BritishLiterature

The Proof of My Innocence: A hilarious political novel wrapped in a murder mystery, from the bestselling author of Middle England | Jonathan Coe

pick

I just loved this book. Ostensibly it‘s a murder mystery told by means of literary pastiche (a cosy mystery complete with secret passages, plenty of suspects & a quirky detective, a dark academia background excursion & an auto fiction conclusion) but at heart it‘s a political asking (expressly) why the proponents of the Thatcher/Reagan era policies which have created our current society do not like that society. ⬇️

CarolynM ⬆️ It is full of word games, literary references and discussions of the sitcom Friends. It‘s also very funny. Book number 6 for #14books14weeks @liz_m 1d

37 likes1 stack add1 comment

Crinoline_Laphroaig

Northanger Abbey | Nancy Butler

pick

This was a fun graphic novel of Northanger Abbey.

Mid-month check in. Read any good Northanger Abbey retellings? Anything you've hated?

#JaneAustenThenAndNow
#Pemberlittens #TalkTilneyToMe

Crinoline_Laphroaig @julieclair @SarahBookInterrupted @willaful @mctrish @LitsyEvents
@Julsmarshall @DebinHawaii
@Graciouswarriorprincess
@JenlovesJT47 @Librarybelle
@inthegreensandblues
@Bookwormjillk @dabbe
@CrowCAH @mollyrotondo
@TheBookHippie @Ruthiella
@Deblovestoread @Lizpixie
@SarahBookInterrupted @Andrea313
@StayCurious @eeclayton
2w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @TheAromaofBooks
@peanutnine @rubyslippersreads @CaramelLunacy @Andrea313
@ravenlee @AnneCecilie
@Cheshirecat913 @AllDebooks
@ElizaMarie @AnishaInkspill
@eeclayton @staci.reads
@CoffeeAndABook @Liatrek
@Cuilin @BarkingMadRead @Laughterhp @CoverToCoverGirl
@wordslinger42 @Morr_Books
@bookandbedandtea @Tineke @curiouserandcurioser @Sace
@JenlovesJT47 @trina_reads
2w

Bookwormjillk I still need to start Ghosted! 2w

See All 14 Comments

BarkingMadRead I loved

The Rushworth Family Plot: A Novel

BarkingMadRead Also, I read Ghosted awhile back and it was really good! (edited) 2w

Andrea313 Northranger by Rex Ogle was lots of fun, and I'm enjoying Ghosted so far. But I did a re-read of the following and any silly charm it may have once held drastically faded into sheer stupidity:

Northanger Alibi

TheBookHippie Not yet 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️ it‘s been a bit wild here. 2w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @TheBookHippie same! Last few days I read one graphic novel. 2w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @BarkingMadRead I've started as well. I'm really enjoying so far. 2w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @Andrea313 there's a vampire. Makes me want to read. 2w

julieclair I really enjoyed

Midnight in Austenland

willaful Oh, I wish I'd known about these. My library has some of them. 1w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @julieclair yay! 1w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @willaful my friend turned me on to them. 1w

36 likes14 comments

Nicos

Raw Material: A Family Biography | Alan Sillitoe

pick

An odd format, described as a novel but containing much biography and thoughts on the life of a writer. Thoroughly enjoyable mostly but the literary critical segments sometimes get a little convoluted. Definite pick though.

3 likes

oddandbookish

Wives Like Us: A Novel | Plum Sykes

pick

This book was a ton of fun!

Many years ago (like when I was 12 or 13) I read one of the author‘s other books, Bergdorf Blondes, and remember enjoying it. It‘s no surprise that I loved this one!

This book is like Crazy Rich Asians but with rich Brits in the English countryside. I am a sucker for books about rich people.

Full review: https://oddandbookish.wordpress.com/2025/06/04/review-wives-like-us/

oddandbookish #book #booklover #bookstagram #bookworm #bibliophile #bookobsession #bookish #bookreviewer #booktok #doublespin #bookspinbingo #bookspin #humor #britishliterature #richpeople #fiction #chicklit 4w

Bklover Pretty background 😊 (edited) 4w

oddandbookish @Bklover Thanks! 4w

67 likes1 stack add3 comments

Crinoline_Laphroaig

Northanger Abbey | Nancy Butler

#JaneAustenThenAndNow
My June Northanger Abbey - Now plans: Graphic Novel
Movie
Fullerton Parsonage by Laura Simons is a retelling told from the perspective of Henry Tilney. Free on author's website.
https://www.laurasimons.com/portfolio/regency-stories/

Continuing to read Rational Creatures and Dangerous To Know Anthologies

#Pemberlittens what are you reading?

BarkingMadRead

The Rushworth Family Plot: A Novel

See All 12 Comments

willaful I'm thinking about the Val McDermid book. Oh, and I didn't realize the new Claudia Gray was almost here! (edited) 4w

TheBookHippie Trying to decide what to read for the month! Thanks for the list. 4w

Crinoline_Laphroaig @willaful in my humble opinion the Val McDermid book is 💩. 4w

willaful @Crinoline_Laphroaig well, another one off the list! 4w

BooksandCoffee4Me @TheBookHippie @Crinoline_Laphroaig Me too so yes, thank you for sharing that link. Just what I‘m looking for! 💛 4w

julieclair I‘ll be reading

Midnight in Austenland

eeclayton I'll be reading

Searching for Mr Tilney

CaramelLunacy Maybe

Northranger

Crinoline_Laphroaig @CaramelLunacy I saw that one. Looked interesting. 3w

34 likes1 stack add12 comments

ElizaMarie

The Mill on the Floss | George Eliot

pan

Ugh! I am going to say this one is a blah! It was super long, for that ending THAT ending!? #WTF
Anyway, thanks to the #HashtagBridgage and @BarkingMadRead fpr hosting :) I wouldn't have been able to finish this one alone.

My baby Lazlo

Bookwormjillk That ending was one of the worst I‘ve ever read 1mo

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo

ShelleyBooksie I cannot with this picture ♡♡♡♡♡ I want the goofy puppy snuggle s. 1mo

28 likes3 comments

TheAromaofBooks

The Mill on the Floss | George Eliot

so-so

Another classic off the list. I can't say I enjoyed this one. Maggie honestly got on my nerves. I was thinking about it while writing my GR review, because in some ways she reminded me of Helen from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but I really respected Helen and had pretty much no respect for Maggie, and I was trying to figure out why. I think it's because Maggie's brother is her god. Everything she does is based on whether or not he will approve. ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) Except he's a jackass, so the way she followed him around like an abused dog, ever-hoping for head-pats despite only ever receiving kicks was both depressing and irritating. I get that this was a different era and that Eliot was making a statement about the position of women at the time, but honestly you have to be stupid to worship Tom. I actually think that I wouldn't have minded Maggie's decisions if I ever remotely felt like she was ⬇ 1mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) making them for herself, or even (like Helen) due to a true religious conviction. But it all just came back to her obnoxious brother who actually couldn't care less about Maggie or what happened to her so.

Between this and Middlemarch, I've had enough of George Eliot to last me probably forever, but I genuinely appreciate @BarkingMadRead helping me plow through yet another classic I probably would have given up on my own! 😂 1mo

eeclayton Couldn't agree more. I also have no idea what she saw in Stephen. He's a selfish and arrogant emotional blackmailer. 1mo

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TheAromaofBooks @eeclayton - I could at least see the whole young love thing where you meet someone and don't notice their negative qualities yet because you're caught up in the fizz, especially in Maggie's situation where she is so desperate for attention and affection. Like long-term if they got married it would have been terrible because he sucked, but her short-term infatuation kind of made sense. But to still think Tom is perfect after all these years...!!!! 1mo

dabbe A 🎯🩵🎯 review. Stephen also reminded me of Heathcliff in WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Way too angsty and Byronic-heroey for my taste! 🤣 1mo

Clare-Dragonfly I was thinking the same thing about having had enough of Eliot! Disappointing, because I think she was a really cool individual. (edited) 1mo

57 likes6 comments

Ruthiella

The Black Prince | Iris Murdoch

pick

Murdoch is for me an acquired taste and only to be enjoyed in measure. She‘s impossible to read quickly.

This is farce set in late sixties London, Bradley Pearson is a retired civil servant and unsuccessful novelist. Told from his POV, which is questionable, it‘s what happens when instead of writing his magnum opus, his life falls apart, with no little help from his own ineptitude, jealousy, and solipsism. Wickedly funny at times and quite dark.

BarbaraBB I loved this one!! 1mo

Ruthiella @BarbaraBB It was a #blameitonLitsy read because of you! 1mo

CarolynM My favourite of the Murdochs I‘ve read. I love those alternative perspectives at the end😊 1mo

See All 6 Comments

Ruthiella @CarolynM The letters at the end are interesting (if contradictory! 😂). My favorite Murdoch (so far) is

A Severed Head

1mo

sarahbarnes I already have this one stacked! I haven‘t read anything by her yet. 1mo

Ruthiella @sarahbarnes She‘s a great writer, but definitely I can only read her a little at a time. Next I want to read

The Bell

1mo

65 likes1 stack add6 comments

BarkingMadRead

Mill on the Floss | George Eliot

Ch 3: #mumcomparesmaggietoherfurniture #wtf #phillipwritesabeautifulletter #hestilllovesandbelivesinmaggie #yetmaggiestillhatesherself #iblametom #also #moredrowningreferences #thisdoesnotbodewell #staytuned #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @librarybelle @bookwormjillk @cuilin @mcctrish @deblovestoread @dabbe @julieclair @ruthiella @clare-dragonfly @thearomaofbooks @daisey @quietjenn @morr_books @leftcoastzen @kwmg40 @alldebooks @eeclayton @sparklemn @elizamarie @kao @jenlovesjt47 1mo

mcctrish It was a beautiful letter ❤️❤️❤️ I‘m so infuriated! All these people pushing and pulling Maggie around and she‘s just trying to do her best 1mo

AllDebooks This is grinding my gears now. Maggie should tell them all to feck off. She should ask Tom for a small allowance and get gone to a new life with found family and better friends. 1mo

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BarkingMadRead @AllDebooks for real! 1mo

dabbe It's hard to believe, but if only Maggie had gone through with the elopement with Stephen, she would have caused less damage, and Philip and Lucy would have eventually moved on with their lives. Now that Maggie is determined to stay in town, she is making it impossible for Stephen to have a possible reconciliation, either with herself or with Lucy. Moreover, her presence in town will keep the wound open in Philip's heart. 1mo

Clare-Dragonfly I don‘t love Philip telling her he would have committed suicide if he didn‘t love her so much. Keep that to yourself, my man. I‘m glad you had something to hold onto but don‘t make Maggie feel guilty. 1mo

Leftcoastzen Maggie can‘t get a break. It was a lovely letter, everyone seems stuck cuz Maggie is stuck .😞 1mo

33 likes7 comments

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