July: What are you reading?

July already! And just in time as the June thread was at its limit.

Today in a rash uneconomical gesture I purchased The Great Lover by Jill Dawson, a fictionalized account of the poet Rupert Brooke as a young man. I have always been interested in Brooke, partly because of my enduring interest in The Great War and partly because of the rather strange way he has, since his death, gone from being practically deified to being dismissed as an overly sentimental dandy to being reassessed as not half bad as a writer. And his personal life was pretty interesting to boot.

Anyway, today I was surprised to find out that first, my tiny little tourist town has a rather wonderful bookstore, hidden up on the second floor of an old building full of shops, and second that the bookseller had this book on his shelves. I was not expecting to find it anywhere around here, in fact I had looked for it in the indie bookstore in the next town without luck. So I am feeling very, very happy right now, envisioning happy times in the future of wandering down the tree-lined road to walk along the harbor and then arrive at the old bookstore for some serious browsing, maybe with a cup of tea or coffee thrown in. Yes, life is good.

Finished "Sizzling Sixteen" and have continued with the Sherlock Holmes short stories.
cc: I have read all the Phryne Fisher series. You have 17 more to enjoy! The 5 Corinna Chapman books are good too, but not if you are on a diet! Corinna is a baker and she concocts some wicked treats.
I still have a number of library books to get through and the renewal computer is getting testy with me. I should stop requesting so many at one time!

siobhan - You paint such a lovely picture that I want to come live there, too!

Siobhan - can I come and stay with you for a while? Is it ok if I bring DH and pets? It will only be for a few days until I've enjoyed the bookshop and the harbour and the sea and the cool breezes..... :-)

I'm just about to finish Lady of Sherwood by Jennifer Roberson. It's about Lady Marian, of course, but tells her version of how the Merry Men ended up in Sherwood Forest. I haven't read anything about Robin Hood in years and have really enjoyed it.

When I was young, an older cousin had a penpal in England who used to send her small pamphlets that had stories of knights and damsels in distress, e.g., Arthur and Robin, and I just loved them. I found the poem In Sherwood by Alfred Noyes in one of my mother's old college literature books and used to march around the yard chanting it. I've always been a romantic. Here it is:

Sherwood

Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake;
Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn,
Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.

Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves
Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June:
All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon;
Like a flight of rose-leaves fluttering in a mist
Of opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst.

Merry, merry England is waking as of old,
With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold:
For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Love is in the greenwood building him a house
Of wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs;
Love is in the greenwood: dawn is in the skies;
And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.

Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep:
Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep?
Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,
Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould,
Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,
And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.

Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together
With quarter-staff and drinking-can and grey goose-feather;
The dead are coming back again; the years are rolled away
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows;
All the heart of England hid in every rose
Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old
And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold,
Bugles in the greenwood echo from the steep,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen
All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men;
Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the May,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day;

Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ash
Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash;
The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly;
And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.

Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves
Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves:
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Carolyn, that certainly takes me back to my childhood. Many of these ballad-type poems were read to us at Junior School, and although we never had to learn them lots of the lines have stayed with me. Of course, all deeply unfashionable today. ;-)

Siobhan, do you think you could please open a small guest-house in your area? Just some cheap, but exclusive little place for RP'ers to spend R&R time. All we would need is comfortable beds, three meals a day, access to an interesting selection of books, somewhere for a little walking to aid digestion and maybe a good beach for paddling and building sand-castles. I'm sure you could fit it in around your 'real' job hours. Easy-peasy.

I'm with Vee, although the travel costs would be high, it sounds heavenly and the company of RPers would be sublime.

I finished the Sara Gruen book, Ape House and enjoyed it very much, although there wasn't enough of the stars of the book, the bonobo apes. The ape parts (they communicate with sign language, teach it to their babies, and act like adolescent humans in many ways) made me long to see them, and have a chance to interact with them. Sara Gruen has actually had contact with the Great Ape Trust and based the reactions of the apes on things she saw.
I can recommend this one for when it comes out.

You all don't know how close you are - I am presently renting a six-bedroom house and using approximately one-quarter of it. Yes, there is room for just about everyone here. All is not perfect, however, as the bathrooms, shall we say, are in need of work. Actually the whole house is in need of work - a lot of work, but it is still wonderful even though I often feel like a pioneer woman, albeit one with hot and cold running water, an electric oven, and a car. The beds upstairs are a little too comfy, being bouncy and soft and the decor is out of the Adams Family, But the lower level is warm and sunny and has a sun porch and a deck, and it is summertime and the living is easy. All are welcome here, although it would have to be self-catering, unless one really, really, really likes cold cereal.

Seriously, Boothbay Harbor, ME is a wonderful tourist destination and I am sure everyone at RP would love a holiday here. Now you'll have to excuse me, the tide is perfect for sea-bathing right now -

Oh, and the Great Lover is really terrific.

Siobahn - have you been to the botanical garden yet? It was so beautiful the day we were there. And they had a showing of some of Robert McCloskeys' original drawings and pages for some of his books. The garden itself is relatively new...and it's amazing the progress they have made over the last two years...since the first time we saw it. It's a beautiful haven.

As for what I'm reading: The Postmistress is my current book. Yesterday, about 1/3 of the way through, I actually put it on the return stack. Then I couldn't decide what to read instead, so at lunch time I picked it up again. About 30 more pages into it, I am trapped! The radio presentation sections are wonderful. I was born after WWII so I have no actual memory of that programming, but I am old enough to remember radio of that type.
The concept of "this is happening while we are here" is eerie, and leads to a lot of deep thought. I am enjoying it and I didn't even think I would bother to finish it.

I just finished Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. It's a delightful memoir of her returning to her family roots after her roller-coaster, 17 year marriage ends in divorce. She manages to be both hilarious and heart-breaking, and the book is worth a read just for the way she writes about her mother and (IMHO) rather alarming traditional Mennonite food.

I'm also still plodding through The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. The first half on Joseph Banks and William and Caroline Herschel was terrific, but now that I'm onto Humphry Davy, it's not quite so riveting and I've set it aside for a bit.

Next up is a book for my local book group, The Tender Bar, a memoir by J.R. Moehringer. My friends have given it rave reviews, so I'm looking forward to it.

Veronica, I loved The Postmistress, and it was the London/radio portion of the book that grabbed me, too.

Siobhan, your spot in Maine sounds lovely! We vacation during the summer in New Hampshire at a lake, but I do miss the ocean. When are you opening that bed and breakfast again *G*?

Siobhan, I can put up with cold food, soft beds and dodgy decor (you should see this place) and as you say "the Great Lover is really terrific" I wonder if you would be willing to share him as well . . .

Vee, my mother read "Lady of Shallot" and "The Brook" to us when we had afternoon tea after school. As you say, ballad poetry was very fashionable at one time. I can still recall some lines.
Veronicae, like you, I was going to return a library book I could not get into, after I had a dental appointment. He only had old motor magazines so I went back to the book while I waited and it grew on me.
Have other RP'ers similarly got lucky with an almost discarded book?

annpan - I've definitely had that same experience. I couldn't get into The Hobbit or Hawaii the first time I tried. Luckily for me I tried again. They both turned out to be favorites of mine.

I've also had that happen with books that my book club chooses that I have previously tried to read unsuccessfully. Many times I end up enjoying -- or at least appreciating - the books in the end. One in particular that I recall was A Prayer for Owen Meany. THE USE OF ALL CAPS WHEN OWEN SPOKE REALLY ANNOYED ME. :( When I had to read it for book group, I just learned to ignore that feeling, and in the end I appreciated the book. It's not my favorite Irving, however.

Throughout the years I've read and collected novels, short stories and novellas by H.E. Bates. A cyber-acquaintance in England sent me a novel by Bates that I had never heard of: A Moment in Time. It is told in the first person by a young woman during WWII, who befriends RAF pilots, and is living in a dove-cot (spelled that way in the book). What has amazed me more than once about this author is how well he gets a woman's voice.

It is sprinkled with British phrases, like "Good show!", that I don't think are used anymore. Well, not at least in the British sitcoms broadcast by PBS.

Siobhan,
If you open the guesthouse aiming mainly at frugal/intellectual/nature lover types, like readers and birdwatchers, you could get away with less than perfect facilities (as long as is cozy, and big on ambience, books and birds). The coast sounds beautiful there, and you can see Atlantic puffins on some island off the coast there (read an article about this recently in the Smithsonian magazine at the library). Just saying...

Thank you, Veer, for providing the best laugh I've had in days.

I chanced upon a sale at a shop near where I work that sells comic books, genre literature, board games and cult movies, and ended up buying two books I had been looking for for a while, one on sale and one full price. Tore through one in about four hours non-stop, a very enjoyable breezy read of an urban fantasy. Liked it, but think it could have done without the author product-placing her own blog in it (I know this because I read it regularly), although I must admit it was done with tongue-in-cheek humour. Dreamveil, by Lynn Viehl.

As usual I am juggling a number of books. I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series, and also reading Darwin, Jayne Ann Krentz, Jasper Fforde and Patrick Leigh Fermor, which makes a nice mixture of fantasy, urban fantasy, science, romance and historical travel.

Went to the library the other day as one of the books I had ILL'd had come in, only to find that FIVE books had all arrived but somehow I had not got the message so only had two days to read two of them. Left those at the library, as although I am a fast reader, I'm not THAT fast. :-)

Instead picked up a new novel called "Mr.Rosenblum Dreams in English" by Natasha Solomon - it's her debut novel about a couple who happen to be Jewish and have immigrated to England just after the war. They are very desperate to become as "English" as possible so they don't stick out like "poppies in a wheat field" (lovely image)... Funny and sad at the same time, I am enjoying getting to know these characters... Most of the UK book blogs have been raving about this book, and it was only by accident that I realized that it had a different title in the US. Grr.

Oh, and also still reading the book on Mass Observation Diaries from WWII. Seems that I am stuck in this period of time for a while...

I'm re-visiting the trilogy by Flora Thompson: "Lark Rise to Candleford", and loving it even more the 2nd time.

Siobhan, it sounds as if you have moved to Paradise. I spent several summers in New England and will always remember the beauty of the Berkshires and the pristine coastline of Maine. Count me in, as a guest. :-)

Carolyn, I'm another romantic who has adored since childhood all things medieval -- my heroes were King Arthur and Robin Hood.

Wood - you may be interested in reading this trilogy I have just started as it has been compared with Lark Rise...
It's by M. V Hughes and the one I am reading is called "A London Child of the 1870's". The whole trilogy is called "A London Family 1870-1900" and is a memoir about a middle class family who were actually really happy. (None of this Victorian maudlin-ness here.) I am really enjoying this "Child" one and will be looking for the other two if I can find them at the library. This one was published in 1974, it says, which makes the original author rather old. Perhaps it was a grandchild or someone who published it for her. Anyway, it might be a good compliment to Lark Rise (urban vs rural etc)

Also finished up the highly enjoyable "Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English" by Natasha Solomon. By the end of the book, I really felt like I had known this little couple, after having gone through the episodes that they had experienced, and the author does an excellent job of describing the seasons in the Dorset countryside where the couple end up living. Actually, it was the descriptions that really drew me in as it really felt as though I was there, walking through the fields as I used to do in my younger days. Apparently, the author's grandparents were a big influence on this plot. It's a new release so it was one of those 7-day book loans, but I read it in two days so no problem there.

Now to read "The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman, a novel about a run-down English language newspaper in France (I think - can't remember), but it's another one that has got rave reviews by the Brit Blog community. It's another 7-day book so must get my teeth into that quickly... :-)

And then I think I can slow down my reading a bit and enjoy those ILLs that just came in. Also planning a read of "Jane Eyre" as part of my summer project to read some more classics... But that will have to wait...

Patience, young Luke, patience.

Three mystery authors new to me.

When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson. Could be a made-for-TV-movie book. Suspense from 3 sick males who threaten females plus one anemic. Abrupt jumps in time and location. Understand one of her earlier books was very good.

Finished a Luke Thanet (series character) by Dorothy Simpson. Good "cozy" but overly padded for my taste. Nice plot.

1/3 way through The Judgement of Strangers by Andrew Taylor. Hope it improves.

Not an auspicious beginning for July. Better remember my list next library visit!

I just popped in to the library to return books, not intending to take any more out. I already have three TBRs but there was the latest Alexander McCall Smith, "The Importance of being Seven" a 44 Scotland Street novel, fresh from the Acquisitions Department. Could not resist!

Liz, I enjoyed Mr Rosenblum's List (Commonwealth title - why did that one need changing???) but suggest you also read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which I enjoyed even more.

I am reading a second Sebastian St Cyr (how is that pronounced? Saint cur? Saint seer? Saint Kire?) mystery in a row. Finished Why Mermaids Sing which was an intriguing premise, and now on to Where Serpents Sleep. This is also interesting, but I have to say I was almost put off when the son of an Earl in London of 1812 says 'it looks like you have been knocked around pretty good' (or something to that effect). An editor should have picked up something like that. I'm not necessarily a stickler for chronologically correct speech, having no problem with Wolf Hall or Ariana Franklin's books, but if the characters have previously spoken with olde worlde language, you have to stick to it IMHO.

Kath, I think you pronounce the name 'Cyr' as 'Sire' ie how you would have addresses a king in days of yore. With reference to the author C S Harris, I checked and found she is really Cindy Proctor who 'graduated Phi Beta Kappa' (what does that mean?) and has taught in Idaho and travelled widely . . . so I guess she is American, and it might be everyday speech for her . . .
I am slowly reading Major Pettigrew but find it is dragging and/or my interest is flagging as nothing has happened for several chapters.

Liz/lemonhead I read and enjoyed A London Child of the Seventies many years ago. I just checked our copy of the book (I think in belonged to my Grandmother) and notice it was published in 1934 . . . it has some nice photographic plates of the family members. I have never been able to find the other two books in the series. Aren't the contrasts between the modern child and the one of a hundred and forty years ago telling! Even comfortably off children only received ONE present at Christmas and little Molly never shared the outings her brothers were taken on and they walked miles even when cabs and trams were available.

Vee, aren't these graduation levels a mystery to non-graduates! I recall that presenter on "Countdown" (Carol?)who was sneered at because she only had a "second" but showed us viewers how to do the sums (I used to be hopeless even at simple arithmatic) and did very well for herself in real life.

I am reading and really enjoying "The L-Shaped Room" by Lynne Reid Banks, it reminds me lots of one of my very favourite books "Stella Landry" by Robin McCorqoudale.

Annpan, I agree, especially with the terminology as we (in the UK) don't use any of the Greek letters as are used in the US nor do we have 'fraternities' or 'sororities'. Come to that neither do we have 'graduation ceremonies' for school leavers (only for those finishing at university). I don't know if Australia follows the UK or the US pattern.
re Countdown a very popular TV show over here especially among the older generation . . . and you really need your brain on high-alert to do both the dictionary and the maths questions. ;-)

I finished Krentz and read Shadowlands, an entertaining YA paranormal fantasy by Meg Cabot. It's firmly in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer mould, only with a psychic in the lead.

I am halfway through Time and Again by Jack Finney. It's an illustrated novel about time travel - a young man is trained by a government agency and travels back in time to New York in the 1890s. Beautifully written and definitely a book to be savoured. The descriptions of 1890s New York are fascinating.

Veer, Phi Beta Kappa is an honours society (see the link for more information).

Here is a link that might be useful: Phi Beta Kappa

Vee, our boys had a graduation from high school, but there was no dressing up or mortar boards involved. We also don't give graduation gifts, which I gather from another site I go to are quite common in the US.

I had a thought tonight - if Sebastian St Cyr pronounces his name in the same way St John is often said, he could be Sebastian Sincere! LOL!!

Good Lord, ladies. I know it's summer but can anyone suggest something other than "mysteries" or romance novels?? Might as well read the Twilight series!!

Ouch! Turns out there are lots of RPers who enjoy mysteries, and some who like romances. But there also lots who read other types of book, both fiction and non-fiction. That's what makes RP so refreshing -- the variety of tastes. Plus, I'm not sure what thread you're reading, sassy, but I've seen many different types of books mentioned already this month. For example:

Х We are at War about the Mass Observation project diaries
Х The Great Lover by Jill Dawson, a fictionalized account of the poet Rupert Brooke as a young man.
Х The Sara Gruen book, Ape House Ц a fiction book about bonobo apes
Х The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes Ц non-fiction
Х The Tender Bar, a memoir by J.R. Moehringer
Х Lark Rise to Candleford Цa semi-autobiographical set of novels about the English countryside in the late 19th century.

And that's just reading up to July 6. Summer is a great time to read mysteries and romances, but if that's not your cup of tea, that's okay, too. Just cruise back through the multiple pages of threads and you'll find mentions of any type of book you might possibly want to read, from the lightest mystery to a heavy dissertation on the Middle Ages. Enjoy!

Thanks for the info Netla and Kath. US university students are obviously of a very high academic caliber. Over here it would be easier to give awards for downing the most booze, staying in bed until the afternoon or thinking of excuses for the delay in handing in work.
Have just borrowed Jackdaws by Ken Follet so am learning nasty ways to torture little-old-lady French Resistance workers. His 'style' (if that isn't too strong a word) is not unlike Jeffrey Archer. ;-)

I zipped through the new Stephanie Plum, Sizzling Sixteen, this afternoon. Overall, I liked it. It had a bit more action and a bit less screwball comedy and felt less forced than the last two. Stephanie, Connie and Lula actually displayed some competence for a change, and a run-in with attendees of 'Hobbit Con' was actually funny. The Ranger/Morelli thing was fairly subdued, which was a bit of a disappointment. Evanovich has potentially (and this could go either way) set up a major shift for the next book which, IMHO, is much needed if this series is going to continue.

I'm also reading The Tender Bar for my local book group, and though I've only just begun, the "voice" of the narrator has me hooked.

Vee, there seem to be various levels of application to work by students. The overseas ones coming from places such as Singapore were disturbed by the chatter of Australian ones. They are used to silence in the library. I visited a university library in Singapore and could have heard a paperclip drop!
Also different are the levels of education. A lecturer in an Australian university commented that an overseas visitor with a Masters degree was unable to converse on her subject at the level he would have expected.
Another problem is the recognition of qualifications from one country to another or even within the same country. There was a case recently of a tradesman who came to Australia and then found his years of expertise did not get him work until he had retaken exams. He has gone back
home and lost a good deal of money over the whole business.

Back to the topic. I am reading "Our Lady of Immaculate Deception" by Nancy Martin. I thought this was one of her Blackbird Sisters series, it is not but has an interesting new character Roxy Abruzzo who has an architectural salvage business. So now I am going to learn something new!

I have three books going right now, although the recent steamy temps have left me uninterested in doing much of anything. Those lazy days of summer indeed! In the evening it is a great temptation to wander down to the waterfront and enjoy an ice cream while dangling my feet off the end of the pier. But I have managed a few pages of each every day.

The Innocent - Magdalen Nabb - a mystery set in Florence, very good so far

Seasons in Basilicata - David Yeadon - I'm a little more than halfway through this nonfiction work by travel writer Yeadon, who spent an entire year in a small southern Italian hill village. Very enjoyable.

The Best of Stillmeadow, also Country Chronicle by Gladys Taber. A series of essays on country life in Connecticut by the beloved author who died in 1980. Really lovely.

All of these are RP recommendations, thank you all!

Finished Born to Rule, the 5-handed biography of Queen Victoria's granddaughters who became Queen Consorts all over Europe. Liked it but didn't love it-might have been more interested if I didn't all ready know most of the history-I have read that better written elsewhere. But it is a good overall view of European history at the time, which was really one big family squabble. (Why the Kaiser wasn't murdered as a child I will never know-he was an incredibly unpleasant son and brother from the word go.)

Will be rereading A Separate Peace for bookclub soon, starting another book by Mrs. Henry Wood on my iKindle, as well as the biography of the Queen Mother previously mentioned in June when it is cool enough to hold it on a pillow on my lap-and enjoying a steady diet of Australian mysteries in and among as they come from the library. Astrokath-Phryne is a hoot.

Reading THE POSTMISTRESS now and find that I can only read one or two chapters at a time.
The visions of London during the blitz really get to me and all the descriptions of death and destruction stay with me too long. It is an interesting book and I have great confidence that I will have enjoyed it when it's done. Right now I suffer with the women in the book !

Funny.
I wonder how many voracious readers picture the story as they read.
Do you have a movie running in your imagination?
Is this what makes a person completely addicted to reading?
I wonder if those who do not enjoy book might also have less imagination and therefore don't get the full experience from reading?

Yoyo: I do 'see' scenes as I read them but sometimes picture the character differently to the authors description.
If the location is a familiar one, that makes it very easy to visualise but annoying if the author gets it wrong!
I don't read WW2 books as I don't have good memories about that time and the years in Britain after the war. However, it must be interesting for those who did not experience it to know what the times were like then.

I run movies in my head. When I get really engrossed in a book, I am sometimes surprised to look up and find myself in my own familiar room. It's like being transported to another world.

I just finished The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian, which is the 7th book in his Aubrey/Maturin sea-faring series. I absolutely love this series, especially since it feels as if the books could've really been written in the time in which they are set (early 1800s), which I think is often unusual for historical fiction.

I'm currently reading The Inner Circle by T.C.Boyle. It's about a young man who becomes friends with Dr. Alfred Kinsey, and apparently helps with his research. I'm not too impressed with the book so far; it's actually kind of boring considering the risque subject matter;-). I'm only on page 58 though, so hopefully it will get more interesting. I've read two others by Boyle that I really liked: The Tortilla Curtain and The Road to Wellville.

I tried The Postmistress but had to take it back to the library before I got very far into it. I'll try again later when it's not so much in demand. Really though, it did not engage me, and that is an era which interests me.

Right now I am reading a biography of Luther Burbank called The Garden of Invention by Jane S. Smith. I bought a copy as a gift a year ago, and when I saw it on a remainder table last month in Portland, I picked up a copy for myself.

Burbank was apparently a kind of Thomas Edison of the plant world. He is responsible for the Santa Rosa plum I have growing in my back yard, as well as many other of our garden plants. Unfortunately he also imported the Himalayan blackberry which has gone rogue in both our wild areas and gardens, something much less welcome. I have had that here, too. It took heavy equipment to remove it, back when we were remodeling ten years ago. Roundup alone couldn't do it.

Rosefolly

(1) Finished "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" last week, and ... was under-whelmed. It was a pleasant story, but lacked "a kick" to it. It held my attention enough to stay with it till the end, but just barely. The only character who had some high-octane energy was the eccentric next door neighbor, Alice, and she hardly shows up. For some reason this book just didn't "work" for me.

(2) Am in the last chapters of "Queen Lucia: Part I: Make Way for Lucia." A winner! It's sometimes LOL-funny. Have never read a book by E.F. Benson, but he's on my "list" now! But I'll be sad to lose the character "Olga Bracely" -- unless she's in the other "Lucia" books to follow (which, I have the feeling she is not). She's so fascinating -- a really Sparkling character! I like reading about her, than about Lucia.

(3) "Marry Him: the Case for Settliing for Mr. Good Enough" (Lori Gottlieb). I know we don't talk about advice books here, and I don't know if I'm breaking any rules, but this one is written w/sensitivity, intelligence, and TONS of real-life examples. A really thought-provoking read. It's not what you might think -- it's not suggesting, not for a moment, that a woman settle for any old nice guy who comes along. There's a lot of reality -- sometimes a little hard, but necessary to face all the same. Gottlieb is a respected non-fiction author here (U.S.A.): her essays have been in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, the Los Angles Times, etc. Also appears frequently on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Annpan......I don't find WWII interesting at all, probably one of few who don't.
I find that particular book very upsetting.
She writes of such sadness and grief....horror and death....it's difficult for me to see that I will have "enjoyed" the book once I finish it.
It's painful.
However, I am engaged enough to want to finish it....if for no other reason than to see if the author can actually create a happy resolution to all this.

Oh Laura-Olga never goes away! She reappears just when Georgie needs her, never fear.

That series is a great re-read favorite of mine.

Rosefolly, your comments about Luther Burbank sparked a memory from very long ago. My mother took me shopping when I was about 10 and we found two books which appeared to be US text books, full of stories, then with questions to test comprehension at the end, and she bought them for me*. Lots of the stories were really interesting, and one was about Burbank - I can see the picture in my mind's eye. Another I remember was Charles Goodyear and vulcanised rubber. I would love to go and hunt the books up, but they are in a drawer in my son's bed which currently can't be opened due to other furniture.

*A very strange thing about my mother - she doesn't read AT ALL, apart from the newspaper, and that in a very odd way - but always encouraged us to read and would buy us books!

astrokath...does the book have black and white line drawings? I remember a drawing like that of Burbank, at a lab table, maybe with a microscope.

Laura, when you have read the E.F.Benson "Lucia" series, try the Tom Holt follow-up books. He has portrayed the characters (Olga is there too) very well.

Had a bumper reading weekend. For some reason, DH and I decided to get "off the grid" socially speaking, and we just hunkered down. Just what we needed, esp since he had had to get up at 3 on Saturday morning for two homicides. (He's lead detective right now.) So lots of sleeping at odd times, and reading and watching some tv. Very relaxing.

On to the reading:
* Finished up "The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman, a newly released novel about a stuggling English-language newspaper in Rome. Each chapter comes from the POV of a different character and as the book progresses and you find out more about each character and how they interact with each other, you get gradually sucked in. I really enjoy these sort of books where you start off with a lot of different threads/characters and they slowly start to blend together to make a rich tapestry....

Then read "Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education" by Jane Robinson. I had thought this was to be a book about American higher ed and women, but actually, it was English and I found it fascinating. (I think it would have been just as interesting if it had an American focus, but just less history...)

I learned a lot and I am so proud of these forerunners for the cause: without them, I am not sure where we would be. For so long in the early days, men equated educated women with barrenness/fertility issues - i.e. the more education you had had a direct result on your uterus. Plus women were, at one time, categorized in the same group as "infants and imbeciles' so why educate them? In fact, people had been advocating for women's education since the seventh century (according to Robinson), and I found this to be really interesting.

One of the most irritating facts that I read was that for many years, women could attend university but not actually get the degree at the end. So you could pass all the tests, get great grades, and still - nada at the end even though the boys did. Imagine your annoyance! But then as I was reading, I came to understand that these women were pioneers of something very important and understood that they had to choose their battles very carefully without having the rug pulled from under them. In fact, it wasn't until 1948 that Cambridge actually allowed women graduates to receive a proper degree. Imagine!!

Anyway, a fascinating dig into the past for me, and the author has a great sense of humor that is sprinkled throughout. I recommend this one.

Then moved on to a YA, Holes by Louis Sacher about a juvenile correction facility in Texas where the "clients" have to dig holes. But why? Are they looking for something? I am enjoying this one and it will be a quick read...

And Bluestockings has inspired me to *finally* read my own Bedford High School Centenary book which has been on the shelves since 1982. I really should have read this years ago, as my father was instrumental in getting this book together, but you know how it goes.... Better late than never.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jane Robinson website

Lemonhead and veer,

I found a copy of the whole trilogy by Molly Hughes (A London Family) at my library and have almost finished the set. I was quite annoyed on Molly's behalf that she never got to go on the outings with her brothers and that they had all the fun while she had to stay home with her mother. Of course, I'm looking at it from a 20th-21st century point of view which does skew the point a bit...

Aside from that I have been quite caught up in the narrative and even stayed up way past my bedtime last night because I couldn't put it down.

I have just finished the third (and last--issued 2010) book by S. J. Bolton, Blood Harvest. I read the entire book today. I'm telling you, these books are page turners. They are pretty tense and each deals with a different English folklore type of a story. The settings are remote villages; e.g., the Shetland Islands, Yorkshire moors. They are all stand alones and quite different, but if she is just hitting her stride, goodness knows what the next one will be like.

annpan-I so agree-Tom Holt has done what many have tried and failed to do-continued a series started by a wonderful writer and maintained the flavor and the voice.

So far this month, I've read The Summons by John Grisham, People of the Wolf by Michael and Kathleen Gear, The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly, and Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy plus The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (for book club). Tonight I will finish Little Bee by Chris Cleave and yesterday at the library I got South of Broad by Pat Conroy and Growing Up Bin Laden by Najwa bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, nd Jean Sasson. I'm also in the middle of Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'm dying to read the new Janet Evanovich but I'm trying to be good to my budget and wait till they get it at the library.
I really liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and am looking forward to reading the other two in the series. Little Bee has been very good also.

Rouan -

Funny that you write that you were annoyed by the fact that Molly (the Victorian girl) kept left behind. I was also really bothered by that, but then had to keep reminding myself that it was the way it was back then, and not to look at it with twenty-first century eyes. Now I am looking for the other two books... I will probably have to ILL them, I think.

Finished up (and really enjoyed) "Holes" by Louis Sachar, the YA novel which won loads of prizes because it's really good. Excellent plot which circles around and ends up referring to what happens back at the beginning, and just a darned good story. What sort of age do you think this would appeal to?

And at lunchtime, I started "Jane Eyre" as part of my continuing Classics All Summer project. Good so far, but then I'm only up to where Jane is having her first day at the new school... I'd like to read some more tonight, but my chatty MIL is coming in tonight to stay. Perhaps I could put two or three benedryls in her coffee... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....... :-)

lemonhead -- You are such a naughty DIL - :-)

Did you know they made a movie of Holes? It starred Shia LeBoef(?) and featured Henry Winkler, John Voight and some other good actors. I think you'd enjoy it.

To: ccrdmrbks &: annpan -

Thank you both for the info. Tom Holt... I'll have to look him up when I've (sadly) finished the last "Lucia" book.

CCrdmrbks - What a relief it was to see your note @ Olga being in the rest of the books. Thanks!
When I re-read my message today (about Olga), I regreted that I'd posted that wish (that she'd be in the other books); because I thought someone here would say she never shows up again. And that would be "vewy sad!" (to quote Lucia's baby talk).

I have just finished The Priest by Gerard O'Donohue, a debut author. I was disappointed overall. The main characters were good, and the story had promise, but the red herring suspect was so damn obvious it spoiled it.
Now on to the third Rennie Airth book and am enjoying the writing already.

I finished The Tender Bar, by J.R. Moehringer, a beautifully insightful memoir of growing up fatherless in Long Island during the 1970s and 80s. The local bar of the title was his sanctuary growing up, and the men there filled in for his deadbeat dad. Moehringer's a terrific writer (he also ghostwrote the Andre Aggasi autobio, Open) and I just loved the book. It was one of those completely-sucks-you-in-I-laughed-I-cried-I-feel-like-I-know-you sorts of books.

I am 100 pages into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and would be enjoying it a great deal more if it didn't give all the street names in every town and list all the food items everyone eats. No wonder it has almost 600 pages. I do like Lisbeth.

After reading two more books by Lynn Viehl in succession (If Angels Burn and Private Demon) I think I may have overdosed on urban fantasy for the month.

I have just finished Patrick Leigh Fermor's Between the Woods and the Water, the second book in an unfinished trilogy about his walk from The Netherlands to Turkey in 1933. It's a wonderful description of a world that was about to be forever lost.

I just started reading Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee.

carolyn ky, I know what you mean about all the "extraneous" details in the Stieg Larsson books. I am trying to read the second one, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and so far (75 pages in) I am underwhelmed to the point of considering abandonment. I read the first one out of curiosity, wanting to know what all the hype is about, but I am quite mystified by the praise. In spite of all the SEX and the fearless ball-busting, I cannot say that I like the punkish Lisbeth Salander. I do like Mikael Blomkvist. Maybe these books are supposed to be character studies, I am not quite sure, but the mystery part of the first book was pretty pedestrian. I had that one figured out much too early and that is a cardinal sin to me for a mystery/thriller to be so easy and obvious. The salacious and graphic bits do not carry a story in my eyes. Do the second and third books tone things down at all?

Lemon-
Holes is written at a 9-12 years old reading level. I have had good readers in 3rd grade read it, but 6th and 7th graders enjoy it as well-it has that magical quality of transcending its vocabulary-even adults enjoy it. You forget that it is a "kid's book." It is one that I do not mind rereading aloud over and over.
I discovered that there are two Lucia books available free for the Kindle, so I have added them to the vacation stockpile!

I'm just finishing up "Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther" by Ginger Garrett. I seem to recall that the Jewish biblical Esther (Hadassah) has its parallel in Arabian Nights, the tales of Shaherazade. (shades of People of the Book).

Netla, "Cider with Rosie" is one of my all-time favorite books! In fact I have loved every book by Laurie Lee that I've read.

For whatever it's worth: I, too, found the Stieg Larsson trilogy overly-hyped. I just did not find them interesting or enjoyable.What was so compelling that they garnered all that praise?

I think part of the praise was a result of his obvious concern over the issue of violence toward women. I did find his wordcraft, even in translation, to be fantastic-he drew meticulously detailed pictures for the reader. However, that painterly style made the subject matter even more disturbing for me, and that is why I stopped after the first.

I enjoyed the Larsson books tremendously and I can't really say why. I even went to a showing of the first film at a local library, a grainy, out-of-focus computer projection. Enjoyed that thoroughly too, although I closed my eyes at the end for quite some minutes. I normally do not read books or watch films with that level of graphic violence. I think perhaps the very level of it lent an air of unreality. But it was one of those reading experiences where I was caught up in the story and the characters and looked forward to finding out what was going to happen next and at the same time wanting it to go on - approaching the end with dread that there would be no more. The translation was a bit rough, and I did wonder why the books were not more finely edited. People's clothing was described in odd detail, as it was inevitably ordinary and had nothing to do with the plot. (She arrived at the restaurant. She wore a white shirt, black slacks, and a jacket.) Lisbeth's clothing was significant, but he oddly did not give details every time she went out for pizza. Just one of those weird things.

Although as I said I enjoyed them tremendously, I would be very hesitant to recommend them to anyone - ever - because of the violence. And I don't plan to read anything else like that anytime soon. One of those mysterious reading experiences that can't be forced or duplicated.

On to other things. I am into The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, a nonfiction book about the African-American woman who died of cancer several decades ago, but left behind cells from a tumor that have turned out to be immortal. These cells have been used in overwhelming amounts of research and have led to the development of mind-boggling numbers of drugs and vaccines. The book tells this incredible story and the huge controversy about the way the cells were obtained and the treatment of the Mrs. Lacks family in the years since. But it is not preachy or overly sentimental, and reads like a novel.

And that reminds me that I need to update my Goodreads page!

I have just finished reading "The L-Shaped Room" by Lynne Reid Banks. I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Veer the lodging house and it's tenants reminded me lots of "London Belongs To Me", a book that we have both enjoyed.

Lydia, yes, the other books are graphic. I am interested in Lisbeth because my grandson (adopted at birth) has a fairly mild case of Asperger's Syndrome. He marches to his own drummer, and I'm convinced that the saying came from others who had it long before anyone identified it.

Asperger's is a disease of the central nervous system. At least in my grandson, he is a little uncoordinated which makes him no good at sports. He likes the computer and games; he likes guitar, and my daughter says the act of strumming seems to comfort him; when he was little, he liked to swing for an hour at a time. The biggest problem for him was making friends. He isn't able to read body language, so the other kids tuned him out when he didn't respond to them as they expected. He desperately wanted to belong and now has some good friends, but he had to learn what most of us are born knowing. Unlike Lisbeth, he talks a blue streak, but he never tells a fib. His world is black and white, no shades of grey. One doctor told my daughter that socializing for him is like someone learning to play the piano. You can do it, but someone has to show you how. He will be 16 next week and is an extremely sweet and good-natured child. He has been a joy to all of us, but it was hard to watch him try so hard for what we mostly take for granted.

Well, long post, but that is what hooked me on the Girl books, plus I have enjoyed them in their own right.

I'm 100 pages into the 800 page Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Written in Victorian English and slow paced but thoroughly engaging. Mr. Norrell feels he is the only authentic magician in England and seeks to use his skills in the war against Bonaparte. Totally inept in social skills he comes to depend upon two less than honorable men of society. That's where I'm at now.

Also reading A Montrous Regiment of Women by Laurie King chosen because of the accolades read here. I awaken and reach for it instead of rising, much to the cat's concern. It really is a page turner.

I haven't read the Lucia books by Benson but did find 1st & 2nd season in DVD. Adored the 1st season.

June, 'L-Shaped Room', although dealing with a 'gritty' topic was one I enjoyed when it first came out.
Another along the same lines (but darker) is Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton, dealing with lodging-house tenants just pre-war. Hamilton is not read much today but wrote Gas Light and Rope both made into successful movies.
Norman Collins, who wrote London Belongs to Me was a one-time big cheese at the BBC and also wrote a delightful book Children of the Archbishop, well worth a read if you can find a copy.

Carolyn, did you ever read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon which details how the young 'hero' copes with Asperger's/autism?
Our neighbour's g-son has Asperger's and now, aged about 14, is doing well at school although hampered (IMO) by parents who have set him NO boundaries and let him behave how he likes because of his 'condition'. eg at meal-times he never sits at a table but just eats while wandering about. The parents seem to be doing the boy no favours through their lack of guidance.

Reading Who Do You Think You Are? Stories of Friends and Enemies sixteen short stories about friendship , how you make friends and lose them, how sometimes a friendship lasts a lifetime sometimes not, and it turns in a nasty relation and so on. A few authors of the stories Joyce Carol Oates, Tim OТBrien, John Updike, Ray Bradbury, Richard Peck, Carson Mc Cullers Е others
grelobe

Vee, I did read Curious Incident. (The professionals don't agree on whether Asperger's and autism are related.) I have waiting on my TBR shelf Jodi Picault's House Rules which deals with AS. My daughter bought it and passed it on to me after she finished reading it. I think their parenting has been superb, but I could possibly be prejudiced.

I finished The Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth and enjoyed it very much, as I did the other two. I can highly recommend these books for mystery/thriller lovers.

Now reading a book I almost bought; but, last week found at the library (hooray!):
"The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers."
by Josh Kilmer-Purcell.

Hilarious non-nonfiction!

About two guys -- Dr. Brent of "The Martha Stewart Show", and his gay partner, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, a top advertising executive (and former drag queen!). Have lived in New York City many years. On a country trip they "bump into" a strange abandoned-looking town in upstate New York. They discover a mansion built in 1802 that's been meticulously renovated, and ... lo and behold, is for sale. Of course, they have to have it: it's the dream country home they've been looking for for years.

The book chronicles their trials and tribulations getting the farm set up to be a real working farm -- making their goats' milk soap and finding the goats, as well as the soap, featured on the Martha Stewart Show; learning how to make a vegetable garden; how to raise chickens; etc.

There are a lot of colorful local characters, and many digs at Martha Stewart (I have the feeling that Dr. Brent is no longer on that show!). Josh K-P is a lively and really funny writer -- I wish I could write down some of his stories, but there might be copyright issues. The Website is beekman1802

Finished a quick read La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith. Mainly set during WWII in the quiet UK East Anglian countryside of Suffolk.
A 'gentle' tale, which many of you would probably enjoy 'though I feel that the characters needed more development and there was a general lack of depth to the story as though AMcS wasn't quite sure which way to take it . . . but I suppose when you write as many books/words as he does there just aren't enough hours in the day. :-)

Lauramarie: Those 2 gents now have a TV show on Discovery Channel's Planet Green called "The Fabulous Beekman Boys." Have you seen it?

I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and found it less intense than the others and the ending very satisfactory.

Read Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank last night and today. I love her South Carolina island books. The central character in this one is a filthy rich female descendant of an old plantation family trying to instill a little quality into her nieces, daughters of a redneck sister-in-law.

Finished up "Jane Eyre" which I really enjoyed although felt, at times, as though she could have benefited from using an editor to slash through some of the words. But then - would it still be Jane Eyre? Really enjoyed it despite the wordage overload.

Also finished up "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde which was fascinating. He has lots of quotable one-liners in the book, and I think he must have been very funny at times in real life. I'd like to meet him, I think.

So now I get to choose a fiction book. I am still ploughing my way through the Mass Observation WWII diary book, but the people are becoming more individual as I read more of their diaries. They're still very ordinary, but that's the point of the project, I suppose. I have finally got them sorted out in my mind.

And then yesterday- happened to be in Dallas and heavens to Betsy, if I didn't somehow end up at a Half-Price Books shop where I could have gone completely wild, but didn't. I would really like one of these to come to where I live, but then again, I think it would be dangerous for my creaking bookshelves...

I've read a lot of novels this month. It's pretty much been too too hot to do anything else. Many have been real "junk reading."

Two are worthy of note.
1: Every Last One by Quindlen. There's not much I can say without adding spoilers. I cared about the characters, they were so abysmally normal that they were real. Far from perfect, they made parenting errors, they messed up with their employees...they were boringly normal. That's what made the central event in the book so important. This could happen to me. How would I function if this had been me. I felt myself reading the post event narration as if holding my breath...as if not breathing would make it not "real". This was a good one.

2) I am in the midst of The Cellist of Sarajevo by Galloway. I first heard of the cellist himself about 2 weeks ago on another forum, and went googling to find out more only to learn that there was a book based on this story. I reserved it at and got it last weekend. It is an elegantly written novel, at times with a symphonic pattern to the writing, with repetition of phrases. It's about humanity facing an incomprehensible situation...and surviving. It's about the beauty of art in the midst of devastation. I don't want to finish it and am enjoying reading it in bits and peaces which I then treasure until the next reading.

I'm reading The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon for a book club. I'm almost hating it. If it doesn't get better in the next 20 pages, that's it, I'm not forcing myself to finish it. With one exception, all the books chosen have been serious, depressing, heartbreaking or down right tragic. I keep thinking of all the other books I could be reading that I'd actually enjoy...

Lemonhead,
We have several Half Price Books stores here. They are my favorite bookstore. And you are right: my shelves are creaking from all the finds there (many for only $1 or $2). Just this last weekend, I had a 50% discount coupon to use at the store. I got A Countrywoman's Year by Rosemary Verey, short essays that you can read a few pages at a time. It has beautiful engravings.

I'm reading "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. I have liked almost all his novels and was quite impressed by the film made from this one.

I also indulged in one "junk" book, as well. ;-)

reader intransit - I'm with you on the depressing book club choices. I get pretty tired of those. Some years my group does a better job of choosing books than other years. This year has been pretty good.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm just finishing a book titled Whistling Season by Ivan Doig ... and I really like it. It's a very gentle read with a big heart and great characters. The opening reminds me of one of my favorite children's books -- Sarah Plain and Tall. I would highly recommend it for anyone who likes Wallace Stegner-type books. It takes place in Montana in the early 1900s and is centered around a farm family and the local one-room school.

Before that, I read Tony Hillerman's The Wailing Woman and Heyer's The Nonesuch. I enjoyed them both.

RIT - your new book sounds fabbo.... But I must be strong and not press that darned "one click" button... Must...be...strong.....

pammyfay -- Thanks for the info! I will definitely look it up. The ad in the book said that they have a TV show; but, didn't say what cable channel it was on. Am really looking forward to it ... sounds so lovely -- all of it: the mansion, the farmland, the garden, the surrounding countryside!

Just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. It has sat on my shelf for at least six years, but for some reason I have always just been intimidated by it (Pulitzer? 600 pages? Not sure why I didn't read it sooner). Then a friend really talked it up. Wow. Not sure that I am in love with the characters or the story, but I really enjoyed picking apart all the metaphors and am seriously considering trying to read a graphic novel or two now (something else I haven't attempted).

For now, though, I'm on to lighter fare and picked up Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs. Chick lit, but deeper than the usual stuff. Very smart and funny.

Finished "Queen Lucia, Part I: Make Way for Lucia."
Had a good time w/it -- just the right book for a sizzling heat wave!

Started the new David Nicholls book, "One Day."
It's first time I've read a book of his. Reminds me of Nick Hornby, whose "About a Boy" I just loved. On the cover of this book is a rave blurb by Hornby, himself!
That, and some of the comments here convinced me to buy this book. So far, I'm really enjoying it -- funny and smart. Only one thing I don't like is the dreariness of the main female character's life and outlook. I wish she would change -- but not lose her passion for justice in the world -- Just look for a pursuit she enjoys, take care of herself (appearance), and learn to have fun.

Reading Long Walk To Freedom Nelson Mandela's autobiography , not only interesting, I had no doubt about it, but beautiful written
of course, in the foreword N.M. himself says that he was helped by more than one person to write it

Looking for a new fiction book to tackle, I went back to my TBR challenge list (back in January) and selected "Divisadaro" by Michael Ondaatje. It is a lovely story, very lyrical (since he is also a poet), but interesting. About a little family in the northern fields of California who just have a hard time and then separate and find themselves searching for each other later in life.

Not a particularly enjoyable book, but I like it all the same for its poeticness (word?). It's a nice break from Victorian novels...

Although yesterday was rather slow at work and so I read "Alice Through the Looking Glass" by CS Lewis. Boy, that guy had one heck of an imagination or he was on something when he wrote this.... :-)

Phaedosia - Get thee into the world of graphic novels. There are some very powerful ones out there... It's not all Marvel comic heroes... :-) Let me go back through my book journal and find some ones to start with. It's a bit overwhelming to just go into the graphic novel section of the library and just peer around...

Lauramarie - I am glad you're enjoying David Nicholls. I think he is a fun writer and am waiting for the library to get me his one called "The Understudy".... I have really enjoyed his other two...

I have just read "The Rose Notes" by Australian author Andrea Mayes, the other book of hers was "Shearwater", I can recommend both.

I have now started "The Great World" by David Malouf, very moving, he is a great writer.

I read the latest from Chris Collett, called Stalked by Shadows. I didn't think much of the previous one, and had mixed feelings about this one. The story was good, but the dщnouement was a bit disappointing. I saw it coming, but the reasons for killing seemed really lame and not anything that could have been guessed at.

Lemonhead, "Alice through the Looking Glass" by C.S. Lewis??? That's one I don't know about. Did you mean Lewis Carroll? ;-)

I have the dubious distinction of being able to recite "Jabberwocky" (poem) in its entirety.... No doubt in real life, L.C. had a bizarre relationship with child Alice L.

Finished McEwan's "Atonement" and think this author is one of the best ones currently writing in the English language today. Have just begun "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan. This is historical fiction, based on the scandal involving architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who ran off with a married, early feminist and shocked Oak Park, Illinois. And later, a murder occurs. So far, so good -- well-written and well-researched.

pammyfay -- thanks for the info re "Fabulous Beekman Boys" on TV. However, I didn't find the show on Discovery Channel... I found it via IO "Free On Demand", a feature you access through your remote control device).
It's one wacky farm show!

Lemonhead -- Am enjoying the D.Nicholls book even more now that the characters are in their late-20s. The main female, "Emma", whom I found sort of dreary earlier, has really perked up: has a good-paying professional job; has her hair done; eats well, doesn't drink much -- so her looks have improved, etc., etc. And she's Happier. I will definitely read another D.N. book.

Woodnymph2 -- I've heard that title "Jabberwocky' (sp?), before. Is that in very Olde English? Is it a poem?

There's a scene in the Martin Scorsese rock band documentary, "The Last Waltz", where a man recites a poem in Olde English (I think). It was my favourite part of the whole movie! Have wondered if it's "Jabberwoky". I've tried to find out the title of that piece by going over comments at Amazon.com's movie section about "The Last Waltz". But can't find it. Sorry, I don't remember who performed it in that film.

lauramarie, "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem with made-up words which Lewis Carroll inserted into his "Alice in Wonderland." The words have a marvelous flow and rhythm, and appeal to the imagination. As a child, I memorized it, just for fun. But then, I adore poetry and write it, myself. No, I doubt that it is remotely like Olde English, which is also rhythmic.

woodnymph - I read "Loving Frank" last year for my book group, and all I can say is Wow! Let me know what you think after you've read it.

I'm currently reading three books -- I'm not sure how that happened. I'm reading a Margaret Coel mystery - The Silent Spirit - a Nancy Turner Agnes Prine book called The Star Garden and I just started Mennonite in the Little Black Dress. I'm really enjoying the last two; the first one is a little dark and grim for my taste.

Wood -

(holds head in shame at awful careless error of exchanging CS Lewis for Lewis Carroll as author of "Alice" books. Vows to not post in future from memory which obviously is faulty. Slowly lifts head up hoping for forgiveness.)

:-)

Lauriemarie - glad to hear you are enjoying the David Nicholls book. I am in line waiting for "The Understudy" to be turned in at the library... And then no more Nicholls unless he's written another one I don't know about yet....

Oh, and also saw in B&N yesterday that AJ Jacobs (or his publisher) has decided to re-issue "The Guinea Pig Diaries" as "My Life as an Experiment" and sell it like it's a whole new book. Nearly fooled me until I sae the TINY writing at the bottom of the cover... Umm. Why did they do this?

I have read both The Help and House Rules over the past few days and really, really liked them both. I am going to pull up the discussion on TH in a few minutes to refresh my memory of it. HR is my first book by Jodi Picault and of particular interest to me because of its dealing with Asperger's Syndrome. I am happy to say that my grandson has nothing like the serious problems in the book.

I also read a small paperback book my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday called I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar. It is mostly a collection of public signs mis-using words and including many instances of the use of the ubiquitous apostrophe to form plurals.

carolyn - I went fabric shopping just after I finished Picoult's book. I picked up a bolt with orange flowers and had a brief thought that I couldn't buy it...that orange couldn't go home with me. The book was done so well that I felt like I knew the characters and had to be respectful of the house rules.

I was up in NH this weekend and grabbed the first book that came to hand to take with me, so I'm reading the irreverently funny (so far, anyway) Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. This has been in my TBR pile forever, and I'm glad I finally pulled it out.

sheri - I really enjoyed Lamb and many other of Moore's books. He's got a wicked sense of humor.

I was reading Lisa See's "Shanghai Girls" but found it really disturbing. Don't know if I'll finish it or not.

Just finished an interesting book I found in a charity shop over the weekend called "The Eloquent Essay" ed. by John Loughery. It's sort of the "best of the best" essays throughout the years, and includes both English and American essays. For example, I had never read Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and found it amazing that it was written on little scraps of paper and then put together. I am sure it has been edited since then to make things smooth out, but still, it's so coherent and he was obviously an extremely well-read guy. i found it very powerful... Anyway, a fasincating selection of well-written provocative essays which I will be passing on to my friend who also writes essays, but doesn't think she's any good when, actually, she is... Maybe this will inspire her..

Then read a short memoir called "Making Toast" by Roger Rosenblatt. His married mid-life daughter dies unexpectedly leaving her DH with three young kids to look after. Roger and wife (daughter's parents) move in, and help to run the family... Quite interesting, but my gosh, it was ALL about him. Another thing was his claim to fame in the looking after the family realm was that he could only cook toast. Later in the book, he recounts all the tasks that his wife/kids g-ma does and it goes on for a page and a half and last all day and NOWHERE does he offer to help. He's busy "writing" except he admits that he's not. It really annoyed me that he didn't offer to help more, his excuse being that he was "writing" when he wasn't, and let his wife/their g'ma do everything from getting the kids out of bed, dressed to school, grocery, cooking, cleaning the house, doing taxi service, cooking dinner, giving kids baths and putting them to bed. Grumble. I would have definitely said something to him if he was my DH... :)

Anyway, wasn't particular impressed by that in case you couldn't tell. He's some bigwig writer in NYC, but he comes as a very lazy chauvinistic husband in the book. And yet he wants very different things for his daughter...

Sarah Canary, I just finished "Loving Frank" and found it amazing and compelling. Certainly F.L. Wright had met his match in Mamah! What an incredible, brilliant woman, far ahead of her time! It made me wonder how many other women we do not know about, who influenced the "great" men of their day, unsung. The ending of this story was worthy of Greek Tragedy, in my view.

Sarah, I had never heard of Ellen Key. Had you? This book will be a hard act to follow. I could not put it down.

Lemonhead, thanks for the review of "Making Toast." I had heard it highly praised on several TV programs, and the author was interviewed but came across as a pity party to me....

Sarah Canary, I found Lisa See's first two books disturbing and had pretty much decided not to read Shanghai Girls.

Rosefolly

I finished The Devil Amongst the Lawyers, a new Ballad novel by Sharyn McCrumb and her first in, I believe, three years. This one is based on a real murder trial in 1935 in Wise, Virginia, and has Nora Bonesteel as a 12-year-old who already has the Sight. She features in several of the Ballad novels but as an older woman. I liked this book better than some of them, but my favorite of hers continues to be If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O.

A BURNT-OUT CASE

SBS TV showed the docudrama Lamumba two nights ago, on the evening of 30 July 2010. I had never really got a handle on the events of the historical crisis associated with the legendary African leader Patrice Lamumba, events which took place when I was in my mid-teens. Lumumba is a 2000 film directed by the award-winning Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck(b. 1953). It is centred around Patrice Lumumba in the months before and after the Democratic Republic of the Congo achieved independence from Belgium in June 1960. Raoul Peck's film is a coproduction of France, Belgium, Germany, and Haiti. Lumumba dramatises the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba. In late October 1959, just days after I joined the BahaТi Faith at the age of 15, Lumumba was arrested for allegedly inciting an anti-colonial riot in the city of Stanleyville where thirty people were killed. He was sentenced to six months in prison. His name was just a news item on the distant periphery of my life, immersed as I was in a smalltown culture in the 1950s, in Ontario Canada.

The plot of this docudrama is based on the final months of the life of Patrice Lumumba in his role as the first Prime Minister of the Congo. His tenure in office lasted two months until he was driven from office in September 1960. Joseph Kasavubu was sworn in alongside Lumumba as the first president of the country, and together they attempted to prevent the Congo succumbing to secession and anarchy. The film concluded with the army chief-of-staff, Joseph Mobutu, seizing power in a CIA sponsored coup.-Ron Price with thanks to SBS TV, "Lamumba," 30 July 2010.

All of this got me back into Graham Greene who went to the Belgian Congo in January 1959, just before the Congo crisis broke out, with a new novel already beginning to form in his head by way of a situation involving a stranger who turned up in a remote leper settlement for no apparent reason. While Greene was writing A Burnt-Out Case in 1959 in the months leading up to and after I became a member of the BahaТi Faith. This novel is one of those in the running for the most depressing narratives ever written. The reader only has to endure for a short time the company of the burnt-out character whose name in the novel was Querry. Greene had to live with him and in him--in his head--for eighteen months.

Greene wrote that: "Success as a novelist is often more dangerous than failure; the ripples often break over a wider coast line. The Heart of the Matter(1948) was a success in the great vulgar sense of that term. There must have been something corrupt there, for the book appealed too often to weak elements in its readers. Never had I received so many letters from strangers, perhaps the majority of them from women and priests. At a stroke I found myself regarded as a Catholic author in England, Europe and America -- the last title to which I had ever aspired. This account may seem cynical and unfeeling, but in the years between The Heart of the Matter and The End of the Affair(1951) I felt myself used and exhausted by the victims of religion. The vision of faith as untroubled sea was lost for ever; faith was more like a tempest in which the lucky were engulfed and lost, and the unfortunate survived to be flung battered and bleeding on the shore. A better man could have found a life's work on the margin of that cruel sea, but my own course of life gave me no confidence in any aid I might proffer. I had no apostolic mission, and the cries for spiritual assistance maddened me because of my impotence. What was the Church for but to aid these sufferers? What was the priesthood for? I was like a man without medical knowledge in a village struck with plague. It was in those years, I think, that Querry was born, and Father Thomas too. He had often sat in that chair of mine, and he had worn many faces."

I was never much of a reader of novels,
but in the 1990s I became a teacher of
English lit to matriculants and A Burnt-
Out Case, a book Greene wrote when I
was just getting into life, and a life which
would also make me one of those burnt-out
cases. GreeneТs book was on a curriculum
as I was getting near the end of a teaching
career and only beginning to discover his
perpetually grey and disturbing Greenland.1

1 Matthew Price, Sinner Take All: Graham GreeneТs Damned Redemption, Book Forum, Oct/Nov 2004.

Ron Price
1 August 2010

Here is a link that might be useful: Pioneering Over Four Epochs

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