Souloftherose's 2013 thread, or, the Reading Journal of a Young(ish) Lady - part 3

A warm welcome to all visitors - please feel free to lurk or post.

Continuing the theme of Virago art for my opening posts, in this thread opener I'm showcasing Elizabeth Taylor's novels of which I read quite a few last year in celebration of her centenary. In general I love the older green Virago editions but I think some of the Elizabeth Taylor covers might be an exception.

The green covers I do like because I think the artwork on these covers has some link to the book:



A selection of the ones I don't like because they're just pictures of flowers. ET's books are not flowery in my view and I can't understand why so many of her books have generic pictures of flowers on the covers:



The modern reissues - I think some of these do a better job of giving you an idea of the sort of book you're getting although I'm still not sure how I feel about them in general. They're certainly not my favourite of the modern reissues but some, particularly Palladian, A Game of Hide and Seek and A Wreath of Roses, tie in with the book in my mind (although the cover for A Wreath of Roses is creepy, I thought the book was too.)



Overall though, with the exception of the first four covers, I do feel that Virago have never quite got the covers right for Elizabeth Taylor's books (for me, anyway). Please feel free to disagree!

No particular target for books to read in 2013. Last year I read 185 and I think my reading is slowing down so I'm going for 150 to start with. I'm also going to keep track of the number of books I read from my TBR pile (and I'm going to have a frog theme, maybe in honour of the TIOLI challenges?)







Books read in April
#44 Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#45 Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord (TBR)
#46 Yendi by Steven Brust (Omnibus)
#47 Teckla by Steven Brust (TBR)
#48 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Reread)
#49 Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham (TBR)
#50 The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith (TBR)
DNF The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (TBR)
#51 Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken (TBR)
#52 The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Library)
#53 The Summer School Mystery by Josephine Bell (TBR)
#54 Caleb Williams by William Godwin (TBR)
#55 Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#56 Old Filth by Jane Gardam (TBR)
#57 Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (Reread)
#58 The Octoroon, or, The Lily of Lousiana by M. E. Braddon (TBR)
#59 Kesrith by C. J. Cherryh (Omnibus)
#60 Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc (Free kindle)

Books read in May
#61 It Ends With Revelations by Dodie Smith (TBR)
#62 Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh (Omnibus)
#63 Kutath by C. J, Cherryh (TBR)
#64 Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell (TBR)
#65 Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham (Reread)
#66 Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (TBR)
#67 House-Bound by Winifred Peck (TBR)
#68 A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#69 Coroner's Pidgin by Margery Allingham (TBR)
#70 The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Reread)
#71 To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (Reread)
DNF The Mighty Walzer by Howard Jacobson (TBR)
#72 Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers (TBR)
#73 Fire Watch by Connie Willis (TBR)
#74 Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell (Library)
#75 Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott (Library)
#76 The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Free kindle)
#77 Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie (Reread)

Books read in June
#78 Days of Grace by Catherine Hall (TBR)
#79 Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope (TBR)
#80 Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (TBR)
#81 No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#82 Prester John by John Buchan (TBR)
#83 The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit (Free kindle)
#84 Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman (TBR)
#85 The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (TBR)
#86 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Library)
#87 Elizabeth: The author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Karen Usborne (Library)
#88 The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit (Free kindle)
#89 I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (Reread)
#90 These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#91 The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam (Library)
#92 The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay (TBR)

Books read in July
#93 The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight by M. E. Braddon (Borrowed)
#94 The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (TBR)
#95 The Dickens Dictionary by John Sutherland (TBR)
#96 The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz (TBR)
#97 In the Teeth of the Evidence by Dorothy L. Sayers (TBR)
#98 Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers (TBR)
#99 More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham (TBR)
#100 The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer (TBR)

Books read in January
#1 Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks (TBR)
#2 The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#3 We Are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times by Simon Garfield (Library)
#4 Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#5 The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue (TBR)
#6 Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg (TBR)
#7 The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#8 My Animals and Other Family by Clare Balding (Library)
#9 Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (TBR)
#10 All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West (TBR)
#11 Minnie's Room: The Peacetime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes (TBR)
#12 Lucia's Progress by E F. Benson (Part of omnibus)
#13 The Sword of Damocles: A Story of New York Life by Anna Katharine Green (Free kindle)
#14 Trouble for Lucia by E. F. Benson (TBR)
#15 Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (TBR)

Books read in February
#16 The New Moon with the Old by Dodie Smith (TBR)
#17 Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)
#18 Portrait of a Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius (TBR)
#19 Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger (TBR)
#20 Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (TBR)
#21 The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken (TBR)
#22 Redshirts by John Scalzi (Library)
#23 The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#24 Limbo Lodge by Joan Aiken (TBR)
#25 Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie (TBR)
#26 A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (Spousal unit)
#27 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#28 Jhereg by Steven Brust (TBR)
#29 Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wootton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)
#30 Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (Library)
#31 The Ordeal of Elizabeth by Elizabeth von Arnim (Free kindle)

Books read in March
#32 Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#33 The Brothers by Asko Sahlberg (TBR)
#34 The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham (TBR)
#35 The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce (TBR)
#36 The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (TBR)
#37 Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (TBR)
#38 The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill (TBR)
#39 A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (Spousal unit)
#40 Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (Reread)
#41 Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (Reread)
#42 The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (Library)
#43 High Tide in Tucson: Essays From Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver (TBR)

My never-ending quest to try and reduce the size of my TBR pile. The aim is to buy fewer books than the number I read from my TBR pile. Sounds simple enough - what could possibly go wrong?




Books acquired in January
#1 Restless by William Boyd (Bookmooch)
#2 Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (Bookmooch)
#3 Some Tame Gazelle by Barabara Pym (The Book People) READ
#4 Less Than Angels by Barabara Pym (The Book People) READ
#5 An Academic Question by Barabara Pym (The Book People)
#6 Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg (Kindle) READ
#7 The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1899 - 1936: The Making of a Detective Novelist by Dorothy L. Sayers (Bookmooch)
#8 A Winter Book by Tove Jansson (Kindle)
#9 The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken (Awesomebooks.com) READ
#10 The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken (Awesomebooks.com)
#11 Days of Grace by Catherine Hall (Kindle) READ

Books acquired in February
#12 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (Waterstones.com) READ
#13 Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Kindle)
#14 Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger (Kindle) READ
#15 The Black Moth by Georgett Heyer (Kindle) READ
#16 The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin (Birthday present)
#17 Why Read the Classics? by Italo Calvino (Birthday present)
#18 Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie (Kindle) READ
#19 This Real Night by Rebecca West (Oxfam)
#20 Devoted Ladies by M. J. Farrell (Oxfam)
#21 Salem Chapel by Mrs Oliphant (Oxfam)
#22 The Doves of Venus by Olivia Manning (Oxfam)
#23 The Italian by Ann Radcliffe (Oxfam)
#24 The Rise of the Novel by Ian Watts (Oxfam)
#25 The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle (Oxfam)

Books acquired in March
#26 Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham (Abebooks.co.uk) READ
#27 The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill (Kindle) READ
#28 The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust (Abebooks.co.uk) READ
#29 Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (Abebooks.co.uk) READ
#30 The Hound and the Falcon by Antonia White (Charity bookshop)
#31 A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridges (Kindle)

Books acquired in April
#32 Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff (Kindle)
#33 How it All Began by Penelope Lively (Kindle)
#34 The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (Kindle) READ
#35 A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens (Kindle)
#36 The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard (Kindle)
#37 Old Filth by Jane Gardam (Waterstones.com) READ
#38 High Rising by Angela Thirkell (Waterstones.com)
#39 Caleb Williams by William Godwin (Waterstones.com) READ
#40 Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman (Waterstones.com) READ
#41 Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer (Kindle) READ
#42 Faith Fox by Jane Gardam (Bookmooch)

Books acquired in May
#43 Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell (Kindle) READ
#44 A Note in Music by Rosamond Lehmann (Bookmooch)
#45 More Talk of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G. B. Stern (Cobbles bookshop)
#46 The Wild Geese by Bridget Boland (Cobbles bookshop)
#47 Over the Frontier by Stevie Smith (Cobbles bookshop)
#48 Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle by Thomas Peacock (Cobbles bookshop)
#49 Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olson (Cobbles bookshop)
#50 Provincial Daughter by R. M. Dashwood (Porlock church)
#51 Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (Porlock church)
#52 Fire Watch by Connie Willis (Kindle) READ
#53 The Mighty Walzer by Howard Jacobson (Kindle) READ
#54 Diana of the Crossways by George Meredith (Charity bookshop)
#55 The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (Charity bookshop)
#56 Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver (GennyT)
#57 Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Kindle)
#58 Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan(Kindle) READ
#59 The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers (Abebooks.co.uk)
#60 Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers (Abebooks.co.uk) READ
#61 The King's Peace by Jo Walton (Kindle)
#62 The King's Name by Jo Walton (Kindle)
#63 The Prize in the Game by Jo Walton (Kindle)

Books acquired in June
#64 Our Sound is Our Wound by Lucy Winkett (Bookmooch)
#65 Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in the Second World War by Virginia Nicholson (Kindle)
#66 Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived without Men After the First World War by Virginia Nicholson (Kindle)
#67 Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (Kindle)
#68 Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd (Persephone books)
#69 Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple (Persephone books)
#70 Greenery Street by Denis Mackail (Persephone books)
#71 These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (Kindle) READ

Books acquired in July
#72 The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer (Kindle) READ

Some mini-challenges

Non-fiction reading

I read 19 non-fiction books in total last year which is not too shabby but the majority of those were either bought and read in 2012 or borrowed from the library. Only 4 were books I had bought prior to 2012. I have 50 non-fiction books in my TBR pile and most were acquired before last year and I'm not reading them. My mini-challenge is to try and read 12 non-fiction books I bought before 2012.

1. Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wootton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver

Some ideas

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English behaviour by Kate Fox
The Folklore of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto by Anneli Rufus
Rough Crossings by Simon Schama
Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland
Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and its People by Jonathan Dimbleby
The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World by Deborah Cadbury
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-Beacham
J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey
Notes From a Big Country by Bill Bryson
High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver
William Pitt the Younger: A Biography by William Hague
Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford
Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wootton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J. R. R. Tolkien

The TBR points challenge

Another trend I noticed about my 2012 reading was that less than half of the books I read last year were books I'd bought before 2012 and only a very small number were bought before 2011. So I'm reading books from my TBR pile but I'm not really reading the older books. I know there are lots of other challenges and groups to help me with this but I'm not very good at keeping up a thread in more than one group so I came up with my own idea which is to award a points score to any book read from my TBR pile. When I reach a certain number of points I can.... buy a new book! (Anyone who points out that the reward system here could be a little self-defeating will be shushed).

The points system is as follows:

5 points for a book acquired before 2010
3 points for books acquired in 2010
2 points for books acquired in 2011
1 point for books acquired more than 6 months ago (i.e. at the moment the first half of 2012)

My arbitrary points total that will allow me to buy a new book is 50 points. If/when I reach that then I set myself a new target.




I've sort of decided that the books I'm going to buy with this challenge will be the sort of books I don't tend to buy for myself, which is a class of books that's really hard to define but I know which ones they are. At the moment I'm thinking of either The Art of the Hobbit by Tolkien or DWJ's Reflections Diana Wynne Jones but I might change my mind.

An idea borrowed from Liz (lyzard), this lists ongoing series that I am actively reading. This doesn't include series where I have the first book in my TBR pile (i.e. series I haven't started reading yet aren't included). An asterisk indicates a series where I already have a copy of the next book.

Alastair-Audley: Next up Devil's Cub by Georgetter Heyer
*Albert Campion: Next up The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (17/25)
*Allan Quatermain: Next up Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard (2/15)
*Arsène Lupin: Next up Arsène Lupin vs. Holmlock Shears by Maurice Leblanc (2/23?)
*Barsoom: Next up The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (3/11)
Bas-Lag: Next up The Scar by China Mieville (2/3)
The Bridges: Next up: Mr Bridge by Evan S. Connell (2/2)
The Cairo Trilogy: Next up Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz (2/3)
*Chaos Walking: Next up Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (4/4)
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache: Next up The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (8/8)
The Chronicles of Barsetshire: Next up The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (5/6)
*Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox: Next up Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart (3/3)
*Cicero: Next up Lustrum by Robert Harris (2/2)
Cissy: Next up Pull Out All the Stops by Geraldine McCaughrean (2/2)
*Colonial Trilogy: Next up: The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville (2/3)
David Wintringham by Josephine Bell: Reading out of order (2/12 read)
The Deed of Paksenarrion: Next up Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon (2/3)
*Dolphin Ring Cycle: Next up Frontier Wolf by Rosemary Sutcliff (3/8)
Dr. Siri Paiboun: Next up: Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (2/9)
Dragonriders of Pern: Next up Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey (2/25)
*The Earthsea Cycle: Next up The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (3/6)
*Ebenezer Gryce: Next up The doctor, his wife and the clock by Anna Katharine Green (7/13) (Two books skipped as unavailable)
Empire Trilogy: Next up: The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell (2/3)
*Fionavar Tapestry: Next up The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kat (3/3)
The Girl Who: Next up The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland — For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente (2/4)
Green Knowe: Next up: The Chimneys of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston (2/6)
*Hercule Poirot: Next up: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (3/39)
Inheritance Trilogy: Next up The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin (2/3)
Jeeves: Next up Thank You, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (4/14)
Jimm Juree: Next up Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill (2/2)
Kat, Incorrigible: Next up A Tangle of Magicks by Stephanie Burgis (2/3)
Les Voyages Extraordinaires: Next up A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne (3/54)
The Magicians: Next up The Magician King by Lev Grossman (2/3?)
My Swordhand is Singing: Next up The Kiss of Death by Marcus Sedgwick (2/2)
*The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Next up The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith (4/13)
Old Filth: Next up Last Friends by Jane Gardam (3/3)
The Penderwicks: Next up The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (2/3)
Rivers of London: Next up Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch (3/3)
*Richard Hannay: Next up The Three Hostages by John Buchan (4/5)
Romantic Poets and Nephilim: Next up A Time to Cast Away Stones in The Bible Repairman and Other Stories by Tim Powers (2/3)
Ruth Galloway: Next up The House at Sea's End by Elly Grifiiths (3/6)
Seven Kingdoms: Next up Fire by Kristin Cashore (2/3)
*A Song of Ice and Fire: Next up A Feast for Crows by G. R. R. Martin (4/7)
Sorcery and Celia: Next up The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (2/3)
Tommy and Tuppence: Next up Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie (2/5)
*Turtle: Next up Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (2/2)
Vlad Taltos: Next up Taltos by Steven Brust (4/14)
Vorkosigan (Chronological order): Next up Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold (6/16)
Wars of Light and Shadow: Next up Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts (2/10?)
*Wolves Chronicles: Next up The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken (6/11)

Up to date series
Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Latest book Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (2/3)
Dragonslayer: Latest book The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde (2/3)
Finishing School: Latest book Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (1/4?)
Jackson Brodie: Latest book Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson (4/4)
Matthew Shardlake: Latest book Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (5/5)
Mistborn: Latest book The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (4/4)
Shades of Grey: Latest book Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (1/3)
Thursday Next: Latest book The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde (7/8)
Wolf Hall: Latest book Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2/3)

Completed Series
The Faded Sun Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh (3)
Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L. Sayers (15)
Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (3)
Mapp and Lucia by E. F. Benson (6)
The Psammead Trilogy by E. Nesbit (3/3)

And another challenge I decided to set myself for fun after all the best of decade lists last year and inspired by a couple of book blogs I follow:

A century of books!

I'm going to try and read a book published in every year of the 20th century. This is just for fun, so if I don't manage it this year I'll extend it into next year, but I did have a lot of fun going through my TBR piles trying to work out which books would fit and it has made me dig out some almost forgotten books from the very bottom of the TBR pile.

1900
1901 The Ordeal of Elizabeth by Elizabeth von Arnim
1902 Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
1903
1904 The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
1905
1906 The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit
1907 Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc
1908
1909
1910 Prester John by John Buchan
1911
1912
1913 The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
1921 The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
1922 The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
1923 Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
1924 Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
1925
1926 These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
1927
1928 The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer
1929
1930 Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
1931 All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
1932
1933
1934 The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
1935 Lucia's Progress by E. F. Benson / Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
1936
1937 Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
1938 The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
1939 Trouble for Lucia by E. F. Benson / Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham
1940
1941 Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham
1942 House-Bound by Winifred Peck
1943
1944 Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell
1945 Coroner's Pidgin by Margery Allingham
1946
1947
1948 I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
1949 Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien
1950 Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym / The Summer School Mystery by Josephine Bell
1951
1952 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
1953
1954
1955 Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym
1956
1957
1958 A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym / Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell
1959
1960
1961 No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym
1962
1963 The New Moon with the Old by Dodie Smith
1964
1965 The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith
1966
1967 It Ends With Revelations by Dodie Smith
1968 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
1969
1970
1971 The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
1972 Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers
1973
1974 Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken
1975
1976
1977
1978 Kesrith / Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh
1979 Kutath by C. J. Cherryh
1980
1981 The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken
1982
1983 Jhereg by Steven Brust
1984 Yendi by Steven Brust/The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
1985 Fire Watch by Connie Willis
1986 Elizabeth: The author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Karen Usborne
1987 Teckla by Steven Brust
1988
1989
1990 Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995 High Tide in Tucson: Essays From Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver
1996 Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1997
1998 Limbo Lodge by Joan Aiken / A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin / To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
1999

Progress: 51/100

Done!

Hurray, I'm first! Hi Heather - nice new digs. :)

Happy new thread, Heather!

Liking the new thread, Heather! I've only read Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont of her books, but I like the cover you show for that, and the first four for me best match the way I think of her writing.

#9 Welcome Mary! You were very quick off the mark :-)

#10 Thanks Susan!

#11 Hi Joe! I think the green Mrs Palfrey cover is one of the best. I don't have that edition so I'm not sure who the painter is but I think it's a lovely portrait that captures the dignity that Mrs Palfrey had.

***************************************

I'm 12 book reviews behind (again) but it's been such a lovely day I haven't felt the slightest inclination to do anything about it.

I agree with you about the flowery covers Heather, they don't really say anything about the book. I like the covers for A view of The Harbour and At Mrs Lippincote's best but as the only Elizabeth Taylor I have read is Angel I can't really comment on whether they suit the book.

Hi Heather, I also cannot comment much on the Virago covers as I haven't read anything by Elizabeth Taylor, I hope to correct that at some point this year with At Mrs. Lippincote's. But those covers certainly make an interesting and colorful header for your new thread.

Happy new thread, Heather! Although I've never read a Virago book of any kind I must agree with you regarding the first four covers. The black and white photo covers look sort of art Nouveau - ish, Gatsby-esqe or even some 1950's B films. Do these story's take place in any of these eras?

I'm with Delta, I'm afraid, in never having read Ms Taylor's books. I think I will have to try her sometime; the books do sound interesting.

Nice thread - with lots of recommendations for me.

ETA : Fingers still crossed for you.

Happy new thread, Heather : ). I love the Virago covers. Think I prefer the originals to the "newer" looking versions.

You're right about the flowers Heather. Great new thread.

Happy New Thread, Heather! Your organization is formidable, and I respect it even if I can't emulate it.
I agree that the flower covers don't reflect anything about the books themselves, but they're so pretty that I love them anyway. Maybe most of her characters would live in houses where such flowers bloomed? I don't particularly warm to the very modern ones, and I think you picked the best four as your favorites. I have to ask what the woman on the cover of Blaming is about to kiss..... her own elbow? That's just peculiar, and I never have understood it.

Great thread topper, Heather!

I'm still sending good house wishes your way!

Love your opening message with the Taylor covers! I have all of her novels in green editions and never noticed how many use flowers. I agree that makes no sense. I also hadn't seen most of the new covers, they are interesting and as you say some fit better than others (like the creepy one). The green Mrs Palfrey cover gets my vote as most representative of the story.

The only Elizabeth Taylor book that I have is a hardcover, but I agree, all those flowers seem out of place.

Piping up with my agreement also - I did wonder about the covers last year when I was reading them -- as in -- Why this arrangement? That bouquet. OK Roses, but not a wreath....

What an eye-catching opening to your newest thread, Heather! ANd so interesting about the covers. I have not read any Elizabeth Taylor, but I do own two, I think, but they are ebooks, so I have no idea about the covers.

#13 Hi Rhian. I like those covers too. I always imagined that the Angel cover was meant to represent Angel herself. It's the sort of costume I would imagine her wearing.

#14 Hi Judy. I hope you enjoy At Mrs Lippincote's - it was one of my favourites from last year.

#15 Hi Lynda. Yes, some of the stories took place in the 1940s and 1950s (although I can never remember when photographs would have changed to colour). The downside to the new photos is they always remind me of Elizabeth Taylor the actress who had no connection to the author.

#16 Thanks Nina! It's all looking good so far :-)

#17 Thanks Nancy. And the green covers would look so nice on a bookshelf with their matching green spines.

#18 Thanks Bonnie. :-)

#19 Peggy, I don't know why the flower covers niggle at me so much (hopefully my first message wasn't too much of a rant). I think each of the covers looks nice but I'm puzzled why whoever picked the covers picked so many generic flowers for ET's books. But perhaps you're right and they thought they would be the sort of flowers found in the houses of characters in the books :-)

I always thought the lady on the new cover of Blaming was sniffing her wrists rather than kissing her elbow! It is a strange picture.

#20 Thanks Dejah!

#21 Another vote for the green Mrs Palfrey cover!

#22 Hi Stasia! Thanks for stopping by.

#23 Hi Lucy. At least the roses were referenced in the title but a wreath has quite different connotations.

#24 Thanks Mamie!

So, still no book reviews and I've been struggling to work out what I feel like reading next. I'm hoping it's a sympton of too many mortage/insurance meetings and a nice week away in sunny (probably rainy) Exmoor will restore my reading and reviewing mojo.

Hi Heather!

Happy new thread! I love the topper too, of course!

From the previous thread, congrats on the positive house buying developments! I hope everything is continuing smoothly. Yay!

Those are some lovely book covers in your opening post, Heather, flowers and all! I wish the Elizabeth Taylor books were more available to me. I can get some of them from inter-library loan which I plan to do...someday. I keep trying to clear off some room on my shelves so I can continue my book-buying habit.

Happy new thread, Heather!!

I'm amazed by your reading!

So how is Exmoor? (I never thought I'd be able to write a sentence like that!) Hope it's great and that you're also reading a lot.
>25 souloftherose: Sniffing a wrist is physically possible, so I think you're right!
I'll be glad when you're back in touch, Heather.

I'm also looking forward to hearing about Exmoor, Heather. I'm hoping you had a lovely time, rain or shine.

Hi Heather! You're in my neck of the woods!!
Oh, I'm so silly. I just wrote a whole post about how near you are to me, because I was thinking of Dartmoor, not Exmoor! Exmoor is near where I grew up though, and I could probably give you some good tips on places to go if you are interested. It's a shame I didn't know in advance - perhaps we could of had an LT meet up, if you are amenable : ) Anyway, just to get the ball rolling, Dulverton is worth checking out - it has a lovely second hand bookshop plus several other lovely shops/cafes. The drive there is stunning too. I would recommend Lynton and Lynmouth for a lovely day out, especially the gorgeous Valley of Rocks and Porlock just around the corner was the setting for the famous Westcountry novel Lorna Doone. If you are looking for lovely beaches, my family's house locale of Saunton, or Woolacombe have to be the best in the area. Just down the road from Woolacombe is my birthplace, Ilfracombe, a seaside town that has seen better days, but the harbour has been in the news recently for having a massive Damian Hirst sculpture erected there. His restaurant is just down the road, and is good but pricey, or so I've been told. OK, enough from the North Devon tourist guide, but just let me know if you would like any other recommendations!
Many congratulations on the house purchase. I know what a rollercoaster of emotions that can be! Fingers crossed that all the boring legal stuff goes smoothly!

Hi Heather, I think it's probably getting late in the month to wish you a happy new thread, but I'll wish you all the best all the same. Looking at the Elizabeth Taylor books in my collection, I notice that four of them have those flowery covers you put up top. I've only read three of her novels so far (A Game of Hide and Seek, Angel and A Wreath of Roses) and while I agree that there's nothing flowery about her style or subject matters, I still quite like them, maybe because the green Viragos are almost impossible to find here and I went through great pains to find those I did get from UK merchants (mostly). I don't like the new covers at all, though I couldn't say why exactly. Maybe simply for what they aren't, which is green covers... All this reminds me I really do want to read more of her work, so thanks for the nudge!

Hello, Heather - just checking in! I hope Exmoor is wonderful.

We're back! We had a nice time in Exmoor despite the weather being a bit cold for the time of year. Lots of good reading and good food - my trousers definitely feel tighter :-( We also came across a couple of bookshops so I will be listing some book acquisitions shortly! And we came back to some good news about the house - the vendor is going to move in with friends/family rather than trying to find somewhere to buy straight away so we can agree a completion date! We're thinking beginning of July although we need to check that would be ok with the mortgage people. Exciting and scary! Work is going to be pretty full on for both of us over the next few months too...

#27 Thanks Kerri - on the house front things seem to be going really well so far!

#28 "I keep trying to clear off some room on my shelves so I can continue my book-buying habit." I think in many ways we're moving house so I can continue mine! I'm exaggerating a bit but worryingly not that much.

#29 Ah, thank you Tina!

#30 It was good thanks Peggy :-)

#31 Thanks Nancy - we had both rain and shine (and wind - brrr) but we did have a lovely time.

#32 Oh no! I completely forgot that was your area of the country :-( We've been to Exmoor for the last two years and I keep meaning to reread Lorna Doone and never do! We didn't go to Dulverton (if I'd know there was a bookshop there we would definitely have made a visit!) but we had a nice time visiting the little towns on the west side of Exmoor and we did find a lovely second hand bookshop in Dunster as well as visiting the castle there. We also made a trip out to Nether Stowey past the Quantock Hills to visit Coleridge's Cottage which was really interesting.

#33 Uh oh - I hope I'm not going to be held responsible for another book buying spree?! :-P I know what you mean about wanting to keep to the green covers and they do look nice lined up together on the shelf.

#34 Thanks Dejah!

So book acquisitions (I haven't updated my tikker's at the top of the thread yet):

We found a lovely second-hand bookshop in Dunster when we visited Exmoor last year so I made sure we had a visit pencilled in this year too. Last year I found a lovely old copy of Talking of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G. B. Stern published in 1943. This year I found a lovely copy of More about Jane Austen by the same authors. I've been looking for a copy of this since I read the first book last year so I was thrilled to spot it on the shelf. I also picked up some lovely green VMCs and an old Penguin:

Dunster bookshop:
More about Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G. B. Stern
Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle by Thomas Peacock (Penguin)
Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olson (VMC)
Over the Frontier by Stevie Smith (VMC)
The Wild Geese by Bridget Bolan (VMC)

Then on our wanderings we popped into one of the local churches to discover this had a small set of bookshelves with books for sale for only 50p. And there were a couple of Viragoes in modern covers so I grabbed them:

Provincial Daughter by R. M. Dashwood
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane

great news on the house!

glad you had a nice holiday.

I loved the bookshop in Dunster too but last time we went it was shut :(

Congratulations on the trip and the HOUSE!!!! Also the books!
Glad you're back among us, Heather.

#37 Oh that's a shame. We had a bad moment when we first got to Dunster because the shop where it used to be was closed with empty windows. But they'd just moved the bookshop round the corner. Phew!

#38 Thanks Peggy

I have to confess that that having to think about moving dates has left me feeling quite anxious again today. We're going to move house? Really? I don't know if I want to anymore...

Just keep your mind focused on how great it's going to be when you have all your stuff in the new house, not on all the work it's going to be to get it there! Focus on the end result!! All those neat things you love about the new house, and the plans you are developing about what to do with it. (Get room measurements asap!)

Moving jitters are fairly common Heather. You'll do fine and be so happy when it's complete and you're settled in at your new place:-)

Nice book haul!

I hope the July date works out! Woohoo - room for more books!

Welcome back, Heather, and I see you brought some friends home with you. I finally got around to reading The Crime At Black Dudley and I loved it, can't wait to read more Margery Allinghams!

Welcome back! It sounds like a lovely holiday (well, it did include book finds - how can you go wrong?).

Good news about the house; but I'll keep my fingers crossed for a while yet (I'm superstitious like that). You know, whenever I book a haircut, my hair decides to look good, and I wonder if I should really cut it, so now I take it as a sign that if I feel like that, it definitely is the right time to cut it. So obviously (?), if you're getting cold feet, moving house now is the right thing to do.

For some reason I can't pin down, 'Ilfracomb' rings a bell.

#40 Thanks Roni. Room measurements is a good idea - because we're renting we're hoping to have a week between buying the house and moving in so we will definitely be doing lots of measuring that week!

#41 Thanks Bonnie!

#42 My thoughts exactly Dejah!

#43 Judy, I'm overdue a visit to your thread but I'm so pleased to hear you enjoyed The Crime at Black Dudley. :-)

#44 Nina, coincidentally I just had a haircut too! I've gone back to feeling nervous-excited over the last few days although I expect it will go up and down.

House stuff is moving along - today we submitted our mortgage application and we should hear back within 2 weeks. So far, beginning of July is still looking possible....

Books read and not reviewed (hopefully comments to come but it's getting ridiculous now):

Books read in April
#53 The Summer School Mystery by Josephine Bell
#54 Caleb Williams by William Godwin
#55 Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
#56 Old Filth by Jane Gardam
#57 Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
#58 The Octoroon, or, The Lily of Lousiana by M. E. Braddon
#59 Kesrith by C. J. Cherryh
#60 Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc

Books read in May
#61 It Ends With Revelations by Dodie Smith
#62 Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh
#63 Kutath by C. J, Cherryh
#64 Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell
#65 Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham
#66 Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
#67 House-Bound by Winifred Peck
#68 A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
#69 Coroner's Pidgin by Margery Allingham
#70 The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
#71 To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
DNF The Mighty Walzer by Howard Jacobson
#72 Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
#73 Fire Watch by Connie Willis

I'm still more behind on reviews than you are, Heather - don't sweat it! You read some great books recently, though.

Deleted double post.

#47 Thanks Dejah - I definitely feel like I've had reviewers' block lately. Here are comments (not really a review) on two books from the list.

Book #53 & 64: The Summer School Mystery (1950) and Death at the Medical Board (1944) by Josephine Bell

and

One of the things I love about e-readers is that several publishers have started republishing older works by forgotten authors as fairly inexpensive ebooks. Pan Macmillan have launched an imprint called Bello which is bringing back into print several mid-20th century crime novelists along with other types of fiction. I would probably never have heard of Josephine Bell without this and I've really enjoyed the two books of hers that I've read so far.

These two books are both part of Bell's series featuring amateur detective and medical doctor, David Wintringham (the ninth and seventh books respectively). I normally try to read a series in order but the first six books in the series are currently unavailable and happily the books seem to standalone quite well.

In The Summer School Mystery we're introduced to a group of young people from the Royal College of Music who are attending an orchestral summer school in the country. When two students fail to arrive it's assumed that they are running late but during the first practive the body of one of the students is discovered inside one of the timpani drums. Suspicion falls on the other student who asks David Wintringham to investigate to clear his name.

In Death at the Medical Board a young woman is found dead shortly after her examination by the aforemention Medical Board for war service. It soon becomes clear that she was murdered and one of the doctors asks David Wintringham to investigate.

David Wintringham is unusual in the amateur detectives I've been reading about lately in that he's middle-class, has a job, happily married and has no obvious quirks of character (although being a doctor with sufficient spare time to conduct murder investigations could be seen as a quirk). Unexpectedly, I found I really enjoyed how normal he and his wife seem. His wife doesn't feature often but when she does I found the relationship between the two characters to be rather endearing. She has her head firmly screwed on, would rather David wasn't always getting involved in murder investigations (especially when several attempts are made on his life by the murderer) but she knows that David wouldn't be David if he didn't.

I should probably mention that Death at the Medical Board unfortnately had a number of typos/conversion errors although this is the first Bello book where I've noticed any so hopefully the proof reader was just having a bad day.

I would recommended Bell's books to anyone who enjoys older detective/crime fiction and I shall certainly be working my way through as many of her books as I can get my hands on.

Your mention of Josephine Bell triggered a memory in me - The Upfold Witch which was a casualty of the Great Basement Flood. Hadn't thought about that book in quite a long time. I think I liked it, so will try to track down the Bello editions of her stuff. Thanks Heather.

I've been buying these types of books for my kindle too and I have just read The Summer School Mystery - isn't it odd that the touchstone offered is for Tess of the D'Urbevilles? - as well as a few others set in the 1950s. It's been a neglected decade as far as my reading goes and I found it a curious mixture of long ago - attitudes and technology have changed almost beyond recognition - and just within (my) living memory - so that it's all familiar too. (I was born late 50s but things hadn't changed that much during my 60s childhood.)

Just catching up - sounds like really good news on the house!! I hope the process goes smoothly from here.

Also loved reading about the holiday and the book loot. I have The Wild Geese here (with so many other unread VMCs) and Am going to look for it now, because I remember thinking it sounded excellent when I bought it. And I enjoyed The Provincial Daughter, just not as much as her mother's books.

Hope you are having a relaxing start to your weekend.

#50 I just checked and The Upfold Witch is one of the books they've republished so I've added it to my wishlist for when I've finished the David Wintringham books. :-)

#51 Kerry, I've been baffled by the Tess touchstone too. I found it quite hard to work out how old the students were in The Summer School Mystery - at first I assumed they were young teenagers and it was only when I found out two of them were engaged that I realised they must be university students. I don't think I'd have made that error with a contemporary novel.

#52 Hopefully it will Cushla! I think Wild Geese is an epistolary novel set in 18th century Ireland - I like epistolary novels so I thought it sounded interesting.

I've most definitely been suffering from reviewer's block, which has held me back from LT! But I've kept on reading and finally threw a few comments on the books that I'd read. I'm even having trouble with comments. Lovely display of Elizabeth Taylor's books!

The only thing that's forcing me to get some reviewing done is that I keep having non-renewable ILLs at my elbow.

I'm reasonably sure I have Josephine Bell somewhere in The List, but I'm not going to go and check: the last thing I need is yet another series on my radar.

I feel very out of the loop lately with all the Albert Campion talk, but I've stalled on the Allinghams while I obsess over going back and back to older series. (Just picked up The Mystery Of Dr Fu-Manchu from the library...yike!).

(If you haven't already, you can mention the faulty touchstone - I think it's on Bug Collectors, but I can't remember - and someone will try to fix it)

Some interesting books in there. How did Three Men in a Boat hold up?

Hello Heather.

It's been awhile since I had time to devote to reading the threads.

The Virago Modern Classic book covers look lovely!

Hi, Heather. You're having a great reading year; saw some old favorites up there. Like Linda, I've been right out straight, as in jacket, for some little time, and don't read or get to as many threads as I'd like to.

>55 lyzard:: Liz, really? Dr. Fu-Manchu? Let me know if you like it. Never, well maybe once many, many years ago, have read one. I seem to remember something about incredibly long fingernails.

Hi Heather, just dropping by to wish you a great bank holiday weekend. Hope the house buying is going OK.

Heather, as always I get a great deal of pleasure trawling through your lists. To read through the entire 20th century with a book a year from each year appeals greatly and to be 40% through already is mightily impressive.

You are presently in one of my favourite parts of the world and I hope it both restful and energising when you want it to be. I will be interested to see what you make of the Stevie Smith, a poet I admire but I haven't read any fiction by her.

Have a lovely weekend.

#54 Hi Deborah! I'm reassured to learn I'm not the only person with reviewer's block :-) Like you I've been reading but not writing reviews or any thoughts about the books I've been reading.

#55 Liz, the cover for The insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu is something else. I will be very interested in your review!

#56 I loved rereading Three Men in a Boat - I am going to try and do some brief comments for most of those books at some point. Three Men in a Boat is still a favourite!

#57 Hi Linda - it's nice to 'see' you :-)

#58 Gail, I appreciate the visit - I know you have a lot on your plate.

#59 Thanks Rhian. It all seems to be going ok so far...

#60 Unexpectedly, only reading books I feel like reading has meant I've made great progress with my century of books challenge over the last month. It might be a while before I read the Stevie Smith as Over the Frontier is apparently a direct follow-up to her earlier novel, Novel on Yellow Paper so I'd want to read the earlier novel first and I don't have a copy.... yet!

I also have some more book acquisitions to confess.....

I popped into the local charity bookshop on Friday to take them a few bags of unwanted books but happened to spot a green spine on my way out and succumbed to that and another classic I saw next to it on the shelves. I'd also placed an order for some second-hand Dorothy L. Sayers books earlier this week and then bought another two books when I got a notification to say the price had dropped for the kindle. And Flight Behaviour arrived from Genny who had very kindly offered to send me a duplicate copy she had been given. Oops

Diana of the Crossways by George Meredith
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers
Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers
Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I bought Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore, too. There are days when I wish Amazon would stop offering bargains, but not many! I also bought Life after life, but that was my birthday present to me, and Bring up the bodies as the kindle price had dropped substantially. My beautiful hardback copy will adorn my shelves instead of being read, I'm afraid.

Look - a book review!

Book #74: Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell - 4.4 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 1958



"Her first name was India - she was never able to get used to it. It seemed to her that her parents must have been thinking of someone else when they named her. Or were they hoping for another sort of daughter? As a child she was often on the point of inquiring, but time passed, and she never did."

A beautifully understated novel about the life of Mrs. Bridge, an American housewife in Kansas City, which covers the period from the 1920s to the 1940s. She lives her life by strict rules about behaviour and manners which she tries to pass on to her children. But her children want to live their lives by different rules and Mrs Bridge finds herself increasingly bewildered and perplexed by modern life. Sometimes funny, often sad and bittersweet this was a wonderful book. I have reserved the companion novel, Mr Bridge by the same author, from the library.

#62 Kerry, I have my eye on Life after Life - there have been so many fantastic reviews but I think I'm going to wait a bit longer before buying a copy. And I agree that the hardback of Bring up the Bodies is lovely but the kindle edition will be more easily portable.

Oh, Mrs. Bridge sounds lovely. Your review is great. The book is now on the tbr pile.

It is a chilly, windy morning. I'm sending J.W. Waterhouse and
Windflowers to you on this pretty morning.

Heather, thoroughly enjoyed your review of Mrs Bridge. Sounds like one I would really like, so thanks for that : ).

Good heavens, someone other than me reading George Meredith?? Silver Fork Society, which I've just reviewed, spent some time on the Caroline Norton scandal, which is what Diana Of The Crossways is based upon.

Gail, you forgot Fu-Manchu's "yellow face" and "wicked green eyes" (with nictitating membranes, no less!). Oh, eek, those terrible Orientals! :)

I bought Bring Up the Bodies (and Flight Behaviour) in Kindle this month after reading both in hardback from the library. At least neither are adding to my physical storage space problems.

Hi Heather - Nice comments for Mrs. Bridge and beautiful art.

Hi Heather - I hope you've had a wonderful weekend!

I don't think I knew about that Dodie Smith - will have to try to track it down.

Hi Heather, you have made me very happy that I have Mrs. Bridge on my shelf. Mr. Bridge too. Must find some way to move them up.

#65 Linda, for a wonder we had some sunshine this bank holiday weekend but it was quite windy today. Thank you for the Waterhouse painting :-)

#66 Hope you enjoy it Nancy!

#67 Is that a Dr. Grantly good heavens Liz? :-). I have to confess I knew nothing about George Meredith when I picked it up. In fact, because it was a Virago, I assumed it must have been written by a woman and that George would turn out to be a pseudonym. I will check out your review of Silver Fork Society shortly - I hope you're not going to add another hard to find title to my wishlist!

#68 I have certain authors for whom I feel a strong requirement to have paper copies of their books and Mantel and Kingsolver are both on the list.

#69 Thanks Beth!

#70 I did, thank you Dejah. Trying to gird my loins for a busy few days at work....

#71 It Ends with Revelations was an unusual book Lucy. I think The Town in Bloom was my favourite of the three Dodie Smith's I read recently - still hoping to reread I Capture the Castle this month.

#72 Oh Bonnie, bump them up -Mrs Bridge was wonderful and it's a very quick read.

Yes, each "Good heavens!" should indeed have a little ©Theophilus Grantly attached to it. :)

Ah, George Meredith! - perhaps the most exasperating of all the important 19th century novelists. No-one was ever more in love with the sound of his own voice, or more addicted to obscure classical allusions, but if you can hack your way through the unnecessary verbiage, he's a fascinating writer - not least because he (i) was a feminist, and (ii) got that way after having an epiphany when his wife ran off with another man. The Egoist is one of my Desert Island Books; Diana Of The Crossways is very interesting but (I think) fatally flawed.

>74 lyzard:: ©Theophilus Grantly -- for a minute there I thought that was his Twitter ID. #goodheavens!

Heather, your review of Mrs. Bridge made me smile. I do so love that one and Mr. Bridge, too. Those books that give different perspectives on a relationship are fascinating to me. Which reminds me, I have Last Friends checked out from the library. I've really enjoyed the first two in the Old Filth trilogy.

I think moving to a new house sounds exciting. That's about the only way I seem to be able to clear out the junk I seem to accumulate. Moving is a lot of work, though. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

Mr SandDune read Mrs Bridge recently and loved it, so I've been meaning to get around to it.

>74 lyzard: Liz, I'm going to have to take your word for it. I genuinely try to read Meredith about once every five years and to date have managed 16 pages before hurling the book across the room.
Hi, Heather! I see that I should find the Bridges too.

I see that reaction a lot, Peggy! - recommending Meredith is one of those things that can end a friendship :)

#74 "Ah, George Meredith! - perhaps the most exasperating of all the important 19th century novelists...... Diana Of The Crossways is very interesting but (I think) fatally flawed."

#78 "I genuinely try to read Meredith about once every five years and to date have managed 16 pages before hurling the book across the room."

#79 "recommending Meredith is one of those things that can end a friendship :)"

This should put me off but.... I'm feeling quite intrigued now! A male, feminist Victorian author?

Also, Liz, just checking. The Egoist is a desert island book because you like it and would want to reread it right? Not because you've experienced the same problem as Peggy?

#75 If Theophilus Grantly was on twitter I would sign up - that would be brilliant!

#76 "Those books that give different perspectives on a relationship are fascinating to me." Donna, I was thinking about that too as I also picked up The Man in the Wooden Hat from the library when I went to collect Mrs Bridge. I think you were one of the recommenders for Mrs Bridge so thank you :-)

#77 & 78 Do, Rhian and Peggy - it's well worth reading. :-)

Book #75: Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott by Louisa May Alcott, edited by Madeleine B. Stern - 3.8 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: In this edition, 1875. Individually throughout the 1860s.



Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and sequels were some of my favourite childhood books (I was also a huge fan of the 1949 film starring June Allyson as Jo). I've also read some of her other novels and I think it's fair to say they're generally quite moralistic and often contain warnings about the dangers of reading novels, particularly novels which aren't simple, true tales but could be said to be thrillers or sensation novels (or worse, French novels).

So it came as quite a surprise to me to learn (thanks to Liz) that Louisa May Alcott had not only written several thrillers or sensation stories herself but that there was also evidence to suggest that she enjoyed writing them, perhaps even more than her more well-known children's stories.

Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott is a collection of four of Louisa May Alcott's more thrilling stories which for the most part were published under a pseudonym. For a long time Alcott fan it was very strange to read something so different to her children's stories but still written in the narrative voice I recognise from my childhood so well. What also struck me was how well written the stories were (which shows I also fall prey to the sensation novels = poorly written prejudice) and how unusually strong and independent the female characters seemed given the period. I'm tempted to recommend this for everyone who's read the more famous Little Women because I think it's worth it just for the experience of reading something so different by the same author. If you like 19th century sensation fiction then it becomes a must read.

And whilst I appreciate my library keeping copies of older books available in their reserve stock, I have to say this is the worst book cover out of all the books I've read so far this year. The font, the layout of the text, the colour of the cover, the image on the front cover - to me, it's all hideous.

After finishing this I hotfooted it to my computer to reserve Plots and Counterplots: More Unknown Thrillers Of Louisa May Alcott and Madeleine Stern's biography 56888::Louisa May Alcott

Hi Heather: I read a good bio this year, too. It was Marmee and Louisa. It focused on her relationship with her mother, and I liked it a lot.

>>#80

No, no! - "desert island book" in the positive sense! Diana Of The Crossways is probably his most accessible novel, though, being based on real events, so not a bad place to start.

Meredith believed in education for women and in a greater equal mixing of men and women as a cure for many of society's ills, and was appalled by the status of women within marriage. (A position which, as I say, he got to because his own marriage imploded, which is rather remarkable.) Of course, he was still a Victorian male with all that implies, so there are various jolts and disappointments in his writing, but given his time and circumstances he was very progressive. He was also, with Thomas Hardy, and later George Moore and George Gissing, at the forefront of the push for greater freedom of expression in novels, particularly around sexual matters.

BUT---while all this is in his novels, you do have to be willing to pick up a machete and hack your way through the jungle of words to get at it. :)

>>#81

Yay for Behind A Mask!!

Hi, Heather - I've just set up the thread for the group read of Framley Parsonage - here.

See you there! :)

I just requested Behind a Mask - I've read A Long Fatal Love Chase so I imagine I'll like this one, too. Thanks!

#82 Thanks for the recommendation Beth. That one's not available at any local libraries but it is available as a kindle book so I've added it to my kindle wishlist. I've also got Eden's Outcasts on my wishlist which I think looks at Louisa's relationship with her father. Sounds like those two should make a good combination!

#83 Thanks for the background info Liz :-)

#84 Yay!

#85 I hope you enjoy Behind a Mask Dejah. I think I sae A Long Fatal Love Chase when I was browsing my library catalogue so I expect I will request it when I've read Plots and Counterplots which I've just collected and realised it has the same horrible yellow cover as Behind a Mask :-(

Final May reads:

Book #76: The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - 3.5 stars
Source: Project Gutenberg
Original publication date: 1913 (as a serial)



The sequel to A Princess of Mars sees John Carter return to Mars 10 years after the events of the first book. The writing and plot are still ridiculous but I find these books to be really fun to read, perhaps because of the ridiculousness of it all rather than despite it. John Carter is so heroic, noble, brave and manly that it's ridiculous. Everyone he meets either immediately falls in love with him (if female), swears fealty to him (if male) or tries to kill him (despite the fact that he's already fought off hordes of adversaries successfully). You won't believe how many times one important plot revelation is cut off by an interruption. Enormous fun. Sadly Dejah Thoris is off screen for most of the book but I'm hoping she has more of a role to play in The Warlord of Mars.

Book #77: Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie - 3.2 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1924 (as a collection)



I couldn't remember much about this collection of short stories before rereading and I can't say that any of them particularly struck me on this reread. I felt the short story format accentuated the comedy in the relationship between Hastings and Poirot but this started to feel repetitive as I read through the book. Perhaps I just prefer her novels.

The reading what I feel like project - an update

It's going well - I have my reading mojo back! And it's been interesting to see how my reading habits have changed over the last 5/6 weeks since I decided to do this. I've been taking more books out of the library on an impulse which has felt quite exciting and I've been doing a lot more rereading of old favourites. I'm going to keep on reading what I feel until I feel like going back to planned reading (if that makes sense).

My book acquisitions in May went more than a little bit out of control and I'm hoping that's more to do with hvaing been on holiday in May than my reading what I feel like project.

So far in June I have been reading books I'd planned to read but that's because I felt like reading them both :-) They're both quite long so I'm not expecting to finish anything for another couple of days (at least) but I'm enjoying Framley Parsonage and The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight a lot.

What a fabulous illustration from the latest John Carter adventure!

Fascinating about the Alcott thrillers. I must find one and check it out.

Hooray for John Carter! I agree; ERB's Barsoom books are absurd, but I adore them.

I'm trying to stick with reading only what I want to right now, too (with the exception of some things for two Coursera courses), and it's interesting to me how I keep trying to direct my reading for reasons other than desire to read the book. I'm glad to hear it's been going well for you!

Good for you in reading what you want! I think that's what I do, but I could be mistaken. Sometimes when I'm half through something, I know I'm mistaken.

>91 LizzieD: LOL!

Yay for haphazard reading!

#91 Make me laugh! That's how I read, too. But I also know the feeling that sometimes when Im half through something, I know I'm mistaken. LOL! In any case Heather, I hope you are enjoying your newfound read-whatever-I-feel-like-reading freedom.

Hi Heather, I wholeheartedly support your "reading whatever I feel like project" and must say that's pretty well always been the way for me, even when I do make lists, the purpose of the list only being to help guide my choices when I can't make up my mind.

I was quite intrigued by your Josephine Bell reviews and hurriedly went to see if I could obtain any of her ebooks, but sadly they aren't available to us in North America. And no, I would never have blamed you for that, or any other book-buying spree! What I meant when referring to Elizabeth Taylor was only that I already had several of her novels in the green Virago editions and wouldn't it be nice if I actually read from them? But I'll get to them eventually.

Hope the house purchase is going well. Sounds rather daunting, but then, I've never purchased real-estate before, and probably will never be able to considering how devoted I am to spending all my money on books!

Good luck on your purchase of a new house

I hear you regarding reading what you feel like! Life is complicated, why stress over having to read a specific book in a specific order.

Reading what you feel like sounds fairly tempting Heather. I thought that was what I was going to be doing this year but I seem to have gotten off course a bit. Must try harder I guess. Congratulations to you for succeeding at something that should come naturally.

Hi Heather! Just a short stop to wave to ya!

#89 Do check out some of the Alcott thrillers Lucy, they're definitely worth a read.

#90 Dejah, the more I read the Barsoom books the more I appreciate your fantastic LT username! (Dejah Thoris is a character in the books for those who haven't read them).

"it's interesting to me how I keep trying to direct my reading for reasons other than desire to read the book."

I'm still finding this too - it's bizarre isn't it how this happens?

#91-94 "Sometimes when I'm half through something, I know I'm mistaken." Tee hee! Happens to me too :-)

#95 Sorry to hear the Josephine Bell books haven't been republished in North America, Ilana. Funnily enough I still have one unread Elizabeth Taylor novel that I didn't get to in last year's readathon. I keep wondering why it's taken me so long to get to it when she's one of my favourite authors.

#96 Thanks Linda.

#97 Bonnie, it's harder than I feel it 'should' be to stay on course with reading what I feel like. As you say, it should come naturally, perhaps my brain has got too used to making reading lists?

#98 Hi Lynda!

It's been one of those weeks (mainly work related):



But I've read some good books, ordered some more good books with my birthday money (Persephone book order - yay!) and I think things are progressing well on the house front. We might move at the beginning of August (maybe?) and my Dad dropped some cardboard boxes and a massive roll of bubble-wrap round to our flat this morning. Despite that, I am steadfastly refusing to think about packing.

I'm currently reading a biography of Elizabeth von Arnim called Elizabeth': The author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Karen Usborne and wondering why, when I enjoy reading these sort of biographies so much, I don't read them more often. I have 2/3 sitting on my shelves unread....

The only thing about moving I enjoyed was messing with my books...... since it was the year I joined LT, in fact, I had a wonderful time with that, although now I believe I worked too hastily - not so much mistakes as that I could have added a lot more info.

That is one scary cat! I won't ask a thing!

I never know what to think about how utterly irrational (including sometimes being hyper-rational) about what I 'should' or 'want' to read. I'll decide something, quite arbitrarily, and then grimly stick with it..... or I get so random it's almost confusing. I know from past experience that I really have to vary what I read - easy, hard, fun, sad or else that gets tedious too.... tougher books do tend to be rewarding, at least some of them, it's really very tricky. My reading hasn't gripped me all that much lately - even when I feel I'm being 'expanded' by it - like my Iris Murdoch project.....

Exciting about the house - and enjoy your birthday books! Have I missed a listing of those?

Oh, Heather, that's priceless! It's June, and I work in the public school system, so I can WHOLLY relate!

Book #78: Days of Grace by Catherine Hall - 3 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2009



Last year I read and enjoyed Catherine Hall's second novel, The Proof of Love, so I snapped up her debut novel when it was a kindle deal earlier this year. Despite Days of Grace containing the same 'ingredients' I'd enjoyed in The Proof of Love I didn't find her debut as compelling as her later novel.

Days of Grace tells the story of Nora Lynch as a young evacuee during WWII and as an older woman towards the end of her life. The narrative shifts between the two timeframes and it soon becomes clear that the older Nora has some secrets from her past.

Ultimately this is a story of jealousy and the turmoil it can create, but I found Nora's jealousy eventually overrode all other aspects of her character so that she became almost one-dimensional. And from that point I lost interest. I finished the book but the big reveals which should have been quite emotional felt rather flat.

Perhaps it was my mood at the time of reading or perhaps as a debut novel some elements of the story were out of balance. Given how much I enjoyed The Proof of Love I would still be interested in any further novels Catherine Hall writes.

#101 Lucy, one thing I am looking forward to is rearranging all the books on their bookshelves once we move in. Possibly even getting more bookshelves?!

You're right, I should have listed my book order (they haven't arrived yet).

Persephone books ordered are:

Greenery Street by Denis McKail
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple

The first two have been on my wishlist for several years and sound like fun, light reads. The Whipple is because I've wanted to try one of her books for ages and this seemed to be one that was highly thought of.

BTW: It's so not my birthday, I just waited a loong time to spend my birthday money.

#102 Thanks Nancy. The worrying thing is that our year end is September so I'm not very confidant that things are going to get any better at work until October. That feels like an awfully long time.

Heather, I won't ask about life (j-o-b) but just say I empathize, and I'm glad you at least have some good books to read and some good books to look forward to!

104: Can't wait to hear what you think of Miss Ranskill - it is fun, but there's a serious side too.

Heather, every time Will talks about moving, I cringe. The cost to pay someone to move over a thousand books would be out of my price range.

We both are too old to move without assistance.

Again, good luck!

Heather, sounds like Days of Grace fell a bit flat after Proof of Love. I'm glad you will continue to read Hall. She's one I am not familiar with, and maybe that needs to change : ).

Hi Heather - Hooray for your unplanned reading. It sounds like it is working for you. Have fun with the move.

Well, today has been a good day: it's nearly the weekend, work went ok today, a colleague shared some of her chocolate with me (what have I done to deserve a colleague like that?) AND my Persephone books arrived (see msg #104 for the list).

Meanwhile the British summer continues to be overcast and rainy.

#105 Thanks Katie :-)

#106 I've been trying to decide which Persephone to read first Luci and you may have decided it for me!

#107 Linda, I can sympathise. I've only got very broad quotes from removal companies so far (based on the number of rooms our current flat has). I need to speak to a couple of the companies in more detail and explain the book situation.... If it will really push the cost up we could move the books ourselves, it's the big pieces of furniture I don't feel confident about moving on our own.

#108 Proof of Love is definitely worth a read Nancy. Catherine Hall is a not very well known British author who I think Dee (soupdragon) recommended to me. Not sure if her books are published outside of the UK.

#109 Thanks Beth :-) I'm still struggling with not-having-reviewed-things guilt. Will try and give myself permission to write some brief sentences instead if agonising over reviews at the weekend.

If it will really push the cost up we could move the books ourselves, it's the big pieces of furniture I don't feel confident about moving on our own.

That's exactly what I did when I moved - hired removalists for the big stuff and did the books and movies myself in a rented van.

It might be better to move the books yourself - could you trust a removal company to understand how important they are? Anyone can wrap china and lift heavy weights but books need careful cosseting, and you could pack them in order if you do it yourself.

Adding another vote for the moving the books yourself if you can. (Of course, I've never done it, but all the same .....) As I've said too many times before, when we die, we'll simply tell the nieces and nephew where the good stuff is and then recommend that they torch the place because we have the grandmother's, the parents', the older sister's, and our stuff filling every possible surface. I should get on getting-rid-of while I can, but I don't want to.

The talk of moving is exciting, Heather! I know the actual moving is a pain, but the reason you are moving is VERY exciting!

#111 - 113 Well, we're definitely going to pack everything ourselves and it's probably a good idea for me to wrap my more important books (important books including my first paperback copy of The Lord of the Rings which is falling apart) in bubblewrap but I'm really hoping we won't need to hire a van and move stuff ourselves as well. We'll see...

#114 Thanks Nancy! We've just received a whole bundle of paperwork from the solicitors which is making it seem more real, although the thought of having to read through all the paperwork is rather daunting.

Book #79: Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope - 4.5 stars
Source: Anniversary present
Original publication date: 1860



Trollope is fast becoming one of my favourite authors and Framley Parsonage ties for first place with Barchester Towers as my favourite Trollope book (so far). Wonderful.

Book #80: Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan - 3.2 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2012



A strange book - The Da Vinci Code meets The Shadow of the Wind maybe? A mix of codebreaking, secret societies, computer programming and a very unusual bookstore but I couldn't quite work out what the author was trying to do with it all. Enjoyable but a bit lightweight and I found it rather forgettable once I'd finished reading it.

Woo hoo! Best of luck with everything. Sounds exciting - once you've got the paperwork out of the way...

#116Framley Parsonage ties for first place with Barchester Towers as my favourite Trollope book (so far).

I'm looking forward to Framley Parsonage then as I'm loving Barchester Towers

I completely agree with you regarding Mr. Penumbra!

I have *FP* to look forward to and started *Mr P* last night. I am looking for light!
PAPERS to read!!!! I'll bet you're believing it now!

Oh, yay! 4.5* for Framley Parsonage. So delighted you enjoyed, Heather : ).

Hi, Heather! Found myself thinking of you while reading Mignon Eberhart's From This Dark Stairway:

    "Will you answer a few questions, Miss Keate---" He stopped himself abruptly, peered intently at me, and said suddenly and with what I considered remarkably bad manners: "Well, there's no doubt about the colour of your hair."
    I am bound to admit that from that moment on I felt a certain lack of friendliness for Sergeant Lamb. I doubted very much if he would prove to be a man of discernment...

Would you care to guess what colour Sarah Keate's hair is?? :)

#117 Thanks Nina!

#118 Ooh, I hope you enjoy FP Rhian :-)

#119 Hi Roni!

#120 Yay for FP soon and you are so right about light. I read Mr P at the end of a very long week at work and it was perfect for that.

#121 Thanks Nancy :-) Yep, starting to believe it's happening now.

#122 Ha! Hmmmm.... is it red by any chance?

-----------------------------------------------

Well, I'm proud to say I read through all the paperwork last night. I'm guessing it's probably the same for most countries but I was quite impressed by the number of searches and reports they have to include. Everything looks ok, we're just waiting on a couple of certificates (for the electric and heating systems) from the vendor and then we just need a date. I think we have to wait for the vendor to get all his paperwork sorted on the house he's buying so I don't know how long that will take but hopefully we can exchange contracts middle of next month and complete at the beginning of August. Woo!

Fingers crossed everything keeps going smoothly.

Well done for reading all the fine print!

Yes, Sarah is indeed a red-head. To be fair to Sergeant Lamb, he's not just being indiscriminantly rude: he's found a hair at the crime scene... :)

I say YAY for reading what you WANT, WHEN you want it! And double YAY for getting back into your reading groove. Maybe you're one of the folks like me who find that if you plan what you will read, it sucks the joy right out of it! I love picking what my current mood feels like. I may not read as many "smart" books (i.e. literature, award winners, etc.) but I surely am happier in my reading this way. :)

Just a small (unasked for) opinion! :)

Trollope is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. Ah, the joy of Trollope :)

Great picture from the John Carter book. A Princess of Mars is one of the novels that has been on my to-read-list since the movie came out....haven't seen the movie yet...

About your "read-what-you-feel-like" project I completely understand you. Great that you have got more joy out of the reading lately. I have also decided to revisit some old favorites and forget about progress on several book-lists that I have going. Let's see how it goes :)

#124 Thanks Nina!

#125 Not a red hair?

#126 Thanks Tina! There are times when I find making plans and reading lists fun and I enjoy reading what I've planned but I think I've been feeling a bit burnt out by work lately (house stuff probably isn't helping either) and my reading plans were becoming a burden. And opinions always welcome :-)

#127 I can't remember if I watched the film before or after reading A Princess of Mars but I do remember enjoying both and I thought the John Carter film was a good adaptation of the novel. I hope you enjoy rereading old favourites - I've noticed that I'ev been doing more of that as part of my reading what I feel project :-)

Book #81: No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym - 3.5 stars
Source: Bookmooch
Original publication date: 1961



Like Anthony Trollope, Barbara Pym is another author I'm growing increasinly fond of yet have terrible trouble writing reviews of their books. Both write with humour, focusing on the everyday occurrences in life and I never feel like the details of the plot are particularly important to my enjoyment of their books.

And so, for No Fond Return of Love, I'm not going to attempt to describe the book myself but refer you to the many excellent reviews on the book page (by Laura and Bonnie amongst others). At the halfway point of the reading year I am very much looking forward to reading Pym's other books this year.

Delurking to send greetings, but still haven't attempted any Pym or Trollope. I'll get there.

Book #82: Prester John by John Buchan - 3.2 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1910



"I mind as if it were yesterday my first sight of the man. Little I knew at the time how big the moment was with destiny, or how often that face seen in the fitful moonlight would haunt my sleep and disturb my waking hours. But I mind yet the cold grue of terror I got from it, a terror whch was surely more than the due of the few truant lads breaking the Sabbath with their play.

John Buchan's Prester John is a tale of adventure amongst the native tribes in South Africa which reminded me of Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. In a tale that seems to mirror some of Buchan's early experiences, the hero, David Crawfurd, grows up in Scotland but travels to South Africa as a young man to work as a shopkeeper in the remote outpost of Blaauwildebeestefontein. Whilst there David uncovers plans for a native uprising lead by the charismatic black man, Laputa, who claims to be the heir to the mythical Prester John.

I enjoyed this as an adventure story, particularly the descriptions of South Africa - it was clear from the way he wrote that Buchan fell in love with this country during his time there, but the colonial and imperialistic attitudes of the time set forth in the book left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. What made it harder for me was knowing that Buchan had worked and lived among these people and yet could still unquestioningly state that the white man was inherently superior to the black amn

"I knew then the meaning of the white man's duty. He has to take all the risks, recking nothing of his life or his fortunes, and well content to find his reward in the fulfilment of his task. That is the difference between white and black, the gift of responsibility, the power of being in a little way a king; and so long as we know this and practise it, we will rule not in Africa along but wherever there are dark men who live only for the day and their own bellies."

#130 Hi Kerry - thanks for delurking :-)

I haven't read Pym, Trollope or Buchan yet, but it certainly looks as though I ought to. I need more time to read ...

#131 I've read, and enjoyed, quite a lot of Buchan but Prester John has been the one I've liked least, so far, for the reasons you mention, Heather.

Like Anthony Trollope, Barbara Pym is another author I'm growing increasinly fond of ... if I needed to be convinced to read Barbara Pym, that did it, Heather : ).

It looks like you've been getting some good reading done in addition to everything else. Good for you!

>>#128

No, he finds a blond(e) hair at the scene, which rules Sarah out, but means trouble for four other people... :)

Given how much I'm currently struggling with Naturally Superior British People in another context, I don't think I'll be attempting that particular Buchan any time soon; though it is on The List.

Makes for painful reading, doesn't it? Such a shame when everything else is so good. It's hard to know how to deal, ultimately, with 'dated' attitudes - and all the more amazing are those who don't become dated.

ooh. A long walk to Wimbledon is on kindle daily deal. After your great review I'm really tempted.

ok, I bought it. for £1 who can refuse?

Hi Heather, I must add Barbara Pym to my list of author's to try as her books always sound so appealing to me.

Ouch!

From Lady Patty: A Sketch:

"So sorry, Helen sweetest, that the Deloraines haven't asked you as well as me for the races. I think Lady Deloraine might have done so; but she is so jealous about those horrid red-haired girls of hers..."

#133 "I need more time to read..." Don't we all?! If you'd like to try Buchan Nina, don't start with Prester John. The Thirty Nine Steps is his most famous book and I love it - it's a rip-roaring adventure/spy novel from the WWI era.

#134 I definitely enjoyed his Richard Hannay stories more Kerry - I need to get back to that series.

#135 & 141 Yay! I hope you like them Nancy and Judy. Or perhaps I should say I hope you can find them - I know they're harder to come by in the Us and not sure if that's also the case in Canada.

#136 Thanks Roni - I'm having fun :-)

#137 Understandable. Buchan's novels always seem to contain some element of British superiority but this seemed worse than I remembered from his other books.

#138 Well put Lucy.

#139 & 140 You can't go too wrong for £1! I hope you like it - it's definitely a book that doesn't deserve to be as forgotten as it has been. The style reminded me of John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids.

#142 Bah!

Ooh - I have read The Thirty Nine Steps, but way back in my childhood. That would be a good place to (re)start.

Books #83 & 88: The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit - 4.2 stars and 3.5 stars
Source: Rereads
Original publication date: 1904 & 1906

E. Nesbit was one of my favourite authors as a child and her books have since become firm comfort reads (or rereads) as a teenager and adult. They're often adventures about a group of children who mean well but get into all sorts of scrapes, there's often a touch of magic involved but what keeps me rereading them is the very knowing narrative voice with which Nesbit wrote which adds so much humour to the story.

The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet are the second and third books respectively in what is known as The Psammead Trilogy which started with Five Children and It and all three books follow the adventures of the same family of children as they are granted wishes by a variety of magical creatures and the adventures that follow as the children have invariably not thought the wishes through properly. It's possible that the formula felt a little tired by the final volume of the trilogy which may have been why it was my least favourite but I enjoyed rereading these very much.

Book #84: 11420370::Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman



Normally I avoid books that have the words 'life-changing' on the front in big letters but this was the accompanying book for a course on mindfulness meditation I started back in March when I was getting quite bad anxiety from work again. Mindfulness seems to be the new big thing in psychotherapy - I don't think it's quite the cure-all it's sometimes sold as (but mainly because I don't think anything can be) but I've found the course and techniques helpful and there seem to be very positive results from clinical trials (which my scientific brain likes).

The thing I've found hard, both whilst on the course and since finishing it, is making the practices part of everyday life - it's not the sort of thing that can be saved up for a crisis. I've felt very tired over the last few weeks and used that as an excuse not to practise them but I've made more of an effort again this week and so far, so good (yes, I know it's only Tuesday).

One warning I would give is that mindfulness meditation involves focusing on how you're feeling right now. For that reason it can often make you feel worse initially (a fun personal example - I had my first full-on anxiety attack for 10 years in one of the course sessions) so it may be more helpful to try once you start to feel better.

#144 Well, in that case, I hope it's a reread that doesn't disappoint!

Aha - now only three book reviews behind!

Hi Heather. I'm a big fan of mindfulness, but do tend to let it slip when there's a lot going on, particularly at work (which is when it would be most useful, of course). The good news is that I found that after a while I started doing some of it quite naturally or at least spontaneously. I don't actively meditate anymore but find myself doing something very similar when alone on a bus, etc.

I do think feeling worse initially is common, but that's the case with many methods used in psychotherapy. When I am feeling bad and focus on those feelings, it can be intense but I find my mood shifts more quickly. I started when I turned to Buddhism after a difficult time in my personal life (some years ago now) and found the books of American Buddhists, Pema Chodron and Cheri Huber wonderful at the time.

I have The Phoenix and the Carpet on my Kindle to read. There was a television serialisation of it when I was a child which I adored. Just the title brings back magical memories!

Hi Heather! I'm slowly trying to catch up on some of the threads after a whole week away from my usual easy access to LT :) Hang in there with the house stress and the work stress - at least there is no book stress!

Enjoyed your comments on mindfulness, both Heather and Dee. I don't practice enough ...

Just letting you know that I've been by a couple of times lately to catch up with you.
I totally missed E. Nesbit as a child, I'm sorry to say, and it's not likely that I'll try her now.

Oh too bad, Peggy!

>>#143

If it's any consolation, that the individual making that crack about red hair is not a nice person.

Yes, it's funny...I don't know if I'm actually reading more books with red-headed characters (most of whom are the heroines, BTW!), or if I'm just sensitised to it. :)

I have the Nesbitt books as well, and reread them occasionally for fun.

I've been meaning to read some E. Nesbitt. More book bullets *sigh*

I've seen the TV film of Five Children and It a couple of times, which was fun. I think Freddie Highmore was in it.

(ETC Freddie's name.)

I've also only read The Thirty Nine Steps by Buchan and the follow-up Greenmantle will be my next one. Good to know there's more Buchan waiting for me. Good review of Prester John, Heather. I like a good old-fashioned adventure story - Buchan seems to deliver.

I've just read the Psammead trilogy for the first time, and loved it, although I did watch the Sunday tea-time adaptations when my children were young. I intend to read more E. Nesbit, and I have just got a copy of The Children's Book.

Some good reading going on here - never been sure whether I should try to re-read Nesbitt ... but I think I've only got The Railway Children anyway:)

John Buchann - I have read The Thirty Nine Steps and have more Buchan around here somewhere. Should dust them off someday:)

Hope all is going well and that the move to your new house goes smoothly.

Your reading is going steady. Have a lovely weekend, Heather!

Oh I would have loved the television stories of Phoenix and It! Never even knew they existed. Wonder if they are available somehow. I'm presently watching the 1979 BBC Rebecca (in 9 minute increments, keeping pace as I listen to Anna Massey read it - she plays Mrs. Danvers, so it's perfect!) on You Tube, of all places!

#160 Youtube has a series, dated 1976-7. I was watching it with my children about 20 years later than that so there may be more than one.

Good point about some of the clanging views on race expressed in Buchan and men of his ilk and time. I really enjoy his stories but have to look past some of his sentiments in doing so.
Have a lovely weekend.

Hi, Heather. I surely didn't mean to overlook you in my thread! Many apologies for that.

You've been doing some great reading this year. I love the idea of reading whatever strikes your fancy. Except for some books for a class, I've pretty much decided to do the same thing, although I do make a (very poor) effort to read at least 2 books from my pre-2013 shelves each month.

You've added quite a few titles/authors to my must-look-at lists. With my life being a bit of chaos currently, I like to keep many reading options available on the e-readers. Dr.'s offices and bedside sitting require some mind-soothing books.

Exciting news about the move, but I know how nerve-wracking all that detail can be.Many good wishes for a happy new home.

#148 Dee, I'm very encouraged to hear you've found that mindfulness practice becomes more spontaneous after a while. Even though I'm not managing as much practice as the leaders of the course recommended I have noticed a difference in how I react to situations that would have been overwhelming before and how quickly I recover from them.

I'd like to do some more reading around mindfulness and meditation/contemplation so I will look out for the authors you mentioned.

#149 Thanks Katie!

#150 "I don't practice enough ..." Nancy, me too! I really struggle not to think of mindfulness practice negatively ("I should do more" etc) and, if I do, it puts me off practising because I feel so discouraged! I try to think that each small bit of practice I do is helping and not worry about how much more I should/could be doing (with mixed success).

#151 Hi Peggy! No E. Nesbit makes me sad :-( You could download some of her books to your kindle just in case...?

#153 Those red-haired people do seem to be cropping up more often....

#152 & 154 Hooray - more Nesbit fans :-)

#155 I do remember watching an adaptation of Five Children and It as a child/teenager but it wasn't the Freddie Highmore one. I'll look out for that adaptation - thanks!

#156 I hope you enjoy Greenmantle Carsten. He does write a good old-fashioned adventure story well.

#157 The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt? I've heard good things about that although I still haven't read Possession...

#158 Hi calm - thanks for stopping by! The Railway Children is another favourite although I'm slightly more wary of rereading it because it always makes me cry.

#159 Thanks Diana!

#160 I haven't seen thaty adaptation of Rebecca, Lucy so I'll look out for it. The only one I've seen is the 1997 adaptation with Emilia Fox, Diana Rigg and Charles Dance.

#161 Yes, I think I remember an adaptation of The Phoenix and the Carpet from the mid-1990s. Perhaps this one?

#162 Thanks Paul!

#163 Hi Gail! Thanks for stopping by. At the back of my mind I'm still trying to read more books off my shelves than I buy although that's not happened so far this year!

Hi Heather - Good to see that you are managing to read what you currently feel like reading. I had plans at the start of the year to read a lot of historical fiction and have already reverted to a snail's pace on my second Sharon Penman.

Trying to catch up on some reviews again:

Books #85 & 92: The Summer Tree and The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay - 4 and 3.8 stars
Source: Bookmooch
Original publication date: 1984 & 1986



I had a sudden yearning for a traditional fantasy story and picked up The Summer Tree by Guy Gaviel Kay. This was his first novel as well as being the first book in his trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry. It's a more traditional fantasy than Kay's later books; I think I would describe it as Tolkienesque: not an attempt at imitating Tolkien but certianly inspired by Tolkien's work (not really suprising, given Kay assisted Christopher Tolkien in editing The Silmarillion in the '70s). Kay incorporates human travellers from our world, with the fantastical creatures from Fionavar and Norse and Celtic myths and legends.

I know a lot of people don't rate The Fionavar books as highly as Kay's later works like Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan but although I found the first 100 pages of The Summer Tree somewhat slow going I was completely gripped by the rest of the book and quickly went on to read the second volume in the trilogy, The Wandering Fire. I didn't find The Wandering Fire had quite the same emotional impact as The Summer Tree but I still enjoyed it a lot and it is very likely that I will buy the final volume, The Darkest Road, fairly soon.

#165 I have been abandoning more books than usual this year Kerri. Often not because the book is bad in any way but just because I've realised that I just don't feel like reading it right now.

Book #86: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 3.2 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2012



I found this book to be a real pageturner and one I enjoyed whilst I was reading it but was left feeling very disappointed with after I'd finished. The first two-thirds of the book showed a lot of promise; there are two narrators who each give a different point of view on the story, which I thought was well done, and I thought Flynn touched on some interesting issues in this story: the effect of the recession on small-town America, a marriage falling apart, the way we could almost be said to be a different person at the start of a relationship when we're trying to present our best selves to the other person, but then the twist seemed to throw it all away. One of the key characters lost their credibility and whilst I carried on reading, I had really stopped taking the book seriously. 3.2 stars because I did spend a lot of time thinking about it after finishing it.

I felt the same about Gone Girl, the plot just went completely downhill in the last third, and I really disliked the ending.

I've heard this a lot about GG - too bad!

There's an adaptation of The Phoenix and the Carpet with Miriam Margoyles playing the housekeeper. She's a family friend - she went to school with my mum and her sisters and they were all excused from religious assemblies or RE lessons or something together (her family is Jewish, my mum's parents had rebelled against a Catholic upbringing).

Hi Heather, I liked your comment about abandoning books just because you don't feel like reading them at the time. Good for you! I am such a completist that I don't give up on many books, but when I do, I feel that sense of relief. Sometimes a book just doesn't "click" because of mood or timing.

Hi Heather - I also have learned that sometimes it's not the right time to read a book, especially if it is an author or book I think I will like. Although sometimes it might take me a while to get back to it. I still haven't read Poisonwood Bible!

Hi Heather, I loved the Fionavar Tapestry when I read it a number of years ago. It was both my first Guy Gavriel Kay and one of my first fantasy reads I read it as one huge, fat book and was totally absorbed throughout the read.

I've yet to read Gone Girl but I will get to it eventually. I've seen some less than glowing reviews recently and this will help to lower my expectations.

>116 souloftherose: I cant figure out if the bookstore cover is giving me a headache, or if I really like it
:)

I have heard/read all sorts of reviews of Gone Girl, but I know I dont want to read it and your review solidifies my position. I have formed my uneducated opinion on that and am sticking to it :)

I haven't read any of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, but "Tolkienesque" sounds good to me. Fantasy is something I yet have to explore more of.

Excellent review of Gone Girl, Heather - I'm hesitant but very curious so I guess I will listen to the audiobook version one of these days.....

I haven't read any of Guy Gavriel Kay's books, but "Tolkienesque" sounds good to me. Fantasy is something I yet have to explore more of.

Excellent review of Gone Girl, Heather - I'm hesitant but very curious so I guess I will listen to the audiobook version one of these days.....

My real life book club will be reading GG in August. So I guess it's on my list--I've even picked up a used copy from the FOL shelf.

I'm with Donna and mostly try to finish books I've started. I tell myself that the unfinished ones are 'only temporarily set aside', but my pile of these is getting deeper and deeper.

I recently finished The End of Your Life Book Club and a comment made by Schwalbe has really made me think about this choice. As his mother's reading was winding down, he commented that any book that any one of us reads could be the last book we ever read.

So now, when the middle of a book becomes less interesting, I think "Would I really choose this as the last book I'd ever read?"

Also meant to say that I'll give Kay's trilogy a try. Book bullet and all that you know.

O.K. I will put E. Nesbit on my Kindle for sometime. I'm ambivalent about *Gone Girl*. When it's cheaply available, I'll maybe read it.
I'm one who never became involved with Fionavar even though I've loved (or at worst, really liked) every other GGK I've read.
I am one who can abandon books if I tell myself that I'll get back to them sometime later when I'm more in the mood. That actually works on occasion. I do think that *Poisonwood* is worth reading anytime. If you care, I think that Possession is a much better book than *Children's Book*.

Hi Heather!

#145 - I'll put this one on the wishlist. While I haven't read any new ones for a while, I've read quite a few books on mindfulness and Buddhism in my time. I think my favorite is Reflections on a Mountain Lake, although it's almost more of a memoir. I found it powerful and fascinating.

#167 - I think I enjoyed Gone Girl a bit more than you did. Do you suppose it suffers from all the build-up and high expectations? I found it well-written and wildly entertaining, although, of course terribly disturbing too.

I hope you're doing well and the house business is moving along nicely!

I can appreciate your thoughts on GG Heather although I liked it a bit more than you. I thought it was a perfect summer read and didn't take it very seriously. I'm a newbie to Guy Gavriel Kay and loved the two I read Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan but haven't tried his straight fantasy yet.

Heather, glad you (mostly) enjoyed Gone Girl. I also listened to it on audio and thought it was extremely well read by both characters. It was one of last summer's adventures.

Hi Kerry, Lucy, Luci, Donna, Beth, Judy, Megan, Carsten, Janet, Peggy, Kerri, Bonnie and Nancy!

Re Gone Girl, I wouldn't want to advise anyone not to read it. It was an enjoyable page-turner but one without much substance (I thought). Given the number of reviews I'd read from people in this group who had said the same thing, I'm not sure why I was disappointed to find this out for myself!

#170 Claim to fame! Apparently that adaptation also had David Suchet voicing the phoenix. Looking at the pictures of the children, I think the Miriam Margoyles adaptation is the one I watched on TV.

#171, 172 & 177 I used to be quite strict about pushing myself to finish books I'd started but earlier this year I noticed that I wasn't enjoying my reading as much and it had started to feel like another thing on the long 'to do' list. It's still rare for me to stop reading a book with no intention of trying it again one day (the exceptions are some of the books chosen for my reading group which aren't ones I'm interested in). I guess I'm also still at the stage of 'temporarily setting aside' for most of them, particularly if their books I own.

I have been thinking that if a book on my TBR pile is readily available (still in print, available cheaply second-hand or available from the library), then if I don't think I will want to read it in the next couple of years I should give it to one of the local charity shops and then just get hold of another copy later if I do suddenly feel like trying this author or book again. Honestly, do I really need to have copies of three unread Ian McEwan novels that I really don't feel like reading?

#174 It certainly uses some contrasting colours Megan! I read that the US version glowed in the dark... Happy to have a kindle version of this one!

#177 "So now, when the middle of a book becomes less interesting, I think "Would I really choose this as the last book I'd ever read?" Janet, that's definitely an interesting way of thinking about it.

#176 & 178, Carsten and Janet, I hope you enjoy The Fionavar tapestry. It's one story across three books and the first ends on something of a cliffhanger so it might be worth having the second book to hand when reading the first.

#179 Peggy, there have definitely been some books that I couldn't get into when I first tried them and then loved on a second try. Can't think of any examples off the top of my head btu I'm sure there have been some.

Possession is a book I've had on my shelves for a long time that I'm too intimidated by to read. One day...

#180 Do you suppose it suffers from all the build-up and high expectations? I shouldn't have had high expectations of it from what I'd read in other people's reviews but it seems like I did! I think I wanted to find out why it was longlisted for what was the Orange prize, but I'm no wiser.

On the house front we're hoping to exchange this week so we can give notice on our rented flat by Friday but I'm not sure everything's going to pull together in time....

#181 The Fionavar tapestry has a different feel to his more historical fantasy like Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan but you can still tell it's Kay, although as an early work his writing is perhaps a bit less polished.

#182 I hadn't thought about how an audio book of Gone Girl would work but it makes sense that they would need two readers, Nancy. With the right readers I can imagine it must make for an intriguing listen.

Book #87: Elizabeth: The author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Karen Usborne - 3.5 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 1985



I wanted to find out more about the author Elizabeth von Arnim, but biographies about her seem thin on the ground considering how popular she once was. This 1985 biography by Karen Usborne is one of the two I could find which have been published in English (another one has been published in German) and as my library had a copy in its reserve stock I requested it.

Elizabeth was born Mary Anne Beauchamp before marrying a German count fifteen years her senior. After the publication of her first novel, Elizabeth and Her German Garden in 1898, she was known as Elizabeth to her readers and, eventually, to her family and friends too. Sadly, Elizabeth's first marriage to the German count, and her second marriage to an English earl were not happy ones. She seemed to love her children dearly but also adopted the upper class practice of sending them away from home to relatives or boarding schools if they became 'troublesome' which seems to have created a lot of tensions between them in later years. She had several affairs and was friends with many other literary types from the beginning of the twentieth century including H. G. Wells, E. M. Forster, Hugh Walpole, George Bernard Shaw and Katherine Mansfield. She seemed to alternate between periods of almost complete seclusion and periods of intense socializing, But, as Usborne puts it, she could never be truly happy in one state without longing for the other:

"...there was a fundamental inconsistency in her highly complex personality. She could never enjoy the purely frivolous, gay and apparently superficial life she always lived when she was in London without hankering for a lonely cottage somewhere where she would be able to work in solitude and meditate. But once in the solitary reality of that state she yearned for stimulating company and the flattering attention of her friends.The grass was invariably emereld green on the other side of the fence."

Usborne also includes an analysis of each of Elizabeth's novels as well as her memoirs, All the Dogs of My Life. I'd already known that her first two novels, Elizabeth and Her German Garden and The Solitary Summer were autobiographical but I hadn't realised there was a strong autobiographical element to all her novels and I found it really interesting to learn which areas of her life each one drew on.

One of the reasons I wanted to read a biography of Elizabeth was because I was fascinated by the idea that Elizabeth von Arnim wrote The Ordeal of Elizabeth which I read and reviewed back in March. The Ordeal of Elizabeth is set in and around New York City and I hadn't been aware that Elizabeth von Arnim had lived in that part of the workd. Having finished the biography it seems unlikely that Elizabeth von Arnim did write this novel (and wikipedia and Project Gitenberg have since removed this book fromt the list of works attributed to her). There's no mention of The Ordeal of Elizabeth in Usborne's biography which, given the variety of sources Usborne used, seems an unlikely oversight if Elizabeth von Arnim did write it. It's set in a country Elizabeth von Arnim had never visited at that stage of her life, most of Elizabeth von Arnim's novels were autobiographical in some way and she had another book published in the same year, The Benefactress. All of which makes me think it's very unlikely that she did write this novel.

Another quote from the EvA biography. These are EvA's thoughts on James Jouyce's Ulysses. I've only ever made it to p8 of Ulysses and I have no intention of trying to get further with it:

"....although she saw it was 'a wonderful book', and understood its potential stature and importance in the development of the 'modern' novel, she claimed that nothing would induce her to finish a book, 'even God's first novel', if it bored her. Ulysses made her feel as if she were shut up with a lunatic who was exposing himself. She had, she said, read as far as the detailed description of a man's morning visit to the lavatory, and then sleep overtook her."

Hi Heather - Funny description of Ulysses. I do want to try it one day...

I'm with Beth: wonderful description of Ulysses, Heather. Made me laugh : ).

#186 & 187 Hi Beth and Nancy - that quote made me smile too.

I was going to try and write some more book reviews today as I had a day off work but instead I had my ear vaccuumed during my hospital appointment (unpleasant but not as painful as it sounds) with the result that I can now hear again (yay!) and then spent most of the afternoon on the phone to solicitors, estate agents and landlords trying to sort out the house move thing. It seems we have a bit more flexibility with dates than we thought which is a relief. Still hoping we might exchange this week but it won't matter too much if it happens next week instead. Now to curl up with another Sayers' mystery.

Last few June reads:

Book #89: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - 4.3 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1948



"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy. I can't say that I am really comfortable, and there is a depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight left. And I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat can be inspiring — I wrote my very best poem while sitting on the hen-house."

I was a little nervous about rereading this classic: I know so many people on LT love it but the first time I read it, in my early twenties, I was a little disappointed with it. It's a coming of age tale about a very unconventional family living in a run-down castle in the 1930s, in particular about the two daughters, Rose and Cassandra. What was unconventional behaviour in the 1930s is still fairly unconventional today: their father is an author who wrote one critically acclaimed novel but has since dried up and spends his time reading detective novels from the library and their stepmother is a former artist's model who occasionally communes with nature in the nude.

The story is told by the younger sister, Cassandra, through entries in her journal (the quote above comes from her first entry). I think, on my initial read, I was disappointed that this wasn't a conventional coming of age story or romance. This time around, I was able to appreciate Smith's beautiful prose, the wonderful humour in the story and more prepared to accept the events in the story for what they were. So, definitely recommended, but don't expect a straight-forward romance or happy ending.

Book #90: These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer - 3.7 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1936



'Pon rep! Another enjoyable historical romance from Miss Heyer! Despite what the tags on the book page may suggest this is another novel set in the Georgian period, not a Regency.

I know for a lot of people this is one of their favourite Heyer novels; I liked rather than loved it. I found the heroime got on my nerves a little bit and the relationship dynamic between the two protagonists left me feeling a little uncomfortable (although as discussed on Liz's thread I was possibly reading things into their relationship that weren't there). Still a lot of fun though and I did like the fact that the heroine has red hair.

Stopping by to say hello, add my very strong recommendation for "Possession", and look with longing at your recently read titles.

#190 This was my first disappointing Heyer (and I've read quite a lot). Apart from her hair, which sounded lovely, I found the heroine very annoying. I tended to forget about the age gap and then whenever it was brought to my notice it was a shock all over again. I listened to an audio version, which also coloured my view as the voice for Justin wasn't very good. I enjoyed Devil's Cub more.

Book #91: The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam - 3.9 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2009



The Man in the Wooden Hat is Jane Gardam's follow-up or companion to Old Filth. Whilst Old Filth was told from Edward Feather's persepctive, The Man in the Wooden Hat covers the same ground but is told from his wife, Betty's, persepctive. Whilst this would be a good book on its own, read alongside Old Filth it reveals more about both Betty and Edward by showing us the same events from another point of view and fills in some of the gaps between the events we already know.

I'm eagerly looking forward to the final volume, Last Friends which tells the story from yet another perspective.

Hi Heather - Nice reviews. I haven't yet read I Capture the Castle; I think I have it somewhere and will get to it one of these days.

I read the Heyer years ago and think I liked it more than you did but if I read it today, who knows?

Jane Gardam rules! I loved the entire trilogy. Our book group is reading God on the Rocks this month, so I am looking forward to that.

Good luck with moving.

#191 Thanks Gail, and recommendation for Possession duly noted. :-)

#192 Glad to hear you enjoyed Devil's Cub more Kerry. I think that's coming up soon on our Heyer list.

And now I've caught up on my June reviews, a quick recap of my favourite books from the first six months of the year (in the order I read them):

We Are At War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times by Simon Garfield
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
A Clash of Kings by G. R. R. Martin
The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
A Storm of Swords by G. R. R. Martin
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

#194 Cross-posted Beth! I hope you enjoy I Capture the Castle. I'm also looking forward to discovering more of Jane Gardam's works - I have a copy of Faith Fox which I found second-hand and I've also heard very good things about God on the Rocks. I think Dee said it was one of her favourites last year.

Hi Heather - Your best of list is great. I love Sayers, too. I know a lot of people don't care for Nine Taylors, but I loved it. And the Garfield book is on my list to read soon.

Hi Heather - those are some great reads! I really must get to I Capture the Castle. I have both a lovely hardcover and a Virago edition. It's one of those books I am so convinced I will love that I am almost scared to read it...

I read a few Heyers in my early teens and thought them boring compared to the bodice-ripping romances I was devouring from the pharmacy shelves. I think I will appreciate them more now and have collected a few on my Kindle.

And your list of favorite reads from the first half of the year reminds me that I must pick up the third Martin book....

No pressure, and I don't know how far you are, but it would be lovely to see you when I'm in London at the end of August :)

What a lovely half-year you've had, Heather! Nine Taylors is one of the best, I think, but Gaudy Night is my favorite for Harriet and Oxford! My copy of A Dance with Dragons has just arrived from PBS. I can't decide whether to reread book 3 or just jump in. I really loved *Castle* and *We at War*.
Thanks for the link to the Heyer site. I've favorited that post.

Hi Heather, what a wonderful range of half-year reads : ).

A collection of short stories by Jane Gardam, The People on Privilege Hill, contains several stories about the the characters in this trilogy of novels, and I definitely recommend reading it too.

Hi Heather, your best of 2013 so far has some wonderful titles but I will say my favorites are Three Men in a Boat and All Passion Spent. I read both of them last year. I haven't read any sayers yet but I have a couple of them on my iPad so I could start on them anytime; Heyer as well. Too.Many.Books!

De-lurking to say I've been hesitant about Gone Girl because of the responses I've read here. It's starting to push me to be more curious... Hmmmm. A conundrum. :)

You've piqued my interest in Man in the Wooden Hat. I really liked Old Filth.

Heather, like Beth, I loved the entire Old Filth trilogy. I must seek out some more Jane Gardam books. I've only read two (the Connell and Trollope) of your faves from the first part of the year, but that just means I have some more good books to add to my wishlist!

Heather congratulations for having already moved into triple figures in books read in 2013.
Have a lovely weekend taking advantage of the summer weather in England for a week or two at least.

#197 & 199 Hi Beth and Peggy. I really enjoyed both Nine Tailors and Gaudy Night. If I had to choose one as my favourite it would be Gaudy Night but I'm glad I don't have to.

#198 "It's one of those books I am so convinced I will love that I am almost scared to read it..."

Katie, I know that feeling!

The Meyers I've read so far have definitely not been bodice-rippers but I do remember my great-aunt telling me she and her friends had to read them secretly at school as they were not really considered appropriate reading. That must have been in the 1930s....

I will send you a pm about a London meeting :-)

#200 Thanks Nancy!

#201 Thanks for letting me know about The People on Privilege Hill, Luci - I'll definitely look out for that one too.

#202 "Too.Many.Books!" So true, Bonnie :-). I hope you enjoy the Sayers whenever you get to them.

#203 Glad to have made you curious, Tina. Gone Girl is one of those books it's hard to put down so it's quite a quick read if that helps?

#204 I hope you enjoy The Man in the Wooden Hat Laura. I found it really interesting to read about the same events from a different point of view.

#205 Hi Donna. Sorry for the damage to the wishlist!

#206 Well spotted Paul :-) We did have a BBQ at my parent's yesterday evening but I think it's too hot to sit in the sunshine when it's more than 25 degrees so I've stayed inside with the fan on where it's nice and cool!

25C!? Feh. Wimp! :)

It's supposed to be 20C here today, so hopefully winter, by which I mean the nasty stretch we always get when it's cold and it rains constantly and everyone is damp and cranky, is over. Not that you can assume anything weather-wise these days.

Hi Heather!

#193 - I'm looking forward to The Man in the Wooden Hat, as I found Betty rather fascinating in Old Filth and am curious to read more from her perspective. (Wasn't there one chapter in Old Filth from her point of view? I think so, but am not 100% sure.)

P.S. God on the Rocks was my #1 book last year. I think you'll love it!

It was great to meet you (and Bianca and Genny) yesterday, Heather! Hopefully we can get back together soon.

Oh Meet-ups, I'm so envious!

Wonderful reading, Heather. I recently came across a copy of I Capture and plan to reread it also - it's been awhile. The first time it was so wonderful - a revelation of a book somehow to me.

Hi Heather,
I just came to scour your thread for evidence that it was you who planted the seed and made me grab The Wolves of Willoughby Chase from the library. It seems that maybe it wasn't. But some one did....and it is making me crazy trying to think who :)

Ta ra.

Oh, great news re: the latest trans-Atlantic meetup. Loved the pics on Darryls thread.

Hi, Heather! I'm back online after having been knocked out by a nasty virus. Loved the meetup pictures and hoping for more soon. Thanks for coming by to check up on me.

Hi Heather,
it was such fun, meeting you on Tuesday and I do hope that I will get a chance meeting you again. I very much enjoyed the day.

I see that you are reading the Fionavar Tapestry by Kay. When I read The Summer Tree a couple of years back I felt exactly the same as you that the story started a bit slow, but then picked up nicely. I finished the whole Trilogy and thought they were great fun.

I had to chuckle at your comments about Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith which again, is one of my fave books.

I wish you a brilliant weekend :)

#212 Hi Megan. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a favourite of mine so it might have been me, althoughI don't think I've mentioned it lately. If you enjoy it, I'll happily take the credit for recommending it :-)

#213 Hi Roni. Glad you're starting to feel better :-)

#214 Hi Bianca. It was lovely to meet you too. I'm looking forward to reading the final volume in the Fionavar Tapestry. Hope you and Alex have a great weekend together.

About to start a new thread....

I know this is my old thread but I just realised that I completely skipped over some messages. Sorry - heat-fried brain...

#208 I know, I know, I am a complete wimp when it comes to warm temperatures.

#209 Hi Kerri. I think you're right and there was at least one chapter in Old Filth from Betty's POV spoilers! where we found out she was having an affair.

#210 Darryl, it was lovely to meet you too and I've enjoyed keeping track of the rest of your London holiday via Facebook. It would be great to meet up again the next time you're in London.

#211 I hope you enjoy your reread of I Capture the Castle Lucy.

212: Megan, I think a lot of us have loved Joan Aiken's books, I might have encouraged Heather or others to read it, who in turn passed on the recommendation to you. I reread or read the whole series in 2010 - I first read the early ones published as a child, and a couple more as an adult, but there were some I'd never read before.