fajrdrako | Carleton Place and the Book Gallery... (Reply)

For the past few years, every year at about this time I go with a bunch of friends to visit The Book Gallery, a second-hand bookshop in Carleton Place - a little town not far from Ottawa.

The place is crowded with books of all types, and I often find books I can't find in Ottawa. I had a list - including Paul Cornell's Human Nature and P.C Hodgell's Seeker's Mask. Didn't find them, but I found a lot of what I was looking for. I got:

Anthony, Patricia, Conscience of the Beagle. I liked the sound of the first paragraph.

Bear, Elizabeth, Hammered. On spec.

Beverley, Jo, To Rescue a Rogue. Jo is a friend of mine from Dunnett fandom, and I've fallen slightly behind on reading her books. The truth is, I didn't much like Skylark and after reading it, didn't have the heart to read another anytime soon. But it's been a while and I do generally enjoy her books.

Bryson, Bill, The Lost Continent, one of his I've never read. I didn't want to get books I was sure I could find in the library, but this was only $1.00.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, Poetry: An Anthology for the Modern Reader, ed. E.T. Donaldson. This is the pièce de résistance of the day. I've been looking for a good edition of the Canterbury Tales for a while now, and everything I've been finding has been rewritten out of the original Middle English. This book is a beautiful thick hardcover that looks hardly read, and it has everything I want, including notes and glossaries, commentaries, and the text of Troilus and Crisede and Minor Poems. And it was only $8.00. I've been doing a mental happy dance ever since I nabbed this one.

Cornell, Paul, Doctor Who: The Shadows of Avalon - no, it's not Human Nature, but I'm happy to have found it anyway!

Dunnett, Dorothy, The Game of Kings, Popular Library edition, back from when paperbacks cost $1.95 - yikes! Yes, I already own this book. Many editions. In fact, I can probably recite a good part of this book without consulting the text: don't tempt me. I got this to complete a set. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Ford, John M., Growing Up Weightless. I love Ford's writing with a passion.

Heyer, Georgette, The Foundling and Regency Buck. I have of course read these, but they are missing from my collection, so I replaced them.

Lane, Andy, and Mortimore, Jim, The New Doctor Who Adventures: Lucifer Rising because I liked Lane's book Torchwood: Slow Decay, and because I liked the title.

Wilhelm, Kate, Let the Fire Fall (She's a long-time favourite author.)

It was fun book-browsing in this rambling old brick house while a thunderstorm raged outside. Afterwards, when it had cleared up a little, we went to Tim Horton's for coffee, and then to "The Mill at Ashton", a pub with delicious food. I had their special of the day: shepherd's pie with caesar salad and cream of celery soup. The soup was homemade and it was delicious.

We walked a little in the village of Ashton. Beautiful blue and purple irises. Many birds. Mist rising on the Jock River. A lovely evening... okay, there were also mosquitoes: so it goes.