I'm still feeling a reading restlessness and dipping into numerous books at once which is not my normal way of reading but which I am enjoying as most of them are set in the first half of the 20th century and it provides interesting comparisons. Today I brought home from the library....
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny......my favourite mystery series which I've had on hold and can't wait to read.
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey......suddenly the year is racing to an end and I still have three books to read to finish the Vintage Mystery Challenge so I was delighted to find the library had a copy of this in their back room. I've been wanting to read it for years. A convalescent policeman lightens boredom by investigating the mystery deaths of the Princes in the Tower.
War & Peace and Sonya by Judith Armstrong......the wife of Leo Tolstoy tells the story of her marriage and her involvement with her husband's writing. I hadn't heard of this book before but it sounds my sort of story.
The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst........has been on my TBR for ages and as my reading is focused on this era at present it seems a good time to read it. It begins in 1913 and follows the changing fortunes of two families - an ' impeccably nuanced exploration of changing taste, class and social etiquette.'
Mrs Woolf & the Servants by Alison Light....explores the hidden history of service. Through Virginia Woolf's diaries and letters and brilliant detective work, the author chronicles the lives of those forgotten women who worked behind the scenes in Bloomsbury. (NF)
Fanny Trollope by Pamela Neville-Sington......the story of the mother of Anthony Trollope, herself a successful novelist and travel writer. (NF)
What's in your library loot this week?
It's your non-fiction that catches my eye this week! Simon T recommended Mrs Woolf and the Servants to me shortly after I started blogging but, almost three years later, I still haven't read it. Oops. And everything I've heard about Fanny Trollope makes her sound like the most extraordinary woman so I'm sure that book will be fascinating. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the mood for non-fiction at the moment so looking forward to both of these.
DeleteI love Louise Penny too! but I really struggled with this latest one, for some reason I can't quite define, so I put it aside. I'm interested to hear what you think of it.
ReplyDeleteI'm also interested in the biography of Fanny Trollope, but mostly in relation to Anthony. I have a bit of a prejudice against her as a bad mother - maybe the book will set me straight.
Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. I haven't been disappointed yet but there's always a first time.
DeleteI don't know anything about FT but certainly very much looking forward to this biography particularly in regards to Anthony.
I haven't heard of these but I hope you enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too, Linda.
DeleteWar & Peace and Sonya sounds really interesting! I read Sonya's diary when it was published a couple years ago - fascinating look at the tempestuous relationship between her and her famous husband.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was an actual diary - it sounds very interesting and I'll have to see if the library has a copy.
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