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[debodacious63]

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J K Rowling
Hp and the Deathly Hallows - ditto
HP and the Philosopher's Stone - ditto  All re-read for the cinema trip to Half Blood Prince. It's the world I enjoy now, more than the actual plot, now I know what happens. And they also make me nostalgic for family holidays - each summer for several years we bought the new Stephen Fry readings on tape for in car entertainment on the drive down to Spain. They and the Artemis Fowl tapes, were guaranteed to keep us all quiet.

Brat Farrar  -Josephine Tey
Miss Pym Disposes - ditto   Comfort re-reads; two of my favourite crime novels ever.

The Invisible Girl - Peter Barham About his comedy writer daughter, Deb, and her death from anorexia. Very sad. I don't do misery lit, but I thought I should dip a tentative toe into background reading about mental health issues for September. (Haven't got a booklist yet, so don't want to invest in expensive text books till I know what to get).

My Big Fat Teenage Diary - Rae Earl Hilarious, but sad too. I was a thin teenager, although traditionally built now, and I am glad it's that way round - teenagers are so vicious sometimes. The thing I adored about this book was that she is from my hometown, and was at my old school for the duration of this diary, going to the same places and drinking in the same pubs 10 years after I left. I could even identify some of the cast behind their pseudonyms.

Extreme - Sharon Osbourne Plucked from the earwig's shelves for a bath book. Oh dear. I do have a bit of a soft spot for the bewildered Ozzy, but I am not really a  Sharon fan.

Cottage into House - Anthony Armstrong Another cosy re-read. The 1930s saw a trend for house and garden books, and this is one I discovered as a teenager on my grandparents' shelves and took a shine to. Later I was delighted to discover it was the 1st of a series. I don't know why I should find reading about long ago battles with bindweed and building works so soothing but I do. These are like Beverley Nichols without the campness or the cats.

Comments

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Oh, Cottage into House sounds just my sort of thing. Thank you! Off to research.

Edited to say I've looked it up and see the illustrations are by Bertram Prance. Even better. Have you ever read Pilgrim Cottage and others by Cecil Roberts? I did years ago, can't remember anything about them but much the same sort of thing, I imagine. Publishers trying to emulate Jonathan Cape's success with Beverley Nichols I expect but some hopes!

[debodacious.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have Pilgrim Cottage too!