Well. That list is looking a bit more healthy. I was going to say it was looking better, but then I realised that not all the books on the list were better and revised my words. Because although there is some excellent stuff on there, there were also a few that were really not. But that happens every now and again, it just seems to have happened more than usual in the last couple of weeks. But on the bright side, another off the long runners list, so I can’t really complain can I?
A slightly more normal week in reading, despite a theatre trip and a day out at a car show and various other bits and bobs. It’s definitely starting to get a bit autumnal though, so perhaps the day trips and evenings out will start to turn into quiet cozy nights in in the next few weeks?!
I’m not actually sure what happened this week. To the reading list I mean. I know what I was doing, and I don’t think I had substantively less reading time than any other week, and I definitely wasn’t out in the evenings in the way that I sometimes am. But here we are. A shorter than usual list, and one where I have no idea what I’m doing for BotW tomorrow…
As I mentioned in June, we have just had a new TV series about the Mitford Sisters, and today I am back to report in on it! Firstly a reminder of the trailer though:
Outrageous is the story of the Mitford sisters in the 1930s. There were six sisters – who are often characterised as Nancy the author, Diana the Fascist, Unity the Nazi, Jessica the communist, Deborah the duchess and Pamela. Poor Pamela – and just for the sake of accuracy she was the second oldest with the lone brother Tom being born third ahead of Diana. This covers the 1930s and ends before the war starts, so is only part of the story and focuses mainly on Nancy, Diana, Unity and Decca.
We watched a bunch of these back to back because they’re just so watchable. Bessie Carter is great as Nancy, who has definitely been made less mean and more likable to the viewer in the adaptation, but Joanna Vanderham is brilliant as Diana because she manages to be loathsome because of her political views, but you also see why the non-fascists among her sisters might still want to be friends with her. And that’s tough to pull off. But really there is so much fascinating material in this. I watched it with Him Indoors who was constantly asking whether things really happened or what happened to them next.
And there is plenty of next because this finishes before the outbreak of the Second World War and there were plenty of things after that that were major and could form part of series two should U decide to make one. And I hope they do, although Unity shooting herself when war is declared isn’t exactly cheerful, but you would then also get to see Deborah and the Devonshires and the Kennedy-adjacency of it all. Fingers crossed it happens.
Now we have finished watching this it has finally got me reading the Mary S Lovell group biography that it’s based on so I can see how they’ve done it and where they have left things out. And I’m also filling in some of the gaps in my reading of Nancy’s books – I’ve read the obvious ones, but I realised while watching that I hadn’t read Wigs on the Green aka the book that Diana and Unity fall out with Nancy over, so I have already remedied that too. And as you know I love reading about the Bright Young Things and Bright-Young-Thing adjacent people so there may yet be more reading off the back of this one.
Outrageous was on U in the UK and is on BritBox in the US. And in the UK you can stream it for free if you go to U directly. And that is a great deal because it’s loads of fun. And the more people who watch it, the better chance we have of a series two…
Favourite book: probably The Mitford Girls, even though I haven’t written about it yet!
Books bought: possibly slightly better than last month, but still way too many
Most read author: T P Fielden of the new stuff, but Agatha Christie and Nancy Mitford if you’re including the re-reads
Books read in 2025: 251
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 808
Another fairly solid month in reading – especially considering that the Mary Lowell Mitford book is 700 pages long and that takes time, and there aren’t a lot of short stories on this month’s list.
Bonus picture: yarn bombing in Northampton for the rugby, courtesy of my mum!
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 1 this month!
I can’t believe it’s September already. I mean the weather last week was pretty autumnal so maybe I can believe it, but anyway, the end of the school holidays is basically here and I will try and find a silver lining in the fact that hopefully it means that Central London will be a little bit quieter soon. Any way a pretty solid week in reading given that there was a bank holiday, I went to a concert and had a night out with a friend.
I’m in denial that August is nearly over, but the weather feels like it’s starting to change for the cooler, and the very early mornings are getting darker so it must be. Most of my reading time this week was spent on The Mitford Girls – which is 700 pages long and absolutely fascinating. It really does make me want to go off and read about more the various sisters and also the people around them, but I have so much non-fiction on the pile and they do tend to get slightly ignored in favour of fiction that I shall have to try and resist the urge to purchase more! And of the rest of the reading, aside from the Christie and Heyer which were on audio, the other three books were all from the pile, so if it wasn’t for that whole situation at the National Trust bookshops last week, I would be feeling quite good about myself. As it is, the pile is still larger than it was at the start of the month, and is looming at me from the corner of the sitting room and making me feel guilty.
Breaking away from the mystery theme of the new books from the last few weeks to mention that Juliette Fay has a new book out this month. I read her novel The Tumbling Turner Sisters nearly a decade ago and it was a BotW here all of those years ago. The blurb for The Harvey Girls says it follows two women who want to become waitresses in a hospitality chain on the Santa Fe railroad. From very different backgrounds and with different motivations, both are hiding secrets and must try and overcome their dislike of each other in order to survive training and then working at a luxurious hotel at the Grand Canyon.
I thought I’d mention this because of my recent recommendsday about books set in hotels, but I don’t know how easy it will be to get hold of here. I have another of Fay’s novels on the tbr shelf waiting – but I picked it up second hand and it’s an import. And this has reminded me that I really should get around to reading that soon….
A good week – in life and in reading. We’ve wandered Norfolk, I read an entire book while sitting in a field at Sandringham waiting for bands to perform, and I’ve finished another non-fiction book – two now this month. Bravely I’ve started two more, here’s hoping they don’t end up on the long-running list…
Read:
Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford
Seams Like Murder by Dorothy Howell
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Happy second Wednesday of the month – I’m back with the Kindle offers that I’ve spotted (and in some cases bought!).
Lets start with the fact that The Three Dahlias (aka the first in the series) is 99p this month. I really like these as you all know at this point, so if you haven’t already checked them out, now may be your time. Murder Most Royal, the third HM the Queen Investigates book is 99p, and the first two are actually in Kindle Unlimited at the moment too. And recent book of the week A Murder for Miss Hortense is 99p too which is a total bargain.
Meanwhile there are some new releases on offer too: like the new Ashley PostonSounds Like Love is 99p at the moment – this is one of the books I bought while writing this! The latest Trisha Ashley, The Book of Lost Stories, is 99p – if you’re a Trisha reader, it should be noted that this is an updated version of Lord Rayven’s Revenge which apparently has new material. If you like a pregnancy plot then Cara Bastone’s Ready or Not is 99p. Pregnancy tropes are not my thing but this one is well reviewed for those of you who are and I like other books that are in the same multi-author series/collection.
In other things I bought while writing this post, there is Carl Hiaasen‘s latest book Fever Beach for 99p, and it should be noted that one of his earlier books Razor Girl is also on offer – this is the sequel to the recently-adapted Bad Monkey. I also bought Maigret’s Holiday, because I keep picking these up when there’s an offer on one I haven’t read and it’s a hugely long series so that happens fairly often!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 