Once a month I pick three books I own but have yet to read and ask you all to help me choose which to read next. In July you all voted for Rules of Civility by Amor Towles so that’s now in the queue for later this month.

Another month has arrived and so it’s time to dip into my TBR Book Jar. Here are the three books chosen at random this month

From the TBR Book Jar this month I’ve randomly picked out

The Whole Day Through by Patrick Gales

I found this in a charity book shop and since I’ve read — and enjoyed — two other novels by Patrick Gale, it made sense not to pass by a bargain. The blurb tells me that it’s about a woman in her mid forties who has to abandon her life in Paris to return to England and care for her elderly mother. Then she sees the man who was the great love of her student days. Just one problem — he’s married. Goodreads describes it as “a bittersweet love story, shot through with an understanding of mortality, memory and the difficulty of being good.”

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield

Have I really had this book on my shelves for ten years? I think it’s considered a modern day classic which has enchanted readers since it was published in 1930. Maybe it’s depiction of daily life in a frugal English household will also charm me?

The Girl in the Photograph by Lydia Fagundes Telles

This is an even older resident of the TBR book shelf. I bought it on the strength of recommendations from some work colleagues in Brazil. They told me it’s Telles’s best known novel, a tale of the friendship of three young women a period of political upheaval following a coup.

And the vote goes to …….

I’ve had problems with the function within WordPress which enables me to generate a poll. So instead I’ll go back to basics and ask you which of these three books you would recommend I read next.

25 responses to “TBR Book Jar Lucky Dip — August 2024”

  1. […] to everyone who pitched in with my August lucky dip options. The Diary of a Provincial Lady came out on top so it’s now added to my reading […]

  2. I am in love with this blog.
    Although I find novels challenging to read from cover to cover, I finish at least three a year.

  3. The Delafield is simply wonderful. I’ve not read the other two, but do like the Gales I have read.

  4. sorry, haven’t read any of these authors

    1. Don’t worry – you usually read books I’ve not experienced either

  5. I’m no use to you, I’d want to read all tree: Gale because I like his stuff, the Delafield because it’s a classic and the Telles because I’ve never heard of it and I’m curious.
    Believe me, this post of yours is making my credit card itchy, and I am meeting a friend in a bookshop today…

    1. Think of all the help you are giving to the Australian economy 🙂

      1. Oops, ‘three’ not ‘tree’.

  6. Definitely the Delafield. It is a delight.

    1. Thanks Pearl, it does seem to be a favourite with people

  7. I’m a Patrick Gale fan but my vote goes to The Girl in the Photograph.

    1. Interesting! It’s the one that is probably the least known from the trio

      1. And that’s why I chose it!

  8. Linda Brett Dorf Avatar
    Linda Brett Dorf

    I would vote for The Girl in the Photograph.

    1. I didn’t expect people to go for that one because maybe it’s not as well known

  9. The Girl in the Photograph

    1. Thanks Mary, I’ve been surprised to find a few people voting for this one

  10. I’ve only read the Delafield, but I loved it – so that’s my vote!

    1. Sounds as good a reason as any Karen

  11. My husband read the Provincial Lady books and kept them on his shelves for decades, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I read the first three. All three were very interesting and fun reading. Looking back I realize that I read them just as the pandemic was beginning.

    But if you decide on The Whole Day Through, I will be interested in how you liked it.

    TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery

    1. I wonder if that influenced your reaction to them in any way Tracy. Our moods were so strange then that we might have been attracted to some things more than at other times in our lives

  12. “Diary of a Provincial Lady” is the book I recommend. It’s delightful.

    1. You are not alone in finding this book a joy to read

  13. Diary of a provincial lady as this is a book I have also got in my tbr.

  14. I absolutely love a Patrick Gale book, and I haven’t read this one, so I know I’d go for this one. Which may be unfair on the other two, which I also haven’t read. Or in the case of the third one, ever even heard of.

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