Thanks for this reading list, Shelly. What a super challenge to give yourself. I think I must be the only person in the UK who hasn’t watched any of the Olympics, not even a news bulletin. So I feel I should have done something equally as awesome as you. But I’m wrapped up in prepping my book proposal and various other bids to further my writing career and there’s only so much time in the day. I’ll certainly pick up one or two of your recommendations - Monty’s is most appealing. Thanks for sharing. 😀📖🇫🇷
Monty's book is really good. One of the things he's interested in is what makes a French garden French which is a fascinating question from a place writing point of view.
The associated BBC series on Spanish gardens is still available on iPlayer. I’m a big fan of his books, which bring a gentle humour and a deep curiosity to subjects that I know relatively little about (like gardening and the ways that gardens reflect geology, climate and culture). Also good for a rainy or sad day, because his books bring good cheer. So the first one on the list is definitely worth adding to my reading pile!
Some great books here, but I did re-read Madame Bovary recently to see if it improved, and sacrilegious though this is to some, I still found it really irritating and Emma very annoying....I know she's not meant to be a heroine...but she drives me potty. I don't really believe in her.
I haven't read it for ages, I had a French lit phase maybe 10 years ago and read it then. I do seem to remember it being one of those books where you're not quite sure who you're meant to be rooting for! It's good on a sense of place though which is one of the things I look for in fiction.
Such appealing recommendations and all new to me. Simon Haistell is doing a slow read along of A Place of Greater Safety in 2025, which I'm hoping will coax me through it as he has done for War & Peace this year!
Thanks for this reading list, Shelly. What a super challenge to give yourself. I think I must be the only person in the UK who hasn’t watched any of the Olympics, not even a news bulletin. So I feel I should have done something equally as awesome as you. But I’m wrapped up in prepping my book proposal and various other bids to further my writing career and there’s only so much time in the day. I’ll certainly pick up one or two of your recommendations - Monty’s is most appealing. Thanks for sharing. 😀📖🇫🇷
Monty's book is really good. One of the things he's interested in is what makes a French garden French which is a fascinating question from a place writing point of view.
Totally interesting. The first book I ever decided to write, but never wrote, was... the gardens of Spain. Maybe one day!
Well... https://www.waterstones.com/book/spanish-gardens/monty-don/9781785948725
hahaha! Must read that!
The associated BBC series on Spanish gardens is still available on iPlayer. I’m a big fan of his books, which bring a gentle humour and a deep curiosity to subjects that I know relatively little about (like gardening and the ways that gardens reflect geology, climate and culture). Also good for a rainy or sad day, because his books bring good cheer. So the first one on the list is definitely worth adding to my reading pile!
Oh, thanks. I'll give myself a treat and look this up.
Some great books here, but I did re-read Madame Bovary recently to see if it improved, and sacrilegious though this is to some, I still found it really irritating and Emma very annoying....I know she's not meant to be a heroine...but she drives me potty. I don't really believe in her.
I haven't read it for ages, I had a French lit phase maybe 10 years ago and read it then. I do seem to remember it being one of those books where you're not quite sure who you're meant to be rooting for! It's good on a sense of place though which is one of the things I look for in fiction.
Such appealing recommendations and all new to me. Simon Haistell is doing a slow read along of A Place of Greater Safety in 2025, which I'm hoping will coax me through it as he has done for War & Peace this year!
Yes - I think I'm going to put off my reread until 2025 and join in too!
Really want to read the Du Maurier now. I'd recommend Sybille Bedford's Jigsaw for a dice into a wonderful vanished South of France between the wars.
Thanks for the tip!