The Wondrous Adventures at Puffin's Book Nook

This is my first time reading this author and so far I am loving this little masterpiece. Why have I not read Maugham before? His understanding of human emotion and motives, as well as excellent story telling skills is making me fall in love. 'it seemed to her as though her body were a shell that lay at her feet and she pure spirit. Here was Beauty.' 'When all things lasted so short a time, and nothing mattered very much, it seemed pitiful that men, attaching an absurd importance to trivial objects, should make themselves and one another so unhappy.' 'the beauty which now and then men create out of chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life.' I loved this book. This is awarded the best book of January 2018 and will go forward to my list of 12 that I will use to decide the best book I read in 2018. It is sad but beautiful. Do we liv...

Born in Ontario, Canada, Duncan spent most of her life between India and England. She was a journalist and author. The Imperialist is her best known work and was the only one set in Canada. Part romance, part politics, this novel speaks of a time when Canada was emerging as a new country but still with strong ties to Britain.  Lorne Murchison, of Presbyterian, Scottish stock, makes a bid for office with his ideals of a rejuvenated British Empire. His sister, Advena, who reminds me very much of Anne Shirley, has high flown ideals and dreams of her own.

This is the second book by this novelist I have read. The first was Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. The author is able to accurately depict feelings and surroundings, and the effect of surroundings on feelings. Her ability to attribute small behaviours to the internal landscape of the character is very revealing and enrages the reader in the situation being depicted; I remember doing similar things for similar reasons (to cover up embarrassment or fear for instance). I am wondering if Beth (the author in the story) is based on Taylor. "Interesting what two people can make of the same view." "We see with our souls," said Bertram. A quiet beautiful story of a summer in a harbour town in England, and the inner lives of the people there. For more about this author go to Elizabeth Taylor.

Another new author for me. If you like Nancy Mitford you will like this author. Named as the Irish queen of black comedy, she also wrote under the nom de plume of M.J. Farrell. More about this author at the  Molly Keane website .  Never having read Keane before I had no idea what to expect. Maybe something a little like Nancy Mitford. But no. Molly, at least in this book, was head and shoulders above Nancy as an author. She drew me in with the first line and kept me there savouring every last nuance and undercurrent to the very end.   'Rose smelt the air, considering what she smelt; a miasma of unspoken criticism and disparagement fogged the distance between us.'  A story set within the midst of an upper class Anglo-Irish family of impoverished means, much like Keane's own upbringing. The descriptions of conditions in the nursery and the food fed to the children was very telling; we would describe them as neglect today. The dogs are fed c...

This is the first time I have read this author who has several other better-known works such as Love in a Cold Climate. The first story in this combo I would give 3 stars. I was surprised by the quality of the writing. Nancy Mitford, the oldest of the legendary 6 Mitford girls, wrote several novels and works of non-fiction about famous people; Madam Pompadour, The Sun King and Frederick the Great among them.  She is better known as one of the funniest writers of the 20th century and is very overlooked today.  Christmas Pudding was the second of her novels and was written whilst going through an unsuccessful relationship with the bon vivant, Hamish St.Clair-Erskine. He was sent to America by his parents and the heartbroken Nancy turned to writing for solace.  The story, centred on a group of 16 people which are introduced at the beginning, romps along at a good pace from November 1931, through the Christmas period and shortly afterward. In it, ...

This year I aim to read the 'War of the Roses' series by Shakespeare. The reign of King Richard II is the one to start with. It is a bsolutely wonderful. I especially liked the words Shakespeare put in King Richard's mouth. Very poetical and moving.

Having just read The Betrothed by Sir Walter Scott, set in Wales and the Marches during the reign of King Henry II, I decided to read this original source. The book documents the travels in Wales by Gerald of Wales, archdeacon of Brecon and chronicler of his times, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin, who is a character in the Scott novel. Statue of Gerald of Wales in St. David's Cathedral, Wales, shown below.

I am reviewing the 2015 edition of this work. This has the important 2 appendices that Orwell wrote and changes he made to the original before he died in 1950, and which he left instructions were to be added to the next edition. His wishes were ignored and these changes did not appear in Britain until 1986, and this is the first time they have been published in the US. For those who dream of a more democratic world, the late 1930's are to be viewed as a dark time. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini had established Fascist regimes with themselves as dictators and in other countries, the far right had also risen in power. "Fascism had spread its great black wings over Europe." Andre Malraux. Spain had been a monarchy for centuries but in the early part of the 20th century Spain suffered due to the Great Depression and bankruptcy. Voters clamoured for a republican party and in 1931 the king fled the country and a republic was created. In 1936 a coalition of...

. Picture: Anne Bronte by Charlotte Bronte Partly autobiographical, this book is an insight into the mind of this gentle author who died too soon. Based on Anne's own experiences as a governess, which at the time was a poorly recompensed job. Mr Weston in the story is believed to be based on William Weightman who had the same beautiful spirit and it is thought Anne was in love with. He served the poor ceaselessly and died of cholera. Agnes' poem, O they robbed me of the hope, is thought to have been written for him Oh, they have robbed me of the hope My spirit held so dear; They will not let me hear that voice My soul delights to hear. They will not let me see that face I so delight to see; And they have taken all thy smiles, And all thy love from me. Well, let them seize on all they can: -- One treasure still is mine, -- A heart that loves to think on thee, And feels the worth of thine. If so, I am sure they are reunited in Heaven. picture above;...