How is it September already?
I saw out the summer with winter in Scotland: Alexandra Raife’s Until the Spring
, in which a pregnant woman seeks refuge with her lover’s family in a remote Scottish manor house after being tossed out by her adoptive parents. This Alexandra Raife book in particular is oh so very Britain in the 90s– when I read it, I can picture the sorts of outfits (and attitudes) from Britcoms like As Time Goes By
and Waiting for God
, shoulder pads and heavy blush for the city dwellers, baggy skirts and padded vests for the country folk.
I left Scotland for a London that never was, via the The Invisible Library
, in which a Librarian must go undercover in an alternate realm to recover a dangerous book, encountering dragons, detectives, and afternoon tea along the way. Think a little The Librarians
and a little Parasol Protectorate
. And it’s the first in a series!
But I found I needed more Scotland, so I went back to my Alexandra Raife collection for Drumveyn
, which is basically Monarch of the Glen
under another name: a young laird named Archie, who has been living in London with an emotionally detached Englishwoman with a trendy haircut, who returns to the ancestral estate to help put things in order. And did I mention there’s a feisty cook? (Not named Lexy.) The big difference is that a lot of the emotional focus of the story is Archie’s mother, who, unlike Monarch of the Glen, is less a comic side character and more of a protagonist, coming into her own after her controlling husband’s death.
(Until the Spring and Drumveyn are my Raifes Less Read, because I find them both a little uneven. For those who have never read Raife before, my two favorites are Wild Highland Home
and Belonging
.)
Right now, I’m about to launch the Labor Day weekend by treating myself to Georgette Heyer’s Frederica
, which, somehow, I had managed to not read all these years. (Thanks, Alison Doherty, for bringing it to my attention!) Such joy to find an unread book by a favorite author!
What have you been reading this week?
The Unseen Library series is fantastic! I’m rereading Terry Pratchett – The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, at the moment. He never disappoints.
Because Terry is a God. Did you see how they used a steamroller this week to destroy all his unfinished work (per his request)?
I’m reading Sherry Thomas’ A Study in Scarlet Women. I’ve never read anything by her and I don’t know how I missed her! She’s positively fabulous. I love how she’s crafting Sherlock Holmes in a new light. So creative.
I just finished “Le Morte D’Arthur.” It was the Winchester Manuscript edition, brought me back to my early college days. Taking a fluff breather and reading the first Penny Arcade comic collection, “Attack of the Bacon Robots” before diving into a reread of “Roses” by Leila Meacham.
I’ve just discovered Eva Ibbotson (The Morning Gift) – wonderful! Also just discovered Carol Goodman (River Road, The Widow’s House, The Lake of Dead Languages) I loved each of these. Can’t recommend them enough.
I love Eva Ibbotson. I think The Morning Gift is my favorite by her.
Ibbotson’s A Countess Below Stairs is also wonderful!
Still working my way through Cocoa Beach! I have The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand on deck.
Do you read ALL those books in just one week??? Thanks to this my “to read” list and pile of books is getting out of control!!!
I know– I am always so impressed by Lauren’s reading list on Fridays. She seems inhumanly productive 🙂
The Handmaid’s Tale, which as the intro says, is even more a classic now, because as time goes on it becomes more relevant. I might also have some Buffy Comics and some Twin Peaks reading this weekend too. First weekend off in what seems like forever, I think that was sometime in May…
I read The Forgotten Room last week. (Finally, you say!) I just started The Autobiography of James T. Kirk, which is appropriate for DragonCon weekend. I enjoyed reading The Invisible Library series earlier this year.
Just finished The Widow’s House and really liked it. Not my favorite of the “is she really crazy” books but pretty good.
Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn was a fun & oh-so-British 1920s-era mystery, the first in the Daisy Dalrymple series. Next I am on to Shirley by C. Bronte (never read it before, but felt like a Bronte book–something about autumn says Bronte time to me).
Frederica is wonderful! Happy reading!
LOVE Carola Dunn!
I like her series set in Cornwall.
Nancy Carlin
Lauren, I actually was inspired to watch Monarch of the Glen after Eloise mentioned it in one of the books. I absolutely love that series 🙂
East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson… Three girls headed to India, as part of the fishing fleet