Archive for March, 2011
‘The Victorian Chaise-Longue’ by Marghanita Laski
Although I’ve only read one book published by Persephone before now (the delightful Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson) this, combined with the numerous reviews I’ve read for books from this publisher on other blogs, has been sufficient to create a preconception in my mind of what a Persephone book will typically be like. I expect them [...]
‘Tam Lin’ by Pamela Dean
O I forbid you, maidens a’, That wear gowd on your hair, To come or gae by Carterhaugh, For young Tam Lin is there. Fairy tales and folk stories were a huge part of my childhood and have continued to be so as I’ve become older. I had them read to me by my parents; [...]
TBR Lucky Dip: March
As I explained in my post about reading plans for the new year, each month I’m going to be using a random number generator to select a book from my TBR pile for me to read, to help me read more widely from my shelves. This month, the deities of www.random.org have ordained that I should [...]
‘Diary of a Nobody’ by George and Weedon Grossmith
One of the best things about taking part in the Victorian Literature Challenge is that it has made me aware that the scope of Victorian literature is much wider than I had previously anticipated. It isn’t just doorstop sized books featuring worthy governesses, scheming gentlemen and the deserving poor; there’s also a lot of slimmer, [...]
‘Lucia in London’ by E. F. Benson
Oh, E. F. Benson, I should never have doubted you! Apologies are also due to the book man in Winchester, whose judgement I was rather doubting after being a little underwhelmed by my first experience of reading a Lucia book. However, it was enjoyable enough for me tocontinue on with the series in spite of [...]
Review: ‘The Rivals’ by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Going to see a play without having read it beforehand always makes me feel a bit like going to see a band play live without knowing many of their songs: slightly awkward and often rather lost. So, when I decided to get tickets for myself and the Old English Thorn to go to see the Haymarket’s [...]
‘Up the Junction’ by Nell Dunn
I never fail to be impressed by the variety of books published by Virago. Although there have been many relatively recent authors published as Virago Modern Classics, most of the books from this imprint that I’ve read so far have been those written in the early twentieth century. Set in London and first published in [...]
‘Elfland’ by Freda Warrington
It’s an indication of quite how behind I am with my reviews that I’m only now writing and posting my thoughts on Freda Warrington’s . This was February’s pick for the Women of Fantasy Book Club hosted by Jawas Read, Too and I finished it back on 14th February. It was a rather appropriate [...]
A Time of Abstinence
I’m not a religious person in any way, shape or form, but I enjoy taking part in a lot of the old rites and traditions now associated with the church calendar. Consequently, Tuesday evening heralded an entertaining time in the kitchen as my parents and I attempted to toss pancakes with varying degrees of success. I [...]
‘Marie’ by Madeleine Bourdouxhe
One of my aims for this year is to try to read things which I might not normally pick. French modernist literature features incredibly low on on the list of types of book I usually select (nor for that matter, modernism in any language). Consequently I have no idea how I ended up with by [...]