I rarely take part in memes, but this particular one caught my eye – it’s good fun – and let’s face it, we all love a list.
High Table by Joanna Cannan (1931) – Passed on to me by my good friend and fellow blogger Liz. I loved Princes in the Land by this author – a Persephone book, and though I suspect this may not be quite as good, I am looking forward to reading it very much. Annoyingly, I have just realised I have already done 1931 for ACOB.
Emmeline by Judith Rossner (1980) – a fat Persephone book is a wonderous thing – and this one was a Christmas gift from my friend Gill. It tells the story of a girl supporting her family by working in a cotton mill.
Ask No Questions by Mary Hocking (1967) – I had to include a Mary Hocking. I spent a long time it seems banging on about her two or three years ago. Such an intelligent writer – though I think she is hard to pigeon hole. It appears to be the story of British agents, defectors and a woman whose husband is imprisoned in East Germany.
(A) Virago Keepsake by various (1993)– sent to me by a friend from Twitter/bookcrossing land. This month is the 40th anniversary of VMC, this little collection was published for the 20th anniversary of Virago themselves. Containing writing by the likes of Maya Angelou and Margaret Atwood. (A bit of a cheat I know but I had nothing else for V). Virago has been such a huge part of my reading life for years. So, cheat or not, it feels appropriate.
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons (1987)– a later VMC by an author who will be new to me. I have two books by Kaye Gibbons that I bought a few months ago – this sounds extraordinary – and I always like discovering new authors.
New Islands by Maria Luisa Bombal (1939) This year I have been trying to widen my horizons by reading more fiction in translation. Maria Luisa Bombal was recommended to me by someone on Twitter – and so I bought this slim volume of stories off ebay, and I am planning on saving it for #WITmonth.
As we were by E F Benson (1930) Many of you will know I have been involved with Bookcrossing for a number of years. At the last UK convention another bookcrosser passed this book on to me saying something like ‘I saw of this and thought of you’ it was a book that had travelled quite widely between lots of bookcrossers, and she hadn’t wanted it to just go astray. I’m keeping it safe.
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark (1981) I had this TBR long before I even thought of #ReadingMuriel2018. To be honest I only remembered I had it when I was sifting through my shelves and adding titles to my TBR spreadsheet. I have to admit I hate this cover (and this series of covers by Virago – some of their modern covers have been disappointing) so I may replace this one with a Polygon centenary edition to match the others I have.
Incidents in the Rue Laugier by Anita Brookner (1995) I do love a bit of Brookner – I don’t think there is anyone who writes about the isolation of a disappointing Sunday afternoon the way Brookner does. I am reminded it is a while since I last read one of her books.
So, there we have it – a list to represent my blog name. Have you read any of these?
heavenali 
This is fun and I like your choices. Maria Luisa Bombal is one of only a few writers I loved so much, I reread her stories and will reread them again. Very haunting.
Really looking forward to that one then, that’s a superb recommendation.
Some great reads waiting for you! I’ll be interested to hear how you find the Cannan, I also really enjoyed Princes in the Land but I’ve not read anything else by her.
No I haven’t either, I don’t know why I haven’t read it till now.
Like you, I’m not a fan of memes but this one’s irresitible, isn’t it. The cover of High Table’s a little daunting.
Yes, it is a bit daunting. Not sure what the image is meant to represent.
Brilliant list. Quite a few there I fancy reading myself. Here’s to lists!
Oh I do love a bookish list.😊
No I haven’t read any of them. You have some interesting ones though.
I hope they will be.
No, but I probably will soon…. Library searches coming up. You’ve also got me into Bookcrossing! Just signed up!
Well now, I am very excited you have signed up for book crossing. It’s a very sociable community, so look out for local groups that meet up. I’m Heaven-Ali over there.
I read Ellen Foster years ago, and thought it was marvellous, I hovered up all the other books I could find by the same author, and they were all good. I don’t know if she is still writing, or whether I would like it as much if I re-read now – will be interested to hear your view.
Emmeline is a very interesting book, and was actually turned into an opera back in the 1990s: I’d love to see it but it doesn’t seem to turn up much.. .
Loitering with Intent is one of my favourite Sparks, and probably an all-time favourite top ten novel. (I am always meaning to write out a definitive list, but never do, and also know it would be changing all the time… )
Thank you, I am certainly looking forward to Ellen Foster now, perhaps I will pick it up soon. So glad to hear you like Loitering with Intent so much, that’s high praise.
I’ve read Ellen Foster and loved it and loved Gibbons’ Charms for an Easy Life even more. If you ever find that one, I highly recommend snatching it up. The Benson and the Spark are also superb. You have some fine reading ahead!
Ooh thank you, so glad to hear that Gibbons is so well worth reading. I took a chance picking up two books by a new author that day. Looks like it may have been a good choice. I really must get to that Benson. (though I still have the final two Mapp and Lucia books to read! Shocking I know).
A nice list – of which I have only read the Spark! 🙂
Thank you, I am now more excited about several of these titles.
Your friends clearly know you very well to buy books thst suit your tastes. Either that or you’ve trained them well
Ha! Well they do know me quite well but we often provide one another with helpful wish lists at Christmas time.
Ah, yes that is good strategy
Well, um, I’ve read High Table!! What a nice idea but I feared doing it with a blog title like mine, although I do have quite a lot on the TBR and could probably manage it!
Yes your blog name is rather long for this meme. 😀
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