Sometimes, You Have to Let the Demons Win

All the books I bought in the UK

Hi hello! Last week I regaled you with all of the books I brought with me on my trip to the UK. This week, we shall bask in the spoils of what I brought back. None of my joints were hurt in the making of this haul.¹

To recap, my travels included London, to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, to just outside the Brecon Beacons, to back to London. Hay-on-Wye, if you did not know, is the UK’s (the world’s?) biggest book town, and definitely on brand for me. Proof:

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a full recounting of who/what/where I bought. Heads up that this will be a photo heavy post.

1. Waterstones, Covent Garden

   On the Monday before I left, I saw that Tasha Suri posted on her Instagram that she was doing an event at Waterstones in Covent Garden for her new book, The Lotus Empire. This is the third and final book in her Burning Kingdoms trilogy, the first two books being The Jasmine Throne and The Oleander Sword. I realized, what fun! I, too, will be in the UK at this time, and well wouldn’t that just be swell if I went to a book signing and got the 3rd book in a trilogy that I enjoyed. My ticket included a copy of the book, and so I went and got a signed copy of the book and had a brief chat with the author who wished me well on my trip to Wales. The book is a sapphic fantasy, inspired by India. Will I be buying the US version to match the copies I already own? Only time will tell.

   

2. Addyman Annexe
   I then headed off to Wales, on a variety of trains and automobiles. When I arrived in Hay, I got settled and then immediately went bookshopping, duh. I first went to Addyman Annexe. As you can see from the photo, while it was my first stop, it was not the first photo I took.

   

   Addyman Annexe was full of lovely books and I ended up with 4. Normally when traveling, I try to follow a concept that is prevalent in French culture. In French it’s called en v.o. (en version originale), which means that you consume the content in the original language. Now, I only speak two languages, but I also apply this to books. If I’m in the UK, I’m going to try to get books that I can only get in the UK, and not in the US. What surprised me though was that I found a few books by American authors that I had never heard of before so color me shocked.

   

   
   My spoils included: Discontinue if Death Ensues edited by Carol Gyzander and Anna Taborska, The Other Side of Beauty by Garret Rittenberg (American Book #1), Welsh Giants, Ghosts & Goblins by Clare Fayers, and Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (American Book #2). Discontinue is horror stories and poems written by and about women, The Other Side of Beauty is a long letter to a friend about traveling to India, Giants, Ghosts & Goblins is about Welsh folktales and lore of which I know next to nothing about, and Rubyfruit tells the coming-of-age story of Molly Bolt.

3. North Books
   From there, I headed across the street to North Books. The second I opened the door I was greeted by A BOOKSTORE DOG. Absolutely amazing. I had a brief conversation with my new friend, to explain to him that I couldn’t let him outside and that if he could so kindly let me inside then I’d be so grateful, and then his human came over and he has his own little spot with a blanket and I am literally dying all over again just writing this out.
   

   

   

   Purchases included wintery themed books Brightly Shining by Ingvild Rishøi, The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg, and new-to-me poet Stevie Smith, and her book of poems Not Waving but Drowning. Maybe I’ll read the winter/Christmas themed ones in December. After all, I’ll need to read 10 books to stay on top of my reading goals for the year.

4. Gay-on-Wye

After a brief snack interlude at Shepherd’s Parlor, I headed over to Gay-on-Wye, a LGBTQ+ bookstore. 10/10 name, no notes. Also, that color? Amazing.

It was almost 4:30 by this point, so I didn’t want to keep them open longer if they were closing, so I was quick. Acquisitions were: Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, and Strong Female Character by Fern Brady. Both appropriate UK queer picks.

~Interlude~

It was at this point that I started to worry. I also visited Green Ink Booksellers, Addyman Books, and the Honesty Bookshop on the grounds of Hay Castle, but did not acquire anything else. As I made my way back to my hotel, I realized that once again, my poor depth perception was going to be the death of me. I had also bought other goodies in Hay at The Wobbly Owl and Bartrum’s & Co, a lovely stationary store, and all of this, ALL OF IT, had to make it back in my two carry on bags and one carry-on-sized roller board.²

For then, I had a no good, horrible, very bad idea. I’d swap my books with my clothes. That is, I’d pack my suitcase full of books, and then put a whole lot of smushed up clothes in my backpack carry one. It was genius I tell you, genius!! 

Now, you’re naturally asking yourself, why couldn’t you put all of those books in your carry-on, Marissa. Well for one, books are heavy, and for two I bought too many. I do not know how this continues to surprise me, but here we are. And for three, the day I landed, my room wasn’t ready and so I ended up wandering around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park for three hours. (10/10, saw so many good birds) At the end of the day, I realized I was close to subluxing my collarbone again. Subluxing: a step away from dislocation. How did I know this? I subluxed my collarbone last December and it took 6 months for it to resolve. Why did it take that long? Turns out chiropractors do NOT want to just shove bones back in their joints and hope it just resolves on its own. I didn’t see a problem with this, just put my arm back the way it was!!! Despite the fact that I have been lifting weights, (the cure to helping maintain strong joints) alas I was carrying too much weight around on my shoulders so I could not pile all these books into my backpack. As much as I roast my wibbly wobbly joints, I do still need them. And the last thing I wanted to do while in Wales was dislocate my collarbone. (Though I imagine the healthcare is both better and cheaper there. *cries in American capitalism*) 

So with this genius plan in mind, at peace with how I was going to transport all the books I had home with the luggage I had, I went off to

Emma Gannon

’s Creativity Retreat.

5. Wholehouse,

   with EASE
   ,
   Emma Gannon
   ,
   Tanya Lynch
   and
   Lauren Powell

   Now here’s where I lost the plot entirely. After arriving at the Wholehouse, which is truly just perfect in every way shape and form, I was given another 5 books and journals combined as part of the retreat. I looked at this goody bag, thrilled as I was, and knew deep in my bones there was no way this was all making it home with me in one suitcase. Bad depth perception be damned, I just knew.

   

   It was then that I decided to do the most insane thing I have ever done on a trip: I was going to buy a second suitcase. The book demons that run my soul won. Despite my careful planning, despite my good intentions, ‘twas all for naught. I could have just…not bought so many books but life is short, money is fake, and we have so little else. Retreat books were: The Success Myth by Emma Gannon (insert me laughing at myself for outsmarting myself and bringing my own copy to get signed), Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens, and Written by Bec Evans.

6. Waterstones, Gower Street

   At the retreat, I was told of the very fancy Waterstones, so upon my return to London, I made a plan to visit. But first, I went and bought a second suitcase because I’m an insane person. Should I have just brought my full sized one instead of the smaller carry-on one? Maybe. But hindsight is 20/20 and I now had more books (and presents) to buy.

   

   This Waterstones is indeed very fancy. It’s right by the University of London, Russell Square and the British Museum. It also has five floors, a coffee shop and a record store. I spent a full hour perusing. There was a foreign language section, which I was not anticipating, so more French books were acquired.

   

   We’ve got: Fia and the Last Snow Deer by Eilish Fisher, On the Other Side by Mathilde Wolff - Monckeberg (also a Persephone Book), The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray, Odd Spirits by S.T. Gibson, and Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy. For French language books we’ve got: Tous les hommes sont mortels par Simone de Beauvoir, (All Men are Mortal in English) Les Mains Libres par Paul Éluard avec illustrations par Man-Ray, Sexe et mensonges par Leila Slimani, (Sex and Lies in English) Revenir à toi par Leonor de Recondo, et Les Bonnes par Jean Genet.

7. Waterstones, Tottenham Court Road

   And last, but not least, my very last bookstore stop was to yet another Waterstones. For the non-Brits in the crowd, Waterstones is akin to Barnes and Noble in the States. You might be asking why was I going to a chain bookstore instead of independent ones? Which is a fair question. But this was a very specific errand, and I was sure that a larger chain bookstore would have the book in question whereas a smaller independent one might not.
   
   The book in question? The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent. It was publication day and despite the fact that I knew I would be going to a US event on Carissa’s book tour, I needed the UK edition because IT HAD A SPECIAL BONUS CHAPTER OK?

   

   I spent 3 hours reading 250 pages of this on the plane home.

   So I showed up to a Waterstones right as it opened so I could get a copy. It wasn’t out quite yet, so one of the lovely booksellers had to go get it for me in back. This unfortunately left me time to be up to my own devices (stare at and touch books) and so I then had two more in hand by the time she got back, After the Funeral and The Party, both by Tessa Hadley.

   

   Now, you’d think that finally - finally - I was done. But no. Because once I had indeed bought these three lovely books and thought I was on my way, I saw this.

   

   As I mentioned above, I normally read French things in French, but I bought this book because THERE WAS A DALMATIAN ON THE COVER. If you’re new here, I have a deep abiding love for Dalmatians. They are perfect and I will not hear otherwise. This is a great case of the cover betraying more than the title, because the French title is Le Grand Serpent and had *no* Dalmatian on the cover, so I would have never known that one played an integral part in the plot. Going to the Dogs is about an aging female assassin with a trusty Dal companion, so while I should be reading this in French, even my own rules are meant to be broken.

And at long last, we come to the end of my British acquisitions. I make no excuses for my insanity. I am who I am, and that is a person surrounded by books who knows that buying books and reading books are two separate hobbies. I have tried to link them all where I can, and here they are all laid out in glorious ignominy on my couch. Why yes, that is my AC unit still in the window as we approach winter because my building hasn’t bothered to come take it out yet. *grumbles*

---

No Mug Moment or No New Books Challenge this week because this post is already long enough.

Next week, I’ll have my next and final post on this trip, an examination of why writing conferences and retreats can be beneficial for writing life.

If you’re in the US, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving. And if you’re not in the US, I hope you have a lovely week filled with lots of good food, too.

1. For folks that are new here, first of all, hi! Thanks for being here. And two, I have a joint disease (Ehler-Danlos Syndrom or EDS) that means my joints are unstable, among other things.

2. Photos of said bags in the last post.