What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew
by Daniel Pool

English
416 pages
Touchstone
ISBN: 978-0-671-88236-5
First line: What were the assizes?
Back cover blurb:
For every frustrated reader of the great nineteenth-century English novels of Austen, Trollope, Dickens, or the Brontës, who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell “Tally-ho!” at a fox hunt, or [...]

Posted on March 9th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: B, English, History, Literature | 4 Comments »

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
by Tom Stoppard

For the Decades ‘08 (first performed in 1967) and the A-Z reading challenges.
English
77 pages
e-book
First line: “Heads.”
Back cover blurb: n/a
Thoughts: A couple of years ago I saw bits and pieces of the 1991 film adaption of this play. I don’t remember a lot of it, just that it seemed [...]

Posted on February 24th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, Decades '08, English, Humour, Plays | 1 Comment »

Profile of a Criminal Mind
by Brian Innes

English
256 pages
Silverdale Books
ISBN: 1-85605-791-7
First line: The criminal has been an unwelcome element of society since time immemorial, and the attempt to penetrate his or her mind, to discover whether he or she differs significantly from the person who is considered an honest citizen – and if so, to [...]

Posted on February 22nd, 2008 by Love
Filed under: B, Diseases and disorders, English, True crime | No Comments »

The Gum Thief
by Douglas Coupland

For the A-Z reading challenge.
English
277 pages
Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978-0-7475-9188-7
First line: A few years ago it dawned on me that everybody past a certain age—regardless of how they look on the outside—pretty much constantly dreams of being able to escape from their lives.
Back cover blurb:
Meet Roger, a divorced, middle-aged ‘aisles associate’ at a [...]

Posted on February 11th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, English, Fiction | No Comments »

Clouds of Witness
by Dorothy L Sayers

For the A-Z reading challenge.
English
279 pages
Harper Mystery
ISBN: 978-0-06-104353-6
First line: Lord Peter Wimsey stretched himself luxuriously between the sheets provided by the Hôtel Meurice.
Back cover blurb:
Rustic old Riddlesdale Lodge was a Wimsey family retreat filled with country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt—until the game turned up human and [...]

Posted on February 10th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, English, Historical, Mystery | 2 Comments »

Dream Boy
by Jim Grimsley

For the A-Z reading challenge.
English
195 pages
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0-684-82992-4
First line: On Sunday in the new church, Preacher John Roberts tells about the disciple Jesus loved whose name was also John, how at the Last Supper John lay his head tenderly on Jesus’s breast.
Back cover blurb: n/a
Thoughts: I really hate when there’s [...]

Posted on February 5th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, English, Fiction, GLBT interest | No Comments »

Eclipse
by Stephenie Meyer

For the A-Z reading challenge.
English
628 pages
Atom Books
ISBN: 978-1-904233-90-9
First line: All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain.
Back cover blurb:
As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, [...]

Posted on February 3rd, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, English, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult | 4 Comments »

New Moon
by Stephenie Meyer

For the A-Z reading challenge.
English
595 pages
Atom Books
ISBN: 978-1-904233-88-6
First line: I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.
Back cover blurb:
For Bella Swan, there is one thing more [...]

Posted on January 31st, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, English, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult | 5 Comments »

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl
by Shauna Reid

For the A-Z reading challenge.
English
408 pages
Corgi Books
ISBN: 978-0-552-15578-6
First line: I’ve got the biggest knickers in Australia.
Back cover blurb:
In January 2001 Shauna Reid was twenty-three years old and twenty-five stone. Determined to turn her life around, she created the hugely successful weblog The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl and, hiding [...]

Posted on January 30th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, Biographies, English | 1 Comment »

Gathering Blue
by Lois Lowry

For the Young Adult and A-Z reading challenges.
English
218 pages
Bloomsbury
ISBN: 0-7474-5592-3
First line: “Mother?”
Back cover blurb:
In the tough, unforgiving society that Kira lives in, she is forced daily to prove her value in the village. Up until now she has had her mother to protect her. With her mother gone, Kira will need [...]

Posted on January 29th, 2008 by Love
Filed under: A-Z Reading Challenge, B, English, Fiction, YA Challenge 2008, Young Adult | 1 Comment »