We felt a little deflated when my sister left Sunday. Because of the time her plane left, we happened to be at the airport around the time S. usually takes her nap, and we knew that by the time we got home, we would have missed the best napping opportunity. Since we happened to be pretty near our favorite used bookstore...
We shopped for a while, and I found some amazing bargains on the children's clearance shelves. Then Dana came over, grinning, carrying a huge burgundy-jacketed tome. It was -- I kid you not -- Jane Austen's complete works, all six of her completed novels in one huge volume with gold-edged pages, an edition printed a few years ago in England. And the asking price was under 10 dollars! The dust jacket was a bit beat up, but the book itself was in excellent shape and the sweet girl immediately noticed and marvelled over the gilt edges.
"Happy Early Birthday!" my husband said to me. And who could resist it? Not I. Granted I can barely lift the book, so it's hard to imagine ever finding a way to comfortably read it (stretched out on my belly, perhaps, with the book laid flat in front of me on the floor?) but it's really kind of amazing to have so much richness between the covers of one book. And I suppose if I'm ever packing for a desert island or a spaceship flight, it will come in mighty handy.
My sister also delivered a lovely late Christmas present to me when she was here. She'd actually bought it for me in time for Christmas and then forgot to mail it. I loved the timing though. It's the 2007 Jane Austen desk calendar put out by the Jane Austen Society of North America. Chock full of beautifully patterned papers and quotes from Austen's novels. I'm sensing a theme here!
So, let's see...I could actually schedule a trip to a desert island (in my Jane Austen calendar) and then pack my complete novels of Jane Austen to take with me. A "happy thought indeed!"
8 comments:
LOST and Jane Austen come together; who'da thunk it? ;) Sounds like you struck gold with that Austen collection. Incidentally, I got my hands on "Enthusiasm," and I just enthusiastically blazed through it. Excellent book; thanks for the recommendation! :)
And since it's a desert *island* and therefore has a beach, you could take along this:
http://www.basbleu.com/stores/1/Pride_and_Prejudice_the_Beach_P1914.cfm?SearchTerms=beach%20towel
The link didn't print so you can copy it.
Here it is again (hope it works), but you'll have to make it go all on one line, of course:
http://www.basbleu.com/stores/1/Pride_and_Prejudice
_the_Beach_P1914.cfm?SearchTerms=beach%20towel
Erin, can you picture Sawyer reading Jane Austen? Aw come on, you know you can! ;-)
So glad you liked *Enthusiasm*. Isn't it lovely? I read it twice during the three weeks I had it out from the library!
Janet, what a find! I am definitely laughing now! And the awful thing is...I think I actually want it! How frivolous is that? (And how far can this Austen addiction go?!)
I hadn't thought of "Bas Bleu" in ages. My mom used to pass their catalogs onto me -- they're so much fun to look through! I've never actually bought anything from them, I don't think, though I'm pretty sure the Shakespeare umbrella my sister gave me a couple of birthdays ago came from them. Hmmm...wonder if she still gets their catalogs? ;-)
Hee! You know, it's a funny picture, but I think I can envision Sawyer getting cozy with Jane... His reading interests seem surprisingly broad...
I'm itching to review "Enthusiasm," but I think I'll wait until after our trip. I meant to save it to read *on* the trip, but then I cracked open the cover... and then I couldn't stop turning the pages... ;)
Well, you could always read it again! ;-) What trip are you taking? Sorry if you mentioned it already, but it's escaping me at the moment...
Aye, that's true... ;) I'm off to sunny (I hope!) San Diego on Saturday. California, here I come!
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