Books read in 2023
Started year half - a third? - into 2 books mentioned end of prev entry, and really flaky about retaining sentences i just read. 2022 was rough at work with constant crisis mode on supply chain from june to xmas + ongoing. Anyway.
January:
Uglow: The Quentin Blake Book text of this a brief summary of his career - bought this cos have fangirled uglow since her biog of gaskell but really anyone might have written this, is not distinctively her voice. When U did biog of hogarth, the text she was v tentative about giving opinions on art history but more and more books since about art - lear, pinecone in my to-read pile, the 20th century double bio i haven't bought yet. When I was child QB omnipresent to point other picture flats tried to pastiche him + I did not see any appeal in the scratchy style, appreciate him more now.
Welch: The Fleet Street Girls the women who broke down the doors of the gentlemans club autobiog of tabloid journo from 60s, 70s, with interviews of slightly older + younger women reporters - horrendous bias awful working conditions in general. Her writing style - of which she is v proud - is tabloidese
Burgis: Touchstones a collection fantasy romance riffing off fairytales.
Inglis: Georgian London Into The Streets v massmarket hist and some of the generalisations/soundbites she made actually meant she misrepresented stuff by oversimplifying or sweeping statements. Based on a blog. Also that thing where she demonstrated a point about (district of london) by using quote from 60 years later etc
Lynn, Jay: Yes Minister vol 2
Lynn, Jay: Yes Minister vol 3 series 2 + 3 of tv comedy scripts done into narrative form as jim hacker's bio
Rogers: Table Talk & Recollections soundbites from victorian gossip about mostly literary folk, bitchy + vivid
Keates: The Portable Paradise baedeker murray and the victorian guidebook short book about travel guides
Janes: British Dandies engendering scandal and fashioning a nation strapped self in for book about costume history and self display with bit of social history. Actually was all about the gays, in that author spent 129 pages retconning modern queer signals + using these to classify varius 18th century men as homosexual. Most of said signals absolutely subjective. Also v othering tone. Read book raging. How did this guy get to be a professor? Aside from my mistake about what it said on the tin/ what book was about, he didn't engage with victorian masculinity just were celebs gay, + evaluated them using late 20th century markers.
Penny: Bitch Doctrine essays for dissenting adults written at dawn of pres trump. Collected journalism so repetition. V nice point made about TERFs and the generational shift about gender which I've struggled to express - how greer-era feminists wanted gender to be eye colour level of importance and everyone ould be human individuals, while younger feminists categorise more specifically not less. Penny articulates it better than i can
Wells: All Systems Red knew vaguely about murderbot chronicles but not tempted by assassin robot. Got this for xmas from Laura at work. Surprised how much i like it. Plot is background, novella is character study of depressed nonhuman who would so much rather binge TV than use laserguns bionicced onto their forearms by corporation.
Bronsky: Baba Dunja's Last Love 'quirky' novella about living in radiation zone after chernobyl. Funny then suckerpunched heartbreak - which was my reading experience w hottest dishes/tartar as well. Cried.
Yeoman, Blake: Mouse Trouble picturebook
Ferrie: Rocket Science for Babies
Ferrie: Newtonian Physics for Babies board books from baby university series. Brilliant, currently unavailable from publisher
Megroz(edit): Pedagogues Are Human an anthology of pupils and teachers grave and gay from british and american fiction biography diaries letters and verse published 1950, a lot of victorians. quite dull
McIntyre: Hester the remarkable life of dr johnson's dear mistress his garrick bio was so good, am amazed it took this long to check what else he wrote. (Bio burns, prob won't read, bio reynolds, maybe) Good so far, people sounding pretty dislikable, cold + transactional in enlightenment style.
MacPhee: End of the Megafauna the fate of the world's hugest fiercest and strangest animals picturebook about mammals - mostly - + marsupials - some - that disappeared post-dinosaur but before human domination (did we hunt them to death? Was it climate change?) + weighs the questions about them. Pop science for curious idiots like self. Many colour illus.
Hare:The Years With Mother heavily abridged - whittled down from 3 vols of a 6 volume memoir - autobiog of minor victorian who wrote precursor of pevsners architecturals. Horrific childhood followed by life of guesting in country houses punctuated by clang of name dropping.
Norton: Ask Graham agony aunt letters from telegraph
Febuary:
Bennett (edit): The Pastons and their England massmarket hist, 1st pub 1920s, 14th cent norfolk life seen through paston letters.good but unsurprising read
Ross: Royal Canadian Mounted Police 1873 - 1987 (men at arms series) picturebook of uniforms, milit hist series
History Press: Anthology of Irish Folk Tales no author stated on flyleaf. Multiple professional storytellers represented - liked brendan nolan - a greatest hits anthology from the wicklow folktales/carlow ft/cork ft etc. Ranging from nice to excellent. Hannah wants to borrow this from me
Adlington: The Dressmakers of Auschwitz early in book was criticising style - overuse of 'brazen' journalistic repetition + emphasis as if not confident reader paying attention - but horror and grief soon enough. Had to keep stopping reading cos so distressing
Dee: What Is Your Problem? spoof agony aunt
Knott: A Class of Their Own memoir of tutoring kids of super rich. Must pass to n's flatmate
Lloyd: Richard & Maria Cosway regency artists of taste and fashion exhib catalogue w couple essays by ribeiro + roy porter
Stroud: The Notorious Scarlett & Browne being an account of the fearless outlaws and their infamous deeds not mine, loan from laura who is btw pulsating with enthusiasm for strouds haunted staircase as recently adapted on streaming.
Nolan: Dublin Urban Legends vernacular - close to stories have heard
Galouchko: Sho and the Demons of the Deep picturebook bought for the illus. Pastiche japanese folktale
Macauley: Ship childrens nonfic about caravel + marine archaeology
Eaker: Van Dyck and the Making of English Portraiture not my fave artist by long shot but this about his influence on later guys - cosway heavily featured!
Philip: Esme and the Sabre Toothed Cub picturebook. Nice illus but too heavy handed on moral as a lot of current pic books are
Macaulay: They Went To Portugal erudite witty bit flippant. V james julius norwich tone. Loops back + forth over same hist events as taking it on a person-by-person basis of english men (few women in this) living in or visiting P. A pleasure
Bates: Men Who Hate Women from incels to pickup artists the truth about extreme misogyny and how it affects us all deeply depressing
March:
Royle: Civil War the wars of the three kingdoms 1638 - 1660 overviewy, written by mil-historian but lots of political motivation. A rare english take on it which includes irelands pov in all this. Good but dense, royle some way to right of me. V dismissive of diggers levellers radicals. Casual about cromwells record in ireland. reading slowly
Nolan: Dublin's Folk Tales mixed bag, some too maundering where he wants to give impression of oral transcription
Tolley: Book of Hours little mini book - v museum shop - reproduction med illuminated, bit of context on opposite page. Lovely art
Willder: Blurb Your Enthusiasm bookblurb writer (penguin) writes about bookblurb writing. Much more entertaining than expected when manon recced it to me, would not have got only there was £4 copy in anyamountofbooks. All the helpful thoughts about sales pitch.
anon: Ladies' & Gentleman's Letter Writer a guide to correspondence with household and commercial forms pub 1920s (?) or poss edwardian. handbook of sample letters
Saki: Westminster Alice this topical satire at start 20th cent, got cos loved his stories as teen
Marshall: Follow the Sun posthumous coll articles. Lovely man but little englander vibe is strong with this one
Chambers: Reading Talk kid lit-crit, about educating, readers, translation issues etc
Bareham, Hopkinson: Prawn Cocktail Years nicely un-sneery about 70s grub + what looked sophis + glam then. Now craving bl forest gateau
Orleansky (illus): Russian Fairy Tales got for pics 'palekh painting' v stylised naive art on enamel-black background like those papier mache trinket boxes at craft markets which i always desire + can never afford. Is based on trad icon making skills apparently.
Defoe: The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists + ditto With Ahab pirates as trope. More jack sparrow than blackbeard
Foister: Holbein's Ambassadors making and meaning to celebrate restoration + display, a short illus book about circs of painting it, symbolism of things on shelf, x rays.
Neumeier: Pure Magic bk 2 paranormal/ urb fantasy w new spin on werewolves + latino heroes. Self published, but i liked bk 1 (is years since i read it) cover design awful
Hendrix: Paperbacks From Hell overview of pulp horror subgenres from 60s 70s 80s with snark commentary. Not my genre to read but remember selling some of these. Lots of (lurid) covers shown.will give to N
Shen, Hicks: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong gra novel in usa highschool got for hicks illus. Characters stereotypes, dialogue fun, raised by the art.
Stoneman (edit): The Greek Alexander Romance intro more interesting than the text
Boakye: I Heard What You Said memoir of black english teacher pub 2019ish. Critical of 2ndary curriculum on hist and lit. Good but repetitive, wish had been edited to sharpen points
Druvert: Anatomy a cutaway lookinside the human body bought for the illustrations - a fabulously nonchalant chap with v extra moustache and stripy top + beret, half body showing circulatory system. Computer die-cut inside so you can overlay bones, muscles, nerves, in way that would be shredded by children its designed for. Text by illustrators dad, a medical doctor. Beautifully designed.
Judah: Lapidarium the secret lives of stones v random assemblage of history or geology anecdotes about rubies marble slate etc. Like finlay's book colour but about rocks. Well designed book but the text is a superficial loo read
Brenchley: Three Twins at the Crater School selfpub. Recced on kj charles'blog. Mashup of jollyhockeysticks boardingschool + steampunk sf, lots of fun. Author fan of chalet school
April:
Ashton: Thomas Lawrence cheap coffeetable art reproduction book written by enthusiast, lots pics w short explanations who the portraits are of
Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters thought had read this, had skimmed 80% + in wrong order. Witches abroad still my fave
Mahfouz: Voices from the Other World ancient egyptian tales histfic sh stories, folktale vibe
Ackroyd: The English Actor from medieval to modern about half of this is 20th century, about 85% is potted biographies. Disappointing
Jensen: Vagabonds life on the streets of nineteenth century london brilliant empathic read
Charles: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen m/m regency romance w smugglers plot. Pleased to see kj charles released in public bookshops. Lot of scenesetting (romney marsh)
Stirling: Shakespeare's Bastard the life of sir william davenant from history press - they have form on doing interesting topics but awful writing. Dnf. Cavalier bias, (hate chas 1) but mainly hated stirlings writing.
Praz: Conversation Pieces a survey of the informal group portrait in europe and america coffee table book, lots pics. Praz text listed even more pics (would have liked more big picture analysis + reflections) + identified geometry of pics (triangle. triangle. triangle)
May, Bream: Another Kind loan from Laura - entirely beguiling gra novel about found family of orphan monsters trekking across usa pursued by govt + conspiracy theorists + corrupt rich geezer. L likes the art better than i do but am as enchanted by story as she thought i would be
Freeman: Good Girls a story and study of anorexia memoir by hadley freeman
Crystal: That's the Ticket for Soup v much a museumshop book, lots of packaging v little content. Uses illus from ounch magazine to talk about victorian language. le disappoint.
McGrigor: Wellington's Spies scouts rather than spies, peninsular war, 70% quotes from letters/ diaries of 3 men w linking passages from descendent, army wife who big fan of english army. Uncomfortable read
Foenkinos: Mystery of Henri Pick comedy/crime from france about book trade, enjoyed booktrade aspect, story too self consciously whimsical for me
Young, Houlbrook: Magical Folk a history of real fairies from 500 to the present lots data no critical thinking or overview
Pears: The Last Judgement jonathan argyle art dealer mystery. Flavia a delight in this. passing copy to adam as don't have shelfspace for it, love the series
Hassett: Growing Up Human the evolution of childhood a biologist look at humans have diff development pattern from other animals, have put in history of childhood tag but it's not really
Dow: Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony v listy, orig published 1935, occasional racism + didn't like author voice
Walker Gore, Schultze, Courtney(edit): Charlotte Mary Yonge writing the victorian age assembly of acad essays on aspects yonge novels. Makes me keen to reread family chronicles i thought i knew. Insights and enthusiasm
May
Lukens: So This Is Ever After queer ya fantasy. Bridgerton in that it has medieval trappings but modern teen heroes, relentless banter and thinly characterised. Trope-tastic, v fanficcy style.
Lane Fox: Love to the Little Ones the trials and triumphs of parents through the ages in letters diaries memoirs and essays themed anthology, a few good things in it - couple of wonderful sitwell quotes - oxfammed
Hartston: Knock Knock in pursuit of a grand theory of humour meh disagreed with parts bored by parts, oxfammed
Shipman: The Invaders how humans and their dogs drove neanderthals to extinction interesting unproven hypothesis
Willis, Ross: Tadpole's Promise children's picturebook. Thought it would end differently but breathtakingly hardnosed. 10 out of 10 for natural hist, may pass to neil!teacher
Pooley: The People on Platform 5 cosy read set on commute from SW london into waterloo. Nice cheerful-upping people orientated fluff. A richard curtis movie in book form
Yonge: The Cook and the Captive one of her juvenile hist fics, frankish medieval starring gregory of tours. Reading at home as book fragile
Orchard: the Second Lady Silverwood servicable regency romance which did not finish cos not in mood. Spinster weds widower, am guessing that rebecca like, dead wife will turn out to have been mean gurrrl.
Beckett: Class Act life as a working class man in a middle class world not as funny as hoped but fond of him as comic, like him more after this
Thorne: You Can't Spell Treason Without Tea cosy high fantasy where 2 d&d class-types (mage/mercenary) elope + stop adventuring. Great idea - they open bookshop - poor execution. Characters boring, silly, no ust, cringe flirting, incidents repetitive, insufficient setting-up-bookshop interest. Gave to laura who wanted to read it
Potter: Strange Blooms the curious lives and adventures of the john tradescants wanted bio of them for ages as live where their garden was near tradescant rd, nearly settled for phillipa gregory duology of histfic novels but this nonfic looks better ETA is good but requires reader be fascinated by plants + am here for history bits
Scarlett aka Streatfeild: The Man in the Dark one of her tepid romances about wholesome people. a few weird time jumps toward end, wonder was author bored too. Wished for more villainous sister
McDonald: No Comment what i wish i'd known about becoming a detective memoir of being fast tracked into met then resigning. Indictment of police culture but also of work conditions (poor resources, huge workload, burnout)
Chakanetsa, illus Alabi: Africana an encyclopaedia of an amazing continent childrens ref with beautiful cover and well designed pages, some repetitions in text. A lot of info unknown to me as am ignorant outside europe. clearly written to offset stereotypes of famine + war
MacLiammoir:Put Money In Thy Purse the making of othello diary of making orson welles othello, v funny, v entertaining diarist
Reed: We're Falling Through Space doctor who and celebrating the mundane v short fan-appreciation of dr who bought as gift for neil
Ibn-Munqidh: An Arab Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades memoirs of usamah ibn munqidh i know too little context to make anything of this, bewildered.
Townsend Warner: T H White a biography by a writer i love, about a writer i held in more and more distaste as i read. She did fantastic fair minded respectful book of him.
Sloman, Fawcett: Pickpocketing the Rich portrait painting in bath 1720 - 1800 another exhibition catalogue
Taylor: Symphony of Echoes chronicles of st marys time travel romp. takes connie willis' time travelling historians of domesday book (angsty) + does musical comedy spin on them. female lead is purest marysue.
Garfield: The Last Journey of William Huskisson how a day of triumph became a day of despair at the touch of a wheel
June:
Barber: Demon Barber 90s celeb interviews
Bourrier: The Measures of Manliness disability and masculinity in the mid victorian novel got, tbh, cos used heir of redclyffe as one of novels analysed.
Hyde: What Just Happened dispatches from turbulent times coll old guardian articles
anon: Grettir's Saga not my fave saga grettir a psychopath
Darke: Messages a collection of shivery tales 70s childrens ghost/horror s stories. Not great. Love darke's hist fic but this never got beyond mildly interesting
Ring: So High A Blood the life of margaret countess of lennox tudor biog - henry 8's niece + mary q of scots mother in law - readably told. Wish had picked off to-read pile earlier
Taylor: Second Chance chronicles of st marys time travelling historians farce series. dislike heroine + humour doesn't land for me so bit maddening to read (+ feel connie willis being ripped off) still! time travel story! stopped partway thru to hateread 1star reviews on goodreads
Bloom: Curtain Call for the Guv'nor a biography of george edwardes hagiography of edwardian theatre director, his musicals sound grimly racist but hugely popular
Gable: The Tuppenny Punch and Judy Show 25 years of tv commercials pub 1980. Lot of vox pops with early tv makers
Van Loo: The Burgundians a vanished empire a history of 1111 years and one day v conversational epic hist - too much so when van loo tells you stream of consciousness of john the fearless etc feel like am in wrong headspace for this + OUGHT love it. (heatwave, no focus)
Fowler: London Bridge is Falling Down one of the best in series - cried at end. must reread as was boggled by red herring twist and lost track of events
O'Byrne: The Rabbit the Dark and the Biscuit Tin picturebook
Masters: Now Barabbas was a Rotter the extraordinary life of marie corelli had been told he too mean about corelli - but she was dreadful awful person. He (v young when wrote this) has v weird ideas about adult virgins goinng mad from thwarted lust. Clearly eliz taylors angel based on corelli
Ferguson: Same Sex Marriage in Renaissance Rome sexuality identity and community in early modern europe dry academic microhistory about 16th century courtcase
only half through burgundians at end month - not cos 500+ pages but because it was trying too hard to be accessable to non academics, full of novelettish detail about eyes twinkling plaintive voices steely wrath. Write a fucking novel van loo
July:
Hall: Nailing It tales from the comedy frontier autobiog in anecdotes. Love rh but not feeling this
Salgado (edit): Eyewitnesses of Shakespeare first hand accounts of performances 1590 - 1890 a lot of familiar extracts
Orme: Tudor Children enjoyed. liked his things about medieval childhood
Block: The Burglar in the Library burglar/bookseller/sleuth bernie on track of noir association copy. spoof of brit cosy crime - country house in blizzard, corpses piling up
Pryor: Scenes from Prehistoric Life from the ice age to the coming of the romans would have liked more about evidence + less about pryors gut feelings
Pepys:The Joys of Excess food related extracts fr diary most new to me
Chase: Buffalo Cake and Indian Pudding recipes from 19th cent america
Streatfeild:Curtain Up one of her best - also cameos of adult ballet shoes girls
Verrall: Recipes from the White Hart Inn (in Lewes! Bought in eastbourn + train passed thru L on way there) 18th cent man on make does early cookbook adapting french cuisine for brits
Huggett: The Curse of Macbeth with other theatrical superstitions and ghosts author is 70s actor, v pleased with himself. Smugness unwarranted, oxfammed
Briggs: Soul Taken 13th in paranorm urb fantasy, series is moribund
MacThomais: Janey Mack Me Shirt Is Black growing up in liberties in early 20th cent - street rhymes slang games, about his generation not his personal life. Found that skipping rhyme about devalera that could only recall single line of for years
Armstrong: Fanny Kemble a passionate victorian v schmaltzy hist-novellish biog, pub 1939. Armstrong seems to honestly see black people as lesser; even putting aside terminology as of its day, horrible slurs sneers + generalisation about inferiority. Thinks the worst thing about slavery was that it made kemble sad as she was fed + clothed on the back of torture and she felt just awful about it. jesus
Garfield: Lucifer Wilkins hist fic for early reader (5 to 7 age) illus by knockoff victor ambrus-ish artist. 18th cent, slave + indentured convict go on the lam. oxfammed
Tyldesley: Hatchepsut the female pharaoh hard going but only cos i have no ancient egypt knowledge to put it in context JT v clear about what is fact + what is hypothesis
Burgis: Claws and Contrivances indy published regency romance with dragons in - pern type shoulder dragons on debutantes shoulders. Bored halfway as too much romance and idiot heroine
August:
Ranger: Terror and Pity Reign in Every Breast gothic drama in the london theatres, 1750 - 1820 printed-up dissertation, dry, repetitive, disappointing
Sillars: Shakespeare Seen image performance and society about illus compl shakespeare editions 18th + 19th cent. A lot of overlap w prev book of his
Kwan: Crazy Rich Asians fun romcom. Lot of footnotes translating se asia refs
Taylor: The Long And Short Of It short stories bought before i vowed to never gat jodi taylor book again, will do for coffee break at work
Low: Regency Underworld author from v law&order pov, he pro police I rooting for crims. suppose he had to follow where the records were but wd have appreciated more marxist approach
McKellen: Richard iii the filmscript heavily annotated lots pics loved this production
Goldsworthy: Philip & Alexander kings and conquerors for sake of my teen obsession w alexander the great. tbh a bit dry: and my ignorance of era means i have no context so slow read. good book but not my thing
Scarisbrick: Ancestral Jewels big coffee table thing about tiaras + parures of peers of england. They got author who could butter up duchesses so she could get access to the valuables but her swooning love of ermine has my inner marxist seething (those bits where "her fathers cottagers subscribed toward this diamond studded brooch") my own brooch collection is very enamel + diamante so prob just jealous
Berg: Murder Most Pemberley skimread, it was godawful. insufficiently britpicked, tiresome heroine, nonsense chars nonsense plot
Fowler: England's Finest s stories bryant + may. loved, think this concludes b+m for me
Chaney: The Cult of Kingship in Anglosaxon England the transition from paganism to christianity dry. repetitive. a lot of untranslated old english + latin, did not entirely get it
Magorian: Cuckoo in the Nest childrens hist fic post ww2. Boy wants be actor, his father thinks sissy
Malki!: Classy Lady Like You Will Love The Smell Of My Butt th ed best animal themed comic strips from wondermark vintage art and memes
September:
ended august half through magorian - good book objectively but not for me, right now - + barely started alexander where ignorance of ancient hist was making it uphill going
Malki!: Horrid Little Stories 60 dark and tiny tales of misery and woe selfpub minibook of comedy gothic verse. am all over his illustrations, got fab postcards from his site, this a bit meh
Lloyd: The Terribly Friendly Fox predator predates. Simple well executed picbook. Such a relief these days to have no moral - current crop kidlit so fucking earnest + sanctimoneous
Willes: In The Shadow of St Paul's the church yard that shaped london fab massmarket hist of london w emphasis on book trade. Also happy i found oxfam copy for 4.99
Rayner: Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights a journey deeper into dining hell minibook collection hatchett restaurant reviews
Aitken: Dear Bill Bryson footnotes from a small island 10 yars after notes/island fanboy aitken retraces brysons travel guide to england. (BB also retraced own jouney; it was dispiriting and grumpy) Too much gimmick + not enough to say
Garfield: All The Knowledge In The World the extraordinary history of the encyclopaedia disproportionately britannica but very entertaining read
Fontaine: History of Pedlars in Europe v dry
Slimak: Naked Neanderthal v windbaggy bombastic french neanderthal expert explains with repetition + tablethumping that his subject is unknowable. Heard every word in voice of werner herzog - combo of utter certitude plus mysticism
October:
sept a bad month for reading. lot of fanfic off ao3dotcom, lot of su dokus, lot of brainfreeze, lot of word tile game on phone (wtf vole dotcom big ben) now 2+ half months of bleeding. Only finished alexander - from august - on 30th sept
Hartley, Holland (edit): Shakespeare and Geek Culture acafan essays. Mixed bag, some overthinking. Other bits convinced me i'd been underthinking
Looser: Sister Novelists the trailblazing porter sisters who paved the way for austen and the brontes should have ticked all my boxes but book fatigue. Really welltold story i didn't know + should have
Usher: Wild picturebook. xmas gift.
Yeffeth (edit): Seven Seasons of Buffy science fiction and fantasy writers discuss their favourite television show mixed. Lorrah + Lichtenberg in here - poss the least impressive essays imo - big names from 80s
Clarke: Not Speaking dysfunctional-family memoir. Got cos loved her books on lit history. Did not know sister of famous hairdresser
Dench: Shakespeare the man who pays the rent transcribed interviews v much enjoyed
November
Ogilvie: Dictionary People the unsung heroes who made the oxford english dictionary v bitty + overly dumbed down - about the vic- era "crowdsourcing" which had unpaid randoms (lots clergy novelists incl miss yonge + startling number of institutionalised lunatics) doing swathes of research for the sheer glory of it. Ogilvie, ex employee of oup dictionary, detectives many of their identities
Bundock: Fortunes of Francis Barber the true story of the enslaved jamaican who became samuel johnson's heir published by yale - v good despite scant documents; burdock gets as much as he can out of passing references
Novik: A Deadly Education scholomancer #1 really fun mashup of college of magic + hunger games narrative voice of reluctant dark enchantress who like granny weatherwax may be good but is not ever nice
Novik: The Last Graduate scholomancer #2 straight into this on finishing bk 1
Winkler, Schoch (edit): Shakespeare In The Theatre - Sir William Davenant and the Duke's Company arden series of meta. dry but lots info i wanted to know
Novik: The Golden Enclaves scholomance #3 got a bit bogged down in romance angst.
Palmer: At Home With The Soanes upstairs downstairs in nineteenth century london short with pics by curator of soane museum about domestic life regency
Butler: Four British Fantasists place and culture in the childrens fantasies of penelope lively alan garner diana wynne jones and susan cooper do not feel much the wiser for that. jargon + jung
Cibber: An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber my God what a self aggrandizing windbag. Maundering in Tristram Shandy style sentences but less worth the reading. Good thing was eyewitness account of stage in 1700ish
Hirshler et al:Sargent in Fashion coffee table coll of essays by various curator types aimed middlebrow lot of biography of S and masses of illus. Glad I impulse bought
Wynn Jones: Flower of All Cities the history of London from earliest times to the great fire too much to fit in one paperback, came out too bullet pointy. Wasted a lot of space on political hist not living conditions
Dromgoole: Astonish Me! first nights that changed the world less than the sum of its parts. Came away liking author but passed to oxfam as a neve-read-again
December:
Egoff: Thursday's Child trends and patterns in Contemporary Children's literature contemp = 1980. Canadian librarian academic laments shallow multiculturalism and vulgarity etc. Pines for WASPy victorian tales of yore. In fairness market led hack writing commissioned by commerciality did produce loads of uninspired site but whiff of elitism here : hateread much of this
Strasdin: Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes secrets from a victorian woman's wardrobe too much wistful daydreaming from strasdin, the social hist aspect largely not so secret
Scarlett: Babbacombe's one of her light Cinderella romances, this one set in department store
Videen: The Word Hord daily life in old english armchair etymology - Anglo-Saxon roots of words
Rosen: Julia Margaret Cameron's Fancy Subjects photographic allegories of victorian identity and empire not sure jmc had same signifies or symbols Rosen ascribes to her
Bedford: Winterwood fantasy in alternate regency with magic. X-dressing lady pirate captain, surly indentured sidhe, swashbuckle. Ought tick my boxes, am trudging through it like chore
Bew: Ancestral Voices in Irish Politics judging Dillon and parnell
JASNA:Persuasions issue 19 American fanzine of austen, this issue mostly sanditon
Kean: the Tale of the Duelling Neurosurgeons the history of the human brain as revealed by true stories of trauma madness and recovery man who mistook his wife a hat territory, stories about hideous injuries implying how brain works
Lewis, Williams (trans) : The Book of Taliesin medieval Welsh poetry in translation
Kingfisher: Paladin's Strength xmas gift fr Laura. Really like it, 2nd in fantasy trilogy (#4 just out) works as standalone, nice vibe good world building, werebear nun heroine. I could do with about 80% less pining: the attempted UST of "she can never love a grizzled paladin like me" /"he can never love a beefy nun like me" are downright irritating
January:
Uglow: The Quentin Blake Book text of this a brief summary of his career - bought this cos have fangirled uglow since her biog of gaskell but really anyone might have written this, is not distinctively her voice. When U did biog of hogarth, the text she was v tentative about giving opinions on art history but more and more books since about art - lear, pinecone in my to-read pile, the 20th century double bio i haven't bought yet. When I was child QB omnipresent to point other picture flats tried to pastiche him + I did not see any appeal in the scratchy style, appreciate him more now.
Welch: The Fleet Street Girls the women who broke down the doors of the gentlemans club autobiog of tabloid journo from 60s, 70s, with interviews of slightly older + younger women reporters - horrendous bias awful working conditions in general. Her writing style - of which she is v proud - is tabloidese
Burgis: Touchstones a collection fantasy romance riffing off fairytales.
Inglis: Georgian London Into The Streets v massmarket hist and some of the generalisations/soundbites she made actually meant she misrepresented stuff by oversimplifying or sweeping statements. Based on a blog. Also that thing where she demonstrated a point about (district of london) by using quote from 60 years later etc
Lynn, Jay: Yes Minister vol 2
Lynn, Jay: Yes Minister vol 3 series 2 + 3 of tv comedy scripts done into narrative form as jim hacker's bio
Rogers: Table Talk & Recollections soundbites from victorian gossip about mostly literary folk, bitchy + vivid
Keates: The Portable Paradise baedeker murray and the victorian guidebook short book about travel guides
Janes: British Dandies engendering scandal and fashioning a nation strapped self in for book about costume history and self display with bit of social history. Actually was all about the gays, in that author spent 129 pages retconning modern queer signals + using these to classify varius 18th century men as homosexual. Most of said signals absolutely subjective. Also v othering tone. Read book raging. How did this guy get to be a professor? Aside from my mistake about what it said on the tin/ what book was about, he didn't engage with victorian masculinity just were celebs gay, + evaluated them using late 20th century markers.
Penny: Bitch Doctrine essays for dissenting adults written at dawn of pres trump. Collected journalism so repetition. V nice point made about TERFs and the generational shift about gender which I've struggled to express - how greer-era feminists wanted gender to be eye colour level of importance and everyone ould be human individuals, while younger feminists categorise more specifically not less. Penny articulates it better than i can
Wells: All Systems Red knew vaguely about murderbot chronicles but not tempted by assassin robot. Got this for xmas from Laura at work. Surprised how much i like it. Plot is background, novella is character study of depressed nonhuman who would so much rather binge TV than use laserguns bionicced onto their forearms by corporation.
Bronsky: Baba Dunja's Last Love 'quirky' novella about living in radiation zone after chernobyl. Funny then suckerpunched heartbreak - which was my reading experience w hottest dishes/tartar as well. Cried.
Yeoman, Blake: Mouse Trouble picturebook
Ferrie: Rocket Science for Babies
Ferrie: Newtonian Physics for Babies board books from baby university series. Brilliant, currently unavailable from publisher
Megroz(edit): Pedagogues Are Human an anthology of pupils and teachers grave and gay from british and american fiction biography diaries letters and verse published 1950, a lot of victorians. quite dull
McIntyre: Hester the remarkable life of dr johnson's dear mistress his garrick bio was so good, am amazed it took this long to check what else he wrote. (Bio burns, prob won't read, bio reynolds, maybe) Good so far, people sounding pretty dislikable, cold + transactional in enlightenment style.
MacPhee: End of the Megafauna the fate of the world's hugest fiercest and strangest animals picturebook about mammals - mostly - + marsupials - some - that disappeared post-dinosaur but before human domination (did we hunt them to death? Was it climate change?) + weighs the questions about them. Pop science for curious idiots like self. Many colour illus.
Hare:The Years With Mother heavily abridged - whittled down from 3 vols of a 6 volume memoir - autobiog of minor victorian who wrote precursor of pevsners architecturals. Horrific childhood followed by life of guesting in country houses punctuated by clang of name dropping.
Norton: Ask Graham agony aunt letters from telegraph
Febuary:
Bennett (edit): The Pastons and their England massmarket hist, 1st pub 1920s, 14th cent norfolk life seen through paston letters.good but unsurprising read
Ross: Royal Canadian Mounted Police 1873 - 1987 (men at arms series) picturebook of uniforms, milit hist series
History Press: Anthology of Irish Folk Tales no author stated on flyleaf. Multiple professional storytellers represented - liked brendan nolan - a greatest hits anthology from the wicklow folktales/carlow ft/cork ft etc. Ranging from nice to excellent. Hannah wants to borrow this from me
Adlington: The Dressmakers of Auschwitz early in book was criticising style - overuse of 'brazen' journalistic repetition + emphasis as if not confident reader paying attention - but horror and grief soon enough. Had to keep stopping reading cos so distressing
Dee: What Is Your Problem? spoof agony aunt
Knott: A Class of Their Own memoir of tutoring kids of super rich. Must pass to n's flatmate
Lloyd: Richard & Maria Cosway regency artists of taste and fashion exhib catalogue w couple essays by ribeiro + roy porter
Stroud: The Notorious Scarlett & Browne being an account of the fearless outlaws and their infamous deeds not mine, loan from laura who is btw pulsating with enthusiasm for strouds haunted staircase as recently adapted on streaming.
Nolan: Dublin Urban Legends vernacular - close to stories have heard
Galouchko: Sho and the Demons of the Deep picturebook bought for the illus. Pastiche japanese folktale
Macauley: Ship childrens nonfic about caravel + marine archaeology
Eaker: Van Dyck and the Making of English Portraiture not my fave artist by long shot but this about his influence on later guys - cosway heavily featured!
Philip: Esme and the Sabre Toothed Cub picturebook. Nice illus but too heavy handed on moral as a lot of current pic books are
Macaulay: They Went To Portugal erudite witty bit flippant. V james julius norwich tone. Loops back + forth over same hist events as taking it on a person-by-person basis of english men (few women in this) living in or visiting P. A pleasure
Bates: Men Who Hate Women from incels to pickup artists the truth about extreme misogyny and how it affects us all deeply depressing
March:
Royle: Civil War the wars of the three kingdoms 1638 - 1660 overviewy, written by mil-historian but lots of political motivation. A rare english take on it which includes irelands pov in all this. Good but dense, royle some way to right of me. V dismissive of diggers levellers radicals. Casual about cromwells record in ireland. reading slowly
Nolan: Dublin's Folk Tales mixed bag, some too maundering where he wants to give impression of oral transcription
Tolley: Book of Hours little mini book - v museum shop - reproduction med illuminated, bit of context on opposite page. Lovely art
Willder: Blurb Your Enthusiasm bookblurb writer (penguin) writes about bookblurb writing. Much more entertaining than expected when manon recced it to me, would not have got only there was £4 copy in anyamountofbooks. All the helpful thoughts about sales pitch.
anon: Ladies' & Gentleman's Letter Writer a guide to correspondence with household and commercial forms pub 1920s (?) or poss edwardian. handbook of sample letters
Saki: Westminster Alice this topical satire at start 20th cent, got cos loved his stories as teen
Marshall: Follow the Sun posthumous coll articles. Lovely man but little englander vibe is strong with this one
Chambers: Reading Talk kid lit-crit, about educating, readers, translation issues etc
Bareham, Hopkinson: Prawn Cocktail Years nicely un-sneery about 70s grub + what looked sophis + glam then. Now craving bl forest gateau
Orleansky (illus): Russian Fairy Tales got for pics 'palekh painting' v stylised naive art on enamel-black background like those papier mache trinket boxes at craft markets which i always desire + can never afford. Is based on trad icon making skills apparently.
Defoe: The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists + ditto With Ahab pirates as trope. More jack sparrow than blackbeard
Foister: Holbein's Ambassadors making and meaning to celebrate restoration + display, a short illus book about circs of painting it, symbolism of things on shelf, x rays.
Neumeier: Pure Magic bk 2 paranormal/ urb fantasy w new spin on werewolves + latino heroes. Self published, but i liked bk 1 (is years since i read it) cover design awful
Hendrix: Paperbacks From Hell overview of pulp horror subgenres from 60s 70s 80s with snark commentary. Not my genre to read but remember selling some of these. Lots of (lurid) covers shown.will give to N
Shen, Hicks: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong gra novel in usa highschool got for hicks illus. Characters stereotypes, dialogue fun, raised by the art.
Stoneman (edit): The Greek Alexander Romance intro more interesting than the text
Boakye: I Heard What You Said memoir of black english teacher pub 2019ish. Critical of 2ndary curriculum on hist and lit. Good but repetitive, wish had been edited to sharpen points
Druvert: Anatomy a cutaway lookinside the human body bought for the illustrations - a fabulously nonchalant chap with v extra moustache and stripy top + beret, half body showing circulatory system. Computer die-cut inside so you can overlay bones, muscles, nerves, in way that would be shredded by children its designed for. Text by illustrators dad, a medical doctor. Beautifully designed.
Judah: Lapidarium the secret lives of stones v random assemblage of history or geology anecdotes about rubies marble slate etc. Like finlay's book colour but about rocks. Well designed book but the text is a superficial loo read
Brenchley: Three Twins at the Crater School selfpub. Recced on kj charles'blog. Mashup of jollyhockeysticks boardingschool + steampunk sf, lots of fun. Author fan of chalet school
April:
Ashton: Thomas Lawrence cheap coffeetable art reproduction book written by enthusiast, lots pics w short explanations who the portraits are of
Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters thought had read this, had skimmed 80% + in wrong order. Witches abroad still my fave
Mahfouz: Voices from the Other World ancient egyptian tales histfic sh stories, folktale vibe
Ackroyd: The English Actor from medieval to modern about half of this is 20th century, about 85% is potted biographies. Disappointing
Jensen: Vagabonds life on the streets of nineteenth century london brilliant empathic read
Charles: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen m/m regency romance w smugglers plot. Pleased to see kj charles released in public bookshops. Lot of scenesetting (romney marsh)
Stirling: Shakespeare's Bastard the life of sir william davenant from history press - they have form on doing interesting topics but awful writing. Dnf. Cavalier bias, (hate chas 1) but mainly hated stirlings writing.
Praz: Conversation Pieces a survey of the informal group portrait in europe and america coffee table book, lots pics. Praz text listed even more pics (would have liked more big picture analysis + reflections) + identified geometry of pics (triangle. triangle. triangle)
May, Bream: Another Kind loan from Laura - entirely beguiling gra novel about found family of orphan monsters trekking across usa pursued by govt + conspiracy theorists + corrupt rich geezer. L likes the art better than i do but am as enchanted by story as she thought i would be
Freeman: Good Girls a story and study of anorexia memoir by hadley freeman
Crystal: That's the Ticket for Soup v much a museumshop book, lots of packaging v little content. Uses illus from ounch magazine to talk about victorian language. le disappoint.
McGrigor: Wellington's Spies scouts rather than spies, peninsular war, 70% quotes from letters/ diaries of 3 men w linking passages from descendent, army wife who big fan of english army. Uncomfortable read
Foenkinos: Mystery of Henri Pick comedy/crime from france about book trade, enjoyed booktrade aspect, story too self consciously whimsical for me
Young, Houlbrook: Magical Folk a history of real fairies from 500 to the present lots data no critical thinking or overview
Pears: The Last Judgement jonathan argyle art dealer mystery. Flavia a delight in this. passing copy to adam as don't have shelfspace for it, love the series
Hassett: Growing Up Human the evolution of childhood a biologist look at humans have diff development pattern from other animals, have put in history of childhood tag but it's not really
Dow: Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony v listy, orig published 1935, occasional racism + didn't like author voice
Walker Gore, Schultze, Courtney(edit): Charlotte Mary Yonge writing the victorian age assembly of acad essays on aspects yonge novels. Makes me keen to reread family chronicles i thought i knew. Insights and enthusiasm
May
Lukens: So This Is Ever After queer ya fantasy. Bridgerton in that it has medieval trappings but modern teen heroes, relentless banter and thinly characterised. Trope-tastic, v fanficcy style.
Lane Fox: Love to the Little Ones the trials and triumphs of parents through the ages in letters diaries memoirs and essays themed anthology, a few good things in it - couple of wonderful sitwell quotes - oxfammed
Hartston: Knock Knock in pursuit of a grand theory of humour meh disagreed with parts bored by parts, oxfammed
Shipman: The Invaders how humans and their dogs drove neanderthals to extinction interesting unproven hypothesis
Willis, Ross: Tadpole's Promise children's picturebook. Thought it would end differently but breathtakingly hardnosed. 10 out of 10 for natural hist, may pass to neil!teacher
Pooley: The People on Platform 5 cosy read set on commute from SW london into waterloo. Nice cheerful-upping people orientated fluff. A richard curtis movie in book form
Yonge: The Cook and the Captive one of her juvenile hist fics, frankish medieval starring gregory of tours. Reading at home as book fragile
Orchard: the Second Lady Silverwood servicable regency romance which did not finish cos not in mood. Spinster weds widower, am guessing that rebecca like, dead wife will turn out to have been mean gurrrl.
Beckett: Class Act life as a working class man in a middle class world not as funny as hoped but fond of him as comic, like him more after this
Thorne: You Can't Spell Treason Without Tea cosy high fantasy where 2 d&d class-types (mage/mercenary) elope + stop adventuring. Great idea - they open bookshop - poor execution. Characters boring, silly, no ust, cringe flirting, incidents repetitive, insufficient setting-up-bookshop interest. Gave to laura who wanted to read it
Potter: Strange Blooms the curious lives and adventures of the john tradescants wanted bio of them for ages as live where their garden was near tradescant rd, nearly settled for phillipa gregory duology of histfic novels but this nonfic looks better ETA is good but requires reader be fascinated by plants + am here for history bits
Scarlett aka Streatfeild: The Man in the Dark one of her tepid romances about wholesome people. a few weird time jumps toward end, wonder was author bored too. Wished for more villainous sister
McDonald: No Comment what i wish i'd known about becoming a detective memoir of being fast tracked into met then resigning. Indictment of police culture but also of work conditions (poor resources, huge workload, burnout)
Chakanetsa, illus Alabi: Africana an encyclopaedia of an amazing continent childrens ref with beautiful cover and well designed pages, some repetitions in text. A lot of info unknown to me as am ignorant outside europe. clearly written to offset stereotypes of famine + war
MacLiammoir:Put Money In Thy Purse the making of othello diary of making orson welles othello, v funny, v entertaining diarist
Reed: We're Falling Through Space doctor who and celebrating the mundane v short fan-appreciation of dr who bought as gift for neil
Ibn-Munqidh: An Arab Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades memoirs of usamah ibn munqidh i know too little context to make anything of this, bewildered.
Townsend Warner: T H White a biography by a writer i love, about a writer i held in more and more distaste as i read. She did fantastic fair minded respectful book of him.
Sloman, Fawcett: Pickpocketing the Rich portrait painting in bath 1720 - 1800 another exhibition catalogue
Taylor: Symphony of Echoes chronicles of st marys time travel romp. takes connie willis' time travelling historians of domesday book (angsty) + does musical comedy spin on them. female lead is purest marysue.
Garfield: The Last Journey of William Huskisson how a day of triumph became a day of despair at the touch of a wheel
June:
Barber: Demon Barber 90s celeb interviews
Bourrier: The Measures of Manliness disability and masculinity in the mid victorian novel got, tbh, cos used heir of redclyffe as one of novels analysed.
Hyde: What Just Happened dispatches from turbulent times coll old guardian articles
anon: Grettir's Saga not my fave saga grettir a psychopath
Darke: Messages a collection of shivery tales 70s childrens ghost/horror s stories. Not great. Love darke's hist fic but this never got beyond mildly interesting
Ring: So High A Blood the life of margaret countess of lennox tudor biog - henry 8's niece + mary q of scots mother in law - readably told. Wish had picked off to-read pile earlier
Taylor: Second Chance chronicles of st marys time travelling historians farce series. dislike heroine + humour doesn't land for me so bit maddening to read (+ feel connie willis being ripped off) still! time travel story! stopped partway thru to hateread 1star reviews on goodreads
Bloom: Curtain Call for the Guv'nor a biography of george edwardes hagiography of edwardian theatre director, his musicals sound grimly racist but hugely popular
Gable: The Tuppenny Punch and Judy Show 25 years of tv commercials pub 1980. Lot of vox pops with early tv makers
Van Loo: The Burgundians a vanished empire a history of 1111 years and one day v conversational epic hist - too much so when van loo tells you stream of consciousness of john the fearless etc feel like am in wrong headspace for this + OUGHT love it. (heatwave, no focus)
Fowler: London Bridge is Falling Down one of the best in series - cried at end. must reread as was boggled by red herring twist and lost track of events
O'Byrne: The Rabbit the Dark and the Biscuit Tin picturebook
Masters: Now Barabbas was a Rotter the extraordinary life of marie corelli had been told he too mean about corelli - but she was dreadful awful person. He (v young when wrote this) has v weird ideas about adult virgins goinng mad from thwarted lust. Clearly eliz taylors angel based on corelli
Ferguson: Same Sex Marriage in Renaissance Rome sexuality identity and community in early modern europe dry academic microhistory about 16th century courtcase
only half through burgundians at end month - not cos 500+ pages but because it was trying too hard to be accessable to non academics, full of novelettish detail about eyes twinkling plaintive voices steely wrath. Write a fucking novel van loo
July:
Hall: Nailing It tales from the comedy frontier autobiog in anecdotes. Love rh but not feeling this
Salgado (edit): Eyewitnesses of Shakespeare first hand accounts of performances 1590 - 1890 a lot of familiar extracts
Orme: Tudor Children enjoyed. liked his things about medieval childhood
Block: The Burglar in the Library burglar/bookseller/sleuth bernie on track of noir association copy. spoof of brit cosy crime - country house in blizzard, corpses piling up
Pryor: Scenes from Prehistoric Life from the ice age to the coming of the romans would have liked more about evidence + less about pryors gut feelings
Pepys:The Joys of Excess food related extracts fr diary most new to me
Chase: Buffalo Cake and Indian Pudding recipes from 19th cent america
Streatfeild:Curtain Up one of her best - also cameos of adult ballet shoes girls
Verrall: Recipes from the White Hart Inn (in Lewes! Bought in eastbourn + train passed thru L on way there) 18th cent man on make does early cookbook adapting french cuisine for brits
Huggett: The Curse of Macbeth with other theatrical superstitions and ghosts author is 70s actor, v pleased with himself. Smugness unwarranted, oxfammed
Briggs: Soul Taken 13th in paranorm urb fantasy, series is moribund
MacThomais: Janey Mack Me Shirt Is Black growing up in liberties in early 20th cent - street rhymes slang games, about his generation not his personal life. Found that skipping rhyme about devalera that could only recall single line of for years
Armstrong: Fanny Kemble a passionate victorian v schmaltzy hist-novellish biog, pub 1939. Armstrong seems to honestly see black people as lesser; even putting aside terminology as of its day, horrible slurs sneers + generalisation about inferiority. Thinks the worst thing about slavery was that it made kemble sad as she was fed + clothed on the back of torture and she felt just awful about it. jesus
Garfield: Lucifer Wilkins hist fic for early reader (5 to 7 age) illus by knockoff victor ambrus-ish artist. 18th cent, slave + indentured convict go on the lam. oxfammed
Tyldesley: Hatchepsut the female pharaoh hard going but only cos i have no ancient egypt knowledge to put it in context JT v clear about what is fact + what is hypothesis
Burgis: Claws and Contrivances indy published regency romance with dragons in - pern type shoulder dragons on debutantes shoulders. Bored halfway as too much romance and idiot heroine
August:
Ranger: Terror and Pity Reign in Every Breast gothic drama in the london theatres, 1750 - 1820 printed-up dissertation, dry, repetitive, disappointing
Sillars: Shakespeare Seen image performance and society about illus compl shakespeare editions 18th + 19th cent. A lot of overlap w prev book of his
Kwan: Crazy Rich Asians fun romcom. Lot of footnotes translating se asia refs
Taylor: The Long And Short Of It short stories bought before i vowed to never gat jodi taylor book again, will do for coffee break at work
Low: Regency Underworld author from v law&order pov, he pro police I rooting for crims. suppose he had to follow where the records were but wd have appreciated more marxist approach
McKellen: Richard iii the filmscript heavily annotated lots pics loved this production
Goldsworthy: Philip & Alexander kings and conquerors for sake of my teen obsession w alexander the great. tbh a bit dry: and my ignorance of era means i have no context so slow read. good book but not my thing
Scarisbrick: Ancestral Jewels big coffee table thing about tiaras + parures of peers of england. They got author who could butter up duchesses so she could get access to the valuables but her swooning love of ermine has my inner marxist seething (those bits where "her fathers cottagers subscribed toward this diamond studded brooch") my own brooch collection is very enamel + diamante so prob just jealous
Berg: Murder Most Pemberley skimread, it was godawful. insufficiently britpicked, tiresome heroine, nonsense chars nonsense plot
Fowler: England's Finest s stories bryant + may. loved, think this concludes b+m for me
Chaney: The Cult of Kingship in Anglosaxon England the transition from paganism to christianity dry. repetitive. a lot of untranslated old english + latin, did not entirely get it
Magorian: Cuckoo in the Nest childrens hist fic post ww2. Boy wants be actor, his father thinks sissy
Malki!: Classy Lady Like You Will Love The Smell Of My Butt th ed best animal themed comic strips from wondermark vintage art and memes
September:
ended august half through magorian - good book objectively but not for me, right now - + barely started alexander where ignorance of ancient hist was making it uphill going
Malki!: Horrid Little Stories 60 dark and tiny tales of misery and woe selfpub minibook of comedy gothic verse. am all over his illustrations, got fab postcards from his site, this a bit meh
Lloyd: The Terribly Friendly Fox predator predates. Simple well executed picbook. Such a relief these days to have no moral - current crop kidlit so fucking earnest + sanctimoneous
Willes: In The Shadow of St Paul's the church yard that shaped london fab massmarket hist of london w emphasis on book trade. Also happy i found oxfam copy for 4.99
Rayner: Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights a journey deeper into dining hell minibook collection hatchett restaurant reviews
Aitken: Dear Bill Bryson footnotes from a small island 10 yars after notes/island fanboy aitken retraces brysons travel guide to england. (BB also retraced own jouney; it was dispiriting and grumpy) Too much gimmick + not enough to say
Garfield: All The Knowledge In The World the extraordinary history of the encyclopaedia disproportionately britannica but very entertaining read
Fontaine: History of Pedlars in Europe v dry
Slimak: Naked Neanderthal v windbaggy bombastic french neanderthal expert explains with repetition + tablethumping that his subject is unknowable. Heard every word in voice of werner herzog - combo of utter certitude plus mysticism
October:
sept a bad month for reading. lot of fanfic off ao3dotcom, lot of su dokus, lot of brainfreeze, lot of word tile game on phone (wtf vole dotcom big ben) now 2+ half months of bleeding. Only finished alexander - from august - on 30th sept
Hartley, Holland (edit): Shakespeare and Geek Culture acafan essays. Mixed bag, some overthinking. Other bits convinced me i'd been underthinking
Looser: Sister Novelists the trailblazing porter sisters who paved the way for austen and the brontes should have ticked all my boxes but book fatigue. Really welltold story i didn't know + should have
Usher: Wild picturebook. xmas gift.
Yeffeth (edit): Seven Seasons of Buffy science fiction and fantasy writers discuss their favourite television show mixed. Lorrah + Lichtenberg in here - poss the least impressive essays imo - big names from 80s
Clarke: Not Speaking dysfunctional-family memoir. Got cos loved her books on lit history. Did not know sister of famous hairdresser
Dench: Shakespeare the man who pays the rent transcribed interviews v much enjoyed
November
Ogilvie: Dictionary People the unsung heroes who made the oxford english dictionary v bitty + overly dumbed down - about the vic- era "crowdsourcing" which had unpaid randoms (lots clergy novelists incl miss yonge + startling number of institutionalised lunatics) doing swathes of research for the sheer glory of it. Ogilvie, ex employee of oup dictionary, detectives many of their identities
Bundock: Fortunes of Francis Barber the true story of the enslaved jamaican who became samuel johnson's heir published by yale - v good despite scant documents; burdock gets as much as he can out of passing references
Novik: A Deadly Education scholomancer #1 really fun mashup of college of magic + hunger games narrative voice of reluctant dark enchantress who like granny weatherwax may be good but is not ever nice
Novik: The Last Graduate scholomancer #2 straight into this on finishing bk 1
Winkler, Schoch (edit): Shakespeare In The Theatre - Sir William Davenant and the Duke's Company arden series of meta. dry but lots info i wanted to know
Novik: The Golden Enclaves scholomance #3 got a bit bogged down in romance angst.
Palmer: At Home With The Soanes upstairs downstairs in nineteenth century london short with pics by curator of soane museum about domestic life regency
Butler: Four British Fantasists place and culture in the childrens fantasies of penelope lively alan garner diana wynne jones and susan cooper do not feel much the wiser for that. jargon + jung
Cibber: An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber my God what a self aggrandizing windbag. Maundering in Tristram Shandy style sentences but less worth the reading. Good thing was eyewitness account of stage in 1700ish
Hirshler et al:Sargent in Fashion coffee table coll of essays by various curator types aimed middlebrow lot of biography of S and masses of illus. Glad I impulse bought
Wynn Jones: Flower of All Cities the history of London from earliest times to the great fire too much to fit in one paperback, came out too bullet pointy. Wasted a lot of space on political hist not living conditions
Dromgoole: Astonish Me! first nights that changed the world less than the sum of its parts. Came away liking author but passed to oxfam as a neve-read-again
December:
Egoff: Thursday's Child trends and patterns in Contemporary Children's literature contemp = 1980. Canadian librarian academic laments shallow multiculturalism and vulgarity etc. Pines for WASPy victorian tales of yore. In fairness market led hack writing commissioned by commerciality did produce loads of uninspired site but whiff of elitism here : hateread much of this
Strasdin: Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes secrets from a victorian woman's wardrobe too much wistful daydreaming from strasdin, the social hist aspect largely not so secret
Scarlett: Babbacombe's one of her light Cinderella romances, this one set in department store
Videen: The Word Hord daily life in old english armchair etymology - Anglo-Saxon roots of words
Rosen: Julia Margaret Cameron's Fancy Subjects photographic allegories of victorian identity and empire not sure jmc had same signifies or symbols Rosen ascribes to her
Bedford: Winterwood fantasy in alternate regency with magic. X-dressing lady pirate captain, surly indentured sidhe, swashbuckle. Ought tick my boxes, am trudging through it like chore
Bew: Ancestral Voices in Irish Politics judging Dillon and parnell
JASNA:Persuasions issue 19 American fanzine of austen, this issue mostly sanditon
Kean: the Tale of the Duelling Neurosurgeons the history of the human brain as revealed by true stories of trauma madness and recovery man who mistook his wife a hat territory, stories about hideous injuries implying how brain works
Lewis, Williams (trans) : The Book of Taliesin medieval Welsh poetry in translation
Kingfisher: Paladin's Strength xmas gift fr Laura. Really like it, 2nd in fantasy trilogy (#4 just out) works as standalone, nice vibe good world building, werebear nun heroine. I could do with about 80% less pining: the attempted UST of "she can never love a grizzled paladin like me" /"he can never love a beefy nun like me" are downright irritating