Souloftherose's 2013 thread, or, the Reading Journal of a Young(ish) Lady - part 2

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

A new theme for my opening posts - Virago art. I love the older green Virago editions - partly because they look so nice together on a bookcase, partly because green is my favourite colour, partly because I've learnt that the books themselves are about people and times that give me a new perspective on things and partly because they introduce me to artwork I would probably never have otherwise discovered.

I love the cover of this Virago edition - the colours in the painting are much more vibrant in real life than in the image below.



The painting is a detail from The Bay by Thea Proctor c. 1927 - a watercolour painted onto silk. Thea Proctor was an Australian painter and the picture is currently held by The Art Gallery of New South Wales

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







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

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

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

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

Books read in May
#61 It Ends With Revelations by Dodie Smith (TBR)
#62 Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh (Omnibus)
#63 Kutath by C. J, Cherryh (TBR)

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




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

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

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

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

Books acquired in May
#43 Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell (Kindle) READ

Some mini-challenges

Non-fiction reading

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

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

Some ideas

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

The TBR points challenge

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

The points system is as follows:

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

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




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

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

A century of books!

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

1900
1901 The Ordeal of Elizabeth by Elizabeth von Arnim
1902 Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907 Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
1921 The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
1922 The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
1923 Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930 Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
1931 All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
1932
1933
1934 The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
1935 Lucia's Progress by E. F. Benson
1936
1937
1938 The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
1939 Trouble for Lucia by E. F. Benson / Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949 Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien
1950 Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
1951
1952 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
1953
1954
1955 Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963 The New Moon with the Old by Dodie Smith
1964
1965 The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith
1966
1967 It Ends With Revelations by Dodie Smith
1968 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974 Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken
1975
1976
1977
1978 Kesrith/Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh
1979 Kutath by C. J. Cherryh
1980
1981 The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken
1982
1983 Jhereg by Steven Brust
1984 Yendi by Steven Brust
1985
1986
1987 Teckla by Steven Brust
1988
1989
1990 Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995 High Tide in Tucson: Essays From Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver
1996 Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1997
1998 Limbo Lodge by Joan Aiken / A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
1999

Progress: 32/100

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

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

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

Completed Series
The Faded Sun Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh (3)
Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (3)
Mapp and Lucia by E. F. Benson (6)

And I'm done - just going back to copy and paste.

Hi Heahter - I'm first! Lover your Virago covers. They are so pretty.

A very pretty Virago cover. Happy new thread, Heather!

Nice idea with the Virago cover:)

Also very organised and inventive ideas for getting those older books read.

Interesting how different the color values are for the cover and the painting in the gallery - the lower one is quieter, isn't it? I like this new theme!

All caught up - I like the idea of featuring VMC covers at the top of the thread. I have that same edition of Devoted Ladies - I've not read it yet though, like most of my collection!

Hi; happy new thread. Just dropping by to mark my place.

(And I bet you're not really sorry about those book bullets in your last thead!)
:0)

Hi Heather - I love the Virago opening!

I just saw on TIOLI that you may read Brideshead Revisited this month. Yay! Have you read it before? Anyway, it's a special one for me because I was so prepared to hate it (Evelyn Waugh is a pig, etc.) and was even making snarky comments in my reading notebook when I first started it. Then it completely won me over and became one of my favorites of all time. Amazing.

Brideshead Revisited was one of my top reads a couple of years ago. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jeremy Irons, and he just rocked that reading performance. I can't recommend it highly enough.

And happy new thread, Heather!

Heather - I love your century of books idea and I did list my favourite reads from each year of the 20th century sometime last year. To do it within a year's reading would be quite something indeed, if even close.

Have a lovely weekend.

Lovely new thread Heather. I'm tempted to copy your idea of a century of books because....well, I really like it. Like your Virago cover idea a lot too but I'll just enjoy that here on your thread LOL.

Hi Heather, I've been doing a lot more lurking here lately, just can't seem to catch up. I noticed over at the Mystery March thread that you are planning on reading an Aberystwyth mystery this month. I have the first two of the series on my shelf and am very interested in hearing what you think about this series.

Your lists are fascinating! The opening photo of book covers is delightful!

Hi Heather. I really love seeing what people choose to start their new threads and always learn so much that way. I've never heard of Thea Proctor but I love the painting.

Heather, you are so organized with your reading. I wish I could say the same thing. I've not read anything by M.J. Farrel. After looking at your beautiful cover, I'm considering remedying that. Beautiful!

Lovely new thread here, Heather. You are so organized and have some very good reading challenges outlined for yourself. Good luck!

Happy New Thread, Heather! You're making good progress so far - love all your lists. I have found that listing things this year has really helped to keep me focused, and to whittle down the TBR pile.

Happy new thread! I'll try to stay fairly caught up, although I can't make any promises these days. :)

Love your lists too (echoing thoughts above).

I've never thought about comparing the Virago covers to the artwork before but now I'm intrigued. My local art gallery has the painting on the front of the Virago edition of Year Before Last. Perhaps I should bring my copy next time I visit ;)

Fly-by wave! *waves hello*

#8-12 Hi Beth, Diana, calm, Lucy, Genny - nice to see so much love for the Virago covers :-)

#13 Nina, you got me - I'm not sorry at all! (*evil laugh*)

#14 Hi Kerri. I haven't read Brideshead Revisited before, in fact, I've never really read anything by Waugh before. I tried Vile Bodies several years ago and gave up halfway through and since then I've felt slightly intimidated by Waugh so I'm glad to hear Brideshead Revisited was one of your favourites!

I've also, tentatively, got Pat Barker's Regeneration lined up for this month as I saw you'd listed it for one of the TIOLI challenges.

#15 Another *Brideshead* fan - glad to get a bit more encouragement towards this one :-)

#16 "To do it within a year's reading would be quite something indeed, if even close." We'll see if I manage it Paul :-) I suspect it will get more difficult towards the end of the year...

#17 You're more than welcome to copy it Bonnie. If I don't manage it within a year then I'm going to carry it over to next year - I want it to be fun rather than another pressure.

#18 Hi Judy. I know the 'can't catch up' feeling. I've just finished the Aberystwyth book and I can't decide what I thought about it. I'm going to muse on it for a bit (I'll have lots of time to do that because I'm 7 reviews behind!)

#19 Thanks Linda!

#20 Pat, I'd never heard of Thea Proctor either but the painting is lovely.

#21 Thanks Deb. I heard of M. J. Farrell (also wrote as Molly Keane) through the Virago group on LT - lots of people there seem to like her books so I'm hoping I will enjoy this one. I also ahve a copy of Loving and Giving that elkiedee kindly gave me last year.

#22 Thanks Donna. "You are so organized" - well, I like making plans for myself. I don't always stick to them :-)

#23 Thanks Susan - that's the plan at least :-)

#24 No promises required Tina. I'm behind everywhere too.

#25 I like the painting used for Year Before Last Dee (and that's another Virago on my wishlist)

#26 Thanks Diana!

Heather, you ARE organized and you still manage to read more than I do. And, of course, I love the Virago thread-opener idea. Maybe I'll steal that for next year. Green is also my favorite color, and especially that deep original Virago green. *sigh* And I might start a century plan too, which would certainly take a couple of years for me if I use only books that I'm reading now. I'll think about it and decide whether I could just do it for fun or whether I'd become obsessive about it.
Anyway, Happy New Thread!

Some overdue reviews from February:

Book #29 Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wootton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J. R. R. Tolkien - 4.2 stars
Source: Charity bookshop
Original publication date: 1975 (in this collection)



A collection of some of Tolkien's shorter pieces. Most of this short work is taken up by his essay On Fairy-Stories and a very short allegorical piece called Leaf by Niggle. Both are about 'sub-creation' as Tokien calls it and both were written between 1938 and 1939 when Tolkien was working on The Lord of the Rings. I think these are both essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Tolkien's view of his work and the world he created.

In On Fairy-Stories Tokien defends works of what we would probably call fantasy today from the literary critics of the time (presumably including those who felt a Professor at Oxford University should not be wasting his time on such trivialities). As a lover of fantasy who gets annoyed with contemporary literary critics and readers for dismissing a whole genre as 'just escapism' I thoroughly enjoyed this (even though I can't say I understood everything he wrote). For me, it was a real mountain-top experience - one of those pieces of work that seems to capture something you felt that you weren't even aware you felt or that you were unable to put into words yourself and lift you up beyond that to open up new thoughts and new vistas.

I have pages of quotes from the essay but I will restrict myself to two quotes which, to me, summarise Tolkien's views on what makes a good fairy-story.

To make a Secondary World inside which the green sun will be credible, commanding Secondary belief, will probably require labour and thought, and will certainly demand a special skill, a kind of elvish craft. Few attempt such difficult tasks. But when they are attempted and in any degree accomplished then we have a rare achievement of Art: indeed narrative art, story-making in its primary and most potent form.

It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality.

Leaf by Niggle is a short, allegorical work which, unusually, Tolkien seems to have written very quickly about a painter, Niggle, who is working on a great piece of art depicting a tree. The painting seems to run away with him, there are always new things to be added, and he struggles constantly against interruptions from his neighbour, Mr Parish, who is always asking Niggle to run errands for him at the most inconvenient times. Niggle also knows that one day soon he will have to go on a long journey and he worries that he will never find the time to get his painting completed. For a writer who professed a strong dislike for allegory, this is a very good one, and summarises Tolkien's fears and hopes about his own great work. Particularly poignant when I think that he wrote it before finishing The Lord of the Rings

All the leaves he had ever laboured at were there, as he had imagined them rather than as he had made them; and there were others that had only budded in his mind, and many that might have budded, if only he had time. Nothing was written on thjem, they were just exquisite leaves, yet they were dated as clear as a calendar. Some of the most beautiful - and the most characteristic, the most perfect examples of the Niggle style - were seen to have been produced in collaboration with Mr Parish: there was no other way of putting it.

The essay and story above were published together as Tree and Leaf and both moved me to tears at various points (probably an odd way to feel about an academic essay but there you go).

Smith of Wootton Major is another short tale which grew out of an introduction Tolkien was asked to write for a new edition of George MacDonald's The Golden Key. It seems Tolkien intended this story to serve as his example of what he thought a fairy-tale should be but in typical Tolkien fashion the introduction was never finished. Shortly before Tolkien's death Smith of Wootton Major was published as a separate work. It's a tale tinged with some sadness but also with a lot of beauty. There are some lovely illustrations by Pauline Baynes in my edition. It's not really a children's story although I think children would probably enjoy it.

The last piece, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, I found more difficult. This piece is made up of two short essays: one giving the historical background to Beorhtnoth who died at The Battle of Maldon in Essex in 991 AD (I had never heard of any of this before reading the essay) and the second on the meaning of the Old English word ofermod (I struggled a bit with this one) and a third section which is a piece of poetry about The Battle of Maldon. On first reading this I thought the poetry was Tolkien's translation of an Old English poem but I discovered via wikipedia that it was one he wrote himself about two characters after The Battle of Maldon. I enjoyed it and it found it a lot more readable than I thought I would.

#28 Thank you Peggy! :-) I think I'm slowly learning how to plan without then making myself unhappy by obssessing about completing said plans. Slowly.

And that book review really took it out of me... Perhaps some more tomorrow?

Actually, Molly Keane wrote many of her books under the name M J Farrell, it was only her last few novels written after a long gap that she wrote under her real name.

Heather, I'm glad that you've managed the review of the Tolkien book, even if it took it out of you. Those various essays, stories and poems are indeed essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Tolkien's motivation and how he perceived his writings. The Battle of Maldon was one of my set texts during my degree course, and Tolkien's essay on 'ofermod' was part of the background reading for that; it is probably not so much of interest unless you are having to write essays about the motivation of the character of Beorhtnoth... but his poem, as you mention, is rather more readable and explores the issue in a dramatic rather than an academic way. But my favourite of all those pieces is Leaf by Niggle, which also makes me cry. I think I am due a re-read...

Terrific terrific review of the collection of Tolkien's writings. I could reread that essay on Fairy Stories every month and Tree and Leaf is a lovely piece, good to be reminded of it.

Hi Heather, I just wanted to thank you for the "book-y" recommendations for London. I absolutely loved the Southbank Book Market and got to also hit a few of the used book shops on Charing Cross Road. So thank you!

#32 Thanks for the little nugget of wisdom about Molly Keane Lucy!

#33 I think I'll enjoy the Beorhtnoth collection more when I reread them (which I will do one day). As you say, it's an area that's unfamiliar to me and I felt like I spent most of my first read trying to work out what it was about. Leaf by Niggle was my favourite too.

#34 Thanks Lucy :-)

#35 You're very welcome Katie - I'm so glad you enjoyed the book market :-)

Book #30 Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente - 3.8 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2011



In a city by the sea which was once called St. Petersburg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad, then, much later, St. Petersburg again, there stood a long, thin house on a long, thin street. By a long, thin window, a child in a pale blue dress and pale green slippers waited for a bird to marry her.

My introduction to Catherynne Valente's writing was an imaginative retelling of The Death of Koschei the Deathless, a Russian fairy-tale. This isn't a Disney style fairy-tale with a happy ending but a dark and bloody story set in Leningrad during WWII. Valente's writing was richly descriptive and in a style very evocative of traditional fairy-tales.

I hadn't come across this particular fairy tale before (it's apparently included in The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang) and I sometimes felt I was missing something, either due to my general lack of knowledge regarding Russian folklore and history or due to the fact that I'm not very good at picking up on the use of symbolism in novels. I enjoyed this a lot but I wasn't convinced I always understood it.

And isn't the cover gorgeous?

#27 - Hi Heather! Yes, I hope to get to Regeneration this month. I have to finish up the terribly long current book that I'm required to read (it's been a bit of a slog), and then I definitely want to read Jane and Prudence, but after that there should be time.

#36 - I agree that this cover is gorgeous. I'll probably try her again. I recently had a hard time with Palimpsest as an audiobook and had to abandon it.

That Valente cover is quite different from the one I have, but lovely. I hope you get to read more of her work... she is a new favorite of mine and you might like her Fairyland books, since you have an interest in fairy tales.

But what I really want to say is... what an excellent review of the Tolkien collection. "On Fairy-stories" and "Leaf by Niggle" are two of the best things Tolkien ever did, in my opinion. I fell in love with them many years ago and have used some of Tolkien's images -- like the literary stew -- with my students more recently. Great reflection. :)

Deathless sounds interesting! Think I'll start with her Fairyland books first though!

Hi Heather - Good reviews of interesting books! It sounds as though your reading is going well in March!

Weekend! I'd just to like to say that it's 16th March and I have bought no books so far this month and read one more book off my TBR piles than I've bought this year. Woo hoo!

I have one book on order though which will probably arrive soon (possibly later today even): Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham - the first UK short story collection. I managed to find a not too expensive old Penguin edition on line.

#37 I've just finished reading Dr Thorne (which I loved) but I think I'm having a mini book funk and don't feel like reading any of the other books I'd planned to read this month (including my local book group's choice of The Kite Runner which I need to read by Thursday...) I think I'm going to read something completely different and then see if I feel like coming back to any of my planned reads later this month.

#38 Is this your cover Sarah? I think I like both - it's really interesting to see how different the covers can be



I have the first Fairyland book on loan from the library and I've tried the first few chapters but I don't feel like reading it - for no real reason (certainly no reason connected to the quality of the book). I don't want to read it when I'm not in the right mood.

Thansk for the compliments on the Tolkien review. It felt like it was a sreal struggle to express how I felt about the essay and story so I'm properly chuffed that people like it.

#39 I've heard good things about the Fairyland books Tina so I hope you enjoy them :-)

#40 Thanks Dejah - these are still reviews of my February books though.... One review from February left.

That's very restrained Heather, now we'll have to think of ways to make you fall off the wagon....

Hi Heather, your review of the Tolkien essays is a great inspiration for me to read these. I've been meaning to for ages.
I was briefly in London a couple of weeks ago and managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the Persephone bookshop in Bloomsbury. I got three interesting titles which I'll be reading once I eventually arrive home from my trip at the end of next week. I'm currently ensconced in Florida and although I've visited a couple of bookshops here, I haven't been tempted to buy anything so far this month either.

I like the sound of the Valente book, Deathless. I finally read The Girl who circumnavigated Fairyland a few weeks ago.

Just de-lurking to weigh in on the Fairlyand books - I'm towards the end of the second and whilst I don't think it is as good as the first book, it has nearly made me cry so it's definitely got something going for it :)

Hi Heather - Nice review of the Valente book. Good job with your book purchases -- or lack of purchases. I have not done so well, but as spring approaches, I will go through my shelves and get rid of books I know I'll never read again. That might even things out -- and give me space on shelves.

Not worry, Heather - I'm still working on reviews for February books, too! I've read a ton of short books so far in March, so the backlog just keeps getting worse....

>41 souloftherose:: Yes, that's the cover I have. I think you are right -- I too like both -- but the two very different visual directions interest me. One wonders what the motivations were.

#42 "That's very restrained Heather, now we'll have to think of ways to make you fall off the wagon...." :-D I don't think I'll need any help to fall off. I've got to a point in a lot of series where I'm missing the next books so I'll probably do come clickety-click before the end of the month. Strangely, I wasn't really trying not to buy any books in March, it just seemed to happen...

#43 Kerry, I had my copy for ages too before I got round to reading it. Glad you got to visit the Persephone store - I hope you're enjoying your travels.

#44 Thanks for the recommendation Bekka! They do sound good :-)

#45 Thanks Beth. I've been having a mini spring clean too and I think I've found about 20 books to pass to the charity shop - books I don't think I'll want to read again and some that have been in the TBR pile that I've decided I probably don't want to read at all.

#46 I know how you feel Dejah :-)

#47 I often wonder why British and American covers are sometimes so different when I would have thought our cultures have a lot in common. And how do you decide what cover sells in each country? People might buy the book because of the cover or they might buy it because they've heard lots of good things about it, despite the cover. Saying that, I often prefer the UK covers - so perhaps the marketing guys and gals are onto something?

Oh, good grief... no books purchased this month?!? I've... fallen completely off the wagon in my "read any new books you bring in the house or else take one off the shelf" plan. I think I bought ten books this month. I didn't mean to, I swear they just jumped into my hands and refused to leave... *sigh*

Well done you on the book purchases. I think I've caught the bug from you though - 11 so far this month!

Re covers, I've often wondered why they use different covers in different countries, but I too generally prefer the uk ones.
Have a look at this: http://www.themillions.com/2013/02/judging-books-by-their-covers-2013-u-s-vs-u-k... You can look at previous years too, I definitely prefer the UK ones more.

I think I'm making up for all of you. Last Saturday I went to a bookswap group meet up, and was given 9 books there, though I already owned one. I did take several bags full out with me but I still managed to go and buy even more. Yesterday I went to a protest demo against cuts in the hospital where my children were born, but I couldn't resist checking out the charity shops on the way. I'm not even telling the numbers, but you can look and see the dreadful truth on my profile page.

No new books this month, Heather! You are a better person than me. I've got a few Long Listed Oranges on there way to me.... sigh! :)

#49 - 52 Fear not, fellow book-buying addicts - I now have two purchases in my March count. Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham and The Coroner's Lunch which I downloaded and started yesterday as a shared read for TIOLI and because I was in the mood. Normal service is resumed.

#49 I swear they just jumped into my hands and refused to leave... " Hee hee! I'm sure we've all been there Faith.

#50 But you've read quite a few of them already and some of them were thin so they shouldn't count as a whole book...

Thanks for the link to the website with the book covers - it's fun going through all the covers for each year. I still seem to prefer UK covers on average and I'm intrigued by the covers that aren't that different like Where'd You Go, Bernadette (US cover on the left and UK cover on the right)



#51 I saw some of the titles you listed on the Virago thread Luci. I would definitely have picked those up if I came across them! I think I've been saved by the lack of appealing (to me) kindle deals and not having gone near a bookshop since my little spree in February. Otherwise I'm sure I would have succumbed!

#52 Not to worry Deb - 2 acquisitions to my name now! I have a list of books from this years orange longlist that I want to read but I think I will wait until next month.

Last February review!

Book #31 The Ordeal of Elizabeth by Elizabeth von Arnim - 3.7 stars
Source: Project Gutenberg
Original publication date: 1901



Thanks to LT, it's rare that I read a book 'blind', not really knowing anything about the type of story or the characters, but this was one of those rare occasions.

I came across this book because I've been trying to read Elizabeth von Arnim's novels in publication order and, according to Project Gutenberg, this novel was written by her and published in 1901. And that was all I could find out about it before I started reading.

Set in the US at the turn of the century, Elizabeth van Vorst is an orphan cared for by her two maiden aunts. Her father married below his station and the small town she lives in has never been able to let her forget it. At a young age she meets and falls for an aspiring artist, Paul Halleck. Her aunts disapprove of the relationship but Elizabeth is unable to see that her love can go nowhere. With no friends or other confidants to support her, she foolishly agrees to a secret marriage before Paul leaves to spend six months in Europe. At first he writes to her but gradually the letters trail off and Elizabeth comes to realise that she no longer cares for Paul in the way she used to.

At the same time, one of her wealthy neighbours decides to befriend the young girl and offers to take Elizabeth with her to New York for the season. Soon Elizabeth is living the life she always dreamed of; as a beauty with the right friends she's welcomed into the right social circles in New York but she remains strangely unhappy and distant despite all the adulation poured on her and her new friend is unable to understand why. The final straw for Elizabeth is when she starts to realise that she has truly fallen for her new friend's brother, that he returns her affection and that Paul Halleck has just returned to New York. What follows is a tale of murder and scandal that manages to avoid crossing the line into becoming a sensation novel.

The Ordeal of Elizabeth is a story about the restrictions fashionable New York society of the time placed on young women, and the tragic outcomes that could so easily follow. Whilst von Arnim's first two novels also focused on the restrictions upper class women of the time faced, these were more humourous with little or no tragedy and, from what I've read, autobiographical. As far as I know, The Ordeal of Elizabeth is not autobiographical, although I'm intrigued by the idea that an author would follow two autobiographical novels where the main character has the same first name as the author with a non-autobiographical novel where the main character also has the same first name as the author. In setting and theme, this book reminded me very strongly of Edith Wharton's novels about fashionable New York society (although The Ordeal of Elizabeth was written before most of Wharton's books were published). The murder and subsequent trial reminded me at times of A Pin to see the Peepshow. Whilst I wouldn't rate this book quite as highly as either of those I thought it was well done and in no way deserves to be as overlooked as it has been.

And straight into some March books:

Book #32 Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie - 3.4 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1923



The second Hercule Poirot mystery and one I couldn't remember much about before rereading. Having reread it, I think that's probably due to very complicated plot which I think I would probably need to take notes on whilst reading if I were going to have to explain it to someone else. So, I'm not going to try but will just say that I enjoyed this, although not quite as much as The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I particularly enjoyed the humour in the relationship between Hastings and Poirot and the little digs at the Sherlockian methods employed by the French detective who is officially investigating the case.

Book #33 The Brothers by Asko Sahlberg - 3.7 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2010



Another contemporary European novella from Pereine, this time by a Finnish author, Asko Sahlberg. Set in 1809, at the end of the Finnish War, this is a family drama about two brothers who seem to have been at each other's throats since they were young men. They fought on different sides during the war and now the war is over they have both returned home to the isolated, snowed-in family farm. There's a sense of foreboding throughout the story and my only criticism is that the denouement, when it came, felt curiously unstaisfying. Sadly, it dfoesn't seem like any of Asko Sahlberg's other work has been translated into English so far.

Heather, wonderful review of The Ordeal of Elizabeth. Your words here reminded me of Wharton's The Age of Innocence: The Ordeal of Elizabeth is a story about the restrictions fashionable New York society of the time placed on young women, and the tragic outcomes that could so easily follow time I read about NY society and the restrictions it placed on women.

On another note, I also often prefer UK covers. I just started reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette last night; def prefer UK cover on this one.

Lovely review of The Ordeal of Elizabeth - thumbs up from me! That said, I probably won't be reading it, although I may still pick up Murder on the Links this month.

54: Interesting review Heather, and another freebie for my Kindle I think!

Wonderful review of The Ordeal of Elizabeth, Heather! Thumbs up from me! I'm such a silly stickler about the cover that comes with my book - even if I prefer another cover, I use the cover that came with my book. Now with a kindle book, one has a little more latitude! ;)

Hallo Heather, just been catching up (on this thread anyway!) - how's stuff?!

Love the idea of a century of books - am definitely going to add that to my goals (although will definitely be doing it over the course of more than a year!)

Catherynne M. Valente sounds very much like my kind of author too - I'm definitely going to have to investigate.

...and can I add my love of Brideshead Revisited to the list? ...Of course, I also loved Vile Bodies and generally do enjoy Waugh's books, so I may not be a good advert. I will say that Brideshead is probably his most human though and probably his best in my opinion.

...also, I'll highly recommend Regeneration. It's been a very long time since I read it, but I thought it was extremely good. The 2 sequels on the other hand, I was much less impressed by (actively disliking the 3rd)...

I'll second the love of Brideshead Revisited!

Hi, Heather. My spring housecleaning is done and my company been and gone, so I am starting to get around the threads this morning to see what you all have been up to. I'm relieved to see that you managed to acquire a few books this month, and you moved out of your book funk quite quickly!

Woot! The Ordeal of Elizabeth is starring on the Hot Review page : ).

Hi Heather, I'll add my thumb to your review of The Ordeal of Elizabeth. I have to say I honestly don't care at all about book covers. I can't think of even one time when a cover has influenced my decision on a book. Most of the time I decide about a book by getting recommendation here in the 75 group w/o even looking at a cover.

Hello Heather,
congrats to another wonderful thread. I love the Virago cover at the top very much. It does look beautiful. Although, I do have to say that I do like the modern covers as well. I just ordered a few days back Frost in May by Antonia White which has been recommended to me by a friend.

Great review on Deathless. I read the prequel to her fairyland stories, which are on my TBR, so Deathless will definitely go on to my wishlist.

Ooooh, Frost in May - I read that at school and loved it - had me in floods of tears!

Hi Heather - Great reviews. The Sahlberg book sounds interesting; I know very little about Finland.

Hi Heather. I've added Deathless to the TBR pile. Your review is intriguing.

Happy Friday to you.

>53 souloftherose: I'm intrigued by the covers that aren't that different like Where'd You Go, Bernadette (US cover on the left and UK cover on the right)
It is interesting isnt it? Like the population is so sensitive it is going to react differently to one cover or the other. Or that one will appeal that much more to UK residents. There must be a reason why as surely it would be simpler to have the same image.

The fact that Jonathan Franzen endorses it makes me want to read it more than either of the covers do, incidentally. I wont read your review, as I actually might read it!

#54 - Hi Heather - Great review of The Ordeal of Elizabeth, but perhaps I'll check out one of the two earlier novels that you speak of. I was thinking of reading Enchanted April next month (which I think was published much later), but have decided to wait a bit, as there are other VMCs that I'd like to get to for my challenge.

Have a lovely weekend!

#56 Thanks Nancy! The Ordeal of Elizabeth really reminded me of Edith Wharton's novels too: perhaps The House of Mirth even more than The Age of Innocence.

#57 Thanks Dejah. Murder on the Links was fun although to explain the plot I felt think I would have needed to take notes as I read!

#58 Hope you enjoy it Dee!

#59 "I'm such a silly stickler about the cover that comes with my book - even if I prefer another cover, I use the cover that came with my book." Me too Deborah! The kindle version I downloaded did include the image I posted above although I suppose it was probably a frontispiece rather than a cover so I cheated a bit.

#60 Hi Fliss :-) I think you would enjoy Catherynne Valente and the good news is that her books have just started being published in the UK.

#60 & 61 I really do want to read Brideshead Revisited and Regeneration but my reading funk has turned into a bit of a mini life funk at the moment. Nothing serious, just tired and overworked so I've put my reading plans on hold and I'm only picking up books I feel like reading. At the moment that doesn't include Brideshead and Regeneration but perhaps it will at some point.

#62 I'm relieved to see that you managed to acquire a few books this month, and you moved out of your book funk quite quickly! You'll be even more relieved to hear that I have The Book of Jhereg on its way to me too so that I can read Yendi and Taltos :-)

#63 Wow! Thanks for all the thumbs everyone :-)

#64 Thanks for the thumb Bonnnie. I don't think I would decide not to read a book because of its cover, but I think I often decide which edition of a book to read depending on cover and size and even more so if I'm buying the book. Before LT I might have been more likely to pick up a book I hadn't heard of because of its cover but now I have so many LT recommendations it's quite rare for that to happen.

#65 Thanks for stopping by Bianca. I often like the modern Virago covers too. They rereleased some of Winifred Holtby's books with lovely covers based on old railway advertisements.

Another shameless cover post (well, it is my thread):



#65 & 66 I've been meaning to read Frost in May for ages...

#67 Thanks Beth. I hadn't realised how little I knew about Finland before I read Sahlberg's book! I don't think any of his other books have been translated but apparently he's a very popular writer in Finland.

#68 Happy weekend Linda!

#69 Like the population is so sensitive it is going to react differently to one cover or the other. Exactly :-) You're safe as I haven't read Where'd You Go, Bernadette yet. I thought it seemed quite interesting from the kindle sample I downloaded but I can't seem to get enthused about this year's Orange Prize so I don't really have plans to start reading any of the longlisted books.

#70 Cross posted and missed you Kerri! I enjoyed Elizabeth and Her German Garden more and can see why that one's more well known. Enchanted April is also good.

Still in a bit of a book funk - currently reading A Storm of Swords which is looong - published as two 500+ page paperbacks in the UK, and Very Good, Jeeves. Still also slowly working my way through my review backlog.

Book #34 The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham - 4.6 stars
Source: Bookmooch (I think from @GennyT)
Original publication date: 1938



After the wonderful humour of The Case of the Late Pig and the brooding introspection of Dancers in Mourning this book was a shock - once again we see a completely different side to Albert Campion. And it's not pleasant.

We enter the world of fashion in the 1930s; Campion's sister Valentine is a very successful fashion designer and Georgia Wells, the famous actress, is one of her largest clients (as well as being one of her closest friends). Georgia is charming and fascinating but seems to have no idea of the effect she can have on other people, so when she steals Valentine's lover no-one really bats an eyelid. But when Georgia's husband dies in a suspiciously convenient manner and Georgia seems to be spreading rumours that implicate Valentine in her husband's death, Albert Campion steps in to try and solve the mystery and protect his sister.

In this book we see another side to Albert Campion. Throughout most of the gruesome and dangerous cases he's looked into before, Campion has remained unruffled by events; murder and danger don't seem to have an emotional impact on him. But here we see him unsettled by the job he's been asked to do, unsettled by his sister and unsettled by the reappearance of Lady Amanda Fitton; it's not something he copes with well. Although it's clear he cares for Valentine there are passages in the novel where he thinks about hitting or shaking her and one conversation/argument where he says things to her that would be almost unforgivable by today's standards. Unlike some reviewers, I didn't see this as symptomatic of his general attitude towards women, or as Allingham saying that this sort of behaviour was acceptable, but rather an indication of Campoin's own extreme discomfort with the situation. Nothing in his behaviour towards women in earlier books prepared me for the way he behaved towards Valentine (and occasionally other women) in this book.

According to the frontispiece of my copy, an Observer review of The Fashion in Shrouds said that 'to Albert Campion has fallen the honour of being the first detective to feature in a story which is also by any standard a distinguished novel'. From following Liz's reading for the last couple of years, I'm very wary of someone declaring something to be a 'first', but I think it is fair to say that this book is more than just a good detective novel (although I don't think there's anything wrong with being just a good detective novel either). Allingham uses the world of fashion and the characters of Valentine, Georgia and to some extent, Lady Amanda, to explore the position of women in society in the 1930s, in particular the position of women who had careers. This aspect of the book has generated a lot of controversy, which is completely understandable given the views some of the characters express. From my reading of the novel, I don't think that Allingham is saying she agrees with the controversial statements that her characters make, but I'm also not sure I would agree with Allingham's views on femininity and women either. From a first reading I would say that Allingham thinks women have equal abilities to men's in the field of work but that they are disadvantaged by being more emotional beings, particularly where romance is concerned. I don't think this is fundamentally very different from the views a lot of people hold today, although modern views wouldn't be expressed in the same way Allingham's are. I found this element of the book fascinating and it hugely increased my enjoyment of the novel, but I can understand that others may either not be interested or find these ideas make the novel almost repulsive to them.

One of the less controversial quotes:

'They were two fine ladies of a fine modern world, in which their status had been raised until they stood as equals with their former protectors. Their several responsibilities were far heavier than most men's and their abilities greater. Their freedom was limitless. There they were at two o'clock in the morning, driving back in their fine carriage to lonely little houses, bought, made lovely and maintained by the proceeds of their own labours. They were both mistress and master, little Liliths, fragile but powerful in their way, since the livelihood of a great number of their fellow beings depended directly upon them, and yet, since they had not relinquished their femininity, within them, touching the very core and foundation of their strength, was the dreadful primitive weakness of the female of any species. Byron, who knew something about ladies if little enough about poetry, once threw off the whole shameful truth about the sex, and, like most staggeringly enlightening remarks, it degenerated into a truism and became discountenanced when it was no longer witty.

"Love really can rot any woman up," Georgia observed contentedly. "Isn't it funny?"

"Dear God, isn't it dangerous!" said Val.'

Hi Heather - Another Allingham review that makes me want to read this series again.

Heather the Winifred Holtby covers are delightful and capture my mind's eye image of my home area nicely. Your Allingham review reminds me that I really do need to read some Campion books soon.

I always particularly remember The Fashion in Shrouds because of the points you mention - the issues of successful women in the business and how they do or don't fit into society. Another lovely review, Heather!

ETA: thumbs up!

Heather, those Winifred Holtby covers are gorgeous. It would be a shame to have to shelve them - you'd want them facing outwards :-). I am trying to remember whether I read South Riding or just watched the TV series. Her name came up in a book I was reading today, funnily enough.

Hi, Heather! I've never heard of Winifred Holtby, but those book covers are certainly intriguing! I like Allingham's Campion stories too, but they're not always so easy to find. I keep looking though!

71: Ooh, pretty covers! I can be swayed to buy a book with a striking cover if I think it will be a keeper. If I don't care as much about the content or if I hate the cover, I'll borrow it from the library. An artistic cover adds to the aesthetic appeal of a book in my shallow opinion!

Hi, Heather. I'm a sucker for appealing cover art, and those Holtby reissues are lovely. I have them all in VMC green, so I'm safe.
I just never could get into Allingham. I try once every ten years or so, and I guess my current ten are about all up. Oh well.

The Holtby covers are so delicious.

Great review of the Arnim. I liked the one I have read.... title has gone missing at the mo'.

#73 Hi Beth. I am really enjoying my Allinghams at the moment :-)

#74 Winifred Holtby's books always say Yorkshire to me too Paul. I think the covers were based on railway posters from the twentieth century but I can't remember whether they were Yorkshire ones.

Decided to get off my backside and go and check my copies! All of them are Yorkshire Dales British Railway posters except for Poor Caroline which is a London poster (and I think this book is set in London so that doesn't seem unreasonable).

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've still only read South Riding out of this collection. I loved SR so I've got no idea why it's taken me so long to read the others. I'm going to put them next to my bed to see if that helps...

#75 Thanks Dejah! Pleased to meet another fan of The Fashion in Shrouds :-)

#76 Hi Susan. I read South Riding because of the TV series.. and then never got round to watching it! I know a few people in the Virago group who loved the book weren't so keen on the TV series and I think that put me off a bit. I'll probably get to it one day.

#77 Hi Terri. I think a lot of the Campion stories have been reprinted in the UK but I did end up paying more than I normally would for one of the short story collections.

#78 Donna, I think I'm the same and I think I'm getting worse as I get older! As a child I would pick up the most stained and tatty second-hand books without blinking whereas now I'm much pickier.

#79 Peggy, I hope I don't come across them in original greens because I think I would try and convince myself I ought to have both.

I think Allingham's unusual among the crime writers I've read from that period in that the style of the Campion books varies so much, and I think it also takes the Campion series a lot longer than Lord Peter Wimsey or Poirot to really hit its stride. It's a difficult series to recommend to people because the earlier books aren't what one might expect from a detective novel but I do feel like I'm enjoying the later books more because I've been reading them in order. But it might just be that you don't like Allingham's style and that's ok too.

#80 Thanks Lucy. From a peel at your library the von Arnim may have been The Enchanted April?

The other detective of that era of whom I am particularly fond is Roderick Alleyn, Ngaio Marah's creation. It's a series that also takes a few books to hit its stride. Have you read them, Heather?

Hi Heather,
just flying by to wish you a fab Easter Weekend!

Heather...I love the covers in message 71.

Happy Easter to you.

Stopping by to wish you a happy Easter! Love the covers in post 21 :)

#82 Dejah, I haven't read any Ngaio Marsh yet but I plan to as soon as I've finished my Dorothy Sayers or Margery Allingham reads. I have the 1st book in the Roderick Allyn series waiting patiently for me on my shelf :-)

#83 - 85 Thank you and a happy Easter to Bianca, Linda and Deborah :-)

I have two copies of South Riding and of another Holtby (I think Poor Caroline) - actually, I think I have the BBC/Random House tie in edition of SR on Kindle as well. I love the new covers but apart from SR they don't have introductions, and SR has different intros - the green one is introduced by Lettice Cooper, who had two of her own novels published in VMC.

I know I'm going to covet the new Barbara Comyns editions too, even though I have the old ones (and two of Our Spoons Came from Woolworths).

I took advantage of the long Easter weekend to take a couple of extra days holiday. I've been mainly feeling the really tired feeling you get when your body realises you've actually stopped but we did go for a gentle, guided walk at the local nature reserve yesterday and really enjoyed it despite the fact that everything's still in winter mode and it was really, really cold. We enjoyed it so much that we've decided to try and do something like this monthly so that we spend some time appreciating the outdoors so I spent some time finding details of other walks and adding them to our calendar so I don't forget.

Otherwise I've been curled up on the sofa and finished 5 books since Thursday (the majority of them had been started well before Thursday).

First some older March reviews:

Book #35 The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce - 3.2 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2005



The third book in Pryce's Chandleresque series about a private eye in an alternative Aberystwyth. I like these books but I've never felt really gripped by them and after reading the first three I've decided that I'm just not interested enough in the series to keep reading.

Book #36 The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers - 4.4 stars
Source: Bookmooch
Original publication date: 1934



Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to investigate the death of an unknown man in the small village of Fenchurch St. Paul in the East Anglian fens. The members of the local parish church are bell-ringing enthusiasts and Sayers has included a wealth of information about and references to change-ringing which I think is something you will either love or hate. I loved it. The mystery is a good one and her descriptions of the Fens and life in the small village are wonderful.

Book #37 Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope - 3.9 stars
Source: Anniversary present
Original publication date: 1858



The third novel in Trollope's Barsetshire series and we leave behind some of the familiar characters from The Warden and Barchester Towers to be introduced to the Thornes, Greshams and de Courcys. Mary Thorne is the illegitimate niece of Doctor Thorne, but she has been brought up on an equal footing with the Gresham children on the nearby Greshambury estate. Mary falls in love with Frank Gresham, the heir to the estate, who returns her affection, but the estate is heavily in debt and the only way it can survive is if Frank marries money. Trollope isn't shy about letting the reader know that there will be a happy ending for these two individuals and, as with his other books, enjoying the story is more about the journey than about the suspense of not knowing how things turn out and along the way Trollope raises questions about illegitimacy, class, marriage and alcoholism. My favourite is still Barchester Towers but I very much enjoyed Doctor Thorne too.

#87 Luci, that's a very good point - I'd forgotten most of the new Winifred Holtby editions don't have the introductions. Yes, the new Barbara Comyns covers look lovely and I've also had my eye on the new Sylvia Townsend Warner reprints too...

Book #38 The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill - 3.8 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2004



I've finally jumped on the Dr Siri bandwagon and can only echo everyone else's praise of this series. A series about an 72 year old coroner in 1970s, Communist Laos who sees ghosts at first glance wouldn't appeal to me but I loved the characters and the slightly dark humour. I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.

Book #39 A Storm of Swords 1:Steel and Snow and A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold by G. R. R. Martin - 4.5 stars
Source: Spousal unit's books
Original publication date: 2000



I feel like I've done G. R. R. Martin (known in the Holt house as Grrrr Martin) a disservice: when I read A Game of Thrones I thought it was a good read but slightly soap opera-y. Entertaining but probably nothing more than that. Two books (or three by the UK editions) and almost 2,000 pages (!) later I've changed my mind. I think these books are really, really good and more than just good entertainment for the following reasons:

1) I've lost count of the number of different points of view (POV) the narrative switches between but G. R. R. Martin has managed to sustain a different voice for each character over a long narrative and I find that very impressive.

2) Reading the later books in the series, I've realised that what seem to be quite small throw-away comments in the earlier books can actually be hints to later events. I love an author who is prepared to spend that much time and effort creating and planning their Secondary World.

3) When I started reading this series I'd grouped the characters into good guys, bad guys and not sure yet. I knew the good guys had some bad points and the bad guys might have some redeeming features but I was fairly certain there were good guys and bad guys and I was going to be rooting for the good guys. Now, at the end of the third book, I feel like G. R. R. Martin has turned that on its head: once you start to see things from the 'bad guys' point of view things seem a lot more grey than black and white and I'm not sure whether any of the 'good guys' would be any good at ruling Westeros if they won. It's very strange to be reading a fantasy series and not know who I'm rooting for.

4) People had warned me that no character is safe in these books but I hadn't really appreciated it until the third book. Really, anyone can die. Absolutely anyone. Even the characters you think are so crucial to the plot that you can't imagine how the story can carry on without them.

The violence and sudden-death of characters will mean this isn't a series that everyone will enjoy but if you can stomach this type of epic fantasy saga it's well worth the extraordinary page count.

So well put about the Martin's. Every point you make is exactly spot on. Especially about the fuzziness of who is good and who is bad. And the Lannisters, ultimately, are so fascinating - they are so much SMARTER than everyone else (although Cersee does herself in by overthinking) you can hardly blame them for wanting to take over.......

I delayed reading the last two books because I was hoping more of them would come out, and I didn't feel like having to reread the whole thing several times to keep track, but I'm almost resigned to the fact that I have to start all over again soon......

>88 souloftherose:: didn't you love how some favorite Barchester characters turned up right at the end of Doctor Thorne? I was so happy to see them !!

Hi Heather - hope you manage to recharge your batteries over the weekend. The walk sounds like fun and I hope you manage to find time for some more in nicer (warmer) weather:)

Very impressive recent reading.

Wonderful reviews, Heather. I didn't even know Game of Thrones was a series of books until I watched the first season. I thought, "Hmm, not really sure this is something I'll like." I was hooked after the first episode! SO well done, and it sounds like the novels are too. I might have to read.

What a lot of finishes, Heather! It sounds like you're having a good weekend.

Wow Heather! You've been doing a lot of reading. I'm not sure the Martin books are for me, but you have a nice review/comments about what you like about them. I loved The Nine Taylors also. I also liked Ngaio Marsh -- I liked her books better than Agatha Christie's; I thought she was a better writer.

Hi Heather! Hope you had a lovely Easter. Is everything in bloom in your corner of the world?

Hi Heather and happy Easter. Your walk sounded really good and it sounds like you've had some good days off work, and read loads! I've been doing much the same - sitting around reading unless there is something else I should be doing.

Good to see Dr Thorne was so good. I'm not starting it just yet - I need to make sure I am really over my spy novel binge first. Are you moving onto Framley Parsonage soon?

I must read some Dorothy Sayers...

I'm another fan of The Nine Tailors, Heather. It's the one I gave my wife when she said she wanted to try a good mystery, and it got her to started as a mystery fan.

Heather, lots of good reading getting done over here! I really appreciate your comments on the Martin books and would certainly echo them. A Storm of Swords is the next one for me, and you are making me even more eager to get to it...

>97 cushlareads:: Cushla, we're talking about reading Framley Parsonage in June ...

I'm doing my happy dance that you have been able to finish so many good books and get some rest and be refreshed! I love every one of your last few except the Aberystwyth one. I still have #1 waiting for me. And I LOVE Ngaio Marsh! My counsel would be to forget Allingham and read Marsh!!!!

#100 Laura, I just asked you the same thing over on your thread! Cool. Another reason for me to get DT read in the April holidays...

Hi Heather, such wonderful review on the Games of Thrones books :). I absolutely love the series and I read them already in several times. However, I do hope that he will publish the other two books rather sooner then later.

Hi Heather!

Great review of the Game of Thrones books. I'm not sure they're for me, but I loved what you said about them. I think I may have to read Dr. Thorne even though I haven't read any other Trollope - no this month, though!

I'm glad you're planning to read Ngaio Marsh - I think I prefer her to both Allingham and Christie (although I like some Christie very much, I just never been that big a fan of Hercule Poirot and like Miss Marple only a little better). That said, you may as well continue with the Allinghams - they are worth reading!

Sayers, of course, is a master. The Nine Tailors is fabulous. I adore Lord Peter.

#90 Thanks Lucy. The Lannisters have been one of the families where my opinion's have swung quite a bit. I'm fairly certain I won't be able to delay the fourth and fifth books until he's written book six, but I don't think I'll mind rereading them all in however many years time (although I do hope there isn't 5 years between the fifth and sixth books.)

#91 Hi Laura - yes, I had fun spotting familiar names :-)

#92 Thanks calm.

#93 Nancy, I think the books are even better than the TV series (although the TV series is pretty good). We don't have satellilte/cable so I'm watching the TV series as it comes out on DVD which is about a year after they first broadcast it so we've just finished the second season of the TV series and will have to wait until next Spring for the third season.

#94 Thanks Susan. Work's been very busy lately so I think I needed some do-nothing days to recharge.

#95 I also liked Ngaio Marsh -- I liked her books better than Agatha Christie's; I thought she was a better writer. You're wetting my appetitie for Ngaio Marsh Beth! It's been interesting reading Sayers, Allingham and Christie at the same time and I think I'm still making up my mind about their comparative mertis as writers. I think Allingham and Sayers include more chararcterisation, setting, scoial commentary than Christie does but that might be a bit unfair because I'm still rereading Christie's earliest novels and comparing them with Sayers' and Allingham's later ones. I enjoy all three.

#96 Thanks Lynda. Nothing is in bloom, it's very sad :-( We've had a month or two of cold and snow which I think has kept the plants in winter mode. On the walk on Saturday our guide did point out a couple of plants in bud that were easy to overlook but everywhere looks very grey and wintery. Once the weather picks up I assume we'll get all the February, March and April blooms together perhaps?

#97 Hi Cushla. I think I've been doing the same as you, except I would say I've been sitting around reading even when there's something else I should be doing. Housework? Pfft.

#98 How lovely Joe. It's certainly a very good example of a good mystery novel.

#99 I hope you enjoy A Storm of Swords Katie. Just be prepared for lots of 'How could you do that?!?' whilst reading...

#100 Thanks Laura. I need to head over to the Doctor Thorne thread...

#101 Thanks for the happy dance Peggy :-) My counsel would be to forget Allingham and read Marsh!!!! I'm going to pretend you didn't say that....

#102 Yes, do and join in with FP :-)

#103 Sooner rather than later - definitely!

#104 Thanks Dejah! I think Doctor Thorne could be read without reading the first two books. I've enjoyed hearing people's recommendations for Marsh so I will definitely try her books. I might finish the Lord Peter Wimsey series before the end of the year and then I could jump into Marsh!

Final books read in March (all finished during the long weekend):

Book #40 Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - 3.8 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1930



The usual antics by Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves - the stories made me laugh and that's all I can think of to say.

Book #41 Five Children and It by E. Nesbit - 4 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1902



E. Nesbit was one of my favourite authors as a child and I still enjoy rereading her children's books as an adult. The eponymous five children discover a Psammead (or sand fairy) that can grant them a wish every day but whatever they wish for will vanish at sunset. Of course, the wishes never turn out exactly as the children plan...

Book #42 The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente - 4.5 stars
Source: Library
Original publication date: 2011



It took me a little while to get in to this children's story by Catherynne M. Valente but once I did I found this story of September, a girl who journeys to Fairyland, to be truly magical. It could easily have been too sweet and cutesy but Valente included enough darkness and depth to balance this out.

I thought Sarah's (@beserene's) review summed it up much better than I could.

Book #43 High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver - 3.9 stars
Source: Bookmooch
Original publication date: 1995



A collection of essays from Barbara Kingsolver covering a range of subjects including parenting, adopting a hermit crab, author tours, environmentalism, travel and writing. I didn't always agree with everything she said but I enjoyed reading her essays regardless.

Up to date! Woo!

I didn't do a February summary so I'm going to skip my March summary and just do a first quarter summary:

First quarter reading

43 books read of which 28 were books from my TBR pile, however I acquired 31 books since the beginning of the year so not really on track there.

Reading for 'A century of books'

I managed 22 books this quarter. The twenties and thirties are filling up the fastest which is not surprising. I need to work on some of the other decades.

By decade:

1900s: 2
1910s: 0
1920s: 4
1930s: 6
1940s: 1
1950s: 2
1960s: 1
1970s: 0
1980s: 2
1990s: 4

TBR points challenge

I managed to read 1 book I acquired before 2010, 6 books that have been sitting unread on my book shelves since 2010, 5 books I've had since 2011 and 3 books I bought in the first half of 2012.

Non-fiction reading

I've read two non-fiction books I acquired before 2012. I'm trying to line one up each month - April's is going to be Watching the English.

And an Easter themed video to show that even cats like Cadbury's Creme Eggs:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151358448498314&l=8672891203987281349

(I think the link should work even if you don't have a facebook account)

Wow Heather! I've fallen behind but in the meantime you've been kicking tail with your reading. Congratulations!

Great quarter, Heather! We're about even on our TBR books.

#107 Watching the English is a good one Heather. There were so many little behaviours mentioned that I was fascinated to discover we're culture specific rather than just the way everyone does things.

No Cadbury's Creme Eggs for my kitties....

>89 souloftherose: Great review of Game of Thrones. I'm really tempted despite the high page count. You're not allowed to review any more books I might like now until I've caught up. In fact, everyone has to stop writing now as there's more than a lifetime of good reading already on my radar. So little time...

I'm reading a Wodehouse right now, Heather, called Piccadilly Jim, which is bringing some Spring sunshine. Love the Jeeves stories. And I was a big E.Nesbit fan as a kid, too, including of Five Children and It. My favorite may have been The Phoenix and the Carpet. Couldn't get my kids interested in reading her, darn it, except for The Book of Dragons that my son liked.

#109 Thanks Tina!

#110 Thanks Roni. My TBR pile is going to increase this month I think thanks to a kindle sale and a book order from Waterstones which will be winging its way to me....

#111 I'm looking forward to Watching the English Rhian. I think I remember you and Jo recommending it to me back in January.

#112 None for my kitty anymore - I ate it last night!

#113 They are good books but they can be quite dark - I first tried reading A Game of Thrones about ten years ago but stopped reading because I was traumatised by something that happened to one of the characters in the first few chapters.... But, I seem to have coped with that better this time and now I'm hooked and wish he would write them faster! I'll try not to review any books I think you might like :-)

I forgot to mention my favourite books of the first quarter:



In reading order:

We are at War by Simon Garfield
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
A Clash of Kings by G. R. R. Martin
The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
A Storm of Swords by G. R. R. Martin
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

#114 Hi Joe. I haven't read Piccadilly Jim but you're right about Wodehouse's writing bringing some Spring sunshine :-) I'm looking forward to rereading Nesbit's The Phoenix and the Carpet and will have to also try The Book of Dragons on your son's recommendation.

I somehow got behind here while you were reading and reviewing up a storm Heather. First of all, thanks for reminding me to list my favorite books of the quarter which I did last year but forgot all about this time around. You've got me interested in reading Sayers, Marsh, Christie and Allingham. How do they compare to Josephine Tey, if you've read here? I have a bunch of hers on my shelf.

I'm inching closer and closer to Game of Thrones and you just gave me another nudge. My hubby is really enjoying the TV series. And I'm absolutely loving the Trollope run and can't wait for the next one.

I read and loved South Riding last year but have yet to read any other Holtbys; must remedy that. Gah....too many books.

Hi Heather!

#89 - Wonderful assessment of the Grrrr Martin (Ha!) series. I was wildly impressed with the first book, even though this is typically not my genre. The world-building alone is amazing. It worked well as an audiobook too, for the most part, but keeping names straight was kind of a chore.

#115 - Oh! I see that All Passion Spent is one of your favorites of the quarter, so I went back to review your review from the previous thread (Nice review! How did I miss that?) Gosh, I'd love to get to one of her novels this year. I have Family History. Have you read that one?

Weekend! Except I woke up yesterday with a temperature, sore throat and a lovely sounding cough. Today I've lost my voice entirely so I have been mostly staying in bed and reading. So far this month I've read:

Less than Angels by Barbara Pym
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
Yendi by Steven Burst
Teckla by Steven Burst

I also got just under halfway through The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared which I had high hopes for but eventually put to one side because I really wasn't enjoying it.

Currently reading Watching the English by Kate Fox.

#117 Hi Bonnie. I read The Franchise Affair many years ago and remember really enjoying it but it was too long ago for me to remember much about her writing style or to say how she compares to other writers from that period. She's definitely on my list of authors to explore but there's no telling when I'll get to her

Gah....too many books. Exactly :-)

#118 Hi Kerri. Thanks for the Grr Martin compliments :-)

I haven't read anything else by Vita Sackville-West but I would definitely like to after enjoying All Passion Spent so much.

Ohh isn't kind of lovely to be just sick enough to lay in bed and enjoy your reads! Take care, Heather!

I really wish I'd bought Redemption in Indigo when it was on offer recently. I heard her on the radio the other day and was intrigued. I've bought another book by her.

Get well soon, but glad you're at least able to read.

Heather, if you can't talk, might as well read, right? Seriously, I hope you feel better soon. Sore throats are no fun at all. I am starting Dr. Thorne soon so I can catch up to the group. I'm glad you liked the new cast of characters.

Heather, hope you feel better very soon. I'm with, Donna: if you can't talk, might as well read. Love the post of all the covers of your favourite reads first quarter.

Sorry to hear you are sick. That's no fun, even when you can read!

sorry you're poorly. Do you think you'll make it to work tomorrow? I'm in after a couple of weeks off sick and really quite anxious about it.

Sorry to hear you're under the weather Heather. Perhaps an extra dose of reading will help alleviate the symptoms:-)

Heather, you have my sympathy. Read, read away!

Hope you feel better soon, Heather! No fun being sick, especially on the weekend...

Sorry you're sick, Heather. A reading weekend is a fine thing, but I'm afraid that I'm going to hear that you're up and doing tomorrow whether you should be or not.
I'm glad that Bonnie mentioned J. Tey in that hallowed circle of golden age women; I think I like her second to Sayers. My favorite is Brat Farrar, so I think you ought to slip that one or Daughter of Time into your mix.
Feel better!

Hi, Heather. Sorry to hear you're unwell. I've been in the same boat, sick all weekend, but now it's Monday morning so of course I feel a lot better...

Hi Heather - I hope you feel better soon. Stay in bed and read -- and push the fluids.

Deborah, Luci, Donna, Nancy, Roni, Jo, Bonnie, Dejah, Katie, Peggy, Liz and Beth - thanks for all the get well soon comments. Unfortunately, I seem to be feeling worse today so I haven't gone to work today and will be staying in bed. Tuesday is my non-working day anyway and hopefully I'll be feeling better Wednesday.

Yesterday I finished A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. le Guin which is a childhood favourite that I haven't reread for many years. I really enjoyed my reread. I also got halfway through Watching the English by Kate Fox.

Today I've started Mr Campion and Others which is a short story collection. At my current rate, I'll probably finish it today.

#122 Did you get The Best of All Possible Worlds Luci? I've notice kindle sales often include books that were previously on offer so hopefully you'll be able to pick up her first novel at some point.

#124 Enjoy Dr Throne Donna!

#127 Sorry to hear you've also not been well Jo. Hope your first day back at work goes OK.

#131 Peggy, I'm pleased to say I'm not at work. The good side of feeling worse today is that I don't feel guilty about taking the day off! I have both Brat Farrar and The Daughter of Time on my shelves so I will keep your recommendations in mind.

#132 The only thing more annoying than feeling sick all weekend is feeling well enough to go back to work on Monday. Hope you're feeling better and Monday at work went OK if you did go back.

Hope you feel better soon - perhaps in time to enjoy your regular day off! I hate going in to work before I really feel ready. You know how it is - you wake up on the day and while you don't feel great you don't feel un-well enough to justify another day. So you go in and then feel miserable for most of the day. Where on earth does the guilt about taking time off sick come from anyway? This is why I have literally hundreds of hours of sick time never taken!

Anyway, enjoy your books!

Hi there, Heather! Looks like I really need to read those R.R. Martin books. Hope all's well over your way!

The Wizard of Earthsea was a childhood favourite of mine too. Hope you're feeling better.

135: Yes, I bought The Best of All Possible Worlds.

I think my cold was worse than I thought it was. It took a while to get my temperature down to normal and then a couple of days to stop feeling so weak and floppy. I went back to work for a short day yesterday so I should be back to work properly this week. Still have a runny nose and an incredibly annoying cough. I'm going to try and write some brief thoughts on some of the books I read but I also have some book acquisitions from earlier this month to report thanks to a kindle sale over Easter.

Book acquisitions:

Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff - this has been on my wishlist for a while
How it All Began by Penelope Lively - Deborah and Beth have both recommended Penelope Lively to me recently
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord - I've heard lots of good things about this author
A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens - recommended by Kerri
The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard - recommended by Dee

This brings my book acquisitions up to 36 but thanks to my cold I've read 35 books from my TBR pile. Unfortunately, a small parcel of paper books is also on its way to me...

#136 I know what you mean Charlotte. Although I didn't go back to work until yesterday I spent the second half of last week constantly stressing about whether I should be going back to work the next day or not.

#137 Hi Lynda. I hope you enjoy the G. R. R. Martin books - they're long but addictive!

#138 Thanks Rhian, I am feeling mostly better now. I hate how the end of a cold drags on and on...

I seem to be struggling to think of much to say about my recent reads so some very brief comments:

Book #44 Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym - 3.7 stars
Source: The Book People
Original publication date: 1955



This month's Pym was an irreverant look at the lives of a group of anthropologists in London. It's not my favourite Pym but it had me chuckling away at various points.

Book #45 Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord - 3.8 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2011



Karen Lord's debut novel is a retelling of a Senagalese myth about a woman who marries a man who won't stop eating. I thought Lord's writing had a lovely lyrical quality with quite a humourous tone and I enjoyed reading a fantasy novel which drew on less familiar myths and legends. Despite winning a lot of prizes for this work she seems to have slipped under the radar - perhaps because in both the US and UK she's published by smaller, independent publishers rather than one of the big names. Definitely worth a try.

Book #46 Yendi by Steven Brust - 3.3 stars
Source: Abebooks
Original publication date: 1984

Book #47 Teckla by Steven Brust - 3.8 stars
Source: Abebooks
Original publication date: 1987

Both from my omnibus edition: The Book of Jhereg.



Yendi is the second book by publication order in Steven Brust's series about the assassin, Vlad Taltos, although the events in this book take place chronologically before Jhereg. Vlad gets involved in a territory war with another crime boss and meets his future wife, Cawti, when she tries to kill him. I didn't think this was as good as Jhereg although it was still a fairly fun read. The romance between Vlad and Cawti was a bit of a stretch.

Teckla is the third book by publication order and this one is set immediately after Jhereg. It's written in quite a different style to the light romps of the first two books. It's much darker in tone and subject matter but I found it a lot more interesting. Cawti has got involved with a revolutionary group of Easterners and although Vlad doesn't agree with this, he ends up getting involved because he wants to protect her. This puts a strain on their marriage and leads both of them to question a lot of their beliefs. Like I said, it's a lot darker, but this gives Brust the opportunity to really develop Vlad and Cawti as characters and address some interesting themes. It's interesting to note that his own marriage was apparently also experiencing difficulties when he wrote this.

Redemption in Indigo sounds really quite interesting, Heather. I'll keep that in mind. I hope that you are soon feeling back your self. Colds are no fun!

And yes, I did really love How It All Began and I hope that you do too!

Hi Heather - just checking in. I'm sorry your cold is lingering. That is always the worst part. I've enjoyed the few Penelope Livelys I've read, and I have How It All Began, so I hope to get to it soon(ish)!

Hello Heather, sorry to hear that your cold is still lingering and especially this nasty cough. If you don't object to herbal remedies you may want to try sage tea with some honey added to it. That's what usually helps to sooth things when we are coughing and when we have a sore throat :)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making This one is on my TBR - maybe I still can squize it in this month, otherwise next. I read the prequel last month (only 33 pages) which I enjoyed very much.
A Wizard of Earthsea is also one of my childhood faves.

Wish you a stressfree and relaxing weekend Heather :)

Hi Heather - I hope you're feeling better. I'm just getting over a cold myself. Redemption in Indigo sounds great. Thanks for mentioning it. I loved How It All Began; it was one of my favorites from last year. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts when you get to it. Nice reading from your shelves.

Lots for me to catch up on; some intriguing mysteries which I might be tempted to try if I would cross genres (I haven't read mysteries in quite a while, except a Poirot for last month's 'Mystery March - couldn't solve them).

I'm not quite tempted to dive back into Grr Martin's dark and bloody world, yet. My first favourite character didn't survive book 1. (I was hopeful for the TV series - you know they don't always stick to the book - but, no; there he went). My next favourites went in book 2, and book 3 - quite, frankly, it's looking perilous for all of them. I can't remember if I got as far as book 2 or 3.

But the Nesbits and Wodehouses look good.

I hope the cold is disappearing. A lady at the shopping centre (when my wretched handbag set off the alarms - again) recommended a garlic / horseradish / vitamin C tablet, from health food shops or supermarkets, to shift a cough. I haven't tried it yet, myself, though.

#145 Thanks Katie. I think the only other Penelope Lively book I've read is one of her children's books, The Ghost of Thomas Kempe. I remember that being a favourite as a child so I'm looking forward to trying one of her adult novels.

#146 Thanks for the tip Bianca! I've been having honey in camomile tea but haven't tried sage tea. Can you buy it as a herbal tea or do you just add some leaves to boiling water?

I really enjoyed The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and I'd like to read the prequel (which I've seen is available as an ebook) and get the sequel from the librayr soon!

#147 Colds are no fun Beth. Sorry to hear you've had one too. Hope you enjoy Redemption in Indigo.

#148 Oops - crossposted! Nina, I can never solve mysteries and most of the time I can't remember the solution even if I've read them before.

The G. R. R. Martin books are bloody. My husband's read ahead and I think my favourite characters are still alive at the end of book 5 but that's no guarantee they won't go in book 6. It's definitely an emotional rollercoaster.

Garlic sounds ok, but horseradish? Hmmm.

My husband's cold/allergy cure: cabbage boiled in vinegar with a clove of garlic. I'd rather have the cold.
Hope you're 100% healthy by Monday!
I LOVE Sword at Sunset! The best fictional approach to Arthur of all!!!

Garlic sounds ok, but horseradish? Hmmm.

Let me know if it works - if you try it ;0)

ETA: (cross-posted)
I'd rather have the cold.

Won't be trying that one, then ...

Hi Heather, appreciate another endorsement of Pym, even though Less Than Angels wasn't your favourite. Get better!

I hope you are feeling better, Heather. I have Lord's The Best of All Possible Worlds waiting for me at the library and I'm looking forward to it.

Yes, Teckla is the first of a new phase in Vlad's life, and we find a lot of questioning of assumptions going on in the next few books!

Hi Heather, you've given me me some great ideas for some reads. In June I am doing a challenge that consists of reading new-to-me women authors in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. I now plan to check out Karen Lord and Ursula Le Guin.

Hope you are feeling better.

Heather, I hope your cold will finally disappear!

#151 "My husband's cold/allergy cure: cabbage boiled in vinegar with a clove of garlic. I'd rather have the cold." Peggy, I think I'm with you there.

#152 :-D So far, I haven't tried anyone's cough or cold remedies and my cough is quite a bit better. Maybe just reading about all the cough remedies helped?

#153 Thanks Nancy. I am definitely feeling more human this week.

#154 Sounds good - I'm looking forward to the next Vlad Taltos book. I had very itchy fingers when I'd finished my omnibus of the first three and had to stop myself ordering the next book straight away.

#155 Sounds like a great challenge Judy - I'll be keeping an eye out for book recommendations from you!

#156 Thanks Diana - it's going I think :-)

I've been meaning to get around to Jhereg as well - sounds like it's worth a read.

#158 Hi Rhian. Jhereg's a light, fun read - something a little bit different to other modern fantasy series.

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

So, the husband and I are attempting to get onto the first rung of the property ladder. We've spent the last week viewing lots of properties in our spare time and being baffled by estate agents. We started off thinking we wanted a modern property, larger than the place we're renting that would need very little work in terms of redecoration. Today we fell in love with a (we think) 1930s ex-council semi-detached house which needs at least completely redecorating and probably a new kitchen and bathroom. I really don't know what to do. I was convinced I was going to be really rational about this and not fall in love with somewhere unsuitable or expensive or that needed a lot of work.

Sigh. I have a headache.

I'm always a believer that you should go with your heart with this sort of thing, as long as you can actually afford it. We're trying to make a decision as to whether to accept a offer on my mother's property at the moment, and I actually find that it's even more difficult to make a decision than when we were selling our own.

159: Ooh I see the problem, Heather.

Good luck with your decision. Having been in a similar situation, I would advise against deciding to take on too much work on the house yourself- unless you or your husband are very handy about the house and enjoy that sort of thing, of course!

ooh, where is it?

whatever you decide, make sure you get a survey (not just a homebuyers report - if you want I have both for our house so you can see the difference). It's well worth the money. It probably won't put you off a property but it will give you a realistic idea of how much work is needed.

Heather, how exciting! Is a survey the same thing as an inspection - that is, a report from an expert about structural problems, etc? Do, for sure, get one - especially with that 30s house. I do wish you a complete melding of heart and mind before you take that big step!

Yes, also called a structural survey. Should pick up problems before you buy. Now days you can get a homebuyers report which is like a survey but not as detailed and without the legal backup, it's cheaper but only worth it on a modern property, and even then I'd be wary.

Also, if it's an ex council property, is it leasehold or freehold? Right to buy leases can include conditions which may affect what you can do to a property, or other issues can come up. Choose a conveyancing lawyer who knows something about right to buy leases and dealing with your council if you do go for such a property.

1930s and older properties have their advantages - they may well be built to higher standards than more recent ones.

Good luck.

Sounds very complicated, all around, Heather. Best of luck, whatever you end up doing.

My advice on home-buying :

1 - first set your budget, and refuse to look at anything outside it.
2 - go with what you fall in love with. You'll have to live there (and with yourself) for a while.
3 - do get all the appropriate surveys and what-not
4 - things will still not be perfect, and you'll have days questioning your sanity, no matter what - so you want to minimise those.

Best of luck!

Best of luck with your home purchase! I have found that our buy and sells have been very stressful!

I think it is a good idea to not look above your budget - that is what our realtor told us - otherwise it just gets frustrating that you see " something better" that what you can afford.

We did a couple of big renovations in two of our houses and it can be very stressful but well worth the effort in the end. Wishing you the best with your decision - it's never easy - that much I know!

#160 "as long as you can actually afford it" Yep, that's the bit we need to try and work out!

#161 "I would advise against deciding to take on too much work on the house yourself" Dee, I think that's probably very good advice. All the properties we looked at would need redecorating so I think stripping wallpaper and painting is just something we're going to have to learn how to do but anything more than that is really not something we're going to be good at.

#162 Jo, I'll send you an email with the details we have. A survey is definitely something we would do, probably before we made an offer (if it gets to that stage).

#163 Thank you Peggy. Buying a house is scary! We're not in a hurry though so we can take all the time we need which is good.

#165 Luci, I think freehold (it never occurred to me it might be leasehold) but it sounds like we should check.

"1930s and older properties have their advantages - they may well be built to higher standards than more recent ones." Yes, and I love the feeling of space they have.

#166 Complicated is how it feels Roni, but I guess buying any house is rarely straightforward. We haven't seen anything in our price range that wouldn't require some work (ideally).

#167 Nina - good advice! Working out how much things will cost and whether that's within our budget is going to be the key point I think.

#168 Thanks Deborah. Yeah, I don't know anyone who hasn't found buying/selling a house stressful. My parents live nearby and are fairly experienced at buying and doing work on a house so we're picking their brains as much as possible and they've agreed to come and look at houses we think might be possibilities. I don't think this house would be a big renovation project really but it needs some updating and it seems daunting to us.

Heather, how exciting that you are buying a home! Yes, it is frustrating, but it is also such a rewarding process! Can't wait for you to buy something you fall in love with and post some pics for us : ). Best!

If it's a house it's probably freehold, but do make sure of this and of any conditions of the sale from the Council, it can be a bargain but you really need to know what you're getting. My late boss was the man to go to for unravelling problems - of course he was a lawyer to the Council but he used to answer a lot of questions from outside at least giving people an idea what they needed to do, and I think colleagues from all over did occasionally come in and ask about their own transactions.

Hi Heather, I keep meaning to catch up with you and have kept your thread on a tab for ages, but good intentions aren't quite enough it seems. In any case, I want you to know that you are often on my mind, if only because I'm constantly checking up on titles and seeing which among my friends has them in their library and (hopefully) has rated or even reviewed them. As you can imagine, you come up often in those searches.

I've been so preoccupied with Folio Society since I joined at the beginning of the month that my newfound passion seems to have taken over everything, including my photography, as you may have noticed by my absence on FB. I've spent a good portion of my yearly book budget by now, both on books directly from FS (taking advantage of their sales obviously) and also sourcing through AbeBooks whenever I can find more advantageous pricing, which isn't as easy as you'd think considering how expensive international shipping is! In any case, I hope you do know I fully blame you for this new obsession of mine. A year ago, I was completely blind to FS, had no clue they existed and was struggling to try to keep to a book budget then! But I'm also very glad to have been introduced to them by one of my favourite LTers, so really, it's not all bad at all.

I see you're in the midst of house purchasing. Very exciting stuff, but I can imagine very much headache inducing. Whatever you do, do NOT get influenced by me and start buying FS volumes, or your house budget will go up in... well I daren't say smoke... in no time at all.

Hope you are well my dear. As I said, never far from my mind though. xx

#170 Thanks Nancy. So far we've found the process very emotional (and we haven't even got to the stage of putting in offers and trying to organise a move) and exciting, frustrating and rewarding at the same time!

#171 Good tips - thanks Luci.

#171 Hi Ilana - thanks so much for stopping by my thread. I'm really pleased you're enjoying the FS editions but I'm not going to take all the blame for your new hobby! :-) I've managed to resist collecting FS editions so far which as you say, is probably a good thing given the number of books I already have and us trying to buy a house. Part of the reason we're looking for somewhere bigger is because we have run out of bookshelves and space to put them....

Heather, I am trying desperately to catch up with your thread, but I don't know if I can do it all in one day! So I am dropping down here to let you know that I have not forgotten about you! This is one of my very favorite threads, so no skimming! I will catch up and I will be back to discuss all the lovely reviews and conversation that I know are waiting for me up there. In the meantime, I hope that your Sunday is full of fabulous. Please pet the kitty for me.

How exciting to be buying a house Heather. Lots of good advice here. I have lived through several renovations and can say that they are absolutely draining both emotionally and financially. But there is a big pay off at the end.

Hi Heather - at last!

How exciting that you are looking at houses. I hope you can come to a decision about what to do about the 1930s one soon. We haven't done many renovations in the 2 houses we've had but are about to embark on some pretty major stuff and I am trying not to think about the hassle... but perhaps you wouldn't have to do the renovating straight away when you moved in?

Hi, Heather. I see you did indeed make progress with Caleb. :)

Good luck with the house stuff - I know how difficult and scary that can be!

What an exciting time in your life, Heather. Looking for your first home to buy, a crazy, stressful yet sometimes fun time. Good luck in your house hunting.

Hey Heather -- I'm terribly behind, but wanted to stop in and say hello! No hope of really catching up but I'm trying to do my best tonight. :)

Heather! I'll be back later for a more in-depth review of your recent reads. I'm so behind.

House buying does take up all the available oxygen..... I do hope you find a house you love, humouress's advice is exactly right, don't buy one you don't like because you feel you 'should' or that you'll 'get used to it' or 'it's just a house'. Mr. Sib already had a house when I met him and I happily moved into it - it was quirky and fun in many ways - but the truth is, I never was comfortable there - it had no sun in the downstairs rooms and was kind of a fishbowl that everyone could look into as they drove through our village - I should have insisted we move somewhere else after a couple of years. I kept convincing myself it was me. But the instant we moved out of it I was about 100% happier - so it can really matter, is what I learned. Good sun and some modicum of privacy.

I see you had a cold too, and I hope it is all gone.

I love your reading this year - so many wonderful books, what an adventure.

Hi Heather!

#140 - Oh, how exciting that you obtained A Five Year Sentence. I think you'll love it!

Oh, I see that you're house shopping! Like most everyone else, I found it to be both great fun and also terribly stressful. If I had to do it over, I'd put much more emphasis on location. We fell in love with the house and went with that, but as it turns out, we're not thrilled with the town/suburb we chose. I desperately miss living in the city and sort of wish we would have gone the condo route, but I'm trying to make the best of it. Good luck!

Good luck on your search for a new home, Heather - yes, that's certainly is a stressfull period with a big decision like that. Hope you'll find the right place.

Dropping out of lurk to say that I hope all is going well with you. Also that I'm investigating A Five Year Sentence, doggone it.

>182 DorsVenabili:: We fell in love with the house and went with that, but as it turns out, we're not thrilled with the town/suburb we chose.
I second that. We built our own house, so we love the house. But we didn't do enough homework on the area and really wish we had. Now we have endless, circular conversations about where we would like to live once the kids are out of the house and we decide to downsize.

Just dropping by. How are things?

We put virtually no thought into the area of town we wanted to live, beyond it being cheap and close to a commuting route out. We ended up here pretty much by chance and planned to move after I finished Uni. Nearly 10 years on we're totally settled, love the area, and have a fantastic church just round the corner. God had it worked out even though we didn't!

Heather, buying a house can be a wonderful thing. It can be scary, too. Good luck finding the perfect house for you at the right price in the right place, etc. It's an important decision and good to be able to take your time. Keep us posted!

How interesting, Heather. I will be interested - once you get to the closing process - to see how it differs from real estate closings here, as that is what I do every day. I've never bought a house - the one I live in was deeded to me by my parents and I've always lived here, but if, by some miracle, I were in a position to buy what I want, I would go with my heart. Something quirky with character. And old. Definitely old.

Good Luck!

#185 - We have those conversations too. Obviously, with the current real estate market, we can't sell anytime soon, but the experience has taught us a valuable lesson.

Ooo visitors!

#174 Lovely to see you Mamie and please don't worry about not being caught up! I think it's a perpetual problem in this group :-) The kitty is very happy because Spring has arrived and we have some sunshine. (Also because we haven't told her that we're thinking of moving!)

#175 Hi Bonnie. Emotionally draining is something I'm trying to bear in mind when we're getting very excited by possibilities! We're hopefully going to look at a couple of places that don't look like they would need a lot of work this weekend. Part of me is hoping that we fall in love with one of them instead!

#176 Hi Cushla! The 1930s house we looked at is liveable in - but not in a way where you would want to invite people round if that makes sense? Downstairs is ok but very dated decoration wise, the upstairs is very run down looking. And before we started redecorating we would want to modernise the heating and electrics. And then once all that was done we would want to save up (which could well take several years so that would be a nice break) to do the really radical stuff like knocking down a supporting wall to extend the small kitchen into a kitchen/diner, adding a new kitchen and new bathroom and turning the outhouse into a utility room. We're still thinking about whether that's really far more than we would want to take on for our first house. And before I run away with myself, the vendors would need to drop their asking price by about 20% before we were willing to buy given the amount of work we think it needs, which they may not be willing to do.

#177 Thanks Liz - scary is often the word. I think when I'm not scared, I'm probably just in denial! I got really caught up in Volume III and finished! Hopefully still going to squeeze in The Octoroon by the end of month.

#178 Thanks Judy :-)

#179 No worries Tina - I know you have a lot on your plate right now. :-)

#180 Hi Kerri. No apologies needed for being behind :-)

#181 Wise words Lucy - thank you. Even from the few viewings we've done so far, I was surprised by how strong my reactions were to some houses which looked like they would meet our criteria on paper but just felt wrong. I'm with you on the light aspect - I think one of the reasons we liked the 1930s house was because the rooms felt brighter than some of the modern houses.

#182 Kerri, I think I'm much more of a small town girl than you are but you make a good point. We're looking at houses in a town which is slightly larger than our current place of residence but I think it still has a small town feel. I'd like to still be able to walk into the centre of town and walk to the train station. Lots to think about!

#183 Thanks Carsten.

#184 Hi Peggy! (Mwa ha ha on A Five Year Sentence)

#185 You built your own house? Wow - that must have been a lot of work! We seem to be doing our 'research' on the area by trying local cafes (found a lovely independent Italian place already) and locating any bookshops (sadly no proper bookshops - just a WHSmiths and some charity shops with a books section).

#186 Hi Nina, thanks for stopping by. I'm pleased it's the weekend - woo!

#187 I'm really pleased things worked out for you all (and I also really like the bits of your local area that I've seen)

#188 Thanks Donna!

#189 How interesting - Charlotte, I didn't know that was your area. I only have a very vague idea of how the closing process works at the moment but we have lots of friends and family who have done it before and whose brains we can pick. I think the English house-buying system can be quite uncertain because making and accepting an offer aren't legally binding and there can often be a period of time between that stage and exchanging contracts (which I think is the bit that is legally binding).

It's been two weeks since I wrote any book reviews. I'm going to try and do some this weekend (and I have Monday off too - woo!) but we have three more property viewings booked and I'm learning how emotional and tired I tend to be afterwards.

And I'm officially abandoning my reading plans - at least temporarily. I normally really enjoy planning my reading and it's something that's given me a lot of pleasure over the last few years. But over the last few months I've noticed that I haven't been quite in the right mood for a lot of books I've planned to read and whilst I still enjoyed reading those books, I don't think I enjoyed them quite as much as I would have done at another time and I'm left feeling slightly regretful. So I'm going to abandon all plans and read what I feel like until at least the end of May. The reason I'm announcing it is because it took me a surprisingly long time to convince myself that it would be ok to just read whatever I feel like and if I post it here, then it's official.

So far, reading what I feel has involved rereading Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (which is still brilliant and had me not caring that I was chuckling to myself on the train) and Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc. I am enjoying my reading experiment so far.

And you HAVE read Not to Mention the Dog by Connie Willis, which is a delightful light homage to Three Men in a Boat, haven't you? If not, may I strongly recommend it to you now, while you have the details of TMiaB in mind.

Heather, enjoy reading absolutely whatever you feel like! I envy so many LTers who plan their reading, but confess I am not one of them. Fly by the seat of my pants!

#194 I have and I was thinking it would make a lovely reread but I think I read somewhere that To Say Nothing of the Dog also references Sayers' Gaudy Night so I'd like to read that first (hmm - does that count as planning?)

#195 Thanks Nancy! So far I'm enjoying my attempt at flying by the seat of my pants :-)

Hi Heather - I agree that house-hunting is extremely stressful and think that your new strategy of unplanned reading is a great idea. I'm tending to avoid the bigger books on my tbr pile at present, they just look like massive commitments that I don't feel like tackling.

So no more pushing shared reads onto you, then, Heather?? Gotcha!

You shouldn't have too much trouble polishing off The Octoroon, though: largish print and wide margins, and in the introduction Jennifer Carnell accuses Braddon of bumping up her word count by constantly using her characters' full names and titles. :)

(Actually, if you do get through it, there's something I'd like your opinion on...)

Heather, do you want to read Gaudy Night? Every time I think about it, I want to.
Hope you have very clear reactions to this week-end's houses!

Caught up at last Heather and, having abandoned your reading plans, I hope you have a great weekend reading just what the heck you like.

Oh those pesky reading plans. I got into that tangle once myself. Now I still tend to think of my reading in monthly chunks, but I give myself the freedom to adjust whenever I feel like it. I was just thinking about this yesterday because there are two books I'm planning to read in May that, for various reasons, suddenly became "books I want to read now." It's nice to say "well OK then, I'll read them" instead of "but I have to read these 10 other books first."

Hi Heather - I am so far behind. Good luck with the house hunt. I have nothing to add to what others have said. I immediately fell in love with my house, so it was an easy choice. I love my location, too.

Hooray for unplanned reading; too much planned reading stresses me. I don't plan beyond my book club selection for the month and library books that are due.

#197 Hi Kerry. I know the feeling about those larger books!

#198 "So no more pushing shared reads onto you, then, Heather?" Push away Liz, but I may decline :-) I think the books you're likely to push are quite likely to be ones I feel like reading anyway.

And I've finished The Octoroon so ask away. (I noticed that she'd given one of the bad guys 'reddish yellow' hair)

#199 Peggy, I think I do want to read Gaudy Night (especially after such a strong recommendation from yourself) so it's on my bedside table as a next book possibility. I suddenly felt like reading some science fiction and pulled C. J. Cherryh's The Faded Sun Trilogy off the shelf. I

#200 Thanks Paul!

#201 "It's nice to say "well OK then, I'll read them" instead of "but I have to read these 10 other books first." Exactly Laura - well put!

#202 Hi Beth! Yes, I have a couple of library books and a book club book to fit into my unplanned reading but I think they are ones I feel like reading and if not, I can just return them unread.

===============================================

House news:

We had some more viewings on Saturday. We were supposed to see three properties but one of the estate agents called to cancel because one property had already been sold (eeek - it had only been on the market a week!)

We saw the other two and really, really liked one (the other is low in price but needs quite a bit of work again and we didn't really have strong feelings about it so we've crossed it off the list for now). The one we really, really like is identical in build and size to what I thought was a 1930s house that we saw a couple of weeks ago that needed a lot of work (turns out they're actually 1950s houses so just shows how little I know about houses). This one has had all the modernisation work done but still kept the old-fashioned feel by leaving the original doors and built-in cupboards in place. We think it's lovely and it's within our price range and location range so we were hoping to arrange a second viewing next weekend but ended up arranging a second viewing today because the estate agents are being very cagey about whether there's any other interest. So then we need to think about making an offer if we still like it (I can't think why we wouldn't). We're taking my parents along to get a second opinion and because they know more about what sort of things to look for than we do. Equal parts scared and excited at the moment.

How exciting!! Sounds like 'the one!"

Exciting times!

Some mini book comments from the first half of April:

Book #48: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - 4.5 stars
Source: Reread
Original publication date: 1968



"You thought, as a boy, that a mage is one who can do anything. So I thought, once. So did we all. And the truth is that as a man's real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower; until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do..."

It's been far too long since I last reread Le Guin's Earthsea series and I'm grateful to Roni and Kerri for giving me the push I needed to pick this one up again. This tale of the boy wizard, Ged, and his quest to save the world from a monster he's unleased is a children's book and I was a child when I first read it but for me the wisdom, depth and quality of writing make this one of those very special children's books that transcends it's categorisation and one can enjoy just as much as an adult. Recommended.

Book #49: Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham - 3.7 stars
Source: ebay
Original publication date: 1939



This is a collection of short stories featuring Albert Campion which were published in various magazines throughout the 1930s and then collected together and published in book form in 1939. I read this when I had my cold on the day when my temperature was at its highest and I'm embarrassed to find I can recollect nothing about any of the stories except that I enjoyed them.

Book #50: The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith - 3.8 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 1965



A lovely coming of age novel from Dodie Smith which reminded me of her more well known novel, I Capture the Castle. Three yuong girls in London in the 1920s are trying to make their way in the world of theatre. The main character, nicknamed Mouse, lands a job as assistant to the well-known director of one of the London theatres but she longs to be an actress and have a real love affair like the other girls do.

Did not finish: The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson - 2 stars
Source: Kindle
Original publication date: 2009



I know others have loved this book but I just didn't find it at all funny. And unfortunately, I think this book only works if you do find it funny. The writing was clunky, the plot was intentionally not realistic and the characterisation was thin. In general, I would say that I enjoy humourous books and I thought this one sounded interesting and quirky so I don't know why it didn't work for me, I only know that it really didn't and I gave up after 100 pages.

Heather, that's good news about the house and I hope the second viewing goes well. I'm a fan of modern (or modernised) - the danger when you move in somewhere and think about doing work later is that you never get round to it, and then it just annoys you in a low-grade way all the time but not enough that you actually make an effort to do it!

#204 & 205 Definitely exciting but I didn't think things would move this fast!

More books:

Book #51: Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken - 3.4 stars
Source: Abebooks
Original publication date: 1974



Another exciting adventure story from Joan Aiken which I think is set in the same alternate 19th century world as her Wolves of Willoughby Chase series although this book has different characters. There are orphans, old Victorian mansions, a terrifying guardian, secrets surrounding a will, a dark and smoke-filled industrial town and all the ingredients to make a great adventure story but I didn't enjoy this quite as much as her other books as I thought the pacing was a little off. Recommended for those who enjoy Aiken's other books,

Book #52: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson - 3.6 stars
Source: Library book
Original publication date: 2011



A sequel to Sanderson's original Mistborn trilogy (which I really enjoyed back in 2010), The Alloy of Law is set 300 years after the events in The Well of Ascension and features completely new characters. It could be read as a standalone novel without having read the original trilogy although you would miss out on some of the references to earlier events. Being set 300 years later, technology has changed and developed so that whilst the original trilogy was set in a world with a quasi-medieaval feel, The Alloy of Law has steam railways, guns and electric lights giving it a Wild West/steampunk feel.

It was fun to read but neither the characters nor the story blew me away as the original trilogy did. I understand that Sanderson wrote this as a side project/exercise to keep him fresh whilst he was working on one of his longer novels and I think it shows to some extent.

#207 Thanks Susan!

"the danger when you move in somewhere and think about doing work later is that you never get round to it, and then it just annoys you in a low-grade way all the time but not enough that you actually make an effort to do it!" Yep, I think that might be us! My parents have still not decorated their bedroom after it was built as part of their big extension 21 years ago. I'm concerned that I would follow in their footsteps!

Exciting house news! Can't wait to hear about your second viewing, Heather : ). Ursula Le Guin is another author I've not read. Great endorsement of A Wizard of Earthsea.

Looking forward also to hearing about the second viewing.

I have to try Sanderson. Just have to!

Sounds like this latest house has all the perks and none of the drawbacks of that first one! Good luck!

>>#203

In the introduction it's asserted that The Octoroon was written in 1861, after The Trail Of The Serpent, but it seems to me an earlier and less accomplished work, even allowing for the revision of TTOTS. I know there's a group of Braddon scholars who tag it as 1859, which feels about right. I was just wondering what sense you got while reading it of its place in the timeline?

At least "reddish yellow" allows you to put the emphasis on red OR yellow. :)

Good luck with your house hunting. I started out swearing I'd only settle for a property that didn't need too much "work", and gave in, and regretted it - so do be clear in your own mind about where your line is drawn in the sand.

Wonderful news about the house Heather; fingers crossed.

I think I'm caught up, Heather!

Whatever happens with the house hunt, try to enjoy yourself. Let go of the stress and revel in the joy of the possibilities!

You are correct - To Say Nothing of the Dog does reference Gaudy Night, and I adore them both. I hope you enjoy Gaudy Night when you get to it!

Several of us are reading / rereading I Capture the Castle this month - TIOLI #3. No pressure, join us if it sounds fun.

OOO OOOO OOOOO!!! I do so hope that the house stands up to a second viewing. Can't wait to hear!
I'll echo Dejah in loving both *GN* and *TSNofD*!
*Faded Sun* - yet more Cherryh on my radar since I have these but haven't read them. I'm currently taking a break from *Foreigner* by trying Heavy Time.

Sounds exciting about the house; I hope it all works out for you. The second viewing is when you start to nitpick and decide what works or doesn't work for you. It's good your parents are going with you; apart from their experience, they can play devil's advocate. That's how I'd do it, anyway; I'm sure everyone's method of house hunting is unique to them.

I remember liking Midnight is a Place when I read it as a child, but that hasn't been in a while.

How's the house hunt going, Heather?

House hunting is exhilarating, exciting and eminently frustrating in almost equal parts. I wish you well with seeking out your new home and make sure that bookstorage space is duly considered!
Have a lovely weekend Heather.

Hi Heather - Good luck with your second viewing. It sounds like you might have found the House. I've never read LeGuin; your review of Wizard of Earthsea sounds like I should give her a try. More Campion! I'm going to try to fit on in this month.

It's been a bit of a saga with house stuff this week but the good news is that we made an offer on the house we saw last weekend (after a third viewing) and the vendor accepted it on Friday! I think we've probably spent most of the last two days recovering from all the emotion of the last week. :-) I've got the next two weeks off work and we're off on holiday for the second week so we're going to try and see solicitors and mortgage advisors this week.

Nothing's final until we've exchange contracts so I'm trying not to get too carried away with imagining where our furniture is going to go but I'm not sure I'm succeeding :-)

#210 Thanks Nancy! Le Guin has written a lot of adult science fiction books as well but I've read very little of her adult fiction.

#211 Thanks Lucy. We really like this house! I'm not going to post any pictures until we've exchanged contracts though. I think it will just make it harder if it all falls through.

#212 Exactly Roni :-)

#213 Interesting comments on The Octoroon Liz. I thought it felt like it was written in a very different style from The Trail of the Serpent. I'd assumed that was because she wrote The Octoroon anonymously but perhaps it could be an earlier work? I've been struggling to get an idea of how much revision Braddon did between the original publication of Three Times Dead and its reissue as The Trail of the Serpent.

"I started out swearing I'd only settle for a property that didn't need too much "work", and gave in, and regretted it - so do be clear in your own mind about where your line is drawn in the sand." That would be my concern about getting a property that needed a lot of work. This one doesn't so hopefully it will all go through ok and we won't need to worry about it!

#214 Thank you Bonnie!

#215 Thanks Dejah. I think Gaudy Night and I Capture the Castle are going to be coming on holiday with me next week.

#216 Peggy - it did! It did! The Faded Sun trilogy was very good. I'll take a break from Cherryh for a bit but I'm sure I will be back soon. I have Foreigner but I can't decide whether to read something else set in the Alliance Union universe or the Chanur series or to start the Foreigner series....

#217 Hi Nina. Yes, I definitely noticed I was less starstruck by the house on the second visit and was able to notice small marks on the walls and carpet. It was helpful to have my parents there as my Dad picked up on a lot of things I wouldn't have noticed at all!

#219 "House hunting is exhilarating, exciting and eminently frustrating in almost equal parts." Very true Paul. I think there are lots of possibilties for bookshelf space if everything goes to plan on this house :-)

#220 Thanks Beth. Yes, definitely more Campion this month!

That's good news, Heather. I hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Congratulations on the accepted offer, Heather. I hope all goes well from here forward.

Heather, that is so exciting about the offer being accepted! I hope things go smoothly towards completion.

Very exciting developments on the housing front! Fingers crossed that all goes well for you.

That's marvellously exciting news! Fingers crossed it all goes well for you, and any hiccoughs are only minor.

Glad to hear the good housing news, Heather. I join everyone in hoping the rest goes well and, as humouress says, any hiccoughs are minor.

I'm one of those who enjoyed The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window, so I'm sorry you didn't. It's one of those books that gets quite a divided reaction for some reason. Maybe you put your finger on it: I did find it funny. Our senses of humor all differ; I've been in audiences and found something quite funny while others don't, and vice versa. I tell people read the first few pages of The Hundred Year Old Man and if it grabs you, you'll probably have a good time with it. If not, horseman pass by.

I hope it's not a bad sign for you that I love the Harriet Vane Lord Peters by Dorothy L. Sayers, including Gaudy Night!

The Chanur series, the Chanur series!!! Not that I've got a strong opinion or anything...

Good luck on ironing out all the final wrinkles with the house. Hope everything goes smoothly.

Congratulations on the new house, Heather. Of course, we will expect photos at some point. :)

Great news about the house, Heather! It's also nice that you will have a weeks holdiays coming up to rest up in, house buying is one of the major emotional upheavals in one's life. Hope it all goes smoothly from here.

Wow, new house AND vacation---sounds good to me Heather. Enjoy!

Heather, delighted for you, on both house and vacation!! Enjoy, and keep us posted : ).

>228 ronincats:: That Roni! She gets on your threads and then knocks you down in a hail of book bullets, in the form of series recommendations!

At the moment, she's got me with the Serrano series, she's encouraging everyone to read the Vlad Taltos series and she's cheering on my reading of the Kencyrath series. And now the Chanur series ... I can't keep up!

*waving* at Heather

Congratulation Heather, I hope the next part of the process goes smoothly. Enjoy your holiday.

Woohoo Heather!! Congrats on the house!

And a big kudos to you for trying something new with reading. I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants" type gal too (as someone else way up there said). So group reads are actually out of my general comfort zone. I love that most members of this group will support you no matter what reading style, genres, plans, etc. you choose! Also glad the not planning is eliminating some stress for you!! :)

#222 - 236 Thanks for all the good wishes and congratulations Kerry, Dejah, Susan, Laura, Nina, Joe, Roni, Beth, Judy, Bonnie, Nancy, Stasia, Kerry and Tina! Today we instructed our solicitors (which means I phoned them, then filled out a form and wrote them a cheque. I'm sure this will be the first cheque of many in the house-buying and moving process). On Thursday morning we have a 3 hour appointment with our bank's mortgage advisor. 3 hours?!? I think we may need to have lunch out as a restorative measure.

#227 Joe, I know what you mean - what we find funny varies so much from person to person. I have been enjoying the Sayers' books so far so I don't think it's a bad sign that you enjoy them too :-) In fact, I'm sure you were one of the many (many) people recommending the Dr Siri books which I did find funny - so I think we still have quite a big overlap!

#228 Ok - Chanur it is! A 5 book series sounds better than a 13/14 book series anyway :-)

#233 Doesn't she just? I've dodged the Serrano series but only because I have another series by the same author to read on Roni's recommendation already (Paksennarion). She's a dangeropus lady that Roni.

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