The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock

The guns of August are rumbling throughout Europe in the summer of 1914, but war has not yet touched Abingdon Pryory. Here, at the grand home of the Greville family, the parties, dances, and romances play on. Alexandra Greville embarks on her debutante season while brother Charles remains hopelessly in love with the beautiful, untitled Lydia Foxe, knowing that his father, the Earl of Stanmore, will never approve of the match. Downstairs the new servant, Ivy, struggles to adjust to the routines of the well-oiled household staff, as the arrival of American cousin Martin Rilke, a Chicago newspaperman, causes a stir. But, ultimately, the Great War will not be denied, as what begins for the high-bred Grevilles as a glorious adventure soon takes its toll—shattering the household's tranquillity, crumbling class barriers, and bringing its myriad horrors home. (Source: Goodreads)

My Thoughts
This book has repeatedly been recommended to Downton Abbey fans; also the front cover of the new edition says: "Before Downton Abbey, there was Abingdon Pryory..." As I am a hardcore Downton Abbey fan and upon reading Laurel Ann's review, I knew I must read this trilogy. And, I ordered all three books without hesitation, because I prefer reading all parts of a series, even if it's very likely that I won't love all parts equally. Anyway, I am currently reading the third instalment; so, I don't have an opinion of the whole series yet. Nevertheless, I wanted to share my thoughts about the first part as soon as possible. Also, I thought that this review would be just perfect for me to return to my neglected blog and to you.

Austen in August: A Reading Event Hosted by Adam

Oh my... It's ages since my last post, and I truly wish I had more time to blog and to socialise. I haven't even been on Twitter for God knows how long. Work has been so crazy lately!!! And, I am missing my blogosphere friends. :-(

Despite being so busy with work, I have not neglected reading. So far I have read 10 classics, which is what I aimed at this year, and I've also read 13 other books. That means that I have read 23 books until now, and my goal for this year was to read 30 books at least. So, I'm on schedule...

Originally, I planned to read all major works by Jane Austen in spring, but I got tempted by other books, which is why I still have to (re)read Emma. I'm also participating in the What Would Jane Do?, The Romance, and the 2013 Women challenges, and have some Austenish books on my TBR list. Hence, when I got an invitation to the Austen in August reading event, which is hosted by Adam from Roof Beam Reader, I couldn't say no. So, thanks for the invitation and for hosting the event, Adam. My answer is: YES!

For this event I'm planning to read:

1. Emma by Jane Austen (for the obvious reason)
2. Austenland by Shannon Hale (because many people say it's one of the best reimaginations)
3. Sanditon, The Watsons, and Lady Susan by Jane Austen (if I still have time, after finishing the above two, and because I've never read these)

So, that's that. My sign-up post for the Austen in August reading event. If you'd like to join, just hop over to Adam's blog, read the details and sign-up too!

See you in August, when, hopefully, I will have more time to write reviews and chat!

Top Ten Tuesday: Guys I Would Crush On If I Were A Heroine

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is about characters we'd crush on if we were fictional characters. Even though I've always wanted to be very clever and sensible in my love relationships, I must confess that for a very long time I used to closely resemble Marianne Dashwood in this regard.

I was not only hyper-romantic but also mega naive; hence, I trusted in many a man who were charming and loved by everybody but who turned out to be such a disappointment to me. Hence, I'm sure that even if I were a fictional character, I would have a crush on some bad boys. At the same time, I hope that, after one or more of those bad boys would have broken my heart, I would have the good fortune to meet at least one of the good guys, one who would really be worthy of my attention and feelings. :-D For all these reasons, it should come as no surprise that my Top Ten List today doesn't consist of positive characters only...

Top Ten Tuesday: Books at the Top of My Spring 2013 TBR List

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is about books that we'd like to read this spring. Some days ago I finished Tom Jones by Henry Fielding at last. Even though it's one of my favourite classics, it's a chunkster and a rather difficult read, especially if you're a non-native English speaker. Thus, it took me a long time to finish it. But now I'm done reading it and can devote myself to reading other books.

This year, I finished five classics from my Classics Club list and am going to read five or six more. But, I also want to read some contemporary fictions—adult and young adult. The Top Ten Books at the Top of My Spring 2013 TBR Pile reflect these plans:

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their new family by joining the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. But when they vow to make a name for themselves, they have no idea it's going to be such hard work! They launch themselves into the world of show business, complete with working papers, the glare of the spotlight, and practice, practice, practice! Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. But practical Petrova finds she'd rather pilot a plane than perform a pirouette. Each girl must find the courage to follow her dream. (Source: Goodreads)

My Thoughts
To be honest, even though I spent my childhood and young adulthood with reading children’s classics, I had never heard of Noel Streatfield until I saw the movie You’ve Got Mail (1998), by which time I had attained full age already. Nevertheless, Meg Ryan’s enthusing about Streatfield’s Ballet Shoes made me want to read it, but somehow life prevented me from reading it. Several years later, a good friend of mine presented me with this book, but I still wasn’t able to read it, because I was writing on my doctoral thesis at that time. But last year, upon joining the Classics Club, I decided that this novel will be among the first classics, which had been sitting on my shelf unread, that I will read for the Classics Club challenge. I had been looking forward to reading it for so long, and was so sure that I will love it. But I didn't. I am very sorry to admit that this book was really disappointing.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I'd Like To Start But Haven't Yet

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is about series that we'd like to start but haven’t yet. I love good series and there are many I’ve read, but there also are many I haven’t read yet. Some series I haven’t and didn’t want to read because everybody else wanted to read them. I used to be afraid of reading books that are too popular. I am a non-conformist at heart, which also entails that I like to discover and read books that most people never heard of. But this year, I decided to become more open minded, which is why I am going to read some series that I abandoned before. There are also some series that I’ve been looking forward to read for ages but simply haven’t had the time yet. I hope that in the next two years I will be able to start and finish those too.

So, here are the Top Ten Series I’d Like To Start But Haven’t Yet:

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

The popular story of orphaned Pollyanna and the 'glad game'. As soon as Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville to live with her strict and dutiful maiden aunt, she begins to brighten up everybody's life. The 'glad game' she plays, of finding a silver lining in every cloud, transforms the sick, the lonely and the plain miserable - until one day something so terrible happens that even Pollyanna doesn't know how to feel glad about it. (Source: Goodreads)

My Thoughts
This was the second time that I'd read this book and I enjoyed it. I re-read it for my Classics Club challenge but also because this is the book that the Kindred Spirits book club on Goodreads, which I am member of, was reading in February. The Kindred Spirits decided to read this book, because there seem to be many similarities between the plot of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and that of Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna.

As Pollyanna wasn't an undiscovered terrain for me, I knew what to expect. But this time, I wanted to read it also for the sake of drawing a comparison between the two above-mentioned novels. This is why I'm laying the emphasis of my review on the differences and similarities between Anne of Green Gables and Pollyanna.

The next part of the review may contain spoilers; so, proceed with caution!