Friday reads

     

    Mr. C. has polished off all the Mapp & Lucia books in a little over a week and now he's watching the 1985 television series, so I think we can say he has become a fan.

    I, meanwhile, am nearing the end of Anne of Green Gables (much of it read nightly in the bath, a practice I warmly recommend), and wondering what to follow it with - always a difficult decision when a book has been a particular pleasure.

    What are you reading this weekend, and do you ever find it hard to choose your next book?

Comments

[Jane from Dorset]

I’m just about to abandon the first volume of ‘ A Dance to the Music if Time’ and indulge in some detective fiction. I did try but it’s just too tedious.
Once I would have forced myself to continue, but I’m running out of years and there are plenty of books I will enjoy waiting to be read.

[Cornflower]

You're right, Jane, reading should be a pleasure, not a chore.

[Dark Puss]

Always find it hard to choose a book. Reading a technical manual on GIMP which I use rather than Photoshop. On the more literary side I pondering what to read next and on the biography side I am starting to read Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon which is recommended by a friend who is sadly suffering from OCD and wants me to really understand the nightmare that her life has become. She tells me that Gordon's book reflects her life very realistically.

[Cornflower]

I suppose that finding it hard to choose means the end of a book becomes a kind of liminal space ....
My sympathies to your friend - OCD must be dreadful, and I hope she will find the help (from whatever source) that she needs.

[Joan Kyler]

The bath is my favorite place to read, warm and no interruptions.

[Cornflower]

Yes, the lack of interruptions is blissful!

[Margaret Hale]

Trying not to rush through 'On Chapel Sands' by Laura Cumming. Fascinating, yet sad, read about the upbringing of the author's mother.

[Cornflower]

Thank you, Margaret, I've had my eye on that one so I'm glad to know you're enjoying it.

[Margaret Stedman]

Have you tried Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy? Written in a very similar voice to LM Montgomery it successfully answers Anne's question to Marilla of "What happened?" on being told of Marilla's romance with John Blythe. I enjoyed it - you may too although reviews are mixed (disclosure I am an ardent Anne fan!!)

[Cornflower]

I hadn't come across it, Margaret, but many thanks for mentioning it!

[Mary]

I'm just finishing Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes (Virginia Nicholson) which is easy and undemanding for bedtime reading. I find hardbacks a bit too heavy for reading in the bath! I do find I tend to nod off - and a paperback is easier to catch if it starts slipping.
I'm about to start Mrs Gaskell and Me which l'd call a perfect three-bath read if you keep topping up the hot water!
Some books (eg Persephones) are Too Posh for the Bath!

[Cornflower]

The Virginia Nicholson appeals - must add that to my list.
Mary, you're right about certain books being unsuited to bathtime, although I fancy one of those racks with integral bookstand which sits across the bath and might make hardbacks possible!

[Margaret Powling]

I read the first in the Dance series years ago and found it utterly tedious.

[Margaret Powling]

Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes is a great read, read it for a 2nd time recently.
I don't read in the bath as I don't bath! I shower, ha ha!

[Margaret Powling]

I absolutely love the 1985 series of Mapp & Lucia (both series in fact) and have this on DVD. The remake (with Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor) was nowhere near as good.

[Dark Puss]

Also reading Mrs Sartoris by Elke Schmitter. I have no intention of reading in any bath or shower; I am quite happy to think or make love :-)!