Alex In Leeds

(Alex Wolf's Book Reviews and Adventures)

Reading Review: July, August and September 2013

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My life as a student by Lynn D. Rosentrater

Rather than trying to backdate monthly reviews for the last couple of months here’s a round up of the books I finished (with links to the couple I reviewed here) and a few plans for October… :)

July
67) Aphra Behn – Oroonoko (Fic)
68) Anita Brookner – Hotel du Lac (Fic)
69) Elizabeth Jenkins – The Tortoise And The Hare (Fic)
70) Claire Tomalin – Shelley And His World (Non-Fic)
71) Nigel Slater – Tender II (Non-Fic)
72) Connie Willis – Doomsday Book (Fic)
73) W G Hoskins – The Making of the English Landscape (Non-Fic)

August
74) Penelope Fitzgerald – The Bookshop (Fic)
75) Bea Johnson – Zero Waste Home (Non-Fic)
76) Mary Robinette Kowal – Shades of Milk and Honey (Fic)
77) Elizabeth von Arnim – Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (Fic)
78) Clare Leighton – Four Hedges (Non-Fic)
79) Katie Roiphe – In Praise of Messy Lives (Non-Fic)

September
80) Rebecca West – The Return of the Soldier (Fic)
81) Laurie Lee – As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (Non-Fic)
82) E Nesbit – The Railway Children (Fic)
83) Vita Sackville-West – All Passion Spent (Fic)
84) The Ethicurean Cookbook (Non-Fic)
85) Laurie R King – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (Fic)
86) Ron McMillan – Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland (Non-Fic)
87) Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – Hugh’s Three Good Things (Non-Fic)
88) Winifred Watson – Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (Fic)

There were also about fifteen books started and abandoned over the summer too. I plan on reviewing about half of those finished – The Railway Children was a curious read as an adult who’d never seen the film or read it before, Shades of Milk and Honey was an interesting Austenesque world with intriguing use of magic but a CRAZY ending that made me wince. I also have my last book jar book to review, the 17th century tale of misery and revenge that is Oroonoko, and I can’t believe it’s over two months since I finished Claire Tomalin’s biographical volume on the Romantic poet, Shelley. Since As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is from my Classics Club list so I’ll be sharing some thoughts on that too.

Favourite reads? July has to be Doomsday Book, a time travel novel about a student being accidentally dropped into a village in the middle of  the Black Death. Flawed editing but still sparking with ideas and every time I read that book I feel like I have been there and know the characters. August would be Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther but that won’t surprise anyone who read my rather enthusiastic review. :)

And my favourite read of September would be Between Weathers without a moment’s hesitation. Written in 2005 it was the first travel book solely about the Shetland Isles since 1869 and it seems like a long time since I’ve read a piece of travel writing that gives such a real sense of community and place. Given the fact that I want to run away to an island or lighthouse about once a month it was the perfect book to escape with. Look out for my review later this week.

Coming Up In October

I’m taking a three month break from the libraries to try and concentrate on the books I own that won’t fit into my bookcases! Havng sorted out all the books hiding around my house (how, how do they get into some of these bizarre hidey holes???), I have three crates of books that can’t be crammed into my five and half cases. I’ve spent so many years with my books in cupboards, wardrobes, in the storage space in the basement, in boxes, in the spare room… I really do want to get to a point where I can see everything I own at a glance. Especially when about half the books I own I haven’t read. So this month I will be finishing the last handful of books I still have out from the public library. This pile has in it: To The Lighthouse which I’ve been reading for over three weeks now, I’m determined to finish it, Macfarlane’s The Old Ways which I’ve been meaning to read since it came out, a small stash of cookbooks I’ve borrowed to look over for inspiration and The Story of England by Michael Wood (a historian whose generous, non-royalty focused approach I adore). Then I’m going to start digging into my To Be Read shelves. I fancy more travel writing, I’ve got Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai to read (I loved her outrageous satire, Lightning Rods, last year) and I’m looking forward to seeing what my book jar has in store for my next pick…

I really am remarkably glad to have my reading mojo back. :)

Image: My life as a student by Lynn D. Rosentrater via Flickr

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Author: Alex in Leeds

Book reviewer, blogger, photographer and adventuress who completed 101 goals in 1001 days. I can be found on Twitter as @AlexInLeeds.

3 thoughts on “Reading Review: July, August and September 2013

  1. Some interesting and varied books there, Alex! I have given up on library books because I never read them – the pressure from Mount TBR is too great. And it isn’t getting any smaller…… Time for a clear out I think. Look forward to hearing what you read in October!

  2. Ditto everthing Kaggsy said for me!

  3. Yah for reading mojo! I’ve finally got myself a copy of Fitzgerald’s The Bookshop, motivated by your review. Looking forward to that. You know, I think I’ve never read The Railway Children. Hmmm. Another one for the list.

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