Books read August - December 2008

Although I haven't been posting here long - since August - here's my list of books read since then, with links to my reviews here or at Cat Musings. I wondered if picking a favourite (rather than a "best book" which wouldn't necessarily be the same) would be possible and, after much deliberation, came up with the following: in non-fiction it's Traveller's Prelude, Freya Stark's book about her early years, compelling for its candour and atmospheric writing, though hard on her heels would be Philip Marsden's The Bronski House, a lyrical retelling of the lives of Polish poet, Zofia Ilinska and her mother, which I have yet to review. Favourite crime novel was certainly just-completed The Black Seraphim by Michael Gilbert (I'll be posting about it very soon), while favourite fantasy and Young Adult books are the same: The Greenstone Grail by Amanda Hemingway. I'm reading the second in the Hemingway trilogy at the moment, and finding more of Michael Gilbert's elegantly written crime fiction is top of my list. And I must mention Frank Baker's Miss Hargreaves, also still to review, which is a treasure - a huge thank you to the various people whose reviews drew it to my attention. All of these would be strong contenders for "best book" too.

Most of the books listed here have been enjoyable, and I count it a good period of reading, with only one or two disppointments (though there have been some discards along the way, which aren't recorded here). I don't have records for January-July, but I do recall a handful of authors/books I read with immense pleasure: Connie Willis (particularly To Say Nothing of the Dog), Diana Wynne Jones and, best of all, Frances Hardinge's glorious Fly by Night. There were some notable re-reads during that time, too - Elizabeth Goudge's The White Witch, all of Elizabeth Pewsey's Mountjoy series, and - remembered from childhood - The Country Child by Alison Uttley. Fingers crossed that 2008 turns up as many good books.

1. The Black Seraphim by Michael Gilbert
2. Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters
3. Temeraire by Naomi Novik (From the Stacks)
4. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (From the Stacks - review pending)
5. A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs by Victoria Clayton
6. Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson (re-read)
7. The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
8. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
9. The Coast of Incense by Freya Stark (Outmoded Authors – review pending)
10. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (Outmoded Authors – review pending)
11. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West (Cornflower book club)
12. Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford (re-read)
13. The Fisher King by Anthony Powell (From the Stacks – review pending)
14. The Pink Front Door by Stella Gibbons
15. The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith
16. Kitchen Essays by Agnes Jekyll
17. In Chancery by John Galsworthy (Outmoded Authors – review pending)
18. The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson (Canadian Book Challenge – review pending)
19. Snail Eggs and Samphire by Derek Cooper
20. Lunatic Villas by Marian Engel (Outmoded Authors - review pending))
21. The Honeyman Festival by Marian Engel (Canadian Book Challenge)
22. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
23. Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
24. The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding
25. The Young Unicorns by Madeleine l'Engle (re-read)
26. In the Country by Kenneth Allsop
27. The Wind in the Door by Madeleine l'Engle
28. Dark Fire by CJ Samson
29. Nine Layers of Sky by Liz Williams
30. The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
31. The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill
32. Diary of a Victorian Gardener: William Cresswell and Audley End
33. A Deathful Ridge by J.A. Wainwright
34. Untold Stories by Alan Bennett
35. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (re-read)
36. Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith
37. Hester's Story by Adele Geras
38. Mrs Fytton's Country Life by Mavis Cheek
39. Diamond Dust by Peter Lovesey
40. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
41. Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark (Canadian Book Challenge)
42. Dissolution by CJ Samson
43. Darklands by Liz Williams
44. Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope
45. The Country House by John Galsworthy (OA)
46. Traveller's Prelude by Freya Stark
47. Fort of the Bear by Stella Gibbons
48. Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong
49. Dear Pup by Diana Pullein-Thompson
50. The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
51. The Bronski House by Philip Marsden
52. The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle
53. Brotherly Love by Elizabeth Pewsey (re-read)
54. Bloodhounds by Peter Lovesey
55. Witch's Honour by Jan Siegel
56. Meetings with Remarkable Trees by Thomas Pakenham
57. Resisting Novels by Lennard J Davis
58. Dragon Master by Chris Bunch
59. The Man of Property by John Galsworthy (Outmoded Authors Challenge)
60. The Mark of a Murderer by Susanna Gregory
61. Recursion by Tony Ballantyne
62. A Place of Safety by Caroline Graham
63. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
64. The Dragon Charmer by Jan Siegel
65. Made in Heaven by Adele Geras
66. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
67. Guide to the Food Heroes of Britain by Rick Stein
68. Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs
69. Never the Bride by Paul Magrs
70. The House Sitter by Peter Lovesey
71. A Country Wife by Lucy Pinney
72. Sleeping with the Fishes by Mary Janice Davidson
73. Myrren's Gift by Fiona McIntosh
74. The Folk of The Air by Peter S. Beagle
75. Prospero's Children by Jan Siegel (re-read)
76. The Gay Phoenix by Michael Innes
77. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
78. The Country House in Perspective by Gervase Jackson-Stops
79. Temporary Kings (A Dance to the Music of Time: Winter) by Anthony Powell
80. The Greenstone Grail by Amanda Hemingway
81. I Bought a Mountain by Thomas Firbank
82. Roast figs, sugar snow by Diana Henry
83. Back to the Land by Richard Mabey and Francesca Greenoak
84. Mrs Fytton's Country Diary by Mavis Cheek
85. The Lore of the Land by Westwood and Simpson
86. Small Talk at Wreyland by Cecil Torr
87. The Unnatural History of the Sea: The past and future of humanity and fishing by Callum Roberts