About

Hi, I’m Claire (aka “The Captive Reader”). I am an avid reader from Vancouver, Canada who loves 20th Century middlebrow fiction, domestic Victorian novels, volumes of correspondence, gossipy diaries, books about European history, and almost anything having to do with Jane Austen. Mostly I blog about books but my focus occasionally wanders to embrace some of my other interests too, including gardening, travelling, and various domestic endeavours.

Vilma Reading on a Sofa by T.F. Simon

CONTACT ME AT:

thecaptivereader [at] hotmail [dot] com

thecaptivereader – LibraryThing

@CaptiveReader – Twitter

FAVOURITE AUTHORS

Elizabeth von Arnim, Jane Austen, Pierre Berton, R.F. Delderfield, O. Douglas, Jane Gardam, Juliet Gardiner, Elizabeth Gaskell, Georgette Heyer, Eva Ibbotson, Guy Gavriel Kay, Penelope Lively, Alberto Manguel, A.A. Milne, D.E. Stevenson, Angela Thirkell, Anthony Trollope, P.G. Wodehouse

This page has the following sub pages.

Reading Directory

47 Comments »

47 Responses

on January 23, 2010 at 20:54 | Reply Mary (makd)

Lovely, lovely, blog. Best of luck – may stop by if/when I have time in the future.

Once again: gorgeous blog, with a lot of interesting reviews.
- on January 23, 2010 at 21:23 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  Thank you so much Mary!
on February 4, 2010 at 10:51 | Reply Lucy

Hello! I just stumbled upon your blog and it looks fantastic! Looking forward to reading it thoroughly with a cup of tea by my side 🙂 Cheers!
- on February 4, 2010 at 17:19 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  So glad you found it and hope you enjoy!
on March 6, 2010 at 23:40 | Reply Amanda (Desert Book Chick)

Ooh. Just noticed that we started book blogging at the same time. Good luck from the other end of this Earth (!) and I’ll blogroll you.
- on March 7, 2010 at 08:23 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  Thanks! Always great to hear from another new blogger!
on November 28, 2010 at 17:38 | Reply Natalia

Great to stumble upon fellow book bloggers, looking forward to reading the reviews.
on January 18, 2011 at 09:39 | Reply Vipula

I came across your blog at Stick in an Book and instantly fell in love with your profile image ( which is also your header) ! Your blog is very pretty
- on January 18, 2011 at 10:46 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  So glad you like both the blog and the lovely T.F. Simon header image!
on January 19, 2011 at 15:40 | Reply Yvann

Which bit of the corporate world are you stuck in? I am trapped in accounting and get at least 90% of my reading done on the commute!
- on January 19, 2011 at 16:05 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  I’m currently working as an analyst in the transportation industry, mostly liasing between IT and Marketing & Sales. My background is certainly business (I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2008) and I’ve been surrounded by accountants since birth – my mother is a Certified Management Accountant. Right now I’m working from home (just a temporary measure since I moved back to Vancouver) so no more reading during the commute for me!
  - on January 20, 2011 at 02:42 Yvann
    
    My commiserations on having been surrounded by accountants since birth!
on March 29, 2011 at 06:37 | Reply Julie E

Claire, I am loving your blog. I’ve been following quite a few book review blogs, and so far, yours seems to most closely match my reading preferences. Usually, I’ll look through a blog’s archives and only be drawn to a few of the books reviewed, but I’d like to read at least half of the books you’ve mentioned!

Anyway, I’ll be around. 🙂

Julie @ Read Handed
on May 25, 2011 at 18:23 | Reply Sandy M.

I decided to follow you when I saw Lester Pearson in your currently-reading widget. I mean, how blatantly Canadian can you get? Wait, you can… there’s a hockey book too 🙂

As a garden geek, as soon as I saw the pix from Van Dusen, I said, ‘ah, BC’. I’m in the Hamilton-Royal-Botanical-Gardens vicinity myself.

Anyhow, I am looking forward to playing in your Library Loot meme/event… see you again soon.
on May 31, 2011 at 04:28 | Reply Louise Jaques

Hi, I am also 20 and we seem to have a similar taste in books! I really like your blog 🙂
on August 15, 2011 at 19:30 | Reply Fatma

Greetings, what a charming site this is and with such an interesting selection of books! Today I started watching the old BBC Series, “To Serve Them All My Days,” based on R. F. Delderfield’s novel and while following up on the author, landed on your review of his autobiography. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
-Fatma, California
on March 31, 2012 at 13:05 | Reply lnisbet

I nominated you for the Sunshine Award! Check it out here: http://thoughtsonmybookshelf.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/my-day-just-got-a-little-brighter/
on April 26, 2012 at 23:52 | Reply leavesandpages

Lovely blog! I have greatly enjoyed browsing through your selections. (So many books – so little time… my look-for list keeps getting longer.) I’m hitting the half century soon & am so very pleased to see younger readers enjoying older books, as well as more current reads. I have two avid-reader teenagers as well so our combined book collections are eclectic, to say the least – the nice thing is that I am always finding lots of good stuff in the contemporary young adult genre, as well as the vintage books I have always had a fondness for.

Your book choices appeal to all of us – we have many of the same authors you’ve sampled. I have recently started logging some of my own book reviews as I’ve found so much pleasure in reading *other* avid readers’ reviews, and I thought it was time to join the conversation. Still very much a work in progress, just getting going…

I am mid-province from you, up in the Cariboo; I noticed you mentioned the pine beetle book – name escapes me – Andrew Nikiforuk’s book – so I thought, “Aha! Is this a BC blogger?!” (And I’m a gardener, too – just finished Eleanor Perenyi’s “Green Thoughts”, which I’d been looking for for quite some time; noticed it is on your list as well as the other literary-horticultural works.)

Thank you for sharing your own thoughts & words!
~Barb
on June 3, 2012 at 10:20 | Reply Betty

Hello Claire: I found your site wandering through other book blogs and have been lurking for a week or so just enjoying the site. I just love your library lust segment/pictures as I too love books and home libraries. I have a small den in my place, I live in Toronto, which I use as a library and my husband sometimes uses as a workplace. My bookshelves are jam packed with books, but I can’t seem to stop myself from continuing to buy them, although these days I try to buy books at second hand bookstores or a Goodwill near my workplace. I also love going to the library and taking books out and appreciate the fact that you also highlight using our local libraries. I get a kick out of visiting your blog and will be visiting often. Great work.
on July 30, 2012 at 03:39 | Reply Chrissie Elmore

Hello Claire: So pleased I have found your blog and thank you for introducing me to The Ugly Duckling. I’m off to Amazon to get a copy. It could even be possibility for our Pantomime Group to perform. Looking forward to sharing literary thoughts. Chrissie
on September 1, 2012 at 05:33 | Reply honeybeejoy

You have a lovely blog! I see you are half Czech, if you can recommend any good historical fiction regarding that part of the world, please do! 🙂
on September 7, 2012 at 07:54 | Reply amadorsquare

One more “captive reader” of your blog. I’m off to get a copy of “Skylark.” May I ask you about the painting of the woman reading? Thanks!
Eunice
- on September 10, 2012 at 07:57 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  Hi Eunice, thanks for reading! The header image is from a painting called “Vilma Reading on a Sofa” by T.F. Simon.
on April 28, 2013 at 04:13 | Reply Judith miles

Dear Claire,
I so enjoy your blog.many of the books you enjoy were those my mother read with joy. D.E. Stevenson was my mother’s cousin’s mother -in – law. My mother was immensely proud of this connection.

I am hoping you will start to read books by Ann Bridge. Well worth seeking out.
on June 17, 2013 at 12:37 | Reply Chris Mills

Hi, I dropped by on the trail of Georgette Heyer. Glad to come across a fellow fan. You have a lovely blog. I’m interested in the list of Canadian titles – many names unfamiliar to me. Good luck with your year’s reading!
on September 25, 2013 at 05:25 | Reply Rebecca

Hi I just found your blog whilst investigating Greyladies books and see that we share a love of Dorothy Whipple, Persephone book parcels, Anthony Trollope and Slightly Foxed. I’m going to have fun exploring your previous blogs 🙂
on January 18, 2014 at 10:42 | Reply Word Hits

Delightful blog! I’m so glad to have discovered it.
on April 5, 2014 at 10:35 | Reply Clara

Hello…I just stumbled across your blog while reading something else…can’t remember what. “gossipy diaries” I love that! I see that we have a lot of favorite authors in common. I will definitely be stopping in frequently!
on June 1, 2014 at 01:52 | Reply anna amundsen

Hello Claire,

I have been nominated for the Liebster award (http://inkstainsonareadersblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/liebster-award/) and I am passing it on to you as a gesture of appreciation.
Have been following your blog for a year now, I think, and it’s grown to be one of my favorites. I love the books you read, but I especially like the way you’re writing about them.
If you don’t have an aversion to these award things it would be delightful to hear your thoughts on questions asked..

Sincerely,
Anna
- on June 6, 2014 at 22:34 | Reply Claire (The Captive Reader)
  
  Hi Anna,
  Thanks so much for thinking of me! I’m not much for awards but it is always lovely to have been thought of and I’m delighted to hear you’re enjoying the blog.
  Best wishes,
  Claire
on June 11, 2014 at 15:31 | Reply Robin Powell

One of the treats of searching online is discovering unexpected lovely things like your blog. As a fellow Elizabeth von Arnim fan (she is always by my bed in a treasured 1914 edition) I will now be following what you are reading to see what else deserves a place on the bedside table.
on July 22, 2014 at 06:52 | Reply leavesandpages

Hi Claire – I don’t usually play the awards game, but in this case it felt appropriate. I’ve nominated you for the

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

http://leavesandpages.com/2014/07/22/what-a-nice-surprise-ive-been-nominated-as-a-very-inspiring-blogger-and-invited-to-pass-it-along-here-we-go/

Thank you for your ongoing inspiration!
on September 2, 2014 at 14:57 | Reply The Captive Reader | ninevoices

[…] you come across The Captive Reader website? Try https://thecaptivereader.com/about/ . It contains book reviews by Claire who is “an avid reader from Vancouver, Canada who […]
on February 8, 2015 at 13:13 | Reply cricketmuse

Kindred spirits…
on August 19, 2015 at 03:26 | Reply Libby @ Through the Wardrobe

Hey Claire!

I have nominated you for the Liebster Award ! You can check what to do here: https://throughthewardrobedoor.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/liebster-award/

Enjoy!
on March 5, 2016 at 10:36 | Reply Deepika Ramesh

Hi Claire. I am so glad to have discovered your blog. 🙂 And, PG Wodehouse, and AA Milne are my favourite authors too. 🙂
on September 29, 2016 at 05:02 | Reply EnglishLitGeek

Hi Claire, you are welcome to join the Bookish Time Travel Tag, if you would like. More details on my blog. Best wishes, EnglishLitGeek
on September 29, 2016 at 08:53 | Reply ninevoices

Ninevoices approve your taste! Our writing group are SO glad to have discovered your site.
on October 16, 2016 at 17:09 | Reply Beatrice

Claire, we do have a lot in common! I share your love of the authors you’ve listed. Have you tried Hazel Holt? I love her ‘tecs. She was a close friend and literary editor of Barbara Pym’s work, and her ‘tecs are marvels of descriptions of village life.
on October 20, 2016 at 06:30 | Reply John Childrey

Thanks for the Thirkell news.

Have you read the Wayfarer Trilogy by Nina Romano? The Secret Language of Women, Lemon Blossoms, and In America.
on January 26, 2017 at 03:14 | Reply helenajrae

Hi Claire,
I just came across your pretty blog (I love your banner) via Another Look Book. I have a small selection of vintage books which were left to me by my grandmother and I adore them. I’m ready for more though! There are already three I’ve come across on your site that are now on my tbr list. I’m currently reading O Douglas. Stay warm in Vancouver…it’s hot here in Melbourne! 🙂
on May 28, 2017 at 12:42 | Reply Wendy

I see you are reading Penelope Lively. I am presently binging on her books, and having just read How it all Began, I realized how similar to the books of Monica Dickens hers are, or at least this one is. I devoured MD when I was a teenager, many moons ago, and so for nostalgia’s sake looked her up online, which is how I found your wonderful website/blog. I look forward to discovering some of the authors you love, since our tastes seems to coincide. What fun, since I am elderly, English born and bred, and live in Toronto, whereas you are….quite different. Love of literature creates bonds and crosses many frontiers, doesn’t it?
on October 21, 2017 at 17:27 | Reply Jane Killingbeck

lovely to find someone else who loves Elizabeth von Arnhem, and Delderfield, whose a Horseman Riding By series I just re read, and have now passed them on to my daughter who loves them too. My favourite Von Arnhem book is A Month in Italy but also I once had a beautiful suede leather covered edition of The Solitary Summer, the sequel to Elizabeth and her German Garden and love those too. She was an amazing woman too ! Currently I am rereading The Leopard by Lampedusa as am off to Sicily in November and also the Inspector Montelbano novels of Andrea Camilleri, after so enjoying the TV series over the years.Also recently picked up a Margaret Drabble novel…I read many of her early novels but then began to not like her later work, but this…The Pure Gold Baby , a very recent novel was amazing, especially for someone like me who was young in the seventies, as it is a tale set in the seventies in north London, told by one friend about another woman and her special needs child, reflecting the different attitudes about nearlt everything back then …told from the perspective of now.
on March 16, 2018 at 19:48 | Reply Robert Horvat

Almost a decade at it. I can’t believe your enthusiasm hasn’t waned. Glad I stumbled across your website.
on January 31, 2022 at 04:41 | Reply Jane

Hello I’m not sure how I found you possibly Stuck in a Book, I love Vilma reading on a sofa, great choice!
on December 7, 2022 at 02:25 | Reply alison41

Hello. Although I don’t share your passion for Jane Austen or Victorian lit, I love PG Wodehouse, ditto Alberto Manguel and Georgette Heyer. Ditto travel. So am signing up as a follower. See you in the blogosphere.
on December 25, 2022 at 14:50 | Reply Jeannemara

I see several of my favourite authors on your list, as well as some I don’t know, but will now investigate. Love to see your libraries, so much my taste!