À la recherche du temps perdu

Recently I reorganised my rather overcrowded bedroom and ended up moving a whole lot of my favourite books to put them within easier reach (and at risk of falling on my head as I sleep...). Having moved the enormous, framed print that had previously inhabited the head of the bed to the end of the dining room table, there was suddenly room for more books in the bedroom.

Mmm...

Current favourites include:

> William H Prescott's The History of the Conquest of Peru, which is also giving my slightly-remembered Spanish a workout with footnotes, etc and is generally enjoyable.

> Great Short Stories of the World, compiled by Barret Clark and Maxim Lieber. My grandparents owned this originally, and I ended up inheriting it. There are some truly unusual stories in it, but a lot of great ones too.

> Bram Stoker's Dracula. I read it first when I was about 11 or so and wasn't all that impressed by it, but a few months ago, it came free with some other classics so I figured it was time to sink my teeth into it again. Better than I remembered.

> Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton (mmm, sexynerdy), which I've just started to read for about the fourth time. Must buy The Architecture of Happiness, which is one of those books you see when they first come out and think, "Oooh, I'll get it next time" about. And then keep forgetting. Or it's not in stock when you're next there. Kind of glad I didn't read The Art of Travel, as I found I utterly and completely enjoyed my holidays in June without realising the possibilities of disorientation, mid-afternoon despair or lethargy before ancient ruins...

> Although I love all of the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, The Magician's Nephew and The Silver Chair have been ones I've enjoyed re-reading lately.

> The Oxford Book of English Verse, edited by Aruther Quiller-Couch (more of a perennial favourite, really).

Admittedly, I read too many "old" books. But it can be hard to find a good-quality "new" book. I have an unending amount of contempt for "chick lit," which seems to be what many book stores believe everyone wants. Either that or it's some pretentious long-winded drivel (if I want that, I can blog ;). Or crime novels, of which I had my fill by the age of 16 or so.

I guess it's just time to really browse through a well-stocked bookshop and discover what's on offer. Maybe explore some more Australian literature. After all, you can always give books away if you don't like them yourself. Even though books I buy tend to get to stay even if I dislike them, and they spend their days crammed into a bookshelf and often never looked at again.