Deckchairs

Deckchairs

Quote

The true university these days is a collection of books.
-Thomas Carlyle

Friday 31 October 2008

I've been tagged...



Michele from over at A Readers Respite has tagged me with this random facts: book edition tag. You have to share 7 book related facts about yourself. I am not sure that mine are that weird but they are random and it sounded like fun so here goes...

1. I bought a copy of Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd over 20 years ago and it is still sitting unread on my shelf. It was the strange language that originally drew me to it and I still have every intention of reading it. Every now and then I pick it up and can't believe I still haven't read it. Maybe I will set it as a New Years resolution.

2. When I graduated in 2005 after doing a part time degree in Literature over 6 years, one of my friends, who I have known for a long time, bought me a first edition of my favourite book, Precious Bane by Mary Webb as a celebratory gift. Published in 1924 it is a lovely hard covered book bound in leather. I have no idea how she got hold of it but it is certainly a very treasured possession and I was both touched and surprised by her very thoughtful and very apt present.

3. Ever since I picked up a little hand made paper book, in a funny little bookshop in Covent Garden, London, by a poet called Brian Tasker, I have been completely taken with Haiku poetry. The bookshop is sadly no longer there on Neal Street East but I still have the little book, and have been adding steadily to my collection over the years. I now have 19 books of these wonderful 3 line poems, a number of which make it onto my 'Haiku of the week'.

4. My love of literature also extends to plays. I did a year of Shakespeare as part of my degree and I now work in the theatre as a direct result. It fascinates me how the meaning of the written word can change depending on what is on stage and how the words are performed.

5. I have a weakness for buying old versions of classic books that I have enjoyed. I especially love it if it has something written in the front cover, like 'to Fiona on your 21st birthday with love from grandma, 1917'. I always feel privileged to come across these treasures.

6.When I was little, about 7 or 8 years old, I used to wake up early on a Saturday morning, deliberately while everyone else was asleep, and get my books down to read off my shelf. I had 3 shelves above my bed, and I would read until I had to get up, usually Enid Blyton at the time. I saw it as a secretive pleasure, something no one else knew about.

7. I wasn't especially good at Maths, and mediocre at games at school, but I learnt to read very early on, astounding teachers and outgrowing the books appropriate to my age at school. Very often they simply let me get on with it as I was way ahead of the other children who needed more help to get started. I just took to it and have run with it ever since.

So there you have it, my secrets laid bare. Who should I tag now? Here are my 7 tags. You can continue this conversation with your own facts if you want to, and I can't wait to read your entries.

Gentle Reader at Shelf Life

Teabird at Tealeaves

Verbivore at Incurable Logophilia

Jeane at Dog Ear Diary

J C Montgomery at The Biblio Brat

Bookfool at Bookfoolery and Babble

Katrina at Katrina's Reads

The instructions are at the top of this post.

10 comments:

Bookfool said...

Thanks for tagging me, Leah! I've got a photo meme to do, first, so it may be a few days till I get around to posting. :)

teabird said...

I loved this one!

Jeane said...

I love your answers. I did a similar meme to this one a while ago, so it's going to take some extra thought for me to come up with new, interesting answers. So I may be a bit tardy, but I'll put mine up sometime soon.

Michele said...

Love your answers, Leah! It's funny how things like this give each blogger such a unique identity. Thanks for participating in it!

Michele said...

Oh, and one more thing, Leah....after reading how you enjoy haiku's, have you seen Shana's review about The Postman's Round? I saw the description of the novel and thought of you.

Gentle Reader said...

Great answers! I really enjoyed reading them. Now I'll post mine--thanks so much for the tag :)

Leah said...

I have loved reading all of your answers too, it certainly does give a fun insight into other bloggers backgrounds and preferences.

Michele: thanks for the recommendation and thinking of me, I have added the book to my wishlist and left a comment for Shana :)

Anonymous said...

I also love finding treasures in used books, like inscriptions or scraps of paper. My best find so far is a love letter from a husband to his wife when he gave her the book for Christmas early 1900's.
I will put together my thoughts on this one soon!

Leah said...

Incurable Logophilia: what a lovely story, you must have been very touched by the find. Its like secret treasure!

J.C. Montgomery said...

Sorry it took me so long, but I finally got it done. Whew!!!

Here is the link.

Hay on Wye

Hay on Wye