December Prompt: Dear Diary/Dear Friend

Last prompt of the year.  Can you believe it is December?  This has been the strangest year for obvious (and maybe not-so-obvious) reasons and I will not be sad to say goodbye to 2020.  We all just need to hang in there a little longer and make safe choices and I hope 2021 will bring happier days.  To wrap up my year of prompts I have a genre I love to choose books for.  I love diaries and books of letters and it has been some time since I last dipped into either kind of book--nonfiction or fictional.  I have chosen a small stack of novels that are either told via diary entries or in a couple of cases through letters and other forms of memoranda.

She Goes to War by Edith Pargeter -- "When Catherine, a teleprinter operator in the WRNS, is posted to the war-torn city of Liverpool, she meets Tom Lyddon. The usual stages of courtship are dispensed with, and the two begin an affair. But their idyll is soon to be shattered by the realities of war."

The Diary of Emily Dickinson by Jamie Fuller -- '"A workman stumbles upon Emily Dickinson's journal in a crevice in her conservatory, a diary that reveals Dickinson's views on God, family, nature, death, love, poetry, fame, her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, and the trials of her everyday life."

Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson -- "Vivacious, young Hester Christie tries to run her home like clockwork, as would befit the wife of British Army officer, Tim Christie. However hard Mrs Tim strives for seamless living amidst the other army wives, she is always moving flat-out to remember groceries, rule lively children, side-step village gossip and placate her husband with bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade. Left alone for months at a time whilst her husband is with his regiment, Mrs Tim resolves to keep a diary of events large and small in her family life. Once pen is set to paper no affairs of the head or heart are overlooked." I think there is a quartet of these Mrs. Tim novels!

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys -- "Spirited Henrietta wishes she was the kind of doctor's wife who knew exactly how to deal with the daily upheavals of war. But then, everyone in her close-knit Devonshire village seems to find different ways to cope: there's the indomitable Lady B, who writes to Hitler every night to tell him precisely what she thinks of him; the terrifyingly efficient Mrs Savernack, who relishes the opportunity to sit on umpteen committees and boss everyone around; flighty, flirtatious Faith who is utterly preoccupied with the latest hats and flashing her shapely legs; and then there's Charles, Henrietta's hard-working husband who manages to sleep through a bomb landing in their neighbour's garden."

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flag -- "Sassy and irreverent from the get-go, Daisy Fay takes us on a rollicking journey through her formative years on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. There, at The End of the Road of the South, the family malt shop freezer holds unspeakable things, society maven Mrs. Dot hosts Junior Debutante meetings and shares inspired thoughts for the week (such as “sincerity is as valuable as radium”), and Daisy Fay’s Daddy hatches a quick-cash scheme that involves resurrecting his daughter from the dead in a carefully orchestrated miracle. Along the way, Daisy Fay does a lot of growing up, emerging as one of the most hilarious, appealing, and prized characters in modern fiction."

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman an Jay Kristoff -- "Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she'd ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit. Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents--including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more."

Another difficult choice as they all look good and in some cases intriguing.  Most of these books are older titles that have been on my shelves for years.  I am finding lately that I am turning to my own books, older books, over new releases.  I have had to let several promising new library books go due to due impending due dates and in a couple of cases I was already reading them but knew I could not finish them fast enough, so back they went.  As with everything else this year--it is the year of an upended reading, slow going and not always very steady.  But what I am managing I am enjoying and surely that's all that matters in the end.

Comments

[Jennifer]

I love the Mrs. Tim novels. They are my favorite of D. E. Stevenson's books. I read Henrietta's War a few years ago and enjoyed it but it might be time for a reread. I don't remember much about it.

[Pam]

The Mrs. Tim books are wonderful! Also loved Henrietta's War. Are you familiar with the series that begins with Diary of a Provincial Lady? They are comfort reads for me. And Daisy Fay sounds like fun. I'll have to see if my library has a copy.

[BuriedInPrint]

OMG I absolutely love Daisy Fay and I never see her getting any love! :D Even though (as you know) I had to reduce my collection substantially in recent years, this is an old favourite that I've clung to. And, more broadly speaking, this is my favourite prompt of yours so far!

[Bookertalk]

This is an interesting idea for a series of posts - more meaningful than a lot of the prompts I see via the Top Ten Tuesday meme.

How did you come up with the topics?

[Danielle]

Jennifer--I am reading the first Mrs Tim book and I love it, too. I love her 'voice'. It is warm and cozy and all the 'bad' things that happen are not so awful they can't be fixed. Just what I need at the moment and I will be buying the next book soon!

Pam--I am reading Mrs. Tim now but I have Daisy Fay on my night table as I hope to squeeze it in this month, too. I read the first few pages and it promises to be equally enjoyable! I have only read the original Diary of a Provincial Lady and loved it but I think it is time for me to revisit it as well and look for the sequels. I think I am going to need some books like these to get through the winter!

BiP--This is definitely one of the more appealing prompts of mine this year, too. It was a meh year for prompts--maybe due to the crazy life we are all living at the moment. I want to switch things up for next year--I have been thinking of a few things I want to do for next year--have you been planning as well? I owe you a proper email! And one of my favorite reads in the past was Fried Green Tomatoes (loved the movie, too) so I look forward to Daisy May--forgot I owned it and am happy to have it on my bedside pile!

Bookertalk--Honestly I think I might have originally copied the idea from someone else--or it was just my own version of those different memes people do (like Book Riots read harder challenge). I just brain storm and write down different reading scenarios--one year they matched the month (one prompt per month) and then I just jazzed it up and thought what would be fun and then made a random list. Each month I take the prompt and go to my shelves and see what pops out at me that matches the theme. I think I am ready to jazz it up for next year now, though! It kind of grows into something new each year! :)

[Kathy A Johnson]

I have not heard of several of these, and they look like lots of fun. I'll be adding a couple to my list.

I tend to read a lot of older books (as in not published in the past year or two), partly because I read a lot of library books and the wait lists are often long. I'm going to try to read a few newer books this year for a change! It's funny what reading habits we fall into.