Going Crazy at the Book Sales Part 1

This week, more exactly on Thursday morning, the sales started at the largest book stores in Helsinki. And Friday was my pay day. Dangerous combination, as you can certainly imagine! ;) I worked quite late on Friday, but could not keep away from the sales, so instead of heading home I took the train downtown and went to see the bargains at my favorite book store. And of course I could not just take a look, I had to buy a few - well quite a few - books. But it did not end there! On Saturday I visited the store again, and ended up with another pile of books. And I should be saving money, not spending it on so many books! Well, as a friend of mine reminded me once, after I had bought some clothes from a sale, it would have cost me quite a lot more had I bought all those clothes, and this time all those books, at their original price. I quite like my friend's logic here! ;)

I'll divide this book sale buys post in three parts and start with some classics:

Karen Blixen (aka Isak Dinesen): Seven Gothic Tales
Ever since I saw an old interview with Karen Blixen on TV some years ago I have intended to someday read something by her. She was a veritable master story teller. She also had quite an interesting life. I'm looking forward to reading at least some, if not all, of these tales later this year.

Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone
I actually already had a copy of The Moonstone somewhere, but this Oneworld Classics edition is much more reader friendly than the one I already had. The Moonstone has been said to be the first modern English detective novel. A tale of thwarted love and a stolen diamond, and it's written by Wilkie Collins! What more could one want from a book?

Olivia Manning: The Levant Trilogy
I read The Balkan Trilogy as a teenager, but have not read this one yet. This historical novel continues the story of Guy and Harriet Pringle started in The Balkan Trilogy, but now the story moves from Europe to Egypt, Jerusalem and Syria. The time period is WWII. Hmm, it might be a good idea to reread The Balkan Trilogy before I read this one...

Sylvia Townsend Warner: Summer Will Show
I read this wonderful historical novel set in Paris during the 1848 revolution in 2009 and am happy to have my own copy now. Summer Will Show tells the story of Sophia, who joins her enstranged husband in Paris after the death of their children and falls in love with her husbands sometime mistress Minna. The book was originally published in 1936.

Part 2 will follow in a few days...