What are you reading 2023.

[Susan in NC]

Bronwyn wrote: "Good luck with the move!

I’m reading The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne for #spinsterseptember, but I’m falling behind. I hope to finish before the month ends. 🤞

I’m also reading But Gentlemen M..."

Wow, that is a lot, I can manage maybe three at a time - usually a nonfiction, a mystery and a fiction- I try to set myself daily goals in the nonfiction (15-20 pages a day), and a chapter or two of the other two per day. But eventually I have to settle down to one to finish it!

[Bronwyn]

Yeah, I usually max out at three - one physical, one kindle, and one on my phone to read while I’m waiting for my son to fall asleep. Dracula Daily added one, but since it’s of variable length and takes breaks, it hasn’t usually been an issue, but the entries are getting longer and I’m behind a day right now. Add in me getting ahead of myself because of the tv show book… it really is too many… lol. I need to get back to some nonfiction soon.

[Peggy]

Tania wrote: "I'm in the middle of moving house at the moment, so I haven't got a great deal of time for reading however, I have just finished The Go-Between and it has been such a treat to sink ..."

All I can think of is all the books you have to pack!

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Peggy wrote: "All I can think of is all the books you have to pack!"

It really is a bit ridiculous, I have a problem and need to start reducing the amount I own. I have put myself on a book buying ban this year - 2 books a month, I have actually been really good this year, I have bought one of Octobers books, but I have kept pretty stictly to it. I think I need to carry it into next year.

Susan in NC wrote: "I agree wholeheartedly, I bet it’s very relaxing, especially when you’re in the middle of an upheaval like moving!"

It really is.

Bronwyn wrote: "Good luck with the move!"

Thanks Bronwyn.

I've been meaning to read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes for years, I think I have copy somewhere. I look forward to your thoughts on them.

[Susan in NC]

Tania wrote: "Peggy wrote: "All I can think of is all the books you have to pack!"

It really is a bit ridiculous, I have a problem and need to start reducing the amount I own. I have put myself on a book buying..."

I’ve been doing the same, only buying ebooks - family obligations have put it off for years, but my husband and I have thought several times over the last several years about moving, and I started thinking about all my books! Things keep stopping us, health issues of parents, then me, now the housing market, but I’m trying to keep the book buying down, so I don’t have even more to move someday!

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Ooh, good luck when you get to it.

I have been including ebooks in my total; I'm trying to read more of the books I already own, and relying on the library or the Internet archive when I need a book for a group read. So far, it has worked out.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I finished Out of the Window, one of the new Persephone books, which was actually pretty marvellous. One of those books whete the characters stayed with me and I kept thinking about what would happen to them next. Recommended.

I have started The Ginger Griffin by Ann Bridge I loved both Peking Picnic and Illyrian Spring so I'm expecting great things.

[Susan in NC]

Tania wrote: "I finished Out of the Window, one of the new Persephone books, which was actually pretty marvellous. One of those books whete the characters stayed with me and I kept thinking abou..."

I look forward to seeing what you think of The Ginger Griffin, I was thinking of reading that one if I could find it. I’ve started another book for that group, Lucia in London by E.F. Benson, and The Heretic's Apprentice for another. I feel the need for humor and the slower pace of life and Ellis Peters’ lovely, peaceful writing. Good old Cadfael! I read the whole series decades ago, but don’t remember a thing, so it’s like rediscovering him!

[Jackie]

I feel that way about the Cadfael books, Susan.

[Susan in NC]

;o)

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I should try them again. I started the first one many years ago but didn't finish it. I'm told it's not the best anyway, so maybe I should pick up a different one.

I have started Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham which looks as though it will be a good read.

[Bronwyn]

It’s been a minute so.

I finished Judith Hearne. I’m glad I read it but I didn’t love it. I wound up watching the movie when I was halfway through the book to help me push through. It did help. The movie ends a bit after the book does and I preferred that ending.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes were fun. Blondes was better, but they’re both fun and funny. Lorelei is a great narrator.

Dracula Daily ticks along.

I’ve been reading A Discovery of Witches and sort of enjoying it? I mean, I am, and I’ll keep going, but it’s just soo long and Diana is such a Mary Sue it’s hard sometimes. I hear books two and three are better, so that’s good.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Beginning to settle in here and finding a bit more time for reading. I am currently reading The Riviera Set by Mary S. Lovell. I enjoyed her biography on the Mitford Sisters, and this one is equally readable.

Also reading The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson, which is a bit of a homage to golden age detective stories, and so far rather enjoyable.

I have also received and eARC of Mistletoe Malice by Kathleen Farrell, recommended for fans of Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor, two of my favourites.

[Antoinette]

I am waiting for my library to get a copy of Mistletoe Malice. If not in in time for Christmas, will have to buy.
Visiting family so hard to get enough reading time in right now.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I'm planning on starting very soon. It looks really good. I had ignored it when it first came up; that cover makes it look like something far less appealing, glad I took a second look.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I finished and really loved No Leading Lady: An Autobiography by R.C. Sherriff. I would have liked to read more about his novels, but they get very little mention; he mainly writes about his film and theatre work. Still a 5* read, shame it's so expensive. There are copies available on the internet archive for anyone who wants to read it without paying £100 plus.

I'm also reading Stories for Winter: And Nights by the Fire, good but not brilliant - apart from the Elizabeth Taylor story, which I already had.

I am also really enjoying High Wages, my last but one Dorothy Whipple novel, (I still have some short story collections left).

[Bronwyn]

I just finished Zuleika Dobson which was pretty funny but I think I’m not British enough for it. 😂

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I mean to get to that one day, I suppose I might be, 🤷 Have you read Saki? I get the impression he might be similar, but a bit more accessable.

[Bronwyn]

I haven’t, but I have some that I took from my grandmother’s after she died.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I have read some, but mostly a long time ago. I would like to read more, I have a complte collection somewhere, but there is a publisher who seems to be bringing both these authors and others, out of obscurity. I first came across them when they were releasing Stella Benson novels. https://www.michaelwalmer.com/

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

It took me ages, but I did finish The Ginger Griffin, it was good, but I didn't love it as much as either Peking Picnic or Illyrian Spring, both of which are pretty wonderful.

Yesterday my copy of Army Without Banners by Ann Stafford turned up. Ann Stafford co wrote Business as Usual with Jane Oliver, which was one of my favourite books from this year so I've started this one already. The GR page is a bit of a muddle; this link is for the right copy but with the wrong cover, and there is a completely different book (an anthology of short stories) listed as a different edition, so the only review is for the wrong book. Here's the one I'm actually reading https://www.handheldpress.co.uk/shop/...

[Susan in NC]

Oh, I loved Business As Usual, thanks for this, and for the info on the GR page, that can be frustrating!

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

You are very welcome. I'll let you know how the book turns out. It's looking good so far.

[Susan in NC]

Yay!

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I finished Army Without Banners and loved it. It's not as funny and charming as Business as Usual, (but it isn't meant to be), and it's not as harrowing as A Chelsea Concerto, but there are one or two moments. What it does so well is put the spotlight on the various jobs that women took up during the war, and their lives living through the blitz. 4*s. I'd recommend it to anyone with any interest in that period of history.

[Peggy]

I’m reading Harriet. I can’t wait to see what happens, but I’m also filled with a sense of dread.

[Bronwyn]

Looks like the last thing I’d finished was Zuleika Dobson. Since then I finished The King is Dead, Long Live the King! by Martin Williams, which was fantastic, and So Long, See You Tomorrow, which was simple and sad and beautiful. I’m trying to finish Telluria today. Then I think back to some women writers/subjects. I borrowed a bunch of ebooks from the library and then went into airplane mode - Rose Macauley, some Emma Southon, and then some other NYRBs and the two Claudius novels.

[Bronwyn]

Ooh, I’ve been wanting to read that one, Peggy. I hope it’s good.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Peggy wrote: "I’m reading Harriet. I can’t wait to see what happens, but I’m also filled with a sense of dread."

Ooh Peggy, I loved Harriet such a good book. I have her biography of Jane Austen, but have yet to read it. I wish she'd written more novels. Her writting really draws you in.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Bronwyn wrote: "Looks like the last thing I’d finished was Zuleika Dobson. Since then I finished The King is Dead, Long Live the King! by Martin Williams, which was fantastic, and So Long, See You Tomorrow, which ..."

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!: Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain looks fascinating. My library doesn't have it, but I may suggest it, sounds so good. I haven't yet read William Maxwell, but I have a collection of his short stories so I should try to make a start with him, I just need to find it. 😅

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I have been so busy lately that I have struggled a bit to concentrate on longer works, so I am taking longer than I would normally with some books, but I have been having more success with short stories. I have just finished Stories for Christmas and the Festive Season, which had some good stories in it by lots of familiar, (and some not so familiar) authors. Richmal Crompton's The Christmas Present was my stand out favourite.

I rather enjoyed The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol, though it wasn't at all what I was expecting.

I have also been enjoying Far Eastern Tales by W. Somerset Maugham. I have read a few of his novels but only one or two of his short stories, something I would like to remedy over the coming year.

Before Christmas I am hoping to get to The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens, one of his short Christmas stories that I haven't read yet.

A Lady and Her Husband by Amber Reeves is one of the novels I have been taking my time over, but I am enjoying it when I find more time for it.