ALL VIRAGO / ALL AUGUST, 2014

Welcome to our AV/AA 2014 thread. For those of you new to this, some of our group like to set aside a time each August to read one, more or many Virago/VMC books. The past couple of years we have expanded this to include Persephone as well. Should you care to join in, the Virago you choose to read may also include Virago fiction & nonfiction. They do not have to be VMC to count. Nor do they have to be THE Virago publication. For instance, I have been unable to find a few in the green & have gone on to purchase said books from a different publisher. (I hope that makes sense.)
Some years a prize goes out. Some years not. Just depends on time & funds. But it is always a pleasure to come to the thread and read the posts regarding books we are planning to read during this time, books we have read during this time & discussions of our beloved Virago & Persephone.
For those who choose to join in, welcome & enjoy. For those unable or who choose not to, I know you will be enjoying some wonderful books as well.

I am just now beginning to choose the books I want to read for AV/AA. I think I will begin with Edith Olivier's The Love-Child.

I also want to read In This House of Brede by Godden, . It's rather strange that I've not yet read it. Others are Anderby Wold, & The Odd Woman by Gail Godwin, which I hear is rather reminiscent of The Odd Women (not in the running) by Gissing. 'Odd', that......eh?

I will also be engaging in some VMC & Virago fiction to play a partial catch-up on our Great War Theme Read.
Virago fiction: At Break of Day & The Picture She Took
VMC: Testament of Youth, Not So Quiet & The Happy Foreigner

I doubt that I will be able to get all of them in but perhaps 3 or 4.
And if I do well with these or those with which I swap them out, I want to catch up on some Cather: My Mortal Enemy, A Lost Lady, Lucy Gayheart and Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Corner That Held Them.

Woo-hoo! Looking forward to it again this year. Last year I read three Hockings so I think I will finish up those I have left to read. I seem to have A Particular Place and An Irrelevant Woman - is the latter a Virago? Apart from that I have a zillion VMCs to choose from and almost as many Persephones.

>4 romain::
Barbara, An Irrelevant Woman isn't a Virago but I am sure it is as enjoyable as her others. I found I really enjoy Mary Hocking. Good choices.

Hooray! I think I counted 12 Viragoes and Persephones on my TBR, so I'm going to pick those out to read like I did last year, plus a couple of Mary Hockings I didn't get time for in June.

I shall definitely join in - I have many Viragoes and Persephones unread, although I won't necessary ready only those. Great fun!

I'm planning to make the school summer holidays my time for reading as many of the Girlsown books on my TBR pile as I can and I shall probably alternate with Virago and Persephone, of which I have a large number as yet unread. It's easier to read real paper books when I'm not at work but my Kindle is wonderful for using at work.

Hooray! I'm not disclosing the number of unread Viragoes and Persephones I have but I'm hoping to make a significant dent in them via AVAA. Having said that, summer is the busiest period at work and I am especially bad at sticking to reading plans when I'm stressed or tired but with such a large selection to choose from I hope that I can still join in.

>3 rainpebble: Belva, I thought In This House of Brede was wonderful - 5 stars from me.

I'm planning to read Good Daughters by Mary Hocking and because I just got a gift of the annotated Belknap edition of Persuasion by Jane Austen I'll be reading that too. If I can, I'll squeeze in one by Vita Sackville West or Margaret Laurence.

>8 CDVicarage::
Kerry; What are the "Girlsown books" that you mention? I've not heard of them.

>9 souloftherose::
Thank you for that great recommendation Heather. A 5* read by you is way good enough for me!

>11 rainpebble: Girls' school and adventure stories. It usually means those written during the early and mid 20th century. My favourites are Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, Monica Edwards and Antonia Forest but there are lots more.

>11 rainpebble: In this house of Brede was a 5 star book for me too! (Just in case you needed any more convincing!)

I will be joining in and have pulled a few books off the shelf to read, but I may have to change some as they all seem to be quite long and/or dense. The list includes:
Pilgrimage 1 (which I suppose could take the whole month on its own)
Belinda
The lost traveller (which I may start before August arrives)
The beauties and the furies
A fine of two hundred francs

Oh I hope you read Pilgrimage I. I have the complete set and am interested in your thoughts on it.

I will definitely be doing AV/AA again. I don't know what I will be reading because I have an awful lot to choose from.

Ali and I were just discussing this earlier - she has lots of Viragoes to choose from, I am slightly limited by the fact I have 12 Vs and Ps on my TBR ... so I might get a bit Viragoed-out. We'll see, hopefully when I look closely there will be a good variety there.

Hmmm...Belva's post reminds me that I have yet to read Pilgrimage III and IV. I'll start on III for AVAA but the rest I will play by ear.

I did a picture of my pile of books and it looks doable. Phew. Oh, it's on a blog post I'm publishing on Sunday. Doh!

.... ref message 18, here's the blog post with the sneak preview of my AV / AA TBR ... http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/book-reviews-111/

Spent a happy few hours going through my VMC lists and updating the status of each book. As of today I own 354 in various Virago editions, 38 non-VMC editions and have read 222 Virago titles in various forms. Of course some of those 222 are things like the Brontes and Austen which everyone in the world has read. I am looking for short easy books again this year although that has not always worked well for me - some of the worst VMCs are the slimmest - but am keen to reduce the TBR. Quantity rather than quality? I've always been a bit of a purist about AV/AA but this year may slip in a Persephone. I am also holding off reading my Interloan We That Were Young till closer till the end of July so I can kick off with that for August.

>20 romain: that's an impressive collection, Barbara -- and impressive that you've read so many of them too!! I've been collecting with reckless abandon, but my reading pace hasn't kept up with my acquisitions.

I happen to be reading Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden, although it's not long and I will probably finish it before August 1. I'll just have to find something else, I guess. My edition isn't one of the collectible traditional green covers--it's one of their new editions--but I still think it's lovely:

I'm reading The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien. It came pretty highly rated around here so I'm looking forward to it. I've started buying viragos but haven't read very many of them yet so this is a good push to get a few read.

Land of Spices is wonderful Jen.

I started Pilgrimage 1 early because I was daunted by it and afraid it would be a slog that would take all of August to read, but what a pleasant surprise! I am finding the book to be very engrossing and am already into the third novel.

>25 Sakerfalcon: Fabulous Claire! I didn't find them difficult, but I had been reading a lot of Virginia Woolf just before I tackled them!!

>25 Sakerfalcon: wow, that's good to know. For some reason those novels intimidate me.

>27 lauralkeet: if you can read Proust, you'll have no trouble with Richardson..... :)

I am so pleased to hear good things about Pilgrimage I. Maybe I should take that one on vacation.

One of my friends found it "completely impenetrable" when she tried Pilgrimage some years back, so it's not for everyone. But if you delight in seeing all the tiny details of everyday life and want to explore the thoughts and feelings of a young woman in the early C20th then I'd recommend it.

>28 kaggsy:: ha! Ok, but might not be good to read both at the same time ...

>31 lauralkeet: Good point..... :)

I have fudged and last evening began my 1st AV/AA book: The Love-Child by Edith Olivier. It is charming beyond words & my edition is a 1927 Viking Press. A small & delicate book which is another that my Pop passed down to me. Though all nine members of my family were readers he & I were the 'great readers' and when he passed away I think our book discussions & arguments (lol) are one of the things that I most missed, & still do, about him. What a legacy he gave me.

How wonderful Belva - I read The Love Child because of Simon's influence and adored it, but it's great that you have one that's a family heirloom. My dad and I were the 'serious readers' in the family - I saw were, because he had a couple of strokes a few years back and so lost the world of books, which is a great sadness. But my mum still reads her sagas and blockbusters when she gets the chance!

I shall hope to participate in AV/AA if the reading muse lets me :)

Indeed, follow the 'reading muse' Karen. Tis the only way we are truly happy in our reading journey. ♥

I'm going to start by finishing (now there's an odd phrase) The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen which got sidelined for a while by Gregory of Tours. But now I am over Visigoths Behaving Badly (for the time being) and ready for AV/AA. I have no idea where the reading muse will take me this month, but I'm going to try to stick with VMC's.

I am also going to start by finishing We That Were Young which I have held back so that I can read the last 50 pages and make it count for both AV/AA and the WW1 read. Then I will probably read A Particular Place. I would love to read The Love Child but don't own it and really must not buy more books at the moment.

I have done a small post here:

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/all-viragoall-august-wil...

However, I'm currently in the middle of Mr. Bazalgette's Agent with a George Perec in the wings, so who knows what will happen this month!!

I am reading August' s Anthony Powell. Then I will be starting on Viragos. I may be reading: Willa Cather, Pamela Frankau, Irene Rathbone, Nina Bawden and Winifred Holtby, but I'm not tieing myself down to anything. Looking forward to a great month of reading.

Well I finished the Rathbone - We That Were Young - this morning in bed, with a cup of tea and animals still sleeping. As I said on the WW1 thread I am WW1'd out and this book did not do it for me. If I had read it first I would've loved it but it was just more of the same after Testament of Youth and Daughters of Mars. I knew what was going to happen to everyone and I held back bonding with the characters. So to be fair - a really good book, read at the wrong time.

I'm already overwhelmed with my plans for August reading, but I will read at least one Virago, and since The Dud Avocado is already on my READ NOW table, that's the one I'll read first.
>20 romain: Barbara, a few of the slim VMCs are also among the best, but I never know where our tastes are going to agree. I think The Shutter of Snow is totally amazing, for example. And I'm sorry about the Rathbone. A couple of WWI books last year sated me too.

As I have mentioned in my July round up post http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/july-reads-and-looking-ahead-to-august... I have put aside some lovely viragos but I can't promise I will get to them all. Hope everyone enjoys lots of lovely Viragos in August. Looking forward to seeing what you all read.

I have begun my 2nd Virago, In This House of Brede, having completed my 1st, The Love-Child, in the wee hours of the morning. I was totally charmed by it. I hope that I love 'Brede' as much.

Good job all of you for at least thinking about what you want to read this month, whether it be Virago or not. Please don't 'force' yourselves. I find that the perfect way to NOT enjoy even a really good book.

Cheers all,
belva

I began my second VMC this afternoon and rather than the Hocking my hand chose Deborah by Esther Kreitman. Kreitman, it turns out, was the sister of Isaac Bashevis Singer and the model for Yentl which was made into a movie with Barbra Streisand. Who knew? Given that I have read a lot of Singer I thought it looked interesting enough to give a try. So far, so good.

I just finished The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien and very much enjoyed it. Thanks to those who recommended it. Here's my review.

This was a pleasant surprise. I started collecting books from a publisher called Virago Modern Classics who publish underappreciated books written by women. I bought this book not knowing anything about it except that it was a Virago with the classic green cover. When I read the book description, I was skeptical. Kate O'Brien was an Irish author in the mid 1900s and this book takes place in a convent. It explores the lives of two different people, the Reverend Mother, Helen, and Anna, a young girl growing up as a student at the convent school. I don't have a whole lot of interest in nuns or Catholicism so I wasn't sure this would be the book for me. Actually, though, this book explored the lives of these two, their troubled home lives, the conflicts between Irish and English nuns, politics of the church, and death with beautiful language and subtlety.

As a side note, this edition has a few long passages written in`French with no translation provided. I found that my limited high school French plus the context of the book were enough for me to understand the content, but you'd need some French or the patience to do a little translating for those passages.

I've made a start on AVAA with Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym which I didn't manage to read last year. I'm enjoying it a lot so far.

>44 romain::
Get back Barbara. For real? That is some very interesting 'ViraTrivia'. I love his folk tales and children's stories. He is a marvelous writer. I hope his sister writes as well. I've not yet read her though I do have a lovely greenie of the book you are reading. Looking forward to what you will have to share about Deborah.

>45 japaul22::
japaul22, I loved The Land of Spices & love pretty much anything by Kate O'Brien. This was a five star read for me and I am so happy you enjoyed it.

>46 souloftherose::
I missed that one last year as well Heather. By the time it came round I was 'Pymed out. So I am glad to hear you are liking it as there will come a day when I do read it. Can't wait to hear what you say upon completing it.

My review of The Love-Child is now up on the book page.

I'm now reading and enjoying The Song of the Lark by the wonderful Willa Cather.

I also just read Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym. I love Pym's writing and this was no exception. Jane is one of my favorite characters in the books that I've read so far by her.

I own Jane and Prudence, but in an edition published by Moyer Bell. I didn't realize it was also published by VMC until recently.

>49 japaul22::
japaul22; Pym's No Fond Return of Love was, I believe, her first Virago at the very high number of 536. I think that her others to be published are quite recent VCMs as their numbers are even higher. And they have the very mod cover art such as:

I too, own the Moyer Bell editions and find them quite lovely.

>50 rainpebble: Interesting! I wonder why Virago chose to publish them when they are already readily available. I suppose there must be enough interest.

>51 japaul22: Well, they were out of print in the UK before Virago published them so I expect that's why. I hadn't realised they were still in print in the US.

I've also dived into A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman which is fascinating reading. I expected it would add lots of Viragoes and Persephones to my wishlist but I hadn't realised there would be so many books that don't seem to have been picked up by either imprint and I'm impressed (if not a little scared) how well read Nicola Beauman is.

I missed the start date on this one. Busy with a chunky Sheridan le fanu. But once I'm done, I'm in! Sorry I haven't been around much lately. We moved to Sweden about 6 months ago. Mild culture-shock.

I have several Rosamund Lehmanns, a couple Molly Keanes, and many others to tackle.

I'm planning to read some early Margaret Atwood (Surfacing, Lady Oracle, The Edible Woman), who I think was a Virago author. My editions aren't Virago, so I hope that's OK.

Simon? You moved to Sweden?

>54 kac522::
Atwood is indeed a Virago author. And all three books you have named are VMC. It doesn't matter that your editions are other than Virago. Both of the books I have/am reading thus far are different editions from the Virago but they DO count. :-) You have chosen an excellent author, BTW.

No, Booktruffler ain't Simon! lol. :) I'm Lisa, used to be in San Francisco. I had a bookstore in Seattle for 14 years, then moved to SF, where I sold online. Last February, my husband was recruited by Spotify, so here we are.

I finally read Round About a Pound a Week and found it fascinating and depressing.

A Note in Music was also rather depressing but well-written. I'm still not sold on Rosamund Lehmann yet.

Next up, Phoebe Junior!

Sorry Lisa - I was sure it was Simon!

I own most of Lehmann but also don't love her.

I am 200 pages into Deborah but am also doing DIY around the house so am not reading as much as I would like.

>58 romain: Simon is @Stuck-in-a-Book
>57 booktruffler: Spotify is in Sweden? I didn't know that. Sounds like a fun adventure.

Yeah, it's quite different. And very expensive! I just went looking for a cheap paperback of Pippi Longstocking for my niece. I can't find it English for under $15. Ow. One good thing about the move, though, is that I'm getting a LOT of time for reading. I'm playing housewife for a while. :)

Ooh Booktruffler, has your husband met Rob Fitzpatrick who is a music consultant for Spotify and music journalist? He goes to Spotify HQ often and is one of my clients - a lovely chap. I also have a couple of friends in Stockholm, it seems like a lovely place.

Lyzzy, he doesn't think so. It is a lovely place. Hot and humid today. Yikes!

In July I read Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede, Naomi Mitchison's The Bull Calves, and Susan Glaspell's Brook Evans (a Persephone), and I'm starting August with Ellen Glasgow's Virginia.

Just hit a brick wall in The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen. Von Arnim has done something I don't often see but absolutely hate. The characters in the novel are all speaking German to each other. For whatever reason, von Arnim wanted to signal that the Professor was using the formal mode of address with everyone except his wife, so she trotted out the archaic English informal mode of address - thou/thee/thy. It's weird and anachronistic and just doesn't work for me. I never finished For Whom the Bell Tolls for the same reason, when Hemingway misguidedly tried to "translate" the Spanish informal using the same device. Sigh. I will try to finish the book anyway, but it won't get the rating I was going to give it a few pages ago.

That is sad Andrew. I am sorry that the change up put you off. The von Arnim was a 5 star read for me. Perhaps you will be able to enjoy the remainder of the book.

I am reading In This House of Brede so slowly as to savor the experience. What a lovely novel. There isn't any imperfection in this book. I can't believe that I haven't read it before. The characterizations, the monastic life, all of it; simply perfection. A wonderful read.

I finished Mary Hocking's Welcome Strangers this morning (Virago author, not a Virago edition) and now I'm on to the Persephone, A Woman's Place which seems very good so far - I wanted to start a non-fiction before delving into the Thirkells.

Not doing so well with my first Virago of the month, High Rising. First chapter seemed fine then found myself in chapter two wanting to throw the book across the room because Tony Morland was *soooooooooooo* irritating and his mother's indulgence to him made me want to slap her. Would she have been so indulgent to a daughter? Also the hunting references made me very unhappy. Have put it aside to think about...

>67 kaggsy: ohh no, this is my next one. I think I'm inured to hunting stuff because of my obsessive pony book reading (while not condoning it in real life, if you see what I mean) but I'm a bit worried now ...

>68 LyzzyBee: You may love it Liz, I know a lot of people do. But I found Tony annoying, and there was reference in chapter two of him being 'blooded' and not liking it, and going hunting the next day - which was enough for me!

>67 kaggsy: >68 LyzzyBee: I am anti-hunting but find that I love hunting descriptions in, particularly, the Marlows books, Flambards, Trollope etc. I think it's because they're so well written rather than the subject matter, and, like Liz, I've read quite a lot of pony books...

I finished Deborah last night and did not love it. Bummer of a book although well written. I was reading it when I went to have my eyes tested and my Vietnamese eye doctor had read Potok and Singer and was interested that I was reading Singer's sister. We discussed Hasidic Jews and he told me about having a practice in Brooklyn and how half his clients were Hasids and how miserable the women were with their lot even in this day and age. Given that this was published in the 30s it was particularly grim about the role of women and just not a positive read for me. Chaim Potok is one of my favorite authors of all time, and I was sorry to find myself so unresponsive to this book.

Karen - I can be put off a book by one sentence, let alone references to hunting. Hunting is the reason I have only read one of the VMC M J Farrells/Molly Keanes. I can't remember which one I started with but I hated the lead character because of her hunting and never read another. During my recent cull of books I got rid of all my Penelope Fitzgerald's because after two books with animal cruelty I knew I wasn't going to read the rest. You can do what you like to your human characters and I won't turn a hair, but kick a kitten and I'm done with you! In Fitzgerald's case the scene with the baby bear in The Beginning of Spring made me howl with grief and left me unable to read another word by the woman.

>72 romain: Thanks for the supportive words Barbara, and also for the warning about Fitzgerald, because I had been considering her books. I have been rather nervous about reading Molly Keane for the same reason. I feel better about my reaction now!

I have had to put Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment aside more than once because of the horse scene. I just cannot force myself further. And it is strange. Sometimes I can read a book with violence in it and at other times I cannot. I think, with me, it is a head & heart thing. It depends where I am in that particular space & time.

>74 rainpebble: Yes, I agree Belva - time and mood do have a lot to do with it. I was uncomfortable with the racing scene in Anna Karenina, but I kind of let my eyes slip over it. I've become less resilient in some ways as I've got older - go figure!

I agree Belva. I think we are all very situational about stuff. I did Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment at uni and don't remember either of the scenes you two mention. Plus I continue to listen to, and enjoy, Clapton and Steve Winwood, both of whom are ardent supporters of fox hunting. I think as I get older I am very aware that I have limited time to read anything and everything so I choose to dump books and authors who bore me or offend me.

I'm not really "doing" AVAA but I just finished Dorothy Whipple's Greenbanks, a Persephone -- wonderful writing about the relationships within a large family. I'm going out of town with the family for a few days so I won't be able to get to my review until probably Sunday. While I'm away, I'll be reading my Virago for the month, Angela Thirkell's Wild Strawberries. There are elements of her Barsetshire that don't appeal to me either (like the hunting), but other aspects of her books that I find light and amusing.

I finished Willa Cather's Song of the Lark yesterday so so good a review in a few days.

I will be starting another book for AVAA book later. I'm thinking it will probably be Tea at four O'clock by Janet McNeill.

I am reading Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott. I read the first book in this family saga a few years ago for AV/AA and have been meaning to read the second for ages.

>77 lauralkeet::
Laura, Persephones count so what with the Whipple and the Thirkell, I would definitely say that you are 'doing' AV/AA. lol!~!
Enjoy your holiday.
hugs,

>78 Heaven-Ali::
I am looking forward to your thoughts on Tea at Four O'Clock as I have yet to read it. You gave that one to me as part of the VSS one year. I need to get around to it. Thank you again Ali.

>79 romain::
I loved them both Barbara. I hope you did/do as well. ♥

I am still very much thrilling to In the House of Brede. This may be my topper for 2014.

Kaggsy, I would recommend Loving Without Tears by Molly Keane. It's not her best, but there's no hunting. Some lobster pots and an offpage unsuccessful attempt at shooting a rabbit who's been pillaging the garden, but no hunting. :)

Also, I finally read another Mrs. Oliphant, Phoebe Junior. I stopped reading her a while back and I can't figure out why. This was a delight.

>81 booktruffler: - Thank you! I can live with the lobster pots and rabbit!

>81 booktruffler: booktruffler

I have read a number of Mrs Oliphant's works and liked them very much. I haven't read Phoebe Junior but will put it on my list. I was interested in finding out things about her life so I have just read her biography,Mrs Oliphant: A Fiction of her Own It is a remarkable book and her life was remarkable. She supported her family by her writing when she became widowed and this was in the nineteenth century when that would have been unheard of.

I have begun reading biographies of many of the VMC writers and it makes their works come alive for me. Their lives were as interesting as their works.

In Fitzgerald's case the scene with the baby bear in The Beginning of Spring made me howl with grief and left me unable to read another word by the woman.

And I read that book last year and don't even remember that scene--it was certainly minor to the themes and events of the novel as a whole. I would suggest that it was historically accurate rather than being an endorsement by the author of such behaviour. Myself, I'm just done with reading books about the holocaust, slavery, any sort of capricious cruelty. Any instances of brutality bother me, whether to animals, a single human, or to masses of humans, but the ones concerning masses of humans definitely take the cake. Personally, I find cruelty to the innocent incredibly disturbing, which is part of what makes those scenes where animals are hurt so very upsetting. But then my scientist nature kicks in and I see the cruelty of nature. None of that explains the holocaust or many of the other atrocities that humans have inflicted on others.

And I forgot to say that I finished The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden, which started strong, and then . . . turned into I don't know what. The attitudes expressed in the book just seemed really out of date, and not in the Jane Austen or Virginia Woolf way. There were some really good parts, but I'm surprised this was a Virago Modern Classic and nominated for the Lost Booker.

Today I completed the very, very beautiful In This House of Brede (review up) and tonight I will begin the Willa Cather: My Mortal Enemy. I haven't read a Cather for a while so I'm looking forward to it but hate leaving Philippa and the monastery behind, I will admit. I certainly have not read a more perfect book this year.

> 85 The one Bawden I've read, A Woman of My Age, felt lke that - dated in a bad way. It hasn't made me feel the need to read any more of her work.....

I had to smile Joyce. I don't remember the cruelty scenes in Anna and Crime but could not read another word of Spring which you don't remember. It is sooooo situational isn't it?

I do think the Holocaust can be explained though, although everyone's explanation will vary a little. For me it comes down to lust for power, psychopathy, and the fact that the victims were nice bookish people who couldn't even envisage the level of cruelty they were about to have dumped on their heads. I work in the school system and I see the same thing, in a tiny form, in our anti-bullying program. We are now working off the Scandinavian model which identifies that people - loosely - fall into two different groups - those who are nice and those who are not nice - and that the 'not nice' basically lack a moral core and pick on the nice kids not because they are themselves wounded souls but because they like picking on people. I just finished A Train in Winter and there was a photo in that book of the guards at Auschwitz that really shocked the hell out of me. I mean, do these look like people who are worried about what they are doing?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p103/aidanski/album3/auschwitz111.jpg

Joyce again :) I had exactly the same response to The Birds on the Trees that you did. I read it last year as part of AV/AA, because it was a Lost Booker, and finished it thinking much as you did. In fact when I go to read a Bawden I find that even after reading the back blurb I still have no clue if I have already read it. I consult my list of VMCs and see that I have a line through it but I have no recollection of any of her plots.

Finished Rose in Bloom in bed this morning. Lovely!

Lisa, any prospect of you visiting Britain while you're a little closer?

I actually started it in July but as we were away for a week and I read less than at home, Cromartie v The God Shiva, one of the recent Rumer Godden reprints, only got to the top of my current reading pile yesterday, and I quickly finished the last few pages this morning. I've just started reading The Corner That Held Them, an acquisition from a small MT meetup in June. It's quite a new edition but it has an introduction by Philip Hensher. I love classic reprint introductions, often by other writers, and always feel a bit shortchanged by VMCs that are published without them.

Rose in Bloom was always my favorite Louisa May Alcott.

I'm reading Hunt the Slipper by Violet Trefusis which is so far entertaining but mainly about the vapid rich travelling about Europe and falling in love outside of marriage -- witty, but weightless.

Well, I really enjoyed High Rising and it was just the thing to get me through an afternoon slumped on the sofa trying not to fall asleep after a VERY busy weekend celebrating the 25th anniversary of meeting 3 girls on the first day of university. Phew. Exactly right kind of book for that. Kind of in the Venn diagram where Diary of a Provincial Lady / Pym / Miss Buncle / Mapp and Lucia cross over. Thanks again for a great gift, Ali!

>93 LyzzyBee: wheee! Glad you liked it :)

Over the weekend I read Tea at Four o'clock which I enjoyed a lot. It will be a few days before I get a review put together.

Now reading a Persephone which appropriately given Liz's enjoyment of High Rising as the book Liz bought me for my bday Bricks and Mortar which I am thoroughly enjoying.

I like your Venn diagram, Liz. Wild Strawberries is similar in that way, and better because it has neither hunting nor the loathsome Tony.

I finished Willa Cather's My Mortal Enemy Saturday morning, giving it a 3 star rating but I know there is much more to it than I got. Now I am half way through a non-Virago by Mary Stewart, always a joy to me.

I've finished two Viragoes so far:

Barbara Pym's Civil to Strangers which is a collection of previously unpublished novels and novellas as well as some short stories and the transcript of a talk Pym gave on the radio. It's probably one to read after you've read all her other works but it was interesting to read her attempts at different types of stories (there's a WWII spy story and a story set entirely in Norway - neither of which are typical Pym stories).

Nicola Beauman's A Very Great Profession: The Woman's Novel 1914-39 which I loved and found absolutely fascinating.

Now reading The Gypsy's Baby and other stories by Rosamon Lehmann which so far is also very good.

I was just over in June and I'm hoping to make another trip in the next six months or so. Mostly London, with a dip into Tunbridge Wells and Brighton. I'll keep ya posted!

I read another Lehmann, The Ballad and the Source. I liked it better than the last Lehmann.

I think Stevie Smith's The Holiday is up next.

Reviews of Welcome Strangers and High Rising can be found here: http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/book-reviews-116/ I took people's comments about hunting into account when writing up my review of High Rising.

Let us know, Claire and I are in London and Heather lives quite close, and there are quite lot of people here within day trip distance. Are the charity shops of Tunbridge Wells any good? (not that I'm obsessed or anything!)

>100 elkiedee: Ooh, yes, another meetup would be fun! Tunbridge Wells does have an Oxfam bookshop which was quite good, and an independent used bookshop which I haven't had time to go into. There may well be more.

I've fallen woefully behind on AV/AA this year - to be more accurate, I haven't actually started yet. I've been reading Collapse for a group read this month which is very good but a real chunkster and it's sucking up all my reading energy. However, I have The beauties and furies lined up to start asap.

>101 Sakerfalcon: Sakerfalcon: I read The Beauties and Furies about six years ago and really liked it. It was an odd, almost surreal novel, but that was one of the things I liked about it.

I started Miss Marjoribanks this morning. It's been ages since I've read a Victorian novel and Mrs. Oliphant seemed like a good choice to dive back into the 19th cent.

Last night I began my 4th VMC: Not So Quiet and I am quite liking it but still just the beginning. Helen Zenna Smith's character is definitely not an "all for the glorious cause" tradition which I find refreshing.

So far have read:
The Song of the lark by Willa Cather
Tea at four o'clock by Janet McNeill
and Persephone book Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton for AV/AA

Also read my latest Anthony Powell, some Truman Capote and a book for a review on Shiny New Books next issue called He Wants by Alison Moore
So I am not able to dedicate the whole month to AV/AA, though I hope to get one or two more done too. I have just started Ruffian on the stair by Nina Bawden

So far, Ali, I have thrown a Mary Stewart into the mix and enjoyed it a great deal. And I must say that I love much of Truman Capote's work. I hope you enjoy the Bawden.

My review of Tea At four O'clock is on my blog now.
http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/tea-at-four-oclock-janet-mcneill-1956/

I am just back from 3 days in the Hudson River Valley. We visited the Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Roosevelt houses so it would be appropriate to now read Wharton's Hudson River Bracketed, but it is also a 'real chunkster' so will probably pass.

>107 romain::
But what a lovely holiday you must have had Barbara. Did you take photos?

Does anyone, perchance, happen to know of any VMC fiction, Virago fiction or Persephone fiction titles that you know are a cozy, comfy read? (With no depth, whatsoever) I feel the need of being comforted and taken away to a happy place. Thank you........

I have settled on Rachel Ferguson's The Brontes Went to Woolworths; a duplicate copy that Andrew so very kindly sent to me when I first came to this group with not a single Virago.
But I just happened to remember several readers of this book commenting on it's fun and relaxing gifts to the reader so I am going to trust that it will do the job.
Thanks all anyway.

>110 rainpebble: Belva, I guess you've read the obvious ones like the Buncle books, Miss Pettigrew etc. What about any Stella Gibbons?

>110 rainpebble: Margery Sharp's The Eye of Love isn't entirely happy, but it is light and lovely ....

I sat up way past midnight to finish The Ruffian on the Stair a five star read for me you will have a wait for my review as I have blog posts scheduled for the whole of next week, so it might pop up next Fri or Saturday if I can get my act together before I go away. Highly recommend though.

I adore Joe Orton!

Meanwhile, I got distracted by Phineas Finn.

>114 booktruffler: oops not the play by Joe Orton,the novel by Nina Bawden better edit that touchstone.

>111 kaggsy:: & >112 BeyondEdenRock::
Karen and Jane; I have been unable to remain focused on the 'Woolworths' book even at 97 pages in. I don't have the Sharp novel but I do have the Pettigrew and the Buncle books so I will give one of them a try. Thank you. It may turn out that I will just need to not read anything for a few. I've never had that happen before but there's a first time for everything, I am told.
Thank you for the suggestions.
(I can always run back to the Anne books if need be.)

How about L M Montgomery's Emily trilogy? (They are in VMC now)

I was also at a loss what to read and following Ali's lead picked up Ruffian on the Stair. 96 pages in and it is ridiculously easy to read and very enjoyable. Many thanks!

I have never been able to live on a diet of worthy books alone, Belva. I always have to read crap in between and on a couple of occasions have been unable to read more than magazines for weeks at a stretch. I feel that I have exhausted all the really good VMCs and yet every year in August I find that at least a couple of the ones I read are tip top, so clearly there are still some good ones waiting.

>111 kaggsy::
I took you at your word Karen. I decided to take a little nap this afternoon and took Mrs Pettigrew Lives for a Day with me. You chose well for me my dear. I am in at page 109 and so far it's all fairly shallow but very entertaining light nonsense. I am loving it. She is at the party and knows she is looking fine!

Many thanks to all who gave me recks.

>118 romain::
I am so glad you are enjoying Ruffian and I thank you for sharing a bit of your experiences.

>119 rainpebble: Belva, Miss Pettigrew is pure fairy tale but so beautifully done and the drawings are lovely with it. I always read it with a huge grin on my face and I'm so pleased you're enjoying it!

>120 kaggsy: I agree, it's a perfect choice for you right now, Belva.

>118 romain: it is a very easy read, I do like Bawden' s style. Glad you are enjoying it.

This morning I started The Willow Cabin which lovely Jane sent me for VSS I am just 33 pages in and hooked.

Ali, I truly loved The Willow Cabin when I read it a few years ago. Lovely of Jane to choose that one for you. I'm glad you are enjoying it and I hope you do throughout.

And I cannot help but smile & chuckle through Miss Pettigrew. It is the perfect fix for me right now. Thanks.

Belva, Miss Pettigrew is just wonderful, isn't it? I read it in a couple of sittings - I couldn't put it down!

Oops, said in the other post by mistake, my AV/AA secret weapon is a train journey to Bournemouth and back again - 3 hours each way! I have finished A Woman's Place 1910-1975 and am about to hop into bed and start The Two Mrs Abbotts, another Persephone, I know, but they don't travel in a handbag as well as Viragoes ...

I am so thankful that Persephones were recommended to me. I just loved reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; such a light relaxing read and highly entertaining. I finished it this afternoon & immediately grabbed another Persephone: Miss Buncle's Book. I haven't begun it yet but will tonight after the Seahawks finish kicking the Charger's booties! Looking good so far. I am very glad that the consensus was to include the Persephone. :-)

>126 rainpebble: Miss Buncle is probably a good way to follow Miss Pettigrew! Yes, including Persephones is definitely a good idea!

Oh The Two Mrs Abbotts is an absolute joy, reading it in bed this morning for a good long session. Hooray!

>128 LyzzyBee: I enjoyed it as well, Liz, although I read it on my Kindle and not in a pretty grey Persephone edition. I will likely do the same for the third book in the series.

I'm checking in at last. I have The Dud Avocado up for the last of the month. Right now, though, I'm at least reading a Virago author, Martha Gellhorn, in a non-Virago The Weather in Africa. I don't know that I would have bought it if I had realized that it's 3 novellas, but the first one has sucked me in, so I'm happy.
I do love *Brede* and reread it every ten years or so.
Anything by DES has to be relaxing and joyful. I find Thirkell that way too with a little bite - just a gentle nip, really.

I can't WAIT to read my next Thirkell. I'm resisting the temptation to pick out my books to take on our train trip ... need to remain calm and do other things first!

My first (of ??) Virago for AV/AA:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

It's been many years since I first read Persuasion and I enjoyed it just as much, maybe more, this time around. I have the Belknap Press illustrated and annotated edition that not only has beautiful illustrations but annotations that provide interesting reading on their own merit. An appendix provides the original two concluding chapters that her nephew said she thought "tame and flat". In any case, it was interesting to read and compare both, which provided some insight of her writing and revision style. Austen died soon after finishing Persuasion. The book was published posthumously together with Northanger Abbey. Also included as an appendix is a short biography written by her favourite brother Henry Austen.

A first for me, I read this while simultaneously listening to Nadia May's audiobook narration, a pairing that was particularly enjoyable. However it is Austen's captivating story in combination with this beautiful volume edited by Robert Morrison gets a solid five stars.

edited to correct touchstone

Sounds pretty wonderful Vivienne. I don't know why I still have trouble with Austen and have since school when we studied her works. :-(

And though her books are Virago numbered, Virago Press has never published them, have they?

I am with all of you Thirkell lovers. Just what is not to love about a Thirkell? I even love her nonfiction!

I find Gellhorn marvelous! So I am glad you are enjoying her Peggy.

I am looking forward to the entire Buncle series when I finish this first one, even though the last is not a Persephone nor a Virago. It will probably be into September before I get to The Four Graces which I have on Kindle.

Everyone seems happy with their reading this month. Summer reads; nothing better............

Yes, Virago did issue editions of Jane Austen's novels with introductions by Margaret Drabble. I don't own any of them but I have seen copies.

Thanks, Elkie. I've never seen them. Do any of you have Virago editions? Perhaps I could peep at your library for I would love to see the cover art for the Austen Virago.

>133 rainpebble: Strange that we don't hear "I studied that author at school and became a dedicated fan". It's so sad that books taught at school are more inclined to put the student off the writer.

I finished Rosamond Lehmann's The Gypsy's Baby and I'm now reading The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson.

I have a Virago Northanger Abbey - I will dig it out and scan it and upload to the Northanger Abbey covers if I can!

>135 rainpebble: I have several of the Virago Austens, Bleva. You are welcome to inspect them in my library!

I finished The Two Mrs Abbotts this morning in bed and hope to get a review up later today. I've picked out The Persephone Book of Short Stories for my next at-home read, but my trip to Bournemouth is growing ever-closer, so should get some good reading done then.

>139 CDVicarage: Oh, I'd never seen those before either and now I have I do like the covers.

>140 LyzzyBee: I really enjoyed The Two Mrs Abbotts - not as good as Miss Buncle's Book (what is?) but I liked it better than Miss Buncle Married.

I have two of the Austens. I didn't buy either of them and I know at least one came from Elaine. The other either did as well or I got it off PBS.

I am still reading the Bawden in between having a social life and staining my stairs.

Lyzzy - the thing about going away on hols is that I can only take books I am prepared to lose or ruin in my handbag etc. This follows leaving a library book in a caravan on the Kent coast in 1960 that cost my mother 7/6d to replace. I can still remember what it was - a child's version of The Aeneid - that was deeply boring AND I never heard the end of it. 7/6d was about 35p but in those days you could sail around the world for sixpence (and still have change) and it had to come out of her housekeeping budget.

Ha! No worries.

I sometimes wish the LT Persephone group could just merge with this one. So much overlap, and yet the Persephone group is a lot quieter.

>144 booktruffler: That's an intriguing thought, though I don't know how we'd differentiate the posts!

>142 romain: HA! But yes, these will be handbag / rucksack books, and I hope they won't get ruined on a train, at a B&B and at my cousins' houses!

And here you go - reviews of two Persephones for AV/AA http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/book-reviews-a-womans-place-1910-1...

I completed Miss Buncle's Book yesterday and have posted reviews for it and Not So Quiet on the book page.

I have now begun Miss Buncle Married. I hope I enjoy it as much as I did the previous Buncle. I am loving how comforting these Persephone reads are.

(still have the Helen Zenna Smith rolling round in my brain)

I think the groups are already combined. I never post on the Persephone site but say everything I want to say about Persephones in this group.

Finished Ruffian on the Stair this afternoon and agree it was excellent. I might even remember reading this one a year from now! Out of all the Bawdens I have read I only remember vague outlines of two and the actual plot of only one.

Back to the bookcase to find something else to read. I might also do a Persephone this time.

I must be the only one here who didn't really like the Buncle books. They were fine, but not nearly as entertaining as Delafield, etc.

I just finished E. F. Benson's Secret Lives, which has a similar premise and it was much better written to my mind.

Do we have any Benson fans here?

Ooooh yes! I love Benson and I know Simon at Stuck-in-a-Book does. Have you read The Blotting Book?

Me too! I love Mapp and Lucia - it's a battle between them and The Provincial Lady for my desert island - and have read several others, although I haven't tried any of the ghost stories.

I love the Benson that I've read (some of the Mapp and Lucia books, the Dodo trilogy and Mrs Ames). His humour is so wicked yet you can tell he feels affection for his characters, even while skewering them mercilessly.

I've finished The beauties and the furies, though parts of it were a slog. As in The people with the dogs we have a cast of characters who all talk incessantly but aren't nearly so interesting as they think they are. Elvira, the central character, is frustrating in her indecision and she really deserves for the men she keeps dangling to get fed up of waiting and move on. But it is a wonderful portrayal of Paris between the wars with its cafe life, slightly seedy hotels and markets frequented by artists, students, prostitutes, journalists and radicals. I suspect the book will linger in my mind for its atmosphere rather than the characters and plot.

I'm considering joining Peggy in reading The dud avocado next, sticking with the Paris theme.

I picked a Persephone - The Blank Wall. I was going to do a Whipple but they are all chunksters. So I settled for a Persephone thriller.

>154 romain: I really liked The Blank Wall when I read it - very atmospheric! The Whipples *are* all very big, aren't they?

>154 romain:: & >155 kaggsy::
I think I am one of the few for whom The Blank Wall did nothing. I did like Holding's writing and her characterizations as I recall but as far as 'suspense', I was simply 'suspended' for the time it took to read the thing.
Glad, though, that you liked it Karen & I hope you enjoy it Barbara. You most likely will as we are often at odds with our book ratings. lol!~!

>153 Sakerfalcon::
Also though I have not read her, I have collected a great many Stead books so am saddened to find that most do not care for her writing. When I get round to them, if I feel the same, I just may cull them. So sense keeping a book that one doesn't wish to read.

Happy days ahead. My best friend is here with me for 4 days. She & family have retired to Arizona and my granddaughter is here for 3 weeks with that precious 4 month old great grandson.



Still loving (but not as much as the first) Miss Buncle Married but just taking my time with R/L intervening so joyously.

I own The Blotting Book, but I haven't read it yet. Same with the M&L books. I tried them several years ago and thought they were too silly. It was Mrs. Ames that got me to appreciate him. I'm sure I'll read everything of his I can find, eventually.

I also had a compilation of his Ghost Stories and I read about 75%. After a while, they're pretty much the same. Maybe I should have spread reading them out more.

I've tried a couple Stead books as well, and she leaves me....well, not cold....more.....meh.

:-(

>138 kaggsy:: & >139 CDVicarage::
I checked the Austen books in your library as I wanted to see the cover art for the Virago editions. I was totally unaware that they existed. At any rate I love them. And I love the fact that Margaret Drabble wrote the intro of all of the ones I saw. Thank you for letting me peek at your library.

First off - great looking baby Belva! Clearly bright alert and HAPPY!!!

I have spent the day doing my stairs. This involved glossing the treads to match professionally installed wood floors up and downstairs but unfortunately the wood (original stairs) just soaked up the gloss and is now sitting there as pleased as punch with itself, and still unglossed. Shades of Adrian Mole as well as the dog got back into the house and ran upstairs through the drying gloss. (Adrian's dog ran through wet concrete which then hardened on his paws - mine seems to have survived unscathed.)

But while these layers of gloss dried I began and finished The Blank Wall which was a super easy read and I also really liked it. It did make me smile that a mother would be so concerned about her daughter's reputation. Nowadays no one could be blackmailed about THAT! But overall, a light easy and enjoyable read.

>156 rainpebble: What a lovely baby! He looks like he's enjoying life.

>161 romain: Great story! I sincerely believe there is something in paint etc. that attracts dogs!

Hello everyone, back from Dorset and catching up! I read Wild Strawberries and Bedsit Disco Queen while I was away, reviews to come when I've hacked a path through All The Work ...

>109 rainpebble: This may by now be redundant, and I may have missed these titles skimming down if they've already been read, but a couple of books which I recommend, not for being funny, but for giving that satisfying warm feeling after you've read them, are Miss Ranskill Comes Home and All Passion Spent. I see Diary Of A Provincial Lady and Miss Pettigrew have already been covered. Also in Virago are the early Margaret Attwoods, when she wrote some very funny short stories. I prefer her short stories but they don't seem to be much read these days. Moving back to Persephone just for general interest there's A London Child of the 1870s which I had a very long time ago but lost. I notice in the Persephone catalogue a potentially interesting pairing: the 1949 manual How To Run Your Home Without Help, and the 1942 novel Housebound by Winifred Peck, which the catalogue describes as a novel about "an Edinburgh woman deciding, radically, to run her house without help". The catalogue mentions that "the war is in the background and foreground", so perhaps not all gaiety song and dance.

Having butted in, I will now bow out.

>164 Oandthegang: hello O! You weren't butting in at all! I certainly hope you will be back. U

Housebound is excellent and not too full of the actions of the war as far as I recall. I'm currently reading The Persephone Book of Short Stories and a Virago about the women associated with the Lake Poets.

Welcome O. I agree - I have read both of the Persephone housekeeping books. The How To one made me laugh out loud - imagine, no maid! And the Peck - Housebound - WAS easy to read and very very nice.

I am three chapters into the Hocking - A Particular Place. My 6th book for this AV/AA read.

>164 Oandthegang::
Definitely not redundant O and I appreciate all of the recommendations. Thank you & a big welcome to our little group here. Three of your recks are now on my wish/wanted lists. And I have loved All Passion Spent several times. I hope you will delurk and join in with us.
Thank you again. :-)

>161 romain: & 167:
I wish I had half your energy Barbara. You must be much younger than myself. lol!~! Funny story........I couldn't help laughing aloud. ;-)
You are really pushing the envelope this AV/AA! Six already. Good job girlfriend!

>166 LyzzyBee::
Liz, I have the Book of Short Stories and HouseBound is definitely on my list along with Miss Ranskill Comes Home and A London Child of the 1870s.

I am not even half way through Miss Buncle Married but I am really enjoying it when I can spare a few moments with her. My time is happily consumed with my visiting family and my best friend of some 55 years. Good times!
I think I will quite possible be able to get back into our Great War Theme Read by September. It's just that Not So Quiet is really stuck in my brain. Does that ever happen to any of the rest of you?

>168 rainpebble: "It's just that Not So Quiet is really stuck in my brain. Does that ever happen to any of the rest of you?"

Belva, I can definitely relate. I haven't read as many as some of you, but I've read 13 books related to WWI this year. I was doing fine, and then I read three wonderful, but powerful, books that have stuck with me. Birdsong, A Long, Long Way, and All Quiet on the Western Front. August and vacation popped up, and I decided that I was going to keep it light. I started with A Glass of Blessings and a couple of mysteries, and then I read The Young Clementina by D.E. Stevenson. I know it doesn't qualify as part of AV/AA, but I really enjoyed it.

I've finished The Persephone Book of Short Stories, will catch up with reviews soon. Still reading the Lake Poets one whose name still escapes me. I make that 6 finished and 1 on the go, with some more days including some when Matthew will be away so I should fit a few more in.

I finished The dud avocado last night and loved it. It's frothy and funny, like a Hollywood screwball comedy. The plot, such as it is, comes and goes, as do the secondary characters, but our narrator Sally Jay is never less than delightful. So glad I chose to read this. Belva, perhaps this would be a good one to add to your list of lighter, cheerful Viragoes?

Yea, more recks!~! Thank you Claire. And I do have that one. I will be needing a break from the Buncles when I finish Miss Buncle Married which I am enjoying greatly and The Dud Avocado sounds just the ticket.

>169 NanaCC::
Colleen; I can handle the war driven books but at times simple over-saturation sets in. Plus I tend to read dark pieces of work most of the time anyway. So
when that saturation point hits I do need lighter reads. Sounds as if you have found some enjoyable ones.

ROCK ON READERS........

I finished A Particular Place today and I was not too impressed by it. A bummer of a book and not at all like any of the other books I have read by Mary Hocking. If it had been my first by her I would have taken my time to read another. Fortunately I started 20 years ago with Letters from Constance, and last year I read the Good Daughters trilogy with huge enthusiasm.

I have managed to review Wild Strawberries and Bedsit Disco Queen here http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/book-reviews-wild-strawberries-and... Starting Pomfret Towers today I think, on my mad Thirkell kick (they've republished some more of hers, right?)

Saturday night. Husband is at his cousin's so I thought I would read The Woman Novelist which arrived yesterday. There is only one review on LT and that was so positive I was looking forward to reading it for myself. A slim volume and an easy read. Some of the stories were only a few pages long so I was able to pick it up and put it down easily while doing other things. But most of the stories were - IMO - deeply unpleasant and quite pointless. There was no one in the entire book I gave a damn about and this is the first Persephone I have actively disliked. The two reviews on Amazon speak of it in glowing terms so perhaps it is just me, but this was soooooooo not my cup of tea.

I've started Pomfret Towers and might just have declared a Duvet Day for the two of us for tomorrow so I can finish it ...

>176 LyzzyBee: oh Liz you are gobbling up those Angela Thirkell's I may read Pomfret Towers later this week, but I am going to start We that were young later. Having read four books this last week I have to attend to the blog - *deep sigh* feeling quite over whelmed at the thought.

Oh you HAVE to start Pomfret Towers, Ali, you just HAVE to!

One more week and it looks like you all have been reading a LOT this year.

Ali, I loved We That Were Young & it was a 5* read for me. I hope you like it as much.

Barbara, so sorry that your The Woman Novelist was so underwhelming for you. Those Persephones are so expensive for us here in the U.S. I generally order 3 each year when the summer Biannually comes out. It takes me a week to choose those precious three. I hope your next read turns out to be a lovely one for you.
And I found that though I really enjoyed the Mary Hocking's when I read them that they aren't ones I will probably wish to read again.

I completed (finally) Miss Buncle Married late yesterday afternoon after spending the day with my son, granddaughter & great grandson. So now am searching my shelves for The Dud Avocado. It comes highly recommended from Claire. :-)

Happy reading all.

Edited just to say that Angela Thirkell is the BOMB!~! Even my therapist is addicted to her books.

Well Belva - I am now reading The Closed Door which came in the same package and it is a different kettle of fish. These read like the short stories published in my mother's women's magazines in the 1960s, many of which were written by people like Rosamunde Pilcher, Jilly Cooper and even Edna O'Brien. I am enjoying them immensely after the Gardner, although Gardner was obviously the 'better' writer.

Barbara and I are back in sync with our out of sync phenomenon. I enjoyed A Particular Woman 4½ stars worth. We just look for different things when we read, I guess. On the other hand, I loved the trilogy more, so we don't absolutely disagree.
And I've started The Dud Avocado, but I have a RL book discussion coming up tomorrow afternoon and really have to review In Paradise for that. .... When we've finished, I'll be ready for some froth!

I dropped out of my lake poets' wives book, just not interested enough in the lake poets themselves. But Wartime Women by Dorothy Sheridan, which Luci passed me at our meetup in Stratford, is excellent so far!

Sorry to say that The Dud Avocado was just that for me. And I stayed up until nearly 5:00 A.M. to finish it. But different strokes and all that. Am getting ready to immerse myself in Challenge by Vita Sackwille-West. Thus far she has never disappointed me.

I was thumbing through the NYT's The Best DVDs you've never seen which I picked up for 50c in some thrift store last year and I came across a movie called The Deep End which has a plot that struck me as a total rip off of The Blank Wall. So I Googled it and it is indeed based on The Blank Wall and it was in my local library, so I watched it this afternoon. Tilda Swinton plays the mother and the child who is being blackmailed is her gay son but, that apart, it is a very faithful adaptation of the book.

It is set in Tahoe - I spent a wonderful month there in August 1970 and recognized it immediately - rather than NY state but Tilda Swinton is her wonderful Tildy androgynous self, right down to some hideous waist high white underpants. Highly recommended if you liked the book, which I did. Or if you like hideous waist high white underpants...

I read 50 pages of The Dud Avocado Belva and put it aside. I didn't hate it but I was not in the mood for it. I'll go back to it at some point and make a final decision but it certainly didn't grab me at first try. However, I loved The Old Man and Me.

I've started The House in Dormer Forest as I didn't want The War just before bedtime. Classic Mary Webb so far including muttering old matriarch in the corner!

>183 rainpebble: Sorry that The dud avocado didn't work for you Belva. I hope your next book is better.

I forgot to post last week to say that I had finished The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson and I have now also nearly finished The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner.

I think I can probably squeeze one more Virago in this month - decisions, decisions...

Finished The Closed Door this evening after a day of weeding and clipping hedges in the sun. Lovely comfort read. I saved the two longest stories for last and they were the ones I liked the best. Not great literature by any means but exactly what I needed after a day in the garden.

I have 4 days of the month left so should try for one more. But what?

I haven't read any Viragos for the last week or so, mainly because I have so few left. A couple of Molly Keanes, Von Arnims, and Sackvilles. I will be a sad, sad, panda when I'm out.

I traded Challenge in for The Loving Spirit and am thinking that this will most likely be my last Virago of AV/AA. It should come out just about right to begin a fresh book for the Labor Day Read-a Thing beginning (my time) 5:00 P.M. tomorrow. I'm looking forward to reading some chunksters for it.
It's been a great month kids. I have really enjoyed it. Thank you for joining in the wonderful Virago and Persephone titles I have seen bandied about on this year's thread.
Will check back in on the 31st.

In an aside, I spent the better part of yesterday with mother. It was her 97th birthday. WOW!~! Good genes!

This morning over a lazy breakfast I finished We that were Young by Irene Rathbone an excellent novel, but very sad indeed. I found it a fairly slow read, but very involving and I am glad I have read it.
Needing some light relief I think I will start Promfret Towers later today.

Yay Pomfret Towers! I am really enjoying The House in Dormer Forest and I reckon I will get that and Wartime Women finished and maybe another one started or finished before the end - my best AV/ AA yet, I think. Oh, and here was my review for The Persephone Book of Short Stories http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/book-review-the-persephone-book-of...

I've had a rubbish August in many ways and have so far only managed one Virago - An Academic Question - which was left over from last year's centenary reading of Barbara Pym's books, and it wasn't one of her best! Although I haven't read any, you may have seen from my own thread that I've bought quite a lot so I shall be going on after the end of August, when life should calm down, I think.

Gosh Kerry, I've just found your other thread and firstly sorry your poor brother was ill but so glad he's recovering. And you have read a *lot* of books so well done. Hope things continue to improve!

I haven't done too badly.

My Antonia.
Yellow Wallpaper
Return of the Soldier
Consequences
Princes in the Land
In the Company of the Courtesan (yawn)

And I may squeeze in one more.

Well done Elaine!

I just plowed through Elizabeth von Arnim's Princess Priscilla's Fortnight. I pretty much skimmed the last third of it. Not her best. Possibly her worst. WAH-wah.

I need to cleanse my mental palate with some Nicola Barker. Wish me luck!

I read:
The Song of the Lark
Tea at four O'clock
(Persephone book) Bricks and Mortar
Ruffian on the stair
The Willow Cabin
We that were young
and as I said above have started Pomfret Towers

I read several non AV/AA books too - so not done too bad.

I've done very poorly this year, only finishing 2 Viragoes
The beauties and furies
The dud avocado
I've gone back to A model childhood which I started reading in May while I was in Berlin, but I shan't finish it by the end of the month.
Usually I finish about 8 Viragoes for AV/AA. I put this year's poor performance down to having a very weighty non-fiction tome to read for another group challenge which took up a lot of the reading time I would normally give to Viragoes. Oh well, there's always next year!

I'm not doing my list yet, I still claim there's time to finish / read more, even though I have three big transcriptions to do over the weekend!

I drifted along my shelves the other night looking for a final book for the month. I decided to read something I didn't really want to read and that I would take the first thing I came to that fell under that definition. The Shutter of Snow. I took it to bed and read 50 pages. Lord have mercy! I know others have loved it but I just couldn't deal with it. As we have discussed in this group before - many of us have fought depression. For some of us it's been an uphill climb to the bottom and I find it easier sometimes not to revisit the subject. So I am counting the book as read on my Virago list but I am not finishing it.

The next day I went back to the shelves and again picked the first book I didn't want to read. Phoenix Fled by Attia Hosain. Another book of short stories. Oh dear. About Muslim women in purdah in India. Oh dear oh dear. Surprisingly I LOVED it. Read it very quickly and with enormous pleasure. Well written and I found myself totally immersed in the lives she described. Highly recommended.

I am not sure if I will have time to read another before the holiday weekend is up but I may very well try.

I read Attia Hosain's novel Sunlight on a Broken Column earlier in the year and it wouldn't necessarily be subject matter I would choose but I loved it too - her writing is excellent!

I really enjoyed Sunlight on a broken column too.

Here's my last two reviews, of Pomfret Towers and The House in Dormer Forest http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/book-reviews-pomfret-towers-and-th...

I'm starting The Last Kings of Sark today but won't get it finished. I read almost half of She Knew She Was Right but I wasn't hugely keen, then I flicked forward and found that there are a lot of cats coming up - I know cat stories usually have at least some tragedy, and I'm feeling too nerve-jangled at the moment to cope, so had to put that one aside, so apart from that, I've read these this month:

Mary Hocking - Welcome Strangers (Virago author, not Virago book)
Angela Thirkell - High Rising, Wild Strawberries, Pomfret Towers (all new Viragoes)
Ruth Adam - A Woman's Place (Persephone)
D. E. Stevenson - The Two Mrs Abbotts (Persephone)
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen (new Virago biography)
The Persephone Book of Short Stories
Mary Webb - The House in Dormer Forest

So that makes 9, and I'm quite pleased with that!

I am on my way out to a bbq but have stopped in to say I finished Sunlight on a Broken Column and that it was a wonderful book. Highly recommended. Indeed I have had an 'Indian' weekend here in New Jersey. Husband and I went to a new Indian restaurant last night and then came home and watched the Indian film The Lunch Box which I can also highly recommend. A really really sweet film.

This is my haul for the month,

We that Were Young - Rathbone
Deborah - Kreitman
Rose in Bloom - Alcott
Ruffian on the Stair - Bawden
A Particular Place - Hocking
Phoenix Fled - Hosain
Sunlight on a Broken Column - Hosain
The Shutter of Snow - Coleman (abandoned)

and 3 Persephones

The Blank Wall - Holding
The Woman Novelist - Gardner
The Closed Door - Whipple

11 books in all

Thank you Belva!

You are most welcome Barbara. Congratulations on your eleven. WOW!~! (Wondering if "Lunchbox is available on Netflix. Will have to check that out.)

I must say that I am so impressed with how diligent all of you have been this month. Virago & Persephone must be in the stars.

Editing to list my reads for AV/AA this year:

The Love-Child by Edith Olivier; VMC, (#46); (5*)
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden; VMC, (#579); (5+*)
My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather; VMC, (#77); (3*)
Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith; VMC, (#305); GREAT WAR THEME READ; (5+*)
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy; VMC, (389); (1 1/2*)
The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier; VMC, (497); (5*)

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson; Persephone, (#21); (4 1/2*)
Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson; Persephone, (#81); (4*)
Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson; Persephone, (#91); (4*)

So I am with Liz at nine. Most years I read only Virago but this year I read some excellent Persephone plus 4 or 5 books I just wanted to read. It's been a good month.
Thank you to all who took part and also to all who checked in on us. I love August reading.

>207 romain: Excellent book haul and I'm also glad to see you enjoyed The Lunchbox. I'd like to catch that one, too.

I managed 5:

Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym
A Very Great Profession: The Woman's Novel 1914-39 by Nicola Beauman (excellent - my book of the month)
The Gypsy's Baby and other stories by Rosamond Lehmann
The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson
The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner

I thought I would manage more but I got sidetracked (as usual).

I have neglected my Virago reading terribly this year, and didn't read a single one in August, nor all year to date, for that matter. I did read quite a lot of Willa Cather for the American Author Challenge, though. In fact, I blame the AAC for my failure to keep my hand in with the Viragos. There just isn't enough time for everything! (I know, what an original observation, eh?) It has been fun reading through this thread, to see what everyone else did with AV/AA this year. And now I mean to get to Rumer Godden, soon. I think my daughter scarpered off with my copy ofo In This House of Brede, but I have several others on hand.

>183 rainpebble: >185 romain: I am persevering with The Dud Avocado because I have too much time invested in it now not to finish and because it was a gift. I don't dislike it, but neither do I find Sally Jay the freshest thing to come out of the 50s. I was hoping that my mood was the culprit. Since neither of you liked it, it may be the book.
I know that August is gone, but I started then, and I will finish --- eventually. (I've promised myself 10 pages a day until it's also gone.)

>212 LizzieD::
Good thinking Peggy. 10 pages a day is generally doable even if one doesn't like the book.

My Virago reading month has been rubbish - maybe I will read some in September! (I hope so....)

Another recommendation for a cosy read - Mariana by Monica Dickens from the Persephone catalogue.

I notice there has been much reading of Barbara Pym, an author I have often considered. Where would you recommend I start with her books? I think at some stage I confused her with Miss Read, whom I have also not read. Have any of you read Miss Read? Is she worth reading?

p.s. Have just remembered that some of contributors to this thread don't like reading about harm to animals. There is a hunt, (no mention of the fox that I recall) and some rabbits are shot. They are shot off stage as it were, and the narrator is squeamish about it, but as someone has commented about other books, these scenes are included simply as part of everyday life in the English countryside in the interwar period. I think rabbits are still shot to keep their numbers down on farmland.

>215 Oandthegang: As someone who loves Barbara Pym, I think it's hard to go wrong wherever you start, but I might suggest Jane and Prudence or A Glass of Blessings, two of my favorites.

>215 Oandthegang: & >217 laytonwoman3rd: I read A Glass of Blessings last month, and really enjoyed it. I have a few more Pym's on my Kindle, and plan on getting to them soon.

My favorite Pym is Excellent Women.

Excellent Women was my first Pym and is still my favorite as well.

I'm in the Excellent Women camp too, but any Pym is a delight. O&tg, you should ask our Miss_Read, Helen, about Miss Read. I don't think that she is much like BP, but I could be mistaken since I haven't read the one book of hers that I own.
And I'm making a bit of progress with *Avocado* but not getting to it every single day without fail.

I love Miss Read but she is much gentler and more straightforward than Barbara Pym. She (Miss Read) does channel The Provincial Lady, which I enjoy and is more stringent than at first appears, although the 'cosyness' can be a bit much after a while. Most of the characters in the Fairacre stories don't age (but some do!) whereas in Thrush Green things do develope. (That doesn't look right with or without the final 'e'.)

>215 Oandthegang: Miss Read is an author I go when I need a comfort read. Yet the village life she portrays is not completely idyllic or devoid of intrusion from 20th century issues, so it's not too saccharine. I've only read the Fairacre books and enjoy the slightly acerbic 1st person narrative voice of the schoolteacher through whose eyes we see the village and its residents. Village school and Village diary are early books in the series and among the best.

Thank you all for the information and suggestions. I've got a few crunchy books to get through, but now have some ideas for light relief reading in the breaks.

Last review from August, I got a bit delayed in posting reviews while I was writing a paper and attending a conference! This is for The Last Kings of Sark http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/book-reviews-117/

I FINALLY finished The Dud Avocado, and while it wasn't quite a dud, it was so close that I often wondered why I was keeping on. After pushing and pushing, I found the ending absolutely ridiculous. My advice with a sigh is to leave this one until you don't have many VMCs left unread in your collection.