So much reading going on at the moment! Snatched moments with a magazine here and there, bedtime novels, blogs, searches through my cookery books to find something new...
Last month's book of choice was The Snow Child. I'd read a few positive reviews and spotted a not-very-dog-eared copy in the charity shop for £1.99 (bargain). It appealed because a book detailing the harsh, wintery landscapes of 1920s Alaska seemed just the thing for February. And the fairy-tale quality was another pull for me. I do love folk and fairy tales.
I must admit, the first few pages had me wondering whether I'd get along with the book. But I believe in giving things a fair crack of the whip and I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed it: the beautiful descriptions of life in a cabin in the woods, the elusive 'snow child' who enters the lives of the two main characters - even the cruelty of existence in such an inhospitable place.
I would recommend it most definitely as winter reading; I lent it to my mum recently and she can't put it down.
I always find recommending books a bit hit-and-miss; reading preferences are such a very personal thing but it's so nice when you pass a book on and someone really loves it.
The photos here are of an old book journal, purchased from Waterstones many moons ago and seldom used of late. I'll remedy that, I think. Lying underneath it is a copy of Country Living magazine (a little surprise from Jay yesterday) which will be savoured at leisure - sometime. I don't buy magazines very much any more but again, when they come into my possession I have a good read and pass them on for someone else to enjoy.
I'm currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and it's wonderful. Again, a page-turner which is beautifully and cleverly written. I'm devouring it and at this rate will have it finished within a few more days (well, evenings).
So when I was chasing Joe around perusing the library last week and spotted this nice copy of Cranford, I had to pick it up. It seems this whole Year in Books thing is giving me a bit of an appetite for the classics. I read Gaskell's Mary Barton as part of my degree course and thought it a bit of a drag, but suspect Cranford will be much more fun.
It's also interesting that I've already watched the TV dramatisation. Often the film or TV series never lives up to the book, but maybe experiencing things the other way round will allow me to picture characters, events and settings all the more clearly (I did enjoy watching Judi Dench et al)...
Hope everyone's getting plenty of reading in this month!
I really loved The Snow Child so I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. I agree it seemed a bit hard to get into at first but it got much better as I read.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I often think life's too short to stick with a book you're not enjoying, but it's always worth trying to get through the first chapter to see whether it's a 'stayer'. Glad I did in this instance!
DeleteI have Cranford in my reading list too, I downloaded as a free book to my kindle. The cover is beautiful. I miss out on the covers with an e-reader :( But I do have some gorgeous Persephone books (real ones! ooh!) that have those beautiful linings to stare at!
ReplyDeleteI'm about a third of the way through 'The Snow Child'...it's good so far :)
Ooh a treat magazine. I do love a magazine as well. I received 'Good Food' as a subscription for Christmas and love that it just drops through my letterbox :)
Oh, I got the Persephone catalogue recently... I think if I ever had a lottery win (unlikely since I don't actually do it) I'd invest in the entire collection. And keep them on a very high shelf!
DeleteI used to subscribe to magazines and loved it when they arrived. No doubt I'll do it again one day - the difficulty is in choosing just the one title...
Oh I'm glad you enjoyed the Snow Child. I liked it too - although the folk tale aspect of it irritated me slightly (weirdly, as I thought that would be the aspect I liked!). I think I just wanted the girl to be real, and stay all the time to make the old folks happy! I do now want to make Isla a blue coat embroidered with snowflakes now though...
ReplyDeleteIf you enjoy Cranford, give Gaskell's North and South a go - I read it for my degree and really enjoyed it. A good social commentary of the time.
xx
P.S You've got a good one there if he buys you Country Living! I need to train R more obviously...
P.P.S. I think I've got the same book journal lurking unloved upstairs - I started off so well, but it was quickly abandoned unfortunately. Must dig it out.
Hi! You're right about The Snow Child - I enjoyed it but found the ending a bit disappointing. And vaguely confusing. Good luck with the coat for Isla. Maybe you could buy one and stitch onto it (assuming your sewing skills are as basic as mine but I'm sure they're better). I've been watching the Sewing Bee and it inspires me to customise things, but the sheer technicality of it all terrifies me too!
DeleteI'm looking forward to starting Cranford. There's something I really love about books set in matriarchal communities...
As for the magazine, Jay knows what I like! He actually bought one of those three packs so it had Red (nice but full of expensive things to covet) and Good Housekeeping (he thought I'd find that a bit fogeyish but it's actually quite good and had loads of brownie recipes).
The journal will be used again. I always try to note down any books which have good reviews so I can give them a go x
'To Kill A Mockingbird' is one of my all time favourite books and I'm planning to re-read it this year. I first read a copy which I'd bought in a charity shop, think it even had a page missing, so I'm looking forward to reading a lovely anniversary hardback edition I bought a few years ago but never read as I'd really got out of the habit of reading before embarking in this challenge. I've cut back on buying magazines too although I still like to drool over beautiful interiors on-line.
ReplyDeleteMe too! And recipes and gardens... Magazines are around £5 each now - glossies are half full of adverts, too... I was hoping to finish my book last night but took a dose of Night Nurse for a cold and it finished me off before I could get to the end!
DeleteGlad you enjoyed The Snow Child ... I read it last year and loved it ... I haven't decided on a read for March yet as I am just finishing my second book for February ... I have given up lots of magazine subscriptions since I became a full-time mum ... they are just too expensive but I do love an occasional treat now and again ... enjoy your Country Living ... Bee xx
ReplyDeleteHi Bee... I have indeed been enjoying my magazines! I often think it would be nice if people brought their read magazines along to playgroup then people could borrow and swap them around.
DeleteI finished To Kill a Mockingbird last night. I really loved it and will probably re-read it one day. Up next: Cranford.
Hope you have a lovely weekend (I know it's only Thursday but there's no harm in getting excited!)
S x
I love the classics too - I always feel I should have been born in the Jane Austen period - so genteel and 'proper'. I have only bought two magazines so far this year (trying to cure my addiction!) - Garden Illustrated because there is an article on a white flower garden I couldn't resist and a house mag (can't even remember which one!) with a feature on kitchens because we are about to buy a new one and need ideas for squeezing every last inch out of our tiny kitchen plan. I had a subscription to Country Living for Xmas so I love hearing it drop on the mat each month and savour reading it. Hope your cold is a bit better.
ReplyDeleteHello! Strange, isn't it? I usually find myself drawn to older fiction, particularly the early 1900s through to the 1950s. Having said that I do enjoy more historical stuff on occasion too. My chosen modules in my degree included English Drama 1550-1710(!) and Victorian literature. We got to do lots of lovely poetry like Tennyson, and it's where I got my passion for the Brontes, I think.
DeleteI am feeling better thanks. I keep getting ill but it doesn't seem to take hold for long and spring's here so the sunshine will help!
I do love magazine subscriptions for Christmas. It's like a new gift each month.
Hope you enjoy your new kitchen once it's chosen and installed!
S x
Cranford is a great book, one of my favourites (and what a pretty copy you've found). Lately I also seem happiest reading novels written while sentences with sub clauses were the norm. I am increasingly disillusioned by contemporary fiction, though I'd struggle to explain why. I prefer contemporary poetry though ... go figure!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any contemporary poetry for a very long time... maybe I should give it a try. I think the most modern we did at 'A' level was Auden, and Seamus Heaney at GCSE (my English teacher was obsessed with Heaney's poetry and Arthur Miller's plays).
DeleteI'm enjoying Cranford hugely. My form of literary escapism is travelling back in time I think... that and losing myself in children's books.
Oh yes, Cranford is on my to-read list too. I love Elizabeth Gaskell.
ReplyDelete