I have been reading...

Judging by the fact that I only read two books in the month of September, that header is a trifle misleading. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened. That said (there's always a 'but'), both books were over or just under 500 pages and one in particular, Black Sun Rising by Celia Friedman, was dense and packed with plot. 

58. Black Sun Rising - Celia Friedman

59. The Trouble With Mrs. Montgomery Hurst - Katie Lumsden

In the county of Wickenshire it's widely thought that Mr. Montgomery Hurst will marry Amelia Ashpoint, daughter of a local, very wealthy, brewer. But not by either of them. Amelia knows she will never marry any man, and Montgomery Hurst suddenly ups and marrys a widow with three children. The population is aghast! Who is this woman? How did he meet her? Of course they all fall over themselves to find the answers to these questions but Mrs. Hurst seems strangely reluctant to get out into society. And of course that causes even more gossip... Katie Lumsden is rather a well-known Booktuber whose videos I watch on a regular basis: I've learnt a huge amount about Victorian lit from her. This is her second book, I haven't read the first yet, The Secrets of Hartwood Hall: I gather they're very different. Anyway, what we have here is a comedy of manners in the vein of Jane Austen's Emma or Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford. It's all about gossipy village life, scandals, secret lives, hypocrisy, duty, set around about the 1840s when that was pretty much all the middle and upper classes had to pass the time. So many different characters abound that I was glad of a list of them at the start of the book, but after a while I didn't need it as they're all so different and well rounded that it became easy to follow very quickly. There's about half a dozen different threads of different people's lives and what happens to them, mainly based around match-making and what it means to be a different. Do you hide it and carry on or give in and 'do your duty'. I gave this an unhesitating 5 stars because I loved it to bits. The writing is a joy and very readable, I would recommend this to anyone who likes regency romances in the vein of Georgette Heyer, even though it's set slightly later and there are things you would not find in her books. I've no idea whether Katie is writing a sequel, I imagine not but oh, how I would love one!

So here we are in October. I was away for 5 days in Cornwall last week, my first holiday since my husband died. It felt odd of course but my youngest daughter and I had a lovely time, so nice to see family who live there. 

I'm hoping to do better than two books in October as this is one of my favourite reading months of the year. I have spooky books lined up and some crime fiction. At the moment though I'mreading a couple of non-fiction books.

This is Lucy Mangan's homage to her childhood reading and it's a joy of a book that's making me laugh all the way through.

And this is pretty much what it says on the tin... a book about the author, Peter Ross, touring Britain looking at old churches. Delightful, though I'm not that far in.

So, Happy October to everyone. I'm hoping to be around a bit more this month, September seemed crazy somehow, but in a nice way, visitors and holidays are not something to complain about. Happy Autumn reading!