The bookshelf series! I haven't forgotten — summer has just distracted me with its bees and berries and novel reading.
SHELF 4: this is shelf is a remnant of the old organized by color system. I still like how they all are together; it just seems right. So they remain, guarded by our thrift store friend the Avon snow owl.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: (READ THIS!!! it makes me laugh forever. JANE!) this edition is one of those Oxford classic tiny books they were doing for a while - the pages are almost but not quite onionskin thinness. I found this at a library sale - such a nice compact little size for a long book.
Malaise by Nancy Lemann - Naaaaaaaannncccyyyyyyy. I wish she was still writing novels because I love the ones I've read. But I haven't read this one - as long as I haven't read it, I can anticipate.
Sportsman's Paradise by Nancy Lemann - She can be so funny and break your heart at the same time. I haven't read this in a long time but just thinking about how I barely remember anything that happens makes me want to read it again.
The Service of Clouds by Delia Falconer - Delia Falconer snuck into the Nancy Lemann section! This is an advance copy that I bought at Powell's a long time ago (I think it was a fluke to find one for sale, because they don't normally sell them). As I recall this novel was dreamy, ambiguous, romantic. Clouds, Australia, sanitariums, landscapes, photography. For a long time this is what I thought of whenever I heard the title Cloud Atlas, although they are not alike at all.
The Fiery Pantheon by Nancy Lemann - maybe I loved this one more than Sportsman's Paradise? I can hardly remember now. This one has travel and dervishes in it, though, which endears it to me. I've been trying to think how to describe these books and her style and it just flashed in my mind that they remind me a little bit of Whit Stillman, except instead of being movies about rich young people in New York, they're novels about rich young people from the South. (rich meaning not everyone is rich, but it's an environment where some are very rich.)
Lives of the Saints by Nancy Lemann - the first one of hers I read and probably my favorite. Some of the characters from this book do appear here and there in the other books, but it's not really a series.
Complete Novels of Jane Austen, vol. 1 & 2: I found this set at Powell's AGES ago. (Probably during the 90s Reign of Jane when every couple weeks brought a new adaptation.) I love the covers so much!
Persuasion by Jane Austen: Ooh - I think I got this one at an estate sale - the cover is so orange and lovely. I'll post a picture below. I intended to give this as a gift but ended up keeping it due to awesomeness and avarice. I've only read this once - I should read it again.
The Ritz of the Bayou by Nancy Lemann : Poetic non-fiction account of the trial of Edwin Edwards, governor of Louisiana. Subtitle: The New Orleans adventures of a young novelist covering the trials of the Governor of Louisiana, with digressions on smoldering nightclubs, jazz-crazed bars, and other aspects of life in the tropic zone.
The Sensualist: An Illustrated Novel by Barbara Hodgson - I loved her previous book so much (The Tattooed Map) I was desperate to have this one when it came out. I recall being somewhat letdown, but that is not a fair assessment as I'm sure my expectations were sky high. Ooh, opening it up reveals that my copy is autographed! I remember now - I found this at powells - I didn't go to her reading, but she signed a bunch of books and I got one.
Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer - !!!! I've never read it, but it's a lovely UK edition I got for a song. I think I bought it with the idea that SOME DAY my future beach house library might need it.
PREVIOUSLY:
Shelf 3: private library nurse
Shelf 2: state quarters, hamlets
Shelf 1: imaginary islands
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