Treasure Finding

Our Bible College Library got a donation of over 1000 books from a Christian Conference Center in our city that was formerly an Irish Presbyterian Mission until the 1980s when all the foreign missionaries got kicked out of India.

The original library has just been sitting there full of valuable English books for decades until we kept after them to give them to us - and last week, they did.

Here are some of the treasures I've already found while going through and cataloguing the books:

Georgette Heyer! I adore reading Georgette Heyer (hey, I never said all the books were theological...). Powder and Patch, Sprig Muslin and Envious Casca (Not Regency, but one of her mysteries, which I've never read. Obviously, a previously resident of the Mission was a fan.

Today I came across a volume of Little Women (L. M. Alcott) that was awarded as a gift to a girl for academics. The inscription reads: "Easter Examinations 1898." Uh huh. Treasure trove for a person like me.

Inscription.

I also found two Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Ah, many a happy Saturday afternoon was spent by me watching Tarzan movies. The first Tarzan book I came across was called something like "Tarzan Finds a Wife." But I can't for the life of me find anything about it on the Internet*. Sadly, it was only half a book and had to be discarded. Otherwise I totally would be reading that instead of blogging. Today I found, Tarzan the Invincible. (see above)

Finally, I was happy to find some cookbooks, etc. and this is my most spectacular find to date: Baker and Cook, A Domestic Manual for India by Mrs. R. Temple-Wright. Published in 1912 in Calcutta. Baker and Cook - is that me, or what?

From the preface to the First Edition: "I have only tried to help people make their own bread in out-stations where good bread is not obtainable, and to assist housewives by making the task of ordering dinner as little irksome as possible. I hope these notes will enable hostesses to make the best use of the cheaper, and far more wholesome fresh food obtainable in the country, without having to fall back on the more expensive European tinned provisions."

Mrs. Temple-Wright seems mostly interested in teaching her readers how to make Yeast. And, hey, housewives are supposed to order dinner???

Her writing style is utterly delightful and practical - it deserves it's own post.

Thanks, members of the IP Mission for leaving us all these books.

You wouldn't believe it from this post but the majority of the books are Bible College appropriate.

*I'm going to have to go through the boxes of non-appropriate or damaged books to find that Tarzan Finds a Wife one now... The Internet has failed me.

The Old Favorites

As you'll see in the next post, "Nursing Reading" - I've been reading a lot, but I lack reading material. So, I've (happily) resorted to reading old favorites to pass the hours spent everyday nursing my baby. Here is what I've Reread recently:

Ogre Ogre by Piers Anthony. This is most definitely an OLD favorite. I think I read it for the first time twenty years ago - at the very least. Since then it's been read by me 4-5 times. The tale of Smash the Ogre and his six female friends on a journey through Xanth... I enjoy this one today as much as I did twenty years ago.

Still Life With Crows* by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. This is the novel that introduced me to (-sigh-) Special Agent Pendergast. Preston and Child, probably most famous for their book, Relic, introduced Special Agent Pendergast as a main protagonist in Cabinet of Curiosities which procedes Still Life With Crows chronologically, but I read SLWC first and of all the Pendergast novels, it remains, by far, my favorite. Another Sigh.

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer. I love Georgette Heyer's writing, it contains the wittiest dialog I have ever read - anywhere. Other than the fact that I have no idea why this book is titled "These Old Shades" it is my most favorite of all the Heyer books I've read. A romance between red headed French Leonie and the Duke of Avon... I think Heyer really liked these characters too because, as far as I know it the only book of hers with something like a sequel. TOS was published in 1926 and then in 1932 Devil's Cub was published and features Leonie & the Duke's son as main character and all the main characters of TOS make appearances as well. I finished rereading Devil's Cub today and it was like visiting old friends.

If you (are a woman and) have never read Georgette Heyer, try her you might like her. But her books are mighty hard to find...

Well, I'm going in reverse and starting Cabinet of Curiosities (for the 2nd time) today. A package from the US arrived at the local post office and I'll pick it up tomorrow. I think it contains a book for me, an Elizabeth Peter's novel, but I cannot remember the title. Monday I'm going to a big city that has a big bookstore - I already made my list of books to look for.

Old favorites are great, new favorites are even better...

* This one is graphic, not for the faint hearted. Don't say I didn't warn you.