reading matter

I usually come back from a trip home with at least one book discovered somewhere in my parents' house. This time I picked out Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale. The book itself is a pretty decrepit paperback (as James pointed out, it has a serious case of old-book-smell) but so far I'm enjoying it.


And here are three of the five books I bought at the Brattle: Always in Vogue, by Edna Woolman Chase (Vogue's editor from 1914-1952) and Ilka Chase, Noblesse Oblige, edited by Nancy Mitford (I just read one of her novels, Don't Tell Alfred, which was highly enjoyable), and Fun for the Household (1897), which I just bought because it's such a pretty little book. It's full of instructions for parlor amusements like "Blindfolded Platter Twirling," "Squirrel in the Middle," and, everyone's favorite game, "My Lady's Reception Apparel." The other two books I bought—Wilcox's Dictionary of Costume and an edition of Boswell's London Journals—are still in Brookline because my suitcase was getting waaay to heavy.