July has been my month of re-reading, and what a joy it has been. Reading books I knew I had loved, and in some cases forgotten was a very real pleasure. On the whole my opinion of the books remained the same, athough I don’t think I appreciated Elizabeth Bowen properly when I first read her – so that was a chance to reaquaint mysef with a book I knew I should have liked more, and this time I certainly did.
So in July I read 12 books 11 were re-reads one The Gipsey’s Baby was a new read – I only read one non fiction. Here they are.
67 The Trumpet Major (1880) Thomas Hardy (F)
68 Cold Comfort Farm (1932) Stella Gibbons (F)
69 Angel (1957) Elizabeth Taylor (F)
70 Northanger Abbey (1817) Jane Austen (F)
71 My Antonia (1918) Willa Cather (F)
72 Dead Man’s Folly (1957) Agatha Christie (F)
73 A Passage to India (1924) E M Forster (F)
74 Villette (1854) Charlotte Bronte (F)
75 Invitation to the Waltz (1932) Rosamond Lehmann (F)
76 The Gypsy’s baby (1946) Rosamond Lehmann (F)
77 Secret Histories (2004) Emma Larkin (NF)
78 The Death of the Heart (1938) Elizabeth Bowen (F)
My special mentions this month – goodness it is hard to choose but I think I’ll go for:
1 The Trumpet Major – I love Hardy and every word was a joy for me – I loved the lighter feel of this one.
2 Northanger Abbey – What a joy Austen is – I now want to re-read them all.
3 Secret Histories – I love this non fiction book about George Orwell and Burma
4 The Death of the Heart – the second Elizabeth Bowen I have read this year – and I am now intending to read many more.
I’ve loved it too – just writing up my final reviews and final thoughts now!
And here’s my round-up http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/book-reviews-21/
I am SO impressed that you have read all these books! I have been reading My Antonia — a big thanks to you for the recommendation — for 3 weeks now. What is your secret?
Not sure what my secret is lol – I live alone have no kids – and as I work in a school get lots of holidays. I just read a lot I suppose.
You’ve done amazingly well Ali – I didn’t re-read half so many, tho I did enjoy what I did re-read. I’m particularly impressed with the Bowen (and lovely review too). I have several of hers on my tbr but have never managed to get through one – my fault not hers and I must persevere!!
You’ve done really well Ali. I’m glad you got lots of pleasure out of the re-reading. I should do a lot more, but the size of my TBR pile of new books is just too big to re-read more than a couple of books per year!
That’s how I had always felt, but decided to dedicate myself to the re-reads and ignore the TBR – which wasn’t going anywhere after all. I am now back to reading from TBR Virago Modern classics this month