Rachel with an E

Heroine’s of History – Dorothy L Sayers

As you may or may not know; I love a good detective novel. Particularly those set in the ‘Golden Age’ of crime fiction between the two World Wars (1919-1940). Whilst I admire and love Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot books (I’m not much of a a fan of her Miss. Marple books) by far my most favorite female author from this period is Dorothy Leigh Sayers or Dorothy L. Sayers as she is better known. Dorothy L. Sayers is famous for the Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels which also feature Harriet Vane the crime fiction writer and some would argue a parody of Sayers herself (alas to the best of my knowledge I am not related to the great woman herself!)

View Post

Beyond the Bookcase – Anne of the Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

veiligplekje: Cover art for Anne of the Island...

Rachel With An E? – Anne With An E? Sense a theme here? My blog is in homage to Anne Shirley of the Anne of Green Gables books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. As like Anne I to get frustrated when people mis-spell my name as Rachael when it is Rachel. Also like Anne I’m always reminding people my name is Rachel With An E! The Anne of Green Gables series are some of my all time favourite books. But, I confess until recently I had not read past the first two books Anne of Green Gables (1908) and Anne of Avonlea (1909).

View Post

Beyond the Bookcase: Reads for February

Let’s face it February is a dreary, dreich, and somewhat dank month when it comes to weather. Now don’t get me wrong I love being outside in nearly all weathers but as I write this the rain is coming down in torrents against the window outside. Not ideal walking weather. So what to do? Stay inside with a good book and a lovely cup of tea. Read on for the Beyond the Bookcase recommendations for February.

View Post

Beyond the Bookcase: Daisy Chain: a novel of The Glasgow Girls by Maggie Ritchie

On my extended trip to Scotland last August I took time out to visit one of my favourite parts of Scotland; the small fishing village and artists town of Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway in south-west Scotland. I had deliberately picked up Daisy Chain: a novel of The Glasgow Girls by Maggie Ritchie which is set in Kirkcudbright as well as Glasgow and other foreign locations.

View Post

Beyond the Bookcase – A Booklover’s Reasoning.

No photo description available.

For as long as I can remember I have always loved books, reading, libraries, and all book and reading related ephemera – I have an obscene amount of bags from book shops and numerous book marks! I get my love of reading from my grand-father who was a voracious reader of many genres and types of books. He would have made an ideal English literature or history teach had his life circumstances been different.

The lack of a teaching job didn’t stop him handing down his enthusiasm to me and I have many fond memories of going to the library with him on Saturday mornings to return my books and inevitably borrowing even more. Nothing thrilled me more as a child when the librarian stamped my book which made the book mine for the next week or however long it took to read it.

View Post