Just a thought to widen the thread a bit: I think that we're pretty much agreed that we'd all love the 'basic' library but gathering it is a lifetimes work (or maybe a lifetimes salary!) What would people suggest for "a folk-library in weekly parts"? Or more seriously, suppose we set a limit of, say, £20/US$30 a month and limited ourselves to books currently in print. What would people suggest for the first few months?

I would pick the Loomis House Child for the first month, obviously!