July Books
Jul. 31st, 2009 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
callmemadamI seem to have improved my average this month; it's a lot to do with having books you're really keen to read. Yesterday I set off for the library full of hope, picturing myself coming home with a pile of books but I returned with nothing.
Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon
This is the first Brunetti book so I’m reading them well out of order. I missed characters like Vianello and Signorina Elettra (sp) who appear in the later novels. I also spotted surprising inconsistencies. In this first book, Brunetti is a grump in the mornings and his wife Paula is up and running and together; in the other books I’ve read it’s Paula who has trouble getting up and Brunetti who is relentlessly, irritatingly cheerful in the mornings. Brunetti is investigating the death of a world famous conductor who is very similar to Jilly Cooper’s evil maestro, Ranaldini (see Score and other novels). Unfortunately on page 172 I guessed what had happened, so the rest of the book was just fill-in.
Life After God, Douglas Coupland. A beautiful book, deceptively simply written; every sentence counts.
Delay of Execution, Hazel Holt. Sheila Malory takes a teaching job for a term and investigates a death. I don’t really like her away from Taviscombe. When she’s at home and knows everybody, it’s quite credible that people chat to her and unwittingly drop useful pieces of information. I found it hard to believe that people she’s known only a short time would open up as they do.
Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire, Iain Sinclair *L
Death in Kashmir, M M Kaye
Years ago, I read The Far Pavilions and thought it was dreadful. So I wasn’t expecting much from this, kindly lent to me. To my surprise I enjoyed it very much, far more than many of the modern light thrillers I’ve been reading lately. It’s set in beautiful Kashmir when the British are about to leave India. Sarah, just out of the WAAF, is enjoying a last season there when she unwittingly finds herself caught up in The Great Game, with a romance thrown in. Light, unpretentious, enjoyable. Made me wish I hadn’t got rid of all those Helen Macinnes thrillers I used to have.
Henrietta’s War, Joyce Dennys, re-read
Henrietta Sees it Through, Joyce Dennys re-read
Castle in the Air, Maysie Greig
The Girl from the Fiction Department Sonia Orwell, Hilary Spurling *L
Miss Buncle’s Book, D E Stevenson
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, Fannie Flagg *L
A Proper Education for Girls, Elaine Di Rollo. *L
Emma, Jane Austen. Re-read
The Proper Place, O Douglas. Re-read. I think this must be twice in one year!
Fatal Legacy, Hazel Holt *L
Someone at A Distance, Dorothy Whipple *L
The Poisoning in the Pub, Simon Brett. *L The latest Fethering mystery
The Thoughtful Dresser, Linda Grant
I'm currently reading Force of Nature by Sue Cook and I've ordered these
from The Book People.
Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon
This is the first Brunetti book so I’m reading them well out of order. I missed characters like Vianello and Signorina Elettra (sp) who appear in the later novels. I also spotted surprising inconsistencies. In this first book, Brunetti is a grump in the mornings and his wife Paula is up and running and together; in the other books I’ve read it’s Paula who has trouble getting up and Brunetti who is relentlessly, irritatingly cheerful in the mornings. Brunetti is investigating the death of a world famous conductor who is very similar to Jilly Cooper’s evil maestro, Ranaldini (see Score and other novels). Unfortunately on page 172 I guessed what had happened, so the rest of the book was just fill-in.
Life After God, Douglas Coupland. A beautiful book, deceptively simply written; every sentence counts.
Delay of Execution, Hazel Holt. Sheila Malory takes a teaching job for a term and investigates a death. I don’t really like her away from Taviscombe. When she’s at home and knows everybody, it’s quite credible that people chat to her and unwittingly drop useful pieces of information. I found it hard to believe that people she’s known only a short time would open up as they do.
Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire, Iain Sinclair *L
Death in Kashmir, M M Kaye
Years ago, I read The Far Pavilions and thought it was dreadful. So I wasn’t expecting much from this, kindly lent to me. To my surprise I enjoyed it very much, far more than many of the modern light thrillers I’ve been reading lately. It’s set in beautiful Kashmir when the British are about to leave India. Sarah, just out of the WAAF, is enjoying a last season there when she unwittingly finds herself caught up in The Great Game, with a romance thrown in. Light, unpretentious, enjoyable. Made me wish I hadn’t got rid of all those Helen Macinnes thrillers I used to have.
Henrietta’s War, Joyce Dennys, re-read
Henrietta Sees it Through, Joyce Dennys re-read
Castle in the Air, Maysie Greig
The Girl from the Fiction Department Sonia Orwell, Hilary Spurling *L
Miss Buncle’s Book, D E Stevenson
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, Fannie Flagg *L
A Proper Education for Girls, Elaine Di Rollo. *L
Emma, Jane Austen. Re-read
The Proper Place, O Douglas. Re-read. I think this must be twice in one year!
Fatal Legacy, Hazel Holt *L
Someone at A Distance, Dorothy Whipple *L
The Poisoning in the Pub, Simon Brett. *L The latest Fethering mystery
The Thoughtful Dresser, Linda Grant
I'm currently reading Force of Nature by Sue Cook and I've ordered these
from The Book People.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 02:30 pm (UTC)If you'd posted this yesterday I could have packed some. I like the sounds of Death in Kashmir.
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Date: 2009-07-31 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 04:09 pm (UTC)I think I have Above Suspicion, but she wrote so many...
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Date: 2009-07-31 07:19 pm (UTC)I'm so pleased you liked Miss Mole; I wasn't at all sure that you would!
Your July books
Date: 2009-08-05 03:10 pm (UTC)"And what a joy this book was. I don't think there is any author who knows her locale and writes of it so exactly and so lovingly as M. M. Kaye. The reader sees every tree, and feels every change in the air. The mystery is a good one, and the characters were really great."
Have I already asked if you've read her three part autobiography? Some of the best writing ever- she had this amazing memory which she talks about where she could recall events and places perfectly.
I want to get more O. Douglas, though I'd like to change her name back to her real one. I'm put off by her pen name. Isn't that weird?! :<)
Re: Your July books
Date: 2009-08-05 03:43 pm (UTC)You're thinking, 'Oh, Douglas'.