50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Five

I just skim reread Girls Of Slender means last night and forgot how funny it is. My class once wrote a letter to Muriel Spark about it in the style of the novel, and, bless her , she replied back in the same style.

My Shakespeare knowledge is very sketchy.

Was there one Shakespeare twin swap involving a male / female pair of twins, or am I getting him muddled with someone else?

The Valley of the Dolls - eminently readable; drank this up in 24 hours. Great for a quick, escapist read and so very contemporary Harvey Weinstein et al considering it's written in the 60s. Plus ça change and all that.

Sing, Unburied Sing - *Jesymn Ward. I enjoyed this book about mixed- race family dynamics in small town Mississippi. Quite depressing though - domestic violence, racism, drug addiction are some themes that run throughout. I kept wishing they would feed those poor kids and give them a proper bath!!!

How funny- I was about to add Kit for Christmas to the Kit thread in baby names, quoting Dick Francis! Love a Dick Francis and Kit is one of the lovely heroes; also partial to Heyer’s Kester (False Colours was one of my favourites as a teenager), but never really noticed EBD’s! There are some lovely Heyers, would love to hear your picks Remus and Cheddar if you do go through them all!

I always agree with Sadik in such things, so Cassandra Clare’s fanfic was very funny, but I don’t think it’s around anymore.

Shakespeare has the most insane twin swap, in comparison Hayer and Pascal are quite realistic, at least their twins are identical!

I first encountered the name Kester in the Chalet School (Kester Bellever, of bird-watching and young girl mentoring fame), so to me it sounds like a middle-aged curly-haired man in a navy blue Guernsey. I love the abbreviation Kit, though, but it never occurred to me to have Kit as a nickname for Kester rather than Christopher (or Christmas, for Dick Francis fans) and I wasn’t keen on Christopher.

Stitches, the twin swap reminded me of Sweet Valley High and hence greatly amused me. My twin and I attempted a twin switch in primary 6 and the teacher just looked at us in confusion and asked why we were sitting in each others’ seats. He clearly hadn’t encountered the works of Misses Heyer and Pascal! —and we aren’t identical—

Sadik DH firmly vetoed Kester as a boy’s name

I love False Colours but i do need to work hard on maintaining the suspension of disbelief with the twin swap. It’s obviously such a silly plan if you think too hard about it!

I love the word romp. Not used enough these days.

Speaking of Heyer,
58: Bath Tangle – Georgette Heyer
Typical Heyer fun. A bit too long but one of her better ones. It was obvious where it was going to end up, but it was a romp getting there.

Realised the Georgette Heyers are 99p on Kindle, so have downloaded a couple. Will be away for a few days in half-term, so getting nicely stocked up. Am going to be brave and take my Kindle only. Normally I have an emergency real book, just in case.

54. Hard Going, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Who killed the nice old man? Was he in fact a nice old man? Straightforward police procedural, does what it says on the tin, enjoyable banter between characters, hit the spot.

55. Our House, Louise Candlish
Woman comes home only to find complete strangers claiming that the house now belongs to them. We then loop backwards to find out what led to this moment. Very much in line with the current fad for domestic noir. I found the premise reasonably intriguing, but didn't find the ending entirely satisfying. Okay if you like this kind of thing.

56. Paths to the Past, Francis Pryor.
Very short essays, each relating to a historical place around the UK. Like watching an episode of Time Team - you get a snapshot of archaeology without having to expend much effort.

57. The Salt Path, Rayner Winn
I really enjoyed this - written by a woman who has just lost her home and income, and whose husband has been diagnosed with a degenerative illness. They've lost everything. Not knowing what to do, they simply start walking, undertaking more than 600 miles of the South-eastern coastal path. Imagine Cheryl Strayed's Wild, only with a middle-aged couple and set in England. One minute you're communing with nature, the next minute a dog-walker is glaring at you. Her despair and disbelief come across strongly, and also how important it is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Adding Miss Mole and August is a Wicked Month to my wishlists.

Miss Mole rang faint bells but I was fairly sure that I hadn't read it; I did a bit of googling and I realised I saw a tv adaptation when I was a teen: sadly there isn't a dvd I remember enjoying it a lot so I've added it to my TBR. Looks like I should be able to buy a second hand copy easily enough.

I read a lot of Edna O'Brien when I was younger: The Country Girls trilogy and Johnny I Hardly Knew You were favourites of mine but I have not read August is a Wicked Month. I've just bought it for my Kindle. There are a couple of others that are tempting me, also, her autobiography. But I really musn't buy any more books just now.

KeithLeMonde none of Cassandra Clare's books are great literature, but City of Bones is definitely the worst in terms of writing IMO (I saw the film then read the second book, only read CoB later on). The Draco trilogy, her HP fanfic, is also an entertaining read.

Going to have a go at these Hayers. When I get through my TBR pile!

False Colours is one of my favourite Heyers, TooExtra. If I'd had a DS, I'd have been lobbying hard to name him Kester (I also know an - adult - Kester, and yes, his mother is a Heyer fan :) )

And yes, thanks for a great review of Miss Mole, Dottie - I’m trying to mentally locate my (unread) copy now!

Keith, I found Mrs Woolf and the Servants very interesting. I don’t think VW came out of it terribly well, though the relationships she had with her ‘staff’ were perhaps more nuanced than she was given credit for in all the reviews of the book. They were all negotiating new ways of interacting in a time of immense social change. There’s a really good review of the book by Rosemary Hill from the LRB if you google.

1. Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims.
2. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
3. Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie.

1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
2. "Blink" Malcolm Gladwell.
3. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig.
4. "Persepolis RIsing" by James SA Corey.
5. “Guernica” by Dave Boling.

70. False Colours, Georgette Heyer

Devoured this one yesterday - stayed up until nearly 1 finishing it. Another Regency romp featuring twin switches, redoubtable dowagers and elderly dandies, delivered with wit and elan, as always. I think I've now read about 10 of these and I will probably gradually work my way through Heyer's entire oeuvre. I've downloaded Faro's Daughter for tonight's commute!

Funnily enough, Miss Mole is the book after next for my book group, so I have just got a copy - thanks for the review, Dottie. Our book group's theme is books set in Bristol or by Bristol-based authors, and I think several of EH Young's novels feature a thinly-disguised and renamed version of the Clifton area of Bristol.

I remember reading The Misses Mallett by her back in the heyday of Virago books in the 1980s, but I don't think I have read Miss Mole before.

Yes, Great review dottie

Also inspired by Dottie to dig out Mrs Woolf and the Servants, which I've heard of but never read.

Seconding the admiration for that review dottie. It’s also reviews like that which will make me go into second hand book shops for a hunt rather than relying on amazon

Miss Mole does sound great.

Adding Miss Mole and August is a Wicked Month to my wishlists.

I find this thread particularly useful when it comes to books published a long time ago. For new reads, there are reviews and prominent positions in bookshops, but it's not always easy to get good recommendations for older books.

What a thoughtful review Dottie! The book really does sound interesting.

77. The Time Traveller’s Guide To Restoration Britain by Ian Mortimer

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It describes everything you need to know if you were to find yourself back in that time (1660-1700) - food, drink, clothes, health, law, houses, entertainment etc. Lots of fascinating detail. I really recommend if you like history.