October is coming, and it is looking very promising:

Margaret Kennedy Week is nearly here!  I have a week’s holiday!

So it feels like time for an A to Z …..

A is for AUSTRALIAN READING MONTH. I loved this last year and so I’m very pleased that Brona will be hosting this again in November. I read My Brilliant Career last year, I want to read ‘My Career Goes Bung’ this year, and I have other possibilities too,

B is for BACKS OF BOOKS. I always enjoy perusing lists of other titles that publishers used to display in the back of books, and I’m in the middle of a lovely book by an author I discovered that way.

C is for CURTAINS. Automatic curtains are lovely when they work but a nightmare when they break down. We’ve taken two deliveries of spare parts, the curtains have been up and down and hanging elsewhere for a while, but we have fixed them and they are working beautifully.

D is for DAPHNE DU MAURIER. Kirsty has plans to read lots of her books in December, and I may join her for a book or two.

E is for EDGE OF THE WORLD BOOKSHOP. I was seduced by a lovely display of Slightly Foxed editions last Saturday. And that’s all I’m saying!

F is for FLORENCE. Do you remember Florence and Giles? I loved Florence’s wonderful narration of that story, so I was thrilled to find out that there is a sequel – ‘The Girl Who Couldn’t Read’ – and I have ordered it from the library.

G is for GODREVY. Briar loves the beach there, the summer dog ban ends tomorrow, so it’s a definite possibility for a walk next weekend.

H is for THE HAPPY TREE by Rosaling Murray. A new Persephone book, coming next month. I know that the Whipple-lovers are eagerly awaiting ‘Because of the Lockwoods’ but I’m much more intrigued by an author I’d never heard of before.

I is for I START COUNTING. I love this song, and I particularly love Dusty Springfield’s interpretation.

J is for JANE CASEY. I’ve caught up with the two most recent Maeve Kerrigan books, and there’s a post about them both sitting in my drafts folder.

K is for KAFFE FASSET. The first clue for my ‘mystery cushion’ is due tomorrow, and I am ready to start knitting. I explained the plan to my mum when I went to see her on Saturday, and she loved the yarn and the whole concept.

L is for LAZARUS. I loved this but it had slipped out of my mind; luckily it was pulled back in again, when I heard it on the radio at the weekend.

M is for MARGERY SHARP. I’ve borrowed ‘The Innocents’ from the library three times but now I have a copy of my own and somebody else may have a turn. It really is a gem.

N is for NIGHTINGALE. You really should meet Miss Nightingale, in Edith Olivier’s recently reissued Night Thoughts of a Country Landlady.

O is for THE ORACLES by Margaret Kennedy. It’s in my library pile, ready for Margaret Kennedy Reading Week.

P is for THE PAYING GUESTS by Sarah Waters. I’ve advanced from ninth to fifth in the library queue since the book appeared in the library catalogue.

Q is for THE QUICK by Lauren Oliver. I started reading in the summer, but it was a book that needed dark evenings so I’ll pick it up again in a week or two.

R is for RE-READING WILLA CATHER. Ali has a reading week planned, and I don’t have anything new to read but I am giving serious though to reading all of Willa Cather novels again, this time in chronological order.

S is for SEDITION by Katherine Grant. It sat in my library pile for a while, but now I’ve picked it up and read the opening, and I have to say that it looks very promising.

T is for TROLLOPE. Definitely my author of the year. I finished ‘Phineas Finn’ last week and I’ve already begun ‘The Eustace Diamonds’.

U is for UNA SILBERRAD. I’ve just read her novel ‘The Good Companion’ for Shiny New Books last month, I loved it, and now I’m on the lookout for more of her work.

V is for VHS. I’m clearing out a stack of old tapes, but it’s taking time because I’m sure there are some interesting things, that I recorded years ago and forgot.

W is for THE WILD SWAN by Margaret Kennedy. I’ve already started reading, and it’s very, very good.

X is for XI. One for the Scrabble players! We started a new tournament in August, on the Man of the House’s birthday and it will run until my birthday in March.

Y is for A YORKSHIRE FABLE. It’s a lovely book of knitting patterns, and I was so pleased to be able to snap up a very reasonably priced used copy.

Z is for ZZZZZ. Briar was not at all happy with the failure of the curtains and the consequent disorder in ‘her’ bay window, but now things are right again and she can sleep peacefully in there.