Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

It is that brief time of the year between Christmas decorations coming down in the shops and the Easter eggs appearing. For a couple of short weeks the windows of our high streets will be dominated by red hearts and flowers, chocolates and bears with silly messages attached, and other fluffy clichés.

For a slightly different card or gift this Valentine's Day your independent bookseller might have the answer.

For a more sophisticated take on the Valentine's Day card what about these unusual cards from Marijana Dworski? This one is “Thousand and One Nights” inspired by 1900s Spanish Modernista movement:

Barbara at March House Books has some rather different vintage cards: This cute card is a Valentine for a teacher:

Barbara has some other lovely vintage cards which you can view here, here and here.

If you're looking for a romantic gift then Charlotte in Love : The Courtship and Marriage of Charlotte Brontë is available as a signed hardback from CL Hawley Books:

Also available is Auden in Love : The Intimate Story of a Lifelong Love Affair, a memoir of the relationship between Auden and the American Chester Kallman.

Another sweet idea is an appropriate book of poetry. How about Elizabethan Love Lyrics:

or Love Poems on the Underground, both suitable for the cash-strapped, are also available from CL Hawley.

Another unusual gift is this charming music score from March House Books, Why Don't You Fall in Love with Me?:

March House Books also have some fun picture book titles including Cupid and True Love both by Babette Cole.

And if you must buy chocolates and roses, they're available in book form too. Orangeberry Books have a nice copy of The Love of Roses : From Myth to Modern Culture, signed by the illustrator, and there are lots of books about chocolate at Books and Bygones.

This is NOT 'yet another' WW2 naval memoir!

For one of the finest accounts of the experiences of a young naval rating followed by his further experiences as a young officer in the Royal Navy during WW2 you will find it hard to beat 'A Passage to Sword Beach', published by the Naval Institute Press.

Brendan Maher, a native of Manchester joined the Royal Navy in February 1943 and was sent to HMS Raleigh, the shore-based training establishment in Devon, for his basic training. Here he was issued with his ratings uniform, received instruction in drill, seamanship, signalling, gunnery, etc. and on successful completion he was evaluated as a potential officer. In the meantime he held the rank of Ordinary Seaman and after a short spell in barracks at HMS Drake at Devonport he was posted to the light cruiser, HMS Cardiff. Here he quickly learned about the lower deck, of ‘piped’ orders, hoisting the ship’s boat, mess catering, the daily ‘tot’ of rum (enjoyed by his 'mess mates' as he was too young), how to sling his hammock, etc., until July 1943 when he was posted to HMS King Alfred at Hove for training as an officer.

On passing out from his officer course, which again he describes in some detail, he held the rank of Midshipman and after training in gunnery at HMS Pembroke at Chatham and in minesweeping at HMS Lochinvar, on the Forth River near Edinburgh, he served briefly in HM Motor Minesweeper 84, for some months in the Halcyon class minesweeper HMS Jason and then transferred to Coastal Forces and the minesweeping capable ML137 as third officer. ML 137 was attached to the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla and with shallower draft was able to sweep further inshore than most at Sword Beach, in advance of the Normandy invasion of 1944, hence the book's title.

There have been many books of naval memoirs but this one is a real gem. It is subtitled 'minesweeping in the Royal Navy' but it is so much more than that, describing life on board and explaining simply the naval evolutions of both normal ship routine and handling as well as in action. Sadly this book does not appear to have been published in UK but only in the United States so if you have an interest in Naval matters it may have passed you by. Fortunately we have a few copies in stock to fill that gap in your library but we can't supply what should be the demand for this book so look out for a copy!

(Extract from a fuller version published on the ABfaR Blog in August 2013)

Excitement at March House Books!

I don’t often buy books without first viewing them, but I couldn't resist this collection.

I'm offered books on an almost daily basis. Many are not for me, but when they are I either pay a visit or ask the seller to post them. Once I'm happy with condition I send a cheque.  If they are not up to scratch they are returned, with an appropriate amount to cover the seller's costs. 

On this occasion, the collection comprised over 250 books, and the seller lived several hours away. I could hardly ask him to post them, but on the other hand, I didn't want to ask Terry to make the six-hour round trip, to collect them. So I found a courier who could collect and deliver – and hey presto here they are.

I’ve had several conversations with the seller, so I know what's in the collection, but I have no real idea of condition – so fingers crossed!

Essential supplies to hand, a nice blank page in my stock book, and here we go -

Please visit March House Books to browse our stock. You may also enjoy the following links,

C L Hawley carries literary criticism and literary biography including books on Jane Austen, the Brontes, Mrs Gaskell, Sylvia Plath, William Morris, the thirties poets etc., plus a general academic stock, and books on Yorkshire and Lancashire including dialect poetry. 

Peakirk Books specialises in childrens books, has a good range of crime fiction and carries a general stock. Stephen Foster carries rare books and fine bindings.

StephenFoster carries rare books and fine bindings.

Amwell Book Company carries modern art, architecture and photography and has a shop in Central London. East Riding Books carries books on all aspects of music.

EastRiding Books carries books on all aspects of music.

Crossposted March House Books

Halloween presents?

A thought struck me the other day: do people buy Halloween presents, and if not, why not?

So many of what were once relatively minor dates in the liturgical calendar seem to have grown in importance since my youth and are now celebrated in all manner of ways. Halloween is one such and is almost universal; why not encourage the exchange of presents at Halloween as happens at the major events of Christmas and Easter?

I'm all for including Halloween and don't mind a bit if I'm setting a precedent. It's a long time between Easter and Christmas, especially for a child, and it will help to bridge that celebration desert somewhat. Several ibooknet members have what might be considered very suitable halloween gifts.

To get you in the Halloween mood try C. L. Hawley for an article about Dracula in the Critical Quarterly, Ghost Stories are being offerered by Orangeberry Books and by  G. A. Michael Sims who also has a particularly gross title about the gibbet called 'Hanging in Chains', and recipes for Pumpkin Soup and possibly even toffee apples can be found at Books & Bygones.

Top 10 kids' book blogs

Ibooknet member Barbara of March House Books has had her book blog listed in Tesco's Top 10 kids' book blogs.

Of Barbara's blog they say:

This beautiful blog is brimming with stunning illustrations that make it easy to lose an hour scrolling through. Bobby, the blogger, is a book dealer who specialises in vintage illustrations. She treats us to the gorgeous images from 1920s tales of little girls going to finishing school or exerts from Cecil Aldin’s 1905 “A Gay Dog”.

We're not surprised as March House Book Blog is one of the prettiest blogs around.

Also listed are the inspirational Playing by the Book and An Awfully Big Blog Adventure which is the joint effort of some wonderful children's authors.

Looking for a present for a book lover?

As lots of friends and relatives can be difficult to buy a gift for, gift vouchers and gift cards are very useful. An number of ibooknet sellers offer gift cards on their own websites, available to purchase online and in a wide variety of denominations. They can be spent online on the dealer's website and most dealers ship books to most countries. Here are a few dealers who sell gift cards, with a brief outline of the dealer's specialism, so you can select the card most likely to delight your recipient.

Bagot Books carries a general stock with an emphasis on UK travel/topography/history.

Jane Badger Books carries a wide range of pony books: everything from Ruby Ferguson to the Pullein-Thompsons, with many interesting detours between.

C L Hawley carries literary criticism and literary biography including books on Jane Austen, the Brontes, Mrs Gaskell, Sylvia Plath, William Morris, the thirties poets etc., plus a general academic stock, and books on Yorkshire and Lancashire including dialect poetry.


Peakirk Books specialises in childrens books, has a good range of crime fiction and carries a general stock.

Stephen Foster carries rare books and fine bindings.

Amwell Book Company carries modern art, architecture and photography and has a shop in Central London. You can read more about their shop here.

East Riding Books carries books on all aspects of music.

Marchhouse Books carries Children's and illustrated books plus a very small general stock.

The pictured book is:

a first edition of Fire in the Punchbowl from the stock of Jane Badger Books





N.B. individual dealers have their own terms and conditions so do read the individual websites properly and email the dealer if you are unsure.

National Poetry Day

There's lots happening for National Poetry Day 2011. The National Poetry Day poet in residence for 2011 is Jo Shapcott and she's written a poem on the theme of games especially for the day. You can read Jo Shapcott's poem here.

Faber and Faber meanwhile tweeted about their YouTube channel of poetry readings including this one of Simon Armitage reads 'Aviators' from Seeing Stars

More poetry news includes the awarding of the Forward Prize for Poetry last night to the four times nominated John Burnside. Burnside has finally won the Forward Poetry Prize for best collection with Black Cat Bone.

And in a happy poetic coincidence the Nobel Prize for Literature went to Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer.