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Booking Through Thursday


What were your favorite books of 2011?

1. A Woman’s Place, by Ruth Adam
Wonderful social history of women in Britain from WWI to 1975.

2. The Du Mauriers, by Daphne Du Maurier
Du Maurier’s account of a few generations of her family, in particular her grandfather, George Du Maurier, author of a popular Victorian children’s book.

3. Few Eggs and No Oranges, by Vere Hodgson
A diary that the author kept during WWII. I loved her sense of humor, even though she went through something horrific.

4. Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, by Isabella Bird
A fantastic travelogue, written by a fearless woman who became the first Western woman to travel in the hinterlands of Japan.

5. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (re-read)
One of my favorite books of all time!

6. Anderby Wold, by Winifred Holtby
I love all of Winifred Holtby’s novels, and although this was only her first, I love the way that she depicts Yorkshire life.

7. The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton
Another classic, and on that I should have read many years ago.

8. The Diary of a Provincial Lady, by EM Delafield
Hysterically funny “diary” of an English housewife.

9. A Pin to See the Peepshow, by F Tennyson Jesse
Novel based on a famous Victorian murder trial. The author was a journalist, and it shows in this book!

10. Anne of Green Gables, by LM Montgomery (re-read)
An all-time favorite!

11. All Passion Spent, by Vita Sackville-West
I love the way that Vita Sackville-West skewers the English upper classes, mercifully so in this novel.

12. Myself When Young, by Daphne Du Maurier
Thought-provoking account of the author’s childhood, based on the diaries she kept at the time.

13. Cindie, by Jean Devanny
Wonderful novel about a woman manager on a colonial plantation.

14. The Loving Spirit, by Daphne Du Maurier
Daphne Du Maurier’s first novel, focusing on four generations of a shipbuilding family in Cornwall. Fabulous!

15. The Winds of Heaven, by Monica Dickens
A novel about an ‘aging” woman who gets shunted around between her three daughters.
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Comments

skiourophile said…
I'm starting to think I ought to ban myself from reading other people's lovely lists. My poor TBR! I so want to read the Vere Hodgson book. And maybe I should read The Provincial Lady again. And more Montgomery too. Argh!
December 29, 2011 at 11:50 PM
Ann Summerville said…
Sounds like a good list. I started reading the Loving Spirit, but put it down, maybe I'll get back to it in the new year.
Ann
December 30, 2011 at 1:47 PM
Marian said…
Here's mine (I don't have as much time to read as I'd like, so it's short)
1. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
2. The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
3. The Music of Silence by David Stendl-Rast
4. Everyday Sacred by Sue Bender
5. The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton-Walsh
December 31, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Karen K. said…
I agree with skiourophile, other people's best-of lists are just making my to-read list longer! You have quite a few that are on my TBR list. And if you liked Age of Innocence, I strongly recommend House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, which in my opinion is the far superior novel.
January 7, 2012 at 2:22 PM
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