Spell the Month in Books is a linkup hosted by Jana on Reviews From the Stacks on the first Saturday of each month. The goal is to spell the current month with the first letter of book titles, excluding articles such as ‘the’ and ‘a’ as needed. That’s all there is to it! Some months there are optional theme challenges, such as “books with an orange cover” or books of a particular genre, but for the most part, any book you want to use is fair game!
The theme this month is New, interpreted as you wish: new releases, recent acquisitions, “new” in the title, etc, new-to-you books, new additions to your TBR list, recently published books, or something else that you connect with the word ‘New’.
These books are all recent additions to my TBR List or my Books I Want to Read List. The links go to the descriptions on Amazon.
J is for Jane’s Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman
Award-winning biographer Claire Harman traces the growth of Jane Austen’s fame, the changing status of her work and what it has stood for – or has been made to stand for in English culture – in a wide-ranging study aimed at the general reader.
This is a story of personal struggle, family intrigue, accident, advocacy and sometimes surprising neglect as well as a history of changing public tastes and critical practices. Starting with Austen’s own experience as a beginning author (and addressing her difficulties getting published and her determination to succeed), Harman unfolds the history of how her estate was handled by her brother, sister, nieces and nephews, and goes on to explore the eruption of public interest in Austen in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the making of her into a classic English author in the twentieth century, the critical wars that erupted as a result and, lastly, her powerful influence on contemporary phenomena such as chick-lit, romantic comedy, the heritage industry and film.
Part biography and part cultural history, this book does not just tell a fascinating story – it is essential reading for anyone interested in Austen’s life, works and remarkably potent fame.
A is for Around the World in 80 Trees: Discover the secretive world of trees by Jonathan Drori Discover the secretive world of trees in Jonathan Drori’s number one bestseller…
Bestselling author and environmentalist Jonathan Drori follows in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg as he tells the stories of 80 magnificent trees from all over the globe.
In Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable. From the trees of Britain (this is a top search term), to India’s sacred banyan tree, they offer us sanctuary and inspiration – not to mention the raw materials for everything from aspirin to maple syrup. 25 February 2024
N is for New Wild Garden:Natural-style planting and practicalities by Ian Hodgson
New Wild Garden combines new approaches to a more naturalistic design with the practical side of growing wildflowers and shows how to incorporate wildflowers, real meadows and a looser meadow-style planting into gardens and wild spaces.
With serious concern into the decline of pollinators and habitats, meadows are currently the focus of enormous creativity. Gardeners, wildlife lovers, professional designers and seed manufacturers are all pushing the envelope of what can be grown, the pictorial effects that can be achieved, and the benefits that this provides for gardeners and wildlife.
This book includes 15 step-by-step projects and an essential plant list, as well as offering inspiration to gardeners and an overview of the most influential movement in garden design over recent decades.
U is for Unfinished Portrait by Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott
A stunning novel of death and destiny.
Bereft of the three people she has held most dear – her mother, her husband and her daughter – Celia is on the verge of suicide. Then one night on an exotic island she meets Larraby, a successful portrait painter, and through a long night of talk reveals how she is afraid to commit herself to a second chance of happiness with another person, yet is not brave enough to face life alone. Can Larraby help Celia come to terms with the past or will they part, her outcome still uncertain?
Famous for her ingenious crime books and plays, Agatha Christie also wrote about crimes of the heart, six bittersweet and very personal novels, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.
A is for Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary but Logan Mountstuart’s contains more than its fair share of both. As a writer who finds inspiration with Hemingway and Virginia Woolf, a spy recruited by Ian Fleming and betrayed in the war and an art-dealer in ’60s New York, Logan mixes with the movers and shakers of his times. But as a son, friend, lover and husband, he makes the same mistakes we all do in our search for happiness.
Here, then, is the story of a life lived to the full – and a journey deep into a very human heart.
R is for The Raven and Other Selected Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
This selection of Edgar Allan Poe’s poetical works includes some of his best-known pieces, including the triumphant, gleeful ‘The Bells’, the tragic ode ‘Annabel Lee’ and his famous gothic tour de force, ‘The Raven’. Some present powerful, nightmarish images of the macabre and bizarre, while others have at their heart a profound sense of love, beauty and loss. All are linguistic masterpieces that demonstrate Poe’s gift for marrying rhythm, form and meaning.
An American writer of primarily prose and literary criticism, Edgar Allen Poe never ceased writing poetry throughout his turbulent life, and is today regarded as a central figure of American literary romanticism. He died in 1849.
Y is for The Yellow on the Broom: The Early Days of a Traveller Woman by Betsy Whyte, her autobiography.
Not only is it a fascinating insight into the life and customs of traveller people in the 1920s and 1930s, it is also a thought-provoking account of human strength and weakness, courage and cowardice, understanding and prejudice by a sensitive and entertaining writer.
The next link up will be on February 1, 2025 when the theme be Valentine’s Day/something sweet on the cover.
BooksPlease 