Since it has been a rough last few weeks and my reading went well off the rails, I have decided to give myself "permission" to read what sounds good, and if a book just doesn't quite work at first to not feel bad about putting it back and choosing something else. I actually do have a revamped reading pile, which I will share tomorrow (I was too lazy to take a picture of my nice, neat, new pile/night stand last night).
However, I have been jotting down titles and perusing books that I had to cut myself off in the end and now have a 'maybe these next' pile. Here are a dozen or so books that look quite appealing at the moment.
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart -- This and the book below it are in consideration of my October prompt. Mary Stewart is always reliably good (even her 'not the best' works are still very entertaining). This novel includes a "rambling house", magic, a black cat and I hope a bit of romance. I could use a bit of romance in one of my current reads.
Children of the Green Knowe by L.M. Boston -- It sounds like this would work for both my prompt as well as a Cambridge setting I have been in the mood for (and many, many thanks for all the wonderful suggestions which I have noted and in some cases ordered or requested from the library!). However I suspect I am not going to get to this one this month. Liz tells me, though, that this is also a perfect holiday read, so it is being held in reserve for later this year. This is a juvenile work that has "a haunted manor deep in an overgrown garden in the English counryside"--sign me up.
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki -- Just like the sound of this one. The simplicity of it. "An essay on aesthetics by the Japanese novelist, this book explores architecture, jade, food, and even toilets, combining an acute sense of the use of space in buildings. The book also includes descriptions of laquerware under candlelight and women in the darkness of the house of pleasure."
Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott -- Another suggestion, thank you very much. Now, if only I can find my copy. "Filled with evocative descriptions of Cambridge, past and present, of seventeenth-century glassmaking, alchemy, the Great Plague, and Newton’s scientific innovations, Ghostwalk centers on a real historical mystery that Rebecca Stott has uncovered, involving Newton’s alchemy."
Jill the Reckless by P.G. Wodehouse -- Thanks to Kathy for the idea of a little Wodehouse humor. "When Jill Mariner is arrested for fighting over a parrot and then loses all her money on the same day, she is abandoned by her pompous fiance and goes to stay with her rich relations on Long Island. Uncle Elmer is delighted to see her - until he finds out that Jill is penniless. Heading for New York, she ends up in the chorus of a musical comedy on Broadway where she eventually finds the man of her dreams. A light romantic comedy in Wodehouse's most charming manner." Charming totally works for me. Just curious . . . do you have a favorite Wodehouse?
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine -- I actually just bought this from the Book Depository has it was on their bargain page (it's amazing sometimes how cheap I can get books from there). I love the sound of the story and it seems like it would be right up my alley. "This breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman follows Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Colourful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya's own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her ageing body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left.A love letter to literature and its power to define who we are."
Dazzle Patterns by Alison Watt -- Buried in Print recommended this one and as our tastes overlap quite a lot I had to splurge on this one and get it (it came in the mail yesterday, too--it was a very good mail day!). "Dazzle Patterns is an unforgettable story about resilience, art, and the casualties of war, abroad and at home. With extraordinary vision and clarity, Alison Watt’s remarkable debut novel brings the past to life."
Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys -- This one just sounds really appealing--a world of cocktails, jazz, and glamor. Set aboard a cruise liner in 1939. In the tradition of Patricia Highsmith and Death on the Nile. Sounds engaging and nicely distracting.
Thornhill by Pam Smy -- Just saw this on a list today and had to request it from the library. "Told in alternating, interwoven plotlines―Mary’s through intimate diary entries and Ella’s in bold, striking art―Pam Smy’s Thornhill is a haunting exploration of human connection, filled with suspense."
We'll Always Have Paris: Trying and Failing to be French by Emma Beddington -- I am trying to find a good (and portable) nonfiction book to read. I love the sound of this and plan on giving it a try. " Written with enormous wit and warmth, We'll Always Have Paris is a memoir for anyone who has ever worn a Breton T-shirt and wondered, however fleetingly, if they could pass for une vraie Parisienne."
Hangman Blind by Cassandra Clark -- I really want some historical fiction--but not 20th/21st century history, but much earlier. Another Liz suggestion and one I had to get right away (and that was ages ago). "In November 1382, the month of the dead, Abbess Hildegard rides out for York from the Abbey of Meaux. This is no ordinary journey—it is a time of rival popes, a boy king, and a shaky peace in the savage aftermath of Wat Tyler’s murder—and Hildegard has embarked on a perilous mission to try to secure the future of her priory. Traveling alone, she discovers danger, encountering first a gibbet with five bloodied corpses and then the body of a youth, brutally butchered. Who was the boy, how was he connected to the men hanging from the gibbet, and what do these gruesome deaths mean? Hildegard is determined to uncover the truth, no matter how terrible it may be. When even her childhood home, Castle Hutton, turns out not to be a safe haven from murder, Hildegard realizes she will have to summon all of her courage and wisdom to counter the dark forces that threaten her friends and family as well as her country."
The Revolution of the Moon by Andrea Camilleri -- This one sounds like it would work, too, and the reviews have been really favorable as well. "From the author of the Inspector Montalbano series comes the remarkable account of an exceptional woman who rises to power in 17th century Sicily and brings about sweeping changes that threaten the iron-fisted patriarchy, before being cast out in a coup after only 27 days."
Something by Joan Didion (if I can find my books by her which seem to have gone missing!). I was thinking her essays might work well right now. I thought I knew where they "lived" on my shelves, but apparently I moved them? Why do I do that?
Tomorrow, the books I actually AM reading. (But even as I read one book, I am often thinking of the next one . . . you know how that goes, right?).