Claire from Paperback Reader has reminded me that Persephone Reading Week kicks off on Monday 24th. Hosted by Claire and Verity, the week is a chance to read any number of Persephone Books – anything from one to all 83 if you have superhuman reading abilities. Oh, and there will be giveaways on their sites, I believe. My plan (which will probably come to nothing) is to read six of the shorter Persephones which have languished unread on my shelves. The ones I’ve picked, in no particular order, are:
Minnie’s Room – Mollie Panter-Downes
The Runaway – Elizabeth Anna Hart
The Casino – Margaret Bonham
Lettice Delmer – Susan Miles
Princes in the Land – Joanna Cannan
Julian Grenfell – Nicholas Mosley (not short, but my online reading group are discussing this in September)
That’s just 1351 pages in a week. Divided by 7… that’s under 200 pages a day! Easy! (Oh dear… well, I’ll go with the flow and see what I manage).
Are you getting involved? Reading just one is absolutely fine, of course, and it should be good fun. If you are thinking of joining in, what will you be reading? I’m excited about it now.
But not quite as excited as I am about this:
Yes, my copy of Miss Hargreaves has arrived! One of my very favourite books, reprinted by Bloomsbury, complete with my own words quoted on the back, available in early September. And what a lovely colour they’ve chosen for it. I shan’t rest until everybody who visits this site has got and read a copy… well, maybe I’ll leave it up to you, but I encourage you to preorder now! More about this book soon, but if you can’t wait til then, you can read about it at one of my earliest posts here. I’m like a giggly child on Christmas Day about this reprint, and will be reading it for the fifth time soooon. Especially since one of my book groups in Oxford is readi
ng it in October, and another one is currently voting on whether or not to read it… fingers crossed!
Finally… after posting about colourful bookshelves last weekend, I decided to have a go at putting my books in colour order. Except for the Persephones, which stayed on their shelf. You can only see half of my Persephones in this picture… The books have been rearranged a little bit since this photo was taken, but it still looks quite pleasing in the picture, don’t you think? As Harriet said, it *is* surprisingly easy to find books… but only if I know that they’re there. My problem is remembering which are in Oxford and which are in Somerset (most of ’em) – and a little more browsing is required than usual. But that is no bad thing, is it?
OOh, wow, I love that picture, that must have been fun!
So glad you are joining in our challenge – I've read The runaway and Princes in the land (partly set in Oxford!) but not the others so hope you will share in due course…
I trust you dusted everything while you were there!
I did, and I thought of you OVW!
I found an orange and white penguin of Miss Hargreaves a couple of months ago and bought it entirely because you wax so lyrical about it. I shall make sure I read it sooner rather than later.
I love your colour arranged shelf..beautiful!
I'm away in Bath next week for Persephone Reading Week but I'm taking my copy of Dorothy Whipple's short stories with me…I've been meaning to read it for ages and I should be able to fit short stories in somewhere between pretending to be Jane Austen and eating collosal amounts of cake!
Six great choices and I've read none of them! Which only makes me more excited… I may read Princes in the Land myself but we'll see. I've definitely decided to choose what I'll be reading at the moment of picking it up but will be starting with Flush for sure.
I have my copy of Miss Hargreaves pre-ordered and am most excited.
I LOVE your shelves! It is far easier to find your books that one would expect (if, of course, you know which part of the country the are in). I have a photo-op coloured shelf featuring on my blog tomorrow and my grey shelf next week, of course.
Lucky you to have an advance copy of Miss Hargreaves! My order for the book is in, I've been intrigued by it since discovering your blog last Fall. Love the shot of your shelves, that must have been fun.
I'm joining the challenge too. I have 5 Persephones to be read but I'm hoping to find a copy of Kitchen Essays this week. I can then maybe try one of the recipes and write about the book in my blog.
Is it just me? But, that cover of Miss Hargreaves looks a lot like that of Henrietta's War (well, the copy in the sidebar on cornflower anyway).
Yes, Nancy, they're in the same series of Bloomsbury reprints – all look quite similar, but the illustrations are actually relevant to the individual books. I love 'em!
SIAB–
Colored themed books:
Looks delicious and witty…go for it.
Happy decorating.
I am in the middle (well, beginning…it is very dense) of 'Cutting for Stone' by Verghese.
Anyone else read it?
So far it is magical, a bit flashy, writing a bit extravagant and showy, and totally original and refreshingly bright and humane. Loving it so far.
Cheers and happy reading: http://www.thestylesaloniste.com