Look what I got!
This evening I came home to find my order from Book Depository in the foyer, by the letterboxes. Two children’s books, published a while ago, but always worth reading. Girl In a Cage seems to be straight historical fiction, about Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert The Bruce. Jane Yolen’s co-author is Robert J. Harris, a Scottish novelist. The Devil’s Arithmetic is a time-slip story involving a girl time travelling to the Holocaust after opening the door for the prophet Elijah during a Passover Seder. I’ll be interested to read that, as I’ve been reading her collection How To Fracture A Fairytale, in which there is a short story, “Slipping Sideways Through Eternity”, on that theme.
I would have liked to buy these in ebook, but neither novel was available in Apple Books, so I decided to go for Book Depository, which has quite a few books I want but can’t get elsewhere - and doesn’t charge for postage!
And it’s so special and exciting to open a book parcel and reveal brand new books, don’t you think?
Whichever shall I begin with?
This evening I came home to find my order from Book Depository in the foyer, by the letterboxes. Two children’s books, published a while ago, but always worth reading. Girl In a Cage seems to be straight historical fiction, about Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert The Bruce. Jane Yolen’s co-author is Robert J. Harris, a Scottish novelist. The Devil’s Arithmetic is a time-slip story involving a girl time travelling to the Holocaust after opening the door for the prophet Elijah during a Passover Seder. I’ll be interested to read that, as I’ve been reading her collection How To Fracture A Fairytale, in which there is a short story, “Slipping Sideways Through Eternity”, on that theme.
I would have liked to buy these in ebook, but neither novel was available in Apple Books, so I decided to go for Book Depository, which has quite a few books I want but can’t get elsewhere - and doesn’t charge for postage!
And it’s so special and exciting to open a book parcel and reveal brand new books, don’t you think?
Whichever shall I begin with?
6 comments:
It is really cool to come home and have books waiting for you. I agree that it is also nice to open packages that contain books.
The Prophet Elijah thing on The Devil’s Arithmetic sounds different for that kind of book.
Happy Reading!
Thanks, Brian! Opening the door for the Prophet Elijah is a normal part of the Passover meal. The children go to the door to invite him in. But Jane Yolen also wrote a short story in which the girl keeps encountering Elijah.
Bless home deliveries, especially if you have a sore leg or it is raining. The only trouble is .... that the joy of bookshops is slowly cruising up and down the cabinets.
When you have read The Devil's Arithmetic, let us know what you think of the writing. The film was available years ago, but the topic might have been too nightmarish for me to have seen back then.
Hi Hels! I do prefer bookshops, and have a wonderful local one, but these books didn’t seem to be available here. I didn’t realise there was a film of The Devil’s Arithmetic. I’ve just started reading. The Holocaust is a very uncomfortable topic, but at least this one was an #OwnVoices book - too many non Jews are writing this stuff, I think. Some of them do a very good job of it, but... not the same.
Book depository is awesome because of its free postage (although the exchange rate at the moment means the books are a little bit more than they used to be). I imagine you have already opened the books...which did you choose?
I’m reading them both! Couldn’t make up my mind. Yes, Book Depository’s free postage meant that I could send some books overseas, but true, the exchange rate is not good at the moment. 69c to the US dollar as of today. But with no postage costs it still works out cheaper. I find myself paying more to post a book from here than the book costs!
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