Wednesday snuck up on me again
What I read
Finished The House that BJ Built, which was enjoyable, though just possibly stretched out the complications a tad too long.
Also finished The Corner That Held Them, which is superb, even if it is not a stay-up-all-night-to-finish kind of book.
Rather different nuns: Gladys Mitchell, Convent on Styx (1975) (Mrs Bradley must be well over a hundred, right?) - which is probably one of the better ones in this very long series, lacks some of the more egregious cringiness of the earlier novels, but still has a fair amount of ethnic essentialism going on. Also, the solution seemed a bit tacked on, though perhaps if one had read enough contemporary-set crime novels of the 70s, {spoiler} would be a bit of a period trope. (Greyladies reissue.)
Also from Greyladies, Susan Pleydell, The Glenvarroch Gathering (1960), meh, gave up (what might have saved this would have been if the local laird had turned out to be the dodgy character, rather than the lounge lizard, who was not so much telegraphed as bedecked in blinking neon lights as DODGY). Also Lorna Hill, The Other Miss Perkin (1978, but set in the 1950s and taking a historical novel approach to how things were there) - if you want a midlife Cinderella story, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is far superior.
Kate O'Brien, Without My Cloak (1931) - this is the family saga one, and while I enjoyed it more than That Lady, because, Mellick, and I will give it points for coded gayness and also coded sifilis, not sure that the particular genre works as well for O'Brien than her more non-linear takes on middle-class Catholic families in C19th-early C20th Ireland.
Edward St Aubyn, Lost for Words (2014): is it, in fact, possible to write a satirical/humorous novel about a Major Literary Prize that is not predictable? (and is 'hilarious'?) One feels that this is something that anyone could do, it's by the numbers, why does EStA bother?
Lauren Esker, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - shapeshifter romance recommended by
rachelmanija, and it was okay, had some nice touches, but I am not really sure that I am the target audience for the genre.
On the go
Gretchen Gerzina, Black London: Life Before Emancipation (1997) -
bibliogramma mentioned this in a reading post, and as I scored a freebie e-book it's been on my tbr list for a while. Very good so far.
Christopher Isherwood, Liberation: Diaries:1970-1983 (2012), which has been on my want to read list ever since I knew it was out, and then in the local indie bookshop they had the hardcover in the sale at a somewhat lower price than the pback. So far all I've done is read the introductory matter.
Up next
Still have The Mystic Marriage to get to, and have on preorder (out tomorrow) Aliette de Bodard's House of Shattered Wings. This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/2322869.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View
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