New books this week

I’ve been pretty good recently at not buying new books, mostly because of a change in my employment circumstances making me more aware of how and when I spend my money.  However, recent events resulted in my acquiring a gift certificate for Amazon.co.uk (eventually, after having to sort out getting a voucher for .com to start with) and I was able to order some new books! Picking what to buy is never easy, but the resulting purchases were:

1 & 2. M. K. Hobson – The Native Star (LibraryThing) and The Hidden Goddess (LibraryThing)

The Native Star:

“The year is 1876. In the small Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine, the town witch, Emily Edwards, is being run out of business by an influx of mail-order patent magics. Attempting to solve her problem with a love spell, Emily only makes things worse. But before she can undo the damage, an enchanted artifact falls into her possession—and suddenly Emily must flee for her life, pursued by evil warlocks who want the object for themselves.

Dreadnought Stanton, a warlock from New York City whose personality is as pompous and abrasive as his name, has been exiled to Lost Pine for mysterious reasons. Now he finds himself involuntarily allied with Emily in a race against time—and across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine—in quest of the great Professor Mirabilis, who alone can unlock the secret of the coveted artifact. But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all—the magic of the human heart. ”

3.  Félix J. Palma – The Map of Time (LibraryThing)

“London, 1896. Andrew Harrington is young, wealthy and heartbroken. His lover Marie Kelly was murdered by Jack the Ripper and he longs to turn back the clock and save her.

Meanwhile, Claire Haggerty rails against the position of women in Victorian society. Forever being matched with men her family consider suitable, she yearns for a time when she can be free to love whom she choses.

But hidden in the attic of popular author – and noted scientific speculator – H.G. Wells is a machine that will change everything.

As their quests converge, it becomes clear that time is the problem – to escape it, to change it, might offer them the hope they need…”

4. Loretta Chase – Miss Wonderful (LibraryThing)*

“Alistair Carsington really, really wishes he didn’t love women quite so much. To escape his worst impulses, he sets out for a place far from civilisation: Derbyshire- in winter, where he hopes to kill two birds with one stone: avoid all temptation, and repay the friend who saved his life on the battlefields of Waterloo. But this noble aim drops him straight into opposition with Miss Mirabel Oldridge, a woman every bit as intelligent, obstinate, and devious as he – and maddeningly irresistible. Mirabel Oldridge already has her hands full keeping her brilliant and aggravatingly eccentric father out of trouble. The last thing she needs is a stunningly attractive, oversensitive and overbright aristocrat reminding her she has a heart – not to mention a body he claims is so unstylishly clothed that undressing her is practically a civic duty. Could the situation be any worse? And why does something that seems so wrong feel so very wonderful? “

(*I’ve run out of Julia Quinn books to read, so am testing the waters with a new author)

5. Basil Mahon – The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell (LibraryThing)

I did quite a bit of research surrounding the work of Maxwell and theories of electricity in the 19th century for my undergraduate dissertation, but never had the opportunity to learn much about the man himself, so I’m really looking forward to reading more about him.

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Also purchased second-hand this week was a copy of Nora Robert’s Hot Ice. My housemate spent a lot of Sunday watching Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to Romancing The Stone and I was reminded of how much this book uses a similar plot device to that film and had to get myself a copy (so she could read it, and I could read it again).

The Bridgertons

I’ve recently been re-reading Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton books. This all came about as a consequence of reading Quinn’s most recent book, Just Like Heaven, which arrived through my letterbox last week. As with all her books, I had pre-ordered it so I didn’t have to worry about keeping an eye on when it was released.  After reading it, we were chatting about Quinn’s books and wondering whether the recent ones had become shorter than they used to be. It’s hard to tell because they’re now printed in a different size and with different paper. Anyway, the outcome of this was that I decided the only way to solve the mystery was to return to my favourite series of books and read them again, to test whether they took any more, or any less, time.  I’m not claiming this is a scientific experiment, given that each book has been read under different conditions and unsupervised, but I have found that in general, they all take about 3 hours of reading.  This rule applies for the Bridgerton books as well as Just Like Heaven.

In case you’re not familiar with the Bridgertons, let me explain. There are eight books in the series, each telling the story of one of eight siblings: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth.  Named alphabetically in order of age, the books actually follow the order D, A, B, C, E, F, H, G.  Which I’ve now discovered doesn’t spell anything of great significance (it would have been unlikely if they had).  Each book follows the story of how the Bridgerton in question met their Significant Other (or fell in love, for cases where the two already know another).

Quinn has a lovely humourous writing style, which never descends too far into farce, but also never loses that slight wink to the reader that says you’re in a hyper-reality.  The supporting cast of characters in her books are wonderful, and you get to catch up with characters from other books in passing as you read through the story – not just from the Bridgerton books but from Quinn’s other stories as well.  In the same way, Just Like Heaven crosses over with Colin’s story and he appears in a scene in that book with an injured hand – something explained fully in Romancing Mr Bridgerton.  I’m a sucker for books which reward loyal readers in this way, and though I’ve never yet attempted to draw a diagram explaining all the relationships and appearances of Quinn’s characters, don’t put it past me!

Anyway, highly recommend as a series, though of course with ups and downs. It would be easy to spend a couple of hours discussing these books, which I’m sure to enjoy, if anybody wants to ask me!

First post

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