I haven't done a 'new books' post in a while. This is mainly because my Kindle Fire is the main recipient of most of my new books these days. It's so easy - possibly *too* easy - to pop books on there, cheaper (although not always) and they don't take up any shelf space. Plus, I absolutely love the display page on my KF. I get sent books though, and loaned them, and I do still buy physical books, so this is my haul over the past couple of months.
From the bottom of the left hand pile which are all fiction.
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby, purchased at my local bookshop. This is about Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra, looking for personal letters her sister wrote in order to destroy them but also looking back at their childhood. I have several Austen themed books I want to read next year plus have a tentative plan to go and see her house in Alton in Hampshire and maybe get to the Jane Austen museum in Bath which I've never been to.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Is there a more famous book at the moment? This one is not mine, it was lent to me by my youngest daughter. I saw the author interviewed on the Sky Arts bookclub programme and apparently it's her first fiction book after years of writing non-fiction. Love the sound of it.
Randall's Round, short vintage, weird stories by Eleanor Scott and Sunless Solstice, a collection of Christmas tales, edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk, were both sent to me by the British Library publishing people for a fair review. They look excellent.
Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber was an Amazon purchase and is about a woman trying to get her grumpy neighbour interested in her by being super nice. She blogs about it to track her progress and then the blog becomes popular... I thought this sounded like a lot of fun, a good light read for Christmas.
Now the non-fiction:
London Fog: The Biography by Christine L. Corton. This was an Amazon Marketplace purchase. This is basically what it says on the tin - a book about the history of foggy London. Not just the history but excerpts from books by authors who've talked about it in their books: Dickens, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson. I can't wait to read this. Great cover:
Pacific: The Ocean of the Future by Simon Winchester. Another Amazon purchase because I loved his book on the Atlantic and Krakatoa so much and am hoping this will be equally as enthralling.
True North: Travels in Artic Europe by Gavin Francis. This charts the author's travels around places such as Shetland, The Faroes, Greenland, Svalbard, Lapland and so on.
Have you read any of these? What did you think?
19 comments:
Nice selection so varied too.
Ohhh the "Fog" sounds interesting!.. I loved Where the Crawdads Sing.. I hope you do too!
Will be interested to hear what you think of Where the Crawdads Sing. There were a few things that bugged me about it, but overall a very interesting read!
Crawdads was a good read and The Fog sounds atmospheric so I'm drawn to that as well.
What a nice group of books to read. I have heard of Where the Crawdads Sing but know little about it. I will be interested in what you think of it. I am always interested in hearing about new short story books, although the weird one would be more in my husband's area.
London Fog also sounds very good but since I already have a lot of nonfiction books I bought in 2020 that I did not read in 2021, it will have to wait. I would like to read something by Simon Winchester but that too would have to wait.
The only one of all your new books I've read is Where the Crawdads Sing. I think you'll likely enjoy that one...very atmospheric, and a good plot, too. My copy was passed around the family until it almost fell apart in the process...seems to be one of those books that people of very different ages enjoy.
I'm a little intrigued by the Austen novel because I've always wondered why all the Jane Austen papers had to be destroyed the way they were. What a shame that turned out to be. And that London Fog title certainly brings back memories - mostly of me wandering around London in dense fog for two days trying to make my way to the office without getting run over (that was already difficult enough for me). :-)
New books are the best! I haven't read any of these, but I hope they're all amazing. :)
Mystica: Thank you, yes I do like to mix it up with books.
Pat: I think the London Fog book is going to be excellent. I'm pretty sure I'll like Where the Crawdads Sing too.
Jeane: I shall report back about Where the Crawdads Sing, I may be the last person on the planet to read it!
Diane: My expectations for the Crawdads book are now sky high. LOL!
Tracy: I didn't know much about the Crawdads book until I saw the author on TV. She made it sound so interesting, plus the six people interviewing her were so enthusiastic. Ah yes, Glen and I both have a taste for weird fiction. LOL
Yes, I'm a bit too enthusiastic when buying new to me non-fiction. So much so that I have shelves of them waiting to be read. I think you're sensible to be a bit more restrained.
Sam: Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm going to like When the Crawdads Sing, mine came from one of my daughters so it looks like it's going to be passed around too as I feel my husband will also want to read it. We've been to N. Carolina so that will make it especially interesting.
Yes, doesn't it seem horrifying that Cassandra Austen burnt all those letters. I'm guessing she had a reason, but to us it seems like sacrilege.
I love your memories of London fog!
Lark: I think I'm addicted to new books to be honest. :-)
London Fog sounds very interesting to me! It's actually something I think about sometimes - all the things that happened in it. Why it happened. I guess I'd better look into this book.
Only person in the world who couldn't read Crawdads. Something about the description gave me the creeps. Someone gave it to me, and I gave it back. haha
All new books to me, but you are most definitely not the last person on the planet to read 'Where The Crawdads Sing', as I have just found my copy buried deep within the depths of my Kindle. Guess I had better dig it out and bring it to the top, so that I am not the last one to finish :)
I also quite like the sound of the two short story collections. Strange how my reading tastes have evolved over the years, as in times gone by I wouldn't have even considered reading short stories!
The Debbie Macomber sounds like a great easy reading Christmas staple.
Like yourself, I find I am becoming addicted to new books, consequently my shelves and shelves of more elderly titles are getting left behind. I either need to begin sliding the odd one into my schedule, or have a massive cull!
Happy Reading :)
The only one I have read is Where the Crawdads Sing, which I enjoyed (although was very conscious of the fact that I am NOT an outdoorsy person). I will be interested to hear what you think.
I also picked up a few Christmas-themed titles. The first was a Jenny Colgan which was certainly pleasant but lacking in substance. I am reading another one now by Susan Mallery to offset State of Terror which I loved but was a bit exhausting to listen to.
I have tomorrow off which would be great for reading (or cleaning - haha) except somehow I got coaxed into saying I would help with an event for the homeless that goes from 11 pm to 2 am. It is near my office which is usually okay in the daytime but dangerous at night, so even though we will be in groups I am wishing I had not agreed to help. But then I think how warm and fortunate I am and how much these people need to know someone cares enough to bring them food and gloves (and try to coax them into shelters).
Nan: I think the London fog book is going to be really interesting. I increasingly find I prefer this kind of non-fiction reading to any other. Partly it tells me things I previously wasn't aware of but also I'm rather susceptible to psychological nastiness in fictional books and authors seem to be increasingly using that as a tool to scare their readers. It's bad enough in books but even worse in modern TV drama in my opinion.
You made me laugh with your comment about giving the Crawdads book back. I'm hoping it won't be a creepy book... I'll let you know.
Yvonne: Very pleased to hear that I'm not actually the last person to read the Crawdads book. Also that you too lose books in the black hole of your Kindle. LOL
The volumes of weird fiction are very readable but vary considerably as regards quality. Not 'quality' exactly as the writing is always good, but 'interest'. Some stories were lost in the mists of time for a reason...
I've read a couple of Debbie Macomber books in the past and keep promising myself I'll read more as comfort reads around Christmas when things are too busy for intense, serious reading. This year I plan to actually do that.
Same here as regards older books being left behind. I need to do a reading challenge where I have to read books that've been on my tbr mountain for more than 10 years. I would have no problem finding them!
Thanks for stopping by to comment.
Constance: Non-outdoorsy person here as well. But that doesn't stop me reading about people who climb mountains or cycle from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. I love living vicariously.
I do find that Jenny Colgan's books lack a bit of substance. I find there are other contemporary writers I prefer, though I'm not experienced enough in the genre to recommend anything.
I hope all goes well with the event for the homeless. I understand your worries, you take care.
Thanks for the good wishes! For the most part, it seemed like the homeless moved further away to avoid the do-gooders. I will admit that when an offer was made for some people to stay inside and offer food and toiletries to those who wandered in vs. marching about outside, I hesitated. As I said to my mother this morning, I thought my father who was a judge in this area and understood the issues would have told me to stay inside. But I joined a group led my someone familiar with the area and we marched about importantly for 45 minutes without seeing anyone except from other groups! So we returned virtuously to the headquarters where donuts and coffee were waiting. I was home by 2 am and of course wide awake but forced myself to turn off the light after one chapter.
I haven't read any of these. I bought WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING when it first came out because it was getting so much hype, but I still haven't read it. One of these days! I'll be interested to hear what you think of it and all these others.
Constance: Well at least you tried! And thanks for popping back to tell me how it went. Very interesting indeed.
Susan: Oh, so I'm not the last one on the planet to read Where the Crawdads Sing. So pleased about that. LOL
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