April 2026 Monthly Wrap Up -- BOOK THOUGHTS

BOOK THOUGHTS

April 2026 Monthly Wrap Up

April was a good reading month for me. I finished rereading the Narnia Chronicles for the first time since I was a kid and I knocked six books off my TBR 26 in '26 list. See any favorites?

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

The Other Family by Joanna Trollope. I always enjoy her books. This one is about a musician whose death forces his his partner and their children and his ex-wife and oldest son to interact. 

Showing the Flag by Jane Gardam*, short stories from the author of the Old Filth trilogy. I'm never as fond of short stories as I am of longer fiction (Somerset Maugham being the exception), but some of these were very good, particularly the title story. 

Homecomings by C.P. Snow.* I’m determined to finish his Strangers & Brothers series even though I find them pretty dry. This one at least had some personal story, and wasn't focused entirely on a work situation. 

Foxed Quarterly (Issue No. 51, Spring 2017). I’m working my way through some back issues. Because the quarterly is devoted to backlist and out of print books, the old issues are never out of date. 

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. This was interesting to read but is focused on foreign missions and I was looking for local guidance.

The Food of Love by Anthony Capella* is a cute, foodie romcom set in Italy, a modern retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Death Takes a Bath by Sharon Lynn. This cozy mystery set in Bath, England is the first of a series. The heroine is a 19-year-old college student, so I'm not the target audience and am unlikely to continue with the books, but it was fun to read in preparation for a trip to Bath. 

Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore, a reread. More psychology than I remember. I had it confused with The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life, which I loved and now need to reread.

Steaming to Bamboola by Christopher Buckley*, his memoir about a year in the merchant marine. 

The Boss Dog by M.F.K. Fisher*, a fictionalized account of living in Aix with her two daughters. It was fun to read, but repetitive of her nonfiction about her life in France.

Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love by Anne Fadiman* was a letdown. Read my review here. 

Frozen Assets by P.G. Wodehouse. Hilarious, as always.

NOTES

* Denotes a TBR 26 in '26 book. 

What was your April favorite? 

February 2026 Monthly Wrap Up -- BOOK THOUGHTS

 

BOOK THOUGHTS

February 2026 Monthly Wrap Up

Oh, the short month of February, when there are not enough days to read all the books! I managed to finish 13 in my birthday month, but there were several left behind.

I am normally a planner when It comes to my reading. I love to pick books ahead of time, either for the year, like with my TBR 26 in '26 books, or by the month when I pick a stack for my nightstand that I want to get through that month. Because my birthday was in February, I decided to "treat" myself to reading more by whim. I had a couple of book club books I had to finish, but otherwise, I thought I'd pick them as I went. It turned out to not be as fun as I hoped. I think I like the anticipation and planning as much as I like reading the books. 

• The Veiled One by Ruth Rendell, number 14 in her Inspector Wexford series, my new focus. I love Wexford's droll demeanor and the way he's always quoting literature.

• Riders by Jilly Cooper. I loved every 912 page of this rollicking, raunchy chunkster. It’s book 1 of her Rutland Chronicles and I can’t wait to read the others. This was a real birthday treat.

• Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, a Hogarth Shakespeare retelling of The Tempest. I picked this for book club and am so glad I did. Excellent!

• The Affair by C. P. Snow was a slog, but I’m determined to finish his Strangers & Brothers series. I love mid-century campus novels so want to love this series. But it is dry as dust.

• Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of WASP Splendor by Tad Friend, a fascinating memoir and social commentary about growing up in an extended East Coast, WASP family in the later 20th Century. It reminded me a lot of my first husband's family, which fortunately was humorous to me at this point. One of my TBR 26 in '26 books.

• The Paris Directive by Gerald Jay. A dud for me. Good premise, but I was yelling at the book for the unbelievability of every detail of the murders. Supposedly the best assassin the the world botches the first murder, tries to frame the local handyman, hangs around the tiny French village, and decides to murder the investigating cop and the daughter of one of the victims because they might solve the crime. Seriously? Why doesn't he just leave? Another TBR 26 in '26 book and one I'm glad to have off my shelf. 

• When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter. An entertaining memoir about the magazine business in its heyday, but the name dropping got to be too much. Specifically, he would introduce someone by full name -- which is good, knowing the people he rubbed elbows with is why you read a book like this -- but then all subsequent references were to first names. I couldn't keep up. There was no way I could remember that Henry Smigglesworth at the Oscar party was "Henry" at Paris Fashion Week 200 pages later. 

• The English Country Town by Russell Chamberlin. I thought this was a fluffy coffee table book and discovered it is a readable but serious history of English towns back to pre-Roman days. A surprise highlight of my month. I was fascinated.

NOT PICTURED

• The Appeal by Janice Hallett, a fun, popular mystery told through email and text messages. I read the sequel, The Christmas Appeal, in December and wanted to go back to the original. I actually thought the sequel was better because it was a novella and packed a lot into the shorter format. The original novel felt too long in comparison. 

• Prelude to Terror by Helen MacInnes is one of her later Cold War thrillers and very good. It is the first of three books she wrote featuring CIA spy Robert Renwick. Apparently this was a reread for me, but I remembered none of it, so it felt brand new. 

• Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just by Timothy Keller, a recommendation from our pastor and definitely worth reading.

• St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton. I read this classic as a group read on Instagram. Chesterton's commentary was as interesting as the details of the saint's life. 

• White Noise by Don DeLillo has been on my list forever but just confirmed I am not a fan. It won the 1985 National Book Award and I'm working my way through the winners. I don't plan on picking up any other DeLillo books. 

Did any of your February books stand out?

The TBR 22 in '22 Challenge -- My Wrap Up Post

 

TBR 22 IN '22 CHALLENGE

My Wrap Up Post

COMPLETED

Sign up for the TBR 23 in '23 Challenge here!

The TBR 22 in '22 Challenge was simple -- read 22 books off your TBR shelf in 2022. You could pick them ahead of time, like I did, pick them as you went, or any combination you like. Or pick ahead of time and then switch! The only "rule" is that the 22 books had to be books you owned before January 1, 2022.

Here is the list of the 22 book I read for the challenge, in alphabetical order by author, not the order in which I read them:

• These Ruins are Inhabited by Margaret Beadle, a memoir by an American living in England in the 1950s

• Dangling Man by Saul Bellow, on my Classics Club list

• Atlantic High by William F. Buckley, Jr., the second of his four sailing memoirs. I read the first one last year and planned to read them all but didn't get to them. 2022 will be the year I finally do. 

• Racing through Paradise by William F. Buckley, Jr., the third of the four

• Windfall by William F. Buckley, Jr., the last one

• The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakow, on my Classics Club list

• The Waterfall by Margaret Drabble, on my Classics Club list

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award

• Rat Race by Dick Francis, on my Classics Club list

• Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend by Meryl Gordon

• French Women Don't get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

• The Wall by John Hersey, on my Classics Club list

• The Bostonians by Henry James, on my Classics Club list

• A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin

• When She was Good by Philip Roth, on my Classics Club list

• Zuckerman Unbound by Philip RothThe Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth

• The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth

• The Masters by C. P. Snow is the fourth book in his Strangers and Brothers series, which I started years ago and want to finish. This one is on my Classics Club list because it won the James Tait Black Prize in 1954.

• If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler, on my Classics Club list

• God Save the Mark by Donald Westlake, which won the Edgar Award and is on my Classics Club list

• Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson, a campus novel on my Classics Club list

 

TBR 22 in '22 and Mt. TBR Challenges -- My Sign Up Post

 

THE TBR 22 IN '22 CHALLENGE

This is my sign up post for the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge. The simple idea is to read 22 books off your TBR shelves between January 1 and December 31, 2022. If you want to join me (and I hope you do), go to the main challenge page here to sign up. 

You do not have to pick all your TBR 22 in '22 books ahead of time. I like to, so I do. You can. Or you can pick some now and some as you go. You can pick them all at whim. Or you can pick now and then change your mind. The only real rule is that you read books that you already owned before January 1, 2022. 

MY TBR 22 IN '22 BOOKS

I like to pick my books ahead of time and keep them stacked by my bedside to motivate me through the year. Two or three are those I've only recently acquired and I want to read before they disappear on my shelves. The rest are those that have been on my shelves for so long I want to read them so I can stop looking at them! Several of these are on my Classics Club list for the same reason.

In alphabetical order by author name, not as shown in the picture above. I may read them in this order because I have no other plan, although that would mean four Roth books and three Buckley books back to back, so probably not:

• These Ruins are Inhabited by Margaret Beadle, a memoir by an American living in England in the 1950s

• Dangling Man by Saul Bellow, on my Classics Club list

• Atlantic High by William F. Buckley, Jr., the second of his four sailing memoirs. I read the first one last year and planned to read them all but didn't get to them. 2022 will be the year I finally do. 

• Racing through Paradise by William F. Buckley, Jr., the third of the four

• Windfall by William F. Buckley, Jr., the last one

• The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakow, on my Classics Club list

• The Waterfall by Margaret Drabble, on my Classics Club list

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award

• Rat Race by Dick Francis, on my Classics Club list

• Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend by Meryl Gordon

• French Women Don't get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

• The Wall by John Hersey, on my Classics Club list

• The Bostonians by Henry James, on my Classics Club list

• A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin

• When She was Good by Philip Roth, on my Classics Club list

• Zuckerman Unbound by Philip Roth

• The Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth

• The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth

• The Masters by C. P. Snow is the fourth book in his Strangers and Brothers series, which I started years ago and want to finish. This one is on my Classics Club list because it won the James Tait Black Prize in 1954.

• If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler, on my Classics Club list

• God Save the Mark by Donald Westlake, which won the Edgar Award and is on my Classics Club list

• Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson, a campus novel on my Classics Club list

THE MT. TBR CHALLENGE

This TBR 22 in '22 Challenge dovetails nicely with the Mt TBR Challenge that Bev at My Reader's Block hosts every year. Like I did in 2021, I am signing up for the "Mt. Kilimanjaro" Level in 2022 to read a total of 60 books off my TBR shelves. That means 38 books in addition to those listed above. 

MY MT. TBR BOOKS

I will list my Mt. TBR books here as I read them. 

NOTES

Update as of December 14, 2022: I completed the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge in November. As of mid-December, I've read 65 books total off my TBR shelves, so climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and completed the Mt. TBR Challenge. I'll do an official wrap up post as soon as I get time. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Crystal at I Totally Paused is hosting in November.  Crystal reviews books from a variety of genres including mysteries, YA, historical fiction, and classics, and also blogs about pop culture and life as she sees it.  Please visit her blog and say hello.

One book came into my house last week:



The Light and the Dark by C. P. Snow

I've been reading Snow's Strangers & Brothers series for a while now.  This 11-volume series, published between 1940 and 1974, follows several characters through careers in British academia and government.

The Light and the Dark is the fourth book in the story's chronology, but the second published.   I just finished reading the third book, The Conscience of the Rich, and while I am not ready to dive into the next one, I like having it on the shelf for when the mood next strikes.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This is the season for sales -- garage, rummage, yard, tag, etc. All are opportunities to add to my ever-expanding library, and I took advantage of several last week, ending up with a mishmash of reading goodies.



The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst (French spies in Poland on the eve of WWII)



The Perfect Martini Book by Bob Herzbrun (history and anecdotes of the king of cocktails, with only a few variations but lots of illustrations)



The Black Mountain and Might As Well Be Dead by Rex Stout (I am working my way through all the Nero Wolfe novels)



Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award)



The Michael Innes Treasury by Michael Innes (more vintage mysteries in an omnibus edition containing The Case of the Journeying Boy, Hamlet, Revenge!, and Appleby's End)



Variety of Men by C.P. Snow (biographical essays on famous men from the author of the Strangers and Brothers series)

Review: A Time of Hope

A Time of Hope is the third book in C. P. Snow's 11-volume Strangers and Brothers series. In it, narrator Lewis Eliot recounts his formative years, from his father's bankruptcy and his mother's death, through his school days, training to be a barrister, and early career, to his star-crossed marriage to the neurotic Sheila Knight.

Although this was the third novel of the series to be published, it is considered the first of the series chronologically. That is technically correct because it does begin with Eliot's childhood, but most of the story parallels the timeframe of the first-published volume, George Passant (reviewed here).

Eliot does a lot of soul searching and armchair analysis of his friends and professional colleagues – the kind of stuff that can make a novel enduringly interesting, or interminably dull. No doubt the series remains popular because Snow is a great storyteller who can wring a lot of insight out of a character without turning the plot to sludge. The characters are as realistic and absorbing today as when the book was first published in 1949.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other novel in the series listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it. 

NOTE

A Time of Hope dovetails with George Passant, telling Eliot's story instead of Passant's, but involving many of the same events, including Passant's criminal trial for fraud and conspiracy. Because A Time of Hope gives a condensed version of the trial, including its outcome, to read it first would spoil the story of George Passant.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Passages to the Past is hosting in April. Please visit Amy's entertaining and comprehensive blog devoted to historical fiction.

I went to Idaho last week for work and came back with a suitcase full of books.

First, the waiter at my dinner restaurant in Sandpoint turned out to be an author named Sandy Compton who has self-published several books. We had an interesting conversation about self-publishing and he gave me copies of his books:

Side Trips from Cowboy (his most recent book, a collection of personal essays, which looks very interesting)

Archer MacClehan & the Hungry Now (an earlier novel, sort of a contemporary Western adventure)

Jason's Passage: From the Blascomb Family Chronicles (his first book, a collection of three related short stories)

Second, I went to the main library in Coeur d'Alene where they had a great library book store:

The Group by Mary McCarthy (on Erica Jong's list of Top 100 novels by women)




The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (on the BBC Big Read list)



Overdrive by William F. Buckley, Jr. (an early memoir)




Corridors of Power by C. P. Snow (one of the Strangers and Brothers series)

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Passages to the Past is hosting in April. Please visit Amy's entertaining and comprehensive blog devoted to historical fiction.

I got two books last week both from Second Hand Prose, one of my favorite library book stores:

Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle.  This one is on my French Connections list. I thought I already had it, maybe even read it, but apparently not.




In Their Wisdom by C. P. Snow. I started his Strangers and Brothers series (first book reviewed here), so thought I'd try this one which is not part of the series.

Review of the Day: George Passant

George Passant is the first volume of C. P. Snow’s 11-volume Strangers and Brothers series. In fact, this book was originally published in 1940 as Strangers and Brothers. It tells the story of an idealistic, progressive, young attorney in post-WWI England determined to build his career and passionately devoted to helping his group of friends.

Unfortunately for George, his dual aims lead to some questionable financial dealings and he and two of his protégés end up facing criminal fraud charges. It soon becomes clear that George’s lifestyle is on trial more than his business practices, leading to an impressive courtroom finale.

It is a good story, well told. However, it has not aged particularly well. It requires an exceptionally willing suspension of disbelief to be shocked by the notion that a bunch of single twenty-somethings had sex with each other. Free love and communal living (weekends only) may have been scandalous in the 1920s, when the book was set, and even when it was first published. But now it takes a conscious effort to comprehend just what all the fuss is about.

Read it as the gateway to the rest of the series. Read it because Snow is a good author, and what he wrote about relationships among friends and professional colleagues, and the continual need to hone one’s reputation, still rings true. But don't read it as the sensational courtroom drama it originally was.

OTHER REVIEWS

(If you would like your review of this or any other C. P. Snow book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

Favorite Author: C. P. Snow

C. P. Snow (1905 - 1980) was a British author best known for his 11-volume "Strangers and Brother's" series. Published between 1940 and 1974, the series follows several characters through careers in academia and government.

He wrote several other books as well, but I am going to concentrate on S&B. 

So far, I have read the first three volumes, in red below. Those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

Most recommend reading the series in the order listed below so that the narrative is chronological.   

A Time of Hope (1949) (reviewed here)

George Passant (originally titled Strangers and Brothers) (1940) (reviewed here)

The Conscience of the Rich (1958)

The Light and the Dark (1947)

The Masters (1951)

The New Men (1954)

Homecomings (1956)

The Affair (1960)

Corridors of Power (1964)

The Sleep of Reason (1968)

Last Things (1970)

The Masters and The New Men were jointly awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1954.

NOTES

If anyone else has reviews of these books or other posts related to C. P. Snow, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

Last updated November 17, 2013.

Teaser Tuesday: Strangers and Brothers

With success behind him, George remarked more often about a partnership "being not too far away."  For the first time, he showed some impatience about his oewn future: but he was no longer worried over Martineau.

-- Strangers and Brothers by C. P. Snow.

I am sucked into this story about a progressive young lawyer forging his career.  Even though the book was written in 1940 and set in 1928 in England, his work as a new lawyer in a small firm sounds so much like what my lawyer friends and I all went through. The long hours, case panic, difficult partners -- it's all the same!

This is the first book in Snow's 11-volume "Strangers and Brother's" series.  This volume is now published under the title George Passant, but I have an older edition with the Strangers and Brothers title. 

 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

 

Opening Sentence of the Day: Strangers and Brothers

The fire in our habitual public-house spurted and fell.

-- Strangers and Brothers by C. P. Snow.

Better than the first sentence is the name of the chapter: "Firelight on a Silver Cigarette Case."

This is the first book in Snow's 11-volume "Strangers and Brother's" series.  This volume is now published under the title George Passant, but I have an older edition with the Strangers and Brothers title.

Mailbox Monday

I had a busy book week, so my Mailbox Monday list is long (so long, I'm putting it up early).

First, Unbridled Books sent me A Geography of Secrets by Fredrick Reuss and, even though it is going on my Guilt List, it looks terrific. I can't wait to get to it.



Then, I went to the Great Northwest Benefit Book Sale and ended up with a crazy mix of books:

The Scottish Novels by Robert Lewis Stevenson (because I recently read Treasure Island and want to read more RLS)



Poems of John Donne (because I liked them in college -- at least that one about the flea -- and the cover was so adorable)



The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro (because he is a genius)



A Time of Hope by C. P. Snow (because I am gathering this edition of the Strangers and Brothers series)



Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson (because she is a new favorite)



Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig (because I've always meant to read at least one of his books)



Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (because it won the National Book Award)



Making It Up by Penelope Lively (because she is an old favorite)



The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (because I want to re-read this one and I loved the cover)



World Without End by Ken Follett (because I loved Pillars of the Earth and it is time for me to get to the sequel)



That Old Cape Magic and Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (because I liked Empire Falls and want to read more of his books)

Author of the Day: C. P. Snow

Strangers and Brothers is a series of novels by C. P. Snow, published between 1940 and 1974. Set in England, all eleven novels in the series are narrated by Lewis Eliot and follow his life and career from humble beginnings to a reasonably successful career as a London lawyer and Cambridge don, through wartime service in Whitehall, to a later career as a senior civil servant and, finally, retirement.

I have not read any of these books yet, but they have been on my radar for quite a while and several are on my TBR shelf. My plan is to read them in narrative order rather than publication order, so that is the way they are listed below.

Those on my TBR shelf now are in blue.

Time of Hope (1949)
George Passant (first called Strangers and Brothers) (1940)
The Conscience of the Rich (1958)
The Light and the Dark (1947)
The Masters (1951)
The New Men (1954)
Homecomings (1956)

The Affair (1960)

Corridors of Power (1964)
The Sleep of Reason (1968)
Last Things (1970)

OTHERS READING THIS SERIES

Books Do Furnish a Room (a thorough review of the series)

(If you are also reading this series and would like me to list you here, please leave a comment with a link to your progress reports or reviews and I will add them.)