QuickLit April 2021

 Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy as usual for quick book reviews. I said I wanted to read more mindfully this year, and I achieved that in March, with a classic that needed close reading, and a long book - then I skimmed something meh while in the throes of a bad cold.

Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre

I always cite this as my favourite book - but I haven't re-read it in years. It got to the point where I was afraid to, in case it had lost its charm. So, I took the plunge and reader, I was not disappointed. I may see it differently in mid-life than when I first read it as a teenager, but the fierce, loyal, passionate Jane, who places her integrity above all else, will always be my ideal heroine. I wrote a longer piece about re-reading it here.

THE Mr Rochester - Timothy Dalton in the BBC series

Sarah Shoemaker - Mr Rochester

Jane Eyre prompted me to another re-read. I always think of this as my gateway Modern Mrs Darcy book, as it was the first recommendation I tried from the website. I really enjoyed it the first time I read it, but following straight on from the original did not make as favourable a comparison. It's Dickensian rather than Brontëan in tone, and the parts that don't intersect with the original pulled me in to Rochester's story. However, while I understand Shoemaker's dilemma in dealing with the 'Jane' part of the story, the decision to summarise most of it in reported speech means that we lose the spark of their duelling conversation.

I'll skip the meh book for a review of the latest chapter book I read with my five (almost six) year-old.

Eva Ibbotson - Not Just a Witch

Back when there was more of an outcry over Harry Potter, I'd often see US bloggers assert, "There's been nothing like this before!", when in fact, from a British point of view, Harry Potter comes from a long lineage of children's fantasy/school stories. In my opinion, the Austro-British Ibbotson is one of the finest authors in this tradition. Her books are imaginative, smart, entertaining, and down-to-earth. Heckie is an animal witch, that is, she can turn people into animals - but she is also a good witch. Following a misunderstanding with her best friend Dora, a stone witch, Heckie moves to Wellbridge, intending to Do Good by transforming wicked people. She recruits local witches and three children, particularly the lonely Daniel, ignored by his professor parents. But a local furrier, Mr Knacksap, finds out about Heckie's power and hatches a plot to deceive her into making him a fortune. 

This book is probably more aimed at middle graders for independent reading. My son loved it and made me read it twice over, though I did gloss over a few comments about human cruelty that I was not sure I wanted him to think about yet. (FYI, my all-time Ibbotson favourite is Which Witch?)

Any books you have shied away from re-reading? Wishing all reviving Spring or Autumn reads this next month!

QuickLit March 2021

 Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy as usual. Strange to recall that about a year ago, I was feverishly reading Anne's new book, Don't Overthink It. My son and I were set to fly to the UK to visit family in two days' time, and there now seemed every possibility that once there, we might be stuck. The advice in the book helped me think through plans that gave me the confidence to go ahead and enjoy my visit without being overwhelmed by anxiety. 

It may seem small in the scheme of things, but many readers will be looking back over a year of rather different reading lists or reading habits. Dark or emotionally harrowing books have been (mostly) off my list. On the other hand, finally purchasing a new e-reader after a few years of reading on a large phone screen (for frugality and practicality) refreshed my reading experience. I'm just sorry that I didn't fork out the extra money for a waterproof one now that we have a bathtub.

Oh yes, actual books: I tackled a couple of books for research this month, so my leisure reading list is smaller. Here goes...

Daphne Du Maurier - Myself When Young

Breezier in tone than I expected, but it soon drew me in. Du Maurier draws on the journals she kept from an early age to trace her life and development as a writer up to the point of her marriage. It's frank, and, be warned, includes an exploration of the emotional incest that infuses her later novel, The Parasites. MMD readers will be delighted to know she also shares the reading lists she kept from those years!

Alan Bradley - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

I'd read one of these Flavia de Luce mystery novels out of turn and, though I didn't really take to it, decided I would give another one a go. This is the first in the series, set around 1950 in Britain: eleven year-old Flavia finds a dying man in the grounds of her family's mansion - a man whom she had heard arguing with her father the night before. Blackmail, poison and a decades-old crime: just the excitement to feed the brain of a precocious, chemistry-obsessed girl. On paper, Flavia is a character I ought to relate to: intelligent, socially awkward, probably on the Asperger's spectrum,  but I just can't empathise with her. I think one of the problems is that, in both books I have read, the American author uses a British phrase or allusion in a way I would not, which throws the world of the novel off-kilter for me. Sorry, Flavia fans, but please, convince me to read on if you can :)

Corfe Castle, 1950s. Credit: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/features/lookingback/18850300.pictures-dorset-1940s-1950s/

Eric Benfield - Dorset

I'm ending with this, not particularly as a review, but as a little paean to vintage guide books. In researching Dorset in the first half of the twentieth century, my eyes have been opened to the charms of second hand books I would normally have passed over as pointless: old regional and travel books. I thought I'd be ploughing through outdated material, but ended up hooked - it's like time travelling from the comfort of your armchair. If you really want to get to the heart of a place, I recommend ditching the modern history and scouring the local second hand book shop for outdated guide books, written by a native son or daughter of the area. It's the first section I'll be heading for on my next trip.

Wishing you compassion and hope this anniversary, and books that will carry you through.

Quick Lit March 2020

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy as usual for QuickLit. Quite a lot happened this month: carnival, school closures, spousal travel, coronavirus arriving next door in Italy, but I still squeezed in four books. And a craft! I decided months ago that what our alcove needed was a book wreath - and I finally forgot chores one weekend and pulled it together. The hardest part was tearing that first page out of the book (The Du Mauriers by Daphne Du Maurier, if you are wondering).

B.B. The Little Grey Men
I picked this up in a second-hand bookshop because I remembered enjoying works by B.B. as a child, though I couldn't remember anything specific about the stories. It been sitting on my shelf waiting for my son to be old enough to have it read to him... but then I was on sick leave and looking for something to read, and I thought, why am I holding off?
And I am so glad I opened it. I was entranced from the beginning. This is the story of the last gnomes in England, who decide to go on an expedition upriver to seek their brother who left the year before to look for its source and never returned. The story is riveting and the nature writing exquisite. If you loved The Wind in the Willows, or Tolkien's Middle Earth, you will probably love this too. B.B.(real name Denys Watkins-Pitchford) describes it as a book for all ages, and I agree. (One small warning if you have sensitive children - this is a story of the natural world, so death is part of life here, including a sadistic human who comes to a bad end.) If you didn't believe in gnomes before you read it (why?), you will by the end.
Now to start scouring bookshops for more B.B. ...


Rosemary Morris - Friday's Child
Rosemary Morris is a member of my online critique group, and I always think of her as an example of not giving up on your dreams - because that was what she was about to do when, at retirement age, her first romance was finally published. This is the penultimate in a series of loosely linked Regency romances - light reading, and all with firmly closed bedroom doors. It is Lady Elizabeth's coming out, but she has already fallen for Mr Yates. However, a chance accident links her to her eldest brother's older friend, who finds himself attracted to her - and both men have a connection with India that one of them at least is keen to hide... If you like this, you've got five more to binge, with the last one in progress!


Dorothy L. Sayers - The Nine Tailors
After crashing their car on a treacherous New Year's Eve in the Fens, Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter are taken in by the local vicar, and Lord Peter helps the bellringers ring in the new year. But when a strange and mutilated body is later discovered buried in another's grave, the vicar calls him back to investigate. I'd call this a mystery for grown-ups - complex and satisfying, and kept me guessing as to the exact details of the crime. However, hearing the local cathedral bells has now taken on a whole new meaning...

Alan Bradley - I am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce mysteries Book 4)
A film crew arrives at the crumbling de Luce mansion just before Christmas, but soon the leading lady is dead and half the village is snowed in with the body. Many readers seem to love this series featuring a precocious 11 year-old chemist, but, although it was entertaining, it didn't really draw me in. Perhaps that was because I read it on the heels of Sayers's adult mystery, or that I started mid-series (I also didn't get into the Lord Peter mysteries until the second).  So, to be fair, I would give another one a go.

At the moment of publishing, I'm with family in the UK, wondering if my flight back to Slovenia tomorrow will be cancelled, and I'll be stuck here at the seaside surrounded by tearooms and second hand bookshops :)

Quick Lit Februrary 2020

Linking up as usual with Modern Mrs Darcy for QuickLit. Having told myself that this year I was going to wait for the right books and not fixate on numbers, I seem to have read quite a lot in January. This was helped by the doctor telling me to rest for a few days (I had three viruses in succession this winter - nothing life threatening, but a great excuse for a reading vacation!). We shall see how this progresses.

Source: Wikimedia commons

Barbara Pym - Some Tame Gazelle
A solid start to the year with a favourite author. The overarching theme of Pym's novels is women waking up to find that life has become rather ordinary - but her exploration of that theme is anything but ordinary, and full of wry humour. In this novel, Harriet and Belinda Bede are two spinster sisters in their fifties, living in a small parish. Belinda is sustained by her faithful love for the archdeacon who spurned her thirty years ago (and lives practically next door with his waspish wife), while the voluptuous Harriet lavishes her affections on each new curate who passes through the parish. Delicious (literally, since food as a social weapon is also a feature of this novel).

Muriel Barbary - The Elegance of the Hedgehog
My elder daughter has been raving about this for several years. It focuses on two people living mentally isolated lives in an upscale French apartment block: the autodidact concierge and a teenage girl carefully planning for her suicide in a year's time. When a new, unconventional owner moves in, the three of them are brought together in ways that illumine all their lives. This book ranks along with Ishiguro's The Buried Giant as one that made me really angry - it drew me in with its beautiful writing and plot, and then just as I was in love with it, hit me with an unfair ending that made me want to throw the book across the room (except it was an ebook, so I couldn't break my device.). You have been warned.

Source: Alyssa Cole, Twitter

Alyssa Cole - Radio Silence
I'm not a contemporary romance reader, but a while back, I came across the controversy splitting the Romance Writers of America, and decided to widen my horizons just a tad with this interracial romance. In this first in a trilogy, the lights have gone out across America, and Arden and her room mate, John, escape urban chaos for the safety of his parents' cabin in the woods. However, despite the lack of electricity, sparks are soon flying between Arden and John's older brother. It was okay, but it confirmed that contemporary romance is still not my thing. Still, I'm glad it made me think about the issues of representation in the genre.

Anne Bogel - I'd Rather Be Reading
I listened to the audio of this a year ago, but felt it might be better savoured in print, and I was correct (apologies to Anne, who narrated). This way I could ponder her thoughts on the reading life, flick back and forth to passages I wanted to re-read, and absorb the whimsical artwork. I'm looking forward to her next book, Don't Overthink It.

Ruth Hogan - The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes [audiobook]
I enjoyed The Keeper of Lost Things, and I'd been in a audiobook slump, so I thought I'd give this a go (thanks to a Chirp deal - readers who are in the US or can fake it digitally should check them out!). It's a book infused with the joy of living - or, how to find the joy in living - inspired by Hogan's own decisions following both a disabling car crash and brush with cancer. Masha has put her life on hold since the drowning death of her little boy twelve years ago, but two eccentric older women, who have lived through tragedies of their own, help her to find her way back. In a secondary plot line, Alice, a single mother who has devoted her life to her son, faces third-stage cancer. I can't say too much more, or I'll give away the story (what I've written here does not tell all!), but let's just say that if this had been a printed book, I would not have been able to stop myself flipping to the end to see what happened! Although the topics are dark - child bereavement, cancer, and dementia - and often starkly portrayed, the book is infused with wry, British, self-deprecating humour. The narrator was pitch perfect, with a great range of accents.

I usually think of Welty as an old lady, so I liked this photo of her in her youth. Credit: www.mdah.ms.gov/welty/eudora-welty/biography.php

Eudora Welty - Morgana
This is a notorious book from our shelf. Notorious because my husband got drunk at our church Oktoberfest/fundraiser back in the US and paid at least twice what it was worth (what can I say  - it was the Episcopal church, and I'm sure God credited him all that extra money). It's a limited edition copy of two stories from the collection "The Golden Apples", signed by Welty and the illustrator. The stories, set around 1910-20 in a little Southern Mississippi town, focus on moments of transition in the lives of adolescents. Welty's great strength is her evocative writing, whether it is descriptions of the Mississippi summers (almost too much for me, who suffered through them for years) or her unflinchingly accurate portrayal of racial attitudes in her beloved home state.

And a new footnote: Out This Month
I have some pretty prolific friends in my historical fiction online writing group, so I decided to start listing their new publications each month. All these are available via Amazon or your favourite ebook store. These are usually the sort of books you want to curl up on the sofa with and enjoy (as opposed to throw across the room).

Rosemary Morris - Friday's Child. Closed door Regency romance. Review to follow next month.
Diane Scott Lewis - Her Vanquished Land. Only one open door ;)

Hope you enjoyed the longer round-up. I know that doctors here can prescribe a rest at a spa, too, so I'll be plotting for that next :)

Quick Lit January 2020

Srečno novo leto! Happy New Year! Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy as usual for QuickLit.

I know this is heresy to those of you whose TBR piles exceed the holdings of a small town library, but I have found myself somewhat agreeing with Marie Kondo's assertion that a book comes into your life at the right time to read it. Witness the free or on-sale unread books clogging up my Kindle. So, my New Year's resolution was to ruthlessly remove the books I had not got around to reading (for physical books, that happened with the Great Move - well, except for fine editions). For some people, an abundance of books is exciting, but for someone who does guilt really well, it was just an accusation of something else not completed. So, this year, I am going to try not to accumulate too many reads, and trust that the right book finds me at the right time - I'll report back on how it goes.

 On to last month's reading...

Syrie James - The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen
A chance discovery of a manuscript reveals the story of Jane's one great love. Maybe this would appeal to some Austen fans, but for me it relied too much on scenes in Austen's own novels.

Jane Austen - Persuasion
...But at least it sent me back to the great author herself. I have her works on Kindle, because I got rid of my paperbacks when I moved. I intend to treat our bookshelf to  a hardback collection of her novels, probably from the Folio Society. The original "second chances" novel.

H.Y. Hanna - The Mousse Wonderful Time of the Year
In a fit of the Christmas spirit, I broke my usual rule and paid full price for this new cosy mystery. Tenth in the Oxford tearoom series, Gemma finds herself snowed in at a Manor house with her cat, a body and a bevy of relatives with grievances. It was just the relaxation I needed.

Kenneth Grahame - Dream Days
Something checked off from my bookshelf! Better known as the author of The Wind in the Willows, this work of Grahame's is a series of fictional childhood memoirs, perhaps most notable for the fact they break free from the Victorian mould to see things truly from the child's point of view. It also contains his fairy tale, "The Reluctant Dragon".

Source: NYPL, as below

Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol [audio]
Did you know that the New York Public Library has a free audio of Neil Gaiman reading Dickens' own performance edition of his most beloved work? A lovely treat for the end of the year.

Here's wishing you a wonderful reading year, whatever your book-choosing style!

Quick Lit August 2019

I was feeling it was time for a change, and to bring book reviews more in line with the general point of the blog, so for this and maybe future link ups with Modern Mrs Darcy I decided to feature one book, be briefer with the others, and highlight good travel reads. Hope it works.

Caroline Fraser - Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
I've mentioned before that, being British and only having read the Little House books as an adult, I don't have the same emotional investment in Laura the person as many US readers - and what an investment that is, judging from the impassioned reader reviews of this Pulitzer-Prize winning biography. Still, even I felt the almost bodily blows as I plunged into the full extent of the homesteading failures of both Laura's parents and herself and Almanzo, and I am not ashamed to say that I had to choke back tears as I read of Almanzo's death. It is, though, ultimately a story of victory, of the little girl who weathered poverty and starvation to become an author beloved around the world, who rallied a nation in the midst of the Great Depression and immortalized the values of the pioneers. There's a lot of general history to set Laura's story within context (which I admit to not always reading very closely), and you may take issue with Fraser's opinions (she certainly doesn't like Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane), but it was a fascinating read. She deals honestly with difficult subjects as well, such as Laura's ambiguous attitudes towards race, not unusual for her time, but jarring to us today. My favourite part was, of course, the writing of the Little House books, with Fraser's analysis of the literary mystery as to the extent of the collaboration between Laura and Rose, an established journalist. My girls are grown, but I am already wondering if my little boy will stand to have the books read aloud to him. Surely plucky Laura appeals to boys and girls alike?

Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost [audiobook]
This is the sole reason I signed up for the Audiofile SYNC YA summer reading giveaway (though I ended up downloading a few other books). I know I read it as a child, but there is only one scene, from the end, that sticks in my memory. A comic short story of ancient English ghost meets progressive American family. Nice theatrical production, with a  wonderful range of tongue-in-cheek voices by Rupert Degas that captures Wilde's satire.

*BEACH READ* Jenny Colgan - Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery
I thought this sequel was possibly better than the first. Polly, her American boyfriend Huckle, and their pet puffin, Neil, seem to be enjoying the perfect life living in their lighthouse and running a bakery on Polbearne island. But when unexpected disaster strikes, they must temporarily separate in order to save the life they love. Will it work out? Of course, this is Jenny Colgan, so I knew the answer to that, but she had me glued to the book as usual.

Sayaka Murata - Convenience Store Woman [audiobook]
Keiko has been stuck in her convenience store job for eighteen years. Socially dysfunctional, it offers a world of set rules that help her navigate life. But her friends would rather she was a 'normal' person with a partner and problems than the happy abnormal person she is. Funny, sweet, and disturbing by turns, with a sensitive narration by Nancy Wu with just a hint of an accent to get us into character.

Alex Martin - Daffodils
I am trying to make myself read the backlog of books that I got for free, just because they looked interesting at the time. This is the first in a family saga series. Circumstances curtail Katy's wish for adventure before settling down, but then World War I brings upheavals and opportunities she has never dreamed of. A light read.

Wishing you the best for end of summer reading!

Quick Lit October 2018

I had to rewrite my intro to this month´s QuickLit link up because our shipping arrived, which meant many boxes of books to sort through (we got rid of literally hundreds of books and it was still our biggest category of shipping!). The only problem is that we have an unfurnished temporary apartment that we don´t want to buy much furniture for, so I had to choose which books to unpack and which to leave boxed. You can see how I carefully chose only enough to fit on our revolving bookcase...

...or not, of course.

Richard Foster - Prayer: Finding the heart´s true home
A more practical title for this book would be The Complete Handbook of Christian Prayer, but I suppose that glosses over Foster´s main message. At over 400 pages, it really does cover every conceivable tradition of Christian prayer, discussed with a mix of historical background, experiences and advice from people ranging from acknowledged pillars of the faith across two thousand years to those Foster has encountered in everyday life, plus practical advice and sample prayers. I have no doubt that Foster himself will be numbered among classic Christian authors. I started this several months ago - it is a book you can take all at once or chapter by chapter as a type of workbook. This would be fruitful reading for people of any Christian tradition, but I think open-minded spiritual seekers or those of other traditions might find value in it as well.

Ammon Shea - Reading the OED: One man, one year, 21, 730 pages
Few books make me laugh out loud. If I tell you that one of them is Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynn Truss´s diatribe on the correct use of punctuation, you might understand why I loved this book too (and resolve never to be cornered in conversation with me). Each chapter begins with a short essay related to his reading, the OED, or lexicographical matters, then lists Shea´s favourite words, accompanied with his commentary on the definition. There is a little of the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson in Shea, who serves up his opinions with a snark that had me giggling out loud. The only problem is that I had put aside two pages in my bullet journal for 2018 words whose definitions I wanted to (re)learn. Now I have a huge new list of words too delicious not to commit to memory. And, Mr Shea, I would like to inform you that, growing up in the London suburbs, I have, in fact, been vulpeculated*.

A clue

Anne Bogel - I´d Rather be Reading: The delights and dilemmas of the reading life (audio book)
I admit, it was the cover that sold me on the book. I got the audio version for free with my preorder; a good deal for me since I had to have the physical book delivered to my parents´ house in the UK because THERE IS NO AMAZON IN SLOVENIA. (We are surviving. Thank you for asking.) The title pretty much explains this little gift book, with short essays on all things reading, from living next door to a library, arranging bookshelves, to books that made you cry. I hope MMD fans will not be knocking at my door with torches and pitchforks for saying this, but I would have liked it if Anne had read just a little more slowly, as I wanted to savour her musings. I am looking forward to revisiting the essays in print when I next get to the UK.

Lillian Beckwith - The Hills is Lonely
I am glad I looked up information on the author or I would have ended up feeling embarrassed about my review. The blurb on the back of the yellowed 1970s paperback declared it was an account of the author´s rest cure in the Hebrides, set around the 1940s, but it turns out it is a fictionalised memoir. To be fair, that is standard for the pre-social-media times (think Gerald Durrell and James Herriot), where telling all about your neighbours was still considered impolite. In fact, I would describe it as a slightly more literary James Herriot. If you love all things Scottish, wrap yourself in a blanket, put a good dose of whiskey in a hot cup of tea and cosy up to read about the wild, rainy Hebrides and its equally wild inhabitants.

L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
I have so many books queued up on my Kindle that I told myself I wasn´t even getting another free book unless it was a must-read - and then Anne of Green Gables showed up for nothing on my BookBub email, I am guessing because Marilla of Green Gables is due out this month. I have never read it, and I wanted to see why it is such a favourite. It was sweet, enjoyable, and beautifully written, and I think if I had read it as a child, it would be up there with the Little Women and What Katy Did books as my nostalgic loves. As an adult, I have to shamefully confess to skimming over some of Anne´s flights of fancy.

Credit to MMD.com

I hope October is bringing you all good things autumnal. I have to say I am glad for a break from pumpkin spice everything. I mean, it may be around but the only related word I understand is buče, the general word for squash, so I can remain blissfully ignorant.

*Robbed by a fox.

Quick Lit September 2018

This was my stash of second hand books from my trip to the UK. It might not look like much, but we took the "cabin bags only" option on Ryanair, so we had to be extremely careful on weight (and I also had a years´worth of my favourite UK magazine, Country Living). Nice to have some real books to hold.

Not a whole bunch of reading this month - my life has been consumed by filling out forms, especially for school and kindergarten. Here´s what I read for brief moments of relief.

Alan Bennett - The Uncommon Reader
I was really pleased to pick this up as a hardback at the Three Parishes Fete in Dorset. I have seen Talking Heads and The Lady in the Van, but never actually read any Bennett. One day, the Queen almost literally stumbles into reading for pleasure. She soon gets hooked, and chaos follows in the palace. This novella was a delight - witty (especially if you are British or up on modern British history) but respectful and admiring of Her Majesty. I finished it in a day because my husband went out for drinks with friends that evening (yes, I did encourage him to go).

Jenny Colgan - The Little Beach Street Bakery
Last month, someone was kind enough to compliment me on my reading tastes. I had to confess that, with a degree in literature, I feel compelled to be bit of a reading snob. A new exception is Jenny Colgan, a purely-for-fun author. Reading a Jenny Colgan novel is like when my husband brings home those bags of paprika peanuts from Hofer (the name for Aldi here): I open the bag and can´t stop eating them. I would have read this (e) book in the shower if I could. Polly escapes a failed business and relationship by taking cheap lodgings on Mount Polbearne, Cornwall, a tidal island. Her love of baking saves her and opens up possibilities for a new life. Oh, and this is chick lit, so of course there are several possible love interests. Pretty much the same formula as The Cafe By the Sea, right down to the billionaire American character, but hey, it works.

Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
A slight theme going here, in that the Maggie Smith film version has been a favourite of mine for decades, but I have never read the actual book. Miss Brodie is an unconventional teacher at a very conventional girls school in Edinburgh. Deciding that she has entered her prime, she selects a group of pupils whom she will cultivate to be "la crème de la crème", and proceeds to mould them to her vision: "Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life". If you have seen a screen version, it is not really a spoiler, because the novel jumps between past, present and future; you begin to discover the fates of Miss Brodie´s pupils early on, and then must watch helplessly as she shapes their destinies. A short novel, where every sentence seems crafted, a complete pleasure to read. Now I can say I love both the film and the book.

Jill Murphy - Five Minutes Peace
It was good hunting in the UK this summer: this series favourite (for me and my three year-old - and his Nana, too) was a 50p charity shop find. What parent could not empathise with a book that begins, "The children were having breakfast. This was not a pretty sight"? And so Mrs Large tries to sneak off to the bathroom for an elusive five minutes of peace, with predictable results. The Large family stories hit that perfect note of appealing to parent and child alike.

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy and wishing you la crème de la crème of a reading month!

Quick Lit May-June 2018

It' s lucky that there was no Quick Lit link up last month, because I haven´t looked at a book since we moved about three weeks ago. So here´s my pre-Slovenia list from the end of the Spring, linking up as ever with Modern Mrs Darcy.

Elizabeth Von Arnim - The Enchanted April
Four Englishwomen, strangers to one another, come together to rent a castle in Italy for a month. Each brings her own emotional burden (two in loveless marriages, one a society girl haunted by her beauty and status, and an old woman with nothing but her memories to live for), but slowly, the castle works its magic on each. I'd be interested to see how they made a film of this, since the novel is almost entirely internal dialogue. Gentle, and genteel, escapism, a little marred for me by the abrupt ending. But don't buy the cheap Kindle version - it's riddled with typos.

Courtney Carver - Soulful Simplicity: How living with less can lead to so much more
I got this as soon as it was published, around Christmas, and read it straight through in a few days. And since I felt I needed some mental calm after last month's reading marathon, I decided to go back and re-read it more slowly, pencil in hand. I'm a long-time reader of Courtney's blog, Be More With Less. This is a gentler version of a self-help/minimalism book. Courtney tells the story of how an MS diagnosis was her wake-up call to reform her life step-by-step, not to reinvent herself, but to uncover the real person underneath the stress and stuff. At the end of each section, she offers plenty of suggestions for you to create your own road map to your true self. I'm tempted to put this in my suitcase instead of the shipping box when we move, so I can have it to hand to keep oriented in the stress of transitioning to a new life.

Octavia E. Butler - Kindred
When I taught literature, Butler's short story "Bloodchild" was a staple on my syllabus. It's a story about humans who are refugees on a planet inhabited by insectoid aliens, and the accommodation that humans make to stay there. I wanted to read more Butler, but I'm not big on sci-fi, so her time-travel novel seemed a better bet, and appropriate to read before I left America. Dana is a black woman living in 1976, who suddenly - and repeatedly - finds herself thrown back in time to pre-civil war Maryland to rescue the son of a plantation owner. It quickly emerges that they have a connection which means saving his life preserves her own. Like "Bloodchild", Kindred addresses inter-racial issues in an intelligent and thought-provoking way and lays bare some uncomfortable and realistic answers to the question: what would you really have done if you were living in a slave state in the nineteenth century? Butler was a rare phenomenon - a black, female science fiction writer - and a very good one at that. Her untimely death was a loss to literature.

Sigrid Undset - The Snake Pit (Vol II of Master of Hestviken)
It's difficult to say much about this without spoiling the first volume, but here goes: After many years of separation, Ingunn and Olav are finally able to wed and make their home in Hestviken. But Olav's years of outlawry have incurred terrible consequences that seem to have cursed their future. A brooding Nordic novel (even too brooding for me at times, and I'm a professional at it) with a stark portrayal of a man forced to live by the rules of one culture (pagan) but be judged by another (Christian).

Sigrid Undset- In the Wilderness (Vol III of Master of Hestviken)
I wanted to go ahead and read this so I didn't have to ship it. Necessary spoiler alert: after his wife's death, Olav finds himself in an emotional and spiritual wilderness. He leaves his homestead for England, half hoping to recapture the years of youth he lost to caring for an ailing wife, but still he is haunted by the acts he committed to protect them both. His chance finally comes in a bloody reckoning to protect all he tried to run from. There´s a fourth book in the series, but, frustratingly, the library sale room only had the first three.

Jacqueline Woodson - Brown Girl Dreaming
Winner and finalist in several awards, this is a memoir in free verse of growing up in both the north and the south during the civil rights era of the 60s and 70s. It was in our library's juvenile section, but it's pretty ageless in terms of audience. Woven into memories of Woodson's life is also the story of how she became a writer. Coming to the end of twenty years in Mississippi, the stories of the south were both familiar and uncomfortable to me, a way of life I recognized, but an oppression and racism I can honestly say I've never seen.

Barbara Pym -  Excellent Women

Pym is a mid-twentieth century author, usually a good bet if you prefer your novels without strong language or extraneous sex scenes. This comedy of manners explores the life of Mildred Lathbury, one of the excellent women of the title: the genteel, unmarried woman with the genteel, part-time job who is always on hand to arrange things for the genteel men of her world, and is assumed to be in love with the local vicar unless she is his sister and is keeping house for him. This is Mildred´s world, until a new young couple move into the flat below her, the husband a smooth-talking, flirtatious naval officer, and the wife a career woman – a trouser-wearing anthropologist, no less. Then Mildred´s best friend (the vicar´s sister, naturally, keeping house for her brother) offers lodgings to a pretty clergyman´s widow, and the network of relationships is thrown into a chaos that, of course, the excellent women are supposed to resolve. Seen through Mildred´s eyes, the story is both funny and poignant, a portrait of a way of life and class of women that was slipping into oblivion after the Second World War. I enjoyed it from the first page. 

Leo Lionni - A Color of His Own
This short book got the adults in the house debating. Is is a story about finding your own tribe? A coming-out fable? A manifesto for magic mushrooms? Regardless, it has simple, appealing pictures and text, and our toddler liked it. If you're okay with books about chameleons who may or may not be seeking same sex relationships or recreational drugs, then this is for you.

Jill Murphy -  A Quiet Night In
I was surprised and glad to spot this British book on our library shelves. Murphy's humorous stories about the elephant family Mr and Mrs Large and their four children manage to show both the adults' and children's perspectives on family life. All In One Piece sits on the shelf of grandchildren's books in my parents' house and has been delighting children, parents and grandchildren for years. In this one, Mrs Large is planning a romantic dinner at home for her husband's birthday with the children in bed early, but all goes - well, pretty much as you might expect for exhausted parents of four young children.

Lesley Harker - Annie's Ark
A cute retelling of the Noah story through the eyes of his granddaughter, in lyrical prose. Life on the ark is busy for little Annie, rocking lambs to sleep, rescuing Uncle Shem from the monkeys, disentangling the snakes from her Grandma's knitting. And, for secular readers, without any religious references.

Robert Kraus - Leo the Late Bloomer
The story of a little tiger who can't do anything right, but whose mother has faith in him. Apart from the funky 70s illustrations, what struck me in reading this was that you don't get to hear about children being allowed to be late bloomers much any more. They're all probably diagnosed with developmental disabilities, whether or not they actually have them. (That, and puppy fat. Does any kid have puppy fat any more?)

Quick Lit April 2018

A month in which I apparently read so much that the cats must have starved and my children gone around in dirty clothes. And I think I had a husband, but I probably mislaid him somewhere.

I read very little translated literature. It's because I've studied languages and, while I'm fluent in none of them, I'm aware of all I'm losing when I can't read something in the original language. My only exception (with no rationale whatsoever) is ancient literature. So this month's reading surprised me rather...

Yana Toboso - Black Butler Vol I
I decided one way to engage our teen might be to ask her about a book recommendation. She said I should try reading manga. This wasn't the one she recommended (Death Note), but I've seen the anime version of that and Black Butler, and liked the latter better, so I gave it a go. It took a little while to get used to reading back to front and right to left, but I suppose that was a bonus brain exercise. Ciel is head of a noble household, CEO of an international business, and trusted aide to Queen Victoria - all at twelve years old. He accomplishes all this with the help of his butler, Sebastian, whose abilities are unbelievable - for a human, that is... It was entertaining, but I think I'd have to read more manga before I can decide whether I'm into it. At least I got to tick off my "book in a day" for the MMD reading challenge. And the tiny print finally prompted me to buy my first pair of reading glasses.

Sigrid Undset - The Axe
This is the first volume in the Master of Hestviken tetralogy by the Norwegian Nobel-prize-winning author - and, tantalizingly, I found the first three volumes in my library's 50 cent sale room. Kristin Lavransdottir is the Undset you find most people discussing, but this is in similar vein, reminiscent of Viking sagas, and with a slow, brooding sense of fate lingering over the story. Ovar and Ingunn were bethrothed as children, and Ovar was fostered by her family. In their teens, they consummate the betrothal (considered legal in Viking law), but Ingunn's father dies before they can be officially married, and his relatives want to dissolve the agreement. Ovar kills Ingunn's kinsman in a dispute, is outlawed, and so begins years of a cat and mouse waiting game. You have to like slow literature (which I do) to get into Undset's books, and while, on the whole, the writing is to be savoured, it did stall in places for me.

Jhumpa Lahiri - In Other Words
I picked this because my job is editing English language documents for a Slovenian university, and we're about to move there, but it turned out to fit nicely with my translated picks for the month. Pulitzer prize-winning writer Lahiri chose to follow her passion for Italian by taking her family to live in Rome. She begins with a resolution only to read in Italian, but ends up writing only in Italian as well. This is her series of reflections on living in the language rather than the country. It's dual language (so a short read if you're not fluent in Italian!), and Lahiri had someone else translate it into English so that it better reflects her Italian style. It captivated me, but then I am about to be immersed in another language, and am contemplating what life will be like for my toddler, growing up speaking one language in the home but surrounded by another totally unlike it.

Izaak Walton - The Compleat Angler. Read by Nelson Runger
No real link to the above books, except in the sense that, to take a quote from another book, "The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there." This is the seventeenth century English classic that I expect most Americans have never heard of (and most British people don't read nowadays, either). A virtuous how-to manual on angling and cooking your catch, with a good portion of poetry thrown in - and don't forget the very dubious, but entertaining, biology. Probably for readers who are classiphiles (if that's not a word I'm trademarking it now) or enthusiastic about the history of angling.

Yep, David Tennant and Michael Sheen as the demon-angel duo!

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - Good Omens
I didn't read this because of the upcoming TV series but because a good friend pressed it into my hands. And then I didn't open it for several months because I rarely read comic novels. Just the idea of someone trying to be funny on every page wears me out. But actually, it turned out this is funny. Really funny (especially if you're British and my age and therefore get all the references). The Powers Below (or is it really the Powers Above?) have decided it's time to launch Armageddon, but Aziraphale and Crowley, the angel and demon who've been in charge of earth since the Beginning, are rather attached to it and would like to hold off on the End. Their plan starts with the Antichrist - but it turns out that Sister Mary Loquacious of the Chattering Order messed up the baby-swapping plan. I never thought I'd giggle all through the Apocalypse. (It also has the distinction of being the first book I needed the above-mentioned reading glasses for because it's full of footnotes in tiny print.)

Jerome K. Jerome - Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)
A comic classic, beloved since its publication in 1889... but it just didn't appeal to me. Perhaps I was read out at the end of the month, or perhaps choosing it after Good Omens meant I didn't appreciate the 19th century humour as much. It's a short novel, recounting Jerome's expedition on the Thames with two friends and his dog, with many (many) asides, a classic British mode of telling a funny story. Usually I enjoy quirky novels with odd diversions, but when rain sent them scuttling back to London and abruptly ending the story, I was relieved. Maybe I'll give it another go in the future.

Erica Silverman - The Day the Chickens Went on Strike
This was a little beyond my toddler's comprehension level, but he pulled it out of the cupboard and insisted I read it. But it fits this month's theme of the supernatural/ foreign literature nicely with its retelling of a Yiddish Rosh Hashana tale. In some Jewish cultures, people make Kapores, that is, get rid of their sins by whirling a chicken round their head while praying. Well, the chickens in this Russian-Jewish village have had enough of that. A funny tale about the power of customs and self-responsibility.

You rang, M'Lady?

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy - and the first month I don't even feel embarrassed at the length of my reading list.

Quick Lit March 2018

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for reviews of the past month's reading.

Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own
Sometimes you can't remember whether or not you've read a book - that was the case with this one, and it was nagging at me. I knew the famous parts for sure - about needing a room of one's own to write fiction, and the fable of Shakespeare's sister - but had I read the whole thing or only extracts? So when it was a 99 cent Kindle deal, I had to buy it. It was interesting to read Woolf's call for upcoming female researchers to uncover the hidden fiction of women ninety years ago - when I have the fruits of those labours sitting on my shelf. Her ideas on fiction and predictions of the outcome when "womanhood has ceased to be a protected occupation" offered lots of reflection and internal dialogue.

Chip Heath and Dan Heath - Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
OK, so maybe it wasn't a great idea to pick up this book after we decided to sell almost everything we own and relocate to Europe - but (phew) it clarified a lot of the decision-making process we'd gone through. This is written in a very clear and engaging manner, with a huge range of examples that cover both personal and professional decisions, a handy pneumonic, short summaries of each chapter, and further resources on the website. I found myself beginning to apply the ideas straight away.
It influenced my toddler too. "Where's your green book?" he asked after I swapped it for the drab back and brown To The Lighthouse.

Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse
Reading A Room of One's Own inspired me to re-read this one, which I prefer to Mrs Dalloway (though Orlando is my favourite). It was an old paperback I used in college about 30 years ago, and has tiny notes written in pencil between the lines. I can't read a word of them now. I'm sure it's because the pencil must have faded. Ahem. I'd forgotten how beautiful it was, or maybe I didn't appreciate it when I was barely an adult. Now, like Mrs Ramsey, I'm nearing 50 with a small child, married to a professor who deals in abstracts (though mine studies pure maths, not philosophy), and am prone to reflect on life. In a skillfully interwoven stream of consciousness style, the novel covers two days - before and after the First World War - where the lighthouse symbolizes the metaphorical light that shines on the inner lives of the Ramseys and those the enigmatic Mrs Ramsey draws into their sphere.

Herman Melville - Moby Dick narrated by Frank Muller
I'm glad I listened to Moby Dick, and I'm glad I listened to Moby Dick. Another one that's been on my TBR list for decades. I knew I ought to read it, but I'm also an anti-whaling vegetarian. I once bought a cheap paperback copy that struck guilt in me for years until I gave it away. For a while, I even comforted myself that I got the gist of it by reading my son's Cozy Classics version: Moby Dick in twelve words and felt puppet pictures. What finally tipped the balance was my elder daughter telling me how she sat next to someone on a plane who was going to a Moby Dick readathon. It was a double aha moment - why not try out my library's digital audio service and slay this literary leviathan at the same time? No, this isn't a review - but you know what Moby Dick is about and whether you have a white-whale-sized bout of guilt over not having yet read it. I definitely recommend trying the audiobook route.

Oops, spoiler

Jenny Colgan - The Little Beach Street Bakery
I needed to cleanse my reading palette after all those masterpieces, so I broke my usual mould and tried something in a contemporary setting. If cosy chick lit is a genre, this is it. Flora Mackenzie is a paralegal in London, far from the remote Scottish island home she left in disgrace. But when a billionaire client needs an islander to go back and make his case against a wind farm, Flora can't refuse the boss with whom she's secretly in love. I loved the aspects of island life and baking, but I can't say I felt invested in the love life of a twenty-something. Despite that, Colgan's plot twists made it a real page turner (or is that screen swiper nowadays?).

Robert McClosky - Blueberries for Sal
A classic, and maybe one that isn't for children with separation anxiety, but my little guy liked it. For those who haven't read it, Little Sal and her mother go berry picking on one side of Blueberry hill. Meanwhile, Little Bear and his mother are working their way up the other side. Sal and Little Bear stop to rest, and when they get up to join their mothers, they just follow the nearest one they see... I guess you could read it as a sweet story of how motherhood transcends all barriers or a horrid tale of separation and neglectful parents. But we thought it was fun. A plus is the blue and white illustrations throughout.

I guess animals and islands were my theme for the month. Hope the lion of early March is giving you plenty of excuses to curl up with a pile of books.

Quick Lit February 2018

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for short reviews of the past month's reading.

I'm a looong way from bookstagram, but I'm trying!

Laura Vanderkam - 168 Hours: You have more time than you think
I didn't pick this book up for the obvious reasons - overhauling my life - but because we're moving and I can't fathom how we'll have enough hours in the day to get and keep the house ready for selling. The book is well-written, and once you fight down the temptation to keep arguing back about why this wouldn't work for you (Vanderkam's life is scarily focused), there's a lot of useful ideas. I don't know if it will help me stage the house, but it's given me inspiration for balancing my new job and family life when we make the move.

James Boswell - The Life of Samuel Johnson
Trying to convey everything I feel about this book in a few lines is impossible (so I wrote a full review too). It's a giant of eighteenth century biography - about an man who is a giant in his own right. Boswell, Johnson's close friend, follows his mentor's advice to tell all: the serious, the trivial, the flattering, the negative, the beneficent, the petty. I can only sum up with a quote from the end of the book: "The character of Samuel Johnson has, I trust, been so developed in the course of this work, that they who have honoured it with a perusal may be considered as well acquainted with him." Tears in my eyes, I had to say, "yes".

Elaine N. Aron - The Highly Sensitive Person: How to thrive when the world overwhelms you
I felt a strange disconnect while reading this book: according to all the quizzes and criteria, I'm way over the threshold for an HSP, but I don't feel that way any more. I think that now, in mid-life, I've learned to live in a way that harmonizes with my personality. I also have to confess that the author's style did not appeal to me, but I kept reading, as I also have children with HSP traits and I didn't want to miss any insights. I'm certain this book will be incredibly useful for HSPs and those who know them, but unfortunately it didn't click with me.

Maggi Andersen - Hostage to Love
My online critique group are graciously letting me hang around virtually while I'm 'on leave' from writing fiction, so I'm trying to repay them by keeping up with their new publications. I'm not a romance reader in general, but Maggi's stories are always a treat, and definitely worth more than the Kindle price: heroines you immediately like, strong and feminine, and plots that are usually enlivened with a mystery or suspense element. This takes place in London and France during the French revolution. Actress Verity Garnier is sent to England to seduce widowed Viscount Anthony Beaumont and entice him to France and the clutches of the revolution in return for the safety of her imprisoned father. But Verity falls in love with Anthony, and when he unexpectedly leaves for France of his own accord, to rescue his brother-in-law, Verity and his daughter Henrietta follow in a bid to save him. Put your feet up and indulge yourself - and if you want a quick(ish) romance binge I recommend her novella collection, The Baxendale Sisters Series. See her website for details.

A Tale of Two Bibles
I believe that well-rounded people in the West should know the basic religious and mythological stories of our culture regardless of their beliefs/non-beliefs, and to that end, child-oriented Bible story books (and Greek mythology books) are a staple of our household. I needed a new toddler Bible and did a little research. The Paraclete Bible for Toddlers (Paraclete Press) was recommended on several sites, including Catholic ones, so I thought I was safe to order it, but I (actually, every family member who read to my toddler) were disappointed. The illustrations are cute and colourful, but the text is full of death and judgement. This may be my wishy-washy ingrained Anglicanism, but I think children should start off with the fun stories and the idea that God is love.

I tucked it in a cupboard to sell in the move, and went shopping in person to my local bookstore, which I should have done in the first place. The bookseller recommended The Beginner's Bible from Zondervan. The illustrations and text are aimed at a wider age-range (toddlers and young children), and the view point is what I expect from a children's Bible. We're happily reading this one instead.

I hope you are still cosying up with some good books, and wish a holy Lent to those of you who observe the season.

Quick Lit January 2018

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for quick reviews of current reading.

I finished up my first year of reading intentionally since giving up my job teaching literature (which consumed most of my reading time), and also the first year of logging the books I read (I can't believe I've never tried this before). Since you asked, I read 27 books, 14 of which were non-fiction. This surprised me, because I would have said I was a fiction reader. However, I noticed that I began mostly with non-fiction, and got heavily into fiction in the second half of the year. My self analysis is that I had to get my toe back into the water, and it's easier to guess which non fiction will appeal than to risk time on a novel that might disappoint.

So, a pat on the back to myself, and launching into this past month...

George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo

Many years back, I began a tradition of giving my children a gift on Epiphany to mark the last day of Christmas, and it soon morphed into a book-giving occasion. I bought this for my elder daughter, but read it before handing it on. The story takes place during one night, in a graveyard peopled by ghosts who for one reason or another cannot pass to the next life. Enter the ghost of Willie Lincoln, the young son of President Abraham Lincoln, who is held back by his distraught father's inability to accept his death. In a chorus of voices that reminded me of a Greek play, Abraham Lincoln's night of personal and political crisis, and the battle for Willie's soul, is woven into the story of Americans across time, class and race. If you like an experimental read now and again (or more often), you might well enjoy it. I confess to being surprised that it was so spiritual and uplifting, because somehow I expected nihilism or solipsism from a prize-winning novel (it got the Man Booker this year).

Rod Dreher - How Dante Can Save Your Life
American Conservative editor Dreher tells the story of how his failed return home led into a spiral of depression and debilitating auto-immune disease - and how The Divine Comedy became one of the counsellors who helped him back on the path to health and sanity. I started off feeling that this was a light read (despite the subject matter), but by the end I found myself quite uncomfortable as I applied Dante's vision to my own life (even though I had read the Comedy before). Inconsequentially, this was the first ebook I read on my new, larger phone, which I chose with reading in mind - and it was a much better experience.

Courtney Carver - Soulful Simplicity: How living with less can lead to so much more
I don't often buy a first book by an author - I'm pretty cautious in my reading choices (see above!) - but I've been reading Courtney's blog, Be More With Less, for some time now. This is much more than the how-to book I expected, though she does offer many practical suggestions for simplifying your life. Instead, she mainly tells her story from her heart and encourages you to use her story as a guide to examine your own life. A gentler take on minimalism.

Since January Quick Lit covers most of Advent and Christmas for us, my little guy and I have been soaking up a book that's been on our shelf for years: Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury. This contains seven of her best winter/ Christmas stories. It includes traditional tales such as The Night before Christmas and The Twelve Day of Christmas, retellings of folk tales such as The Mitten (get ready to make a big bear sneeze) and original stories with a folk feel, such as The Trouble with Trolls. The stories are intended for children a little older than my toddler, but most were accessible to him this year. It's a huge book to hold on your lap, but the Scandinavian-inspired illustrations are gorgeous, and most stories have a sub plot going on in the marginal illustrations. It's a perfect Christmas coffee table book, too.

Julia Donaldson - Room on the Broom
This was my two-year old's Epiphany book. I snatched up this board book version at a second hand book store while in Texas for Thanksgiving. Another winner from the creator of the Gruffalo. A witch flies through a gathering storm, losing her belongings left and right. She has room on the broom for every creature who comes to her aid, and friendship pays off when a hungry dragon flies onto the scene...
Pet peeve time: the original UK version has been changed in places. It always annoys me that publishers think that children can't cope with a word or two from another English-speaking country. Most would just think something like, "'Plait' is another word for 'braid'. Okay. Next page." Stop dumbing down toddler literature, I say!

The bravest literary thing I did this month was to choose an Epiphany book for my teenager without consulting her - she's going through a phase where apparently my taste is nothing but bad. I bought the new John Green YA novel, Turtles All the Way Down, because I know she's read more than one of his books and I thought she'd identity with one of the main characters. I spotted evidence that she started reading it, but I'm afraid to ask her opinion yet.

Hope the new year is going well for all. I'm going to try the Modern Mrs Darcy 2018 Reading Challenge to keep me reading during what is going to be a full year (we're moving - maybe more on that in the blog another time). Stay cosy and enjoy reading!

Quick Lit December 2017

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for short reviews of our current reading.

It must be the stress of Thanksgiving and Christmas creeping up on me (and other little things, like mice falling from my ceiling) that drove me to comfort reading this month.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
I dip in and out of this book frequently. Those who describe Kondo as some sort of decluttering nazi probably haven't read her book. Yes, I like it for the reassuring message that I can get my life into some sort of order, but I'm also enthralled by the peek into Japanese culture, and by the memoir of an introvert woven into its pages, lit by little sparks of understated humour. I would have re-read her other book, Spark Joy, but, after searching for a while, I remembered I'd let my husband send it off to Decluttr [sic] in a tidying fit. Queue irony.

Miss Marple: The Complete  Short Stories by Agatha Christie
Christie is in the limelight again, with a lavish remake of the Murder on the Orient Express movie, which reminded me that I've only read one Christie novel in my life, and it was so long ago, I can't even remember what it was. A short story collection worked well for Thanksgiving travels. These are mostly literal armchair mysteries, where guests share crime stories that are solved by - well, you know who.

Mr Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker
After the emotional trauma of reading The Buried Giant, I needed a story with a guaranteed happy ending, and the ebook price overcame my resolve to avoid buying new books. Modelled on the structure of Charlotte Bronte's novel, this tells the life story of Edward Fairfax Rochester. And yes, you get that famous four-word sentence at the end! I've had a literary crush on Mr. Rochester since I was fourteen, and this novel did not disappoint.

Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea by Cynthia Rylant
Even my toddler got the comfort treatment this month. The Mr. Putter books, if you don't already know, are sweet stories about an old man and his pet cat. They are intended as beginning chapter books, but the simple sentences and repetition make them lovely read-alouds for toddlers as well.

And since we're part way through Advent:

Advent and Christmas Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton
I've used this book for many years and am still not tired of it. Ligouri Press publishes several books in this series, for both Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter. Each focuses on a well-known Christian writer, and the daily readings consist of a quote, related Scripture, prayer and suggested action. Everything you need for observance and reflection on the season(s) in one little book. I'm on board with the call to canonize Chesterton - Battersea needs its own saint.

We Were There by Eve Bunting
It's the eve of the Nativity, and nature's unloved creatures - the scorpion, toad, spider, cockroach, snake and rat, obey the pull to traverse the desert to that stable. Brings a lump to my throat almost every time.

Merry Christmas, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate this time of year, and may 2018 be full of good books.

Quick Lit November 2017

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for quick reviews of books we've read over the past month.

Untangled by Lisa Damour
You know an author is on your side when she jokes about your teenage daughter straining her eye-rolling muscles. Untangled is a mix of psychotherapy, scientific findings and practical advice to help you help your daughter negotiate the often choppy, sometimes stormy, seas of the teen years. I appreciated that the gist of the book was that yes, your daughter is being normal when she acts like a little witch, but yes, she still needs you to insist on models of decent behaviour. A recommendation from Modern Mrs Darcy.

Everything that Remains by Joshua Fields Milburn, with interruptions by Ryan Nicodemus
I was out of luck trying to get this via interlibrary loan (or I was away for the summer when it came in), so when I saw that The Minimalists were offering this and one of their other books as a free PDF download via Gumroad, I took the chance. If prose can be purple and spare at the same time, this book is it. The writing is a little offbeat (after all, they did co-found Asymmetrical Press), but if you are already familiar with The Minimalists, you might enjoy this more in-depth memoir, or narrative non-fiction as Josh calls it. For a how-to on minimalism, try the other free download, Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life.

The Buried Giant by Kazuro Ishiguro
My first spontaneous reading choice in a looong time! The first two books on my list were missing from the library shelves, so I thought, OK, I need to finally tackle The Remains of the Day - but Ishiguro has just won the Nobel prize for literature, so all his books were on display and that was gone. With a toddler rapidly losing patience, I grabbed this. The story is set in post-Arthurian Britain, where people seem to have lost the capacity to hang onto memories. An old couple, Axl and Beatrice, feel the pull to leave their settlement in search of the son they can't fully remember and haven't seen for years for reasons they can't recall - and whose whereabouts they are not certain of. Along the way, they gather unlikely companions and a wider quest emerges, with themes of memory, justice and mercy. I haven't read Ishiguro before, so I wasn't ready for the slap in the face that is characteristic of his work. I found the novel intellectually satisfying but morally unsettling.

Frog went A-Courtin', retold by John Langstaff
This is the Caldecott Medal version of the ancient folk song, where the author weaves together various versions of the song to form a story with a happy ending. My toddler's summary of the story of Frog's courtship of Miss Mouse? "The frog had a sword and horse and went to fight." Ahem...

Happy Thanksgiving to those stateside. Hope you get some time to escape the crowds and read!