Books Read in September

J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye
John Le Carré: The Honourable Schoolboy
Stephenie Meyer: Twilight
Sergei Lukyanenko: The Night Watch
Georgette Heyer: The Convenient Marriage
Salley Vickers: Mr. Golightly's Holiday

Yes, of course, I have read The Catcher in the Rye before -- probably when I was about 12. Having reread the novel to prepare for tutoring two students, I realize that, at 12, I did not understand it. And unlike most Americans born after 1950, I wasn't assigned Catcher in high school. I'm rather glad of that. My currents students could not empathize with Holden Caulfield, most likely because his attitude is an amplification of their own.

I LOOOOVED Heyer's The Convenient Marriage. It was sweet, hilarious, and just fun. I had read or heard somewhere that reading Georgette Heyer is one of Stephen Fry's guilty pleasures. Well, if it's good enough for Stephen Fry, it's good enough for me.

I also LOOOOVED Vickers' Mr. Golightly's Holiday. (I'm not a pushover. I simply choose my reading carefully.) I also enjoyed the three other novels. September proved to be a good reading month for me.

Just for giggles, here are a few snaps from our trip to Wales and England last month.

This is Del. She "works" at Byrdir,
the B&B where Simon and I stayed for two nights.
Del, who seems to have some compulsive behavior issues
when it comes to playing fetch,
brought these scraps of sticks to the door of our cottage.

Another "working" animal,
Kit lives in Cheshire with her peeps, Elaine & Simon.

Slightly less cuddly than Del or Kit,
La Princesse was featured in
Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008,
over the weekend of 5-7 September 08.