The Modern Book Scene Part 3 Book List

Murder, Mysteries and Thrillers                                        

The Postscript Murders,  Ellie Griffiths, 2021.        

The Killings at Kingfisher Hall, Sophie Hannah, 2020.           

Moonflower Murders, Anthony Horowitz 2020.             

 I See You,  Clare Mackintosh, 2016        

The Silent Patient,  Alex Michaelides , 2019.                                                      (5)      

Mixed Genre:   Mystery, Suspense, Murder, Historical,  Romance, Paranormal      

Women of the Dunes, Sarah Maine,2019. Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month      

Beyond the Wild River, Sarah Maine,  2018.  

The House Between, Sarah Maine, 2018.  Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year,  

Alchemy and Rose, Sarah Maine, 2021, recently published, good reviews,   

The Silk House, Kayte Nunn, 2021.                                                                    (5)

 Novels based on the Greek Myths and Legends  (feminist issues),  

The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker, short-listed for the 2019 Women’s Prize for fiction, Costa…

The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood, 2006, re-issued 2013 [about Penelope, Odysseus’ wife].

The Song of Achilles,  Madeline Miller,  Orange Women’s prize for fiction, 2012,  etc, etc.

Circe, Madeline Miller, short-listed for The Women’s Prize for fiction, 2019.  

Galatea, 2020, Madeline Miller, [re-told from Greek to Latin, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses X. 7]  

Ariadne, Jennifer Saint, 2021, [good reviews, re-told to Latin, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses VIII. 2]

The Wooden Horse, Eric Williams, 2013, re-issued,  WWII escape from Nazi prison.         (7)

17th century Witchcraft in England , Lancashire 1612-18,  Essex 1644-7 (feminism)        
The Familiars, Stacey Halls, 2019, Sunday Times Best Seller.

The Manningtree Witches, A. K. Blakemore, 2021.  

Mist over Pendle,  Robert Neill, 1953, 1 library copy, recent editions can be bought elsewhere.

The Witch-Finder’s Sister, Beth Underdown, 2017, good account, not in the library,  (4)                                                                

Myths from the Sea-  Caribbean, Icelandic,

The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffe, Costa Book Prize, 2020

The Seal Woman’s Gift, Sally Magnusson, 2018, Zoe Ball Book Club choice.                   (2)

Jewish Diaspora [Dispersion], 20th  and 21st centuries,

The Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waal, 2010.

Letters to Comondo, Edmund de Waal, 2021.

House of Glass, Hadley Freeman, 2020.                                                                     (3)

2 Remarkable Novels  

The Shadow King, Maasa Mengiste, 2020,  short-listed Booker Prize, N.Y.Times etc etc  

Apeirogon, Colum McCann, 2020,  Waterstones Best Seller.                                          (2)    

“Feel good Factor” Books – romance, relationships and the natural world 

I belong here,  Anita Sethi, 2021, a journey along the Pennine backbone of England.

This is happiness, Niall Williams, 2019.  Irish memoir.

A summer to remember, Sue Moorcroft, 2020, Goldsboro  Books Romantic Novel Award.

The Authenticity Project , Clare Pooley, 2020.

A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amanda Owen, 2016, Sund.Times Best seller. 

Native, Patrick Laurie, 2020.

Life in the  Garden, Penelope Lively, 2017,

H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald, 2014, Costa Book Award.

Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald, 2021, Guardian Book of the Year, etc., etc,.        (9)                            

                                                                                           38 titles, 29 reviews    

Project   Gutenberg    

 

Project Gutenberg is a e-book store with free  e-books to download (link also on NYCC Library web site). These were published before the American copyright start date, i.e.  c.1925     www.gutenberg.org .    To increase understanding &  knowledge of topics/characters from  ancient classical myths, legends & 17th c witchcraft, in a large number of  recently published novels, many dealing with feminist issues, I offer a choice of background reading. Some myths  are remembered from my own childhood and school days. It is timely that many writers are recovering and re-interpreting for a modern readership, the powerful, timeless stories from ancient  classical sources, which enriched the state education  of my generation. 

 

English Translations :Odyssey, Iliad & Aeneid etc from  Greek & Latin, –  

Aeneid – Virgil,  www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1885         

Myths and Legends from Ancient Greece and Rome, E.M. Berens,  * use as encyclopedia etc     www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22381           Odyssey – Homer? www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1727               

Stories from the Iliad – Homer?  www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43993    * useful info. on Achilles

Tales from Troy and Greece, Andrew Lang   www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32326 * [easy read]

Tanglewood Tales, Nathaniel Hawthorn, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/976 *  [I read as a child]  

 

Note: Odysseus is known as Ulysses [Latin name] in some translations. The Iliad deals with the  last years of the 10 year old siege of Troy by the Greeks, The Odyssey,  the adventures of Odysseus [Ulysses] & his mariners en route for home [Ithaca, Greece], The Aeneid,  with the adventures of Aeneas en route for Italy. The final Greek destruction of Troy [the wooden horse etc] is  described in The Aeneid, ch. 2.      * = favourites. Andrew Lang – recommended.

 

How to download, read and save –  Example: Stories from the Iliad – Homer     

Click on/finger touch www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43993  ** The cover of the book will appear. Choose the format,  epub, if you have already down-loaded the Overdrive-Libby App. from the App. Store, to read library e-books.       Alternatively, choose html, to read in your browser, which everyone can choose. If the latter, the book will appear as a book mark. SAVE immediately by clicking the tab  to change to black on the top line.  If epub, the book should appear in the Overdrive folder from Downloads. Overdrive allows you to move between chapters. If you want to remove the book, click on the 3 faint dots at right of title and choose Delete.   Inside the book, tap on the page to bring up a top menu. Click on the 3 tiny lollipop symbols at the top right for the chapters. If using html, read to the end of the book chapter and make a note of it. You can return to it, by clicking on the number in the contents list.

 

Natalie Haynes, Greek Classics –  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b077x8pc   Half an hour Talks from BBC Sounds, [very interesting and amusing – one on Iliad]

 

To download a book of your choice in Gutenberg:

As an example, I use Ovid’s Metamorphoses VIII-XV   Go to www.gutenberg.org   On the Home page, Choose Find Free Ebooks/ Search and Browse/Quick Search. On line, type Ovid. Choose from the selection   Metamorphoses VIII-XV . Proceed from ** above. It is useful to make a note of the catalogue number for easy access:   www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26073   = The Metamorphoses of Ovid VIII-XV. See p1 of Book list to locate the Ariadne and Pygmalion-Galatea myths from that link.

 

Documents relating to 17th c. Witchcraft   [feminist issues in Talk 3]

Daemonologie, King James I, 1597, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25929.  Book II, Ch.5, 40%  

Discoverie of Witches, 1612-18, Thomas Potts’  www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18253   [Lancs.]

   ..              ..       .. , 1647, Matthew Hopkins,  www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14015  [Essex]

 

Victorian Novel [Talk 3]

The Lancashire Witches, 1849, Harrison Ainsworth  www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15493    Gothic-type novel.  

 

16.7.21.