Hayley

This year has been the first that I didn’t start a book blog in January and, honestly, I missed it! I’ve been tempted to start a couple of times and held back, not exactly sure how I wanted to do it if I started. But now I have my idea. This will mainly be a book log, but it will be a relaxed one. Partly because I’m expecting to be pretty busy in the coming months. You may have seen me semi-complain about how busy work has been elsewhere on the forum, and that’s partly because I’m in the early stages of (hopefully) setting up my own business, rather than working entirely as a freelancer. I also wrote a small book chapter (as you’ll see in the writing thread) AND… the biggest news: I’m pregnant. I’ve been waiting until after my first scan to tell people, but everything went perfectly and I feel like it’s safe to say it out loud now! So bookish and life updates to come! 😄

I know you didn’t mean it in a rushing way @lunababymoonchild, don’t worry . I think, with the initial positive reaction and no objections so far, we should push ahead with history! As always, interpretations of the theme are welcome. You can read fiction, non-fiction, poetry, it just needs to relate to the current theme . This might become a little bit like Victober for me because I have a lot of nineteenth-century books 😅 but I’ll look through what I have and see if anything else fits in too!

I’m also definitely up for history! (Sorry for being a bit late on this too, I have some news to post later which will help to explain!) In the meantime, shall we go ahead with history?

Honestly, that would put me off. I even tried searching the press that printed it and they really only have an online presence on Facebook. Other than that, the only information you can get is that they’re based in New Delhi. Only a handful of people have reviewed the copy (none in the UK) and the one person who actually left a comment said the quality was ‘fine’. I think I might have solved the mystery of the double-length penguin edition though. It looks like it contains both the original Italian on one side and the modern translation on the other!

I don’t have either of those editions but usually, deluxe editions have special features inside, like illustrations, notes or essays on the text. I’m guessing that’s the longer one? Penguin are always good though 😄

I finished it last night and really enjoyed it! The second book has gone straight on my wish list 😄

They’re pretty @Madeleine! The top one’s colours remind me of the seaside and the bottom of sunsets 😄

I feel like it counts. It’s not a mystery in genre but it does feature something/someone who is a mystery (without giving anything of the plot away…) Ive just started The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter by Rob Duncan. It features someone working as a private detective, who’s been given a case to find a missing person - but with a steampunk twist 😄.

Would any of you be interested in taking part in some poetry research from Sheffield Hallam University? They're looking into the kinds of emotions and images that are stimulated by poems. I've invited them to provide some more details for us in this thread, so feel free to ask any questions if you think you might like to be part of it!

Welcome to the forum, Layla! Just a few more posts and you’ll be able to access our ‘Writer’s Corner’. It’s been sadly quiet recently, it would be great to have some fun discussions about writing over there again! 😄 What kind of books do you like? And you you have a preferred genre when you write?

I feel like some people enjoy unlikeable characters, but I’m with you, it makes me like the book a lot less! That’s good to hear - it’s on my wish list but I know it had some mixed reviews! Wow, you read loads! I really do need those first two…

Oooh that’s a good question Kev! I think, if I could do another one, I might do nineteenth-century botany in periodicals . Have you seen the National archive’s currency converter by the way? If not, I think you’d find it interesting! https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/

Hi Meg, welcome to the forum! I also love fairy tales. I’m currently making my way through The Watkins Book of English Folktales. It’s a beautiful book and really interesting! Do you have a favourite book?

@Hux while I’m sorry for the stink you undoubtedly had to endure, I am very happy that you decided to record them so we could all share the joy of sausage dogs rolling in the grass . New fear unlocked 😱

Welcome back!!! 😄 Oooh that sounds exciting, what are you going to be doing first!? I am determined to learn how to crochet. My friend bought a kit for me for my birthday. It’s characters from Harry Potter, but I need to work out the basics first! I’d love to see your projects. Was the hobbies thread around when you were last here? I can’t remember how long it’s been going! I just finished this, it’s really good!

Thanks Luna! (Sorry @itsmeagain, I clicked the wrong @ 😄)

It’s good so far, I already despise two of the characters 😂

I will admit, I don’t love Metamorphosis either. I appreciate that it deserves its place as a classic, I’m glad I read it, but the thought of reading it again is not very exciting 😅. If you haven’t read it yet though @Angury, it is really interesting as a portrayal of a psychological state… And @lunababymoonchild you’re right that there are some overlapping themes, but The Yellow Wallpaper has a different tone to it (Victorian gothic) and I think you’d really like it!

I think my next book for this challenge is going to be People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield

Finished The Thursday Murder Club and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love all of the characters, especially Elizabeth 😄

@France, @lunababymoonchild, you haven't seen my TBR pile... 😅

Oooh I just looked it up on Goodreads and it sounds really intriguing. The description is so short though! Looking forward to hearing what you think; it might have to go on my wish list too 😄. Phew! 😄 This thread is really tempting me to buy more books at the moment 😅

I feel like this about a lot of books That's on my wish list too! What do you think so far? I've started The Thursday Murder Club, which I got as a birthday present and is a pretty classic mystery, so definitely fits with our theme!

I feel sure that somebody else here was interested in boarding school novels but I can’t remember who! My niche interest is dream portrayals in literature, especially in the nineteenth century There’s a good one (when I say good, I mean he’s utterly detestable) in Nicholas Nickleby too!

I finished Slade House by David Mitchell as my first book for this challenge and I loved it! Very creepy and brilliantly written. It almost felt like a series of short stories, each one set in a different decade, though they're all connected to each other. Impressively, all of the characters still managed to feel real, well-developed and unique. I'd definitely recommend this one to fans of magical realism. Isn't it!? And I think it features one of the best mysteries of any Dickens book. Only part of which is 'why is Miss Havisham permanently wearing an old wedding dress?' . So, spoiler quotes for this bit, did you guess...