After 7 years in Portugal I finally visited the famed Livraria Lello in Porto last week. (It was February and raining, so the queues were acceptable.) The interior was as beautiful as I expected, but their selection of books was surprising. I shared pics and my thought in this blog post: https://judybackhouse.com/fiction/an-old-bookshop-for-old-authors/
#books, #bookshop #Authors, #Fiction, #publishing #selfpublishing #classicbooks #classics #literature #cookbooks #Portugal #Porto

We've made a shelf just for classic #ScienceFiction in the SF section, here are three Joe has loved over the years:

The Illustrated Man: as a youngster, this short story collection was my gateway into the works of Ray Bradbury (still reading him today)

I Am Legend, Matheson's slim classic (oft-filmed, never really quite getting the book) captures that era of Cold War paranoia, fear and isolation

Wasp, a delightful, slightly anarchic adventure romp, beloved by Terry Pratchett. A highly resourceful agent is dropped on an enemy planet to cause distractions (the way a wasp can distract a much larger creature). The humour is like a forerunner of Harrison's later Stainless Steel Rat.

#books #livres #SF #SFF #bookstodon #ClassicBooks #ClassicScienceFiction #bookshops #librairies #RichardMatheson #IAmLegend #Wasp #EricFrankRussell #RayBradbury #TheIllustratedMan

I can't believe it...
Saw it in a website, the 1897 first edition book of Dracula by Bram Stoker and signed by himself! Can be possible?
Wish to be a millionaire, I would have this book in my personal library. LOL.

#BramStoker #Dracula #Books #ClassicBooks #Gothic #HorrorBooks

I can't believe it...
Saw it in a website, the 1897 first edition book of Dracula by Bram Stoker and signed by himself! Can be possible?
Wish to be a millionaire, I would have this book in my personal library. LOL.

#BramStoker #Dracula #Books #ClassicBooks #Gothic #HorrorBooks

It’s Weekend, Let’s Read: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice was first published on 28th of January of 1813 and is one of my (and so many others) favorite novels of all time. If you never read it, do not go thinking it is a love story. Well, it’s kind of, but it’s so much more: It’s a comedy of manners and social criticism.

“I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know.
Jane Austen in a letter to her sister Cassandra on the 29th of January of 1823

Elizabeth Bennet is one of my favourite characters: she is intelligent, witty, has no problems to recognise she was mistaken, but also she embodies women independence and resistance. We can see this when she decides to walk to Netherfield, instead of waiting for the carriage, to check on her sister or, when in Rosings, Elizabeth is playing the piano and says to Mr. Darcy:

“My fingers,” said Elizabeth, “do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault—because I would not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.”

There are many editions of Pride & Prejudice, some with introductions or annotated that give more insights on the text, but if you want to read it right now, head over to Project Gutenberg that has the edition with the illustrations by Hugh Thomson. You can read it or download it here.

#BookLook #books #ClassicBooks #JaneAusten #Policiais #PrideAndPrejudice #readings

Wrote a #blog post the other day about reading #queer classic The Well of Loneliness. Why not spend some of your lazy, post-Christmas free time reading all about it?

https://keeganleech.co.za/blog/the-well-of-loneliness

#bookstodon #ClassicBooks

Falling Down The Well of Loneliness

In July this year, I read Radclyffe Hall’s 1928 novel <em>The Well of Loneliness</em> and I have been fascinated by it since. I can’t help feeling that the novel has only become more interesting in the 97 years since its publication than Hall could ever have imagined. More interesting for its many flaws and failings and the ways they have been amplified by time, than it could ever be interesting for its merits alone. Do I recommend it? Well… maybe?

A perfect Christmas gift tonight!
"The Mansion of Nightmares", edited under Club Diógenes/Valdemar (Spain, 2025). 25 stories about haunted houses by different writers in 695 pages. I wanna start reading soon!

#Books #BookAddict #BookWorm #Reader #Horror #HorrorBook #ClassicBooks

A perfect Christmas gift tonight!
"The Mansion of Nightmares", edited under Club Diógenes/Valdemar (Spain, 2025). 25 stories about haunted houses by different writers in 695 pages. I wanna start reading soon!

#Books #BookAddict #BookWorm #Reader #Horror #HorrorBook #ClassicBooks
William Golding’s Island of Savagery | History Today