There is a Vancouver custom particularly noticeable in my Kitsilano neighbourhood that consists in some homes having a little wooden cabinet outside their fence that contains books. You can help yourself or perhaps put some of your own books there.
In the last two weeks I have found these two books. The cat book looks brand new even though it was published by Raincoast Books in 1992. My problem will be to decide if I will give it as a gift ( I don’t like that modern verb to gift) to my eldest daughter Alexandra or my youngest granddaughter Lauren.
The second book was a real exciting find as I am aware of who Fanny Burney was. Her father was a known music historian. If you read about Vivaldi and his female students at the Ospedale della Pietà,Dr. Charles Burney is your source. In Vancouver for a few years we had a fine baroque group called the Burney Ensemble.
For those who might not know it was Fanny Burney who inspired Jane Austen to write.
When I am about to buy a book I often read the first paragraph. Here is Burney’s in Evelina;
Lady Howard to the Rev. Mr. Villars
Can any thing[Burney’s spelling], my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence? Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relater or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.