Posts Tagged Books

The Shadow of Marriage

In a pretty amazing coincidence given the date, a book called The Shadow of Marriage: Singleness in England 1914-60 by Katherine Holden caught my eye at work today. I ordered it up from the library and hope to get stuck into it on Monday.

The book will be particularly interesting to read in light of the Daily Mail’s last-ditch and rather transparently desperate attempt to spin the findings of a very sad study about suicide into a cautionary fable against the perils of spinsterhood.

I am well into the first book from my giant to-read list – Saturday by Ian McEwan. I am completely absorbed thus far, which makes my bus journey to work much less painful. I have a small mountain of McEwan, largely because I read The Child in Time for a postmodernism module at university, loved it, and promptly took advantage of a 3-for-2 offer at Waterstones. I hope they are all as engrossing.

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Books to read in 2008

Secondhand bookshops are some of my favourite places in the world. I love a good (or even a bad) new bookshop too, but there’s something uniquely appealing about a shop full of books that have passed through others’ hands before finding their way to mine. The problem is that once I go into these places, all too many books find their way into my hands and before I know it, I’ve got over 400 books living with me in one room, double-stacked on a very large yet not-large-enough bookcase.

In an effort to free up some space (and hopefully some cash), I’m going to read through as many of the unread books I own as possible this year, selling or donating any which I don’t want to keep. And then, no doubt, buying more books with the proceeds!

The books are listed below, and will be struck through as I read. Wish me luck! Read the rest of this entry »

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