Oh, and, one more thing . . .

Actually a couple more things before I disappear for the next three weeks. A readalong! of the Wilkie Collins sort because Wilkie is my favorite Victorian. I've had The Moonstone on my TBR shelf for years a long time and I have just learned of this readalong over at Reading Rambo, so why not? I've been kind of off Victorians lately and an event like this is just what I need to nudge me into getting back on the saddle. Even though I won't actually be able to join in the discussions, I will throw my name in the ring anyway and participate in absentia.



In other news: A couple of recent false starts. Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay had a great intro and then . . . ugh, I dunno, is it just me who bristles at the overuse of regular words-as-adverbs? And excessive backstory? This book reminds me a bit of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, which I loved, but somehow Kalotay isn't pulling it off with quite the same skill. Or maybe it's just that I am not that interested in Russian opera, or antique jewels. The Thirteenth Tale was about books, stories, and reclusive authors after all, so it had a much better chance of making my favs list right out of the gate. Anywhoo, Russian Winter could be a good story, just not right now.

Ladysmith by Giles Foden About a town called Ladysmith in South Africa during the Boer war. I got about thirty pages into this and it, too, is just not grabbing me. It's historical, yes, about a subject I don't know much about, and has been on my TBR shelf since forever, but . . . I think I'll just have to go ahead and re-shelve it. War isn't really my thing either, except for the likes of Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, which I loved, so Ladysmith was likely doomed from the start. I also just noticed there are only three reviews on Shelfari which is not exactly a resounding endorsement.

And that's it. I'm off.
Be back in a few.