The Sunday Salon

Why does the weekend go by so quickly? I’ve been a bit busy; I had a webinar for class yesterday afternoon. Obviously, the big news on the East Coast was the freak “snowtober” we got yesterday, as well as the cold, so I spent all of yesterday indoors (with a brief 5-minute jaunt outside to go pick up my dry cleaning). I spent most of today indoors as well, working on an assignment for class, reading, and cleaning my apartment. The days are getting much, much shorter here, so I’m going to be thankful next week when we “fall back!” That way, I won't be walking to work in practical darkness!

I’ve read more than the usual this month: Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain; The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton; Company Parade, by Storm Jameson; Aspergirls, by Rudy Simone; The Way I See It, by Temple Grandin; Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons; Thinking in Pictures, by Temple Grandin; and Round About a Pound A Week, by Maud Pember Reeves.

I’m currently re-reading Wuthering Heights; a perfect book for this time of year. I recently met someone who absolutely hated it, but it’s a much more complicated novel than meets the eye. I’ve also been reading up a little bit on the Bronte sisters, and the more I read of what little was known of them, the more I see similarities between Emily and myself. The reclusiveness, the lack of friends, the long walks on the Yorkshire moors (though I’ve replaced Yorkshire with Philadelphia), the obsessiveness over a certain topics, and the fondness for animals—sister from another century?

Short reviews

I’m really, really behind on review-writing, so I thought I’d write a few short reviews instead to get caught up...

Miss Mole, by EH Young
Pages: 288
Original date of publication: 1930
My edition: 1984 (Virago)
Why I decided to read: it’s on the list of Virago Modern Classics
How I acquired my copy: The Strand, New York, April 2011

The story of a middle-aged nanny/companion/nurse/housekeeper. Set in EH Young’s fictional city of Radstowe (based on Bristol), Miss Mole’s sharp tongue keeps getting her into trouble. A very witty novel, but not my favorite by this author, because the pace of the book is rather slow at times. 3 stars.


The Group, by Mary McCarthy
Pages: 437
Original date of publication: 1963
My edition: 2009 (Virago)
Why I decided to read: it’s on the list of Virago Modern Classics
How I acquired my copy: Waterstone’s, Piccadilly, September 2011

The Group is the story of eight roommates from Vassar living in New York City in the 1930s. Although the author is extremely candid about topics such as sex, marriage, and other “forbidden” subjects, I felt that at times the author was merely trying to be provocative, without actually adding much to the story line. Because there are so many main characters, it’s also hard to keep track of them at times, and I felt that several of their stories didn’t wrap up so well at the end (or they were too well wrapped up). That said, I thought that McCarthy’s depiction of recent college graduates living in the “big city” was right on (even though I did it 70 years later, things haven’t changed much!). 3 stars.


Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain
Pages: 661
Original date of publication: 1933
My edition: 1999 (Virago)
Why I decided to read: it’s on the list of Virago Modern Classics and 1001 Books to Read Before You Die.
How I acquired my copy: South Bank Book Market, London, September 2011

Testament of Youth is Vera Brittain’s extremely in-depth autobiography of her childhood, years spent as a volunteer nurse during WWI, and the years spent afterwards as a student at Oxford. It covers her relationship with Roland and burgeoning friendship with Winifred Holtby (towards whom, interestingly enough, Brittain felt antagonistic when they first met!) Although Brittain conveys to her reader the sadness and pointlessness of war, I felt that the book could have benefitted by being about 100-200 pages shorter. 4 stars.


The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
Pages: 270
Original date of publication: 1973 (this selection)
My edition: 2006 (Virago)
Why I decided to read: it’s on the list of Virago Modern Classics
How I acquired my copy: London Review Bookshop, September 2011

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton is a collection of 11 stories that are not so much traditional ghost stories as supernatural-themed ones. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, because they’re definitely a departure from the two Edith Wharton books I’ve read, The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence. Despite that, I enjoyed these stories—perfect reading for fall and Halloween! 4 stars.


Company Parade, by Storm Jameson
Pages: 345
Original date of publication: 1934
My edition: 1985 (Virago)
Why I decided to read: it’s on the list of VMCs
How I acquired my copy: 10th St. bookstore, August 2011

Set in the years just after WWI, Company Parade is about a young writer, Hervey Russell, who comes to London to work as an advertising copywriter. Her husband is in the Air Force still, and her young son is still in Yorkshire. This is a novel with good characterization, although I thought Hervey was a little hypocritical; she doesn’t feel guilty about her relationship with Jess Gage, but she’s really hurt when she finds out that her husband has had an affair… but I did love the author’s descriptions of London, especially the Piccadilly area. 4 stars.

Booking Through Thursday

If you could get a sequel for any book, what would it be?

One of my all-time favorite books is Kathleen Winsor’s Forever Amber, a delightfully romance-y read set in Restoration England. When it was published in the 1940s, it was a bestseller, akin to Gone With the Wind, but although it was reprinted in 2000, Forever Amber has mostly become forgotten. It’s the story of a fictional mistress of Charles II (SPOILER ALERT BELOW, highlight to reveal):

who has a relationship with a Cavalier who uses and then dumps her. But because Amber is one of the dumbest people in fiction, she falls for a story that Bruce is still in love with her, and she runs off to join him in America.

Although Amber is one of the most frustrating, obtuse characters you’ll ever run into, I always wonder what happened to her after that (especially since she wasn’t exactly welcome). What was Bruce’s reaction? For that matter, what was his new wife’s? SOMEONE needs to write the sequel to this book!

The Sunday Salon

It’s another Sunday! Hard to believe that the week passes by so fast. Not much to say, except I’ve spent most of the weekend working on a 15-page midterm paper (due Oct. 21), cleaning my apartment, and working out—so basically the usual. The weather finally feels like fall, so I've been enjoying the colder weather. You have no idea how much I've been fantasizing about my winter sweaters and favorite boots!

I'm still plowing my way through Testament of Youth, which is fantastic but it's taking me a long time to read. I’m also trying to get up the motivation to write reviews of books I read over a month ago! How do you motivate to write reviews?