It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I’m reading Precipice by Robert Harris. It’s about British Prime Minister Asquith at the start of World War I and his affair with a much younger woman, Venetia Stanley (a descendent of the Venetia Stanley who was the main character in Viper Wine, by the way). Usually, his books are well researched and quite suspenseful, but I’m finding this one slow to get into and so far not that interesting. We’ll see if it improves. It seems like a similar subject to his book Munich, which was about Chamberlain trying to fight off World War II, but so far I found that novel a lot more compelling.

What I just finished reading

I just read Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret Cavendish by Francesca Peacock. I’m not quite sure what possessed me to read two biographies of the same woman so close together (I read Mad Madge by Katie Whitaker last year), but I still found it interesting. This one is more academic than the other.

What I will read next

Now, that’s the question this time. I periodically look for books for my projects at the library first, hoping not to have to buy them, and this time four of them arrived at the same time. (I put them on hold and go pick them up when they’re ready.) I had been waiting for Telephone by Percival Everett for months. For the second time, it looks like the library gave up on it being returned and bought a new copy, because I was first in line for the hold and it took me several months to get it, and it looks new and unread. Once I read it, I will have finished the shortlist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize. It’s about a geologist who doesn’t seem to know how to deal with his family’s problems. If it’s anything like the others by him I’ve read, it’s funny and angry.

Also for my Pulitzer Prize project is The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen. It will be the first book I’ve read from the 2022 shortlist. I don’t usually check out two books for the same project at once, but I had been waiting so long to get Telephone and had no idea it would arrive at the same time. This book is supposed to be funny, so I might read it last. It seems as if my sense of humor is out of sync with other people’s these days.

The book that sounds most interesting to me is These Days by Lucy Caldwell, about two women living in Belfast during World War II. It’s the last book I have to read for the 2023 Walter Scott Historical Fiction prize shortlist, so that’s another reason to read it first. It hasn’t been available from the library until now.

Finally, there’s Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, which combines two things I’m not terribly interested in, coming-of-age novels and sports (although I used to follow tennis, which is the sport in the book, and yes, I have reviewed two tennis books on this blog, Open by Andre Agassi and Levels of the Game by John McPhee). It’s the last book I need to read for the 2023 shortlist for the Booker Prize, though. That’s three books that are the last ones I need to read for a certain year and prize, which makes it harder to pick. It has one advantage over the others. It’s very short (although I notice the print is tiny).

Which one would you pick? Maybe I’ll let my commenters decide. And what have you been reading lately?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I Am Reading Now

I just started reading the biography Oscar Wilde by Sheridan Morley. This book was kindly sent to me for review by Dean Street Press. I find Wilde a fascinating personality, so I’m hoping to gain some insight from this novel.

What I Just Finished Reading

I read A Fortunate Man by Henrik Pontoppidan for the Pontoppidan Review-Along in March. By the last few days, I felt as if I had been reading it forever (it’s more than 800 pages long), and I’ll have a lot to say about it in my review. It is a vast novel that attempts to bring in most of the important philosophies and currents affecting Danish life in the mid-nineteenth century.

What I Will Read Next

If I don’t read If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery next, I’ll have to send it back to the library unread! It’s one of only two books I need to read to finish the Booker Prize shortlist for 2022. I’m reading it for my Booker Prize project; hence, I have no idea what it’s about.

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I am reading The Town House by Norah Lofts. It’s the first book in Lofts’ Suffolk Trilogy. It begins in the 14th century with a serf escaping serfdom, much like Cathedral of the Sea. I looked for a book by Lofts after finishing her book Lady Living Alone, which I really enjoyed.

What I just finished reading

I just finished reading Beggar’s Choice by Patricia Wentworth. Although I had difficulty getting started because it was so obvious that someone was trying to frame the oblivious main character, it turned out to be a pretty good read.

What I will read next

I guess I’m on a roll with classic novels, because the book I will probably read next is Death in Ambush by Susan Gilruth. I think I bought this book to read for the Christmas season and apparently forgot to do that!

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I am reading The Deepening Stream by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, which I’ve had sitting on my nightstand for a few weeks but was avoiding during Nonfiction November and Novellas in November because it is 600+ pages long. However, it is perfect for Doorstoppers in December, so I signed it up for that. I originally chose it because it’s on my Classics Club list, so reading it serves two purposes. So far, the novel may be autobiographical, and it is covering the main character’s childhood. It was published in 1930.

What I just finished reading

I just finished a really entertaining early mystery, Enter Sir John, by two authors I have never heard of, Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. Well, actually, I think I have heard of Clemence Dane, but not in terms of mystery novels. It turns out both were successful writers, Dane mostly as a screenwriter and Simpson as a novelist. This mystery is from 1928.

What I will probably read next

The next book in my stack is Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, which has shown up here and there a lot this year. I have forgotten what it’s about since I ordered it, but that just makes it more fun to dig in!

What about you? What are you reading?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I am reading What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan. It’s a departure from the other books I’ve read by her, because it’s set in Vermont, U. S., instead of Ireland. It’s billed as a thriller, although so far (I’m two-thirds of the way through), it’s not showing any evidence of that. It’s more of a psychological novel about what happens when a young woman goes missing.

What I just finished reading

My last book was one I read for Literary Wives, review coming up December 1. It’s The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor. It’s more of a community novel, like Middlemarch, even though it has a main character. It’s about the effect of a woman’s actions on the people around her.

What I will read next

I just got this book out of the library, so I’ll probably read it next. It’s Jane Austen in 41 Objects, yes, nonfiction by Kathryn Sutherland. I read about it on another blog, and it sounded fascinating. I would say it is right in time for Nonfiction November, except that I probably won’t be posting my review until January or February.

How about you? What have you been or are reading?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I got on to Henryk Sienkiewicz quite a few years ago now, when I read his gripping novel With Fire and Sword, the first of a trilogy. When I was reading it, I learned from a friend who is first-generation British/American of Polish descent that his were the books Polish children grew up with, but these aren’t just books for children. He is a late 19th century/early 20th century writer of historical fiction, a Nobel Prize for Literature winner. His best-known book is Quo Vadis, my least favorite of his so far. Sometime back, I noticed that someone was selling a used copy of The Teutonic Knights by him, and it finally made it to the top of my pile. I have since read that he considered it his best book, and I’d say it’s a real page-turner. It’s also very long. All of his books that I’ve read so far are quite long except Quo Vadis. But somehow the time goes quickly. Almost finished!

What I just finished reading

I just finished a book sent to me by NYRB, The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym. It’s about an attractive woman of a certain age, a “fragile” woman, who becomes friends with a much younger man and his uncle. Although friendship with the uncle is more suitable, she prefers the young man and slowly begins drawing him in so that he is dependent on her. At 207 pages, this one squeaks in for Novellas in November.

What I will read next

I usually have written quite a few reviews ahead of time, and I see that I should be reading things I will be reviewing in November, which means two things: Novellas in November and Nonfiction November. Since Nonfiction November tends to be more about the nonfiction people have read during the year, I have a pile of novellas on my bed table that it’s about time to start reading. And Seascraper by Benjamin Wood serves both the purpose of being a novella and of being a book that I’ve read about lately (and also a Booker Prize longlister). So, I’ll start reading my pile with it.

What about you? What have you been reading?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I just started Long Island, Colm Tóibín’s sequel to Brooklyn, which picks up 20 years later. It’s been a year or so since I read Brooklyn, and I find myself struggling to remember where it left off, but so far I am enjoying it. I just started it yesterday. Eilis is now a mother of two, living on Long Island in the same street as her husband’s Italian family, and right away she finds out something disturbing.

What I just finished reading

I just finished the fourth book in Ellis Peters’ Cadfael series, Saint Peter’s Fair. I am enjoying this series, particularly because of the characters and the time setting, as I have read about this period before. The series is definitely getting more political, but we’ll just see where it goes.

What I will read next

Sometimes I change my mind at the last minute, and this time, when I was looking through my pile of books to read, I picked out The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey, only to realize that I read it some time ago for my Walter Scott project and somehow picked up a copy of it later. So, I went back to the shelf and picked out Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judy Dench. I was in Ashland, Oregon, two years ago for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and picked up this book at the town’s excellent bookstore. It has finally worked its way to the top of the pile, and it’s about time I read it.

So, what about you? What’s going on with your reading?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

Right now, I’m reading the second book in the Department Q series: The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It’s pretty grim so far, but that doesn’t usually bother me with crime novels. The second season of Department Q is supposed to be uploaded to Britbox this month, so I’m right on time. FictionFan pointed out to me that the TV series has inexplicably moved the mysteries to Scotland. I didn’t even notice that! Maybe it’s because I saw the TV series first.

What I just finished reading

I have to thank Nonfiction November for this one, because I have seldom enjoyed a nonfiction book as much. It’s the beautiful Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky. If you like maps and stories about remote places, even if you don’t have an affinity for islands like I do, you’ll find this one fascinating.

What I will read next

I think it’s going to be The Darlings of the Asylum by Noel O’Reilly. I have no idea how this book got on my list or what it’s about, but it’s almost time to find out!

How about you? What have you been reading?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What am I reading now?

I am reading English Magic by Uschi Gatward, one of the last books for my James Tait Black Award project, since I’m trying to wrap it up. It’s a collection of short stories. I don’t always get on well with short stories, but so far, I’ve found some of them interesting and some of them frustrating.

What did I just finish reading?

I just finished The Librarian by Salley Vickers. I’m not sure how this book got on my list, but I enjoyed it. It’s about a librarian who moves to a small English town in the 1950s and tries to get more children to use the children’s library. At first, I thought it was going to be a standard romance, but it didn’t turn out that way.

What will I read next?

This can always change, but what’s next in my pile is Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips. It’s a historical novel set during the Civil War, and it’s been on my list for some time.

What about you? What are you up to with your reading?

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for WWW Wednesday, an idea I borrowed from David Chazan, The Chocolate Lady, who borrowed it from someone else. For this feature, I report

• What I am reading now
• What I just finished reading
• What I intend to read next

This is something you can participate in, too, if you want, by leaving comments about what you’ve been reading or plan to read.

What I am reading now

I just finished my previous book, so I haven’t actually started An Episode at Toledo by Ann Bridge. I have liked the couple other books I have read by Bridge, but this one is apparently a part of a mystery series she wrote. I haven’t read any of the others, and I’m afraid I’m getting this one out of order, which I hate to do if I can avoid it. Anyway, I’m looking forward to starting it today.

What I just finished reading

I just read The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden for my Walter Scott Historical Prize project. It is set in the early 1960s in Utrecht, but the vestiges of the war are still in evidence. I don’t want to say too much about it here, because it goes somewhere surprising at the end. You’ll have to wait for my review!

What I am reading next

I sometimes forget what I said I was going to read next and read something else, but this time I think I’ll read the third book in Edna O’Brien’s Country Girls trilogy. It’s called Girls in Their Married Bliss, and I can’t help thinking that title might be meant ironically. I’ll find out!