The one with the house is "Witch." And I adore Mary Stewart as well. Jane Aiken Hodge is another on in their rank for me. I re-read a Hodge after several years and suddenly understood some of the subplots and dialogue a lot better than I did when I was a naive teenager.
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
The Crying Child? Yes. I'd been reading gothic and romantic suspense for a while and was feeling pretty jaded, but The Crying Child had me turning on all the lights and pulling up the couch blanket to cover all of me, and clutching my bear closer so I could read further.
That was a spooky one. They made a movie (for TV?) of Ammie Come Home (with Barbara Stanwyck!) but deviated a lot from the book.
One year, a courtesy uncle was staying with my mother and wanted to buy something for my sister; I recommended Shattered Silk. He was dubious, but went along ... sometime around dinnertime on Christmas he said I was right - my sister was halfway through the book.
I once went to a reading the author did for The Last Camel Died at Noon - she came rushing in dressed more or less like a Victorian lady archaeologist would have been - long skirt, white shirt and a pith helmet with a scarf/veil trailing from it.
IHave now read Witch and The Crying Child. Good stuff! The kindle suggested the Jacqueline Kirby series (under Elizabeth Peters) and I'm enjoying them muchly so far. She's a mysterious librarian who solves murders, apparently.
I have read all the Julian Kestrel books and started in on St Cyr. And have a few others of those mentioned here checked out for the holiday travels.
I will not meet my goodreads challenge (365) this year, but I'm currently at 292 books read, so I think 300will totally happen.
Sheesh, meara! I'm at 150 or so. You're one of the few people who consistently puts my reading addiction to shame!
Check out the Vicky Bliss books, too, -t, if you like the Jacqueline Kirbys. They're not especially deep, but they're fun.
I came across my Anne LaBastille books today, along with an early Bill Bryson and the Gary Paulsens. I'm settling in at bedtime with Woodswoman.
I apparently either don't read nearly enough or am not very good about recording my read books on Goodreads. Probably a bit of both. Also, I think those 1000+ page sagas I love to read should count as more than one book. To be serious, the main reason I record things on Goodreads is because otherwise I would not be able to remember what I read. Although rereading works fine for me since I generally don't remember the content either and it is all new and glorious!
Pix, it helps that I have no commute, don't grade papers like you have to, and also tend to read stuff that is not super meaty or challenging! (I mean, sometimes I do, but not super often relative to how many romances I read?)
Man, I was impressed that I read 57 books so far (my goal was 50).