Many of the talks from the recent Persephone Festival are available to listen to for free (for the next month). I‘m currently enjoying “Wild for Whipple”. 😄 (See link in comments).

#PersephoneClub
@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @Tamra @CarolynM @sisilia @Caryl @daena @elkeOriginal @Gissy @Aimeesue @Bookbuyingaddict @julieclair @willaful @andrew61

A couple of “series reads” I have on the go.

Dorothy Whipple is always an enjoyable read and this one was no exception. As the afterword states, it‘s a “comforting middle-class drama” but I also found it quite suspenseful due to the titular villain, Mr. Knight. It had the feel of a 1930s Rosamunde Pilcher, if that makes sense? 😆

What did you think, #PersephoneClub ?

#PersephoneBooks

@shawnmooney and I have been reading the novels of Elizabeth Jane Howard in publication order and this is our current read. As usual, it‘s brilliant!

Ah, fleeting beauty! 😭

#PersephoneClub
@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @Tamra @CarolynM @sisilia @Caryl @daena @elkeOriginal @Gissy @Aimeesue @Bookbuyingaddict @julieclair @willaful @andrew61

It‘s now April so that means it‘s time for one of our #PersephoneClub reads!

It‘s my pick this month 👏 and we‘ll be reading They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple. This is a casual buddy read; read and comment on each other‘s posts and reviews as you see them. We usually aim to finish by the middle of the month but that‘s not written in stone. 😉 And anyone is welcome to read along with us, of course!

My current read for my IRL book club.

I can‘t say that I‘m loving it exactly but I‘ve already found myself teary. 😆

A couple of my current vintage reads.

The Golden Collar (originally published in 1955 as The Smith‘s Hoard and then as Hidden Gold) is a children‘s holiday story. A brother and sister go to spend some time at their great aunt‘s house and end up finding an Iron Age hoard. I‘m always down for a good hoard!

Twelve-year-old Elizabeth is sent to spend the summer with her distracted, scholarly aunt at a Scottish manor house and finds herself mysteriously able to interact with the 18th-century family who once lived there.

“Time-slip” stories were a huge childhood favourite of mine and this 1975 novel is such a good addition to the genre.

Anna and her three daughters are left with very little money after the death of their husband and father. They must pull up stakes and leave their posh London life for a small cottage in Scotland (as one does). It starts off with this very Sense and Sensibility type plot but moves on into the familiar world we come to expect from DE Stevenson.

I thoroughly enjoyed it but liked the first half a wee bit more than the last.

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

Friday night reads!

I‘m loving my first Celia Dale. 👍

I‘m loving this book!

It‘s weird and dark but so funny at times … like a gothic Nancy Mitford. 😆

I‘m currently reading this little gem of a novel, published in 1920. It‘s a light and frothy Scottish Cinderella-type story and completely outlandish (and yet completely charming 😆).

Any other O. Douglas fans here?

My previous read reminded me that I still had this memoir on my shelves. Agatha Christie writes of the time spent with her archaeologist husband on digs in Iraq and Syria in the years before WWII. It‘s incredibly witty!

See, @Tamra ? I‘m really trying to #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks. 😆

Well, I‘m finally getting around to reading this book, about an archaeological expedition to Tell El- Amarna in the 1930s, and it‘s wonderful!

I had a newer paperback edition, and then I found this vintage edition, and I‘ve just recently found and bought ANOTHER book by this author. The bookish fates were telling me it was definitely time. 😆

@Centique @rubyslippersreads

Look at this #FolioSociety set that I found at a secondhand bookshop! Isn‘t it pretty?

I guess I should really get back to reading the series. 😆

It‘s here, @thegirlwiththelibrarybag ! Thank you so much for sharing this vintage Australian children‘s book with me. I just read the first chapter and didn‘t want to put it down. 😆 The Melbourne postcard is so lovely, too.

Thanks again for brightening my day. 😘😘

I had always avoided this Persephone novel as the subject matter (a missing child) seemed so disturbing. Well, it WAS disturbing but also utterly compelling and extremely well-written. It‘s best to go in without reading any blurbs or reviews as it does have some great twists.

A solid #PersephoneClub pick!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend, @rubyslippersreads !

I hope you have the most wonderful day! ❤️❤️❤️

Well, @Centique , this latest purchase is completely YOUR FAULT.

😆😆

This fantastic reference work is comprised of short essays on every Heyer novel in publication order, all 56 of them. Each chapter is interspersed with snippets from Heyer‘s letters, family photos and images of book covers. We read which novels Heyer thought were her best, which ones she tried to suppress, and oodles of other fascinating tidbits. I‘m obsessed. 😆

I highly recommend it to my fellow GH fans here on Litsy!

It‘s now February so that means it‘s time for one of our #PersephoneClub reads!

@jlhammar ‘s pick for us this month is Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon. This is a casual buddy read; read and comment on each other‘s posts and reviews as you see them. We usually aim to finish by the middle of the month but that‘s not written in stone. 😉 And anyone is welcome to read along with us, of course!

I better get cracking on this pick for my IRL book club. We meet next week!

A couple of vintage finds from the weekend!

I‘ve been meaning to read the tagged book for YEARS (the only mystery novel by the creator of Winnie the Pooh).

I‘ve read quite a few (7 or 8?) of Miss Read‘s Fairacre novels but this is my first foray into the Thrush Green series. It‘s quiet and charming and I‘m enjoying it immensely!

Book mail!

A bookshop? Tuscany? How could it be bad, right? 😁

One chapter in and I‘m already craving south Indian food. 😆

Crikey, #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub ! This was a bit of a departure from our usual Scarletts, wasn‘t it? 😆 We get the “meet cute” of a charming couple that we come to expect from her novels but then she throws in a completely terrifying antagonist with an equally gruesome child. It was propulsively readable and I loved it.

My “currently reading” stack (and I‘m loving them all).

I‘ve become quite fond of having some sort of almanac on the go throughout the year. Here‘s this year‘s choice!

My last book of 2023 was Lucy Worsley‘s enjoyable middle grade novel about Jane Austen‘s nieces. I‘ve been feeling a little Egypt-ish of late so I‘m going to dive into the tagged book that‘s been on my TBR for several years now. I‘m trying to start the new year off by continuing to whittle down the backlog of books on my shelves… let‘s see how long that lasts! 😆

Thanks for doing this again, @BookNAround ! Happy New Year, everyone! 🎉

#LastFirst

Oh, my goodness, @AshRob22 ! You totally spoiled me!

I‘m so excited to get to these books and I love all the treats, tea, tea ball, tarot envelope, Swedish dishcloth (my faves!), ghost bookmark, stickers, and earrings. My absolute favourite though? The GORGEOUS handmade cross-stitch bookmark! 🖤 And I loved the spooky buggy burlap wrapping. 😆😆

Thank you SO much and a big happy #CreepyChristmas to you! 😘😘

Thanks again to our host, @teebe !

This is a weird one so far … but I‘m liking it!

This random grab from my shelves (to free up book space!) is a bizarre little reworking of Henry James‘ The Turn of The Screw. I‘m liking it!

I pulled this off my shelf at random to read. Why? To make room for my Christmas book gifts. 😆😆 I‘m enjoying it, though.

New Year‘s book cull … incoming. 😆

Thank you so much for these lovely Christmas gifts, @rubyslippersreads ! I hadn‘t heard of The Darcy Myth but I‘m always down for some humorous literary criticism! And this Ibbotson edition is just so pretty! I can hardly wait to dive in.

Please thank the kitties for the KitKat sampler (they‘re the husband‘s favourite… oh oh). In the spirit of Christmas, I shall share. A little. 😆

Merry Christmas to you, my dear friend! 😘

Thank you so much, @thebacklistbook , for these wonderful #JolabokaflodSwap gifts!! I had heard about this book but hadn‘t seen inside it and IT IS GORGEOUS. I‘m so looking forward to kicking back this evening and paging through it with these lovely chocolates. Happy #Jolabokaflod to you! ❤️❤️

And a huge thank you to @MaleficentBookDragon for always hosting this most festive of swaps! 😘😘

#JolabokaflodSwap23

This is a beautifully illustrated novella about an old woman looking back to a best-loved Christmas of her Edwardian-era childhood. A delightful (and melancholy) little read.

My #CreepyChristmas swap has arrived! I did a bit of sleuthing; is it from you, @AshRob22 ?

I‘ve paired it with a current, festive read which I‘m very much enjoying! ❄️❄️

#CC

Here you go, @BarbaraBB (and @Cinfhen ) … my #Top23of23 in no particular order!

I just popped onto Goodreads and randomly picked the books which had “stuck” with me, without giving it too much thought. I found this so interesting to look back on as far as my reading choices went. I seemed to have went with a lot of “comfort reads” this year!

I‘m tagging anyone else who would like to play along!

@thebacklistbook … it has arrived! Thank you so much. ❤️❤️❤️

#JolabokaflodSwap
#JolabokaflodSwap23

#JohnnyBergen and his little #BookTree. 😆

🎄🎄🎄

My current reads (and I‘ve unwittingly colour coordinated them 😆).

#CloakandDaggerChristmas
(The Christmas Song: Read a classic mystery written more than 50 years ago).

Here we are, #PersephoneClub … our 2024 reading schedule! It looks like it‘s going to be another great year. 🩶

As always, anyone on Litsy is welcome to join in and read along and discuss with us at any time.

Harriet, an affluent woman with an unspecified learning disability, falls prey to a fortune hunter and his nasty family in this 1934 novel based on a famous Victorian criminal case.

It‘s an absolute cracker of a read and (despite the grim storyline) I couldn‘t put it down!

#PersephoneClub

Just look at this happy mail!

Thank you @TheLudicReader ! I just love reading your Top Twenty of the Year lists and the card and bookmarks are lovely. 😘😘

My #CreepyChristmas and #JolabokaflodSwap packages went out in the post today!

#JolabokaflodSwap23

Okay, #PersephoneClub … here are my two choices for April. Vote away!

(Descriptive links in the comments ⬇️).

It‘s now December so that means it‘s time for one of our #PersephoneClub reads!

@Gissy ‘s pick for us this month is Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins. This is a casual buddy read; read and comment on each other‘s posts and reviews as you see them. We usually aim to finish by the middle of the month but that‘s not written in stone. 😉 And anyone is welcome to read along with us, of course!

I‘m starting the tagged book today. Aren‘t they pretty together? 😊