August Brings a Harvest of Reading

16 years ago

Today, 1st August, is the old Lammas Day when harvesting traditionally started.

My crop of recent books include Free Wheeling Through Ireland by Edward Enfield. A simple journal of a bike ride taken through the West of Ireland in the 1990's when that country was undergoing a 'boom' of prosperity as the Celtic Tiger started sharpening its claws. Very much an over-view of who he meets (lots of German tourists) and the excellent accommodation he finds in small b&b's. A pity no maps or photos were provided in my edition.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Always an interesting writer with a wonderful 'ear' for idiom/everyday speech patterns. Set against the background of the Edinburgh Festival with a huge cast of interconnected characters. The sort of books that needs to be read in one long sitting so as to keep abreast of the plot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lammas

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Comments (119)

woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
Pagesturned, are you the Susan who is a writer? I recall a Susan from years ago who was, when I first joined RP.
woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
I'm still a bit disorganized, after my move. Pertinent to this thread, I am re-reading, with delight, Anne Morrow Lindberg's "Bring Me a Unicorn." Very interesting detail re the 1920's and life in both Mexico and New England, amidst ambassador's circles. I'm fascinated with her first meeting with "hero" Charles Lindberg, and what drew these "opposites" together....
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More August Harvest Recipes
Q
Comments (13)
Barbara, That's a good point that they all did not survive. LOL I was reading about old tomato preservation methods from the late 1880s and it is scarey. Even the commercial food system is not immune to botulism, or for that matter the much more common salmonella. There a food salvage store in Fort Worth called Town Talk. When a semi truck wrecks, for example, the insurance company writes off the whole load of cargo and Town Talk buys it and resells it. Town Talk has been there a long time, is a family run business, and is very popular with, among others, caterers in Tarrant County, because of the amazing buys you find there. Several years ago, several people from Sanger, Texas, which is about 30 or 40 minutes south of us, contracted botulism from chili purchased from Town Talk. I don't think any of them died, although it was very, very bad and I think some were hospitalized for weeks and months. At first, no one knew if the chili in question had thawed out during the salvage process or if it was improperly cooked, improperly maintained temperature-wise at the church supper, or what. Town Talk blamed the customer and the customer blamed Town Talk, yada yada yada. A short time later, other people in North Texas became ill after eating a second kind of chili that also was purchased at Town Talk. I don't know if the FDA ever determined if the botulism was the fault of the manufacturer, the shipper, the ultimate retailer (Town Talk) or the food preparers/servers. I do remember lawsuits were filed, but I don't know if they were pursued, settled, etc. The chili was those frozen blocks. I love Town Talk and used to shop there when we lived in Fort Worth, and still shop there if we're down in Fort Worth, but the whole botulism thing made me very nervous. However, I always take a cooler and keep any frozen items I purchase cold on the way home, and I come straight home after leaving the store. All of this serves to remind us that even in the big commercial food production/distribution system, bad things can happen. I am overly cautious when I can. I only use approved recipes or, if I find one that is not approved, I make the changes necessary to correct the recipe for canning. I mostly do jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, salsas and tomatoes. I won't touch meat either or anything with fat. I won't even add the tiny amount of butter some jam/jelly/preserve recipes call for to reduce foaming. I just let it foam and then skim as best as I can. I freeze a whole lot more than I can, but mostly because I prefer the taste/texture of fresh frozen veggies to canned veggies. Well, and throw in the fact that I have a glass-topped (guess the proper term is ceramic but it looks like glass to me) stove, and pressure canning on it would void its warranty. I can pressure can using an old stove in the garage, or the side burner on our barbaque grill but I don't do a lot of it. I admire all the folks on the Harvest Forum for their knowledge, expertise, talent, etc. They can all sorts of stuff that I don't and they are very careful about safety issues. I really appreciate their strict adherence to the latest guidelines and I go to that forum to check and see 'what's happening' in the canning and food preservation world. It worries me that canning newbies might go to any recipe site on the internet and use unsafe recipes posted there. It is a truly terrifying prospect. I find myself dehydrating more and more too. So far, I haven't really gotten into fermenting stuff like sauerkraut, but I might try that with some of the fall cabbage crop. If I lived in an area of Oklahoma more prone to ice storms and prolonged power outages (and to me, that'd be most of the area north of the Arbuckle Mtns.), I'd either have to have a generator to keep the deep freezers running or I'd have to do less freezing and more canning/dehydrating. However, only once since we moved here in 1999 have we had a 'significant' power outage, and it might have lasted a little over 2 hours, so I don't consider the prospect of a prolonged power outage to be a big issue where I live. However, even just within our county, it depends on where you live. The electricity that comes specifically to our house comes up from the Thackerville area south of us and we seldom have outages. The folks who live in parts of Marietta proper, and as close as a mile north of us, get their power from different transmission lines (same electrical co-op though) and they have much more frequent outages than we do, so I guess we're lucky our power comes from lines running north out of Thackerville instead of lines running south out of Marietta. It sure makes you appreciate what they went through in the old days trying to keep milk, butter, cream, etc. cool enough in spring houses, with ice blocks in non-electrical refrigerators, etc. I am also glad we don't have to salt meat terribly heavily like they used to in order to preserve it. We are just so spoiled and our lives, in terms of obtaining food and maintaining it safely, are so easy compared to 'the good old days'! Dawn
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Harvest Pics from August 28
Q
Comments (6)
Bob I certainly expected to get a massive harvest after what happened with pollenizing in early july, but my concern after tasting the first fruits several weeks ago was that I would be left with 1000 pounds of sauce tomatoes (first several were mealy and bland, horrible really). Those are mostly purple Russian in the bottom centre. I really love the flavour and texture of these. Lots of BER in the past but none this year (on the PR or on any of my 50 plants). The 5 or 6 more egg-shaped fruits on the left of that box are from a stray seed in a packet of black krims a few years ago. These are brown (or clear) skinned with rich purple flesh. Great flavour, very fruity. I call them brown krim for nowwho knows what they are. Structure in the next day or two I am going to try to put a pile of ripe ones through the food mill and freeze for making winter gazpachoÂfruits are far too juicy to make sauce unfortunatelyÂand what I miss in the winter is that sweet flavour of fresh raw tomatoesÂthat juicy gazpacho will be delicious. Varieties are as follows, starting at left bottom and working upward: - Brandywine sudduth, wow very productive and flavourful this year, did not expect that. - unknown red beefsteak (one from one of my Cherokee Purple plants this yearÂdisappointing because they are not very interesting, the other from seeds saved from my Âred krimÂ 5 years ago, another stray seed in the pack that gave me Âbrown krimÂÂÂred krimÂ had produced meaty pink globes for the first two years, last year all globes except for one beefsteak (beef was good, saved it and grew it out this year, very good this year)Âand oddly those original Âred krimÂ globe-producing seeds produced several beefsteak producing plants this yearÂtoo bad because the globes are better). - KBXÂonly eaten two so farÂone not so good, one excellentÂeating some more tonight - black krim Â loved them first time I grew them 5 years ago, have had problems with them ever sinceÂ.a few good fruits this year but too much variety in size/shape/flavour, and too many small ones for my liking Starting at bottom centre and working upward: - purple Russian and Âbrown krimÂ - Cherokee purpleÂlarge plants, hugely productive (50 on one plant alone), second year in a row of cool wet weather, second year in a row that Cherokee purple was by far the best performer in the garden (Indian stripe produced more this year, but not quite as large or tasty as CP). I think others had the same experience with CP and cool/wet weather. - more brandywine sudduth - big box of assorted varieties of the above and below, mostly smaller fruits - Cherokee green and green giant (gg looks a lot nicer and is super sweet and tomatoey, cp tasting ok but jury still out on whether this will make a return to next yearÂs garden) - at the top centre is paul Robeson Starting from bottom right and working upward: - more Cherokee purple (including a big pink one from the stray seed I mentioned) - more unknown red pink beef - Indian stripe (box) - more Indian stripe (large white platter) - and in the small basket on the top right are my delicious sweet round meaty Âred krimÂ. Production this year is well over double what I normally get. Plants far larger and healthier than any prior year. Fruits themselves are generally larger than the average from each variety in prior years (except for black krim). Taste and texture quite good now, but not quite at the level of excellent (best I recall was the rain-free, sun-filled, perfect summer of 2007). Will have to give away a few hundred in the next week or so.
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The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce - Alan & Jessica Ahlberg Kath, loved it. A 'connection' to treasure.
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August Harvest/Conversation Thread
Q
Comments (187)
Amy, I agree. Give him his own bed and let him try to grow the things he wants. Nothing else will work nearly as well as letting him try to baby along those plants through our often uncooperative growing conditions. If he succeeds, great! If he doesn't, then at least he'll understand the challenges involved in growing them. I've never heard of anyone growing pickling cukes in a greenhouse here in winter. They need heat (though not excessive heat) to produce well here. Everything I've ever grown in the greenhouse in winter, at least in terms of warm-season crops, grow slowly (excrutiatingly slow) in winter's lower temperatures and less intense light. Tomatoes and peppers, for example, even if they set in autumn's relatively warm air, stay very small and mature very slowly as the temperatures cool and the sunlight weakens. On top of that, their flavor and texture aren't great. That's why I don't bother trying to grow warm-season veggies in the greenhouse in winter. I wouldn't bother trying pickling cukes for the same reason. I think it is an issue with the light more so than the temperatures because the greenhouse still can reach great daytime highs (even with cool nighttime lows) but the sunlight is very weak and for a significantly smaller portion of the 24-hour cycle and the plants grow slowly accordingly. Even with cool-season crops in the greenhouse, they produce best if they make most of the growth in early thru mid-autumn so that all you're mainly doing in the cold winter months is just keeping them alive, growing slowly, and then harvesting them. As for why your cukes aren't producing now, it is hard to guess, but normally with cucumbers, poor productivity/low productivity relates to temperatures (too high or too low), poor sunlight, lack of pollination, lack of adequate water (takes a lot of water to produce a lot of cukes) and/or lack of nutrition (it also takes very nutrient rich soil or fertilizer to produce a lot of cukes). Occasionally it might be because of a certain pest interfering with pollination---perhaps western flower thrips, for example, but that seems fairly rare here. Disease can cause poor productivity if it is severe enough. Hazel, There is nothing wrong with having a reverence for all life, but....it it is a dog eat dog world, or a bug eat plant world, so sometimes the bugs have to go. I was bothered by spiders in my younger days, but I guess I outgrew that somewhere along the way as I got older. Most spiders won't hurt a person, and they are very beneficial in the yard and garden. One thing to remember about a spider in the house is that it is there for a reason, so when I see a spider indoors, I know it is looking for insects to eat, which might be a clue for us humans that there's some sort of food source indoors attracting spiders. The only spiders I now kill are brown recluses and black widows. I sometimes see brown recluses indoors (I found several dead ones while cleaning out the pantry underneath the staircase in advance of the kitchen remodel, but didn't find any live ones) but I only see black widows in the garage or shed. My garden, yard and our acreage are full of spiders (it is estimated that an average acre of grassland can contains up to 1,000,000 spiders, though many areas have less, depending on habitat and available food source) and I love their many different kinds of webs. It brings me great joy to see spider webs where other insects (the kind that damage garden plants) have become ensnared in the web and are being stored away for future meals. Don't get me wrong. I still jump (pretty much jump out of my skin, and sometimes squeal) if a spider lands on me out of nowhere, but it's me and my perception of the spiders, (left over from my younger days of hating them/being afraid of them) that is the problem. It isn't the spiders. They're just trying to find something to eat, and trying to survive. Melissa, Army worms, like any other caterpillar, don't really have a place in the garden. (Well, I try to feed the good caterpillars that turn into monarchs, swallowtails, and other butterflies, but you know what I mean.) Bt 'kurstaki' is the solution. One common product on store shelves that contains it in a liquid form is Thuricide and a common powdered form is Dipel dust. The problem with Army worms is that they generally appear in large numbers and devour plants. You can hang and dry basil anywhere you please, preferably in a cool, dry location out of direct sunlight. I prefer to not dry herbs in a garage if cars are parked in it because of vehicle exhaust that would be in the air, but the world probably won't end if you dry them there. I often hang them right in the kitchen or in the pantry itself. It's not too late to sow more basil seed in the garden for fresh basil if you wish. There's still a lot of growing season left. Fall is a great time to plant. I already have some bulbs ready and waiting for cooler air so I can plant them, and of course, we always plant garlic in the fall. Autumn is just around the corner, if only the summer weather would just go away and leave us alone already. Dawn
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veer
Original Author
15 years ago
Liz, re the AA Milne books. As several of you have said, I think the books are really meant to be read to small children, especially the verses in When we were Very Young and Now we are Six. I so agree with you about the dreadful Disney illustrations for Christopher Robin, Pooh et al. Maybe OK for a movie cartoon but so 'basic' for a book.
A couple of lovely books by the original illustrator E H Shepard (he also did The Wind in the Willows) are his autobiographies Drawn From Memory and Drawn From Life. They contain very early egs of his art. He was drawing as soon as he was able to hold a pencil and he had a wonderful memory for the details of his young life growing up near London's Regents Park from the 1870's. Both well worth reading.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some eg's of Shepard's work
veer
Original Author
15 years ago
I forgot to mention that Christopher (Robin) Milne wrote a number of books about his 'strange' childhood and the many difficulties he faced from bullying at school etc. The first one is called The Enchanted Places.

Here is a link that might be useful: Christopher Milne Obituary from the 'Independent'
kren250
15 years ago
Thyrkas--I've added Mennonite in a Little Black Dress to my TBR list:-). I live in rural Iowa, and we have a small Mennonite population here. There's actually a big debate in our community right now about the Mennonite farmers using steel-rim wheels on the highways.

As for my reading, I finished The Passage by Justin Cronin a few days ago. What a book! Very intense, especially the last half of it. A virus is let loose in the U.S. that kills some people, and turns others into "virals" (vampire-like creatures that attack and kill people). It's the first book in a trilogy, and I'll be anxiously awaiting the next one. I rated it a 5/5.

After The Passage, I started The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian. Still slowly working my way through O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin series. I should finish it tonight or tomorrow, and then I'm not sure what I'll read next...
junek-2009
15 years ago
I am reading The Call Of The Wild by Jack London, it has been written for young readers and this older reader is really enjoying it. I would class it as a classic.
veronicae
15 years ago
I haven't' read The Call of the Wild in ages...or "To Build a Fire". Jack London was one of my favorite authors when I was in high school. I need to re-read.
J C
15 years ago
Thank you for that veer, I love Shepard's work, and he deserves much of the credit for my great love of Wind in the Willows. Flipping through this beautiful edition of Milne and seeing his illustrations beautifully restored are as good as reading the text (which makes me laugh uproariously, and yes, I doubt many children would "get it"). And I was thinking that I had heard that the real life Christopher Robin had many problems relating to his father turning him into a fictional character, thanks so much for the link.

I re-read The Call of the Wild AND To Build a Fire last winter, some coincidence! London was a genius.
J C
15 years ago
Forgot to add I am indulging in a bit of fluff, Evan's Gate by Rhys Bowen. I read a few books from this series of cozies quite some time ago, and when I saw it on the library shelf I decided to enjoy this one that I missed (or maybe it hadn't been published yet.) Very enjoyable. I think she has given up writing Evan Evans stories and moved on to another series set in turn-of-the-century New York. So I will enjoy this one and not look back.
pagesturned
15 years ago
Woodnymph,

I think that must have been another Susan. I published a couple short stories back in the 90s, but I haven't written anything in a long time.
thyrkas
15 years ago
mariannese - I meant to thank you earlier for supplying the answer to the question about Mennonite communities in Europe. Much appreciated!

kren250 - I hope you will post your thoughts on Mennonite in a Little Black Dress once you have read the book. It would be great if you would mention whether you think it would make a good book discussion book, too.

sarah canary - do you think 'Mennonite' would be a good book discussion choice? I'm wondering if I should put it forward for my book selection in the club. I usually don't hesitate about a selection, but I can see where folks might be so turned off by her offensive style of writing that they either won't finish it, or will simply complain about it all night, and send daggers my way. I wonder if I am being too sensitive. Her life story is pretty interesting.

BTW, kren250 - I love the Master and Commander Series by Patrick O'Brian. My son has the complete set of 20 books on audio books, and he lends them to me whenever I have the need to 'go to sea' with Captain Aubry and Dr Maturin.
timallan
15 years ago
The Mennonite discussion really hit home, as I live in an area with a very large Mennonite population. Several different sects apparently coexist here, some very strict, others virtually undetectable.

A few years ago, a novel by Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness, attracted much literary acclaim in Canada. It is the fictionalized account of depression and suicide in a Mennonite community. Though I don't read much contemporary fiction, I was looking forward to borrowing my mother's copy. Unfortunately she loaned it to a friend who has an aggravating habit of never returning books.
woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
Having just relocated to a new city, I felt gratified yesterday to obtain a new library card from the public library. Have checked out a spiritual memoir by Anne Rice: "Called Out of Darkness." Interesting descriptions of her Catholic girlhood in the New Orleans of the 1940's and 50's, pre- Vatican II. I've requested "The Postmistress" to be held for me, as well.
vickitg
15 years ago
Woodnymph -- I just saw Anne Rice interviewed on TV and she has publicly renounced Christianity. She still believes in God and Jesus, but she wants to separate herself from the Christian religion because of the things she sees happening in the name of Christianity. Very interesting interview.

thyrkas - I've been pondering whether or not "Mennonite..." would be a good book club choice or not. I certainly think there is plenty to discuss in the book. I think it might even be fun to try to psychoanalyze why she felt the need to be so "earthy" in her writing. Was it a striking out at her Mennonite upbringing? Can you put the book suggestion out there with the caveat that there's some very graphic language in it? I don't know your book group members, but I think my group (all women in their mid to late 50s) could get past the language to discuss the subject matter. A friend of mine who is also in the book group also read "Mennonite..." I'll have to get her take on whether or not she thinks it's discussable and if she thinks it will be off-putting. I'll let you know what she says.
thyrkas
15 years ago
woodnymph and sarah canary - see link below to read a very fine, IMHO, response to Anne Rice's exodus from Christianity. Leonard Sweet posted it on his facebook status.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://snipurl.com/10pu2f
lemonhead101
15 years ago
For a change of pace, just picked up "The Postmistress" and am enjoying it so far... When I am done, I'll look at the thread about it, but daren't go there now in case of spoilers...

One question: Would someone (American) really have said "I wasn't emotionally ready for what I saw.." in the 1940's. Sounds a bit modern, but perhaps they did. Americans were always far ahead of the Brits in the "touchy-feely" stuff...

:-)
woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
Thyrkas, the response to Anne Rice's position was very well written. Thanks for posting this.
veer
Original Author
15 years ago
Recently picked up for a few pence Graham Greene's The End of the Affair first published in the early '50's. Not a work that would bring joy to the heart. A story of self-loathing and disgust and meanness of spirit about a man who begins an 'affair' with someone else's wife and immediately starts to distrust and argue with her. A near-miss by a V2 rocket causes them to separate and lose touch. After the War he meets her husband, tells him about what went on more-or-less blaming him (husband) for his bad behaviour and persuading him to get a detective to follow the wife in case she is meeting other men. Mixed in with all this sordidness is the author's anger against God, whether the wife is looking for religion especially Catholicism.
Apparently much of it is based on GG's life, as he became an RC and then spent time looking for repentance for his 'sins' one of which was a long-standing affair.
Lock up sharp objects/bottles with ridged glass before you read this book.

Now, could someone tell me who Anne Rice is, please.
sheriz6
15 years ago
Vee, Anne Rice wrote Interview with the Vampire and single-handedly started the vampire deluge that is now upon us. Mind you, when she wrote it back in the 1970s, it was one of a kind (and IMO it was brilliant, as were the first two sequels of many that followed it). She went on to be a best-selling writer, but her work, at least in my opinion, got sloppy as the years passed. Her early work is excellent.

She had left the Catholic church, but after her husband, Stan Rice, died, she returned.
lemonhead101
15 years ago
Funnily enough (well, not funny, but interesting), Anne Rice wrote in/about New Orleans, and since my mum and I are going there in a few weeks, I wanted to read "Interview.." but had to order it from amazon. You'd think if any books that the library would have from Rice, it would be the first one. Perhaps someone nicked it or something...

And there is an Anne Rice tour available in NO, but since neither of us have ever read one of her books, it would be wasted on us...:-)
lemonhead101
15 years ago
Relating to the recent discussion of whether Winnie the Pooh was a children's book or not, here is a similar discussion about "The Wind in the Willows"...

Here is a link that might be useful: Wind/Willows essay
rosefolly
15 years ago
I never liked The Wind in the Willows either. Just didn't work for me. I know I'm supposed to like it, but I don't, at all. I thought it was boring. In fact, I don't like any fiction with anthropomorphic animal characters.

Rosefolly
veer
Original Author
15 years ago
Interesting article Liz. I think many children of my generation came to W in the W via the adaptation of the book into a play Toad of Toad Hall by A A Milne.
There is a very long tradition in the UK of Christmas 'theatre entertainment'. This usually takes the form of a pantomime and such shows can be found in virtually any city/town with a stage; both professional and amateur.
To the slap-stick, 'rude' jokes, cross dressing, custard pies, singalong, booing hissing "He's behind you!" "Oh yes you did Oh no you didn't!" were added plays 'suitable for children'. Toad of Toad Hall Peter Pan etc.
I still remember being taken to WW as a threee year old in my home town of Stratford and watching some of the most famous Shakespearean actors of their day taking the parts of Ratty, Mole, Toad etc.
Liz did panto' come to your town?
annpan
15 years ago
Vee, I have such lovely memories of 'pantos'. From my first one (about age 5)at the local school, when, in response to the request from the stage for a child to come from the audience and join in the song, I was off like a rocket! After that, I was stage-struck but fortunately joined a drama school and discovered how bad an actress I really was! Better by far to be in the audience happily carolling off-key those immortal words
"I like a toffee apple,
Stuck upon a stick,
First I put my tongue out
And lick, lick ,lick...."
From a panto in the fiftys. Author unknown!
annpan
15 years ago
I have finished "Talking about Mystery Fiction" by P.D. James which was recommended by a poster. One of her favourite mysteries is "The Moving Toyshop" by Edmund Crispin which is now available in a large print edition. I think that someone tried to get it and found it was then OOP.
I do enjoy the older mystery authors and the books written years ago by writers like Catherine Aird, who is still going strong! They did not get caught up in forensics much, which suits me and I like the puzzle aspects and good writing.
(My daughter is somewhat housebound at present with a bad ankle and so I gave her a "Miss Marple" anthology. She was surprised at how much she enjoyed it! She usually reads the more gritty modern murder mystery authors.)
vickitg
15 years ago
I finished The 19th Wife for my book discussion group last week. I was not a fan. I thought it was discombobulated and things seemed dropped in for no good reason. The stories were somewhat interesting, but it really could have used a good, strong edit.

Last night I finished Flashback, which I believe Rosefolly mentioned. It was a fun thriller that I read quickly.

My next book group read will be The Kabul Beauty School, which I can't seem to get excited about. I'm also finishing another Georgette Heyer - Cotillion.
lemonhead101
15 years ago
Vee - Yes - we definitely had lots of pantos in our time; for some reason, they are in my mind as being a village tradition with lots of audience participation (as you mentioned): "Oh yes he did... oh no he didn't"... And sitting on hard wood floors for a long time so your bottom got numb... Gosh, that brings back memories.

My sis and I have a December birthday, the celebration of which seemed to involve a lot of pantomimes...

Thanks for the fun memory.. :-)

Reading - just started a journal by May Sarton, but am thinking I need to find out who this person before I get much further... Hard to appreciate a journal if you have no idea who the author is, I think...
lauramarie_gardener
15 years ago
Just finished "The English Assassin" by Daniel Silva. I'd never heard of this author, til I read several posters here say they liked his books. So, as I was in the mood for a good spy novel, I picked this one up.

It was an exciting, entertaining story. It did kind of pall on me in the last third, because I got tired of the going back and forth -- one guy chasing another, then the one being chased turns around and chases after the guy who was chasing him.

"The Nasty Bits" - Anthony Bourdain (non-fict.)
VERY Entertaining! Funny, warm, passionate -- All about Good Food - from the humble to the sublime, and those who make it. I really recommend this book!
netla
15 years ago
I am currntly reading a very interesting book about the ancient Egyptians and what is known about their culture and society.

I am re-reading Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!, and will probably go on to re-read the whole Watch sub-series.

And yesterday I opened and read the first few pages of Shirley Jackson's We have always lived in the Castle, and liked what I saw.
woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
lemonhead, I've read most of the work of May Sarton. She was Belgian-born, but lived a solitary life as a poet in New England for many decades with her pets. She had quite a following among Feminists of all ages when she was alive, and corresponded with writers all over the world. Many came to visit her in her older, historic homes and became inspired by her philosophy and her writings. I am probably in a minority, but I find her non-fiction, autobiographical journals better written than her poems.
veer
Original Author
15 years ago
I've been reading a most unusual book The Immortal Dinner by Penelope Hughes-Hallet. A very detailed look at the life of the English 'Romantic' artist Benjamin Robert Haydon, who painted huge canvasses in the early nineteenth century. This book gives an account of a dinner he gave in 1817 to which he had invited among others, Keats, Wordsworth and Charles Lamb. H H gives an amazing 'all-round' journey of the time in which the dinner took place, what was happening in the world of both art and science. Everything that is worth knowing is written about, from the abolition of slavery to the Elgin Marbles, from the way Turner painted the sky to the invention of the miner's safety lamp. Not the sort of book that can be got through quickly, but a good gentle bed-time read.

I have also thoroughly enjoyed the latest Ariana Franklin The Assassin's Prayer. Set in the time of Henry II, probably one of the most enlightened and clever/wily kings of medieval England. Franklin doesn't swamp us with heavy history or come over all "Prithy Fair Maid" but tells an excellent, gripping tale. Well worth looking out for the series.
nb. For some reason this is known as A Murderous Procession in the US

Now have both Rose Tremain's Trespass and the latest Bill Bryson from the library. So plenty to keep me going. ;-)
yoyobon_gw
15 years ago
lauramarie......I am a huge fan of Bourdain's books !
Have you read the others?
-Kitchen Confidential ( his first)
-Medium Raw ( his latest)
-A Cook's Tour

I thought I was one of few who could enjoy his humor, given that you have to suspend any sensibility regarding his language ( which I find amusing and wonderful for some reason!!)
I just love his travel /food programs.
My DIL teases me that I have a schoolgirl crush on him.
lol.
Kath
15 years ago
Vee, I agree totally with you about Ariana Franklin. Her books are very entertaining.
I'm reading the new Frederick Forsyth, The Cobra. It's very interesting, as usual, but not sure that it is up to his previous standard.
woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
Just finished C.S. Lewis' "Til We Have Faces" (the myth of Cupid and Psyche retold and embellished). This was his own favorite of all the books he wrote.

Now, am about to begin Alison Weir's "Lady in the Tower: the Fall of Ann Bolyn". Has anyone else here read it?
drove2u
15 years ago
I finished "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield (I think?) and what an amazing story. It was a bit slow at first but I couldn't stop reading it after a while. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.
Now, I'm reading "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barberry.
lauramarie_gardener
15 years ago
Hello Yoyobon --

Yes, I just love his TV shows. Didn't know until this book ("Nasty Bits") that some years ago he'd done a show for the Food Network. The cable service here didn't have that network, yet; so, I missed those. Did you see them...were they any good?

This is only the second book by him that I've read. I was leery of trying another one by him because "Kitchen Con." was SO good, and being he's sort of new as a writer and works so much for his TV series, I thought that his following books couldn't possibly be as good as that first one. Well, I sure was wrong. I'm so glad that I saw your post!

As far as language in his books goes, I don't find very many crude words or off-colour expressions. Besides, a lot of literary novels have that going on: Joyce's "Ulysses"; "Catcher in the Rye"; etc. He really wouldn't be Anthony B. if he "spoke" like a prim 18th c. country minister. Besides, the raw language (and i've heard worse -- much worse!) goes with his black-leather-and-tatoo lower-east-side persona, don't you think? Fits the "Bad boy" image! And we're all adults -- I think we can take it --- and no doubt use some of those words ourselves once in awhile!

Yes, I suspect quite a few of the gals who watch that show are attracted to him. Personally, he doesn't have that affect on me --- Now if George Clooney was to take over that show for awhile . . . .
lemonhead101
15 years ago
Just finished the May Sarton journal - wonderful and meditative experience with some interesting things to think about thrown into the mix. She puts a new spin on the concept of aging (for me) which will be influential in how I look at that from now on and reminded me that "there are as many ways of aging as there are of being young..."

Another question she mulls over is whether journals are better if you are on in years than when you are younger. Sarton mentions that when people are younger, they are less "formed" in a way and have less to put in a journal. The older you are, the more interesting your journal would be since you have numerous experiences to draw upon. This prompted me to dig out my diaries from when I was about 12 - yes, they are very "on-the-surface" information, but I think I was writing it for me as the audience... I do think that some people get more introspective over time... Perhaps that is what Sarton is referring to...

Anyway, now on to "Whitethorn Woods" by Maeve Binchy. It's be ages since I have read one of hers so hoping that this is a good one...
woodnymph2_gw
15 years ago
Lemonhead, which particular journal by Sarton did you read? (She wrote a good many).

I just finished Berg's "Open House." I enjoyed the interesting range of believable characters and situations and will look for her other novels.
carolyn_ky
15 years ago
I've just finished Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler. It is a Bryant and May mystery with a lot of arcane London information, as usual. They get a little boring in spots, but the books still fascinate me.
kathy_t
15 years ago
I recently finished Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, which was selected as our community One Read book for this year. It has three plot lines, each contained in its own chapters. All three stories involve someone who left their home and family and took on a new identity elsewhere. I found it intriguing and a good read.

I'm now on to Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives by Katie Hickman. It relates the experiences of a number of wives of British diplomats over a couple of centuries as they relocated to exotic and sometimes difficult places. Quite interesting.
vickitg
15 years ago
I posted this on the "Annoying Characters" thread, but thought I'd also put it here.

I've been attempting to read Christopher Moore's latest book -- Bite Me: A Love Story - but I'm so annoyed by the main character that I'm giving up. :( I loved his earlier books, but he has become so crude and misogynistic that I don't think I'll be reading any more by him.

I'm moving on to another Ivan Doig book called Dancing at the Rascal Fair.
veer
Original Author
15 years ago
vicki, the title of Bite Me: A Love Story would be enough to turn me off opening the book.

I have just finished Trespass by Rose Tremain.
Set in the French CÃ©vennes, an area of strange lonely mountains and an aging, cut-off population. For all Tremain's considerable ability as a writer I found the subject matter to be sordid and the characters lacking in any warmth or genuine human compassion. On one hand there are the two English 'incomers' gay and lesbian and, on the other a family of incestuous French peasants. Take your pick as all lack charm, humour or any decency. In its favour I kept going as I was eager to reach the denouement.

June, I think you just read this; what did you think?
veer
Original Author
15 years ago
I meant to add the site below to what I wrote. Even if Trespass isn't for you the CÃ©vennes is an interesting part of France, steeped in history. Perhaps I should try R L Stephenson's Travels With a Donkey set in the area and containing no sex or violence. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Cévennes
vickitg
15 years ago
Vee - lol - It's actually a sequel to his Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story and You Suck: A Love Story. Gives new meaning to the word "love." The first one was fairly amusing. The second one less so. The third one, not at all.

Moore's earlier books were pretty funny. He has some great characters, including a talking, sunglass-wearing fruit bat named Roberto and a lovable, old cannibal. Sounding any more interesting? :-)
lemonhead101
15 years ago
Wood - the Sarton book was "The House by the Sea" which was written when she was older and had moved away from the small town where she had lived. As I mentioned before, I found it to be an interesting meditation on life...

I have put Maeve Binchy to the side for right now (temporarily) and in its place picked up "The Understudy" by David Nicholls (he who wrote "Starter for Ten" and "One Day" which I know other RPers have read)...

"The Understudy" is another winner. A good plot involving an English superstar actor, his understudy (the hero of the book), and his friendship with both the star and his wife. Great fun to read -- one of those rare books which suck you in and he has his characters doing things that you (i.e. me) would do. For example, the protagonist is in his agent's run-down office and is sitting on a chair with the yellow foam sticking out and he has to remind himself not to pick at the foam... Maybe not the best example, but I honestly felt that I had known his characters by the end of the book. Anyway, if you like his other work, you'll like this one. (Also found out that David Nicholls was one of the creators of the tv series Rescue Me which has a great sly sense of humour in it...)

Then picked up a NF book about extreme weather events, but the author has such a drive to talk about his agenda and take on global warming, that "everything" is put into "quotation marks" and it gets a bit "irritating" after a while. Additionally, he sucks the "interesting" out of any of the weather situations he talks about. How can you make a tornado boring? I don't know, but he does.

Not too sure what to read next... but isn't that half the fun of reading?
junek-2009
15 years ago
Veer, Re Trespass, I liked the read, I do not mind darkish books. I know they are not for all, I found that the part of France for the setting very interesting.
I have read quite a few of Rose Tremain's books and must admit Trespass was very different.
carolyn_ky
15 years ago
I have just finished A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell. It is set in Berlin in 1931 as the Nazis are coming into power. The main character is a 31-year-old female writing as a male newspaper reporter who has a younger gay brother who is killed. I thought it a really well done book, with proper mood setting and the dread of things to come.
lauramarie_gardener
15 years ago
Has anyone heard about the new biography on James Herriot by his son, James Wight? I've heard good things about it from a reader. Wonder if anyone here has read it, yet.
J C
15 years ago
I read Wight's book about his father some years ago, I don't if if is the same one. But I quite enjoyed it. Wight reveals some quite surprising things - the Herriot books were not nearly as autobiographical as you might think. But the book is very affectionate, not a tell-all or gossipy. I remember being quite happy that Wight gave us an honest picture of the man whose books I devoured as a teenager.
lauramarie_gardener
15 years ago
Thanks for the review, Siobhan. I think I will buy it now.

August Brings a Harvest of Reading

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