I've just finished a rather interesting read of a NF called "For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts' Advice to Women" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deidre English (originally published in 1978 but updated [mostly] in 2005).

It's a good review of 200 years of the "scientific" experts who have been the lead advisers in how women, in general, should live their lives and raise their children. "Advisers" is a large catch-all for the years' worth of people who have informing women the "best ways" to handle their housework, their sex lives, their educational attainments, and almost every other way there is to live. (Think Ann Landers, Dr. Spock etc.)

It's really interesting in parts: women were not allowed to go to university in the nineteenth century because the "science" (i.e. white men) believed that higher ed would lead to women's uteruses (uterii?) to fall out of their bodies. Since children were the be-all and end-all in Victorian times, the men shuddered to think of what would happen if women (and girls) got a decent education. Who would have the children?

Menstruation was an illness requiring seclusion; pregnancy required confinement to a home, women were property (not humans), and as the years go by, women are there only to serve the men, then perhaps have children (if the women behaved as they were supposed to), then to live their entire lives around their kids, and then suddenly in the 1960s and 1970s, to live their best lives somehow -- this at a time when women's lib was new and some of the men in power were threatened.

It's a curious journey across the years to see how the "scientists" were of the time and what their "advice" was to their current women. Looking back, many of these ideas are ridiculous, but women still fight for equal pay, access to health care, control of their bodies etc. (See the recent legislation of AL, for example.)

Since it was mostly updated in 2003, the read is quite a current text, but there is still quite a bit of dated info in there. Still, interesting all the same and fascinating in others.

We have just heard about the AL ruling and those people's ears would be bright red if they heard the comments made here about them!

The weather has improved today so I can get out to the library, the last book I borrowed I found I had already read!

Firstly, Happy Birthday to Ann!

DH and I finished listening to The Caine Mutiny by Wouk, and although large parts of it were not on the face of it exciting, it was a very good book.

I finished listening to The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley, and it couldn't end quickly enough for me. The whole thing was overwritten, and although the story was interesting, the ending wasn't satisfying either, as it had a snippet from the next book (I presume) tacked on as part of this book.

I'm currently reading The Border by Don Winslow, which is the last of a trilogy about drug cartels in Mexico. Although the books are rather violent, it is an interesting and informative story.

Astrokath, Herman Wouk just passed away yesterday. He was 10 days from his 104th birthday!

Donna

I'm reading A Dangerous Collaboration. It's a continuation of the Victorian era series by by Veronica Speedwell and is set on an island off Cornwall but not St. Michael's Mount. Mystery involving a new bride who disappeared on her wedding day,

I haven’t totally given up on the novel about Katherine of Aragon, but I’ve also started The King’s Witch by Tracy Borman. It’s about a young woman named Frances Gorges who was a skilled healer and was caring for Queen Elizabeth at the time she died. Once King James of Scotland becomes King of England as well things change. I’m only a few chapters into it but I’m enjoying it very much.

Donna

Donna, I saw Katherine of Aragon's bed in a private collection in a remote part of Western Australia. I couldn't help being struck by the location which would have been as unlikely as seeing it on the Moon to the original owner! It was ornately carved and featured pomegranates. The collection was sold eventually, I believe.

That’s really cool, Ann!

Reading Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston. It is hard-reading but important, from my perspective, for the understanding of our past. My opinion at this point, 40% done, is that those throwing around terms like "racist, fascist, Nazi", etc, have no inkling of real history. If they did, they would understand that to toss these words around is to cheapen their meanings, thus diluting the history of those who truly suffered. Just my two pennies...

PAM

I'm engrossed in a novel by Cerwiden Dove: "In the Garden of the Fugitives." It's a tale of two intertwining lives over a period of decades, set partly in South Africa and partly in an archaelogical dig in Pompeii. I had never heard of this author, but I find she has a gift with words and narrative descriptions, along with a psychological bent. I think it is the best work of fiction I've read in a very long time, and I don't want it to end.

Waiting in the wings is "The Clockmaker's Daughter."

I am about half way through Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and trying very hard not to peek at the discussion going on in another thread here. I feel like I know who committed the murder, but then I think, no, that's too obvious. Then again, there aren't very many potential suspects. We shall see.

Just finished Deadlier than the Male: An Investigation into Feminine Crime Writing by Jessica Mann A very detailed look at the history of women's 'crime fiction' from the nineteen hundreds to its heyday in the 1920-30's. The second part of the book deals with the lives and work of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey and Ngaigo Marsh.

I feel that Mann must have read every book in that genre, knowing quite obscure details of the why's and wherefore's on the character development of the various detectives Poirot, Roderick Allewyn, Albert Campion and several in between.

In all a very scholarly work in no way written in the style of her subjects. Interesting to me was the fact that both Sayers and Tey (under the name Gordon Daviot ) wrote successful plays.

Reading Land that Moves, Land that Stands Still by Kent Nelson, about a woman who is left an alfalfa farm in South Dakota when her husband dies in an accident.

I decided to stick with the novel about Katherine of Aragon. I'm also still working on The King's Witch, set 100 years later. It's interesting switching between the courts of Henry VIII and James. Currently both books are about the first year or two after each king was crowned.

Donna

I finished reading Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. I know I've waffled on this one, but in the end it was okay - enjoyable even. However the humor, which attracted me in the beginning, was inconsistent as the book progressed. It's not a comedy - just a description of a most unusual health spa stay for nine people who got to know each other rather well through it all. I know this is lame, but while I'm not endorsing it, I don't not recommend it..

That post just above is kind of odd - a copy/paste of my earlier post. Hmmm...

I finished Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Although not a perfect novel, I enjoyed it a lot.

I have started Careless Love by Peter Robinson. Just a little way into it, the author has taken a chapter to recap Inspector Banks' dinner alone, personal life, and an in-depth review of his music preferences and all his electronic devices as well as those of the murder victim. TMI for me, although I have always enjoyed his books.

Kathy,

Did you notice that the same thing happened on the thread "April is the Cruelest Month... What are you reading?" A post that Siobhan posted on April 2 has been copied/pasted, and posted earlier today under a different name (the same name/person that copied and pasted your post from May 14).

Reader - I did notice that. Strange.

All the subject heading turned back to black again as though I hadn't read them!

Some gremlin is in the system?

Did your subject headings go black as though unread too?

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

I was reading Today Will Be Better by Maria Semple having gotten almost 3/4 of the way through it and I decided I hated the book and put it in a pile to be given to the library. Life is too short to read bad books.

Annpan - I think I recall that "headings going black" thing happening to me in the past, but not lately. Since our read vs. unread headings would be different for each of us, I presume that information is stored in the cookies that this site maintains on our individual computers - so maybe you have reset something? Like deleted your browsing history or something? (Boy, don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about - hah!)

Yoyobon - I liked Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette a lot, and an interview I saw with Maria Semple was very interesting and funny. Too bad that didn't assure us another good book. Thanks for the warning.

Among the many books I inherited from my late Mother was Travellers on a Trade Wind by Scottish writer Marcia Pirie. It was the last book she was able to read 'properly' before she lost her sight. I should have read it ages ago as it has been gathering dust for many years. I know almost nothing about sailing or Endurance 35 ketches with self-tacking staysails or the purpose of a storm jib, but leaving these difficulties aside I found the style of writing and the small pen sketches (Pirie is an artist) plus the descriptions of the long trip made with her husband (in all they were away from England for over eight years) fascinating. From the Queen Charlotte islands to the Marquesas to Tahiti, Hawaii, the Galapagos following in the wake of Cook, Vancouver, Melville and meeting a wide array of the sailing brotherhood and living among the peoples of those islands at a time, in the late '80's . .. just before these places were changed probably forever as 'civilisation' took hold and more simple ways of life were lost.

Kathy, deleting history does reset the read/unread headings, changing black to grey but in this case, I didn't do it! I can usually guess from the times given if I have caught up with the previous session.

In view of the odd things happening here recently, I presume someone is tinkering and improving us! Preserve us from this!

I have had my emails messed about with recently due to "improvements" by my IP and have lost ones I put on hold. Leave me alone!

I am trying to get through Kate Morton's "The Watchmaker's Daughter". I am not sure I will finish this long tome. There are so many characters, so many disparate trails to follow, and the novel jumps back and forth through time from past to present to past, etc. etc. I liked the premise and the very beginning, but now I am starting to feel a bit lost in the details. Has anyone else here read this and what did you think of it? I had greatly liked everything else I had read by Morton ("House at Riverton", et al.).

Woodnymph, I started it and had the same reaction. That's the one with the little asides, right? I didn't care for that, and also found it hard to follow. I didn't get far before I gave up.

Donna

Thanks, Donna. I think the book is too long and some of the characters could have been eliminated without any loss. I wanted to like this because I had enjoyed Morton's others.

It sounds like we need to add Kate Morton to the list of authors who ran out of steam.....stayed too long at the fair.

Woodnymph, I also started The Clockmaker's Daughter and just couldn't get into it. I may try again, but maybe not -- there's lots more in the TBR pile to choose from. I've liked all her books up until this one, here's hoping the next one is better (and I'll get it from the library rather than buy it immediately).

For what it's worth, I haven't been able to get through any of Kate Morton's books ;-(

I finished The King’s Witch, about a woman named Frances Gorges. Her family estate was Longford Castle. She lived at the time of the Gunpowder Plot (1610 or so) which was intended to blow up Westminster and kill King James, his sons Henry and Charles, and most of Parliament.

Frances was very skilled at using herbs for healing, and in King James’ court that was considered witchcraft.

I enjoyed the book a lot. The author, Tracy Borman, is the curator of the Historic Royal Palaces. She has written non-fiction books about British history, but this is her first novel.

I recommend it! Especially for those who like historical fiction.

Donna

Donna, I notice there is a follow-up book to the King's Witch . . .The Devil's Slave which you might enjoy. I haven't read either so cannot comment on the plot etc.

Vee - Your sailing/traveling book sounds like a good read. I haven't been able to pick up a book lately, so perhaps I should trawl my TBR to find out if I have a similar sailing/travel book. I bet I do. Thank you!

lemonhead/liz you can pick up a copy of 'Travellers on a Trade Wind' very cheap via Am*zon uk

Short talk by the author Marcia Pirie

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones, a book I discovered on the library free shelf. It moves very slowly in a dark, witty sort of way. Not sure where it's going but it is pleasant enough to read . I withhold judgement until I've finished it .

A grand old manor house deep in the English countryside will open its doors to reveal the story of an unexpectedly dramatic day in the life of one eccentric, rather dysfunctional, and entirely unforgettable family. Set in the early years of the twentieth century, award-winning author Sadie Jones’s The Uninvited Guests is, in the words of Jacqueline Winspear, the New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries A Lesson in Secrets and Elegy for Eddie, “a sinister tragi-comedy of errors, in which the dark underbelly of human nature is revealed in true Shakespearean fashion.”

After waiting several weeks for it to become available from the library, I have started to read, a chapter at a time, Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age by Mary Pipher. In reading the Introduction, I found myself nodding, smiling, and chuckling out loud a couple of times. From the inside flap, "The author shows that most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic, and wise people they have always wanted to be."

I plan to read it slowly, interspersed with some choice murder mysteries, in order to glean nuggets from it that I would tend to read over and forget if I gulp it down quickly.

I struggled through "The Clockmaker's Daughter" and it was with relief that I picked up a more cheerful tome. Morton's novel had a dark ending which unsettled me. I'm greatly enjoying "A Thousand Days in Venice", a memoir by Marlena de Blasi. It's the story of a late life marriage between an American woman and an Italian male. The author was an independent female with her own business who relocated to Venice in mid-life. She details her cultural struggles with humor and wisdom. An excellent cook, the author closes the book with Italian recipes.

The book is so well-written that I can even forgive her lack of a proofreader: e.g. I cringed when I read "taught" instead of "taut."

Last year I read Sam White's A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe's Encounter with North America, and last week I discovered in the library a great companion volume to that book: Jamestown, Quebec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings. The White book concentrated on these 3 settlements, so this more general history is useful for additional perspective. It was actually written about 12 years ago to accompany a touring museum exhibit of archaeological artifacts, so it's a large format book with lots of photos, and an essay from a different historian on each of the 3 settlements.

I'm returning half-read another book I borrowed: The Furthest Station, a novella which is part of an urban fantasy series about a special unit within the London police which investigates magical crimes. Supposed to be funny, it's told in first person and after a half-dozen occurrences of the cringe-inducing "Me and So-and-so did something...." I gave up. I assume it's deliberate and intended to add something to the character, but it backfired for me. I can count on one hand the books I intentionally decided not to finish, and this is one.

Just finished The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones and I have to say that it was an enjoyable book ! Unusual , a bit strange but left me with a chuckle at the end.

I finished Dear Fahrenheit 451, Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spense. On the cover: A Librarian's love letters and breakup notes to the books in her life. Rather a silly premise but a fun read. Before that I read The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson. I loved this. It's a true crime story of a 20 year old professional flautist who robs the British Museum of Natural History, taking 299 bird skins that date back to Darwin times. He then plans to sell them to professional and hobbyist fly-tiers for fishing and competition purposes. Not to diminish the import of the crimes, it was very funny in many spots. There was a well done section dedicated to natural history which makes me want to pull Origin of Species off the TBReR shelf if I can locate it. This one makes it into my top five lifetimes reads. If you like natural history, fly-fishing, quirky crimes or just an entertaining story, you're apt to like this. I couldn't put it down and am looking to buy a copy for my own Library.

Just started A Brutal Telling by Louise Penny and always love coming back to Three Pines :0)

Skibby - Regarding your statement about The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson: This one makes it into my top five lifetimes reads. Wow - that is quite an accolade! Doesn't happen very often. I must add this book to my TBR list.

Skibby, a friend gave me The Feather Thief for Christmas, and I keep putting off reading it so I can finish my library books before they are due. Maybe it's time to switch from library books to Mt TBR, and start with that one. :) Of course, I just put Book Crush, which you mentioned in your other post on hold. Mt TBR just keeps growing and growing.

Our book club is meeting in about 10 days, so I finally started this month's selection, Louisa on the Front Lines, by Samantha Seiple, about Louisa May Alcott's time as a Civil War nurse.

I hope you do like it Kathy - I feel responsible now! I seem to remember that you liked some others that I enjoyed so here's hoping.

Let us know what you think too, Donnamira. My taste doesn't always run with the crowd.

I have just finished "The Bleak Midwinter" by L. C. Tyler, the fifth in the John Grey historical series. I wasn't enjoying this one so much to start with as it dealt with the treatment of witches. It got better for me later. In the author's notes, he mentioned feeling angry as he was writing this book and I must have sensed it!

I think he has made a mistake in the dating of events as the story starts in December 1668 and although a year at least has gone by, at the end of the book the Postscript is dated December 1668! Witchcraft at work at the printers?

Picky, picky, Ann! LOL

Bon, A Brutal Telling is the most recent L Penny I read. I liked it though the ending was a little disturbing for me.

I'm still working on the novel about Katherine of Aragon. I have fewer than 200 pages to go, so hopefully I will finish it this weekend.

Donna

Reading The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. It is the summer of 1976, and Mrs. Creasy has disappeared. Ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly start investigating what happened to her.

Donna, I know that I am picky but an editor should have noticed that and I didn't even mention the word "prevaricate" being used instead of "procrastinate".

That happens so often!

We are just into Freezing June now and I have "When life gives you Lululemons" by Lauren Weisberger on hand. A Devil wears Prada novel. I always had a sneaking sympathy for Miranda Priestly as I too once edited a magazine! Not an easy thing to do.

This is late for this thread but I wanted to correct an error I posted earlier about The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson. He was not a professional flautist - he was still a student at the Royal Academy of Music at the time of the heist. Not an important detail to some but the mistake bothered me. Sorry about that!