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Post by Claire on Nov 20, 2007 22:26:43 GMT 1
Hi all, thought I would start a thread where we can discuss the non-horsy novels of some of the authors best known for their pony books. Does anyone read the non-pony books as well? If so which ones do you enjoy/recommend?
I have read a lot of K.M.Peyton's non-horsy books. She is a writer who can grip you with any subject. I like the school series with Nutty and Hoomey, (etc although Who Sir, Me Sir? is partly a pony book as the school is entering a tetrathlon with riding as part of the competition.) These are very funny with great characters. Worth a read.
The Pennington series is quite a good read, altho as I have mentioned in another post a post-pony lovesick Ruth is a bit irritating!
I also like Snowfall. It is a sort of romantic book which may have some of our anti-love forum members reaching for the sick bucket ;D but I liked it anyway! And I love Flambards. First one in series is a horse book, others arent but still loved them.
Have also read a couple of the Judith Berrisford Skipper books which I found very like the Jackie books but with dogs instead of horses!
We have had a couple of posts on another thread about the P-Ts and Joanna Cannan's adult books. Anyone read any of these? I think I will give them a try. Same goes for Ruby Ferguson, anyone read her non-horsy books?
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Post by kunuma on Nov 21, 2007 22:08:57 GMT 1
I've lent my Ruby Ferguson one - mustget it back, completely non horsy but I recognised her style and enjoyed the book.
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Post by kunuma on Nov 26, 2007 21:36:12 GMT 1
Got it back - it is called ''Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary' , and although the title gives the ending away, it is a very sweet book.
I liked it a lot, but not a horse in sight!
It was published in 1937 - so before the Jill books, and based in Scotland!
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Post by haffyfan on Dec 16, 2007 10:35:24 GMT 1
Not really known for being horsey authors but I love A Horse Called September and The quicksilver horse by Anne Digby, as well as Trebizon. I also Like Ursula Moray williams especially Bogwoppit. I am currently reading No ponies For Miss Pobjoy and it's mad....and unforgettable Fith at Trebizon too as it arrived after I had started No Ponies but couldn't wait.
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Post by Claire on Dec 17, 2007 19:05:07 GMT 1
I love a horse called september, one of my fav all time pony books. Always makes me blink back a tear or two! I read the Trebizon books as an adult after I found out Anne Digby had also wrote them. They were a bit after my time so I actually did think Anne D was a horsy writer (albeit a not very prolific one!) I thought the Treb books great too. I do enjoy a school story after being brought up on the Malory Towers books! Congrats on getting your mitts on a copy of Unforgettable Fifth haffyfan - did it set you back a lot?
Also I love Ursula Moray Williams, although for me it was the reverse situation to Anne Digby as I read the Gobbolino books, and the Toymakers Daughter series as a child but didnt read her pony books until an adult. (Didnt know they existed!) No ponies for miss pobjoy is great - a much under-rated pony book.
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Post by haffyfan on Dec 19, 2007 20:27:13 GMT 1
Far too much....£28 for a pb that is a 'disguised' ex lib!
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Post by Claire on Dec 20, 2007 0:33:44 GMT 1
Far too much....£28 for a pb that is a 'disguised' ex lib! Actually not too bad a price. I think I sold the last copy I had for nearer £50! It was mint tho. |
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Post by haffyfan on Dec 20, 2007 19:56:15 GMT 1
That makes me feel a bit better...but was cross as it was 'collectible Very good' on Amazon and arrived with feps torn out to no doubt hide the stamps etc! Should have known price was too good to be true really and there was no description apart from classification so should have asked I guess. It was rather good though......why did she never do the 6th form?
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Post by susanb on Jan 30, 2008 17:49:32 GMT 1
I've read a few of Joanna Cannan's mysteries....loved her Guy Northeast pair: Death at the Dog and They Rang Up the Police.
Re K.M. Peyton...I also loved her Who Sir, Me Sir!...what were the other books in that series? I've also read three of her four sea scout books....liked Stormcock Meets Trouble and Brownsea Silver, wasn't wild for North to Adventure...still haven't tracked down Hard Way Home. (Completely agree re post-pony Ruth.....read all the books in the series, but kept only Fly-By-Night and The Team)
Haven't yet found any of Josephine Pullein-Thomson's mysteries...they seem much more scarce than her pony books, but then, I've just begun looking....time will tell.
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Post by garej on Feb 1, 2008 20:18:37 GMT 1
Haven't yet found any of Josephine Pullein-Thomson's mysteries...they seem much more scarce than her pony books, but then, I've just begun looking....time will tell. I am after some of those, I totally agree with you they are hard to find. But this week I got one of her adult books: A Place With Two Faces (written under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann). It's actually quite well written, and even if you didnt know it was Josephine writing it, you could tell that it was written by a good author, as the amount of detail that went into it. It's a gothic novel, so it is very dark, and there is a lot to do with graveyards and perhaps not for the religious people, as it also involves witches rituals and a devil dance, and sacrifices (people). I havent finished it entirely, but there are certain parts which send shivers down the spine. But it proves how good the P-Ts really were, it's a totally unexpected angle from Josephine (probably why she wrote it under a pseudonym). It's not my favourite book so far, but it proves that she (and the same goes for her sisters) has a wider scope than just pony books. |
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Post by Claire on Feb 1, 2008 20:42:07 GMT 1
But this week I got one of her adult books: A Place With Two Faces (written under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann Ooh I love gothic type novels I will have to look out for that one! susanb the other book featuring Nutty, Hoomey etc is Downhill All the Way, not a pony book as they go on a school trip ski-ing, but worth a read as its funny and as with all her books very well-written. I don't think there was another one in the series, but I may be wrong. Anyone else knows otherwise please let us know! |
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Post by garej on Feb 1, 2008 20:56:58 GMT 1
But this week I got one of her adult books: A Place With Two Faces (written under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann Ooh I love gothic type novels I will have to look out for that one! It is described on the front as a "gothic terror novel" so if you like gothic novels, then it is probably for you. It may not be the best of the genre, but still so far, a good read, if gothic novels are for you. Here is a picture of the cover:-  |
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Post by susanb on Feb 7, 2008 19:27:33 GMT 1
garej....that sounds good! I'll be keeping an eye out for that one too!
Claire...Downhill all the Way...another for the list! Agree re all of Peyton's books...I haven't ever read one that I thought "oh well, that was a waste of time"....she's in a class by herself. I've got two of her most recent (one pony, one not), bookmarked on Amazon.co.uk to order in a month or so....they're not out in the US yet (arrgghh). Waiting just till Neil Gaiman's World Book Day book comes out (ANOTHER thing they don't publish in the US...grrrr....) so I can group all onto one order and save on shipping.
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Post by Claire on Mar 11, 2008 21:39:53 GMT 1
I have just got my hands on a copy of Joanna Cannan's Murder Included. Not sure if I should talk about it on this thread or on the adult pony books thread as it does have a background of stables/hunting.
I have read about half way thru. In some ways it is a bit agatha christie-ish with detectives questioning a group of people in a house where murder has been comitted. However Joanna C is much more acerbic than Agatha. She is slightly contemptuous of the upper class, but even more damning of the working class detective and his prejudices.
As with some of her pony books (and in keeping with the views she herself held) the author rather despises the dull conventions of life and the people who follow them because it is 'the' thing to do. As in I Wrote a Pony Book, the eccentric characters who do not fit in, are the heroines (the half French Bunny and her daughter Lisa). There are also a few digs at the English boarding school system which Joanna also disapproves of.
The characters of Bunny and Lisa for some reason also remind me a bit of Augusta and her mother in Diana P-T's books.
The horsy content is not huge, more of a backdrop. Although I still prefer the pony books, they being easier to get into and funnier, this is also worth a look if you like Joanna's style.
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