DarrenBarefoot.com

My friend and recent Malta guest Monique wrote to tell me about Trading in Memories, a strange little book by Barbara Hodgson (she needs a Wikipedia entry). I haven’t read the book, but I did look through a sample chapter about Budapest (PDF). Here’s a little excerpt:

Unchanging through rain or shine, however, were the well-stocked and plentiful antikvárium, the antiquarian and secondhand bookstores. The first thing that struck me about them was the stack of plastic baskets—the sort you find at supermarkets—inside the entrance to each one. The second thing was that customers were carrying these baskets and filling them up. Either the citizens of Budapest are voracious readers or they love being surrounded by books.

It’s a little unfair to judge from a three-page sample, but the prose seems unremarkable. However, the books are beautifully illustrated with artifacts and old photos. It’s a bit like scrapbooking gone professional. That’s why I made the connection to Nick Bantock’s beautiful but awfully twee Griffin and Sabine books.