Soupdragon reads 75 in 2011

Hi,

This is my first 75 book challenge and I'm looking forward to recording and reporting on my reading this year.

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be reading yet- I tend to go off on unexpected reading tangents- but well written fiction by women, contemporary and classic, is likely to feature heavily. I also discovered (rediscovered, I suppose) Young Adult fiction last year and expect I'll be reading a few more of those!

Welcome to the group, Dee!

We have a separate thread for several 'What Are You Reading' genres, including young adult. You can find them listed on the group's wiki page, if you are interested.

Hi Dee! Nice to see you here. You and I tend to like similar books so I'm looking forward to following your reading this year.

Hi Dee, looking forward to following your thread.

Hi Dee! Found you! I'm looking forward to following your reading in 2011.

Welcome!

I'm curious about your name! What or why are you the 'SoupDragon'? Does this mean you make very hot soups? Or perhaps that you guard your soup with the fervor of a dragon guarding its treasure? Or maybe it means you don't like soup at all... and the anguish of consuming a bowl of savory liquid sends you into a reptilian rage.

Enlighten us! :D

Glad to see you here as we have a lot of reading interests (and a few hundred books owned/read) in common.

Thank you all for your greetings and warm welcomes!

7>: Soupdragon is a character from the 1970s British childrens television programme The Clangers created by the genius that was Oliver Postgate. The soupdragon made soup for the Clangers (who were knitted mice who lived on the moon) but got cranky if they got too close. She looked like this...



I don't particularly relate to her but I loved the programme! And I like the name because of the combination of the domestic and the fantastic.

Now I'm wondering about the name dk phoenix!

>9 Soupdragon:: I love that ! I was also intrigued by the concept of "knitted mice who lived on the moon" and went off to Google to investigate. For anyone else who may be curious, here you go:


They are simply adorable.

>7 dk_phoenix: I love your theories for the name SoupDragon!

>9 Soupdragon:,10 The Clangers looks like it was a very cute show. I look forward to following your thread Soupdragon.

The Clangers were indeed cute and adorable and also somewhat cutting edge in the 1970s world of knitted animations. A book...



1. The Ghost Lover by Gillian Greenwood

The blurb

Josie Price has given up much of her life for the wealthy Haddeley family. She works with them, lives with them and knows their secrets. So when a young man, Luke, appears and claims shockingly to be the son of Kit Haddeley’s late wife Alice, Josie tries to help the family come to terms with ghosts they hoped had been laid to rest.

My thoughts

The books which seem to really get under my skin are often told in the first person by a narrator who keeps you guessing. This is that kind of book. It’s not that Josie is an unreliable narrator but I got a strong sense in the first pages that there would be a certain amount of reading between the lines. As the book unfolds we gradually learn more about Josie and the lives of the Hadddeley family she has devoted her life to. The book alternates between the present day situation involving cuckoo in the nest, Luke and Josie’s memories of the past which eventually reveal the mysteries surrounding the present. Initially, the book was a bit of a slow burner and it took a while to work out how all the characters were connected to each other. It was the quality of the writing and my appreciation of its structure which kept me turning the pages. By the end it was compulsively readable and you wouldn’t have been able to prise the book away from me- good job it’s the bank holiday weekend!

Rated: 4.5 Stars

Congratulations on getting your reading year off to such a great start, Dee!

Very good html, Dee! I've found you, starred you, and am impressed that you already are reporting on book 1. I wish you would put your good review on the book page itself since nobody else has reviewed it. That would be a service to the community!!
I look forward to seeing what else you read this year and what you think about it!!

Interesting book! I concur about putting the review on the book page, especially if you're the first person to write a review for it around here.

Thanks for the details on your screen name! The little dragon is cute, but I'm sure the puppet-style filming would have given me nightmares as a child... haha. My screen name is a tribute to my favorite character from the Marvel Universe, from an X-Men series in particular: Dark Phoenix. Unfortunately, the full version of the name was taken when I signed up for LT, so I shortened it (I use some variation for all my screen names online).

Thank you all!

Peggy- Me and html are getting there but I'm still checking Christina's thread a lot.

Dk Phoenix- I love that name. It's very frustrating when someone else has already bagged "your" name. I was once a member of an online community where I was one of two soupdragons -one of us had a lower case s and one a capital. I changed my username to avoid confusion!

Re: the review- well if it's a service to the community, okay then! Beats shovelling snow! I might have to expand it a bit though.

2. House of Orphans by Helen Dunmore

My thoughts

The House of Orphans focuses on Eeva, a young Finnish girl and her struggle towards an independent life at the turn of the twentieth century when her country was struggling against domination by the Russian Empire. When Eeva's father, a revolutionary, died she was sent from Helsinki to an orphanage in a rural town where conditions are hard and the girls are trained for a life of service and morality.

Eeva is a wonderful creation. She is not the feisty, headstrong cliché of historical fiction but she is strong and intelligent, educated by her father before his death. She has this wonderful way of, after having been quiet and subservient because she had to be, absolutely slaying her enemy with words when they’re not expecting it! Once she leaves the orphanage and is no longer half-starved she is also considered very attractive and she gains the attention of Thomas, the local doctor who has taken her on as a servant.

It’s a good story and being a Helen Dunmore it’s beautifully told. So why so many low reader ratings? I think it’s to do with the structure of the novel. Although it is predominantly Eeva’s story, much of this story is not actually told through her eyes. A large proportion of the first half of the book is actually told through Thomas and we gain an intimate understanding of Thomas, his loneliness and his guilt and frustration over his marriage to his late wife. There is also Lotta who is a wonderfully flawed character who I was both infuriated by and felt sympathy for. But then half way through the book Eeva’s life moves on and Thomas and Lotta suddenly disappear from the plot, are replaced by a set of new characters and reappear only towards the end. It did take some adjusting to! Once I did adjust I enjoyed the second half of the novel which has a renewed emphasis on the revolutionaries fighting against the “Russification” of Finland.

I also suspect the ambiguous ending wasn’t popular. Dunmore hinted at resolutions rather than told. I liked that but I don’t think everyone would! But this is an intelligent historical novel with beautiful prose. If you’re not put off by ambiguous endings (etc), I recommend!

Rated: 4.0 Stars

OK, that is THREE books by Helen Dunmore on my WL (which is just going to grow for a year, since I am not buying anything much till we are home and I'm back in my favourite library...) Sounds really interesting.

I own a lot of Helen Dunmore books - including House of Orphans and want to try to read one a month - the Book People had a set of 10 of her novels for £10, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with books that I need to review at the moment.

I love her writing. She definitely deserves to be on your wishlist, Cushla.

Luci, That's interesting about the Book People set. I recently bought about five of Dunmore's paperbacks in Penguin from a charity shop and in pristine condition. I'm guessing they were from that set! I'd read most of them before but had borrowed them from the library so it's nice to have my own copies. I still have With Your Crooked Heart, the Siege and The Siege's sequel to read. Oh and Mourning Ruby but I left that in the charity shop because I couldn't face the subject matter- even though I read Whatever You Love last year.

Do your copies have text on the cover/spines in sloping writing? My dad made some disparaging comment about the design but there's probably some truth in it - they're packaged with a more commercial women's fiction look. I actually owned a lot of them but in rather different editions, mostly via charity shops or magazine freebies. They helped me get off to a good start on RISI though. I sometimes see leftover books from BookPeople sets in charity shops, as they so often sell sets at prices which are little more than one book at full price/2 from Amazon.

Mourning Ruby does sound a bit heartbreaking, though.

I've read Zennor in Darkness which features D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda as characters, Burning Bright (I think) a long time ago and Ice Cream (a story collection) new from the library whenever it was first published, Siege and Betrayal last year.

Hmm. I wasn't sure what you meant at first but yes the books titles on the front and spine are in a slightly slanted cursive style and they are definitely aimed at women- floral design covering black and white photo of woman gazing into distance, etc. Sounds like the ones! Will have to check out Book People.

I do have a couple of magazine freebie editions too. Do you have the Cosmopolitan promo edition of Burning Bright by any chance? I wouldn't be surprised as we seem to have led parallel reading lives! That was my introduction to Dunmore's writing about thirteen years ago. I was expecting something trashy and then was blown away by the quality of the writing!

I did have and read that edition of Burning Bright - I swapped it when I bought the set. I haven't bought Cosmo for a long time but they used to have good freebie books and also quite good fiction at the back - I first tried a few authors' work that way.

Oh yes, Cosmo was great for that wasn't it? I think it introduced me to Val McDermid too. More recently I started reading Woman and Home for the short stories and free books but had to stop when the interviews with wives of Tory MPs started to annoy me too much!

Welcome to the group and thanks for stopping by my thread! I love the story to your user name.

I'm just waving as I cruise through, Dee. I wish I had known that Cosmo used to have good freebie books. I really need another one or two!

#17: Great review, Dee! I will have to look for that one as I enjoyed both The Siege and The Betrayal by Dunmore.

Found your 75 books thread!

I enjoyed your review of House of Orphans. I have The Siege in my TBR piles and after I've read that will probably look for more by Helen Dunmore. I'm always surprised there seem to be so few copies of her books on LT given all the book awards she's won/been nominated for.

The Helen Dunmore is still available at the Book People for between £8 and £11.95 (inc postage) - it depends on whether you buy enough other books to get free postage as it's £3.95 - always if over £25, but often I get offers if over £15 - sometimes I buy an extra book instead of postage. I've been a customer for a long time but with two kids who love their stories too I find it very easy to find stuff to buy...

Hi and thank you Marie, Peggy, Stasia and Heather!

I love Helen Dunmore's writing but it seems she's not for everyone!

Peggy- "Need" or "Want"? ;-)

Heather- Thanks for seaching for me- I'm off to look for your thread now!

Oh Hi Luci! You must have posted while I was posting.

I just had a quick look at the Helen Dunmore set. They do look like the ones I've bought. I'm glad I only paid 50p each for mine or I'd be regretting it! I think I'll have a good browse through Book People and see what's available. I remember they used to do a set of Virago Modern Classics. I used to check Book People out now and again but had forgotten about them recently. And whenever I did consider buying from them I was put of by justifying to my OH why I was buying ten brand new books. Illogically, a constant stream of individual RISI and Amazon market place books arriving in tatty Jiffy bags seems much more restrained!

Now I AM off to Heather's thread. And then Book People...

Found and *starred*

The Clangers reminds me a bit of Fraggle Rock, a show I watched - and loved - with my lads when they were wee.

Hello Dee, visiting your thread for the first time, as I see we have at least some books in common and I'm interested in your reviews of the Dunmore book - I've not read any of hers yet.

And I loved the Clangers too, so I'd sort of guessed that might be where your name comes from - it's a good one!

Hi Tui and Genny- thanks for dropping by- It is lovely to "see" you both here!

I remember Fraggle Rock too. I watched it with my "baby" brother (now an university lecturer and guitarist with rock band!). The Clangers have my heart though because they're my generation - and Genny's too, possibly?

3. One by One in the Darkness by Deirdre Madden

My thoughts

A quietly powerful book. I wasn't sure about it to start with. We have these three sisters in Northern Ireland in 1994. One is beautiful, one is clever and the third is kind. Yes, I think I've met them before! There are regular flashbacks to a pretty average childhood with Sunday Mass, various uncles and aunts and chicken dinners followed by tinned peaches.The writing was fairly simple and it all seemed a bit ho-hum.

But then things change. The rest of the sisters' childhood is spent during a time of fear, violence and agression which leads to personal tragedy for the family and which affects each of them into their adult lives. I found the effects of The Troubles on this family all the more shocking because things had been plodding along so quietly before hand and realised Madden was doing much more with this book than I'd realised.

I am probably the same age as the sisters in this book and grew up in England with constant news stories about the situation in Northern Ireland. Much of the information was sensational. Just about all of it was political. I don't remember hearing much sympathy for those living through it. This book made me realise how little I'd thought about how growing up at this time would feel.

The final pages were devastating. I was left needing to sit quietly afterwards and think of those affected, not very far away and not very long ago.

Rated: 4 Stars

Great review! This sounds promising.

I like the sound of the Deirdre Madden. Did you read Molly Fox's Birthday? I reviewed her first novel, The Birds of the Innocent Wood for my student union newspaper but I can't remember anything about it, and appear to have lost or buried the original somewhere - I have a replacement paperback copy which I might reread at some point.

I absolutely loved Molly Fox's Birthday, Luci and that led me to acquire several of her earlier books including Birds of The Innocent Wood which like you I remember absolutely nothing about! I went onto swap it on RISI for the copy of One by One in the Darkness which I've just read.

I've also read Remembering Light and Stone which I remember as being flawed with not much of a plot but beautiful and moving in places! I have Authenticity on my TBR but I think what I really want is a brand new Deirdre Madden to read!

36: Intriguing, very intriguing...

Hi Marie. Yes, I do seem to be writing reviews which are leaving people unsure whether they actually want to read the book or not! Hopefully the next one will be a bit more straight forward. I'm in the mood for something escapist so have started The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick (gothic, YA fantasy). I really enjoyed Kiss of Death last year so I'm hopeful!

No doubt for me, Dee. I absolutely want to read One by One in the Darkness. I own Authenticity and should probably read it first. I think I bought it when I couldn't afford *Molly Fox*......maybe I can now! (And I'm in absolute agreement about the tatty jiffy post bags from AMP!)
ETA: another $4 nail in my coffin. I just ordered a penny copy of *MF'sBday*!

Aha: I posed a question about Molly Fox's Birthday on your Orange Jan/July thread, and I see my answer here! I'm glad to hear you liked it, it's one I considered reading but was unable to find it in my local library, at least at the time. Will have to take another look.

42> Well, how could you not, Peggy? I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

43> Yes, have another look, Laura. Apparently they're going for a penny now!

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm pretty sure I want to be reading your books instead of my own this year.

Can you please post your review of The Ghost Lover on the book's page? It is such a great review and the book doesn't have any.

Thank you, Nancy. It's good to see you here.

I have posted the review. I was going to add more about the storyline but now the book's back at the library and I've forgotten much of the storyline, I've abandoned that idea!

>36 Soupdragon: Okay, so I will read One by One in the Darkness this month! Thanks for the good review, Dee.

#46. Thank you and thumbs up from me on the review!

#35 Yes, my generation too!

Deirdre Madden is another author I've yet to read, but I liked your review of One by one. I had a similar experience of hearing constant news about The Troubles without really knowing what that would mean for those growing up in the midst of it. I'm trying this year to restrain the impulse to order second-hand copies instantly of everything that sounds interesting, but I will be keeping an eye out for Madden in future...

I hope you enjoy One by one, Christina- and you too, Genny, if a copy ever finds its way to you! It's not a perfect read- there were moments when I wasn't sure about the writing style but the book ultimately had such an effect on me that she must have done something right.

Thanks for the thumbs up, Nancy!

Excellent review, Soup. I don't know if I could handle the subject matter but you made me almost want to try with your review.

Great review, Dee! Into the BlackHole the book goes.

Just dropping to say that I was so intrigued by the concept of "knitted mice who lived on the moon" that I've started to watch The Clangers with my significant other (we both love British animation).

Have put both The Ghost Lover and One by One on my list of books to buy...

>53 littlegreycloud:: That's great that you're watching The Clangers. Aren't they wonderful? My favourite episode is Goods where a machine arrives from somewhere which continually manufactures new "stuff". The Clangers think it's great to start with but then get buried with tons and tons of useless items and decide they're much better off without the machine!

Oliver Postgate's statement on consumerism, I think!

Well, in the episode we watched last night, a TV set turns up. Everyone is both scared and fascinated by it (they also feed it soup because clearly, this strange visitor must be hungry) but it all gets a bit too much for poor soupdragon, so they catapult it back into space. I think I detect a theme.:)

Oh yes, another classic- and variation on a theme!

My husband's childhood favourite was the one where an astronaut turns up with an American flag. The flag is used by the Clangers as a table cloth in following episodes! Apparently it was shown for the first time on the day of the moon landing which Oliver Postgate was not happy about at all- he was worried that something would go terribly wrong with the expedition and that his little programme would appear to be in bad taste!

Hi Dee, I can see that your thread is going to be a dangerous place for me to visit. I'm off now to look into two books I've not heard of, One by One in the Darkness and House of Orphans...

*evil laugh* LibraryThing is a dangerous place to visit!

#58: Isn't that the truth?!

Pressures at work and course deadlines have fried my brain into brain fritters in the last week! For some reason a symptom of this has been only being able to read books of a gothic nature. If there isn't a swirling cloak, a document sealed with red wax or a demonic lord by page five then I've had to move swiftly on. Strange...



4 & 5. The Dead Days Omnibus by Marcus Sedgwick

My thoughts

This omnibus edition consists of the Young Adult novels The Book of Dead Days and The Dark Flight Down.

The Book of Dead Days was a gothic romp through the streets of an old European city. Sedgwick really can conjure up a sense of place and atmosphere and I was completely transported into the narrow lanes and dark alleys of Sedgwick's world.

The story focuses on orphans, Boy (he has never been given any other name) and his companion Willow as they become caught up with magician Valerian's attempts to free himself from a pact with a demon.

I both enjoyed and was uncomfortable with the blurring of science and fantasy. The astronomer Kepler also features in the story and his telescope and experiments with electricity seem as magical as Valerian's performances with purple smoke. The problem with this though was that it led me to look for more historical consistency in the book than was actually there. Without Kepler I would have been more inclined to accept the city as a pure fantasy world. With Kepler I was looking on Wikipaedia trying to establish when and where all this would have taken place!

Sedgwick's plotting doesn't seem quite as strong as his descriptive skills but I was fairly happy with the conclusion of The Book of Dead Days which just left a couple of things up in the air- presumably to be continued in the next volume...

Unfortunately the next volume The Dark Flight Down was a bit of a disappointment. The story is rather basic - Boy needs to escape from the castle of a mad emperor and also save Willow from danger-but I read it to find out what happens next for Boy and Willow and hopefully discover the secret of Boy's past. The main problem for me was I found the secret of Boy's past contrived and unsatisfying. I would have rather just read the first book and drawn my own conclusions.

I recommend the first book of this omnibus but maybe not the second unless you really really need to find out what happens next to Boy and Willow!

6. The Time of The Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt

My thoughts

A gothic romance and suspense novel featuring young teacher, Cordelia in her first post at a boarding school set in the ancient ruins of a Devonshire abbey, probably at the turn of the century. This was the first Victoria Holt I've read and I loved it.

Yes it was derivative- definite shades of Rebecca and Jane Eyre but isn't a bit of Rebecca and Jane Eyre sometimes exactly what you want- and there are only so many times you can re-read them! Victoria Holt isn't Charlotte Bronte but I did like her writing style. The suspense element was very well done.

What really made it for me was the boarding school setting. I enjoyed reading about Cordelia's pupils probably more than I enjoyed reading about the dissolute Sir Jason Verringer! Jason was a bit over the top, actually but I suppose that's what Gothic Romance is all about!

I will be back for more Victoria Holt and will also look out for the books she wrote under other names- there seem to be plenty of them. I won't be reading them quite yet though. I feel as if I've been gorging myself on literary chocolate creme eggs and need to settle down with something more wholesome next!

Rated: 3.75 stars

You're right. Sometimes only VH will do. I even remember the title of *Hunter's Moon* - will have to look through my mother's books to nail it down. (Tell me about West Africa, Dee! I think it's next on my Travelers list.)

Oh my, this is going to be a dangerous thread. I'll have to find out more about Deirdre Madden, sounds like her books are must reads.
I still haven't got to The Dark Flight Down even though I enjoyed The book of Dead Days. i'll probably end up reading it because I also have the omnibus edition. I think I need to put aside a month just to finish off series and read sequels and so forth.

Hi Peggy and Kerry- thanks for stopping by!

Peggy, it's not me that's reading the West Africa traveller!! You may be confusing me with Outrageoussocks as she seems to have started reading it around Christmas!

Hmm. Now I'm looking at it, I do really want to read it. Wonder if they've got any cheap copies on Amazon...

Boy, I remember those Victoria Holt novels! My mother and I read tons of them when I was a teenager.

I hope the work and course deadlines are over with, at least for now, Dee!

>65 alcottacre:: I was a huge Victoria Holt fan in those days, too. My best friend and I devoured them. They are full of swirling cloaks, documents sealed with red wax and demonic lords as mentioned in #60.

Ooops. I'm not sure how socks metamorphosed into dragons on my way from there to here.

Very neat to learn about the origins of your username Dee!

I'll be checking out your reading - after the wonderful The End of Mr. Y, can't wait to see what you'll be reading this year!

>67 LizzieD:: Careful with your metamorphoses, Peggy- there'll be soupy socks and outraged dragons all over the thread ;-)

>68 LisaMorr:: Great to see you here, Lisa! I can't promise I'll find another Mr Y but will be very happy if I do! Actually Scarlett Thomas's new book (Our Tragic Universe) is pretty good too- if not quite as stunning as Mr Y. It's one of the Early Reviewer books this month. I thought of requesting it as I don't have my own copy but couldn't face the thought of having to review it!

Edited to add that it doesn't look like Our Tragic Universe is available as an Early Reviewer in the US :-(

>65 alcottacre: & 66: I wish I'd known about VH in my teens. I would certainly have devoured them too. Oh well, I might just have to make up for it in early middle age! If Hunter's Moon is anything to go by, they are perfect escapist reads.

>65 alcottacre:: Thank you- things are still pretty pressured at work and I still have course work but it should all be over by the end of February!

>70 Soupdragon: I was another teen reader of VH - they must have been my mother's copies because I don't still own any. Great escape reads! - and lucky you to have a whole new author to explore now since you missed her before!

Oh, absolutely VH for teens and women who didn't get them young and rereaders!!!!
I'm another fan of *Mr. Y* and will be very happy when I can afford Our Tragic Universe. I definitely noticed that *OTU* was not available in the US. *sigh*

Happy Birthday to you!

I hope it is a very special day

Is it your birthday, soup? Well many happy returns of the day!

Have never read a single Victoria Holt but there are days when only something of that ilk will do so I am going to get one in and stockpile it. For me, it's when I've had reality up the wazoo, so I want to read something which I know is patently unreal and yet doesn't insult my intelligence.

Happy birthday Dee

Happy Birthday, Dee! I hope it is a good one!

Happy Birthday!

This is the third place I've wished you Happy Birthday today, but I figure one can never receive enough birthday wishes! Hope your day was everything you wanted it to be.

Happy Birthday, Dee!

Happy birthday!

Happy B-Day!

Sorry I missed it yesterday, but hope you had a really good Birthday!

Oh my goodness, this place needs a good dust- I can't believe I have even neglected my own thread!

Thank you all for the lovely birthday greetings. I received these rather fab books:

Millenium Hall by Sarah Scott (green VMC)
Never No More by Maura Laverty (green VMC)
From Man to Man by Olive Schreiner (green VMC)
Consequences by E.H Delafield (persephone)
Tea with Mr Rochester by Frances Towers (persephone)
The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marganita Laski (persephone)
The Tamarisk Tree Volume Three by Dora Russell
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
Plus I also received in the post a duplicate/swap VMC from elkiedee:
The Fire Dwellers by Margaret Laurence (Thank you, Luci!)

I have already read and loved Tea with Mr Rochester but my original copy was a very delicate 1940s original Penguin which doesn't look as if it will withstand re-reading. I will definitely want to re-read it so am very happy with my new Persephone!

I am currently reading Anderby Wold and am looking forward to getting some free time so I can report back here on my reading and catch up with everyone else's threads. See you all in March!

Wow, what a great selection of books. Your present-givers evidently have excellent taste. Hope you had a great birthday!

Hi Ygraine

The Persephones were bought by me in advance and then passed on to my husband to give to me- so a small amount of cheating there! He did surprise me with the three VMCs though. He just popped into Oxfam the day before my birthday and found them- I haven't been that lucky for ages! The Colm Toibin and Alice Munro were from a good friend with good taste!

The birthday was quiet due to work commitments but I'm hoping to have some belated celebrations in March to make up for it!

That's a good selection of birthday books, even if you had to choose half of them yourself!

I hope the day itself was the equal of that great pile of gift books! Enjoy! Enjoy!!

Wow! What a great haul, Dee!

A good selection of books - I own 8 of the 10 (not Schreiner or Russell) - Dee is one of my top matching library people - and would recommend the 4 I've actually read - Never No More and The Fire-Dwellers years ago and Brooklyn and Tea With Mr Rochester last year.

A belated happy birthday and congratulations on the book haul!

Happy Belated! And happy reading this weekend, apparently :D

Things have quitened down so I should now be able to catch up with my (and everyone elses) thread. These are the books I've read over the last six weeks. I don't think I'll be writing full reviews of them all but will try to say at least a few words on each at some point!

The Vet's Daughter- Barbara Comyns
Touch of Mistletoe- Barbara Comyns
Our Spoons came from Woolworths- Barbara Comyns
Room- Emma Donoghue
We Had It So Good- Linda Grant
The Explosionist- Jenny Davidson
Invisible Things- Jenny Davidson
The House at Sea's End- Elly Griffiths
The Dead of Winter- Chris Priestley
Anderby Wold- Winifred Holtby
The Singer Cathi Unsworth

Edited because I missed one out!

Glad to see you here and posting again, Dee! You remind me to bump Barbara Comyns up to the top of Mt. Bookpile - that is, if I ever finish anything that I'm reading now. *sigh*

Hi Peggy- thanks for the welcome back!

Barbara Comyns is my new favourite author- I just love her "voice"! She seems to me such a quintessentially Virago author that I don't know why I haven't got around to reading her sooner. I read Spoons first, having had it sitting on my shelf for around three years and then wanted to read everything else by her too. I started to buy copies of her other books and borrowed The Vet's Daughter from the library. That was just before The Vet's Daughter was featured in the Guardian as a neglected classic (or something). Since then I've noticed far fewer reasonably priced second hand editions of all her books. Such a shame that Spoons is the only one currently in print. Though The Juniper Tree is due to be re-published next year.

Fly by wave. :)

I've been seeing a lot of Comyns around here on LT. I try to read one Virago Modern Classic a month, and I expect I'll be reading one of hers soon.

Good to see you here again.

I noticed lots of your Comyns additions when I've logged into LT recently - good news about The Juniper Tree as that's one I don't have - I have 6 of her books in VMC (two copies of Spoons for some reason) plus The House of Dolls that are readily visible on the shelves (I've had no shelf space for new acquisitions for a while, and I've found LT records help greatly in identifying which box recent purchases are likely to be in.

#96> Oh yes, do give her a try, Laura. The three I've read (and the fourth I'm reading now) are all told in the first person and Comyns has a very appealing and direct voice. She seems to be able to do naivity and world weariness at the same time!

The Vet's Daughter seems to be the one most talked about but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as the one to start with. I enjoyed it a lot but the ending is rather odd! I didn't feel as compelled to read more as I did after Our Spoons Came from Woolworths and A Touch of Mistletoe. Though it didn't stop me going on to read Mr Fox!

#97> Lucky you, having all six Virago editions, Luci!

My favourites of those I read were Our Spoons Came From Woolworths and Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead - I don't think I've read Mistletoe yet as I didn't have a copy at the time.

7. We Had It So Good by Linda Grant

I was sent this one by Virago to review for their new forum. It is the account of a couple who meet as students in the sixties and their lives as a couple and then a family through the following decades to the present day. I could appreciate the quality of Grant's writing and that she was making some interesting observations about the baby boomer generation but it ultimately fell short for me. This is what I wrote for the forum:

Linda Grant’s fluid and readable prose drew me at the beginning of the book. I found her account a convincing portrait of a generation- she got that combination of idealism and self-absorption spot on, I think! The political backdrop to Stephen and Andrea's family’s development was thought provoking.

I’m not sure, however, if I found it a convincing picture of a family! The characters are described vividly but with a cool touch. I could picture them well but felt I was seeing them from a distance rather than really living their lives with them. There was a lack of obvious warmth between the characters which seemed rather depressing considering they were part of the same family! Stephen seemed to start his relationship with Andrea because it was convenient and stay with her for the rest of her life for similar reasons. Andrea’s only emotion regarding her children appeared to be a sense of guilt. I know she was an analyst, I know mothers always feel guilty but I couldn’t quite believe in Andrea as a mother!

Emotions do heighten towards the end of the book when the book focuses on the couple's daughter and her relationship with a married colleague. There are also some revelations about close friend Grace's past which genuinely shocked me!

I think the part of the book which I found most affecting was when Stephen and Andrea discover secrets about their parents’ past. One thing that sometimes strikes me about the 1940s generation is that they had all that freedom with a shadow of the recent past hanging over them. My parents were born in the mid and late 1940s. WW2 was over but only just. They heard about it but my mother’s family at least, didn’t like to talk about it. The possibility that revelations about the past could occur for the baby boomers in later life strikes me as entirely believable.

Rated: 3 stars

There don't seem to be touchstones for this book. Does anyone know if there is a way of adding touchstones where none exist?

8. Room by Emma Donoghue

This has been reviewed literally hundreds of times so I have a good excuse not to try myself! That's quite a relief actually as I would find it very difficult to be objective about a book which for almost the whole time of reading it, I had tears streaming down my face! I stopped being aware of it after a while until people asked if I was ok! For me, like many others, the strength of the book was the depiction through Jack's eyes of the relationship between the mother and young son- beautiful and believable!

Rated: 4.5 stars

>98 Soupdragon:: Thanks for the tip, Dee. I was indeed thinking of reading The Vet's Daughter first. But since our taste in books is so similar, I will take your advice and choose another from my shelves! I have about 6, I think.

>102 lauralkeet:: That was my experience, Laura- others probably would recommend The Vet's Daughter as one to start with! Here are a few more thoughts on the Comyns I've recently read. In order of reading...

9. Our Spoons Came from Woolworths- Barbara Comyns
10. A Touch of Mistletoe- Barbara Comyns
11. The Vet's Daughter- Barbara Comyns
12. Mr Fox- Barbara Comyns

Of these four novels, The Vet's Daughter is the most successful in terms of plotting and structure. The characters are strongly defined- you cannot help but feel for Alice and despise her deeply unpleasant father. There was also a touch of the bizarre in this novel (perhaps what we would now call magical realism) which apparently is common in Comyn's books but wasn't present in the other three which I read

Spoons, Mistletoe and Mr Fox all read like lightly fictionalised memoirs and I loved them for that. There were common themes: poverty, unplanned pregnancies and relationships in 1930s London. The circumstances the narrator finds herself in all four books are often dire. After reading Spoons I was so, so glad I didn't give birth in a hospital in 1930s London. Men regularly step in and things change but not always for the better.

However whilst things do get grim, Comyns' artistic nature and love of beauty is always apparent. Comyns voice has a child-like directness and sometimes a wry naivity as she relates what she believed to be true at the time, whilst we know (as she now does) the reality to be different. Comyns voice also carries a poignant hopefulness with it. This is captured in Mr Fox when Caroline says:

"I'd always felt the future held wonderful things for me. I'd never quite caught up with it, but quite soon I would. I felt sure I hadn't long to wait."

I have thoroughly enjoyed bingeing on these books though I think enough is now enough- for a while at least. I was in danger of starting to talk like her myself- and I don't think I would have carried it off somehow!

I loved The Vet's Daughter when I read it earlier this year, so it's good to know that the rest I have to look forward to are just as well-written. She has a very distinctive style which I rather liked for its bald simplicity. Somehow she managed to convey more emotion by simply stating facts than a lot of writers do by lengthy descriptions.

Have enjoyed reading all the Barbara Comyns talk - I have Our Spoons Came from Woolworths here and I'm moving it up the TBR pile. I haven't read any of her novels yet.

I must get to a reread/read of these some time (I think I first read her in my teens/early 20s and then again in my 30s so this would be a 3rd read of some of the books, 2nd of others).

13. Reckless by Cornelia Funke

I spent Monday in bed with a headache and sore throat, reading this (borrowed from my nearly 13 year old son who in turn borrowed it as part of a school reading challenge).

Reckless is the first Cornelia Funke novel I've read so I have nothing to compare this with. I liked it and I'm sure that if I'd read it as the sixteen year old this is surely aimed at,then I would have loved it!

The story takes place in a parallel fantasy world which Jacob first entered through a mirror in his father's study twelve years back after the mysterious disappearance of his father. Jacob's younger brother, Will has now followed him and immediately got himself into trouble with soldiers and is now in the process of turning into a warrior made of jade. Jacob takes his responsibilities as protective big brother seriously and embarks on a mission to save Will with the help of various women/faeries most of whom are all in love with Jacob or fall for him at some point in the book. (Jacob is a major babe, it seems.)

I had mixed feelings about the prose which involved lots of short, pretty sentences. From the first page:

"But Jacob loved the night. He felt it on his skin like a promise. Like a cloak woven from freedom and danger"

Sometimes this felt beautifully done. Sometimes I was cringeing! As this was originally written in German, this could, of course, have something to do with the translation. And my flu. And that I'm not sixteen. (Oh God. I've started to talk. Like a Cornelia Funke novel!)

I did enjoy this book though. There was an emotional and psychological substance to it that I appreciated and I also liked the fact that there was an ambiguity about who were the good and bad guys. The story resolved itself by the end but with a couple of question marks which suggest there will be more to follow. I will probably read the next one- I have a horrible feeling I have a crush on Jacob!

Oh, a Funke book. I might just have to read that. The books I've read of hers I love.

Hi Dee! First time visiting your thread. :) That Cornelia Funke book sounds really interesting. I wonder did she write that before or after the Inkheart series? Thats interesting that the original language of the book is German? I wonder if all her books are that way...

I have a horrible feeling I have a crush on Jacob!
Another famous Jacob that steals the hearts of unsuspecting ladies..hehe :)

Hi DragonFreak and Jolerie!

I think Reckless is the latest Funke novel.

The copy I read was courtesy of a scheme my son's school is taking part in. There are numerous copies of six new Young Adult novels available for the kids to borrow and then review on a website dedicated to the project. I couldn't resist sneaking this one and also The Dead of Winter to read speedily before they needed to be returned. My son's favourites were Prisoner of the Inquisition and Boys Don't Cry.

Hello Dee, nice to see you posting again. I've read a couple of Funke's - The Thief Lord which I enjoyed, and Inkheart which was also good, but when I started the second of the Ink- trilogy I found myself getting bored and gave up. Perhaps also because I am not really the age that it is aimed at!

Hi Dee! Just popping in to say Hi! I love Funke's books and we have quite a lot of them around the house. ; ) I agree with Genny that Inkheart was better than the second in the series, but I didn't mind because I just had to know how it ended.

Hi Dee. Just saw your comment on Laura's thread about eventually reading The Portrait of a Lady together. I'd love to do that but don't know when I'll have time for it at the moment.

I just starred your thread and skimmed through it. The books you've been reading look interesting (and dangerous--I keep adding things to my TBR pile and then feeling hopelessly behind).

Anyway, good to have found you. I'm looking forward to following your reading.

Just stepping out of lurk to wave and say again that I wish I were at a place to read Barbara Comyns.

Hi Genny, Kim, Pat and Peggy!

Pat -I'm not sure when I'll get round to Portrait of a Lady either but I'll shout when I do and see if there's anyone else around reading it!

I still haven't caught up with my reviews but have recently finished Testament of Youth which completely blew me away and left me an emotional wreck.
Yesterday I treated myself to a copy of The Seas to console myself for a **** day at work. I've read the first few pages and think I'm going to like it a lot- as long as it stays quirky in a good way!

I felt like that at the end of Testament of Youth too - wrung out! Can't remember what I read next but it was fluffy.

Edited to add that The Seas does not look light and fluffy AT ALL!!

Well Cushla, it's funny you should say that because I put a lot of thought into what I should read next. First of all I thought something fluffy but then I thought maybe fluffy would seem too trivial. So I thought maybe quirky and a little serious but absolutely No War. And I wanted to read an Orange longlister so it was a toss up between Swamplandia and The Seas. A young girl with father issues who thinks she's a mermaid sounded about right. What I've only just realised is that one of the major characters is emotionally damaged after fighting in the Iraq War and (according to someone's blog) that his wartime experiences are dwelled on in much depth later in the book. Oh dear! It's too late now though- I have already been pulled in by the writing!

I want to read The Seas but Swamplandia! is fantastic too - a mixture of very sad and funny, not much war in it.

>118 elkiedee:: I also have When God was a Rabbit on order from the library. I know you have that one, Luci- do you think it would fit the bill? Apart from not being an Orange longlister, of course?

I do also have a TBR "pile" of over 400 books but I don't particularly feel like reading any of them right now! There is no hope for me!

Ooh, didn't realise The Seas was on the Orange longlist. Obviously wasn't paying attention when I read all the blurbs on the Guardian website! My 3 longlist books have all arrived and I'm looking forward to them (The Swimmer, The Secret Lives of Bab Segi's Wives and The Pleasure Seekers.

I just went to look what I read after ToY out of curiosity and it was The Provincial Daughter, by R M Dashwood, the daughter of E M Delafield who wrote the lovely Diary of a Provincial Lady series. And after that it was 1984, which was even grimmer than Testament of Youth!!

I have 2 copies of The Diary of the Provincial Lady on my Virago shelf (I can't decide which one to offer on the duplicates thread) and have been dying to get to it for ages. However, I really want to read something contemporary right now- perhaps I should have added that to my criteria above. That's very unusual for me, I'm usually quite happy to remain in the early to mid twentieth century!

I read 1984 about twenty five years ago and am still not ready for a re-read!

I don't think I'll ever be ready for a re-read of 1984! I hadn't read it, and still haven't read Animal Farm.

I read the Provincial Lady books when we were in the middle of moving over here and they were perfect for my mood and concentration span - I loved them. The Provincial Daughter was ok but not great.

When God Was a Rabbit is definitely quirky, there's some very sad bits - including serious illness, which is something I worry about when thinking about what I should lend my mum - but I think it will probably fit what you're looking for.

Do you like Diana Wynne Jones? Might you like DWJ? I wouldn't call her books fluffy, but they are very enjoyable.

Hi Dee, I've never heard of The Seas (I also missed seeing it on the Orange longlist) but it sounds like something I'd like so I'll be interested to hear what you end up thinking of it. I have Testament of Youth on my WL after reading Laura's and Cushla's reviews of it. Didn't realize it was so intense so I'll have to factor that in to when I read it.

I have about 225 books in my house that haven't been read and am always dismayed when I have no interest in reading any of them mainly because I've purchased most of them recently. It's the books I don't have that always seem to call to me.

>115 Soupdragon:: I still haven't caught up with my reviews but have recently finished Testament of Youth which completely blew me away and left me an emotional wreck.
Yeah, it does that. An excellent book. I followed it with an Elizabeth Taylor which wasn't as light as I needed, but was still good.

>122 cushlareads:: I'm sure I will get to the Provincial Lady before too long. I had heard that the Provincial Daughter is not quite as good. I gave up on Animal Farm a few years back- just wasn't in the mood.

>123 elkiedee:: Thanks Luci. Looking forward to reading the God/rabbit book when it arrives. I had been thinking about Diana Wynne Jones after reading about her death on your thread. The only ones I've read are a couple of the Crestomanci series with my older son. Are there any you'd recommend?

>124 phebj:: I think the intensity comes from being given such a clear, intelligent and articulate account of such devastating losses and their political context. I am completely in awe of Vera Brittain's energy, intellect, awareness and honesty. It seems strange when we've all grown up with the knowledge of both world wars and when I've read powerful books such as Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy but I've never before felt so angry on behalf of the young men whose ideals were exploited and lives lost and the loved ones they left behind! So yes, do be prepared for some intensity but don't let that put you off reading it for as long as I did!

>125 lauralkeet:: I must thank you, Laura, for giving me the final push towards reading Testament of Youth, twenty five or more years after receiving it from my grandmother and being told "every woman should read this book." I now think every man and woman should read it!

#126 Testament of Youth had a big impact on me too. I read it when I was about 22, and it was particularly what I learned about the experiences of women that struck me, even more than the horrors of the war. I had never seen the point of feminism before then, because it was perfectly obvious to me that women were just as capable as men and no-one had ever told me I could not do something because I was a woman. It was only in reading Vera Brittain's struggle to study for a degree that the reality really struck home of the extent to which women in the past (and of course elsewhere in the world today) had to fight for what I so easily took for granted, not least access to a good education.

Catching up after a long absence! It's great to see all the talk about Viragos - Barbara Comyns has dutifully been added to my list of authors to read one day.

I was very excited to find a copy of Testament of Youth on bookmooch last month and I'm going to try and read it this month. I will make sure I have something lighter lined up afterwards though...

Hello Genny and Heather!

I will be interested to hear what you think of Testament of Youth, Heather. And yes if you're interested in Viragos then Comyns is a must-read!

Genny- you are absolutely right. Vera Brittain's struggle for the university education which it was taken for granted her brother would receive was also very striking. I imagine it would have a huge impact if you were young and had not seen the need for feminism before. Hmm, maybe that's why my nan was trying to persuade me to read it when I was seventeen!

Trying to catch up...



14. The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson

There were some rather delicious ingredients in this Young Adult novel which made for an enjoyable read. The setting is 1930s Edinburgh and fifteen year old, bookish Sophie spends her week days at boarding school and her weekends with her formidable Aunt Tabitha, social reformer and spiritualist.

However this is not 1930s Scotland as I have seen it before. The Explosionist takes place in an alternate reality where Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo and Scotland subsequently became politically divided from the rest of Britain and joined with Scandanavia to form the Hanseatic League. Alternate realities don't always work for me but this one did. The world presented was clever and thought provoking, leading to lots of questions, particularly about politics and war. There is a lot of playing around with cultural ideas: Tolstoy is a theologian, Wagner a novelist and Einstein a poet!

I was especially interested in the IRYNS project where sinister methods are used to turn young women into unquestioning and biddable assistants for Scotland's powerful men.

There was a lot left hanging at the end of the book but I wasn't too concerned as I had the sequel lined up to read next where I was confident more would be revealed.



15. Invisible Things by Jenny Davidson

I was very disappointed with this one. Where The Explosionist seemed to have been written with wonderful care to detail, Invisible Things felt like a rush job! The story has now moved to Copenhagen where plot developments have led to Sophie finding out secrets about her family and the government. Sophie and her boyfriend find themselves pitted against beautiful but psychopathic scientist Elsa Blix which was all a bit predictable and ultimately uneventful.

The most disappointing part of the book was that the things that interested me in book one seemed to be resolved, off the scenes in very unsatisfying ways. SPOILER Alert: an example- Sophie receives a letter saying the IRYNS project has been exposed and cancelled. Oh that's alright then!

I have a tiny hope that this book is weak because it is a transition book and everything will be resolved more satisfyingly in the next one. I'm not too confident any more though. I get the impression that Davidson is good at ideas but not so good with structure!

16. The Singer by Cathi Unsworth

I picked this up from a charity shop after reading about another of Cathi Unsworth's crime novels on Dtorre's blog. Some time later, I browsed throught the first few pages and started reading a scene from the early 1980s featuring girls with black eyeliner and with crimped hair held in place by Boots ultra-strong hairspray waiting expectantly for a post-punk band to appear. As I had been one of those girls, I read on and it turned out the scene shown is actually being watched on a video recorder. Time has passed (though not enough for videos to have been replaced by DVDS apparently) and young journalist Eddie is being shown the video by the older Gavin, a rock photographer. Vincent, the singer of the band disappeared in mysterious circumstances some years ago and Eddie decides to uncover the truth and write about it.

The story which follows is divided between an account of Eddie's investigations and flashbacks to the late 1970s and early 80s where the true story of the band- Blood Truth- is slowly revealed.

I enjoyed the post-punk setting and reading about Vincent's girlfriend Sylvana and her early goth band Mood Violet. I liked the fact that most of Blood Truth were working class Hull boys and that the earliest flashbacks were set in Hull. I enjoyed these details so much that I forgot I was reading a crime novel and completely missed the classic thriller twist which came at the end and felt as if it should have been obvious but hadn't been to me! Maybe the best twists are like that!

I really enjoyed Cathi Unsworth's 3rd novel Black Penny Blues recently - I bought The Singer before but have yet to read it.

I must reread Testament of Youth - I also bought Bluestockings ages ago, a nonfiction book about the first women to get a university education, which another online friend (nocto) has given a rave review to.

I am seriously behind on threads, Dee, so I am not even going to try and catch up. I will try and keep current the rest of the year though :)

Thanks for dropping by, Stasia and Luci. I think I heard Bluestockings being talked about on Woman's Hour a few years back!



17. The Seas by Samantha Hunt

The Seas is told through the eyes of an isolated nineteen year old living in a remote seaside town at the very north of America. It is the story of loss and unrequited love. The narrator waits for her father who walked out to sea one day, never returning and yearns for Jude, her only friend, an ex-serviceman who sleeps with every girl except her.

The language is both sparse and suffused with meaning. The symbolism is effective and not overdone- the alchoholic drowning in drink and the over-flowing emotions blend in with the ever-present ocean setting.

The narrator's voice is appealing and to some degree I could identify with her despite her belief that she is a mermaid! When first mentioned this appears to be a childish fancy but as the story develops we become increasingly aware of the disassociation between the narrator's fantasy world and reality. We want to believe in the fantasy where the father lives in a city under the sea where she too belongs but after some ambiguity the ending suggests a bleaker reality!

A beautiful book which I only became aware of after it made this year's Orange prize longlist. Although I loved it I don't see it as a potential winner. It was probably just a little too odd and also lacking the polish and structure that I would expect from a prize winner. However, I am reading another nominated book right now which I think could be a contender- The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna. More on that one later!

#134: The Hunt book looks very good. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Dee!

Vera Brittain's books have been on my wishlist for some time now, but it looks as though I may have to bump them up a bit. I think I'll have to add 'The Seas' too as your review makes it sound intriguing.

The Seas had been added to my TBR list. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hello Stasia, Katie and Dee! I hope anyone who does get to The Seas enjoys it as much as I did.

Nice to have another Dee around- my dad used to call me Deedledee when I was a kid!

18. The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna



I soon became totally immersed in this story of Sierra Leone in the present day and how its people are coping in the aftermath of civil unrest. Initially the story is told mostly through the eyes of Adrian, a British psychiatrist newly arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The use of a character unfamiliar with the country and the present tense narrative gave the beginning the of the book a real immediacy. I felt I was seeing Sierra Leone for the first time and gradually learning about it and its people with Adrian.

As the book continues we learn less about Adrian and more of the characters around him who become his world. Elias Cole, an elderly patient at the hospital where Adrian is based, relives the story of his love during his youth for the wife of one of his university colleagues. Here, the first person narrative and the theme of unrequited love would suggest a sympathetic character but the obsessive quality of Elias's feelings set alarm bells ringing early on and his story becomes increasingly sinister.

The other character we follow closely is doctor, Kai, clearly the author's favourite! We meet him initially as Adrian's first friend but then learn much more about him particularly when the hidden connection between Adrian, Kai and Elias is revealed. Although each of these characters are men we also get a clear picture of the women in their lives through reading (and reading between the lines of) the men's stories.

There are various strands to the novel but by the conclusion the strands have been combined, questions answered and a devastating reality revealed. Forna's passion for Sierra Leone is obvious and there is a definite sense of criticism of visiting outsiders attitudes- both the opportunists who use the country for their own gains and those who want to help but find themselves judging. Forna's account presents the attitudes often interpreted by westerners as fatalistic as a neccessary survival mechanism and a natural consequence of what Sierra Leone's people have been through.

Overall a mesmerising and powerful novel. Recommended!

I just recently heard about The Memory of Love but yours is the first review I've read of it, Dee. Onto the wishlist it goes and a big thumb for your review.

Thanks for the thumb up, Pat. Hopefully now that it's made the Orange shortlist, The Memory Of Love will get the attention I think it deserves!

>139 Soupdragon:: oh that does sound interesting. Just last weekend I attended a lecture by a young lawyer who did policy work in Sierra Leone ... Piqued my interest. Great review Dee!

#139: That one looks very good. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Dee!

19. Love Song by Nikki Gemmell



A bit of an odd one this. I don't think I'd actually recommend it yet I'm glad I read it and I enjoyed much of it. Love Song was an impulse charity shop buy. The blurb sounded interesting and I knew the name from somewhere. (Subsequent googling revealed that Gemmell was the author of the much hyped The Bride Stripped Bare, originally published anonymously and apparently loved by many young women who identified with Gemmell's approach to female sexuality but not by the young men who read it hoping for something more pornographic!)

Once the book arrived home, I flicked through the first pages, expecting to then add it to the mountainous TBR but found I couldn't stop reading. I am a bit of a sucker for a first person narrative and this one certainly drew me in. Lillie's voice is poetic in an intense, offbeat and adolescent way.

I did struggle with making sense of the story however! Lillie is from a remote community living on an australian island called Sunshine. We learn that her life became even more isolated when she was accused of a crime and was as a consequence forced to spend the rest of her childhood at home with only her parents for company. I found that a difficult premise to accept and having accepted it would hope for a much deeper examination of the psychological consequences of such an experience. Lillie seems to emerge unscathed with rather an exuberant personality!

However the plot moved on and I started to feel the novel was working when Lillie moved to England. I enjoyed reading about her growing bond with her grandfather and the affair with a jaded older man was all too believable. But then the plot took another turn which I found difficult to accept, Lillie ends up back at Sunshine and things get even less credible. By the end of the book, I'd really had enough-which was a shame as there was also much to appreciate there!

edited to add: I think the real title is Lovesong (one word) but the touchstones will only accept the title as two words!

Thanks for thoughtful reviews, Dee. Thumbs! I have The Seas ready to read on my Kindle if I can get to it, but I yearn for The Memory of Love!

Thanks for the thumb Peggy and yes, you must read it -and you too, Stasia and Laura! I would love to discuss The Memory of Love when a few more people have read it. There were aspects to it which I didn't mention partly because I wasn't sure how to approach them without making the book sound heavier than it is. It will be great to hear other people's comments.

#146: Unfortunately I will not be discussing it any time soon. My local library does not have a copy.

>147 alcottacre:: I really want it to win the Orange prize partly so that a lot more libraries do get copies!

#148: I hope that it works! Maybe my local library will get a copy. (not holding my breath on that though)

The Memory of Love sounds very good Dee, so onto the teetering tower it goes. And it's an Orange besides! Yay!

Another thumb for your review of The Memory of Love. I will hopefully get it out of the library son.

The Memory of Love sounds fantastic.

Great review of The Memory of Love - might have to buy it!

Hello and thanks, Bonnie, Heather, Tanglewood and Cushla! I hope copies of The Memory of Love manage to find their ways to you all and that you enjoy it as much as I did!

20. The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini



The Boy Next Door is set in Zimbabwe during the 1980s and 1990s and looks at issues around race and political tensions in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. It is also a touching story of an unconventional relationship.

The novel is told in the first person by Lindewe. Lindewe has been brought up as "colored" (mixed race) as her father's father had been a white farmer who had paid for his education but had no other involvement. However Lindewe reveals that at school "the real colored girls called me names because I was not light-skinned and I had a wide nose".

When we first meet Lindewe she is a quiet, bookish teenager, top of her class, reading Sue Barton novels on the veranda and with a crush on Ian Mckenzie, the white boy who lives next door. Ian is very different to Lindewe. He never makes it to his GCSEs and whilst there are things he doesn't want to discuss he is talkative with an entertaining line in local collaqualisms. Being white his experience of Zimbabwe's recent history and attitude to race is very different.

As the years go by and the economic and political situation deteriorates, an unusual relationship develops between Lindewe and Ian, sometimes in unexpected ways. I found the account of this relationship very touching. The strains were so obviously always going to be there, because of their different personalities, their different attitudes and their different experiences and somehow many of these differences seemed more visible in a time and country where race was so significant.

There was also the matter of the murder of Ian's abusive step-mother of which Ian is initially accused and then cleared of, early in the book. Although this does not stop Lindewe falling for Ian by the end of the book it becomes clear she still has questions about it.
As the book draws to an end we learn more about both character's families and previously unknown links between them but not all our questions are answered. I think this was intentional and seems to fit in with Lindewe and Ian learning to accept each other even when they didn't always understand the other! The feel-good ending could have felt contrived in a novel dealing with the issues this one does but it actually seemed to fit well with the tenderness at the novel's core!

The Deptford Trilogy by Roberston Davies



This comprises of three novels:

21: Fifth Business
22: The Manticore
23: World of Wonders

I have to say these novels were not quite like anything I've ever read before! Fifth Business opens with an incident involving two young boys and a snowball which accidently hits a pregnant woman in rural Canada. This incident becomes the basis of all three books which explore the consequences of this incident, it's implications and how life is changed for those involved in the village of Deptford where the incident takes place.

Each novel allows a different character to tell his life story though the character which we learn most about and really warm to is Fifth Business's Dunstan Ramsey. The other novels are still worth reading, however as they give an opportunity to consider other points of view and as a trilogy a complex world is created which probably could not have been achieved in just one book. (I did find World of Wonders difficult to read, however, because of scenes involving child abuse.)

These are ambitious books and I am full of admiration for Davies as I think he achieves what he aimed for. Mythology is evident on several different levels. The Manticore takes the form of an analytical (Jungian) therapy session where David Stanton's dreams are assessed and his shadow self revealed. Ramsey in the first and third books states his belief that mythology contains universal truths which can explain everyday human behaviour. Symbolism is apparent through the theme of magicians and showmen who alternately transform and deceive. The respectable village of Deptford has its dark side in the form of a disused quarry where tramps drink and unspoken deeds take place. Davies himself changes tone between dark and light throughout the trilogy so there are moments dealing with painfully real serious issues and also some very funny moments.

I was very impressed with the combination of psychological depth and wit and humour here. I think it is Davies's wit which prevents this trilogy being merely interesting and turns it into something which is also immensely readable and entertaining.

OK, enough good books thank you!! Your thread is bad for me! I've just added The Boy Next Door to my wishlist and now that I'm in the work page I remember that Laura and Darryl and Terri all really liked it too.

I have some Robertson Davies in a box in NZ, but it's one of his other trilogies.

>156 cushlareads:: Yes, I liked The Boy Next Door a lot and I blame Darryl for starting it all. :)

Hi Dee, I can't tell you how much I love your review of The Deptford Trilogy which I read a few years ago. I would have loved being able to talk to you about it at that time because a lot of the details have escaped my brain. Anyway, I thought Fifth Business was the strongest of the three and The Manticore was a tough row to hoe just because of the psychology of it. But once through that you just had to go on to World of Wonders where he ended the trilogy beautifully. Taken as a whole, I loved the trilogy and your review is a great one.

Dee, I loved both of your reviews. I had WL'd The Boy Next Door earlier when Darryl recommended it and I own a copy of The Deptford Trilogy which is waiting patiently to be read. Can't wait to get to both of them now.

Great reviews, Dee! It's been at least 30 years since I read any Davies at all, so it's time to go back to Deptford this year or next. Thanks for keeping it near the surface of that roiling mass that passes for my mind.

>156 cushlareads: and 157: Hi Cusha and Laura! I do remember The Boy Next Door getting a lot of attention last year but what really prompted me to read it now was The Memory of Love. I wanted another well-written african novel by a woman! I thought about Purple Hisbiscus which has been on my shelf for ages but ended up borrowing The Boy Next Door from the library instead.

>158 brenzi:: Thank you, Bonnie! The Manticore was rather heavy on the analytical psycholgy but I went through a big Jung phase in my twenties which probably helped me there!

>159 phebj:: Thank you, Pat. I'll be really interested to hear your thoughts on these.

>160 LizzieD:: Thanks, Peggy. I'm wondering if I should try one of Davies' other trilogies and how they compare with Deptford.

#154: Rats. My local library still does not have The Boy Next Door.

>162 alcottacre:: Sometimes I really want to be the librarian who chooses the stock! Though all the librarians I know are worrying about losing their jobs at the moment, so maybe not!

#163: I know what you mean about wanting to be the person who chooses the stock. I would think that it would be a winless prospect though because you could never please everyone!

I've found at our library that the librarian chooses the books that are popular, which are seldom the books I'm looking for so I end up ordering my books online and using our library just as a pick up point.

You're a darling!

>164 alcottacre:: Too true!

>165 brenzi:: Being able to order books online does help doesn't it? I think individual branches are getting less books in but at least we know what the other branches have these days!

>166 LizzieD:: *blushes* Thank you, my dear! The book will be on its way to you soon!

I've just finished Great House by Nicole Krauss and hope to review it soon and have started Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood for some light relief. Its the nineth in the Phryne Fisher series but they're quite expensive and difficult to find in the UK so I'll see what I think about this one before I order the back catalogue!

I need to get to Great House. I read Krauss' The History of Love earlier this year and enjoyed it.

24. Great House by Nicole Krauss



Great House is an unusually structured novel probably best approached as four loosely connected stories. The stories are set in New York, Israel and London over different decades but each is told in the first person by a character who is Jewish and/or discussing their relationship with a Jewish wife or son.

Krauss expresses the inner lives of her characters with astonishing beauty and elegance. Each is struggling to connect in some way. In New York, novelist Nadia has started to wonder if her ability to be entirely self-contained is the advantage she's always thought.
A father in Israel looks back at his difficult relationship with his son, Dov. In childhood Dov was an intense, highly strung boy whose father found difficult to understand and sometimes behaved brutally towards. I found this section uncomfortable reading but psychologically convincing. I have known boys like Dov and men like his father! In London, Arthur has always struggled to communicate deeply with his refugee wife. After her death he tries to uncover mysteries from her past in an attempt to finally understand her. Then there is the strange story of Weisz who has a career in returning lost pieces of furniture to those who have lost them.

As anyone who has heard anything about this book will already know, the book features a desk. Three of the characters have been in possession of the desk at some point. A mistake that I made was to believe that this would eventually lead to a full history of the desk. It didn't! However there is a conclusion of sorts: one that was weak on plausibility and strong on symbolism. There was a certain power to it but personally I found it fell short of being completely satisfying. A reader with a better knowledge of Jewish history may well appreciate it more!

Despite these issues, I loved this book for Krauss's prose and her ability to reach the very core of her characters.

Thumb from me on your review of Great House, Dee. I know I will eventually read this despite some mixed reviews especially after reading your last line: I loved this book for Krauss's prose and her ability to reach the very core of her characters.

Stasia, I'm so glad you enjoyed The History of Love because I own a copy of that I need to get to.

That was quick Pat- and thank you!

Yes, Stasia, that is good news as I also have a copy of The History of Love that I've had around for a while. I really should have read it before borrowing Great House from the library but I was infected by Orange fever! Anyway Great House has made me want to read The History of Love- but not quite yet!

Hi Dee! Thanks for visiting my thread!!! I have to run out to do a few errands right now, but I wanted to star your thread! I'll be back later in the day to read it... especially your review on Great House... chat with you later! :)

Hi, I'd lost your thread and just went looking for it on the wiki, turned out I'd put a cross by it, definitely not intentionally. The only threads I'm crossing at the moment are group read threads, and then generally ones that I'm not curious about or think I can go and look for later.

I really enjoyed The Boy Next Door. I must have been reading Great House at practically the same time as you but don't feel I could sensibly review it, though I liked it. I own The History of Love (and her first book). GH seems like the most challenging to read of the 4 shortlist books I've read so far.

Interestingly, of the books we've both read that you've read this year, the only one where we diverge significantly on ratings is the Linda Grant book that you kindly sent me.

Have you asked for their latest First Look book? - Natasha Walter's book on sexism, Living Dolls. I received a copy yesterday so I'm not sure if they plan to ask people to write in about each book as it comes up or if they decided to take a few more people - I don't think they got 50 reviews of We Had It So Good on the website.

Hi Luci

Thanks for finding me again! I know what you mean about Great House. My review was more of a personal response to it really. I couldn't begin to do justice to all that about the desk being a symbol of Judaism etc, partly because I'm not sure I totally understood it all!

That's interesting about the Linda Grant book. Actually that was one where I initially thought I would be giving it a higher rating. I enjoyed it to begin with and definitely admired the writing. Then at one point I started to think I didn't actually believe in the central characters and their relationships. I didn't think the married couple would have stayed married for any length of time and Andrea didn't convince me as a mother. I was interested to read that at the Virago event you and Ygraine attended, Linda Grant talked about how she was initially going to write in the death of one of the children. I'm glad she didn't as it would have been quite harrowing but it might have convinced me of the characters emotional depth!

I was wondering if I needed to request Living Dolls after reading their email but my copy arrived yesterday so it looks like Virago are taking on some more reviewers and also keeping the existing ones. I'm really pleased that they are now sending you books and it's also good news for them as I know you will write the reviews! They definitely didn't get anywhere near 50 reviews of We Had It So Good! I am about three quarters of the way through Living Dolls already as I picked it up yesterday and couldn't put it down. I think we will all have lots to say about this one!

Edited because I don't seem capable of writing a post without typos.

>172 vancouverdeb:: Whoops Sorry Deb! I saw Elkiedee's new comments and missed yours! Thank you for searching out and starring my thread and look forward to seeing you later!

Another fine review, Dee. I'm just reading about your acquisition of the first edition South Riding with letter. Great! Glad you have it!!
(If only the Virago folks would send a copy or two of their new titles stateside! I'd review for sure.)

Wow, you are sprinting through the Orange books. I have Great house on my tbr pile, along with The Memory of Love, I need to get reading!

Nice review of Great House, Dee!

Hi Dee! On the subject of the Orange Prize -and I've got Orange Fever too - I've just finished Grace Williams Say it Loud and it's a solid 4 in my view. I wrote a few comments on it my thread - if you can find it!!!;)

I've yet to read Room,Great House and the Tiger's Wife - or whatever it is called!;) I may yet get to Room.

I'm hoping to read Great House and Room this summer (and maybe The Tiger's Wife too. We have them all at the library.

Thumb up from me, Dee, for your wonderful review ofGreat House. As for Grace Williams Says it Loud- you mentioned needing to be a in certain mood to read the book. One thing that is important to know is that sad and shocking - that the story can be - Grace and her fellow patients just seem to take the abuse and march on in life, so one does not get bogged down in over sentimentality - a big complaint of mine with a lot of Canadian Literature!;) Initially I thought I might have trouble with the subject matter too -but I was just fine.

Hello Peggy, Kerry, Stasia, Deb and Lori! Thanks for stopping by and for all encouraging comments!

Funnily enough I was only interested in The Memory of Love from the Orange shortlist and The Seas from the longlist originally but the more reviews I read, the more interested I become in the others. And it was Jill's link to the Orange website where you can read extracts from each of the shortlisted books which led me to Great House. The link, if anyone's interested and hasn't yet seen it, is: http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/prize.html#slsb

Deb, thank you for your comments about Grace Williams. I think that will help me get to it sooner rather than later!

Thumbed your review of Great House and glad you enjoyed it. My copy is waiting for me to collect it at the library along with Swamplandia! and The Memory of Love. Why do library reservations always come along at once rather than nicely spread out?

I'll check out your review of Great House and I'm sure I'll be giving it the thumb! I'm onto Room for my last Orange Read before the winner is announced. @ 184 - I know just what you mean! Or - one day apart - so you go in one day -and then the next for your holds.

Hi, Dee. Thanks for the link to the excerpts.

Hello Heather, Deb and Peggy. Thanks for visiting! A review...

25. The Good Parents by Joan London



The Good Parents opens with eighteen year old, country girl, Maya who has recently moved to Melbourne considering her affair with her fifty-something boss.

By the time Maya's parents Toni and Jacob arrive to visit, Maya has disappeared leaving only a message that she will be away for a few days because of work. Fears rise when Maya does not return.

The story shifts between different characters and different times but London writes with such skill that every time I found myself eager to step into the shoes of each character and immerse myself in their life. I found London's characters fascinating, well-rounded and believable. Their stories are told with such compassion and thoughtfulness that I couldn't help but care for them in the way London seemed to.

The characters we read most about are Toni and Jacob. We learn about how their anxiety about Maya affects their relationship and leads them to reflect upon the lives they have led until now. Each of them has experienced incidents in their lives which have caused them feelings of guilt and to consider what it means to live a good life. Other characters, including those who initially appear minor ones are also put under the spotlight and understood by the end of the book.

On the surface, this is a beautifully written character-driven novel with enough tension surrounding the disappearance of Maya to drive the plot along. If you like to look for symbolism and archetypes they are also there but London doesn't force them on the reader. Maya's disappearance leads Toni to recall her own youth when she rejected her own mother to descend Persephone-like into the underworld with gangster/businessman Cy. In his youth, dreamer Jacob reads War and Peace instead of revising for exams and starts to see parallels between this novel and his own life. Readers of War and Peace will probably spot further connections.

This was a five-star read for me and I can't understand why Joan London isn't better known. She's not completely unrecognised though as this book apparently won the Christina Stead Prize for fiction in 2009 and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Australasia). Her earlier book Gilgamesh was longlisted for the Orange prize and is now in top place on my wishlist!

#187: Nice review, Dee! I will see if I can locate a copy of the book.

Congratulations on hitting 25 books for the year!

Thank you, Stasia! Actually I have read more than twenty-five books but haven't got round to reviewing the others. Perhaps I should admit defeat and list them anyway!

The Books I read this year but haven't reviewed yet and if I'm really honest with myself probably never will!

26. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. Rated 5 stars
27. The Family Tree by Carole Cadawalladr. Rated 3 stars
28. The Bone Garden by Kate Ellis. Rated 4 stars
29. The Funeral Boat by Kate Ellis. Rated 3.5 stars
30. An Unhallowed Grave by Kate Ellis. Rated 3.5 stars
31. Anderby Wold by Winifred Holtby. Rated 4 stars
32. The Glass Demon by Helen Grant. Rated 3.5 stars
33. The House at Seas End by Elly Griffiths. Rated 4 stars
34. Silent Boy by Tori Hayden. Rated 3.5 stars
35. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marakami. Rated 3.5 stars
36. White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick. Rated 3.5 stars
37. The Tricksters by Margaret Mahy. Rated 5 stars
38. The Tower Room by Adele Geras. Rated 2 stars
39. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Rated 3.5 stars

Well, you just blew by 25, didn't you? lol

I am doing a re-read of Testament of Youth right now. I agree with you - a 5 star book!

>190 Soupdragon:: wow, that's quite a bit of reading, Dee! Wise of you to be honest with yourself and move on.
>191 alcottacre:: yay! I'm glad you are finding it as powerful as I did.

Hi Dee, another Testament of Youth fan here. And thanks for adding to my TBR pile with The Good Parents. I am not at all familiar with Joan London but it seems like I'm missing something. And I think I'll also add The Tricksters which I don't know anything about but since you gave it 5 stars, well, what can I say.

Me too! That's a wonderful review - better than any on the work page. Why isn't it there?
I had seen Gilgamesh on the Orange list, but hadn't looked into it. Joan London is now certainly on my "look out for" list at least.
Chime 3 ringing for *ToY*.
(I'd really like to hear your take on *Kafka* though!)

Hi Dee! Glad you enjoyed Great House... I'm not sure if I'll get to it before the orange prize is award - let's face it, I wont! ;) I'm glad you enjoyed Memory of Love as I did - I think that will take the Orange Prize! I've read Grace Williams Says it Loud and Room as well as Annabel } so I feel I've done my due dilligence for this years Orange Reading! ;)

I'm currently reading a bit of a fun escapist read - The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe . It's a wonderful escapist read regarding the Salem trials of witches - it goes back and forth from modern times back to the 1600's. It seems to be well researched historical fiction.

Congrats on reading 25 books - though it looks like you've read more than that, to me!

The Good Parents sounds like something I'd like and I've just wishlisted it. Thanks for the recommendation.

And I also appreciate your honesty about not getting around to reviewing books. I always feel guilty when I get behind and it takes me a while to move on.

190: Woo hoo - lots of books!

The Good Parents looks great and I loved your review, very well written.

>191 alcottacre:: Lol, Stasia! I'm glad you're enjoying Testament of Youth!

>192 lauralkeet:: Hi Laura. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep up with my reviews now but that might be over-optimistic!

>193 brenzi:: Bonnie, I loved The Tricksters but it probably wouldn't be everyone's idea of a 5 star book. It's a YA/teen novel which struck a huge chord with me and sent me spinning back to the dreams of my own adolescent years!

>194 LizzieD:: Thank you Lizzie. I wasn't all that satisfied with my review but as you've been so kind about it, I may well add it to the official reviews!

Ah, Kafka on the Shore! This probably deserved four stars really as it was for the most part a joy to read. I loved the characters: teenage runaway Kafka; mysterious Oshima who works at the library where Kafka ends up living; Nakata who has the ability to talk to cats and the cats who talk to Nakata. And with a wonderfully trippy, post-modern storyline where nothing which is claimed to be certain can be trusted and anything can happen, there was a lot to love.

However... I did start to get a bit narky towards the end. I realise this is a clever book with metaphors and myths to be picked up and appreciated along the way but I started to wonder if it possibly wasn't quite as clever as Murakami thought. Part of the problem could be that as a middle-aged mother of boys, I don't quite fit Murakami's intended readership. I found the storyline which involved Kafka having sex with women he believed might be his long-lost mother or sister rather ick. Oh, but it's okay because it's an Oedipus reference (sigh)!

When the book ended there was a feeling of completion even though nothing much was resolved or explained. In a book so resolutely post-modern I wasn't expecting more. So I got even more narked when I found out that Murakami recommends reading this book multiple times for a clearer understanding of it and that there are websites where readers compare their thoughts between re-reads. KIDS, HE IS MESSING WITH YOUR HEADS!

Gosh, I'm even narkier about it than I realised! Hope that's answered your query, Peggy!

>195 vancouverdeb:: Hi Deb. Glad you're enjoying the Katherine Howe book. I've heard mixed reports so it's good to hear it's a fun, escapist read!

>196 phebj:: Hello Pat. I hope you enjoy The Good Parents as much as I did if you do get to it.

>197 RosyLibrarian:: And nothing much beats lot of books, Marie!

>198 KiwiNyx:: Thank you so much, KiwiNyx. Maybe I will post it on the main page!

Waving hi, Dee! Thanks for stopping by my thread! Wow! Do you usually review all of your books! My goodness, that would take me forever!!! You've done really well with your reading!!! Looks like The Good Parents might be yet another book for me to look into. Great review! I've got such mountain of books at the moment.......... well, who am I kidding! ;) I always have a mountain of books waiting on me! :)

Hello and thank you, Deb! This is my first 75 thread and I did go into it intending to review all this year's reading but I was probably being over-ambitious. I did have a 99 books in 2009 thread (or was it 88 books in 2008?) and didn't have problems reviewing every book but then again I wasn't working at the time! Oh and I did give it up before the end but that was because I'd started to feel restricted by the choices left to me. I think I was left with just short stories and crime fiction and wasn't in the mood for either!

Last month's LT Early Reviewers book.

40. Irma Voth by Miriam Toews



Irma Voth is the story of a young woman living in a Mennonite community in Mexico. When the story begins, she has already been ostracised by her family for marrying a Mexican and now her husband seems to be rejecting her. The arrival of a film crew into the community introduces further tensions and both confusion and possibilities into Irma’s life.

The two words which come to mind when I think of Irma Voth are poignant and quirky. The eccentric characters who come into Irma’s life have a certain charm and Irma has an off-beat way of interpreting and describing events which is both entertaining and moving.

Initially I liked this novel a lot for these qualities but as time went on, I started to feel that there was a little too much kook and not enough substance. Events unfold in unusual ways with the emphasis on quirky details rather than the main picture. I think this sentence near the end of the book is revealing:
“The stuff that happened next was almost calm and manageable so I won’t go into much detail”.
Actually she didn’t go into any detail at all and I was left wondering how this relative calm had been achieved!

Toews definitely has a knack for using kookiness and charm to startling effect. Irma seemed so lost and alone in the midst of the chaos and eccentricity that I couldn’t help but feel for her. However if Toews had blended her approach with some more old-fashioned story telling I probably would have found this a more satisfying read.

Thanks for that review, Dee! Now I know I can put that on the backburner. So far - I have not made it through a book by Miriam Toews - she's just to quirky - or something - for me. Great review!

Thanks Deb. There were parts of the book which I loved but if you've struggled with Toews before this probably isn't the book for you! I've read just one of her others: The Flying Troutmans which also had that quirkiness but I don't remember having the feeling that it was overdone with that one.

#202 That was the ER book I won too. I'm hoping to get to it later this month.

>199 Soupdragon: Thanks for your thoughtfulness about Kafka. I'm such a careless person that I read and go on - which is to say that I won't be reading it again any time soon no matter what Mr. Murakami may require! I liked it less than I did The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which I'd fight for, but I didn't take time to figure out why....... I believe that I thought that the Oedipus + Mom thing was forced. Would it be stupid to say that I'd like the whole book better worked without the myth? Well, I just said it.

>205 souloftherose:: I'll be interested to read your thoughts on Irma, Heather. I'm finding that she's hovering in my mind for longer than I expected!

>206 LizzieD:: Oh, very interesting that you feel like that about The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Peggy. I've only read the one Murakami (Kafka) and was wondering whether to try another one or not. I absolutely agree with you about the Oedipus thing!

I have two other Miriam Toews which I've not read - and I did request that one but I got Gillespie and I instead, so I'm certainly not complaining. I'm still curious about this one but think I should really read something by her I already own. (hmm, that 2+ books TIOLI challenge?)

Do you have A Complicated Kindness, Luci? That's probably the one to read if Irma Voth appeals to you. I haven't read it but it sounds like it deals with similar themes around being a young woman who has grown up in a Mennonite community.

I have A Complicated Kindness and The Flying Troutmans but might have buried one of them in the shed - I think at least one of them is on the shelves in front of me, but not properly shelved, just shoved in on top.

#202: I already have that one in the BlackHole. One of these days I will get to it. Nice review, Dee.

BTW - thumb up on your wonderful review of Irma Voth. Now I can freely ignore the book without compunction thanks to your review! :)

Hello and thanks for popping by, Luci, Stasia and Deb!

41. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner



I felt compelled to read some Sylvia Townsend Warner after hearing one of her short stories on Radio 4 recently and am now overcome with that "where have you been all my life?" feeling!

I started with a library copy of Lolly Willowes, a deliciously told story of the life of a 1920s spinster aunt, full of surface respectability and wry irony.

When Laura's father dies, she leaves her family home in the country to move in with her brother's family in London. She relinquishes the name Laura to become Aunt Lolly, "so useful and obliging and negligible."

The book is full of wonderful detail. I liked this description:

"(Laura) fortified herself against the dismalness...by various self-indulgences. Out of these she had contrived for herself a sort of mental fur coat. Roasted chestnuts could be bought and taken home for bedroom eating. Second-hand book-shops were never so enticing; and the combination of east winds and London water made it allowable to experiment with the most expensive soaps."

Unlike many of literature's spinsters, Laura does eventually rebel against her fate. Some readers may feel uncomfortable with events at this point as Laura starts to befriend Satan but the events are tongue-in-cheek and obviously intended to illustrate Laura's lack of choices.

"As for her own share in the matter, she felt no shame at all. It had pleased Satan to come to her aid. Considering carefully, she did not see who else would have done so. Custom, public opinion, law, church and state- all would have shaken their massive heads against her plea and sent her back to bondage."

After loving Lolly so much, I had my usual reaction of wanting to collect and read everything else this author has written (and blow the 400+ books on my TBR)! However the subject matter of her other novels doesn't particularly appeal (apart from The Corner that Held Them) so I decided to start with the short story collection from which I first heard a story on Radio 4: Winter in the Air and Other Stories. I have read eleven out of the eighteen stories and they are exquisite. I love them, possibly even more than Lolly and now have the urge to send Winter in the Air to all my Library Thing friends! Obviously economics restricts me from doing this but this year's Virago secret santa recipient will be getting a copy if she/he does not already have it! If you're not usually a short-story fan, read it anyway- the writing may well convert you!

42. Living Dolls by Natasha Walter



I was sent Living Dolls from Virago to review for their new forum. My thoughts are here.

The Others...

43. Still Midnight by Denise Mina

I really am very grateful to Elkiedee for making me aware of Denise Mina. This was the first book of hers that I'd read and I was quickly converted. It's very well written and I can't remember when I last read a crime novel with such perfect characterisation. I will definitely be reading more Mina. Thanks Luci!

44. The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

An extremely accomplished collection of short stories around the themes of race, social status and gender. The stories mostly focus on Nigerian women either in Nigeria or newly migrated (unhappily) to America. Recommended.

45. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch

I didn't love this as much as some LibraryThingers seem to have done but I found it an entertaining and amusing urban fantasy romp. Thanks to KiwiNyx for first alerting me to this one.

Okay, that will probably be my last catch-up for a while as it looks as if I will be horribly busy at work for the next couple of months. I'm sure I will still be popping in and checking people's threads though. And it goes without saying that I will still be reading!

Edited very late in the day because I realised Rivers of London had the wrong touchstone!

Great review of Living Dolls. I knew from the Virago website/Twitter feed/something that they'd published this, but didn't know what it was about. I'm definitely going to look for it - being mother of a 4 year old girl has been interesting already!! (Who GIVES girls skanky Barbie dolls when there is a toy shop full of other stuff? Rapunzel Barbie I can deal with, if someone else buys her because I won't be, nasty Barbie no thanks. )

OK, will stop the threadjack before I get carried away! Hope the next few months of work are ok.

I might have to read some Sylvia Townsend Warner now too - I think I have one of her novels here in my VMC collection... it's not Lolly Willowes though.

Cushla, Living Dolls is a must-read. I found it depressing that we've moved on so little, in fact gone backwards in many ways but also found it encouraging that there are people out there actively opposed to what's going on. I feel the last decade or so have been wilderness years for feminism but maybe there's a sea change going on...

As you will have noticed from my gushing reports, I loved the Sylvia T-W that I read but people do seem to say the quality of her books vary. I'm prepared to take the risk though even if not everything's as perfect as what I've read so far!

Some great reviews, Dee. I put the Sylvia Townsend Warner book on my library list and hope to get to it soon. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have Living Dolls. I'll have to look for the Denise Mina book. I read a book awhile ago by her called Deception which I loved. A very good psychological thriller.

Hope you don't have to work too hard this summer.

Thumbed the review of Living Dolls Dee. I think, as an elementary school principal, I see way too many mothers rushing their 6-10 year old daughters to this objectifying that's being described in the book. Actually, by allowing them to dress like much older females with tops with plunging necklines (even though there's nothing there to show yet), short, short skirts and shorts, make-up (yes that's right make-up on 6-10 year olds) it's no wonder that they're headed in that direction. I'm going to have to look for the book.

Bonnie, do read Living Dolls. I only scratched the surface of what Natasha Walter talks about in the book. I needed to write a review for Virago and realised that if I waited until I had time to really do it justice the review might never be written!

Walter gives many examples of how our culture encourages the kind of scenario you've described. She also points out that whilst some individual women may experience a sexualised identity as liberating and empowering, this can not be said about young girls. As she says in chapter three:
"It is not liberating for girls who are just on the cusp of sexual exploration to be seen solely as sexual objects."

Oh, one other thing that I didn't mention about Living Dolls is that there are a few unpleasantly graphic accounts of women being exploited by the sex trade at the beginning of the book. Just a warning!

You've written some great reviews. Lolly Willowes looks right up my alley and Living Dolls looks fascinating.

Thank you, Marie. I do think you would like Lolly Willowes.

>218 phebj:: Just realised I missed your message, Pat. Thank you on both accounts! I picked up Deception recently at a charity shop so it's good to hear that's also a good one!

I must write my review of Living Dolls - they're having another event - discussion with the author in the Virago offices early next month.

Interestingly, Alas Poor Lady (a Persephone) includes scenes of a children being caught playing with toys considered unsuitable by their father - boy with a doll, girl with soldiers. It's absurdly expensive anyway, at least online it is compared to other shops, but I am NEVER going to shop in Hamleys on principle.

Very glad you enjoyed Still Midnight and envious of you having her other 8 novels still to catch up with. Someone has placed a link to the Amazon page for Alex Morrow no 3 on their Vine review of The End of the Wasp Season, but it's not out until June 2012!

>224 elkiedee::

That's interesting about Alas Poor Lady's children being confined by gender stereotypes!

I was going to wait for the paperback of Wasp Season but gave in and ordered it from Waterstones.com. They have it for 6.50 which is basically the price of a paperback, right?! Of course, as soon as I've read it I'll want that one that isn't out until next June! My local library has new editions of the Garnethill trilogy on order so am looking forward to those too.

I enjoyed Lolly Willowes too, Dee. Thanks for the mention of her Winter in the Air. I will have to look for that one.

Stasia, I think that if you liked Lolly Willowes, you would enjoy Winter in the Air too. The writing style is similar, the stories are a pleasure to read and a few of them are stunning- the kind that resonate in your mind for a long time afterwards.

The collection has been recently reprinted by Faber Finds. They seem to be in the process of publishing quite a few of Townsend Warner's short story collections.

I live in hope that my local library will actually get Winter in the Air some time. Maybe the recent reprints?

Thought I'd pop by and say hi, Dee! I think that yes, you would most likely enjoy Karin Fossum's Norwegian mysteries. I sure am!

I have Living Dolls on the pile to read for the book club too. I'm not sure how I'll get on with it to be honest, or if I'll find it particularly relevant as someone who doesn't intend to have children and so isn't worried about raising them, but your review has reassured me that at least I'll find it interesting.

#214 Great review of Living Dolls Dee. When I initially saw the cover I immediately thought I didn't want to read it but after reading your review I am reconsidering (although I still don't like the cover).

Hope you survive the horrible busyness at work.

231: Heather, I'd love to know more about why you don't like the cover. I still have to write my review, there's a discussion thread open on the Virago Bookclub website which could do with more input and I'm going to a live discussion early next month.

#232 Only superficial reasons - it's pink with a naked(ish) woman and a Barbie doll. It's just too weird for me for some reason. Now I've read the reviews I understand more (I think) what they were trying to get across with the cover but if I'd seen it in a bookshop without knowing that I don't think I would even have picked it up.

I had a similar feeling about the old cover of Scarlett Thomas' Popco and I avoided reading my copy of that for ages and then loved the book so it might just be an issue I have that I need to get over!

Popco cover:

Yow! That's some cover!! I have Popco unread on the shelf, and your "love" and my love for Scarlett Thomas ought to make it a contender for what comes next. Or Lolly Willowes...

>230 Ygraine:: I think you would find Living Dolls interesting as a woman, Katie- you don't have to be a parent! I realised after I had posted my review that I'd concentrated on the parts of the book which particularly spoke to me so it probably came across as more specifically relevant to parents than it really is!

>231 souloftherose:: Thanks Heather. I know what you mean about the cover. I think it makes more sense when you've read the book but it's unfortunate if it stops people ever wanting to read the book! I am definitely not keen on that cover of Popco!

>233 souloftherose: and 234: Peggy, I have Popco waiting for me too and I've put off reading it even though I loved Scarlett Thomas's last two books. It's possibly the Maths theme that's putting me off. I'm encouraged that you loved it, Heather, but didn't I see on FaceBook that you have a Maths degree? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Re: books. Since last posting I have read and loved Memory by Margaret Mahy and The End of The Wasp Season by Denise Mina. Not sure when I'll get around to reviewing them! I'm just taking a break from preparing a workshop at the moment...

I hope the workshop goes well, Dee!

#235 Yep, I do have a maths degree and the maths aspect was the deciding factor in making me read Popco after having been put off by the cover. It's been a while since I read it but I think the maths aspects were more about some of the characters being interested in codebreaking and I don't think you as a reader need to know much about maths to enjoy the book.

Just thumbed up your review of House of Orphans by Helen Dunmore. She's an author that interests me. Thanks for the great review - even if I'm a little behind in acknowledging it! Sorry about that.

Hello and thanks (belatedly), Stasia, Heather and Deb.

A few words about a couple of crime novels...

46. The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall



A crime novel with a bit of a difference. The central character (I've brought this back to the library so can't check for names) has been imprisoned for causing the death of a baby. Instead of following a police investigation, we watch as a young, female prison probation officer gets to know the accused. Through these interviews and many flashbacks to her past, we gain an understanding of the protag and the events which led to a child's death. Throughout the book there is a question mark regarding whether or not she is guilty and the ending came with a twist which I wasn't expecting.

The thing I liked most about the book was the prison background which felt absolutely believable. Dugdall has worked herself as a prison probation officer and it is clear that this has given her insight into work within a prison and also the lives of those who end up as inmates.

47. The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina



Another stunningly well written book from Mina which looks at life at both ends of the social spectrum in Glasgow. For a change, it's the single parent family living on a low income that seem to fare best! One of those crime novels where you already know who did it (though there is a tiny twist) and it's all about how and why they did it and the consequences. I love these when they are well written and this one is. All the characters were well drawn and felt real to me. Actually, I felt quite emotionally drained by the end as Mina gets you to care for all the characters including the murderer!

Just one tiny quibble: Why on earth didn't Kay claim tax credits?!

Wow! Looks like you have just read a couple of really interestig books. I'm definitely going to be on the hunt for The End of the Wasp Season and the Woman Before Me. Onto my wishlist they go...

48. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick



I accepted this as a swap, having heard that it's a paranormal romance involving angels that you either love or hate. Now that I've read the book, I'm still not sure which side of the fence to stand on.

Reading the book triggered a veritable smorgasbord of hormones- adrenaline and all the rest! Schoolgirl Nora does not trust her mysterious and arrogant biology partner, Patch AT ALL. Yet she finds herself attracted to him anyway. Some scary incidents start to suggest that Patch could be a real danger to Nora. She fancies him even more. She does realise however that nice boy Elliott is probably a safer option so agrees on a date with him. Except then it seems that Elliott may have murdered a previous girlfriend and is also a possible danger. Instead of Patch? Or as well as Patch? Or does the danger come from somewhere else?

By this point, I have developed a split personality. My adult self is concerned about the sexual politics. My inner sixteen-year-old is thinking "OMG- Patch is hot!" My inner book critic was not impressed with the way all necessary explanations concerning fallen angels etc, were tagged on at the end.

So I put the book down, thinking "that was fun but I don't think I'll be rushing out for the sequel". Three days later I was using my Grazia half-price voucher at Waterstones.com and somehow Crescendo found its way into my basket too. What can I say? Okay, I enjoyed it despite myself- but I don't think I'd recommend it!

>240 vancouverdeb:: Hi Deb! I must have been writing my post while you were posting. I am a new Denise Mina devotee thanks to elkiedee!

Ruth Dugdall is also an interesting writer. I heard her on the radio, talking about her new book The Sacrificial Man. It wasn't available at my library so I borrowed The Woman Before Me (an earlier book) instead.

Two Young Adult novels of a more sophisticated kind..

49. The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean



I loved this one. The story is told through the eyes of introverted, fourteen year old Symone. Brought up by a father and uncle with a particular interest in Antartica, Sym develops an interest herself and when school friends begin to reject her, she seeks company in the form of Captain Titus Oates, "who isn't dead inside my head".

Events have not gone well for Sym's family recently but they have the support of eccentric Uncle Victor, though it becomes increasingly obvious to the reader that Uncle Victor's issues go beyond eccentricity! Uncle Victor's obsession leads him and Sym to Antartica where events become increasingly out of control. As well as fighting for her life in Antartica, Sym discovers truths about her past which are devastating yet free her of misconceptions she has had about herself and her family.

I loved how Sym's adventures in Antartica were parallel to her understanding and accepting herself. Just wonderful!

50. Memory by Margaret Mahy



A beautiful book which can be read on different levels. Nineteen year old Jonny is trying to remember and understand the chain of events which led to his sister's death in an accident five years ago. He searches for a friend of his sister's, Bonny whom he sees as rather ethereal and mystical and whom he believes knows the truth. I loved the way Jonny in his quest comes across as alternately confused and mystical! He finds significance in the tiniest of things. On the way, Jonny befriends elderly Sophie who has memory problems of her own. By the time Jonny finds Bonny, his world has become more rooted in the real and mundane but he finds beauty and magic there too!

I can't believe it but I think I'm actually up-to-date with recording books read!

I am currently reading:

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which I intended to finish for June's Read a book with a cat (or a dog) on the cover- but it turned out not to be one to rush!

and

The Book of Fires which is a hugely enjoyable, historical novel set in eighteenth century London. I'm reading it for Orange July.

After The Book of Fires, I intend to read The Invention of Everything Else which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize last year.

I will also be reading some more YA fiction for the Juvenile and Young Adult challenge, though I think my most recent reading shows it won't be too challenging for me! One of them will be Heaven's Eyes by David Almond or The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones for the book you should borrow from the person below challenge.

I don't normally do challenges but these seemed fun and not too challenging! Then again, I thought that about the cat one!

Hi Dee, you're doing some great reading. I think I'll add The Book of Fires and The Invention of Everything Else to my teetering tower. I probably won't get to them for Orange July but there's always Orange January :)

>241 Soupdragon: By this point, I have developed a split personality. My adult self is concerned about the sexual politics. My inner sixteen-year-old is thinking "OMG- Patch is hot!"

I'm still laughing on that. Yeah I read that book too and I had the same opinions, althought not quite the things that I quoted you about.

>245 brenzi:: The Book of Fires is definitely worth reading. I'll try to write a review, probably later on in the month when I should have the time to do it justice.

>246 DragonFreak:: I'm glad it's not just me! I suppose I should concede that Fitzpatrick is good at what she does even if she's not going to win any literary awards.

* laughing out loud at Dee's passion for Patch *
Well I guess once in a while we all need a little fluff in our reading!

Dee, I'm sure you've actually read several books that would have fitted a TIOLI challenge each month for the last few months. I suggested this year's Orange longlist for April, for example.

>248 lauralkeet:: You know Laura, I've realised there is a direct correlation between stress levels at work and the quality of my reads. The last time things were this bad at work, I was reading Victoria Holt. When you spot me joining in with a Dostoyevsky group read, you'll know I've left my job!

>249 elkiedee:: Thank you, Luci. I think I will start taking more notice of the TIOLI challenges.

Eek- just realised this is post 250. I will make a new thread once I have something to put on it...

>250 Soupdragon:: When you spot me joining in with a Dostoyevsky group read, you'll know I've left my job! ha ha ha!!
Hope the stress level eases up soon, Dee.

#250 "You know Laura, I've realised there is a direct correlation between stress levels at work and the quality of my reads."

Definitely also true for me, I think there were a couple of weeks last year where I just read the Asterix comic books...

Hope things ease up soon.

Somehow managed to get very behind here (again!), Dee.

I hope things get better for you very soon!

I've just found your thread, Dee (now that it is summer I am trying to get caught up), and I will be sure to stay up-to-date from know on - you've read some great books this year!

I'm glad you enjoyed The Boy Next Door, which was one of my favourite books a few years ago.

Just stoppping by to say hi! I know what you mean when life stress gets to be too much. Asterix comics for you - People Magazine for me...shhh! It's a secret!

Way, way behind here - but interested to read your review of Living Dolls, and the discussion following it. I'm with Heather on the cover - I can't stand pink, or dolls, personally - but that means I've always had quite strong views on the whole little pink princess thing and gender determinism and... Oh well, I guess I'll have to read the book and see what others are thinking and saying on these topics.

I hope the summer is going well for you (if we can call it summer!)

Hello everyone! Thank you for all the messages. I have been reading them (and smiling at the Asterix reading) but every time I was going to reply I'd realise I needed to start a new thread which always seemed a bit more ambitious than just replying so I put it off.

But finally....The New Thread

I have mixed feelings about the new thread. I've never had one before and on the one hand it makes me feel like a real 75er but I'm also scared that I'll lose everyone who was aware of new posts because they'd posted here in the past! Please do pop over to my new thread and say hello even if you don't have anything else to say.

And thank you to Luci who has visited already and reminded me to post here!