reading resolutions

Though I'll never be as rapid a reader as any of the book bloggers, one of my resolutions this year was to read 50 books. I came just short with 46. But undeterred, I've made not one but two reading resolutions for 2011: to read 50 books and to finish half my Persephones.

Luckily, I have a jump start on the Persephone project. There were two duds this year (It's Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty and Daddy's Gone A-Hunting) but these were more than made up for by a shelf-ful of fabulous reads:

Other highlights this year included Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín,

The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, and My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

I'd love any suggestions for the coming year, Persephone or otherwise, though at 590 pages I think I better leave Few Eggs and No Oranges till 2012!

bloomsbury books, part two

Before Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season set in, Bee and I rendezvoused at the London Review Bookshop:

The London Review Cake Shop inside is the perfect meeting place, serving super strong cups of Monmouth coffee at its big wooden table. But even under the influence of caffeine, I managed to leave without any new books.

Which is just as well, since I already have plenty to read, including several titles in the The Bloomsbury Group series. After starting the series back in 2009, I somehow lost my momentum. But not too long ago, I picked up where I'd left off, with Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson, the first in her Little Ottleys trilogy:

The plot is complex, involving a slew of romantic entanglements enacted by a host of characters, all deftly drawn, especially the ridiculously pompous Bruce Ottley and willfully unconventional Anne.

Ada Leverson was a close friend of Oscar Wilde, and the writing is very Wilde-like, the quips flying thick and fast. While the barrage of witticisms seemed overwhelming at first, I soon settled into the rhythm and was completely engaged from then on.

Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys is the sequel to Henrietta's War, an earlier read in The Bloomsbury Group:

Henrietta, a Devonshire doctor's wife, continues to document daily life on the Homefront in letters to her childhood friend Robert. As the war enters its third year, the residents of the village push on in their various projects, contributing to the war effort in sincere but often muddled ways.

Laugh-out-loud funny, I was in stitches from page one, though there are serious and sad moments, too. The perfect combination of sublime humor and quiet sentiment, the pages just flew by. Definitely rates among my favorite books of this year, or indeed of any year!

Looking back, I can't fathom how I gave such an unflattering review to the first book. Guess I'll just have to reread Henrietta's War to see.

bulbs and a book

Much to the dismay of some of the old-school allotmenters, we have three beds of bulbs on our plot. While the beds aren't as full as they used to be (must replant this autumn), the muscari are still going strong,

as are the tulips, purchased ages ago from Sarah Raven:

And they coordinate so nicely with the cover of my current book:

Not that I'd ever be caught reading on the allotments: what would they think? Back to work!

brontës and blessings

I was planning to read this:

But ended up reading this:

When I spied A Glass of Blessings at the library, I couldn't resist. Especially as it was a new, pristine copy...unlike the cookbook I checked out, which was terribly eeeuw!

The story follows Wilmet, a 1950s London housewife, through her days at home, in church, and around town. It was easy to feel real affection for Wilmet and her companions, while at the same time finding amusement (smiles and laughs) aplenty in their many quirks and foibles. Might just be my favorite Pym to date.

But now, back to the Brontës...

bloomsbury books

It was Darlene who first told me about The Bloomsbury Group, a series of 'lost classics' from the early 20th century being reprinted by Bloomsbury Publishing.

I started with Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys:

Henrietta, a doctor's wife in Devonshire, documents the mundanities and absurdities of life on the Homefront in letters to her childhood friend Robert. While similar in tone to Diary of a Provincial Lady, it was neither as funny nor as engaging, and even the quirky illustrations (by the author herself) couldn't quite redeem it.

More successful was Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson, author of Miss Buncle's Book:

Hester Christie (Mrs Tim) starts a diary in which she records her daily doings with all the wit and verve of my favorite Provincial Lady. While I think the book rather lost its way toward the end--the entire second half is taken up by diary entries for a single holiday in June--I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

And my faith in the series was further restored by Miss Hargreaves:

Norman and Henry invent a character, Miss Hargreaves, only to have her appear on their doorstep exactly as they imagined her. Things quickly spin out of control, as Miss Hargreaves gets Norman into one sticky situation after another, and what started as a light farce takes on a more sinister edge. A completely surreal, thoroughly engaging romp right to the end.

A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz was a much quieter book:

Six-year-old Joe, growing up in London's Jewish community in the 50s, buys a unicorn (a little white goat) in the Whitechapel market, hoping one day the unicorn's stubby horn will grant the humble wishes of his friends and family. This beautifully observed slice of life was warm and tender without being overly sentimental. Simply perfect.

Four down, two to go!

journeying

Very excited about my new English Journeys collection from Penguin Books:

While journeying cross-country on a side saddle sounds rather uncomfortable,

I reckon a walk in the wheat fields would be quite pleasant,

especially if there's a picnic hamper involved (game pie, anyone?)...

and a garden visit or two along the way:

But must put my (virtual) English journeys aside, as I'm headed off on a (real) American journey tomorrow. Then again, I'm sure I could fit just a few volumes in my hand luggage...

whipple and a wander

Yesterday, Darlene and I attended the first Persephone Classics teatime book group. While I'd read Someone at a Distance before, I thought I'd better read it again in preparation:

And it was just as amazing the second time. In her plain, straightforward style, Dorothy Whipple creates characters that seem so completely real you can't help but feel for them, whether it's sympathy for Ellen or sheer loathing for Louise.

The discussion, led by Nicola Beauman, was fascinating: such insightful observations, comparisons, and criticisms. I did feel a bit out of my league at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. I'm just disappointed I won't be able to attend the next two meetings (second Thursday of every month).

On a less academic note, Darlene and I had a bit of extra time beforehand, so we stopped by Orla Kiely in Covent Garden. The new collection is fabulous, especially the tops:

Most of the designs are featured in a beautifully done hardcover catalogue--really a book--which is free in the shop. So perhaps we need an Orla Kiely book group as well...

london gardens, japanese style

Sarah makes the loveliest arrangements, using flowers from her own plot, for the Seed Store Cafe picnic tables:

And Sarah's latest arrangement seems to match, in color and spirit, one of my new édition PAUMES books from Yvestown:

The text may be in Japanese, but the images say it all: so beautiful and so inspiring.

Hundreds of photographs document the back gardens of ordinary (and some more well-known) Londoners as well as community gardens, allotments, flower markets, and nurseries, including our very own Petersham Nurseries:

I'm now quite keen to visit Daylesford Organic, not only in the city but at their Farmshop in Gloucestershire...

and Clifton Nurseries, which I've somehow missed hearing about all these years in London:

But in the meantime, I suppose I better get back to work on our own allotment!

a homemade life

I know there’ve been quite a few book posts lately, and I was planning to wait before adding another, but some things simply can’t wait:

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg is the most beautifully written memoir. She chronicles her life and the people in it with such gentle humor, openness, and candor. I quite literally cried, sighed, smiled, and laughed in the space of its 300 pages.

I was heartbroken when I reached the last chapter: I simply didn’t want it to end. But there are still the recipes to make—one at the end of each essay—and the blog (Orangette) to follow, so I guess it's really just the beginning...

baking and buncle

This was meant to be a post about baking, but I couldn't resist mentioning Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson (endpaper pictured below), which I finished yesterday afternoon--when I really should have been digging at the allotments!

Miss Buncle, whose dividends are dwindling, writes a novel about her village and its inhabitants to supplement her income. Only she describes her neighbors a bit too well: they soon recognize themselves in her book (a runaway bestseller), are terribly offended, and uproar ensues. Light and easy, yet so wonderfully witty and well-written, it's nearly impossible to put down.

In baking, the rather unseasonable warmth and sunshine last week put me in the mood for lemon. So here are the Lemon Squares from Martha Stewart's Cookies:

A wonderfully rich and incredibly lemony recipe. I only made two small adjustments: extending the baking time slightly and serving the squares without the confectioner's sugar topping to let the lemon really shine. Now if we could just have the sunny skies back!

book group

Our local library has an odd approach to book groups. Rather than reading a particular book each month, the library group reads any book by a particular author. This means when it comes time to discuss, each member could have read a different book!

So Darlene and I created our own virtual book group. Our first selection was Consequences by E.M. Delafield: very different from The Diary of a Provincial Lady, but utterly gripping.

Our second book was No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym. Since reading Jane and Prudence last year, I've fallen completely in love with Barbara Pym.

This is the new Virago edition, worth seeking out both for its cover and the lovely introduction by Paul Binding:

Barbara Pym chronicles English, middle-class women's lives with such subtle wit, I was giggling, sometimes rather embarrassingly out loud, from beginning to end...and both Darlene and I were quite surprised by the end!

wonderful weekend

Last night, I finished a book that's just as wonderful as its title suggests:

Elspeth Thompson reacquaints us with those very ideas and ideals we so often forget in the rush and chaos of everyday life. The narrative is warm, friendly, and engaging--never preachy--and the quirky illustrations by Alice Stevenson, who also designed and illustrated the cover, are fab.

Now very much looking forward to putting some of Elspeth's suggestions into practice. Learning the ukulele perhaps? Hooray for the Great British Weekend!

holiday reading

With such amazing weather, I didn't do quite as much reading in Aldeburgh as I'd expected to.

But I was so glad I'd brought along what is now my favorite book of the year so far: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

If you haven't read it yet, you must go out and buy or borrow a copy straight away! The letter format is reminiscent of 84 Charing Cross Road, but the text is even more engaging with a wonderfully witty narrator and a fabulous cast of characters. At times terribly moving and at others laugh-out-loud funny.

Over the past month or so, I've also made progress on my Virago Modern Classics. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter is incredibly well-written and frightfully compelling, but very disturbing...

And although I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Taylor (the author), I wasn't overly impressed with A Game of Hide and Seek. I found the first part much too slow, and while it did pick up in the second part, I found the Celia Birtwell cover more interesting than the story itself.

Do have a look at the Celia Birtwell website: lovely fabrics, wallpapers, and greeting cards. While I knew her name in conjunction with Ossie Clark and 60s and 70s fashion, I wasn't aware of her wonderful range of furnishings!

a book and a bun

After lunch, we headed into Abingdon for afternoon tea with Jane Brocket. The event was organized by the bookshop where Ali works, Mostly Books.

Jane spoke about her new book Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer:

She also read passages from her favorite children's books and showed us how to decorate buns with her trademark technicolor icing and jelly beans.

I transported my bun home in my new Cup-a-Cake carrier:

The Cup-a-Cake worked brilliantly, and the bun was delicious. I'll definitely be using orange or lemon juice (rather than water) to thin my icing sugar from now on: the tart citrus tempers the sweetness of the sugar perfectly.

And for everyone at the tea who was taken with Jane's gorgeous paste colors, I just unpacked a new shipment of little pots in the shop today--only £2.99 each!

midcentury modern

My latest Virago Modern Classics read: A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie has been on my to-read list for ages, so I was quite keen to see how I got on with Kensington:

While the repetition of a certain vulgar phrase proved somewhat maddening, the novel was compulsively readable and the heroine highly entertaining. I particularly liked the snippets of 'advice' she dispensed so convincingly: at one point she very nearly persuaded me to adopt a cat (quite impossible in our small flat)!

The cover features the textile design 'Calyx' by Lucienne Day. 'Calyx' was launched at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and is now considered an icon of Midcentury Modern design, a style and period I love. And I think this print by artist Angie Lewin captures a similar spirit:

Alliums and Fennel by Angie Lewin
lithograph

Angie Lewin's prints are inspired by her surroundings in Norfolk as well as her own interest in Midcentury Modern design. I'm big fan, and G and I are really looking forward to attending her forthcoming exhibition at St. Jude's Gallery in Aylsham.

aga saga (well, almost)

Here's my latest Virago Modern Classics book, which I finished while soaking up the warmth of the Rayburn in Aldeburgh:

I've read 84 Charing Cross Road before. But I enjoyed it even more this time around, especially as this edition (unlike the one I borrowed from the library a few years ago) includes the fabulous Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, in which Helene Hanff documents her eventual visit to London.

The cover features a textile designed by Marion Dorn for the ocean liner the Orcades. It coordinated beautifully with the cream Rayburn and blue tea towels:

excellent women

I just finished reading Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, and it was indeed excellent.

I'd received Jane and Prudence for Christmas last year and absolutely loved it, so I was very pleased to discover Virago had reissued another Barbara Pym as part of their anniversary series.

Alexander McCall Smith sums her work up beautifully in his introduction:

'One does not laugh out loud while reading Barbara Pym; that would be too much. One smiles. One smiles and puts down the book to enjoy the smile. Then one picks it up again and a few minutes later an unexpected observation on human foibles makes one smile again.'

Mrs M had suggested coordinating my book covers with my flowers, but in this instance I'd rather coordinate my book cover with a blouse (both by Orla Kiely)!

summer reading

I finished The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield within days; it really is almost impossible to put down.

The fictional heroine's droll diary entries are laugh-out-loud funny. It may be about a 1930s Devon housewife, but the stylistic similarities to Bridget Jones's Diary are unmistakable.

This edition, with a fabric cover designed by Cath Kidston, is part of the Virago Modern Classics 30th anniversary series. While reading the last few pages on the allotment, I noticed the cover matched the roses in one of the neighboring plots perfectly.

new persephone bookshop

On Saturday, G and I visited the new Persephone Bookshop in Kensington Church Street. The new shop carries a small but very well-chosen range of literary fiction, history, biography, gardening, cookery, and children's books. While I loved the new shop--very chic and tasteful--G rather missed visiting some of the other little shops along Lamb's Conduit Street (site of the original shop).

Last night, I finished Persephone book no. 67, The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff, a lovely evocation of a 1930s working class family's annual seaside holiday, which I'd definitely recommend. I did have one little quibble with the text, though. The couple that looks after the Stevens' house while they're away takes the runner beans and rhubarb from the Stevens' garden in return. While runner beans can be harvested in September, rhubarb (as far as I know) can only really be harvested until midsummer. Perhaps this is a sign I'm spending too much time on the allotment!