Thursday, June 7, 2007

And the rest.

I have had several events this week that have really cut into my reading time, so as I have not completed any books, I will share the rest of my ever growing stash.

This is the nonfiction stack. From top to bottom:




The Short and Long Times of Mrs Beeton - I've had my eye on this for awhile and like reading about this time period.

The Rare and the Beautiful- This is about the lives of the Garman sisters. I don't know anything about them, but I came across this and I am always up for biographies about sisters. I've also loved The Sisters:The Story of the Mitford Family and Victoria's Daughters.

The Seamstress - The holocaust survival story of a young woman. This is another favorite genre of mine.

Victorian London - I had been looking for a deal on this for some time.

Circle of Sisters - I have wanted to read this since I read another of Judith Flander's books Inside the Victorian Home which I loved. Again, this is another biography of sisters. This actually came from Half Price Book's recent sale.

The fiction stack:



The Moonstone - I've thought I would like this for some time.

The Singing Bird - Another book I've been looking for a good price on since the library doesn't have it. One of the only 'modern women's fiction' books here.

Pinkerton's Sister - Looks interesting, particularly for bibliophiles, but daunting in size.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - I've been hearing about this on some other blogs.

The Moonlit Cage - I really, really liked Linda Holeman's book The Linnet Bird and was happy to find another book by her. This is about a girl from Afghanistan traveling to 1850's England.

The Great Stink - I had been considering this when Nutmeg wrote a great review of it. Clare Clark's new book , The Nature of Monsters, looks great.

Hmmm. Notice any trends here? Women's fiction and historical fiction, women's history, books about the UK, specifically those set in Victorian times and early 20th century. Books about sisters, books about the holocaust. These books are a great snapshot of genres I love to read, and always seek out.

20 comments:

Iliana said...

So fun to look at the latest stacks. I have a couple of the same books waiting to be read but I'm taking note of some others that sound very interesting :)

Jill ONeill said...

I would be very interested in hearing how you like the book on Mrs. Beeton. There was a BBC program on recently here that focused on her life. I hadn't realized what a time she'd had of it.

BooksPlease said...

I read Pinkerton's Sister some time ago. It took me quite while to finish as it's so long. I did enjoy it but it's different from anything else I've read. I've got Rushforth's Dead Language and made start on it.

I really liked The Moonstone - I must re-read it. These piles will keep you busy for a while!

Cornflower said...

I enjoyed Circle of Sisters very much, and reading on from that you might want to try Josceline Dimbleby's A Profound Secret.

Tara said...

Bookgirl, It is fun! I love looking at the stacks of others.

Jill, I recently taped a program on Mrs Beeton but haven't watched it yet. It seems she had a fascinating life.

Booksplease - I was hoping someone reading would have read this one. It does look unique, and agree
that it will be slow going.

Karen, I'm glad to hear you liked Circle of Sisters and thanks so much for the recommendation. A Profound Secret sounds very interesting.

Literary Feline said...

What a wonderful stack! I have the Seamstress among my TBR collection. I almost chose it for the nonfiction challenge but decided instead to read The Nazi Officer's Wife.

Nan said...

I just love it when people post photos of books. Is there anything more beautiful? :<) I am always, always amazed at the variety and choice of books in the world. I have heard of only two, The Moonstone and the Mrs Beeton book. I do own The Sisters. One of the joys of reading blogs is learning about new-to-me titles. And I love what you wrote at the end, and the use of the word "snapshot." Have fun reading all those new books. Wouldn't it be nice if we could somehow buy time when we buy books.

Lotus Reads said...

What a great stack of books...I don't usually read books about the Holocaust, I always find them so sad, but this year we're going to be visiting Auschwitz and I would love to read a few books in preparation...I will be starting with Elie Wiesel's "Night", do you have any other suggestions?

Kelly said...

That is quite a list!

Tara said...

Literary feline, I enjoyed Nazi Officer's Wife as well.

Nan, I also love seeing everyone's stacks of book and being continually amazed, as you said, at the variety of books available. It is too bad that the purchase price does not include time necessary to read said book!

Lotus Reads, thanks so much for stopping by. Night is a great book to start with. I actually did a big project on the holocaust in middle school for an advanced class I was in; I learned a lot of the 'facts' at that time but have no idea what any of my sources were (except for Night).

Some books that I've enjoyed are:

Anne Frank's diary, of course, Melissa Muller has written a very good biography of Anne, also The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank which is told by people who had contact with or knew Anne in the camp. Of these three, this last describes life in the camps quite a bit.

Playing for Time by Fania Fenelon, she was a French singer who was part of the orchestra at a camp. This is also a made for TV movie, which I saw in the 80's I believe.

Schindler's List.

I just received On Hitler's Mountain which describes life during Nazi Germany for a German child.

If you're interested in fiction I can't say enough about Anya by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer. This book, originally published in the early 70s, is about a Jewish Polish family, describing their life before the war and the shock of being persecuted. I just loved this book.

I haven't read him, but I understand Primo Levi to be a good author on the subject as well. I would like to make this trip someday myself.

Myutopia, thanks for stopping by, and yes it is!

Lesley said...

Oooh, lots of interesting looking books there! Did you happen to watch 1900 House on PBS a few years ago? Strikes me as something you'd enjoy. :)

Lotus Reads said...

Thank you, Tara, for the very helpful suggestions! I visited Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam when we were vacationing there a couple of years ago, it was so sad, my kids came away most affected. I love the sound of "Anya", I think I may pick that up. Once again, thank you so much for the suggestions..I am happy "Night" is a good book to start with and I will also look our for Primo Levi's books.

Tara said...

Lotus flower, You are welcome, I hope they are of use. I also visited the Anne Frank house. We went to France on our honeymoon and then traveled up to Brussels and Amsterdam for the sole purpose of seeing her house. I really have no words for that, other than it was an amazing experience.

Tara said...

Lesley, I think I did see a couple episodes, but I'm pretty sure I was a new mother when that was on and life was just a complete blur. I agree, it's something I would enjoy and I should see if I could rent it or borrow it from the library.

Danielle said...

Great books! I really liked The Seamstress when I read it. I also read a book about the Garman sisters--I wonder if it was the same one...the titles escapes me at the moment. I will have to read the first Holeman book--it is on my TBR pile. She's written a new one eh? I tend to also read the same sorts of genres.

Tara said...

Danielle, I wonder if it was the same Garman book? Mine is the UK edition, I had a choice and liked this cover better. I was thinking that you would like Holeman's book The Linnet Bird so I'm glad it's on your list.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Some great books there! The Moonstone is a fun read.

Carrie K said...

I've been eyeing that Mrs Seeton book too. The PBS show wasn't what I'd remembered hearing about the book.

The Moonstone was good, but evident that it was written a ways back.

Tara said...

Trish and Carrie, glad you both enjoyed the Moonstone, I really want to get to it someday, but will have to be in the right mood. Carrie, I haven't watched the film yet, though I taped it. I wonder how it is different?

StuckInABook said...

There was a period when everyone I knew was working through Pinkerton's Sister and loathing it... I wish you better luck! Do hope you enjoy Esme L... it's the nearest I've got to either pile of books!