My Book Year 2025 - Gifted Reads and More!

It's year FIFTEEN of my reading challenge blog, and this year I'm focusing on reading all those books that people have gifted to me that have always gone to the bottom of the pile of unread tomes. No longer will they languish in the gathering dust, but instead, they'll be given the priority they deserve! Oh, and I'm going to try and read more in general after a couple of years of struggling to muster up more than 5-10 minutes at the end of a day. Let's go!

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Week 7 - Nine books down, 43 to go!

The ninth book to be completed is, unsurprisingly, Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell, which I read on my Kindle. Written in 1853, this book has dated somewhat and is so different to the modern novel that it can be a bit of a culture shock if that is all you usually read. However, there is a warmth to this story - with Miss Mattie Jenkyns the main reason as well as source for the fuzzy felling you get when reading it. She is so gentle, as well as genteel that she is hard to resist and manages to worms her way into your heart. I'd love to find a suitable cap and take refreshment with her in her parlour. Not exactly filled with action as we might find in a modern novel, the ladies of Cranford find their own dramas to worry and gossip over - some real and others imagined. Laden with the manners and etiquette of the time, it does take a bit of getting used to, but once you are sucked in, you can spend a pleasant few hours in the company of this set of strong women, for whom men are mainly a distant inconvenience, to be discouraged on most occasions! An understated novel, where you can't help but care about the characters, in whose company you are perfectly happy to while away the afternoon with. I feel it could be the Chick Lit of its day, and my husband would probably hate it. However, I enjoyed it for what it was - a glimpse into a world that no longer exists, but hopefully, with characters that we can recognise and relate to today.

The stats bit:
Length: 144 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE (from Amazon Kindle shop).
Other formats available in: print; audio CD; audio download.

3 comments:

Jonathan Read-Bone20 February 2011 at 01:37
I am loving the reviews and the lessons in Valentine decorum! You have also inspired me to rejoin Audible and most surprisingly to join you on the Blogging trail with a sister / brother blog on film :) http://film-therapy.blogspot.com/
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Mary20 February 2011 at 07:34
No narrow genre reading for you. Any Kate Atkinson coming up? There is one calling me on Amazon.
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The Book Munchkin21 February 2011 at 13:50
My, my Jonathan - how very odd to be inspiring. Love the film reviews ... though Juno was great too, but haven't seen The Social Network - but it's on the TO DO list. Let me know if you find some corkers on Audible.

And Mary - can't go wrong with a bit of Kate Atkinson! She's a great writer and I certainly will look out for one this year. I've got two books on the go right now - an Ian Rankin, and an Eoin Colfer. Will keep you posted.
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Star Ratings 2023

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Star Ratings 2021

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The STARS list 2018

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The STARS list 2017

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6. Life on Air, by David Attenborough (audio)
7. How to save an hour every day, by Michael Heppell (audio)
8. The key to Rebecca, by Ken Follett (ebook)
9. Stonemouth, by Iain Banks (audio)
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The STARS list 2011

***** The Elephant to Hollywood (Audio); Dancing Backwards (Print); Restless (Audio); Sharpe's Fury (Print); Water for Elephants (Audio); The Graveyard Book (Audio); Chocolate Wars (Audio); Getting Sassy (Audio); The Help (Audio); Life and Laughing (Audio); Rivers of London (Audio)
**** One Day (Audio); The Zookeeper's War (Print); The Solitary Man (Ebook); Fup (Ebook); The Girl Who Played With Fire (Print); Tooth and Nail (Print); Mousetrapped (Ebook); Confessions of a GP (Ebook); Mr Toppit (Print); The Last Hero (Print); The Mayor of Casterbridge (Ebook); Sharpe's Battle (Print); Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes (Ebook); Mort (Audio); The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Print); I am Number Four (Audio); Wading Home (Ebook); The Information Officer (Print); A Fraction of the Whole (Audio); Good as Dead (Print); Mercy (Print); Hard Landing (Ebook); William Walker's First Year of Marriage (Ebook)
*** (and a half!) Airman (Audio); Devil May Care (Print); Labyrinth (Print); Switched (Ebook)
*** Painless (Ebook); Cranford (Ebook); Revelations of Divine Love (Ebook); The Secret Holocaust Diaries (Ebook); Moon Dance (Ebook); Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools (Ebook); Greenmantle (Audio); Ex Machina (Ebook); Little Women (Ebook); The Things We Cherished (Print); Agent Zigzag (Print); Life ... With No Breaks (Ebook)
** The Lady in the Tower (Print); Path of Daggers (Print); Beauty and the Beast (Ebook)
* She's never coming back (Print)