i just finished, 'castles in the air' by judy corbett.  she and her husband bought and restored a very old and decrepit, falling down castle in wales - gwydir castle, near conwy and snowdon.  i wish we had known about it sooner, and we could have visited it, but i knew nothing about it until we got back from our trip.  it is a wonderful book.  a nonfiction book about restoring a castle might sound boring, but it was anything but.  they deal with damp and rot and flood and skeletons and bats and ghosts and frogs and chilblains, and a bit of mystery when they search for the dismantling of a golden room that was auctioned off and follow leads to san simeon and william randolph hearst - on top of all this, she is an excellent writer and is able to conjure up before your eyes, the enchanted welsh countryside within which is this jewel of a castle.  i don't know if the book is listed here or not, but it's a great read.  i'm keeping mine to read over again!

Sounds like a fun read. Too bad there are, like, zero copies available.

I've had this book on my wishlist since 2008--it's a slow mover!  I love books about rehabbing anything (currently reading Barn House, about a guy rehabbing a house in Chicago) but being an Anglophile, I know I would love "Castles in the Air".  I have faith that I'll get it eventually!

I just read Castles in the Air  myself recently and gave it an excellent review.  I had to buy it new as I realized I'd never get it here.  I ordered it online with several others and unfortunately it came to me with this wavy cover - something with the binding (all the pages are fine/normal).   I'd be hesitant to post it thinking someone would think it had water damage (which it didn't).  Right now my daughter is reading it but if anyone is interested, let me know, I could let you know when she finishes it... then I could post it to your wish list if you're interested.

Trying to talk DH into our next vacation being to England & Wales... we'll see.

Trish

Julie -- Thanks for mentioning this book, it was been on my wishlist for a long, long time and after reading your comments on it I finally broke down and ordered a copy. You have turned me on to lots of great books through your thread on the Travel Forum about Books about the UK, and just wanted to thank you!

Stayed up late reading this. Love it.  I will finish it today.

Thank you very much...another book added to my PBS wishlist...!!!  :o)

Another for the WL.  Thanks for posting about it.

yippee my libary had a copy! now to just find time to read it!

thanks for the recommendation! I was lucky enough to get it from the library and just returned it yesterday. I enjoyed reading it though I had to read it in sections due to being so busy - I recommend this as a one-sit read if possible.. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I could have settled down nice and comfy and read it straight through though I enjoyed it regardless.