Just arrived

Lots of enticing new books have made their way into my possession in the last couple of weeks, both bought & borrowed. One of the books I'm most excited about is Mrs Griffin Sends Her Love by Miss Read. Miss Read died just last year but had been retired for some years before that so a new collection of previously unpublished pieces is a real treat. There have been a couple of "new" Christmas books published recently but they were actually written by her editor & "inspired" by Miss Read & just didn't have the magic. This book is a collection of short essays & stories written for magazines like Country Life & The Lady. Her subjects will be familiar to anyone who loves Miss Read - rural life, childhood, teaching & the countryside as well as recollections of her collaboration with illustrator John Goodall & an account of how Miss Read was born.

I love Alison Weir's books & I've gobbled this one up already. Elizabeth of York : the first Tudor Queen was an absorbing read & I'll be posting about it soon.

More 15th century history with two books from authors new to me. I've been reading Susan Higginbotham's blog, History Refreshed, for some time now & I'm looking forward to reading her book about the Woodville family. Do I need to read another book about Richard III & the Princes in the Tower? Of course I do! I'm always interested in another view & Josephine Wilkinson's new book on the controversy was very tempting.

Greyladies are one of my favourite publishers & I've just bought their new edition of D E Stevenson's first published novel, Peter West, as well as Susan Pleydell's The Glenvarroch Gathering which was reviewed by The Captive Reader here. I'm always happy to add to my collection of Scottish domestic fiction. Greyladies will be publishing another mystery by Mabel Esther Allan in February & I'm already impatient to read it. Mum would have said my eyes were bigger than my stomach (or whatever the bookish equivalent is).

I haven't just been spending money, I've been borrowing from my library as well. This lovely pile of books have been added to the last lovely pile of books on my desk. If only I could borrow the time to read them as well...

Eat by Nigel Slater - his new cookbook. I'm looking forward to browsing & trying out a few recipes.
Coming Home by Sue Gee - one of my favourite authors. Cornflower was lucky enough to hear Sue Gee speak at the recent Slightly Foxed Readers' Day.
All Change by Elizabeth Jane Howard - the new Cazalet book. I love the Quartet & I've already heard good things about this one.
The Assassination of the Archduke by Greg King & Sue Woolmans. Combines my fascination with royal history & WWI in the story of Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his death at Sarajevo.
Meeting the Enemy by Richard Van Emden - more about WWI. A book about meetings between the combatants from opposing armies. Sounds like a fascinating & different angle to take.
The Poets' Daughters by Katie Waldegrave - a biography of Sara Coleridge & Dora Wordsworth, daughters of famous fathers. I read a wonderful book some years ago about the sisters, wives & daughters of the Lake poets, A Passionate Sisterhood, by Kathleen Jones. I'm looking forward to seeing the effect fame had on these two young women who were great friends.
Hebrides by Peter May - a beautifully illustrated book about the islands by an author who has written a crime series set there (which I still haven't read but definitely want to get to one day).

Plenty to be going on with, then, you'd be right in thinking. However, too many new books are really never enough so there'll probably be another new arrivals post in a few weeks because I also have the Emily books by L M Montgomery (newly reprinted by Virago) on the way as well as two more Angela Thirkells (also Virago), a new biography of Queen Victoria's daughter Louise by Lucinda Hawksley & an anthology of Christmas stories from Vintage. Watch this space!