1. The Art of Asking, Amanda PalmerAmanda has made a career built on asking for help and yet found herself unable to accept freely offered help from her husband. Yes, she's the complete opposite of the kind of person I'd normally choose to hang out with, but after this book I felt so much respect and yes, love, for her. This book is raw, real, and ( Read more... )

1. Notes From a Small Island, Bill Bryson

Bryson travels all over England and writes about it; I started re-reading this as London prep and finished it after I got back. And then I got to see Bill Bryson (and even talk to him and have him sign my battered copy. )

I do vehemently disagree with his assessment of Oxford, however.

1. The Queen of the ( Read more... )

Because sorry, but even two-sentence reviews are too time-consuming right now.

Also, let's play "how many of these books are about England." Becaaaause that would be all but two of them.

1. The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner

Some countries are happier than other countries, but it's anyone's guess as to why.

2. Sorry, I'm British, Ben Crystal ( ( Read more... )

...In the first years of the twentieth century it took seventy minutes to journey around the circuit  [of the Inner Circle] by steam train; a hundred years later, the trains are only twenty minutes faster ( Read more... )

1. Personal, Lee ChildThanks to Netgalley, I got to read an advance copy of the new Jack Reacher book (due out in September). This is another solid offering from Lee Child: every bit as tightly written, suspenseful, and well-plotted as the last few. It's a sniper-hunt this time ... and this time, it's personal. It feels a little strange to have ( Read more... )

1. Popular: vintage wisdom for the modern geek, Maya Van WagenenWhat makes someone popular? 15-year-old Maya found a 1950s guide to popularity full of helpful hints like "have good hair" and "stand up straight" and "wear twinsets and pearls" and decided to follow its advice and see if, indeed, it increased her popularity. For a writers so young, ( Read more... )

Guess who hasn't been reading as much as usual, and in consequence is sixteen books behind on her goal? And guess who let herself get two whole months behind in writing up monthly booklists? I guess traveling and renfairing took up more spare time than I realized. Or maybe I should have avoided the Outlander re-read and stuck to shorter books. Sigh ( Read more... )

- any guesses how many alarms I'm going to set to make sure I get up and to the airport on time? TOO MANY. #paranoid ( Read more... )

(I always hesitate over whether to write "book list" or "booklist." It probably ends up being split about 50/50.)

On to March's reading!

1. The Pursuit of Mary Bennet, Pamela MingleI'm invariably disappointed in P&P continuations, but this one wasn't half bad - it was hard at first to reconcile this Mary with the P&P!Mary (her character has grown ( Read more... )

I caught part of an interview with British writer Penelope Lively on the way home tonight - she reminds me of a more decorated (she's Dame Penelope) English version of my great aunt (also a writer ( Read more... )