BOOK THOUGHTS
Green But Unseen
This blog is my first bookish love, but I do enjoy the spontaneity and general sense of fun found among bookstagrammers on Instagram. One of my favorite things is how bookstagrammers come up with clever ways to highlight the books in their collection. One of the best is posting about a set of books based only on the color of the covers or spines. A popular version of this is to gather "Red But Unread" books. My personal favorite (because I thought of it) is to feature "Orange You Going To Read That" books.
A new one making the rounds is Green But Unseen, showcasing books with green spines or covers. I picked a baker's dozen of 13 books with green spines. These books have nothing intentionally in common besides their green spines and that I have not yet read any of them.
These are in alphabetical order, by author. Which would you pick first?
Family & Friends by Anita Brookner. I have so many of her books on my TBR shelf and have only read Hotel du Lac, because it won the Booker Prize. I want to read more, although I've been reluctant to start because I've read that the rest of the books don't stand up to Hotel du Lac. The only way to find out is to try for myself.
The After Party by Anton DiSclafani, a novel about Houston socialites in the 1950s. It sounds fun to me, although it gets mixed reviews.
The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy. This one is not a sequel to The Dud Avocado, but is similar. Avocado is about a 21-year-old American woman who find adventure in Paris. Old Man is about a slightly older American woman who finds adventure in London.
The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich. This one has been on my shelf the longest. I always like her books so should get cracking on this one.
Crusoe’s Daughter by Jane Gardam. Her Old Filth trilogy is a recent favorite of mine. I want to read more by her and have gathered several, including this one.
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley. I remember that my sister read this one in college and loved it. It's a modern classic I’ve been meaning to read for quite a while.
Kaleidoscope by J. Robert Janes. I love and collect paperback Soho Crime books with these color-block spines. Occasionally, I come across a hardback version, like this. I prefer the paperbacks because they all match, but will take the hardbacks if it is all I can find.
The Secrets of the Bastide Blanche by M.L. Longworth, book 7 in her Provençal Mysteries series, one of the many series languishing on my shelf. My plan is to start this series as soon as I finish Martin Walker's "Bruno, Chief of Police" series, also set in rural France.
Midaq Alley, The Thief and the Dogs, and Miramar by Naguib Mahfouz in an omnibus edition. Until I took this picture, I had it in my head that these three novels were his famous "Cairo Trilogy," but they are not. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever get to these books. Should I? He did win the Nobel Prize for Literature after all.
Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym is one of several of her books I have in Virago Modern Classic editions. She’s a favorite, and I feel a Pym jag coming on. Maybe I'll tackle her books next, as soon as I finish my Helen MacInnes deep dive.
The Babes in the Wood by Ruth Rendell, book 19 of 24 from her Inspector Wexford series. I’ve only read the first one, so I have a way to go!
The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal, in a Modern Library edition. The Red and the Black almost killed me, so I've been putting this one off. But I hear it is more enjoyable than Red & Black, so I'll get to it one of these days.
August Folly by Angela Thirkell, which now I plan to read in August. I've only read one of her books, but I know she is having a resurgence in popularity. I want to read more.
What unread green-spined books can you find on your shelves?
And if you are a fellow bookstagrammer, drop me a comment with your user name so we can find each other over there.
