![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhyphenhyphennSdNAra5DZ0f8sg3OrAdECoont5UPeqXMK9AM_CNCUR7JeSzp-_QwEJ968CiNslR9ndFx5ZLUJkKS12M5d_0jT7LCyijpe0HkJJtNZ1cr0ReXiMoEyO-Ufo7Zz2t7GYipc/s320/Friend+of+the+Devil)
The Wife has watched two different productions of
Persuasion this week -- the recent BBC miniseries (rerun on some channel), and the mid-90s movie -- and so she asked me to get her a copy of the book to read. Since she's interested in reading a book only about once every seven years these days, I went out of my way to help her -- first checking my own shelves (to no luck: I have a
Sense and Sensibility and a
Mansfield Park, and possibly a
Northanger Abbey half-lost somewhere) and then searching the shelves on the usual library trip this afternoon (also to no luck).
So I finally just ran out to the local Borders after dinner to buy the thing -- it's available in several paperback editions for cheap, and I got the
Penguin Classics![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tmPNvJfmZGCV0zzYdC7u3Mi-h4GhTAkqmcE6NrjngKvVhFwBocnJOSrOCaj0nJk46LVXJ6IUvAiejOs4y5i8e0PwwOAyUTKrSnfnWh20Ir3wSigXhSVN5K0GIxCQ7nOciwWrU_0RGXv4-heDZQ=s0-d)
-- but ended up coming home with a few books for myself as well. (Isn't that always the way?)
The first thing I found was a two-year old Peter Robinson novel,
Friend of the Devil![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vznLPPX1kR8wfFd7obitwbX5yaFXHrivtZIGhTTlHaWcocQE3ghsjVn62dUvvshc0Z7WA2z1nIoRtAZmrU6pv83lTGY4960Fw8P7HESyDMqcyrYogoXsRmgAjPXLqwj4tWCxNaPmzv6Vpt5SQ=s0-d)
, near the front among the remainders. I still haven't read the previous book in this series --
Piece of My Heart![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t1eQBLHNRQ5v0Xx8aam40FLYpUo2aIPCC8COrf3RtBKUtW1ZNzF9S5DU1YLSJxlshAXAdF3uuBEwiiq9i0eB_qSSGlEuVA6aWozMRhs0qF4GOGpTLiDscAzv8xVbjjfIWTn3SLpJiIG8vTOYBh=s0-d)
, on my shelves somewhere -- and this one has the tagline "a novel of suspense" on the cover, which is generally a red flag to me. But I've liked the Alan Banks novels quite a bit -- particularly the late '90/early aughts books -- so I was willing to pay a remainder price to have this on my shelves (and, I hope, read someday). (
I reviewed an early book in this series,
The Hanging Valley, back in 2007, but my other readings in this series all predate this blog.)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidm58eYe6V7mYAi2wVzVuv-0aHrQamsB7kRfCinkRcn4EoI7WfmiNI4nyE58jw1cOxKRF1GM4zdLmb3EjYYMayjiHEX3Si1ADvkrHXKfYxYMIDvWSACJFBWCvhlV6wd5D26m1/s320/Pearls+Sells+Out)
Then I wandered over to the comics section -- they tend to call it "cartoons" in a bookstore, and shackle it to humor, to keep it distinct from the "graphic novels" and "manga" sections across the store, similarly shackled together, but I have hopes that some day the lands of comics will be united in book-store commerce -- to find the new
Pearls Before Swine treasury edition,
Pearls Sells Out![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vIStzm7nW3C5B8_arwolMDHdVz-8iT4VxJVLKddlmO2UCCZOVH2EHWuF-7QuKkjNWe5q-1_d1oKq6zRIcUyyslXsebbvqFpQNYIz9KdYuCjXCoMqyG73Kl3D-w5kkl3aT7_0fKldz_Ke-h6hU=s0-d)
, by Stephan Pastis as always. I've stopped buying as many reprint books of newspaper strips over the past few years -- partly because the strips are all up online, partly due to ever-shrinking shelf space, and partly due to worldweariness -- but I'll keep buying Pastis's treasuries as long as he keeps including a lot of commentary and other ancillaries in them.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheErRdexZxTyqgiOL5AfRrhUDzTzZI60wLYxeM2MA0Vs259QqnSDtoiHxHwwHpcelD06VNYZ7Wu1TRoJYhes5qaFKx5F8vD8A2XJQ8VTV325JCPQKGaf3FjQwkIdYXDQbPvjTG/s320/Sexually+Switzerland)
And then I did a search to see where
Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tenuH_5mq4hxcCMfvh5hRvJQsyguQcgC3BNu1Mx8VQvqM5nYusTWUg4LHMB-tX27WAjkquTV0LJBMePJ6eyIsnKkYaHxdrMrFffz8jqsm-DsQhv59Ew-b5eYCwFm9mx05I8eBGKUo4YkLMONM=s0-d)
would be...and that sent me right back to humor, where I just was.
Sexually is the second collection of personal ads from the
London Review of Books, edited, like the first one (
They Call Me Naughty Lola) was, by David Rose. I found the first book a lot of fun, and so I was willing to actually pay money for this one!
(And I also picked up a copy of Roald Dahl's
Fantastic Mr. Fox![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uBotqV_zsLL9fCx5qtJDfd0t-leFnbmDUuWs1aw-kSkY-83TIMT0HItE4PvgkK1AlnAbPz23lrkeulH51ai_OLfaZXSCk4hF8UZZyuhMAByG4odZSxgiPhJGgiL36r3GxR3e8YCKXhbjyQA6UL=s0-d)
earlier in the day, during the library visit I alluded to above. I've read several Dahl books -- and still have
The Witches![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tE_79IyEa-tGFprJGPiAp7MQFqYC97F55nNPNwWYgQIMt8klbHOvjC275idqr09Nvh0UK4f8C_zuXez4yyUWXrWUZjdOZ4t_ABDUD9QazlxEJ1GrvldRl1GX6ZsRb-m19f2SXIzehAzxHT-4aj=s0-d)
and
Over to You![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_smiRBc9BS66let4XKP8i2kda8z3kmT5rNSOSlwONtDTpuZJGv2t5jcirZwr6eOoyi6t-WbwfkcZDELibj18rPGAIWmDIl1YjcsvkV61vY4m4nBzVVv8NJ-POSs69ab7W8lF-Io8tGR5-_WLmbW=s0-d)
and possibly his complete stories somewhere in the unread shelves -- but I liked the movie, and this book is so short I can whip through it in half a day next week. So I will.)
----------------
Listening to:
Gram Rabbit - American Hookersvia FoxyTunes
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