It’s a truth universally acknowledged the commercial world views the end of October as the signal to begin the annual madness known as C. Everywhere I turn there are exhortations for me to get a move on and order my “festive food”; buy my party frock and start planning the theme for this year’s table decorations. All in pursuit of that “perfect” celebration. To which I say Humph, pass me the duvet and let me hibernate until January 2 please…..
Yes I’m in a grumpy mood. I hate the headlong rush to the end of the year .I plan to distract myself as much as possible with some really good books in the next few weeks.
But first there’s the small matter of October to revisit.
Things did not go quite to plan. For those of you who follow Karen at kaggsysbookishramblings and Simon of stuckinabook will know that they marked a tenth anniversary in October with the #1925 reading week. I made a pledge to myself at the start of this year that I’d join in reading events only if I already owned a suitable book or I could easily get one from the library.
I duly placed library holds on three books published in 1925:
The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
Carry on Jeeves by P G Wodehouse
The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham
The Maugham was lost in the depths of the basement of the county library. By the time it was located, it was too late for #1925 club. I abandoned the other two after about 50 pages. This was my third attempt to read Wodehouse and I’ve now decided he’s simply not for me. Christie can usually be relied upon to deliver a cracking good story but “Chimneys” just dragged.
On a more positive note I caught up with the Lucy Barton series by Elizabeth Strout. Tell Me Everything is the most recent book in this collection but whether it’s the end of the series remains to be seen.
I also read two novels from my classics club list.
Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett was an interesting novel about industrial life at the turn of the 20th century though suffered a bit from the inclusion of too much detail. Anderby Wold by Winifred Holtby was also set in a manufacturing city in the north of England showing a community ruled by money and class.
From there I travelled to Australia to accompany two paramedics as they responded to emergencies in Melbourne. The Application of Pressure by Rachael Mead was surprisingly good. And then it was back to England for Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin, a cleverly written tale about family dynamics that had a touch of thriller/mystery. First published in 1959 it was re-issued by Faber in 2023.
By TBR is sort of holding steady. Remarkably I didn’t buy anything new in October
Future Plans??
To the extent I ever plan my reading these days I’m aiming to take part in Novellas in November hosted by BookishBeck and 746books. There are a few that have been stuck on the shelves for years so this could be a good opportunity to dust them off.