“I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.”-Noël Coward (born on 12-16-1899)
Noël Coward, circa 1914
“Impropriety is the soul of wit.”-W. Somerset Maugham (died on 12-16-1965)
W. Somerset Maugham
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775.
Jane Austen. 16 December 1775-18 July 1817.
“Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.”-Jane Austen
JOURNAL OF THE MONTH
I’ve been saving this gem for last, and boy was it worth the wait! Journal of the Month is a subscription service-a literary Birchbox, if you will. Each month, you or your lucky gift recipient will receive a new (and surprise!) copy of a participating journal. What a fabulous and thoughtful treasure for the writer in your life. There are six available plans.
GO HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
THE UNEMPLOYED PHILOSOPHERS GUILD:
I only discovered this site a few days ago [thanks for the intro, Acid Free Pulp], and it was instant love. Although it’s not dedicated to books, the literature section is full of fun, whimsical, affordable items!
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Alice’s Enchantmints. $3.00. Image from The Unemployed Philosophers Guild.
Much Ado About Nothings. $6.50. Image from The Unemployed Philosophers Guild.
Zora Neale Hurston Card. $3.50. Image from The Unemployed Philosophers Guild.
DETAILS:
FIRST STOP: EDWARD GOREY HOUSE STORE
SECOND STOP: JANE AUSTEN GIFT SHOP
THIRD STOP: OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING
FOURTH STOP: THE READER’S CATALOG
FIFTH STOP: THE LITERARY GIFT COMPANY
SIXTH STOP: BAS BLEU
CHARLES DICKENS
Charles Dickens
REASON: Is it possible to get through winter without pulling out a volume of Dickens? What a desperate, weary, chilly world his characters inhabit! It is enough to make the pages freeze mid-turn.
“Bleak, dark, and piercing cold, it was a night for the well-housed and fed to draw round the bright fire, and thank God they were at home; and for the homeless starving wretch to lay him down and die. Many hunger-worn outcasts close their eyes in our bare streets at such times, who, let their crimes have been what they may, can hardly open them in a more bitter world.”-Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
If you missed My Top Six Cold Weather Writers, go here.
For Honorable Mention: Christina Rossetti, go here.
Thanks to Tom Gething for reminding me that Charles Dickens deserves a place on my list!
BAS BLEU
Bas Bleu is my favourite stop for smartly bookish gifts (and incredibly well-curated reading material). I’ve been a dedicated fan for a decade. Haunt their site for a few minutes, and you’ll understand why!
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Reading Woman Wall Calendar. $14.99. Image from Bas Bleu.
Shakespearean Insults T-Shirt. $24.95. Image from Bas Bleu.
Dictionary Cat Print. $13.95. Image from Bas Bleu.
DETAILS:
FIRST STOP: EDWARD GOREY HOUSE STORE
SECOND STOP: JANE AUSTEN GIFT SHOP
THIRD STOP: OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING
FOURTH STOP: THE READER’S CATALOG
FIFTH STOP: THE LITERARY GIFT COMPANY
THE READER’S CATALOG
This beautiful site is a one-stop shop for the understated reader in your life. Be warned: if you, too, are of a quietly bookish mind, you’ll want at least a dozen things for yourself. The Reader’s Catalog is full of useful goods with a literary bent, which automatically makes any purchase guilt free! That’s how it works, right?
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Bodleian Winter Titles Wrapping Paper. $6.95. Image from The Reader’s Catalog.
Writer’s Pencils. $18.95. Image from The Reader’s Catalog.
“I Am Born” Infant Tee (David Copperfield). $19.95. Image from The Reader’s Catalog.
DETAILS:
FIRST STOP: EDWARD GOREY HOUSE STORE
SECOND STOP: JANE AUSTEN GIFT SHOP
THIRD STOP: OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING
OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING
Out of Print Clothing is the perfect shop for those who love to wear their bookish allegiances on their chests. Their mission statement says it all: “Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our products feature iconic and often out of print book covers.” Pretty nifty, eh?
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
The Metamorphosis. $28.00. Image from Out of Print Clothing.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Tote Bag. $18.00. Image from Out of Print Clothing.
The Little Prince. $22.00. Image from Out of Print Clothing.
DETAILS:
FIRST STOP: EDWARD GOREY HOUSE STORE
SECOND STOP: JANE AUSTEN GIFT SHOP
Cold weather never travels alone. It packs many well-loved delights in its frosty bag of tricks, including: hot chocolate, gingerbread, nifty patterned gloves and scarves, pumpkin-flavored everything, frozen breath, crackling wood fires, mulled beverages, and fairy lights. Whilst those are wonderful there are other, lesser extolled, pleasures in which to indulge: mint chocolate brownies, hot water bottle cozies, the scent of real pine, watching snow fall at midnight, and seasonal reading. Oh, seasonal reading! How I adore thee.
Yearly I turn to you, as the calendar begins its long hike through winter’s desolate days…
I seek you out to warm my cold soul and chapped heart…
You do things to me that hot drinks and heavy blankets never could…
What a comfort you are, my winter writers!
There is but one solution when faced with the inevitable onslaught of nasty, chilling weather: arm yourself to the teeth with a weighty supply of wonderful books, and dig in for the duration. As soon as temperatures sink, an instinctual survival mode kicks in and I start to ritualize my life-including a long-standing pattern of reading works by the same authors. The books themselves vary, of course, but their progenitors remain fixed. This time of year my preferences tend towards the following qualities of language, attitude, or thought: severity, hardiness, bareness, intellectual passion, bluntness, pluckiness, and mental or emotional resilience.
Do you read in such seasonal ways? If so, please share your favourite cold weather books and/or writers in the comments! Here is my list.
MY TOP SIX COLD WEATHER WRITERS
EMILY BRONTË
Emily Brontë by Branwell Brontë
REASON: Her solitary, willful disposition.
“I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading: It vexes me to choose another guide.”
ANTON CHEKHOV
Anton Chekhov, 1889
REASON: No one speaks to my deepest soul the way nineteenth-century Russian writers do, Chekhov chief amongst them.
“The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.”
EMILY DICKINSON
Emily Dickinson
REASON: The economy of her writing.
“One need not be a chamber to be haunted.” Continue reading
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 