Tag: to read

This meme was created by Lia at Lost in a Story as a way to tackle the gargantuan To-Read shelves a lot of us have on Goodreads. Like other people, I’ve long ago forgotten what prompted me to add some of the books I have shelved. This meme is the perfect excuse to start taking back control…

The rules are simple:

1. Go to your Goodreads To-Read shelf.
2. Order on ascending date added.
3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
4. Read the synopses of the books
5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
6. Repeat every week until the entire list has been filtered (hmm, quite a few weeks then!)

This week’s ten who need to demonstrate their worth are:

This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson (added 18^th Apr 2013)

In 1831 Charles Darwin set off in HMS Beagle under the command of Captain Robert Fitzroy on a voyage that would change the world. Tory aristocrat Fitzroy was a staunch Christian who believed in the sanctity of the individual in a world created by God. Darwin, the liberal natural historian destined for the church, went on to develop a theory of evolution that would cast doubt on the truth of the Bible and the descent of man. The staunch friendship forged during their epic expeditions on land and sea turned into bitter enmity as Darwin’s theories threatened to destroy everything Fitzroy stood for . . .

Verdict: Keep – OK, so this is nearly 800 pages and would normally be a no-brainer for the discard pile as I’ve already confessed my aversion to long books. However…I read a sample of this on my Kindle way back and I recall it was good so it’s staying – for now.

The Forbidden Queen by Anne O’Brien (added 21st Apr 2013)

An innocent pawn. A kingdom without a king. A new dynasty will reign… 1415. The jewel in the French crown, Katherine de Valois, is waiting under lock and key for King Henry V. While he’s been slaughtering her kinsmen in Agincourt, Katherine has been praying for marriage to save her from her misery. But the brutal king wants her crown, not her innocent love. For Katherine, England is a lion’s den of greed, avarice and mistrust. And when she is widowed at twenty-one, she becomes a prize ripe for the taking—her young son the future monarch, her hand in marriage worth a kingdom. This is a deadly political game, one the dowager queen must learn fast. The players—the Duke of Gloucester, Edmund Beaufort and Owen Tudor—are circling. Who will have her? Who will ruin her? This is the story of Katherine de Valois

Verdict: Keep – I often see this author’s name in historical fiction circles and I’m drawn to stories of the women in the shadows of history.

Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (added 28th Apr 2013)

When Master Georgie – George Hardy, surgeon and photographer – sets off from the cold squalor of Victorian Liverpool for the heat and glitter of the Bosphorus to offer his services in the Crimea, there straggles behind him a small caravan of devoted followers; Myrtle, his adoring adoptive sister; lapsed geologist Dr Potter; and photographer’s assistant and sometime fire-eater Pompey Jones, all of them driven onwards through a rising tide of death and disease by a shared and mysterious guilt.

Verdict: Go – This should have been an easy ‘Keep’ decision given the author’s reputation, it’s a short book and I’ve enjoyed previous titles by Bainbridge. But I’m put off by the lukewarm reviews, including from reviewers whose opinions I trust.

The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder (added 28th April 2013)

In 1962 and 1963, Thornton Wilder spent twenty months in hibernation, away from family and friends, in the Rio Grande border town of Douglas, Arizona. While there, he launched The Eighth Day, a tale set in a mining town in southern Illinois about two families blasted apart by the apparent murder of one father by the other. The miraculous escape of the accused killer, John Ashley, on the eve of his execution and his flight to freedom triggers a powerful story tracing the fate of his and the victim’s wife and children. At once a murder mystery and a philosophical story, The Eighth Day is a “suspenseful and deeply moving” (“New York Times”) work of classic stature that has been hailed as a great American epic.

Verdict: Keep – I enjoyed The Ides of March and I really like the sound of this one.

Marking Time (Cazalet Chronicles #2) by Elizabeth Jane Howard (added 28th Apr 2013)

The wonderful sequel to The Light Years returns readers to Britain in September, 1939, as war breaks out. Sheltered Louise, now 16, goes from cooking school to London parties. For 14-year-old Polly, the terrors of war cannot forestall the pangs of adolescence. And though Clary’s father has been reported missing since Dunkirk, she holds to the belief that he’s alive.

Verdict: Go – This demonstrates the value of this whole exercise because I’ve already read this! In fact I’ve read all the books in the Cazalet Chronicles series.

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman (added 4th May 2013)

A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England’s King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry’s beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned.

Verdict: Keep – I read and enjoyed The Sunne in Splendour and despite the length of this book and the fact it’s part of a series I’m inclined to keep it. But the best reason to keep it is it’s already on my Kindle waiting to be read!

English Passengers by Matthew Kneale (added 4th May 2013)

In 1857 when Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his band of rum smugglers from the Isle of Man have most of their contraband confiscated by British Customs, they are forced to put their ship up for charter. The only takers are two eccentric Englishmen who want to embark for the other side of the globe. The Reverend Geoffrey Wilson believes the Garden of Eden was on the island of Tasmania. His traveling partner, Dr. Thomas Potter, unbeknownst to Wilson, is developing a sinister thesis about the races of men. Meanwhile, an aboriginal in Tasmania named Peevay recounts his people’s struggles against the invading British, a story that begins in 1824, moves into the present with approach of the English passengers in 1857, and extends into the future in 1870. These characters and many others come together in a storm of voices that vividly bring a past age to life.

Verdict: Keep – This sounds quirky and interesting not to mention being shortlisted for the booker Prize (not that that is any guarantee of literary enjoyment…)

The Leopard by Guiseppe Tamasi di Lampedusa (added 4th May 2013)

Set in the 1860s, The Leopard tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution. The dramatic sweep and richness of observation, the seamless intertwining of public and private worlds, and the grasp of human frailty imbue The Leopard with its particular melancholy beauty and power, and place it among the greatest historical novels of our time.

Verdict: Keep – This is a modern classic that I think I simply should read.

Q by Luther Blissett (added 6th May 2013)

In 1517, Martin Luther nails his ninety-five theses demanding reform of the Catholic Church to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral, setting off a period of upheaval, war, civil war and violence we now know as the Reformation. In this age devastated by wars of religion, a young theology student adopts the cause of the heretics and the disinherited. Across the chessboard of Europe, from the German plains to the flourishing Dutch cities and down to Venice, the gateway to the East, our hero, a ‘Survivor’, a radical Protestant Anabaptist who goes under many names, and his enemy, a loyal papal spy and heretic hunter known mysteriously as “Q” play a game in which no moves are forbidden and the true size of the stakes remain hidden until the end. What begins as a personal struggle to reveal each other’s identity becomes a mission that can only end in death.

Verdict: Go – Not only does the plot sound intriguing but the author is a collective pen-name for four writers. However, it’s over 750 pages and I’ve already confessed to being a 350-page girl. Realistically, it ain’t ever going to happen that I read this.

Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell (added 8th May 2013)

Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his memoir ‘Confessions of an English Opium-Eater’, is the major suspect in a series of ferocious mass murders identical to ones that terrorized London forty-three years earlier. The blueprint for the killings seems to be De Quincey’s essay “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.” Desperate to clear his name but crippled by opium addiction, De Quincey is aided by his devoted daughter Emily and a pair of determined Scotland Yard detectives.

Verdict: Go – The premise sounds interesting but the use of a real-life literary figure as detective has been done so many times now.

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The Result: 6 kept, 4 dumped – not as good as last week. It shouldn’t be this hard to let books go given they’re only on a wishlist, should it…?

Anyway, do you agree with my choices? Have I dumped any books you’d have kept or vice versa?

This meme was created by Lia at Lost in a Story as a way to tackle the gargantuan To-Read shelves a lot of us have on Goodreads. Like other people, I’ve long ago forgotten what prompted me to add some of the books I have shelved. This meme is the perfect excuse to start taking back control…

The rules are simple:

1. Go to your Goodreads To-Read shelf.
2. Order on ascending date added.
3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
4. Read the synopses of the books
5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
6. Repeat every week until the entire list has been filtered (hmm, quite a few weeks then!)

This week’s ten potential sacrificial victims:

Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann (added 28th Feb 2013)

On her seventeenth birthday, Olivia Curtis receives: a diary for her innermost thoughts, a china ornament, a ten-shilling note and a roll of flame-coloured silk for her first ball dress. She anticipates the dance, the greatest and most terrifying event of her life so far, with uncertainty and excitement. For her pretty sister Kate, it is sure to be a triumph, but what will it be for shy, awkward Olivia?

Verdict: Keep – This is on my Classics Club Challenge list so it has to stay and seeing it will hopefully prompt me to make a bit more progress on the list. I freely admit the progress has been woeful lately.

The Scent of Death by Andrew Taylor (added 24th Mar 2013)

Manhattan, 1778. A city of secrets, profiteers, loyalists and double agents. As the last part of America under British rule, New York is home to a swelling tide of refugees seeking justice from the British crown. Edward Savill is sent from London to investigate the claims of dispossessed loyalists. No sooner does he land than he becomes embroiled in the case of a gentleman murdered in the city’s notorious Canvas Town. An escaped slave hangs for the crime, but Savill is convinced they have executed the wrong man. Lodging with the respected Wintour family, Savill senses the mystery deepening. Judge Wintour’s beautiful daughter-in-law, Arabella, hides a tragedy in her past, while his son plans a dangerous mission into enemy territory. And what of Mr Noak, the enigmatic clerk seemingly bent on a dubious course of his own? One thing is clear – the killing in Canvas Town was just the start of a trail of murder, and it’s leading directly to Savill…

Verdict: Go – I read The American Boy by Andrew Taylor although I can’t remember much about it other than I gave it a rather unenthusiastic 3* on Goodreads. It also sounds rather similar to Golden Hill by Francis Spufford that I read recently.

The Raven’s Seal by Andrei Baltakmens (added 1^st Apr 2013)

When the body of Thaddeus Grainger’s rival turns up stabbed to death in an alley just hours after their inconclusive duel, only one suspect comes to mind. Charged with murder, Grainger’s fate is sealed before his trial even begins. A young gentleman of means but of meaningless pursuits, Grainger is cast into the notorious Bellstrom Gaol, where he must quickly learn to survive in the filthy, ramshackle prison. The “Bells” – where debtors, gaolers, whores, thieves, and murderers all mix freely and where every privilege comes at a price – will be the young man’s home for the rest of his life unless he can prove his innocence. Despite his downfall, his friends, the journalist William Quillby and Cassie Redruth, the poor young girl who owes Grainger a debt of gratitude, refuse to abandon him. But before they can win his freedom, they must contend with forces both inside and outside the prison determined to keep Grainger behind bars and, at the same time, decode the meaning behind the crude wax seal that inspires terror in those who know its portent.

Verdict: Go – Look at the date added. Perhaps this was my own private joke. Anyway, I have no recollection of what particularly appealed to me about this one.

Guernica by Dave Boling (added 3^rd Apr 2013)

In 1935, Miguel Navarro finds himself in conflict with the Spanish Civil Guard, and flees the Basque fishing village of Lekeitio to make a new start in Guernica, the center of Basque culture and tradition. In the midst of this isolated bastion of democratic values, Miguel finds more than a new life— he finds someone to live for. Miren Ansotegui is a charismatic and graceful dancer who has her pick of the bachelors in Guernica, but focuses only on the charming and mysterious Miguel. The two discover a love that war and tragedy cannot destroy.

Verdict: Go – Comparisons to other more famous novels can be misleading – this is compared to Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and The English Patient. It’s got quite a lot of 4* and 5* reviews but I’m not in the mood for a gamble.

Julian by Gore Vidal (added 3^rd April 2013)

Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, was one of the brightest yet briefest lights in the history of the Roman Empire. A military genius on the level of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, a graceful and persuasive essayist, and a philosopher devoted to worshiping the gods of Hellenism, he became embroiled in a fierce intellectual war with Christianity that provoked his murder at the age of thirty-two, only four years into his brilliantly humane and compassionate reign. A marvelously imaginative and insightful novel of classical antiquity, Julian captures the religious and political ferment of a desperate age and restores with blazing wit and vigor the legacy of an impassioned ruler.

Verdict: Go – I’m tempted by this because of the author’s reputation and my interest in Roman history. However, it’s over 500 pages (I’m really a 350 pages kind of girl) and it’s not currently available in ebook format on Amazon, so it goes.

Augustus by John Williams (added 3^rd Apr 2013)

After the brutal murder of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, Octavian, a shy and scholarly youth of nineteen, suddenly finds himself heir to the vast power of Rome. He is destined, despite vicious power struggles, bloody wars and family strife, to transform his realm and become the greatest ruler the western world had ever seen: Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor.

Verdict: Keep – I’m sure I added this after finishing Stoner, a book I absolutely loved. If this is even half as good as that it will be a winner. And it’s a sort of quid pro quo for dumping the Gore Vidal above.

Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (added 7^th Apr 2013)

Set in colonial India during the 1920s, Heat and Dust tells the story of Olivia, a beautiful woman suffocated by the propriety and social constraints of her position as the wife of an important English civil servant. Longing for passion and independence, Olivia is drawn into the spell of the Nawab, a minor Indian prince deeply involved in gang raids and criminal plots. She is intrigued by the Nawab’s charm and aggressive courtship, and soon begins to spend most of her days in his company. But then she becomes pregnant, and unsure of the child’s paternity, she is faced with a wrenching dilemma. Her reaction to the crisis humiliates her husband and outrages the British community, breeding a scandal that lives in collective memory long after her death.

Verdict: Keep – Another one from my Classics Club Challenge list plus it won The Booker Prize and it sounds brilliant.

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West (added 7^th Apr 2013)

Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern.  A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life.

Verdict: Keep – I read West’s The Return of the Soldier recently as part of my Classics Club Challenge and was rather disappointed. However, this one sounds interesting and I did enjoy one of her other works of non-fiction, The Meaning of Treason, so I think it stays for now.  Plus I don’t read enough non-fiction.

Plague Child by Peter Ransley (added 8^th Apr 2013)

September 1625. Plague cart driver, Matthew Kneave, is sent to pick up the corpse of a baby. Yet, on the way to the plague pit, he hears a cry – the baby is alive. A plague child himself, and now immune from the disease, Matthew decides to raise it as his own. Fifteen years on, Matthew’s son Tom is apprenticed to a printer in the City. Somebody is interested in him and is keen to turn him into a gentleman. He is even given an education. But Tom is unaware that he has a benefactor and soon he discovers that someone else is determined to kill him. The civil war divides families, yet Tom is divided in himself. Devil or saint? Royalist or radicalist? He is at the bottom of the social ladder, yet soon finds himself within reach of a great estate – one which he must give up to be with the girl he loves.

Verdict: Go – It sounds kind of interesting (and I do like the cover) but it doesn’t have great reviews and I’ve probably got more promising books of its type elsewhere on my list.

The Midwife’s Tale by Sam Thomas (added 8^th Apr 2013)

It is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’ hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer with the help of Martha Hawkins, a servant who’s far more skilled with a knife than any respectable woman ought to be…

Verdict: Go – I read a lot of historical mysteries so they have to work hard to stand out from the crowd and, although I like the idea of two female protagonists, I don’t think this one does.

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The Result: 4 kept, 6 dumped. Better than last week but at this rate, I’ll still have over 300 books on my wishlist at the end of the process. Hmm…

Anyway, do you agree with my choices? Have I dumped any books you would have kept or vice versa?