Once again, the wonderful Kristen of We Be Reading is hosting Diana Wynne Jones March! She’s put together a fantastic schedule of events for the month. If you’re a Diana Wynne Jones fan or interested in becoming one, make sure to stop by her blog every day this month to see what she’s got going on over there.
To kick off the month, she’s asking people to post pictures of their collection of DWJ books. Fortunately, since I haven’t yet organized my books onto bookshelves in my new apartment, all of my Diana Wynne Jones books were pre-strewn about the floor. Here they all are:
Notes:
1. My big sister got me that copy of Changeover. Don’t you wish you had a big sister as good as mine?
2. That is the third copy of Fire and Hemlock I’ve owned. If (slash when) some publisher decides to reissue it with a better cover than the cover I’ve got, I will probably purchase that copy to replace this copy. This will continue until I own the One Best Copy, as is my constant goal for every book I have ever loved.
3. The most recent purchase by me is A Tale of Time City, which I only bought a year or two ago. It’s not my favorite of her books. You may post your arguments in its favor in the comments.
4. I bought that hardback copy of Howl’s Moving Castle at the thrift store when I was in college and gave it to my then-boyfriend, because I wanted him to love Diana Wynne Jones. When we broke up, there was a heated debate in my family as to whether it was acceptable for me to ask him to give it back to me. I did ask for it back in the end, not because I felt it would be okay by Emily Post standards, but just because I really, really, really, really wanted it. He was perfectly gracious about it because he is a nice person.
5. I don’t know where my copy of Unexpected Magic has gotten to, but I have not seen it in several years. I really want it back. What have I done with it? I want it back.
6. Those paperbacks of Deep Secret and A Sudden Wild Magic were acquired on my first-ever trip to London, in 2005. I have hated virtually ever cover Deep Secret has ever had, and I do not hate this one. Thanks, Waterstones!
7. Diana Wynne Jones wrote a lot of books. I wish she had written a hundred more, and given enough time, she could have. She was endlessly inventive, trying something new in every book she ever wrote. She’s been one of my favorite authors for more than a decade, and I wish I’d written to her when she was still alive to thank her for the many hours of happiness her books have given me.