PERSONAL: Currently reading

[feather_ghyll]

I'm currently reading Dean's Ideal Book for Girls - the one with a blonde girl in red and white sitting on a swing, surrounded by three friends, on the cover. I'm going through it at a rate of one story a day. It features stories by C. Bernard Rutley (boo - not a fan) and Mabel E. Allan (hooray).

So far, well, the most interestng part of 'Carnival Night' about outgoing Robina finding a tobogganing companion in Terry, playing Good Samaritan and getting to the carnival in time was when Terry's aunt provided a fabulous fancy dress costume for Robina to wear at the carnival.

"It was bought a long time ago for a very special occasion," her aunt replied, gently stroking the velvet. "But it s silly of me to keep it hidden away.

The story hinted at there was so much more intriguing than the actual story.

The previous owner coloured in all the illustrations, which I rather like actually.

Comments

books general-

[(Anonymous)]

hi. ;D
no time to write blog proper at the moment, and computer probs mean i cant really stick pics on either, but in next couple of week will slowly start writing and shooting stuff... sorted vaguely through some bookscases recently and found some books and magazines id never got round to reading, as well as some not read for years.
is 'girls own' a general genre, or specific to GOP? i always referred to these books as boarding school; i never actually liked GOP. i had a couple of bound annuals (enormously thick because comprised of every weekly issue) and were rather dull, though v.amused by serial article on How to Fly (c1928 annual, i think). love the idea of girls reading baout how to make evening bags, then- oh- next page, upkeep of one's plane.
much prefer schoolgirls own, which, if youve not read, are excellent- the annuals are not composite, but stand alone. the mags are just pure stories, but the annuals have cookery, craft etc articles too, and are rather sweet- there are tons on ebay all the time; get 20s or early 30s one. lovely illustrations too. blackie's girls' annuals are great, and have weird articles from e.smith, btw- one on houseboating, one on a winter walking holiday; she is quite an interesting person. i generally loathe short stories, but have an affection for all these books, having inherited some from great aunts when i was 12 or 13. plus they are a great introduction to authors- though ethel talbot is generally better in short than long form, ive hunted out a few other people via shorts.

Re: books general-

[feather-ghyll.livejournal.com]

Hi! (I'm presuming it's miss_henderson :) If you're logged in when you comment, you should recieve e-mail notification when there's a reply, instead of having to come back and check the page.)

I know what it's like not to have time (it's why I couldn't reply earlier), but this looks like being a lazy weekend for me.

I've seen 'girls own' used to describe the genre of the type of stories that would appear in Girls Own and similar magazines/paper, which would cover more than boarding school stories, although that's the main staple. I think it may be a reaction to the phrase 'Boy's Own Adventure', which I've always taken to refer to a type of story rather than a specific work. I've always been more of a fan of the books than the magazines/papers mystelf. I prefer longer-form stories in general, although the annuals and the like can throw up interesting articles and more stuff by favourite writers, I wouldn't say I'm a collector and only pick them up rarely.

I've found Ethel Talbot (http://feather-ghyll.livejournal.com/tag/ethel%20talbot) frustratingly variable in terms of quality.