A little peek onto my bedside table

I've never been a one-book-girl. I think its nicer to have several on the go at once, so that I can read whatever suits my mood at the time. 

To this end, I always have a pile of books on my bedside table so that I can make up my mind once I'm in bed whether I'd prefer something light, or something serious, or something that will put me to sleep. Actually, what often happens is that I'll read something so serious that I wont be able to sleep, and then I'll have to turn the light back on and read a chapter of Harry Potter so I can think *happy  thoughts* and be able to nod off. Here's what's in my stack at the moment: 

 

Je Suis Australienne by Rosemary Lancaster (University of W.A. Press, 2008) 

This book was sent to me for Christmas by an Australian friend, who obviously knows me way too well. It's a collection of stories about Australian women who lived in Paris between 1800 and 1945, beautifully retold by way of their letters and diaries. I haven't got very far into it yet, but I can't wait to be inspired by their tales of life in Paris, and to see whether there are any links to my own! (This is one of my favourite things about reading books or watching films about Paris nowadays - so many of the things they mention are things I've seen or experienced as well, and it makes me feel more parisian, somehow.) 

The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis de Bernières (Minerva, 1993) 

I picked this one up yesterday, actually, at my favourite english bookstore Shakespeare & Co for 4 euros! (secondhand, of course.) I haven't started it yet, but I read his more famous work Captain Corelli's Mandolin a few months ago and loved it, the language was beautiful and though it was a love-story, it wasn't at all clichéd. I think I might take this one with me to Morocco next week, his books have the right sort of pace for the kind of thing you want to read on a train. 

 

The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro (Vintage, 2004) 

I've just recently been introduced to Alice Munro's work and I'm completely in love with it - this is the third collection of hers I've bought this month. The stories seem so simple yet they stay with you long after you've put the book down. I read somewhere that you should only read one of her stories a day, because otherwise you don't have enough time to mull over everything, and I think that's quite right. 

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (Vintage, 2004) 

Lastly one of my favourite books of all time. I have a copy of this in storage somewhere in Australia, but when I saw this new edition with this beautiful new cover I couldn't resist. My copy at home has a still from the movie version on the front of it, which I hate, so this cover seems to do Dodie's words much better justice. If you've seen the movie and didn't like it, don't be put off reading the book, it's so much better. I'll leave you with a teaser from the first chapter, which will hopefully either inspire you to run out and buy a copy this instant, or to search your bookshelves for your own copy and re-read it - either way you will not be disappointed, I promise. 

"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy. I can't say that I am really comfortable, and there is the depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight left. And I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring - I wrote my very best poem whilst sitting on the hen-house."

Off to find a hen-house. 

Bisous x Alice