Tag Archives: Julie Orringer

A Bad Case of Startitis

September 15, 2011 By in Thoughts & Ramblings Tags: , , , , , , , 18 Comments

In the last couple of weeks I have picked up and started far too many books, and so this is a name and shame post.

I have rounded them up from different corners of the house, and I will finish at least two books for every one I start until the number in progress is more sensible.

Usually I aim for three: an upstairs book, a downstairs book and a travelling book.

The String of Pearls by Thomas Pesket Prest

I hadn’t meant to start this one yet, but I pulled it out of the bookcase for this year’s RIP Challenge and when I opened it to take a look I was hooked.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

This wasn’t on my RIP list, but when it appeared in the library I had to bring it home and I had to start reading right away. My problem is that it isn’t a daytime book, it’s too unsettling to read late at night, and so I have a very narrow reading window each evening.

Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart

Now this one I have actually finished since I took the picture, and I am pleased to report that it was a wonderful entertainment.

A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe

This caught my eye in the library and when I came home I just had to pull my copy out.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

I’ve been reading this one on and off for months. Well it is a big book!

Far North by Marcel Theroux

I picked this up from my Clearing The Decks stacks a while back, and I read a good bit sitting in the park while Briar was on squirrel watch. I was distracted by another book, but I must get back to this one and see how it all ends.

The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean by David Almond

I was just getting to grips with the naive speech and phonetic spelling when this one disappeared under last Sunday’s papers. By the time it reemerged I was engrossed in something else.

What They do in the Dark by Amanda Coe

Now this is a strange one. Wonderful characterisation and wonderful writing, but it isn’t quite coming together. I must push on, because there is so much potential there.

*****

Eight books in progress is just silly. So please tell me:

How many books do you have on the go at any one time?

And do you have a cure for startitis?!

In July …

August 3, 2011 By in Thoughts & Ramblings Tags: , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

I spent some time in Paris.

With books.

Monsier Montespan by Jean Teulé –  An interesting book. A very different take on French history. A great book for somebody, but not really the book for me.

13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro: Not the book I expected, but something much more interesting. And utterly intriguing.

The Ladies’ Paradise by Émile Zola: The book for which the expression flawed but fabulous was invented. I’m still pondering which Zola to read next.

With music.

From Charlotte Gainsbourg, from Novelle Vague, and from Françoise Hardy.

But I didn’t spend as much time in Paris as I had intended.

I was distracted by Orange July.

Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch – I picked this one up and put it down a few times before I made it through. A great book, but definitely a book that needs the right moment.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer – I’ve been progressing slowly through this one, and I have to say that it is quite wonderful.

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan – It was love, quite against my expectations.

There were other books too. I can’t read to plan too much, I have to read the books that call.

The  Crime Fiction Alphabet came to an end.

And I’ve had one or two other distractions. Job hunting. A home study course to bring me a little more up to date in one or two areas. A battle with BT to get our phone line fixed. Life …

But now it’s August – my month for getting organised!

I’ve already boxed up all of my outgoing books and put them on ReadItSwapIt and I’ve reorganised my bookcase of Virago Modern Classics and made sure they are all recorded on LibraryThing.

Bibliotherapy can come in many different forms!

Maybe an Orange … or two … or three …

July 11, 2011 By in Orange Prize Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

I’m loving Paris in July, but I haven’t forgotten that this is Orange July too.

This year’s longlist and shortlist didn’t excite me a t first, but the more I thought and the more I read the more interested I was. And now I have two longlisted books in progress:

  • I have been slowly making my way through The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer for a while now. It’s a book that I needed to read slowly, but I think I will turn the final page this month.
  • Though I didn’t care for her earlier books, I gave Jennifer Egan the benefit of the doubt and ordered A Visit From The Goon Squad from the library.  Three chapters in, I have to say I’m impressed.

And I have more books on hand, some of my own and some on the library pile.

Here they are:

Are there any there that you would recommend?

And are you reading for Orange July?