Deirdre's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 01 Apr 2025 10:17:38 -0700 60 Deirdre's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Talking Heads (Talking Heads, #1)]]> 1389701
Contents:
-A chip in the sugar
-Bed among the lentils
-A lady of letters
-Her big chance
-Soldiering on
-A cream cracker under the settee]]> 91 Alan Bennett 0563206225 Deirdre 4 drama 4.12 Talking Heads (Talking Heads, #1)
author: Alan Bennett
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Long Finish (Aurelio Zen, #6)]]> 1255804 362 Michael Dibdin 0571197191 Deirdre 4 crime, fiction 3.73 A Long Finish (Aurelio Zen, #6)
author: Michael Dibdin
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: crime, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death in Venice and Other Tales]]> 53064 384 Thomas Mann 0141181737 Deirdre 3 fiction 3.92 1911 Death in Venice and Other Tales
author: Thomas Mann
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1911
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Deirdre 2 classic, fiction 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: classic, fiction
review:

]]> The Complete Fairy Tales 163716
A true classic of wonder for all ages.]]> 144 Oscar Wilde 1934169579 Deirdre 5 fiction 4.35 1888 The Complete Fairy Tales
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1888
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> Rebecca 3181015 I Went To Manderley Again."

So the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter remembered the chilling events that led her down the turning drive past ther beeches, white and naked, to the isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast. With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca, dead but never forgotten...her suite of rooms never touched, her clothes ready to be worn, her servant -- the sinister Mrs. Danvers -- still loyal. And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter began her search for the real fate of Rebecca...for the secrets of Manderley.

]]> 104 Alan Ronaldson 0582084865 Deirdre 4 4.00 Rebecca
author: Alan Ronaldson
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thomas More (Jonathan Cape paperback ; 93)]]> 1405000 Book by Chambers, R. W. Raymond Wilson Chambers 0224012258 Deirdre 3 3.00 1958 Thomas More (Jonathan Cape paperback ; 93)
author: Raymond Wilson Chambers
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1958
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/01/23
shelves: history, biography, politics, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Waste Land and Other Writings]]> 34082 Also includes Prufrock and Other Observations, Poems (1920), and The Sacred Wood
Introduction by Mary Karr
Ěý
First published in 1922, “The Waste Land,� T. S. Eliot’s masterpiece, is not only one of the key works of modernism but also one of the greatest poetic achievements of the twentieth century. A richly allusive pilgrimage of spiritual and psychological torment and redemption, Eliot’s poem exerted a revolutionary influence on his contemporaries, summoning forth a potent new poetic language. As Kenneth Rexroth wrote, Eliot “articulated the mind of an epoch in words that seemed its most natural expression.� As commanding as his verse, Eliot’s criticism also transformed twentieth-century letters, and this Modern Library edition includes a selection of Eliot’s most important essays.]]> 272 T.S. Eliot 0375759344 Deirdre 4 poetry, classic 4.21 1922 The Waste Land and Other Writings
author: T.S. Eliot
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1922
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/12/19
shelves: poetry, classic
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition]]> 2336740 *The definitive and comprehensive edition of Robert Graves's classic retelling of the Greek myths*
'Icarus disobeyed his father's instructions and began soaring towards the sun, rejoiced by the lift of his great sweeping wings. Presently, when Daedalus looked over his shoulder, he could no longer see Icarus; but scattered feathers floated on the waves below...'

These are the greatest stories ever told - the labours of Hercules, the voyage of the Argonauts, Theseus and the minotaur, Midas and his golden touch, the Trojan War and Odysseus's journey home - brought together into one epic and unforgettable story.

Ideal for the first time reader, it can be read as a single page-turning narrative, while full commentaries as well as a comprehensive index of names make it equally valuable for anyone seeking an authoritative and detailed account of the spectacular stories that make up the bedrock of Western literature.

The Greek Myths is a classic among classics, a treasure trove of extraordinary tales and a masterful work of literature in its own right.]]> 224 Robert Graves Deirdre 4 history 3.87 1955 The Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition
author: Robert Graves
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1955
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/20
shelves: history
review:

]]> The Outsider 1024191 128 Albert Camus 0140180184 Deirdre 4 fiction 4.00 1942 The Outsider
author: Albert Camus
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1942
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/10/17
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> The Writings of John Evelyn 4020938 The editor has written a full introduction to Evelyn's literary career, and each piece is accompanied by an individual introduction and extensive footnotes.
Guy de la BĂ©doyre gained his Masters Degree from London University.]]> 435 John Evelyn 0851156312 Deirdre 0 0.0 1995 The Writings of John Evelyn
author: John Evelyn
name: Deirdre
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: compilation, essays, cultural-criticism
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia]]> 2154452 48 Thomas Harriot 1406532568 Deirdre 4 classic, travel, non-fiction 3.05 1588 A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia
author: Thomas Harriot
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.05
book published: 1588
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/03/10
shelves: classic, travel, non-fiction
review:

]]> Complete Poetical Works 2926683 614 Samuel Taylor Coleridge 0192810510 Deirdre 3 poetry, classic 4.10 1834 Complete Poetical Works
author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1834
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/03/01
shelves: poetry, classic
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Two Spanish Picaresque Novels: Lazarillo De Tormes / The Swindler]]> 172193 Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), the first and best of these essays in realism, describes the ingenious ruses employed by a boy from Salamanca to outwit his various masters. The Swindler (1626), by Francisco de Quevedo, represents the genre at its most sophisticated and witty in its account of the scatological adventure of a young servant who eventually sets up as a fake hidalgo in Madrid and earns his living by card-sharping.]]> 224 Francisco de Quevedo 0140442111 Deirdre 5 classic, fiction 3.73 1969 Two Spanish Picaresque Novels: Lazarillo De Tormes / The Swindler
author: Francisco de Quevedo
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/01/31
shelves: classic, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anatomy of Melancholy, Volume 1]]> 4536733 540 Robert Burton 0460008862 Deirdre 5 3.75 1621 The Anatomy of Melancholy, Volume 1
author: Robert Burton
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1621
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/12/30
shelves: cultural-criticism, philosophy, psychology
review:

]]> The Short Stories of Saki 6380999 693 Saki 1596256346 Deirdre 5 classic, short-stories 3.90 1930 The Short Stories of Saki
author: Saki
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1930
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/08/29
shelves: classic, short-stories
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]> 260317 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was rediscovered only two hundred years ago, and published for the first time in 1839. One of the earliest great stories of English literature after Beowulf, the poem narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth � His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered � and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.]]> 185 Unknown 0140440925 Deirdre 4 poetry, classic, mythology 3.72 1375 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
author: Unknown
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1375
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/11/04
shelves: poetry, classic, mythology
review:

]]> The cloisterman 1320488 At peace with himself, he could look back on the years of uncertainty. He remembered that Mid-summer Fair in 1511, coming home to peaceful and familiar Heronshaugh, the family home, the Priory, the wild fells rising above the dale.
King Henry VIII, young and energetic, had been on the throne two years. His court symbolized a new age. An age of excitement, of intellectual and artistic promise.
Fresh from Oxford, aware of the wider world, restless and enquiring, Julian's years of confusion and adventure had been about to begin.]]> 208 Juliet Dymoke 0234772999 Deirdre 0 to-read 4.00 1973 The cloisterman
author: Juliet Dymoke
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Second Part of King Henry VI (Shakespeare, William, Works.)]]> 1979748 197 William Shakespeare 0174436076 Deirdre 3 classic, drama 3.86 1591 The Second Part of King Henry VI (Shakespeare, William, Works.)
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1591
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/02/27
shelves: classic, drama
review:

]]> The Collection and The Lover 213910
Also included is a short story, "The Examination".]]> Harold Pinter 041330700X Deirdre 4 drama 3.94 1963 The Collection and The Lover
author: Harold Pinter
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/11/25
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies: A Facsimile of the First Folio, 1623]]> 727913 954 Doug Moston 0878300880 Deirdre 5 drama, classic 4.39 1623 Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies: A Facsimile of the First Folio, 1623
author: Doug Moston
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1623
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/06/13
shelves: drama, classic
review:

]]> Pride and Prejudice 1886 This is an alternative cover edition for ISBN 9780141439518

Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.]]> 367 Jane Austen Deirdre 2 classic, fiction 4.29 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1813
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2017/02/14
shelves: classic, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Interesting Narrative and Other Writings]]> 2634811 355 Olaudah Equiano 0140434852 Deirdre 5 biography, classic, history 3.54 1789 Interesting Narrative and Other Writings
author: Olaudah Equiano
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1789
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/09/22
shelves: biography, classic, history
review:

]]> King Richard II 635138 296 William Shakespeare 0415008824 Deirdre 5 classic, drama, poetry 4.02 1595 King Richard II
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1595
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/08/25
shelves: classic, drama, poetry
review:

]]> Poems 1497970 William Shakespeare 0415027527 Deirdre 4 classic, poetry 4.08 1609 Poems
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1609
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/10/16
shelves: classic, poetry
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sagas of Noggin the Nog (The Sagas of Noggin the Nog)]]> 6490421 2. The Ice Dragon * 1962
3. The Flying Machine * 1963
4. The Omruds * 1964
5. The Island
6. The Firecake * 1966
7. The Pie * 1981
8. The Flowers
9. The Game
10. The Monster
11. The Blackwash
12. The Icebergs]]> 0 Oliver Postgate 1903708222 Deirdre 5 fantasy 4.64 The Sagas of Noggin the Nog (The Sagas of Noggin the Nog)
author: Oliver Postgate
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2009/07/10
date added: 2015/09/27
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> Lady Chatterley's Lover 392480
With her soft brown hair, lithe figure and big, wondering eyes, Constance Chatterley is possessed of a certain vitality. Yet she is deeply unhappy; married to an invalid, she is almost as inwardly paralysed as her husband Clifford is paralysed below the waist. It is not until she finds refuge in the arms of Mellors the game-keeper, a solitary man of a class apart, that she feels regenerated. Together they move from an outer world of chaos towards an inner world of fulfillment.

Included here, in his essay A Propos of Lady Chatterley's Lover, are Lawrence's own, final thoughts on male-female relationships in the modern world. This Penguin edition reproduces the newly established Cambridge text, the first edition ever to restore to Lawrence's most famous work the words he wrote and the first to correct authoritatively the 1928 Florence edition which Lawrence personally supervised. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700Ěýtitles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theĚýseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-dateĚýtranslations by award-winning translators.]]> 365 D.H. Lawrence 0140187863 Deirdre 2 fiction 3.26 1928 Lady Chatterley's Lover
author: D.H. Lawrence
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.26
book published: 1928
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2015/09/04
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Documents of the Christian Church (Oxford Paperbacks)]]> 2373036 343 Henry Bettenson 0192830066 Deirdre 0 reference, history 4.33 1946 Documents of the Christian Church (Oxford Paperbacks)
author: Henry Bettenson
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1946
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/29
shelves: reference, history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The history of the German resistance 1933-1945]]> 3465925 847 Peter Hoffmann 0356083934 Deirdre 5 history, non-fiction 5.00 1974 The history of the German resistance 1933-1945
author: Peter Hoffmann
name: Deirdre
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1974
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/11
shelves: history, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Three Plays (Penguin Classics)]]> 2404622 414 John Ford 0140430598 Deirdre 4 classic, drama 3.67 Three Plays (Penguin Classics)
author: John Ford
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/04/17
shelves: classic, drama
review:

]]> Heart of Darkness 243526 110 Joseph Conrad Deirdre 4 classic, fiction 3.41 1899 Heart of Darkness
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1899
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/09/27
shelves: classic, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shakespeare's England: Life in Elizabethan and Jacobean Times]]> 6434075 256 R.E. Pritchard 0750921129 Deirdre 4 3.56 1999 Shakespeare's England: Life in Elizabethan and Jacobean Times
author: R.E. Pritchard
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/09/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Time to Depart (Marcus Didius Falco, #7)]]> 1341439 367 Lindsey Davis 0099338815 Deirdre 4 3.88 1995 Time to Depart (Marcus Didius Falco, #7)
author: Lindsey Davis
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/07/12
shelves: fiction, crime, historical-fiction
review:

]]> Jude the Obscure 677604 512 Thomas Hardy 0140431314 Deirdre 1 3.86 1895 Jude the Obscure
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1895
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2014/04/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Stauffenberg 3841087 384 Joachim Kramarz 0583116566 Deirdre 5 biography, history 5.00 1970 Stauffenberg
author: Joachim Kramarz
name: Deirdre
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1970
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/03/18
shelves: biography, history
review:

]]> Julius Caesar 652272 394 William Shakespeare 1903436214 Deirdre 5 classic, drama, poetry 3.94 1599 Julius Caesar
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1599
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/03/09
shelves: classic, drama, poetry
review:

]]> Coriolanus 652271 384 William Shakespeare 1903436648 Deirdre 3 classic, drama 3.86 1608 Coriolanus
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1608
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/03/09
shelves: classic, drama
review:

]]> The White Goddess 55427
This new edition has been prepared by Grevel Lindop, who has written an illuminating introduction. The text of the book incorporates all Graves's final revisions, as well as his replies to two of the original reviewers, and a long essay in which he describes the months of inspiration in which The White Goddess was written.]]> 520 Robert Graves 0571174256 Deirdre 3 mythology, cultural-criticism 3.96 1948 The White Goddess
author: Robert Graves
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1948
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/01/10
shelves: mythology, cultural-criticism
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 2732977 Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret an will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.]]> 538 Stieg Larsson Deirdre 4 crime, fiction 4.15 2005 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/11/27
shelves: crime, fiction
review:

]]> Love Poems and Sonnets 42040 160 William Shakespeare 0385017332 Deirdre 5 poetry, classic 4.26 1608 Love Poems and Sonnets
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1608
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/11/08
shelves: poetry, classic
review:

]]> Switzerland for Beginners 1637339 92 George Mikes Deirdre 5 3.89 1962 Switzerland for Beginners
author: George Mikes
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1962
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/10/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition]]> 1416 3420 Stephen Greenblatt 0393041077 Deirdre 3 classic, drama 4.59 1972 The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition
author: Stephen Greenblatt
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.59
book published: 1972
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/09/27
shelves: classic, drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rosa Luxemburg: Ideas in Action]]> 1462386 329 Paul Frölich 0902818198 Deirdre 4 biography 4.00 1928 Rosa Luxemburg: Ideas in Action
author: Paul Frölich
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/05/25
shelves: biography
review:

]]> Henry IV: king of France 32402 256 David Buisseret 0044456352 Deirdre 2 biography, history The History Boys: A Play, then you'll suck this up.

I'm still reading this book so maybe I'm being unfair and it'll improve but the author does, in his introduction, pretty much declare unapologetically that this is what he has written.]]> 2.00 1984 Henry IV: king of France
author: David Buisseret
name: Deirdre
average rating: 2.00
book published: 1984
rating: 2
read at: 2010/07/15
date added: 2013/02/25
shelves: biography, history
review:
This could only have been written by a man and a man of a certain type, one given to war games and trainspotting. Henri IV is one of the most fascinating monarchs in history and yet hardly any of that comes across in this biography. If you are interested in a load of battles, how many troops were on each side, how they were disposed on the battlefield, if you are interested in history which is a catalogue of events or as Alan Bennett had one of his characters define it "Just one fucking thing after another." The History Boys: A Play, then you'll suck this up.

I'm still reading this book so maybe I'm being unfair and it'll improve but the author does, in his introduction, pretty much declare unapologetically that this is what he has written.
]]> The Room & The Dumb Waiter 240259 Harold Pinter 0571160859 Deirdre 4 drama 3.75 1957 The Room & The Dumb Waiter
author: Harold Pinter
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1957
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/02/23
shelves: drama
review:

]]> Selected Poems, 1923-1958 429597 128 E.E. Cummings Deirdre 5 poetry 4.23 1960 Selected Poems, 1923-1958
author: E.E. Cummings
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/02/10
shelves: poetry
review:

]]> Withnail & I Covermount 460854 0 Robinson Bruce 0747524939 Deirdre 5 drama 4.75 1989 Withnail & I Covermount
author: Robinson Bruce
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.75
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/21
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Faith in Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality]]> 10527 306 Umberto Eco 0749396288 Deirdre 5 essays, cultural-criticism 3.78 1967 Faith in Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality
author: Umberto Eco
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1967
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/09/14
shelves: essays, cultural-criticism
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crowner's Quest (Crowner John Mystery #3)]]> 500606 328 Bernard Knight 0743492072 Deirdre 2 4.01 1999 Crowner's Quest (Crowner John Mystery #3)
author: Bernard Knight
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1999
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/30
date added: 2012/08/05
shelves:
review:
The Crowner John mysteries pass the time enjoyably enough but Bernard Knight needs either to do his historical research more accurately (as a forensic pathologist, you'd think he'd be more respectful of accuracy) or he needs a better editor to advise him. In each of the three novels I've read so far there has been something that has grated in terms of anachronism. In Crowner's Quest, set around December 1194, he keeps referring to the New Year coming after Christmas when January 1 only became New Year in 1752, after England adopted the Gregorian calendar. In 1194, New Year would have fallen on March 25th. Some of the attitudes imputed to his leading character fail to ring true. In the first of the mysteries, The Sanctuary Seeker, his hero Crowner John, on witnessing a public hanging, muses whether England would in the future bring in a more civilised mode of justice. Such forward projection would have been completely alien then. Finally, after the first novel, there is simply too much backstory reiterated even at points in the story when the reader doesn't need the information. In novels which are sequenced, other authors manage this much more elegantly; in terms of modern crime novels one could mention Ian Rankin and in terms of the historical crime novel there is, of course, Lyndsey Davis. Such a disappointment. Knight's starting premise is a fertile one for development and John de Wolfe, Nesta and Gwyn are interesting enough characters (even if Richard de Revelle is straight out of Sheriff of Nottingham mythology). I'll carry on reading because the books pass the time on a wet Sunday but they could have been so much better.
]]> <![CDATA[Burning Secret (Pushkin Collection)]]> 4455573 160 Stefan Zweig 1901285855 Deirdre 4 fiction 4.01 1911 Burning Secret (Pushkin Collection)
author: Stefan Zweig
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1911
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/07/26
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> Selected Poems 119239 864 Lord Byron 0140424504 Deirdre 4 poetry, classic 4.07 1848 Selected Poems
author: Lord Byron
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1848
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/07/24
shelves: poetry, classic
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Greene's Groatsworth of Wit: Bought With a Million of Repentance (Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies)]]> 4334211
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.

We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.]]> 164 Robert Greene 0866981675 Deirdre 5 satire, history 4.25 1592 Greene's Groatsworth of Wit: Bought With a Million of Repentance (Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies)
author: Robert Greene
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1592
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/05/17
shelves: satire, history
review:

]]> Amadeus 1386156 112 shaffer-peter 014006155X Deirdre 5 drama 4.12 1979 Amadeus
author: shaffer-peter
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/04/20
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nemesis (Marcus Didius Falco, #20)]]> 7624792
In the high summer of 77AD, Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco is beset by personal problems. Newly bereaved and facing unexpected upheavals in his life, it is a relief for him to consider someone else's misfortunes. A middle-aged couple who supplied statues to his father, Geminus, have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. They had an old feud with a bunch of notorious freedmen, the Claudii, who live rough in the pestilential Pontine Marshes, terrorising the neighbourhood.

When a mutilated corpse turns up near Rome, Falco and his vigiles friend Petronius investigate, even though it means travelling in the dread marshes. But just as they are making progress, the Chief Spy, Anacrites, snatches their case away from them. As his rivalry with Falco escalates, he makes false overtures of friendship, but fails to cover up the fact that the violent Claudii have acquired corrupt protection at the highest level. Making further enquiries after they have been warned off can only be dangerous -- but when did that stop Falco and Petronius?

Egged on by the slippery bureaucrats who hate Anacrites, the dogged friends dig deeper while a psychotic killer keeps taking more victims, and the shocking truth creeps closer and closer to home.]]> 286 Lindsey Davis 1846056128 Deirdre 4 4.11 2010 Nemesis (Marcus Didius Falco, #20)
author: Lindsey Davis
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/18
date added: 2012/02/13
shelves: crime, fiction, historical-fiction, humour
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christoferus or Tom Kyd's Revenge]]> 55951 Christoferus, or Tom Kyd's Robin Chapman 0749318023 Deirdre 4 historical-fiction 4.25 1993 Christoferus or Tom Kyd's Revenge
author: Robin Chapman
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Albert's bridge;: And, If you're Glad I'll be Frank: two plays for radio]]> 1314026 Tom Stoppard 0571085180 Deirdre 0 drama 3.67 1967 Albert's bridge;: And, If you're Glad I'll be Frank: two plays for radio
author: Tom Stoppard
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary]]> 49256
A virtual onslaught of acerbic, confrontational wordplay, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary offers some 1,600 wickedly clever definitions to the vocabulary of everyday life. Little is sacred and few are safe, for Bierce targets just about any pursuit, from matrimony to immortality, that allows our willful failings and excesses to shine forth.

This new edition is based on David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi’s exhaustive investigation into the book’s writing and publishing history. All of Bierce’s known satiric definitions are here, including previously uncollected, unpublished, and alternative entries. Definitions dropped from previous editions have been restored while nearly two hundred wrongly attributed to Bierce have been excised. For dedicated Bierce readers, an introduction and notes are also included.

Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is a classic that stands alongside the best work of satirists such as Twain, Mencken, and Thurber. This unabridged edition will be celebrated by humor fans and word lovers everywhere.]]> 404 Ambrose Bierce 0820324019 Deirdre 4 humour, classic 4.08 1911 The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
author: Ambrose Bierce
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1911
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: humour, classic
review:

]]> Z 7106898 376 Vassilis Vassilikos 034521756X Deirdre 5 politics 3.90 1966 Z
author: Vassilis Vassilikos
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1966
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: politics
review:

]]> Misogynies 597669 209 Joan Smith 0449906760 Deirdre 4 cultural-criticism 3.85 1989 Misogynies
author: Joan Smith
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: cultural-criticism
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hollow Man (Dr. Gideon Fell, #6)]]> 3213144 Two murders are committed in such a fashion that the murderer must not only have been invisible - but lighter than air!According to the evidence, this person killed his first victim and literally vanished, and then struck again in the middle of an empty street - with watchers at either end who saw nothing and no footprints in the snow. It was a problem that Dr. Gideon Fell - huge, rumpled, with flowing cloak, eyeglasses and cane - regarded as one of devilish illusion and impersonation.'Mr Carr has a sense of the macabre which lifts him high above the average run of detective story writers' - J. B. Priestley]]> 256 John Dickson Carr 0745186378 Deirdre 4 crime, fiction 3.61 1935 The Hollow Man (Dr. Gideon Fell, #6)
author: John Dickson Carr
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1935
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: crime, fiction
review:

]]> Faceless Killers 6048596
Kurt Wallander is a senior police officer. His life is a shambles. His wife has left him, his daughter refuses to speak to him, and even his aging father barely tolerates him. He works tirelessly, eats badly, and drinks his night away in a lonely, neglected flat. But now, with winter tightening and his activities being monitored by a tough-minded district attorney, Wallander must forget his troubles and throw himself into a battle against time and against mounting xenophobia.
(back cover)]]> 298 Henning Mankell Deirdre 0 to-read 3.57 1991 Faceless Killers
author: Henning Mankell
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/11/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Plays: One 5983044 Terence Rattigan 0802151957 Deirdre 3 drama 4.00 1948 Plays: One
author: Terence Rattigan
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1948
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/09/30
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism (20th Century Classics)]]> 1106031 576 George Bernard Shaw 0140188657 Deirdre 4 3.17 1928 The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism (20th Century Classics)
author: George Bernard Shaw
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.17
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/08/28
shelves: politics, non-fiction, cultural-criticism
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius]]> 1235687
Part I: England Your England
Part II: Shopkeepers at War
Part III: The English Revolution]]> 123 George Orwell 0140063277 Deirdre 4 cultural-criticism, politics 3.93 1941 The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
author: George Orwell
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1941
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/08/15
shelves: cultural-criticism, politics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Other places: Three plays (Methuen modern plays)]]> 6656910 83 Harold Pinter 0413507203 Deirdre 0 drama 0.0 1982 Other places: Three plays (Methuen modern plays)
author: Harold Pinter
name: Deirdre
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/06/30
shelves: drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Big Sleep and Other Novels (Philip Marlowe #1-2, 6)]]> 105711
Marlowe's entanglement with the Sternwood family - and an attendant cast of colourful underworld figures - is the background to a story reflecting all the tarnished glitter of the great American Dream.

The detective's iconic image burns just as brightly in 'Farewell My Lovely', on the trail of a missing nightclub crooner. And the inimitable Marlowe is able to prove that trouble really is his business in Raymond Chandler's brilliant epitaph, 'The Long Goodbye'.]]> 672 Raymond Chandler 014118261X Deirdre 4 fiction 4.30 1939 The Big Sleep and Other Novels (Philip Marlowe #1-2, 6)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1939
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/05/26
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor & Stuart Britain]]> 2210018
The 280 illustrations - including 45 colour pictures and 6 maps - form an essential part of the book, complementing all aspects of the text. Additional reference materials include a Chronology, Glossary, Family Tree of the monarchy, Further Reading, and extensive index.]]> 487 John Morrill 019820325X Deirdre 3 history, non-fiction 3.83 1996 The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor & Stuart Britain
author: John Morrill
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2011/05/22
shelves: history, non-fiction
review:

]]> PASSIONATE SHEPHERDERS 491211 332 Maureen Duffy 0413176509 Deirdre 4 biography 3.25 1977 PASSIONATE SHEPHERDERS
author: Maureen Duffy
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.25
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/03/28
shelves: biography
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Structures of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, #1)]]> 1208438 623 Fernand Braudel 0002163039 Deirdre 5 history 4.30 1979 The Structures of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, #1)
author: Fernand Braudel
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/02/25
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Complaints (Malcolm Fox, #1)]]> 6713625
Then the reluctant Fox is given a new case. There's a cop named Jamie Breck, and he's dirty. The problem is, no one can prove it. As Fox takes on the job, he learns that there's more to Breck than anyone thinks--dangerous knowledge, especially when a vicious murder takes place far too close to home.

In THE COMPLAINTS, Rankin proves again why he is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling crime writers, mixing unstoppable pacing with the deeper question of who decides right from wrong.]]> 381 Ian Rankin 0752889516 Deirdre 4 crime, fiction 3.88 2009 The Complaints (Malcolm Fox, #1)
author: Ian Rankin
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/09/23
shelves: crime, fiction
review:

]]> Sacred Treason 7159418
London, 1563. England is a troubled nation. Catholic plots against the young Queen Elizabeth spring up all over the country. The herald William Harley - known to everyone as Clarenceux - receives a book from his friend and fellow Catholic, Henry Machyn. But Machyn is in fear of his life... What secret can the book hold? And then Clarenceux is visited by the State in the form of Francis Walsingham and his ruthless enforcers, who will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. If Clarenceux and his family are to survive the terror of the state, he must solve the clues contained in the book to unlock its dangerous secrets before it's too late. And when he does, he realises that it's not only his life and the lives of those most dear to him that are at stake...]]> 416 James Forrester 0755356020 Deirdre 0 to-read 3.53 2010 Sacred Treason
author: James Forrester
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Azincourt 6277186 453 Bernard Cornwell 0007271220 Deirdre 4 historical-fiction, fiction 4.04 2008 Azincourt
author: Bernard Cornwell
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/24
date added: 2010/09/23
shelves: historical-fiction, fiction
review:
From the author of the Sharpe novels, we have a novel about the progress of an English archer as he follows Henry V to France. As well as his personal story we are given the history of that military campaign with a detailed description of the siege of Harfleur and a climax at the Battle of Azincourt (known incorrectly in this country as Agincourt but given its proper spelling by Cornwall). Highly entertaining and engaging, admirably researched, this has an unputdownable quality to it. Fans of Sharpe, though, will notice distinct plotting parallels...
]]> <![CDATA[The Poisoned Chalice (Crowner John Mystery #2)]]> 500604 356 Bernard Knight 0743492064 Deirdre 2 3.96 1998 The Poisoned Chalice (Crowner John Mystery #2)
author: Bernard Knight
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2010/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Blue Light 181482 Walter Mosley 1852427337 Deirdre 0 currently-reading, fiction 3.43 1998 Blue Light
author: Walter Mosley
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/09/23
shelves: currently-reading, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake, #5)]]> 7027569 634 C.J. Sansom 0230711251 Deirdre 4 crime, historical-fiction 4.32 2010 Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake, #5)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/09/21
date added: 2010/09/23
shelves: crime, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sanctuary Seeker (Crowner John Mystery #1)]]> 262323
But on his return to Exeter, the new coroner is incensed to find that his own brother-in-law, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, is intent on thwarting the murder investigation, particularly when it emerges that the dead man is a Crusader, and a member of one of Devon's finest and most honourable families...]]> 336 Bernard Knight 0743492056 Deirdre 2 3.81 1998 The Sanctuary Seeker (Crowner John Mystery #1)
author: Bernard Knight
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2010/08/13
shelves:
review:
The Crowner John mysteries pass the time enjoyably enough but Bernard Knight needs either to do his historical research more accurately (as a forensic pathologist, you'd think he'd be more respectful of accuracy) or he needs a better editor to advise him. In each of the three novels I've read so far there has been something that has grated in terms of anachronism. In Crowner's Quest, set around December 1194, he keeps referring to the New Year coming after Christmas when January 1 only became New Year in 1752, after England adopted the Gregorian calendar. In 1194, New Year would have fallen on March 25th. Some of the attitudes imputed to his leading character fail to ring true. In the first of the mysteries, The Sanctuary Seeker, his hero Crowner John, on witnessing a public hanging, muses whether England would in the future bring in a more civilised mode of justice. Such forward projection would have been completely alien then. Finally, after the first novel, there is simply too much backstory reiterated even at points in the story when the reader doesn't need the information. In novels which are sequenced, other authors manage this much more elegantly; in terms of modern crime novels one could mention Ian Rankin and in terms of the historical crime novel there is, of course, Lyndsey Davis. Such a disappointment. Knight's starting premise is a fertile one for development and John de Wolfe, Nesta and Gwyn are interesting enough characters (even if Richard de Revelle is straight out of Sheriff of Nottingham mythology). I'll carry on reading because the books pass the time on a wet Sunday but they could have been so much better.
]]> The Canterbury Tales 1538147 The Canterbury Tales into modern verse - the first to appear in over thirty years - makes one of the greatest works of English literature accessible to all readers while preserving the wit and vivacity of Chaucer's original text.]]> 509 Geoffrey Chaucer Deirdre 5 classic 3.62 1400 The Canterbury Tales
author: Geoffrey Chaucer
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1400
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/07/24
shelves: classic
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Murder of Crows (Sir Robert Carey, #5)]]> 7287621 Ěý
Meanwhile, although he hates London, Sergeant Dodd has decided that he will not go north until he has taken a suitable revenge for his mistreatment by the Queen’s Vice Chamberlain, Thomas Heneage. Carey’s father wants him to sue â€� but none of the lawyers in London will take the brief against such a dangerous courtier. Then a mysterious young lawyer with a pock-marked face offers to help Dodd, with suspicious eagerness. Nobody knows who that balding young would-be poet and lover William Shakespeare might be working for, if he knows himself. And then, just as Carey is resigning himself to the delay, the one person he really does not want to see again arrives in London to stir everything up. Ěý
Ěý
With the River Thames for a freeway and the dark streets of London full of people up to no good, Sergeant Dodd has to help Carey find the identity of the corpse and who murdered him, while bringing a little taste of the Borders to his dealings with Heneage.
Ěý]]> 250 P.F. Chisholm 1590586573 Deirdre 3 Patricia Finney (under her pseudonym), a highly entertaining and historically well researched read. To the forefront in this story, set entirely in London, is Carey's underling, Land-Sergeant Henry Dodd. Carey (and most entertainly his mother, Lady Hunsdon) are there but two-thirds of the way through the yarn, Carey absents himself suddenly and barely without a word, leaving Dodd to pick up the threads of the mystery and solve it. Dodd has become, through this series of mysteries, as engaging a character as Carey and one that Finney is obviously coming to love as she develops him.

]]> 3.95 2010 A Murder of Crows (Sir Robert Carey, #5)
author: P.F. Chisholm
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/27
date added: 2010/06/27
shelves: crime, historical-fiction, fiction
review:
As ever from Patricia Finney (under her pseudonym), a highly entertaining and historically well researched read. To the forefront in this story, set entirely in London, is Carey's underling, Land-Sergeant Henry Dodd. Carey (and most entertainly his mother, Lady Hunsdon) are there but two-thirds of the way through the yarn, Carey absents himself suddenly and barely without a word, leaving Dodd to pick up the threads of the mystery and solve it. Dodd has become, through this series of mysteries, as engaging a character as Carey and one that Finney is obviously coming to love as she develops him.


]]> <![CDATA[The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2)]]> 6087991 Millenium publisher Mikael Blomkvist has made his reputation exposing corrupt establishment figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with an investigation into sex trafficking, Blomkvist cannot resist waging war on the powerful figures who control this lucrative industry.

The Murder
When a young couple is found dead in their Stockholm apartment, it's a straightforward job for Inspector Bublanski and his team. The killer left the weapon at the scene - and the fingerprints on the gun point in only one direction.

The Girl Who Played with Fire
Ex-security analyst Lisbeth Salander is wanted for murder. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behaviour makes her an official danger to society - but no-one can find her. The only way Salander can be reached is by computer. But she can break into almost any network she chooses...]]> 569 Stieg Larsson 1906694184 Deirdre 4 crime, fiction 4.20 2006 The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/18
date added: 2010/05/18
shelves: crime, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Montaillou : Cathars and Catholics in a French Village, 1294-1324]]> 45530 400 Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie 0140137009 Deirdre 5 history 3.85 1975 Montaillou : Cathars and Catholics in a French Village, 1294-1324
author: Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/05/12
shelves: history
review:

]]> Headlong 132245 400 Michael Frayn 0571225586 Deirdre 4 3.69 1999 Headlong
author: Michael Frayn
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/04/11
shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, art
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Atheists' Guide to Christmas]]> 6405093 340 Ariane Sherine 0007322615 Deirdre 3 essays, humour 3.62 2009 The Atheists' Guide to Christmas
author: Ariane Sherine
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/04/05
date added: 2010/04/05
shelves: essays, humour
review:

]]> Foucault's Pendulum 295873 THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Three clever book editors, inspired by an extraordinary fable they heard years befoe, decide to have a little fun. Randomly feeding esoteric bits of knowledge into an incredible computer capable of inventing connections between all their entries, they think they are creating a long lazy game - until the game starts taking over ...
Here is an incredible journey of thought and history, memory and fantasy, a tour de force as enthralling as anything Umberto Eco - or indeed anyone - has ever devised.]]> 641 Umberto Eco 0330314971 Deirdre 5 mystery, cultural-criticism 3.83 1988 Foucault's Pendulum
author: Umberto Eco
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/03/30
shelves: mystery, cultural-criticism
review:

]]> Isabella de' Medici 3349108 416 Caroline P. Murphy 057123030X Deirdre 0 to-read 3.92 2008 Isabella de' Medici
author: Caroline P. Murphy
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Still Harping on Daughters: Women and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare]]> 6609481 224 Lisa Jardine 0745006256 Deirdre 5 cultural-criticism, history 3.33 1983 Still Harping on Daughters: Women and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare
author: Lisa Jardine
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1983
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/02/07
shelves: cultural-criticism, history
review:
A seminal work in bringing gender studies to the late C15 and C16 and works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
]]> <![CDATA[The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street]]> 6021536 Charles Nicholl 0141023740 Deirdre 4 history, biography 3.70 2007 The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street
author: Charles Nicholl
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/02/05
shelves: history, biography
review:

]]> England and Europe, 1485-1603 4265701 117 susan-doran 0582354129 Deirdre 0 history, non-fiction 0.0 1986 England and Europe, 1485-1603
author: susan-doran
name: Deirdre
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/01/27
shelves: history, non-fiction
review:

]]> Macbeth 18444 255 William Shakespeare 1903436486 Deirdre 5 classic, drama, poetry 4.23 1623 Macbeth
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1623
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/01/26
shelves: classic, drama, poetry
review:

]]> The Club Dumas 7194 362 Arturo PĂ©rez-Reverte 015603283X Deirdre 4 fiction, crime 3.83 1993 The Club Dumas
author: Arturo PĂ©rez-Reverte
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/01/23
shelves: fiction, crime
review:

]]> King John 6607013 176 William Shakespeare 0416496202 Deirdre 4 classic, drama 3.56 1981 King John
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1981
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/01/19
shelves: classic, drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The First Part of King Henry VI]]> 2322897 448 William Shakespeare 0174436084 Deirdre 3 classic, drama 3.58 1592 The First Part of King Henry VI
author: William Shakespeare
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1592
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2010/01/15
shelves: classic, drama
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)]]> 41865
First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.]]> 498 Stephenie Meyer 0316015849 Deirdre 2
I've not read the Sookie Stackhouse novels of Charlaine Harris but I've seen the excellent HBO series True Blood and that is vampire myths for grown ups in a big way. The vampirism in Twilight, by comparison, is dull and lifeless. These corpses barely stir into life. ]]> 3.66 2005 Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2009/11/17
shelves:
review:
I'm a sucker for vampire stories, if you'll forgive the pun. For that reason, I've been generous and given this two stars. I didn't hate it. It had some good ideas but the author just didn't know what to do with them. I couldn't work out who it was aimed at. It was so safe and anodyne that it seemed to be pitched at the pubescent or pre-pubescent, a very much coitus interruptus experience, even though it was about the late teen, early adult understanding of sex, death and orgasm.

I've not read the Sookie Stackhouse novels of Charlaine Harris but I've seen the excellent HBO series True Blood and that is vampire myths for grown ups in a big way. The vampirism in Twilight, by comparison, is dull and lifeless. These corpses barely stir into life.
]]> <![CDATA[A Plague of Angels (Sir Robert Carey, #4)]]> 437405 Carey is on difficult terms with his powerful sire, Henry, Lord Hunsdon. Hunsdon, son of Anne Boleyn's elder sister, Mary -- and probably of a young King Henry VIII -- swings a lot of weight as "cousin" to Queen Elizabeth. But Hunsdon needs his ingenious younger son, Carey to sort out the difficulties his elder son has got himself into as an innocent party in a plot to discredit the family.

Accompanied by the shrewd Sergeant George Dodd, who's like a fish out of water as he copes with the strange Londoners, Carey tackles Catholics, treachery, and such persons known to history and students of literature as George Greene and Christopher Marlowe who are working as spies and double agents. Most arresting is a portrait of a love-sick, snivelling hanger-on named Will Shakespeare....

]]> 252 P.F. Chisholm 1890208434 Deirdre 4 historical-fiction
It is doubtful that we shall have more Carey novels to enjoy. This last finishes in the autumn of 1592 and the real Carey became more responsible and respectable from 1593 onwards becoming a Member of Parliament and filling various government posts finishing up as 1st Earl of Monmouth.]]> 4.15 1998 A Plague of Angels (Sir Robert Carey, #4)
author: P.F. Chisholm
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2009/11/06
date added: 2009/11/05
shelves: historical-fiction
review:
A fitting and rollicking climax to Chisholm's quartet of novels about Sir Robert Carey. This yarn brings him south from his usual stamping ground to London and a vivid picture is painted of Elizabethan London riddled with plague, coney catchers, intelligencers, footpads and alchemists. Along the way, she weaves a few famous figures into her tale providing delightful libels of Robert Greene and Will Shakespeare and an interesting spin on the mystery surrounding the activities of Kit Marlowe, Ingram Frizer and Robert Poley. You don't have to be a student of Elizabethan London to enjoy this work but, if you are, there are lots of references and reinterpretations of historical figures and events to keep you greatly amused. More importantly, we have her excellently rounded if fictionalised portrait of her hero and his diverse entourage.

It is doubtful that we shall have more Carey novels to enjoy. This last finishes in the autumn of 1592 and the real Carey became more responsible and respectable from 1593 onwards becoming a Member of Parliament and filling various government posts finishing up as 1st Earl of Monmouth.
]]> <![CDATA[44 Scotland Street (44 Scotland Street, #1)]]> 533601 330 Alexander McCall Smith 0349118973 Deirdre 4 fiction Mrs. Dalloway had wry Scottish humour, a lightness of touch and didn't take itself too seriously, it would be 44 Scotland Street. McCall Smith gives us a diverse selection of the Edinburgh bourgeoisie, interconnecting and reacting to each other and to the trivial events of their lives. Although written in the third person, we are given each character's point of view often hilariously as two characters thoughts prove themselves to be completely at odds with each other.

I thought when I started this book that I was going to be reading a crime story and was a bit confused, therefore, going into it. There is a crime of sorts but it is merely one thread and there is not a detective in sight! I persisted in spite of my disillusion and am delighted that I did. It was an immensely enjoyable if completely undemanding read. Ideal to take on holiday or to read if incarcerated in hospital and needing a light and diverting book that one can either devour at one sitting or read chapter by chapter in its original installments.

Good stuff.]]> 3.47 2004 44 Scotland Street (44 Scotland Street, #1)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2009/10/28
date added: 2009/10/30
shelves: fiction
review:
If Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway had wry Scottish humour, a lightness of touch and didn't take itself too seriously, it would be 44 Scotland Street. McCall Smith gives us a diverse selection of the Edinburgh bourgeoisie, interconnecting and reacting to each other and to the trivial events of their lives. Although written in the third person, we are given each character's point of view often hilariously as two characters thoughts prove themselves to be completely at odds with each other.

I thought when I started this book that I was going to be reading a crime story and was a bit confused, therefore, going into it. There is a crime of sorts but it is merely one thread and there is not a detective in sight! I persisted in spite of my disillusion and am delighted that I did. It was an immensely enjoyable if completely undemanding read. Ideal to take on holiday or to read if incarcerated in hospital and needing a light and diverting book that one can either devour at one sitting or read chapter by chapter in its original installments.

Good stuff.
]]> The Club of Queer Trades 1657953 126 G.K. Chesterton 0140183876 Deirdre 4 fiction 3.87 1905 The Club of Queer Trades
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1905
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/10/18
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The White Lioness (Kurt Wallander, #3)]]> 6336629
As Inspector Wallander is introduced to this missing persons case, he has a gut feeling that the victim will never be found alive, but he has no idea how far he will have to go in search of the killer. In South Africa, meanwhile Nelson Mandela has made his long walk to freedom. Wallander finds himself caught up in a conspiracy involving renegade members of the South African secret service and a former KGB agent, all of them set upon halting Mandela's rise to power.

Faced with a world in which terrorism knows no frontiers Wallander must prevent a hideous crime that means to dam the tide of history.]]> 576 Henning Mankell 0099535327 Deirdre 0 to-read 3.68 1993 The White Lioness (Kurt Wallander, #3)
author: Henning Mankell
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/10/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Surfeit of Guns (Sir Robert Carey, #3)]]> 1071986 One black night in 1592, Carey is on night patrol along the unsettled border anchored by the garrison in Carlisle. It's a disaster. First, there's the fugitive he has to hand over to the warring Scots. Next come Wee Colin Elliot's sheep stealers. And then a gun explodes and takes off the hand of one of Carey's men. Back in Carlisle, Carey soon learns more faulty guns lie in the armoury in place of the sound weapons shipped in from Newcastle only last week. When these explosive deathtraps are stolen, he sets off in pursuit of both batches of guns--and the thieves.
The search ends in Dumfries where King James VI of Scotland--potentially King James I of England when his cousin Elizabeth dies--and his raucous court have assembled. James is as dissolute as ever, lovely Lady Elizabeth Widdrington, Carey's true love, is still shackled to her husband, and seductive Signora Bonnetti takes a serious interest in Carey and in the missing guns. Will the frustrated courtier be gallant enough to flirt with the Signora--and with treason?...
As wild as the American West, P.F. Chisholm's witty historical detections are also elegantly crafted and historically accurate as they reimagine the life of a real Elizabethan gunslinger. Her other Carey novels are A Plague of Angels (Introduction by Diana Gabaldon), A Famine of Horses (Introduction by Sharon Kay Penman), A Season of Knives (Introduction by Dana Stabenow). The author is at work on a fifth Sir Robert Carey.]]> 246 P.F. Chisholm 1890208353 Deirdre 3 crime, historical-fiction 4.21 1996 A Surfeit of Guns (Sir Robert Carey, #3)
author: P.F. Chisholm
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2009/09/30
date added: 2009/09/30
shelves: crime, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Famine of Horses (Sir Robert Carey, #1)]]> 1071987 270 P.F. Chisholm 0802732526 Deirdre 3 historical-fiction 3.71 1994 A Famine of Horses (Sir Robert Carey, #1)
author: P.F. Chisholm
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 2009/09/21
date added: 2009/09/21
shelves: historical-fiction
review:
I read this out of order, having read the second instalment first. I liked this even more than the later book. It gives a vivid sense of the reiver society and the battles in the Borders to maintain order. Sir Robert Carey is a brilliant choice of an historical personage on whom to base a series of crime adventures.
]]> The Past Is Myself 1255840 286 Christabel Bielenberg 0552990655 Deirdre 4 biography, history 3.97 1968 The Past Is Myself
author: Christabel Bielenberg
name: Deirdre
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1968
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/09/17
shelves: biography, history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Season of Knives (Sir Robert Carey, #2)]]> 967629 Now he's in trouble again. The rowdy Grahams plan to kidnap Elizabeth as she journeys home to her husband. While Sir Robert storms out to stop them, someone murders the man he has just sacked from his post of paymaster to the Carlisle garrison. When Sir Robert returns, he finds his servant Barnabus slung into the castle dungeon, accused of the crime, and his arch enemy Sir Richard Lowther scheming to have Carey arrested for masterminding the murder....
When even faithful Sergeant Dodd is prepared to believe he did it, the courtier finds his hands full--while ruin stares him in the face--as he juggles the murder inquiry and untangles a skein of love and greed that reminds him most uncomfortably of how carefully he must conceal his love for Elizabeth.
A Season of Knives, based on the real Sir Robert Carey's tumultuous life, is not only a keenly plotted detective story, it's an innovative police procedural and historical writing at its rousing best.
The other works in this series are A Plague of Angels (Introduction by Diana Gabaldon), A Famine of Horses (Introduction by Sharon Kay Penman), and A Surfeit of Guns (Introduction by Barbara Peters). The author is at work on a fifth Sir Robert Carey.]]> 252 P.F. Chisholm 1890208329 Deirdre 3 crime, historical-fiction 4.22 1995 A Season of Knives (Sir Robert Carey, #2)
author: P.F. Chisholm
name: Deirdre
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2009/09/08
date added: 2009/09/08
shelves: crime, historical-fiction
review:

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