Life has been busy, work has been stressful, but I have missed this.
So it’s time to begin again, with the time-honoured tradition of an A to Z …..
A is for ADA LEVERSON. I’ve just finished ‘The Twelfth Hour’ – her first novel – and it was lovely.
B is for Burrard
B is for BURRARD. After a few smaller knitting projects I want a bigger project, and I think this might be the one. I’d turn it into a pullover rather than a cardigan, as a few others I’ve spotted on Ravelry have done, because the central cable is wonderful.
C is for CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES by Penelope Farmer. I’ve just discovered that it was the third in a trilogy and now I’m wondering if I should seek out the other two books.
D is for DUMAS. I’ve been watching ‘The Musketeers’ on Sunday evenings and listening to ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ whenever time allows – 5 hours down and 47 to go – and I’m loving them both.
E is for ELISABETH RUSSELL TAYLOR. She is that rare thing, an author whose work has been published under the Virago Modern Classics imprint and who is still writing. I’ve just begun this recent collection of short stories and I am very taken.
F is for FILLING IN THE GAPS. My five years is nearly up and I’m not going to hit my target, but I’ve learned lessons and I have a list to remind me of some books I still want to read one day and of books that I thought I wanted to read but I don’t anymore.
G is for THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE. It’s back on Tuesday nights, making me wish that I’d learned to sew.
H is for HAIM – I love this.
I is for In Diamond Square
I is for IN DIAMOND SQUARE by Mercè Rodoreda. A book I read and loved last year, and I have spotted that it is now available in a very pretty paperback edition.
J is for JUBILEE POOL. Our lovely Art Deco lido, where I swam as a child, has taken a terrible battering from the stormy weather and is in desperate need of funding so that it can be restored.
K is for KEEP LOVE AS YOUR GOLDEN RULE. I heard this yesterday for the first time in ages.
L is for LEO WALMSLEY. I’ve read my way through the sequence of four autobiographical novels that began with Love in the Sun and I was wondering where to go next. When I learned that the Walmsley Society was getting ready to republish the third of the earlier Bramblewick trilogy I had my answer.
M is for MARGERY SHARP. I’d missed Rebecca’s wonderful posts about Margery Sharp and so I was delighted to discover that she is back with a new blog.
N is for NO BOUNCE AT ALL because the ground is still saturated. That’s very sad for Briar, who loved to catch tennis balls.
O is for EDITH OLIVIER. I was thrilled to learn that Bello Books will be reissuing half a dozen of her books, and that I will be able to own copies of the titles that I so missed when I had to return them to the library and others that I have never been able to track down,
Q is for The Quick
Q is for THE QUICK by Lauren Owen. It’s a very big book and it looks absolutely wonderful.
R is for READITSWAPIT. I reactivated my account last week, after a long break, and I’ve already swapped two books. Two duplicate Viragos have gone out and ‘Lionhear’t by Sharon Penman and ‘Helen’ by Maria Edgeworth have arrived.
S is for STRIPES. I’ve knitted a hat and I’ve nearly finished a scarf to use up the second bag of wool that I entered in my Knitting Resolutions project.
T is for THE THIRTEENTH TALE. I decided to re-listen rather that re-read, and I fell in love all over again.
U is for UNRIPPING. I’ve been looking at a sweater that didn’t fit well for a while and yesterday I finally unripped to back to the book where the body and the sleeves split (it was top-down) so that I can re-work it. The pattern is mainly stocking stitch, so this will be my nursing home knitting for a while.
V is for VANITY FAIR. I struggled with the book, but I’m thinking that I might do better with the audiobook.
W is for Walking
X is for EXACTNESS IS NECESSARY when searching for authors in the library catalogue. I thought it was odd that the library had none of Eden Phillpotts’ books, but when I spotted – and bought – one yesterday I realised that I had been misspelling his name, and that the library has lots.
Y is for YARN DIET. It’s over – I bought some light blue wool to go with some dark blue wool to make this. But my new rule is project-specific purchases only because I still have a fair bit of yarn in hand.
Z is for MARKUS ZUZAK. I’m thinking that I really should read ‘The Book Thief’ before we see the film.
Back soon …… with a book or two …..
Fleur in her World 
Very intrigued by the Penelope Farmer books – as I had no idea there were books before Charlotte Sometimes (though I know that I have more than one book by her somewhere on my shelves – off to search….)
And *do* read The Book Thief – it’s a wonderful, wonderful story…
The Book Thief is on my bedside table, and I’m looking out for more of Penelope farmer’s books. From what I can see there are recurring characters but the stories stand alone.
Welcome back, you were missed! I see lots of names i don’t know, but will look forward to learning more about. I think you said previously the stormy weather might last til early March – I hope you’ve had some breaks from it.
The worst of the storms seem to be behind us now, but there is a lot of damage and the ground is still saturated. Thank goodness for books to escape into!
Glad you are back! I love the A-Z format posts. You are totally right about X – library catalogs are persnickety that way. You can always ask the librarian though as they can usually help (that’s what we are here for).
That cable pattern looks tough.
It’s complex, but looking at the charts I can see the logic – and I come from a long line of cable knitters!
Welcome back, Jane! I initially struggled with Vanity Fair, too, but the audio version narrated by Wanda McCaddon helped pull me through. It turned out to be a very good book.
The audio version is next on my list, once I’m done with The Count. My mother loved Vanity Fair and so I’d love to be able to tell her that I’m ‘reading’ it.
It’s good to see you posting again! I’m pleased you’re enjoying The Count of Monte Cristo. I’ve been watching The Musketeers too, though I’m a bit disappointed that it hasn’t followed the plot of the book.
I am loving The Count and it works wonderfully as an audiobook, with most of the chapters coming in around half an hour so that it almost feels like a serial. With The Musketeers I think I’m enjoying the programme more for not having read the book.
Glad to see you back, and yes read The book Thief it is brilliant!
The Book Thief is on hand and creeping up my list of reading priorities,
I loved your A-Z! I wish I came from a long line of cable knitters…you’re very fortunate! Loved the Y is for Yarn Diet; need to put myself on one of those, but not QUITE yet 🙂 Any recommendations for an audiobook of Northanger Abbey? And thanks for the Margery mention!
I was just thinking about you yesterday and hoping you were okay – glad to see that the weather has died down a bit and glad to see you here. I am one of the people who didn’t care for The Book Thief all that much – I can’t give a concrete reason why, it just didn’t suit me.
I also think The Quick looks wonderful. I have an eGalley of it on my iPad and am saving it for a time when I can really get lost in the story.
Glad you’re back, Jane, and thanks for sharing the news about Edith Olivier. How exciting! I think this will be the first reprinting of most or all of those titles. Our collective urging in the blogosphere that she should get more attention seems to be paying off! Now for the novels…
So many nice things here: a Margery Sharp lover, some Ada Leverson, and – AND – finally I’ll be able to get hold of Edith Olivier. It’s like she’s an imaginary writer, her books are so hard to get here!
Hi Jane, I hope you are Briar are well. Sorry I’ve not commented for ages. I’ve been having a blogging break and though I still meant to visit other sites, I’ve not done so well at that. I would also recommend The Book Thief, it’s a few years since I read it but I did love it very much. I am interested in The Quick too. I didn’t know you were on readitswapit, do you come on the forums too? All the best, Lindsay
So glad you’re back. The Bears were getting worried that the dog Briar might have actually been washed away in storm (and you as well of course!) I am now going off to check out some of those links and book recommendations, thank you.