Shorter days, longer evenings...what are you reading in NOVEMBER?

11 years ago

I just finished two short books.

Edith Wharton's Summer was a short (200 pages) novel about a young girl living in a small New England village. When a young student of architecture comes to town, and village gossips talk of virtue lost, is it the truth? A tale as old as time told by Edith Wharton. Beautifully done. Short books are harder to write than long books... each word counts that much more.

Also read Rhys Bowen's latest The Twelve Clues of Christmas featuring Lady Georgianna. An advertisement is placed in the paper seeking a lady to act as hostess over the Christmas holiday. Lady Georgianna would rather spend the holiday anywhere but with her brother's wife so she answers. She thinks she is in for a relaxing old fashioned Christmas until, naturally, someone dies. Fun and light, just what I needed at the time.

PAM

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Comments (70)

woodnymph2_gw
11 years ago
Hi Liz. Sorry to hear of your illness and hope you are much better, now. I sent you an e-mail message with my snail mail address just now.
lemonhead101
11 years ago
Hi Wood -

Just checked the email and no message from you... This is the email to use just in case:

liz i paulk AT hot mail dot com

(with no spaces etc.)

Thanks
liz
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Diplomatic Baggage by Brigid Keenan had to go back to the library with one chapter still to read. "No you cannot keep it any longer, it is wanted by a member of a reading group." I think Keenan has written another book so maybe I'll be able to check the goings-on of her husband, AW the EU Ambassador and her two totally wild and badly behaved daughters (expelled from even the most liberal UK schools). Once the book got away from the 'present' . . . being spent in some ex Russian satellite state and went back to BK's meeting her future husband the book perked up and there are several amusing incidents around the world, from Trinidad, to Belgium, then India, to the Gambia; plus stops along the way. The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball recommended by Woodnymph/Mary is the story of the first year spent on a run-down farm in up state New York by an ex-journalist and her new-found green-age farmer. It seems amazing that they could take on 500 acres of gone-to-seed land plus a rat-infested house and collapsed barns/sheds/outbuildings, work the land using only horse power, learn to milk cows, castrate calves/pigs, set up a local organic co-operative to sell their produce, plan a romantic wedding and still have time to write a book. It makes me tired just reading about it. The only criticism is that the book is over-long and KK could have thought of a better title.
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PAM, when I was at Palmyra in 2012, I didn't notice any of the boats (4 already there) moored in the west lagoon until we were nearly through the channel, the only ingress, parallel to Sand Island. I don't remember whether that was because I was too nervous watching for the reef or they weren't visible. It was probably the former because I do recall that from where we moored just off the west end of Cooper Island, boats were clearly visible outside the reef, looking southwest toward the channel. Nowadays, although there are no permanent occupants on Palmyra Atoll, there are temporary residents, employees of the Nature Conservancy and other U.S. government staff, year round. Any boats making a call at Palmyra have to seek permission to visit, and what with radios and other electronics, the staff at the station have to be contacted so they expect any boat's arrival. I don't know what the protocol is for refusing moorage to unauthorized visitors. From what I understand, in 1974 when the Sea Wind and the Iola were there, the atoll, although it was technically private property and permission was supposed to have been sought from the owners in Honolulu, in reality it was hard to keep tabs on what boats came and went. There were no permanent residents since the U.S. military abandoned it after WWII, but Palmyra was a crossroads of sorts for sailing from Hawai'i down to Pago Pago and other South Sea islands and back. Many boats probably stopped over for a few days just out of curiosity and to take a break. Some stayed for a few days and sometimes a few weeks. Apparently it wasn't unusual for several boats to congregate in the west lagoon for short periods, although there were spells when it was completely deserted. What both couples -- Mac and Muff Graham, Buck Walker and Stephanie Stearns - didn't realize was that Palmyra was frequented fairly often, though intermittently. They had expected it to be deserted except for each of the couples alone. Evidently, this caused resentment for those who wanted solitude and complete run of the place themselves. I don't think it would be particularly unusual these days to call in at any island or atoll of any size to find one or two boats already there or, if it was deserted, to be joined by other boats after a day or maybe just a few hours. Of course there's no way of knowing whether the occupants of those boats are good sorts or bad, but from my experience (limited to only half a dozen runs south of the equator) and the experiences of my DH and sons, the sailors seem to be mostly good, friendly sorts. The Grahams had the misfortune to meet up with Buck Walker, though. When you have finished the book, PAM, I would like to know what you think of Stephanie Stearns (Jennifer Jenkins in the book).
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Finished The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. Agree with chisue about the self-absorbed nature of the characters, but that’s precisely the essence of teens and 20+ year year-olds in the throngs of self-doubt and self-discovery, right? Loved — simply loved — the authenticity of grad students and post-grads doing pure research (i.e. anything remotely readily applicable to real life), their life of intellectualism, poverty and blissful impracticality. Before I went into law, I did my doctorate in what was the beginnings of AI at a time when AI wasn’t a household word. With those street--creds (for what they’re worth), I can tell you the book felt like a capsule of those impossibly heady years of high-octane interdisciplinary discussions and debates that lasted all night. Evolutionary biology, yes! Stephen Gould, yes! Theory of meaning, yes, yes, yes!! Anyway, you get the point, the author gets it, it’s the real deal. As chisue points out, the book also bears witness to the sad, slow and painful unraveling of the mind of a manic-depressive. (I recall Katherine Graham’s account of her brilliant husband’s descent into bipolar disorder in her memoir from the late 1990s, with uncannily similar details of a manic-depressive’s behavior.) The writing was quite good too. Overall, a great read if you’re into subjects of this kind. 3.5 to 4 stars.
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pam53
11 years ago
I'm about to begin Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. I hope it's good as I have been waiting for it to come out.
pam53
11 years ago
forgot to mention that I gave up on The Secret Keeper for now-will try it again at a later time.
I can't believe I couldn't get into it but after 160 pages I figured enough. I think sometimes I'm just not in the mood for a book but later on I may like the one I discarded previously.
bookmom41
11 years ago
I finished Tan Twan Eng's The Garden of Evening Mists a week ago and can't stop thinking about it. While the characters were not particularly likeable, they were understandable. It deals with the aftermath of the WWII Japanese invasion of Malaysia, secret jungle prison camps, gardens, tattoos, and "comfort" girls. Eng has a few story lines going on that pull together beautifully as the book concludes. This might be my "best" book of 2012.
On my Kindle, I read an OK mystery called Borkmann's Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery by Hakan Nesser; I think I'm looking for a Jo Nesbo read-alike but this was not it. Thanks to Kindle, also read Rita Mae Brown's newest--she really drags her politics into this mystery, but I don't mind, others will. :) And am reading my first Anne Perry book, an Inspector Pitt book called Callender Square.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
Bookmom, if you like Callender Square, you are in for a treat in just beginning the Inspectr Pitt books. I like the early ones best but continue to read them all, as well as her William Monk series.

I am just finishing The Dark Winter a first novel by David Mark. This is a police procedural with a caring, truth-seeking detective, set in cold, dark Hull.
woodnymph2_gw
11 years ago
I've been delving into Peter Gay's biography of Sigmund Freud. It's quite a lengthy tome, and now I think I am ready to put it aside for something a bit shorter, lighter. It's so heavy that my arms ache when I'm reading it nights in bed. Well-written, though.
veer
11 years ago
Liz, sorry to hear about your D&V/Montezuma's Revenge/Delhi Belly and the many other names it goes by over here.
I was interested in the book you mentioned (Oct thread) about the diary of Margaret Fountaine the butterfly collector, so 'looked her up' and found a bio was written a couple of years ago called Wild and Fearless by Natascha Scott-Stokes. I invested in an illustrated brand-new hard back for the magnificent sum of one pound at one of the Amazon sites. If you are interested there seem to be a few similar copies available.
She certainly seems to have been anything but the usual Victorian daughter of the vicarage. What with way too much interest in the opposite sex and almost nothing to occupy her days it wasn't until an inheritance from an uncle made it possible for her to travel on her own butterfly-hunting throughout Europe . . . and still getting entangled with unsuitable men en route.
bookmom41
11 years ago
Carolyn, I did enjoy Callender Square. It is the second of the series, so I put the first and the third on reserve at the library; unfortunately, it looks like only a handful of the Inspector Pitt titles are available for my Kindle--and there seems to be no rhyme nor reason as to which titles are available.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
Bookmom, you should have a Sony--it makes Kindle offerings look like heaven.

I'm reading The Sunless Sea, the newest Inspector Monk by Anne Perry.
bookmom41
11 years ago
Carolyn, it isn't that they aren't available for Kindle, they just aren't available as an ebook at all. I am picking up #1 at the library tomorrow. In the meantime, reading Ruth Rendell's "block of London" myster, The St. Zita Society.
Kath
11 years ago
Today I finished Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' latest Bill Slider, called Kill My Darling and enjoyed it as always, although I thought there were fewer clever puns in it.
For those who are fans, Fantastic Fiction is listing another in the Morland series, called The Phoenix. However, it is not on her website, and the release date is 9999, so maybe we shouldn't hold our collective breath *g*
woodnymph2_gw
11 years ago
I'm currently enthralled with Vendela Vida's "The Lovers". The book is reminiscent of Paul Bowles in literary style and setting (a remote village in Turkey). I find it, as well, a meditation on aging, widowhood, and the clash of cultures.
timallan
11 years ago
Last night I finished Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie, the last of the Christie books published in the 1920s. The book is a series of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford stories.

Several years ago I started a project of trying to read Christie in somewhat of chronological order. My object was experience her development from an inexperienced mystery writer, to one of the most successful publishing phenomena of all time. This project was somewhat hampered by the fact that I can only read a few books at a time before I become bored with her writing, and the whole mystery genre as a whole. If I read too many books by a certain writer, I begin to subliminally pick up on the writer's cues, which takes the fun out of reading a mystery.

The stories in Partners in Crime are written in a light, breezy style, which I assume was pretty typical of mysteries in the 1920s. I can just barely remember (from being a Christie fan several decades ago) that some of her later books were very dark in tone. I remember By the Pricking of My Thumbs to be actually scary.

Partners in Crime is pretty dated. There were far too many close calls, and unlikely coincidences to be believable.

I will take a long break from Christie, and start on the books from 1930s in a year or so.
junek-2009
11 years ago
Hi all, long time no posts from me, the reason was the sloooow response time, I have changed my search engine to "google Chrome" and it is just great.

I am really enjoying my latest [The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry] by Rachel Joyce, I shall be sad when it ends.

Now I will be able to follow up on the recommendations, Woodnymph I shall follow up on [The Lovers].
J C
11 years ago
I have Pat Barker's Toby's Room which is starting off with great promise. I have not read Life Class, a deficiency I need to correct. I should, of course, read it first. But I won't, I don't want to return TR to the library and get it back who knows when. I greatly enjoyed her Regeneration series.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
Astrokath, my site says the new Morland Dynasty book is due in 2013, so not quite as long to wait. Didn't we hear that her publishers are cutting this series off with this book? I could read them forever.

There is another Bill Slider due I believe in December of this year. I recently read her Country Plot(?) and have read a few others of her non-series, which I don't like nearly as much as the Sliders and he Morlands.
rouan
11 years ago
I haven't posted for a while but have been reading. My library has added some reprints of "classic" mystery authors from around the time of Agatha Christie. I picked up a couple of them to try. One author (who's name I forget just now) didn't appeal to me at all but the other author is more readable. Have any of you read the mysteries by Elizabeth Daly? Her books are set during the 30's and 40's in New York and surrounding areas. They are dated but do evoke a similar feel to Agatha Christie's works.

I've also picked up and returned various books that looked interesting at the time but that I couldn't get into.

I finally got all my books out of boxes and organized on the bookshelves. It is so good to have them all accessible again!
Kath
11 years ago
Carolyn, I was looking at Fantastic Fiction and it may well have been a glitch, as it says 2013 there now :)
I may have been getting wrongly excited - I thought The Winding Road was going to be the last, but I think you are right that this 2013 one is it.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
I finished A Sunless Sea, which dealt with the invention of intravenous injections of opium and the profit to be made by causing addiction, and felt it was a little padded and drawn out. I still like both her Victorian series, though.

Have just barely begun London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, published in 1945 and set in 1938. The introduction says it is a "slice of life" portrayal of working class Londoners, true Londoners who sleep in the city as well as work there, during the build up to the Blitz. I'm looking forward to reading it. Had to get it through Inter Library Loan, as the public library didn't have it. I can't remember where I got the title from--one of you, probably?
veer
11 years ago
Carolyn, you probably got London Belongs to Me from me. A film was made of it just after WWII staring a very young Richard Attenborough. I've also recommended Collins' Children of the Archbishop though it is not easy to find a copy these days.

Here is a link that might be useful: London Belongs to Me . . . Movie
lemonhead101
11 years ago
Carolyn -

I have London Belongs to Me in my TBR shelves, and I think it must have been Vee who suggested it. It looks to be a good read, so please will you let me know?

I have just finished Julia Child's semi-autobiography (My Life in France) which I loved. Child seems to have been a very positive force when she was alive, and I would have enjoyed a cup of coffee/tea with her. I went back and dug up some of her original 1963 PBS cooking shows - very entertaining!

Then also finished a Project Gutenberg copy of The Odd Women by George Gissing. (Hi PAM!) Despite him being rather a layabout who would rather read than be responsible for his family, he is a good writer. He does have a habit of picking unsuitable choices for his wives though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Julia Child TV link (1960's PBS)
junek-2009
11 years ago
Carolyn

I have also read "London Belongs To Me" it was a wonderful novel, I also thank Veer for the recommendation, to-day I ordered from Amazon "The Children of the Archbishop".
rosefolly
11 years ago
Rouan, delighted to hear you are all unpacked. I always think that a house is not really a home until the books are out of boxes and available to be read.

Rosefolly
annpan
11 years ago
I have just been sent Maeve Binchy's last book. "A Week in Winter" (thanks for the tip, Vee)and am trying to stretch it out! She makes mention of some of the characters from other novels, a small glimpse of what they are doing now. I always feel that her people are so real that they must be continuing their lives beyond her books!
timallan
11 years ago
Rouan, thanks for the recommendation about Elizabeth Daly. Other RPers have recommended the mysteries of Gladys Mitchell, which I am also looking for.

I am thoroughly ashamed to admit that I have not read any of the Sherlock Holmes books/stories. The character of Holmes is such an icon, and I suspect many of us have absorbed the character, without actually having read the books. At least two television shows have reintroduced the character of Sherlock Holmes to a younger generation, including some who are going back to the original books. I rarely buy new books, but while Christmas shopping at a local book store, I found an attractive, reasonably priced copy of A Study in Scarlet. I think I will save it to read over Christmas.

I broke down and bought the cult horror novel, House of Leaves, which I have just started. I have heard several anecdotes of readers who had the wits scared out of them by this book, some having trouble sleeping, others feeling physically ill, etc. The book itself is quite large, being well over 700 pages. I am not sure if I will enjoy reading it, mainly because it uses all sorts of typographic tricks to challenge and disorient the reader. I normally really hate that sort of thing! The author, Mark Z. Danielewski, gives all sorts of interviews about the book, about which I am ambivalent. I would prefer the author of this particular book to be mysterious and inaccessible.
lemonhead101
11 years ago
Tim -

I hope you enjoy all the Sherlock Holmes mystery books. I have been reading them in chronological order, and have liked seeing how the characters get developed. You know they are all free on Project Gutenburg, right?...

And here is the order (just FYI):

Sherlock Holmes Novels:
* A Study in Scarlet (1897)
* The Sign of Four (1890)
* The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901-1902)
* The Valley of Fear (1914-1915)

Collections of Sherlock Holmes short stories:
* Adventures of SH (1981-1892)
* Memoirs of SH (1892-1893)
* Return of SH (1903-1904)
* Reminiscences of SH (including His Last Bow) (1908-1913 and 1917)
* Case Book of SH (1921-1927)
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
I read straight through all the Sherlock Holmes adventures the summer I was 19. I was so saturated with them, I was even dreaming new ones at night! I have pretty well forgotten them, though, except those few that I've seen on TV, and was a little disappointed when we toured the SH Museum in London. The rooms were delightfully Victorian, but they were filled with memorabilia of the stories which I didn't remember well enough to appreciate. All was made well, though, because when we left and were going back to the tube stop, there was Sherlock in full dress, with cape, cane, and deerstalker hat, walking up to 221B.

There is also a Sherlock Holmes Pub along the Thames on Embankment Street that has a glassed-in room with Sherlock sitting at his desk working on a case. The food was good, too.

Gosh, I love London and am about halfway through London Belongs to Me. I'm sure I am missing a lot of in-joke stuff, but I am enjoying it.
timallan
11 years ago
Thank you so much Lemonhead for compiling a chronological list of the published Holmes stories and novels. I was intrigued by the large gaps in his publishing career.

I recently discovered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sister Aimee was married to E. W. Hornung, author of the once well-known Raffles mystery books. How amazing to have two such famous crime writers in the same family.
lemonhead101
11 years ago
Tim -

I think he was writing other things when he wasn't writing SH stories... He was really pretty annoyed when public opinion made him resurrect SH after he first "died", and that's when I've noticed SH getting pretty snarky and snappy. (Perhaps ACB was feeling that way!)

I finished up Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, she who wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hill which her sisters suppressed publication of a second edition as they thought it far too inappropriate for someone with their family name to have published that. (Racy stuff for Victorians.)

Then finished up The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley. A good read with excellent descriptions of the endless English summers (that used to happen in childhood) and from the perspective of a 12-year old boy. (Well, it's the old man looking back and remembering, really.) Good story, but with all the build-up, I thought that the ending was going far more *shocking* that it was. Perhaps I have jaded 21st century eyes.

And then reading a non-fiction called The United States of Arugula by David Kamp about the cultural history of the Foodie movement in the U.S. I am not a Foodie myself, but having read about Julia Child, I am now curious for more... (But no snails or frog legs, and her own favorite, sole.)

:-)
woodnymph2_gw
11 years ago
Liz, "The Go-Between " is one of my all time favorites. We had a great discussion here on this forum some years ago on it. I recall Jankin was good at deciphering the symbolism.

I'm about half way through "The Lost Cyclist" by David Herlihy. It's a true story about an American cyclist who toured the world in the 1890's, taking photographs. He disappeared in Turkey and another award-winning American cyclist decided to ride out to find what happened to him. It's a fascinating tale, and the book is full of interesting b & w photos. Often the roads were so muddy and so bad in general that he was forced to cycle along railroad tracks.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
Well, so much for trying to show off. The Sherlock Holmes Pub is on Northumberland Street near the Embankment. Sorry!
J C
11 years ago
I stayed away from the Sherlock Holmes museum for a long time because I assumed it would be shlocky (I don't know why) and when I finally went I was fascinated for the reason you mention - it is an authentic Victorian middle-class home. The grand estates get preserved, but regular homes, not so much. The maze of rooms crammed with stuff - whew!
J C
11 years ago
I finished Toby's Room by Pat Barker and of course I thought it was excellent. Now I'm reading The Rough Guide to Paris. I'm having quite a hankering to visit Paris (I have been there quite a few times) but financially it is not a responsible thing to do right now. I'm having a lot of fun reading this little travel book.
veronicae
11 years ago
I'm finishing up The Panther>. DeMille is definitely one of my favorite authors.
veronicae
11 years ago
. Better?
sherwood38
11 years ago
veronicae - I just read The Panther last week and while I enjoyed it I thought his writing style had changed and found myself getting irritated at all the wit & jokes DeMille had John Corey spouting-but the plot was good!

I also read the End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina-no idea why! It was my 2nd attempt at reading one of her books, she is just not my cuppa!

I just finished The Last Man by Vince Flynn-love that Rapp-can't wait for the movie-that is if they chose someone appropriate to play him (not like Tom Cruise playing Reacher-yetch!).

I am now reading Opening Moves by Steve James which is a Prequel to his books about FBI Agent Patrick Bowers-good but not for the fainthearted.

Pat
frances_md
11 years ago
Pat, I so agree with you about Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher. It upsets me so much that I have to close my eyes when the ads play on TV. Obviously the casting people never read the books!
sheriz6
11 years ago
I've been on a romance/paranormal reading jag that started with a free kindle book (the paranormal) and a mention of a series on Netla's blog (the romance).

Most of the contemporary books I've downloaded free on the Kindle have been below average at best (surprise, right?), but I was pleasantly surprised with Elizabeth Hunter's Elemental Mysteries series (A Hidden Fire, This Same Earth, A Force of Wind, A Fall of Water) which are full of vampires, sex and political intrigue. Not fabulous, but definitely much better than what I anticipated, and I found myself pulled in sufficiently to buy the rest of the series. I thought her characters were intriguing (especially the secondary ones), her world-building was solid, and the stories overall were very good, though in some spots the pacing lagged a bit. Best of all, her heroine was a librarian :) The first book was free and the others were under $3.00, so I consider it a bargain all around.

I also started reading the Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens (Devil's Bride, The Promise in a Kiss, Scandal's Bride, etc.) and liked them very much. Definitely in the bodice-ripper category, but IMO well-written and engaging. As there are nearly 20 books in the series, I think my romance-reading list is set for the next long while.

My December book group will be reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, so that will be next.
veer
11 years ago
As part of my rather-late-in-the-day reading Dickens' work I have just finished Great Expectations. Earlier this year I read David Copperfield and found GE to have less 'over the top' characters, almost no simpering females and a much darker story. I loved CD's descriptions of the River Thames around the Kentish marshes and from the Pool of London when it was a busy working river.
I was only familiar with the work from watching the old 1946 film with John Mills and Alec Guinness and a recent TV adaptation, neither of which followed the book accurately (no surprise there).
Apparently the 2012 version, just out, with Helena Bonham-Carter and Ralph Fiennes depicts Miss Haversham as a mere 40 something year old and Pip as a not-very-nice young man.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
Oh, bah humbug! I wish "they" would leave Dickens's works alone. Who would have the nerve to think they could improve on him?

I have finally finished London Belongs to Me. It wasn't any fault of the book, just that it was rather long and that pesky holiday with all the cooking took up some time. I enjoyed the book very much.
lemonhead101
11 years ago
Wood - I looked for the RP discussion on The Go-Between but could not track it down. There's a lot to discuss so I was wondering whether anyone had a copy archived away somewhere?

Finished a rather dreadful (and dated) read of Lynne Reid Banks' The Backward Shadow, the second in the trilogy that started with The L-Shaped Room. Oh my. Was it really so common for the different genders to relate to each other back then in the 1960's as they do in this book (pub 1970)? It was also a bit uncomfortable to read as it was pretty racist and homophobic, but I suppose them was the times. The author wasn't horrible about these demographics, but her choice of vocabulary was a bit startling especially as her main character was breaking social rules left, right and center.

Drifting around looking for a new fiction book to read. And perhaps a classic - Robin Hood is high up the list right now - the one by Howard Pyle (mid 1800's version).
woodnymph2_gw
11 years ago
Liz, I may have saved the discussion on Hartley's novel. I'll look for it and let you know.

I've just finished "The Winter Ghosts" by K. Mosse, about the ancient Cathars in southern France. Now, I'm reading "Love Among the Butterflies" by M. Fontaine.
timallan
11 years ago
Struggling through House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Very challenging book. Wish I was reading something a bit more wholesome.
carolyn_ky
11 years ago
I'm reading The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. I have loved her other books, but for some reason this one isn't enticing me as much.
iris_gal
11 years ago
Thanks to the forum folks for recommending these 2 authors - thoroughly enjoyed:
'The Witch of Portobello' - Paulo Coehlo
'The Kitchen Madonna' - Rumer Godden (slim volumn good to read to grandchildren and to grandparent)

Read another S. J. Rozan - 'Shanghai Moon'. Get a flavor of living in NY's Chinatown plus a good story.

Looked forward to Donna Andrews since she's won several Agatha Awards. Not for me even with reading two, .in case the first wasn't up to par. She's the lady with a bird in the title.
Also disappointed in 'Death of a Cozy Writer' by G.M. Malliet.
And working my way thru the Agatha award winners read Sujata Massey. Doubt it would have appealed to me even at 13 yrs. of age.
annpan
11 years ago
Vee, please do watch the new "Great Expectations". I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was Miss. Haversham supposed to be an old woman? She might have appeared that way to the young Pip, who really wasn't a nice person in the way he treated Joe!
lemonhead101
11 years ago
Notes on "The Go-Between" by L. P. Hartley (1953).

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

Well written, this novel focuses on the memory of an elderly man who is reflecting on the summer of his twelfth year which he spent at the home of a wealthy family of one of his school friends. (Another bildungsroman, it seems.) It's contrasted strongly with his own home life (which is poorer) and Leo, the protagonist, is acutely aware of the "right" things to do and say. It's also a balance between the social codes of his boarding school (which he and his friend attend) and what is appropriate for this summer visit. It's a rather fraught novel, I think, which has the overall impression of impending doom. (This is clearly mentioned on the back blurb though, so not giving the game away.)

Hartley has done an excellent job of seeing through the eyes of a twelve year old at the beginning of the twentieth century in England. His recollections of how he viewed the world were spot on (to me), and his lush descriptions of endless summer days during school holidays is perfectly accurate: lengthy days, lassitude, and not much to do except mess around. Perhaps I had an odd childhood in the 1970's, but this was very close to how I remember my childhood growing up (although it might be burnished with the glow of memory.)

These endless days of summer are also a great conduit for illustrating the impending doom (uncertain though that may be). The increasing temperatures (checked daily by the protagonist on the outbuilding's thermometer) links with the perceived increasing pressure of whatever news is to come, and thunderstorms hang in the air like heavy clouds. It's really well done.

Leo is very interested in things of an astral nature: the signs of the Zodiac, his nickname of Mercury (the messenger in Roman mythology who wore winged sandals) and he half-believes that he has the power to control external forces such as the weather and sometimes other people's behavior and choices through magical curses (or spells, but mostly curses).

The title comes mostly from the fact that Leo is tasked with taking messages between the young lady of the house and a local farmer, a totally unsuitable match that can only be conducted in secret. At first, Leo feels privileged to have been asked, but as the summer progresses and things get more complicated, it becomes a burden and a political minefield. The reader also learns the event that caused all the upheaval and led to a troubled adult life for Leo, but I shall say nothing here. (Don't want to give the story away. Suffice to say, it's good.)

The Go-Between could also be interpreted to mean Leo's having to move between social classes, uncertain of how he should behave with whom (not only with him having to adapt to the higher social class, but also having to balance his friendship with the local farmer, a working class guy. And class was everything at this time.)

...
J C
11 years ago
From the library I received My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher. I'm having a hard time putting it down. I hope it continues to be as good as it has been so far.
woodnymph2_gw
11 years ago
Liz, you wrote an insightful summary. You will be getting my notes on it soon. There is a LOT of symbolism going on in this novel.

Shorter days, longer evenings...what are you reading in NOVEMBER?

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