October Prompt: A Month in the Country

A new month means a new prompt!  Although I am thinking of revamping my monthly themed reading for next year, I do like having a fresh stack of books (always my own from my shelves) to greet me every month.  Reading is my escape and a happy place I can turn to.  Fall is here and my books slant a bit toward the season as I choose a book for this month's theme "a month in the country".  As always I am stretching the theme a little--books set in the countryside that may or may not have the air of holidaymaking about them.  

I think this time around I will just give a little sentence or two from the opening pages as a tease.

A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym -- (picture of life in a village) "On the Sunday after Easter-Low Sunday, Emma believed it was called-the villagers were permitted to walk in the park and woods surrounding the manor."

Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly -- (Henry Gamadge #1-vacation on coastal Maine) "Pine trunks in a double row started out of the mist as headlights caught them, opened to receive the car, passed like an endless screen, and vanished.  The girl on the back seat withdrew her head from the open window."

The Torrents of Spring by Ivan Turgenev -- (Russian classic set in Germany) "...At two o'clock in the night  he had gone back to his study.  He had dismissed the servant after the candles were lighted, and throwing himself into a low chair by the hearth, he his his face in his hands."

Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White -- (remote country house setting) "Helen realized that she had walked too far just as daylight was beginning to fade.  As she looked around her, she was struck by the desolation of the country.  During her long walk, she had met no one, and had passed no cottage.  The high-banked lanes, which blocked her view, were little better than steep mudslides.  On either side of her rose the hills-barren sepia mounds, blurred by a fine spit of rain."

House of Glass by Susan Fletcher -- (set in a large stone house in rural Gloucestershire) "My structure is not quite right.  By this, I mean my bones--the part on which the rest of me is stretched, stitched into place.  I have marrow and cavities; I have the smooth, rounded ends which are cupped by other bones, and so no part is missing.  But my skeleton is frail."

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley -- (an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands) "I see a man coming through the falling snow,  Fromm a distance, through the curtain of white, he looks hardly human, like a shadow figure."

Any favorites on the list.  So now part of the pleasure of a new book--thumbing through and reading bits to see which one pulls me in!

Comments

[BuriedInPrint]

Barbara Pym, in general, is a favourite of course, but I can't recall if/when I read this one. I've been listening to her on audio in the evenings when I am not ready yet to go to sleep and she's so smart and so comforting.

[Danielle]

Hi BiP--I have not considered listening to her books. Is the reader good? A good reader as you know can make or break an audio book experience. I still recall reading along Quartet in Autumn. I loved that book--melancholy though I suppose the tone was. I am quite curious about this one and I might choose two this month--this and another one.

[Cathy]

That's a Barbara Pym I haven't heard of...will be looking for it. Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party was good. I have a hold at the library on her newest, The Guest List, along with 440 others state-wide (that's not a typ0.) It took 15 weeks for the new Elly Griffiths to get to me, who knows how long this one will take.

[iliana]

Oh these all do sound like good fall reads. I do have that Pym book on my TBR shelf and maybe I should reach for it. Whichever one you choose, I hope it's exactly the fall read you were hoping for!

[Kathy A Johnson]

I haven't read any of these, though I also like Barbara Pym. I might opt for one that had more of a fallish feel, like Unexpected Night. I know you'll enjoy dipping into them to choose just the right read for yourself.

[LizF]

I've read the Barbara Pym, Lucy Foley and Susan Fletcher books and loved them all in their different ways although I have to admit that it has been a fair while since I read the Pym!
I was on a very long library waiting list for Lucy Foley's most recent book but then found a copy of the hardback in a charity shop which was very lucky.

[Jade @ Reading with Jade]

I am new to your blog and I think the idea of a themed reading list for each month is wonderful - it'll be interesting to see how you revamp this for the new.

I am intrigued by the lines shared from a couple of these books; I hope you enjoy and have been having a wonderful reading month in October.

[Danielle]

Cathy--I need to catch up on some of the Foley books I have on my pile. They seem perfect vacation/holiday reads. I know all about those long lists that seem to take twice as long as normal as everything must be quarantined--not that I am complaining, but patience is a necessity these days!
Iliana--I seem to create a pile of books, peruse in some detail and then end up picking some other book entirely!! I chose a book by Gail Tsukiyama, The Samurai's Garden, which was indeed just the right book for the moment!
Kathy--I did not pick the Daly, but I keep looking at it. I am in the mood for a good mystery binge at the moment! I am back to Sue Grafton at least!
Liz--Hi--so glad to see your comment. I have been thinking of you as it has been a while since we have chatted. I hope you are well. I love those kinds of used book finds. I want to read something by Lucy Foley--I have several on hand...
Jade--Hello and welcome. I am sorry I have been very absent this month, but I hope to get back into my routine. I think this is about the third year I have used the monthly reading prompt for one of my monthly books. I really enjoy it and it gives me a chance to peruse my shelves and see what I can rediscover!