NOVEMBER READING

The BFG by Roald Dahl is a favorite book of my niece, Ellie. So, since it is her favorite I had to read it. It is darling! Very clever, well-written, some good conflict, and besides a bunch of crazy giants even Royalty is involved.

And, yea for me! I finally finished Vanity Fair by William Thackeray. I read this book through DailyLit--one page emailed a day. Vanity Fair was a favorite of Theodore Roosevelt which is why I thought to read it in the first place. Thackeray had great wit and his characters are hilarious. He creates an atmosphere that clearly illustrates the pinch of a face or the whine of a voice without stating so. And is there anyone as rotten as Becky Sharp?

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding is written by Julia Strachey (niece of Lytton Strachey, a Bloomsbury writer). Published by Persephone Books, it is a novella that takes place on the day of a wedding. Funny and a bit sad, I kept waiting for something big to happen. Do big things ever happen in novellas? I don't think so. Usually just a bit of a story and that's it. Check out Persephone Books, though. It is a small British firm that publishes books written by 20th century female (mostly) writers. This is the publisher that gave us Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Next time I am in London I shall be stopping by its darling little shop.

Currently I am reading Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire by Alex von Tunzelman. I am a third of the way through--fascinating.