These are the English gardens we visited, in this order: Stourhead, Montecute House, Castle Drogo, The Garden House, The Eden Project, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Trellisick Garden, Trebah Garden, Rosemoor, Barrington Court, Tintinhull, and Wisley. A lot of gardens, and each one delightful in its own way.

Oh, I have seen two of those, Stourhead and Barrington Court! Did your tour stop by on the way to Devon and Cornwall, then? What were your favorite gardens?

Kathy, I'm green with envy. I've been in those areas but not with enough time to see the gardens. Kew is my limit so far, I'm afraid.

The gardens were our destinations, not stops along the way. This is the first time I've taken a trip like this - totally garden-oriented, with no museums or castles or monuments - unless they were associated with the garden we were visiting. It was led by the owner of a local garden center and most of my fellow travelers were master gardeners, or are into gardening in a big way - with one exception, which was me. I told them that I specialize in garden appreciation rather than gardening, which is true. We also had a day and a half in London and made short stops at Dartmoor, Port Isaac (think Doc Martin), Tintagel, and Stonehenge, but mostly we visited two gardens a day. Some of our group spent their London day at Kew Gardens, but I opted for St. Paul's Cathedral and a boat ride on the Thames.

Kathy, it sounds like a memorable trip. Garden visiting is one of my favorite kind of trips. How did you find out about it? I think I might like to do a garden-only vacation someday.

Kathy, I am the same way - I love beautiful gardens, but I sure don't want to do it myself! LOL Kind of like I love good food, but I don't cook unless I absolutely have to.

Woodnymph, the book that I mentioned above, A Burnable Book, is really good. It's somewhat historical but is mostly just a good story with lots of plot twists and intrigue.

Donna

Donna, thanks for the suggestion.

Rosefolly, I've found all of Paul Theroux's books rather bitter and snarky. But I endure them because he does have some unique insights re the countries he visits, e.g. his travelogue about Africa.

I've long wondered where "Doc Martin" was set. So is that scenic village in Cornwall?

I finished The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. It was my least favorite of the three Inspector Gamache mysteries I've read. I still very much enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the humor, but I thought some of the leads they followed were quite far-fetched. The fact that a murdered man had a copy of Charlotte's Web and a book by Charlotte Bronte would not make me think that "Charlotte" is a significant clue, and have me flying off to the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Hoping for a new author, I have my first book by Louise Penny - Bury Your Dead - and really tried hard but absolutely could not get into it. Disappointing.

Finished Corfu by Robert Dessaix, an Australian author (I bought the book in 2002 in Sydney, Australia, a traveling memento). It is not riveting, but it is well written.

The author tells the story of Australian actor, playwright and writer Kester Berwick through a clever narrative device: the unnamed fictional narrator stays at Kester's house in Corfu while Kester is away. He reads Kester's diaries and newspaper clips, plus hears about Kester from other people in Corfu (mostly expatriates) and from the narrator's friend Leila, who knew Kester in the past.

It is also the narrator's story of his time in Corfu, the time in London before Corfu, and a little of his youth in Adelaide, Australia. He is a stage actor and talks a lot (first person narrative) about Chekhov's plays, the Oddysey and Sappho's poems. I didn't love the book, it was okay.

I've just finished A Stain on the Silence by Andrew Taylor. I'm not sure I will read anymore of his books. I liked his Inspector Thornhill books, although the series just seemed to quit; but the stand alone couple that I've read, while compelling reads, are dark. I've had enough for now.

I finally finished A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger. Overall I enjoyed it, but he took an awfully long time to tell the story, and it was very convoluted.

I started All the Light We Cannot See a while back, then returned it unfinished when it was due. I was recently able to digitally borrow it again and have read a few more chapters, but I'm still not getting into it and will probably return it unfinished again.

Donna

I just finished Masque (The Two Monarchies Sequence) by W. R. Gingell and really enjoyed it. It was a delightful mash up of fantasy, Victorian romance, Beauty and the Beast, and a murder mystery. The heroine was terrifically funny, confident, and capable. I loved it and promptly downloaded two more books by the author, Spindle and Wolfskin. I'm hoping to be able to finish at least one of them before I go back to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah for my July 31st book group.

Woodnymph-- I did enjoy Deep South quite a bit, though I agree that some of it was on the preachy predictable side but it still was very fascinating to me. I know someone had said his singling out Clinton foundation was a bit harsh, but I guess I had never thought about it so it was a very interesting point and I was glad he made it. I thought it was nicely written and I would definitely read more of his books.

I was so taken with his constant mentioning Tobacco Road and Faulker that I went and got Tobacco Road and the Sound and the Fury from the library. I started Tobacco Road and it is just amazingly good. I am about 1/2 way through it. I am not sure if I will get to the Sound and the Fury as I have a lot on my plate- book wise but it's a definite in the future read

Sheri- My book club read Americanah a few months ago. I thought it was pretty good- not great- and maybe might I say a bit over rated(oops). Still glad I read it but didn't love it.

The other book I hope to get to sooner than later for my book club is Middlesex which I hear is superb.

Sheri, I enjoyed Masque as well. WR Gingell writes stories that are a pleasure for me to read; not high literature, perhaps, but very enjoyable. If I were a writer I would hope to do the same.

I have just finished The Black Widow, the latest from Daniel Silva. I like his books, and although they have similar stories, this one was very prescient.

Rosefolly, I think I may have found another favorite author in WR Gingell. I started Spindle last night and was not disappointed. Very enjoyable, indeed!

Sheilaaus122, I'm hoping Americanah is good, I often have trouble getting into more literary books in the summertime. As for Middlesex, I loved it! There's a lot to it and I think you'll have lots to talk about book group-wise.

Have just got back to the virtual world after the router gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago. Now a new one has arrived only for the computer monitor/screen to fail! So am using the old lap-top with some difficulty as all the passwords are stored in the main computer. I think I should rely on a carrier pidgeon service.

Bookmom my library copy of Ordinary Grace has just arrived; I am looking forward to reading it and will report back.

Kathy I am glad you enjoyed your tour of English gardens. Had I known you were going to be over here I would have invited you to visit our 'national collection' of ground elder. As you know there is no cure for it as it is impossible to dig up or remove with weed-killer, so we have resorted to just cutting it back and pretending the white flowers are all part of out subtle planting scheme.

I attribute DH's green fingers to his ancestors who worked in the Royal Gardens at Kew about a hundred and fifty yeas ago.

Welcome back, Vee! Sometimes it does seem like reverting to the pre-computer days would be simpler, doesn't it?

Donna

Sheilaaus122, I read Tobacco Road when I was 12. My mother told me later that she debated with herself if it would be better to stop me or say nothing. She said nothing, and I was such an innocent that all I took away from it was the terrible poverty. Maybe I need to read it now at my advanced age. (My birthday was last week, and I got a birthday card from my very best friend from high school days welcoming me to the Eighties Ladies.)

I do like Faulkner. He writes a lot of stream-of-consciousness books that some people find hard to get into. I recommend just keeping on if you find it puzzling Rat first. For fun, read his Snopes Family books.

carolyn-ky: Let me know when you reach your nineties. If I'm still here, I'll cheer you on. Cheers.

Not sure where that "Rat first" came from. Very mysterious.

PWMama, thanks; that will be ten more years. My mother and all her sisters all lived to be in their 90s, so I have the genes.

Happy Birthday for last week Carolyn. My VA Gt Grandmother also 'had the genes' and lived into her 90's waited on hand-and-foot by her many dutiful daughters. I met her as a small child and, as the oldest great grandchild, was allowed to shake the hand that had once patted General Lee's horse!

One positive thing about being computerless is that there is more time to read and a thoughtful book I finished was The Promise of Happiness by Justin Cartwright. A story flipping between the coastal county of Cornwall in England and a women's prison in up state New York, involving the theft of Tiffany glass, the fate of the clever 'arty' daughter of the family and how they cope with her incarceration.

The bedside book is Anthony Trollope's The Warden which is the first in his 'Barchester' series and proving rather heavy going . . . but ideal for sending me into the Land of Nod.

vee, I also attempted The Warden. And while I finished it, you may be quite certain that it turned me off from diving deeper into the Barchester series. One was plenty. Keep us posted... I am interested to know if you happily reach for book 2!

PAM

PAM I read the next Barchester book some years ago and found it easier to get in to. 'The Warden' is very much of its time . . . lots of political references and C of E controversy that mean nothing after almost a hundred and seventy years and obviously aimed at a readership brought up to study the Classics . . . which probably says something about my lack of education! Luckily the edition has pages of explanatons and footnoes.

The old BBC DVD of 'The Warden' is very enjoyable with many 'famous' actors and a script that has had most of the excess verbiage removed.

Shelia, thanks for your commentary on Theroux's "Deep South." I felt he did tend to focus upon the poorer, rural parts of the south, where jobs have been lost and no economic recovery has ever taken place, thus stagnation rules. He seemed to ignore the southern meccas for tourists, which are prospering. I live in one of them: Charleston, SC . I do think he had an important message for Americans, and how our focus might be better spent at home, rather than in Third World nations.

You might enjoy his book on travels in Africa. I can't recall the exact title.

I'm now reading "The Violet Hour" by Katie Roiphe. It's a study of certain writers (Freud, Maurice Sendak, Dylan Thomas) and how they faced their final days and their thoughts on death. It is not as depressing as the title sounds and it is quite thought-provoking and insightful.

Thank you, vee, perhaps I will take a second peek at Trollope...although I shall put him on the bottom of a rather longish list. And the BBC DVD sounds like just the thing for a snowy cold evening. I shall plan on watching it some cold blustery January day. Although, with tomorrow due to be 100F, it may just be the thing for tomorrow as well.

PAM

Well, I finished Tobacco Road and loved it. I just started The Sound and the Fury yesterday and will give it a few more attempts because I found it very hard to read. Well, hard to follow. Several people have mentioned that it is difficult to get into, but that it is worth it... I will definitely give a few more attempts.

Re Trollope, several months ago I read The Claverings which was very enjoyable. It;s the only thing I have read by him but I do have a few on my kindle and plan to read some more.

I zipped through W.R. Gingell's Spindle and Wolfskin over the past couple of days and I will definitely be looking for more by this author. Of the three books of hers I read, Masque was my favorite and Spindle my least -- I liked her first person POV stories much better.

I know I read Trollope's The Warden at some point ... Sad to say, I don't recall any details from it at all. The BBC DVD sounds like just the thing.

Now onto Americanah ....

PAM and Sheri, below is a clip from 'The Warden'. I see it was first on in 1982, but isn't showing it's age too much; more than can be said for me.

The Warden Part 1 of The Barchester Chronicles

What with farm factories and animal abuse so prevalent, it behooves each of us to read "When Elephants Weep (The emotional Lives of Animals" by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy. Even animal lovers will be amazed at some of the facts.

Jane Goodall says "This is not only an important book, it is marvelous! If animals could read they would be filled with joy and gratitude to the authors - as I am. It is scholarly, vivid, and compelling. Please read it."

Please take time from your favorite reading topics and get this book.

Pink

Did I really post about having a mild summer earlier? It's been consistently humid and in the mid to high 90's for more than a week and the upcoming week is more of the same. This heat makes it impossible for me to read anything too, um, strenuous.

Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst: got this one as an ARC. It's fiction, about a family with a tween daughter diagnosed with "pervasive developmental disorder--not otherwise specified," which means having a child who is "on the spectrum." Looming adolescence makes the socially inept behavior frightening at times and drives the desperate family to seek help from an unorthodox source: a man whose charisma and promises lead the family astray. It's written from 3 points of view: the mother, the younger, neurotypical sister, and occasionally, the tween daughter herself. It was much better than I'd expected, and based on the last Parkhurst novel I read, Dogs of Babel, I'd say she's good at writing about average folks falling down a rabbit hole in search of what is probably unattainable.

Read a few new suspense thrillers and am in the middle of one--The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. She gets a lot of press in the book world, and I like this one but just like her last (In a Dark Dark Wood) both seem almost tailored for the silver screen.

Vee--have you started Ordinary Grace? I hope you enjoy it. It took a bit for it to grow on me, but I ended being quite taken with it.

bookmom, is "Harmony" as disturbing to read as was "Dogs of Babel"? That novel stayed with me a long, long time. I found it incredibly depressing.

bookmom, I've just finished Ordinary Grace quicker than intended as it had to go back to the library. I didn't expect it to be as dark as it was and didn't see the end coming until, well, almost the end.

What I found interesting was the era, I would have been much the same age as the two boys. and the 'setting' ie small town America, was fascinating for being SO different to small town England, especially in the early '60's.

All the things we don't/didn't have . . . peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Kool Aid, saying Grace before meals, very regular church attendance, God fearing children, well-known but loved town drunks, teenagers owning cars, months of school Summer vacations, ability to buy fireworks and let them off at will. Policemen who share their hunches/clues with the public . . . or was this last one just to move the plot forward?

So yes, I did enjoy it as it was well-written and took me out of several heavy-going and worthy on-going reads. Thank you for the recommendation.

Vee--glad you liked it. I have no clue if hunch-sharing police exist or not; haven't had much dealings with them. :) Probably most town drunks are not beloved, though. You are correct in that much of what the author used to ground his setting was quite ordinary for the times here, which was the end of an era often romanticized as idyllic and innocent. I can think of several "coming of age" stories which use a similarly mid-century small town setting as a foil to the ugliness of the grown up world; is it intentional, or an autobiographical tic of authors of a similar age?

woodnymph2, I was horrified by Dogs of Babel and nearly passed on Harmony for that reason, even though I think Parkhurst is a talented writer. Harmony is not gruesome, but it is thought provoking and often sad and I am sure the author's observations hit uncomfortably close to home for parents of special needs children. I thought the characterizations of both the mom and the quasi-cultish guy were especially skillful. The story struck me as a mix of Jodi Picoult (meh) and Lionel Shriver (love!)

Sheri--looking forward to hearing what you think about Americanah.

Back to Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10.

I have read Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue by Victoria Thompson whose books are set in the late 1800s in New York City and am almost finished with Blood Orange by Susan Wittig Albert. This is her herbal series set in the Texas hill country, and I am doubly enjoying this one as it is the first I've read since our trip last spring. It is set in the springtime, and she has mentioned a couple of times the bluebonnets and Indian paint brush, of which I have some gorgeous photos. If I knew how to post one, I would. I need another session with my grandson.

I'm reading Capitol Reflections by Jonathan Javitt. It's about tainted tobacco or coffee (or maybe both!) causing people to have seizures, and the people trying to figure out what's going on. I'm enjoying it.

Donna

Is there anyone who feels they will read "When Elephants Weep" or am I talking to the air?

Today I am reading Redemption Road by John Hart, his first book in five years. He really is a good writer, but the books are tense. He has won many Best Of mystery awards.

Vee - This is a rather delayed response because I've been away on another trip since my English Garden Tour (Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park this time). I would have certainly enjoyed visiting you and your ground elder while in England (and I think I was not far from you), but I knew before departing that I would have no time to break away from the very tight tour schedule, so I didn't mention my plans. Wish it could have been different.

Pink Warm Mama, I thought about reading the book you recommended but decided against it. I expect it would make me too sad. Sometimes I walk away from intriguing books because I suspect they would have a bad effect on me.

At last I have finished Trollope's The Warden and . . . for Sheri . . . who couldn't remember the 'plot' It concerns the warden, kind old Rev Mr Harding, who is in charge of the Barchester 'hospital' ie alms houses for 12 old 'beadsmen' of the city.

A young radical hot-head John Bold, believes that Harding is taking too much money as his stipend from the Trust, which should go to the old men instead. People take sides, even the pensioners, not understanding Harding already gives them an allowance out of his own pocket. The London newspapers take up the story leading to innocent-in-the-ways-of-the-world Harding resolves to leave his post and live on a very small amount of money in a tiny parish.

Tied in with this is the bossy Archdeacon, the kindly Bishop and the lovely Eleanor Harding who spends too much time, in that rather unhealthy Victorian way, weeping on the bosom of her Father . . . and he on hers.

Rosefolly, this factual book may make one sad, but how can the average person think about and realize the extent of animals' suffering and not want to do something about it? If we are more aware of their pain, we can begin to do something about the horrible farm factories. Thanks for posting.

I've just finished "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George. This was first published in Europe in German and then translated. It's a charming romantic story of a middle-aged man who takes off in search of a lost love on his boat thru the locks and rivers of France. Eventually, he arrives on the Riviera and from then on --- I will not give the plot away. It has a lot of turns and twists and is enjoyable to read as a travelogue, with some wit and wisdom thrown in. A good summer read but not great....

carolyn-ky - what is meant by "the books are tense"?

By tense, I meant the books that keep you reading faster and faster with dread of what you think might happen. I read the second half of Redemption Road in one sitting. Some bedtimes are later than others!

Now I'm reading Justice Hall by Laurie R. King. I'm very slow at reading these books that tell of the life and cases of an older Sherlock Holmes and his young wife, in order. I'm making such a long process of it that I forget the previous book. Alas, so many books, so little time . . .

Carolyn, I absolutely hated the movie of "Redemption Road." Was the book any better?

Before leaving home for a recent trip, I went to my library website hoping to download my next unread book in Louise Penny's "Inspector Gamache" series. Unfortunately, all were checked out except her latest, The Nature of the Beast, so I downloaded it. Big mistake. I learned way too much about what transpired in those unread "middle books" of the series. I won't spoil it for others, but I sure wish I could erase from my mind the things I learned.

That said, I liked this book very much, and yet, I was once again a bit disappointed at the end when the resolution seemed convoluted and contrived.

Also, let me say this about the Louise Penny mysteries. To my way of thinking, the character Ruth (the cranky old poet with the duck) does not fit in these books. Other characters are so well developed, but Ruth is just a caricature. Does anyone else feel that way?

Mary, I loved Redemption Road, but it is a new book--May 2016. I googled and see that the movie by the same name was a 2011 release, so we are talking about two different works. The Washington Times review says, "Five years have gone by since his fourth novel, 2011’s The Iron House,
was published, but Redemption Road proves the wait was worth it. While
Hart’s previous mysteries were atmospheric tales enhanced by aspects of
the Southern novel, Redemption Road is fueled by more of a thriller
plot with acute attention to its well-sculpted characters. As the title
implies, Hart’s novel is about redemption, but also about trust and
betrayal, and those emotional roads that most of us never want to
travel."

As I said above, it was a gripping tale. I could hardly put it down long enough to fix supper.