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expat survival, Hilary Mantel, mail, mountains of books fountains of books, staying sane, Winifred Holtby
A few weeks ago, my fantastic friend Jordan, who is in Ecuador (hence the title of her blog), wrote a Peace Corps Survival Guide. I loved it. Of course, I’m not in the Peace Corps, but I could definitely relate to things like “bring your own toiletries” (because in France you can’t get economy-sized bottles of painkillers like you can at any CVS in the States) and “laugh at yourself.”
One of the things that has helped me survive this year in France (not that I ever had any doubts about my survival, but you know what I mean) has been reading. In English, though people have frequently asked me why I don’t read in French (answer: too much work!). I go to the American Library almost every week, and according to my Goodreads bookshelf, I have read 36 books since arriving in France. (This number, while impressive, would probably be higher if it hadn’t been for The Pickwick Papers…but that’s okay, because I truly loved The Pickwick Papers.)
Anyway. I usually do stick to the library, but lately it’s been letting me down a little bit. After I read Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth, I decided right away to check out Winifred Holtby’s South Riding. But as it turns out, despite Holtby being more famous than Brittain (especially since there was a recent miniseries made of South Riding), the American Library in Paris does not carry a single title. So I went ahead and bought it (and also Anderby Wold, which was her first novel).
And then of course there was the new Hilary Mantel book, which I have been looking forward to since I read Wolf Hall in October and was promptly informed by my friend Margaret (who likes to be “mentioned in dispatches”!) that there would be a sequel about the Seymours. So of course I had to pre-order it, because if I waited until the American Library had it, I would be waiting until I got back to the States.
To say nothing of things like The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt and Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, both recommended and blogged about by Alice, with whom I went to see a play about the Brontë sisters and Busman’s Honeymoon last year, and who has excellent taste in books. They’re new enough that the APL doesn’t have them, but also not famous enough that the APL will be likely to acquire them in the near future. Plus what else was my tax refund for? (Or rather, what was left of it, after I bought my Eres bathing suit…)
This entry is brought to you by an enormous Amazon shipment, and gorgeous new books that nobody else has ever read before.
(And yes, that is a hardcover copy of Bring Up the Bodies. I’m going out to Parc Montsouris to start it as soon as I hit “publish” on this entry.)
Bisous,
Anne
Just the One Anne 
All the reading you do, makes me feel a bit inadequate. I’m just not finding the time to read these days. I am looking forward to Bring Up The Bodies – Tudor history was my specialism at school. I also really like Hilary Mantel, as a writer.
You may be interested in the interview she had with Martha Kearney on the BBC’s Review Show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00sd19h
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx….
My spring line-up of books inlcudes The Stranger by Albert Camus, followed by Troublemaker by Bill Zimmerman (A memoir from the front lines of the sixties), and South of Broad by Pat Conroy. I found a not-for-profit used book store near our apartment…. it is a pleasure to spend my money at their establishment.
Ooh, next time I come to visit I will have to go there with you.
The only one of those I’ve read is The Stranger, but I read it in French–twice!
Omg, that stack is so pretty. And I am IMMENSELY jealous, because you got the UK cover of Attachments, and while I like the US cover, the UK cover is EVEN BETTER.
Did you see South Riding on Julie’s blog? (contractually obligated to like books) Because the way she wrote about it, I was like “hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I should read this even though it is not so much my thing.”
ALSO I have now met people who didn’t like Sisters Brothers, although frankly it rather lessens them in my estimation, rather than making me doubt the book.
Yes! Actually, when I get bored I read all of the blogs on your sidebar, and I saw “Winifred Holtby Week” and I was like, awesome! I just went from knowing nothing about Winifred Holtby to being like, did you know that when she was at Oxford she totally set Vera Brittain up to make a fool of herself at a debate society meeting, and then they became besties? I’m really looking forward to reading the two of hers that I bought. And Sisters Brothers–I’ll let you know what I think. 🙂
Yay! Winifred Holtby! I’ve just discovered her and she’s so great.
My classics/archaeology friends have warned me that it is essential to bring your own “feminine hygiene products” to Greece, and that Italian cough/cold medicines are useless so it’s best to bring those from the US too. Not that I’m planning to go to either of those places anytime soon, but… forewarned is forearmed?
Oh, cool, I’m glad you commented! I actually read your Winifred Holtby Week post and wanted to comment, but since you’re Blogspot and I’m WordPress I had to fill out a thing and I got tired of waiting for it to load, so I just moved on. But yay, Holtby! I can’t wait to read some of her writing, since now I actually know some things about her.
And also, I tried to comment on your Paris post as well, since I live here and if you’re looking for interesting things to do, I can suggest some stuff. 🙂
Ah, I should totally add reading to that list. What if we did a pan-oceanic book exchange. Or what if instead I saved up money to buy an Eres swimsuit (I WANT). Thanks for the shoutout 🙂
😀 And I love the British cover of Bringing up the Bodies. Also, I’ve got my boss reading West with the Night.