnsen
• Swallowing Grandma – Kate Long
• New Orleans – Vidar Kvalshaug
• Dubrovnik – Vigdis Hjort
• Dublin – Frode Grytten
• Herr Leonard Leonard – Kjell Askildsen
• Necrophenia – Robert Rankin
• Before They Are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie

Yesterday, at Sverresborg skole (a very small, badly signposted jumble sale):

• Oda! by Kjetil Bjørnstad – paperback, thought we ought to have it as it’s the lass’ first name

Today at Steindal skole (the largest jumble sale in Trondheim, as far as I’m aware, but with a site that hasn’t grown with the goods and the visitor numbers, meaning it’s really not possible to browse comfortably ANYWHERE on the first day, and only barely on the second):

• Toy Story 2 picture book – much joy at this since it’s the lass’ favourite, Jessie being relatively prominent.
• Ina er den ivrigste by Annik Saxegaard – a duplicate, I have all the Ina books but I still buy them whenever I come across a copy at jumble sales.
• Mennesker og bøker by Knut Coucheron Jarl, Oslo 1942 – no idea what this is like, but anything printed in Oslo during the war has a certain degree of interest. Needs research.
• Mitt liv som læge by Anna Walter Fearn – I ought to get hold of the original, called My Days of Strength, but in the meantime, this, printed in 1940, is sure to be interesting. A female doctor? The cover design suggests the far east, too. Also needs research.
• Hvor gammelt er Norge? by Arnulf Øverland, Oslo 1964 – a collection of essays by one of our finest poets, apparently a first edition. Though it’s stained on the front by coffee or similar, it’s still quite likely worth more than I paid for the whole pile if it’s a first and in any case I’d like to read it.
• Den vesle filledokka by Michael Ende, illustrations by Roswitha Quadflieg – for the lass, obviously, but I’m going to read it for myself first, Michael Ende is usually interesting. Original title: Das kleine Lumpenkasperle.

And two other newish Disney books for the lass. All for the princely sum of 40 NOK.

Books bought at a flea market last week:

• Seierherrene by Roy Jacobsen
• Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen)
• Three Disney picture books for the lass

The former I have read, once on a time. Just after it was first published, in fact. I loved it. Partly because it’s my familiy history, to some extent, the narrator’s mother moves from the north of Norway to Oslo just like my maternal grandmother did. I’ve been wanting to reread it for a while, so when I found a clean hardback copy I couldn’t pass it up. Out of Africa is on my list of “books I probably should feel ashamed I haven’t read”. Well, the world is full of books and I have no time to waste on feeling ashamed if I’m to have time to read them all, but at least now I can put it on mount tbr. It’s a penguin edition (with Shadows in the Grass) with a film shot of Mery Streep and Robert Redford on the front. And, no, I haven’t seen the film, either.

That’s what we had last weekend. And, obviously, a few books came home with us.

From the Oxfam Bookshop:

• No Worries – Mark McCrum (2€)
• Great Bus Journeys of the World – Alexei Sayle and David Stafford (2€)
• Travels with my Radio – Fi Glover (4€)
• Just As Well I’m Leaving – Michael Booth (5€)

From Eason:

• Started Early, Took My Dog – Kate Atkinson
• The Brightest Star in the Sky – Marian Keyes
• Eating Animals – Jonathan Safran Foer
• Germania – Simon Winder

From an outdoor book market:

• Memoir – John McGahern (4€)
• A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole (4€)
• The School at the Chalet – Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (4€)

From Pocketshop at Arlanda on the way back:

• The Worst Date Ever – Jane Bussmann

So. It’s time for the annual mega book sale, so I had to pop out at lunch to try to grab the titles I really wanted. Here’s the list of today’s haul:

• Midtens rike by Torbjørn Færøvik, 179 kr – having read his book on India, this was top of my list of “must haves” in the sale.
• Da Emma ble Emma by Peter Gotthardt, 99 kr - one can never have too many books that explain the whole birds and bees thing
• Bare helt meg, Clarice Bean by Lauren Child, 99 kr – on second thought I should have noted the title and ordered an English version, but I can always do that anyway and save this for a present. I love Lauren Child.
• Barske ramperim by Gustav Lorentzen, 125 kr – goes without saying.
• Døde menn går i land by André Bjerke, 79 kr – lovely little pocket-size hardback of a book I’ve been meaning to read.
• Livets kruseduller by Øistein Kristiansen, 149 kr – both the lass and I love Øisteins blyant, so this was an obvious choice.
• Paddington i dag by Michael Bond, 39 kr – another one where the English version would have been a better choice.

Lørdag var vi en tur på Norli på Solsiden fordi gubben hadde et funnet igjen gavekort som han mente snuppa kunne få kjøpe seg bøker for. Det var noen titler på tilbud fra eget lager der som vi plukket med oss. Og så forvirret gubben seg opp i engelsk pocket-avdelingen og fant en bok han hadde ventet på at skulle komme i pocket, og så fant jeg Juliet, Naked i ordentlig pocket, ikke sånn kjempesvær juksepocket, og, vel, vi brukte vel litt mer enn det gavekortet var på…

• Mamma Mø har vårrengjøring – Jujja og Tomas Wieslander (lydbok) – 99,-
• Gubben og Katten og hanespetaklet – Sven Nordqvist – 89,-
• Blomsterfesten – Elsa Beskow – 89,-
• Wrath of a Mad God – Raymond E. Feist (til gubben)
• Juliet, Naked – Nick Hornby

Og i dag leste jeg i avisen at Ark hadde halv pris av Mammutpris. Hæ? Nå har de ikke gjort det på årevis og så gjør de det plutselig igjen sånn helt uten forvarsel? Vel, ok, heldigvis kunne jeg uten problemer snike meg litt tidlig fra jobb, så jeg fikk en tur innom både Ark på torget og Ark Brunhjørnet før det var tid for barnehagehenting. På førstnevnte traff jeg tydeligvis butikksjefen. De hadde nemlig bare halv pris-plakat på ett av bordene, så jeg måtte spørre om det gjaldt alle Mammutbøkene. “Ja, det var et godt spørsmål,” sier han. “Jeg lurte vel spesifikt på Bjørneboes samlede,” sier jeg. “Nja, de hadde jeg tenkt å holde på full pris litt lenger.” “OK, fair enough. Det er jo unektelig også en god pris. Den eneste grunnen til at jeg ikke har falt for fristelsen ennå er at vi strengt tatt ikke har plass…” “Så du er en fan?” spør han. “Tja, jeg har da i hvert fall likt det jeg har lest, og føler at jeg burde lest mer.” “Greit, du kan få dem til halv pris, siden du skal ha dem selv.” “Tusen takk!” Jeg var så nær å neie at jeg i grunn angrer på at jeg ikke gjorde det.

Sånne butikksjefer liker vi. Men kanskje ikke bokhyllene våre. Nå ja, da kan jeg i hvert fall få gitt meg i kast med Bestialitetens historie, som broren min har erklært seg sjokkert over at jeg ikke har lest.

Så med en tur innom Ark Brunhjørnet etterpå ble det i dag:

• Jens Bjørneboes samlede, 13 bind – 345,-
• Wandrups valg: Litteratur – Fredrik Wandrup – 69,50
• Adoptert – Ane Ramm
• Charlotte Isabel Hansen – Tore Renberg
• Hodejegerne – Jo Nesbø
• Kjell Otto og fyret – Bjørn Arild Ersland, ill. Annlaug Auestad – 49,50
• Kenneth og dokkene – Pija Lindenbaum – 39,50
• Svein og Rotta og verdensmesterskapet – Marit Nicholaysen – 74,50

Jeg føler meg ganske tilbakeholden i år. På salgets første dag tok jeg en runde til både Ark Brunhjørnet, Nordli på Nordre, Notabene på Byhaven og Øksendal, men kom hjem med bare 9 bøker, hvorav to skal gis bort… De vi skal ha selv er:

• Den rutete kokeboken – Ingrid Espelid Hovig (199,- spesialtilbud Ark)
• Kroppen – Trond Viggo Torgersen (99,- spesialtilbud Ark)
• Doktor Proktors prompepulver – Jo Nesbø (99,- katalognr. 501)
• Doktor Proktors tidsbadekar – Jo Nesbø (129,- katalognr. 502)
• Stor kokebok – Schønberg Erken (179,- katalognr. 571)
• Huset ved moskeen – Kader Abdolah (69,- salg fra eget lager, Brunhjørnet)
• Reven som slukte bøker – Franziska Biermann (79,- salg fra eget lager (?) Norli)