Some people make year-end lists, but I prefer to pack a box of books as each year draws to a close.

I have always loved lists – writing them, reading them, studying and analysing them – since I was a child. And yet I find it difficult to sum up a year of reading in a list or two. And so I approach things a little differently.

I assemble a virtual box of books that would speak for my year in books; and I stick a virtual post-it note to each book, with my thoughts when I read it, to remind me why that book was in my box.

I try to pick my favourites, the books that stay with me and the books that call me back; and I also try to pick a cross-section of what I’ve read, so that when I look at a box I know where I was in my life as a reader that year.

Before I show you what is in my box, there are people I really must thank – authors past and present, publishers, sellers of books both new and used, fellow readers – who have all done their bit to make the contents of my box so very lovely.

And now all I have left to say is – Here are the books!

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The Call by Edith Ayrton Zangwill

I think that the best books are the ones that capture all or part of a life – or lives – with real insight and beautiful expression, and that the very best books do all of that and say something important to its first readers and to readers who come to it years and years later. This is one of the very best books; telling the story of a pioneering young woman scientist who becomes deeply involved in the campaign for votes for women.

A House in the Country by Ruth Adam

It was a plain hardback book without a dust jacket, sitting on a shelf waiting to catch somebody’s eye. Many people would have passed it by but I recognised the name of an author who has been published by both Virago and Persephone. It had a title that I was sure I had read about, and that suggested the book might well be my kind of book. It was.

Business as Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford

The story of this year in Hilary’s life is charming, and it is clear that its authors understood the workings of a big department store, and how it would strike a newcomer to that kind of world. Her voice is wonderful. She is bright, she is witty and self-deprecating, and she is wonderfully interested in the people she meets and the world around her.

Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett

The journey through this series of book is for the faint-hearted; but for those prepared to commit time, heart and intellect, they are richly, richly rewarding. The quest in the first book was to find justice and the right place in the world; while the quest in this book is to find an infant, hidden away far from the place he should know as home, and in the power of a ruthless, devious and very clever enemy.

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A Welsh Witch by Allen Raine

Anne Adaliza Beynon Puddicombe – who wrote under the name Allen Raine – was a popular novelist in her day,  selling more than two million books and seeing some of them turned into very early silent films. I can understand that success, because this book was beautifully written and the story it told was captivating.That story tells of the lives of four young people who have grown up in a  sea-side village of Treswnd on the Cardiganshire coast.

 The Flower of May by Kate O’Brien

I can think of few coming of age stories more profound than this one. It moves from immature feelings about love and life, though loss and grief, to an understanding that acceptance of responsibility without sacrificing ambition would bring both security and spiritual grace.

The Happy Tree by Rosalind Murray

The writing in this book is so honest and so insightful that Helen’s feelings and experiences were palpable, and though there were times when I felt so sad for her that it was difficult to read I couldn’t look away. Her story speaks profoundly for the generation of women who lived through the Great War, and it does more besides.

China Court by Rumer Godden

The narrative moves back in time to tell stories of previous generations who lived there, not in the way of most novels that have stories set in different points in time, but in a way that feels completely natural and right. Sometimes a thought, a sound, a sight can spark a memory can stir a memory; sometimes of just a moment of time and sometimes of a whole story of people, places and incidents long past.

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Mad Puppetstown by Molly Keane

I loved the arc of the story, and I loved the different arcs of the lives of the different characters. The country house and the people who lived and worked there came wonderfully to life; and their stories spoke profoundly, about family, about home, and about Irish history. I’d love to know what happened next; but I’m happy to be left to wonder, and to think about those halcyon childhood days at Puppetstown.

On Chapel Sands by Laura Cumming

This account of the uncovering of the past that was hidden to the author’s mother for much of her life has been much lauded, and I can only add to the chorus of praise. I loved the writing, the delicate unraveling of the mystery, the importance given to images, and the illumination of love between mothers and daughters.

Miss Carter and the Ifrit by Susan Alice Kerby

Susan Alice Kerby had the knack of using the fantastical to enhance and enrich a story set in the real world, rather than writing a fantasy, in the same was that Edith Olivier did in ‘The Love Child’ and Sylvia Townsend Warner did in ‘Lolly Willows’. This story might not be as deep as those, but it has other attributes that make it a joy to read.

Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp

It was lovely to spot themes and ideas that would echo through Margery Sharp’s novels. Many of those novels are more accomplished than this one, but ‘Rhododendron Pie’ is a particularly accomplished first novel. There could have been a little more subtlety, a little more sophistication in the way that Ann determined her future ; but this book  is beautifully constructed, the quality of the writing and the use of language is sublime, and that carries the day.

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I am wishing for reissues of ‘A House in the Country’, ‘The Flower of May’ and ‘Rhododendron Pie’; and I am eagerly awaiting the reissue of ‘Business as Usual’ by Handheld Press next March, as I really didn’t want to return my library copy.

Now tell me, what would you put in your box for 2019? What do you plan to read in 2020?

And please let me wish you the happiest of New Years!

Karen and Simon made a very wise choice when they landed their time travelling book club in 1930.

I found that I had read a lot of books that I could warmly recommend from that year, that I could pluck a very special book from that year from its shelf, and that I had a few books from that year that wouldn’t fit into that year that it was lovely to remember

The Past

These are the 1930 books from my blogging years – here and from the old place – that I am happy to recollect and recommend:

Imagine my delight when I found an old copy of High Wages by Dorothy Whipple long before the Persephone reissue, and when I found that the heroine shared my name. My expectations were high, and the story more than lived up to them.

Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage – the first appearance by Miss Jane Marple in a novel – needs no introduction, so I shall simply say that it stood up to re-reading very well indeed.

The Fool of the Family is the follow-up to one of the most popular novels of the twenties –  The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy – and though it was not a success I am very fond of this tale of a lesser light of a family of musicians.

I was shy The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield for a long time, because its heroine was so very popular, but when I finally picked my book up I understood why and was smitten too.

I spotted Spiderweb by Alice Campbell in a line of green penguins, and I found that though the mystery was simple I enjoyed spending time in Paris and living through the story with an engaging cast of characters.

I can warmly recommend Kingdom Lost by Patricia Wentworth to anyone who enjoys romantic suspense. It’s a distinctive story and it was a delight to spend time with its wonderful heroine.

Doctor Serocold by Helen Ashton is an account of one day in the life of a country doctor – long before the NHS – and it does a wonderful job of illuminating his life and the world around him.

It is said that Vita Sackville-West was targeting popular success when she wrote the The Edwardians, and that it was inspired by real life and the changing times. It’s a lovely period piece, and a book that still has something to say.

Dead Man’s Quarry by Ianthe Jerrold is a wonderfully readable Golden Age mystery, set in Wales, with an engaging cast, an intriguing plot, and just a little bit of silliness at the end.

The Present

The first book that I chose was a very big book and it was a disappointment, but every cloud has a silver lining and I have a gap on a bookshelf that will hold two regular sized book.

My second book the one I described as ‘the book that I had thought would always be just out of reach’ and I have to tell you that it is a joy to read.

It begins like this:

The Laventies’ garden was unusual in Sussex, being planted French-fashion with green-barked limes, eight rows of eight trees at a distance of six feet. The shady grass between them was dappled in due season with crocus, daffodil and wild hyacinth, but they had no successors. All the other flowers were in the lower garden, where Ann’s tenth birthday party was drawing to a rapturous close.

The young Gayfords were even then being led out of the great gate in the west wall, a gate almost as wide as the garden itself and surviving from the days before the stables had gone to make way for rhododendrons. It was of iron, man-wrought, with a beautiful design of fruit and foliage, and Mr Laventie used it as his back door.

With the departure of the guests a change came over the garden: the Laventie family settled back into itself with a breath of content. They had been exquisitely, lavishly hospitable, but when Dick pulled to the gate and leant back against it it was as though he barred our every everything that could mar the beauty of the hour.

“Now!” said Elizabeth.

The Future

These are the 1930 books that I most want to read, but that I know won’t fit into this week:

As problems go, it’s a good one to have ….

Are there any books from 1930 – these or others – that you would particularly recommend?

100 different books by 100 different authors – 1850 to 1949!

Had I known when I began this project, six years ago and in another home on the internet, that it would go on for so long, it probably wouldn’t have ever got off the ground.

I read the 20th century following exactly the same rules in two years, without making too much of an effort to find books to fill particular years; but pushing the start of the period back by fifty years has made a made this project rather more demanding.

There were fewer books published in those years, there are not so many authors to choose from, and many of the books are very long. Long isn’t a problem – I’m reading a very long book at the moment – but I need to balance the big books with other things.

That’s the negative, but the positive is that this project has led me to some wonderful obscure books, and that it has made me read some of the classics that I have been meaning to try for years. My 100 Years of Books project led me to books by Trollope and Tolstoy that have become particular favourites, and remembering that makes me want to make sure that there is room for every 19th century author that I have thought about reading or re-reading.

That means I may have to re-shuffle my list, I many end up reading more that 100 books, but so be it.

I have read eighty books for my list, so I am not going to back out now. And I am never going to read a book just to fill a year; every book on the list is going to be one I wanted to read for its own sake.

It many take time, but I really want to see the final list one day – 100 years, 100 books and 100 authors!

Today though I just have my latest ten books – here they are:

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1874 – Other People’s Money by Émile Gaboriau

‘The police are certain that all they have to do is find the missing man; and so his son and his daughter’s admirer, who have ideas of their own, set out to find out – and to prove – exactly what happened at the bank. There is drama and romance, intrigue and suspense, as the story moves apace through grand houses, poor backstreets and criminal dives. In the early part of the book I thought of Trollope, but in this part of the book I saw the influence of Dumas.’

1892 – Grania: The Story of an Island by Emily Lawless

‘The pictures of Island life that Emily Lawless draws are wonderfully vivid. She conveys the unforgiving nature of the landscape and the ongoing struggle for poverty that trapped so many of the islanders; she understands the beauty of the island, and the strong sense of identity felt by the islanders. She sees the joys and the sorrows of their lives.’

1901 – East of Suez by Alice Perrin

‘Alice Perrin had the knack of making the India she knew come to life. It was a place where she was one of a small community of British people, surrounded by a culture quite unlike her own. It was a culture that she appreciated but didn’t really understand. She did understand the home-sickness, the isolation and the alienation that many of her compatriots felt. And the effects that that the climate, the way of living and the  local traditions had on their lives. These stories reflect all of that, and they reflect the author’s great love of the India that she knew.’

1902 – A Welsh Witch by Allen Raine

‘Catrin is the ‘Welsh Witch’ of the title. She was happier out on the hills and in the countryside than she was at home with her father, who had struggled to cope since the death of the gypsy girl he had married, and her two dour brothers. The natural world had become her natural home, and she had an uncanny intimacy with it. But when she spoke to the village priest about how she saw God and his work not in the church but all around her every day, he condemned her, he spoke out against her, and she was ostracised by his congregation.’

1906 – The Belovéd Vagabond by William J Locke

‘Asticot knew a little of Paragot’s story, over time he would learn more, and the day would come when Paragot was given a second chance to claim the life – the destiny – that he thought that he had missed. Could he step back into the life he had always dreamed of, or did the very different man he had become – The Belovéd Vagabond have a different destiny?’

1909 – Starbrace by Sheila Kaye-Smith

‘This is the story of Miles Starbrace; the son of a gentleman and a serving maid who died when her son was so young that he has no memories of her. His father, Gerald, had done the honourable thing, telling his his father that he was going stand by the woman that he loved, and that he would support their child. His father disowned him and Gerald fell a long way … Gerald’s greatest hope was that Miles would rise in the world, and regain everything that his father had lost …’

1914 – The Pastor’s Wife by Elizabeth Von Arnim

‘I appreciated that Elizabeth Arnim made her main point well. Ingeborg was cast in different roles by her father, by her husband, and by her would-be-lover in turn. None of them gave much thought to what would make her happy, what life would be like for her, but none of them were villains, none of them were deliberately cruel or unkind. They were simply men who assumed that they would – they should – be at the centre of her world ….’

1917 – The Lady of the Basement Flat by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

‘Of course Evelyn’s feelings were mixed. She was happy for her sister, but just a little sad that their bond would never be quite the same again, that she had been left behind. She was uncertain what her own future would hold, but the more she thought the more confident she became that she could lead an interesting life and be valued in the world.’

1944 – China to Me by Emily Hahn

‘Emily Hahn was a proud feminist and fearless traveler, and the kind of woman who lived life as she felt it ought to be lived without waiting for the rules to be changed. That made her wonderful company, but it was her skill as a writer and her interest in the people around her that really elevated this memoir. She made clear and insightful observations about the people around her – and herself and how they dealt with cultural differences, the changes that politics and the war brought, and all of life’s ups and downs.’

1946 – More Was Lost: a Memoir by Eleanor Perenyi

Though the young couple’s assets were substantial – a baroque property, 750 acres of gardens and farmland, a vineyard, a distillery and a sizeable forest – and they were far from poor, they didn’t have the capital that they needed to restore the dilapidated property and to run the estate as they felt they should. And though Zsiga was Hungarian, his estate wasn’t in Hungary anymore: it was part of the territory given to the Czechs after WWI, and he needed a passport and permission from the authorities before he could travel there.

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The full list of what I’ve read is here, and my 1862 book will be finished very soon.

The last month of the year is here, and so it’s time to play a particular game:

“Take the first line of each month’s post over the past year and see what it tells you about your blogging year.”

It’s an idea that started with The Indextrious Reader a few years ago and it really is an interesting way to look back at a year.

So here goes …

(Artwork by George Lepape)

December

A BOOK FOR RUMER GODDEN DAY: THE BATTLE OF THE VILLA FIORITA (1963)

The opening scene is captivating.

November

HELBECK OF BANNISDALE BY MRS HUMPHREY WARD (1898)

Bannisdale was an old family home in the Lake District, a part of the world that the author knew well and brought to life with lovely and evocative prose.”

October

BROOK EVANS BY SUSAN GLASPELL (1928)

I was very taken with Susan Glaspell’s novel ‘Fidelity’ when I read it, a year or so ago, and because I knew that only that novel and one other were in print,  I thought that I should save that other for a little while, and enjoy the prospect of reading another work by a very fine author.

September

A BOOK FOR MARY STEWART DAY: THIS ROUGH MAGIC (1964)

Since I discovered what a wonderful writer Mary Stewart was – not so many years ago, though my mother had recommended her books many years earlier – I have come to love her writing and I have traveled to many wonderful places by book, in the company of a captivating band of heroines.

August

AN A TO Z TO PICK UP THE THREADS ….

…. because days have flown by at great speed and I have been distracted from the important business of reading and writing about books by professional demands, health niggles and the ongoing demands of living in an house in need of tender loving care.

July

A BOOK FOR ELIZABETH TAYLOR DAY: THE SOUL OF KINDNESS (1964)

I imagine that anyone who picks up this novel will know someone like Flora, the soul of kindness of the title.

June

A SEASONAL COLLECTION: JUNE

“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade?”

From ‘Gardens for Small Country Houses’ by Gertrude Jekyll

May

GRANIA: THE STORY OF AN ISLAND BY EMILY LAWLESS (1892)

This tale of a girl who grows up on Inishmaan, the second largest of the three Arran Islands, evokes its heroine, her fellow islanders and the world that they live in quite beautifully.

April

BEAUTY’S HOUR BY OLIVIA SHAKESPEAR (1896)

History has it that Olivia Shakespear was the companion of better remembered men, but she was rather more than that.

March

NOT ALL STORIES ARE MINE TO TELL …

…. and so all I can say is that a few weeks ago life dealt me a blow that I thought I might never recover from.

February

A COLLECTION – OR SHOULD I SAY A PARLIAMENT – OF OWLS

“Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible to have ignored the circumfusion of those mean dwellings that swarmed like an epidemic around its outer walls. ”

From ‘Titus Groan’ by Mervyn Peake

January

A BIRTHDAY BOOK OF UNDERAPPRECIATED LADY AUTHORS

A few years ago, when I noticed that the centenary of one of my very favourite underappreciated lady authors was approaching, I hit upon the idea of throwing a party on that day. I did, and it worked beautifully.

….

And that’s it!

I don’t know how it looks to you, but it has stirred memories for me.

Do have a go – it’s a lovely way to look back and I’d love to see your results.

It was Jo’s idea, six years ago now, and it’s become an annual event – mark the end of the first six months of the reading year by putting six books into each of six categories.

It’s not quite as simple as that sounds, but working out what book might go where is a lovely way of looking back.

I’ve already spotted that Jessica has posted her list, and I am sure that there are – and there will be – others out there.

As usual, I’ve tweaked the categories to suit my reading style, and to make sure that this is a celebration of books I’m happy to remember.

And in the case of my last six, happy to be reading right now or very soon.

Here are my six sixes:

SIX BOOKS FROM AUTHORS WHO HAVE NEVER LET ME DOWN

‘Framley Parsonage’ by Anthony Trollope
‘Britannia Mews’ by Margery Sharp
‘Rough-Hewn’ by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
‘The Forgotten Smile’ by Margaret Kennedy
‘Because of the Lockwoods’ by Dorothy Whipple
‘The Soul of Kindness’ by Elizabeth Taylor

* * * * *

SIX BOOKS THAT TOLD STORIES OF TIMES GONE BY

‘Queens’ Play’ by Dorothy Dunnett
‘Circe’ by Madeleine Miller
‘Green Dolphin Country’ by Elizabeth Goudge
‘The King’s General’ by Daphne Du Maurier
‘Heat and Dust’ by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
‘House of Gold’ by Natasha Solomons

* * * * *

SIX BOOKS WRITTEN BY WOMEN IN THE 20TH CENTURY

‘Fenny by Lettice Cooper
‘Flowers on the Grass’ by Monica Dickens
‘The Godwits Fly’ by Robin Hyde
‘Thank Heaven Fasting’ by E. M. Delafield
‘Another Part of the Forest’ by G. B. Stern
‘Poor Caroline’ by Winifred Holtby

* * * * *

SIX BOOKS THAT TOLD TALES OF CRIME AND INTRIGUE

‘The Chinese Shawl’ by Patricia Wentworth
‘The Wicked Cometh’ by Laura Carlin
‘The Dry’ by Jane Harper
‘A Strange Disappearance’ by Anna Katherine Green
‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton
‘Fatal Inheritance’ by Rachel Rhys

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SIX BOOKS THAT I CAN’T FIT INTO A CATEGORY

Grania: The Story of an Island’ by Emily Lawless
‘The Cliff House’ by Amanda Jennings
‘Beauty’s Hour’ by Olivia Shakespear
‘Girl With Dove’ by Sally Bayley
‘The Lady of the Basement Flat’ by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
‘Other People’s Money’ by Émile Gaboriau

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SIX NEW BOOKS THAT CAME INTO THE HOUSE

‘City Folk and Country Folk’ by Sofia Khvoshchinskaya
‘The Artificial Silk Girl’ by Irmgard Keun
‘Putney’ by Sofka Zinovieff
‘The Revolution of the Moon’ by Andrea Camilleri
‘The Salt Path’ by Raynor Wynn
‘All The Perverse Angels’ by Sarah K Marr

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I never could resist an invitation to look through books to create something I would never have thought of myself.

This particular invitation came from Lynne at Fictionophile  and I found it thanks to Sandra @ A Corner of Cornwall.

“Spell your blog’s name from books on your shelves!”

With lots of books on the shelves and a reasonable short name I thought I can do it and I did. I found books that I loved for every letter.

It was only then that I read the small print, and realised that I should have been looking at books that I hadn’t read.

Maybe I’ll do that one day, but right now I rather like my name in books that I have loved and am happy to recommend.

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BEYOND

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EDEN

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ROCK

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