An art and book shop

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

Down to the Arts and Book shop. I’d buy lots of acrylic paints, some watercolours, gouache, oil paints, felt pens, pastels, charcoal, conte crayons, pencils. Then I’d get canvases, large and small in white and black. Cartridge paper, watercolour paper, sketch pads. Glitter, metallic paper, ink, lino to cut for printing.

Science and technology books, sci-fi books, novels, biographies, autobiographical books, historic books, books about galleries, about the renaissance, about astronomy.

Then I would donate half of it to a local school or college, because I would not have space for it all, or time to use it.

My autobiography?

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

“Life had been simple and uncomplicated until my blog page changed overnight.”

Yes, it had been OK, I could talk about my early years, and which schools I went to, but these days data can be mined. So if I do write my autobiography it will be in a book. At least then if you want my information you might have to pay for it!

Then there is the question of whether it’s an autobiography or biography? Would anyone care enough to want to write about me, or would I get someone to ghost write it for me?

Seeing the outrage and amazement caused by the recent release of information from the writer of Matt Hancock’s biography, thousands of pages from WhatsApp, I’m not sure I’d want to do it (although mine might be boring and not salacious).

Thank you Martha❤️

Look what’s arrived! The new book by Martha Kennedy. All the way from the states. I can’t tell you how excited I am to read it. Its about her life teaching English at South China Teacher’s University in Guangzhou in 82/83.

I’ve been reading excerpts from it in her blog, ‘I am a writer, yes I am’ on WordPress and I’m really looking forward to it. (If I can get it back of my hubby who just snaffled it!)

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Some of our books

Some of our books, we have shelves in three alcoves in the living room but the third was too damp to have one because of damp in the neighbours house. Don’t ask!

Then there are about 100 in our bedroom and more in the front bedroom. When I got to 1000 I stopped counting! I have to admit it’s my hubby who is the biggest reader of the two of us. But I’m definitely a bibliophile. (book lover).

Favourites sci-fi, art, fantasy, biography, science, astronomy, thrillers, autobiography, design, ceramics……

Tidal waves of books

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Tidal waves of books,

Sloshing round my room,

Pouring down from bookcases

Dripping from tables,

Making a beach of pamphlets

Puddles of novels

A tide of documents.

I sit in a paper sailing boat

Atop an ocean of biography.

Littered with paperbacks

Swimming with pratchett turtles

and the old man of the sea.

I’m drowning in books,

Flooded by books

Waves crashing over my head.

Whirlpools of literature ……..

Books

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What are your favourite books?

I’ve visited people and they had none, I didn’t like to ask, occasionally there would be a tabloid newspaper but that was about it. Sometimes people would have a few romance novels, or old classic ones by Dickens or Stevenson which they probably inhereted from an older relative or were prizes from school.

I was talking about this with my partner because we are both avid readers. I know my mother collected abridged versions of books from a book club run by readers digest and she also had a subscription to their monthly booklet. I remember reading books by Hammond Innes and Alistair McLean as I became a teenager. I was also seriously interested in science fiction and particularly liked Arthur C Clarke and Issac Asimov. The three laws of robotics.

In my adult life I fell in love with Terry Pratchett who wrote fantasy fiction. That was probably because my partner introduced me to JRR Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin. I’m also interested in science, art, biography physics and science fiction. So we ended up having over a thousand books if you count all his books about trains, bikes and tractors. Sometimes I just look at all the shelves and wonder where they came from……