I have just put on to one of my bookshelves KIND REGARDS,  by Liz Williams, sub-titled The Lost Art Of Letter Writing.  It is a pleasant, entertaining, factual book,  as you may guess it is about letter writing. It looks at the letter and its reason for its existence; it offers advice on the various forms of letter and how to write them and it looks at how we can learn from examples of letters from the past, love letters, letters in war time , letters in literature, farewell letters and so on. Lovely to dip into. For me it evoked memories of my father. He was the letter writer in the family. His letters, which he used to write weekly to several family members, were beautifully handwritten and were always full of news. He love penmanship and, as these were the days before computers and he ignored the typewriter, his handwritten letters were a joy to behold. I should try and emulate him and take up the pen but I could never match the beauty of his writing. I have to compose my letters on the computer otherwise they would be almost unreadable but I think I could match him with the dispersal of news. Thanks Dad and Mum for stimulating my interest in words so long ago. It led me into the wonderful world of writing books.

I recently found a second hand copy for £5 of  IN VOGUE: Six decades of fashion by Georgina Howell published by Allen Lane,  Penguin Books. It is in very good sound condition with a very good dust cover. It is the 1976 reprint of the first edition published in the same year. The text gives a run down on each decade but its pictures are its outstanding asset. As the sub title indicates, these deal with the fashions of each decade. For me, an author of fiction, who needs to describe dress to help give life to my characters, this is a wonderful addition to my bookshelves containing other works of reference to fashion. It is one of the delights of scouring second hand and antiquarian bookshops to find a gem.