Recently finished Small Steps Paws and Hooves by 'Spud' Talbot-Ponsonby. Despite the unlikely monika Spud (a female) writes about a journey she made through part of the Scottish Highlands following the old drover's trails. She was accompanied by a Clydesdale horse who carried both the luggage/camping gear and her one year old son, in a specially made wicker saddle/basket, and her Dr 'partner'.
She had previously walked round the entire coast line of Great Britain and did this shorter expedition after the shock of discovering that she had cervical cancer within weeks of the birth of her baby (the baby's father had done a 'runner' on finding she was pregnant). On recovering from the necessary operation and the depression that followed this journey helped her come to terms with her life and what had been her many problems. Not as down-beat as it may sound and good descriptions of the Autumn scenery in that part of Scotland.

Next read An Irish Childhood by Peter Somerville-Large. Forget 'Angela's Ashes' and similar tales of poverty and nasty goings-on by sadistic priests and nuns. P S-L was brought up in Dublin, the son of a well-known surgeon who's family had spread themselves widely throughout the Empire (an G Uncle had founded the Aus city of Brisbane) while the Irish branch were becoming increasing eccentric! An Aunt was the well-known Edith Somerville who wrote the much loved Irish RM tales. He describes holidays on the West coast where his Father had brought a small island which he filled with friends all expected to 'help' in road building, sailing trips, fishing etc.
He has written several other books about Ireland and his world travels.

Here is a link that might be useful: Talking about his travels in the East.

I'm in the middle of The Call by Yannick Murphy. It's so nice to be reading a book that I really, really like. I want to say it's quite unique, but I know I shouldn't use a modifier with unique. It's narrated by a large-animal vet in rural New England. He tells about various calls he gets from animal owners - not only what he does to aid the animal, but also what he's thinking and all kinds of other things that are happening before, during, and after the call.

I'm almost finished with another Angela Thirkell, this one called Cheefulness Breaks In, a play on words since it's set just when WWII is about to erupt (and thus the phrase war breaks out). I have made a list of all the Thirkell Barsetshire books - my, that will keep my little OCD mind happy for a while collecting them through ILL and then crossing their titles off the list. :-)

As my non-fiction, I'm reading a rather heavy and *serious* book called Mad, Bad, and Sad about the history of women and perceived (historically speaking) mental illness. Fascinating, but as mentioned, a bit *serious*. I need to have it read by July 07 so might have to jump over the less interesting chapters. (It's ILL so no renewals.)

As a slightly naughty aside: I wonder what happens if you keep an ILL overdue its return date... :->

And work is unbelievably busy but hopefully the big projects will finished next week. However, I still think about the Spring months when I wasn't sure if I had a job, so certainly not complaining here...

Just counting down to our holiday on a Mexican beach in mid-July.... Learned the word plangent which means the sound of the waves as they roll onto the beach.... Very lovely to think about right now!

Lemon, get your library to ask the issuing library if the ILL book is needed by a borrower, if not, they could probably extend the loan period. Or request it again!

I back to juggling several books. I'll go from one to the other and read a chapter here, a couple of pages there, and then lose myself in rereading old favourites. For example, out of 12 books finished in June, 7 were rereads, and now I am listening to an audio version of one of them. It's like an obsession.

I am making some progress with A Passage to India, something like a chapter a day. In July I plan to make a push to finish Shirley, and then go back to Lolita, which I started last year but have been making slow progress with.

What I need to break out of this pattern is a new book that will blow me away and keep me reading into the middle of the night.

In my spare time I am putting together a list of books I might read for a 19th century reading challenge, similar to the 20th century group challenge. I may post some of the titles I have found to get your opinions to help me choose which books I read when I come to a particularly difficult year. Interestingly, it looks like I could do a challenge of 19th century women writers.

Another re-read. My DH Tom and I just came home from a vacation to England, France, and Germany. I was attending a rose conference in Germany and he was going on a bike tour near Avignon. We both spent a few days in England visiting friends. Tom is nearly through reading Connie Willis's All Cear and in honor of the trip, I re-read Black Out , then All Clear after I got home myself. This two volume novel is set in England during WWII, and I like it better with each reading. This was my third. While waiting for me to get back from the conference, Tom went to visit Bletchley Park, the place where the code breakers worked. When I joined him, we went together to visit St Paul's Cathedral. Both sites featured prominently in the novel.

Rosefolly

I just started Bram Stoker's The Lair of the White Worm, which is a very peculiar little novel. For some reason it keeps reminding me of Edward Gorey. His illustrations would have been perfect for this very strange Edwardian horror story.

Paul Theroux is thought by many to be the best living travel writer. I'm reading a fascinating work about his travels in Africa, from Egypt down to Zimbabwe and Zambia, covering Ethiopia, the Sudan, and Kenya, en route. "Dark Star Safari" is amazingly honest and often shocking. Theroux does not smooth over what he sees and hears.

Woodnymph,

Haven't read Sharyn McCrumb in a while but always liked her. She has a light enjoyable mystery series but the titles now escape me. Plus of course her mountain novels.
She does have a stand alone mystery titled "Missing Susan" which I loved, about an unliked girl on a mystery tour.
gbg

Actually, gooseberrygirl, I believe Missing Susan is part of the Elizabeth MacPherson series that you were probably thinking of..

McCrumb also has three books about car racing. The first one is St. Dale about a tour group following Dale Earnhardt's races--and the deceased Dale keeps showing up to help people solve their problems. It is hysterical.

She also wrote two science fiction ones that are quite funny. She is a very talented lady.

Carolyn,

You're absolutely right......I had forgotten it was part of the Elizabeth McPherson series.....it's been at least a decade since I read it. I discovered my error a couple of hours ago when I borrowed it from the library for a reread.
Cindy

Ten days ago I said goodbye to a webcomic I had been following religiously for a year: Darwin Carmichael is going to Hell. It had actually been running since 2009, but I discovered it last year and went all the way back and read it from the beginning. The authors decided to wind it up and the last page ran on July 2. If you like graphic novels and fantasy, you might enjoy it.

The last book I finished was Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. I'm glad I didn't do any background reading about it and so came to it with a completely open mind. I only feel sorry for the poor souls who read my blog and have had to endure my meandering comments and speculations about it. Found it enjoyable, but not up to par with Jane Eyre, although I must say I liked the lead characters better.

Here is a link that might be useful: Darwin Carmichael is going to Hell

I finished The Call by Yannick Murphy. There was a lot I liked about it, but thought it ended kind of weakly. All in all, it was a nice little book.

Now I'm on to Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher - my next Century of Books selection. I think I'm going to like this one.

Oh dear, I have been constantly renewing a library book as I haven't been able to get much time to read recently.
There has been a massive change in my life as I have had to move within my retirement village. Although everything has been done to make it as easy as possible, it has been quite upsetting.
The men who packed my stuff weren't surprised at all the books but commented about the number of vases I have accumulated!
I must admit that I do have a lot. I like doing flower arrangements and often buy a vase or container that catches my eye when I wander through a charity shop!
I hope to get settled in my new home and finish the book soon!
One thing that pleases me is the garden in front of my bedroom window is asking to be made into a rose bed. I have been looking up rose varieties online for a gardening grandson to get for me at a good rose specialist nursery close to his home.
I have keen gardeners in my family, one grandson is a professional landscaper and my son's in-laws own a plant nursery! His daughter has a Dianella variety named after her.

Finished up Founding Myths by Ray Raphael. It is non-fiction American History and looks at some of our most cherished tales from an historical perspective. (For example... many elementary history texts STILL take their "facts" on the tale of Paul Revere's ride from the Longfellow poem, not real history. Example 2: Corwallis faked being sick so he would not have to surrender personally to George Washington. Totally miffed, Washington sent his second in command to receive the sword.) I took my time with it and enjoyed every single page.

Also finished Rhys Bowen's Heirs and Graces, the latest in the Lady Georgiana mystery series. Fun and light and not a smidgen of depth but I enjoy the escapism.

For book club, I read Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. I laughed out loud but can honestly say that while it was very humorous, my thoughts and the discussion led to much deeper discourse.

PAM

Since finishing Gone With the Wind, I have zipped through some easy-read library books: Murder on the Flying Scotsman, a Daisy Dalrymple post-WWI flapper book by Carola Dunn, and Murder in Chelsea, Victorian New York, by Victoria Thompson,and am now reading Blood Alone, WWII adventure by James H. Benn. This is the third Benn I've read, and I find them very interesting. The hero is a Boston Irish cop whose uncle is General Eisenhower. He was supposed to have a nice, safe job in DDE's office but, of course, finds himself in various danger spots in Europe.

I am reading Zelda Fitzgerald's only novel, Save Me the Waltz for the Century of Books project. Has anyone else read it? It is a first novel, so there are some technical aspects which the author did not master. But otherwise it is a fascinating and extremely well-written book. I am so much more impressed with it than I thought I would be.

Tim, years ago, I did extensive reading about the symbiotic relationship between Scott and Zelda. Several works I read suggested that it was Zelda who was the talented writer, and that Scott fed off her ideas. There is no doubt that she was a gifted author in her own right. Of course, there is also the fact of the times she lived in, when women (especially Southern women) were often not given credit for their achievements.

I read a book called Reviver by Seth Patrick. The premise was interesting - some people have the ability to bring a person back to life for a short time. Thus murder victims are able to give evidence about how they died, and there is a Forensic Revival Service which attends crime scenes where the revival is taped.
However, rather than a crime type book, it turned out to be more in the horror genre, and I don't think I will read the sequels.
I also read an advance copy of The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz. She is by far the best of the erotica authors I have read, and this book is a really good finish to the first arc of her Original Sinners series.

Woodnymph, Scott and Zelda seem to be everywhere these days, don't they? It is interesting to see so many younger readers taking to them. I myself have not read any of the major biographies of them, so I could not judge just how much autobiography was in Save Me the Waltz. I agree that Zelda's Southern heritage was a very important aspect of her personality. Some of the best parts of the novel are set in Alabama. It is not a perfect book, but it is still a sadly overlooked gem.

Reading "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver. I am enjoying the way this book is written.

A cross-post from our Century of Books project:

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett is a charming little book that urges men to make life richer by becoming passionate about something, preferably something suitably highbrow like music, and to spend part of each day in deliberate consideration of reason, principles, and conduct. Yes, I did say "men" because this book, a bestseller published in 1912, is obviously aimed at men who work in central London and live comfortably on the outskirts, perhaps a 30-40 minute train ride away. These men have no domestic responsibilities, i.e. they live in magic houses where cooked food appears at mealtimes and closets always contain clean and pressed clothing. Children are off at boarding school or cared for by suitable females.
Yes, I realize I sound rather snarky, and I shouldn't as I found this little book quite charming, and one of those quaint snapshots of a long-vanished lifestyle. Working hours are 10 AM to 6 PM, and work is some sort of pleasant interlude between train rides, where one reads several newspapers and looks forward to an evening spent in eating magically appearing food and seeing friends, playing tennis, going to concerts. And I have no doubt that is the way it really was for the men this book was written for.

I am giving short shift to the message of this book, which is indeed relevant today, and I have not put it in the proper context. It was written at a time when, for the first time in history, large numbers of white collar workers went off to offices rather to physical labor, and their lives went by in a sort of mechanized dream state, where one wakes up, eats breakfast, gets on a train...basically a somewhat meaningless existence. And he drives home a very important point - time is something we cannot get more of. And we can make the most the time we have by doing more than just existing.

The fact that this was written just before the Great War, which ripped apart the world in which these men lived, is terribly poignant.

I would never have discovered this little gem if not for this project - thank you, Lemonhead!

Ladyrose65 - Your comment about Flight Behavior is intriguing. Can you describe what you mean by "the way the book is written?"

I'm currently reading Deaver's The Kill Room . I'm having trouble keeping the mystery characters straight. (This is a test posting besides a report.)

I've been trying to get through Lud-in-the-Mist for the Century of Books project and I keep picking it up and putting it down and days and weeks go by .... I am so completely stalled that I may just choose another book from the same year and send LitM back to the TBR pile.

I finished The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout for my local book group and thought it was quite good. She has an uncanny way of taking something that seems simple and giving it remarkable depth. Definitely a good book for discussion.

Today I read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars in one sitting. It was so breathtakingly, heartbreakingly, incredibly good, that I am still reeling a bit. The main characters are teenagers with cancer, but don't let that put you off -- it was vibrant, intelligent, funny and tragic and I can't say enough good things about it.

To my great surprise I have just finished and thoroughly enjoyed E.M. Forster's A Passage to India. I credit David Lean's film for giving me the proper frame of reference to enjoy this work. I saw the film when I was much younger and I will admit I did not understand it at all. Seeing it a few weeks ago was a complete revelation. The atmosphere created in the film carried me through the book and turned something I once found dry as dust into a compelling story.

I have the latest Daniel Silva, The English Girl and enjoying it as always.

I picked up a book called Genreflecting: a Guide to Popular Reading Interest, edited by Cynthia Orr and Diana Tixier Herald at the library and have been dipping into it over the past several days. It's been interesting to see what titles they included for the various genres and to reflect on authors they did not include. They concentrated mostly on books published since the last edition (this is the 7th) but did mention authors and titles that have been around for years. So far I haven't been tempted to try anything they've mentioned, but I'm not through with it yet.

I was going to start my first book for the century of reading project (Girl of the Limberlost) but decided to read Freckles ((by the same author, Gene Stratton Porter) first as it is a sort of prequel to GotL. Now,that I've finished Freckles, I'm ready to start Girl of the Limberlost.

I am currently finishing up "A History of Us" by Leah Stewart. The characters are memorable and the setting is modern-day Cincinnati, Ohio. I have mixed feelings, in that the pace has been quite slow. Has anyone else here read this and what did you think?

Just finished the above novel. It left me very unsatisfied, as the protagonists ended up exactly in the same dilemna they started out in. There was no conflict resolution, nor anything like redeeming hope. I was reminded of Jean Paul Sartre's "No Exit", wherein the characters are locked in a room forever, unable to escape their fates, learned helplessness, etc.

Whilst I was on holiday, I did get quality reading done on the beach (thought I'd slip that in there!). The fiction books that I picked up and read were a couple by Mildred Walker (an author from Minnesota in mid-century), the first one called "Winter Wheat" (a prairie bildungsroman novel) and the second (which was a better read) which was "The Southwest Corner" about an older woman who lives in Vermont and who is trying to decide how she should live her days out. Reminiscent of "Stone Angel" but with a much more likeable protagonist.

And then, NF was a thought-provoking tough read called "Methland" by Nick Reding - it addresses how small town rural America was hit hard by the meth epidemic and then traces the strands involved in the meth industry. Fascinating for the most part, and I learned a great deal about lobbyists, Big Pharma, drug cartels and how to make meth. :-)

Then I just finished up a book about twins - fascinating (to me) as I'm an identical twin and am always curious how other twins handle things. Also, a well written scientific journalism book at the same time, covering topics as far ranging as epigenetics (how environment can affect your genes for generations) to parenting twins and people who think they had a twin in utero but who wasn't born and they miss them. Lots to think about.

The beach was fab, btw.

I am finishing The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope, downloaded to my e-reader and started last month while I was on vacation. I put it aside to read library books that were ready when I got home but it was easy to pick back up, mostly because of the way Trollope writes. It's a good story, quite a long book, and quite Victorian, of course; but other than his use of made up names that identify his characters, his writing isn't much like his contemporary, Dickens.

I finally managed to read the much-renewed library book!
I still haven't unpacked all my boxes after my house move but after seeing how many of my books won't have a home here, I have ordered a new bookcase which has to be custom made to fit the space I have available between two doorways.
When I returned the book, I noticed a new Charles Paris mystery by Simon Brett. I thought he had finished with that character when he started the Fethering mysteries. I wish he would write another book with Melita Pargeter.
Perhaps I should suggest that on his web site!

I finished Nancy Mitford's Pigeon Pie last night. It was an amusing read, though probably not one of her most memorable books.

In meandering around various webpages, I stumbled upon a list of recommended books (can't even remember where I found this now) and downloaded an OOP freebie entitled Letter from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son by George Horace Lorimer, (editor of the Saturday Evening Post) published in 1902. It was as described, a set of letters from the successful father to his son. The letters are first sent to the boy at college, and later to various locations as he rises through the ranks of his father's company. Each letter addresses basic issues, e.g., don't spend more than you earn, how to interact with your boss and your employees, how to cultivate a good work ethic, etc. All of it basic common sense, and presented in a rather charming manner.

An unexpected book, entirely.

Here is a link that might be useful: George Horace Lorimer on wikipedia