One of the first books I found at the beginning of this year was the 'A Secret Refuge Series by Lauraine Snelling. Lauraine Snelling was one of those authors whose name I saw popping up when I was on the look out for my favourite Christian authors (such as Janette Oke and Tracie Peterson) so I was very excited when I found this series in a 3-in-1 book for a small $4 at a second hand book store. I finally had the chance to start it 3 days ago and I could hardly put it down. I read until 3am last night and then awoke early this morning to read the remaining pages. I'm still sitting on a buzz after it and I cannot wait to review the series sometime in the future. The World of Downton Abbey was given to me by my wonderful parents for Christmas, it is full of glorious pictures and loads of information about both seasons of the tv series. I haven't had much of a chance to look through it in detail as I hadn't seen the second season and didn't want to spoil it. But I finished season 2 this week so I can finally begin to read it.
The first picture is a copy of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Although I tend to favor the older ones- you know the editions that smell and have yellowish pages and little notes from the previous owner but this brand new one is material bound and is my absolute pride and joy. The second picture is of a lovely Jane Austen journal I received from my parents for my birthday, inside it has beautifully lined pages and every so often a page may have an illustration from one of Austen's novels along with quotes from her various works. The 3rd picture is of two copies of Lorna Doone by R.D Blackmore. The top copy is one of my favourite buys to date. I bought it for 50c at an Op shop, it is material bound and almost falling to pieces. It is a 1957 edition and is an absolute treasure.
And I know it isn't a book but I have to include my Great Expectations (2011 TV Mini-Series) DVD. When it arrived in the mail I just about fainted on the spot (for quite obvious reasons *cough cough*). Again this is something I cannot wait to review although I do not have a clue how I am going to write it in a 'proper' way. I'm sure it will all be a collection of my sighing, and ohhh- ing and ahhh- ing over the series in general and one very talented actor in particular.
All my love,
Mel/Missie (whichever I am now) xx
ps. My Austen collection has grown so much too! I'm amazed at how many copies I have now. I can't wait to share about them but I'll leave that to another post :)
3 comments:
Yay! An update post! :)
I got a lot of books for Christmas too! And don't you just love great deals at second hand shops?! I've found love lovely books recently, my copy of A Tale of Two Cities was one.
I don't think I've ever read Lauraine Snelling even though I've seen her books everywhere! She does book signings at a big Christian book company in the next state over from mine and I have some friends who have met her and love her books. Not sure why I've never read any of her books before but I'll definitely have to check them out.
You say up until 3am too? When I was finishing "Two Cities" I was up extremely late. Bad habits! :)
I'd be very interested in what you thought of season 2 of Downton Abbey. I still can't decide if I liked it or not. Some bits were okay but others were frustrating. That book looks beautiful!
I love that copy of NA you have! I've seen similar editions online and in book stores and have been admiring them. I love the key design too!
That journal looks very familiar. I bought one of those recently but I gave it away to a certain young lady who calls you Missie. I loved the high quality and the quote on the front especially.
That tattered copy of Lorna Doone looks heavenly! I love the feel, look and smell of old books!
Great Expectations!! I will ooh and ahh with you when you when you post a review! And I'll fangirl about that "one very talented actor in particular" till the cows come home! (not sure why that silly expression popped into my head...perhaps because I'm indulging in the bad habit of 3am!)
I'd love to see the new additions to your Austen collection!
By the by, I tried e-mailing you and am curious if you got anything from me. If not maybe you could send me a quick e-mail using the address on the sidebar of Old-Fashioned Charm. I'd love to write a bit.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Loved this post! :)
Thank you so much for the email. I'd have never got it if you hadn't said something. I must have had my old email address on my blog. I'm sorry about that.
Oh wow, I would love to meet her after reading that book. I feel kind of sad now that I've finished it. I sort of don't know what to do with myself. Perhaps I'll stay up to three tonight and continue Bleak House :P I'm glad I'm not the only one who reads to all hours of the morning.
Hmm I may have to do a sort of review for Downton. I did like Season 2, mainly because I am very interested in the war-time era but the end of the Christmas special was the highlight for me :)
'till the cows come home' ahahahaha! Do you know what you have just got yourself into? Haha I'm so glad I have someone to fangirl with about that actor :P and I loved your review of GE it was quite perfect!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too!
Ooh! I recognize that journal!!! Heehee. And then I saw Miss Laurie's comment and it made me smile. ;-) It is a delightful journal. I just love all the quotes inside.
That Northanger Abbey is delightful! I need to get myself a copy of NA one of these days. Well, it's inside a 7-novels-in-one book I got for my birthday, but I don't have it separately. ;-)
Oh, I do hope you do a post with all your JA stuff! That would be swell. =)
Heehee, most of "my books" are on the shelf at a library somewhere... but of course Jane Austen is another thing. We must always have her on hand, after all. =D
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