Would you expect to see a People’s Friend annual 1998 in an expensive holiday home?

[ThePieceHall]

As per the title, DD2 and I are staying in an expensive holiday home on the coast in North Yorkshire. The bookshelf is the tiredest and saddest I have ever seen. There is actually a People’s Friend annual from 1998. The weather has been glorious and we have been on the Blue Flag beach for hours every day so we have not had to open the really tired and dated jigsaws. Thankfully. Would I be unreasonable to point out to the hosting company that a little bit of investment and a little bit of respect for paying holidaymakers would not go amiss?

Thanks, Mystic Meg, for your great insights into my character, values and attitudes, as gleaned from a few random words on the internet.

I'm a total bookworm. One of my favourite things is to see what random books people have left behind. Despite having spent ages choosing my holiday books. Will generally read these out of a weird compulsion. It’s part of the charm.

Then you definitely need to come here.

I don’t find it nice. It’s a magazine of short stories, yes they’re not Jane Eyre but obviously lots of people read them and get pleasure out of them. I have very fond memories of my Irish step grandmother reading them on a weekly basis. Once when she was unwell and couldn’t go out, she asked me to buy it for her at the newsagents as well as a tube of extra strong mints and whatever I wanted. If the magazine gave her a nice escape during her day then that’s the most important thing isn’t it?

You are very welcome.

My mum gets the People's Friend! It makes me feel cosy and soothed to see it

Yes, I understand the nostalgia value. (Does she want a few vintage hardback annuals?!)

Seriously though what is the difference between reading some short stories written 30 years ago or a novel written 30 years (or more) ago - but a current edition?

I've never been on this sort of holiday where you spend your time reading and doing jigsaw puzzles so can't comment on if this is normal or not but surely you take your own stuff if you want to read or do jigsaws or knit or whatever you think is a fun holiday.

We are really dull as a family. We absolutely do not go surfing, body boarding or swimming in the sea. At all. Nor do we enjoy sight-seeing, visiting majestic castles, eating out or shopping for souvenirs and just basically spending family time together. Instead, we while away our hours obsessively counting the jigsaw pieces in the boxes at our holiday accommodation.

That’s got to be one of the most niche and best jobs ever!

We have a shelf like this at work. Can we play bingo?
A Jeffrey Archer
A Da Vinci Code
A Ripleys believe it or not/guiness book of records
A car manual
A 1000 of something recipes
A 1000 something quiz book
A bible

Did I get any? 😃

You sound a bit snotty op...What did expect to find..the latest epistle from the Post Laurette?

No I would not expect to see a 1998 People’s Friend Annual in an upmarket holiday cottage but if I did I’d be delighted! It means the place has some character!

I discovered a love of Yours magazine after finding a few copies on a communal shelf on holiday.
OP your responses are making me lol😄
Enjoy the lovely Yorkshire coast, take The People's Friend to the beach!

Take your iwn books and mags! Unless you specifically booked this place because it promised a fully stocked contemporary library then why are you bothered what's on the bookshelves?

I am thinking that we could team up and invent a game of Holiday Cottage Reading Top Trumps. We could make our millions. Sadly (?) not a single Jeffrey Archer. But a few Catherine Cookson’s. Not even the Da Vinci Code which a previous poster referenced. You may be pleased to hear that there is the obligatory copy of Angela’s Ashes. I have just found a Gideon’s Holy Bible but someone had turned it around on the bookcase so the spine was facing inwards.

Gosh, thanks so much for your advice. This had actually never occurred to me.

We could make paper boats out of them and liberate the pages forever.

Is there a Danielle Steel or Virginia Andrews book too?

Bingo!

Having just returned from a holiday cottage with a similar shelf of ancient paperbacks, I'd guess there was also something by Joanna Trollope, Rosamond Pilcher, Catherine Cookson, a copy of Call the Midwife, and a few old spy novels.

I always associate The People's Friend with my MIL (of fond memory), who used to pass on her copies to me in the 80s/90s. It's owned by a Scottish company and a lot of the stories are set in Scotland.

Why are there three stories about The Farmer and his Wife? Have they cheated and reprinted the same story three times? Or maybe the farmer has remarried a couple of times and had three wives?

And who is David Dickinson?

I like to leave feminist books on the shelves of holiday cottages. I think I’ll dump my copy of Trans by Helen Joyce when I’m in Cornwall next week.