Filling up nicely

       Do you remember those school maths problems along the lines of: if it takes one hour to fill a bath with water running at x gallons per minute, how long would it take to fill the bath if the water ran at y gallons and the plug was only half in? My TBR pile could be the subject of a similar sum, in other words as fast as I can read them, more books arrive to augment the list so the net total remains the same, or even increases slightly (she said sotto voce). Recently arrived to cause an overflow are :

(from the left) The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp (to follow on from what we were talking about on this post). This book sounds fascinating and is for anyone, not just those who write or paint, etc., and typically of a dancer, Twyla Tharp's practical/creative methods are soundly based on discipline and preparation.

     Next - and my thanks to Orion for this - is a debut novel about fractured family relationships in modern Sri Lanka. V.V. Ganeshananthan's Love Marriage is "lyrical, passionate and wise" and uncovers one family's secrets through their country's unsettled history.

     To continue my "Dance" with Anthony Powell, The Kindly Ones moves on Nick's story from where Casanova's Chinese Restaurant left it, and this volume marks the halfway point in the series.

     Lastly, a novel by Josephine Tey whose books I haven't read before, but as Becca has been speaking so highly of them I was keen to give them a try. Becca suggested beginning with The Franchise Affair and I've taken her advice. On page one we meet Robert Blair, solicitor, a man of highly civilised habits: "...it was typical of Blair, Hayward and Bennet that tea was no affair of a japanned tin tray and a kitchen cup. At 3.50 exactly on every working day Miss Tuff bore into his office a lacquered tray covered with a fair white cloth and bearing a cup of tea in blue-patterned china, and, on a plate to match, two biscuits; petit-beurre Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, digestive Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays."

    Much to look forward to with all these. This evening, however, it won't be a book I am glued to; it will be this!

Comments

[Anne]

I did enjoy The Franchise Affair. Mind you I read it many years ago. It will seem very "dated " now, probably part of its charm. Will be interested in what you think of it.

[Margaret Powling]

Every so often I clear the TBR pile on my bedside table (and it's a large table by bedside standards!) and books which I've not read are put in their 'right' places elsewhere in the house, i.e. biog to the biog section, history to history, and so forth. This means that until I clean the shelves down (not more often than once a year, life's too short ...) I forget about them. For about a week to ten days I then have just the book I'm currently reading and perhaps three or four others on the table. And then overnight more appear. I am convinced - just as I believe in what I refer to as "bendy" time, when some days feel shorter or longer than others although the clock says we've had 24 hours like any other day - that the small heap of books somehow manages to reproduce, and without any help from me.

[Juxtabook]

I love Josephine Tey. The Franchise Affair is a very good place to start. It is a period piece but so much remains true - especially the trial by tabloid newspaper which seems very topical. Hope you enjoy it.

[Lindsay]

Tey is very variable in quality of both writing and plot construction; at her best, she is very fine indeed, at her worst, she is sylised and a bit clunky. But you'll be glad to know that The Franchise Affair and The Daughter of Time are both excellent. Enjoy!

[sherry]

You might as well acquire Daughter of Time. You will need it. You are in for a treat!

[bookwitch]

Josephine Tey is great!

[Rebecca]

I read The Franchise Affair when I was about 13 and very bored one day, I started reading at about 10am and could not put that book down until I finished it later in the day. I had forgotten all about it and now that you have refreshed my memory I am off to order some Josephine Tey.

As for House! The Technical Advisor and I are totally addicted, we are working our way through the second series and of course we have become complete paranoid hypochondriacs as we watch. This is probably better than when we were addicted to The Sopranos and walked around the house talking about wacking people and swearing in bad New Jersey accents. Incidentally, how did Hugh Laurie come to be so sexy of late?

[m]

If you find yourself getting hooked on Josephine Tey, she features as a fictional character in An Expert in Murder (by Nicola Upson, quite recently published and there was something about it on Woman's Hour a week or so ago). It's the first book of a new detective series. I'm half way through ... I don't often read crime stories but I'm rather enjoying it.

[Ted]

Being a nut about artistic process (whether that's about producing art work or about the art of life) I dipped into Twyla Tharp's book when it first came out. I remember it being full of sound advice about pursuing a love of your art through regular practise. I'll be interested to read your reactions.

[Jill]

I am a HUGE fan of Josephine Tey. Personally, I think her triumph is but The Singing Sands is equally good if you understand the cultural context of the book. I think the first of hers that I read was the one involving Richard III with Alan Grant confined to bed and dependent on others' research to solve his investigation. I had to go check but it's The Daughter of Time. Tey is so very good and not really dated at all.

[Lee]

The wonderful description of your TBR pile can also be applied to mine - it grows consistently but all on there look so inviting. I shall have to try a Josephine Tey novel following all I have read in these postings - pity that good reviews and recommendations far exceed my reading pace!