It's been quite a while since I posted. My mom died in early July and I still don't feel like doing much-but I am reading.
Right now I am reading The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin and enjoying it so far (half done). It's kind of funny as I just finished another book with an orchard as backdrop and loved it-The Right Hand Shore by Christopher Tilghman. It is historical set in the late 1800's along Maryland's eastern shore.
Both books are different and wonderful which is hard to find with historical novels lately. The Orchardist is set in the Oregon/Washington area-late 1800's and early 20th century.

Pam -- I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Losing my mom was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. Reading was actually one of the things that helped get me through that time.

I just read a sample of a book about an orchard, an olive orchard -- The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo -- about five generations of women in California. It looks pretty good.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Roots of the Olive Tree

I just finished "Oxygen" by Carol Cassella. It is a mystery of sorts about an anesthesiologist who loses a child during surgery and the impact it has on her life. I loved it.

I also finished "The Gum Thief" by Douglas Coupland. I found it more interesting as it progressed. I am not sure I would recommend it to anyone.

In addition, I listed to "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". I found it truly fascinating and would recommend it to both introverts and extroverts alike. A very worthy read.

Currently, I am reading "The Unnamed" by Joshua Ferris. I am really enjoying the story and the writing. It's about a young, successful lawyer who has a pathological compulsion to walk.
My current listen, with an excellent narration, is "The Persimmon Tree" by Bryce Courtney.

Sad news today for Bryce Courtney fans. He announced yesterday that he is dying of cancer and has only a short time left to live.
My husband had this same devastating news and I know how hard it is to comprehend.

Pam, I'm sorry to hear about your mother. It has been almost twelve years for me, and I think about her a lot. I hope your good memories soon outweigh the loss.

I am reading The Yard by Alex Grecian. It is a mystery involving Scotland Yard the year after Jack the Ripper was not caught and is quite good.

Pam, my condolences on the loss of your mother - losing a parent is such a hard thing.

I finished The Fallen Angel, the latest Gabriel Allon book from Daniel Silva, and thought it a very good addition to the series.
I am currently reading The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny and that is going well too.

Pam, I am sorry to hear about your mother's passing.

Yesterday I finished Me Talk Pretty One Day, at the request of a coworker who is a huge fan of David Sedaris. Though I find his books amusing, I don't find they leave a very deep impression on me. The paperback copy of this book, which was loaned to me, has no less than five double-sided pages of excerpts from rave reviews. I find myself wondering what I must be missing, since his books apparently send reviewers into raptures. I find Sedaris overrated, but I don't dare express this opinion.

Carolyn, the Budapest train station sounds gorgeous. Travel by train seems to have a very glamorous mystique. It always makes me think of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in "North By Northwest".

thank you for the condolences-my mom and I liked the same books and used to pass them back and forth-I really miss that. sarah-thanks for the link. The book sounds good.

Pam, I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your mother.

I'm about halfway through Woman in White but leave it regularly for books that cause less anxiety. I read both of the Diesel and the Cupcake baker novels by Janet Evanovich. I hesitated to get them because the reviews were not good, but, truthfully, I enjoyed them. The second had a few laugh out loud moments.

Pam, so sorry about the loss of your mom.

Woodnymph,Five Quarters of the Orange was such a good book, my favorite of Joanne Harris.

I very quickly read The Midwife by Jennifer Worth, a memoir by a woman who trained as a nurse and midwife with a group of nuns living in London's East End. Her writing style was lovely and very natural and the stories she told are funny, heartbreaking, and eye-opening. I understand her books were made into a TV series and will be shown on US--PBS this fall. It's being touted here as perhaps some competition for Downton Abbey. Anyone else familiar with these books or the show?

Pam, I'm very sorry to hear about your mom.

I just finished Eva Rice's The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and really liked it. It's a coming-of-age story set in 1955 England, just at the end of rationing and the beginning of rock and roll. I thought Rice's writing was solid and in places beautiful (she's the daughter of lyricist Tim Rice) and while I felt echos of I Capture the Castle here and there, I thought the story was fresh and original.

I also finished The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger's Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch. Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome five years into his shaky marriage, Finch and his long-suffering wife, Kristen, were finally able to understand why their relationship was so difficult. Finch writes about his quirks, compulsions and obsessions with great humor and self-awareness, and the book chronicles his years-long effort to improve himself and his marriage as he strives to develop "best practices" for his life (among them: "Don't change the radio station when she's singing along", "Laundry: better to fold and put away than to take only what you need from the dryer", and "Apologies do not count when you shout them.") A very interesting POV, and a very funny book.

I also flew through three books by a new-to-me romance author, Tessa Dare, which was just the brain candy I needed during a nasty summer headcold.

All have gone back to the library now, and after reading the "Tell Me About Your TBR Pile" thread, I think I'll have to try to stick to reducing mine in the near future.

Pam, I'm very sorry to hear your news and I send you my condolences. In time your memories bring you more comfort than sorrow, but that is likely still quite some time away.

Rosefolly

bookmom, the TV series Call the Midwife based on the Jennifer Worth book was shown on the BBC last winter and proved very popular. Tales of her young life working in the tough East End of London Thames dock area. As nearly all this area has been 'redeveloped' they had to recreate 'dockside' scenes, which all looked rather too neat and clean for the early 1950's. Some reasonable performances especially from the hefty 'stand-up' comedienne Miranda Hart who plays the part of the unlikely aristocratic midwife. Vanessa Redgrave does the voice-over. I understand a second series is being made.

Here is a link that might be useful: Call the Midwife

Vee, this series is being shown in Australia at present. I watched the first episode and was surprised that this was set in the 1950s. The conditions seemed to be more 1930 pre-war than during the time of the 1950s that I recall. The London which was described to me by my grandparents, who had lived in the East End, had been demolished during the bombing and was being cleared and rebuilt.
Life had improved for the poorer class. Hire purchase meant better furniture, a television etc. and the television programmes were showing people a better way to do all kinds of things.
I haven't watched any more after that first one. It didn't feel right to me! Also I don't like watching childbirth!

Annpan, some of the saddest parts of Worth's memoir take place in Stepney. She describes the post-war era in Stepney with crumbling and bomb-damaged tenements scheduled for a demo which didn't take place for another twenty years and the poorest folks living in crowded squalor. At the same time, vice and prostitution exploded in the area; one of her stories about this area is so appalling I had trouble reading it. I am so glad this was not your grandparents' experience. The book reminded me of James Herriot's books, right down to the birthing scenes, even if one described farm animals and the other humans.

I was trying to read The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen Carter but have given up. It is a hefty, interesting "what if Lincoln hadn't died" historical fiction but requires a lot of time and close attention. Matthew Dicks' Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is narrated by the imaginary friend of little boy with autism who has been abducted and is good so far; next will be native American author Louise Erdrich's newest, The Round House about the rape of a woman living on a reservation and her family's search for justice.

Also, I meant to say thank you to both Vee and Annpan for the information about the television series. Here in the US, her first book has been rereleased using the title Call the Midwife in anticipation of the TV show spurring book sales.

Bookmom, I read some reviews and they said that the book was quite upsetting in parts. I do hope that US viewers don't think all the UK in the 1950s was like the scenes portrayed.
When I went to stay with an Australian family in 1960, my hostess showed me the bathroom and said quite seriously that she didn't keep coal in the bath. "We know you do in England!" I don't know where that came from! I assured her our family certainly did not but she didn't look too convinced!

Annpan. "coal in the bath" was one of those derisory expressions used when Council Housing was first built after WWI as was "chickens under the kitchen table". The implication being that previous slum dwellers wouldn't know/appreciate how to live in a modern house.
In one of the episodes of Call the Midwife they used one of the remaining 'Prefabs' as the setting for several scenes.
These were prefabricated houses put up from 1944 as part of a Temporary Housing Measure to provide simple accommodation for the hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by bombing. For the first time many folk had access to separate bedrooms, indoor flush lavatories, bathrooms, a fitted kitchens and a small garden. They were meant to last only 10 years but some of them are still standing and cherished by their owners.

Here is a link that might be useful: Prefab Housing

Although I never saw one of the pre-fabs, I do recall going into a Nissan hut near Sidcup, Kent, which was done up in a similar fashion. The lady who lived there was very proud of it and happily showed us around.
It would be a good idea to put up some of this temporary housing here in Australia. The so-called "Lucky Country" has many homeless families because of the high rents and low rental home availability. Council home waiting lists are up to 9 years in some places! People live in tents or even cars. Either can be very hot or freezing cold in Winter. It is a disgrace.

I read a couple of chapters of yet another follow-on to "Pride and Prejudice". I don't know why I bother! I haven't found one I liked yet.....

Just finished up a very good book called "Nervous Conditions" by Tsitsi Dangarembga (1989). It's been categorized as an African coming of age novel, and it's one of the best books that I have read this year. My friend here has done a lot of NGO work in Ghana, and she recommended it. I had not heard of it before.

Anyway, well written, very wicked sense of humour, and so much to think about as the story progresses: gender roles, colonial/Africa roles... Absolutely fascinating. If you'd like more about it, I have written a blog post (attached), but long story short - great read about 1950's Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from a very funny/poignant PoV of someone who grew up there as a African person.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blog post about Nervous Conditions

Pam, I'm also very sorry about your mother and send my best wishes. About a month ago I lost my very best friend Brady, the standard schnauzer, and still can barely function so I can only imagine how difficult it is for you to try to get back to some semblance of normal.

While reading has been somewhat on the back burner, I did listen to some extent to Stephen L. Carter's latest book, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln. I'm sure I missed a lot of the detail, and it is very detailed, but it definitely was worth the time.

Even though I seldom read books from the library I happened upon a nonfiction book there entitled The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. Mr. Whicher was a detective during the time of Dickens and Wilkie Collins and served as a source and inspiration for some of their writings. The book is written as a murder mystery concerning the death of a four-year-old boy who disappeared from his bed while numerous family members and employees of the house were present. Has anyone else read this book?

I've also finished Laura Lippman's latest, And When She Was Good, which is about a woman who lives a secret life while trying to be a good mother.

Currently I'm listening to Shadow of Night and wishing I hadn't started it because Lee Child's new book is out now and I love Jack Reacher but I know if I stop Shadow of Night I'll never go back to it. It is mildly interesting but not really my kind of book. And I'm ready to start again to read Gone Girl.

Frances I read Mr Whicher a couple of years ago and found the true story interesting, how 'evidence' was looked for etc in the 1850's and the facts about the family (even then they had the dysfunctional sort) but I felt Summerscale had used quite a bit of padding to produce a full length book.
I have listened to her Mrs Robinson's Disgrace a true story of a Victorian woman who became infatuated with a doctor and foolishly kept a diary about her feelings and their possible 'goings-on', only to have it read by her husband. A court case followed emphasising that 'respectable' women didn't have sexual desires and that she must therefore have been insane. The fact that her husband kept a mistress and another 'family' was quite a different kettle of fish . . .

Oh, and Pam - I am very sorry to hear about your mother. Sending you peaceful wishes from here to there.
liz

frances, I'm so sorry about the loss of your Brady; I, too, have a standard and they are wonderful companions.

I finished Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend mentioned above. Matthew Dicks also wrote Something's Missing; both of these books deal with characters who seem to be somewhere "on the spectrum." He writes with humor and insight and I think excels at portraying the personality traits and thought processes of folks with forms of autism.

Frances, you didn't say whether you liked the Lippman. Lippman fans want to know. Well, I guess I want to know because I'm finding her recent work less engaging than I once did. I find I'm not buying her novels the minute they are available any longer.

Having been entertained by the new Evanovich Wicked series, I bit the bullet and read the latest two Plum novels - 17 and 18 - and had more than one laugh out loud moment, so I'm happy. I'll probably get 19 when it comes out this fall.

vee, I agree about the padding in the Mr. Whicher book.

bookmom, thanks. Brady was absolutely the best friend I've ever had and I'm lost without him. He was only with me for a little less than seven years and had a bad early life but was a perfectly behaved dog.

chris, I liked the Lippman book but didn't love it. It was an easy read and was worth the time. Try the library.

Currently, I'm reading Conrad's Victory and remembering how very much I love Conrad.

I'm half way through The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's really pulled me in and I can't wait to see how it all plays out. I think fans of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell would definitely like this one.

Up next for my book group: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Sheriz6, I really liked Unbroken.

I am almost finished with In the Wood by Tana French. I had read her second book and thought about not going back and picking up the first, but I'm very glad I did. She is a great story teller. Now I look forward to the rest of what she has written. Rather than a series (they're mysteries), she takes a character from one book and makes him or her the featured character in the next one.

I'm currently ploughing through "The Anglo Files: a Field Guide to the British" by Sarah Lyall. The author is a New York writer who married an Englishman and moved to London where she lived for several years. With scathing wit she dissects the details of class, language, and customs of her adopted country.

Pam, I'm so sorry about your mother. I still miss my mother each day, and she died 28 years ago.

As time goes by, photos and memories become more and more important--or at least that's how it's been for me.

--I'm tackling another Virginia Woolf novel. This one is Mrs. Dalloway. I already "know" Clarissa Dalloway from The Voyage Out.

I am thoroughly enjoying RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles.

I'm engrossed in Susan Hill's latest Simon Serailleur mystery: "The Betrayal of Trust." She is my favorite who-dunnit author, although there is often a tinge of sadness to her characters.

JWTtrans - I am impressed that you are soldiering through all Woolf's works... I don't find her to be the easiest read, so I bow before you, the Ruling Reader of Woolf.... :-)

I've been reading quite a bit lately - I know, shocker. Finished an excellent read called "Once Were Warriors" by Alan Duff (1990), a hard-hitting novel about Maori life in a small town in New Zealand. Although this wasn't the easiest read in the world (due to content), the writing was superb and I was completely drawn into the story. There were some scenes that drew my insides out - it's that powerful in places. "Raw", "harrowing", "realism"... all adjectives used to describe the book on its back cover. It's a very ucomfortable read, but really - one of the best reads this year.

Then finished up a easier-to-read but still very good novel by Jonathan Tropper called "The Book of Joe" about a best-selling novelist who has to return to his home town when his father gets ill. The writer has not been home for 17 years, and in the meantime, he has published a novel that eviscerates the town's residents (although thinly veiled). Of course, his return home is fraught with difficulty as he tries to reconcile with his estranged brother, help a dying high school friend and sort out his old relationship with the girl he went out with in high school. Nothing hard-hitting, but a good solid read all around.

I recently picked up an elderly paper-back copy of Adventures in Two Worlds by A J Cronin. Despite the minuscule print it was an enjoyable read. Cronin was a hugely popular writer from the 1930's onwards using his own experiences as a young doctor in the Scottish Highlands, the Welsh coal-fields and both ends of the social spectrum in London, to retell the stories of the characters he met and the difficult living conditions of the times. He lived in the US for many years once Hollywood started making films of his books.
An excellent story-teller if perhaps a little sanctimonious for modern tastes.
The very popular TV series Dr Finlay's Casebook was a 'must' on Sunday evenings in the 60's. He did for doctoring what James Herriot has since done for vets.

Here is a link that might be useful: old clip from 'Dr Finlay's Casebook'

Pam, so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.

Read the Marigold Hotel book. And um... I did not think it worthy of much praise. Honestly? I did not like it. Perhaps the movie is different. I've not seen it yet.

Now reading a short fun easy mystery, a new Hazel Holt, Mrs. Malory and a Necessary End. Light, entertaining, like having a chat with old friends.

Carolyn, I read The Yard a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

PAM

Finished the Susan Hill mystery and am now enchanted by "The Sweet Life in Paris" by David Lebovitz. The author is a superb humorist and cook, who got his start with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Calif. He now lives in Paris and his commentary on French culture is spot on, in my view, and often laugh out loud funny.

Currently reading one of those forgotten gems -- Jetta Carleton's The Moonflower Vine. I was delighted to find it available as an ebook.

I took a break from my usual murder mysteries to read "Abdication" by Juliet Nicolson. Rather a misleading title as there is very little about the abdication of Edward V111. It is quite a well researched novel and, for me, a page-turner, because I flipped through it trying to find about the abdication! What got mentioned was only the well recorded stories of events at that time.

Twobigdogs.........
Re: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Did you see the movie ? It is just a delight !
I didn't know there was a book first, but should have suspected as much after seeing the movie. It is such a fun story.

Unfortunately it got a very limited showing in this area.
I guess the movie theaters prefer multiple showings of loud, violent, 3D teen fare.

It was quite comical, when we went to see Marigold Hotel almost the entire audience was over the hill.

Or as someone said: "Over the hill? Over the hill was a distant speck in his rearview mirror !)

Another positive vote for "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" as a film. And yes, everyone in the audience was "senior."

Georgia - happy to see someone else reading "The Moonflower Vine"... It was a title I found somewhere and dug up and enjoyed.

I've been reading (and reminding myself) how to write by reading "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. A book straight out of the late 1970's, Zinsser was/is? a prof at Yale and has a journalist's background. It's more of a primer than anything, but he has a good sense of humor and I've finally learned the plural of "genius" is "genii".

And then speaking of well written, I am also reading and enjoying "Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain" by Judith Flanders which is *packed* with detail about this time. Obsessed with Victorians as I seem to be, this is a great read and I'm having fun. However, it suffers from a steady stream of typos which is a bit distracting.

Speaking of distracting, I am also reading "Skippy Dies" by Paul Murray about a death in an Irish boarding school. Light hearted and the writing is fine, but whoever decided to "translate" all the English/Irish bits into "American" needs to smothered. "Mum" or "Mam" is now "Mom". "Shopping Center" is now "mall" and numerous other examples. Unless things have been decidedly American in my long absence from living in UK?...

All good reads if you're not too pedantic about stuff other than the story. (The pains of being an editor.) :-)

Lemon, this may not be editing. A number of books I read by British authors use US terms because of their general readership. "Flashlight" is common, also "Morgue" etc.
I also noticed and commented on "Mom" in an Irish author's book in this forum a while ago. A US poster replied that she thought it was unnecessary. My thought too. I wouldn't expect to see a US child refer to their "Mummy" in a British publication of a book written by a US author. Unless it was set in England of course!

Interspersed with reading the 800+ page Drood by Dan Simmons, I have read Murder on Fifth Avenue by Victoria Thompson, whose books are set in Victorian New York City and whose heroine is a midwife earning her own keep in spite of being from an affluent family. It was certainly more fun to read than Drood is, but I am persevering. It is purportedly written by Wilkie Collins for publication 125 years after his death and deals with the last five years of Charles Dickens' life, including a lot about Ellen Tiernan. I should have read it before the Dickens discussion!

Liz, have you read another book by Judith Flanders called 'The Victorian House? It goes through the house room by room and talks about the era via what happened there. For instance, food and cooking in the kitchen, birth and sex in the bedroom, and so on.

Pam and Frances--my condolences.

Kathy-- Quiet changed my life when I read it over the summer. Happy to see that another enjoyed the book.

Sheri--thank you for your recommendation on The Night Circus . I am a Jonathan Strange fan.

Just started Death Along Spirit Road by C.M. Wendelboe. It is a mystery set on Sioux Reservation. Only on page nine... not far enough to form an opinion yet.

PAM

Took advantage of a rainy morning to finish The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie's second novel, published way back in 1922.

I enjoyed it. Her class prejudices are pretty obvious, and often unintentionally funny to a modern reader. Still, I am one more book closer to completing one of my reading "projects", namely to read the Christie books from the 1920s (before she was the most best-selling writer in the world).

Astro - Yes, I have read that other Flanders book which I loved and which led me to this current one... I had thought she was a Victorian scholar, but I think that's Amanda Vickery (another Victorian fan). Flanders is, according to Wiki, a British history author and journalist. Her most recent book is "The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime" (2011). Adding that to the TBR pile as we speak. :-)