The Seasons-the first category

The Seasons-the first category

  A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy 

I picked up this book because I love Maeve Binchy and hadn’t read any of her books in about 20 years. I have a thing for English writers--I have a thing for all things English. But here's the weird thing-- while Im reading a book like this I fall in love with the idea of scrubbed pine tables and carbolic acid cleaners, gardening in the rain, puttering around in old cars and old clothes the older the better. Cleaning and scrubbing and order. A hard core work ethic.

Reading about them is one thing— thank goodness this fascination has never transferred over into my actual life even though sometimes I wish it would-- at least until my garden is in order and my house is clean and tidy. Old bare indian rugs and beeswax-- wide open windows. Farms and cottages old manor houses and London terraces and flats. Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy do this best.

 

 

 

 Cicada Spring: A Novel by Christian Galacar

The only book not set in England. I had trouble locating a book with Spring in the title. It involved sexual abuse, minors, and people taking justice into their own hands. It was an okay read if a little thin and far fetched. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A Fine Summer's Day: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery by Charles Todd

The English theme continues. This book is part of a very popular detective series that follows the casework of Ian Rutledge. I hate reading out of order and this book was deep into the series. I decided to read it anyway as luck would have it the book was out of sequence itself. The other novels follow Ian after he came back shell-shocked and haunted from the first World War, this one however, imagines his life as an inspector before the war. I really liked it and have gone back and started the series at the beginning.

 

 

 

 

 

      Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

A very English writer, not as concerned with cleanliness, this book was about the lives of four co-workers nearing retirement, it was a little dark, but I liked it. I would like to read more of her books.

 

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Hi! I'm Debbie. Here at Categorically Well-Read I give an extra layer to the reading life. Learn more about me, check out my current category of books, submit your own suggestion, or check out my latest post.