souloftherose's year of (mostly) unplanned reading - part 2

Welcome to my second 2015 reading thread. My name's Heather (you don't need to remember that), I'm in my mid-thirties and I live in a small town north of London in the UK with my husband and our slightly neurotic rescue cat. I read all kinds of things including a lot of older books (about a third of the books I read last year were published before 1950) but I also read contemporary books.

This year I am not planning my reading as I realised last year that I get most enjoyment from my reading when I let myself pick up whatever I feel like rather than the book I feel I should be reading. There are already some exceptions to this rule though (see below) so we'll see how long my plan for unplanned reading lasts!



William W. Churchill's Woman Reading on a Settee, ca. 1905–10

(This doesn't look as comfortable as the painting on my last thread.)

Books read in January
#1 The Lady of the Shroud by Bram Stoker (TBR)
#2 Frost in May by Antonia White (TBR)
#3 The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (Library)
#4 The Girl with all the Gifts by M. R. Carey (Library)
#5 The Kingdom of Gods by N. K. Jemisin (Omnibus)
#6a The Awakened Kingdom by N. K. Jemisin (TBR)
#6b Bloodchild (short story) by Octavia E. Butler (Free kindle)
#7 The Lost Traveller by Antonia White (TBR)
#8 Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
#9 A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro (TBR)
#10 Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins (Free kindle)
#11 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Library)
#12 Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (TBR)
#13 Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Library)
#14 An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden (TBR)
#15 Italian Mysteries by Francis Lathom (TBR)
#16 Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Two by Bill Willingham (Library)
#17 The Hound of Death by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#18 The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell (TBR)
#19 Arabella by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#20 Lamentation by C. J. Sansom (TBR)

Books read in February
#21 Taltos by Steven Brust (Omnibus)
#22 Yendi by Steven Brust (Reread)
#23 Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (TBR)
#24 The Doctor, His Wife and the Clock by Anna Katharine Green (Free kindle)
#25 What Makes This Book So Great by Jo Walton (TBR)
#26 The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope (TBR)
#27 Jhereg by Steven Brust (Reread)
#28 My Dear Charlotte by Hazel Holt (Free kindle)
#29 Wild Robert by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
#30 The Victorian House by Judith Flanders (Library)
#31 Freaky Families by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
#32 Still Life by Louise Penny (Reread)
#33 The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (Library)
#34 Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden (TBR)
#35 A Man's Head by Georges Simenon (TBR)
#36 Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
DNF Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (Library)
#37 Dead Cold by Louise Penny (Reread)
#38 Clockwork by Philip Pullman (Library)

Books read in March
#39 The Neon Court by Kate Griffin (Library)
#40 The Imprudence of Prue by Sophie Fisher (Free kindle)
#41 The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (TBR)
#42a The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal (TBR)
#42b Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes (Free kindle)
#43 The City & the City by China Mieville (TBR)
#44 Teckla by Steven Brust (Reread)
#45 Deadlier than the Male: An Investigation into Feminine Crime Writing by Jessica Mann (TBR)
#46 Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England by Amanda Vickery (Library)
#47 Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple (TBR)
#48 Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Library)
#49 Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (TBR)
#50 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Reread)
#51 The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World by Deborah Cadbury (TBR)
#52 A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (Library)
#53 Phoenix by Steven Brust (TBR)
#54 Dido and Pa by Joan Aiken (TBR)
#55 The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (TBR)
#56 Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Reread)
#57 A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham (Omnibus)

Books read in April
#58 The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold (TBR)
#59 Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (Reread)
#60 Bellwether by Connie Willis (TBR)
#61 Demelza by Winston Graham (TBR)
#62 A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham (TBR)
#63 A Description of Millenium Hall by Sarah Scott (Library)
#64 Pavane by Keith Roberts (Library)
#65 The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (TBR)

Paper books acquired




I need to buy fewer books.

January
#1 A Sea-Grape Tree by Rosamond Lehmann
#2 The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope READ
#3 What Makes This Book So Great? by Jo Walton READ
#4 The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin

February
#5 The Squire by Enid Bagnold
#6 Shadow and Betrayal by Daniel Abraham READ
#7 The Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster
#8 Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple READ
#9 The Priory by Dorothy Whipple
#10 The Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple

March
#11 Dido and Pa by Joan Aiken READ
#12 Peking Picnic by Ann Bridge
#13 The Book of Athyra by Steven Brust

April
#14 The Far Cry by Emma Smith
#15 Tea with Mr Rochester by Frances Towers
#16 Mariana by Monica Dickens

Kindle books acquired

Last year I changed my buying habits by trying to only buy kindle books when I was confident I would want to read them almost straight away rather than buying lots of ebooks in the sales or daily deals and then not reading them for ages. I think it worked pretty well and I've read 80% of the kindle books I bought last year. So, the plan is to do this again this year. I'll keep track of the number I've bought and read here.




January
#1 Italian Mysteries by Francis Lathom READ
#2 Deadlier Than the Male: An Investigation into Feminine Crime Writing by Jessica Mann READ
#3 Foxglover Summer by Ben Aaronovitch READ
#4 Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth READ
#5 Arabella by Georgette Heyer READ

February
#6 Wild Robert by Diana Wynne Jones READ
#7 Freaky Families by Diana Wynne Jones READ
#8 Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones READ
#9 A Man's Head by Georges Simenon READ

March
#10 The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal READ
#11 Ross Poldark by Winston Graham READ
#12 The Grand Sophy by Georgetter Heyer READ
#13 The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold READ

April
#14 Demelza by Winston Graham READ
#15 Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders
#16 The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison READ

An idea borrowed from Liz (lyzard), this lists ongoing series that I am actively reading. This doesn't include series where I have the first book in my TBR pile (i.e. series I haven't started reading yet aren't included). An asterisk indicates a series where I already have a copy of the next book.

Series I'm actively* reading (*for a rather lax definition of active)
*Albert Campion: Next up Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham (19/25)
*Arsène Lupin: Next up Arsène Lupin vs. Holmlock Shears by Maurice Leblanc (2/23?)
Barsetshire Books by Angela Thirkell: Reading out of order. Next up Summer Half (4/29 read)
*Dolphin Ring Cycle: Next up Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff (5/8)
Dr. Siri Paiboun: Next up: Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (5/9)
*Ebenezer Gryce: Next up That Affair Next Door by Anna Katharine Green (8/13)
Fables: Next up Fables, Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham (4/21)
Flavia de Luce: Next up The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley (2/7)
Frost in May Quartet: Next up The Sugar House by Antonia White (3/4)
Gilead: Next up Lila by Marilynne Robinson (3/3)
Howl's Castle: Next up Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (2/3)
Imperial Radch: Next up Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (2/3)
*Just Patty: Next up Just Patty by Jean Webster (2/2)
Lady Trent's Memoirs: Next up The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (2/3)
The Long Price Quartet: Next up An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham (3/4)
Maigret: Next up The Hanged Man of Saint Pholien by Georges Simenon (4/76)
Matthew Swift: Next up The Minority Council by Kate Griffin (4/4)
Mrs Tim: Next up Mrs Tim Carries On by D. E. Stevenson (2/4)
Old Filth: Next up Last Friends by Jane Gardam (3/3)
The Palliser Novels: Next up: Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope (4/6)
Poldark Saga: Next up Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham (3/12)
*The Prairie Trilogy: Next up The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (3/3) (Reading out of order)
Small Change: Next up Ha'penny by Jo Walton (2/3)
*A Song of Ice and Fire: Next up A Dance with Dragons by G. R. R. Martin (5/7?)
Vlad Taltos: Next up Athyra by Steven Brust (6/14)
*Wolves Chronicles: Next up Is by Joan Aiken (8/11)

Series I've stalled on but want to get back to
*Allan Quatermain: Next up Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard (2/15)
*Barsoom: Next up The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (3/11)
Bas-Lag: Next up The Scar by China Mieville (2/3)
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache: Next up The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (8/10)
*Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox: Next up Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart (3/3)
*Cicero: Next up Lustrum by Robert Harris (2/2)
Code Name Verity: Next up Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (2/2)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Next up Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (3/3)
David Wintringham by Josephine Bell: Reading out of order (2/12 read)
The Deed of Paksenarrion: Next up Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon (2/3)
Dragonriders of Pern: Next up Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey (2/25)
Dragonslayer: Next up The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde (3/4)
Empire Trilogy: Next up: The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell (3/3)
*Father Brown: Next up: The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (2/5)
*Fionavar Tapestry: Next up The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kat (3/3)
The Girl Who: Next up The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente (4/5)
Green Knowe: Next up: The Chimneys of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston (2/6)
Jimm Juree: Next up Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill (2/2)
Julia Probyn: Next up The Portugese Escape by Ann Bridge (2/8)
Les Voyages Extraordinaires: Next up From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne (4/54)
*The Long Earth: Next up The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (2/3)
The Magicians: Next up The Magician King by Lev Grossman (2/3)
The Penderwicks: Next up The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (2/3)
*Richard Hannay: Next up The Three Hostages by John Buchan (4/5)
Romantic Poets and Nephilim: Next up A Time to Cast Away Stones in The Bible Repairman and Other Stories by Tim Powers (2/3)
Ruth Galloway: Next up A Dying Fall by Elly Grifiiths (5/7)
Sorcery and Celia: Next up The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (2/3)
*Turtle: Next up Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (2/2)
Wars of Light and Shadow: Next up Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts (2/10?)

Series I'm rereading
*The Chronicles of Narnia (publication order): Next up Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis
*Colonel Race: Next up Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (2/4)
*Discworld: Next up The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett (2/40)
*Hercule Poirot: Next up: Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie (10/39)
*Miss Marple: Next up The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (3/13)
*The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Next up The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith (4/13)
*Superintendent Battle: Next up Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (3/5)
*Thursday Next: Next up First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (5/8)
Tommy and Tuppence: Next up N or M? by Agatha Christie (3/5)

Up to date series
Finishing School: Latest book Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger (3/4?)
Jackson Brodie: Latest book Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson (4/4)
Matthew Shardlake: Latest book Lamentation by C. J. Sansom (6/6)
Mistborn: Latest book The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (4/5)
Peter Grant: Latest book Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (5/6)
Shades of Grey: Latest book Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (1/3)
Wolf Hall: Latest book Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2/3)

Completed series
Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (3/3)
Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones (3/3)
Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin (4/4)

A few plans which snuck in under the radar....

The little bit of planning I'm allowing myself is Liz's tutored/group/shared reads as follows (shamelessly copied and pasted from her thread)

2015 group activities:

Tutored reads:
January: Italian Mysteries by Francis Lathom
March: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
May: Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
????: The Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom

Group reads:
February: The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
June / July: Evelina by Fanny Burney
September: Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

Virago chronological reads:
April: Millenium Hall by Sarah Scott
November / December: Cecilia by Fanny Burney

Georgette Heyer:
Arabella
The Grand Sophy
The Quiet Gentleman

Agatha Christie:
The Hound Of Death
Murder on the Orient Express

Georges Simenon:
The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien
La Tête d'un Homme (aka A Man's Head)
The Yellow Dog

As you can see, no paper books acquired in February (so far) but some Diana Wynne Jones' books were available for kindle at only £0.99 each so I downloaded Wild Robert, Freaky Families and Earwig and the Witch. I think these are all books for younger readers but I've had quite a busy week at work and my brain feels a bit fried so they sound like perfect reading for the weekend!

Nice new digs Heather. Have a lovely weekend.

I've only just found your thread, Heather, and have whizzed through it. I've come across your comments in other threads so musn't have noticed that I hadn't read your own. Anyway you are starred now so I shan't lose you again. My health is definitely improving so I think I shall be able to read and comment on threads more and be able to read and comment on some new books, too.

I must mention (since everyone else has!) that I have read Moon Tiger but many years ago.

Happy new thread, Heather! Abby and I watched Howl's Moving Castle last night, and we were both commenting that the movie is very good, but we love the book even more. SO naturally, I thought of you! Happy Saturday!

Happy new thread, Heather!

Happy New Thread, Heather!!

Happy New Thread, Heather.
I seem to have missed your birthday

Happy very belated birthday

And from your previous thread: please warn me if Aaronovitch is ever translated!

Happy new thread, Heather and wishing you a lovely weekend.

Hi, Heather - Happy New Thread!

I hope your shameless copying and pasting of my group activities post means you're in for all of them?? :) I have confirmed Mansfield Park for March with Ilana, and will start "advertising" shortly. One small point - Murder On The Orient Express was published before The Listerdale Mystery, so technically that's up next. (I have learned to be wary of alphabetical-listings-within-years!)

Checking in on the new thread, Heather!

Happy New Thread Heather! I asked Liz on her thread whether The Grand Sophy GR was happening this month but I think she missed my question, so maybe I'll have better luck getting an answer here?

Splendid new thread, Heather! I hope your weekend is splendid as well!

I hope your weekend has been a leisurely one.
I need to get on with finishing off my unread DWJ's books, still a few that need to be finished and a few rereads that I'd like to do. sigh....so many books. My youngest daughter also loves her books.

Lovely new thread, Heather!

Happy new thread, Heather.

That's a lovely painting of a woman reading, Heather. Happy new thread.

>8 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

>9 CDVicarage: Kerry, you have definitely had a good excuse for not keeping up with threads this year. I'm glad you're starting to feel better and that you've found me :-)

>10 Crazymamie: Happy weekend Mamie! Yes, I think I prefer the book version of Howl's Moving Castle to the film and I enjoyed the book even more when I reread it recently.

>11 katiekrug: & >12 scaifea: Thanks Katie and Amber!

>13 connie53: Thanks for the birthday wishes Connie. I will let you know if I see a mention of Aaronovitch translations!

>14 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara.

>15 lyzard: 'I hope your shameless copying and pasting of my group activities post means you're in for all of them??'

Of course! And thanks for the heads up about my AC order being out - it does get complicated when more than one book was published a year.

>16 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia.

>17 Smiler69: Hi Ilana. IDK about The Grand Sophy - I tend to wait until Liz mentions she's started reading it and then dive in. Liz?

>18 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks Dejah.

>19 avatiakh: Hi Kerry. Yes, I'm also still a way off having read all of DWJ's books.

>20 ronincats:, >21 BLBera: & >22 lit_chick: Thanks Roni, Beth and Nancy.

************************************************

I'm still feeling really tired today so not planning to do much. I ended up picking up The Victorian House: Domestic Life from Childbirth to Deathbed which is absolutely fascinating (although also making me really glad I am alive now and not then). I'm also reading an epistolary Austen-esque novel called My Dear Charlotte by Hazel Holt.

>23 souloftherose: Although not being a fan of epistolary novels in general (still haven't finished Clarissa!) I really liked My Dear Charlotte.

>23 souloftherose: The Victorian House sounds interesting. I will have to see if my local library has a copy.

Happy Sunday, Heather!

Happy new thread!

>1 souloftherose: No, that does not look comfortable! And I think she has a headache. :-)

>17 Smiler69: & >23 souloftherose:

Sorry, Ilana! I've had two or three different conversations about The Grand Sophy so you might have slipped through the memory-cracks. Sophy is indeed the next up though of course it's not a group read as such, more of a "fit it in where you can during the next six weeks or so". I have to say that February is not looking promising for me...

Figuring out "What next?" isn't so hard when you have a well-documented author like Agatha Christie, but I do spend time tearing my hair over lesser-known writers with two or three books in the same year---most lists just order them alphabetically without worrying about actual publication order, but of course that's not good enough for a self-punisher like me! :)

Happy new thread Heather!

Happy wishes for the new thread!!

I'm still feeling quite tired this week - we have a new trainee at work who is (hopefully) going to be taking over some of my roles long-term and I think I had forgotten how tiring it can be to spend so much time coaching someone. (That sounds like the trainee is being really hard work and they're not, they're doing really well but it's still tiring).

>24 CDVicarage: Kerry, I think I originally downloaded My Dear Charlotte on your recommendation. Not sure why it's taken me so long to read it but I have enjoyed it.

>25 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! The Victorian House was really good so I hope your library has a copy (and studies/work allow you some time to read it).

>26 DorsVenabili: Yes, not very comfortable, although according to The Victorian House women tended to sit in upright chairs - I wonder if corsets made it uncomfortable to sit in a more reclined pose?

>27 lyzard: 'I have to say that February is not looking promising for me...' Ok, there's no rush.

>28 The_Hibernator: & >29 Berly: Thanks Rachel and Kim :-)

Some February reviews in no particular order:

Book #30: The Victorian House: Domestic Life From Childbirth to Deathbed by Judith Flanders - 4.5 stars



As the title suggests, in this book Flanders takes a look at every aspect of Victorian domestic life from birth through to death. I found it absolutely fascinating although, as with a lot of social history books, I was left feeling very relieved that I was born at the end of the 20th century rather than in an earlier period. As it's looking at middle-class domestic and home life, most of the book focuses on the life of women at the time. Flanders is particularly good at giving an idea of the social expectations of homelife by referring to the multitude of advice books from the period as well as giving an idea of how much people actually conformed to this advice by examining the written accounts of women and servants. Unsurprisingly there was often a gap between the ideal and the reality (in the same way that most home's nowadays do not look like something out of Ideal Home magazine (or your regional equivalent)). I also enjoyed the way she would quote from novels of the period to illustrate points.

Fascinating facts I learned - the weight of woman's clothing towards the end of the century could be as much as 37 pounds, people were advised to boil carrots for one hour before serving and I think I finally understand the difference between service a la francaise and service a la russe.

A couple of criticisms (although neither really affected my enjoyment of the book). First, it's very London-centric and I would have loved to know how different domestic life would have been in more rural areas or in other cities. Secondly, structurally Flanders has a chapter dedicated to each room of the Victorian house and each chapter covers the aspect of life associated with that room: so the bedroom looks at childbirth; the nursery, childhood; the kitchen, the life of servants etc. This works well for most rooms but one chapter, the parlour, focused entirely on marriage and wedding ceremonies which was fascinating, but absolutely nothing to do with the parlour as far as I could work out. It doesn't stop the book from being interesting but it feels like the structure has been artificailly imposed on the subject.

Definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in the period or Victorian literature.

Book #28: My Dear Charlotte by Hazel Holt - 3.7 stars



An interesting idea, Hazel Holt has used selections from Jane Austen's letters to write an Austen-esque epistolary novel set in 1815, which includes a little bit of murder mystery and a little bit of romance. It was an enjoyable novel and it felt historically authentic. The letters are written by Elinor Cowper to her sister, Charlotte (the eponymous 'my dear Charlotte') and we don't see Charlotte's responses. Occasionally this meant Elinor's letters had to spend some time reflecting on Charlotte's letters which felt a little clumsy.

Although not an Austen sequel, there were also a number of characters who I could identify with charcters from Austen's novels. I can't really decide how I feel about this or about Holt using Austen's letters in this way but I enjoyed the book (if that's not too contradictory).

Hi Heather. Just lurking about in the wings. I find I'm at odds with most people on LT these days - I LOVED The Girl With All the Gifts (but then I do have this weird passion for all things zombie related - I really don't know why, horror in general isn't my thing), but I was only "meh" about The Martian. Didn't anyone else think it was a bit clunkily written? Anyone??

Happy new thread, Heather.
Sending you some energy vibes to see you through the week!

>33 HanGerg: Hi Hannah! I agree the writing in The Martian could be clunky at times, particularly when the narrative shifted, but I loved it anyway - sorry!

>34 jolerie: Thanks Valerie :-)

Book #23: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth - 4 stars



I really enjoyed this historical novel which is a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale. The story shifts between different narrators and different locations, from the court of the Sun King at Versailles in the 17th century to Venice in the 15th century. This is definitely an adult retelling of Rapunzel and occasionally the darkness and the grittiness, particularly surrounding the sexual violence in the novel, was too much for me although the story was good enough that I felt compelled to keep reading anyway.

Book #24: The Doctor, His Wife and The Clock by Anna Katharine Green - 3.2 stars



The Doctor, His Wife and The Clock (TDHWaTC) is a short novella featuring Anna Katharine Green's detective, Ebenezer Gryce. Like many of the other books in the series this one is set in New York City. Unlike the other books however, this one is set in 1851, well before the events of the first Ebenezer Gryce mystery, The Leavenworth Case so that in TDHWaTC we see Ebenezer Gryce as a young man for the first time. The story itself is quite enjoyable although rather melodramatic even by the standards of Anna Katharine Green.

Hello Heather--stopping in to visit your new thread since I'm pretty sure I never made it to your old one. Thanks for the review of The Victorian House--I have that book sitting around on my shelves though I have yet to read it. When I briefly lived in London I was taking a class on Jane Austen and the author, who was a friend of the teacher's, came and talked to us about marriage and family in 19th century England. So that's when I bought her book. Time to dust it off!

rather melodramatic even by the standards of Anna Katharine Green

!!!!???? :D

I keep meaning to get to A Matter Of Millions; one of these days...

Fabulous review of The Victorian House, Heather. 37 pounds of clothing! Good grief!

Catching up on what is a not-so-new thread anymore.

Stopping in to wish you a lovely Friday, Heather. I have stalled a bit on Bitter Greens, but I am still hoping to get back to it and finish it up this month.

Hi Heather, I am on a fly by today. And making sure I get my nose in here before the thread gets away on me :) (this tends to happen a lot!!)

Looks like you have had a few good solid reads lately, and you are doing better than me in reviewing them!

Hi Heather! You got me with My Dear Charlotte. I didn't take a BB for The Victorian House only because it is already on my wishlist. :)

And you have pushed me to take on The Victorian House now rather than later. I think it may just fit my present mood - captured by Shardlake, challenged by Against the Country, bemused by Some Hope, guilty by reason of not pursuing The Reformation and The Meaning of Jesus, and ready for some non-fiction that pleases. Thank you, Heather!

Great review of The Victorian House. It sounds like an interesting book! I've quite enjoyed the Flavia de Luce series and I found your comments re England portrayed not as true to life. As a Canadian, I suppose I would expect that. I don't suppose that many families lived in crumbling mansions in the 1950's in the UK, but it is fun to read about. I am reading A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd. I am quite enjoying it but when I read about " labor" or " neighbor" it bothers me as a Canadian. But the story is written by an American. You'd think that at least they could keep the " u" in words like habour, neighbour, labour etc. Even Canadian's do :) I hope you are feeling okay.

ETA - The story I am reading takes place just on the cusp of WW1 in England, which is why I am complaining about the " u"s :)

Hi Heather, enjoyed your review of The Victorian House and have added your recommendation to that of Liz's. Was glad to confirm, once again, they have it at our municipal library system. Now to decide when to actually borrow it when I've so many other reading plans already firmed up and unlike you am determined to stick to them as much as possible this year! Maybe make 2016 a year of unplanned reading so I can plan on reading it? Hmmm... that doesn't quite...

I'm glad you ended up liking Bitter Greens, but you made me realise I probably hadn't made a point to underline just how gritty and sexually violent the novel was in my review of it. I was just so taken by the whole that those aspects of it somehow just contributed to making it that much deeper somehow, if that makes any kind of sense, even though those passages weren't pleasant by any means.

Hope you've been enjoying a relaxing weekend. xx

I loved your review of The Victorian House. Definitely sounds right up my alley.

I have Bitter Greens on the kindle and will get to it soon.

Have a wonderful week.

Hi Heather - I hope your weekend has been wonderful!

Nice review of Bitter Greens, I love fairy tale retellings, but I think the sexual violence would turn me off.

Oh dear, I have been neglecting my thread.

>36 AnneDC: Hi Anne. I hope you enjoy The Victorian House. I've enjoyed all of Judith Flanders' books about Victorian times so far and I can imagine she must have been very interesting to listen to in person.

>37 lyzard: :-D I can't say more without spoilers but I don't think you will be disappointed with the amount of melodrama in The Doctor, His Wife and The Clock! I remember thinking A Matter of Millions was a bit of a strange one.

>38 lit_chick: '37 pounds of clothing! Good grief!' I know! I cannot imagine what that must have been like.

>39 thornton37814: No worries, Lori. Welcome!

>40 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie!

>41 LovingLit: Oh Megan, but I have so many books I haven't reviewed....

>42 cbl_tn: I hope you enjoy both books Carrie :-)

>43 LizzieD: 'guilty by reason of not pursuing The Reformation and The Meaning of Jesus'

Oh Peggy, I know that feeling at the moment. I managed another very small section of The Birth of the Messiah at the weekend. Still, I say go with your mood and read The Victorian House if that's what appeals.

>44 vancouverdeb: 'I don't suppose that many families lived in crumbling mansions in the 1950's in the UK, but it is fun to read about.' Very true, Deborah!

I have to confess I don't think I notice Americanised spellings when I'm reading but, of course, I agree with you about the correct spellings :-)

>45 Smiler69: 'you made me realise I probably hadn't made a point to underline just how gritty and sexually violent the novel was in my review of it. I was just so taken by the whole that those aspects of it somehow just contributed to making it that much deeper somehow, if that makes any kind of sense, even though those passages weren't pleasant by any means.'

I can completely understand that - I wish I hadn't been so bothered by those sections and I'm not sure quite why they upset me as much as they did because Bitter Greens was such a good book in other ways.

>46 Matke: I hope you enjoy both of those books, Gail!

>47 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks Dejah!

>48 The_Hibernator: I can understand that Racehl. Given I found those scenes disturbing I wouldn't want to suggest someone else read the book if they thought they would also be upset by that.

I have been feeling a bit depressed for the last week or so and it's difficult not to wonder whether this is linked to the (admittedly very small) reduction in medication I've managed so far. I might try to make a doctor's appointment for a couple of weeks from now to discuss if it doesn't just dissipate. In the meantime, I think I will be doing more comfort reading and trying not to stress about writing reviews.

On a lighter note, someone shared this picture in the cats group which made me smile:

.

And another positive: so far this year I have read 20 books from my TBR pile and only bought 16. That's including the three new paper books that have made their way onto my shelves this month:

The Squire by Enid Bagnold (original green Virago)
Shadow and Betrayal by Daniel Abraham (fantasy series recommended by Jo Walton in What Makes This Book So Great)
Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster (have been interested in this for a while)

>50 souloftherose: I just saw that on Facebook this morning -- so cute!

>52 lauralkeet: That one appealed to the cat lover and the maths lover in me :-)

Book #34: Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden - 3.8 stars



When I really love an author I often find I want to read about their life but I'm never sure at what point to do this. Biographies often contain spoilers for the writer's works which means I want to have read those books before I read the biography but sometimes I feel I would understand the books more if I'd read the biography first (so really, I need to read all the author's books, then read a biography, then reread all the author's books to make sure I understand everything which is quite a commitment). This is a long winded way of saying that this very early novel of Godden's struck me as being quite different in tone to her later works and a brief glance at wikipedia makes me think that some kind of significant change occurred at some point in the 1950s when Godden became more interested in the Catholic church and I would love to read a biography to see if anyone else agrees. Which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy Black Narcissus, but it was quite disconcerting to read it expecting the style and approach of Godden's later works.

Black Narcissus is set in a remote part of Darjeeling in India where an order of nuns are setting up a convent intending to open a school and dispensary for the local people. The nuns are not exactly well-equipped for the challenges of living in such a remote area and they find the location and the villagers far more distracting from their holy mission than they expected. Godden's writing style was familiar but I thought there were quite marked differences in how she wrote about people between this book and her later novels: her later novels show a lot of faith (in the sense of hope) in people which I think is different from this novel, where the psychological effects on the nuns eventually leads to a complete breakdown of the community. I enjoyed it, but I wish I could have read it with no expectations because I'm sure I spent more time trying to work out why it wasn't what I expected than on enjoying the book itself!

I have two of Godden's other early India novels on the TBR: Breakfast with the Nikolides and Kingfishers Catch Fire.

Hi Heather, hope you're feeling up to par very soon; doctor's appt two weeks out is a good idea, I think. LOVE the cat photo and the math equation, LOL! Precious!

Hugs to you, Heather.

Sending you a little sunshine to ease a bit of the blues away.

My goodness, that cat, math equation may be cute but it is bringing back all my horrible memories of high school math that I want to leave buried in a deep, dark corner..ha!

I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling down, Heather. I think it's a good idea to simply read for pleasure and not worry about writing reviews.

I love the cat equation!

>54 lit_chick:, >55 jolerie: & >56 kidzdoc: Thanks Nancy, Valerie and Darryl for the good wishes.

Re the cat equation, my maths brain is still trying to work out if I can 'solve' that equation.

Some very brief book comments:

Book #29: Wild Robert by Diana Wynne Jones - 3.5 stars
Book #31: Freaky Families by Diana Wynne Jones - 3.5 stars
Book #36: Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones - 3.5 stars



Three short books by Diana Wynne Jones for younger readers which were discounted on kindle this month. Each show DWJ's trademark humour and would be fun to read aloud.

In Wild Robert, Heather's parents live and work at a stately home/castle and she spends most of her summer holidays trying to keep out of the way of the hordes of tourists that come to visit. One day she accidentally summons Wild Robert, a mischievous ghost from the castle's past. I can't think of another book where the main character shares my name (surely there must be some) so that caused added excitement.

Freaky Families contains two short stories: The Four Grannies and Auntie Bea's Day Out both featuring annoying adults and children who outsmart them in some fun ways. Both have been published before in separate collections but this collection is a fairly recent reissue.

In Earwig and the Witch, Earwig is a young girl at St. Morwald’s Home for Children but quite happy there as she's managed to get everyone there to do what she wants, when she wants. To her dismay, she's selected by a prospective foster parent, Bella Yaga, who seems immune to her ability to control other people. Earwig soon discovers Bella Yaga is a witch and needs to get the better of her so that she can return to her happy life at St Morwald's.

>56 kidzdoc: yeah, I agree. Reading's supposed to be fun, so don't stress the reviews, Heather!

>53 souloftherose: Rumer Godden sometimes puzzles me, too. I tend to categorize her books as either dark or light and Black Narcissus is definitely dark!

As you point out, it was written well before her interest in the Roman Catholic church - and you may not have caught it but in Black Narcissus the Sisters are Anglican nuns. At one point the General says, in reference to Joseph, "he is Roman and you are not." I agree that her later books with a religious bent come after a major change in Godden's personal, spiritual life and feel very different from Black Narcissus.

I'm only about a third of the way into the book - I'd forgotten some of the details but I do remember the eerie vibe of it!

I'm so very far behind but now that I'm caught up I have a book to add to the wishlist. The Victorian House looks fascinating! Thanks for the review. I hope your blues take a hike soon, Heather.

I think I saw a movie made from Black Narcissus about a hundred years ago. I'd like to read the book, because I love Rumer Godden. I must look that one up.

I hope that your mood will lift soon, Heather.

oooo...I bought the Victorian book.

>58 drneutron: Thanks Jim :-)

>59 Dejah_Thoris: 'you may not have caught it but in Black Narcissus the Sisters are Anglican nuns'

Dejah, I didn't catch that and had just assumed the nuns were RC, so thank you for bringing that to my attention. And yes, it had a very eerie vibe.

>60 rosalita: Thanks Julia! I hope you enjoy The Victorian House.

>61 Matke: After finishing the book I spent some time reading about the film version of Black Narcissus and I would like to see it. It seems as if Rumer Godden's work was more well known as films than as books and now I'm not sure either the books or the films are that well known which seems a shame.

The Victorian House is proving popular - I hope you enjoy it!

-------------------------------------------------

In my reading I've abandoned Tipping the Velvet at the halfway point. It was the only Sarah Waters' novel I hadn't read and I was looking forward to it but the middle section of the book felt very bleak and dark to me and I was finding it quite upsetting.

Instead I am now reading a book I read about on an obscure books blog called The Imprudence of Prue which was described as proto-Georgette Heyer. It has a bit more dash and adventure in it than Heyer's historical fiction but it's a lot of fun - highwaymen, robbery, secret marriages and a comedy of manners set in the reign of Queen Anne.

I've been on the fence with Rumer Godden because I've read such conflicting reviews of her works, and the reviewers all seem to really like her works or detest them. I haven't yet dredged up the courage to pick In the House of Brede off my TBR Tower yet to read.

Just a little greeting, Heather. I have started The Victorian House, and of course, I have to read it now. I confess to saving my unread Goddens - I can't quite say why. If I read *Black Narcissus*, it was so long ago that it doesn't count.
I never thought of cats in boxes as being mathematical - oh me of little imagination!
Hope your spirits rise with the weekend. Take care of yourself!

>62 souloftherose: I had fairly mixed feelings about Tipping the Velvet and agree with you that at times it is very bleak indeed. On the other hand, The Imprudence of Pru sounds like a hoot!

Take care Heather and don't stress about reviews. Nothing could be less important, in the larger scheme of things.

I was reading about Georgette Heyer earlier on Peggy's thread, so I think I've decided what my next mission must be! It's very liberating, isn't it, to just put down a book that isn't working and pick up something more more enjoyable.

>63 cameling: Caro, I'm definitely in the really like her camp and In This House of Brede is my favourite Godden so far. I don't know if that helps you pluck up the courage to try it or not!

>64 LizzieD: Peggy, The Victorian House was one of those books that once I'd started reading I couldn't stop for me too!

>65 Dejah_Thoris: The Imprudence of Prue is proving to be very good medicine Dejah :-)

>66 brenzi: Thanks Bonnie :-)

>67 lit_chick: Yes, very liberating, Nancy.

Book #25: What Makes This Book So Great by Jo Walton - 4.5 stars



Roni recommended this book to me last year and since then I have also discovered Jo walton's novels and her posts on tor.com and am now a fully fledged fan. This book is a collection of some of her essays posted on tor.com - they're all still available on that website but I like them so much that I wanted them on paper to read properly. She writes about rereading some of her favourite science fiction and fantasy novels from the 80s and 90s: some of the books she mentions are books I'd already heard of as they'd won awards but others were completely new to me. There are also essays on rereading books and how to read science fiction. I love the way she writes about reading science fiction and fantasy and I loved this book. Of course, my wishlist exploded.

Some favourite quotes:

From SF reading protocols: 'SF is like a mystery where the world and the history of the world is what's mysterious, and putting that all together in your mind is as interesting as the characters and the plot, if not more interesting. We talk about worldbuilding as something the writer does, but it's also something the reader does, building the world from the clues.'

From literary criticism vs talking about books: 'I am talking about books because I love books. I'm not standing on a mountain peak holding them at arm's length and issuing Olympian pronoucements about them. I'm reading them in the bath and shouting with excitement because I have noticed something that is really, really cool.'

From why I reread: 'There are two kinds of people in the world, those who re-read and those who don't. No, don't be silly, there are far more than two kinds of people in the world. There are even people who don't read at all. (What do they think about on buses?) But there are two kinds of readers in the world, though, those who re-read and those who don't.'

From What a pity she couldn’t have single-handedly invented science fiction! George Eliot’s Middlemarch': 'In science fiction you can have any kind of story—a romance or a mystery or a reflection of human nature, or anything at all. But as well as that, you have infinite possibility. You can tell different stories about human nature when you can compare it to android nature, or alien nature. You can examine it in different ways when you can write about people living for two hundred years, or being relativistically separated, or under a curse. You have more colours for your palette, more lights to illuminate your scene.'

Books added to my wishlist that I'd heard of before and intended to read one day, anyway:

Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin
Her Smoke Rose up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr.
Stars in my Pockets Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delaney
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Babel 17 by Samuel R. Delaney
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
A Deepness in the Sky by vernor Vinge

Books added to my wishlist that I'd never heard of before:

The Interior Life by Katherine Blake
The Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter
The Dazzle of Day by Molly Gloss
Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson
Shelter by Susan Palwick
Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey
Janissaries by Jerry Pournelle
Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack

And of course that doesn't include all the books I've already read which Jo Walton's essays made me want to pick up straight away and reread or made me consider in ways I hadn't thought about before.

I shall now spend the next few hours perusing Walton's essays on tor.com! Thanks for the nudge.

>70 lunacat: I hope they provide some good reading Jenny.

So, remember I was feeling pleased because I'd read more books from my TBR pile than I'd bought (>51 souloftherose:)? Three new books arrived today because Persephone books had a special offer to celebrate Dorothy Whipple's birthday:

The Priory by Dorothy Whipple
Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple
The Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple

Given I've also reached my limit on library loans (10 books checked out) with another two books reserved waiting for my collection and I had to sit on my hands this morning to stop myself reserving yet another library book, I just may be a little overbooked....

:-D

>69 souloftherose: I read my first Jo Walton last year - Tooth and Claw - and I loved it. Kindred is on the lust of books I want to read this year.

>71 souloftherose: ha ha ha I know that feeling, being so pleased with yourself and then falling off the wagon. But that Dorothy Whipple offer would be difficult to pass up.

I just picked up a library book the other day and am rushing to finish my current read so I can get to it. And I'm moving up the queue on two other library requests faster than expected. I fear I may end up with more than I can handle.

I just got a copy of What Makes This Book So Great from Tor, I've been wanting to read it for a while, so it's good to have another strong recommendation. I've only read one of Jo Walton's books, but I like what I know of her a lot.

Hi Heather! I love the pic of kitties boxed. Hope all is well and you're not feeling as depressed.

>71 souloftherose: You just reminded me about this Persephone offer, except I'm too late... Drat.

>50 souloftherose: The cat equation made me laugh out loud!

>69 souloftherose: What a great review, Heather! I love the quotes you chose, and I will be headed to tor.com to read those essays! Hoping that your weekend is full of fabulous!

Heather, I can identify with the overbooked feeling, as I have ten things reserved at present and four out already...The sooner they add another day to the week the better!

So glad you enjoyed the Walton, Heather!

Hi Heather, sorry about the depression…perhaps it will life as the length of sunlight in our days continues to increase. I find myself very much affected by the gloomy weather we get here in the winter. I loved your review of the victorian life book but can't seem to get the idea of mushy carrots out of my head! Congrats on a newish thread and all the good reading you've done this year.

I'm definitely recommending Worlds of Exile and Illusion, Heather.

Haha.. I'm joining you in the overbooked club. I've got 10 books out from the library and need to some of these read and returned before I can book more. Still, at least I'm doing a better job of taking books out on loan from the library this year instead of buying them as I've been doing in the past.

  

Hi Heather, thought you'd like to know I've posted the Pepys thread:

The Diary of Samuel Pepys - A Leisurely Daily Reading, Join as You Like

http://www.librarything.com/topic/188499

What a great review of The Victorian House!

Hi Heather = WHat Makes this Book so Great sounds wonderful. I haven't read a lot of SF and fantasy, so it sounds like a good place to get ideas.

>69 souloftherose: Favorited for future reference. Thanks, Heather!

>50 souloftherose: Wow. The cat on the right hit the box jackpot. Sorry you've been feeling depressed, I hope you get that worked out with your doctor. I know how hard depression can be! ( I imagine my recent illness was really just stress).

>72 cbl_tn: Carrie, I also loved Tooth and Claw, particularly after having enjoyed Trollope's Barsetshire books. The only other Jo Walton novels I've read are Farthing, which is a alternative history country house murder mystery, and Among Others but I have several of her other novels on my kindle to read.

>73 lauralkeet: Laura, you should know I can never pass up any Persephone offers :-)

>74 kgodey: I hope you enjoy What Makes This Book So Great - I think it's impossible not to get some wishlist hits from that book.

>75 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda :-)

>76 CDVicarage: Oh no! Sorry, Kerry :-(

>77 Crazymamie: I hope you enjoy the tor.com essays, Mamie.

>78 susanj67: 'The sooner they add another day to the week the better!' As long as it's not a work day that sounds great to me!

>79 ronincats: Thank you for the recommendation Roni - one of many great books you've inspired me to read :-)

>80 Donna828: I took the opportunity of some sunshine on my day off to get out and do a very small amount of gardening. A very small amount because I am such a weakling that my muscles were all complaining after 45 minutes. I'm hoping to do that more regularly as we get more sunshine.

The Victorian House did say that people at the time didn't eat much in the way of vegetables or fruit and I can understand why based on their cooking techniques - they must have tasted horrible!

>81 cameling: Glad to hear you liked Worlds of Exile and Illusion Caro. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've not read much of Le Guin's adult fiction despite being a huge fan of her Earthsea series. I have The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Lathe of Heaven and Changing Planes in my TBR piles so I would like to read those before I buy Worlds of Exile and Illusion...

>82 Smiler69: Thanks Ilana!

>83 Whisper1: Thanks Linda.

>84 BLBera: Beth, it will definitely give you a lot of ideas!

>85 LizzieD: Peggy, some kind soul also made a list of all the book's mentioned in What Makes This Book So Great. You can find the list here.

>86 The_Hibernator: 'The cat on the right hit the box jackpot.' :-D I think I'm doing ok. I've been making more of an effort to do things I enjoy and make sure I get enough rest (or try to anyway, a good night's sleep has been a bit elusive lately).

Book #39: The Neon Court: or, The Betrayal of Matthew Swift by Kate Griffin - 4.2 stars



I spent most of the weekend happily engrossed in the third book in Kate Griffin's series about urban sorcerer, Matthew Swift. There's a sense in which all of the books in this series have the same plot: some kind of big bad is trying to kill Matthew Swift and destroy the city of London, but for me, this is more than made up for by the quality of Griffin's writing, the imagination with which she writes about magical London and our unlikely hero, Matthew Swift. Recommended, but make sure you start with the first book, A Madness of Angels.

Hi, Heather. Re: your remark about possibly reading some standalone Trollopes, thought I should say I didn't mean to squash you! I realised afterwards I was a bit abrupt there. It's just that The Bertrams is set partly in the Middle East and its backdrop is the Oxford Movement and the repeal of the Corn Laws, which is why I thought it might make a tutoring project. But there are plenty of others to be going on with! After the discussion of Trollope's women in The Eustace Diamonds, one I'd be very interested in hearing your opinion of is Miss Mackenzie; mine is that he wrote himself into a corner. :)

>89 lyzard: The Oxford Movement, you say? The Bertrams is going on my TBR list!

Thanks for the list, Heather. What's with all the Stephen Brust? Have you read him? I haven't ever been attracted, but I don't know why.

Heather, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>89 lyzard: 'I didn't mean to squash you!'

You didn't squash me! :-) Now I have another tutored read to look forward to. And if it covers the Oxford Movement and the Corn Laws I could probably do with the tutoring. Perhaps, instead,Miss Mackenzie will be my next Trollope :-)

>90 cbl_tn: Ha!

>91 LizzieD: Jo Walton is a bit of a fan of Steven Brust, Peggy. It's another long series (14 books so far) but the books themselves aren't very long and, like Bujold's Vorkosigan series, they're written so that each book can be read as a standalone.

Roni introduced me to the books and I have just reread the first 3 books in the series and read the fourth so, yes, I like them. They don't sound like the sort of books I would normally be that interested in but I do really like them.

>92 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - lovely flowers!

Book #40: The Imprudence of Prue by Sophie Fisher - 3.7 stars



I heard about this on an obscure books blog I follow where it was described as proto-Georgette Heyer and fun to read which was enough to get me to download it. It has a bit more dash and adventure in it than Heyer's historical fiction but it's a lot of fun - highwaymen, robbery, secret marriages and a comedy of manners set in the reign of Queen Anne and the heroine has a good amount of pluck and is not the helpless sort. The only negative is that there is quite a lot of anti-semitism - certainly more than I recall in Heyer's novels although this was published in 1911 so it may not be more anti-semitic than other books of its time. Otherwise a very fun read.

Book #41: The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (aka The Countess Below Stairs) - 3.8 stars



A comforting, historical fairytale about a young Russian countess who escapes to England following the Russian Revolution and works as a maid on an English country estate. I say fairytale because although there's no magic or fantastical elements everything works out far too well for the secret countess and everyone's attitudes are far too 21st century for this to be classed as realistic fiction. Having said that, even though I could predict every plot twist this was a charming read that I really enjoyed and galloped through in one sitting.

>69 souloftherose: Heather, I did smile at the giant list of books you ended up with after reading What Makes This Book So Great :-) I've only read Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw but I saw that one at Waterstone's last weekend, in a display.

I'd also be interested in a tutored read of The Bertrams - something to look forward to for a bit later, maybe? (Although it is March already - goodness!)

We've had SUN in London this morning, and it's even quite warm (or maybe not cold). I hope you're having a good reading day.

The Secret Countess sounds interesting, Heather. What you write about predicting the plot but enjoying nonetheless remind me of the Heyer I just read. Love it when I find something I enjoy enough to gallop through in one sitting.

>94 souloftherose: I've just finished The Imprudence of Prue as well, Heather, and I have The Secret Countess waiting for me on my kindle. I'm in full agreement with your review.

>94 souloftherose: The Imprudence of Prue sounds interesting. I am going through a bit of Heyer withdrawal, having read all but one of her romances (I've still got The Masqueraders left), so some "proto-Heyer" might be just the ticket.

>94 souloftherose: 20th century surely - The Secret Countess was first published in 1981. But I agree with the description of the group of Eva Ibbotson's books that it's part of as fairytales, including the Cinderella type and the wicked characters who in this book are snobbish and anti-semitic. I'm sure realism was never the aim but I enjoy reading them.

The Secret Countess looks interesting. Thanks for highlighting it!

>95 susanj67: Susan, I had to be really strict about adding books to my wishlist when reading What Makes This Book So Great otherwise every book she mentioned would have ended up on the list! Only books that sounded really interesting ended up on the list.

'I'd also be interested in a tutored read of The Bertrams'

So now we just need to pin Liz down to a date. Mwa-ha-ha :-)

>96 lit_chick: Hi Nancy. Yes, The Secret Countess was Heyer-esque in some ways although this was more of a young adult romance.

>97 CDVicarage: Glad you enjoyed The Imprudence of Prue Kerry :-)

>98 rosalita: Heyer withdrawal does not sound good Julia! I hope the proto-Heyer helps. I also really enjoyed The Masqueraders but I remember it did take me a while to figure out what was going on with all the cross-dressing.

>99 elkiedee: '20th century surely' Good point Luci! A modern outlook anyway and as you say, very enjoyable to read.

>100 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel!

Book #44: The City & The City by China Mieville - 3.8 stars



Definitely the least weird of the Mieville's I have read so far although it still felt very original - this is a cross between a noirish police procedural and urban fantasy (I think). I found it a little slow to start with and I was a bit disappointed with the ending (I so wanted Orciny to be real) but this was still a very good book just not my favourite of Mieville's works. I think I was expecting something weirder and more strongly science fiction/fantasy than this is - for me it didn't quite have the wow factor that Perdido Street Station or Embassytown did. But that itself might make it a great place to start with Mieville.

Hi Heather! I LOVE those quotes about SF from Jo Walton that you posted above - especially the one about world building. That so perfectly describes it. I have that book on my Wishlist and must get to it soon. I might treat myself to a new copy, as it sounds like the kind of book you want to keep on your bookshelves to refer to time and again.
Both you and Roni have overtaken me in the Matthew Swift series now, and both of you make me think I need to return to it. After the second one I came to the same conclusion as you - that they are rather samey, but if you think that's no impediment to enjoyment, then I'm not going to argue!
I also had very similar feelings about The City and the City too. My current Mieville plan is to finish off the Bas-Lag series, having recently read The Scar which I thought was a disappointing sequel to the fabulous Perdido Street Station, but I have high hopes for the third part Iron Council, as it again sets the action in New Crobuzon, after moving away in the second book.
Hope you depression has improved in recent days. Maybe it's just Manchester weather, but this winter does seem to have been excessively grey and gloomy, and has really affected my mood at times. On the rare occasions recently when there has been a bit of sun about, I've almost felt like a little anthropomorphised flower, turning my face towards it and drinking it all in!

>102 souloftherose: Love to see that good review of The City and the City, as I will be reading that one this month, too. I hope you're right that's it's a good gateway book for Miéville.

All the Mieville reviews piling up around here are doing a good job of making me think I should make an effort to step out of my comfort zone and read The City and the City. Hope it makes a great start for me. Nice cover art too!

Wow, not even familiar with Mieville, Donna. Interesting review of The City and the City.

I was just reading how you plan to do mainly unplanned reads! That is my plan, all of the time! :) I do try to read books from lists, like the new 2015 Orange/ Bailey's list, and I try a few of the BAC and AAC challenges, but if the author or books totally do nothing for me then I just read my own thing. Of course in the process of visiting threads on LT, one does get caught by quite a few book bullets. I hope you are soon feeling better.

Heather, I'm working through Perdido Street Station and I can't for the life of me decide if it's fantasy or science fiction. The man really likes to stretch the definitions of genres and that's pretty cool. What a trippy experience so far and I'm all curious about where he gets his inspirations from because it is so out there!

>103 HanGerg: 'I might treat myself to a new copy, as it sounds like the kind of book you want to keep on your bookshelves to refer to time and again.'

Do it!

Re the Matthew Swift series, I did prefer the third book to the second but they do feel like they all have the same basic plot. For me though, Griffin's writing means I enjoy the books despite that.

I've still got Mieville's Railsea in my TBR pile and then after that I think I will try to finish off the Bas-Lag series. Sorry to hear The Scar was a bit disappointing though.

I love the picture of you as an anthromorphised flower turning your face to the sun! I think I am feeling a bit better but I think I'm still going to wait until I've seen the doctor in a couple of weeks before I try reducing my pills any further. I'd liked to know if a mild depression dip when reducing is expected when reducing this medication or something to indicate reducing may not be such a good idea.

>104 rosalita: I hope you like it, Julia. I think it will be a good place to start for people who like crime fiction.

>105 charl08: I've also been finding that the trickle effect of lots of people reading certain authors for the challenges each month has resulted in those authors ending up on my wishlist.

>106 lit_chick: Mieville's one of the authors in this month's British Authors' Challenge, Nancy so I suspect you'll see at least one or two more reviews of his books around the threads :-)

>107 vancouverdeb: 'Of course in the process of visiting threads on LT, one does get caught by quite a few book bullets.' Yes, there are always a few book bullets on the threads to put paid to my plans for unplanned reading :-)

>108 jolerie: Valerie, I think a lot of Mieville's books defy genre definition. I remember being impressed by the weirdness of PSS and also quite freaked out by it when reading it. I want to get back to his Bas-Lag books at some point.

I was sad to hear that the great Sir Terry Pratchett died on Thursday. I've been reading some of the many tributes and articles posted on the internet since then and these contain some of my favourite quotes.

The Guardian: Without Terry Pratchett, the world is less magical

'By the time he had finished with Discworld, it was clear that a fantasy universe could be used to write with echoing profundity about love, death, religion, duty, opera, politics, and – above all – decency.'

The Guardian: Revisiting Terry Pratchett’s Discworld taught me why I love reading

'His books are fuelled by a deep-seated moral anger about the stupid things humans do: Pratchett was so furious because he was adamant we are all capable of so much more.'

And

'Above all, what Pratchett gave us is a 40-book love letter to reading. Stories are what the Discworld were built on, with his characters using them to explain the chaos of the world. While embracing storytelling, he also showed us its limitations. He was critical of characters who don’t live in the real world, but also showed how stories help us get one step closer to understanding.
....

Pratchett used, and had a blast subverting, fantasy tropes, from orphaned future kings (the wonderful Carrot from the Night Watch) to cynical anti-heroes who can’t help doing good (step forward Granny Weatherwax). His Discworld series forces us to think differently, whether about religion, attitudes towards gender roles, the role of law and leaders, or why we tell stories at all.

And this from xkcd



I think I'm overdue a reread of his books.

I felt bad about Terry Pratchett's passing, too, Heather. Thank you for those lovely quotes. A "40-book love letter to reading" is quite a wonderful legacy! I haven't read any of his Discworld books but I did love Good Omens. No one should have to suffer from early-onset Alzheimer's. It's bad enough to get it in one's 70s or 80s.

I'd never read any of Terry Pratchett's books Heather, and for some reason had never thought the Discworld books were for me, but after passing through your thread and reading your comments about him and his work, I went ahead and got his first Discworld book, The Colour of Magic. As you know fantasy is always a hit or miss proposition with me, but I owe it to him to at least read the first book—I might be pleasantly surprised and find it up my alley after all.

Funnily enough, I'd recently started on a Discworld re-reading project anyway, and now with Sir Terry's sad passing I feel more determined to approach it in a more structured and paid way. Maybe we could set up a group read or something. It's a shame that it's taken him dying for people to verbalise what lots of us felt about what a special writer he was.

>111 Donna828: 'A "40-book love letter to reading" is quite a wonderful legacy' And those are only his Discworld novels - I've lost count of how many non-Discworld books there were. Good Omens is one that I think I've only read once and never reread for some reason.

>112 Smiler69: Ilana, I'm glad I've encouraged you to try some Pratchett but I really wouldn't have recommended starting with The Colour of Magic. The Discworld is one of the few series which I would not recommend reading in order as the style of the early novels is so different to the later ones. The Colour of Magic is a parody of (I think) 1960s and 1970s fantasy novels (most of which I still haven't read). It can be quite funny but I don't think there's much more to it than that and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wasn't already a fan of fantasy novels.

Good places to start with the Discworld books are:

Wyrd Sisters - witches, politics and Macbeth

Guards!, Guards! which is the first book in the City Watch sub-series. It's a good introduction to the Discworld's largest city and to Sam Vimes who becomes one of my favourite characters over the series.

Small Gods - a very well done satire on religion and the ways in which religious belief can become corrupted.

The Wee Free Men - the first in a young adult series but they are very far from being whiney young adult books. This sub-series and the main character, Tiffany, are some of my favourites.

Monstrous Regiment - gender roles and war.

>113 HanGerg: I took way too long to write that last post and so missed yours Hannah. I would be interested in some kind of group read - I haven't decided how I'm going to structure my own Pratchett reread but I think I will reread the Discworld novels in publication order (mainly because when I considered rereading all his novels in publication order I discovered I really wasn't keen on rereading The Dark Side of the Sun or Strata).

Heather, do you know if his Disc World books have to be read in a particular order?

>116 jolerie: They definitely don't have to be read in order... hang on... here is a reading order map!



There are certain characters that are revisited, and so it helps to start off with the starter novel for each of those story streams - there is definitely some cross over between story streams, and it's a shared world. My Discworld reading started off all over the place, and then I gradually went back and filled in the gaps.

>109 souloftherose: you are in for a real treat with Railsea ......

>114 souloftherose: Hm, of course I should have consulted you beforehand, don't know why I didn't this time. I doubt Amazon will refund me for the eBook, but I can always try. As it happens, all the 'starter' books you've suggested are available as audiobooks and the narrators are really good, so I'll be happy to take that route. Now which to choose?? What do you have to say about Thief of Time by the way?

>119 Smiler69: Amazon will refund for an ebook, no questions asked, within seven days, and I've had refunds beyond that when I've asked, too.

The refund period has increased from 7 days, maybe it's 14.

Just checking back in, Heather, to say I finished The City and the City and I quite liked it. And I agree with your spoiler — I did, too.

I may try other novels by Miéville, although I am not always at my best with the very weird. This was just the right level of weird, I think. And of course I am quite familiar with the police procedural format that provides the foundation for the book, so that helped keep me grounded as well.

>120 CDVicarage: >121 elkiedee: Thanks for the input. I once asked for a refund within an hour of purchasing a book when I realised I already owned it in another format, and the CS person at Amazon told me if I contacted them within a short period like that there was no problem, so I understood it really had to be within an hour or two, as he certainly didn't mention anything about a week, much less two! Good to know for future reference.

>117 evilmoose: That is an awesome reference chart, Megan! Thanks so much for that!

I also love your quotes from the Walton book! I swear we have that around the house, but where? My spousal unit has a terrible habit of losing books in three foot deep piles. . . . and we're both Walton fans.

Hmmm. I may have like The City and the City more than you.

>117 evilmoose: Thank you for the chart Megan!

>116 jolerie: I think all the books in the Discworld series stand alone. If you read through a particular mini series you might find that characters' lives change: they get married, have kids etc. but I don't think you ever need to know the backstory to enjoy a particular book.

>118 roundballnz: Excellent news - looking forward to it then :-)

>119 Smiler69: Well, 99% of the time I would say start with the first book in a series, but I think Discworld is one of my few exceptions. As Luci and Kerry said, I think Amazon will refund the ebook within 7 days in Canada (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201252620) and I think Suzanne really enjoyed the Discworld audiobooks she listened to (last year?) so hopefully a win all round.

I really like Thief of Time - it's one of his more comic novels written just before he went through a period of writing darker novels. Some of the characters in Thief of Time have some backstory in earlier novels but you don't need to know any of that to enjoy ToT. If it appeals then I'd say go for it.

>122 rosalita: Really pleased you enjoyed The City & The City Julia. Mieville's quite unusual in that he seems to try and write each book in a different genre so they all feel quite different. Which is really good in a lot of ways but does make it difficult to say whether you'd like any of his other books.

>120 CDVicarage: >121 elkiedee: >126 souloftherose: I got a refund without a problem, and yes, the delay here in Canada is indeed a week. I didn't know about that link so I could do it myself, so I called CS this time, but I'll do it myself online next time.

One of the reasons I was tempted by The Thief of Time, other than the storyline, is that the current price allows me to purchase it without spending a credit, which isn't the case with any of the other books, but otherwise there's a good chance I'll be trying the ones you've suggested to me next, Heather.

By the way, I hadn't commented on The City & The City and just wanted to say it was my first book by him (and so far the only one) and that I really enjoyed it. So much so that I look forward to rereading it eventually, though I think I should probably read other things he wrote first! I plan on listening to Railsea this month.

Just speaking. Since I'm unhappily not a Pratchett fan (but I too am sorry about his last year or so and his death), I don't have anything to contribute.
I think that in the US, Amazon will cancel and refund if the book hasn't yet been mailed.

The shortlists for the 2015 Carnegie Medal and Kate Greenaway Medal have been announced.

2015 Carnegie Medal shortlist:

Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
The Fastest Boy in the World by Elizabeth Laird
The Middle of Nowhere by Geraldine McCaughrean
More Than This by Patrick Ness
Tinder by Sally Gardner, illustrated by David Roberts
When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan

2015 Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist (for illustration):

Tinder by Sally Gardner, illustrated by David Roberts
The Promise by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Laura Carlin
Jim's Lion by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Alexis Deacon
Shackleton's Journey by William Grill
Dark Satanic Mills by Marcus Sedgwick and Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by John Higgins and Mark Olivent
Smelly Louie by Catherine Rayner
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell
Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan

I've read Cuckoo Song which was an excellent and slightly creepy read. I'm also interested in:

Apple and Rain as I enjoyed Sarah Crossan's last book, The Weight of Water
The Middle of Nowhere by Geraldine McCaughrean
Tinder by Sally Gardner, illustrated by David Roberts - saw this at the British Library's gothic exhibition last year and it looked like a beautiful book
More Than This by Patrick Ness - I think Bianca recommended this one to me
Dark Satanic Mills by Marcus Sedgwick and Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by John Higgins and Mark Olivent
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell - have heard good things about this on fb from FlossieT
Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan - Shaun Tan books are always unusual

>127 Smiler69: Glad you managed to get a refund for the Pratchett. I've got Railsea tenatively lined up for this month too.

>128 LizzieD: Non-Pratchett lovers are also welcome, Peggy :-) I would guess Amazon in the UK also have a similar policy about physical books.

The Middle of Nowhere is only £2.39 for Kindle at the moment, I got it at a similarly reasonable price a while ago as I've loved some of her previous books.

I'd really want to see the illustrations for the others though - wonder if any would appeal to the boys? (Any excuse!) I've finally found some fiction books that are a real hit with Danny, and I think he'll move on to others when he's finished his current series.

>131 elkiedee: Thanks for the tip about The Middle of Nowhere Luci. So far I think I've only read Stop the Train by this author some time ago and for some reason have not really investigated her other works.

It would be nice if the Guardian did a more detailed feature on the shortlisted books with examples of the illustrations. I had a look at one or two on amazon but there was no look inside feature either. Some of the books on the Kate Greenaway shortlist look like they might be more suitable for older readers/teens - I'm thinking especially of Tinder and Dark Satanic Mills.

I am really struggling to get any reviews written at the moment so attempting to do some very brief comments on the following:

Book #47: Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple - 4.1 stars



I always enjoy Dorothy Whipple's books and this was no exception. First published in 1932 this is a family saga that covers the period from the 1900s through WWI to the 1920s with the focus on the family home, Greenbanks, where the widowed grandmother, Louisa, lives. It's a slow moving novel with a lot of different subplots following different members of the wider family. I think Whipple always manages to create very believable characters and I was very attached to them by the end of the novel. This also struck me as being more overtly feminist than the other Whipple novels I've read (which are High Wages published in 1930 and Someone at a Distance published in 1953). A very good read.

Book #48: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - 4.3 stars



This won a slew of science fiction awards last year and so I've been meaning to read it for a while. I read it whilst I was feeling pretty tired and did feel that I might not be appreciating some of the clever things Leckie was doing whilst I read it but even so I found it very hard to put down. I was reminded of one of the quotes from the Jo Walton book whilst I was rading it (>69 souloftherose: 'SF is like a mystery where the world and the history of the world is what's mysterious, and putting that all together in your mind is as interesting as the characters and the plot') which is not to say that the characters or the plot are not interesting (I thought the AI character, Breq, was really interesting) but I really enjoyed that feeling of being enveloped in the world and figuring the world out which I think I only get with really good sf. It's the first book in a trilogy and I will be getting to book #2, Ancillary Sword, as soon as I can.

Book #49: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham - 3.9 stars



Another family saga (it seems I've gone from thinking I really don't like this type of book to gobbling them down) and the start of another series. This time the family in question is the Poldarks, a family of gentry living in Cornwall in the 1780s. Ross Poldark returns from fighting in the American War of Independence to find his father has died, his promised bride is only a few months away from marrying his cousin and his family home is a bit run down. It's quite a gentle read and not as depressing as I've just made it sound! Another one where I'm itching to start the sequel.

>133 souloftherose: Oh, Poldark! I *loved* the series when I read it in about 2000, I think (I remember I was a member of the City of London library at that point). I raced through it, and was so sad when it finished. And then Bella Poldark was published, after a long gap, so I reserved it and got an email when it came in and ran over to the library and the man looked quite shocked at how quickly I'd got there :-) I'm tempted to buy them all as ebooks and reread the series (Oooh, and they're only £3.59 each for the Kindle...) You have lots of lovely reading ahead of you, Heather!

Yay, Heather! What Susan said!!!

>114 souloftherose: I've decided to give Terry Pratchett another go after your post, so I'm currently listening to Mort on audio. I'd previously tried The Colour of Magic and it hadn't really done much for me.
Mort is better, but I'm not sure I'm ever going to become a huge fan based on what I've read so far. I'm not sure comedy fantasy is really my thing.

>133 souloftherose: Have you been watching the Poldark series? I saw the first one but the character of Demelza didn't grab me at all. I think they were clearly worried about any suggestion that the character might be underage, so despite everyone calling her 'child' she was taller than a lot of the people around her, and just looked like an adult dressed in rags. And of an age when in the real life tin mining community she'd have been married with at least two kids. (I think the life expectancy of a Cornish tin miner was incredibly low, so they'd have had to get on with things quick!).

>134 susanj67: 'I'm tempted to buy them all as ebooks and reread the series' I say do it! I really enjoyed this and can imagine reacing through them quite quickly, especially as the next book seems to pick up immediately where Ross Poldark leaves off.

>135 LizzieD: Thank you for the recommendation Peggy :-)

>136 SandDune: I think humour can be so personal - I know there are books friends have loved and recommended because they're 'so funny' but when I've tried reading them I've found them very unfunny (The Hundred Year Old Man is the book everyone except me found hilarious).

In terms of Pratchett, I think his earlier books (which I class as everything before Guards! Guards!) are slightly off the wall comic fantasy whereas his later books are more serious: he starts to write about a coherent (and still often comic) fantasy world which he holds up as a mirror to the real world to satirize and explain it. I enjoy reading his earlier novels but to me they're just pretty funny; it's his later novels that leave me pondering what it means to be human.

Re Poldark, I haven't watched the TV series yet. I was planning to but now that I've enjoyed the books so much I'm wondering if I might be disappointed in the TV programme. I was intially worried about the way Graham would handle the relationship between Ross and Demelza given she was so young when they first met but I think he did it really well. I can understand the TV series avoiding the whole issue by making Demelza seem older though. Interestingly, Graham seemed to imply in the book that it was unlikely Demelza would be married before she was 17 in any case - I don't know if that's accurate for the time or if in real life she would have been expected to get married much younger.

Hi, Heather. I just wanted to check whether you're still on for Millenium Hall next month? I was about to resurrect the chronological thread and start "advertising', to see if anyone else wanted to join in, but figured I'd better touch base with you first. :)

Is that the Sarah Scott book?

Yes, full title A Description of Millenium Hall and the Country Adjacent. It's the next book in our "Virago chronological read" project, an attempt to read the Viragos in date-of-original-publication order. If you're interested, we'd love to have you join us!

I'm in for April but I am also happy to read it at a different time. Whatever Heather wants to do is fine with me!

Hi Heather, I've finally got some time to visit threads. I wish you a lovely weekend.

>138 lyzard: April still works for me. Are you thinking tutored read or group read?

>142 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara.

I mentioned on my thread that I had to buy the Jo Walton book What Makes This Book so Great - I am really loving these essays, Heather! Thanks so much for highlighting it on your thread, as I never would have found it on my own. And now you have me thinking that the Poldark looks really good...oh, dear!

I intend to get to the Poldark series at some point. I've watched a couple of seasons of the 1970s series but I haven't seen any episodes from the recent adaptation.

Hi Heather! I'm way behind in reading the Discworld books, but hopefully I'll get back to the series someday. This year was planned a continuation-of-series-already-started, but I haven't been too successful in that except for only a couple of books. Must be stronger. :)

>117 evilmoose: I thought Megan's flowchart for order of reading was quite interesting.

Hi, Heather. Thanks so much for your support in the last month.

I was so sorry to hear about the loss of Sir Pterry also. I concur with all you've said about reading order, etc. I think Thief of Time is a great book and Ilana would get a good sense of his writing. I think that Reaper Man is a more mature book than Mort in the Death series and might recommend starting there. Guards! Guards! is the one where I fell in love with Discworld.

>143 souloftherose:

April is good! I will let people know on the Virago threads. I think a group read will be fine.

Heather

Congratulations on reading so many books thus far this year! I'm stopping by to say hello. Each day, as I gain strength, I'm trying to post a few messages. Thank you for much for your outreach and kind thoughts. It means more than words can say.

I forgot to add that I would be totally copacetic with a Pratchett re-read group!

Oh! Oh! A Pratchett group read??

I would join a Pratchett group read!

Dropping by to say that I finished Mort, after your recommendation! and did enjoy it.

I'm still here but we've been quite busy at the weekends and work has suddenly become really busy so I'm feeling very tired at the moment. I will try to respond to comments later today but in the meantime, thank you all for visiting!

>129 souloftherose: Carnegie & Greenaway shortlists - I've only read a few -
More Than This by Patrick Ness - intriguing scifi
Tinder by Sally Gardner, illustrated by David Roberts - gothic dark retelling of The Tinderbox, illustrations are wow
When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan - boy with Tourettes Syndrome, quite good
Dark Satanic Mills by Marcus Sedgwick and Julian Sedgwick - graphic novel, dystopian, story was average & can't remember the artwork
Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan - always great

I want to read the Francis Hardinge book, I have one of her older ones still to read, Geraldine McCaughrean is always worth reading, though again I've fallen away with reading her later stuff, I liked her The Kite Rider.

I'd love to read more Pratchett, just got too many other books to read at present. I'll get there.

Maybe I need to add the Poldark series to my to read list as well. Thanks.

Hope you manage to get some rest, Heather. Will be lovely to hear from you when you have a moment to spare.

Live can be that busy, Heather. Take your time!

Just came by to speak, Heather. Hope all is well with you.

I would be interested in a Patchett group too.

I know how hard it can be to find time for everything, Heather. As Peggy says, just take all the time you need. We'll still be here.

Just swinging by to see how you are doing, Heather!

Have a relaxing weekend, Heather!

Hi Heather, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

And I'm back! Work has been really busy - I'm hoping things may be a little bit calmer after the end of this month but I think that will only be a temporary lull as I have another big deadline coming up at the end of April....

Some long overdue responses:

>144 Crazymamie: Mamie, so pleased you're enjoying Jo Walton's essays :-)

>145 cbl_tn: What did you think of the 1970s Poldark series Carrie? Sometimes I prefer the older BBC TV series so I may rent that on DVD.

>146 The_Hibernator: 'This year was planned a continuation-of-series-already-started'

Hmm, that was my plan too but I seem to have let myself get a little distracted this month and have started 3 or 4 new series. Oops.

>147 ronincats: You're very welcome Roni.

>149 Whisper1: It's lovely to see you starting to be well enough to visit us on LT again Linda.

>150 ronincats:, >151 jolerie:, >152 kgodey:, >159 Matke: Ok, ok, I will setup a Pratchett group read thread :-)

>153 SandDune: So pleased you ended up enjoying Mort Rhian! Reaper Man next? :-)

>155 avatiakh: Thanks for the comments on the Carnegie/Greenaway Medal shortlists Kerry. I may not prioritize Dark Satanic Mills based on your comments but the others all sound good.

>156 Smiler69:, >157 connie53:, >158 LizzieD:, >159 Matke:, >160 jolerie:, >161 kidzdoc:, >162 Ameise1: Thanks for the kind words and for keeping my thread warm over the last week or so. I am looking forward to a long, quiet Easter weekend.

I've started a thread for the Terry Pratchett group read.

A whistle-stop tour through my March reads:



The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes
Wakulla Springs by Andy Duncan

These were short stories/novelettes/novellas that were originally published on tor.com and then published as ebooks. The price of the ebooks varies a lot and I managed to download most of these when they were free. I find I'm really enjoying reading these sf/fantasy short stories. Currently reading a tor.com 'best of' collection - Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2014: A Tor.Com Original which was also free to download.



Deadlier Than The Male: An Investigation into Feminine Crime Writing by Jessica Mann
Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England by Amanda Vickery

Two non-fiction reads I was quite disappointed with - I think in both cases this was because I was expecting the book to be about something it wasn't about.

Deadlier than the Male is a look at the golden age queens of detective fiction: Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and Josephine Tey. From the title and introduction I hoped it would cast light on why it seems to be only female writers from this period who have stood the test of time and the author does explore this but I didn't really feel any definite answer was given. I expect this is because there isn't really a definite answer but I still felt let down. Also the author spends too much time saying things like 'of course x's books wouldn't be considered very well written by today's standards' which is a statement I find incredibly annoying for all kinds of reasons (but that's a long rant for another time...)

Behind Closed Doors was disappointing because I wanted it to be about day to day life in Georgian times (a Georgian The Victorian House) and it's actually about interior decoration/design. I really struggled to plough through it - whether or not this is purely because I found the subject matter a lot less interesting (I would go so far as to say it was almost boring) it was a lot less readable than The Gentleman's Daughter. There was a whole chapter on wallpaper!

Did it include the use of arsenic and other toxic ingredients in wallpaper and home decoration? There are a couple of BBC 4 programmes on Hidden Killers in Victorian and Edwardian times - they're fascinating but very upsetting to watch (dead babies - and other dead people - alert).

>163 souloftherose: I like the 1970s Poldark series a lot. The actress who plays Demelza is really good. Unfortunately it was pulled out of Netflix's streaming collection before I could finish it.

Whizzed through the comments here. The chart tells me I have obviously missed a great series! Wishing you a happy Monday. : )

>166 elkiedee: No, nothing that interesting! It was more about the colour of the wallpaper and who had ordered it (husband or wife). I've seen those programmes on iplayer but never watched them.

>167 cbl_tn: Grr - I stopped using netflix because they dropped a TV series whilst I was halfway through watching it. I don't understand why they can't warn you a few weeks before the contract is going to expire. Have gone back to the old-fashioned DVD rental (ok, not that old-fashioned).

>168 Berly: Happy Tuesday back to you! A short work week this week and next - I'm torn between relief because of some time off and anxiety over the lack of progress I'm going to make at work thanks to two short work weeks. Still, I think that probably shows I need a break.

I haven't read it, but I bought If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley as a Kindle bargain, well, relatively cheap at £2.59. Though I think it might be one to look for in the library for illustrations.

I stopped using netflix because they dropped a TV series whilst I was halfway through watching it. I don't understand why they can't warn you a few weeks before the contract is going to expire.
No kidding. That is sooo annoying. We had a sudden desire to watch All Creatures Great and Small last weekend, which has been available on Netflix for donkey's years, and is now GONE. We found it on YouTube, but still ... I also wonder why they don't have some kind of "coming soon / leaving soon" area on their website.

#50 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett - starting my reread of the Discworld. This is not my favourite and not where I would recommend starting but enjoyable enough and interesting to see how the early books contain the beginnings of ideas that were then developed in the later boosk.

#51 The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury - A very engaging account of the men and women who discovered and interpreted the first dinosaur bones in the early 19th century. I think I bought this up after reading Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures which is a fictional atory about Mary Anning who discovered marine skeletons (including plesiosaurs) on Lyme Regis cliffs and beaches and since then it has spent years being neglected on my TBR shelf as I got distracted by other subjects. Cadbury's book focuses more on the rivalry between Gideon Mantell and Richard Owen although she does include a fair amount about other dinosaur hunters such as Anning and William Buckland. I was a bit dinosaur obsessed as a youngster but I haven't read anything on the subject as an adult and this had a good mix of detail about the fossils and narrative drive about the people to keep me hooked. Not really sure why Cadbury's books aren't more well known.

#52 A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan - Pure fun and tied in nicely with the 19th century obssessive scientists from Cadbury's book. Marie Brennan's story is set in a fictional quasi-19th century England where dragons exist and where they are researched and studed in the same way that 19th century natural historians studied real-life creatures. It's also a Victorian lady adventurer story as the main character is a young woman who is as drgaon obsessed as I was dinosaur obsessed. Of course, she's an upper class lady and although fully aware that women can equal men she remains fairly oblivious to the fact that the working class folk might be people too so it held a ring of realism for me despite the dragons. I love the cover and there are also several similar illustrations in the book itself. Very keen to get my hands on the next book.

#53 Phoenix by Steven Brust - I've been reading and rereading the Vlad Taltos series this year and this is the fifth book in publication order. Not one of my favourites as it involves Jhereg house politics which I don't enjoy so much and I'm getting tired of Vlad needing to be rescued so often but from the ending of this book it sounds like Vlad will be making some fairly major changes so I'm hoping Athyra interests me more. I still read this pretty quickly so maybe I didn't find it as tiresome as I thought?

#54 Dido and Pa by Joan Aiken - More fun from Dido Twite and friends. This book was a little darker than the previous entries but still an excellent read.

#55 The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer - This seems to be a lot of people's favourite Heyer and I can see why! Sophie is outrageously fun and shenanigans abound. Great fun.

#56 Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - Reading along with tutored read, this is a quieter Austen novel than her earlier P&P or S&S but rewarding. Of course, I am in the pro-Fanny club :-)

#57 A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham - The first book in The Long Price quartet, a fantasy series I've had on my wishlist for a while but not got around to reading until I came across an omnibus edition of the first two books in a charity shop last month. The cover of the UK edition is horribly generic but the book itself is not although I am finding it quite difficult to describe. I guess this is a character focused fantasy novel in an unusual fantasy world where poets control the use of magic and body language is a fundamental part of everyday conversation. I thought the characterisation was particularly strong - not that the world or plot is not well done but it was the characters that kept calling me back to the book.

For fun - a brief comparison between the US covers of this series (good) and the UK covers (awful):

US (I love the change in colour over the seasons)



UK (generic man in swirly cloak fantasy cover followed by generic man with cool swords fantasy cover)

Heather, I love the look of the Deborah Cadbury and Marie Brennan books. I've just added them to my library wishlist ready for reserving as soon as my willpower lessens :-)

I hope you get done what you need to at work - two short weeks are there to enjoy!

>172 souloftherose: I'm reading Phoenix at the moment as well. I think I'd agree that it's not one of the better ones.

Hi, Heather - the thread for our group read of Millenium Hall is up - here.

I had time to set the thread up so I did, but there's no hurry about starting - see you over there whenever it suits you. :)

Hmm, I didn't know that Netflix pulled shows like that. I've not yet had that experience, so it is one I'd best be prepared for. NOT!

I LOVE the cover of Dido and Pa.

Heather - It's impossible to keep up with you. The Cadbury book especially caught my eye. Dido and Pa is one I think I would like, too. I'm working my way through the Wolves books.

Whereas I mess around and do this and that and spend an inordinate amount of time playing computer games, You, Heather, read! Many thanks for all your informative reviews! I'm glad to hear that Wakulla Springs is not trash. I put it on my Kindle because of the title....a favorite aunt's family lived in Wakulla, N.C.
Must read D. Abraham. Must read D. Abraham.......

Happy Easter, Heather! Have a great weekend.

Hi Heather. I want to read The Grand Sophy this year too since its been sitting on my shelf for so long. Thanks for the reminder.

Hi Heather, I wish you Happy Easter.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend, Heather!

We're on a similar reading trajectory in SF and Fantasy - I'm hoping to get my hands on the next Leckie and the next Brennan soon!

Heather, haven't seen you in April yet around the threads.........hope that your Easter has been a wonderful one.

Wow! Cruising through books here! I love your British v. American book covers. I don't get how they thought they could use the same dark, brooding man's head without changing the angle or anything. Weird and unimaginative! I really like Georgette Heyer and I have yet to read The Grand Sophy, so I am glad to still have that one waiting for me. Happy April!

Belated happy Easter wishes to everyone! We've been enjoying a quiet long weekend, seeing family, churching, playing a new computer game (Pillars of Eternity) and spending some time attacking our overgrown garden. I'm back at work tomorrow - not really looking forward to it as I think April is going to be pretty busy again but I do have a couple of weeks holiday at the beginning of May to look forward to.

>174 susanj67: Susan, I hope you enjoy the Deborah Cadbury and Marie Brennan books.

>175 SandDune: I'm hoping the series picks up again with Athyra. It seems like there are lots of changes for Vlad at the end of Phoenix.

>176 lyzard: Thanks Liz!

>177 lit_chick: Netflix pulling a show has only happened to me once but as I was halfway through the particular season they dropped I was quite annoyed, especially as if I'd known I would have made more of an effort to finish watching the season.

>178 BLBera: Hi Beth. The Wolves books are a lot of fun.

>179 LizzieD: Hmm, not sure how I've managed to read so much over the last few months because I also feel that I mess around and do this or that instead of reading! Wakulla Springs is definitely not trash. It's really quite light on the sf/f aspects but it's an intriguing read about different generations of a family in Florida from the 1930s to the present day.

>180 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy.

>181 brenzi: Bonnie, I thought The Grand Sophy was a lot of fun. Hope you think so too.

>182 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara!

>183 jolerie: Thanks Valerie!

>184 sibylline: Yes, waiting impatiently for both books to be returned to the library so that I can borrow them! It's not as if I don't have other books to read :-)

>185 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

>186 Berly: The Grand Sophy is probably my favourite Heyer so far - I hope you enjoy it!

Book #58: The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold - 3.9 stars



As I seem to have been starting series left, right and centre recently, I thought it would be good to finish off at least one series that's been on my list for a while. The Hallowed Hunt is the third book in Bujold's Chalion fantasy series but I think each book stands alone quite well. The first two books, The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls have some cross-over characters but The Hallowed Hunt is about completely new characters just set in the same world as the first two books. I'd heard THH wasn't as good as the first two books, and I think I agree, but it was still a really good read. Bujold often writes about characters with significant disadvantages - either physical or mental or, in this case spiritual, as the main character, Lord Ingrey, has been possessed by an animal spirit since he was a young boy and has lost his inheritance as a result. There's also a mystery/puzzle to solve as in the Chalion books and an ongoing conflict between the old magic of animal possession and the new magic authorised by the temple's five gods. The only weak point was the ending which I felt got a little confusing.

Book #59: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - 3.8 stars



A reread: I would put this on my list of must read Agatha Christie books as I think the solution is a particularly good one (possibly unique? I've not come across any other mysteries with a similar setup).

I read Chalion this year, too, and The Hallowed Hunt is definitely weaker than the Cazaril/Ista books, but anything Bujold writes is excellent. And I agree about Murder on the Orient Express.

We're all in cozy agreement here about *HH* and *MotOE*, and I'm excited that I lucked into a good book when I got Wakulla Springs on a whim. Sometimes it works!
Enjoy your last extra day of April freedom, Heather. May will be here before we know it.

Happy to know you've enjoyed your Easter holidays, Heather. Also nice to know you have a couple of weeks to yourself to look forward to in May so you can rest up some more. Any plans for going anywhere, or will you just be staying home and relaxing?

I'm looking forward to my 3rd reread of Murder on the Orient Express this month. It's one of my favourite Christies for sure. The first time I read it was in my teens. Then I listened to David Suchet's narration a few years ago. This time I'll be listening to Dan Stevens on an audio version I got from the library.

So many people were reading A Natural History of Dragons last month that it made me very curious about it, so I'll no doubt be picking it up soon to find out what it's all about. And I'm sorry I didn't join in the Grand Sophy group read last month either, but I do plan on picking that one up soon as well—I have so many accumulated Georgette Heyer titles by now (thirteen), of which I've only read one so far, so I really need to start reading them!

I just finished the third book of the Lady Trent memoirs and still enjoying them immensely. I have Ancillary Sword in my tbr pile--just need to get to it. I'm rereading Pratchetts in memoriam right now.

Hi Heather, just dropping by to say I'm back, so a VERY belated happy new year!

I've vowed not to re-cap people's threads when I've missed them as there'll be just too much to catch up on, but I did notice at the top of your thread that you've been reading loads of books I've either read/plan to read, so I'm going to break my rule for yours in a mo (slippery slope...)

...but in the meantime "This year I am not planning my reading as I realised last year that I get most enjoyment from my reading when I let myself pick up whatever I feel like rather than the book I feel I should be reading." - VERY sensible - I had a similar revelation recently. My reading has dropped off considerably these last 2/3 years (I think I only read 70 books last year!!) and I think that it's largely because I feel I should be reading things I don't really want to read half the time... This said, I do feel it's worth making a few exceptions as you say, otherwise I'd never tackle those books that require a bit more effort...

>189 kgodey: 'anything Bujold writes is excellent' Agreed :-) I think the only books of hers I haven't read are The Sharing Knife quartet and The Spirit Ring.

>190 LizzieD: 'May will be here before we know it.' I know but that's also a bit worrying as I have so many deadlines to meet this month (and this week at work another one got added to the list). Yikes!

>191 Smiler69: A week at home relaxing (and in theory sorting through bits and pieces around the house) and then we're going to Portsmouth/Winchester for a week - lots of things to see in that area including one of the places Jane Austen lived, Winchester cathedral and Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard (containing the Mary Rose and HMS Victory). DH is very excited about the Historic Dockyard.

>192 ronincats: Glad to hear the Lady Trent memoirs continue to be strong books Roni. I'm debating whether to wait to get the second book from the library or whether to buy my own copy....

>193 flissp: Fliss! Lovely to see you here :-) I'm definitely enjoying not planning my reading too much at the moment.

Heather, I'm looking forward to hearing all about Portsmouth and the Mary Rose after reading Lamentation! Good that you have a holiday to look forward to if work is about to go crazy for a few weeks.

Hi Heather, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

I just finished reading Mansfield Park, so am very familiar with Portsmouth in name at least! Sounds like you have a great vacation planned.

The library just delivered all three Lady Trent memoirs on audio (soon after I'd requested them—yay!), and I was quick to grab them. I also reserved A Natural History of Dragons in book form, as you mentioned it features some interesting illustrations, so I'll probably start with that one in the next few weeks.

Hi Heather; sorry I haven't visited in so long. I intended to post just a quick wave, but as I was whizzing through your thread, I got snagged by a couple of posts and interesting pictures.

I remember the Poldark books; I think I read most of them, though with a sense of trepidation because I expected them to be darker than they actually were, yonks ago. I think it was at school, and I borrowed them from the senior library, so I felt a bit grown-up :0)

Have fun in Portsmouth & Winchester; I hope you enjoy your Jane Austen outing as much as your DH enjoys the dockyard. My sister and I share knowing looks whenever nautical museums are mentioned, because our dad had a thing about dragging us to see them when we were on holiday. We transited in Jakarta once; I wanted to explore the much more romantic-sounding hundred islands in the harbour, but he dug us out of bed, under protest, early in the morning - so early, in fact, that the museum hadn't opened when we got there - and we took a taxi to a rather noisome part of the town. Once we actually got inside, it was rather fascinating, but the whole episode has engraved itself on our memories ;0)

Note to self - I must get hold of A Natural History of Dragons obviously.

>195 cushlareads: Hi Cushla! Yes, it was Lamentation that made me want to go to see the Mary Rose. Other than that and the HMS Victory (Trafalgar connections I think) I don't know much about the other ships in the dockyard but I'm sure hubby will be able to tell me all about them :-)

>196 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)

>197 Smiler69: Yay for all the Lady Trent memoirs! I'm glad you also managed to get hold of a paper copy as I really loved the illustrations.

>198 humouress: Hi Nina! So far I love the Poldark books (just finished the second) - they have their share of tragedies but I find the books have an undercurrent of dry humour which I enjoy and I love the characters. I am actually quite looking forward to the historic dockyard - enjoyed your story of being dragged round by your Dad though :-)

----------------------
I am struggling from a general reluctant to write reviews. As it's such lovely weather here today I am going to sit in the garden for half an hour with my book (Pavane).

Hooray for the historic dockyard (pictures if possible, please) and *Poldark*!!!!

Wot no reviews? *hiding 2 years worth of unreviewed books behind wall*

>199 souloftherose: Have a great holiday Heather. We've been to the historic dockyard a couple of times and I've found it very interesting, despite having no specialist interest in ships! I think the ship I found most interesting was the most modern one (HMS Warrior?) as it seemed intermediate between sail and steam. We've never had time to do the harbour tour, but I'd imagine that would be very pleasant on a nice day.

>194 souloftherose: Hope you have a great trip - just been reading about the impact of the Napoleonic wars on ports like Portsmouth - fascinating stuff. In these Times. Went to see the Victory as a kid - think I remember thinking Nelson's bed was very small, but perhaps mixing up with the Maritime museum?

Hi Heather, just pooping by to wave "hello!". I see you are another one loving Ancillary Justice! It really is impossible to avoid that book at the moment, so I didn't! I've got my copy and plan to read it very soon!

>172 souloftherose: Funny, I really liked The Color of Magic, and it was my first Pratchett book. I'm guessing there must be some really awesome ones in there since EVERYONE seems to think that The Color of Magic is one that we shouldn't start the series with.

ETA: Yes. I just ended that sentence with a preposition. So beat me.

Hi Heather, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

Just wanted to say Hi Heather! (>205 The_Hibernator: Shame on you! : P )

Hi Heather! Happy weekend. I'm sure you're still enjoying it.

>205 The_Hibernator: Oh, Rachel!

>205 The_Hibernator: Rachel, I'll misquote Churchill at you: "You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition? That is the kind of nonsense up with which I will not put."

>200 LizzieD: Peggy, there will be dockyard pictures. And Winston Graham's books are definitely hitting the spot at the moment.

>201 humouress: Reviews?? (*looks innocent*)

>202 SandDune: Thanks Rhian. I am looking forward to the historic dockyard visits.

>203 charl08: Charlotte, you've reminded me that In These Times is quite high on my library wishlist - I wonder if I can time my reservation so that it can be one of my holiday reads?

>204 HanGerg: Thanks Hannah! I hope you enjoy AJ.

>205 The_Hibernator: & >209 LizzieD: Ha! My knowledge of grammar is quite limited so I really wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out! I had to google 'preposition'.

>206 Ameise1:, >207 Berly: & >208 humouress: *waves hello*

Book #60: Bellwether by Connie Willis - 3.7 stars



This was a short, fun read in a similar madcap style to Willis' time-travelling historians but this time focusing on a group of scientists and sociologists working for a big corporate in the 1990s in the US. It's not really science fiction or fantasy but it is fun. And it's hard not to enjoy a book where the main character checks books out from the local library to stop them being discarded. Also some good 1990s nostalgia.

Book #61: Demelza by Winston Graham - 4.3 stars



Well, I've decided I don't like the new TV adaptation of Poldark but I love the books so I don't really mind. Demelza is the second in the series and follows immediately on from the events in the first book. As the title suggests, the focus is more on Demelza in this book as she settles in to her new life as Mrs Poldark. It's difficult to explain why I love these books so much but to me the characters are real, the plots aren't rushed or overly melodramatic (unlike the new TV series - grrr) and there are touches of dry humour that I really enjoy.

Oh, I love Bellwether and its sendup of corporate/institutional tropes!

Oh ... not so much a BB as an old wound. I'm feeling tempted to see if I can find if there are any Poldark books that are easily accessible.

>211 souloftherose: Heather, assuming you've seen last night's episode you'll enjoy this recap from RadioTimes.

Heather, I visited last year the historic dockyards. I loved it. I hope you have a great time there.

Hmmm. Bellwether sounds fun!

>212 ronincats:, >216 drneutron: Bellwether is fun!

>213 humouress: Nina, they've certainly released new versions of the Poldark books in the UK to accompany the TV series but I don't know if that will happen outside the UK. Are they available for kindle where you are?

>214 lauralkeet: Laura, I hadn't seen that episode of Poldark (and I don't think I'm going to) but the recap was fun so thanks for sharing! Maybe I would enjoy the TV series more if I hadn't just read the books.

>215 Ameise1: Glad to hear you enjoyed the dockyards Barbara. I'm looking forward to it.

Please follow me to my new thread!

>217 souloftherose: Tempted; I said tempted. Doesn't mean you should add fuel to the fire ;0)