Fairy Revel

I realized I forgot to post my Powell’s haul, picked up on my trip there last month. I sold a bunch of books and got back about $180 in credit. Here’s what I brought home:

From the top down:

The Greatest Knight: The Unsung Story of the Queen’s Champion by Elizabeth Chadwick.
A historical novel about William Marshal, one of the most important knights in history, whose life was interwoven into that of Henry II and Richard the Lionhearted. I heard of this book in a review of a novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine, in which Elizabeth Chadwick was recommended as being very accurate in her novels. I’m looking forward to it, as the Platagenets are so often sensationalized, and believe me, it is not necessary; they were quite interesting enough on their own. They don’t have to be the Tudors.

William Marshal by Georges Duby.
A biography of the above, for the historical perspective. I usually find Duby’s writing dry but accurate, even if I sometimes don’t care for his over-emphasis on certain things.

The Ties That Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England by Barbara A. Hanawalt.
The title says it all. I’m interested to read this one, since it’s tough to find out about medieval peasant life, much less anything good or even balanced about medieval peasant life. (It’s harder still to learn anything about servant life, but that’s another matter.)

Spinning in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts.
A book about how to make yarn using high-whorl spindles (as opposed to other types of spindle). Most books try to cover a wide variety of spindle types, so I was happy to find this book that focuses exclusively on the high-whorl type, which is what I’m learning on.

A Small Sound of the Trumpet by Margaret Wade Labarge.
A book on women in medieval times that was recommended in a review. I’m hoping it’ll give a well-reasoned analysis without too much of the “medieval men were pigs” kind of slant that a lot of these books are prone to.

A Medieval Life: Cecilia Penifader of Brigstock, c. 1297-1344 by Judith Bennett.
I picked this one up on a whim. It’s a slim volume documenting the life of a female peasant in the 14th century.

The Machiavellian Enterprise by Leo Paul S. De Alvarez.
A commentary on Machiavelli’s The Prince that appears to offer an unusual take on the text. I added it to my reading list based on a somewhat peculiar review on the Amazon page. I’ve already got Alvarez’s own translation of The Prince to go along with it, and I’m planning to read The Education of Christian Prince by Erasmus as a counterpoint.

Medieval Women by Eileen Power.
This is a Folio Society edition, in a red slipcase. So even if I can’t afford to join the Folio Society right now, I can sometimes buy the books.

Richard the Lionheart by John Gillingham.
This is a book I’ve needed for a very long time, for a novel project I’ve had in the works for years. John Gillingham is well-respected biographer of Richard I, and I loved his other volume, Richard I in the Yale Monarchs Series. I think this is one of the first books I put on my Amazon wishlist, and it’s nice to finally take it off.

Richard & John: Kings at War by Frank McLynn.
This one sounds entertaining as well as informative, and compares Richard and John to each other, as well as to their popular images. I don’t know about you, but I always liked the image of “Prince John, the Phoney King of England”, sucking his thumb and crying for his mommy. ;)

Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller.
Oh, how I resisted this book. I get that “Stitch ‘N Bitch” isn’t really referring to the ladies themselves, but I hate it when women call themselves bitches, and I hate over-the-top snark. So maybe you can see why I was a bit turned off by this? But it’s recommended by a lot of people, and really, when it comes down to it, it’s a pretty good introduction to knitting.

Firethorn by Sarah Micklem.
Another one picked up on a whim. The hardback I got has a doozy of a cover. The paperback cover is different, but very pretty too. From the description on the back, sounds like it’s a good book for character study.

The Knitter’s Book of Wool by Clara Parkes.
A book about my favorite fiber! What more could I ask? Part craft book, part sheep breed book, this beautiful volume has lots of nice pictures of sheep and their wool, with lots of lovely, classic patterns too.

Perrault’s Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault.
Probably my favorite find this trip (thanks for spotting it, Danielle!) Charles Perrault is to French fairy tales what the Grimm Brothers are to German. This volume is covered in lovely gold-leafed, block-printed wine-colored buckram, and features the illustrations of Edmond Dulac, famous French fairy tale illustrator (and my favorite).

In all, this was a great trip! I offloaded a bunch of old books, got some new (to me) books, and was able to remove a few things from my wishlist that had been on there a very, very long while.

Not to mention, the hotel we stayed at had TV Japan, which is NHK’s channel for improving American and Canadian relations with Japan. The hotel was clean and comfortable, so I was surprised to find myself actually wanting to hang out there and watch the mesmerizing PBS-style Japanese programming. There was also a kaiten-zushi restaurant, Marine Polis, just across a parking lot. For a few Japanophiles from the sticks, who are lucky to find Japanese anything anywhere, it felt like the heavens were smiling upon us.

I say “at” Christmas because only one of these was a gift. I did receive a gift card for Barnes & Noble, so technically the gifts will happen this weekend.

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories – A gift from my mother. This is a beautiful two-volume set containing all of the Sherlock Holmes short stories, and featuring the silhouette of the Great Detective himself on the spines of both books (a third volume of novels completes the image). The outside and covers of each volume are decorated with vintage color illustrations, and the text is heavily annotated, and accompanied not only by vintage black-and-white illustrations, but black-and-white photographs of actual locations mentioned in the tales, taken around the time Holmes and Watson would have seen them. This set is so gorgeous I’m almost afraid to touch it (and the designer in me is totally thrilled that they chose a lovely Arts & Crafts typeface for the titles; I will have to discover just which one it is).

Bead on a Wire: Making Handcrafted Wire and Beaded Jewelry – This book teaches basic wire working skills, starting with “Working with Jewelry Pliers” and moving on to more difficult techniques. I’m working on getting my toolkit together, in a pared-down version, and can’t wait to get started hammering, twisting and wrapping! I’m most excited to finally be able to make my own clasps and other findings, sometimes the most expensive parts of a jewelry project.

The Mind of the Maker – I’m not totally sure how to describe this book, so I’ll grab something from the back cover copy:

This classic, with a new introduction by Madeleine L’Engle, is by turns an entrancing mediation on language; a piercing commentary on the nature of art and why so much of what we read, hear, and see falls short; and a brilliant examination of the fundamental tenets of Christianity. The Mind of the Maker will be relished by those already in love with Dorothy L. Sayers and those who have not yet met her.

A mystery writer, a witty and perceptive theologian, culture critic, and playwright, Dorothy Sayers sheds new,unexpected light on a specific set of statements made in the Christian creeds. She examines anew such ideas as the image of God, the Trinity, free will, and evil, and in these pages a wholly revitalized understanding of them emerges. The author finds the key in the parallels between the creation of God and the human creative process. She continually refers to each in a way that illuminates both.

I’m resisting the urge to put other books down for that one, but I will be good and wait, hehe.