list books read 2017
new year, new place of work fr 30/01
January:
Jackson: Engines of Instruction Mischief and Magic childrens literature in England from its beginning to 1839 good but few surprises, apart from disagreeing with some opinions of author
Kaplan (edit): Persuasions vol 26 aca-fan austen journal, this issue about persuasion
Wagner: Thomas Coram Gent 1668 -1751 biog man who founded foundling hospital. came fr lyme regis so connection w prev read!
Shapiro: Contested Will who wrote Shakespeare not about alternate candidates, about why the uncertainty and doubt came about. v readable - harsher about Malone than expected
Sutherland: Last Drink to L.A. v short bio and reflection on alcoholism. not sympathetic as dad drank and sutherland admits horrible behaviour under influence.
Hutchins (edit), Caldecott (illus): Yours Pictorially illustrated letters of Randolph Caldecott
Ellis: Take Courage anne bronte and the art of life disappointing, too much ellis not enough anne
Elletson: Maryannery mary ann Lincoln and mary ann Disraeli joint biog, writ 1950s perhaps (judging on tone and attitude to performed femininity) horribly saccharine
Brenton:Anne Boleyn playscript, hist, funny, lots religion and scheming. Saw at Globe, loved it
Welch: Mohawk Valley henty-ish hist fic, v racist about native americans, set at Wolfe battle of quebec. part of series i just completed collecting
Tanner: Raven King matthias corvinus and the fate of his lost library renaissence hungary and books and biog - v not at home w e europe history so hard work
Welch: Ensign Carey a desexed flashman - part of carey family chronicles series, morally ambiguous hero (unprecedented for welch who schoolteacher and usually painfully cleancut characterless protagonists) who in india on the make
Febuary:
Sebag Montefiore: The Romanovs UNFINISHED reading in spirit of homework, is BOTM at work. all dwarf tossing, orgies, coups, booze. material is news of the world, writing style lucid, just not huge on russia. eta: and mum died 23/01 and my ability to follow a book totally fuckedup and i hate every thing i read so there's that. mostly, problem with book is too much history crammed into single paperback, resulting in blur of centuries and all the reigns sounding the same. gave up near end of catherine the great
Thirkell: The Brandons comfort reading just right ratio of distraction to soothing
Tharoor: Inglorious Empire what the british did to india rant with supporting data on how uk gained and india's resources were plundered, by indian mp. spent a lot of time settling scores with rival political party. absolutely convincing case made and a lot of colonial points parallel to ireland's experience
Blake: Smoky Mountain Dreams bought cos fanfic writer (which one? i forget) m/m romance about country and western singer which i don't care about c+w at all, plus issue of right to euthanasia vs conservative xtian which got more nuanced handling than expected from this book
Taylor: Just One Damned Thing After Another as if connie willis' historian field anthropologist was done as a wacky sitcom without the trauma. this was somehow less than the sum of its parts, full of tropes i love but didn't care about here (terribly unreceptive so am tough audience now) start of series i won't continue unless i have flu
Retford (edit): The Art Of Domestic Life family portraiture in 18th century england something with lots illustrations and lots stuff about status and power dynamics and gender in the aristo home
Trease: Thunder of Valmy midrange trease, does his usual reliable job and reads effortlessly i hunted down trease books to read as a child and prob all the good histfic writers in puffin in 70s are why i love history now. this one about french revolution which an over ploughed field so less excited than i wanted to be.
Lanyon: So This Is Christmas sort of an epilogue to the adrian english crime m/m series, did not feel like an entire book and cannot recall a thing about plot but no way was i not reading this, the series overall is good.
March:
Philip: Firebrand fantasy novel with sidhe, gritty hovels, persecutions and sword fights. should have read in a day, but took a week and bored all the time. my mood to blame but won't read 2 + 3 of series.
Styles & Vickery (edit) Gender Taste and Material Culture in britain and north america 1700 - 1830 found secondhand and love Vickary(gentleman's daughter) so much even n remembered her name and taped a documentary she did on early 19th century courtships (the doc was horribly soundbitey, like the hist-doc parodied on season 1 of absolute power sitcom) multiple authors, coll essays, lots pics cos published by yale
Norman: Terrible Beauty life of constance markievicz 1868-1927 got because Diana Norman have prev read other bio of countess m. norman in full fangirl mode, endearing feminist case for the defence
Stamper : Word By Word the secret life of dictionaries read much of this in her blog, enjoyed lots, gave to n as part his bday present. she works for merriam webster dictionary in usa and talks about how dictionaries are made, what decisions need to happen what factors matter etc. thumbs up
Meier (edit): Daughters of Karl Marx coll letters mostly translated fr french. horribly sad lives, letters not writ remotely for publication so lot of enquiries after housecats and daily nonsense
Foy: Michael Collins' Intelligence War the struggle between the british and the ira 1919-1921 some v journalistic stylings where he introduced irrelevant colourful detail in a sentence about something unrelated, eg, x whose wife was hysterical was chosen to be in charge of y department. he tells it like the british police spy dept and the british army spy dept hated each other more and more sincerely than either hated ira and had little energy left for irish.. exaggeration
Ray: Blyton Phenomenon librarians take on b success story, written in 1980s. think i read this from pub library in cambridge in 90s
design museum: Fifty Hats That Changed The World stupid title, got remaindered. picturebook w minimal text. wish could distinguish accurately between boyhats trilby fedora porkpie
Heilbrun: Figures and Portraits mini book of vintage photographs fr musee dorsay
Quayle, illus Foreman: The Magic Ointment and other cornish legends childrens folktales, good variant of rumplestiltskin
Deutscher: Through The Language Glass why the world looks different in other languages actually after MUCH back and forth (too much devils advocate) he says it mostly looks the same. i feel bait&switched by organisation of his book
Whitaker (edit): Notes and Queries vol 2 good loo book, would william like?
April:
Goldhill: A Very Queer Family Indeed sex religion and the bensons in victorian britain v dry acad, despite coat trailing title mostly about diff between how they perceived and how they wroteup their lives, a lot about shifts in religous culture
Rhodes: Soul Mate for Sale werewolf m/m novella. love werewolves but waste of money
Smallwood: A Childhood at Green Hedges fragment of autobiography by enid blyton's daughter meant to read this when published, was then reading lot kid-lit-crit, found this in char x rd, with signature of author, dedicated to mary cadogan (who used to write reviews of child books in sundays) used to collect cadogan's books about sub literary genres, grabbed
Willis: Light Raid fun, v light (see wot i did there) ya scifi
Burden: Staging History 1780 - 1840 lots pics, based on exhibit in brit library, contributors variable
West: Shrill notes from a loud woman anti-fat-shaming from jezebel journalist, lots personal anecdotage, i liked her voice
Bronte: Agnes Grey there was girls-comic picture strip of this when teen, so had never read full text. must say, glad didn't, would have hated protagonist then. she is solid nine on the fanny price scale of judgey sanctimonious, am choosing to believe is unreliable narrator and anne bronte was side eyeing her too.
Block: Burglar Who Studied Spinoza cosy crime about larcenous bookseller, found v cheap. fond of series but not sure which have read in it
Bernobich: Time Roads timetravel steampunk fantasy with v handwavy science, posits 19th century dominated by irish empire and the anglosaxons are the terrorists muttering in alleyways. ought have loved, felt it never really came together. writ by irish american woman
Loyd: Another Bloody Love Letter memoir of war journalism in 1st iraq war, author smug and testosterony. as with skyfaring earlier this year, nothing is more poetic than prose selfconsciously trying to sound poetic - horribly pretentious UNFINISHED, went to oxfam
Dyer: Rediscovering Nancy Drew v librarian-led book based on papers from con in iowa about NDrew. many of same arguments as blyton phenomenon - censorship of lowbrow? vs nursing inadequate budget? vs consumer demand?
Maxtone-Graham: Terms & Conditions life in girls boarding schools 1939 -1979 same topic as marshall's giggling in the shrubbery but more editorial in between the vox pops. dithering over whether to get for months then saw judith kerr was in it, that clinched me. riveting.
Curry: Shakespeare on Stage vol 2 twelve leading actors on twelve key roles lovely, articulate, illuminating, made me want see plays
Ellis: Ireland in the Age of the Tudors 1447 - 1603 english expansion and the end of gaelic rule unreadably dry. I "did" tudor ireland in primary school as hist done chronologically (why am most confident on victorian ireland) so v sound-bitey in my head on pre 18th century. this book not about ireland in tudor times. is about the english tudors in the half of ireland that was the pale, and mostly about, within that area, taxation strategies. is like mogadon onna page. will prob give up on it and find something else to fill in my vagueness on tudor ireland
May:
Haag: The Durrells of Corfu the dark side of my family and other animals, a tellall. finding author v pro-empire in dogwhistle ways
Curry: Shakespeare on Stage thirteen actors on thirteen leading roles
Asleson: Notorious Muse the actress in british art and culture 1776 - 1812 big expensive yale book w illustrations, multiauthor, does not name her on cover but the actress recurring throughout book is mrs siddons. a lot of art history which did not get book for but nice to get
Amy: Jane Austen Files a complete anthology of letters and family recollections much of which had seen elsewhere
Reiss: The Black Count glory revolution betrayal and the real count of monte cristo biog of alex dumas grandpere, by ardent enthusiast, bit too much reiss at expense of dumas but what a story. keeps stopping to say; dumas novelist ripped off this incident in such and such book, which would thrill more if were fan of musketeers, will pass to krystal
Wells (edit): Shakespeare Survey 35 shakespeare in the nineteenth century
Mander: Hamlet Through the Ages a pictorial record from 1709 mostly victorian and early 20th. gloriously nerdy intro. same scene, same body language/poses repeat across generations
Tarr: Forgotten Suns fun space opera w archaeology, bronze age heros in stasis, multiple povs, non eurocentric future humans, author must've enjoyed writing, it has zest. will pass to Krystal, was amusing jenna by saying in tearoom things like "the freedom fighting opera singer has returned" "this is the 2nd historic monument heroine has blown up; I do not think she is natural archaeologist"
Cohen: Falling fluff-fic on marion keyes type. similar qualities of warmth + ensemble. UNFINISHED when romance element intensified. copy i have is proof, has diff title, summer of second chances. sent to oxfam
June:
Silkin (edit): Poetry of the Committed Individual 20th cent leftie poetry anthol
Leavis (edit): Scrutiny selections vol 1
Leavis (edit): Scrutiny selections vol 2 got for the queenie leavis article on yonge which had seen mentioned but not read, enjoyed a series of essays trying to reconstruct austen's methods of constructing plot
Flood: Style and Satire fashion in print 1777 - 1927 mostly 18th cent and regency or at least the best bits were. think was catalogue of exhib
Allen: Samuel Phelps and the Sadlers Wells Theatre
Orr: New Testament Apocryphal Writings because have seen some of these as oil paintings without knowing story. fanfic about jesus basically
Fowler: Bryant and May Strange Tide
Moore: Wedlock how georgian britain's worst husband met his match not enjoying not know why. moore is good, the 18th cent background is wonderful, think am depressed by how cruel the villain is and how its true
Caldecott: Rotherweird kinda gormenghast-ish fantasy gothic, set in english village/town, steampunk elements, characters had those comedy-victorian names i associate with dickens, did not work for me but distinctive book
O'Malley: On Another Man's Wound biog IRA trainer from 1920s, his childhood and war of independance experience. was told "written with the eye of a poet" this is a bug not a feature. disliked him and his politics so was not a sympathetic reader
Grunewald (edit): Women's Letters america from the revolutionary war to the present present= early 21st cent. mostly chosen with eye to historic representation rather than prose style, enjoyed but don't know enough US hist. lots about early feminism, slavery, pioneer and exploration, being a wife, education
Lux: Omega's Bodyguard m/m novella writ by BNF
Asaro: Diamond Star dramatically shit space opera (don't know why got except cover was awesomely cheesy; hated the one thing had read by her before) about future rockstar and his manpain
July:
Baker (edit): Medieval Women collection essays in honour of med-historian being 70.
Gailey: River of Teeth alt-history america with feral hippos
Hopper: Mothers Mystics and Merrymakers, medieval women pilgrims gift fr N, as so often w sutton publishers, topic great and accuracy unconvincing
Lackey: Firebird as w robin mckinley, finding the marysue of her protagonists impossible to endure for booklength. russian myth into novel. loathed hero who sexist pig
Sparks: How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire gloriously trope-tastic. all about twoo wuv of blood phobic dentist and her roumanian CEO vampire who is ex-monk and extra broody. On publication, told min&andrea about this; they always cited this as my most ridic book i ever told them about. Never bought (after all, pregnesia, which I told min about, turned out boring she said) until found out recently that Mill-Vamp also had greek chorus of highlander henchmen who all said "Hoots mon" at start sentence even though they'd been vamped at culloden and never seen anything scottish, not even a tin of shortbread, since. It was everything I could have hoped. Will pass to min or andrea. (jenna did dramatic reading at work in kingston)
Arngrim: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch how i survived nellie olsen and learned to love being hated tv celeb memoir (little house on prairie), enjoyable, liked arngrim a lot after it
Carrington: The Debutante and Other Stories magic realism. that novel about leonora carrington has hit hard on my sympathy for her. read like a series of madlibs with random (noun) inserted for the wacky. yet felt this all v significant imagery for her personally - like listening reluctantly at breakfast to somebody else's dream
Riddell: Travels with My Sketchbook mostly pictures, childrens laureate illustrator, beautiful
Hattie: Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth picturebook, v wordy w random trivia tucked into flaps
Smith: There Is a Tribe of Kids picturebook, gorgeous in its simplicity.
Jones: The Smile Revolution in eighteenth century paris more of this about dentistry techniques of the time, which did not expect, than art (portraits) history, which did expect. glad i read it.
Jones: Shakespeare from the Greenroom, actors criticisms of four major tragedies the section on othello was angrymaking but of course it was - they used commentaries from 18th century through the victorian era with smattering of 20th cent voices. also lear, hamlet, macbeth.
Dundes: The Walled-up Wife a casebook not folktale but folk ballad apparently universal in balkans + greece, with precursor ballad from sub continent. many crit essays making same points, the later ones, not about ethnicity of ballad but meaning of it, more interesting
Arnott: African Myths and Legends invigoratingly amoral, the good guy sometimes thrives or sometimes gets it in the neck. one of the better from oxford myths&legends series
August:
Jones: Helena Faucit fire and ice on the victorian stage same author as shakespeare/greenroom, this a coincidence. wanted to read faucit biog after phelps bio last month (they were not friends) Faucit tougher than i expected, but had to self present as moist eyed maiden a lot because victorian values.
Marlowe: Sub-mission m/m unfinished because bored. oxfam
Hoyt: Witchfinder pimpernel plus magic with alternate worlds and some romance. chapters very short
Thirkell: High Rising soothing middle englandery
Hahn (edit): Oxford Companion to Childrens' Literature new edition of Humphrey carpenter book, 30 years on.
Wootton: Michael Foreman telling tales art gallery catalogue of exhibition. lush pics not much text
Price: Skin After Skin a spycop novel alt pov (crash) of series so far. was dying to see his opinion of vic from inside his head, was surprised how unsympathetic Jacob came across from his side
O'Toole: A Traitor's Kiss life of Richard brinsley sheridan best book this month. o't all about identity politics, irish vs English, self made vs aristo, rich vs poor, status of theatre people, ambiguity of nationality for irish within brit empire. gripping story, sheridan fascinating
O'Farrell: Things Can Only Get Worse 20 confusing years in the life of a labour supporter sequel to things can.. better. advance reading copy.
Morgan: A Woman of No Character autobiography of Mrs Manley disappointing. fidelis morgan found scattered autobiog bits in delariviere Manley's novels (late 17th cent, early 18th) and put together w editorial linking passages. hated manley so much as a self serving self pitying canting hypocritical lecherous solipsist life ruiner. Female Pen by bridget McCarthy said bad things about dm but thought it prejudice - actually manley was imo a horrible person.
Herron: Slow Horses UNFINISHED at end month. spy thriller, v modernday ipcress file. beaurocratic backstabbery and studied dullness alternating w violence, big cast of characters, lots POVs. takes awhile to get going, v good of its genre
September:
still half through WITCHFINDER and SLOW HORSES - finished witchfinder which was full of tropes I love but strangely less than sum of parts, lost all interest in slow h, which good of its genre but not really my thing to read (contemp spy thriller)
Hoffman (edit): Middle English Lyrics got cos I like Norton crit ed, has context essays in back, lyric poetry fun, medieval. read too hastily
Cookman: Ice Blink the tragic fate of sir john franklin's lost polar expedition most sympathetic take on sir J F have ever read. response to buried in ice, all about how food supply scuppered erebus and terror (buried said lead poisoning from cans, ice b said botulism) no shying away from cannibalism
Lanyon: Monet Murders m/m crime, okay but not great
deWees: Not Just Jane rediscovering 7 amazing women writers who transformed british literature driving me to frothing rage - gets so much wrong about social hist and factual hist, her take on French revolution is off scarlet pimpernel films and vague recollection of tale of 2 cities, shallow reading of austen who she has been rereading for years.. annoyingly, the subject is wonderful, i just hate the author.
Scott: Kingdom Vol 1 3x novellas m/m
Beer: Reader I Married Him study of the women characters of jane austen charlotte bronte Elizabeth Gaskell and George eliot pretty awful late-70s emo-feminism, wanted more objective things, felt v up-to-a-point about her social history, and I disagree a bit about beer's take on all these writers
Gill: Uncle Dysfunctional uncompromised answers to lifes most painful problems agony aunt letters by aa gill.
Culligan: Wandering Irish in Europe their influence from the dark ages to modern times basically a retread of how the irish saved civilisation by 2 americanirish writers, hated for all the same reasons
Odell: Shakespeare from Betterton to Irving vol one enjoyed - a lot of theatre architecture stuff which lost me but v readable and lots contemporary quotes going on. up to Garrick, this vol
Stroud: Lockwood & Co the empty grave loved it but suspiciously openended for alledged series end. (he wrote a 4th in bartimeus trilogy also)
Maguire (edit): Irish Poems overview anthol, some cliché picks some new to me.
October:
Jones: Chavs the demonization of the working class skimread it on publication, no surprises, depressing stuff
Rubin: The Hollow Crown a history of Britain in the late middle ages less than the sum of its parts somehow, she is knowledgable and has straightforward English and its interesting period but book never comes into focus in my head - my fault, poor attention span
Dutcher: Hidden Life of Wolves nat geographic picture book for coffee table - exact what I wanted about social interactions
Arnold: City of Sin London and its vices hist of sex romps in London from romans on - ABANDONED around tudors, interested in London, less so in sex. gift fr neil who had enthused over arnold's book about hist death in London, oxfammed
Wibberley: To Writers With Love on writing romantic novels on commercial writing for mills&boon by 70s bestseller of theirs, bit autobiography, bit about colleagues, interesting
Wulf: The Invention of Nature the adventures of alexander von Humboldt the lost hero of science got last winter (was BOTM) too much of a to-read pile. good but not my thing, wish it half the length, v hist-of-science, author keen to establish him in gaia terms as proto environmentalist. inspired Darwin, travelled s America, knew everyone.
Dickson: Dublin the making of a capital city really good but my head not in game, v slow reader this year. sadly whizzes through medieval too fast and is at tudors by about page 36, v warm about how good maurice craig's book on Dublin is in bibliography. could do with more maps. got as far as early 18th century - not good as book reaches tudors by about page 35.
Alexander: Medievalism the middle ages in modern England mostly about 18th and 19th cent takes on medievalism when was trendy and cool for reasons that evolved. excellent
November:
Musgrave: From Brown to Bunter life and death of the school story horribly written and full of platitudes, much better books exist on subject eg Isabel Quigley's
Burton: The Rebel radical intellectual peasant in tom paine era, childrens hist fic. used to love hester burton, good but not among her best, reads like a pastiche of her better works
McGoogan: Lady Franklin's Revenge life of polar explorer's wife, who financed multiple expeditions to look for her lost husband, created legend, author v chivalrous about her but clearly an elitist bitch. fascinating story; she travelled off beaten track herself
Ellis: Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances 18th century quizzical take on provencal knights n chivalry genre, early days in book yet, is talking linguistics and how French and English developed in medieval times. book is 1850s, spine is fucked, will not be able to carry round with me so will take ages to read
O'Brien: Myles Away From Dublin myles na gcopaleen, in his non irish times columns, kinda disappointingly unfunny tbh. maybe am not in right mood.
Adair: By The Sword Divided eyewitnesses of the English civil war he lectured at sandhurst, is more about milit tactics and less about the lived experience than preferred, but wide range observers fr both sides - good
Brown: Slave of the Beast terrible id-fic bought cos werewolves, hated heroes which made for ragefilled read
Carter: Not If I Save You First spy thriller for teen girls about girlygirl heroine who saves son of us president in Alaska, funny but not as in love w this as I was the Gallagher girls series (that book was ensemble w friendship as well as lurve)
Ellis: Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances fab but book is fragile in spine, cannot carry round so slow read
Cornwell: Fools and Mortals Bernard cornwell does tudor histfic, pov of w Shakespeare's baby brother who dislikes the bard, weirdly less than sum of its parts, full of things should love (theatre history! tudor London! Shakespeare plot!) yet bored throughout. functional sentences, competent writer, bored.
de Bruijn: Chinese Wallpaper in Britain and Ireland coffee table book, text lot of fun about development, art styles, commerciality, dispersal across Europe. gorge pics.
metrical romances unfinished
December:
Halperin: Jane Austen bicentenary essays bicentenary of her death this year, this book bicent of her birth 1975. anecdotal chatty essays by lecturers. the one on alexander pope vs jane austen reads as if pope essay was handy and austen hastily attached to back end of essay.
Milling (edit) : Extraordinary Actors essays on popular performers aca essays on range people from burbage to morecombe and wise. mixed for me. the burbage one was worth the book (remainder book fr gower)
Brennan: In Other Lands ya fantasy, snarky angry pacifist tries reform fantasyland, is smug and woker-than-thou and gets under reader's skin. Loved it, sat up to dawn to find out end.
Nagel: Marie Therese the fate of marie Antoinette's daughter
Rushmore: Fanny Kemble really terrible biography, mainly about her stance re: slavery, horribly sentimentalising about FK, bad sentences bad prose
Ingamells: Rembrandt 1892 twelve paintings a century of changing perspectives exhibition catalogue with illustrations, essay about changing attitudes to R and attributions over years
Crown: Freedom for his Omega horrible self published thing with werewolves by slashfen going pro
Isaac (edit): The Human Face of the Book Trade print culture and its creators academic book by history-of-book people, collection essays aspects of 18th cent and provincial bookselling. mixed but good to excellent
Sebastian: Soldier's Scoundrel sold as ever by word scoundrel in title - this is m/m regency
Dent: Mrs Patrick Campbell horribly written, verbose, arch, gossipy, he has multiple versions of events and dates but doesn't bother to find out which true, spent book yelling at author
Hill (edit): The 1840s Victorian society studies in Victorian architecture and design glossy periodical, 1st in projected quarterly, re: what it says on the tin. essays on lives and works of obscure vic builders, variable but mostly engaging
Hudson: The English Stage 1850 - 1950 got cos cheap (a pahhnd), subject interesting and intact dustjacket - 1950s title. author v condescending about stupid people who so stupid they didn't live in modern 1950s but in benighted previous decades. feel author lacks hist perspective. mostly stuff I know, told in way that annoys me
January:
Jackson: Engines of Instruction Mischief and Magic childrens literature in England from its beginning to 1839 good but few surprises, apart from disagreeing with some opinions of author
Kaplan (edit): Persuasions vol 26 aca-fan austen journal, this issue about persuasion
Wagner: Thomas Coram Gent 1668 -1751 biog man who founded foundling hospital. came fr lyme regis so connection w prev read!
Shapiro: Contested Will who wrote Shakespeare not about alternate candidates, about why the uncertainty and doubt came about. v readable - harsher about Malone than expected
Sutherland: Last Drink to L.A. v short bio and reflection on alcoholism. not sympathetic as dad drank and sutherland admits horrible behaviour under influence.
Hutchins (edit), Caldecott (illus): Yours Pictorially illustrated letters of Randolph Caldecott
Ellis: Take Courage anne bronte and the art of life disappointing, too much ellis not enough anne
Elletson: Maryannery mary ann Lincoln and mary ann Disraeli joint biog, writ 1950s perhaps (judging on tone and attitude to performed femininity) horribly saccharine
Brenton:Anne Boleyn playscript, hist, funny, lots religion and scheming. Saw at Globe, loved it
Welch: Mohawk Valley henty-ish hist fic, v racist about native americans, set at Wolfe battle of quebec. part of series i just completed collecting
Tanner: Raven King matthias corvinus and the fate of his lost library renaissence hungary and books and biog - v not at home w e europe history so hard work
Welch: Ensign Carey a desexed flashman - part of carey family chronicles series, morally ambiguous hero (unprecedented for welch who schoolteacher and usually painfully cleancut characterless protagonists) who in india on the make
Febuary:
Sebag Montefiore: The Romanovs UNFINISHED reading in spirit of homework, is BOTM at work. all dwarf tossing, orgies, coups, booze. material is news of the world, writing style lucid, just not huge on russia. eta: and mum died 23/01 and my ability to follow a book totally fuckedup and i hate every thing i read so there's that. mostly, problem with book is too much history crammed into single paperback, resulting in blur of centuries and all the reigns sounding the same. gave up near end of catherine the great
Thirkell: The Brandons comfort reading just right ratio of distraction to soothing
Tharoor: Inglorious Empire what the british did to india rant with supporting data on how uk gained and india's resources were plundered, by indian mp. spent a lot of time settling scores with rival political party. absolutely convincing case made and a lot of colonial points parallel to ireland's experience
Blake: Smoky Mountain Dreams bought cos fanfic writer (which one? i forget) m/m romance about country and western singer which i don't care about c+w at all, plus issue of right to euthanasia vs conservative xtian which got more nuanced handling than expected from this book
Taylor: Just One Damned Thing After Another as if connie willis' historian field anthropologist was done as a wacky sitcom without the trauma. this was somehow less than the sum of its parts, full of tropes i love but didn't care about here (terribly unreceptive so am tough audience now) start of series i won't continue unless i have flu
Retford (edit): The Art Of Domestic Life family portraiture in 18th century england something with lots illustrations and lots stuff about status and power dynamics and gender in the aristo home
Trease: Thunder of Valmy midrange trease, does his usual reliable job and reads effortlessly i hunted down trease books to read as a child and prob all the good histfic writers in puffin in 70s are why i love history now. this one about french revolution which an over ploughed field so less excited than i wanted to be.
Lanyon: So This Is Christmas sort of an epilogue to the adrian english crime m/m series, did not feel like an entire book and cannot recall a thing about plot but no way was i not reading this, the series overall is good.
March:
Philip: Firebrand fantasy novel with sidhe, gritty hovels, persecutions and sword fights. should have read in a day, but took a week and bored all the time. my mood to blame but won't read 2 + 3 of series.
Styles & Vickery (edit) Gender Taste and Material Culture in britain and north america 1700 - 1830 found secondhand and love Vickary(gentleman's daughter) so much even n remembered her name and taped a documentary she did on early 19th century courtships (the doc was horribly soundbitey, like the hist-doc parodied on season 1 of absolute power sitcom) multiple authors, coll essays, lots pics cos published by yale
Norman: Terrible Beauty life of constance markievicz 1868-1927 got because Diana Norman have prev read other bio of countess m. norman in full fangirl mode, endearing feminist case for the defence
Stamper : Word By Word the secret life of dictionaries read much of this in her blog, enjoyed lots, gave to n as part his bday present. she works for merriam webster dictionary in usa and talks about how dictionaries are made, what decisions need to happen what factors matter etc. thumbs up
Meier (edit): Daughters of Karl Marx coll letters mostly translated fr french. horribly sad lives, letters not writ remotely for publication so lot of enquiries after housecats and daily nonsense
Foy: Michael Collins' Intelligence War the struggle between the british and the ira 1919-1921 some v journalistic stylings where he introduced irrelevant colourful detail in a sentence about something unrelated, eg, x whose wife was hysterical was chosen to be in charge of y department. he tells it like the british police spy dept and the british army spy dept hated each other more and more sincerely than either hated ira and had little energy left for irish.. exaggeration
Ray: Blyton Phenomenon librarians take on b success story, written in 1980s. think i read this from pub library in cambridge in 90s
design museum: Fifty Hats That Changed The World stupid title, got remaindered. picturebook w minimal text. wish could distinguish accurately between boyhats trilby fedora porkpie
Heilbrun: Figures and Portraits mini book of vintage photographs fr musee dorsay
Quayle, illus Foreman: The Magic Ointment and other cornish legends childrens folktales, good variant of rumplestiltskin
Deutscher: Through The Language Glass why the world looks different in other languages actually after MUCH back and forth (too much devils advocate) he says it mostly looks the same. i feel bait&switched by organisation of his book
Whitaker (edit): Notes and Queries vol 2 good loo book, would william like?
April:
Goldhill: A Very Queer Family Indeed sex religion and the bensons in victorian britain v dry acad, despite coat trailing title mostly about diff between how they perceived and how they wroteup their lives, a lot about shifts in religous culture
Rhodes: Soul Mate for Sale werewolf m/m novella. love werewolves but waste of money
Smallwood: A Childhood at Green Hedges fragment of autobiography by enid blyton's daughter meant to read this when published, was then reading lot kid-lit-crit, found this in char x rd, with signature of author, dedicated to mary cadogan (who used to write reviews of child books in sundays) used to collect cadogan's books about sub literary genres, grabbed
Willis: Light Raid fun, v light (see wot i did there) ya scifi
Burden: Staging History 1780 - 1840 lots pics, based on exhibit in brit library, contributors variable
West: Shrill notes from a loud woman anti-fat-shaming from jezebel journalist, lots personal anecdotage, i liked her voice
Bronte: Agnes Grey there was girls-comic picture strip of this when teen, so had never read full text. must say, glad didn't, would have hated protagonist then. she is solid nine on the fanny price scale of judgey sanctimonious, am choosing to believe is unreliable narrator and anne bronte was side eyeing her too.
Block: Burglar Who Studied Spinoza cosy crime about larcenous bookseller, found v cheap. fond of series but not sure which have read in it
Bernobich: Time Roads timetravel steampunk fantasy with v handwavy science, posits 19th century dominated by irish empire and the anglosaxons are the terrorists muttering in alleyways. ought have loved, felt it never really came together. writ by irish american woman
Loyd: Another Bloody Love Letter memoir of war journalism in 1st iraq war, author smug and testosterony. as with skyfaring earlier this year, nothing is more poetic than prose selfconsciously trying to sound poetic - horribly pretentious UNFINISHED, went to oxfam
Dyer: Rediscovering Nancy Drew v librarian-led book based on papers from con in iowa about NDrew. many of same arguments as blyton phenomenon - censorship of lowbrow? vs nursing inadequate budget? vs consumer demand?
Maxtone-Graham: Terms & Conditions life in girls boarding schools 1939 -1979 same topic as marshall's giggling in the shrubbery but more editorial in between the vox pops. dithering over whether to get for months then saw judith kerr was in it, that clinched me. riveting.
Curry: Shakespeare on Stage vol 2 twelve leading actors on twelve key roles lovely, articulate, illuminating, made me want see plays
Ellis: Ireland in the Age of the Tudors 1447 - 1603 english expansion and the end of gaelic rule unreadably dry. I "did" tudor ireland in primary school as hist done chronologically (why am most confident on victorian ireland) so v sound-bitey in my head on pre 18th century. this book not about ireland in tudor times. is about the english tudors in the half of ireland that was the pale, and mostly about, within that area, taxation strategies. is like mogadon onna page. will prob give up on it and find something else to fill in my vagueness on tudor ireland
May:
Haag: The Durrells of Corfu the dark side of my family and other animals, a tellall. finding author v pro-empire in dogwhistle ways
Curry: Shakespeare on Stage thirteen actors on thirteen leading roles
Asleson: Notorious Muse the actress in british art and culture 1776 - 1812 big expensive yale book w illustrations, multiauthor, does not name her on cover but the actress recurring throughout book is mrs siddons. a lot of art history which did not get book for but nice to get
Amy: Jane Austen Files a complete anthology of letters and family recollections much of which had seen elsewhere
Reiss: The Black Count glory revolution betrayal and the real count of monte cristo biog of alex dumas grandpere, by ardent enthusiast, bit too much reiss at expense of dumas but what a story. keeps stopping to say; dumas novelist ripped off this incident in such and such book, which would thrill more if were fan of musketeers, will pass to krystal
Wells (edit): Shakespeare Survey 35 shakespeare in the nineteenth century
Mander: Hamlet Through the Ages a pictorial record from 1709 mostly victorian and early 20th. gloriously nerdy intro. same scene, same body language/poses repeat across generations
Tarr: Forgotten Suns fun space opera w archaeology, bronze age heros in stasis, multiple povs, non eurocentric future humans, author must've enjoyed writing, it has zest. will pass to Krystal, was amusing jenna by saying in tearoom things like "the freedom fighting opera singer has returned" "this is the 2nd historic monument heroine has blown up; I do not think she is natural archaeologist"
Cohen: Falling fluff-fic on marion keyes type. similar qualities of warmth + ensemble. UNFINISHED when romance element intensified. copy i have is proof, has diff title, summer of second chances. sent to oxfam
June:
Silkin (edit): Poetry of the Committed Individual 20th cent leftie poetry anthol
Leavis (edit): Scrutiny selections vol 1
Leavis (edit): Scrutiny selections vol 2 got for the queenie leavis article on yonge which had seen mentioned but not read, enjoyed a series of essays trying to reconstruct austen's methods of constructing plot
Flood: Style and Satire fashion in print 1777 - 1927 mostly 18th cent and regency or at least the best bits were. think was catalogue of exhib
Allen: Samuel Phelps and the Sadlers Wells Theatre
Orr: New Testament Apocryphal Writings because have seen some of these as oil paintings without knowing story. fanfic about jesus basically
Fowler: Bryant and May Strange Tide
Moore: Wedlock how georgian britain's worst husband met his match not enjoying not know why. moore is good, the 18th cent background is wonderful, think am depressed by how cruel the villain is and how its true
Caldecott: Rotherweird kinda gormenghast-ish fantasy gothic, set in english village/town, steampunk elements, characters had those comedy-victorian names i associate with dickens, did not work for me but distinctive book
O'Malley: On Another Man's Wound biog IRA trainer from 1920s, his childhood and war of independance experience. was told "written with the eye of a poet" this is a bug not a feature. disliked him and his politics so was not a sympathetic reader
Grunewald (edit): Women's Letters america from the revolutionary war to the present present= early 21st cent. mostly chosen with eye to historic representation rather than prose style, enjoyed but don't know enough US hist. lots about early feminism, slavery, pioneer and exploration, being a wife, education
Lux: Omega's Bodyguard m/m novella writ by BNF
Asaro: Diamond Star dramatically shit space opera (don't know why got except cover was awesomely cheesy; hated the one thing had read by her before) about future rockstar and his manpain
July:
Baker (edit): Medieval Women collection essays in honour of med-historian being 70.
Gailey: River of Teeth alt-history america with feral hippos
Hopper: Mothers Mystics and Merrymakers, medieval women pilgrims gift fr N, as so often w sutton publishers, topic great and accuracy unconvincing
Lackey: Firebird as w robin mckinley, finding the marysue of her protagonists impossible to endure for booklength. russian myth into novel. loathed hero who sexist pig
Sparks: How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire gloriously trope-tastic. all about twoo wuv of blood phobic dentist and her roumanian CEO vampire who is ex-monk and extra broody. On publication, told min&andrea about this; they always cited this as my most ridic book i ever told them about. Never bought (after all, pregnesia, which I told min about, turned out boring she said) until found out recently that Mill-Vamp also had greek chorus of highlander henchmen who all said "Hoots mon" at start sentence even though they'd been vamped at culloden and never seen anything scottish, not even a tin of shortbread, since. It was everything I could have hoped. Will pass to min or andrea. (jenna did dramatic reading at work in kingston)
Arngrim: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch how i survived nellie olsen and learned to love being hated tv celeb memoir (little house on prairie), enjoyable, liked arngrim a lot after it
Carrington: The Debutante and Other Stories magic realism. that novel about leonora carrington has hit hard on my sympathy for her. read like a series of madlibs with random (noun) inserted for the wacky. yet felt this all v significant imagery for her personally - like listening reluctantly at breakfast to somebody else's dream
Riddell: Travels with My Sketchbook mostly pictures, childrens laureate illustrator, beautiful
Hattie: Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth picturebook, v wordy w random trivia tucked into flaps
Smith: There Is a Tribe of Kids picturebook, gorgeous in its simplicity.
Jones: The Smile Revolution in eighteenth century paris more of this about dentistry techniques of the time, which did not expect, than art (portraits) history, which did expect. glad i read it.
Jones: Shakespeare from the Greenroom, actors criticisms of four major tragedies the section on othello was angrymaking but of course it was - they used commentaries from 18th century through the victorian era with smattering of 20th cent voices. also lear, hamlet, macbeth.
Dundes: The Walled-up Wife a casebook not folktale but folk ballad apparently universal in balkans + greece, with precursor ballad from sub continent. many crit essays making same points, the later ones, not about ethnicity of ballad but meaning of it, more interesting
Arnott: African Myths and Legends invigoratingly amoral, the good guy sometimes thrives or sometimes gets it in the neck. one of the better from oxford myths&legends series
August:
Jones: Helena Faucit fire and ice on the victorian stage same author as shakespeare/greenroom, this a coincidence. wanted to read faucit biog after phelps bio last month (they were not friends) Faucit tougher than i expected, but had to self present as moist eyed maiden a lot because victorian values.
Marlowe: Sub-mission m/m unfinished because bored. oxfam
Hoyt: Witchfinder pimpernel plus magic with alternate worlds and some romance. chapters very short
Thirkell: High Rising soothing middle englandery
Hahn (edit): Oxford Companion to Childrens' Literature new edition of Humphrey carpenter book, 30 years on.
Wootton: Michael Foreman telling tales art gallery catalogue of exhibition. lush pics not much text
Price: Skin After Skin a spycop novel alt pov (crash) of series so far. was dying to see his opinion of vic from inside his head, was surprised how unsympathetic Jacob came across from his side
O'Toole: A Traitor's Kiss life of Richard brinsley sheridan best book this month. o't all about identity politics, irish vs English, self made vs aristo, rich vs poor, status of theatre people, ambiguity of nationality for irish within brit empire. gripping story, sheridan fascinating
O'Farrell: Things Can Only Get Worse 20 confusing years in the life of a labour supporter sequel to things can.. better. advance reading copy.
Morgan: A Woman of No Character autobiography of Mrs Manley disappointing. fidelis morgan found scattered autobiog bits in delariviere Manley's novels (late 17th cent, early 18th) and put together w editorial linking passages. hated manley so much as a self serving self pitying canting hypocritical lecherous solipsist life ruiner. Female Pen by bridget McCarthy said bad things about dm but thought it prejudice - actually manley was imo a horrible person.
Herron: Slow Horses UNFINISHED at end month. spy thriller, v modernday ipcress file. beaurocratic backstabbery and studied dullness alternating w violence, big cast of characters, lots POVs. takes awhile to get going, v good of its genre
September:
still half through WITCHFINDER and SLOW HORSES - finished witchfinder which was full of tropes I love but strangely less than sum of parts, lost all interest in slow h, which good of its genre but not really my thing to read (contemp spy thriller)
Hoffman (edit): Middle English Lyrics got cos I like Norton crit ed, has context essays in back, lyric poetry fun, medieval. read too hastily
Cookman: Ice Blink the tragic fate of sir john franklin's lost polar expedition most sympathetic take on sir J F have ever read. response to buried in ice, all about how food supply scuppered erebus and terror (buried said lead poisoning from cans, ice b said botulism) no shying away from cannibalism
Lanyon: Monet Murders m/m crime, okay but not great
deWees: Not Just Jane rediscovering 7 amazing women writers who transformed british literature driving me to frothing rage - gets so much wrong about social hist and factual hist, her take on French revolution is off scarlet pimpernel films and vague recollection of tale of 2 cities, shallow reading of austen who she has been rereading for years.. annoyingly, the subject is wonderful, i just hate the author.
Scott: Kingdom Vol 1 3x novellas m/m
Beer: Reader I Married Him study of the women characters of jane austen charlotte bronte Elizabeth Gaskell and George eliot pretty awful late-70s emo-feminism, wanted more objective things, felt v up-to-a-point about her social history, and I disagree a bit about beer's take on all these writers
Gill: Uncle Dysfunctional uncompromised answers to lifes most painful problems agony aunt letters by aa gill.
Culligan: Wandering Irish in Europe their influence from the dark ages to modern times basically a retread of how the irish saved civilisation by 2 americanirish writers, hated for all the same reasons
Odell: Shakespeare from Betterton to Irving vol one enjoyed - a lot of theatre architecture stuff which lost me but v readable and lots contemporary quotes going on. up to Garrick, this vol
Stroud: Lockwood & Co the empty grave loved it but suspiciously openended for alledged series end. (he wrote a 4th in bartimeus trilogy also)
Maguire (edit): Irish Poems overview anthol, some cliché picks some new to me.
October:
Jones: Chavs the demonization of the working class skimread it on publication, no surprises, depressing stuff
Rubin: The Hollow Crown a history of Britain in the late middle ages less than the sum of its parts somehow, she is knowledgable and has straightforward English and its interesting period but book never comes into focus in my head - my fault, poor attention span
Dutcher: Hidden Life of Wolves nat geographic picture book for coffee table - exact what I wanted about social interactions
Arnold: City of Sin London and its vices hist of sex romps in London from romans on - ABANDONED around tudors, interested in London, less so in sex. gift fr neil who had enthused over arnold's book about hist death in London, oxfammed
Wibberley: To Writers With Love on writing romantic novels on commercial writing for mills&boon by 70s bestseller of theirs, bit autobiography, bit about colleagues, interesting
Wulf: The Invention of Nature the adventures of alexander von Humboldt the lost hero of science got last winter (was BOTM) too much of a to-read pile. good but not my thing, wish it half the length, v hist-of-science, author keen to establish him in gaia terms as proto environmentalist. inspired Darwin, travelled s America, knew everyone.
Dickson: Dublin the making of a capital city really good but my head not in game, v slow reader this year. sadly whizzes through medieval too fast and is at tudors by about page 36, v warm about how good maurice craig's book on Dublin is in bibliography. could do with more maps. got as far as early 18th century - not good as book reaches tudors by about page 35.
Alexander: Medievalism the middle ages in modern England mostly about 18th and 19th cent takes on medievalism when was trendy and cool for reasons that evolved. excellent
November:
Musgrave: From Brown to Bunter life and death of the school story horribly written and full of platitudes, much better books exist on subject eg Isabel Quigley's
Burton: The Rebel radical intellectual peasant in tom paine era, childrens hist fic. used to love hester burton, good but not among her best, reads like a pastiche of her better works
McGoogan: Lady Franklin's Revenge life of polar explorer's wife, who financed multiple expeditions to look for her lost husband, created legend, author v chivalrous about her but clearly an elitist bitch. fascinating story; she travelled off beaten track herself
Ellis: Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances 18th century quizzical take on provencal knights n chivalry genre, early days in book yet, is talking linguistics and how French and English developed in medieval times. book is 1850s, spine is fucked, will not be able to carry round with me so will take ages to read
O'Brien: Myles Away From Dublin myles na gcopaleen, in his non irish times columns, kinda disappointingly unfunny tbh. maybe am not in right mood.
Adair: By The Sword Divided eyewitnesses of the English civil war he lectured at sandhurst, is more about milit tactics and less about the lived experience than preferred, but wide range observers fr both sides - good
Brown: Slave of the Beast terrible id-fic bought cos werewolves, hated heroes which made for ragefilled read
Carter: Not If I Save You First spy thriller for teen girls about girlygirl heroine who saves son of us president in Alaska, funny but not as in love w this as I was the Gallagher girls series (that book was ensemble w friendship as well as lurve)
Ellis: Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances fab but book is fragile in spine, cannot carry round so slow read
Cornwell: Fools and Mortals Bernard cornwell does tudor histfic, pov of w Shakespeare's baby brother who dislikes the bard, weirdly less than sum of its parts, full of things should love (theatre history! tudor London! Shakespeare plot!) yet bored throughout. functional sentences, competent writer, bored.
de Bruijn: Chinese Wallpaper in Britain and Ireland coffee table book, text lot of fun about development, art styles, commerciality, dispersal across Europe. gorge pics.
metrical romances unfinished
December:
Halperin: Jane Austen bicentenary essays bicentenary of her death this year, this book bicent of her birth 1975. anecdotal chatty essays by lecturers. the one on alexander pope vs jane austen reads as if pope essay was handy and austen hastily attached to back end of essay.
Milling (edit) : Extraordinary Actors essays on popular performers aca essays on range people from burbage to morecombe and wise. mixed for me. the burbage one was worth the book (remainder book fr gower)
Brennan: In Other Lands ya fantasy, snarky angry pacifist tries reform fantasyland, is smug and woker-than-thou and gets under reader's skin. Loved it, sat up to dawn to find out end.
Nagel: Marie Therese the fate of marie Antoinette's daughter
Rushmore: Fanny Kemble really terrible biography, mainly about her stance re: slavery, horribly sentimentalising about FK, bad sentences bad prose
Ingamells: Rembrandt 1892 twelve paintings a century of changing perspectives exhibition catalogue with illustrations, essay about changing attitudes to R and attributions over years
Crown: Freedom for his Omega horrible self published thing with werewolves by slashfen going pro
Isaac (edit): The Human Face of the Book Trade print culture and its creators academic book by history-of-book people, collection essays aspects of 18th cent and provincial bookselling. mixed but good to excellent
Sebastian: Soldier's Scoundrel sold as ever by word scoundrel in title - this is m/m regency
Dent: Mrs Patrick Campbell horribly written, verbose, arch, gossipy, he has multiple versions of events and dates but doesn't bother to find out which true, spent book yelling at author
Hill (edit): The 1840s Victorian society studies in Victorian architecture and design glossy periodical, 1st in projected quarterly, re: what it says on the tin. essays on lives and works of obscure vic builders, variable but mostly engaging
Hudson: The English Stage 1850 - 1950 got cos cheap (a pahhnd), subject interesting and intact dustjacket - 1950s title. author v condescending about stupid people who so stupid they didn't live in modern 1950s but in benighted previous decades. feel author lacks hist perspective. mostly stuff I know, told in way that annoys me