Monday January 13th 2014

'I am not at all in a humour for writing; I must write on till I am.' 

-Jane Austen in Personal Correspondence

Wait For Me!

Continuing on the Mitford theme, I'm pretty chuffed that Debo's memoir has finally made into my collection! Review to follow shortly, no doubt. 

Nancy Mitford, Highland Fling & First Book Review of 2014

I am utterly devoted to the divine Nancy Mitford, although I've only read her post-War novels The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate and The Blessing. I'd never read any of her earlier novels, and I suppose I had come to accept the general consensus which seems to do the rounds which is that they're just not that good. How has this come to be accepted when Highland Fling turned out to be an utter delight?! I thought maybe the earlier novels focused more on plot and characters and lacked substance. Whereas there is definitely a focus on the Bright Young Things of the 20s and 30s, there are still some beautiful little snippets of Mitford gold which cannot help but shine through. I've laughed out loud continuously, and who wouldn't when faced with passages like this: 

'He was doomed to immediate disappointment, finding that besides being an unusually stupid woman she had less sex appeal than the average cauliflower; and when, in the course of conversation, he learnt that her two children were called Wendy and Christopher Robin, his last hope of being charmed vanished for ever.' 

Comic genius.  

 

New Year, New Diary.

2014

Oh lordy. A new year has snuck up on me and I haven't updated this blog in months. New Years Resolution #348: get back into the habit of making book review posts again. And what better motivation than to start a new reading challenge! I am very excited about this one- The 50 States Reading Challenge posted by Somerset Books. All you need to do is read as many books as you can by American authors born in different states! I've already got a head start because of my 'Cities in American Literature' module. First up, it's Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, who was born in Indiana. One down, forty-nine more to go...