Reading Report: The Seance

Written by John Harwood
Houghton Mifflin, 2008; 350 pages

In Part One of John Harwood's brilliantly creepy second novel The Seance, we meet Constance Langton who grew up in a house marked by the death of her young sister, her father's indifference and eventual estrangement, and her mother's perpetual mourning for her lost child. In an attempt to help her mother overcome her grief, Constance becomes involved in the world of Spiritualism. But after persuading her mother to attend a seance, hoping it might provide some comfort, Constance is devastated by the tragic results.

Soon afterward, she learns that (through rather complicated family connections) she's inherited Wraxford Hall, a decaying mansion in the English countryside, with a very dark reputation -- several members of the family who owned the house have disappeared mysteriously. Constance learns the sinister history of the house through diaries and journals (some dependable, some not); and, with the help of the family's solicitor John Montague, must deal with the consequences of this eerie bequest.

The Seance is a wonderful take on the classic Victorian gothic tale. Spiritualism, Mesmerism, ghosts, clues in diaries, unexplained disappearances, lost loves and penniless spinsters, mistaken identity, orphans -- all the bells and whistles. The story is told from different points of view, by several characters, both male and female; and the language and tone are always spot-on, in every instance. There are also a couple of love stories involved, as well as bit of a surprise ending. Great stuff!

I was a little wary of The Seance because Harwood's first book, The Ghost Writer, got such mixed reviews. But I'm so glad I took a chance on the book -- it's turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year.

Reading Report: Picnic at Hanging Rock

Written by Joan Lindsay
First published 1967; 212 pages

Joan Lindsay's classic suspense novel is set in Victoria, Australia: On Valentine's Day in 1900, several girls from the upper class boarding school Appleyard College picnic with a few of their teachers at a nearby geological formation known as Hanging Rock. Four of the girls and one of the governesses climb the Rock; one girl returns immediately, in a state of terror and unable to remember what happened to her or her companions. After a search, another girl is found, also with no memory of her time on Hanging Rock. The other two girls and their French governess are never seen again; they've vanished without a trace, and the mystery of what happened to them eventually affects everyone connected with the school.

This is another one of those books I've had on my TBR list for decades now -- ever since I saw the 1975 film based on the novel -- and I'm grateful to the Aussie Authors Reading Challenge for finally nudging me into taking it off the shelf. Quite a few reviewers have called Lindsay's book a perfect novel. I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly a gripping read. Lindsay explores themes of female sexuality, social class differences, and man (or woman) versus nature, at the same time presenting us with a really fascinating mystery.

When the book first appeared, there was some controversy as to how much of it was based on an actual incident, and how much was invented by Lindsay. But the story of the disappearance of the schoolgirls is entirely fictional, although the Hanging Rock formation does exist.

So what did happen to the missing girls and their teacher? Were they kidnapped by an unseen stranger? Possibly abducted by aliens? Were they killed by falling into a hidden crevice in the Rock? Did they slip into a parallel universe? Originally, Lindsay included a final chapter in which the mystery was solved, but removed it before publication. Later, it was published after her death as "The Secret of Hanging Rock." When I finished the novel, I was tempted to track down a copy of that "missing Chapter 18" as it's called; but after giving it a little thought, I've decided I really prefer leaving the mystery unsolved.

Teaser Tuesdays: Staying On

This week my teaser lines come from Staying On, Paul Scott's 1977 Man Booker Prize winning novel about a British couple in India after Independence.

My eyes never seem to have quite made up their minds about being grey, blue, green or violet. In those days the faint green tinge could be picked up by a green accessory. Later, by wearing deep red. Then the green faded from my eyes forever. But this is woman's talk. It couldn't interest you. (p.140)

I know that's a lot more than a couple of lines. Sorry, but it was hard to decide what to cut. And poor Lucy (the speaker of the lines) does tend to ramble on and on and on. Sounds familiar, hmmmm?



Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Booking Through Thursday

This week, BTT asks: "All things being equal, which would you prefer–a mystery? Or a love story?"

And I don't even have to think about it -- I'd choose the mystery every time. I guess that's why I don't read many romance novels. I love mysteries, suspense stories, thrillers, and those are the genres I read most often. I certainly don't mind if there's a love story involved along the way, but I don't go looking for books with a love story element as the central theme.

Having said that, I guess I should admit that the book I'm currently reading is a romance -- Richard Matheson's Bid Time Return -- which was the basis for one of the most romantic movies ever filmed, Somewhere in Time.

But it also features a mysterious plot with a sci-fi angle, so it's not your run-of-the-mill love story. And I'm loving it so far.

Same Place, New Name

OK, this is probably crazy, and slightly pointless. And boring, no doubt. And I'm not sure what brought this on right at this particular time. Maybe because I like to shake things up every now and then. Maybe because today was a rainy, dark day and I had too much time to play indoors. Don't really know.

But ever since I started this blog, I've been a little dissatisfied with its name. When I started blogging several years ago, I didn't even know what a blog was, had no idea what to write, and not a single clue about naming it. So, when my hubby was walking me through the set-up process and came to that shattering question, "What do you want to call your blog?" I thought and thought, and finally came up with the dazzling reply, "I dunno. Joy's Blog I guess." So, astutely leaving out the "I guess" part of that answer, he typed in "Joy's Blog," and the blog was irrevocably named.

Well, that was almost six years ago, and during those years my blog and I have been through a lot together. In fact, over the years that original blog has gone through starts and stops, changed directions a couple of times, and given birth to several other blogs. But Joy's Blog has always been the entity I consider my main blog, and it very early morphed into a book blog.

And since it's remained a mostly bookish blog, I've always wished I'd given it a more bookish name. So to close out my fifth year of blogging, Joy's Blog is becoming A Little Reading. For now, anyway -- while I try it out. See how it fits and how I feel about it. If it doesn't feel right, I suppose we could see the rapid return of Joy's Blog.

For right now, just the blog name will change. Otherwise, everything will be the same. The URL will be the same, and all links will remain unchanged. (No switching over to a custom domain just yet.) At least, that's the plan.

I think.

For now.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Sense of an Ending

This week, my teaser lines come from The Sense of an Ending, this year's Booker Prize winner by Julian Barnes. It's a beautifully written book and I'm really enjoying it. This excerpt comes from pp. 24-25 -- and as usual, it's more than a couple of lines (sorry). Oh, and when the narrator says "back then," he's talking about the 1960s:

I'd better explain what the concept of "going out" with someone meant back then, because time has changed it....Back in "my day"...this is what used to happen: you met a girl, you were attracted to her, you tried to ingratiate yourself, you would invite her to a couple of social events -- for instance, the pub -- then ask her out on her own, then again, and after a good-night kiss of variable heat, you were somehow, officially, "going out" with her. Only when you were semi-publicly committed did you discover what her sexual policy might be. And sometimes this meant her body would be as tightly guarded as a fisheries exclusion zone.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

That Challenging Time of Year

And no, I'm not referring to the Holiday Season, although that's pretty challenging, too. What I'm talking about is all the new reading challenges being announced and planned for next year. As you might know, I'm a sucker for reading challenges (I even have another blog devoted just to keeping track of my reading challenges). And even though this year hasn't been the greatest year for me when it comes to bookish pursuits, the bit of reading I have gotten done has been mostly because of the challenges I signed up for. And if the challenges keep me reading, I think they're definitely worthwhile, even if I don't manage to finish all the books I planned to read, or write all the reviews. (Ah, yes, the reviews -- sigh!)

I signed up for about two dozen challenges in 2011. Way too many, but I have such a hard time passing up anything that sounds interesting. Admittedly, I generally signed up at the most basic level, so the number of books I committed to wasn't all that horrendous. And I've managed to complete all but two or three -- the reading that is (reviews are another matter altogether, but we'll talk about that later). So I think I've had a pretty good challenge year.

Even so, in 2012 I'm hoping to keep things a little more under control. That means not joining in on every challenge that comes down the pike just so I can display all those cute buttons on my blog. Exhibiting a little more discriminating behavior. Not being such a challenge junkie. Looking before I leap.

That's the plan, anyway.

So I promised myself I wouldn't join any NEW challenges before I got all the wrap-up posts written for the OLD challenges. Trying to give myself a chance to look around a little and really do some thorough planning.

And of course I've already broken that promise. Yes, I've already signed up for my first reading challenge of 2012. It's the 12 in 12 Category Challenge over at LibraryThing, and it was just too enticing to ignore. The challenge is to read books in twelve categories during the year. You make up your own categories, and decide how many books you want to read in each one. One book in each category is fine. You can even have more than (or less than) twelve categories for your version of the challenge. It's a very free-form challenge -- not many rules and none of them are written in stone. So I can change things around and shape it entirely to my liking. See why I couldn't pass it up?

As with other challenges, I'll be tracking my progress on my own challenge blog, and I've also started my 12-in-12 thread at LibraryThing. So far, I haven't actually committed to any set number of books, but I think I've got my categories nailed down. Here's what I'm planning:

1. Ancestral Voices (books by English or Welsh writers)
2. Anything But Fiction (just what it says – any kind of nonfiction)
3. Books About Books (books that have books, writers, the book trade, or libraries as a central theme; can be fiction or non-)
4. Cozy Up to Mystery (mysteries, cozy and otherwise)
5. A Deadly Vintage (mysteries published before 1960)
6. Funny Business (humor)
7. Oh, the Horror! (ghosts, ghouls, and gothica)
8. Recent and New (books published in 2011 and 2012)
9. Second Helpings (books that are second in a series, or by authors I’ve read only once)
10. Turn Back the Clock (historical fiction, and older books I meant to read but didn't)
11. Who Says Crime Doesn’t Pay? (books that have won or been nominated for one of the major mystery writing awards – Edgars, CWA Dagger, Macavity, etc.)
12. A World Elsewhere (literature from countries other than the US or England)

Obviously, many books will fit in more than one category, but I'm going to try to avoid overlapping. And I've arranged things so that my categories mostly reflect the genres and types and subjects I read most of the time. Sticking to what I know -- yes, you're right: that's not very challenging. Well, I don't do so well with real challenges. That's why I like this one!

So, that's it for now. More challenges to come....