Books read in 2024
New year, same me. Last part of 2023, was reluctantly clearing room of books to oxfam(am hoarder) which is sad but, result, room much less claustrophobia inducing. To-read pile acquires more as quickly as I remove things from it.
January:
Lewis: Kindred Spirits autobiog of publisher. abandoned as Lewis was setting my teeth on edge. mum loved this book back in the day
Perec: Brief Notes on the Art and Manner of Arranging One's Books mini-book of essays
Riding: Peterloo the story of the Manchester massacre lucid vivid indignant telling
Lincoln: The Swifts storybook for 9-12 yr Olds. rather determinedly quirky, publisher pushing it as new lemony snicket. Addams family type chars, solve murder (Robin Steven's murder plots for tweens v commercial right now) reading this for work.
Yonge: Willie's Trouble and how he came out of it v short, novella, but vintage bit of her style, domestic family conscience stuff. Additional (not v good) short short-story as make weight which is a 10yr old Quixote circa 1870 (quixote hero tstl)
Stafford-Clark: Journal of the Plague Year series angry emails sent to arts council when government cut grant to his theatre group. thought would be sympathetic but author is such a smug dick
Scalzi: Kaiju Preservation Society sf romp that zips so fast you don't spot plotholes till after (OK, lots lampshading of said plot holes + tropes) its jurassic park but with irony. Passed to Laura. Is joyous romp
Shepherd: A Treacherous Likeness histfic crime with victorian classics theme to series - eg book 1 was themed round Mansfield Park, loved it, + this is shelleys/Frankenstein which did not enjoy. Periodic breaks where omniscient narrator compares 1840 with 2010 - did not appreciate this element
Moser: The Upside-down World meetings with the Dutch masters mostly easy approachable biogs of Rembrandt + after with talk about how their reputations fluctuated in life and after death
Cogman: Scarlet riffs off the scarlet pimpernel, adds vampires. Less bigC conservative than orczy, also does not assume peasants are idiots. But classiest in more subtle ways. With literal bloodsucking aristos, girrrl power, swashbuckling, divided loyalties, class war, and surprise magic manifestation, felt it superfluous to add romance (plucky seamstress hearts token nerd pimpernel-minion - Charles is the forgery guy + apparently beta male if you go for Greek lettering) 1st of trilogy. Will not read 2 or 3, but would if were still reading fantasy with the appetite I had for genre in the 90s
Kinealy: Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland the kindness of strangers well it's not going to replace Cecil w-s's great hunger in my heart - kinealy is academic specializing in famine, done several books on topic, this is act of piety naming as many donors as poss. Same donations in multiple chapters: so an offering from Philadelphia woman's group will feature in female contributions chapter, again in American chapter, again in outside the brit empire chapter. So, essentially, lists of names.
Laven: Virgins of Venice enclosed lives and broken vows in the Renaissance convent lives of counter reformation nuns, v good
Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men Scotland ad 80-1000 dry. v good as book, but terrible for tea break reading as too unfamiliar topic.
Tagholm: Wolves in Helicopters picturebook. about lucid dreaming for tots
Reed: Nabil Steals a Penguin picturebook
Holroyd: Ancestors in the Attic my great grandmother's book of ferns, my aunt's book of silent actors prettily produced books but no content
Brennan: In the Labyrinth of Drakes bought this 2016 - found buried in to-read pile. Loving it, why did I leave it unread for 7 years?
Finn, Rockett: Still Irish a century of the Irish in film stills from ' irish' films from 1912 to 90s. Irish can mean makers, Irish descent makers or topic, v broad definition
Jackson: Withnail & I bfi monograph
Tyree, Walters: The Big Lebowski bfi monograph, more analysis than in bfi re:withnail or blimp
Febuary:
Postle (edit) :Johan Zoffany RA society observed coffee table book lots pics essays on his life + diff types of paintings. highlights portraits theatre conversation pieces, lovely
O'Hanlon: In Trouble Again a journey between the Orinoco and the amazon unreadable to me. Loved borneo but that was yrs ago + don't have the tolerance for performative masculinity now
Baldree: Legends and Lattes curious about new low stakes high fantasy trend. Abandoned cos did not care about any of it. (apathetic re other lo stake fantasy I read previously)
Kelly: The Kemble Era John Philip Kemble Sarah siddons and the London stage also inchbald boaden and Sheridan. really enjoying
Westwell: Dragons Heroes Myths & Magic the medieval art of storytelling beautiful looking book, great images, lovely design, let down by underwhelming text, a cursory retelling of stories from middle ages. Brit library publication often fur coat:no knickers as far as presentation versus text content is concerned
McCaffrey, Stirling: City Who Fought read half, skimmed rest. Toxic blokes, irritating women, mil sf still not my thing, faint fond memories of ship who sang not enough to carry me thru
Warner: Philippa of Hainault mother of the English nation hard to follow the intermarried family tree of medieval royals, much repeating info already given
Raven: The Business of Books booksellers and the English book trade caxton to the victorian. tbh, bit dry
Taylor: How To Be Cooler Than Cool picture book, passed to N squared
Burton: The Raj At Table included recipes
Donohue:Theatre in the Age of Kean 1975 book not especially about kean but about 1780 to accession of Victoria. thoughtful about the why's of changes in theaters playwriting + acting
Edgeworth: Popular Tales illus by Chris hammond so good a writer, but in her writing for children so committed to rich man castle poor man gate. reminds of yonge cottage novels. gave up before story titled the grateful negro - avery summarised it scathingly elsewhere
Collings (edit) : Classic Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories wasted too many pages on obvious - hello mansize in marble, 2 x M. r. James, bloody canterville ghost. Oliphant would have been nice inclusion. Scott pompous as ever, poe feverish + twitchy, le fanu more readable than remembered from one time I struggled, bored, throu le fanu novel
Garfield(edit) : We Are At War anthology diaries from mass observation project, 5 diarist of mixed perspectives, early ww2. Strongly disliked one male diarist in it
Sidwell, Dzino (edit) : Studies in Emotion and Power in the Late Roman World acad essays, the emotion discussed mostly anger. Last essay was about brunhilde doing diplomacy via letters to byzantium, a bonus I wasn't expecting - hadn't expected book to go that late
Cumming: Thunderclap a memoir of art and life and sudden death now wondering if loved her 1st book on portraits so much cos some merciful editor reined in LC's tendency to bring every bloody thought back to her dad.
Warner: London a 14th Century City and its People quite bitty extracts from official documents across 1300 to 1350, split into short chapters like 'death' 'drainage' 'hospitals' Not narrative history, builds up a picture
March
Penn: Winter King the dawn of tudor england biog of Henry 7, snapped up bargain copy years ago, wish had scooped off to read pile quicker. Confirms my sellars+ yeatman impression of Henry (except his grip on bullion was even more white knuckled than had thought) but Penn says Juana not mad but woman in white figure, also is hilariously hostile to Erasmus. Gripping read
Cholmeley: A Bookshop of One's Own hist silver moon feminist bkshop in char x rd.too much about cholmeley not enough about shop
Gurr: Shakespearian Stage 1574 - 1642 pretty dry
Nicholl: Leonardo da Vinci flights of the mind started this w enthusiasm but so much duff Freudianism + novelistic scenesetting was exhausting. Loved his essay collection and book review thing, maybe I only like cn in quick bursts
Tarr: Rite of Conquest alt hist fantasy - William conqueror plus druid magic. Tarr good at au hist fantasy but not to my taste now
Belting: Hieronymus Bosch Garden of Earthly Delights which I keep calling unearthly delights but anyway. aimed at the ignorant but curious, tries explain what picture is about. exactly what wanted
Garrison (edit) : Cultural History of the Human Body in Antiquity found 2ndhand in Gower, more engaging than hoped, pretty academic, book bit cleverer than I am
Schweid: Octopus reaktionbooks animal series, about (named animal) in human hist + culture w lots pics. Enjoyed wolf in this series. Bizarre combo of environmental anxiety for octo survival then also many calimari recipes
Cho: Sorcerer to the Crown regency manner punk with magic, v Stephanie burgis (+ when is #3 in burgis' series coming out?) 1st of trilogy, bought in 2016 when paperbacked, why not open till now? Is fun + charming but not so good that I'll read bks 2 + 3
Bailey: Durer phaidon colour library basic captioned reproductions plus bio essay
Pucci, Thompson (edit) : Jane Austen and Co remaking the past in contemporary culture multi author essays about media austen. some state the bleeding obvious in jargon, some say stupid things in ditto. Random essay on buffy the vampire slayer (which I thought was nonsense essay) and dangerous liasons
Sellers: Secret Life of Ealing Studios Britain's favourite film studio a lot of mediocrity comes across + such nepotism classism sexism, the survivors he interviewed v dismissive of unions or health n safety, v boys club. Did not fill me with yearning for good old days
Newbery: Key to Flambards disappointment. reviewed on lt
April:
Zola: Germinal unfinished, so bleak
Muir: Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune how younger sons made their way in Jane austen's england excellent but (milit historian) too much army+ navy at expense of civilians. Author previously did 2 vol bio of Wellington so Wellington, not one of god's most representative younger sons, features frequently in text. Boys equivalent of gentleman's daughter
Bell: Sydney Smith biog
Duncan: Searching for Juliet the lives and deaths of Shakespeare's first tragic heroine lovely + illuminating. Preordered this nervously as not impressed by similar book about Rosalind but gobbled this down
Gibson: Bluestockings the forgotten heroines of Britain's very first women's movement mediocre. Keeps saying how well they spoke but not enough reported speech given or enough quotes fr letters
Russell: Young & Damned & Fair the life and tragedy of Catherine Howard at the court of Henry viii titled like a Jean plaidy, cover art like a plaidy, scooped up free proof years ago on friend's rec but only read now immediately before oxfamming it. Actually pretty readable and clear which bits guesswork and what his evidence is, v much rubs in what a loathsome man Henry was
David: Cave Art world of art series attention drifting during the isotope bits about dates
Houlbrooke(edit) :English Family Life 1576-1716 diary anthology
Doyle: Courtship and Curses regency romance with magic spells - subgenre I love but disliked lead couple of this one who were chumps and plot too predictable, oxfammed
Johnson: Oldtime Schools and Schoolbooks by an early 20th cent collector of colonial and early 19th cent American textbooks, published by Dover. Lots quotes and reproduced woodcuts. Much resentment + hate toward native americans
Lee : How Words Get Good the story of making a book ex editor from penguin explains publishing 101. A lot I knew here, oversimplified. Also, ironically, clunkilly written, she stretches metaphors beyond what they can stand and replaces
'text' 'manuscript' 'novel' 'book' 'sentence' 'prose' etc with WORDS I suppose to hark back artificially to book title: it is irritating
Talvacchia (edit) : Cultural History of Sexuality in the Renaissance v dry. More about academics conceptualising gender than how people lived
Fraser: The King and the Catholics England Ireland and the fight for religious freedom 1780 1829 af always a joy
Kerby: Miss Carter and the Ifrit 1940s light fantasy, lots of food porn + yearning for rationed goods. published same time as elizabeth david
Hicks: Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy ya romance gra novel love faith erin hicks but will oxfam this
Maddicott (edit) : The English Historical Review journal, November 1998
May
Maxtone Graham: Mr Tibbit's Catholic School bought a decade ago, thought was novel, is short history of posh London prep school
Poskett: Horizons a global history of science thesis ~ science advances on all the continents then white euro males gazump the triumph. Wanted to like this but idea of book better than execution jp tells you what he's going to tell you, then he tells you, then recapitulates. Years of uni of Warwick students left him with no faith in attention spans. Occasionally he breaks off to say how epochal and groundbreaking his book is. Would like more about the scientists + their cultures
Bedell: Hildur Queen of the Elves and other Icelandic folktales fun read startlingly thin veneer of Christianity on the priests
Nagler: Medieval Religious Stage shapes and phantoms N glories in his ignorance + leads you through early texts pointing out how unknowable they are. Upsetting for a wannabe autodidact. horribly dry
Oakley: Empty Bottles of Gentilism kingship and the divine in late antiquity and the early middle ages too dry too much theology
Penn: The Brothers York an English tragedy v densely packed read, slow to take it in. Good balance between inferring personalities + going full Jean plaidy. Mostly reign of Edward and his bros an appendix
Baker: Bird of the River bought on publication saved to read till now - if had been company series could not have waited. Well written good world building uncompelling plot mary sue protagonist
Greenhalgh: Forger's Tale confessions of the Bolton forger true crime bio of man who faked art antiques. badly written but author likeable and almost victimless
Schwartz: Miriam's Tambourine Jewish folk tales from around the world
Castillo Price:Skeleton Crew psycop #14 trapped in basement one of the best in series
de Winkel: Rembrandt the complete self portraits picturebook minimal text taschen
Copeland: Alex vs Axel children's botm liked the elevator pitch, book mediocre
Fraser: Lady Caroline Lamb a free spirit not hugely interested by lady c l
Flanders: The Victorian City everyday life in dickens london really good despite referencing dickens nonstop + can't stand dickens. Flanders is great. Wish it was clearer who she is quoting when she does extracts from contemp reports
Langley Moore: All Done By Kindness 1950s art heist cosycrime w v ealing comedy vibe, lovely
June
Houghton: Nuking the Moon and other intelligence schemes and military plots best left on the drawing board v usa based (and patriotically so as ex usa army) so commies bad, furriners to be fucked over, his sense of humour grating, many chapters a blur of acronyms
Heath(edit): Heroines of Shakespeare comprising the principal female characters in the plays of the great poet text only there to stitch together plates of engravings by likes of Egg etc. 1840s, much simpering
Ferriter: Between Two Hells the irish civil war finding it hard to follow, slow read horribly depressing
Redgrave: The Actor's Ways And Means 1950s lectures on how to act for undergraduates v pompous and discursive and unclear
Walpole: Selected Letters much more entertaining than expected
Young: Magic Box viewing britain through the rectangular window social hist of middle england via tv from 60s to 80s with some recent things author liked thrown in. v personal. author lists too many shows to have space to analyse them- a lot of name checking + plot summaries. he loves folk horror and pretentiousness and english exceptionalism - so many times saying a basic human urge shared worldwide is purely english. found author annoying
Ormerod: Maudie and Bear picturebook got to give N2 for his reception class - 3 ubershort stories in one picture flat
Wood: Victorian Panorama paintings of victorian life 1970s art hist for casual philistines, of realist (maybe sentimentalised) pics of daily life. Blurry b/w illus which is sad but the publishers were keeping the pricepoint affordable. text cursory but detail and variety of pics delightful
Trewin: Going to Shakespeare v much for general readers done on play by play basis
Edge: Mortal Monarchs 1000 years of royal deaths disappointment. Dr w interest in history (like brewer who did death of kings) her medicine prob sound but hist side of this poor. Soundbitey, simplistic analysis, unfunny jokes, tells you cherished folk-hist tale, like ed2 + poker or arrow eye hastings, is prob not true then next para behaves as if it were true + she just proved it
July
West: She Done Him Wrong 1890s people trafficking in new york w lot of period slang + selfinsert tart w heart
Hall: Affair of the Mysterious Letter fun at start, palled on me. Eldritch alternate sherlock queered up steampunk. Got cos rave review by kj charles on goodreads.
Hewitt: Map of a Nation a biography of the ordnance survey gave up on this when noticed how deeply was sighing when i picked up book. Not book's fault ; an in reading slump
Siciliano: I Know What I Am the life and times of artemisia gentileschi graphic novel biography. absolutely unfinished at end month, reading slump
Richardson: Death Dissection and the Destitute social hist of underclass + death with ref to bodysnatchers and hist medicine - so good and i cannot process reading rn. despite fortnight off at end month unfinished. only read ao3 this month
August:
Malet: Marjory Fleming rps novel about dead regency child much more sentimental than i cared for
Elwes: As You Wish inconceivable tales from the making of the princess bride relentlessly positive memoir v light fluffy read
Montaigne: A Vulcan Odyssey autobiog of actor who played stonn in st:tos. really came away from this disliking him but interesting about scratching a living as extra in 50s, 60s hollywood
Brennan:Long Live Evil soft spot for sarah rees brennan back from reading her on lj when she did hilariously indiscreet family stories. Her writing sometimes better for online than book length and the tone in this jarred. Hated heroine. Bits about cancer struck hard but the continual talking about being villain without doing anything to shake readers sympathy, the wearysome flippancy, the pacing issues. Preordered this cos loved in other lands + was excited for her return from writers block. Dnf. Oxfammed.
Farjeon:Miss Granby's Secret or the bastard of pinsk another dean st reprint from 1940 about an ouida-like author of unassailable innocence writing accidental filth in romance novels as seen by her worldly great neice. Like the idea better than execution. Young visiters novella nested in russian doll of forewords and postscripts
Richardson: Death Dissection and the Destitute UNFINISHED
September:
terrible lack of focus. hardly started death dissection etc
Leith: Haunted Wood a history of childhood reading very boysown selection of classics and v v english. Went to launch event and speech. Pretty much stuff i knew and wanted to argue his judgements when i got to read it. Launch involved lauren child who basically a catherine-tate character
Watson: Invention of Charlotte Bronte her last years and the scandal that made her mostly about the making of Gaskell's biog of her - as i prefer Gaskell to Bronte, that fine with me. Patrick B more ghastly than i remembered
Wimpenny: Aesop's Animals the science behind the fables theory of mind applied to donkeys wolves etc
Swain: Colin's Castle picturebook about vampire vs duck - lovely
Johnson: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village v light humour book, gorey style illus, written an ironic fan of midsommer murders. Got for n for xmas. Maureen Johnson part of the sarah rees brennan and cassie clare clique of ya writers
January:
Lewis: Kindred Spirits autobiog of publisher. abandoned as Lewis was setting my teeth on edge. mum loved this book back in the day
Perec: Brief Notes on the Art and Manner of Arranging One's Books mini-book of essays
Riding: Peterloo the story of the Manchester massacre lucid vivid indignant telling
Lincoln: The Swifts storybook for 9-12 yr Olds. rather determinedly quirky, publisher pushing it as new lemony snicket. Addams family type chars, solve murder (Robin Steven's murder plots for tweens v commercial right now) reading this for work.
Yonge: Willie's Trouble and how he came out of it v short, novella, but vintage bit of her style, domestic family conscience stuff. Additional (not v good) short short-story as make weight which is a 10yr old Quixote circa 1870 (quixote hero tstl)
Stafford-Clark: Journal of the Plague Year series angry emails sent to arts council when government cut grant to his theatre group. thought would be sympathetic but author is such a smug dick
Scalzi: Kaiju Preservation Society sf romp that zips so fast you don't spot plotholes till after (OK, lots lampshading of said plot holes + tropes) its jurassic park but with irony. Passed to Laura. Is joyous romp
Shepherd: A Treacherous Likeness histfic crime with victorian classics theme to series - eg book 1 was themed round Mansfield Park, loved it, + this is shelleys/Frankenstein which did not enjoy. Periodic breaks where omniscient narrator compares 1840 with 2010 - did not appreciate this element
Moser: The Upside-down World meetings with the Dutch masters mostly easy approachable biogs of Rembrandt + after with talk about how their reputations fluctuated in life and after death
Cogman: Scarlet riffs off the scarlet pimpernel, adds vampires. Less bigC conservative than orczy, also does not assume peasants are idiots. But classiest in more subtle ways. With literal bloodsucking aristos, girrrl power, swashbuckling, divided loyalties, class war, and surprise magic manifestation, felt it superfluous to add romance (plucky seamstress hearts token nerd pimpernel-minion - Charles is the forgery guy + apparently beta male if you go for Greek lettering) 1st of trilogy. Will not read 2 or 3, but would if were still reading fantasy with the appetite I had for genre in the 90s
Kinealy: Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland the kindness of strangers well it's not going to replace Cecil w-s's great hunger in my heart - kinealy is academic specializing in famine, done several books on topic, this is act of piety naming as many donors as poss. Same donations in multiple chapters: so an offering from Philadelphia woman's group will feature in female contributions chapter, again in American chapter, again in outside the brit empire chapter. So, essentially, lists of names.
Laven: Virgins of Venice enclosed lives and broken vows in the Renaissance convent lives of counter reformation nuns, v good
Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men Scotland ad 80-1000 dry. v good as book, but terrible for tea break reading as too unfamiliar topic.
Tagholm: Wolves in Helicopters picturebook. about lucid dreaming for tots
Reed: Nabil Steals a Penguin picturebook
Holroyd: Ancestors in the Attic my great grandmother's book of ferns, my aunt's book of silent actors prettily produced books but no content
Brennan: In the Labyrinth of Drakes bought this 2016 - found buried in to-read pile. Loving it, why did I leave it unread for 7 years?
Finn, Rockett: Still Irish a century of the Irish in film stills from ' irish' films from 1912 to 90s. Irish can mean makers, Irish descent makers or topic, v broad definition
Jackson: Withnail & I bfi monograph
Tyree, Walters: The Big Lebowski bfi monograph, more analysis than in bfi re:withnail or blimp
Febuary:
Postle (edit) :Johan Zoffany RA society observed coffee table book lots pics essays on his life + diff types of paintings. highlights portraits theatre conversation pieces, lovely
O'Hanlon: In Trouble Again a journey between the Orinoco and the amazon unreadable to me. Loved borneo but that was yrs ago + don't have the tolerance for performative masculinity now
Baldree: Legends and Lattes curious about new low stakes high fantasy trend. Abandoned cos did not care about any of it. (apathetic re other lo stake fantasy I read previously)
Kelly: The Kemble Era John Philip Kemble Sarah siddons and the London stage also inchbald boaden and Sheridan. really enjoying
Westwell: Dragons Heroes Myths & Magic the medieval art of storytelling beautiful looking book, great images, lovely design, let down by underwhelming text, a cursory retelling of stories from middle ages. Brit library publication often fur coat:no knickers as far as presentation versus text content is concerned
McCaffrey, Stirling: City Who Fought read half, skimmed rest. Toxic blokes, irritating women, mil sf still not my thing, faint fond memories of ship who sang not enough to carry me thru
Warner: Philippa of Hainault mother of the English nation hard to follow the intermarried family tree of medieval royals, much repeating info already given
Raven: The Business of Books booksellers and the English book trade caxton to the victorian. tbh, bit dry
Taylor: How To Be Cooler Than Cool picture book, passed to N squared
Burton: The Raj At Table included recipes
Donohue:Theatre in the Age of Kean 1975 book not especially about kean but about 1780 to accession of Victoria. thoughtful about the why's of changes in theaters playwriting + acting
Edgeworth: Popular Tales illus by Chris hammond so good a writer, but in her writing for children so committed to rich man castle poor man gate. reminds of yonge cottage novels. gave up before story titled the grateful negro - avery summarised it scathingly elsewhere
Collings (edit) : Classic Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories wasted too many pages on obvious - hello mansize in marble, 2 x M. r. James, bloody canterville ghost. Oliphant would have been nice inclusion. Scott pompous as ever, poe feverish + twitchy, le fanu more readable than remembered from one time I struggled, bored, throu le fanu novel
Garfield(edit) : We Are At War anthology diaries from mass observation project, 5 diarist of mixed perspectives, early ww2. Strongly disliked one male diarist in it
Sidwell, Dzino (edit) : Studies in Emotion and Power in the Late Roman World acad essays, the emotion discussed mostly anger. Last essay was about brunhilde doing diplomacy via letters to byzantium, a bonus I wasn't expecting - hadn't expected book to go that late
Cumming: Thunderclap a memoir of art and life and sudden death now wondering if loved her 1st book on portraits so much cos some merciful editor reined in LC's tendency to bring every bloody thought back to her dad.
Warner: London a 14th Century City and its People quite bitty extracts from official documents across 1300 to 1350, split into short chapters like 'death' 'drainage' 'hospitals' Not narrative history, builds up a picture
March
Penn: Winter King the dawn of tudor england biog of Henry 7, snapped up bargain copy years ago, wish had scooped off to read pile quicker. Confirms my sellars+ yeatman impression of Henry (except his grip on bullion was even more white knuckled than had thought) but Penn says Juana not mad but woman in white figure, also is hilariously hostile to Erasmus. Gripping read
Cholmeley: A Bookshop of One's Own hist silver moon feminist bkshop in char x rd.too much about cholmeley not enough about shop
Gurr: Shakespearian Stage 1574 - 1642 pretty dry
Nicholl: Leonardo da Vinci flights of the mind started this w enthusiasm but so much duff Freudianism + novelistic scenesetting was exhausting. Loved his essay collection and book review thing, maybe I only like cn in quick bursts
Tarr: Rite of Conquest alt hist fantasy - William conqueror plus druid magic. Tarr good at au hist fantasy but not to my taste now
Belting: Hieronymus Bosch Garden of Earthly Delights which I keep calling unearthly delights but anyway. aimed at the ignorant but curious, tries explain what picture is about. exactly what wanted
Garrison (edit) : Cultural History of the Human Body in Antiquity found 2ndhand in Gower, more engaging than hoped, pretty academic, book bit cleverer than I am
Schweid: Octopus reaktionbooks animal series, about (named animal) in human hist + culture w lots pics. Enjoyed wolf in this series. Bizarre combo of environmental anxiety for octo survival then also many calimari recipes
Cho: Sorcerer to the Crown regency manner punk with magic, v Stephanie burgis (+ when is #3 in burgis' series coming out?) 1st of trilogy, bought in 2016 when paperbacked, why not open till now? Is fun + charming but not so good that I'll read bks 2 + 3
Bailey: Durer phaidon colour library basic captioned reproductions plus bio essay
Pucci, Thompson (edit) : Jane Austen and Co remaking the past in contemporary culture multi author essays about media austen. some state the bleeding obvious in jargon, some say stupid things in ditto. Random essay on buffy the vampire slayer (which I thought was nonsense essay) and dangerous liasons
Sellers: Secret Life of Ealing Studios Britain's favourite film studio a lot of mediocrity comes across + such nepotism classism sexism, the survivors he interviewed v dismissive of unions or health n safety, v boys club. Did not fill me with yearning for good old days
Newbery: Key to Flambards disappointment. reviewed on lt
April:
Zola: Germinal unfinished, so bleak
Muir: Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune how younger sons made their way in Jane austen's england excellent but (milit historian) too much army+ navy at expense of civilians. Author previously did 2 vol bio of Wellington so Wellington, not one of god's most representative younger sons, features frequently in text. Boys equivalent of gentleman's daughter
Bell: Sydney Smith biog
Duncan: Searching for Juliet the lives and deaths of Shakespeare's first tragic heroine lovely + illuminating. Preordered this nervously as not impressed by similar book about Rosalind but gobbled this down
Gibson: Bluestockings the forgotten heroines of Britain's very first women's movement mediocre. Keeps saying how well they spoke but not enough reported speech given or enough quotes fr letters
Russell: Young & Damned & Fair the life and tragedy of Catherine Howard at the court of Henry viii titled like a Jean plaidy, cover art like a plaidy, scooped up free proof years ago on friend's rec but only read now immediately before oxfamming it. Actually pretty readable and clear which bits guesswork and what his evidence is, v much rubs in what a loathsome man Henry was
David: Cave Art world of art series attention drifting during the isotope bits about dates
Houlbrooke(edit) :English Family Life 1576-1716 diary anthology
Doyle: Courtship and Curses regency romance with magic spells - subgenre I love but disliked lead couple of this one who were chumps and plot too predictable, oxfammed
Johnson: Oldtime Schools and Schoolbooks by an early 20th cent collector of colonial and early 19th cent American textbooks, published by Dover. Lots quotes and reproduced woodcuts. Much resentment + hate toward native americans
Lee : How Words Get Good the story of making a book ex editor from penguin explains publishing 101. A lot I knew here, oversimplified. Also, ironically, clunkilly written, she stretches metaphors beyond what they can stand and replaces
'text' 'manuscript' 'novel' 'book' 'sentence' 'prose' etc with WORDS I suppose to hark back artificially to book title: it is irritating
Talvacchia (edit) : Cultural History of Sexuality in the Renaissance v dry. More about academics conceptualising gender than how people lived
Fraser: The King and the Catholics England Ireland and the fight for religious freedom 1780 1829 af always a joy
Kerby: Miss Carter and the Ifrit 1940s light fantasy, lots of food porn + yearning for rationed goods. published same time as elizabeth david
Hicks: Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy ya romance gra novel love faith erin hicks but will oxfam this
Maddicott (edit) : The English Historical Review journal, November 1998
May
Maxtone Graham: Mr Tibbit's Catholic School bought a decade ago, thought was novel, is short history of posh London prep school
Poskett: Horizons a global history of science thesis ~ science advances on all the continents then white euro males gazump the triumph. Wanted to like this but idea of book better than execution jp tells you what he's going to tell you, then he tells you, then recapitulates. Years of uni of Warwick students left him with no faith in attention spans. Occasionally he breaks off to say how epochal and groundbreaking his book is. Would like more about the scientists + their cultures
Bedell: Hildur Queen of the Elves and other Icelandic folktales fun read startlingly thin veneer of Christianity on the priests
Nagler: Medieval Religious Stage shapes and phantoms N glories in his ignorance + leads you through early texts pointing out how unknowable they are. Upsetting for a wannabe autodidact. horribly dry
Oakley: Empty Bottles of Gentilism kingship and the divine in late antiquity and the early middle ages too dry too much theology
Penn: The Brothers York an English tragedy v densely packed read, slow to take it in. Good balance between inferring personalities + going full Jean plaidy. Mostly reign of Edward and his bros an appendix
Baker: Bird of the River bought on publication saved to read till now - if had been company series could not have waited. Well written good world building uncompelling plot mary sue protagonist
Greenhalgh: Forger's Tale confessions of the Bolton forger true crime bio of man who faked art antiques. badly written but author likeable and almost victimless
Schwartz: Miriam's Tambourine Jewish folk tales from around the world
Castillo Price:Skeleton Crew psycop #14 trapped in basement one of the best in series
de Winkel: Rembrandt the complete self portraits picturebook minimal text taschen
Copeland: Alex vs Axel children's botm liked the elevator pitch, book mediocre
Fraser: Lady Caroline Lamb a free spirit not hugely interested by lady c l
Flanders: The Victorian City everyday life in dickens london really good despite referencing dickens nonstop + can't stand dickens. Flanders is great. Wish it was clearer who she is quoting when she does extracts from contemp reports
Langley Moore: All Done By Kindness 1950s art heist cosycrime w v ealing comedy vibe, lovely
June
Houghton: Nuking the Moon and other intelligence schemes and military plots best left on the drawing board v usa based (and patriotically so as ex usa army) so commies bad, furriners to be fucked over, his sense of humour grating, many chapters a blur of acronyms
Heath(edit): Heroines of Shakespeare comprising the principal female characters in the plays of the great poet text only there to stitch together plates of engravings by likes of Egg etc. 1840s, much simpering
Ferriter: Between Two Hells the irish civil war finding it hard to follow, slow read horribly depressing
Redgrave: The Actor's Ways And Means 1950s lectures on how to act for undergraduates v pompous and discursive and unclear
Walpole: Selected Letters much more entertaining than expected
Young: Magic Box viewing britain through the rectangular window social hist of middle england via tv from 60s to 80s with some recent things author liked thrown in. v personal. author lists too many shows to have space to analyse them- a lot of name checking + plot summaries. he loves folk horror and pretentiousness and english exceptionalism - so many times saying a basic human urge shared worldwide is purely english. found author annoying
Ormerod: Maudie and Bear picturebook got to give N2 for his reception class - 3 ubershort stories in one picture flat
Wood: Victorian Panorama paintings of victorian life 1970s art hist for casual philistines, of realist (maybe sentimentalised) pics of daily life. Blurry b/w illus which is sad but the publishers were keeping the pricepoint affordable. text cursory but detail and variety of pics delightful
Trewin: Going to Shakespeare v much for general readers done on play by play basis
Edge: Mortal Monarchs 1000 years of royal deaths disappointment. Dr w interest in history (like brewer who did death of kings) her medicine prob sound but hist side of this poor. Soundbitey, simplistic analysis, unfunny jokes, tells you cherished folk-hist tale, like ed2 + poker or arrow eye hastings, is prob not true then next para behaves as if it were true + she just proved it
July
West: She Done Him Wrong 1890s people trafficking in new york w lot of period slang + selfinsert tart w heart
Hall: Affair of the Mysterious Letter fun at start, palled on me. Eldritch alternate sherlock queered up steampunk. Got cos rave review by kj charles on goodreads.
Hewitt: Map of a Nation a biography of the ordnance survey gave up on this when noticed how deeply was sighing when i picked up book. Not book's fault ; an in reading slump
Siciliano: I Know What I Am the life and times of artemisia gentileschi graphic novel biography. absolutely unfinished at end month, reading slump
Richardson: Death Dissection and the Destitute social hist of underclass + death with ref to bodysnatchers and hist medicine - so good and i cannot process reading rn. despite fortnight off at end month unfinished. only read ao3 this month
August:
Malet: Marjory Fleming rps novel about dead regency child much more sentimental than i cared for
Elwes: As You Wish inconceivable tales from the making of the princess bride relentlessly positive memoir v light fluffy read
Montaigne: A Vulcan Odyssey autobiog of actor who played stonn in st:tos. really came away from this disliking him but interesting about scratching a living as extra in 50s, 60s hollywood
Brennan:Long Live Evil soft spot for sarah rees brennan back from reading her on lj when she did hilariously indiscreet family stories. Her writing sometimes better for online than book length and the tone in this jarred. Hated heroine. Bits about cancer struck hard but the continual talking about being villain without doing anything to shake readers sympathy, the wearysome flippancy, the pacing issues. Preordered this cos loved in other lands + was excited for her return from writers block. Dnf. Oxfammed.
Farjeon:Miss Granby's Secret or the bastard of pinsk another dean st reprint from 1940 about an ouida-like author of unassailable innocence writing accidental filth in romance novels as seen by her worldly great neice. Like the idea better than execution. Young visiters novella nested in russian doll of forewords and postscripts
Richardson: Death Dissection and the Destitute UNFINISHED
September:
terrible lack of focus. hardly started death dissection etc
Leith: Haunted Wood a history of childhood reading very boysown selection of classics and v v english. Went to launch event and speech. Pretty much stuff i knew and wanted to argue his judgements when i got to read it. Launch involved lauren child who basically a catherine-tate character
Watson: Invention of Charlotte Bronte her last years and the scandal that made her mostly about the making of Gaskell's biog of her - as i prefer Gaskell to Bronte, that fine with me. Patrick B more ghastly than i remembered
Wimpenny: Aesop's Animals the science behind the fables theory of mind applied to donkeys wolves etc
Swain: Colin's Castle picturebook about vampire vs duck - lovely
Johnson: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village v light humour book, gorey style illus, written an ironic fan of midsommer murders. Got for n for xmas. Maureen Johnson part of the sarah rees brennan and cassie clare clique of ya writers