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The Sunday Salon: Persephone Reading Weekend

Persephone Reading Weekend is winding down (sadly)! I had a great time this weekend, reading A Very Great Profession and now Few Eggs and No Oranges, which is a fascinating look at one average, middle-aged woman’s experience living in London during WWII. It’s a chunkster, but I’ve been in the mood for those recently. I’ve also been really into nonfiction, so this fits the bill quite nicely.

After Few Eggs and No Oranges, I’ll have read 29 Persephones, with three more I own that I haven’t yet read: There Were No Windows, The Mystery of Mrs. Blencarrow (several people have read and reviewed this this weekend, which makes me eager to get to it myself), and Alas Poor Lady.

I’ve also enjoyed reading the blogs of other Persephone-philes, adding exponentially to my Google Reader! I’ve found other bloggers’ comments on the books they’ve been reading to be very insightful.

Also this weekend I’ve been reading back issues of the Persephone Fortnightly letter, which can be found on the Persephone website. Especially interesting to me was Nicola Beauman’s January 30th letter in which she describes the average day at the shop. It turns out that about 80% of the business is done through mail orders, and that they only get about 20-30 customers in the shop on the average day (surprising to me considering that when I was there in September 2009, the shop was bustling with people on the day I was there).

On to the giveaway of The Mystery of Mrs. Blencarrow: I’ve picked a winner, who is:

Bookmarksandteacups

Congratulations!

How was your reading experience this weekend? If you participated, what did you enjoy most or least?


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Comments

Paperback Reader said…
Thank you for participating and for your generosity.

I look forward to reading more about Few Eggs and No Oranges once you have finished reading it. Enjoy.
February 27, 2011 at 5:47 PM
Susan said…
I didn't know this challenge was on, or I would have joined! I have two books from Persephone I've been waiting to read - Miss Buncle's Book, and A New System of Domestic Cookery. I really wanted Few Eggs and New Oranges, but they were reprinting in Dec when I placed my order so I couldn't get it then. Thanks for posting about this challenge and what you read. Whenever I get the Persephone Catalogue, I always find so many books I want from them! Do you?
February 28, 2011 at 12:37 AM
Darlene said…
Knowing there were so many posts out there about books I really enjoy was so exciting! Needless to say I didn't get much done around the house but that can wait.

I read Few Eggs and No Oranges last year and really, really enjoyed it! Despite its length I was sorry when it ended.

Congratulations to the winner of your draw...love the blog name!
February 28, 2011 at 10:57 AM
Anonymous said…
Wow!! I can't believe I won - thank you for the generous giveaway prize. I'm so excited!
February 28, 2011 at 9:18 PM
Life and Dreaming said…
I stumbled across the Persephone website a few years ago and bought Few Egg and No Oranges. I loved the author's voice and the "you-are-there" feel that you get from reading it. Another good book along those lines (also a diary written during WWII) is Nella Last's War.
March 1, 2011 at 9:46 PM
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