Austen and others

 A whole array, panoply, cornucopia, of reading this week. Great weather for sitting outside, not too many mosquitoes, yet. Not too hot for this delicate temperate climate reader.

Going all at once, depending on mood, are some great novels 

The Divine Miz Moon recommended this, and now I do too. 

It's a modern day Pride and Prejudice set in Pakistan with the lives of the five Binat daughters, their hapless father, cheated out of his inheritance, left with little but a prestigious name, the mother very aware of the necessity of the daughters' marrying well, and the postcolonial society they all move in.

It's witty and fast moving snd not only great echoes of the Bennet sisters, but of Pakistani people I've known, especially the wording Mrs Binat gets herself tangled up in. 

Great summer reading, and really likeable too. This was Kamal's first novel, which might in part account for the high energy. 

Then I found this by accident, bargain price for Kindle, and though I rarely buy books, I went for it. 

A Margery Sharp I've never read, didn't know there was such a thing. She's always light-hearted but really astute, loves independent women who speak up, launch their own lives, even if not always wisely.  This  one l don't know anything about other than she wrote it and it comes with a bio. Done.

Gardens have suddenly became a theme.  I just discovered my library system has a garden themed book group. It's been on for a while. I looked back over earlier selections and found I hadn't missed a thing, I'd read them all! This is the current selection

It's a series of episodes taking place over centuries in a small Massachusetts town, starting with the founder, a young English woman. 

Various people drift in and by, including Johnny Appleseed, Emily Dickinson, you get the idea. It's a great read, combining possible history with myth and folk beliefs and mystic connections with animals. I think readers who love fantasy probably love Alice Hoffman.

West with Giraffes is being sidelined for now but there's plenty of time left on the loan, and A Woman of no Importance is back on my Kindle. Ashton Warner is in a longer loan, just as well.

If you have read any of them please let us hear how they worked for you. Always open to comments around here.

I had some great chats with neighbors yesterday, about plants, particularly mint, used a lot in Indian cooking, mainly spearmint. But I was given sample leaves of chocolate mint, too. 

And we got onto the subject of chai, which my next door neighbors, both of whom cook, drink just with the black tea not the spices but cooked in milk and sugar. I must try that, too. 

But I do like the spices. I can make a second cup from the same mix, I find, still good flavor though more muted the second time around.

Tea and reading. My current life.