I’m really not much of a shopper – you won’t find me spending hours at the mall (unless it’s a mall made up entirely of bookstores and REI; if you know of one of those, please do tell) and aside from fun sneakers, I don’t have any accessory vices.  But I have had a fair number of books trickle in over the last six months or so, and it struck me that it’s been awhile since I rounded up the new arrivals and showed them to you.  I’ve definitely missed some, but here’s the latest.

Poems of Gratitude, ed. John Hollander – Slowly building up my Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets collection; I’ve had my eye on this little volume for years and Thanksgiving seems like a good time to finally dive in, so I just picked it up.

New Year’s Day, by Edith Wharton – My favorite of the four novellas that make up Old New York, by Edith Wharton, I couldn’t resist a first edition at a surprisingly good price.  I’d have loved if this came with the pretty sprigged floral dust jacket, but that would have taken the price from affordable to prohibitive.

The Week-End Book: A Sociable Anthology, by Frances Meynell – Read a blurb about this 1930s book of odds and ends in a back issue of Slightly Foxed and knew I wanted to read it.  Obviously, the library didn’t have a copy – but it’s not exactly a sought-after title, so I got a good deal on a used copy.

Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther, by Elizabeth von Arnim – When comfort reading is in order, von Arnim delivers, and I know I will be turning to this soon.

The Secrets of the Bastide Blanche, by M. L. Longworth – A mystery set in Provence?  I’m sold – I don’t need any more information than that.  Also, this was on the dollar table at the library sale, so the price was definitely right.

The Corner that Held Them, by Sylvia Townsend Warner – Whenever I stop into Old Town Books, my local indie, I try to show my support and buy something.  I’ve had Townsend Warner’s novel about nuns in a medieval abbey on my wish list for years, and I was delighted to happen upon it on the shelves in the new “classics corner” at OTB.

Anything Considered, by Peter Mayle – I am always down for Mayle, and this was another dollar table find at the library sale.  I also picked up Chasing Cezanne.

Christmas Crackers, by John Julius Norwich – Having discovered my love of the commonplace book last Christmas, I have been wanting to dive into Norwich’s – he may not have invented the genre, but my understanding is: he perfected it.  I had to scout a bit to find a used copy of the first decade of his “Christmas Crackers” in good shape and at a decent price, but I found it!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, by John Julius Norwich – I heard about this on the “Tea and Tattle” podcast and knew I had to pick up a copy.  Saving it to read by the light of the Christmas tree.

The Vegetable Gardeners Handbook (The Old Farmers Almanac) – To be honest, I was surprised when this turned up on my doorstep.  I pre-ordered it months ago and forgot all about it.  I’m excited to dig in (pun, appreciate) to this and an organic gardening book I recently received through my Buy Nothing book this winter, to get ready for the gardening season ahead.

Ancestral Voices and Prophesying Peace: Diaries 1942-1945, by James Lees-Milne – I can’t even tell you how long I’ve been trying to track down a copy of the first two volumes of Lees-Milne’s diaries, but they’re so expensive.  It took awhile to find a copy in good condition at a price I could swallow.  I can’t wait to read this!

A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny – My aunt insisted that I read Louise Penny’s Three Pines mysteries, and after the first one I was hooked.  When I found a pristine hardcover for $2 at the library sale (are you sensing a theme here?) I instantly grabbed it.  Every time I go to the library to check out or return books, I now scout the sale tables for more Louise Penny.  So far, I haven’t found any more, but luck favors the persistent.

A Better Man, by Louise Penny – The latest Three Pines, picked up at our other local indie, Hooray for Books! – it will be awhile before I get to this, since I’m still in the early part of the series.  But I love supporting my neighborhood bookstores.

What have you picked up recently?