Book 79: "The Agricola and The Germania" by Tacitus

Britain yields gold, silver, and other metals, to make it worth conquering. Its seas, too, produce pearls, but they are of a dark, bluish-grey colour. Some think that the natives are unskilful in gathering them; for whereas in the Indian Ocean the oysters are torn alive and breathing from the rocks, in Britain they are collected as the sea throws them up. I find it easier to believe that the pearls are of inferior quality than that people miss a chance of making a larger profit.

In "The Agricola", Tacitus covers the life and career of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who was Governor of Britain between 78 and 84 A.D. In "The Germania" he is writing about the character and customs of the germanic tribes living north of the frontier of the Roman Empire.

This Penguin Classics edition includes an interesting introduction, but the maps included could have been bigger; the names of the tribes are so small and close together that it is very hard to find the one you are looking for.

Book 80: "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson

Fridays and Tuesdays were terrible days, because I had to go into the village. Someone had to go to the library, and the grocery; Constance never went past her own garden, and Uncle Julian could not. Therefore it was not pride that took me into the village twice a week, or even stubbornness, but only the simple need for books and food.

"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" is narrated by 18-year-old Mary Katherine Blackwood, six years after four members of her family were poisoned at the dinner table. Now the remaining members of the family, Mary Katherine, her older sister Constance (who was tried and acquitted of the murders), and their Uncle Julian, live a cloistered existence at Blackwood Farm. A few old friends still come to see them, but they are ostracised by the villagers, who had it in for the family even before the murders.

This is a really eerie story; none of the remaining Blackwoods are exactly stable, and you are kept wondering which of them was the poisoner, but you are also on their side against the relentlessly hostile villagers and scheming Cousin Charles.


I picked this book up at the Birmingham BookCrossing meet yesterday, read half of it on the train home and finished it off in bed last night. I have seen this book mentioned several times recently and liked the sound of it, so when I noticed this copy on the table at the meet and saw that it was less than 200 pages long, I decided to take it.