Old Style Inspiration Books

Margaret54

Hi all, oh lots of good recommendations for reading here on this thread. I have bought books very cheaply indeed in charity shops, and recently bought some on amazon and playtrade(play.com) Those are the ones I have read before and want to keep now. It is a great way to pick up book much wanted very cheaply.:) I simply adore reading, and think there is nothing as nice as having a bath/shower and into the pyjamies and a cuppa in your hand curled up in peace and quiet with your favourite book. Bliss Especially on a day when the weather is awful and you are safe inside all cosy, with the heating down low and a fleece over your knees of course to keep the costs down on the heating:)

nodwah

Apologies if this has been mentioned before ... I haven't read the whole thread.. but has anyone read this one that amazon recommended to me:

How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans ... - Unless You Count the Garlic Crusher

is it full of stuff we all know already?

msb5262

Just found this amazing thread and must put in my two-pennorth...
One of the first autobiographies I read as a child was "Shoes were for Sunday" by Molly Weir, the first volume of the story of her childhood in the Glasgow tenements. She was one of three children brought up by her mother, who had been widowed during World War I, and by her grannie. The book is full of interesting little details about everyday life in the 1920s and 30s. The sequel, "Best Foot Forward" is equally fascinating. The third volume is called "A Toe on the Ladder" and is about the beginning of her acting career. They are all excellent reads.
Another great autobiography is called "Mother Knew Best" by Dorothy Scannell; Dolly was born into a very big family in the East End of London and this is the story of her upbringing amongst wise, loving and very funny people. I have re-read this about 30 times so would highly recommend it!
If you enjoy funny books, look out for "The Egg and I", "Anybody Can Do Anything", "The Plague and I" and "Onions in the Stew" - all written by Betty MacDonald, an American writing from the 1940s onwards. These are truly hilarious and would be amongst my desert island books.
Old style books for children - three of my all-time favourites are "Lucy and Tom's Day" by Shirley Hughes, "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" by Judith Kerr and "The Elephant and the Bad Baby" which is illustrated by Raymond Briggs.
Also "Little Women" is bliss...but wasn't it always?

Primrose

Somebody in a much earlier thread was asking what happened to Elizabeth West who wrote Hovel In the Hills, Garden in the Hills. After they moved from their cottage they took other jobs. She worked in a school and wrote two very amusing books about her life as a School Secretary called "Suffer Little Children" and I think the second was called Insufferable Little Children. When they retired she wrote a further book called A Patch in the Forest. Sadly I discovered her husband subsequently died. I don't know whether she published any more books after that.

msb5262

Does anyone remember a lovely book called, "A Child in the Forest" by Winifred Foley? It's an account of her childhood in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire. A delightful, gentle read.

hex2

nodwah wrote: »

Apologies if this has been mentioned before ... I haven't read the whole thread.. but has anyone read this one that amazon recommended to me:

How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans ... - Unless You Count the Garlic Crusher

is it full of stuff we all know already?

Nodwah,

I've got it, and the next one that came out recently. Nothing hugely new. I just like cookery books . Maybe one to get from the library? I wouldn't replace it if I lost it.

thriftlady_2

nodwah wrote: »

Apologies if this has been mentioned before ... I haven't read the whole thread.. but has anyone read this one that amazon recommended to me:

How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans ... - Unless You Count the Garlic Crusher

is it full of stuff we all know already?

Yes, it is. Not particularly healthy either. I chucked mine (by way of Oxfam).

msb5262

My preferences in the cheap food cookery book line are "The Pauper's Cookbook" by Jocasta Innes, "Poor Cook" by Susan Campbell & Caroline Conran, and "Feed your family for £5 a day" by Bernadine Lawrence.

luxor4t

thriftlady wrote: »

I've got one to - Round About A Pound a Day has just been republished by the wonderful Persphone Books. Not a practical how-to book but if you're intereseted in how women managed to feed their families on very little it is a really interesting and well written read.

I bought "Round about a pound a Week" by Maud Pember Reeves when I was in college -in the 1970s - I still have it. It deals with the records / budgets of families living in Lambeth collected by the Fabian society in 1913.

Great book and quite shocking when I realised that my grandparents were small children at that time!

I also have Bernadine Lawrence's book - but mine (bought in the 1990s) is based on £4 a day!

msb5262

My mum was inspired by Bernadine Lawrence to go back to baking bread from scratch every day - although she doesn't use Bernadine's recipe! I think she took the principle of having the time to do it from there, though. To me the only problem of home-made bread is that it's really tempting to eat the entire loaf, with a pound of butter, within about five minutes of baking it...
"Cheap and Easy" by Rose Elliott is full of (surprise, surprise) cheap, easy recipes which are also vegetarian.