October's Book Stack...

Well, this year seems to have gone very quickly, and we’re into October already, so here’s a picture from the 15th century Book of Hours known as Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, showing people ploughing and sowing, because I love the rich colours, and the detail. Ahead there's Hallowe’en to look forward to, a visit from Elder Daughter and her Boyfriend and, of course, the clocks go back – and what better way to spend a dark, winter night than to curl up in a comfy chair with a good book!

So I’m sitting here writing out a Book List for the next few weeks, and looking back at September. The Brickbat Award for the Worst Read of the month went to Mr Petre, by Hilaire Belloc, while the Bouquet for Best Read had to be Stevie Smith’s Novel on Yellow Paper, and I still think this is should be re-issued so lots more people can enjoy it.

On the whole I didn’t do too badly with my September Book Stack, but it went a bit awry towards the end. I didn’t quite finish Amy Leach’s  Things That Are, Encounters with Plants, Stars and Animals, but I’ve read it all now, and hope to post up a review on Friday. And I didn’t quite complete Hunt the Slipper by Violet Trefusis, but I’m almost there, and so far I think it’s fantastic. So that only leaves one book that I have yet to make a start on:  The Edwardians, by Vita Sackville-West.

But I did read my prize copy of Rosamunde Pilcher’s Carousel while travelling to London and back to meet my Younger Daughter, and very enjoyable it was. Not the greatest literature in the world, but easy, undemanding reading. And I made a start on Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, having plucked up courage and decided to join the team read over at dovegreyreader. Which all goes to show that lists, like resolutions, are made to be ignored!

Sitting waiting to be opened is Bring Up The Bodies, by Hilary Mantel, which I spotted in the library and pounced on before anyone else could beat me to it – I’ve been waiting ages and ages for this and, having read and loved Wolf Hall, I can’t wait to begin and see how Thomas Cromwell is weathering the storm as Henry falls out of love with Anne Boleyn and becomes even more obsessed with the need for a legitimate male heir. This is another chunkster, and it’s a good job I can tackle A Suitable Boy in bite-sized pieces, because I am not sure I would want to read two ‘doorstep’ books together!

Still in historic mode, I picked up a second-hand edition of Rosemary Hawley Jarman’s novel The King’s Grey Mare, about Elizabeth Woodville, who is probably better known these days as Philippa Gregory’s White Queen. I must admit I gave up on the TV adaptation after the first episode, and I wasn’t overly impressed with Gregory’s book, but I’m curious to see how this compares.

And there’s the Arthur Quiller-Couch’s essays On Reading, kindly sent by Pam at Travellin' Penguin, and for light relief I’ve got two Mary Stewart novels on the TBR pile, Thornyhold, and This Rough Magic.

In addition I’m still working myway  through a selection of Short Stories for Sundays, investigating my favourite Gardening books, and following Vere Hodgson as the Second World War continues, food shortages get worse, and the news from Europe looks bleaker than ever. So you can see, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy – in fact, I’m sure the Book Stack will keep me going well beyond the end of October!

October Reading - and Writing!

To celebrate the start of October, here
is the the illustration for the month from
the Duc de Berry's Book of Hours, which
was created in the 15th century.

Well, October is upon us, and what with holidays, various trips, visits from my Mother and Elder Daughter, outings with Younger Daughter, computer problems, and then mum being ill, I seem to be way off track with reading and blogging, and need to get myself organised again. August and September really didn't go according to plan, and while I seem to have read lots of books which weren't on the monthly list, there were things I meant to read and didn't - and I didn't get round to posting many reviews. So October is going to be a kind of mopping up month, caching up on writing, and reading things which have been sitting around for a while. Actually, I said that about September, but I can but try – and if I don't succeed, at least I will be well prepared for November!

I didn't get round to 'To The Lighthouse', because I loved 'Mrs Dalloway' so much that after years of being scared to read Virginia Woolf, I'm now afraid to read more in case I don't like it as much! And Kate O’Brien’s Without My Cloak' is still on the shelf, unopened.

My notes on Carol Ann Duffy's 'The Bees' flew away when Younger Daughter's old computer (which I used after my laptop died) ceased to function at all and, despite assurances from The Man of the House, they do not appear to be on the hard drive. Since this was a library book, I can't write about it until I can borrow it again - unless I buy it! A rough draft of my thoughts on 'The Provincial Lady Goes Further', by EM Delafield also disappeared into the ether in the great computer disaster, but I can remember what I said about that, and re-instate it fairly easily.

Meanwhile, the stack of books that are 'read but not posted' seems to have grown. There's 'Kilmeny of the Orchard', by LM Montgomery, for my Canadian Reading Challenge (I've got mixed feelings on this one), and 'The Third Miss Symons', by FM Mayor, which was difficult to get into – it was one of those books where I wanted to slap the central character (you can't possibly call her a heroine) good and hard.

Some of the 'read but not posted' pile.

But Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles' and 'Fair Exchange' by Michele Roberts were both absolutely fantastic, and Diana Tutton's 'Guard Your Daughters' was one of the best novels I've read this year. And I mustn't forget 'Jabez', David McKie's account of the rise and fall of a Victorian rogue whose financial frauds rival anything dreamt up by modern scoundrels, and could come straight from a Trollope novel.

That sounds a lot of catching up, but they are books that I've read, and I've even scrawled out some some ideas about them, so it won't take long to turn my thoughts into proper posts (as long as I can decipher my writing!).

To be read...

So, hopefully, I'll have plenty of time for more reading. Susanna Moodie's 'Roughing it in the Bush' will put me back on course with my Canadian Reading, and I'm looking forward to 'The True Deceiver' by the wonderful Tove Jansson, which was just begging to be rescued from a charity shop. And I bought 'The Town in Bloom' when I ordered 'Guard Your Daughters' because I wanted to explore more Dodie Smith. In addition, although the Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week is long since fiished, I've acquired 'Every Man For Himself' and 'Injury Time'. And I got Carola Dunn's 'The Gunpowder Plot' from the library, because people keep telling me how good her Daisy Dalrymple mysteries are, so I thought I would give one a go. Finally, I'm just finishing Robert MacFarlane's 'The Wild Places', downloaded on the Kindle some weeks ago for an incredible 99p. I love a bargain!