Over recent months we have had Blandings – which I thought was really funny and next week the BBC are putting on ‘Wodehouse in Exile’, which focuses on his life from 1940 onwards. I am sure it will be a must for all Wodehouse fans. What I like about P.G. Wodehouse is that his books are genuinely funny and not in an ironic sense but laugh out loud.
If you would like to see the rest of our Wodehouse stock click here
The P.G. Wodehouse website is also worth a visit
Book inscriptions provide a small insight into the social history of the books we sell at Stella and Rose’s Books.
Most of us are now on first name terms with all our relatives, but there was a time when an adult would either be known as Aunt or Uncle or by their full name Mrs Smith for example, never by their first name. We can also see how names change, there are very few people called Gladys or Cedric but these names were once popular.
There also inscriptions in books that tell part of a story, that leave you wondering about what happened to both the giver and receiver of the book.
Have a look at the following:
As a birthday gift, I’d like to donate
To my erstwhile boss and associate,
This book relating to clocks and time,
To read, now in life you’ve reached your prime.
I’d like to add, that’s if I may,
I’m proud to have known you…I.P.K.,
And for your 60th, best wishes I send,
Not only as a ‘Boss’, but I regard you as a friend.
My thanks for this idea goes to Wayne Gooderham, please do have a look at his blog Book dedications
200 years ago today David Livingstone was born in Blantyre, a small Scottish town
that I knew well as it is also the birthplace of my mother!
Blantyre is proud of it’s famous son and there is a museum dedicated to him. Here you can see the tenement in which he grew up and from where he set off to begin his African Adventures. On visits to my Grandparents we often visited the Livingstone Centre so I grew up knowing about him.
Only later did I realise how famous he was – famous enough to have a book about him in the Ladybird 561 Adventures in History series.
When I am setting up the Themed Room, I can be somewhat fixated on the subject in hand, so this is no exception. I feel that this book is not for the casual observer of garden birds out of the kitchen window e.g me! This is for someone who is interested in migration and flight. It includes a chapter on The First Law of Currents and Terrestial Relativity as an Environment.
I chose it mainly if not wholly because I liked the Dustjacket!!
BIRD AND BUTTERFLY MYSTERIES
Acworth, Bernard. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 1802186
Eyre & Spottiswoode. 1st. 1955. Very good condition in a very good dustwrapper. Realities of Migration. Introduction by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald. Part I: Bird Migration and Other Phenomena; Part II: The Cuckoo Mystery; Part III: Butterfly Migration and Other Phenomena. Red cloth boards, gilt title to spine. Two colour plates. 303 pages including index. Boards nice and clean, foxing to text block, endpapers and a few page margins throughout. Small address label to front pastedown. Green pictorial wrapper is foxed and worn at corners with slight loss. Price £15.00
Click here for availability
I have been moving books all day up to our special Themed Room and for the next three months the theme will be all things Ornithological. We have some absolutely lovely books in stock at the moment and more to be added.
Interesting Facts about Birds:
The smallest bird in the world is the Bee Hummingbird at 5.7cm long.
A Blue Tit weighs the same as a £1 coin.
A group of Sparrows is called a tribe.
Click here to see our Ornithology Books
Who is your favourite fictional children’s book character – Peter Rabbit, Paddington, Alice in Wonderland, The Gruffalo, Harry Potter?
It may come as no surprise to learn that Winnie-the-Pooh topped the poll of 200
0 parents asked to name their favourite bedtime character. The poll, organised by Sainsburys was published in time for World Book Day (7th March) and the top ten was published in The Sunday Express on 3rd March.
Another bear, Paddington came in second followed by The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Gruffalo. Interestingly Pooh’s friend Eeyore has his own place at number 22.
To see the whole list go to www.express.co.uk/winniethepooh
I was listening to Radio 5 live this morning, when they interviewed Johnny Ball for World Maths Day. He said that we shouldn’t forget that Maths is more than just numeracy, Maths underpins everything we do. So whether you are going for a walk, doing the shopping or building a replica of Blackpool Tower in cotton buds – you are going to need Maths.
To see more of our Maths stock click here
Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus
Today just had to be a book on Wales and its people. This book covers the history from Medieval times to 1985 and includes essays from historians such as Neil Evans, Philip Jenkins and Mari Williams.
The picture on the front cover is from a painting called ‘Welsh Family Idyll’ by Vincent Evans.
THE PEOPLE OF WALES
Jones, Gareth Elwyn & Smith, Dai. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 1702775
Gomer. 1st. 1999. Nearly fine condition. Pictorial card wraps. BBC Radio Wales A Millennium History. [S] 1859027431.
Price: £10.00
click here for availability
Stella Books gets a mention in an article in the March edition of Herefordshire & Wye Valley Life. The article was written by regular contributors to the magazine, the Parson (who happens to be my husband!) and the Publican. They take regular jaunts visiting places of interest in the area followed by lunch – usually in a pub! This visit was a meander down the Wye Valley ending with a visit to Tintern and of course Stella Books.
The extract below is what the Parson has to say about Stella Books:
It is not a pub, however, that grabs our attention as we cruise slowly along the river bank. Rather it is a bookshop. With bright blue awnings and tempting window displays Stella Books lures us siren like from the waterside. We are greeted with a cheery hello and invited to wander where we will. The place is a warren of rooms, many with wonderful views of the abbey ruins particularly upstairs. I am easily sidetracked by county guides of long ago and lose sight of my companion. When I do find him he is in a room of books that could have been put there for his express delight. Field sports, dogs and fishing vie for his attention. When I finally prise him from this room he happens upon a case of Boys Own Paper annuals. “Wonderful illustrations” he says opening out a double page spread of an aeroplane. It is only the promise of lunch that finally lures him into the open air again.
The article can also be read in Worcestershire Life, Shropshire Life or Warwickshire Life.
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