Category: books

500 years, and still lamenting his troubles with women!

Scotlands oldest identifiable printed book (there may be older ones, but this is the oldest to have a date showing) goes on display at the National Library of Scotland today, for one day only. The Complaint of the Black Knight was written by John Lydgate, and 500 years ago today was printed here in Edinburgh.

Dagnammit – I won’t be able to see it – it’s only viewable 10am till 5pm! Oh well, will just have to look at it via the online service The Spread of Scottish Printing…

*Whenever I read these old texts, I thtart thpeaking it in my head with a lithp…pethky interchangeable old “f” and “s”!!*

The bookcase bed, and the heart of the home?


This would certainly be fun in a smaller flat – who needs a sofa bed for guests when you can accommodate them with a bookcase bed!!

Not sure I understand the workings of it fully – apparently there’s 4 sections to make it into a double, and 2 for the single, but I can only see 2 parts. I assume there’s a double layer of mattress, one hidden behind the other, when it’s stacked against the wall?

And I also want this done in my house…unfortunately, I think I’m a teensy bit short of the space needed!!

Not a huge surprise from Amazon

As a follow on from this post on the 5th of March, I just got this email from Amazon customer services:

Dear Customer,


Greetings from Amazon.co.uk

We are writing to you regarding your above mentioned
order for the item "Love and Consequences: A Memoir
of Hope and Survival"

Unfortunately, we are currently unable to offer
this item, as we're currently out of stock of
"Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope
and Survival" and we are not able to guarantee when
or if it will be available for purchase on our website.
For this reason, we have removed this item from your
order and the item will shortly be listed as out of
stock on our website. Any other items ordered will
still be dispatched.

Please note that our supply of popular items is
sometimes limited and some products sell out quickly.
We suggest checking our website from time to time to
see if this item has come back in stock or if it is
available from a third-party seller through
Amazon.co.uk Marketplace.

When there is an Amazon.co.uk Marketplace item
being offered by third-party sellers, this will
be indicated in a blue box marked "More Buying
Choices" on the product's information page. The
links in this box lead to lists of new, used,
refurbished or collectable copies of that particular
item; just click on the appropriate link to see
a description of each individual item that a
seller is offering. If you'd like to buy one of
the copies, click the yellow "Add to Basket" button
and fill in the requested information to complete
your purchase.

You could also search our Auctions
(http://s1.amazon.co.uk/exec/varzea/subst/home/home.html/)
or zShops
(http://s1.amazon.co.uk/exec/varzea/subst/home/fixed.html/)
sites to see if anyone is selling the item there.

We hope that you are successful in obtaining this
item. Thank you for shopping at Amazon.co.uk.

Oh well, I knew I wouldn’t get it really, but it does beg the question…if it was withdrawn from sale on the 5th of March, why did it take Amazon over 2 weeks to work that out, and tell me?
And why can’t they tell me that it’s been recalled from sale, rather than sending me on a wild goose chase to try and find copies elsewhere?

Happy World Book Day – come see a big ‘un!

Apparently, the Worlds Biggest Book will be on display at the National Library of Scotland to celebrate.

Although the content looks fabulous, can I confess to being slight disappointed by the ‘bigness’ of the book? I was hoping for something insanely huge, at least a few feet thick, and perhaps the size of a bed…this just seems to be a collection of photographs bound together 😦

It doesn’t even show up as a Guinness World Record, so who decided it had that title?

*mutter, mutter*