Friday, January 22, 2010

This is what it is



I love reading. I love that quiet time spent in another place, another country, another time, the place that books take you to. Ink and paper, the weight of a book, the smell of books, the texture of paper, beautiful. I love reading a book that has been given to me by Robin. It is almost like spending time with someone when you read their gift.
My parents gave me some money for Christmas, knowing that the year had been a hard one for me. For a while I just thought to let the everyday household budget eat the money up, but then I decided that there was something else I wanted to do with it. So I wrote to Mr B's.
Some weeks ago I had visited Mr B's and asked for a recommendation for a book that was beautiful both  to look at and to read. They handed me The Girl with Glass Feet, a heavy hardback with silver edges and an elegant cover. How well it fit the desire, beautiful to look at, hold, read. So I wrote and asked them, if I paid them a set amount of money ( I did try magic beans first but they were having none of it!), could they do this once a month for me. Could they send me an elegantly wrapped book of their choosing, beautiful to read, something to transport out of the everyday, off and away. Mr B's run an amazing 'book spa' where you can go and talk to them about books you have loved reading, things you enjoy and they recommend books for you. They already have a service where they will, for a small fee, wrap books and send them out as gifts for you, sort of like Amazon but with more style. At Christmas when I went there there were piles of books stacked high waiting to head off in the post, wrapped in brown paper and string with a seal of The Book Monkey in red.
Anyway, it seemed that Mr B's had been thinking along similar lines to the way that I was thinking, although still unsure of the mechanics of the scheme, so would I mind being a guinea pig. A book guinea pig. Bliss.
So, for the next 11 months they will carefully select something that they hope will delight my senses. This morning when the first package arrived I was hoping to leave it sitting by my work table for a while, but curiosity got the better of me. ( Too much living with cats). You can buy this service for yourself, if you feel like spoiling yourself,a feeling that I often have, or give it as a gift, sort of like a magazine subscription only books instead, and what an amazingly wonderful way to show someone that you love them with Valentine's Day coming up.  I think it would make the perfect present for a new born child, a picture book a month.




Beautiful. Now I must finish the Dragonflight which only has a few pages left, enter the world of The Coral Thief, meet the enigmatic philosopher-thief and wander the labyrinthine streets and gambling houses of Paris in 1815.
I need to make more time to read.

17 comments:

  1. I'm in the middle of 'The girl with glass feet' and find it wonderous! Can't wait to hear what you think... And such a lovely cover on 'The Coral Thief' will have to look for that one too. What a delightful idea to have a book a month sent to you - special for you! I admire that you didn't put the $$ into food and heat!
    Ulla

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  2. Such a beautiful idea, Jackie. And the monkey seal!All lovely.

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  3. That's just fantastic. What a wonderful idea, backed up by brilliant service. Such a lovely romantic (yet somehow sensible) idea. Jackie, you ARE a genius. I wonder if they could do a murder-mystery themed one for Mari?

    Cor! It makes the mouth water!!!

    You should sell the story to the national newspapers Jackie. It's WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. What a fantastic idea, so simple but so perfect, enjoy!

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  5. Inspired idea Jackie. I love how you elevate living itself into a magical art form. (That's secretly why I read your blog in the hope that some of your wild Welsh magic rubs off!)

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  6. I think the idea of a beautiful book a month is absolutely inspired.

    Just reading this post makes me want to try this myself.

    Happy reading! :)

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  7. Brilliant! I love mr B's, it's one of my favourite places in the world. Please make sure you keep us updated on what he sends you, so we can get the recommendations too!
    Best wishes, Ros in Monmouth

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  8. The Coral Thief is beautiful. Everything I could have wanted and more. Part of the beauty of it is that I had heard of it, seen it or heard a review but am not sure it is one I would have picked up mysel. I find i am taking more time out of the day for myself to just sit quietly and read. I don't want to pick at the book. I want to give myself time to sit and soak it up and sink in so that the walls of my cottage fall away and I travel back in time and across space to Paris.
    The Girl With Glass Feet is a book that I loved, Ulla. I don't know where my copy is at the moment. I lent it to someone who lent it to someone ( an illegal form of file sharing that is rarely discussed). I loved the talk of light and the fall of light and the magica realisem of the creature that turns all to white and the moth creatures. There was so much in it that spoke to my heart. Wonderful.
    Do have a look for a book called The Stolen Child also. Will go and try and see if I can find my copy. It is a wild book about changelings and marvelous too.

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  9. I was given a book token for Xmas, and have been keeping it for something special. I shall investigate the Girl with the glass feet, as I am now very intrigued!! Couldn't agree more about the feel and smell of an unopened book. It truly is an adventure waiting to be had!! Will look forward to more news of your exciting monthly parcels.

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  10. What a wonderful, simply scrumptious idea!! Cracking open a new book is bliss.

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  11. reading your words about it was almost as got as receiving it, almost!
    You should write books as well as drawing... well, I know...time is a luxury that is too scarce.
    I have been admiring your work for a long time. For xmas I was offered Robin Hobb's The dragon Keeper with your artwork on the cover. It thrones on my night table. Robin Hobb is my favourite writer I have read EVERYTHING she has ever written or almost and your covers for her trilogies are so wonderful that I feels compelled to buy them all over again ... but money is another one of these luxuries that are too scarce and I do like keeping the books I have read because they keep the trace of the moments in time when you've read them, a little sand for summertime, cookie crumbs for wintertime, scented bathfoam etc...

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  12. Thanks. I do write books. Short ones mostly. The artwork for Dragon Keeper is now in Robin Hobb's sitting room above her fire. I had to give her something to say thanks for all the hours and hours of pleasure she gave me wandering through her amazing worlds.

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  13. And I hope many more to comes. I'm sure she takes great pleasure having your artwork above her fireplace! I'll explore the web for your books. Nice evening to you.

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  14. LOVE this idea and give want to give it a hearty go! Just emerged from reading Elizabeth Berg's 'True to Form' and 'Until the Real Thing Comes Along'. Sigh. Books....

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  15. What wonderful titles! Now I want to read these books, and handle them, myself...

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  16. A book spa! What a marvelous find, and thank you for sharing the site with us. Your mind works so beautifully and inquisitively...having them wrap and send a book each month is magical. I don't have a Kindle or any other "e-reader" because I too love to hold and handle my books. How can something that lives inside a digital pad be a real friend? :)

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