A Work in Progress

November 6: Book Notes - This & That

Just a few miscellaneous items today.  First, exciting (bookish) news.  Margaret Atwood is coming to Omaha in April!  She is the guest of honor at an event that my public library is hosting.  I often complain about a lack of literary events locally, but the chance of hearing Margaret Atwood speak makes up for it.  Needless to say I've mentally penciled the event in on my social calendar.

With the time change this past weekend I am now plunged into darkness on my morning and evening walks to and from the bus stop.  Actually it has been dark in the mornings for a while, but now I get to go home in the dark, too.  This means I have to rethink the days I visit the library to swap out books as I don't relish walking home from the library at night in the dark.  So five books on hold grew to seven and now when I have just looked again it has grown by one more.  Itchy fingers means I want the books now, though I guess I'll have to wait until the weekend.

Is it just me or has it felt like it should be Friday for the past two days?  Yesterday I kept thinking--only a couple more days to go until I really thought about it and realized it was only Tuesday.  This is probably a good thing really since I am trying to focus on just a few books in order to finish them in a timely manner (anything has to be better than last month). 

A friend of mine did a little shopping a couple of days ago and picked me up a package of 'British style crumpets'.  Have you had them before?  They are yummy.  I like to freeze them and just have one now and then as a special treat.  Preferably slathered with a little of my favorite preserves.  Okay, maybe not slathered--that sounds awfully decadent, but you know what I mean.  Just what is a crumpet anyway?  I'd like to try Scottish crumpets.  Let me clarify that--I'd like to go to Scotland and try their version of crumpets.  (Wishful thinking).  Anyway, I have a cabinet full of various teas and I'm looking forward to picking one out this weekend, snuggling up under a blanket with a good book and my crumpet and tea.  (It's the little things in life).

On to more bookish topics before this post spirals out of control and I go raid my cupboards.

Did you see this?  Wilkie in Winter presented by The Estella Society?  You know me--any good excuse to start a new book.  There is a group readalong for Wilkie Collins's The Frozen Deep, which is a novella that I have not yet read as well as a group read for The Woman in White just after the holidays.  Something nice to look forward to for the after-the-holidays-drabness.  The Woman in White will be a reread for me, and I think a little Victorian melodrama will be just what I need about then.

Looking for more chances to read along?  This month's Literature and War selection is Death of the Adversary by Hans Keilson (that is one of the books waiting for me at the public library!).  This book is going to do double duty as it will also be one of my books for the German Literature Month.

Although I am still reading Isabel Colegate's The Shooting Party, Cornflower's next Book Group book is Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book this month (although I have yet to get around to writing about it I did read Jane Gardam's Crusoe's Daughter for the CBG last month . . . ).  This is a good reminder to go pull out my copy of the Shonagon from wherever it is hiding. 

And if you'd like to read along with the Slaves of Golconda, drop by and vote for your choice of next read!  You have until November 11 to cast your vote and we won't be discussing the book until mid-January, so there is still loads of time to join in.

January?  Already making reading plans for it?  I guess it is never too soon, is it?  I have been mentally thinking about reading projects and such, but it is still far too soon to share anything . . .  But I suspect that a few books by Margaret Atwood will be on my reading pile!

It's been a rainy, grey, cold few days.  We even had glimpses of snow.  I'm not ready for winter yet, but the cold and rain does make that promise of tea and crumpets awfully appealing. 

January 2: Reading Notes

Might as well dive right in, right?  As always there are going to be many opportunities to read along this (and next) month.  I've got a variety of books lined up to start in the coming weeks and am very much looking forward to them.  A couple very short reads, one very long one and one that looks like a perfect January comfort read. 

This month's postal reading group book is Eva Ibbotson's A Countess Below Stairs, a book (and author) who I have long wanted to try, so a lucky coincidence that it happened to arrive in the mail last month.  This is the second postal book round I've participated in and it's been great fun.  I wrote about the first round back in 2010, and this one will be coming to an end very soon.  Only one more book to go and then the books will be going back to their owners.  It's been a great way to discover new authors and broaden reading horizons.  As for the Ibbotson, the blurb reads "from princess to lady's maid--she lost a title and fortune but gained the priceless treasure of true love."  I had always thought Eva Ibbotson wrote for an adult market (and the older paperback I have is indeed an adult mass market edition), but I see that the new reissues of her work have been jacketed and marketed to a YA audience.  A crossover author I suppose.  Anyway it looks like a comfy armchair sort of read. 

I'm a little apprehensive about Iain Pears's An Instance of the Fingerpost.  It's Cornflower's February book group choice.  It's a book I've long owned (and so a perfect choice as I begin working my way through my shelves and piles of unread books), but it is long.  And it has really tiny print.  As a reader I'm willing, but can I manage it is the question?  I've heard it is a somewhat challenging read.  I've not yet started it, and while discussion isn't until February 23, the sooner I crack it open the better, I think.

On the other hand there is Julia Strachey's Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, for which Simon is having a Cheerful Readalong, and is quite slim.  It's all in anticipation of the forthcoming movie.  If you click through the link you can see the trailer which Simon shared in his post (I love movies like that and it looks like a good one!).  The plan is to read and write about during the last month of January.

I have to put in a good word for The Slaves of Golconda.  Also at the very end of this month we'll be reading and chatting about Hjalmar Söderberg's Doctor Glas.  Susan Sontag compared this to Balzac's Eugénie Grandet.  "Stark, brooding and enormously controversial when first published in 1905, this astonishing novel juxtaposes impressions of fin-de-siècle Stockholm against the psychological landscape of a  man besieged by obsession."  Sounds good, don't you think?  It should spark some good discussion.  Feel free to readalong! 

And first book up for the Literature and War Readalong is Kevin Powers's The Yellow Birds, which I have heard many good things about.  It's about the war in Iraq, and while I don't normally like reading about such current events in fiction, I am very much looking forward to this one.  Discussion is set for January 28.

Although I was thinking of swearing off reading challenges I do have to say I am quite tempted by Melwyk's Postal Reading Challenge.  As someone who both loves epistolary novels and writing and receiving letters and postcards this is a challenge that is right up my alley.  It's a year long challenge and sounds very laid back (also right up my alley), so I might have to join in after all.  Am contemplating possible reads now.

As for my other reading . . .

I spent a leisurely afternoon yesterday reading the second of two novellas that recently arrived from Melville House (the next two should be coming soon).  Early in my break I read Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener.  I had actually read it in high school--so long ago now that it was like reading it for the first time.  It seemed perfect to begin the year with another novella, F. Scott Fitzgerald's May Day.  Fitzgerald really evokes the era and I really enjoyed May Day.  I think I need to read something else by him this year as well.  I'll be writing about both novellas soon (as well as a few last books from December).  I think I'm really going to enjoy reading Meville House's Art of the Novella series this year and may have to look into the form more (Hesperus Press also publishes novellas).

I've got lots of really good books underway on my night stand right now.  The pile will increase by two as I had to choose one from the 2013 list.  I've just barely started Kate O'Brien's The Last of Summer.  I like the idea of reading about summer in the cold of winter.  And I've been trying to decide which Canadian author/book to choose next.  I've been doing well in the Canadian Reading Challenge.  I'm up to six books out of 13, and I have until the end of June to finish the rest.  Pretty good for someone who usually fails miserably when it comes to challenges.  Another book sitting long on my reading pile is Andrea MacPherson's Beyond the Blue, which is set during WWI in a Scottish mill town.  I am back in my WWI/Interwar reading mood so you might expect to hear about a lot of books from that era at the moment from me.   

And a couple of bookish anniversaries.  This is the bicentennial anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  Hmm.  Maybe a reread is in order to mark the event?  And June 2, 2013 will mark the 100th birthday of author Barbara Pym.  Most definitely that will give me an excuse to pick up one of her unread books from my reading pile (and I've accumulated quite a few of her books).  I suspect someone somewhere will organize a reading event or two around these anniversaries?

So, lots of good stories I'm really excited about reading--a good way to start the new year off!

A Thursday Mishmash

A la Litlove, I think today is going to have to be a bullet point sort of day.  I came home tonight to a computer experiencing technical difficulties.  For some odd reason my font and display are whacked out (the font and icons are huge) and I can't quite get them back to normal. I've been messing with the settings adjustments but it still doesn't look like it should and so is driving me a little crazy (hence the bullet points as I've wasted all my 'computer time' trying to resolve the issue).  Any ideas on how to get it back to normal would be much appreciated. 

So, a few odds and ends that have been on my mind of late, since I'm not going to have time for normal bookishness tonight.

• This has been a crazy work week.  It's felt like Friday (well, that it should be Friday anyway) from the moment I arrived Monday morning and finally I am looking Friday in the eye.  Thank goodness.  It couldn't have come a moment sooner. 
• I'm more than normally behind in my usual online reading/chatting/blogging activity.  I've been hugely neglectful and someday I am going to not only be caught up but feel caught up.  I can dream anyway.  I did finally log into Google Reader a little earlier and sorted through more than 250 blog posts.  Yikes.  How easy it is to fall behind.  I hate feeling out of the loop, which is how I am feeling at the moment.
• I've been contemplating next year's reading and what projects or readalongs or challenges (personal or in a group setting) I might take advantage of.  I must say, they abound.  I'm most interested in perhaps trying to read from my own bookshelves for part of the year in 2013.  Not buying so many books or borrowing so many (though keeping extra good lists, which I've had much practice doing).  Forget trying to whittle down my own piles as at this point it's just not going to happen, but on a couple of occasions this year I read books that had long sat on my shelves for years and found I liked them very much (and really need to do more of that--reading from my own shelves that is). 
• To that end, there are at least two bloggers who are inspiring other readers to do just that (see above bullet point).  There's the TBR Double Dog Dare and the 2013 TBR Pile Challenge.  Should I?  Could I?  Maybe I'll informally plan to join in without actually joining in.  Will have to contemplate it.  But it would be great fun, I think, to start browsing through the books in my (very messy) book room.  The nice thing about having a personal library is being able to dip into it whenever you like and finding something you completely forgot you owned.

As you can see I would have plenty of books to choose from.  I wish I could say I've read each and every book in these two photos, but I'm afraid I haven't (I've read far more of the books from the top photo, but as for this second one my reading has been much more hit or miss.  And then there are the shelves not pictured . . . sorry the room is far too messy and small to give you a larger look).

• The Slaves of Golconda have chosen their next book to read (for January in case anyone would like to join in and read along): Doctor Glas by Hjalmer Soderberg.  
• I'm very tempted to read along with Cornflower's Book Group when they pick up Iain Pear's An Instance of the Fingerpost in February.  It would actually fit in very nicely with reading from my shelves since I've owned a copy of the book since it came out in paper, which was years and years ago.    
• I'm looking forward to getting my next postal reading book group book in the mail.  It's always a surprise to see what will arrive.  I loved the last book I read and just mailed on to the next person in the group.
• And then Simon is reading Julia Strachey's Cheerful Weather for the Wedding in January in anticipation of the movie coming out.  Another temptation I might not be able to resist.  Plus the book is short and has long been on my reading pile.  See how easy it would be to spend lots of time reading from my own shelves?  (But can I wean myself off of library books even temporarily?).
• I'm also intrigued by Simon's Century of Books project.  I know there are other bloggers who have been doing this as well.  I'm not sure how long it has taken him to read through a century of books (one book published each year starting with 1900), but it sounds like a fun thing to do.  Not that I need to add any other ideas to my own reading, but that could be a long term project.  I read mostly from the 20th century so could probably fill in the years relatively easily.
• Caroline has posted the list of books for her 2013 Literature and War Readalong, do go take a look.  I've really enjoyed reading along for the last two years and look forward to exploring the books on her new list (you know how I love book lists!).  I had hoped to read all the books from this year's list, but I am going to be short by one book I think--one I missed from the summer.  Still 11 out of 12 is pretty good (though am still working on the last two so maybe had better not get ahead of myself?). 
• I've got a list of thirteen books I really want to read this month.  I've finished one so far.  Twelve more to go.  Anyone interested in hearing what they are? 
• And one more item.  I've had a question about getting the posts published here delivered into email inboxes.  Unfortunately Typepad does not offer this service, but I can set it up through another provider but wondered if there would be anymore interest by others.  I'd have to search around for a company that does this (does any other blogger offer this to readers?).  It sounds quite nice and I'd like to be able to do it as well if I can set it up.

Okay.  Happy weekend everyone.  The wonky font on my computer is getting to me and I think I've chattered on long enough.  Hope everyone gets to spend time with a good book (or two) this weekend.  I know I'm going to do my best to do so.

Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart

Is Touch Not the Cat only the fourth Mary Stewart novel that I've read?  I somehow feel she and I, rather her stories and I, are long standing friends.  Isn't it funny how easy it is to fall in with certain authors?  You can pick up their books and settle into them knowing you're in good hands.  I've got a string of authors who have become dependable reads and I think I can safely add Mary Stewart to that list.  Happily she has written more than a dozen books of what I suppose you might classify as romantic suspense, though don't be put off by that label if you're not a romance reader.  Her stories have plenty of suspense/adventure and Touch Not the Cat almost feels like a mystery novel though typically her books seem to have a romantic thread running through them.  All  in all they're very satisfying and perfect turn-to books when in need for a little light escapism.

The last two Mary Stewart novels I've read have had exotic settings, but most of the story this time around takes place in England.  It's a little bit unusual, too, in that the main character has a 'second sight' or what might be called ESP.  Bryony Ashley is working on the island of Madeira when she  has an overwhelming sense that something has happened to her father.  He's recuperating from an illness in Germany when she wakens one night hearing a voice in her head.  Bryony's ESP comes in the form of an intimate communication with someone she believes is an Ashley cousin.  "My lover came to me on the last night in April, with a message and a warning that sent me home to him" begins the story. 

"It comes through neither in words nor in pictures, but--I can't put it any better--in sudden blocks of intelligence that are thrust into one's mind and slotted and locked there, the way a printer locks the lines into place, and there is the page with all its meanings for you to read.  With these thought-patterns the whole page comes through at once; I suppose it may be like block-reading, though I have never tried that." 

It's a sort of private conversation Bryony has with this unknown man.  Exactly who he is she's unsure, but it's someone she's known from childhood on.  The conversations and familiarity are completely natural to her, so much so she has never really questioned it, though growing up she did try and learn about it, seeing it more as a gift than a burden. 

By the time she arrives in Bad Tölz it's too late.  Her father is dead.  He had been walking to the city center when he was struck by a motorist who didn't stop to aid him.  He left behind for Bryony a garbled and mysterious message that neither she nor the family lawyer can decipher.  And now she must return to England with her father's ashes to begin tying up loose ends at Ashley Court.  A grand manor house complete with a moat, Ashley Court no longer belongs to Bryony.  The house and grounds are entailed and so go to her father's nearest male relative.  Most likely it'll go to her own cousins since their father resides abroad.  She hopes to finally discover just which of these cousins is her secret confidante. 

Ashley Court has a unique feature--there is a maze behind the house and in the center sits a pavilion that was once the trysting spot for a long-ago Ashley relative.  Now the house draws every fund available for its upkeep and it's likely to be more of a hardship on her cousins than a gift.  A wealthy American family rents a part of the house and the rest is open to the public for tours.  Bryony discovers that a number of expensive family heirlooms have gone missing which adds to the mystery of her father's last message to her.   

Each chapter ends with a teaser--a scene from her roguish Ashley forebear and his lady love in the mid-1800s which holds a key to the mystery of Ashley Court and Byrony's "sight".  I wasn't sure how Stewart would handle this aspect of the novel.  I often have problems with time slip stories (Susanna Kearsley being a notable exception) or stories that deal with (for lack of a better word) the supernatural (okay, so ghost stories excepted, too), but I very much enjoyed this one.  Aside from the slightly jarring use of the word Lover in Bryony's mental communications, I was an enthusiastic reader as the story was unraveling.  Timing plus just the right balance between intrigue and romance made it hard for me to put down, and it's always nice to have a few of these on hand.  It has lots of suspense, a few twists and a nice bit of romance as well.

This was Cornflower's last book group choice, so a nod in her direction and thanks for the gentle push to pick up a new Mary Stewart novel sooner rather than later.  Reactions were a bit mixed among her readers, and certainly it does occasionally show it's age (it's a later book published in 1976), but most readers seem to be in agreement that generally speaking Mary Stewart is much loved and there are many favorites amongst her other novels.  I've been collecting her books so am already looking forward to the next.  If you read Mary Stewart, which book do you call favorite?

February 5: Reading Notes

It had to happen.  It's winter in the midwest, so it was pretty much a given we would get snow eventually, but I have to say I had been thoroughly enjoying the mild temperatures before this wake up call came.  This is the scene that greeted me when I woke up yesterday morning.  Lots of wet, sloppy snow.  I am at least comforted by the thought that now it's February and it won't hang around too long.   It meant I had to stay at home rather than doing my normal weekend errands (actually it meant I had to rush and do them Friday night), so I was looking forward to a nice, quiet afternoon at home when I could accomplish something or just be lazy and read all afternoon, but it's amazing how I can waste time.  I should know better than to sit in front of the computer.  I often think it's the biggest time-suck invention that was ever created.  And I didn't manage to catch up on a single email or visit a single blog.  Guess what I'm going to try and do this afternoon?

Of course it does have its upsides.  For example, I was prompted by Val and Buried in Print to finally download a few podcasts onto my MP3 player.  I used to listen to them all the time, but I would get impatient with iTunes for having to load them onto my computer (at the time I had a slower internet connection), which seemed to take forever.  So I gave them up.  Now I can load them directly from the BBC and then drag them onto my MP3 player and it is a fairly quick and seamless process. 

I am now looking forward to listening to a podcast about Vera Brittain, which aired on the BBC's Great Lives show.  I've also loaded several shows from the World Book Club about a few different authors including Penelope Lively (excellent timing), Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo, and Boris Akunin.  I really love listening to the BBC and wish I had more time to stream from my computer.  It might be dangerous to investigate more shows and discover what I am missing.  For example on BBC4 there is a dramatization of Samuel Pepys diary running at the moment.  How fun would that be to listen to?     

I am racking up credits on my Audible account, so I need to start listening more to the audio books (now podcasts and audio books will be vying for my attention) I've downloaded.  I decided I needed something really gripping, so I've been listening to Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter.  I usually listen to my MP3 player on my walk home from the bus stop (it's still too cold in the morning and I need my ear muffs). It's an unabridged audio that is just over 26 hours long!  I'm only about two hours into the book, but I find myself not wanting to stop listening when I arrive home.  Although the days are getting longer, it's still often dark by the time I make my way home, so this is probably not the best listening material for walking at night, but now I find I can't stop.  I like Bugliosi's writing style, which is very matter of fact and reportorial yet still draws the reader (or in this case listener) into the book.  It's read by Curt Gentry, and he has the perfect voice for this book. 

Readingwise I have several interesting books on the go at the moment.  I finished reading The Girls from Riyadh (post to follow in a couple of days), which meant I got to choose a new book to take its place.  I'm ready to start In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story by Ghada Karmi.  It's one of the books the Middle East/North African Lit group at Goodreads is reading at the moment.  It looks interesting, though is chunkier than I anticipated.  It's a memoir about the ejection of the author's family from her home in Palestine in 1948 and her search for identity in the years that follow.  She and her family settled in England.  It seems to have gotten very favorable reviews. 

I generally don't read YA literature, but a couple of books nominated for the Edgar Award caught my eye.  I've been reading The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson about a copycat murderer who uses as his model Jack the Ripper.  A young American girl is a new student at a boarding school in London and is the only person to see the murderer.  There's a bit of the paranormal to the story, which isn't always my thing, but it works here.  It's a nice, easy sort of read, which is always nice to have on hand.  I'm hoping to read a few other books on the Edgar list as well.  I've been in the mood for a good cozy mystery (maybe to balance the rather violent Bugliosi book), but I'm hoping this continues to satisfy as I've been trying not to  just randomly start reading books but stick to my ongoing reads.  I give in far too often to temptation.

And a few quickie mentions.  As planned I have started reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.  I'm trying to read at least one chapter a day to keep moving on it.  Already this year I've not done well with picking up a Classic regularly.  I'm really enjoying Dumas, though.  More about him later.  I've pulled out my copy of Sebastian Barry's A Long Long Way in anticipation for discussing it later this month (even with the extra day the month is going to fly by).  I'll be starting it very soon.  And I'm giving Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows another go.  I started to read it several years ago but set it aside.  I fully expect to like it, but it is a story that requires a little more attention and is better read in chunks than in fits and starts, which is often how my reading goes these days.  I'm determined to stick it out until I really get into the story (my copy has small print and lots of pages).  I know others have read this.  Please tell me how wonderful it is and how I absolutely must keep going because it is going to be worth the time spent on it.  I have a feeling that's the case, but sometimes it's good to be reminded.

Reading Along in March

Last month wasn't an especially good reading month for me, so I hope March is better.  In January I had a number of reading plans that I set forth and managed them all more or less by the end of the month.  I wonder if that would work this month, especially since they are less ambitious? 

This month's Literature and War read is Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier.  This is the only novel by West I've managed to read so far, though I've been watching Susan's progress (Pages Turned) of reading all of West's books with much interest.  The West novel is quite slim with less than one hundred pages.  It's another novel set during WWI, though in this case the story is told from a different perspective--a shell shocked soldier who has returned home and has no recollection of his life before the war.  I'm looking forward to rereading it.  Discussion starts March 25.

Cornflower has chosen another mystery for her bookgroup read this month.  The Brother Cadfael mysteries have been recommended to me numerous times, so I think this will give me the perfect excuse to finally pick one up.  A Morbid Taste for Bones is set in a Welsh village in 1137 and is the first in the series.  I've not been reading as many mysteries as I usually do and nothing lately of a very historical nature, so this will be a welcome change.  The CBG will be discussing it March 26.

At the very end of the month The Slaves of Golconda will be reading Shirley Hazzard's The Transit of Venus.  I get the impression that this might be a challenging book, so I will start it early this month (rather than waiting until a few days before discussion begins, which is what I am in the habit of doing).  It's a contemporary story set in Sydney, London, New York and Stockholm.  Anne Tyler called it "a wonderfully mysterious book...both plot and characters are many layered.  Unforgettably rich."   Of course anyone is welcome to join in with the Slaves (as well the other groups I am sure would welcome readers, too), and there is plenty of time to find a copy of the book to read along.

Although not pictured I'll also be reading my postal reading group book, which I mentioned here, as it will need to go back into the mail at the end of the month.

This leaves Elizabeth von Arnim's The Caravaners.  Now I'm not entirely certain, but I believe I've heard rumors that a group may be getting together to read it as well this month or next.  The thing with readalongs is they tend to keep me honest and on task, so I usually will stick with the book rather than moving from one to another haphazardly, which I seem to do a lot of lately.  Even if there isn't a group reading it this month, I am tempted to read something by von Arnim this month from the lovely stack I recently acquired.  

Are you reading anything special this month?

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

What small town wouldn't appreciate the appearance of a new bookshop?  Especially a town lacking any other literary diversion.  Apparently the folks of Hardborough wouldn't.  When Florence Green decides to buy an antiquated building left empty for years in a small provincial seaside town, it causes quite a stir among the residents.  The Old House is a small property on the seafront that comes complete with its own warehouse and a poltergeist, or 'rapper' as it is known in Hardborough.  Of course the warehouse proves to be damp year round and not suitable for stocking extra books, but Florence has found the Old House to be not only a decent place to live but a good place to open a bookshop as well even with a 'rapper'.  Unfortunately Hardborough has other ideas.

"In 1959, when there was no fish and chips in Hardborough, no laundrette, no cinema except on alternate Saturday nights, the need of all these things was felt, but no one had considered, certainly had not thought of Mrs Green as considering, the opening of a bookshop."

Somehow Florence seems ill-suited for the endeavor.  Widowed and living in the town for more than eight years she had a "kind heart, though that is not much use when it comes to the matter of self-preservation."  She lives on a small amount of money left to her from her husband.  Physically she is small in appearance and wispy and not at all substantial.  She is not lacking in courage however, which is what she needs when she not only puts forth her idea, but presses on and does what she says.  The bank manager questions her ability to run a bookshop, though in her more youthful days she worked in a London shop.  Her biggest obstacle, however, comes in the form of Mrs Violet Gamart the town's cultural arbiter.  Violet has had the idea that the Old House would serve as the perfect place to open an Arts Centre.  The town's residents had been so used to the building standing empty for so long they had become complacent about it, and along comes Florence putting them quite to shame by rushing into opening a shop.

Initially it doesn't do too badly.  There's the tourist trade in the summer, and the local Primary is in need of reward books for successful pupils.  Books by former SAS men seem to fly off the shelves  and there are requests for a lending library to be made available.  The lending library becomes somewhat problematic when Florence leaves the books with their pink slips in them for the customers to see.  Everyone wants the new biography of Queen Mary, being an "A" book, but for every "A" book there are even more "B" and "C" books that no one has an interest in.   Unfortunately most people end up with "B" and "C" books, which causes an uproar amongst the customers.  Still, Florence does well enough to hire a shop assistant in the form of a 10-year old schoolgirl.  Christine Gipping doesn't actually like reading books, only issues of Bunty, which is just as well really.  Christine is very plain speaking for such a young girl and a little eccentric in her working methods, but she does very well all things considered.

Despite their best efforts not all goes smoothly.  There's an interest by local artists to show their work in the shop even though there's barely enough room for the books.  One man even goes so far as to bring his watercolor canvases along to hang up without Florence's approval.  And when Florence decides to sell copies of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, a book she hasn't read herself but has on good authority that it's the masterpiece it's purported to be, I was sure there would be moral indignation over selling such an explicit book that would cause Florence much grief.  It does end up causing her grief but not for the reasons you'd think.  Because she orders so many copies, which fill her shop window, the crowds of people stopping to look cause an obstruction of traffic on the main street.  A lawsuit is filed.  That alone is telling just what sort of town Hardborough is.  Hard indeed.

I'm afraid Hardborough's residents can be narrow-minded and nasty, constantly undermining Florence's hard work and efforts, and that alone will give you an idea to what happens to Florence's bookshop.  Even with so much turmoil, Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop is a quiet, unassuming sort of story.   It's not an especially happy one, but there are moments of black humor and sharp irony where you just have to laugh.  I wasn't quite sure what I thought when I finished as there is a sense that the story is somehow left unfinished, but I was happy to have finally read Penelope Fitzgerald.  I do like her understated and restrained writing style and ability to tell an absorbing story with well drawn characters.  Another reader summed it up well when they said it was a perfect slice of life.  That is perhaps the best way to describe this short novel.  I am definitely looking forward to reading more of her work and will be browsing my bookshelves soon. 

Thanks to Cornflower for giving me the nudge to finally read her, as this was the book chosen for Cornflower's Book Group.  You can read more about the book and join in the discussion here.

Reading Along in January

So, mark you calendars...there are loads of opportunities to read along this month (as there are probably every month, but lots of books of interest to me this time around).  I'm not sure I can actually read all these by the end of the month, but I'm going to give it a good try.

First up on January 19, I hope you'll drop by as I am participating in a blog tour.  I don't often do these as I tend to stress out a little when it comes to posting on a book on a particular date.  It's always nice to be able to fudge a little when I finish reading a book and write about it when I feel up to it, but Matthew Gallaway's The Metropolis Case sounded so good, I couldn't pass the opportunity up.  "From the smoky halls of 1860s Pars to the tumbling skyscrapers of twenty-first-century New York, Matthew Gallaway's debut novel gives voice to the sweeping tale of an unlikely quartet, bound together by the strange and spectacular history of Richard Wagner's masterpiece Tristan and Isolde."  I love the story of Tristan and Isolde, though I admit I don't know much about opera.  This might just prove educational as well as entertaining.

Then Cornflower's Book Group will be reading Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop and discussing it on Saturday the 22nd of January.  I've never read any of Penelope Fitzgerald's books, though I seem to keep collecting them.  This sounds like a perfect place to start.  I always check in and see what Cornflower's group is reading, though last year when I was able to read along it was usually well after the fact.  Maybe this year will be different. 

Caroline at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat has planned a year long Literature and War readalong.  The first book to be discussed is Susan Hill's Strange Meeting on January 28.  I'm only familiar with Hill's wonderfully atmospheric The Woman in Black, so I am looking forward to trying something else by her.  Strange Meeting is about a wartime friendship on the Western Front during WWI.

Rounding out things is The Slaves of Golconda's first read of the year, Tove Jansson's The Summer Book.  Sunshine and sandy beaches sounds blissful to me right now, especially as we're due for snow Sunday and Monday (fingers crossed it goes either north or south of us).  We'll be discussing the book on the last day of the month, January 31.  You are, of course, welcome to join us.  Can't you  feel the sand between your toes already?  The Guardian says the book "makes you slow down, forget about everyday hassle and float off into a sunny, blissful reverie."  What better recommendation? 

I would be remiss if I failed to mention again the Virago Reading Week, and the date has been offially set: January 24-30.  If things work things out I'll have most of my other reading behind me and can concentrate on the three books I've chosen to spend the week with.  Of course my choices may change by the end of the month, but at the moment I am leaning heavily towards Thank Heaven Fasting by E.M. Delafield, A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor, and The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim (that seems like a nice companion book to the Jansson, don't you think?).

Just in time for the weekend I think I'll be starting a new book or two (and I've not forgotten about choosing a spy novel either).  I have to say a full week back at work after a nice break is a little rough going.  I think I'm in need of a little relaxation and a few good books to read. 

Happy weekend everyone.

May 10: Reading Notes

May is proving to be a busy reading month for me.  For whatever reason I seem to be reading slower (or fewer books in any case) than last year.  I have a certain number of 'obligation' reads that I am working on, but I also seem to be reading lots of mysteries and thrillers.  They border on comfort reads for me as whenever I am especially stressed out I like to turn to them to as they often tend to be filled action and heart- (or gut-) wrenching scenes--someone else's life is filled with worse problems than my own, sort of situation.  I like getting wrapped up in a story so much that the pages are turned fast and furiously as I read in fear and fascination about a hero or heroine who you wonder if they'll even survive the end of the story.

So a little rundown on things. 

Mignon Eberhart's The Mystery of Hunting's Lodge is very much a cozy mystery.  In this case the murder, though it was originally passed off as an accident, occurred five years earlier.  The daughter of the victim, who was not much more than a girl really when the crime happened, has called together the guests who were all present at this lonely hunting lodge on that fateful night.  There are a couple of new additions.  A detective, posing as a friend of the family, and a young nurse taking care of an invalid aunt.  Sarah Keate is the narrator and perhaps the real star of the show as she helps detective Lance O'Leary piece together the movements of everyone in the party to figure out who is the murderer.  This is very traditional, along the lines of Agatha Christie.

I've finished Michael Robotham's The Night Ferry and will be writing about it later in the week, so won't say much here about it.  It was most definitely an edge of your seat, can't wait to get to the end sort of story.  I'll be reading more of his work, and had it not been necessary to turn to a few other books this month, I would already be reading something else by him. 

Next up is Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel, which I read years ago, but have forgotten all but the basic premise.  DdM always tells a cracking good story in my opinion, so this is a pleasure to read again.  Yet another case of older woman, younger man and a death.  The story is told by Philip Ashley whose uncle was married to a beautiful and sophisticated woman unknown to the family and then died in mysterious circumstances.  Did Rachel have something to do with his death?  

I've been a great fan of Elizabeth George from the very beginning of her Inspector Lynley series, and while her later books have gotten somewhat complicated and she has taken her characters in varied and not always happy directions I'm quite enjoying Careless in Red.  I had put off reading it for some time after hearing bad reviews of it, but I'm glad I picked it up in the end.  Her stories tend to have large casts of characters, and I'm not sure if this is one of the criticisms of her books, but at least this time around I like the puzzle aspect of things.  You get different perspectives of the crime and of the victim and have to try and figure out who had the best motive for murder.  I've got her new book sitting by my bed waiting as well.

Let's see, just a cursory mention of a few others.  I've been working on Petra Hammesfahr's The Lie for a while now, and it's a good psychological thriller--a story of two women who could pass for twins.  The book begins with the discovery of a murdered woman, which woman is it?  I can't quite decide on what library book to read, but it's been a toss up of mysteries--James Thompson's Snow Angels or Irene Fleming's The Edge of Ruin.  The first is a contemporary detective story set in Finland and the latter a historical mystery set in 1909 New York about the very new moving picture industry.  Last but not least is Karin Alvtegen's Shadow is another suspenseful thriller with several seemingly different storylines that will tie together at the end--am curious just how. 

I usually only read one mystery at a time, so I guess I am especially stressed out at the moment.  The thing is, while this might seem like a lot of books...you should see how many are on my TBR pile.  I sometimes feel that if I don't step things up a bit, I'll never make even a dent in them.  Besides, it's just so easy to be seduced by a good book.

April 26: Reading Notes - May Books

Although May is still a few days off, I think it might be wise to perhaps start one or two new books now, as May is going to be a busy reading month!  Along with my daily Anna Karenina reading these are the books I'd really like to get to as they are either book group books or books for the Classics Circuit and one is an ARE that is also going to be a group read.  Of course along with these I will still be dipping into books on my sidebar, too.

Mignon Eberhart's The Mystery of Hunting's End is my choice for the Classics Circuit's The Golden Age of Detective Fiction Tour.  I'm really looking forward to this, especially after having read P.D. James's Talking About Detective Fiction.  Although Eberhart was writing at the same time, she is probably what you would call a second tier author.  She is also American and was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The book is set in the Nebraska Sand Hills, so this should be interesting reading.  I'll be writing about it on May 28.  I thought it would be fun to read a more traditional Golden Age author, and you can't get more traditional than Agatha Christie.  I've pulled out Murder at the Vicarage to read as an extracurricular book.  I've never read any Miss Marple mysteries, and I believe this is the first one where she was featured.

Claire at Paperback Reader and Verity at The B Files are hosting their annual Persephone Reading Week from May 3-9, so of course I have to join in. It's been far too long since I've picked up a Persephone title and am very much in the mood!  I've decided it has to be a Dorothy Whipple book, so I'm giving Someone at a Distance a whirl.  I've heard so many good things about this author that I am happy to finally read something by her.  A little warning, though--I'm going to have to cheat and start early and I might finish after the actual week, as I am not the fastest of readers.  In any case I'll set aside a day that week to post something about the book.

Cornflower has chosen Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel as her next book group read to be discussed starting May 22.  I read this when I was younger and am only too happy to read it again.  I loved Rebecca more the second time around, so I'll be curious to see what I make of My Cousin Rachel (though to be honest I have forgotten quite a lot of it, so it will probably be like starting from scratch).

I know I have already mentioned The Slaves of Golconda will be reading Lorna Sage's Bad Blood to discuss beginning May 31, so I probably won't be starting this one right away yet.  I've already got a copy ready to read, however, checked out from the library.

My lone ARE is Edith Pargeter's The Brothers Gwynedd.  I struggled with Margaret Irwin's novel on Elizabeth I, so I hope I have better luck with Edith Pargeter as I am going even further back in time with this story.  Is anyone familiar with her work?  The book is comprised of four novels, and there is a group of us reading it.  We are going to read just one novel a month for the next four months, so I'm not overly worried about the size of the book (nearly 800 pages!).  I'll only have to worry about the first 200 in May.  I'll be writing about it May 19.

I'm going to be busy in May, aren't I.  I hope that it won't be too overwhelming as things are staggered a bit and the book groups are set up so you can join in as you have time.

Oh, and I mentioned wanting to find a good thriller.  I started with Michael Robotham's Night Ferry and have been glued to its pages from the very beginning!  I do have Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sitting in reserve, though I think I will wait to start it.  It's probably not a good idea to have too much excitement going at once when it comes to thrillers!