Books Read In 2018

Last year, for the first time, I posted my list of books read during the year, and am doing so again.  I had intended to finish more books than I did, but there were about three months where I barely read any books, though escapism was just what was needed.  I try to finish reading books I'm in the midst of before the year ends (for some reason) but there are always unfinished ones.  The list is mainly a mixture of mysteries, fantasy, vintage children's stories, and history; the books are not listed in the order they were begun, but the order in which they were finished.  I don't think I could pick a favourite, so many good ones in there, most of them were excellent.  I don't have any particular reading plans for this new year (though am beginning the year reading vintage children's fantasy classics), just the usual eclectic and often antique or vintage mix with a newer title thrown in here and there, and it surprises me to see that I've read nine books from the 2000s, not a usual thing for me.

The Maidenswell Folly by Greg Howes  2017

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis  1955

Mystery On The Moors by Barbara Michaels   1967

The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott   1805

Drawn From Life by William Thackeray

The Little Ferret by Raymond Foxall  1968

Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit  1902 

The Borrowers by Mary Norton  1952

The Return of Don Quixote by G. K. Chesterton  1927

A Floral Fantasy In An Old English Garden by Walter Crane  1899

Jacob's Room Is Full Of Books by Susan Hill  2017

The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken   1964

The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham  1933

Mystery On The Isle of Skye by Phyllis A. Whitney

The Black Veil & Other Tales of Supernatural Sleuths, ed. by Mark Valentine  2008

The Faerie Handbook  2017

The Adventurous Four by Enid Blyton  1941

The Heir by Vita Sackville-West  1922

Seasons They Change:  The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk by Jeanette Leech  2010

A Hotel By Clachan by Sybil Armstrong  1978

From London Far by Michael Innes  1946

He Arrived At Dusk by R.C. Ashby  1933

Men Of Iron by Howard Pyle 

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield  2006

Samuel Palmer by Timothy Wilcox  2005

The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters  1983

The Collected Connoisseur by Mark Valentine & John Howard  2010

Medievalism:  The Middle Ages In Modern England by Michael Alexander  2007

And some books begun in 2018, but not finished by the year's end:

Visions and Beliefs In The West of Ireland by Lady Gregory

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Vol. 1 by Sir Walter Scott

Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott

The  Journal Of A Tour To The Hebrides by James Boswell

King Arthur by Norma Lorre Goodrich

Fairy Gold:  A Book of Old English Folktales, chosen by Ernest Rhys

'The Heir', A Dreamy Tale by Vita Sackville-West

'The Heir', written in 1922 by Vita Sackville-West, is a story that has haunted me since reading it two weeks ago.  I have a love of stories where someone inherits a country house; in many of those stories it is often a poor, orphaned young woman, like in Mary Stewart's 'Thornyhold', but that is not the case in this one, as the main character is a man, though not at all wealthy.

On the death of an aunt, Peregrine Chase (who works in an insurance company in the city of Wolverhampton) inherits an unspoilt, romantic Elizabethan manor house, with moat and lush gardens and various properties rented out to farm workers and such.   At first it is assumed that he will want to just sell up right away, as there is much debt; and indeed he feels that he would be better to just rid himself of the place and the responsibility, but after spending more and more time there, and more and more time around the locals who immediately accept him as the lord of the manor, he undergoes a change and something hidden awakens inside.  The house and landscape seem to almost be living characters, such is the prominence of their presence, their romantic atmosphere.  The summer air seems to exert a sweet and fragrant allure, irresistibly luring him under their spell. 

There is much in this that seems to reflect some of Vita Sackville-West's deep love for her childhood home of Knole, which she had to leave due to it being inherited by a relative, and which, I gather, she never got over; in her soul, Knole belonged to her.  I was rather captivated reading this dreamy little, beautifully written book, and worried and anxious right before the end.  I like to imagine what could have happened after it, I like to think that Peregrine found love and married a nice country girl.

The Rose Garden, Balcaskie by George Samuel Elgood

Huntingtower by John Buchan: A Wonderful Tale of Adventure

'Huntingtower' by John Buchan, from 1922.  I love this book, read it in 2015 and right away it became one of my all-time favourites. There is so much to enjoy in this book, such as the characters (some are wonderfully warm and noble, others are dastardly villains but of course one doesn't like them; the setting of the Scottish countryside; discovering what is behind the sinister goings-on; the bravery of the men and boys, all to be admired. 

 

"Dickson McCunn, a respectable, newly retired grocer of romantic heart, plans a modest walking holiday in the hills of south-west Scotland.  He meets a young English poet and, contrary to his better sense, finds himself in the thick of a plot involving the kidnapping of a Russian princess, who is held prisoner in the rambling mansion, Huntingtower.  This modern fairytale is also a gripping adventure story, and in it Buchan introduces some of his best-loved characters, including the Gorbals Die-Hards, who reappear in later novels.  He also paints a remarkable picture of a man rejuvenated by joining much younger comrades in a challenging and often dangerous fight against tyranny and fear."  

 

Buchan gives a lovely description of Dickson McCunn's imagination and inclinations at the start of this adventure: 

 "He had had a humdrum life since the day when he had first entered his uncle's shop with the hope of some day succeeding that honest grocer; but his feet had never strayed a yard from his sober rut.  But his mind, like the Dying Gladiator's, had been far away.  As a boy he had voyaged among books, and they had given him a world where he could shape his career according to his whimsical fancy.  Not that Mr McCunn was what is known as a great reader.  He read slowly and fastidiously, and sought in literature for one thing alone.  Sir Walter Scott had been his first guide, but he read the novels not for their insight into human character or for their historical pageantry, but because they gave him material wherewith to construct fantastic journeys.  It was the same with Dickens.  A lit tavern, a stagecoach, post-horses, the clack of hoofs on a frosty road, went to his head like wine.  He was a Jacobite not because he had any views on Divine Right, but because he had always before his eyes a picture of a knot of adventurers in cloaks, new landed from France among the western heather."

 

So this has been the man's life so far, a gentle, unexciting existence, but what adventure (and as yet undiscovered bravery) there is awaiting him in this ripping yarn!  Highly recommended. 

There was a television adaptation of this made in the 1970s, along with some other Buchan stories, and I'm hoping that they will all be released on DVD sometime.  You can find this one on youtube, here is part one:

September Reading: Getting Lost In Wonderful Vintage Fiction

September's reading for me this year was full of vintage fiction, mainly crime fiction; just getting a bit lost in stories after a rather stressful time around the middle of the month.   I finished John Bude's excellent, 'The Cornish Coast Murder' and then went on to 'Appleby's Answer' by the ever-witty Michael Innes (a most unusual mystery indeed).  Then onto the next three selections: 

Firstly there was 'Adele And Co.' from 1931 by Dornford Yates. Dornford Yates has become a favourite author of mine within the last two years, and this was his fourth book I've read, I'm collecting them. He was very popular in his time, but is not too well known these days. "Here is a superior blend of excitement, drama, danger, intrigue and nostalgia... When Jill, Duchess of Padua, had her priceless pearls stolen, along with Adele and Daphne's jewels (and Berry's cufflinks), Berry and Co. face an impossible task in their attempt to recover them-particularly when they discover that Auntie Emma, a ruthless professional criminal, hopes to beat them to it. Throwing caution to the wind, Berry, Jonah and Boy embark on a thrilling chase which takes them from Paris to the Pyrenees..." This is an amazing book with lots of humour (Berry is so very funny), following on from 'Berry and Co.' and 'Jonah and Co.'

After that incredible adventure, the next choice was 'The Club of Queer Trades' from 1905 by the great G.K. Chesterton, an incredibly entertaining and eccentric little book consisting of six short stories filled with mystery, humour, and intrigue. "Eccentric sleuth, Basil Grant is deftly portrayed by Chesterton: mystic, enigmatic and often considered mad by his brother Rupert-the over-zealous private-eye- and by Charles Swinburne, gullible narrator of the six tales... Like Chesterton's more famous hero, Father Brown, Basil Grant detects crime by intuitive rather than conventional means." I enjoyed this one tremendously and some bits were very funny, and I need to get many more G.K. Chesterton books; he was a writer of great wit and wisdom.

The third book of that particular week that I found hard to put down, was 'The Crime At Black Dudley' from 1929 by Margery Allingham, her first mystery to feature Albert Campion. This one concerns a house party of bright young things gathered in a remote, ancient house full of secret passages, who become trapped in the house by a gang of ruthless criminals. Try this if you are in the mood for a great vintage Golden Age crime classic. Vintage Books has republished Margery Allingham's books in an attractive softcover edition and, after buying three of them, I'd like to get them all in that edition.

It had been years since I'd read one of her books, and I enjoyed 'The Crime At Black Dudley so much that it was followed by another Margery Allingham one,  'Look To The Lady', which I'll finish reading in a day or so, another great one from a great mystery writer; and they are best read in order to get the most out of them.

Alan Garner: Fantastical Adventures

These books above are, unfortunately, the only books I have by Alan Garner, the great and legendary fantasy writer.  The first one I read was The Owl Service, from 1967, which is set in Wales and incorporated the ancient Welsh tales of the Mabinogian  beginning with a mysterious scrabbling sound in a dusty attic and the discovery of old dinner plates found there, decorated with an intriguing owl pattern.  This book is strange, but rather bewitching in a way, I also watched the 1969 film of it as well.

 I didn't grow to really appreciate Alan Garner's writing until the summer before last, when I read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.  This wonderful and exciting book completely captivated me and I found it hard to put down.   It was written in 1960, and concerns brother and sister Colin and Susan, who come to the countryside for a few months whilst their parents are abroad. On their rambles they very soon get caught up in a terrifying adventure with evil goblins, a good wizard, elves and so on.  They have some harrowing experiences which are even scarier because they are running about exploring in an unfamiliar landscape, with a freedom that children rarely have today. 

"Once over the ridge,  they found themselves in a dell, bracken and boulder filled, and edged with rocks, in which were cracks, and fissures, and small caves; and before them a high-vaulted beech wood marched steeply down into the dusk.  The air was still and heavy, as though waiting for thunder; the only sound the concentrated whine of mosquitoes; and the thick sweet smell of bracken and flies was everywhere.  'I...I don't like this place, Colin,' said Susan:  'I feel that we're being watched.'  Colin did not laugh at her as he might normally have done.  He, too, had that feeling between the shoulder-blades, and he could have easily have imagined that something was moving among the shadows of the rocks; something that managed to keep out of sight.  So he gladly turned to climb back to the path."

After reading this one, I immediately had to buy the book that continues the story:  'The Moon of Gomrath.'  

"They hurried now.  Whether the change was in themselves or in the wood, Colin and Susan felt it.  The Edge had suddenly become, not quite malevolent, but alien, unsafe.  And they longed to be clear of the trees:  for either the light, or nerves, or both, seemed to be playing still further tricks on them.  They kept imagining that there was white movement among the tree tops-nothing clear, but suggested, and elusive."

 I read little of fantasy type books but there are some I've enjoyed very much and I intend to add more Alan Garner titles to my library in the future ( indeed I've just bought a copy of Elidor which is also a Lions edition, like the last two).  He weaves many threads into his stories, using fantasy, mythology, Celtic legends, history, and uses the landscape in such a way that makes it extremely important. The landscape is a dominant character; it's hills and stones and trees and wildness are the backdrop to everything.  Many of his books are listed as children/young adult fiction, but with all good writings of that genre, the stories are for anyone of any age who enjoys a good tale.  

Alan Garner portrait by Andrew Tift