Category Archives: Comforting Reads

December 9, 2012

Books to Curl Up With, part II

By bibliomouse

It’s getting colder outside, Christmas-scented candles are being lit and we’ve had the first proper snow of the year. It’s obviously time for two more cosy books!

Crooked-House-Christie-Agatha-9780062073532

 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

    ISBN: 978-0007136865

        Publication date: 5th August 2002 (originally published in 1949)

I read my first Agatha Christie aged 9 and, twenty years later, I’ve now read all of them. I wrote my Masters’ thesis on her novels and I can bore people for hours about why I think that she has been unfairly maligned in terms of racism and sexism. Many a  happy Sunday has been spent on the sofa watching David Suchet mince across the screen as Poirot and, had my over-enthusiastic ex-flatmate been quicker than me, the cat would have been called Aggie. In case it’s not clear, I love Agatha Christie* and I think they’re fabulous books for lazy afternoons – they’re short enough to read in one go and somehow reading about murder always makes my living room feel cosier. Make of that what you will…

 Crooked House is my favourite Christie mystery and was one of the author’s favourites too. Its detective is Charles Hayward, whose fiancée won’t get married until the murderer of her grandfather is discovered. I love it because it’s genuinely chilling and unexpected whilst still being non-gory and cosy.

*Even I can’t defend Curtain. Really, I’ve got nothing.

 Publisher: Persephone Books

    ISBN: 978-1903155714

        Publication date: 23rd October 2008 (originally published in 1934).

I admit that this isn’t the best and most exciting photo, especially when you have to have superhuman eyesight to see what the book actually is, but bear with me. Persephone Books are all jacketed in dove grey, which looks lovely when you have several on a bookshelf, and each has a different end-paper and bookmark in a ‘fabric’ design chosen to compliment the book. They’re gorgeous, really.

Although many of the works re-printed by Persephone could be called ‘cosy’, Miss Buncle’s Book by DE Stevenson is one of my favourites. The story of Miss Buncle, an unmarried and impoverished lady in her 30s who writes a novel about her small village and its inhabitants as a way of making some money, the novel is charming, witty and well-written, much like Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. If anyone would like to get me Miss Buncle Married for Christmas, that would be lovely, pleasethankyou.

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Reviews, Comforting Reads

December 5, 2012

Books to Curl Up With, part I

By bibliomouse

I said that I’d put together a list of ‘cosy books’ what seems like an age ago and I’ve finally done it, in a few parts. I feel I have to point out that it’s definitely a list that reflects my reading tastes, although there does seem to be a bit of everything (apart from ‘Mommy porn.’ I draw the line at badly-written erotica). So, without further ado or disclaimers, here are my first two top tips for books to curl up with (preferably with a mug of something hot and delicious – cocoa? Hot toddy?)

Publisher: Hodder

ISBN: 978-1444727036 

Publication date: 10th November 2011

Lucy Dillon’s The Secret of Happy Ever After could have been written specifically with my curling-up-book needs in mind. It has snow, books, scruffy dogs, books and regular drinking of hot chocolate, as well as strong characters who are funny and intelligent, without being twee or irritating. Neither of the two main characters, Anna and Michelle, made me want to gouge my eyes out with pen, which is a common reaction to many of the characters in novels based on ‘female friendships’. There are two very good dogs. There are serious topics which are well-written and not shoe-horned in to make us forget that the characters’ lives are basically perfect. Oh, and there are books. Did I mention those? Lots of mentions of children’s books that I remember from my childhood, like Ballet Shoes, Mrs Pepperpot, Malory Towers, and that I now want to go and re-read immediately. Bravo Lucy Dillon!

Publisher: BBC Books

ISBN: 978-1849900010 

Publication date: 20th May 2010 (revised edition)

Everyone who knows me knows about my passion for David Attenborough and his fabulous nature documentaries. Blue Planet and Planet Earth are my go-to dvds for when I’m hiding from a hangover feeling ill, my computer at work has this photo as its wallpaper, (actually, so does my twitter profile…no, I’m not obsessed, shush now) and now I have Life on Air for when I don’t feel like watching tv. I’ve no idea how it took me so long to get this but I now refuse to put it down. A memoir of his time in broadcasting, starting with his first job at the BBC in 1952, this is as funny, warm and intelligent as one would expect from its author.

(It’s also available as an audio-book, which I didn’t get for fear that I’d get all giggly when listening to it on the bus. I know he’s 86 but…that voice. Sigh.)

Look out for 2 more books perfect for a Winter’s day at the weekend!

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Comforting Reads, British

April 17, 2012

More pretty books

By bibliomouse

(photo from Virago’s tweet)

Twitter is good for many things. Many people would say that one of their favourite things about it are the stupidly cute pictures of animals that people tweet, but I prefer the ridiculously pretty book pictures (ok, I love the sloths too). These beauties are the latest Virago Modern Classics Designer titles, designed by Neisha Crosland, and are just gorgeous. Following on from the publication of My Cousin Rachel that I featured last year, Virago have chosen three more Daphne du Maurier favourites: Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman’s Creek. Obviously I’m excited about the lovely new Rebecca, but I think that Jamaica Inn might be the prettiest, which is handy as it’s one of my favourite Du Maurier novels.

The books will be out in May 2012, and will be £12.99.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Shiny!, Comforting Reads, Gifts

June 24, 2011

‘The Reluctant Bride’ – Lucy Mangan

By bibliomouse

I admit that I’m fairly biased when it comes to this book. Lucy Mangan is one of my favourite writers, and her weekly Guardian column frequently reduces me to tears of laughter. They’re just what I need on a Saturday morning whilst avoiding the lure of the bacon sarnie, which would inevitably undo all the good work of the pilates session that has made me hurt in places that I didn’t think were possible. Her writing is intelligent, hilarious and also thoughtful, which is why I was surprised to find that she had three books out, none of which I’d read.

‘The Reluctant Bride’ is one of these books: a largely factual account of the run-up to her wedding, although she does note in a foreword that ‘[i]t all passed in a blur…plus some names…have been changed to protect the innocent’. Having read it, I suspect that it’s not only the innocent whose names have been changed- if Siobhan is really Siobhan, I’ll be amazed (you’ll see why…)! The humour that Lucy (I can’t call her Mangan, my crush is too great) can wring out of the smallest everyday things is amazing, so it’s hardly surprising that I was hooting with laughter for the majority of the book. This earned me several strange looks on the Metro, with a couple of people edging away from me.

I’m not going to say too much about the ‘plot’ (to say that she gets married is not a spoiler!), apart from that her family are endearing and ‘bickery’, Toryboy is wonderful and infuriating, and the 10 reasons that Lucy comes up with, when asked why she loves him, are really rather sweet. Lucy’s self-deprecation also doesn’t feel forced, which can often happen when writers are trying to be funny- it’s entirely plausible that her entire family do, in fact, think that she’s both fat-chested and vertically challenged, and love her in spite of it.

I really recommend this book for when you’re feeling a bit blue, or if you’ve just finished something that was a bit heavy-going. It’s almost guaranteed to make you giggle out loud. Just don’t blame me if people give you a wide bearth…

4.5/5

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Reviews, Relationships, Comforting Reads

May 22, 2011

Edmund Crispin – Comforting Reads, part 2

By bibliomouse

Edmund Crispin, a pseudonym for Robert Bruce Montgomery, is my favourite Golden Age detective author. Despite writing part of my Masters on his crime novels, I haven’t reached the point where I feel the urge to hurl them out of the nearest window yet, which is saying something about their lasting appeal. I’m slowly collecting multiple copies of all of his mystery books (and giving Mr. Bibliomouse copies of his Science Fiction compilations), including a first edition of The Moving Toyshop, and they have pride of place on my crime bookcase (yes, you heard me correctly. I have a whole bookcase for detective and crime fiction, and it’s not big enough…).

Crispin’s novels are intelligent, witty and strewn with literary references but they never feel pretentious or superior, as some authors tend to (Michael Innes, I’m looking at you). His detective is Gervase Fen, professor of English at St. Christopher’s, Oxford, and owner of Lily Christine II, a small red sports car prone to ill-timed breakdowns. The novels tend to be hectic, farcical and great fun, whilst still being really well-written and ingeniously plotted. I only guessed one murderer before it was revealed, and I read so many crime novels that usually I work it out in the first 3 chapters!

Crispin wrote 8 novels between 1944 and 1952, along with 2 collections of short stories and another novel, which wasn’t written until 1977. Of the first 8 novels, my favourites are The Moving Toyshop (which is probably the book that Crispin is most well-known for) and The Long Divorce, but all of them are fun and worth reading. They go particularly well with a big mug of coffee and a slab of cake, of which I think Fen would approve.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Comforting Reads, Detective/Crime

March 23, 2011

‘I love you. I love you. I love you’

By bibliomouse

This could be part of my Comforting Reads series, as it’s the literary equivalent of a giant hug. Although it doesn’t have a traditionally ‘happy ending’, it is hopeful and you end the novel feeling as if Cassandra is going to go onto have a wonderful life. I know that sounds twee, but that’s the one thing that this book is not. It’s witty, poignant, warm and features on of the most fantastic and loveable narrators in literature.

‘I Capture the Castle’, written in 1945, tells the story of Cassandra Mortmain and her family, living in a crumbling castle in the 1930s. Her father wrote one successful novel when Cassandra was younger but has had writer’s block ever since, meaning that the family have next to no money. Her older sister, Rose, dreams of meeting a rich young man to whisk her away, younger brother Thomas is endearingly odd, step-mother Topaz is an exotic ex-artist’s model, and Stephen, a young man who lives with the family, is in love with Cassandra, something she finds hard to deal with.

When the nearby manor is inherited by the Cotton family from America, the Mortmains’ world is turned upside down. Simon and Neil  Cotton, the sons of the family, are soon at the centre of the girls’ lives, causing confusions, love-triangles and, ultimately, heartache for at least one of them. But, although not all of the characters get their happy endings, the book leaves you with a feeling of hope.

Cassandra is so empathetic as a narrative voice and she has stayed with me since I first met her, about 15 years ago.  As far as I’m concerned, she had me at ‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink…’.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Reviews, Relationships, Recommended, Comforting Reads

March 4, 2011

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – Comforting Reads, Part 1

By bibliomouse

Like most people, I read different kinds of books for different reasons. Long bubble baths, train journeys, my short daily commute and hungover Sunday morning all need different types of reading matter; for example, bubble baths tend to get quick and funny books (the Agatha Raisin series are classic bath-books) whereas long journeys attract thrillers or mysteries – something that I can get stuck into, that make me forget how tedious sitting on a train or plane for hours is!

However, when I’m feeling a bit sad or blue (my flatmate would say it was ‘mopey’), I turn to the books that I’ve read many times before. Everyone has some – the books that are the most dog-eared or bashed or just plain loved. The first of these for me is ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier. I’ve lost count of how many time I’ve read it, but it never loses its ability to make everything else around me disappear as I’m transported to Manderlay with the un-named heroine. Du Maurier wrote some brilliant stories, including the short story ‘The Birds’, which is far more haunting and disturbing than Hitchcock’s adaptation, and ‘Jamaica Inn’, which is another favourite of mine, but it’s ‘Rebecca’ that I always go back to.

The main appeal of the novel is the heroine herself.  Her initial innocence, as she is saved from a life of  being a paid companion to a rich and obnoxious American woman gives way to a blossoming self-confidence, but not until she has suffered countless humiliations at the hands of the eerie and obsessive housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. Du Maurier was particularly adept at creating atmosphere within her writing, and I now tend to regard rhododendrons with suspicion, such is their oppressive nature in ‘Rebecca’. The constant subtle reminders of the first Mrs. DeWinter combined with the reticence of Maxim and his sister to discuss her mean that Maxim’s new wife, along with the reader, cannot escape her continued presence at Manderley, even after her death.

The last quarter of the novel, with the discovery in the bay and the subsequent race against time, flies by until the ending, which is both shocking and utterly fitting, and will stay with you long after you close the book. It really is my #1 feeling-crap-so-curled-up-under-a-huge-duvet-with-a-novel novel and deserves to be read by everyone who likes mysteries and just good atmospheric writing by a master story-teller.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Comforting Reads

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