A Work in Progress

Book Notes

I've scored some really good books lately through Bookmooch, so I thought I'd share.  It tends to be hit or miss when it comes to Bookmooch.  I don't always find exactly what I want, but I do stumble across some good books, and occasionally I even manage to get something off my wishlist.

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell.  I recently bought Withering Heights from Walmart of all places.  I always look at their book racks, but I never find anything I want to buy.  I was so thrilled to find a cozy mystery that I bought it even though it isn't the first in the series.  I liked the sound of the sleuth, Ellie Haskell so much that I thought I'd look for the book that started it all. 

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany.  I've been on the look out for this book since I read Ashleigh's post.

South Riding by Winifred Holtby - Isn't the cover of this book totally dated?  I much prefer the Virago edition, which you can see if you click on the link.  "This is Winifred Holtby's greatest novel - A rich evocation which explores the lives and relationships of the characters of South Riding. Sarah Burton, the fiery young headmistress of the local girl's school; Mrs Beddows, the district's first alderwomen - based on Holtby's own mother; and Robert Carne, the conservative gentleman-farmer locked in a disastrous marriage - with whom the radical Sarah Burton falls in love. Showing how public decisions can mould the individual and strongly echoing Middlemarch, South Riding offers a panoramic and unforgettable view of Yorkshire life."  Anything echoing Middlemarch has to be good.

Family History by Vita Sackville-West - I'm definitely going to read something by VSW very soon.  This sounds as good as The Edwardians. "Old Mr Jarrold is proud of the coal which has made his fortune; he is also proud of his daughter-in-law Evelyn, who has kept close to the heels of the family since her husband's death in the First World War, a caring mother to her son, Dan.  At thirty-nine Evelyn is a woman of irreproachable conduct who parties and plays cards with the best society.  Then she meets Miles Vane-Merrick, a rising Labour politician, fifteen years her junior.  Theirs is a love affair between people of different temperaments and different eras, for Evelyn knows only the social mores of her own circle and with Miles these securities dissolve.  In this finely balanced novel, first published in 1932, the uncertainties of one relationship mirror the wider uncertainties of the 1930s, producing and elegant portrait of a country on the brink of change."

The Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier - This is a collection of nine stories including "The Blue Lenses" and "The Pool", both of which I read last year.  I'm hoping to read the rest of the stories in the collection eventually.

I've also requested two books via ILL that I'm looking forward to.

Storm Bird by Mollie Panter-Downes.  Have you ever picked up a book with the intention of reading it without knowing what it's about?  After reading One Fine Day I decided I needed to read more of Mollie Panter-Downes's work.  I was hoping there would be a description on the book somewhere, but it has no dust jacket as it is an older book from the 1930s.  I'm going to give it a try anyway.  I've read the first couple of pages and it seems to be about a man whose wife has recently died.  If anyone has read it, I'd love to hear more about it!  I'm also waiting on another of her books to arrive.

A Very Great Profession: The Woman's Novel, 1914-39 by Nicola Beauman.  I had no idea that Persephone Books was republishing this book.  Had I known I would have just ordered it, but now I can check it out first.  "A Very Great Profession, first published in 1983, looks at women like Katherine in Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day (‘Katharine, thus, was a member of a very great profession which has, as yet, no title and very little recognition… She lived at home’) and Laura, the heroine of Brief Encounter, women whose lives and habits were wonderfully recorded in the fiction of the time.  Drawing on the novels to illuminates themes such as domestic life, romantic love, sex, psychoanalysis, the Great War and ‘surplus’ women, A Very Great Profession uses the work of numerous women writers to present a portrait, though their fiction, of middle-class Englishwomen in the period between the wars."  Doesn't that sound good?!  I have a feeling it's going to make my book list much, much longer.  Now I must go and see what else they've published.   

Reminders (to myself)

I love reading book blogs, but I tend to have a hard time staying focused on my own reading when I do so.  I give in to temptation so easily when it comes to books.  Rather than just writing a title down when another reader writes about it so enthusiastically, I often will request it from my library or even go out and buy it.  I've been slightly tempted by challenges, but if I don't complete them I don't mind.  With these temptations in mind it's always nice to remind myself of the reading plans I've set out for myself.  Ultimately I think that as long as I'm reading good books, it doesn't matter whether it was planned or not.  Still, there are so many books I've wanted to read and small projects/goals that I have set for myself to work on.  It's nice to occasionally remember just what I had in mind to do this year. 

Read more American literature/classics--particularly from the 20th century.  I've read 6 American authors so far, but one now lives in the UK, two live here but write about Victorian/Edwardian England, and one writes nonfiction.  That leaves two with books set in the US.  And what do you do about authors like Jacqueline Winspear and Geraldine Brooks who were born abroad but now live here.  Only one book was a classic, though I am reading Washington Square.  Of course Henry James spent much of his life in England and became a British citizen.  So maybe I'm fudging a bit here.

The Modern Library List.  Only one book so far.  Jack London's The Call of the Wild.  Henry James has three novels on the list.  Of course Washington Square is not one of them.

Read Jane Austen's major works.  I've not forgotten about my Jane Austen project.  I started with Northanger Abbey last year.  Sense and Sensibility is next.  Well, the next Jane Austen, though maybe not the next book.  (You know how that goes).

Read more Shakespeare.  Nothing so far this year.  I've been wanting to read Twelfth Night, but that seems like a good one to read around the end of the year holidays.  I need to pick another play.  Sometime soon.

Ten more books in translation.  Four down (though one was a graphic novel and one a book of short stories), and I'm working on my fifth--Les Misérables.  I want to at least read ten, though more would be nice.

A Baker's Dozen for 2008.  I'm back to reading (and greatly enjoying) Sarah Bower's Needle in the Blood.  Otherwise I have my work cut out for me--twelve more to go.  I'm not very good at reading the books I come up with on these lists (I have more lists, but this is the only one I'll share).  I will note here that the vast majority of my 'Thursday Thirteen' lists are more informational than anything else.  It's just a few of these lists that I've set out to actually read all the books (this year that is).

Read at least one 'big book'.  I'm working on this one.  Hopefully no one's given up on this project yet?  It may take me most of the summer, but I will see it through to the end.  And then pick another long read....

My newest scheme is to read more Viragos, but you already know all about that...

Challenges:

What's in a Name Reading Challenge.  I've read two books so far--The Crimson Portrait and One Fine Day.  I never really formally joined this challenge, so it will probably be the only one I complete.

Russian Reading Challenge.  I've not yet read any Russian authors, but I am still planning on reading Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (and looking forward to it). 

Short Story Reading Challenge.  Although I don't copy my posts to the short story reading challenge blog every week (I did at first, but it is frustrating copying from Typepad to Blogger--the formatting gets all messed up), I have been very dedicated in my reading.

Once Upon a Time II Reading Challenge.  I've finished The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Ice Land.  I'm still contemplating what to read next.

Even if my reading has been somewhat blown off track this year, I can't say that I can complain about the quality of the books I've been reading instead!  And there are still months and months to go.

Ice Land

Betsy Tobin's Ice Land was an absolutely irresistible read for me.  It's steeped in the history, mythology and geology of the country.  I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it before, and it's the sort of book, which I wish hadn't ended.  Now I'll have to turn to the Sagas and Norse Mythology to satiate my growing desire to know more about this culture.  I'll definitely be looking for more books on the subject. 

It's sort of an unlikely story, filled with gods (not so unlike ourselves surprisingly), a cloak made entirely of feathers--enabling the wearer to fly, dwarfs, giants, a stunningly beautiful golden necklace called the Brisingamen, and an island alive.  An icy island you'd think was quite barren, but in reality is living and breathing and changing.  Ice Land ca. 1000 AD is not usually a hotspot in my reading tour, and this is not the sort of book I would have imagined myself reading at one time, but I found it quite thrilling.  Ever since I read about Gudrid earlier this year,  I've been very interested in this country.  It's obvious Iceland is a place and subject that Betsy Tobin is captivated by as well.  She called this novel her "love letter to Iceland and its people".

What I especially loved about this book were the strong female characters.  The story is told primarily from the point of view of Freya, the Norse goddess of love, and Fulla an 11th century woman raised by her grandfather, betrothed to one man she doesn't love and in love with another.  So often women in novels are the victims of men (and horrible things happen to them), but here they are strong heroines who will be the masters (or should I say mistresses) of their own fates.  When Freya is warned of impending doom for her people she sets off on a quest for the Brisingamen, fashioned from gold by four dwarfs.  Running parallel to this story is that of Fulla and her forbidden love for a man in a rival clan.  I wasn't sure how it would work out, but the two stories will intersect.

Eleventh-century Iceland was a violent place.  The rules of kinship guided people's lives more than anything else--you were loyal to your family first and foremost.  But religion also played an important role.  Like other Medieval cultures most aspects of your life was controlled by religion.  Iceland at this time, though, was a society on the cusp of change.  Curiously, the change from paganism to Christianity was a peaceful one once the Icelanders realized the futility of fighting against the Christian missionaries.  Literally the conversion of the island was decided by their lawgiver after a two-day vigil at something called an Althing, though pagan beliefs coexisted alongside Christian beliefs for a long time after.

I've never been one to read fairy tales or mythology, but this story was so cleverly told using Norse mythology for Freya's story and the Sagas for Fulla's that all of a sudden I'm very interested in both now.  I might once have raised an eyebrow about a cloak that allowed one to fly, but it seemed completely normal to me here.  It's strange how our reading tastes change and refine over time.  Almost as important as the humans and gods in this story is Iceland itself--the island.  Mount Hekla played almost as important a role as any of the other characters and was a driving force behind many motivations. 

I was quite impressed by this novel.  Unfortunately it's only been published so far in the UK, though it is definitely worth tracking down.  I also want to mention how nicely the book is designed.  It's a sturdy trade-size paperback (the sort with flaps that fold in).  If you look closely at the cover illustration you'll see not only Mount Hekla at the top, but also flying horses and reclining figures within the swirls and curves. 

This is the second book that I've read for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge.  I'm not quite sure what to do next.  Do I stick with my original list or be tempted by other books?  I won a copy of The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle from Jaimie, which I want to read and would fit in with the challenge perfectly.  I could throw all caution to the wind and just go ahead and read Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell despite its length.  Or I could jump into the The Sagas of the Icelanders.  In any case I'll wait a few days (and try and finish another book or two) before making a decision.  Ice Land was too good a book to just jump into a new one--I think I'd rather let it all seep in a bit more.          

Some Strange Disturbances

It's very rare that I read a ghost story and it has any sort of chilling effect on me.  Occasionally it does happen, but the instances tend to be few and far in between.  I think we live in a too technologically advanced era, plus the whole TV/electricity thing puts a damper on the idea of ghosts.  That doesn't stop me from wanting to read them and generally I find them very entertaining if not for the "hair raising" effect than for a taste of place, time and atmosphere.  Perhaps it would have helped had I not read J.S. Le Fanu's "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street", smack dab in the middle of a sunny afternoon in April.  Ghost stories are good anytime, but there's something about reading them on a chilly, rainy, Fall afternoon when the light of day is failing.  So I guess I'll just pretend!

I mooched a copy of The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories, edited by Michael Cox and R.A. Gilbert, and have been anxious to give some of the stories a try.  I'm also in the mood to immerse myself in some Victorian atmosphere as I plan on reading Mary Elizabeth Bradden very soon.  I wanted to give Le Fanu a try as I have a copy of Uncle Silas (which I also want to read soon), and I heard he does the whole sinister, creepy story very well and have read he had quite an important influence on the development of the ghost story.  I didn't realize that the anthology is meant to show the development of the Victorian ghost story from c. 1850, but as this is only the second story in the collection (published in 1853) I can go back and read Elizabeth Gaskell's story and get back on track. Interestingly (and not surprisingly) the end of the traditional ghost story came to an end in 1914 with the beginning of WWI when the world was witness to even greater horrors of a different sort.

I always find the information elicited in the introductions to these anthologies very helpful and illuminating in some cases.  Sometimes I feel like all the different books and stories I read are just part of a larger literary puzzle and it's nice to see how things fit together.

"For almost the whole of the Victorian period the ghost story is of a piece: traditional in its forms and intentions, but energetically inventive and infused with a relish of the supernatural that parallels the more general Victorian fascination with the trappings of death--the dark, extravagant splendour of the funeral, the baroque richness of the cemetery, the guilt-laden luxury of mourning.  And then, at its most basic, the function of most Victorian ghost stories, like all similar fictions, was simply to produce what Michael Sadleir called 'the pleasurable shudder'--'a horror which we know does not--but none the less conceivably might--threaten ourselves'."

Cox and Gilbert go on to say in the introduction:

"The successful ghost story, like the successful detective story, depends on using conventions creatively.  The ghost story's basic dynamics are settled in the reader's expectations at the outset.  We know that we are to be shown a climactic interaction between the living and the dead, and usually expect to be unsettled by the experience.  The skill comes when an author is able to work closely within the limited conventions of form whilst at the same time reassembling familiar components into something that can still engage and surprise.  To some extent this requires a certain complicity between author and reader, whereby the latter becomes a willing accomplice in the whole design.  But it also calls for fluent invention, well-developed dramatic instincts, and story-telling capability of a high order on the part of the author."

Le Fanu's story falls very firmly within these dynamics as the editors call them.  It is narrated by a young man, Dick, who along with his cousin Tom are students of medicine in Dublin.  I liked how Le Fanu begins the story with Dick telling the reader about the events that occurred when he was younger.

"It is not worth telling, this story of mine--at least, not worth writing.  Told, indeed, as I have sometimes been called upon to tell it, to a circle of intelligent and eager faces, lighted up by a good after-dinner fire on a winter's evening, with a cold wind rising and wailing outside, and all snug and cosy within, it has gone off--though I say it, who should not--indifferent well."

He goes on to say how putting the story down in ink on paper and reading it is a far less superior method of conveying his story.  "Pen, ink and paper are cold vehicles for the marvellous."  Readers tend to be more critical than listeners, so he urges the reader to at least wait until after nightfall to read the story.  It concerns a supernatural event, which occurred in a very, very old house owned by Tom's father.  To save on rent Dick and Tom live there, but it ends up being a very short residence.  It was at one time inhabited by a Judge, known particularly as having a reputation as a 'hanging judge'.  Ironically he ended his days by hanging himself with a child's skipping rope over the massive bannisters in the house.  The coroner's jury had found his actions to fall under the impulse of 'temporary insanity'.  But the reader is left to wonder and if you let your mind wander just a bit about the circumstances concerning the Judge's death, especially since the Judge makes his unhappy presence still known almost nightly to Dick and Tom. The story is certainly dramatic and Le Fanu does tell a good story, even if I don't believe in ghosts!  A dark, stormy night might even be more conducive to raising a few hairs on the back of the neck...

Although I want to read all the stories in this collection, I'll save them for more suitable reading conditions (ie. a dark and stormy night).  Next week I plan on choosing something from American Short Story Masterpieces, edited by Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks.  It might even serve as a good text to draw from over the course of the year (and I'll have to find one similar with international short stories).  I also scored a copy of Daphne Du Maurier's The Breaking Point, which is out of print, from Bookmooch.  I've already read two of the stories in the collection (found in library books), but I do want to read all her short stories.  Considering I would rarely pick up a short story collection in the bookstore, I've been accumulating quite a few of them lately.  I'm not sure I'm reading the most famous of the lot, but I've been enjoying those I have read, so maybe it doesn't matter?      

Reading Meme

I seem to be highly unmotivated today.  I'm just frittering away the afternoon accomplishing nothing.  It didn't help that I spent a while bringing up Bloglines and going through posts--marking and reading only to have it freeze on me.  Has anyone else been having problems with it?  Now I don't know if it will have saved the posts I marked or not.  Frustrating.  I usually read and post on a short story every Sunday, but I may have to save that for another day.  As Angela has tagged me for a meme, it seems like the perfect solution for the funk I'm currently in.  I've done this a few times before, but I always find it entertaining.

1. Pick up the nearest book
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you

I've been reading and thoroughly enjoying Catherine Delors' Mistress of the Revolution.  Here goes:

"He is a libertine, like his friends.  They are after the same thing, all three of them.  Believe me, dear, it is not your hand in marriage."

Delors' writing is really superb and the historical details are quite seductive.  It all feels quite real--historical fiction at its best. 

Perhaps it's time I turned off the computer and forget about trying to accomplish anything and go and read!  I might be back later if I do get my short story read...or maybe I'll just keep reading about Marie Antoinette's Court and young Gabrielle's adventures there.

I never know who to tag, so if this catches your fancy feel free to grab it!

Reading Highlights and Other Miscellenea

Once again it has taken me very few months for my night table to begin groaning under the weight of too many books.   I go through this every year, so I guess I should just consider it a tradition.  Perhaps I should make this short today, so I can spend more weekend time reading?  A few books I've been working on...

I've really enjoyed reading Les Misérables this week.  Now that Cosette has been rescued from the horrible Thénardiers by Jean Valjean things are moving swiftly again.  It's interesting how he balances out the faster paced sections with those more descriptive ones.  I wonder if this was originally serialized?

I've procrastinated and waited until the last minute to start the Slaves next read, Christina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban.  I read this quite a while ago, and when I started rereading it, it felt like an entirely new book to me.  As I get a little further in it's feeling vaguely familiar.  It's scary how much is so easily forgotten.

Sourcebooks has kindly sent me Georgette Heyer's Lady of Quality to read and review.  I've just started it, but it looks to be a good read.  The narrator is a wizened, old 29 year-old woman left on the shelf too long.  Actually what I like most about her is it's her decision not to marry.  So far anyway.

I also received a review copy of Bound by Sally Gunning from William Morrow/Harpercollins.  I have Gunning's previous novel (as yet unread).  This story is told from the perspective of a young girl who emigrates to America in the late 1700s with her family and ends up as an indentured servant.  I tend to read a steady diet of novels set in Britain, so this is a nice change of pace.

The Dark Lantern is one of those books set in London.  Victorian London.  And it's really good so far.  Contemporary authors love to capitalize on the darker, dreary, atmospheric side of Victorian London and this book is no different.  It's an upstairs/downstairs story and everyone has secrets.  It almost verges on being a mystery. 

I'm hoping to finish reading Betsy Tobin's Ice Land this weekend.  It's the second book I've read for Carl's Challenge.  It's quite different than the other books I've read this year. It has a nice mixture of fictional narrative with lots of mythology thrown in.  I'm not sure I'll finish all five books that I hoped to read for the challenge.  I may choose just one more--perhaps a longer one.   

I'm doing a terrible job (once again) reading my nonfiction books.  Or maybe I should say I am doing a great job of not reading them.  I can't seem to manage one, let alone two.  And now I have several new ones that I want to read as well. 

I recently discovered that Kate Morton is publishing a new book, which is due out this summer, The Forgotten Garden.  Since her first book has only just been published here in the US, I'll have to order it from the UK I see, as I don't imagine I'll be able to wait.

If you happen to be in the UK The Book Depository of offering a free audible download of Rudyard Kipling's Kim.  I'm envious as the offer is only open to UK residents.  Actually I have about four audio books (and one book of poetry) lined to up for my listening pleasure.  I have discovered, though, that I really can only listen to one book at a time! 

Lastly, I think I'll be looking for a short story to read this weekend from The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories, which I mooched not too long ago.  I really like thumbing through these anthologies looking for just the right story.

More Gorgeous Prose

First Virago down, four (or maybe more) to go.  How to follow up such a wonderful book as Mollie Panter-Downes's One Fine Day?  The obvious choice was Elizabeth von Armin's Enchanted April, since I've heard how wonderful it is from more than one person!  Besides, it's April and I could use a little escapism.  The prose is gorgeous and I have a hard time making myself set it aside every day.  It begins:

"It began in a woman's club in London on a February afternoon,--an uncomfortable club, and a miserable afternoon--when Mrs. Wilkins, who had come down from Hampstead to shop and had lunched at her club, took up The Times from the table in the smoking-room, and running her listless eye down the Agony Column saw this:

To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine.  Small mediavel Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be Let Furnished for the month of April.  Necessary servants remain.  Z, Box 100, The Times.

That was its conception; yet, as in the case of many another, the conceiver was unaware of it at the moment."

This is a wonderful novel and I can see why so many readers call it a favorite.  With every chapter I like it a little bit more.  I can't quite decide whether to pace myself and go slowly or ignore everything else and just read Elizabeth von Arnim!

Although my Virago reading project is quite laid back, it's made me contemplate which books I'd like to work on first (my collection is slowly growing and I think I must have close to 70 of them now).  I don't really want to have a set list, since my mood is always changing, but there are certain books I keep thinking about.  I think I'd like to draw from these books to begin with.

Molly Keane, The Rising Tide.  Molly Keane (or M.J. Farrell as she is also known) seems to have written quite a few novels.  She seems like an important author and I'd like to read something by her.  I have several of her books.  Has anyone read her work?  Any favorites?  I pulled The Rising Tide aside: "One glorious Gothic mansion--Garonlea--and two rather different ladies who would be Queen.  Lady Charlotte French-McGrath has successfully ruled over her family with a rod of iron until the arrival of Cynthia: beautiful, young, talented, selfish--and engaged to her son Desmond.  When Cynthia enters the Jazz Age, on the surface her life passes a whirl of hunting, drinking and romance.  But the ghosts of Garonlea are only biding their time: they know the source of their power, a secret handed on from generation to the next."

Margaret Kennedy, The Constant Nymph.  This was a bestseller when it was first published.  "Tessa is the daughter of a brilliant bohemian composer, Albert Sanger, who with his 'circus' of precocious children, slovenly mistress, and assortment of hangers-on, lives in a rambling chalet high in the Austrian Alps. 'Unbalanced, untaught, and fatally warm-hearted,' the fourteen-year-old Tessa has fallen in love with Lewis Dodd, a gifted composer like her father. Confidently, she awaits maturity (and Lewis). For even his marriage to Tessa's beautiful cousin Florence cannot shatter the loving bond between Lewis and his constant nymph."

Antonia White, Frost in May.  This was the first Virago published and I definitely plan on reading it this year.  "Nanda Gray, daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when in 1908 she goes to the Convent of the Five Wounds. Quick–witted, resilient, and enthusiastic, she eagerly adapts to this cloistered world, learning rigid conformity and subjection to authority. Passionate friendships are the only deviation from her total obedience. Convent life — the smell of beeswax and incense, the petty cruelty of the nuns, the glamour and eccentricity of Nanda's friends — is perfectly captured by Antonia White."

Joan Wyndham, Love Lessons. "It is August 1939. As a teenage Catholic virgin, Joan Wyndham spent her days trying to remain pure and unsullied and her nights trying to stay alive. Huddled in the air-raid shelter, she wrote secretly and obsessively about the strange yet exhilarating times she was living through, sure that to her, this was 'the happiest time' of her life."

Rosamund Lehmann, Dusty Answer.  "Dusty Answer is Judith Earle's story—her solitary childhood spent in the seclusion of her riverside house, her awkward, intense experiences at Cambridge rounded with passion and disillusionment, and her travels abroad with her elegant, socialite mother. Above all, this novel is about Judith's consuming relationship with the Fyfe family, who each fall in love with Judith, transforming her young womanhood."

Vita Sackville-West, The Edwardians. "Sebastian and Viola are children of the English aristocracy. Handsome and moody, 19-year-old Sebastian is heir to Chevron, a vast country estate. Tying him to his inheritance is a deep sense of tradition and love of the English countryside, but he loathes the cold, extravagant society of which he is a part. At 16, his sister Viola is more independent: an unfashionable beauty who scorns every part of her inheritance—most particularly that of womanhood. It is July 1905, and Chevron is once again the site of a lavish house party. The guests include the great beauty Lady Rochampton and the explorer Leonard Anquetil. It is Lady Rochampton who will initiate Sebastian in the art of love, but it is Anquetil who opens for both brother and sister the gateway to another world."

Winifred Holtby, Poor Caroline.  Winifred Holtby was mentioned often in Singled Out, which I read earlier this year.  "Caroline Denton-Smyth is an eccentric, remarkable for her vivid costumes trailing feathers, fancy beads and jingling lorgnettes.  Sitting alone in her West Kensington bedsitter, she dreams of the Christina Cinema Company--her vehicle for reform.  For Caroline sees herself as a pioneer, one who must risk everything in the 'Cause of Right'."

E. Arnot Robertson, Ordinary Families.  This is a coming of age story, which Harriet Devine recently wrote about. 

My list could have been much longer.  I've left off Elizabeth Taylor, Daphne Du Maurier and Vera Brittain, all of whom I want to read more of this year.  And then there are all the lesser known (to me) authors that I own and want to read.  Alas, first Elizabeth and Italy and then, who knows where I'll end up next.  The thing with Viragos, though, I don't think I can lose out reading any of these authors!

New Books

Starting my Virago reading project gave me the inspiration excuse to look for some more used Viragos.  This stack came from Better World Books.  Not only were they inexpensive, but they offer free shipping and the books came quickly--all good things.  The only down side is the condition of some of the books.  One has a bit of water damage and one is an ex-library copy.  Both still readable, but it's nice to find used copies in good condition, and you don't always know what you will get from BWB.  And you never know whether it will be a bottle green cover or a later edition.  I found:

• The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West
• Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
• The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien
• Troy Chimneys by Margaret Kennedy
• Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewitt
• A Note in Music by Rosamund Lehmann   

Now, which to read next.  But more about that problem later.

I also had to stop by the bookstore earlier in the week to pick up two books that I ordered.  Although I did browse a little, not many new books really caught my eye (I think I have too many other really good reads at home that appeal to me more at the moment).  I didn't go in with a list, as I had only planned on picking up my special orders.  Three extra books later...

• The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - I love the cover of this book.  Of course I bought it for the contents, but it's nice to have such a lovely, exotic illustration to look at as well.
• Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri - I've wanted to try this author ever since Iliana wrote about him.  This is not the first in the series, however, so I'll have to find his first book.  These mysteries are set in Sicily! 
• A Wall of Light by Edeet Ravel - I read an earlier novel by this author and always mean to buy this book, but never got around to it.  My patience was rewarded as I found a remaindered copy.  Her books are set in Israel.
• The Perfect Summer by Juliet Nicholson - These last two books are my special orders.  I wanted to buy this one, as it is about Britain in 1911--before WWI changed British society so irrevocably.  As it's a period I've been reading about a lot, I had to own this one.  I can't wait to read it.
• The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel - There's been lots of talk about this one--a diary found in a NYC dumpster.  It was written between 1929-1934--again the period I am interested in.  I've heard good things about this as well.  I've already got two NF books started, I'm tempted to start another, but I suppose I should just concentrate on finishing one of my already-started-books first!

A Fatal Waltz

It's hard to resist a heroine who reads novels by writers like Mary Elizabeth Braddon.  Novels not fit for ladies.  I should say that this is a Victorian heroine and an unconventional one at that.  Not only does she read the 'wrong' sorts of books, but she also drinks port with the gentlemen after dinner and solves the occasional mystery.  Just so you won't raise your eyebrows too much, however, Lady Emily Ashton is from an aristocratic family and a widow, giving her entrée into Society and the excuse to get away with her somewhat unusual behavior.  She's also elegant and clever and extremely likable.  All in all Tasha Alexander's A Fatal Waltz, the third installment in this series (following And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season), was a satisfying and entertaining read complete with an appealing setting, an interesting mystery and a dash of romance.  Just the sort of book for a rainy afternoon.

The year is 1891 and Emily is attending a country house party with her fiancé, Colin Hargreaves.  The host of the party, Lord Fortescue, a mover and a shaker in Her Majesty's government, is an unbearably annoying man.  When he's murdered I can't say I was surprised or disappointed.  The man arrested for his murder, however, happens to be Lord Fortescue's protégé and also the husband of Emily's best friend.  Although Colin happens to be an agent of the crown and used to these kinds of situations, he's already mixed up in other political intrigues and is unable to come to his assistance.  It will be Emily that Robert and Ivy turn to, to help discover the truth of the matter.  Emily has only one clue to work with and it will take her to Vienna. 

Although I love Emily and Colin and the tension between them, part of what I like about these books are the secondary characters.  It might be enough to only read about Emily and Colin and their adventures, but there's added depth to the story by incorporating Emily's family and friends in as well.  Emily's mother is slightly exasperating, a terrible gossip and one of Society's proper matrons.  You have to wonder how she ended up with a daughter like Emily (much to her chagrin at times, no doubt).  Her friend Margaret, nearly as unconventional as Emily, is an American of the nouveau riche class and shares Emily's love of learning (yes, she does read more than just sensationalist literature).  Once again Margaret has to miss the fun as she stays behind with Ivy in England.  Emily talks her French friend, Cécile, and her childhood friend, Jeremy (the Duke of Bainbridge), into traveling with her to Vienna.

Vienna at Christmastime is lovely, and the mood is captured quite nicely.  Alexander peppers the story with cultural references and even such notable figures as the Empress herself and Gustav Klimt make appearances.  At first I wasn't sure if this would work, but considering that Emily and her friends move in the upper echelons of society, it wasn't really surprising.  The lovely seasonal mood is marred only by Emily's investigation, which will take her to the unsavory parts of Vienna as she tries to piece together clues.  Emily must deal with thugs and anarchists, and what she discovers will have significance to Colin's work for the Queen, which has also brought him to Vienna. 

It's not all murderers and anarchists, though.  Emily will find time to waltz with Colin (they're in Vienna after all--home of Strauss and the Waltz) and finds that her longtime friend Jeremy is harboring his own romantic feelings for her.  Emily also must deal with her feelings of inadequacy as Colin's work brings him into contact with an old flame who's intelligent, sophisticated and very sexy.  The subplots are almost more entertaining than the mystery.  There's a traditional mystery in the book, but there's also political intrigue woven in.  I wasn't particularly surprised by the solution to the mystery (though I hadn't worked out the motivation until the end), but I enjoy these novels as much for the setting and interactions between the characters as for the mystery aspect.

Each installment gets a little better I think.  Colin and Emily's relationship continues to grow (are they really going to get married?), and they find that they work very well together.  I won't be surprised if Emily goes beyond dabbling in the odd murder to more international sorts of crime considering the work her fiancé does.  Of course now I'll have to wait until the next book to find these things out.  Perhaps I'll have to go back and read the first two books again while I'm waiting.  You can read my thoughts on those here and here.  Check out the author's website here.  A Fatal Waltz is due out in May.   

A-Z Favorites

Simon's right, I can't resist making a list like this.  I don't think I've ever tried to come up with an alphabetical list of favorite authors/books.  This was actually sort of hard to do.  Some letters were easy and I could come up with multiple favorites (how to choose between Jane Austen and Margaret Atwood?).  Other letters I could list books I'd like to read, and would probably love.  I had to resort to looking through my Library Thing catalog to remind myself of books I read a long time ago.  So, last name first:

• ATWOOD, Margaret - The Blind Assassin
• de BERNIERES, Louis - Corelli's Mandolin
• COLLINS, Wilkie - Armadale (anything by Wilkie Collins!)
• DU MAURIER, Daphne - Frenchman's Creek (or maybe Rebbecca)
• ELIOT, George - Middlemarch
• FORSTER, E.M. - Howards End
• GILLARD, Linda - Emotional Geology
• HARRIS, Joanne - Chocolat (I've read this several times and love it more with each reading)
• ISHIGURO, Kazuo - The Remains of the Day
• JAPRISOT, Sebastien - A Very long Engagement (his noir crime novels are also excellent)
• KUNDERA, Milan - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
• LEE, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
• McCARTHY, Cormac - All the Pretty Horses
• NESBO, Jo - The Redbreast
• O'BRIEN, Edna - The Country Girls Trilogy
• PANTER-Downes, Mollie - One Fine Day
• QUINDLEN, Anna - How Reading Changed My Life (this is almost just a long essay--highly recommended!)
• RAYBOURN, Deanna - Silent in the Grave (one of my favorite new mystery discoveries)
• SMITH, Dodie - I Capture the Castle (Wonderful book!)
• TAYLOR, Elizabeth - Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (I want to read more Elizabeth Taylor)
• UNDSET, Sigrid - Kristin Lavransdatter (historical fiction at its best)
• VINE, Barbara - A Dark Adapted Eye (or maybe Anna's Book, though anything by her really!)
• WATERS, Sarah - Fingersmith (one of my favorite reads last year)
• X
• YOUNG, Angela - Speaking of Love
• ZAFON, Carlos Ruiz - The Shadow of the Wind (I think he's written a sequel to this)

Of course in a month this list could change...Some of these books I've read multiple times and most of them I could happily start rereading right now!  Anyone else want to play along?