This Year's Stack - Part I

As usual, I had loads of books on my Amazon wishlist and family and friends all know reading is almost as necessary to me as breathing or eating. So here is the 'brain food' for the first few months of 2014:

In Search of England, by H. V. Morton. Morton's name was on my inter-war reading list (from The House at Riverton) and the local libraries were no help.  As I recall, Kate Morton, the author - any relation, I wonder? - didn't specify a particular book. This one came highly recommended on Amazon.co.uk, in fact they said he was such a good travel writer this book probably made Bill Bryson cry. It was first published, funny enough, in June 1927 - See Bryson's book below. Can't wait to start!

Castle, a History of Buildings that Shaped Medieval England, by Marc Morris.  I read this, back in 2008 and have always remembered it.  I wanted to read it again but the libraries here are shrinking and it's disappeared.  Now I can keep and enjoy referring to it.  

Abroad, by Paul Fussell.  I stumbled across Susan Partlan's old blog where she talks about many different things that interest me but somewhere in the posts about 'History of American Money Values' or perhaps in comments or links that derived from there, Paul Fussell's name came up and his books were recommended. I put a number of them on my wish list.  Abroad probably is about travel rather than class and finance, but I'll find out eventually and let you know.

Paris, 1919:  six months that changed the world, by Margaret MacMillan.  This is another from the inter-war reading list and though I gather MacMillan has written fun things about the shopping habits of Victorian ladies, this is probably not a fun book.  I think it is likely about the Treaty of Versailles, which I know had knock on effects resulting in WWII.  Her books have also disappeared from libraries, sadly.

So far the list sounds quite serious and intellectual, even. The order is actually from the least tall and increasingly tall, as the were stacked for the photograph...which I'll hopefully get to share when I remember what I did with that tiny little thing that links my camera chip with this computer .  {sigh}

Well, I did find it - almost where it should have been.  More about the Stack in another post.