2016 Reading Challenges

Given that I failed miserably with reading challenges in 2015, I've decided on a new approach for 2016 that doesn't require me to commit to external challenges. Maybe this is another sign of me regressing but it's the only way I'm going to put together a 2016 challenge list so que sera sera.

There are three categories in my personal reading challenge with all books identified beforehand. I might have more success with these categories and the first two will at least attack my TBR pile. There'll be individual reviews for the books in those categories then one master post detailing my thoughts on the rereads of the third category.

This post will be updated throughout the year with links. Theoretically.

Challenge One - TBR Pile

Twenty books taken from my TBR bookcase. Only stipulation is that they can't be classics - they get a list of their own.

1. The Friendly Young Ladies by Mary Renault
2. Collected Stories by Dylan Thomas
3. Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg
4. Author, Author by David Lodge
5. Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
6. The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens ed. Jenny Hartley
7. Love Game: A History of Tennis by Elizabeth Wilson
8. Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth
9. Wilkie Collins by Peter Ackroyd
10. The Debs of Bletchley Park by Michael Smith
11. Events, Dear Boy, Events: A Political Diary of Britain 1921-2010 ed. Ruth Winstone
12. The Walk by Robert Walser
13. Confronting the Classics by Mary Beard
14. Underworld London by Catharine Arnold
15. The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop
16. Virginia Woolf by Mary Ann Caws
17. Cathedrals and Castles by Henry James
18. The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders
19. Too Many Mothers by Roberta Taylor
20. The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson

Challenge Two - Classics Challenge

Twenty books taken from my TBR classics Kindle list and bookcase. I should really have read some of these already and several of these have been on TBR lists for the last few years.

1. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
2. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
3. Tono-Bungay by H.G. Wells
4. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
5. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
6. Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
7. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens 
8. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
9. The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
10. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
11. The Europeans by Henry James
12. Mathilda by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
13. The Evil Guest by J.S. Le Fanu
14. Born in Exile by George Gissing
15. The Whirlpool by George Gissing
16. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume
17. Charlotte's Inheritance by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
18. Henry Dunbar by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
19. Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett
20. In the Days of My Youth by Amelia Edwards

Challenge Three - Rereading Challenge

I don't reread enough and I want to. Reorganising my books a few months ago reminded me how many fantastic books I have that I'd like to read again. This list is longer than the first two for a very good reason - Harry Potter has seven books in itself!

1. Tell it to the Bees by Fiona Shaw
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. The Green Mile by Stephen King
4. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
5. Westwood by Stella Gibbons
6. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
7. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
8. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
9. Emma by Jane Austen
10. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
11. Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald
12. Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal
13. Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins
14. Persuasion by Jane Austen
15. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
17. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
18. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
21. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
22. Little Face by Sophie Hannah
23. Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah
24. The Point of Rescue by Sophie Hannah
25. The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah
26. A Room Swept White by Sophie Hannah
27. Lasting Damage by Sophie Hannah
28. Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah
29. The Carrier by Sophie Hannah
30. The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah

2015 Reading Challenges Round Up

Well, I failed quite spectacularly at all the challenges I attempted. No surprise there but the books I did manage to read are linked below.

New Author Challenge

I suppose, in my defence, I read other books by 'new to me' authors so this looks worse than it was. Out of the three I got to, Dead to Me was my favourite and I'll be reading more of Staincliffe's work in the future. 

1. The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
2. After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry
3. The Failed Assassin by Richard Pierce
4. Dead to Me by Cath Staincliffe
5. The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman
6. Heresy by S.J. Parris
7. The Bawdy Basket by Edward Marston
8. The Lost Abbot by Susanna Gregory
9. The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte Yonge
10. Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert George Jenkins
11. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
12. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume
13. King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard
14. The Angel of Terror by Edgar Wallace
15. The Bartlett Mystery by Louis Tracy

Women Challenge

I did a little better with this one and, again, I read other books by women not related to the challenge. Thoroughly enjoyed the Frances Brody novels I read this year and Stella Gibbons is always a favourite. 

1. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
2. Brick Mother by S.J. Bradley
3. The Lovels of Arden by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
4. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
5. Here Be Dragons by Stella Gibbons
6. Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
7. In the Days of My Youth by Amelia Edwards
8. Murder on a Summer's Day by Frances Brody
9. Mathilda by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
10. Camilla by Fanny Burney
11. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
12. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
13. Nancy by Rhoda Broughton
14. Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant
15. The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

TBR Challenge

Failed at this before and failed again. The Lazy Tour was rather good though. 

1. Author, Author by David Lodge
2. Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi
3. Radclyffe Hall: A Woman Called John by Sally Cline
4. The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins
5. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
6. 800 Years of Women's Letters
7. Collected Stories by Dylan Thomas
8. Henry Dunbar by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
9. The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
10. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
11. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
12. Witch Stories by Eliza Lynn Linton

Victorian Bingo Challenge

Er, yes, failed miserably. However, both books I read from this challenge have found their way into my favourites so it can't be all bad. 

1. Book Published in the 1840s - Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
2. Male Author - The Warden by Anthony Trollope
3. Female Author - Charlotte's Inheritance by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
4. Book with a Name as the Title - Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot
5. Book Published in Serial Format - The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade

Reading England Challenge

Alas, not a page turned. 

1. Berkshire - Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
2. Essex - Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
3. Derbyshire - Rookwood by W.H. Ainsworth
4. Nottinghamshire - Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
5. Somerset - Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore
6. Lancashire - Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

2015 Reading Challenges Master List

In a bid to make up for my lacklustre attempts at reading as many books as I'd like to in the last few years, I've signed up for five separate reading challenges for 2015. While I could place books on two lists, I haven't done that. The idea is to read as many books as possible and broaden my horizons a little bit. I'll probably fail miserably but I'm going to have fun trying with this lot.

New Author Challenge

Hosted by Literary Escapism, this challenge does what it says on the tin - you have to read a set amount of new authors in 2015. I'm opting into the lowest rung of fifteen novels which may make me a bit of a wimp but I want to try and complete it after all. I've listed the precise books I intend to read and not just the authors because the rest of the lists will look like this and I'm nothing if not methodical. It's a reasonable mix of modern novels and older stuff. 

1. The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
2. After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry
3. The Failed Assassin by Richard Pierce
4. Dead to Me by Cath Staincliffe
5. The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman
6. Heresy by S.J. Parris
7. The Bawdy Basket by Edward Marston
8. The Lost Abbot by Susanna Gregory
9. The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte Yonge
10. Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert George Jenkins
11. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
12. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume
13. King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard
14. The Angel of Terror by Edgar Wallace
15. The Bartlett Mystery by Louis Tracy

Women Challenge

Hosted by Peek a booK!, the idea is to get people reading more books by women. While that's probably my default position anyway, it can't hurt to make it official and, besides, it's setting in stone that I need to read some of those classics I've so far neglected. I'm opting for the second level which is six to fifteen books and aiming for the higher end of that category.

1. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
2. Brick Mother by S.J. Bradley
3. The Lovels of Arden by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
4. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
5. Here Be Dragons by Stella Gibbons
6. Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
7. In the Days of My Youth by Amelia Edwards
8. Murder on a Summer's Day by Frances Brody
9. Mathilda by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
10. Camilla by Fanny Burney
11. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
12. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
13. Nancy by Rhoda Broughton
14. Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant
15. The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

TBR Challenge

Hosted by Roof Beam Reader, this is the challenge I failed miserably at last year, only getting through five of my choices. As a consequence, several of these books are appearing on the list for the second year running and I'll try to do better this time. As per the rules, all of these books have been waiting to be read for at least a year and there are twelve books on this list. 

1. Author, Author by David Lodge
2. Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi
3. Radclyffe Hall: A Woman Called John by Sally Cline
4. The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins
5. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
6. 800 Years of Women's Letters
7. Collected Stories by Dylan Thomas
8. Henry Dunbar by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
9. The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
10. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
11. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
12. Witch Stories by Eliza Lynn Linton

Victorian Bingo Challenge

This one, hosted by Becky's Book Reviews, is rather fun. You have to complete a row, line or diagonal on the bingo board and, again, I'm using this challenge to read books I should've read already. I've gone across the top, mainly because I wanted to avoid some categories that would likely put me off the challenge and there are five books involved in this one.

1. Book Published in the 1840s - Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
2. Male Author - The Warden by Anthony Trollope
3. Female Author - Charlotte's Inheritance by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
4. Book with a Name as the Title - Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot
5. Book Published in Serial Format - The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade

Reading England Challenge

Hosted by Behold the Stars, this challenge is to read books set in different parts of the country. I'm opting for level two which is four to six books and aiming for the higher number again. I've deliberately filled this selection with classics too, probably because I'm a glutton for punishment.

1. Berkshire - Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
2. Essex - Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
3. Derbyshire - Rookwood by W.H. Ainsworth
4. Nottinghamshire - Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
5. Somerset - Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore
6. Lancashire - Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

2014 Reading Challenges Round Up

In 2014 I attempted two reading challenges - and I failed them both! However, it's been that kind of year all round so I'm trying to look on the positive side of things and say that at least I read the books from the challenges that I did.

Chunkster Challenge

My aim for this was to read five books of more than 550 pages and, in the event, I only managed three. However, that's still a lot of pages and I thoroughly enjoyed two of those three books. 

1. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
2. Kate: The Woman Who Was Katharine Hepburn by William J. Mann
3. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

TBR Challenge

Again, I failed miserably at this, only managing five out of my list of twelve books. On the plus side, two of those five made it onto my 'favourite books of 2014' list so I'm certainly glad this challenge encouraged me to get round to them. 

1. Die a Dry Death by Greta van der Rol
2. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
3. Room by Emma Donoghue
4. London Lore by Steve Roud
5. Quicksand/Passing by Nella Larsen

Book Review: Die a Dry Death by Greta van der Rol

Die a Dry Death is a retelling of the true story of the shipwreck of the Batavia in 1629 and the horrors that occurred afterwards. On a journey to the Dutch East Indies the ship hit a reef. Most of the passengers managed to get ashore to some small yet barren islands nearby. The commandeur Pelsaert and Ariaen Jacobsz, the captain, after checking two other nearby islands, made the decision to take a small group towards their destination in the longboat, with the intention of returning to help the rest. However, once they'd left,  Jeronimus Cornelisz took charge and began a reign of terror on the islands, determined to cull the numbers and get rid of rivals in anticipation of high-jacking the rescue ship.

What Greta van der Rol does in this book is bring a terrible story to life deftly and without melodrama. It's a different tale to tell, especially giving life to what are, for the most part, names. Getting into the mind of Cornelisz is interesting, providing a plausible take on his thought processes after the wreck. With this being fiction, the author also puts forward an interesting theory about Jacobsz involvement in a plot with Cornelisz, prior to the wreck, to steal the Batavia and the goods on board. For the most part this book is dark, realistic and genuinely horrific.

Aside from the three characters already mentioned, some of the other important ones include Wiebbe Hayes, a soldier who is banished to another island and left to starve, Lucretia, a high-ranking passenger who Cornelisz wants as his mistress, and the Predikant and his family, including his daughter, Judyk. These are the people who shine brightest in this novel though, due to the number of names who pass though, it is easy to get a little disorientated at times.

Incredibly dark and very well written, Die a Dry Death brings to life the events of 1629 vividly. It's an unsettling one to say the least and I had to read it all in one day because I didn't want to leave it overnight. The haunting tale of the Batavia is ably communicated via these pages.

This book was read as part of the TBR Challenge 2014, details here.

Book Review: London Lore by Steve Roud

London Lore is a compilation of legends and traditions stretching back centuries which make up the eclectic base of London. It includes local superstitions and rituals with a good sprinkling of ghost stories and some out-and-out craziness thrown in too. It's organised by area of London and the introduction has a nice little section on how to spot folklore, which will come in handy for anybody interested in local history of any variety. On the whole, though, this book is about the underbelly of London and there are some real gems in its pages.

I found myself interested most in the ghost stories, particularly the unusual ones, such as the novelist Winifred Graham's numerous encounters with the occult. There are many point-of-death ghost stories and some excellent tragic tales which have mostly been appropriated to fit a supposed sighting - or a supposed sighting has been appropriated to fit a tragic tale, for instance, Jane Seymour at Hampton Court Palace. The short section on Hampton Court was one of the most interesting of the book for me. What Roud does brilliantly is, wherever possible, try to track down where the rumour or traditional originated. The speculation, although often it is only that, is enjoyable and it's good to see how local lore percolates and then expands.

Throughout the book, though, I was a little vexed by the construction. Going by area effectively meant that you were flitting around all over the place thematically. That said, sorting by theme may have resulted in a stagnant book that threw huge chunks at you that you weren't interested in. At least this way, there's a little variety. I completed reading not really sure whether I was happy with the construction as it was or whether I would have preferred a thematic compilation. Nevertheless, there is a good index to help you track down individual tales.

This is certainly a book to dip in and out of when the mood takes and to consult in moments of inquisitiveness. I tried reading it through in one go and it made it a little arduous, mainly because some of the stories about grottoes, ghosts and legacies all melded into one after a while, and that's a shame. Roud is strict about naming his sources wherever possible and that makes for an informed book about a subject that is, by its very nature, based on the uninformed.

This book was read as part of the TBR Challenge 2014, details here.

Book Review: Kate: The Woman Who Was Katharine Hepburn by William J. Mann

Published three years after Hepburn's death, this lengthy biography attempts to debunk some of the myths that have sprung up about this legendary actress without diminishing her achievements and drive. It's a biography that focuses as much as possible on the woman, not the actress. As Mann notes, the films are used as illustrations of Hepburn's own myth-making and how they feed into the overall picture of her. This is really an in-depth biography that can't be summarised easily. However, one thing that is worth noting is the relish with which Mann approaches his subject. His ability to decode and hypothesise where necessary is balanced by the (sometimes anonymous) sources he's managed to consult, creating a rounded picture of Hepburn. He points out that this kind of book wouldn't have been published while she was still alive, an indication of how thorough it is, looking into places Hepburn would likely have been uncomfortable with.

The book doesn't run completely chronologically, usually taking a pivot moment at the beginning of a chapter then stepping back and seeing what led up to it. In this way, it manages to signal what a chapter will cover and what you can expect from it. For example, chapter twenty four starts with some visuals and dialogue from The African Queen, thus setting the scene for her comeback from Communist rumours. It's a good way of grounding the reader because, although there are numerous indications of where you are in the timeline, it's still easy to get lost. That's partly down to the detail amassed in the book, and that can never be a bad thing.

A lot of time throughout is spent analysing Hepburn's various relationships, especially with Spencer Tracy, and trying to pinpoint how much sexual contact this entailed. This also applies to the relationships Hepburn had with her female friends and makes for some surprising conclusions. When he doesn't have concrete information, Mann says so, but his speculations always hold the ring of truth about them, gained from his intimate research into Hepburn's life.

For me, reading slowly at the beginning then devouring the book in large chunks, one of the most painful times for Hepburn was perhaps the suicide of her older brother in their teens, when she found his body the next morning. Reading through the rest of the book, and seeing her relationships with alcoholics and the way she dedicated herself to getting Tracy sober, Tom was the person I kept returning to in my mind, even though he was barely mentioned again due to the stoic nature of the Hepburn family. More than seventy years later, following the death of their sister, Hepburn surprised another of her brothers by saying she wanted her ashes buried next to Tom's. And they were. I have no idea why that touched me so much but it brought me to tears.

Ultimately, this biography is detailed and well-constructed. Where necessary, Mann supplies brief biographies of the people involved in Hepburn's life. He debunks many of the myths that made her America's sweetheart whilst still imparting the image of a formidable woman with talent and, most of all, the will to succeed.

*This book was read as part of the 'Chunkster Challenge 2014' - information can be found here.

...Onwards to 2014

2013 was a mixed bag on the work front but a lousy year all told. It was the year things finally got away from me and I can only hope 2014 will be an improvement. I have big things ahead. This post details the things I'd like to do, as well as the things I need to do.

2014 is, barring catastrophe, thesis submission year. It's been a long time coming and, I have to admit, the light at the end of the tunnel is frightening. Completion will bring its own set of problems but if I look towards them I'll panic and flee. So, let's just focus on finishing writing, submitting, the viva and... Actually, let's just think about the writing aspect. Everything else is too scary.

Some more conferences would be a nice idea - either just attending or giving papers, ideally the latter.

I want to work on at least three academic articles/papers this year. Since I have four ideas already, that shouldn't be too difficult...right? We're going with optimism here.

On the writing side, I don't want to promise too much. 2014 is the year of the thesis, remember. However, if I don't write then I go a bit batty so there will be work. What work? Well, I have eight novel drafts to play with. I want to do full-scale edits on, say, three of them (and I know which three, which is always good). I've already started putting the polished two out into the world. We'll see where that goes this year. A NaNoWriMo draft is on the cards too, along with finishing 'Kathy' (the novel I failed to complete this year) and maybe another draft about something close to my heart. I'm almost certain no one else could write this idea with the truthfulness required. The question is, do I have the courage? We'll see.

I'm taking part in two reading challenges this year: the Chunkster Challenge (books over 450 pages, details here) and the TBR Challenge (books languishing on my shelf for over a year unread, details here). I've picked out the books so just need to read them now. Easy...

I want to continue going to the gym 2-3 times a week, at least until my membership runs out in August.

I've asked for driving lessons as a birthday present in July. Whether this comes off is still undecided but I do need to learn and this year might be the year. Keep off Yorkshire roads in August.

I've been saying for four years I want to learn a little Italian. I don't really know why but it's a deep-seated thing I do intend to do at some point.

Reading Challenge: TBR Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Roof Beam Reader over here. The goal is to read twelve books from your To Be Read pile that have been there for over a year. My TBR pile is overflowing so there were plenty to choose from. These are the twelve I settled on:

1. The Art of Fiction by David Lodge
2. Die a Dry Death by Greta van der Rol
3. Author, Author by David Lodge
4. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
5. Room by Emma Donoghue
6. Radclyffe Hall: A Woman Called John by Sally Cline
7. London Fields by Martin Amis
8. London Lore by Steve Roud
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. Quicksand & Passing by Nella Larsen
11. Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi
12. The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders

I think there's a decent mix of fiction and non-fiction there, with six of each. I certainly need to read more non-fiction in 2014 and this is a good start. All of these books are literally dusty, definitely been on my table a while waiting for me to get to them. Here's hoping I do!

Reading Challenge: Chunkster Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Vasilly over here. There are no set levels for participation but you have to set your own number of books ahead of time and try and stick to it. A 'chunkster' counts as more than 450 pages in this challenge and e-books are allowed. It also says you don't have to list your books in advance but I know me - if I don't make a list and stick to it, I won't complete the challenge. I'm only going with five 'chunksters' for this. It might not seem a lot but it adds up to over 2200 pages so it doesn't sound that shabby. These are the five books:

1. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (464 pages)
2. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte (608 pages)
3. Kate: The Woman Who Was Katharine Hepburn by William J. Mann (532 pages)
4. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (530 pages)
5. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (708 pages)

Poor Katharine Hepburn is a bit of an anomaly there, isn't she? But I have a sneaking suspicion that'll be my favourite from this list, although I have decent hopes for Mary Barton. Can You Forgive Her? will be my first Trollope so we'll see how that one plays out. Hopefully it'll all be cool... And porkies are flying past the window. 

Collected Book Reviews 2012

For ease of reference here is a complete list of the books I reviewed in 2012.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

*Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

^Touchy Subjects by Emma Donoghue

The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly

Judy, A Legendary Film Career by John Fricke

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay

*Bleak House by Charles Dickens

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

Nella Last's War

Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah

Across the Bridge by Morag Joss

The London Train by Tessa Hadley

22 Days in May by David Laws

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

^Sensation Stories by Wilkie Collins

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

The Group by Mary McCarthy

Up and Down Stairs by Jeremy Musson

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber

*The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Troubles by J.G. Farrell

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

*Emma by Jane Austen

Olivia by Dorothy Strachey

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

The Afterparty by Leo Benedictus

Bedlam: London and Its Mad by Catharine Arnold

Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin

*The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Scourging Angel by Benedict Gummer

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin

The Maul and the Pear Tree by P.D. James and T.A. Critchley

The Bachelor by Stella Gibbons

*Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

*This book was read for A Classics Challenge 2012

^This book was read for the Short Story Challenge 2012    

   

2012 Short Story Challenge: Wrap-Up

Well, this makes two out of two reading challenges I failed in 2012! At least on the classics side of things I was close (five books out of the minimum of six) but on this I failed abysmally, reading only two short story collections over the year. This was my original list:


1. Night Shivers - Charlotte Riddell
2. Sensation Stories - Wilkie Collins
3. Wish I Was Here - Jackie Kay
4. The New York Stories - Edith Wharton
5. The Collected Stories - Katherine Mansfield
6. Daughters of Decadence - Various
7. Touchy Subjects - Emma Donoghue
8. ???
9. ???


Out of those I managed to read only two. I started off bright enough in January with Emma Donoghue's Touchy Subjects, a collection I thoroughly enjoyed. Then in May I read Sensation Stories by Wilkie Collins. That's it. Shameful, I know, but there you go.

I'll get to all of these collections eventually but for now I'll just have to go off into the corner with a dunce hat!

A Classics Challenge: December Wrap Up

Well, I technically failed this challenge, reading only six classics throughout the year when the target was a minimum of seven. I think we'll blame this on Charles Dickens since the challenge ended up being 'The Charles Dickens Classics Challenge With Two Other Books Thrown In'. So what books did I manage to read as part of the challenge?

• I started off in January with Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (review here, prompt post here). 
• In February I took a hiatus from all other books to indulge in Bleak House which is by far my favourite Dickens novel (review here, prompt post here).
• I think Bleak House exhausted me. I came back to the challenge in July with another Dickens book - The Old Curiosity Shop (review here, prompt post here).
• In August I stepped away from Dickens for the first time and read Jane Austen's Emma (review here, prompt post here).
• In September I moved onto Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (review here, prompt post here).
• Finally, my December read - actually started with all good intentions back in October - was another Dickens novel, Little Dorrit (review here).

Four Dickens, one Austen and one Hardy. Not too shabby for the year, especially when you look at the lengths of Bleak House and Little Dorrit. Of course, there were some books I listed on my original challenge post that didn't get a look in: Mary Barton (Gaskell), The Mill on the Floss (Eliot), A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway) and The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Sterne). That's a shame for them but, honestly, this year deserved to be dedicated to Dickens. 

If I had to pick favourites I'd say it's a tie between Bleak House and Emma. I loved the depth of the former and the humour of the latter. Two very different texts but enjoyable for different reasons. That said, I didn't dislike any of these books. If I had to pick my least favourite it would probably be Oliver Twist but that's just because I enjoyed all of the others immensely. 

I'd like to thank November's Autumn for hosting this challenge and making me push myself a little. It's been great fun and I'd urge you to go read some of the other wrap-up posts listed over here to see what other people have been reading this year. 

A Classics Challenge: September Prompt

This was by far the most difficult of all the prompts so far this year: "This month's prompt is to select a piece of music that you feel reflects the book. Modern, classical, jazz, anything, it doesn't have to be from the period of the novel but share what it is about the piece that echoes the novel in someway." Now, I read The Mayor of Casterbridge, a novel so complex that I couldn't think of a single song that bore much relation to it (reviewed here). However, then I had a thought.

Quite a few years ago Carla Bruni (now Mrs Sarkozy) released an album that performed quite badly in the charts. I was one of the ones who bought a copy, mainly because the premise intrigued me: poems by greats such as Christina Rossetti and W.H. Auden set to music. So it was to this album I finally turned, in the belief that I might find a suitable song. I was right. This is 'Promises Like Pie Crust' by Christina Rossetti, poem first then video of the song at the bottom.



Promise me no promises, 
So will I not promise you: 
Keep we both our liberties, 
Never false and never true: 
Let us hold the die uncast, 
Free to come as free to go: 
For I cannot know your past, 
And of mine what can you know? 

You, so warm, may once have been 
Warmer towards another one: 
I, so cold, may once have seen 
Sunlight, once have felt the sun: 
Who shall show us if it was 
Thus indeed in time of old? 
Fades the image from the glass, 
And the fortune is not told. 

If you promised, you might grieve 
For lost liberty again: 
If I promised, I believe 
I should fret to break the chain. 
Let us be the friends we were, 
Nothing more but nothing less: 
Many thrive on frugal fare 
Who would perish of excess.

A Classics Challenge: August Prompt

For the first time this year I've stepped away from Charles Dickens in this challenge. You can read my review of Jane Austen's Emma here but the prompt this month is to share a few memorable quotes from the book of the month. I'm going to share some of the best pieces of dialogue from some of the most memorable characters in the novel. I haven't included Miss Bates because I'd be unable to type for the rest of the week if I copied out one of her speeches!

Emma to Mr Knightley - "Thank you. I should be mortified, indeed, if I did not believe I had been of some use; but it is not everybody who will bestow praise where they may. You do not often overpower me with it." (p45)

Mr Knightley to Emma - "Upon my word, Emma, to hear you abusing the reason you have, is almost enough to make me think so too. Better be without sense than misapply it as you do." (p49)

Mr Elton to Emma - "Miss Smith! I never thought of Miss Smith in the whole course of my existence; never paid her any attentions, but as your friend; never cared whether she were dead or alive, but as your friend. If she has fancied otherwise, her own wishes have misled her, and I am very sorry, extremely sorry. But, Miss Smith, indeed! Oh, Miss Woodhouse, who can think of Miss Smith when Miss Woodhouse is near? No, upon my honour, there is no unsteadiness of character. I have thought only of you. I protest against having paid the smallest attention to any one else. Everything I have said or done, for many weeks past, has been with the sole view of marking my adoration of yourself. You cannot seriously doubt it." (p105)

Mr Woodhouse to Emma - "You will make my excuses, my dear, as civilly as possible. You will say that I am quite an invalid, and go nowhere, and therefore must decline their obliging invitation; beginning with my compliments, of course. But you will do everything right. I need not tell you what is to be done." (p167)

Mrs Elton to Emma - "So extremely like Maple Grove! And it is not merely the house; the grounds, I assure you, as far as I could observe, are strikingly like. The laurels at Maple Grove are in the same profusion as here, and stand very much in the same way - just across the lawn; and I had a glimpse of a fine large tree, with a bench round it, which put me so exactly in mind! My brother and sister will be enchanted with this place. People who have extensive grounds themselves are always pleased with anything in the same style." (p218)

A Classics Challenge: July Prompt

I've been rather absent from this challenge recently (you can read my January and February responses, also on Dickens!) but I'm ready to participate again. The prompt for July is: What is a moment, quote, or character that you feel will stay with you? Years from now, when some of the details have faded, that lasting impression the book has left you with... what is it? --or why did it fail to leave an impression? I chose to consider The Old Curiosity Shop, reviewed in full here.

It may be an odd choice for me to say that Richard Swiveller from this novel will stick with me for quite some time. Although he doesn't have the presence within the story as, say, Daniel Quilp, his evolution through the novel is as memorable as anything else. Originally introduced as something of an accomplice to Fred Trent's plans to get his hands on money he perceives his grandfather to have, he is nudged towards a marriage with Nell Trent and is forced to sacrifice the affections of Miss Sophy Wackles as a result. He's manipulated by Quilp after the loss of an inheritance forces him to look for a job and ends up working at Quilp's behest for a lawyer and his sister, Sampson and Sally Brass. Poor Richard is then manipulated by them!

What I liked about Richard was the fact that he originally entered the novel as a potential villain (albeit a dim-witted one) and ended it as one of the chief saviours. Although he is struck down with a fever, it's his previous kind attentions to the 'Marchioness' which bring about the climax of the novel and the end of Daniel Quilp. My favourite paragraphs pertaining to Richard are those which summarise his life after the novel:

"Mr Swiveller, recovering very slowly from his illness, and entering into the receipt of his annuity, bought for the Marchioness a handsome stock of clothes, and put her to school forthwith, in redemption of the vow he had made upon his fevered bed. After casting about for some time for a name which should be worthy of her, he decided in favour of Sophronia Sphynx, as being euphonious and genteel, and furthermore indicative of mystery. Under this title the Marchioness repaired, in tears, to the school of his selection, from which, as she soon distanced all competitors, she was removed before the lapse of many quarters to one of a higher grade. It is but bare justice to Mr Swiveller to say, that, although the expenses of her education kept him in straightened circumstances for half a dozen years, he never slackened in his zeal, and always held himself sufficiently repaid by the accounts he heard (with great gravity) of her advancement, on his monthly visits to the governess, who looked upon him as a literary gentleman of eccentric habits, and of a most prodigious talent in quotation.


In a word, Mr Swiveller kept the Marchioness at this establishment until she was, at a moderate guess, full nineteen years of age - good-looking, clever, and good-humoured; when he began to consider seriously what was to be done next. On one of his periodical visits, while he was resolving this question in his mind, the Marchioness came down to him, alone, looking more smiling and more fresh than ever. Then it occurred to him, but not for the first time, that if she would marry him, how comfortable they might be! So Richard asked her; whatever she said, it wasn't No; and they were married in good earnest that day week, which gave Mr Swiveller frequent occasion to remark at divers subsequent periods that there had been a young lady saving up for him after all." (p541)

It may seem a strange thing to enjoy - a girl growing up under the benevolence of a man then marrying him - but Dickens has hinted at such a final solution through all their previous interactions. He offers it with dignity, as Richard educates her, almost beggaring himself in the process, and makes their marriage an equal - and more morally decent - one.

A Classics Challenge: January Prompt

For my first book in this challenge, I read Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (reviewed yesterday). The prompt for this month is "The Author". That struck me as amusing to say the least. What do you say about Dickens that hasn't been said before, especially during his bicentennial year? Well, let me quote The Monthly Review on Oliver Twist from January 1839:

"We have already expressed an opinion in regard to the power and combining talent of Mr. Dickens, and of the easy yet artistic manner in which he can work up his pictures by a diffusive and copious command of a great number of accessaries. He seems to have made himself master of human feelings and actions in so far as they are developed in the lower or middling walks of London life; and what is more, he cherishes a good natured sympathy with all, entering as it were into the condition of his most immoral characters so as in his portraiture to give heartily a perfect image, a rotund flesh and blood embodiment of each, - becoming thus the creator of new personages; but yet in all respects so natural in their lineaments that one feels convinced he has actually met with them in the streets and had more or less intercourse with them. He is a humane satirist; he is free from all bitterness; he never indulges in invective of any kind. His language is natural and happily wedded to his vivifying conceptions; and last but not least, - he is quite unaffected and far above attempts at imitation, - that is, he is a true originalist."

A little wordy but the points are clear enough. Dickens seemed to write this novel as a true representation of people he had observed and he's content enough to observe and allow his characters to pass judgement. His narrator's voice doesn't impede much in the novel, aside from scene setting. The characters tend to speak for themselves, with limited interference, in a manner that adds to the realism of the story. The Monthly Review was right - Dickens shows himself to be a master of human feelings in Oliver Twist, which perhaps explains the novel's enduring success.

Reading Challenge: Short Story Challenge

At the beginning of the year I condemned myself for not reading as many short stories collections as I should have. Unfortunately, I haven't really rectified that problem this year so when I came across a reading challenge from the Library of Clean Reads blog specifically to encourage reading short story collections I knew I had to participate. More details about the challenge can be found here.

I'm going for the 'Tales Galore' category which is seven to nine books, mainly because I already have seven collections sitting on my bookshelves. Here is the list so far:

1. Night Shivers - Charlotte Riddell
2. Sensation Stories - Wilkie Collins
3. Wish I Was Here - Jackie Kay
4. The New York Stories - Edith Wharton
5. The Collected Stories - Katherine Mansfield
6. Daughters of Decadence - Various
7. Touchy Subjects - Emma Donoghue
8. ???
9. ???

I'll add the final two collections later and the list is subject to change. I'm looking forward to delving into these collections, several of which have been festering on the shelf for quite some time. Although Riddell and Collins have links to my PhD work, I promise that this is all fun reading.

Reading Challenge: A Classics Challenge

I came across this excellent challenge for 2012 hosted by November's Autumn. Read seven words of classic literature in the year (only three of which may be re-reads) and visit the blog every month for a prompt to write about (although I'm certain I'll be writing a review alongside that). Find about about the challenge here.

The classics I'm going to read are nothing to do with my PhD but have all been gathering dust on my bookshelves for quite some time. Here's the list:

1. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
2. Mary Barton - Elizabeth Gaskell
3. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
4. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
5. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman - Laurence Sterne
6. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
7. The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy

The list is subject to change. I'm starting with Bleak House but that could take me most of the year! It looks to be a fun challenge, reading some of the books I really feel I should've read already. The only one I'm not really looking forward to is The Mill on the Floss - I've tried to get into that on several occasions and failed miserably. That one may disappear from the list!

Book Review: Starting From Scratch by Georgia Beers

This was an undemanding lesbian romance that was sufficiently interesting for me to read in one sitting.

Avery King lives with her dog Steve, enjoys baking and spending time with her grandmother amongst other things. One thing she certainly isn't keen on is spending time with children but, thanks to owing a favour to a friend, she ends up coaching a sports team for five and six year-olds. Avery finds herself falling for the mother of one of the kids, complicating her life and changing the things she thought she wanted.

As I said, this was an easy book to read. It doesn't offer anything profound but it does tug at the heartstrings in places. One scene particularly towards the end had me welling up. There aren't many passages of character analysis but detail is scattered so delicately through the dialogue that the reader is rarely at a loss to decipher the motivations of any particular characters. I also found the young boy in the story, Max, to be delightful and realistic - not the whining and irritating child you find so often in novels.

One of my major difficulties with this book had everything to do with me and nothing to do with the book itself - as an English reader some of the Americanisms just baffled me at times. It made reading something of a guessing game but I don't think altered my enjoyment of the novel much. A more relevant criticism relates to the plot twist that emerges a few chapters from the end. Although it stems out of a perfectly natural occurrence - and the book is reaching a natural conclusion - I found it to be ultimately rushed over in the epilogue. I would rather the twist hadn't been put in as it didn't affect the main narrative much. However, from a character point of view, I understand why Beers wanted to tie up the loose end.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a modern lesbian romance without too many strings attached.

I read this book for the LGBT Reading Challenge 2011.