Alex Nye's Blog: Life Through A Window - Posts Tagged "penguin"

How many books are too many? The bookshelves in my narrow hallway are sliding sideways with their weight of books, and I have special shelves for my favourites. I've even - yes, I admit it - colour coded my old Penguin classics for years, orange on one shelf, black on another, and whenever I have moved house (which admittedly is not very often) these colour-coded shelves have pride of place. These are old paperbacks I bought as a teenager and then as a student and then as a struggling writer, and they are soft with age, much-loved, treasured for their memories. The hallway is full of those books that might be on their way out, the half-way house spot. They are sliding towards retirement, or being recycled in charity shops. Then I have the really old books that once belonged to my forebears (posh word, but can't think of any other way of putting it), my grandmother, my mother, with inscriptions in them dating back to 1914 onwards. They have delicate tissue end papers, covers like soft moleskin (although it's not), and ghosts lift off the pages and live again in the rare moments when they are opened. Teetering on other shelves I have a plethora of more recent titles, wonderful book cover designs that compete for attention and celebrate all the lusciousness of what lies inside. But... don't be fooled. Never judge a book by its cover, as they say. Although of course we do, all the time, it's an essential part of the whole marketing of books. I've realised I've read an awful lot of wonderful titles recently. Like many, I browse in Waterstones, and order a batch of new ones from my local library in Dunblane, but I also buy books too, lots of them. A recent purchase was STILL LIFE by Sarah Winman, which I can thoroughly recommend. Published by Fourth Estate this is a sweeping novel full of life and colour, unforgettable characters, friendship, war and art. Graham Norton describes it as 'sheer joy', and who am I to argue? I'd agree with that. It has a wonderful life-affirming quality to it, and although it's about art and good fortune and opportunities which few of us probably enjoy - the chance to live in Florence for example - it lacks snobbery, and is full of good humour. It ripples with hope.