In the High Peaks
















Friday, February 5, 2021

New Books on the Horizon

An update: I have a number of books in transit to my wilderness abode. And I have some at home I'm still reading. I'm nearing the end of Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati (1998), a great saga of the early U.S. republic, set in northern New York State. Still enjoying it immensely. But I have 250 pages left to go.  I would have been well finished by this time (10 days), but I'm waist-deep in a number of writing projects, most relating at this time to family history research.



New Books in the House and Books in Transit:  I have purchased Land by Simon Winchester, and it's due to arrive on Monday at the post office. (Books take over 10 days to arrive these days, not as in days of yore, when books would arrive inside of three days. I miss that nearly instant gratification. Alas!) Amazon used to deliver to the house, but no longer, or not at present. We have Prime, we're paying for home delivery, but for what it's worth, it's evidently no longer worth home delivery. Have you had this experience since Christmas? (And what's the matter with me? Don't I know there's a war on?)

In January I received a shipment of two hardcover books that sound like they might hit the spot. The first is The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell, which I was stunned to learn was first published in the UK in October 2018. That's a huge publication gap! It's set in Victorian London and looks as though it will have plenty of mystery and atmosphere.  The second is a (new one-volume biography of Graham Greene, The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene. I'm fascinated by GG's life, but found the older, standard three-volume biography a bit too much to manage. I hope to read more of Greene's novels and stories this year as well. 


 

Then I made an impulse purchase of a something new that's very gothicky. Couldn't help myself, and I had a credit waiting to be used, so I bought Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse, which has just been published.