I like finding things in second-hand books. Old bookmarks and postcards. I recently came across a bookmark-width reading list inside Ali Smith’s short story anthology The Whole Story and Other Stories. See image below. The reader details the books they have either read or want to read. Some are asterisked for an unknown reason.

• Roddy Doyle – Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
• *Ted Van Lieshout – Brothers
• Tony Parsons – Man and Boy
• Zadie Smith – White Teeth
• Susan Hill – I’m the King of the Castle
• Nicola Morgan – Mondays are Red
• Bali Rai – (Un)arranged Marriage
• Karen Cushman – The Midwife’s Apprentice
• William Golding – The Lord of the Flies
• James Watson – Talking in Whispers
• Ken Kesey – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• *Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell – Beyond the Deep Woods
• *Mervyn Peake – Titus Groan
• George Orwell – Animal Farm
• *Anthony Horrowitz – Stormbreaker
• *Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night [sic]
• *Phillip [sic] Pullman – The Ruby in the Smoke
• Alan Garner – Red Shift

There is no date on the list, but the Ali Smith collection is from 2003 as is the most recent book on the list. There was also a bookmark from Ottakar’s inside, suggesting the book was new when the last reader bought it. It’s been read but is in great condition. This reader looked after their books. I wonder if they ever read all the titles on the list.

***

Meanwhile, in a much older book, Jane is wishing Lusty Roger a happy birthday. The inscription from 1974 is in a second-hand copy of The Common Muse. Click the image below to read.

The poem she quotes seems an odd choice for a man’s 25^th birthday, as it’s John Anderson, My Jo, attributed to Robert Burns and concerning a couple in their old age. Jane cites the last stanza of the poem, possibly referring to herself:

I’m bracket like a salmon,

I’m breastit like a swan

My wyme is like a down-cod,

My waist ye weel may span;

My skin fra tap to tae, John,

Is like the new fa’n snaw

And it’s a’ for your conveniency,

John Anderson, my jo.

Is Jane having a relationship with a much younger Lusty Roger?

Perhaps wishful thinking. It would appear she does not know him intimately as she says, I trust the rest of this poem is not too relevant! And I guess she is referring to the second stanza:

John Anderson, my jo, John,

When first that ye began,

Ye had as good a tail-tree

As ony ither man;

But now it’s waxen wan, John,

And wrinkles to and fro,

And aft requires my helping hand,

John Anderson, my jo,

(The Common Muse: An Anthology of Popular British Ballad Poetry 15th-20th Century ed. V. de Sola Pinto and A.E. Rodway, Penguin 1965, p528)

So, what became of Lusty Roger and Jane? It’s impossible to know exactly what point she was trying to make or what their relationship was. Did she ever discover his tail-tree?

Lusty Roger, now in his mid-seventies, perhaps not quite as lusty, still exchanges Christmas and birthday cards with Jane. She’s not that much older than him, only recently turned eighty. She’s bracket like a salmon and breastit like a swan. She’s sent other books to him over the years, and he’s treasured every volume. Now she’s written to him to suggest a visit – they haven’t seen each other in a while, and it will be good to catch up.