Books 2014 - Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell

I'm actually reading a few books at the moment, but when I do that I tend to fall into finishing one all at once before going back to the others, and it's probably not a surprise that I did that with Wild Strawberries. It still doesn't quite match Pomfret Towers for me, but I still just read and read greedily until it was gone. It's another story with star-crossed lovers and eccentric characters in a rambling old house - bliss! It's a kind of comfort reading really - all the characters that you've come across in life made safe and amusing, just for us... *g*

I was also fascinated by brief appearances of the Fascists in Italy, and Hitler's Germany - the latter involving a family which wouldn't let their son visit in the summer holiday because of Hitler. Oh, and a German organ was referred to as being made "in the Fatherland". Interesting (well, what with my Job 2 upcoming...) that this was so much in people's consciousness in England as to be included in a novel just a year after Hitler seized power. Which of course it was, but... in a novel!

Oh - and can't you just feel summer in that cover? *g*

Once Upon a Time VIII - Short Story Quest I - Wildfire in Manhattan by Joanne Harris

This quest involves the reading of one or more short stories that fit within at least one of the four genres during the course of any weekend, or weekends, during the challenge. Ideally you would post about your short story readings on Sundays or Mondays...
Fantasy
Folklore
Fairy tale
Mythology - Wildfire in Manhattan by Joanne Harris

And we're off! Having just finished a book yesterday, I picked up A Cat, a Hat and a Piece of String by Joanne Harris, and the short story I was up to fits pretty well into Mythology for this challenge, so... *g*

( Wildfire in Manhattan is the story of... )