Science non-fiction

I have finally joined modern society and got a smart phone. I know I'm a recovering Luddite but, come on, smart phones are phenomenal. This phone is unbelievable; I literally feel like I am in the future. I'm not even typing this, I'm talking to my phone and it's writing it all down for me. Well in honor of this futuristic device I've decided that an appropriate blog post would be to feature my sci-fi books. All photos were taken and edited on this crazy phone.

The War Of The Worlds, H.G. Wells, 1974

Orbit Unlimited, Poul Anderson, 1972

Destination: Void, Frank Herbert, 1966

The Time Machine, H.G. Wells, 1964

Be An Interplanetary Spy, Written by Seth McEvoy, illustrations by Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley, 1983. Choose your own adventure book!

A look inside the choose-your-own-adventure book

Oh no! Oh yes!

The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells, 1975

An Ace Double book. Two reads in one. The Hunters of Jundagai, Kenneth Bulmer, 1971

An Ace Double book. Two reads in one. Project Jove, John Glasby, 1971

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, Jules Verne, 1965


World Without Stars, Poul Anderson, 1966. This one is my favourite cover. 

Valentines books

I'm not really into romance novels but in my collection I do have a few vintage ones that are worth sharing during this lovey-dovey season. Admittedly, I did buy these solely for the covers. I'm not a massive Jane Austin fan (I find her female characters weak and boring - all they do is sit around drawing rooms gossiping about neighbours). I read "Studio Nurse" last week and it was pretty lame; there wasn't even any closure to an already lackluster plot. Books like this are always fascinating though, merely as an insight into the mid-century woman. Regardless of the fact that a woman wrote this book, a lot of it was clearly in favour of a male-dominated world. Oh, and the "coloured" maid depiction was especially cringe-worthy.
I haven't read Young Tracy and don't know if I'll be able to stomach a Harlequin Romance.
The book of poems was purchased just for the aesthetics. I love fiction, non-fiction, short stories, dramas, scripts... yet poetry (especially romantic poetry) is something I've never been able to get too into (other than a few of Edgar Allan Poe's classics). This book was definitely worth purchasing though. The ink and watercolour illustrations within are beautiful, along with the gold lettering and intricate design of the cover -- as soon as I saw this, i had to get it. I got it from an etsy shop called CinfulOldies. This shop is a treasure trove of nifty vintage items and the lady who runs it is a lovely person to deal with. 


I digress.


Check out the love-fest books.

Studio Nurse, Virginia Roberts, 1962

Young Tracy, Rosalind Brett, 1964

Persuasion, Jane Austen, 1964

Yep, I love Signet Classics' line drawing and bio of the author

How Do I Love Thee? Beautiful Love Poems of Yesterday and Today, Selected by Linda Rhodes, Illustrated by David Johnson, 1969

cover detail

Gorgeous and girly

Inside cover on both sides looks like this

This book has several splendid illustrations in one of my favourite styles - ink with watercolour detailing

Mystery books

Since season 2 of BBC's Sherlock was so ridiculously excellent and I can't wait for season 3 -- I will showcase my vintage books in the detective-crime-mystery genre.
Observe, if you will...

The suspects

The Tom Thomson Mystery, William T. Little, 1970

Ole Tommy's skull

The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1987

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love how Signet Classic books have a line drawing and bio of the author.

There's another Sherlock-related book that I featured in October's look at my horror books. Check it out here.  

The High Wire, 1965; Slow Burner, 1965, The Unquiet Sleep, 1964 -- all by William Haggard

The Efford Tangle, George Goodchild -- no date! It makes my anger rise like the tides when there is no date printed in a book. This book is really old - guessing,  I'd place it early-mid 50s.

A Caribbean Mystery, Agatha Christie, 1981. This book always brings back a distinct memory of reading it at my gramma's house (it was her book) while drinking ovaltine and eating arrowroot cookies. It was quite the amalgamation of elderly goodness.

Perry Mason Solves The Case of the Bigamous Spouse, Erle Stanley Gardner, 1964. This is one sexy book -- the silver spine, the crimson page edges, not to mention the babe draped across the settee.

Look at this conniving dame... she's gotta be up to no good.

How do you intend to better yourself?

January is notorious for being the time of the year to better yourself (or at least intend to). 
So, let us take a look at some of my vintage books aimed towards the goal of self improvement.

The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking, Dale Carnegie, 1962

It was this happy face that made me buy this book. How could you deny?!   

30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary, Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis, 1943

The New Book of Etiquette, Lillian Eichler, annoyingly there is no date on this book! Well, on the copyright page it says: Copyright MCMXXXIV which is 1934.... this book looks more 50s/60s to me, so I'm not sure. Could be 1934 though. After doing a quick google search, the original printing was 1924. 

This amazing mid-century magazine ad was bookmarked inside. 

That TV!

Brilliant.