February Reading

I read 102 books in February. Somewhat excessive, but it reflects the fact that:
1. my fiance is doing most of the household chores as he's not currently working
2. I now have a job with proper tea-breaks
3. Continuing ill-health is limiting my social life to the sofa
4. It's too cold to go out and do anything in the evenign anyway
5. After a day spent staring at the computer screen I'd rather read than watch tv or blog (which is why I've only written about a handful of these titles).

As you can see this month I've re-read a lot of Lorna Hill books and Chalet School books. The former fitted in with my trip to the ballet and acquiring them; the latter are just perfect comfort reading. I've also continued to read plenty of Virago Modern Classics. I also got seriously stuck into some Cornish reading, and particularly enjoyed discovering Janie Bolitho Highlights were Jacqueline Wilson's My secret diary (post to come), Mathilde Wolff-Monckeberg's Letters from the other side (ditto), Oliver Postgate's memoir, and the two Helen Humphreys books that I read. The VMC highlights were more Elizabeth Von Arnim, particularly The caravaners and Vera , Sheep's Clothing (Celia Dale), Mary Lavelle (Kate O'Brien) (reviews for these are all queued up and will be appearing over the next month), and The Valley of the Dolls.

My plans for March include reading the rest of the Lorna Hill books I acquired lately, as I have two more ballet trips lined up, and carrying on with my Virago Modern Classics. It would be lovely to get some books off my TBR pile too as lots of the books have been sitting there for a while - I've got a couple of Honno classics that I just haven't yet had time to read and still a couple of Persephones that I'd love to indulge in. From my library pile I want to read Good companions by Priestley and the new novel by Clare Morall. A large part of my TBR shelf has been moved into a suitcase pile (this is a clever reorganisation to make it look smaller), but I need to work out exactly which books I want to take when I go on holiday at the beginning of April...

Here is the list in its entirety....

The passion of new eve	Carter, Angela
Suth of the night	Toibin, Colm
A sensible life	Wesley, Mary
New mistress at the Chalet School	EBD	C RR
Fortune house	Scott, Kirsty
Mr Skeffington	Arnim, Elizabeth von	VMC
The Casino	Bonham, Margaret	P
Magic of a line	Knight, Laura	AB
Careless in red	George, Elizabeth
Excitements for the CS	EBD
Land girls gang up	Peters, Pat	AB
Couples	Figes, Kate	NF
The barren ground	Glasgow, Ellen	VMC
Plotted in Cornwall	Bolitho, Janie
Coming of age of the CS	EBD	C RR
Two days in Aragon	Keane, Molly	VMC
Village by the ford	Channer, Gordon	AB
A year at Polverras	Duston, Sylvia
Part of the scenery	Wesley, Mary	AB
Tell it to a stranger	Berridge, Elizabeth	P
Richenda at the CS	EBD	C RR
Spinster	Warner, Sylvia Ashton	VMC
Pattern on the jigsaw	Drabble, Margaret	AB
Pirates at play	Trefusis, Violet	VMC
Seven sisters	Drabble, Margaret
Recipe for scandal	Holt, Debby
Rough guide to the Lake District		NF
The caravaners	Arnim, Elizabeth von	VMC
Saving grace	Bolitho, Janie
No castanets at the wells	Hill, Lorna	C RR
Anna Apparent	Bawden, Nina	VMC
A gull on the roof	Tangye, Derek
Sheep's clothing	Dale, Celia	VMC
Paying the price	Bolitho, Janie
Jane at the Wells	Hill, Lorna	C RR
Mary Lavelle	O'Brien, Kate	VMC
Main cages	Marsden, Philip
After image	Humphreys, Helen
Age of innocence	Wharton, Edith	VMC
Masquerade at the Wells	Hill, Lorna	C RR
School house in the wind (trilogy)	Treneer, Anne	AB
Check out girl	Ahmad, Tazeen	NF
The fire-dwellers	Laurence, Margaret	VMC
Quickening ground	Gabriel, Hayden
Coventry	Humphreys, Helen
Wheel on the Hayle	Channer, Gordon	NF
Love	Arnim, Elizabeth von	VMC
Whole wide world	Woof, Emily
Anything for love	Webb, Sarah
Dancer's luck	Hill, Lorna	C
Richer the poorer	West, Dorothy	VMC
Proper education for girls	Di Rollo, Elaine
Duchess of Bloomsbury	Hanff, Helene	AB
Cornwall and Devon holiday diaries	Haywood, Beryl	AB
Belle's best move	Moss, Alex	C
Miss Herbert	Stead, Christina	VMC
It's a don's life	Beard, Mary	AB
Joey and Co in Tirol	EBD	C RR
Betrayed in Cornwall	Bolitho, Janie
Summer in February	Smith, Jonathon
Women against men	Jameson, Storm	VMC
Wild Mary	Wesley, Mary	B
Losing Battles	Welty, Eudora	VMC
Nine wartime lives	Hinton, James	NF
Manna from Hades	Dunn, Carola
Change at the CS	EBD	C RR
Painted clay	Boake, Capel	VMC
Seeing things	Postgate, Oliver	AB
A proper place	Lingard, Joan	C RR
Megan (3)	Hooper, Mary	C
Moonshine	Jones, Christina
A Saturday life	Hall, Radclyffe	VMC
Both ways is the only way I want	Meloy, Maille
In my own time	Bawden, Nina	AB
The Montana Stories	Mansfield, Katherine	P
A load of old tripe	Phinn, Gervase
Valley of the dolls	Susanne, Jacqueline	VMC
Second fiddle	Wesley, Mary
Two sams at the CS	EBD	C RR
They tied a label on my coat	Hollingsworth, Hilda	AB
Dancer in the wings	Hill, Lorna	C RR
Twenties girl	Kinsella, Sophie
Miss Mole	Young, E.H.	VMC
Helping hand	Dale, Celia
Life of Reilly	Burke, Paul
The diviners	Laurence, Margaret	VMC
Full circle	Bolitho, Janie
The three Miss Kings	Cambridge, Ada	VMC
The wooden doctor	Evans, Margiad
Letters to my children	Wolff-Monkeberg, Mathilde	P
Seven secrets of happiness	Owens, Sharon
Summer at Gaglow	Freud, Esther
Cindie	Devanny, Jean	VMC
The peppered moth	Drabble, Margaret
The Garrick year	Drabble, Margaret
My secret diary	Wilson, Jacquline	C AB
Vera	Arnim, Elizabeth von	VMC
The long song	Levy, Andrea
The winged horse	Frankau, Pamela	VMC
Dubious legacy	Wesley, Mary
Memoirs of a not so dutiful daughter	Murray, Jenni
When to walk	Gowers, Rebecca