FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

pick

Well, I ended up enjoying this rather more than I thought I would (which is probably due to the quirkiness of Gibbons‘ characters). “Wise woman- ish” Ivy Gover and her menagerie of creatures were just so charming!

I read the introduction after I finished the novel and was fascinated by the links to Stella Gibbons‘ own life. A biographer said the character of Helen Green was the closest thing she had written to a portrait of her young self.

LeahBergen #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub 5d

Ruthiella I‘m glad you liked it. I enjoyed it, I just wish the plot had been a little plottier. 😁 5d

LeahBergen @Ruthiella That‘s the perfect way of putting it 😆 5d

CarolynM Great review, and so interesting about the autobiographical aspect. I‘ll be getting started on this one in the next day or two🙂 1d

LeahBergen @CarolynM I hope you like it! It‘s very “non-taxing”. 😆 19h

53 likes5 comments

LitsyEvents

Untitled | Unknown Author

Attention all #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub members!
We are about to start voting for next year's titles and are taking this opportunity to update the tag list. If you are still interested in being part of the club and want to continue to be tagged in 2026, please let us know in the comments below by next week Monday, November 17, 2025.
Thank you and happy reading!
Via @Ruthiella

28 likes

Ruthiella

Untitled | Unknown Author

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Attention all #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub members!

We are about to start voting for next year‘s titles and are taking this opportunity to update the tag list. If you are still interested in being part of the club and want to continue to be tagged in 2026, please let us know in the comments below by next week Monday, November 17, 2025.

Thank you and happy reading! 😊📚

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Jess_Read_This, Kimzey, erzascarletbookgasm, catebutler, Cuilin, CarolynM, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, Lizpixie, elkeOriginal, Gissy, Aimeesue, batsy, Tamra, bookandbedandtea, Teresereading, Sace, kwmg40, Sparklemn, willaful, MrsK

willaful Please keep me on! 1w

kwmg40 Yes, please keep me on the list! Thanks 1w

Sace I really enjoyed the books I read with the club this year, but I think I will just lurk in 2026. You can remove me from the tag list. 1w

See All 14 Comments

Tamra Yes, please. 😃 1w

catebutler Yes, please! I‘m not posting as much on here but I always read and follow along with these FM books. 1w

CarolynM Yes, please keep me on the list. #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub Is the best! 🥰 1w

bookandbedandtea Yes please! 💜 1w

LeahBergen Nicely done with that mid century graphic! 😄 1w

Liz_M @LitsyEvents 1w

Ruthiella @LeahBergen I know, right? 😉😆 (edited) 1w

Cuilin Please keep me on the tag list. Thank you. 🙏 1w

rubyslippersreads Please keep me on the tag list. Thanks! 😀 1w

quietjenn Yes, please and thank you. 6d

Gissy Yes!🙋🏽‍♀️ 6d

41 likes14 comments

willaful

Woods in Winter | Stella Gibbons

I started this with a “four chapters a day“ plan and then read it straight through so I was definitely engaged. Set in the 30s, it started out with two interesting characters: Ivy, a thrice-widowed charwoman with an incredibly strong sense of self, and poet Helen, who's kind of lost herself in an affair with a man who won't marry her.

cont.

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Jess_Read_This, Kimzey, erzascarletbookgasm, catebutler, CarolynM, LeahBergen, Lizpixie, elkeOriginal, Aimeesue, batsy, Tamra, bookandbedandtea, Teresereading, kwmg40, Cathythoughts, Ruthiella, julieclair, MrsK

willaful When Ivy inherits a house (sort of? It's apparently a rental, yet willed to her?) she can finally live exactly the way she wants to, with animals and birds and even cockroaches freely sharing her space. And somehow a lot of other people in the neighborhood find themselves throwing off visions of what their lives should be and doing what they want instead. It's all kind of a muddle though, and I would rather have found out more about Helen's life. 1w

willaful #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

37x37 book 1 @MatchlessMarie (edited) 1w

Ruthiella Good review. A muddle is accurate. There wasn‘t any focus. Not unpleasant but not great either, IMO. 1w

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willaful @Ruthiella yeah, I definitely enjoyed it more than some but it was lacking. 1w

LeahBergen @Ruthiella @willaful I‘m approaching the middle point (and the muddle, I think 😆). 1w

Faranae @willaful If it's set in the UK, there is in fact a legal thing where someone can have the right to live on a property while the actual ownership is held by someone else, and they can't be evicted. It used to be a way that rich people pensioned off favourite servants, or discharged responsibility for favourite/hated relations. I don't remember the legal term though! 1w

willaful @Faranae It's mentioned in the book that it's not a “freehold“ and though he could leave it to her, she couldn't leave it to anyone. Which is so confusing! Those British are crazy. 😂 1w

Faranae @willaful But they didn't give what it actually is? Eg, copyhold (abolished in 1925), life estate, leasehold (you could do a leasehold where the rent is 0)... I think a lot of people also don't know that “freehold“ is often shorthand for “perpetual freehold“, and there are other types of freehold... 1w

willaful @Faranae I think it did say leasehold, and presumably rent free. 1w

38 likes9 comments

Ruthiella

The Woods in Winter | Stella Gibbons

pick

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub
#37by37

A very soft pick. It was a bit of a meandering hodgepodge. Taciturn, middle aged, and slightly witchy charwoman, Ivy Gover, inherits her uncle cottage outside the village of Nethersham in 1930 or so. There are a few village romances, a poignant foster son situation, a mean girl, class consciousness and class clashes. And then there‘s an epilogue 40 years later. It felt a little unfinished.

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Jess_Read_This, Kimzey, erzascarletbookgasm, catebutler, Cuilin, CarolynM, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, Lizpixie, elkeOriginal, Gissy, Aimeesue, batsy, Tamra, MatchlessMarie, bookandbedandtea, Teresereading, Sace, kwmg40, Sparklemn, willaful, MrsK

LeahBergen I‘m still reading and almost at the halfway point. I‘m wondering if the “unfinishedness” is a product of this being her last book? I‘ve saved the introduction to read until after I‘m done! 1w

Ruthiella @LeahBergen I think that might have played into it. 1w

LeahBergen I‘m going to make our post in the next day or two, calling for next year‘s voting. Is that okay with you, my fellow host? 😆 1w

See All 9 Comments

Ruthiella @LeahBergen Yes. Perfect. Should we also do a roll call of sorts? I think the core participants have changed and some are no longer active on the platform. 🤔 1w

Tamra I‘m only a third in and enjoying it, but based on reviews so far I should lower my expectations. Starts out strong! 1w

Cuilin @Tamra yes I thought it started strong, now I may need to adjust my expectations too. 1w

Ruthiella @Tamra @Cuilin It was overall enjoyable but no one storyline felt entirely fleshed out, IMO. 1w

LeahBergen @Ruthiella We should! I was going to drop a couple of names from the list that haven‘t been on Litsy for a year or two (they‘ll find us if they come back 😄). Do you want to do the roll call and then I‘ll check our picking order and organize that bit? 1w

Ruthiella @LeahBergen Yes, will do! 1w

72 likes9 comments

willaful

Woods in Winter | Stella Gibbons

I was really enjoying this, but halfway though it suddenly started focusing on all these extraneous characters. I'm baffled.

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

LeahBergen Oh no. I haven‘t got to that point yet! 😆 1w

Ruthiella Agree! I‘m at 80% and there‘s still no plot to speak of! 😆 1w

25 likes2 comments

Ruthiella

Nancy Drew 25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall | Carolyn Keene

Joining the fun for the #37by37 Readathon hosted by @MatchlessMarie starting tomorrow and running till November 13. 😃

My goal is to finish these seven books, most of which will do double duty for other read alongs or challenges: #EBBR #NancyDrewBR #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub #10beforetheend #OffMyShelf

MatchlessMarie Yay!! Good luck! 🧁 1w

57 likes1 comment

Ruthiella

Three Day Road | Joseph Boyden

#weekendreads

📕Finish up Three Day Road for #OhCanada

📗Continue The Woods in Winter for #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

📘Continue Nevada for #OffMyShelf “orange cover”

📙Maybe finish Civil to Strangers for #10beforetheEnd

rachelsbrittain

46 likes

LitsyEvents

The Woods in Winter | Stella Gibbons

Happy Halloween 🎃
via @Ruthiella
#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub readers!
Reminding y'all that our last title in 2025 is the tagged in November. I've started it and I will say, if you are a dog lover, you will appreciate it.
#JusticeforMrJones&JimJams (!)
Read at your own pace and make sure to tag us in your review and any related posts.
This buddy read is open to anyone. If you would like to be added to or removed from the tag list, say the word.

Ruthiella Thank you! 🙏 3w

Tamra Oh, how fun! Thanks for the reminder! @Ruthiella (edited) 3w

24 likes2 comments

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