Weekly Reading Round-Up

I don’t want to distract from the Pink Carnation recap (three down, six to go before we get to Miss Gwen’s book!), so I’ll report this week’s reading speedily….

— Jane Aiken Hodge, Maulever Hall.

I had mixed feelings about this 80s Gothic, which veered unevenly somewhere between Regency and Gothic territory, sometimes arch, sometimes earnest. When it was good, it was very, very good, but it periodically derailed into “really? you’re going there?” on the part of the heroine, who seemed perfectly sensible at some points and absolutely idiotic (in a “let me run off into the night instead of asking for an explanation!” sort of way) at others.

— Elizabeth Peters, Naked Once More.

This is the fourth book in Peters’s Jacqueline Kirby mystery series. (If you haven’t read these before, start with The Seventh Sinner.) Jacqueline’s internal monologues and pithy commentary are a source of joy. I hadn’t realized until this re-read just how powerfully her character shaped my own Miss Gwen…. But more on that later.

— Alexandra Aldrich, The Astor Orphan: A Memoir.

An unhappy account of a childhood poised between ancestral privilege and present day poverty in a crumbling mansion on the Hudson, this memoir reminded me a bit of Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight with its narrative of parental irresponsibility, alcoholism, and the search for some sort of normalcy.

What have you been reading this week?

7 Comments

  1. Emily on July 19, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    I’m getting caught up on the Pink Carnation books since Purple Plumeria comes out soon – somehow I’d never read The Orchid Affair or The Garden Intrigue before! I also started M.M. Kaye’s memoir, The Sun in the Morning.

  2. Christine on July 19, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    I read The Firebird, which I loved. Susanna Kearsley never disappoints. I also read the prequel to Spear of Summer Grass, the title of which totally escapes me right now, and started Spear of Summer Grass. It’s sassy and I love it.

  3. Elizabeth (aka Miss Eliza) on July 19, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    Let’s see if this posts this time…

    I finished Neil Gaiman’s new book, ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane,’ it was really good. Kind of about memory and childhood, and there’s a cat in it, which always sways me.

    Then I continued with ‘Ready Player One’ for my blook club, it’s about an online challenge in the future that hinges on 1980s trivia and knowledge. I really didn’t like it… too flat and cliched.

    Now I’m reading the first Dandy Gilver book, ‘After the Armistace Ball’ which I am enjoying, it took awhile to get into it because the book starts without really telling us anything about the characters or the fact they are in Scotland… it was like starting a book with the first chapter missing.

  4. SusanN on July 20, 2013 at 3:37 am

    JAH was an old favorite of mine and I’d always assumed I’d read everything she’d written until I discovered a number of books on her backlist that I’d never heard of. I bought several, including Maulever Hall, that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet. I’ll approach w/ caution now.

  5. Sue G on July 20, 2013 at 10:37 am

    Am reading Barbara Delinsky’s Sweet Salt Air. Mid way through and enjoying it. Great characters and several subplots. Pink # 6 is next. May reserve Seventh Sinner at the library

  6. Alice on July 20, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    “The Heiress Effect” by Courtney Milan. It is her second full length novel in the Brothers Sinister series. I love this series! This was a great book, but my favorite is still the first one “The Duchess War. “

  7. Elizabeth Lefebvre on July 20, 2013 at 9:31 pm

    I finished Neil Gaiman’s new book, ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane,’ it was really good. Kind of about memory and childhood, and there’s a cat in it, which always sways me.

    Then I continued with ‘Ready Player One’ for my blook club, it’s about an online challenge in the future that hinges on 1980s trivia and knowledge. I really didn’t like it… too flat and cliched.

    I just finished reading the first Dandy Gilver book, ‘After the Armistace Ball’ which I emjoyed, it took awhile to get into it because the book starts without really telling us anything about the characters or the fact they are in Scotland… it was like starting a book with the first chapter missing.

    Now I’m onto some Paul Magrs Brenda (Bride of Frankenstein) and Effie (Witch) fun!

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