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Thursday 6 June 2024

The love of books

 My love of books started when I was very young.  I remember loving and collecting all the Ladybird books, when I could go to the library on my own I discovered the Nancy Drew books, I absolutely loved those stories, I think that's where my love of mystery and crime novels comes from.  Later I remember my mum buying me The Old Curiosity Shop, A Tale of Two Cities and Little Women.  I haven't read those books in years but would like to again at some time.

There was a time when I kept every book I read, I'm a little more selective nowadays and only keep certain books now, (I might show you those another time, if anyone is interested).  
 I'd been thinking about starting a collection of the Penguin Clothbound Classics but kept seeing reports of the print rubbing off on the cover and in some cases even the print on the pages smudging, although they are lovely It put me off, so when I saw this collection a few months ago I fell in love with them, they are so beautiful.

From what I can see this collection from Timeless Classics was part of a monthly subscription a few years back, although I can't recall seeing it advertised anywhere.  There were forty or so books to collect, I'm not sure I would have wanted some of the titles so at least now I can just buy the ones I want, and at £8.99, they are reasonably priced too.


So far I have seven titles, the covers are just stunning and the paper is good quality.  The covers are much more vibrant than my phone camera can pick up.


These sent me down a rabbit hole of searching out some of the books I loved as a child and I discovered the Puffin Clothbound Collection.  There doesn't seem to be an issue with the print on these as far as I can see, and the covers are beautiful.  So far I have only three of these.


I must admit that I have never read Charlotte's Webb, but I will at some point, isn't the cover lovely?  
I loved Stig of the Dump


I think Black Beauty was my most favourite book as a child, I will definitely be re-reading this soon.


There are more titles I want to collect but these are a bit more pricy at £14.99.

Do you collect any special edition books and what were your favourite books growing up?

-X-

10 comments:

Margaret said...

What lovely bindings. Special collections are a feast for the eyes and the soul aren’t they? I don’t buy books now as I don’t have space but I still gaze longingly at the library shelves of others and over indulge my 9 year old great niece who like me is a voracious reader. I just loved the library room at Bletchley Park, to the point of envy!

Carol said...

Such beautiful book covers in that Timeless Classics collection, Maggie! And, you're right--that price sounds so reasonable. Although I don't collect any special edition books, my house is filled with all sorts of titles. I kept many of the special books I read to my sons when they were small and now read them to my grandson when he visits. I'm thrilled to say he loves books as much as his librarian grandmother always has :)

Jackie said...

What lovely books. You will enjoy Charlottes Web.

Shhh, I still have all my Nancy Drew books. Every Christmas and every birthday I would get three. Run and hide until I had finished them.

God bless.

Poppypatchwork said...

I can't imagine life without books, in my first year of senior school I had a teacher who gave me loads of authors to read and expand the topics. I still love to hold a book in my hands, turn a page and enjoy the plot. I keep one book from each author I like, sometimes I will swap a title for a better book. Your books are so pretty.

butterfly said...

What beautiful looking books .Love them .
Have a fun weekend , hugs June.

Jo said...

They're beautiful editions. My mum was always an avid reader and my dad enjoyed reading too so I must have got my love of books from them. I have some of the Penguin Clothbound Classics and haven't noticed any problem with them. I have books from lots of different collections, some hard back and some paper back, I like to see a mish mash in my bookcase, though I don't keep many books these days, only classics and anything special I've read. My very favourite book growing up was The Secret Garden, I remember snuggling up to my mum whilst she read it to me first of all, special memories. I loved the Enid Blyton mystery series and remember trips to the library to change the book I'd read for the next one in the series, I couldn't get enough of them.

Shrimpton and Perfect said...

My earliest memory of books entailed me taking myself up to our local children's library and picking out tales by Beatrix Potter. I still adore her books. I too have recently started collecting great books with beautiful old or/and charmimg covers. When we move I intend to have a cosy library room. What bliss.

Lowcarb team member said...

Books have been so much a part of my life, I do enjoy them.
Yes Black Beauty was a favourite of mine too ...

Have a great weekend and I hope you find time to sit down with one of your books :)

All the best Jan

Back2OurSmallCorner said...

Those book bindings are so beautiful. Some fond memories of favourite childrens books and also some great classics. I don't have any special edition books like that but I do have a few books that belonged to my mum and also my nan. One of those was 'Black Beauty'

Chris said...

I have always read, no TV when I was young so books were my entertainment.