This Week in Books: 22 April 2015

Published on by Margaret

My week in books

This Week in Books is a weekly round-up hosted by Lypsyy Lost & Found, about what I’ve been reading Now, Then & Next. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

Now:

I‘ve just started to read Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers, the  second book featuring Harriet Vane. Harriet is on a walking holiday on her own and finds a dead body on the top of a rock on a deserted beach, ‘the corpse with the cut throat‘ as Lord Peter Wimsey describes it. As this was first published in 1932, Harriet was not only without a mobile phone, but also without access to a landline without walking miles to a village where she could phone the police from the village shop. It’s promising to be an excellent read.

I’m also still reading Nothing To Be Frightened Of by Julian Barnes ( non fiction, a memoir, a meditation on death and the fear of dying) – in fact I’ve not read any more of this book than I had last week – blame not only reading other books but also the good weather and the garden, where I’ve spent too much time, not relaxing, but weeding, mowing and general tidying up.

Then:

I’ve finished both Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and The Last Girl by Jane Casey – my reviews will  follow soon.

Next:

Next up I’ll probably be reading The Lost Garden by Katharine Swartz, an advance proof copy of the book from Lovereading due to be published in May – how can I resist a book that begins with a walled garden? I’ve always wanted a garden like that ever since I read The Secret Garden.

But then I could get drawn to a different book when the time comes!

 

9 thoughts on “This Week in Books: 22 April 2015”

  1. Even the title for ‘The Lost Garden’ reminded me of ‘The Secret Garden.’ I hope it lives up to your expectations. Happy reading!

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  3. What a beautiful cover on The Lost Garden. Definitely shades of The Secret Garden. Will look forward to your review of that one.

    And also your review of The Last Girl. 🙂

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  4. So thrilled that you’re reading Have His Carcase. It’s one of my favourite DLSs so far.

    Ditto with the garden. ‘Loads’ to do so reading has suffered a bit.

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  7. Hi Margaret,

    I haven’t read a Dorothy L. Sayers book since I was a teenager, although I have always been an avid fan of Lord Peter Wimsey, whenever the stories have been televised.

    I don’t generally read a book more than once, however as so many years have elapsed, I don’t think it would count if I decided to re-read some of the stories, in a similar way to which I am slowly rediscovering Agatha Christie.

    I love the style of precise speech and writing, so indicative of the times in which the stories are set, so if you can put to the back of your mind all thoughts of the modern day whilst you are reading and immerse yourself in the atmosphere, then surely these stories take on the role of true modern classics.

    Thanks for sharing and enjoy all your new finds 🙂

    Yvonne.

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    1. Yvonne, I’ve found that re-reading books I read years ago is a mixed blessing. If I’ve forgotten the plots, as with Agatha Christie’s books that I read as a teenager just once, it works well and I enjoy the books as though I was reading them for the first time. But for books I loved and read more than once it can be a disappointment if the magic has gone for me – mainly children’s books.

      I am really enjoying Dorothy L Sayers’ books and their contemporary 1930s settings, and I’m also finding it so entertaining to see how things have changed over the years – hence my comment about mobile phones etc.

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