What I read this month
- In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine
- Anchored by Deb Dana
- Little by Edward Carey
- Following the Red Bird by Kate Rademacher
- Ordinary Jack and Absolute Zero by Helen Cresswell – Reread
- Old Baggage by Lissa Evans
- Et Bien Dansons Maintenant! by Karine Lambert
- The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
- Call of the Wild by Kimberly Ann Johnson
A book I especially recommend…
Little was a most unusual approach to historical fiction, more of a historical fantasia — based on the life of the young Swiss girl who was to grow up to become the wax-museum impresario Madame Tussaud. We encounter a wide array of grotesque, absurd, sometimes repulsive characters, from aristocrats and artists to murderers and gutter rats, and marvel at her bizarre experiences leading up to and during the Reign of Terror in France. Illustrated by the author, in a style matching his eighteenth-century-flavored prose, this is a book to haunt one’s dreams.
Jean-Louis David’s portrait of Marie Grosholz (the future Madame Tussaud)
From an article by Edward Carey at LitHub
A disappointment
After recommending Helen Cresswell’s Bagthorpe Chronicles to another blogger who was looking for some light reading to offer to a friend, I reread the first two books myself. I found them not as amusing as I remembered — perhaps I have been learning too much about developmental trauma and adverse childhood experiences, but this time young Jack’s experiences as the most ordinary member of an eccentric British family, along with his hapless dog Zero, struck me as disturbing rather than hilarious. Mr. Bagthorpe’s narcissism and cruelty were particularly unpalatable. Perhaps the later books in the series improved, but I didn’t feel moved to continue seeking them out.
Currently reading
I enjoyed Lissa Evans’ Old Baggage, about a former suffragette wrestling with some ghosts from her past. In the final pages of the novel, she has a young boy handed over to her … and now I’m reading the continuation of that boy’s story, Crooked Heart. This book was actually written first, but takes place later, during World War II, when Noel is evacuated from London. I hear this one is even better than its prequel, so I have high hopes.
On the blog
What’s on your shelf this month?
Linked at The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Oh, what a shame about the Bagthorpes books! I remember loving them, though all I recall really is one brother having a CB radio and them taking all the labels off the tins to enter competitions and then not knowing what was in the tins! I think I still have them but not inclined to revisit now!
That part was funny! It was Mr. Bagthorpe who removed the labels, of course. They made a rota to shake the tins and guess what was in them, trying to get something suitable for the meal.
I read a book by Lissa Evans this month too and really enjoyed it, Small Bomb at Dimperley. I have read Crooked Heart but not Old Baggage.
It seems weird not to have any Baum this month but I am glad we did that reread!
I’m going to read more by her. I saw the movie made from her first novel, Their Finest, and that was good too.
I’ve not read any of these titles but Little sounds intriguing! Meanwhile, I’ve seen very mixed responses to the Laura Shepherd-Robinson book, putting me in two minds about whether or not to give it a go, if only to see why it impresses and repels in equal measure!
Fun fact: when we lived in Bristol Emily used to have around forty piano pupils who came to the house for lessons and one of them was … Laura! When she gave a talk at the last Crickhowell Literary Festival (now sadly defunct) Emily was able to have a quick reminisce with her.
I think you could really appreciate Little, Chris! It’s a bit gruesome, but not gratuitously so. And it has a fascinatingly odd angle on history.
That is a fun fact about Laura S-R. It’s always neat to be reminded that authors are real people. The Square of Sevens didn’t repel me, I found it quite readable, just not entirely to my taste. As with Agatha Christie, I appreciated it was a lot of work putting together such a puzzle, but it ended up feeling contrived and superficial for me. But you might have a different experience.
It’s odd how your thoughts about a book or a series can change over time. I was struck with how much more I enjoyed Enchanted April the second time I read it. I read Ordinary Jack in 2014 and loved it. I wonder if I would feel the same now.
I hope you will do another yearlong read of another series. I’m so glad you did the Oz books.
Yes, reading Oz together was fun! I might do another readalong in the future, thanks for the encouragement.