Next shelf down

My sweet friend Erica left flowers on my doorstep this morning. I brought them in here to keep me company while I’m working.

I’m given to understand a list of titles is mandatory for these shelf posts! From right to left, starting with the ones hidden by the flowers:

Memento Mori by Muriel Spark. Odd and wonderful. Mentioned here.

Carney’s House Party / Winona’s Pony Cart by Maud Hart Lovelace, in an edition extra-special to me

Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff. Delicious.

The Betsy-Tacy Companion, a biography of Maud Hart Lovelace by Sharla Scannell Whalen. One of my treasures.

Tune: A Vanishing Point, a graphic novel by Derek Kirk Kim. (TBR.)

A Reader’s Delight and A Child’s Delight by Noel Perrin. I wrote about them here.

Housekeeping vs. The Dirt by Nick Hornby. Brought us much mirth here. Gift from Scott.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary. I never did finish it.

The Essays of E.B. White. Happy sigh. Another gift from Scott.

Working copies of a couple of my own books—they wind up all over the place.

Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge. I see you’ve heard about most of these from me before. There are certain books I like to keep close at hand.

Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett.

Coleman by Monica Furlong, a sequel to Wise Child. I only made it about a third of the way through before life overtook me. Will finish eventually.

The sideways book with the red spine is a lovely little thing called Something for Christmas, a sweet mouse tale by Palmer Brown. The kind librarian who asked me to do a reading at her school fundraiser gave me two of Brown’s books, along with some other goodies, as a thank-you gift. I’d never seen them before—she said they were old favorites of hers, recently reissued by the New York Review Children’s Collection. Rilla and I enjoyed the other one, Cheerful, but we’ve been saving this one for Christmas.

And atop it, a tiny blank journal from To Boldy Fold, part of a subscription box I reviewed. I’m pondering how best to use it.