The to-be-reviewed pile

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Well, there it is.  It is all my own fault that I am feeling vaguely depressed about it, as I thought I'd really made an impact on the pile recently.  Actually no, it's all Juxtabook's fault, as she posted recently on some of the books on her mantelpiece; a pile she's not yet read.  Ooh, I thought, I should get my to-be-reviewed pile together.  That might be quite interesting, and as the pile is not too frightening at the moment it might be cheering.  Progress is always cheering, particularly when I can see by the size of the pile just how well I am doing.  Alas there is a major difference between books which exist in a theoretical pile in my mind, and books which exist in solid piles on my bookshelves.   The theoretical piles are small, shy little things, skittering around behind the need to get the book orders out, catalogue the new stock and get down all the admin tasks that are the lot of the self-employed.  Well, I've now ensured they're actual and not theoretical.

I'm lying.  There are more than I'm admitting to, and I am keeping them firmly as theoretical piles.

Here's what I am admitting to:

Firstly, two American books I bought in a bulk lot from Book Closeouts before their shipping charges grew beyond me:  Cathryn Clinton's Simeon's Fire, and Carol Emshwiller's Mister Boots. Mister Boots I have read, and it's certainly one that has remained lodged in the easily accessible bit of my brain, even if I'm not sure that's where I want it.

Meg Rosoff's The Bride's Farewell is a brilliant read, and deserves much better than me simply leaping up and down yipping "Read it!  Read it!"  As indeed do Linda Newbery's two, The Nowhere Girl and The Damage Done.  


June Crebbin's Riding High  I bought in a trawl around Hatchards.  Janey Louise Jones' Pony Club Princess I must have bought, but I can't remember doing it.  It has pale blue pages, which have so far put me off reading it.  Why?  There's no logical reason to be put off by the colour of a page.  Mulling this over, I think it seems somehow a little desperate; as if the only way the publisher can ensure interest is by making the book look unique. No doubt I will know once I have read it.

Some non-fiction:  Elaine Walker's To Amaze the People with Pleasure and Delight, about the Duke of Newcastle, and entirely down at the other end of the age range, Compass Publishing's Pony Guides and Punctuation Guides.  I have a bit of a thing about punctuation (or to be more accurate its incorrect use), which is why I was sent these.

Catnip's beautiful reprints of the Jinny series, books 3 and 4, The Summer Riders and The Night of the Red Horse are lurking in the pile, as is a work of adult fiction, Elaine Walker's The Horses.  I'm looking forward to reading this as it "uses magical realism to stunning effect," which will be a learning experience for me who has never, as far as she is aware, read anything involving magical realism.

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