Souloftherose's 2013 thread, or, the Reading Journal of a Young(ish) Lady - part 5

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

Continuing the theme of Virago art for my opening posts, this thread features Lettice Cooper's The New House which I've just finished reading.



The cover art is Harold Harvey's Titbits, 1929.

According to this blogpost, "Harvey was part of the Newyln school of painters and he trained a little in France and painted the typical Cornish scenes that were popular. However in 1915 restrictions were put on painting the coastlines, everyone was a suspected spy so outdoor sketching was prohibited and the coastline was protected from being recorded and used by enemies. The artists wouldn’t want to be seen too often on the cliffs or they might face a jail sentence. So this gave rise to changes in the subject matter available and Harvey in particular began painting interior scenes and left his early style behind."

The blogpost also features some of his other artwork.

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 October
#144 Princess Priscilla's Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim (Free kindle)
#145 Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
#146 Genesis by Bernard Beckett (Library)
#147 The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (TBR)
#148 The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders (TBR)
#149 The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (Borrowed)
#150 Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell (TBR)
#151 Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (TBR)
#152 Dominion by C. J. Sansom (TBR)
#153 The Big Four by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#154 Wilkins' Tooth by Diana Wynne Jones (Gift)
#155 The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#156 Frontier Wolf by Rosemary Sutcliff (TBR)
#157 Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham (TBR)
#158 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Reread)
#159 Virago is 40: A Celebration by various authors (Free kindle)
#160 An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym (TBR)

Books read in November
#161 The girl who fell beneath fairyland and led the revels there by Catherynne M. Valente (TBR)
#162 Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (TBR)
#163 Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (TBR)
#164 How It All Began by Penelope Lively (TBR)
#165 The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
#166 The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (TBR)
#167 An Autobiography by Anthony Trollope (Free kindle)
#168 London War Notes: 1939-1945 by Mollie Panter-Downes (Library)
#169 The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Library)
#170 The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#171 An Academic Question by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#172 The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (Free kindle)
#173 The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (TBR)
#174 Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick (Library)

Books read in December
#175 The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths (TBR)
#176 By Light Alone by Adam Roberts (TBR)
#177 The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock (TBR)
#178 Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
#179 Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell (TBR)
#180 A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths (TBR)
#181 The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (Library)
#182 The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (Library)
#183 The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#184 A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridge (TBR)
#185 Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#186 Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons (TBR)
#187 Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (TBR)
#188 Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (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)
#101 Take Two at Bedtime by Margery Allingham (TBR)
#102 The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#103 The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (Reread)
#104 Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (TBR)
#105 Louisa May Alcott by Madeleine Stern (Library)
#106 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (Reread)
#107 Mr Bridge by Evan S. Connell (Library)
#108 Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (TBR)
#109 The Sweet Dove Died by Barbaraq Pym (TBR)
#110 The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (TBR)
#111 Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson (TBR)

Books read in August
#112 Blackout by Connie Willis (TBR)
#113 Anderby Wold by Winifred Holtby (TBR)
#114 Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple (TBR)
#115 All Clear by Connie Wills (TBR)
#116 The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#117 Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson (Free kindle)
#118 Plots and Counterplots: More Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott by Louisa May Alcott (Library)
#119 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff (Reread)
#120 The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (Free kindle)
#121 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#122 Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#123 Lady Susan Plays the Game by Janet Todd (TBR)
#124 A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym (TBR)

Books read in September
#125 Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in the Second World War by Virginia Nicholson (TBR)
#126 X Y Z: A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green (Free kindle)
#127 The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (TBR)
#128 The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan (Library)
#129 Fire by Kristin Cashore (Library)
#130 Provincial Daughter by R. M. Dashwood (TBR)
#131 Tenterhooks by Ada Leverson (Free kindle)
#132 Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (TBR)
#133 Love at Second Sight by Ada Leverson (Free kindle)
#134 Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym (TBR)
#135 Dickens and the Workhouse by Ruth Richardson (TBR)
#136 The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland--For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente (TBR)
#137 The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Library)
#138 High Rising by Angela Thirkell (TBR)
#139 The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville (TBR)
#140 TransAtlantic by Colum McCann (TBR)
#141 When Patty Went to College by Jean Webster (Free kindle)
#142 The New House by Lettice Cooper (TBR)
#143 No Love Lost by Margery Allingham (TBR)

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 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) READ
#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) READ

Books acquired in April
#32 Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff (Kindle)
#33 How it All Began by Penelope Lively (Kindle) READ
#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) READ
#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) READ
#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) READ
#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) READ
#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) READ
#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
#73 Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles (Slightly Foxed)
#74 Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (Kindle) READ
#75 The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (Ex-library) READ
#76 The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym (Kindle) READ
#77 Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge (Abebooks.co.uk)
#78 The Orchid House by Phyllis Shand Allfrey (Abebooks.co.uk)
#79 The New House by Lettice Cooper (Abebooks.co.uk) READ
#80 Blackout by Connie Willis (Kindle) READ
#81 All Clear by Connie Willis (Kindle) READ

Books acquired in August
#82 TransAtlantic by Colum McCann (Kindle) READ
#83 Lady Susan Plays the Game by Janet Todd (Kindle) READ
#84 Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer (Kindle) READ
#85 A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym (Kindle) READ

Books acquired in September
#86 The girl who fell beneath fairyland and led the revels there by Catherynne M. Valente (Kindle) READ
#87 The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland--For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente (Kindle) READ
#88 The Victorian City by Judith Flanders (Kindle) READ
#89 Tom-All-Alone's by Lynn Shepherd (Kindle)
#90 Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch (Kindle)
#91 I Am A Cat by Soseki Natsume (Gift)
#92 Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym (Amazon.co.uk) READ
#93 Detective Gryce N.Y.P.D. Volume 6 by Anna Katharine Green (Amazon.co.uk)
#94 Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Book depository)
#95 Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich (Book depository)
#96 The Rising Tide by M. J. Farrell (Virago group)

Books acquired in October
#97 The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones (Forbidden Planet) READ
#98 Trollope by Victoria Glendinning (Oxfam - Bloomsbury)
#99 Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana (Daunt Books)
#100 Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell (Daunt Books) READ
#101 In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (Daunt Books)
#102 Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel edited by Deirdre David (Charity bookshop)
#103 Love Lessons by Joan Wyndham (Charity bookshop)
#104 The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer (Kindle)
#105 The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (Kindle) READ
#106 An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym (Kindle) READ
#107 The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay (Abebooks.co.uk)

Books acquired in November
#108 Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (Waterstones.com) READ
#109 The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Waterstones.com)
#110 Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym (Waterstones.com)
#111 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Penguin Critical Studies by Maurice Hindle (Awesomebooks.com)
#112 Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (Kindle) READ
#113 Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett (Waterstones.com)
#114 Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd (Kindle)
#115 Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell (Waterstones.com) READ
#116 Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Kindle)
#117 The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Kindle) READ
#118 The Somnambulist by Essie Fox (Kindle)
#119 Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (Kindle)
#120 Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell (Kindle)
#121 The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths (Kindle) READ

Books acquired in December
#122 A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths (Kindle) READ

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 Regency Buck by Georgetter Heyer (3/4)
*Albert Campion: Next up The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham (18/25)
*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?)
*Barsetshire Books by Angela Thirkell: Reading out of order (3/29 read)
*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 Cairo Trilogy: Next up: Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz (2/3)
Cazalet Chronicles: Next up: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (2/5)
Chalion: Next up: The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold (3/3)
*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 Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope (6/6)
*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)
Code Name Verity: Next up Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (2/2)
*Colonial Trilogy: Next up: Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville (3/3)
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 The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff (4/8)
*Dr. Siri Paiboun: Next up: Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (2/9)
Dragonriders of Pern: Next up Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey (2/25)
*Ebenezer Gryce: Next up Behind Closed Doors by Anna Katharine Green (5/13)
Empire Trilogy: Next up: The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell (2/3)
*Father Brown: Next up: The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (2/5)
*Fionavar Tapestry: Next up The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kat (3/3)
The Girl Who: Next up The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente (4/4)
Green Knowe: Next up: The Chimneys of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston (2/6)
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)
Julia Probyn: Next up The Portugese Escape by Ann Bridge (2/8)
*Just Patty: Next up Just Patty by Jean Webster (2/2)
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?)
Old Filth: Next up Last Friends by Jane Gardam (3/3)
The Palliser Novels: Next up: Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope (2/6)
The Penderwicks: Next up The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (2/3)
Rivers of London: Next up Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch (3/4)
*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 A Dying Fall by Elly Grifiiths (5/6)
Seven Kingdoms: Next up Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (3/3)
*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)
*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?)
*Wheel of Time: Next up The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (2/14)
*Wolves Chronicles: Next up The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken (6/11)

Series I'm rereading
*Colonel Race: Next up Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (2/4)
*The Earthsea Cycle: Next up The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (3/6)
*Hercule Poirot: Next up: Peril at End House by Agatha Christie (7/39)
*The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Next up The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith (4/13)
*Superintendent Battle: Next up Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (3/5)
Tommy and Tuppence: Next up Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie (2/5)

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 Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (2/4?)
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 Bridges by Evan S. Connell (2)
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)
Oxford Time Travel by Connie Willis (5)
The Psammead Trilogy by E. Nesbit (3)
The Little Ottleys by Ada Leverson (3)

A 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 Anonymous
1902 Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
1903 When Patty Went to College by Jean Webster
1904 The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
1905 Princess Priscilla's Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim
1906 The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit
1907 Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc
1908 Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson
1909
1910 Prester John by John Buchan
1911 The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
1912 Tenterhooks by Ada Leverson
1913 The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
1915
1916 Love at Second Sight by Ada Leverson
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 / Anderby Wold by Winifred Holtby
1924 Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie / The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
1925 The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
1926 These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
1927 The Big Four by Agatha Christie
1928 The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer
1929 The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
1930 Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
1931 All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
1932 Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
1933 High Rising by Angela Thirkell
1934 The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers/Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell/The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer
1935 Lucia's Progress by E. F. Benson / Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
1936 The New House by Lettice Cooper
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 / Louisa May Alcott by Madeleine Stern / Take Two at Bedtime by Margery Allingham
1951
1952 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
1953 Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
1954 No Love Lost by Margery Allingham
1955 Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym
1956 A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridge
1957 The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
1958 A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym / Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell
1959
1960 Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
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 Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
1970 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
1971 The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
1972 Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers
1973 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff/Wilkins' Tooth by Diana Wynne Jones
1974 Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken
1975 Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones
1976
1977
1978 Kesrith / Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh
1979 Kutath by C. J. Cherryh
1980 A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym/Frontier Wolf by Rosemary Sutcliff
1981 The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken
1982 An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym
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 / An Academic Question by Barbara Pym
1987 Teckla by Steven Brust
1988 Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson
1989
1990 Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay/The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan/The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995 High Tide in Tucson: Essays From Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver
1996 Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson / The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones
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: 75/100

And that should be enough!

Hi Heather! I'm first and I am never first anywhere.

Hope you are enjoying your new house. Must be nice to have more room and a clean slate. Don't think I could ever leave my little hovel. The idea of plowing through all the 'stuff' and actually transporting it somewhere else makes me shudder.

Hi Heather - Happy New Thread. I'm amazed at how much reading you have done AND you've moved into a new house! You also deserve a round of applause for reading so many of the books you've purchased. Impressive.

#10 Hi Charlotte! You are indeed first! :-)

We are really enjoying the new place. The thought of moving was very daunting but it doesn't seem as bad now we've actually done it. Still, I'm glad we don't have to do it again soon.

#11 Thanks Beth! I am still buying more books than I'm managing to read off the shelves so I'm still trying to cut down on my book purchases but not very successfully.

Book #118 Plots and Counterplots: More Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott by Louisa May Alcott, edited by Madeleine B. Stern was another enjoyable collection of sensation fiction written by Alcott under various pseudonyms. I thought the stories included in the first collection, Behind a Mask, were stronger but these were still enjoyable if you want to try more of Alcott's less well-known fiction. 3.6 stars

Book #119 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff. This is a follow-up to the delightful 84 Charing Cross Road which was a collection of letters between an American, Helene Hanff, and a British bookseller, Marks & Co. In The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street Helene visits England to promote her book and finally gets to meet some of her correspondents from the first book. AS recommended by a friend, she keeps a journal of her time in England and this is what makes us The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. Definitely recommended if you enjoyed 84 Charing Cross Road. 4.2 stars

Book #120 The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope. This is the fifth book in the Barsetshire series and I've read through the series I've come to know and love Trollope for the nuanced characters he writes - so much more difficult to categorise as good or bad compared to some other authors of the period. The Small House at Allington contains a lot of nuanced characters, in fact all the main characters are so nuanced that I'm still not sure whether I liked them or not although Trollope's skill meant I still sympathised with them. 3.8 stars

Book #121 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. One of Christie's most famous books and after several rereads I still think it contains one of the best plot twists of all the crime fiction I've read. What impresses me most is that it still holds together when rereading and is still enjoyable to read and pick up on all the little clues you missed the first time through. There's also a lot of humour in the story: the villagers in the small village Poirot retires to assume he is a hairdresser rather than a private detective (I expect those moustaches are to blame) and there's an amusing Mah Jong game and the image of Hercule Poirot, frustrated marrow gardener which will stay with me for a long time. 4.4 stars

LOL! Heather, the juxtaposition of a new thread and the top book being The New House, which you really did just read, in addition to having just moved to a new house is either the height of serendipity or some really bodacious planning!

Hi Heather. Congratulations on the new thread. I enjoyed reading about the artist whose painting is on the cover of The New House and the reason he had to switch to interior scenes.

Happy New Thread, Heather. I'm glad that Roni pointed out The New House and Your New House. It would have gone right over my head.

#14 Hi Roni! It was only sort-of planned, so I probably can't lay claim to truly bodacious planning! Needing to create a new thread just after I'd finished reading it was complete serendipity :-)

#15 Thanks Pat. It had never occurred to me before how WWI (and presumably WWII) affected landscape painters. Now I know!

#16 Hi Peggy!

Last few book comments for August (I'm still so behind):

Book #122: Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer - 3.9 stars
Book #124: A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym - 3.9 stars

I've been reading through both Pym and Heyer's bibliographies in chronological order. I find it difficult to think of much to say about these authors' books but reading them has been a delight and these were no exception.

Book #123 Lady Susan Plays the Game by Janet Todd - 3.8 stars



Janet Todd is a well-known academic who particularly focuses on female authors from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. She's also recently published a novel which is a retelling of Austen's early epistolary novel, Lady Susan. I love the original Lady Susan and having heard a little bit about Todd's retelling I impulse-bought it when it was offered as a kindle daily deal.

Lady Susan Plays the Game takes the events revealed in Austen's Lady Susan and expands on them. By retelling the story in 3rd person rather than in epistolary format we're able to explore some of the backstory and spend time with some of the characters who didn't feature as largely in the original letters (I really enjoyed getting to know more about Frederica, Lady Susan's daughter). Being a 21st century novelist rather than an 18th century one (which I think is probably when Austen wrote Lady Susan although it was published posthumously), Todd is able to be a lot more explicit in some areas than Austen could be: Lady Susan's indiscretions are certainly no longer left to the reader's imagination!

It took me a while to adjust to the third person narrative and I have no idea whether I would say Todd managed to capture Austen's style, but I found this to be an enjoyable, humourous read and I enjoyed Todd's take on the characters from the original novel. Unlikely to be a work of great literature but it deserves to have more than one copy catalogued on LibraryThing!

Oh dear. I haven't read Lady Susan yet, but the Todd goes right on the old wish list.

Oops! Just realised I hadn't visited your new thread. So, hi! :)

I've read some of Janet Todd's non-fiction, including The Secret Life Of Aphra Behn, but I didn't know she'd written fiction, too.

Very apt Virago for your new thread:)

Hope you are settling into your own new house.

Lady Susan Plays the Game sounds excellent, Heather. Happy new thread : ).

#18 Hi Peggy! I hope you enjoy them both.

#19 Hi Liz. As far as I know this is Janet Todd's only novel - perhaps she felt like a change? I have The Secret Life of Aphra Behn wishlisted for whenever I get round to reading some Aphra Behn.

#20 Thanks calm. I think we're getting there slowly.

#21 Thanks Nancy!

My October reads:

Book #144: Princess Priscilla's Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim - 3.8 stars
Source: Free kindle
Original publication date: 1905



Princess Priscilla's Fortnight is a fairytale-like story with a moral by Elizabeth von Arnim, first published in 1905. Describing it as a story with a moral perhaps mmakes it sound quite dry but this is a rather charming tale of a princess of an unnamed German kingdom who finds life as a privileged princess so insupportable that she longs for a simple, ideal life where she can be free to think in peace. In short, she longs to run away.

"To her unfortunately the life within the walls seemed of a quite blatant vulgarity; pervaded by lacqueys, by officials of every kind and degree, by too much food, too many clothes, by waste, by a feverish frittering away of time, by a hideous want of privacy, by a dreariness unutterable. To her it was a perpetual behaving according to the ideas officials had formed as to the conduct to be expected of princesses, a perpetual pretending not to see that the service offered was sheerest lip-service, a perpetual shutting of the eyes to hypocrisy and grasping selfishness. Conceive, you tourist full of illusions standing free down there in the market place, the frightfulness of never being alone a moment from the time you get out of bed to the time you get into it again. Conceive the deadly patience needed to stand passive and be talked to, amused, taken care of, all day long for years. Conceive the intolerableness, if you are at all sensitive, of being watched by eyes so sharp and prying, so eager to note the least change of expression and to use the conclusions drawn for personal ends that nothing, absolutely nothing, escapes them"

The announcement of Priscilla's engagement to a prince from a neighbouring monarchy precipitates her desire to be free and with her lady's maid and her faithful tutor she flees to England where they hope to find a quiet cottage to live in.

But sheltered palace lives have not prepared any of them for the realities of life outside the palace. The idea of housework or rationing their money has never occurred to any of them and they struggle more and more as time goes by. Not only this, but the inhabitants of the small English village are also completely unprepared for the effects that Priscilla has on their small community.

"It will be conceded that Priscilla had achieved a good deal in the one week that had passed since she laid aside her high estate and stepped down among ordinary people for the purpose of being and doing good. She had brought violent discord into a hitherto peaceful vicarage, thwarted the hopes of a mother, been the cause of a bitter quarrel between her and her son, brought out by her mysteriousness a prying tendency in the son that might have gone on sleeping for ever, entirely upset the amiable Tussie's life by rending him asunder with a love as strong as it was necessarily hopeless, made his mother anxious and unhappy, and, what was perhaps the greatest achievement of all, actually succeeded in making that mother cry."

Although Priscilla's tale is told lightly and humourously there is a seriousness to the message behind it and from the biography of Elizabeth von Arnim that I read earlier this year, it's hard not to see it as a lesson she was writing to herself as well as her readers: that the simple life Elizabeth felt she longed for, away from the strict requirements of German high society, might not turn out to be as simple as she hoped.

"But Priscilla's story has taken such a hold on me, it seemed when first I heard it to be so full of lessons, that I feel bound to set it down from beginning to end for the use and warning of all persons, princesses and others, who think that by searching, by going far afield, they will find happiness, and do not see that it is lying all the while at their feet. They do not see it because it is so close. It is so close that there is a danger of its being trodden on or kicked away. And it is shy, and waits to be picked up."

Book #145: Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones - 3.8 stars
Source: Charity bookshop
Original publication date: 1975



Eight Days of Luke is one of Diana Wynne Jones' earlier children's stories about David, an orphan who lives with his remarkably unpleasant uncle and aunt when he isn't away at boarding school. David is not looking forward to the school holidays but then Luke mysteriously appears and claims David has released him from his imprisonment. David is sure he must be joking and life is certainly a lot more fun with Luke around but David starts to notice strange things about Luke and soon it becomes apparent to him that Luke is not just a normal boy.

Diana Wynne Jones is good at drawing on myths and legends for her children's books. This one draws on Norse mythology which I was somewhat familiar with but did have to spend some time on wikipedia reading up in more detail after finishing the book. The good thing about her stories is that they're still enjoyable on their own terms even if the references go over your head.

Heather - very interesting review of the book by Elizabeth Van Arnim, an author I have not come across before LT. Is that the best place to start with her?

Agree with Paul about your review Heather, but a bit surprised that you've never come across Elizabeth Von Arnim Paul. I'd start with An Enchanted April or Elizabeth and her German Garden personally.

#24 Thanks Paul. Like Rhian, I think I'd recommend Elizabeth and Her German Garden to start with - it was her first novel and is still my favourite.

#25 Thanks Rhian :-)

-----------------------------------------------
I have one day left at work before I have two weeks off! My plans for my time off were to get lots of things done around the house (finish unpacking), catch up with friends (and threads!), explore the local area, attack the overgrown garden. But now I have come down with a cold I think I've been fighting off for the last week or so. My husband has also come down with a cold and the cat sneezed twice yesterday. I think we're all feeling a bit run down. So new plan for holiday is resting and trying not to feel annoyed with myself for needing to rest.

In more positive news it's my 4th Thingaversary on Thursday. So far I've bought the following two books when I was in London having a lovely meetup with Nina (humouress) and Luci (elkiedee):

The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
Trollope by Victoria Glendinning

I also ended up with a pile of goodies from Luci who was doing a shelf clear out (although those shelves won't be staying clear for long based on the number of books she bought last week...)

Forgotten Voices of the Great War by Max Arthur
Bombers & Mash: The Domestic Front 1939-45 by Raynes Minss
The Ballad and the Source by Rosamond Lehmann (an original green)
Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty (another green)
Wilkins' Tooth by Diana Wynne Jones (another DWJ) aka Witch's Business in the US

And I picked these up for my husband (which doesn't mean I won't read them):

The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
The Challenge of Jesus by N. T. Wright
Why Study the Past?: The Quest for the Historical Church by Rowan Williams

Hi Heather. Sorry to hear you've picked up a cold on the eve of your two week vacation but I think relaxing and reading are probably just what the doctor would order. Hope you feel better soon!

Oh, I love Dark Lord of Derkholm--just the thing for reading while you are not feeling well! Hope you all feel better soon and aren't ill your entire break.

Heather, could I give you non-annoyment lessons? I think that you should be patting yourself on the back for soldiering through the move so well. My guess is that your body said, "If you're not going to give me a break, I will give me a break! Rest and enjoy when the cold gets better!
Your new books look great, and you get to buy 3 more!!!
And who knew that Aphra Behn had a secret life!!?!! Off to investigate!

Enjoy your holiday and Happy Thingaversary. I too really enjoyed Dark Lord of Derkholm.

Hi Heather, happy Thingaversary! How wonderful to have a vacation coming right up. Feel better, and enjoy : ).

I've just got back from being away and dropped by to catch up. Love your comments on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, it is one of my favorite Christie's. I really like your thread topper and found the story of how he started painting interior scenes fascinating. I hope you shake off that cold and enjoy your vacation time.

Two weeks off to just rest and relax Heather?? Sounds like just what the doctor ordered. And a cold can't keep you down the whole time.

My shelves were all full more than 10 years ago - I have several boxes and some tottering piles of books that I don't plan to keep - some are duplicates (some because I didn't realise I had a book already or got mixed up, some because I bought a set from the BookPeople for the same price or less than buying the one or titles I actually wanted from elsewhere), a few are books I don't need to keep (mostly chicklit, occasionally books I just don't like) and there are quite a lot now of books that were on offer for Kindle. And I took home a lot more books than I gave you.... oops.

#27 Thanks Pat. I think my cold is nearly almost gone. DH's almost turned into man-flu but I think he's turned the corner now too :-) We haven't done much of anything over the last few days which has helped a lot.

#28 I'm glad to hear you're a fan of The Dark Lord of Derkholm Roni. At the moment I'm reading DWJ's The Tough Guide to Fantasyland which I think is linked to Derkholm in some way?

#29 Thank you, Peggy. Non-annoyment lessons gratefully received :-) I'm feeling much better for having had a rest.

#30 Thanks Kerry :-) Another fan of The Dark Lord of Derkholm - that's good to hear!

#31 Thanks Nancy!

#32 Thanks for stopping by Judy. I'm glad you enjoyed Roger Ackroyd too - I'm looking forward to revisiting Christie's other novels.

#33 Hi Bonnie! Yes, hopefully lots of R&R as well as some jobs done around the house. So far more progress on the former than the latter!

#34 I think most members of the group probably share your problem re lack of shelf space, Luci :-)

Lovely new thread. Your series lists are so useful, I especially like the detail of the 'latest book'.

Happy new thread, Heather! And I'm happy to hear that you are feeling better - hooray for that! Hope you are having fun settling into the new home and not trying to do too much at once. I remember our big move, and while I really wanted everything put away and tidy, it can get a bit overwhelming at times. Moving an entire house is no easy thing. I did catch up on your last thread, and your new home looks lovely. Now I'm off to check out some of those book purchases!

#36 Thanks Lucy :-)

#37 Thanks for the kind words Mamie. I think the key is going to be trying to do things in small chunks so I don't get overwhelmed before I start.

More October books reviews coming. I'm going to try and blitz through some September ones tomorrow:

Book #146: Genesis by Bernard Beckett - 4.7 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2006



Genesis is a short, young adult novel set in a future dystopia where the islands of New Zealand have sealed themselves off from the outside world in order to save themselves from a global plague. The novel consists of one young girl, Anaximander, being examined for entry to The Academy in a gruelling four hour oral exam. Her specialist subject is Adam Forde and as the exam unfolds we learn who Adam Forde was and what he did to change the nature of Anaximander's society.

In only 185 pages, Genesis manages to pack a lot of ideas about philosophy, consciousness and what it means to be human. Although it's not an action-packed book it was very gripping and I would recommend it wholeheartedly based on the above alone.

But this is one of those books that seems even better once you've finished reading it and allowed your brain to 'digest' it a little. All kinds of references and clever connections that Beckett had made have been fizzling in my brain since finishing it (Plato's Republic, the Genesis story to name a few) and I've been very tempted to pick it up and reread it. For these reasons you need to add this book to your wishlist.

And a big thank you to Kerry (avatiakh) for first recommending this author to me.

Book #147: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan - 3.7 stars
Source: Ex-library copy
Original publication date: 1990



Many, many years ago I read and enjoyed The Eye of the World, the first book in Robert Jordan's 14 book epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time, but got put off from reading any of the sequels by the fact that the series was unfinished and looked like it might drag on and on for ages. Robert Jordan sadly died back in 2007 with the series left unfinished but his estate asked an up-and-coming fantasy author called Brandon Sanderson to finish the series and at the beginning of this year the final volume, A Memory of Light was finally published.

So a few of us have got together and decided to read or reread the entire Wheel of Time series. I'm a few months behind the very loose schedule and hoping I can keep the momentum going to read through the entire series this time (although 14 books of 800+ pages each still seems at least a little bit daunting).

I enjoyed this reread a lot more than I expected to. I'd remembered the plot was a fairly traditional fantasy narrative but the writing and characterisation were better than I remembered and, apart from feeling like the middle of the book dragged a little, I enjoyed this a lot.

I much prefer the original cover art (below) to the rather bland covers the UK publisher decided to reissue the entire series in (above).

love your review of Genesis. I've added it to my wish list.

hope the time off work has refreshed you.

ETA - Yay, just went to add it to my Amazon wishlist and found it's only 98p on kindle!

Okay, Genesis went on the wishlist--our library has it. Of course, I've been on the hold list for The Eye of the World for 4 months now, and at the top of the list for the last month! So you aren't the last one to get to it.

>39 souloftherose: I actually have read that 14 book Wheel of Time series (including re-reading the first ones a few times to help keep it all straight), Heather, and I thought Brandon Sanderson did an excellent job of wrapping it up. You could make an argument that he improved the series, as bloat (IMO) inflated some of the volumes before his, and he avoided that.

Did I see someone mention Vacation?! Hope you're enjoying a little time away from your job.
By your last thread it appears that all humans and furry creatures have found a comfortable spot to relax. Enjoy and best wishes for many happy years in your new home!

Heather, enjoy The Wheel of Time series. How wonderful that several of you will re-read together. I like the original cover, too.

Glad to hear that you're feeling better, Heather, and that your husband is turning the corner.
I have the pb with the original cover and wish I had the new ones instead. Go figure. The cover art of some of the later ones is pathetic, I think. Anyway, I haven't posted over on the GR thread, but I've started the third book and read a chapter now and then. I could do with less Rand and more Egwene and crew; in fact, I remember more about the women, so I thought that they were featured more than they actually are. Oh well. --- and I do look forward to Rand among the Aiel.
There. Is that cryptic enough for non-Wheelers?

Good to hear that you enjoyed Genesis.

#40 Hope you enjoy it Jo! At that price I'm tempted to get my own copy and another of his books, August, is also on offer.

#41 I'm suprised The Eye of the World is so popular at your library Roni, considering it's such an old book. Hope you enjoy Genesis when you get to it.

#42 Glad to hear from someone's who made it through the series Joe! I'm hoping I can keep the momentum going so that I haven't forgotten what happened in the earlier books by the time I get to the later ones! Also glad to hear you enjoyed Brandon Sanderson's work finishing the series.

#43 Hi Lynda! Hooray for vacation indeed :-)

#44 Thanks Nancy!

#45 Peggy, I suspect my preference for the older cover might simply be due to that being the cover of the copy I read the first time around. I don't think I've seen the later covers in the series.

#46 Thanks Kerry :-)

Book #148: The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders - 3.7 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2012



The title of this book is somewhat misleading; it is a detailed look at everyday life in the London Charles Dickens knew so well, but this London was not strictly Victorian as Queen Victoria only came to the throne midway through Dickens' life in 1837 and this book covers life in London from 1810 through to 1870, ending well before Victoria's reign did.

That aside, this book gives a fascinating look at life in London throughout the period: from methods of transport, to street sellers and from entertainment to sewerage (or lack of). For lovers of 19th century literature Flanders references 19th century novels at relevant points and provides the context needed to understand them; mainly Dickens' novels but Trollope, Thackeray and other writers are also mentioned (Mr Harding's visit to a cigar-divan from The Warden gets a mention).

There is a vast amount of information in this book and I wasn't entirely convinced by the way Flanders chose to organise it (she attempts to take you through a day in the life of the city but this didn't really hold together for me). I would also have appreciated more clarity over the changes to London within the time period covered in the book as this was all rather jumbled together. But nevertheless, an entertaining and informative read.

#47 I have that The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London on my Kindle - was it a bargain recently? - and I must put it nearer to the top of mt TBR.

A September review:

Book #125: Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in the Second World War by Virginia Nicholson - 4.2 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2011



As 'children of the Armistice', growing up in the 1930s, these women were just three of millions swept into the conflict that descended on our nation in 1939. The men who embarked on that war certainly did so in part to secure and perpetuate a way of life in which young women ... continued to take after their maternal role models, flush away the contents of commodes for their betters and look decorative in the saddle and at dances. Those men dared all, flew Spitfires, fought Fascism, suffered in prison camps and died in their thousands to preserve an ideal - an ideal of womanhood.

The story told in this book is the story of that ideal: of what it was, what became of it and the reality that lay beneath it. It's the story of a generation of young women caught up by the whirlwind of war and dropped down again in a different world not of their own making. And it sets out to tell how and why their stable position in the at pre-war world, along with so much that they had taken for granted, was dislodged and blown apart by the Second World War, only to be reconstituted after 1945.

In this book Woolf sets out British women's invovlement in WWII by drawing on interviews with and written accounts from women from that time. The book covers women who travelled to serve as nurses on the battlefield, women who served in the armed forces and women who took over what had traditionally been men's jobs on production lines to free men up for conscription. I found this to be a fascinating look at the impact WWII had on women as well as the impact women had on WWII. As Nicholson notes at the end of the book, "We tend to see it {WWII} as a man's war. The women's war had its moments of glory too."

The list of references Nicholson used caused me to add the following books to my ever-expanding wishlist:

Nella Last - Nella Last's War
Helen Forrester - Twopence to Cross the Mersey
Joan Wyndham - Love Lessons
Dorothy Sheridan - Wartime Women: An Anthology of Women's Wartime Writing for Mass Observation
Naomi Mitchison - Among You taking notes
Elizabeth Jane Howard - Slipstream

#48 Hi Kerry. Yes, it was in the kindle summer sale I think - a good buy :-)

Heather, it's wonderful to see you completely settled in your new home and reading and posting regularly again : ).

#49 And that's another one I bought and have recently read!

Thanks for the list, Heather. I don't think I'm up for the Nicholson, but I believe that the Sheridan is going to be on its way to me soon. Also the Howard and the Murchison. You're a dangerous person to visit!

Heather, I think I still have a rather bulky hardback of Slipstream in need of a new home (alternatively it's £3.59 on Kindle, might be worth looking out for bargains as Cazalet #5 comes out next month).

The Kindle edition of The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London is $33.16 in the U.S. Heather!! I think I'll check my library haha.

#51 Thanks Nancy! I'm enjoying having a bit more time to post about books - I'd like to try and work it into my routine somehow when I'm back at work.

#52 I think I saw you'd also read and enjoyed Nicholson's Singled Out which I still have to read (again, bought as a kindle bargain!)

#53 Enjoy the Sheridan, Howard and Mitchison (Murchison was a typo - my bad), Peggy. I was very interested to see how many Virago authors Nicholson had used as sources. Sorry for leading you astray :-(

#54 Luci, I wouldn't say no to giving your spare hardcover of Slipstream a home as I know Dee really enjoyed it last year. I'm probably going to buy Howard's The Light Years for kindle and work my way through the series, it would be nice to read her autobiography after that but I'm not in a rush.

#55 Yowzer! It shows as $7.16 for kindle for me on Amazon US Bonnie (here but I don't know if that's because Amazon can tell I'm looking at it from the UK? Library might be better anyway as there are pictures and maps and I find those easier to refer to in a paper book.

Yesterday I went into London to meet up with Darryl, Luci, Rachael, Jenny and friend of a friend of Rachael's, Lesley for a bit of book-shopping and The Old Vic's production of Much Ado About Nothing. I enjoyed the play, but I have seen several productions of Much Ado and I didn't feel this one was as good as some of the others I've seen. Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones were both excellent as Beatrice and Benedick (despite being older than the characters are traditionally portrayed) but I didn't feel the rest of the production held together as well. Much Ado is always a funny play to watch though.

For book-shopping we went to the beautiful Daunt Books in Marylebone. As well as being a stunning setting they have a really good selection with the gallery pictured below being organised by country, with each country containing travel books as well as other fiction/non-fiction books set in or about that country. There are also the normal fiction, non-fiction, children's sections.



I purchased three books (each one comes with a Daunt Books bookmark and I got a lovely fair-trade, cotton Daunt Books bag to carry them in)

Two for my Thingaversary:

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell

And from the travel section, a book by a Ugandan author as we are having a family holiday to Uganda at the end of this year (haven't mentioned this before because it hasn't sunk in at all):

Tropical Fish: Tales From Entebbe by Doreen Baingana

Unfortunately there were some unexpected engineering works (unexpected to me) which meant I had to wait a long time for a train home and an England-Poland football match at Wembley meant there were a lot of people on that train. I got a seat and had plenty to read but didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning and, despite a lie-in, I'm a tired bunny today. For some reason 7 hours sleep outside of normal sleeping hours doesn't seem to do anywhere near as much good as 7 hours sleep between normal hours.

Your meetup sounds like a great deal of fun, Heather. What a beautiful bookstore! Here's hoping the tired bunny recovers her hop quickly. :-)

#58 Thanks Julia! I have agreed with DH that we are getting takeaway tonight :-) At least I'm not at work today!

Something fun I saw on one of the blogs I follow here.

Author I’ve Read The Most Books From: A close call between Terry Pratchett and Agatha Christie; both authors I've read and loved since I was a teenager and both authors whose books I've reread many times. I'm currently enjoying rereading all of Agatha Christie's works in publication order. Perhaps a Terry Pratchett reread is called for at some point?

Best Sequel Ever: Can I count The Lord of the Rings as a sequel? If not, then Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope which continues the story of the characters from The Warden and is just wonderful.

Currently Reading: Mollie Panter-Downes' London War Notes and C. J. Sansom's Dominion. Enjoying both but starting to feel like I'm reaching saturation point with my WWII reading at the moment and will probably take a break from it after finishing these two.

Drink of Choice While Reading: Tea! English breakfast, Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Russian Caravan, Chai or Rooibos/Redbush tea in the evenings. Sometimes a glass of milk or fruit juice is also nice.

E-Reader or Physical Book: Both! I love owning physical copies of books but I will never be able to afford a house large enough to hold them all. An ereader is a nice alternative for books I may want to reread but don't feel like I need a paper copy of. It's also very useful for out-of copyright books and instant gratification.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Dated in High School: Hmm, I would have to say Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre. I was absolutely obsessed with Jane Eyre as a teenager and had a massive crush on him.

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance: The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. This is one of the gothic novels Jane Austen parodied in Northanger Abbey and I initially made the mistake of thinking that because Udolpho had been parodied then it must be a bad book. I'm really glad I did go ahead and read it because I ended up enjoying it alot and came to the conclusion that in Northanger Abbey, Austen was parodying people's response to The Mysteries of Udolpho rather than Radcliffe's novel itself.

Hidden Gem Book: I would say almost everything published by Persephone/Virago - the almost only because some of the books they've republished are already well-known :-)
One particular favourite from Persephone is Good Evening Mrs Craven, The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes which is a short-story collection.

Other hidden gems are The Master by T. H. White and The Blue Hawk by Peter Dickinson - both children's books that haven't had the attention they deserve.

A classic worthy of mention is Catharine and Other Writings by Jane Austen is also worthy of mention. This is a collection of Austen's unpublished juvenilia which are surprisingly good considering how young she was when writing some of them.

Important Moment in Your Reading Life: Opening a LibraryThing account and joining the 75 book group. This led me to kindred spirits for my reading and more book recommendations than I will ever be able to read :-)

Just Finished: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Kind of Books I Won’t Read: I find horror books are often too scary for me (Stephen King's It gave me nightmares) and the more steamy romance novels are not really my cup of tea.

Longest Book I’ve Read: Samuel Richardson's Clarissa which comes to 1536 pages.

Major Book Hangover Because: Too many books, too little time (and too little shelf space).

Number of Bookcases I own: We now have 7 2m Billy bookcases from IKEA which hold our book collection. Currently we have more shelves than books and there are a number of books in my TBR pile that I don't think are ones I will want to keep once I've read them so there is hope that I will be able to contain our collection to these shelves.

One Book I have Read Multiple Times: Just one? I used to reread The Lord of the Rings every year; although I haven't read it for a while I think it's still probably the book I've read most often.

Preferred Place to Read: In bed.

Quote That Inspires You/Gives You All the Feels From a Book You’ve Read: From Barbara Kingsolver's High Tide in Tucson:

"Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget you have one of your own. That is why you read it, and might even sit up in bed till early dawn, throwing your whole tomorrow out of whack, simply to find out what happens to some people who you know perfectly well are made up. It's why you might find yourself crying even if you aren't the crying kind."

Reading Regret: Not many regrets. I only really regret books that left horrible impressions in my mind - Iain Banks' A Song of Stone was just too disturbing for me and whilst I thought Stephen King's books were good, again, they were just too scary/unpleasant for me.

Series You Started and Need To Finish (All the books are out in the series): Ha! Have you seen the number of series I have listed above? The most recently started, finished series is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series of which there are 14 rather chunky books.

Three of Your All-Time Favourite Books: Impossible question. Three by authors I haven't already mentioned in this survey are Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, Bleak House by Charles Dickens and The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen.

Unapologetic Fangirl For: Samuel Richardson's Clarissa (see above) - perhaps because so many other people seem to find it really boring.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others: The final volume in Hilary Mantel's Cromwell trilogy (no publication date as far as I know).

Worst Bookish Habit: Buying books faster than I read the ones I already own.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the Top Left of Your Shelf and pick the 27th Book: Has this been a TIOLI challenge yet? Devoted Ladies by M. J. Farrell from the bookcase that holds my Persephones and Viragoes

Your Latest Book Purchase: In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden was the final book I picked up in Daunt Books.

ZZZ-Snatcher Book- Book That Kept You Up WAY Too Late: Because of how badly I function on not-enough sleep and how tired I've been recently I don't stay up late reading anymore (unless I can't sleep anyway), but Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden was a book I didn't want to put down when it came to lights out time.

Daunt Books is spectacular! And I love your meme : ).

>57 souloftherose:: Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones were both excellent as Beatrice and Benedick (despite being older than the characters are traditionally portrayed) but I didn't feel the rest of the production held together as well.
My daughter saw Much Ado last weekend and felt the same way. She described the rest of the cast as "community theatre" (not sure if that's an American thing, you might call it "amateur dramatics"). OTOH, she really enjoyed Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe.

That's a great meme and I love your answers, but I'm not going to copy it right now because I'd have to think too hard.
Daunt Books looks amazing! Glad that you all had a great time in a great place!

That bookshop looks fabulous. I'm trying to work out how a trip to Tring could involve going via Marylebone. I need a bookshop fix.

I don't think it's on the way to Tring, but if you get to visit London at some point it's a short hop on the bus from Paddington - and it's also not very far at all from Euston.

If I get the train to Paddington then tube to Chesham and a lift from there it *is* actually on the way...

For now I'm just hoping to get to a local bookshop some time soon without a little boy in tow.

Very much enjoyed your meme - I think LOTR is the book I've read the most as well. So far it has never failed me.

Hi Heather! Glad you made it to Daunt Books. It's so lovely. That photo looks so familiar... ;-)

I'll have to give the meme some thought and maybe post it this weekend.

Hi, Heather - just a line to let you know that I've added The Big Four to TIOLI #13, if you would care to join me. :)

Hello Heather

I'm trying to add Book #148: The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders, but for some reason LT won't let me do so. I'll still pursue buying this book.

Many thanks for your comments!

I have The Victorian House by Judith Flanders which is fascinating. I hadn't heard of The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London before, but it's gone straight on the WL.

#60 Thanks Nancy!

#61 Well, your daughter clearly has excellent taste Laura! I'm glad to hear she enjoyed A Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm probably slightly spoiled as I've seen Much Ado a number of times before so this production had quite a lot to live up to.

#62 Thanks Peggy1

#63 - 65 I hope you manage to make it to a bookshop soon Jo! I'd be happy to watch your little boy for you next time I'm in the area but that probably won't be soon enough to help you get your fix!

#66 Lucy, writing that made me qusetion why I haven't reread LOTR for a while. Too distracted by new books I suppose. Perhaps I'll line it up for a reread next year...

#67 Hi Katie! I'll look forward to your answers to the meme if you manage to post them.

#68 Thanks for letting me know Liz!

#69 Hi Linda. I hope you enjoy The Victorian City although I'm afraid I don't know why you weren't able to add the book on LT. Have you tried changing the source you're using? I used amazon.co.uk as mine was a kindle book and that worked for me.

#70 Hi Rhian. I hope you enjoy The Victorian City. I think was Flanders' most recent book and I will definitely look out for The Victorian House as you've recommended it and I think Liz also recommended The Invention of Murder recently.

For some reason, I always think I will spend my time off work reading serious literary fiction or non-fiction and instead find I want to read fluff. So, I think I will be embarking on another course of 'Tra-la-la' reading (can't remember who coined the phrase but it's a good one) which probably sounds the death-knell for my attempt to complete my century of books challenge this year as I'm only 68% through. I think I'll still make some progress before the end of December but there's no way I will read 32 books published in the correct years between now and the end of December, so I'll finish it next year (hopefully).

Reporting on my last two 'fluff' reads:

Book #149: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton - 3.2 stars
Source: Borrowed from my Mum
Original publication date: 2008



Set in Brisbane, Australia and Cornwell, UK this is a family saga/family secrets/mystery-type novel which spans the generations of one particular family as various narrators slowly reveal the mystery. This was enjoyable but I was a good 50 pages ahead of the plot whilst reading and once I'd finished, I wasn't completely convinced that everything hung together. Still, I was absorbed whilst I was reading it and would happily read her other novels.

Book #150: Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell - 4.5 stars
Source: Duant Books
Original publication date: 1934



Angela Thirkell's Wild Strawberries was a delight from beginning to end: an almost perfect gentle comedy. There's the eccentric matriarch of the Leslie family, Lady Emily, who is very well-meaning but her vagueness and inattention mean she almost entirely disrupts the plans of those around her. Only the fact that she is kind and well-meaning at heart stop her from becoming a tyrant to her family, instead she is indulgently ignored or borne with by her servants and family. Her youngest son, David, is an incorrigible flirt, her middle son, John has been a widow for 7 years and seems to have lost his youth. Her eldest son was killed in WWI but his son, Martin, who will now inherit the estate spends his holidays with them and her daughter, Agnes, who is beautiful but seems to have inherited her mothers vagueness, is also staying with them along with her three young children whilst her husband is overseas. To this family party is added a nice of Agnes' who falls for David's charms but finds the more serious John to be kind and very comfortable to be around. It's not difficult to guess the ending but, like Trollope, the journey was delightful. This was a book that made me laugh out loud and occasionally have to pause to wipe a tear from my eye. Definitely recommended.

I'm very happy to report that Virago have confirmed they will be republishing another 5 Thirkells (at least) in the UK, with the following to be released this year and next:

Pomfret Towers
Christmas at High Rising
Summer Half
August Folly
The Brandons

Do I need to say they're now all on my wishlist?

And going back to some September reviews:

Book #126: X Y Z: A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green - 3.3 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1883

"Sometimes in the course of his experience, a detective, while engaged in ferreting out the mystery of one crime, runs inadvertently upon the clue to another. But rarely has this been done in a manner more unexpected or with attendant circumstances of greater interest than in the instance I am now about to relate."

A short novel or novella published in 1883. A detective employed by the United States Government is on the trail of some counterfeiters who use a Massuchusetts Post Office to exchange instructions via letters addressed to XYZ, left until called for. When the detective follows one individual who comes to collect one such letter he ends up gatecrashing a masked ball and witnessing a murder. This is not my favourite of Anna Katharine Green's stories but it's interesting to read her books in publication order to see how her crime novels develop.

Book #127: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham - 4.3 stars
Source: Bookmooch
Original publication date: 1952



Unlike many of Allingham's Campion novels this is a thriller/pursuit novel more than a detective story as the identity of the villain (the eponymous tiger) is known fairly early on. The atmosphere Allingham has produced in this novel is stunning; the menace of the tiger and the atmosphere of London's smog add to the suspense as the police desperately try to track the tiger down. I also loved the inclusion of Canon Avril as a character, a holy fool who is pivotal to the plot and allows Allingham to explore themes of good vs. evil and the choices we make.

“Evil be thou my Good, that is what you have discovered. It is the only sin which cannot be forgiven because when it is finished with you, you are not there to forgive.”

My husband found this Buzzfeed article which shows images of London in the fog of the early twentieth century (before the Clean Air Act of 1956). Fascinating to think this would have been something contemporary readers would have had direct experience of.

Interested in your comments on The Forgotten Garden. I did not like that one at all, for the reason you mention: I didn't find it held together. In fact, it was one I Pearl-Ruled.

Looks like an enjoyable bunch of books there, Heather. I'm delighted to see you enjoying Thirkell. I hope the VMC editions find their way across the ocean sooner or later. Meanwhile, I continue to look for other editions in my travels. I just received The Duke's Daughter from a kind LTer.

Love that meme Heather and your answers. And wow, did I catch something about a Ugandan holiday at the end of this year?? Lucky you.

What a wonderful bookstore! Fabulous!

Ah! The blessedness of having fluff to read when you want it!
You remind me that I have a fictional reader enjoying Thirkell. Off to VMC to post it right now.
Enjoy the weekend, Heather!

Thank you for that link to the pictures of London in the fog. They were amazing.

Hi, Heather! I just wanted to check with you about Can You Forgive Her? - does the beginning of November suit you?

#74 I think I saw your review, Nancy :-) It was fairly enjoyable to read but not one that stands up to much scrutiny afterwards I think.

#75 I hope you enjoy The Duke's Daughter Laura!

#76 Thanks Bonnie. Daunt Books is lovely :-)

#77 Thanks Peggy!

#78 You're welcome Judy. I think it was the first time I'd seen pictures of the London fog from last century too. Coincidentally I've just finished reading a book which features The Great Smog of 1952.

#79 Sounds great Liz! I'll order my copy :-)

Book #151: Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - 4.5 stars
Source: Peggy :-)
Original publication date: 2003



In her introduction to this book, Jo Walton writes that she grew up erading Victorian novels and wanted to write a novel where ' the axioms of the sentimental Victorian novel were inexcapable laws of biology'.

Children gather round their father's deathbed to discover what their inheritance will be, young maidens are propositioned with marriage, one part of a family takes another to court over an inheritance, a clergyman agonises over a deathbed confession he heard in contravention of church customs, the women worry about childbearing and the risks it brings and concern themselves with the rights of their servants. Sounds like a normal Victorian novel; except all the characters are dragons and the family inheritance includes eating the deceased (as well as gaining gold) as that's how dragons pass on their power.

It works suprisingly well (or perhaps not surprisingly, given the author is Jo Walton). What you end up with is sort-of Anthony Trollope's Barsetshire Chronicles with dragons and, like Trollope's novels, this was an absolute delight to read.

Thank you to Peggy for my copy of Tooth and Claw!

I have Jo Walton's earlier fantasy trilogy starting with The King's Peace to read on my kindle, but I was also excited to notice that her UK publishers seem to be publishing her Small Change series in Feb 2014 with Farthing, Ha'Penny and Half a Crown all scheduled for publication.

Book #152: Dominion by C. J. Sansom - 3 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2012



I'm a big fan of C. J. Sansom's Shardlake mysteries but this alternate history, about a Britain who negotiated peace with Germany after Germany invaded France in WWII was unfortunately a bit of a disappointment.

Sansom's premise is that Churchill did not become Prime Minister in May 1940, instead Lord Halifax became Prime Minister of Britain and following the lightning advance of Germany through France later that month, Halifax negotiated a peace agreement with Germany. Roll forward 12 years to Britain in 1952 and the government is pro-German and pro-Fascist party with Churchill, Atlee and others outlawed as criminals following accusations of a rigged general election.

The problem is that this book is 600 pages long and the first 300 pages are just backstory and exposition to help the reader understand that this alternate 1950s Britain is very similar to Nazi Germany. The first half of the book is a bit of a trudge and whilst it does pick up in the second half to with an engaging espionage storyline. I'm glad I perservered with it but I can't really recommend it to anyone else. As Sansom himself says at the end of the book, Fatherland by Robert Harris is still the best alternate history I've read about WWII.

Heather, I first heard of 'Tooth and Claw' on PaulCranswick's thread, and I thought then it sounded like something I would like. Now you've just confirmed it! I may need to urge my library to get a copy.

An alternate history of WWII sounds promising, but it's too bad that one didn't quite live up to expectations. I'll have to look for 'Fatherland', though, so thanks for that recommendation.

Book #153: The Big Four by Agatha Christie - 3.4 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1927



Although published after The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the story in The Big Four is actually set before the earlier novel as it shows Poirot before his retirement. It also sees the temporary return of Captain Hastings from Argentina to act as Poirot's foil. This Agatha Christie mystery is more of a adventure/thriller novel than a standard detective novel. Poirot is pitted against an international secret society which is trying to take over the world! Yes, it's as cheesy as it sounds and unpolitically correct stereotypes abound but I have to confess I've always found it quite a fun read despite (or perhaps because of) this.

#83 Hi Julia! Yes, Tooth and Claw is lovely - do try and get hold of a copy.

Fatherland is really good - it's set in Germany in the 1960s in an alternate history where the Nazis won WWII. I don't think I've read any alternate histories set in the UK but I think Jo Walton's Farthing and sequels are another set of alternate histories which are set in the UK. I've also heard good things about Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle which is set in the US after the Germans won WWII. I can almost see a little reading project starting (as if I didn't have enough to read!).

* I'm back-hug *

Hi Heather! What Julia said! I am adding Tooth and Claw to the enormous list. You are being very industrious with the book reviews - I need to get to work on that!

I'm glad that we went to Daunt Books and saw Much Ado About Nothing, Heather, although I do agree with your assessment of the play. It did have its humorous segments, especially the old decrepit guy dancing to the music (I think I saw him in One Man, Two Guvnors last year) and the scouts who arrested Don John and his colleagues, but the supporting cast was otherwise pretty weak in comparison to Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones, IMO.

I'm sorry to hear that you were caught up in engineering works delays that evening. Last week was filled with delays and stoppages on the Underground, Overground and National Rail services. It took Bianca over an hour to travel from Dulwich Park to Southwark on Sunday morning when we met to see the Paul Klee exhibition at the Tate Modern, and we had to plan an alternate route to go from London Bridge to Finsbury Park, as both branches of the Northern line were shut down in central London.

I really liked Fatherland too Heather. Did you know Harris is Nick Hornby's brother- in- law? Read that in one of Hornby's Believer books. Too bad Dominion didn't work out for you. 600 pages is a lot of reading for it to fall flat.

Wild Strawberries is one of my favourite Thirkells and I'm glad you loved it too!!!!!

Thirkell was such a great discovery for me - ages and ages ago - I picked one up, knowing nothing whatsoever about her, at a used book store and went mad for them and my timing was just right, by a rare miracle they were around but not wanted by anyone but me!!! I acquired all but a very few in beautiful hardcover editions for silly amounts of money. They are among my most prized books!

I'm delighted that you enjoyed Tooth and Claw so much, Heather. I have yet to read my copy, but someday!!! I also have a copy of Dominion, but I won't be quite so ambitious about getting to it - but someday!!! Also Farthing - same deal.

Heather, I bought Tooth and Claw in an Amazon promotion earlier in the year, and now I want to get to it ASAP! I also like the look of the Judith Flanders one about Victorian London, which I have seen at the library. She has also written one called The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime, which is cited in the Lucy Worsley book on my thread. I think I'll look for that too!

I'm reading Tooth and Claw now, and I also have the Judith Flanders book on my Kindle.

I enjoyed Tooth and Claw a lot, Heather.

Are you all feeling settled now?

#86 Diana! *hug* Glad to see you back :-)

#87 Thanks Mamie - I hope you enjoy Tooth and Claw! Still so many reviews left to write....

#88 I loved the scouts - I don't think I've seen an adaptation of the play that gave those parts to children/younger people before and I agree with your comments about the supporting cast for this production.

We went to see the NT Live anniversary broadcast of Hamlet on Saturday which had Rory Kinnear in the leading role (he played Iago in Othello) - it was erally good, possibly even better than Othello. I don't know if there are any screenings near Atlanta but I'd recommend seeing it if you can.

#89 "Did you know Harris is Nick Hornby's brother- in- law?" That sounds vaguely familiar so I expect I read it somewhere once and then forgot - thanks for reminding me! I've enjoyed most of Robert Harris' historical fiction - need to get round to reading the second in his proposed trilogy about Cicero at some point.

90 Hi Lucy! Wild Strawberries is lovely. I'm really pleased I've discovered her and that Virago are reprinting her books in the UK as I think some of them were quite hard to come by before. I've pre ordered Pomfret Towers as my final Thingaversary book.

#91 "I have yet to read my copy, but someday!!!" :-) There are so many books I could say that about....

#92 I hope you enjoy Tooth and Claw Susan. I think The Invention of Murder will be my next Judith Flanders book too. For some reason I'm not reading the books I have checked out of the library at the moment, yet that hasn't stopped me from making a little list of books to check out the next time I visit!

#93 Hope you're enjoying it Luci! It's funny to see that so many of us pick the same books in the kindle sales :-)

#94 I think so Roni, there's still quite a lot to do but it's not urgent stuff. I might try and sort through some bits today.

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

As you may have heard we had a bit of a storm overnight in the UK. We're fine, the wind woke me up early this morning and I think I heard a roof tile get blown off but otherwise everything seems to be ok. I've taken today off work as annual leave because the trains are in bad shape (my 30 minute commute would have taken 3 hours!) So, I'm very tired and I think today will be a stay-at-home-and-read day with hopefully some book reviews too.

Attempting to gallop through some September reviews:

Book #128: The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan - 4.2 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2012



Shortlisted for the 2013 Carnegie Medal, this short book written entirely in verse is about Kasienka and her mother who travel to Coventry from Poland, looking for Kasienka's father. At first, life in England is very difficult for them both: they have no news of Kasienka's father, are forced to live together in a one-room bedsit whilst Kasienka's mother, a singer, takes on low paid work and Kasienka is bullied by a group of girls at school. This was a beautiful book, both in the way the hardback was physically put together and the pages laid out, and in the language itself which had a lovely rhythm to it. I don't think I've read a novel in verse before and I don't really read much poetry but I found this to be a surpisingly easy read which really conveyed the loneliness of both Kasienka's and her mother's situation and the horrible trapped feeling that comes with being bullied.

Book #129: Fire by Kristin Cashore - 4 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2009



This is a prequel to Graceling although there's no need to have read Graceling to enjoy this. In many ways it's a fairly typical young adult fantasy novel but it's well done and manages to avoid some of the stereotypes that particularly annoy me (the dreaded love-triangle, for example). Lots of people have written reviews of this on the book page so I will just say I found it very enjoyable.

A stay-at-home-and-read day sounds pretty wonderful to me! I'm glad to hear Hamlet was so good. At this point my local NTLives don't seem to have it on their schedules -- the closest is 2 hours away and the broadcast is on a weeknight, so that's not really feasible. I'm hoping they add more dates/venues.

Book #130: Provincial Daughter by R. M. Dashwood - 4 stars
Source: Porlock church
Original publication date: 1961



A sort of sequel to E. M. Delafield's The Diary of a Provincial Lady in that it's written by Delafield's real life daughter and uses a similar idea - a fictionalised, humourous diary of a middle-class mother and wife living in the countryside. Where The Provincial Lady was set in the 1930s, Provincial Daughter is set in the 1950s and felt much more contemporary to me - probably because the provincial daughter doesn't struggle with the servant problem like the provincial lady did, she just has to get on and do all the housework herself whilst struggling with the perennial problems of keeping the children in check, finances, coping with her husband's bodged DIY attempts and trying to dress nicely and sound interesting and intelligent on rare social occasions. It's very funny and I can't believe Helen Fielding hadn't read either of these diaries when she created Bridget Jones.

Book #132: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - 2 stars
Source: Charity bookshop
Original publication date: 2009



Well, I liked The Time Traveler's Wife (except for the ending) but this was just too weird for me. It's a story about family, ghosts and secrets but there were too many points where the characters' actions made me shout 'What?!' I have no idea what the author was trying to do but it didn't work for me.

Book #134: Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym - 4.3 stars
Source: Amazon
Original publication date: 1985



Although this wasn't published until after her death, this was one of the first novels Pym wrote in 1939 although it remained unpublished for several decades. Whether or not this was because of the contrast to the later, more serious Pym novels I've read recently (we're reading them in publication order), I found this to be a very funny book and it's now one of my favourites by Pym. It brings together a lot of Pym's themes: suburban life (this time in Oxford), academia, clergy and doomed romances.

#97 I hope they do a local showing of Hamlet for you Laura. We're also going to see Frankenstein this Thursday in another NT Live performance and then that's it for a while...

Glad you're ok. I heard about a man killed in Watford by a falling tree so probably best to stay home. It's not too bad here - we were expecting chaos for Andy's commute but his train was only 5 minutes late.

Glad you enjoyed weight of water.

#100 It mainly seems to be the trains that have had problems here. I'm glad things have been alright in Bristol - I thought it might be worse in the southwest, especially as you're nearer the coast.

Book #135: Dickens and the Workhouse: Oliver Twist and the London Poor by Ruth Richardson - 3.2 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2012



This book is a write-up of the research Ruth Richardson did when asked to help a campaign to save an old Victorian workhouse in Cleveland Street, London from demolition. Whilst doing this research she discovered that the Dickens family lived only a few doors away from this workhouse during two periods of Charles Dickens' early life: once between 1815 and 1817 when he would have been aged between 3 and 5 and again between 1829 and 1831 when he would have been aged between 17 and 19. Richardson's argument is that such close proximity to a workhouse must have influenced Dickens' writings and that this has been largely ignored by previous biographers. The book is therefore a close look at the workhouse and the surrounding area and an exploration of how these influences are shown in Dickens' writings, with Oliver Twist being the most obvious connection but other works are by no means overlooked.

The book itself was often very interesting (I particularly enjoyed the detail about how a workhouse functioned) and I think Richardson made a good case to support her main argument that living so near a workhouse influenced Dickens' concern for the poor and Oliver Twist in particular, but occasionally I felt Richardson indulged in too much speculation about the possible influences on Dickens' writings. I enjoy literary criticism but I don't find it very interesting or useful to speculate whether, for example, living above a grocer and cheesemonger's shop for a few years resulted in references to cheese in Barnaby Rudge and David Copperfield. In fairness Richardson is always very clear that she is speculating at these points but I felt she was overstretching things and trying to draw too much from the work she'd done at times. I don't know whether this was the pressure of trying to save the workhouse, trying to write a book or whether I'm being unfair and the speculation is useful to researchers.

I think if you're a real Dickens nut this is worth reading because it seems like it must be a key development in Dickens' scholarshipn and a lot of the content is interesting. If you just want a more general idea of what it was like to be poor at that time then Judith Flanders book, The Victorian City, mentions Richardson's research and is a more popular and general account.

There's now a blue plaque on what was Dickens' house (22 Cleveland Street which was Norfolk Street when the Dickens family lived there) and the majority of the old Workhouse has now been classified as a listed building although some parts of the workhouse are still threatened by plans for new development.

The worst of the weather seems to have been overnight so we slept through it. Today it's been alternating sunshine with torrential rain and thunder storms and strong winds. But no-one had trouble getting into work, including my boss who lives about 40miles away.

Poor Reuben at nursery today - every time they got their coats on to go outside in the garden the heavens opened. Normally they spend half their time outside so I think they went a bit stir crazy.

Very brief mentions/thoughts for:

Book #136: The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland--For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente - 3.5 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2011



A prequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, we get to see the events that led up to Mallow becoming Queen. It's short, sweet and available for free here.

Book #138: High Rising by Angela Thirkell - 3.5 stars
Source: Waterstones.com
Original publication date: 1933



I'd heard such high praise of Angela Thirkell that initially I was a little disappointed with this book but once I'd got into it I found it to be a nice, comforting read and I'm very glad I went on to read Wild Strawberries.

Book #139: The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville - 3.5 stars
Source: Charity bookshop
Original publication date: 2008



I was blown away by Grenville's The Secret River so had perhaps set my expectations too high for this book. It's the second in her Colonial Trilogy although the first two books are connected only by a common theme rather than repeated characters. Like The Secret River, The Lieutenant explores the relationships between the early settlers and the aborigines in New South Wales this time at the end of the eighteenth century through the eyes of Daniel Rooke, a lieutenant in the Marines but who is at heart a mathematician and astronomer. Rooke is the only white man to learn the natives' language and he develops a strong friendship with one young girl in particular. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't end well but whilst I enjoyed this, it didn't have the emotional impact of The Secret River. I have the final volume in the trilogy, Sarah Thornhill, to read at some point too.

#102 Poor Reuben (and nursery staff...) We've alternated rain and sunshine too - I was almost tempted out for a walk in the sunshine but was glad I hadn't when it suddenly clouded over again and rained.

Hi Heather! Belated congrats on the new house!

#101 - Nice review! ...I don't find it very interesting or useful to speculate whether, for example, living above a grocer and cheesemonger's shop for a few years resulted in references to cheese in Barnaby Rudge and David Copperfield. Did she really do that?! Ha!

#103 - I have The Secret River in my TBR pile, but didn't realize it was part of a trilogy. Interesting. I must get to it soon.

It would have been hard to live up to The Secret River, wouldn't it? I also loved that one. Think I'll pass on The Lieutenant thought.. Thanks for that, Heather.

Hi Heather, one of the lead stories on our CBC news this evening was about the storm in Britain. Glad to hear you are ok.

I am adding Provincial Daughter to my wishlist. I have (but haven't red yet) Diary of A Provincial Lady and this sounds like a nice follow-up.

#105 Kerri! Lovely to see you here :-)

And yes, Ruth Richardson really did that.

#106 Bonnie liked The Lieutenant more than I did Nancy, but I don't think either of us rated it as highly as The Secret River.

#107 Today has been lovely and sunny with only a bit of wind so the storm seems to have vanished. I hope you enjoy Provincial Daughter - I really enjoyed that and the original The Diary of a Provincial Lady.

Count me as one of the folks who loved Fire and the entire Graceling trilogy!! :)

And now I'm going to have to go put Tooth and Claw on my ever increasing wish list. Dang it!

Hi, Heather! Just a line to let you know that I have set up the thread for the group read of Can You Forgive Her? - it is here.

Many thanks for the tip about the *Dickens/Workhouse* book and for the pictures too! I confess that I don't understand the arm thing on the front door that the woman seems to be pulling with a piece of string. The workhouse looks grim.
I do remember reading about your reactions to rereading *Eye* earlier. Has there been any activity in the group since the initial discussion? I'm off to find out.

#109 Tina, I will be on the lookout for Bitterblue at the library.

#110 Yay! I'm there, Liz.

#111 Hmm, I'm not sure but I think she's just pulled some kind of cloth off the blue 'Dickens lived here' plaque and the photo has captured iin a live-action shot. The workhouse isn't exactly a cheery looking building is it? It's empty at the moment but was a hospital until fairly recently...

Trying to wrap up my October reviews:

Book #154: Wilkins' Tooth by Diana Wynne Jones (aka Witch's Business) - 3.7 stars
Source: elkiedee
Original publication date: 1973



A very early Diana Wynne Jones' book kindly given to me by Luci (thank you Luci!). Frank and Jess are short of cash so decide to start up their own revenge business, Own Back Limited, out of the shed at the bottom of their garden. This quickly turns out to be quite a bad idea, especially when the local witch informs them that revenge is her business and she doesn't look on competition with a friendly eye. This is a short, fun childrens' book although I wouldn't say it has the depth of DWJ's later books. There was also some language that would be considered racist in a modern book; in fairness to DWJ it's clear by the usage that it's not language she approves of. She also substitutes colours for the swear words the local bullies use throughout ('You take a purple look too. A good, long orange look.') which I found quite funny. I haven't seen her repeat either so perhaps this was something she decided didn't work.

Book #155: The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer - 3.5 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1934



A heroine with a stutter and thick, black eyebrows who doesn't have to get over her stutter or pluck her eyebrows to find true love is a heroine I rejoice in and this combined with the fact that the young Horatia Winwood essentially proposes marriage to the Earl of Rule rather than the other way round (positively scandalous!) meant there was a lot to like about this Georgian Heyer romp, even though I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other Heyer novels I've read recently. It was an enjoyable read with an incredible amount of detail about period dress but it's not going to rank amongst my favourites.

Book #156: Frontier Wolf by Rosemary Sutcliff - 4.1 stars
Source: Ebay
Original publication date: 1980



Frontier Wolf is the third book chronologically in Rosemary Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring series. These books look at life in Roman and post-Roman Britain and follow one family through the centuries with the characters passing down a dolphin ring as a family heirloom. Normally I try to read books in publication order but my knowledge of this period is practically non-existent and I've found reading them in chronological order a good way to get an overview of the history of this period.

In Frontier Wolf, Alexios Flavius Aquila is put in charge of the Frontier Wolves on Britain's northern border as a demotion after he made an unfortunate decision in his previous command. The northern outposts are rough places with little of the comforts found in the rest of the Empire but Alexios finds he forms strong feelings for the band under his control and he also forms a close friendship with the leader of the local tribe. But these are troubled times and the might of Rome is starting to crack and crumble. Alexios is soon faced with very difficult decisions which put everything he has learnt to value at risk.

The research Sutcliff has done for this book shines through in the rich detail she includes. It took time to get into the book at first because of this wealth of detail but once I had done so I was completely gripped. Whilst this is a children's book it's also very realistic about war and fighting and the losses that occur and has stayed in my mind long after finishing it.

Rosemary Sutcliff is one writer I must get to soon, Heather. I have her Arthurian books but she seems to have done much more.

Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Heather - I agree with Paul - Sutcliff sounds like an author to pursue - I love history, and this sounds like it's well done. The Grenville and Thirkell are also authors I've been meaning to get to.

You have been busy with reviews!

How's the new house?

Good morning, Heather!

Nice reviews. Although I'm not exactly sure it will be my thing, I recently downloaded the audio version of The Black Moth. I feel like I should try a Heyer novel.

The Dolphin Ring series sounds good.

Fun review of Heyer's The Convenient Marriage, Heather, even if you didn't enjoy it as much as some of her other work. Positively scandalous indeed!

#114 Rosemary Sutcliff wrote a lot of books I think and I've only really begun to dip my toe in the water. I haven't read any of her Arthurian books yet but I have one, Sword at Sunset, lined up.

#115 Hi Beth! Eagle of the Ninth is a good place to start with Sutcliff and her most well-known book (so hopefully the easiest to find).

House is going well thanks, my Dad came over to give us a drilling tutorial and we managed to get some coat hooks up in our hallway. So the box that was full of coats and shoes is now empty - hurray! Next will be the bathroom cabinet but we don't have the right kind of screws.

#116 Thanks Kerri, I hope you enjoy The Black Moth. I don't know enough about Heyer yet to recommend a starting place but The Black Moth was her first novel and I enjoyed it - it is a Georgian novel rather than a Regency novel which was what she became known for (in our chronological reread we haven't made it to the Regency novels yet).

#117 Thanks Nancy!

Heather - Good luck with the drilling.

#118 Thanks Beth! It's something that neither my husband or I feel very confident at, but it would be so useful to be able to do small amounts of DIY ourselves. Hopefully we will be able to do the bathroom cabinet without needing to call my Dad back - might be next week before we get to it though.

Right, tea, cake and book reviews, although sadly I can only share the latter:

Book #157: Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham - 3.8 stars
Source: Bookmooch
Original publication date: 1960



Two biochemists simulataneously discover that a certain, rare lichen has properties that can greatly extend a human life. Concerned about the effects such a plant could have on society, particularly given the plant's rarity, one decides to keep the discovery a secret, only administering the drug to themselves and their children (without their children's knowledge). The other scientist sees an opportunity to put in place something that she hopes will change society for the better.

This is only the second John Wyndham book I've read (the other being Day of the Triffids) and I would definitely like to read more of his work. He's been accused of writing 'cosy catastrophes' but I think it would be a mistake to dismiss this novel because the events in it don't result in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Although The Trouble with Lichen has comic moments and is written with a light touch, that doesn't mean it isn't taking the issues it raises seriously. And I want to add a big 'whoopee' to a male science fiction author from the 50s/60s not only including decent female characters but also taking a positive view of feminism. Whoopee!

And isn't the cover spooky? It's part of a range Harry Willock did for Penguin. You can see more here (and I will definitely be exploring this website further).

Book #158: Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley - 4.5 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1818



I've been musing over this review for a while: on this reread of Frankenstein I felt that I was more aware of where it 'fit' in early nineteenth century literature, thanks to having read some late eighteenth century literature, paricularly Caleb Williams by William Godwin, Mary's father (to whom Frankenstein is dedicated), and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. But this increased awareness didn't result in me feeling that I understood the book more, rather I felt as if I became more aware of how much I probably still didn't understand.

So, what can I say about Frankenstein? Well, if you only know the Frankenstein of popular culture then the book may not be what you expect. Victor Frankenstein does bring some sort of creature to life but in a fit of terror he abandons the creature and falls ill. The creature, left to make his own way in the world, is reviled and hated by every human he comes across. It is this treatment that makes him a monster and leads him back to confront and accuse Frankenstein, his creator, as the one who should take responsibility for these actions. And this, I think, is one of the questions Shelley raises in the novel: who is responsible and who is the monster? This is the question that I've kept returning to since finishing the book.

In style, Frankenstein felt much more similar to late eighteenth century works I've read than to later nineteenth century works. There are beautiful descriptive passages about the natural world, very similar to Radcliffe's novels, and the final pursuit between Frankenstein and the creature, Frankenstein's frequent protestations of innocence and the feeling of inevitability that overhangs the latter half of the book reminded me of Godwin's Caleb Williams. It's gothic horror but a slow, cerebral horror rather than the sort of novel that will make you jump and want to hide under the bedcovers. The horror comes from thinking through the novel's implications, the events that overtake Frankenstein and the feeling that there's nothing that can be done to prevent them happening rather than adrenaline thrills whilst reading the book, which could feel rather slow-paced if you're expecting something more like later sensation or horror novels.

Interestingly, the Prometheus in the title may not have been the Prometheus of Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods (which was a story I struggled to fit into Frankenstein as I was reading) but the later, Roman Prometheus who fashioned the human race out of clay, which I thought fitted the character of Victor Frankenstein much more closely.

A note on editions: I read the Penguin Classics edition, edited by Maurice Hindle which had a very good introduction and used the revised 1831 text although included as an appendix were the revisions from the 1818 version. The Oxford World Classics edition apparently uses the 1818 text. I did read through the revisions but I'm not very good at remembering where they fit and thinking about how this changes the story. One change I did notice was that Frankenstein's wife changed from being his cousin, Elizabeth, to being someone entirely unrelated to him but who was brought up by his parents - probably because marriage between cousins became less socially acceptable as the 19th century progressed.

I've since discovered (and purchased for £2.49) a study of Frankenstein written by Maurice Hindle which was published as part of the Penguin Critical Studies series. I had never heard of this series before and they're now all out of print but they have nice covers. I'm hoping to read the essays on Frankenstein this month if I can squeeze it in.

And the reason I reread Frankenstein this month was because our local theatre was showing the National Theatre Live screening of Danny Boyle's Frankenstein from 2011.



I don't normally go to the theatre very often (although uncharacteristically I went to see 4 plays in October, something I'm blaming on Darryl) and when I do go, I go to see a Shakespeare play because it's safe and I know what to expect. I had no idea what to expect from this production and as it opens with the creature being born and then learning to crawl, walk and then run I felt rather self-conscious (we were, after all, just sitting and watching an almost naked man twitch on stage for quite a while) but once I got over my fear of modern theatre I really enojyed it and thought it was a very thought-provoking play that stayed pretty close to Mary Shelley's book.

The two lead actors alternated in the main roles of Frankenstein and the creature when the play was on in London which I think was an interesting way to explore the close relationship between Frankenstein and his creation. The play was very focused on the creature's viewpoint and almost unequivocally made Frankenstein the bad guy which I thought was a bit of a shame. I'd have preferred an adaptation that had more uncertainty about who, if anyone, was at fault but that didn't really affect my enjoyment of the play.

And this, I think, is one of the questions Shelley raises in the novel: who is responsible and who is the monster? Yes! That is the biggest issue that I took away from the book, Heather, and I thought she did a masterful job of taking us back and forth on it. It does sound like the play would have benefited from keeping the uncertainty she created. But if it otherwise tracks the book pretty closely, that certainly seems like it would be an improvement over the movie treatments, although I haven't seen the Deniro or Julie Delpy ones.

This is the main difference between the 1818 and 1831 texts. When Mary Shelley wrote the novel she had left her family to live with Shelley, and her emphasis was upon Frankenstein as a bad parent who abandons his "child" (in which she may have been expressing her hostility to her own father, who shunned her after her mother's death); by 1831 she had suffered a series of painful personal losses and was trying to reconcile with her family, and revised her text to emphasise the religious aspects of the story---Frankenstein playing God.

I must read Frankenstein it's one I haven't bothered with yet but having just read Chris Priestley's Mister Creecher, a retelling of the story I really need to go back to the original. I really liked the twist he throws in on the last page of this teen novel.

I'm interested in your reading of Rosemary Sutcliff's books as she's another writer that I may have read as a child but don't remember. Anyway I have a lot of her books and hope to get to them eventually.

I've enjoyed both John Wyndham novels that I've read, Chocky and The Chrysalids. This post is turning into a sad reflection of my tbr pile.

#121 on this reread of Frankenstein I felt that I was more aware of where it 'fit' in early nineteenth century literature, thanks to having read some late eighteenth century literature that's an interesting thought - when I read Frankenstein a couple of years ago I didn't have much context to put it into. The only author that I've read from a similar period is Jane Austen and she always seems much more modern in style to me. I didn't particularly enjoy Frankenstein but perhaps a better idea of what else was around at the time would have helped.

#120 Another John Wyndham fan here The Trouble with Lichen is the only one I haven't read, I think.

more classic books I need to read!

I've skimmed Frankenstein, but that's all. You may convince me that I need to read it with attention. And I haven't read John Wyndham, but I see that I need to. And I know that I need to read more Rosemary Sutcliff. She's touted as a children's author, but I don't know many children (or teens in my hometown) who could read her easily. When I last read Sword at Sunset not that many years ago, it fit me fine.
Happy to hear happy house notes!

After I read and loved Dracula I swore I would read Frankenstein soonish. That was in 2010. "Soonish" is relative;-) Anyway, you've certainly pushed me a little closer to the actual reading of it, Heather, with your very comprehensive review.

Have to chuckle at Bonnie's soonish. Yep, I know that word, LOL. Gosh, I haven't read Frankenstein since uni; due for a reread.

Heather, thanks for reminding me I need to get to the next two books after The Secret River. I have lower expectations for The Lieutenant after your review but I still want to read the books. I'm such a completist!

Great review of Frankenstein. I read it many years ago and remember it fondly.

Lovely review of Frankenstein, Heather. Like Donna above, I read it many years ago and remember it being a wonderful read for me. You're making me consider a re-read... :)

Fabulous review of Frankenstein, Heather! And thanks for mentioning the NT production of it. I hope to see it, although my work schedule might not permit; if I do I'll be sure to read the book before I go.

I'll gladly accept the "blame" for you seeing four plays last month. :-)

Oh Oh I have to reread those Sutcliffe's - it's been forever.

That workhouse looks so grim. I'm glad they were able to save it though - just so people can understand viscerally what it was like to live and work in such a place.

Hi Heather, I took your invitation to lurk quite seriously these last weeks, with several comment-free visits. I do most of my surfing on the iPad these days and though I don't find the typing all that difficult, I do find I'm less inclined to comment when I'm on it. I often scroll back and forth on a thread to remind myself what messages I want to comment on, which is quite tedious on the tablet. Anyway, long story short, am sitting at my laptop now and finally making my presence known.

In the meanwhile, I did add several titles to my wishlist during my visits, including Genesis, The Tiger in the Smoke, Tooth and Claw as well as the author Angela Thirkell, who is entirely new to me. I must say a large portion of the women authors I've discovered and read in the past few years have been largely based on your recommendations, and often simply due to your ratings when I've looked through your library (a rather frequent habit, I must say). FS just came out with a nice edition of The Tiger in the Smoke in September, but I think I'll stick to a library copy for that one (am not all that fond of the illustrations, which I'm very grateful for!)

I see your century of books challenge has been going quite well and am impressed by how much you've managed to complete already. I'm tempted to tackle that challenge too starting next year maybe, though I would definitely allot whatever amount of time necessary to complete it. I had given myself the challenge to complete Zola's Rougon-Maquard series within two years in 2012, but only managed 8 books out of 20 or so in the first year and haven't read a single one this year... all this to say my track record as far as challenges isn't all that impressive...

Every time I see evidence of meetups in London (almost invariably due to Darryl), I'm hugely tempted to go visit myself and finally meet some of you wonderful people and see the amazing venues you have; Daunt books is definitely a spot I'll have to see for myself next time I am in London.

I enjoyed your answers to the the meme in #59. I'm always tempted by those questionnaires but often find some of the questions almost impossible to answer, either because there are too many possible options, and more often than not because of memory failure.

I enjoyed your reviews, and you've reminded me how much I want to read more Barbara Pym, with several books currently on the tbr. Georgette Heyer is an author I want to discover. I got one of her novels on audio, but was not in the right mood when I tried listening to it some months ago and decided to put it aside. As for John Wyndham, my Folio Society collection includes a set of three books by him I got at a good price during one of their sales. Will definitely have to pick him up soon, but probably not this year as I very much want to complete the list of books that were chosen for me before year's end. That's one challenge I had lots of fun with and I think I'll repeat it again next year, though I'll limit the amount of books to about half the 30 I had this year to give myself more leeway as far as reading choices.

As you know I'm also very fond of those direct screening events. I saw Macbeth with Kenneth Branagh in the lead and co-directing last month, did you see that one? It was very well done, with great acting and a truly special setting, but I've come to the conclusion that so far, the Scottish play is my least favourite among the handful of Shakespeare plays I've read. I've learned actors learn how to shout their lines in theatre school, a skill that is essential to master for that play! Unlike you, Shakespeare is entirely new to me, so seeing his plays is quite an experience. I'm rather envious you got to see Frankenstein. During the National Theatre Live screenings I've seen they always show previews for the full season, but only a few of their events get screened here. I would have done the same as you and read the book before seeing the play. It'll be a first when I do read it. I have the Penguin edition staring at me all the time from the top of a box of books I aim to sell to a second hand bookshop. I got a used version of the Folio edition on eBay this year with beautiful block prints that seem to give the right tone to the story. Something else to look forward to.

Just a few moments ago I downloaded the Virago is 40 eBook after seeing it on your reading list for October. Sounds like quite a roundup they got to contribute to it!

Finally, I'm happy to hear you are settling into the new house. I've always promised myself that if I ever do marry, my husband would have to be very handy with a toolbox because I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to those things. I did manage to put up the bathroom cabinet myself and ended up with *only* one extra hole, though I did ask my landlady who lives downstairs to lend me her hands to hold it up. Some things are just impossible to do alone, though probably someone with the right skills would manage it all the same!

#120 - Nice review! I'll check this one out. I really enjoyed Day of the Triffids last year.

And I want to add a big 'whoopee' to a male science fiction author from the 50s/60s not only including decent female characters but also taking a positive view of feminism. Whoopee!
I'll add another Whoopee! I didn't quite get that level of evolved thinking from Day of the Triffids, but at least found it refreshing that he wasn't a complete pig (like some other sci-fi authors from this era).

#121 - Great review! I now want to read this (or perhaps listen to it on audio.)

#123 Hi Joe - I don't think I've ever seen any of the Frankenstein movies. There was an interview with the director before they showed the play and the he said that he'd wanted this play to focus on the creature's viewpoint to balance out the films.

#124 Ah, thanks for explaining that Liz. That may explain why I thought I could see something of both themes in the 1831 text.

#125 Hi Kerry. I'll look out for Mister Creecher. Have you read Kenneth Oppel's This Dark Endeavour, a prequel to Frankenstein? I read it a couple of years ago and might revisit it to see how it holds up now that I've read the original again.

#126 The only author that I've read from a similar period is Jane Austen and she always seems much more modern in style to me Yes, I think Austen had a very different style, realism maybe as opposed to Romanticism? I think Austen seemed to go in a completely different direction to most of her contemporaries, which may be one reason why she is much more popular/acclaimed now than she was in her own time and immediately after her death. I don't know, I'm still trying to figure a lot of this out.....

#125 & 126 Always nice to know there are more John Wyndham fans! The only other one I have in Mt TBR is The Midwich Cuckoos which I may get to this month. After that I will try to go on to Chocky and The Chrysalids: I've heard The Chrysalids described by some as his best work.

#127 Well, at least Frankenstein's quite short, for a classic...

#128 She's touted as a children's author, but I don't know many children (or teens in my hometown) who could read her easily There's something in that, Peggy. I'm not very good at judging age-appropriateness for children but I wonder if Sutcliff's fall from popularity may partly because she demands a lot of attention from her readers? Sword at Sunset was one of her few novels intended for adults though (although she's famous for saying her children's novels were written for children aged from 8 to 80).

#129 Soonish" is relative;-) :-) I have books I bought years ago that I intended to and still intend to read 'soonish'...

I love both Frankenstein and Dracula but they're quite different in style (and possibly themes?). I suspect the reason we associate the two so much may be more to do with the films than the books. But I hope you enjoy Frankenstein.... soonish!

#130 I think 'soonish' is probably a concept a lot of us are familiar with Nancy :-)

#131 As a fellow completionist I can symapthise Donna!

#132 Thanks Tina! :-)

#133 I hope you get a chance to see the Frankenstein production Darryl, I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

#134 Yes, it's hard to remember workhouses like the one pictured were a reality for so many people at that time.

#135 Ilana, what a lovely, long message to recveive from you :-)

I'm glad to hear I've managed to increase the size of your wishlist whilst you've been lurking :-)

I tend not to be great at finishing challenges either (which is why I don't do the category challenges) but I'm hopeful I might finish the century of books challenge next year. This year is definitely out - it would feel far too much like hard work to be restricted to books from the years I haven't completed.

After you mentioned the John Wyndham folio editions, I had to go over to your library to check them out and they look lovely. I particularly like the cover for The Day of the Triffids. And then spent some time browsing your Folio collection in general which is dangerous....

I didn't manage to see the recent NT production of Macbeth which I feel quite sad about because I think it's probably my favourite Shakespeare play. I'm hoping there may be an encore screening at some point so that I can see it.

Is your Folio edition of Frankenstein this one?

#

I like the look of the illustrations.

I hope you enjoy Virago is 40 too (and pleased to hear the ebook is available outside the UK) - I found it to be a bit uneven but I expect that would be the case with a lot of anthologies.

if I ever do marry, my husband would have to be very handy with a toolbox That sounds very sensible! Unfortunately we're both hopeless! We've managed a few bits but I am becoming more and more certain that we will never be the sort of people who do much DIY and will probably get professionals in to do anything more than putting up the odd shelf.

#136 Thanks Kerri!

I didn't quite get that level of evolved thinking from Day of the Triffids No, I didn't either but Trouble with Lichen was published 9 years after Day of the Triffids (1960 compared with 1951) so maybe this was something he changed his mind about over those 9 years?

That is the very edition of Frankenstein I got. I saw it priced insanely high on Abe until one seller on eBay asked for a reasonable price so I pounced on it. The engravings by Harry Brockway are really great; I also have other examples of his work in the FS Shakespeare Sonnets I just got last week. I'm surprised you managed to visit my FS collection with your bank account unscathed. As you can imagine, I've spent a King's Ransom on it and can't afford anything now, but looking at my shelves, I know it's worth it.

I was also surprised when I found Virago is 40 was available here and for free too. I might dip into it here and there as opposed to try reading it in one go.

I don't dare look at the folio editions. So many beautiful books. I dream of finding one on a second hand stall at a bargain price, but I doubt that will ever happen. Sigh.

>140 eclecticdodo: Well, as you live in the UK, that is more likely to happen than you probably realize. Some UK booksellers I see on Abe are practically giving their Folios away, but they're still too expensive here what with insane international shipping prices.

#139 "I'm surprised you managed to visit my FS collection with your bank account unscathed." I'm collecting Viragoes and Persephones and I have managed to tell myself that collecting Folio Society editions as well is not allowed. So, I will just vicariously enjoy your collection :-)

#140 & 141 Looks like there are some real bargains on abebooks (use 'folio society' as a keyword search). Of course, you may not really want a Folio Society addiction in which case, don't go and look at abebooks!

It's that time of year when people are discussing their 2014 plans. I have a feeling that I already have too many plans but I'm struggling to resist the temptation to play around with Mark's American Authors challenge, especially as I feel very underread when it comes to American literature.

Mark's author selection is:

Willa Cather- January
Cormac McCarthy- February
William Faulkner- March
Toni Morrison- April
Eudora Welty- May
Kurt Vonnegut- June
Mark Twain- July
Philip Roth- August
James Baldwin- September
Edith Wharton- October
John Updike- November
Larry Watson- December

From my TBR/library I could do

Willa Cather- January O Pioneers!
Cormac McCarthy- February The Road
Eudora Welty- May Delta Wedding
Mark Twain- July Reread The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Edith Wharton- October The Children

And I might also be tempted to get the following out of the library:

Toni Morrison- April Beloved
Kurt Vonnegut- June Slaughterhouse-Five
James Baldwin- September Go Tell it on the Mountain

For the other 4 months I'd be tempted to substitute some of the authors for something chosen from the following list which is a mix of books I'd like to read and books on my TBR pile I feel I ought to read. The trouble with the ought to read selections is that I generally duck out of reading them.

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Tell me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Home by Marilynne Robinson

I don't know.....

Rethinking again, I'd like to read 6 female authors and 6 male authors and I would like to try something by John Updike, so:

Willa Cather- January O Pioneers!
Cormac McCarthy- February The Road
William Faulkner- March Home by Marilynne Robinson
Toni Morrison- April Beloved
Eudora Welty- May Delta Wedding
Kurt Vonnegut- June Slaughterhouse-Five
Mark Twain- July Reread The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Philip Roth- August Tell me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen
James Baldwin- September Go Tell it on the Mountain
Edith Wharton- October The Children
John Updike- November Recommendations welcome!
Larry Watson- December Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

Last couple of October reviews:

Book #159: Virago is 40: A Celebration edited by Lennie Goodings - 3 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2013



Published by Virago Press to celebrate their 40th anniversary, this short anthology is made up of essays, short stories, poetry and other articles written by 40 current Virago authors on the theme of 40. Some authors wrote about how they felt when they turned 40, some wrote about 40 years of Virago, some wrote about 1940a nd one author gave 40 quotes from Virago books that contained the numbers 1 through 40. It's an interesting collection, and as it's available as a free ebook probably worth trying, but I personnaly struggle with anthologies where there isn't a strong theme or connection between the contents and for me, the connection of 40 was too loose.

Book #160: An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym - 3.8 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1982



This was the novel that temporarily halted Pym's career as a novelist in the 1960s after it was rejected by her publishers. It was eventually published posthumously in 1982 after her career restarted shortly before she died, thanks to praise from Philip Larkin and another author in a newspaper article.

Possibilties for the eponymous unsuitable attachment of the title aboudn: a canon's daughter falls for a work colleague from a lower walk of life, the young vicar's wife is rather too obssessed with her cat, Faustina, an anthropologist is uncertain whether to fall in love with the canon's daughter or the vicar's wife's sister. This isn't my favourite Pym, but it's far from being my least favourite so I have to admit to being baffled as to why this particular novel was rejected.

And only a couple of books finished in November so far as I have been absorbed in the 800+ pages of Can You Forgive Her?.

Book #161: The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente - 3.6 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2012



I enjoyed this sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and Valente's writing was still very evocative but I didn't feel the book as a whole hung together quite as well as the first book in the series.

Book #162: Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger - 4 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2013



Light and fluffy they may be, but Ms Carriger's novels are always fun to read and this was no exception. This series is set in a ladies' finishing school in an alternate 19th century where werewolves and vampires are members of a Victorian society that relies on steam-powered machinery. This particular finishing school is a floating airship rather than a normal building and secretly trains its female students to become spies when they graduate. But start with Etiquette and Espionage, the first book in the series.

Woot! I'm not familiar with Carriger's work, but Curtsies and Conspiracies does sound like a lot of fun, Heather.

Fabulous reading plans! You are so organized!

Ha, yes, we were reading C&C simultaneously. It was a lot of fun, and especially as we start to run into more characters that show up later in the Parasol Protectorate series. I feel like I'm going to have to reread that series after Carriger finishes this one, to appreciate it all.

>>#143

Well, really, Heather! - what kind of hopeless obsessive starts planning out next year's reading in November!?

{*cough*}

what kind of hopeless obsessive starts planning out next year's reading in November!?

Well IDK Liz, I suspect you might and I've actually been planning since September and the Virago group started planning the WWI Theme Read in early October and had the whole thing planned with a Wiki by early November. Haha. I think you could safely place most of us in this "hopeless obsessive" category and we wouldn't have it any other way. LOL

And thanks Heather, ever so much, for making me take a second or fourth look at the books/authors I chose for Mark's AAC. **Scurries off to reconsider choices**

>149 lyzard:, 150: tee hee!

Finally "found" you again Heather, after my weeks in the wilderness. And as usual, you've been busy reading lots of awesome stuff! Apologies that this is all of a jumble, but here are the thoughts that occur in a fairly random order: I can recommend The Man in the High Castle if you like alternate histories of WWII. It is quite a weird and surreal take on the idea, but a very thought provoking one.
Thanks for reminding me about Rosemary Sutcliffe! I think Lucy recommended her to me when I sent out a request for Roman era fiction. May I offer Steven Saylor and Lindsey Davis as two solid mystery writers which use that era as well? (Although largely not Roman Britain. Mainly Roman..er..Rome).
LOVE the look of that bookshop in London! A good bookshop is becoming a bit of an endangered beast, so I shall certainly try my best to give it some patronage when I next go to London (along with the Persephone bookshop you mentioned.) I'm also trying my very hardest not to go and look at the Folio Society site mentioned above...
Finally, thanks for that John Wyndham review. I read The Chrysalids last year and really enjoyed it, but the one you read is not one I've heard of, so I will certainly keep an eye out for it. I'm not sure I buy into the whole "cosy catastrophe" idea, if it's meant in a derogatory way. I think part of what makes his books unsettling is the relative comfort and security suggested by the settings, which is then shattered by the uncanny goings on. A very interesting author, from what little of his I've read.

Hi, Heather - just a line to let you know that the thread for the tutored read of Castle Of Wolfenbach is up - here. Hope you'll be able to join us!

Have come down with a bit of a cold this weekend so have spent most of my time curled up on the sofa under a blanket with a pile of books, but I did also try to beat the cold by buying some discounted kindle books off my wishlist (and my sore throat was less sore today so I'm claiming at least a partial success)

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd
Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell
The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

Will hopefully come back to reply properly later - maybe after a nap...

#147 Carriger's books are definitely fun Nancy. I think I can only really claim to be organised if I manage to follow the plans - we'll see....

#148 I know - it was so much fun to see Lord A turn up :-)

#149 You may well cough, Liz!

#150 Bonnie, I will have to head over to your thread to check out your choices. I feel a bit cheeky for changing so many of Mark's authors but realistically, there's no way I will try Faulkner, Roth and Updike for the first time all in the same year and there are no copies of any Larry Watson books in the local library system. If I keep to that plan I will read a fair number of books that have been malingering in Mt TBR for a while and pushed myself outside my comfort zone with a lot of the authors. Actually, I'll be pleased with myself if I manage to read half those books!

#151 :-) Hi Laura!

#152 Glad you 'found' me again Hannah :-)

Thanks for recommending The Man in the High Castle - I still haven't read anything by Phiip K. Dick. And also the Steven Saylor and Lindsay Davis recs - I have put them on the long 'to-read'someday' list.

I've just finished Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos and would like to read The Chrysalids next as a lot of reviews commented that those two books complemented each other quite well. The cosy catastrophe comment was apparently made by Brian Aldiss (based on wikipedia) and I think it was meant in a derogatory way, but I think you're absolutely right, his books are unsettling precisely because these things are happening to relatively comfortable and secure people. It makes me think of some of Hitchcock's films (thinking particularly of The Birds and Strangers on a Train) - one of the reasons I find his films so chilling is because he spends such a long time establishing normality at the beginning, it really adds to the freakiness once the freaky happens!

#153 Thanks Liz!

##################################

Currently reading the enormity that is Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries. I am enjoying it but it's due back at the library on Saturday (as usual I mistimed my library reservation) and I am looking forward to reading where I don't have a deadline hanging over my head.

Nice list of new purchases. I'll be anxious to hear what you think of The Luminaries. Get well.

Sorry you are under the weather, but sounds like you are making good use of down time.

Carriger does sound fun!

I'm glad to hear that The Luminaries isn't making your throat worse. I'll love to know what you think about it --- I WILL finish it this week!
Take care of yourself and enjoy the Cazalet!

I'm hoping to read The Luminaries over Christmas, so I'll be curious to know how you like it, too.

#156 - 159 Thanks for the good wishes Beth, Lucy, Peggy and Nancy. It was a very flash in the pan cold (either that or buying books really did cure it) and I felt much better yesterday.

Today I was going to make lots of progress with my library books but there was a slight complication in trying to sort out some medical bits for our Uganda trip because there's currently a shortage of yellow fever vaccine. Lots of phonecalls and a 1-hour round trip to a different doctor's surgery later and we each have an appointment to have the vaccination next week. Hooray!

So far I am really enjoying The Luminaries (and it feels like it's giving my brain a good workout) - don't think it's going to be a 5 star read as it has been for some but I'm happy with it.

#158 "I WILL finish it this week!" I need to finish it this week! 'I think I can, I think I can...'

Going back to the first 800+ page novel I read this month:

Book #163: Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope - 5 stars!
Source: Waterstones.com
Original publication date: 1864-1865



Perhaps the best way to sum up my feelings about this book is with a quote from the author himself, taken from An Autobiography: 'Of Can You Forgive Her? I cannot speak with too great affection'.

In what could be said to be a commentary of marriage in the nineteenth century, Trollope brings before us three women and their different experiences of life and love. Miss Alice Vavosar, his noble jilt, constantly wrestling with herself about what a woman should do with her life and who breaks off her second engagement shortly after the beginning of this novel; Lady Glencora Palliser who has married a man she doesn't love whilst still harbouring strong feelings for another suitor she was forced to reject, and last but certainly not least, Mrs Arabella Greenow, possibly the happiest of the three, a wealthy widow who leads two suitors on a dance after marrying the first time for money and ensuring she chose a rich husband unlikely to live for long.

So, can you forgive them? I think Trollope's gift in writing and bringing these very human characters to life is that I came to understand exactly why each one acted the way she did and in the end, yes, I not only forgave them, I delighted in them and felt bereft when the book had finished.

#143 - I'm looking forward to Tell Me a Riddle and hope to read it next year. I love "I Stand Here Ironing" - beautiful - but haven't read any of the other stories in the collection. Her novel Yonnondio was good too.

#161 - So, is this your favorite Trollope then? I'd like to give him a try, but don't know where to start. Also, I've expanded my century challenge to a century and a half, going back to 1850, so this might fit in there. Anyway, I'm going to add it to the wishlist.

Woot! I gave Can You Forgive Her? five stars, too, Heather : ). So glad your experience was comparable!

I have the poster that's on the cover of Can You Forgive Her? - It's by a Norwegian artist and I bought it ages ago at the art museum in Oslo! Can't remember who the painter is, but startling to find it on the Trollope cover!

Back to add - I fell in love with that painting. I'd been married several years then and it seemed to sum up something - there's plenty of ambiguousness in it, but also strong sense of intimacy. He, with his arms crossed and one leg on the balustrade exudes manly confidence, but she is clearly no slouch - she leans against the pillar but she also stands in such a way that she is asserting her own power and character. I truly love it! It tells such a story!

You and Bonnie make these Trollope books sound so good, Heather! I was saying to Bonnie that I've only read Barchester Towers, and I'm going to have to reconsider that.

I like that cover, too.

#162 Hi Kerri. I remember you enjoying Yonnondio so when I saw this collection by Tillie Olsen I snapped it up.

Ooh, do try Trollope! I think Nancy is a big fan of the audio books narrated by Simon Vance.

Yes, Can You Forgive Her? is my favourite so far. It's the first in Trollope's Palliser series which follow the fortunes of Plantagenet Palliser, a politician, although Plantagenet also appears as a character in Trollope's earlier Barsetshire Chronicles series.

As Can You Forgive Her is the first in a series it's not a bad place to start but you would miss some of the characters development shown in the Barsetshire series.

I started with the Barsetshire series of which The Warden and Barchester Towers are the first two and although The Warden was my least favourite, I think that's where I'd recommend starting. Barchester Towers is probably my second favourite.

The Warden has quite a bit of church politics in so if you are going to start there I'd recommend reading through the tutored read led by Liz last year.

#163 Great minds, Nancy ;-)

#164 Lucy, I don't know the painter either but I really like it and think the picture does sum something up about the story.

When I saw it was a Norwegian artist I felt quite surprised at first because I associate that style of dress with Britain or American in the 19th century. Silly really, to think folk in Scandinavia wouldn't have done so too!

#165 Joe, if you enjoyed Barchester Towers then I think you should definitely try some more Trollope! Maybe go back and try The Warden or Dr Thorne which is the next book in the Barsetshire Chronicles.

>160 souloftherose: hi Heather- I am glad you are liking the Luminaries, well, not hating it anyway :)
It seems to have its extreme fans and its disinterested readers. I was a fan, maybe not extreme...but a real fan :)

Ooh, do try Trollope! I think Nancy is a big fan of the audio books narrated by Simon Vance. Oh, yes! She definitely is!!

Hi Heather! A long overdue visit. When I saw that your read Dominion my heart fluttered as I love the Shardlakes too. What a disappointment that it didn't hold up to his other work. Thanks for taking that bb for me.

I saw your intended reads for Mark's AAC and I absolutely did not want to read another Updike novel. They just don't sit right with me so I'm going with a book of his poetry, Americana: and other poems. Even if I don't care for it at least I'm not stuck reading 1 story of 200 and some pages.

Hope all is well with you :0)

#168 Hi Megan. Yes, still musing over my thoughts on The Luminaries but I definitely enjoyed it, although I wouldn't say I was an extreme fan either :-)

#169 :-D

#170 Hi Lynda. A lot of people seem to be wary of John Updike so I may swap another author in for that month as I don't have any of his books in my TBR pile anyway. Owen Meany or Catch-22 are both books that have been lingering in my TBR pile for far too long.

#166 - Thank you, Heather! I will check out the tutored read of The Warden, and perhaps I'll start there.

#172 You're welcome Kerri :-)

Book #164: How it all Began by Penelope Lively - 3.9 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2011



"The Daltons' marriage broke up because Charlotte Beauford was mugged. They did not know Charlotte, and never would; she would sit on the perimeter of their lives, a fateful presence."

How it all Began opens with the elderly Charlotte Beauford being mugged and then shows us the impact this seemingly random event has on her life and others' lives, as if the mugging had created ripples, slowly spreading outwards. A marriage breaks up, a retired academic tries to break into television and Charlotte's daughter is tempted by a sudden love affair. None of these events have anything to do with one another but none would have happened at all if Charlotte Beauford had not been mugged.

From the epigraph and numerous references throughout the text, it's clear Lively is making reference to chaos theory and the famous 'butterfly effect'. I could have done with slightly fewer references as this motif started to feel rather heavy-handed by the end of the book. Otherwise I found this short novel to be elegantly written, thoughtful and humourous. I greatly enjoyed How it all Began and will definitely be on the lookout for more books by Penelope Lively.

Book #165: The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones - 3.6 stars
Source: Amazon marketplace
Original publication date: 1996



Written in the style of a travel guide, this A-Z guide to fantasyland has been written firmly tongue-in-cheek by Diana Wynne-Jones who was herself a well-known fantasy author (albeit I wouldn't say she wrote the sort of generic fantasy trilogies she is poking fun at here).

It was particularly amusing to read shortly after finishing The Eye of the World which I enjoyed, but couldn't help thinking entries like the following could almost have been directly referring to:

"Ferryman is the only important ferry operator. All the other rowers and haulers are extra. A Ferryman is traditionally surly, reluctant and frightened. This is probably because the Tour usually hauls him out of bed near dawn with urgent demands to be taken over the river right now. He will overcharge you horribly in revenge. He will sometimes also blight the crossing by making various ominous and depressing remarks; but he will, on the offer of more money, swear not to reveal that you have used his ferry. He will of course tell the forces of Dark everything as soon as they gallop up in pursuit."

This is a book to dip into rather than read straight through and recommended for lovers of good (and bad) fantasy novels.

>173 souloftherose:: Heather, have you read Moon Tiger? That was my introduction to Penelope Lively and I liked it a lot. I haven't read any of her other books yet, despite good intentions.

Ohhh good Heather. I picked up How It All Began a couple of months ago at my favorite independent bookstore. I also read Moon Tiger but it was eons ago and I really don't remember much about it.

Hi Heather, I just read your review of Can You Forgive Her? and immediately went on Audible to purchase the audiobook, choosing the one narrated by Timothy West (I've somehow developed an aversion to Simon Vance). I don't do that very often as usually just plunk things into my endless wishlist, but it sounds like something I'd definitely enjoy and might even get to very soon. Thanks for dropping by my thread. I will answer you there very soon, but need to go do some artwork now... though couldn't resist coming to see what you'd been up to first!

#177 I'm working my way through Trollope using Timothy West's readings and they are wonderful.

Heather, that was a wonderful review of Can You Forgive Her? I am so pleased to be reading these books with you and the group under Liz's tutelage. I am looking forward to immersing myself in Palliser's world next year.

Hi Heather... trying to catch up on some threads today... Impressed with your reading plan for Mark's author challenge. We will share reading The Road and Beloved as those are the only two authors I have on my shelves as of now. The rest of the months I haven't thought through as of yet. I'm not as great of a planner as you are! :)

#175 Hi Laura. No, I haven't read Moon Tiger so thanks for the recommendation. That's the one she won the Booker for so it's definitely on my list.

#176 I hope you enjoy How it all Began Bonnie :-) I think it was Beth and Deborah who recommended this one to me.

#177 Hi Ilana! I really hope you enjoy Can You Forgive Her?. I'm sure Liz will be happy to answer any questions (if you have any) on the group read thread here whenever you get round to reading listening to it.

#178 Good to hear a recommendation for the Timothy West narration Kerri :-)

#179 Thanks Donna!

"I am looking forward to immersing myself in Palliser's world next year." Oh definitely!

#180 Hi Tina! Thanks for stopping by. I may look like a great planner but I suspect I may change my mind about reading some of those books when it gets nearer the time :-) If I manage to read a few more American authors next year I'll be happy.

The tough guide to fantasyland is on my wishlist too. I'm glad you said that about dipping in and out not reading it through. They have it at the library and I was wondering about reserving it, but it sounds like it might not be one for a 3 week loan.

Hi Heather - I'm glad you liked How It All Began. It's such a responsibility to recommend books. :)

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland looks like a winner - for the whole fam. but especially my daughter! Then we all get to read it, works for me!

#182 Yes, books like that can be difficult to read on library loans. As I've now finished dipping in and out of my copy would you like to borrow it?

#183 "It's such a responsibility to recommend books." I confess I always feel a bit worried about doing so too :-)

#184 Hope your daughter likes it Lucy :-)

Book #166: The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham - 4 stars
Source: Charity bookshop
Original publication date: 1957



Another John Wyndham novel to fill a gap in my century of books challenge. In this one the quiet, English village of Midwich discovers that every woman of child-bearing age is inexplicably pregnant after the entire village fell asleep for a day and a night. When the children are born, they seem to be normal babies except for their striking golden eyes, but it soon becomes apparent that these children have very strange powers. Have the Midwichers had cuckoos planted in their nests?

In some writers' hands this story of a possible extra-terrestrial invasion would become an edge-of-your-seat thriller/horror story but John Wyndham has created a thoughtful science fiction novel which explores themes of life, death, survival of the fittest and asks the question, 'how far should we go as a species to ensure our continued survival'?

The Wyndham's really hold up don't they. Hard to believe that it is over 50 years since that was published, though I suppose some of the attitudes and technology are a bit dated. Still thought provoking though.

Hi Heather, I am planning on reading The Midwich Cuckoos for my Category Challenge next year, so was happy to see you enjoyed it. I really liked the other two John Wyndham's I have read, Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids

Glad to see you enjoying Wyndham so much Heather. I can't wait to get to my own three... though goodness knows when that'll be!

Book #167: An Autobiography by Anthony Trollope - 3.8 stars
Source: Project Gutenberg
Original publication date: 1883

I always feel torn when it comes to reading author biographies/autobiographies: I want to read them before I read the author's novels so that I can understand their novels, but the biographies often include plot summaries and spoilers for those books. For Trollope I decided to risk it and take the plunge and although there were a couple of plot reveals for books I hadn't read, I'm very glad I did.

Written towards the end of Trollope's life, but only published in 1883 after his death, this autobiography covers Trollope's unhappy childhood, his work for the Post Office and travels abroad, all of which I found interesting, but by far my favourite sections were those where Trollope discusses his own books and the works of contemporary authors.

Trollope was very methodical in his writing habits, setting aside time each day for writing and recording in detail how much he wrote in a dairy. It seems to have been this admission that upset the critics when his autobiography was published. When writing, he seems to have 'lived' with his characters, something I'm sure is a factor in my finding so many of Trollope's characters very believable.

"It is so that I have lived with my characters, and thence has come whatever success I have obtained. There is a gallery of them, and of all in that gallery I may say that I know the tone of the voice, and the colour of the hair, every flame of the eye, and the very clothes they wear. Of each man I could assert whether he would have said these or the other words; of every woman, whether she would then have smiled or so have frowned. When I shall feel that this intimacy ceases, then I shall know that the old horse should be turned out to grass."

Because this is Trollope, there are plenty of digressions in the autobiography; it's broadly chronological but chapters where he considers a history of English fiction, shares his views on what makes a good novel and assesses his contemporary English novelists are slotted in amongst the chapters commenting on his published works.

On his published works, I've added several of his less well-known novels such as The Three Clerks, Miss Mackensie and The Vicar of Bulhampton to my reading list, but it was Trollope's comments on the characters which feature in his Palliser novels that really captured my imagination and made me even more eager to continue with this series next year. Although Trollope frequently comments that he doesn't expect most of his novels to last and be read more than a few years after their publication, it's the characters in the Palliser and Barsetshire novels who he believes will be remembered if any are:

"I do not think it probable that my name will remain among those who in the next century will be known as the writers of English prose fiction;—but if it does, that permanence of success will probably rest on the character of Plantagenet Palliser, Lady Glencora, and the Rev. Mr. Crawley."

One of my favourite quotes: (slight spoilers for later Palliser novels) "In conducting these characters from one story to another I realised the necessity, not only of consistency,—which, had it been maintained by a hard exactitude, would have been untrue to nature,—but also of those changes which time always produces. There are, perhaps, but few of us who, after the lapse of ten years, will be found to have changed our chief characteristics. The selfish man will still be selfish, and the false man false. But our manner of showing or of hiding these characteristics will be changed,—as also our power of adding to or diminishing their intensity. It was my study that these people, as they grew in years, should encounter the changes which come upon us all; and I think that I have succeeded. The Duchess of Omnium, when she is playing the part of Prime Minister's wife, is the same woman as that Lady Glencora who almost longs to go off with Burgo Fitzgerald, but yet knows that she will never do so; and the Prime Minister Duke, with his wounded pride and sore spirit, is he who, for his wife's sake, left power and place when they were first offered to him;—but they have undergone the changes which a life so stirring as theirs would naturally produce. To do all this thoroughly was in my heart from first to last; but I do not know that the game has been worth the candle. To carry out my scheme I have had to spread my picture over so wide a canvas that I cannot expect that any lover of such art should trouble himself to look at it as a whole. Who will read Can You Forgive Her?, Phineas Finn, Phineas Redux, and The Prime Minister consecutively, in order that they may understand the characters of the Duke of Omnium, of Plantagenet Palliser, and of Lady Glencora? Who will ever know that they should be so read? But in the performance of the work I had much gratification, and was enabled from time to time to have in this way that fling at the political doings of the day which every man likes to take, if not in one fashion then in another. I look upon this string of characters,—carried sometimes into other novels than those just named,—as the best work of my life. Taking him altogether, I think that Plantagenet Palliser stands more firmly on the ground than any other personage I have created."

#186 Definitely thought proviking calm :-) Sometimes a bit dated in their attitudes but in general I find Wyndham a lot less dated than a lot of other 1950s science fiction.

#187 I hope you enjoy The Midwich Cuckoos Judy! I'd like to read Chrysalids next year as I've read the two books complement each other in their themes so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed that one.

#188 Ilana, I've had these two books on my shelves for 3 years before getting round to reading them - now wondering why it took me so long! I hope you enjoy them when you get to them :-)

#175 and #181 - I concur that Moon Tiger is fabulous. I read it earlier this year.

#185 - Another John Wyndham to put on the list, although 1957... I did just establish my no sci-fi published between 1957 and 1971 rule, but I'm allowing exceptions, so it should be ok. :-)

#189 - I want to read them before I read the author's novels so that I can understand their novels, but the biographies often include plot summaries and spoilers for those books. The spoilers are unfortunate. There were even some major spoilers in the interview book that I just finished (Susan Sontag: The Complete Rolling Stone Interview) - both film and novel. Gah!! I want to have read three or so of an author's works before I read his/her biography/autobiography. It gives me a basic framework, so I understand what's being discussed, but leaves me open to suggestions on where to go next.

I have yet to read an author biography or autobiography, but I think I prefer reading at least a few works before I do. For instance I'm interested in Claire Tomalin's biography of Dickens, and Thomas Hardy too, but I though I'd read a few more of their works first. Same goes with Dorothy Sayers, whose bio is on my tbr.

How do you do that thing with the spoilers so that you have to click on them to see them? I've noticed it in the reviews too but not sure how it's done.

eta: OMG! I'm not sure if I was all there when I wrote this message as it was practically unreadable! Among other things, I meant 'read' and not 'meet'. Added note on Sayers.

Heather, fabulous review of An Autogiography by Trollope. So glad you enjoyed. I'll have to look this one up at Gutenberg. I love what he has to say about his characters; like you, I find them so memorable, relatable -- his true gift:

It is so that I have lived with my characters, and thence has come whatever success I have obtained. There is a gallery of them, and of all in that gallery I may say that I know the tone of the voice, and the colour of the hair, every flame of the eye, and the very clothes they wear. Of each man I could assert whether he would have said these or the other words; of every woman, whether she would then have smiled or so have frowned. When I shall feel that this intimacy ceases, then I shall know that the old horse should be turned out to grass.

Thumb up for that great review of Trollope's autobiography Heather. I think I will want to read this at some point. I, also wonder when is the best time to read a writer's autobiography. After reading all but one of Pym's books, I plan on reading her autobiography in January.

Excellent review of An Autobiography, Heather!

Yes, I went straight to Project Gutenberg to get it!

Hi Heather! I enjoyed catching up with you and reading your reviews. Like Bonnie, after I read Dracula and liked it so much more than I expected, I now want to read Frankenstein. I also just put Can You Forgive Her? on hold at the library. Thanks so much for the link to the group read thread. I'm sure that will come in handy.

I trust your cold is gone by now and that you're looking forward to your first Christmas in your new house!

>185 souloftherose: Yes please. It's on my Christmas list so if I don't have it by the time I'm next in Tring (probably January) I'll borrow it from you. Sorry we didn't see you this weekend - too much to fit in.

#191 Ok, Moon Tiger moving up the list! I will try and get it from the library in the new year (which is soon - eek!)

If you're allowing exceptions past your no science-fiction published between 1957 and 1971 rule, then I think Wyndham's Trouble with Lichen (comments in msg 120) is also worth a look...

I find spoilers in biographies frustrating too (Agatha Christie's Autobiography was the most annoyed I have ever been about a spoiler) but I also like biographies to discuss the works of authors and it's difficult to do that without spoilers I suppose.

#192 Ilana, it was Claire Tomalin's biography of Jane Austen (Jane Austen: A Life) that got me really into author biographies; I think Tomalin is one of the best biographers I've come across and I loved her recent Dickens' biography. It does cover his books in some detail so I would recommend reading the Dickens' novels you think you'd like to read first (unless you don't mind knowing what happens). Having said how much I love her books, I have three of her biographies waiting to be read and they've been waiting at least a year now. :-(

I've also held off on reading some autho biographies until I'd read more of their works: now I've finished reading the Lord Peter Wimsey books I'd like to read a biography of Sayers and alos Barbara Pym, whose final published book I hope to read this month.

To do spoilers open with <spoiler> and close with </spoiler> like you do italics or bold text.

#193 Thanks Nancy :-) The autobiography is also in print by Oxford World's Classics if you'd like a paper version.

#194 Thanks Bonnie! I think it would probably have been sensible to wait until we'd finished reading the Palliser novels but I was too impatient... and I can't say I regret it!

#195 Thanks Darryl!

#196 Hope you enjoy it Kerri! :-)

#197 Lovely to see you here Pat :-) I hope you enjoy Can You Forgive Her? and Frankenstein.

We will actually not be celebrating our first Christmas in our new home this year - more on that shortly....

#198 Don't worry, I will keep the DWJ book to one side for you with... some other things!

Re not spending our first Christmas in our new house, it is now less than 3 weeks until we go to Uganda! I'm excited and a bit scared - I've never been away for more than two weeks before and we'll be going for three whole weeks! And I've never been on holiday with my in-laws before and we'll be going for three whole weeks! And we've never left the cat for this long before, although past experience tells me that it takes her 3 days to get over us and adopt whichever human is looking after her as her new slave.

I totally understand both the excitement and the anxiety, Heather! I bet you will have a great time. And the cat will forgive you ... eventually. :-)

What an amazing trip!!! Enjoy and look for all of us. Bring Miss Erica a treat; she'll forgive you.

Holy cow, somehow I missed you are going to Uganda. How interesting!!

OK so kinda funny somewhat related story: my university-aged daughter goes to a school called Kenyon College. It's in the middle of nowhere, and often when students are asked "where do you go to school?" the questioner thinks they've replied "Kenya". So in the school bookstore they sell T-shirts that say "KENYON IS NOT NEAR UGANDA."

Naturally this is the first thing that came to mind when I saw you were actually planning to visit Uganda. :)

Will you be seeing any gorillas? I would so love to see gorillas.

Uganda sounds fabulous, Heather! How exciting!

I've been hit by the Moon Tiger bullet. It's now on my WL too.

#201 Thank you Julia and Peggy! We will certainly give the kitty lots of strokes when we're back and probably too many cat treats if I know my husband!

#203 Laura, that is so funny because every time I've read about you daughter studying at Kenyon I've thought 'Kenya!'

#204 Rhian, I think we will do chimpanzee trekking but not necessarily gorilla trekking. I'm not sure I really want to do gorilla trekking - I personally find gorillas a bit intimidating and a friend who did a gorilla trek a few years ago got closer to the gorillas than they (and the guides) intended which I think I would find quite scary. Plus it's expensive and permits are rare so I'd rather leave the permits for someone who really wants to do it, I think. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I'm out there? What I really want to see are elephants!

#205 Thanks Nancy. Well, I can't take the blame for the Moon Tiger BB.

Book #168: London War Notes: 1939-1945 by Mollie Panter-Downes - 4 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 1939-1945, or 1972 as a collection



Sep 3, 1939: For a week, everybody in London had been saying everyday that if there wasn't a war tomorrow there wouldn't be a war. Yesterday, people were saying that if there wasn't a war today it would be a bloody shame. Now that there is a war, the English, slow to start, have already in spirit started and are comfortably two laps ahead of the official war machine, which had to await the drop of someone's handkerchief. In the general opinion, Hitler has got it coming to him.

Between 1939 and 1945 British novelist, Mollie Panter-Downes, wrote a regular column for The New Yorker entitled Letter from London. The columns written between 1939 and 1945 are collected in London War Notes and provide a fascinating glimpse into life in Britain (well, England and mainly London) during WWII.

As I've come to expect from her short story collections, Mollie Panter-Downes writes beautifully: with a light touch, but not without seriousness. The book includes a list of the major events of WWII which was helpful in understanding all of her essays although there were occasions when I had to google battles or generals to work out exactly what she was referring to. It probably sounds silly, but the more I read accounts written about or during WWII, the more it hits me that this actually happened to people within living memory. And they didn't know that it would be 1939-1945 or which side would win. The book ends with Panter-Downes' account of VE day and reading this brought tears to my eyes, even knowing that despite the war being officially over, Britain (and presumably the rest of Europe) still had years of hardship left (Simon Garfield's Our Hidden Lives is recommended if you want eyewitness accounts of the post-war years).

It was interesting to consider the differences between a collection of essays like this which were purposefully written for publication and something like the Mass Observation diaries collected in Simon Garfield's We Are at War where the diarists weren't writing for publication in the same way. Mollie Panter-Downes' writings come across as more positive and resilient than the Mass Observation diarists and I did wonder to what extent this was influenced by the fact that she was writing for an American publication, when it was clear for most of the early war that Britain desperately needed the support of America. Or whether the difference was simply that between the face you put on in public and the secret fears you might confess to your private diary.

If you're interested in the social history of WWII or the Home Front in England then this is probably essential reading, although unfortunately out of print and rather expensive second-hand.

July 5, 1942 (after yet another defeat for Britain): In these grave days, Londoners have been glad to be able to find something to crack a smile, however grim, about. It seems that some earnest fact-finding agency [....] saw fit to circulate a little house-to-house questionnaire to find out the public's reaction to the Army. [....] One of the questions asked was whom the households fancied as the outstanding general. Naturally, the agency meant a British general, but a horribly large and candid proportion of Britons picked up their pens and regretfully, though with their contrymen's typical admiration for a first-class performer in any game, wrote 'Rommel'.

My thumb, and doggone it, I've been resisting this book, but now I'll have to look for it. Thanks though, Heather.
ETA: Holy MOLY! I'd say rather expensive second-hand; $39 for the cheapest copy at Amazon US. Maybe I can wait.

Your point about it actually happening to people within living memory really hit me, too, Heather, when I was reading Millions like us by Virginia Nicholson recently. Reading books, fiction and non-fiction, written during the war reminds me that they didn't know how it would turn out. Since we know how it ended it's harder to appreciate how it really felt then.

>206 souloftherose:: every time I've read about you daughter studying at Kenyon I've thought 'Kenya!'
Then clearly you deserve a T-shirt!!

Yay for the trip to Uganda! I think my meds conflict with anti-malarials so that's my excuse for not going anywhere so exciting (not the fear or the money, no).

Wow! Uganda! When do you leave, Heather?

Wow Heather, a trip to Uganda!

#207 "I'd say rather expensive second-hand; $39 for the cheapest copy at Amazon US." I'm sorry Peggy :-( It's not much cheaper in the UK either but the library had a copy in its reserve stock. It deserves to be reprinted.

#208 Hi Kerry (and apologies for calling you Kerri before). You're right, Millions Like Us was another book where that thought really struck me.

#209 Yay - thanks Laura!

#210 Oh, that's a pain. Even the newer anti-malarials like malarone? I'm on such strange medication that GPs don't tend to be very good at picking up on whether I will have a reaction but I've taken malarone before so I know I will be ok. Money-wise my parents-in-law are paying for most of it...

#211 December 22nd Tina - not long to go now!

#212 I know!

Book #169: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - 4 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2013



I probably don't need to say that Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries is a vast, epic, engrossing and intelligent novel about the gold rush in 19th century New Zealand. I thought it was all those things but I didn't find it as satisfying as some others did and this year's Booker winner 'only' gets 4 stars from me.

I think this comes down to why I love reading: the main things for me are story, ideas and character. I don't really get excited about the structure of a novel and to me, The Luminaries felt like it was mainly about structure (which is not to say that the story, the ideas or the characters were badly done). I've read the critical reviews and I can appreciate that Catton was trying to do lots of very clever things structurally, but I just can't get myself excited about it.

I'm very glad I read The Luminaries and I would like to try Catton's first novel, The Rehearsal, but if cleverness is her thing (and I get the impression that it is), then I suspect she will be an author I admire but don't love.

(I realise this review is more about why I didn't give it 5 stars, than why I gave it 4 stars - I did enjoy it really)

Book #170: The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie - 3.3 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1928



To me, this is one of the more forgettable Christie mysteries, evidenced by the fact that only 1 week after finishing it all I can remember about the plot is that it involved Hercule Poirot, a murder on a train and a jewellery theft. Having said that, I do remember really enjoying my reread and it was probably just what my poor brain needed after The Luminaries.

A small thing I noticed on this reread that I had never noticed before: one of the characters comes from St. Mary Mead, the small village that would give birth to Miss Marple in 1930.

Hi Heather, I think it's fabulous that you're going to Uganda. I can't wait to hear your impressions.

Just the idea of a three week vacation, anywhere really, is enough to make me apoplectic. Throw in Uganda and, well, it enters the realm of unbelievably wonderful. Lucky you Heather:)

I like The Luminaries a bit more that you but that might be because I ignored the structure as an affectation that I had no patience for, much like Night Film. That one was so over the top I got very little enjoyment out of it but I really liked The Luminaries.

Hi Heather, I came by to see what you thought of The Book of Lies but I guess you haven't got there yet.

Wow, your trip sounds fantastic. Hope you take lots of pictures and are willing to share. :)

#216 Thanks Pat :-) I'll try to do a nice write-up with some photos in the New Year.

#217 Bonnie, I know. I don't think I've ever been away for more than a couple of weeks before and normally we only go away for 7-10 days.

I wonder with The Luminaries whether I would have liked it more if I hadn't known there was something clever in the structure from reading reviews (as I'm sure I wouldn't have picked that up by myself) but once I knew, I found it hard to read it without trying to figure out what she was doing.

#218 Hi Judy. I am still a couple of weeks behind with my reviews... I thought The Book of Lies was very interesting. Thanks for the challenge that prompted me to read it this month!

There will definitely be Uganda pictures. Even if I don't manage to take any (must get new batteries for my camera), my sister-in-law's husband is a very good photographer and I'm sure he will send us copies of all his photos.

Uganda! For three weeks! With the in-laws! You brave, brave girl! I hope it is a vacation that is full of fabulous.

Have a marvelous trip and I hope you have a marvelous time. Look forward to the photos.

I have got to read more Wyndham!

And I have to read any Wyndham. Oh dear. Oh dear. ..... Maybe that's why I don't get to go to Uganda!

Ok, I've been lurking for the last few visits and due for a comment.

Uganda sounds like a very exciting prospect. I'd be thrilled to see any kind of wildlife and also keen to see elephants in their natural habitat. Lord knows they likely won't be around forever, which breaks my heart. But then I guess that's true for most species.

Agreed that Eleanor Catton probably tries too hard to be clever. That's what I got from her first book, and though I hadn't read about the structure of The Luminaries before I read it I felt the astrological angle was unnecessary (and I'm somewhat interested in astrology too!). Didn't know about the word count thing till well after the fact, and it only made me roll my eyes. I saw a brief interview with her and she seemed genuinely passionate about her work, but I'm far from convinced. Doubt very much I'll be among the first to jump on her next project. My I do sound like the Grinch don't I?

I wonder with The Luminaries whether I would have liked it more if I hadn't known there was something clever in the structure from reading reviews

I suspect that you're right, Heather. I think I was one of the first ones who read and reviewed it on LT. At that time I was only barely aware of its structure, and I chose to ignore it and the links to the zodiac calendar (I know my zodiac sign, but that's about the extent of my astrological knowledge, or my interest in astrology). If I read it again then I may look for those clues, but I'm sure that I thoroughly enjoyed it because I didn't try to.

BTW, I plan to read her debut novel, The Rehearsal, for Orange January.

#220 Thank you Mamie! Brave? Hmmm...

#221 Thanks Lucy! I definitely want to read more Wyndham next year - I'm not sure why it took me so long to get to the ones I already had.

#222 "Maybe that's why I don't get to go to Uganda!" Maybe! :-P

#223 There is no upper limit on the number of times you're allowed to lurk without posting Ilana, but your comments are always welcome in any case!

Your comments about elephants reminded me of something I'd read in our guide book (Bradt Travel Guide to Uganda - Bradt Travel Guides are the best I know for less well-known destinations). They think that during Idi Amin's reign in the 1970s the elephant population in the Queen Elizabeth National Park (one of the most well known) dropped from 4,000 to 150. It's now estimated to be back at 2,500 so there's still a way to go but there is hope that things can be turned around in some situations.

I remembered your review of The Rehearsal whilst reading The Luminaries and could see what you meant! I don't think cleverness is something I particularly value in books I'm reading but I could understand it could be for some readers and writers and I could definitely feel my brain being stretched whilst I was reading it! I would be very interested in knowing whether a better understanding of astrology meant you got more from the book - I tried googling things but I didn't feel like it helped me much.

And you're not a grinch :-)

#224 Darryl, I don't think I like the feeling that there's some element of a book I don't get so honestly, even if I hadn't picked up on the structure I think the astrology charts would have niggled away at me. I realise that says far more about me and my own insecurities than it does about the book!

I'm trying to avoid making reading plans for January otherwise I'd say I'd join you in reading The Rehearsal. I'd like to read it at some point next year.

Heather, I'm answering to you here first, and then will do so on my own thread too (lovely always to have your visits and comments too!). I'm not sure what it is about elephants, especially since I don't think I've ever seen one aside from a zoo visit or two long long ago (and perhaps a circus visit as a child), but there is something about them that makes me feel very emotional, as if there is a connection of some kind I can't explain. As you know, I'm rather passionate about animals and I did study the Native American medicine cards for some time, so there may be some kind of spiritual lesson there, though honestly at this point in my life I tend to steer clear of spiritual concerns, which in and of itself is something I guess I'll have to look into eventually... in any case, getting completely off track here, but your mention of elephants had me picking up a short novel today featuring an elephant, but as my choice also ties into something you said on my own thread, I'll mention it over there too (and actually reveal what the title is!).

Back to elephants and conservation, it's heartening to hear that Queen Elizabeth National Park was able to turn things around so drastically. Because I've signed petitions here and there and give to a few charities, my inbox is constantly inundated with requests for more donations and more signatures, usually accompanied by horror stories of why the funds and support are needed, and there's not a week that goes by that I don't hear about the extensive poaching that goes on, which basically just sickens me. I don't want to be delivering a soapbox speech here, but just need to get it off my chest once in a while: dealing with climate changes and the invasion of natural habitats are big enough challenges for animal life to survive on this planet without human beings hastening their extinction by murdering them for trophies on top of everything else.

I think I'm on the same page as you as far as "clever" authors are concerned. Of course, I'm sure I don't need to spell out that I appreciate and indeed only seek out books that were plainly well thought out and come from intelligent writers, but I do find that things that try to be too clever tend to draw too much attention to whatever device they're adopting to stand out or be innovative, which, even if the content holds it's own (as I think it definitely does in The Luminaries), tends to distract me and even turn me off. This is true of books, but probably of many things in life too. I guess I'm rather more classic (not to say conservative with a small 'c') at the core and there's only so far I'm comfortable with being stretched, even though I always have been rather (literally) flexible. /end of soapbox rambling gig.

#175 and #181 and #191 - I too concur that Moon Tiger is fabulous. I read it earlier this year.
(I was able to pinch that sentence completely!)

I also agree with Darryl/Kidzdoc in that I really enjoyed your review of the Anthony Trollope autobiography.

>214 souloftherose: great to see another happy reader, it is possibly about expectations that you spent your review defending your decision to give it one less than perfect stars :)

Hi Heather!

Uganda and chimpanzees! This is very exciting. (And I hear you on the intimidating qualities of gorillas.) Anything else on the agenda? Do you have family there, or are you just traveling together? Am I asking too many personal questions? Ha!

#214 - Intriguing comments. Of course, I'll read this next year. I'm trying to think about whether or not I get excited about structure. I think I do in some instances, although it's not the most important thing for me, and it has to serve a purpose. For example, I remember enjoying the somewhat bizarre structure of Diary of a Bad Year. However, I can be easily annoyed by anything that I perceive as gimmicky, but of course, one person's gimmick is another person's magic. Or something like that...

#226 Ilana, I'm intrigued to hear which novel you've picked up featuring an elephant. I think you may have been among those who recommended Saramgao's The Elephant's Journey to me a few years ago which I still need to get to.

"dealing with climate changes and the invasion of natural habitats are big enough challenges for animal life to survive on this planet without human beings hastening their extinction by murdering them for trophies on top of everything else" Yes.

#227 Ok, Moon Tiger is definitely on the lsit for next year! And I think what you say about expectations is probably very true.

#228 Kerri, my sister-in-law's husband's family are all in Uganda (he's Ugandan but has lived in the UK for several years now). We will be visiting his mother, sister, brother-in-law and their children in Kampala, also his more extended family back in the village, so hopefully a nice mix of touristy bits and getting to see real Ugandan life.

I went over to read your review of Diary of a Bad Year and it sounds intriguing but I should really read Disgrace first which has been sitting on my shelves for ages.

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

Rather aggrieved this morning to find that, Civil to Strangers, a book I thought was published in 1989 and would be the final book I needed to read to complete the 1980s, was actually published in 1987 according to the copyright and introduction to my edition. So I then went through my catalogue to find something else published in 1989 and came up with a few ideas but none of them are really calling to me right now.

I'm hoping to get over the 75% mark by the end of the year with the following:

1929: The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
1956: A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridge
1959: The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
1991: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard
1992: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg

I'm getting to the point where I can only find books I don't seem to feel like reading for the remaining years and the 1910s is proving to be a particularly troublesome decade. I also have a lot of 1990s reading to do but I have some non-fiction lined up for next year and Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles will get another couple of years struck off from that decade.

Have you considered Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Von Arnim and Lucy Maud Montgomery for some of your early 20th century years?
Noel Streatfeild for later on - eg 1946 Party Frock (aka Party Shoes - but that retitling and fake series stuff really bugs me)

How great that you have family in Uganda, that will give you a good base - I always think I have a better time on trips to places where I have a firm connection with friends or family.

I have painfully strong feelings about elephants. The amount they have suffered and are suffering at our hands is so appalling I can hardly bear it.

#220 and #230 - I second the Willa Cather. Also, Of Human Bondage (one of my favorite novels) fits in 1915.

I'm not sure whether it's because I'm short on sleep or going down with something but instead of reading or writing reviews my day off today has been spent curled up on the sofa rewatching old Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes and knitting a scarf (I keep thinking it's nearly long enough but the nearly long enough stage seems to be lasting a while). It's slightly embarrassing to recall how much I adored this programme as a teenager because rewatching it today (well, just series one so far) I'm struck by the bad writing, bad sets, bad costumes and mostly bad acting (Patrick Stewart excepted) but I'm finding my rewatch hugely enjoyable.

#230, 232 Luci, Kerri, those are all good recommendations. I have got Cather on my list for next year: I'm hoping to read O Pioneers! in Janaury for Mark's American author challenge and One of Ours for the Virago WWI read (can't remember the month off the top of my head). Neither of those were published in years I haven't read anything for my century challenge but The Song of the Lark would be an option for 1915. I recall trying to read it a few months ago but found the first few pages contain a kitten in peril and decided I couldn't cope with that. It might be one I can read next year when I am less worried about the effect of a house move or a 3 week holiday on the cat...

For Edith Wharton, I've read everything she published in the 1910s fairly recently, with the exception of The Reef which again was published in a year for which I've alerady read something. But an early novella called The Touchstone would be a possibility for 1900. Elizabeth von Arnim is a definite possibility for some years and I always enjoy her books but I don't like reading them too close together. And the Noel Streatfeild is a good idea, Luci - I've got Miss Ranskill Comes Home lined up for 1946 at some point. Again, that's one I started, read a few pages and then put down for some reason. Hopefully I'll get to it next year.

#232 Kerri, I've had Of Human Bondage on my wishlist for years but I can't remember why I listed it! I've added you as a recommender to try and jog my memory in future. I think I'm a bit intimidated by it....

I'm going to do a list of the ideas I have for reads to fill in the gaps in the hopes that if people enthuse about some of the books on the list (or suggest others) that will make me keener to read them :-)

#231 "I always think I have a better time on trips to places where I have a firm connection with friends or family." Luci, that's very true. My favourite visit to the US was not the touristy Disneyland trip with my family (although that was fun) but my week-long trip to Cincinnati (not normally high on the list of most people's places to visit in the US) where we stayed with local families during a choir tour and I really felt like I got to know the US a bit more.

A century of books - filling the gaps

Books that I'm feeling confident about wanting to read next year are in bold:

1900: The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum/The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit/The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
1909: Some Everyday Folk and Dawn by Miles Franklin/The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim/A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter/Mike by P. G. Wodehouse

1914: The Pastor's Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim/The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1915: The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather/Fighting France by Edith Wharton (oops I forgot about this one in my post above)/The Crevice by Isabel Ostrander
1917: Christine by Elizabeth von Arnim/The Man with Two Left Feet by P. G. Wodehouse/The Setons by O. Douglas
1918: ? The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West ? (I've tried to start this at least 3 times this year and just not got anywhere)
1919: Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim/A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse/Consequences by E. M. Delafield

1940: The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer (just waiting until our chronological read through gets to the right point)
1943: The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene/Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles
1946: Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd/The Gypsy's Baby by Rosamond Lehmann
1947: One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes/ The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton/Joy in the Morning by P. G. Wodehouse

1951: A Game of hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor/My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier/Murder in Moscow by Andrew Garve/The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

1962: R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury/The China Governess by Margery Allingham /Cover Her Face by P. D. James
1964: The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy/The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
1966: ? Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys ?

1976: Woman on the Edge of Time by Margie Piercy (slightly intimidating)/Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey/Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones
1977: ? The Road to Lichfield by Penelope Lively ?

1989: ? Nemesis by Isaac Asimov/A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving ?

1993: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood /Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (again, started and stalled earlier this year)/Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard
1994: A Change of Climate by Hilary Mantel/ Mrs Jordan's Profession by Claire Tomalin
1997: Restoration London by Liza Picard
1999: The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers/Chocolat by Joanne Harris/No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod/Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

#233 and #234: Oh, I might steal your idea of posting my Century Challenge gaps to get feedback/suggestions! And, actually, your list is giving me some ideas.

1964 - I read The Old Man and Me last year and thought it was rather...not good. I've heard better things about The Dud Avocado, but can't say I'm ready to give her another try.

1976 - I love Woman on the Edge of Time! I would say it's definitely not intimidating, but it is a bit preachy, if that sort of thing bothers you.

Hey, Heather, per your comments on my thread - have you thought of plugging some gaps with Edgar Wallace? He was very prolific in the 'teens and '20s, and many of his works are available online. (Most of them are short-ish, too, so not too much of a time imposition!)

I've got all the Elizabeth von Arnim books you do on my list too.

1918: I absolutely adored The Return of the Soldier, which was among my favourites in 2011, but perhaps you need to be in the right mood for it? I have it on my list for a reread, along with My Ántonia by Willa Cather (haven't read any of her work yet, but will do for the American Authors challenge)
1943: I read I Claudius by Robert Graves this year (chosen by Paul) and really enjoyed it so have Claudius the God for that year (got both in Folio editions too!)
1946: I have Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey as well as Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor (I think you've already read that one).
1951: I actually rather disliked A Game of hide and Seek, and also have My Cousin Rachel slated for that year (a nice Virago Designers edition!)
1962: here are the options on my list: The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman (which was also picked for me by Paul), The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, Madame Sousatzka by Bernice Rubens (I've been meaning to read Rubens forever after Kerry's many positive reviews of her). I also MUST add Cover Her Face (another lovely Folio of mine!)
1964 I have Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (which I'm almost certain you've read), A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (which I attempted this year and gave up on), and like you have slated The Soul of Kindness. Haven't read any Elizabeth Taylor this year to my great shame.
1966 I also have Wide Sargasso Sea planned as a reread, along with Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susan, another reread, and also a Virago Designers edition!
1976: these are my options: Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood, Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (a reread and audio I got from the library).
1977: on my list: Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (after seeing Paul? rave about it, gotten as Kindle), also The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré, another Folio :-)
1989: I gave up on A Prayer for Owen Meany this year. The religious overtones were just too much for me, but it's likely I didn't give it enough of a chance. I have A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters by Julian Barnes on my list, a book I've had for years and quite look forward to.
1993: will have to add a reread of The Robber Bride, which was one of my favourite Atwoods back then.
1994: I have Felicias's Journey by William Trevor, also The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. Have you read any of their work?
1997: plans are for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (a reread and chosen for me by Liz), American Pastoral by Philip Roth (for the AA challenge), and Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley as started the series long ago and want to return to it (most of the books are available as MP3 downloads at the library)

I should NOT be here. Am meant to do some homework for my final art class tomorrow, but as it's an obligation, of course I'm doing everything to avoid doing it... and it's very near to my bedtime now. Uh oh...

OK, I'm currently reading The Spanish Bride and feeling rather lukewarm about it so far. Aquascum has just finished it and she has also been reading lots of Sharpe novels and prefers them to the Heyer.

About Catton, I first heard her speak about The Rehearsal which started from a request from her flatmate for a dialogue that she could use in a drama class. She absolutely charmed me with her reading of that part of the book, and I immediately read it and loved the book. I thought the structure was interesting and quirky, different and it appealed.
I have to say that when reading The Luminaries, I put all thoughts about the structure, the astrology aside and concentrated on the story. After finishing I went back and explored the structure by reading some of the lengthier reviews. For me it was a five star read.

Looking forward to any photos of Uganda that happen to appear here. Enjoy your trip.

I've just read The Spanish Bride and skimmed over a lot of it...

#235 Thanks for your comments, Kerri. I think I will try The Soul of Kindness over The Old Man and Me in that case - I know I love Elizabeth Taylor's books although I keep putting off reading this one.

I do want to read Woman on the Edge of Time so am relieved to hear it's not intimidating - I think I can manage preachy.

#236 Good idea, Liz. I've just looked at his wikipedia page - prolific seems like an understatement!

#237 Lovely to have so many suggestions - thank you, Ilana :--)

I do want to read The Return of the Soldier and have it lined up for the Virago WWI theme read next year. Each time I've tried to read it before I've stopped because I felt like I wasn't in quite the right mood to properly appreciate it. I don't know what the right mood is but I'm hoping I'll have that mood at some point next year!

Robert Graves' Claudius books are on my read-one-day list. I think Claudius the God was first published in 1934 though, not 1943 although wikipedia says 1943. The copyright to the Penguin Classics edition says first published by Arthur Baker in 1934, then published by Penguin in 1943 which might be where the later date comes from. Sorry :-(

A Game of Hide and Seek was another one I started but couldn't get into. I think My Cousin Rachel should be a good read. And thank you for reminding me that I have The Guns of August planned for next year's Virago WWI theme too - I hadn't noted the year it was first published.

Otherwise I think I'll go with your suggestions of Wide Sargasso Sea and The Robber Bride (if I don't get to Confusion first). Hearing The Robber Bride is your faourite Atwood has bumped it nearer the top of Mt TBR. I might still try A Prayer for Owen Meany - I don't think I'd necessarily find the religious overtones offputting and it would also fit the American Authors challenge.

I've never heard of Great Granny Webster before but it looks intriguing. I also noticed The Road to Lichfield by Penelope Lively was also shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1977 which might be another option for that year.

I haven't read anything by William Trevor or Cormac McCarthy before. I have The Road lined up for next year - not sure if I will want to read another McCarthy too.

#238 & 239 Thanks for the comments (warnings?) about The Spanish Bride Kerry and Kerry(!) I suspect I will read The Spanish Bride anyway, hopefully even a ho-hum Heyer will be fairly readable.

#238 And thanks for your comments on Catton and The Rehearsal, Kerry. I'd like to read it next year.

I very much enjoyed The Return of the Soldier and Claudius the God. You have some good reading lined up there, Heather!

The Return of the Soldier was the first book I read which was recommended by LTers, shortly after I joined a few years ago. Classic, lovely.

Although by its setting date The Spanish Bride is technically a Regency, it's actually one of Heyer's straight historical novels, so I've got it on that list and wasn't planning on including it in the current work-through.

Heather, I'd be surprised if you didn't end up loving The Return of the Soldier it's rather brilliant and very affecting. It's definitely a book I want to revisit and may do so next year, given it's quite short. This was among the first audiobooks I listened to and I had gotten it for free from LibriVox.org based on Kerry's suggestion (both the book and that free recording). It definitely made me want to read more work by her, and I now have The Fountain Overflows, though I've since also gotten a Virago omnibus edition containing The Return of the Soldier.

Thanks for pointing out my oversight with Claudius the God. I'm not sure which source I had based myself on now, but it should have occurred to me 1943 was a rather late publication date for it. Is it really possible he published both books in the same year though? He did seem to have a prodigious output, so I guess everything is possible.

Your mention of Confusion reminds me I got the first book, The Light Years last year after seeing Suzanne mention this series on her thread at some point. I should listen to it soon as I remember thinking I would probably enjoy it very much. Do take note I did say The Robber Bride was my favourite novel of Atwood's at the time. I'll have to reread it myself, and have too often found to my great distress that I've often felt much less enthusiastic about works I've revisited (as happened to me just today in fact).

I think Great Granny Webster first came to my attention because of NPR Books as one of the book selections 'Inspired by Downton Abbey'. Then Paul's review clinched it for me. I've been adding any Booker nominee that appeals to me to my wishlist as a matter of course lately, and had somehow skipped over The Road to Lichfield, but I've fixed that now. In the meantime I've added Moon Tiger as an option for 1987 since I got it as an eBook recently.

I'd say The Road should give you plenty to digest for a while. It's unrelentingly bleak, as I'm sure you know, but it was also a five-star read for me, and there are few enough that get that rating! (oops, just checked... 4.5, but close enough!)

I loved The Return of the Soldier too Heather. Kudos for trying to fill in the gaps in what looks like a very daunting challenge. So challenging that I'm thinking of attempting it myself:-) I'd really love to get to The Light Years. But then, I could keep saying that, pretty much forever, inserting a different book each time. hahaha

Heather - Your reading this year in trying to get as far as you can in filling in a century of reading has prompted one of my own challenges for next year - and a pretty crazy one at that.

I plan to read at least one book from every one of the last 150 years (2014 included so from 1865). I have, either on Kindle or with physical books, no missing years presently. I have read at least one book from each year previously but never tried to do it in a single year. I probably haven't much chance but I'll give it a go as I want to spend a bit more time reading next year.

Have a lovely weekend.

#241 Stasia, how lovely to see you :-)

#242 Great to see another recommendation for The Return of the Soldier, Nancy. I really hope I am able to get in the right frame of mind for it next year.

#243 Thanks for the heads up on that Liz. I have The Spanish Bride on my kindle as it came with The Convenient Marriage (why, I don't know) but I will fit it in around our regency reads.

#244 Ilana, I have some other books by Rebecca West in my TBR pile too (Harriet Hume and Cousin Rosamund, the sequel to The Fountain Overflows which I haven't read or got a copy of) which I bought on the strong belief I would like her books.

"It's unrelentingly bleak" I think that's why it's been sitting unread in my TBR pile for so long! I may need to read lots of lighter books that month to balance it out.

#244 & 245 It was Suzanne and Peggy who pushed me into The Light Years and I'm very glad they did because I loved it. It's such an absorbing story, very readable. I would recommend reading it sooner rather than later, although with the warning that you will want to read the other books in the series quickly :-)

#246 Paul, that's a very daunting challenge! I don't think I've ever read 50 19th century books in one year and this year I've found my focus on 20th century books has meant I've read far fewer 19th century and 18th century books. I'll look forward to seeing what you make of it next year and which 19th century books you pick to fill in those years.

Some very brief book comments in an attempt to catch up:

Book #171: An Academic Question by Barbara Pym - 3.4 stars
Source: The Book People
Original publication date: 1986



According to the introduction to this edition, this was a novel that Pym wrote in the 1970s but never completed; it was put together posthumously by Pym's biographer and friend Hazel Holt. This was an amusing and enjoyable read but I felt like Pym was uneasy writing in this time period. The main character is young, only 28, but her views and opinions seemed more 1950s than 1970s and I couldn't help feeling it was a mistake for Pym to try and write a character so much younger than she was in this time period; perhaps why Pym never finished this novel? Her more famous 1970s novel, Quartet in Autumn, which I suspect is her best works much better and focuses on older characters.

Book #172: The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - 3.2 stars
Source: Project Gutenberg
Original publication date: 1911

This collection of short stories about the seemingly simple Roman Catholic priest, Father Brown, aren't really typical detective or crime stories: Father Brown's focus is on questions of good vs. evil and the salvation of souls and his methods of detection are intuitive rather than deductive. I was bowled over by Chesterton's writing style which I loved, but I think the stories themselves suffered from being read too close together and it started to feel as if the stories were only a vehicle for us to be shown how wonderful Father Brown is. I'd like to continue with this series but I think I need to space the stories out more so I don't get annoyed with them.

ETA: I went back to read Liz's (lyzard) review after writing the above and I'd agree with her point that "G. K. Chesterton was better at creating an absorbing mystery than at finding a satisfying explanation".

Book #173: The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard - 4.8 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1990



The Light Years is the first book in Elizabeth Jane Howard's family saga, The Cazalet Chronicles, of which the fifth (and final?) volume has just been published. The first book takes place in 1937 when with fears of war on the horizon the extended upper-class Cazalet family spend the summer at their Sussex estate. There are a lot of characters to keep track of (there's a handy list at the front of the book) but after the first 100 pages I felt like I knew every single person in the family and had no trouble keeping track of them. As far as I could tell, the period detail felt very accurate and the books are apparently based on EJH's own experiences. Utterly absorbing and I can't wait to read the second volume, Marking Time.

Book #174: Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick - 3.1 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2007



A fictionalised biography of Arthur Ransome's time in Russia as a journalist and possibly a spy during and after WWI. This was interesting and unusual in the way it melded together history, fables and fairytales but this is the third book by Marcus Sedgwick I've tried and so far, I'm always left feeling disappointed after finishing his books. I think I find his writing style perhaps too simplistic in some ways, it doesn't seem to move or excite me. Anyway, I think three tries is enough and I'm probably not going to try his other works.

And that takes me to the end of November. I would really like to be up to date with book comments before we leave next weekend....

Which means we're finally on to December's books!

Book #175: The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths - 3.7 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2011



These are fairly gentle contemporary crime books featuring Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, who assists the Norfolk police. The setting is wonderful and I really like the character of Ruth, who is intelligent and gawky. The mystery in this book was also particularly interesting with the bodies (well, skeletons) of some German WWII soldiers discovered on a Norfolk beach which seem to have links with some modern murders. There is a formula to these books but it's one I like so I'm fairly happy to keep reading them as the mood takes me.

If you're up to December, you're way ahead of me! :)

Oh I loved the Cazalet series! And now a fifth one has been added? I will have to track that one down ASAP. :)

Heather, I am excited for you going to Uganda. I hope you take lots of pictures so your friends here can live vicariously through you. I'm not sure I've ever had a 3-week vacation. Right now I wouldn't mind a beach and some warm sun!

I loved The Light Years, Heather, and intend to read the rest in the Cazalet series. Have a great time in Uganda!

#248 - Thank you for the background info on An Academic Question - I was unaware of it. I did recently finish Quartet in Autumn and it's my favorite of the three Pym's I've read (all of which I gave 4.5 stars). I may write a few comments about it.

The Light Years goes on the wishlist!

#249 - I'm glad you enjoyed The House at Sea's End. I must get back to this series. I really enjoyed the first one.

#250 I don't know if I am going to get caught up before I go but I'm fairly certain I won't be writing reviews when we're away.

#251 Judy, the fifth book is called All Change and it was only released last month in the UK. I originally thought I might space the first four books out far enough that book #5 would have been released in paperback by the time I got to it but I'm not sure I can wait that long!

#252 Thanks Donna. Had a bit of a panic over the weekend when I thought my camera was broken but it turns out that the new batteries that I thought were pre-charged were not. Panic over. Hopefully there will be some photos!

#253 Thanks Joe. Glad to hear you enjoyed The Light Years too.

#254 Hi Kerri. The one Pym I haven't read this year is Quartet in Autumn but I read it a couple of years ago and I think it was probably one of her best.

I hope you enjoy The Light Years!

Book #176: By Light Alone by Adam Roberts - 3.9 stars
Source: Christmas present
Original publication date: 2011



(A large image of the cover because it's such a beautiful design)

Set in the near future, Adam Roberts imagines a world where someone has invented a way for people's hair to photosynthesise light into energy thus removing the problems of hunger and famine: they live, quite literally, 'by light alone'. But rather than ushering in a new age of contentment and equality, this invention has created an even larger gap between the rich and the poor, emphasised by the fact that the very poor are kept jobless and childless now that there is no need to pay them and due to the fact that the energy produced by photosynthesis isn't enough for a woman to carry a pregnancy to term. The only way to have a baby and to feed that baby is to have food. But even once common foods are now unbelievably expensive and only available to the very, very wealthy who shave their heads to show they are not reliant on photosynthesis. The end result of this imbalance? Revolution.

"The thing wealthy people don't understand is that, for most of human history, poverty has been something that could always get worse. Human beings would appear to be completely down and out; but they could alwys sink lower. This was beacuse for most of human history poverty was a subsistence phenomenon. Poor meant having the bare minimum. That is to say, it meant having something. And something can always be pared away. Not now! Now a new manifestation of poverty has come into the world - the most significant development in human history since the invention of farming. Now we have absolute poverty. And absoute poverty is absolute freedom! It can't be pared away, or threatened, or warred down."

Roberts has written a very thought-provoking, social science fiction novel which reminded me of Margaret Atwood's writings, both because of the themes of genetic engineering and poverty and because the writing style is quite literary. I've seen its depiction of the very rich referred to as Gatsby-esque which makes the cover particularly apt. The negatives? The first part of the book is mainly about how empty and pointless the lives of the very rich are, and how unhappy they are as a result. Fair enough and some of these characters do develop later in the novel, but I felt this first section was close to becoming heavy handed. And the ending is still a puzzle to me. But all in all, a literary science fiction novel which deserves more readers. I can't help feeling that this comment by the reviewer in The Telegraph is sadly, probably all too true: "If By Light Alone were written by David Mitchell or Margaret Atwood, for example, it would doubtless be said to "transcend its science fiction" roots, as all literary fiction which borrows SF trappings must. But By Light Alone is unashamedly SF, and would that half the supposed "literary" novels on the shelves today were as well written, thoughtful and intelligent as this."

Wow, what an interesting concept for a story. Great review, Heather, that makes me want to check it out. And you're right; the cover is beautiful.

>256 souloftherose: Glad you enjoyed it!

Aaargh, hit by a book bullet! I've been hit, I'm wounded, I tell you!

Heather, you've reminded me that I've got By Light Alone on the shelf somewhere and I must get around to it. Great review!

#258 Thank you for giving it to me Jo :-)

#257, 259 & 260 Julia, Roni, Rhian - I hope you enjoy it!

Well, we leave for Uganda at 7am tomorrow morning. I'm extremely tired but hoping there will be some time to rest whilst we're away. As you can see, I didn't get any more book reviews written this week so a quick list of books read will follow.

I don't know how often I'll be able to post while we're away so wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

#177 The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock - 3.5 stars
#178 The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones - 3.6 stars
#179 Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell - 4.5 stars
#180 A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths - 3.2 stars
#181 The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - 3.8 stars
#182 The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan - 3.8 stars
#183 The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie - 3.5 stars
#184 A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridge - 3.3 stars
#185 Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer - 3.8 stars

Have a great trip, Heather! I thought of your Tuesday because a lady sitting next to us in the lounge at Heathrow was waiting for her flight to Entebbe. She was really nice and happy to see a boy reading!

I bought The Dark lord of Derkholm for the kids a few weeks back.

Have a wonderful trip, Heather. I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

#256 - By Light Alone looks to be very Kerri-oriented, so I'll plop it on the wishlist. Great review!

Have a lovely holiday season as well!

Have a fabulous trip Heather! A friend has just come back from Uganda - I saw her pictures on Facebook and it looks like a stunning country!

Have a safe and wonderful trip, Heather, and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as well!

By Light Alone is on the wishlist. Thanks, Heather. I'm also finally getting into Marking Time, which I have listed in the TIOLI blue cover challenge, so I hope to finish it. It's good; no doubt about it!
Have a wonderful, restful/invigorating trip! We will miss you while you're gone and look forward to your return with pictures and stories! Merry Christmas!

Was looking at A Regency Buck recently. 2014 will definitely have more Heyer in store.

ENJOY Uganda tremendously, Heather! I expect the travel itself will not be very restful, but I do hope you'll have a restful, wonderful holiday.

Probably too late for you to see this but all the best on your trip. Hope we'll get to see a few pics.

Am very intrigued by By Light Alone. Wish they had it at the library!

I'm sure you're in bed by now, and probably won't see this before you leave but all the same wishing you a great trip and wonderful holidays!

Safe travels, Heather. I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

Have a great trip. I ended up giving The Spanish Bride a 3 star rating, I wasn't blown away by it, though it did give me an introduction to the campaigns fought by Wellington's men which was one of the reasons I picked the book up in the first place.

By Light Alone sounds like a good one to read.

Safe travels!!

Just stopping by, Heather, to say that today's Kindle Daily Deal for the US is your guy Brent Weeks's The Black Prism. I scarfed it right up!

I know you are off, and hope all goes well and you have a great time!

Have a wonderful trip, Heather and a very Merry Christmas.

Have a wonderful trip, Heather!! Can't wait to see pictures and hear stories of how your journey goes! :)

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Heather, have a great time in Uganda, and have a very happy Christmas and New Year!

Hi Heather, Since Christmas will greet you before many otheres, I thought I'd start with you and wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a spectacular trip!

Enjoy your time in Uganda, Heather

May you have a book filled Christmas.

Enjoy your Trip!!!

Hi Heather,

Heather - Safe travels, happy holidays and happy 2014. I look forward to hearing about your travels on your return.

Happy Holidays to you and your family, Heather! Enjoy Uganda!

Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas, Heather!

Hi Heather. For some reason I lost track of you for a while. Just wanted to wish you the best for the festive season and for a wonderful 2014!

Heather, as always your reading in 2013 has been impressive. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas. xx

Merry Christmas in Uganda, Heather!

Have a Merry Christmas in Uganda!!

Merry Christmas, Heather!

Happy Ugandan Christmas, Heather!

A very Merry Christmas, Heather!

Oh wow! So many messages! Thank you to Cushla, Kerri, Hannah, Darryl, Peggy, Nancy, Luci, Ilana, Laura, Kerry, Lucy, Roni, Judy, Tina, Rhian, Lynda, calm, Diana, Beth, Nina, Paul, Katie, Bonnie and Mamie ( and apologies if I've missed anyone) for your holiday and Christmas wishes.

Our Ugandan holiday so far has been busy, exciting and sometimes a bit overwhelming trying to deal with culture shock on not really enough sleep but I think we all slept better last night and we have a couple of rest days scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

We're in Uganda to visit my SIL's husband's family and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them. We're staying at a guest-house owned by a friend of the family to give us some space, which has more modern conveniences than I dared hope for based on my previous travels in Africa although reasonably priced (hot water, a working shower, a flushing toilet and wi-fi!!!) Yesterday we all went out for a very nice Christmas meal at a fairly posh hotel in Kampala. It was lovely food but it seemed very strange to be eating a Christmas dinner in hot weather, even though the hotel staff had all dressed up in Santat hats.

Today we are going up-country to the village to see more family for which we will all dress in traditional Ugandan dress. I will post photos (although I may need to wait until we're back in the UK as I can't connect my camera to the tablet). What I'm not looking forward to is the 2 hour drive each way with no air conditioning. Luckily we can change to traditional costume once we arrive rather than having to travel whilst wearing it.

I haven't been able to do much reading (I've been too tired to read at times which is very unusual for me) but I finished Stella Gibbons' Nightingale Wood on the plane which was a lovely read, and yesterday I managed to get into Marking Time, the second volume in the Cazalet chronicles.

Christmas sounds like it was wonderful, Heather! Accommodations sound lovely, too. For purely selfish reasons, I am delighted you have wifi, LOL.

How wonderful to hear from you Heather, I didn't think we could expect it, though of course they have wi-fi in Africa too. I can imagine the culture shock must be something to contend with. Can't even imagine what it must be like, never having been on the African continent, where things must vary hugely region by region. Looking forward to pics. Don't worry about reading, you've got lots of stuff to soak up I'm sure!

>292 souloftherose:: It sounds wonderful. Looking forward to hearing more of your adventures!

Thanks Nancy, Ilana and Nina.

I've been feeling pretty rotten the last couple of days and have missed doing some of the stuff I was most looking forward to :-( Everyone except me has gone to see the Ndere Dance Group which look amazing. Whinge over.

Get well, Heather.

Sorry you're not feeling well Heather. Being unwell is never fun, but feels especially cruel on trips. I remember my first time in London; being so sick during my 3 weeks visit that I barely got to see anything. Hope you get better soon.

Oh, Heather, poor baby! So sorry that you are sick. Hoping that you feel better very soon.

I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling poorly on your vacation, Heather.

Oh, Heather, that sucks! I hope you start feeling better and can enjoy yourself.

>296 souloftherose:: So sorry you're not feeling well and missing out on things you wanted to do. Hoping you get better soon and the rest of your stay more than makes up for it.

Poor Heather, being ill is bad enough but on holiday...

Thanks Beth, Ilana, Mamie, Darryl, Katie, Nina and Kerry.

I was feeling very wobbly and sorry for myself yesterday but I've been feeling better this afternoon. Had a long chat with my husband (who loves Africa and has done a lot of voluntary work in different countries at different times) about culture shock which helped a lot as he said that he used to spend the first couple of weeks of each trip just wanting to go home. And I'm reminding myself that we've done the family visiting bits which were probably going to be the most tiring bits and that hopefully I'll find the touristy bits more relaxing.

That probably sounds like I haven't enjoyed the family visiting bits; I have enjoyed them a lot and loved meeting the Ugandan family but I've often been so tired in the evenings that I've just about had enough energy to crawl into bed and burst into tears.

Anyway, I was hoping to reply to individual messages in more detail but we've been without electricity for most of today which meant we lost WiFi and we're about to head out for a quick look at one of the local cathedrals before dinner (hooray - I'm leaving the house!)

Oh, and I finished Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard and Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill. Making good progress with Uncle Silas but I don't think I will finish it by the 31st (sorry Liz).

I managed to upload a photo of us all in traditional Uganda costume for one of the family gatherings.



From left to right: my sister-in-law's husband's mother, sister-in-law and husband, me and my husband (looking like a cool dude with sunglasses on) and my parents-in-law.

I should note that I'm not short, my in-laws are all very tall!

We are off to a town called Jinja near the source of the Nile for New Year's Eve. Apparently it is a tradition in Kampala, the capital city, to burn rubber tyres in the road to celebrate the New Year so SIL and husband thought we might appreciate being somewhere else while that was happening!

Great photo, Heather!

This photo from our summer meet up in London is proof that Heather is not short (left to right: Bianca (drachenbraut23), Heather, me (at 5'10") and Luci (elkiedee)):



Have a great time in Jinja today, and a ver Happy New Year! (More photos, please.)