and these for Cecily.

(They are 3 and 1 respectively, and not very interested in reading blogs, so I think I’m quite safe in publishing these pics. There are other book-and-knitted-thing combos that I can’t risk putting up here…)

As I was looking at them, a memory stirred. I spent much of my teens babysitting Elinor, Adam and Iain, and one year for Christmas I knitted them each a toy and bought a book to go with it. If memory serves, Elinor got Red Riding Hood and her story, Adam a soldier and a book about a tin soldier, and Iain a pig and the story of the three little pigs, but I may have got those wrong.

I think it’s funny that, no matter what else has changed about me in the intervening 25 years, I still have very firm views on what to give a child for Christmas: a knitted thing and a book. I suppose the knit is something I can knit my love into, and reading has brought me happiness throughout my life, so it makes sense for me to want to pass that love on.

What gifts do you love to give?

(The fox is from the Intrepid Fox Knit Kit by Bombella, with yarn by Skein Queen.)

So, I went off to the local library, where I’d arranged to give out books and cakes, with heavy heart. (Books and cakes have been the theme of the week at Bah!, it seems.) I was disappointed with myself for not trying harder to give out books at the hospital (I did make a couple of phone calls, but it was one of those no-one-knew-who-was-the-right-person-to-talk-to things, and I gave up fairly quickly). I was concerned that by giving books out at the library I was preaching to the converted – giving books to people who already read.

But I was pleasantly surprised. I gave away 24 of my 48 copies of Fingersmith, mostly to parents who were bringing children to change their library books, but didn’t have books themselves. The parents took the books, the children took the cakes, and I had some interesting conversations about reading. And I gave books to 4 passing teenagers who were drawn in by the cake. One of them said she didn’t own any books at all.

Then it was off to my local yarn shop, Treacle, to give cakes and books to a group of delightful and appreciative people doing a workshop. Then to a coffee shop where I gave copies to the manager and staff, and sundry coffee drinkers. More lovely conversations; more people really excited about a new book to read.

But it doesn’t change the fact that I was giving away free books while bookshops are going out of business left, right and centre. Reading this eloquent plea from the Big Green Bookshop really brought this home to me. (The Big Green Bookshop is fab, as long as you don’t go to the loo, which has its own bluebottle.) So I’m ordering half a dozen books from the Big Green Bookshop Top 50, and I’m giving them away, in the spirit of loving to read – and the spirit of supporting the book trade. Please feel free to do the same.

At the weekend, we had some bookcases installed. (Not as easy as you’d think as there isn’t a right angle in this house and everything had to be scribed to fit.) The shelves themselves will arrive on Friday – they are being cut to size off-site, as every bookcase is a different width – but in the meantime we are starting to sort our books out.

Looks like chaos. Feels like chaos. I hope that it won’t be chaos, in the end. But I have absolutely no hope of finding a book to review for you until this lot is sorted. So the Bah! Tuesday book review will be back next week. Unless of course I get trapped under a pile of books between now and then. (Doesn’t someone die of that, in a book? Can anyone remember which one?)

What I hadn’t factored in was the sheer volume of boxes involved and how the fact that the contents were written on the side wouldn’t necessarily help me to Actually Find Anything.

But as time goes on and homes are found for our possessions, and load after load of cardboard goes to the tip, it’s getting easier to reconnect with the stuff I have been not so much ‘looking for’ as ‘vaguely hoping to come across again at some point’.

Like the box at the bottom of this stack.

On the side I have scrawled,  ’Bah! BBB- keep separate’. (I think I meant ‘keep these books, which I don’t actually own but am holding until the right person in need of a good read claims it for their own, separate from the books we do own’ rather than ‘Isolate this box!’. Although at that point in the packing process, things did get a little hazy.) In there is a trove of wonderful reads donated to the Bah! Brilliant Book Bonanza. I’m looking forward to giving them away, very soon. So please, don’t give up on the Bah! BBB – I haven’t.

Current books available for anyone in need of a good read are here. They are fabulous.

But I still can’t wait to get to that box.

A little while ago, there was a Bah! BBB Bonus of ‘It Is Just You, Everything’s Not Shit’ by sunny Steve Stack. The lucky winner is MummyMad. (I think I have your address. so it’s on the way.)

Results 2: Bah! BBB 1 August

Without Alice by DJ Kirkby (signed copy) goes to Alison Wells. (Gina, so sorry you missed out. I had to pick from a hat. Please contact me and I’ll arrange to send you something else.)

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova Emily gets.

The Disengagement Ring by Clodagh Murphy (signed copy) is destined for Rebecca.

Murder in Bloom by Lesley Cookman (signed copy) goes to Emily

Delia Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton (signed copy) gos to Emily

24 Hours – Paris by Marsha Moore (signed copy) goes to Kimberey

All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman goes to Emily. (Emily leaves comments – and donations – on behalf of herself and her daughters; she’s not being greedy!)

If I don’t have your addresses, winners, please email me and I will get the books out to you next week.

Result 3

There’s going to be a fabulous Bah! BBB bonus on Monday. Oh yeah. Don’t miss it.

So I’m going to do things a bit differently.

Today is your last chance to pick a book from the current selection, here.

I’m going to sprinkle book giveaways through this blog until I’ve set up the Bah! BBB site, which should be sometime in September. The Bah! BBB site will then focus on books and reviews with the odd reference to cancer, and this site will focus on cancer with the occasional reference to books. I’m going to worry less about fundraising and more about just getting the books out there.

There are a couple of ways you can help if you want to:

1. I’ve been thinking that the Bah! BBB needs a slogan. The best I’ve come up with so far is

The Bah! Brilliant Book Bonanza: a good read when you need it

Do you have any other suggestions?

2. If you’ve read a brilliant book – and it can be anything, so long as it’s ultimately uplifting – please write a short review and email it to me, so I can include it in the new site.

Thank you – and thank you for supporting that Bah! BBB so far.

Get hold of a good, uplifting read for you or someone you know who could use one, support Bah! and help a cancer charity, all at the same time.

Yes, really.

Just click here.

When you’ve decided which book you’d like, leave a ‘Pick me!’ comment and a donation over there, and I’ll do the rest.

Winners will be announced on 9 August, and remember, there’ll be another Bah! BBB this time next week.

I thought you might like a sneak preview of the fabulous books that will be on offer on 1 August…..

I’ve given some more detail, and links to reviews, below. Also, clicking the name of the book will take you to Amazon where you can read customer reviews. Happy browsing!

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

I haven’t read this yet, but I did read The Historian by the same author, and was gripped from start to finish. There are lots of reviews around, but I thought the ones here and  here were useful.

The Disengagement Ring by Clodagh Murphy (signed copy)

Before I was diagnosed with cancer I was far too much of a literary snob to even consider reading chicklit. Several authors have proved me wrong. Clodagh is one of them. There’s a review here and you can follow Clodagh on Twitter here.

Hold My Hand And Run by Margaret McAllister (signed copy)

This is a tale of brave children escaping a cruel home in 17th century England. It’s brilliant – even though it’s a book for children (9+, I’d say) I couldn’t put it down. You can read more about it on Margaret’s website here.

Without Alice by DJ Kirkby (signed copy)

DJ Kirkby’s memoir From Zaftig to Aspie went down a storm at the last Bah! BBB. This is her first novel, published on 31 July, so really hot off the presses. Visit the author’s website here.

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martell

The long awaited follow-up to Life of Pi. I think this review says some really interesting things about it.

Murder in Bloom by Lesley Cookman (signed copy)

There’s nothing like a good murder mystery to make an afternoon fly by! Find out more about the books and the author here – and you can follow Lesley on Twitter here.

Delia Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton (signed copy)

A novel for teenagers, this brilliant book is honest, a bit rude and very, very funny. Keris is on Twitter here and her website is here.

24 Hours – Paris by Marsha Moore (signed copy)

I love the idea of this book – it’s an hour-by-hour city guide. You’ll never be stuck for something to do at 3am in Paris again! There’s a review here, you can visit Marsha’s website here and follow her on Twitter here.

All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman

This book was donated to the Bah! BBB by the lovely Marie Phillips, who also gave me a copy for my birthday. I read it in an hour – it’s very short – but I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It may even be a perfect book. But don’t just take my word for it. Look here.

*

These books will be ready for ‘Pick me!’ comments when the next Bah! BBB starts on Sunday….. I hope to see you then!

*

Forget quantum physics or Einstein’s theory of relativity, ‘what do I read next?’ is one question that even the most intelligent of minds will struggle to answer! Of course you can ask your friends for suggestions, or use websites such as www.whatshouldireadnext.com that will give you an automated answer. However have you ever tried thinking about what it is that makes it difficult for you to decide what book you should read next? Do you know that while most people have a favourite author or have a favourite genre of book, many people will still be besotted with books written by totally different authors or from a different genre, depending on the situation?

People read books for a vast number of different reasons. So, before you embark on the tedious process of deciding what to read next, one of the best things to do is to ask yourself what purpose YOUR next read will be serving (and bear in mind that the answer to this question won’t always be the same). If you can answer this question, I firmly believe it will fast-track you throughout the process of choosing your next book. For example, if you want your next book to take you away from the real world, a fantasy novel of some kind might be just what you’re looking for. If you want to read a book because you’re in need of a good laugh, there are plenty of good humour novels out there.

Now on the other hand if you need to have some reading material at hand to help you through a tough patch in your life, fiction novels such as Playtime by Stephanie Fox which is about a boy who’s been abused, or We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver which describes a mother’s need to come to terms that her son is completely out of control, are probably just the kind of thing you want to be reading. You’ll be amazed at how easily you can bond with some of the characters in these types of books, and how some of the characters can almost become like a best friend, that you want to treat as a confidante!

Perhaps you feel like exploring the world, or are in the mood for going back in time, in which case a book by an international author such as Khaled Hosseini or Vikram Seth would be ideal; or Dissolution by C.J. Sansom which will take you back to the Tudor times. Have you on the other hand, just gone through a major life event such as moving house or changing jobs? In this case a bit of familiarity is just what you need. So try reading a book by an author whose books you have previously read, or even a book you’ve read before – you’d be amazed at how quickly you suddenly start to ‘feel at home’ in your new environment!

I hope that my suggestions will give you some ideas of how to decide what book you should read next.

*

Serena Alam is a biomedical science graduate, specialising mainly in neuroscience, and has been working as an editor in the UK publishing industry since 2005. She has co-authored an article about post-herpetic neuralgia which has been published in The Cochrane Library (http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004846/frame.html). In her spare time she also writes articles about books or publishing. You can email her here, She can be contacted at: copyeditor08@gmail.com. follow her on Twitter, and keep an eye out for her new blog: http://alamse.blogspot.com.

I can wholeheartedly endorse Serena’s recommendations of Vikram Seth, Lionel Shriver and C.J. Sansom. Khaled Hosseini is sitting on my shelf waiting for his moment, and I’d never heard of Stephanie Fox, so I might well give her a go!

If you’d like to share your thoughts on how to choose a book, please email me 300-500 words on the subject, and I’ll publish it here on the blog. Reading a book is a big investment of time and I think it will be interesting to find out what different people’s processes of choice are.

I’m glad. it was one of those ‘don’t know until you try’ projects, and I tried it, and now I know. Mostly what I know is that there are a lot of kind, compassionate and supportive people out there who get what I am trying to do, and are helping me to do it. Thank you.

I’ve also figured out some things that could be improved.

1. The BBBB gets a bit lost up there at the top of the page. So it’s going to have its own domain, www.bahbbb.com. (Please don’t go and look, because there’s nothing there yet – I have to get myself into the right frame of mind to wrestle with getting a new site up  - but there will be, soon.)

2. There are lots of things, it seems, called BBBB. Mostly boring stocks and shares type things, so our BBBB is definitely the best – but, in view of the duplication and the new site name, I’ve decided to rename the Bah! Brilliant Book Bonanza. Henceforth, it will be known as the Bah! BBB.

3. There is such a thing as too much choice. Psychologists have found that, although this is counterintuitive, we are more likely to choose something from a list of 7 things than a menu of, say, 30. So instead of having one Bah! BBB in August, I am going to have 5 little ones, one on every Sunday in the month. There will be 7 or 8 books to choose from and make a donation for, and I will allocate books at the end of each week. So you have a better chance of getting a book you like, and psychologists insist it will be easier to make a choice. Let’s see how it goes.

Are there any more improvements you can suggest?