TIFFIN FOUR for 2010

LAST THREAD HERE: http://www.librarything.com/topic/94141
THIS IS A MOVING GIF-FREE ZONE...I block them because they bug my eyes.

EVALUATION SCHEME
0-1.5* = disgusting use of a perfectly good tree
2-2.5** = meh, don't bother
3-3.5*** = quite creditable and not a waste of time, liked it
4-4.5**** = a really, really good read, enjoyed it thoroughly, would recommend it happily, wish I'd written it
5***** = knocked my socks off, blew me in to the next stratosphere, turned me into a molten puddle, sheer perfection and no you can't borrow it, this one stays right here

When I * a book, I don't compare it to another book I've *ed. It's an instinctual, gut thing. Totally subjective. So Wolf Hall got 5 stars last year, a big thumping well researched and beautifully written book, but so did The Earth Hums in B Flat because it moved me to those same depths, although in different ways.
Number of Books Read



Number of Pages Read



READING GOALS FOR 2010
1. Read a good chunk of the books I have sitting here in the TBR bookshelf.
2. Read a new-to-me author once a month.
3. Reread several classics I've forgotten because it has been so long.

JANUARY
1. The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan 5 stars
2. Old Filth by Jane Gardam 4.5 stars
3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 4 stars
4. Giving Up the Ghost, a Memoir by Hilary Mantel 4.5 stars at the very least
5. Women Who Write by Stefan Bollmann, with Introduction by Francine Prose
6. Augustus Carp Esq., by Himself by Henry Howarth Bashford 4.75 stars
7. Cleaving by Florence Treadwell.
8. bird by bird by Anne Lamott (98% read in Jan., finished in Feb.)

FEBRUARY
9. Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles
- The Underneath by Kathi Appelt - not fully read so not counted
10. Translation is a Love Affair by Jacques Poulin 4.5 stars
**The Olympics ate up two weeks here....virtually no reading**

MARCH
11. Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton
12. In the Garden with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson 4.5 stars
13. Chateau d'Argol by Julien Gracq...not even going to try to rate this
14. The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier 2.75-3 stars
15. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery 4.5 stars

APRIL
16. The Duke's Daughter by Angela Thirkell
17. Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
Not counted: 2 editions of Slightly Foxed

MAY
18. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
19. The Road by Cormac McCarthy...actually, I read this before the Wodehouse and read the Wodehouse to try to cheer up. And I sped read it, as it was making me utterly miserable.
20. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell
21. Anitya: Halfway to Nowhere by Mridula Garg

JUNE
22. Jutland Cottage by Angela Thirkell 4 stars
23. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 4.5 stars
24. Poetic Lives: Keats by Robert Mighall
25. The Waterproof Bible by Andrew Kaufman 4.25 stars and Canadian
Not counted: Summer 2010 edition of Slightly Foxed

JULY
26. The War Memoir of HRH Wallis Duchess of Windsor by Kate Auspitz (Early Reviewer edition) 4 stars
27. Emily Dickinson is Dead by Jane Langton
28. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson 4.5 stars
29. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
30. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson
31. A House in Flanders by Michael Jenkins 4.25 stars
32. They Found Him Dead by Georgette Heyer
33. Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve by Gioconda Belli 4.5 stars
34. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 5 stars
Not counted: back issue of Slightly Foxed (Vol. I)

AUGUST
35. Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker 4.5 stars
36. Jane Austen by Carol Shields (Penguin Lives series)
37. The Uncommon Reader; a Novella by Alan Bennett 4.5 stars
38. Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami
39. South Riding by Winifred Holtby 5 stars
40. What is America? A Short History of the New World Order by Ronald Wright 4.5 stars

SEPTEMBER
41. A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright 4.5 stars
42. A Cab at the Door by V.S. Pritchett 4 stars
43. Not That Sort of Girl by Mary Wesley 3.5 stars
44. The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley 4.25 stars
45. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West 4 stars

OCTOBER
46. The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp 4 stars
47. Harpole & Foxberrow, General Publishers by J.L. Carr 4.5 stars
48. The Sheik by E.M. Hull
49. Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
50. Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn 4.25 stars
51. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman 3.25 stars

46. The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp



Thoroughly enjoyed this.

47. Harpole & Foxberrow, General Publishers by J.L. Carr



Simply brilliant.

Sorry, no reviews for a while. Having some physical problems so am limiting computer time.

Well, I'll miss your reviews, but I'll miss you more. Take very good care of yourself, my friend. Meanwhile, I got you starred in more ways than one.

Sorry to hear about your physical problems, Tui. Please take care of yourself.

I just read your luscious list, lustfully.

#47 - J.L. Carr wrote A Month in the Country, yes? Did you read that too? Was this at all similar?

Look after yourself! Love the pics of the chrysanthemums; v. seasonal and cheery.

Thanks for the kind words! It's this darn neck, shoulder, arm thing. Still not right and need to be sensible.

>7 teelgee:: yes, Terri, he did. No, not similar at all. He's very, very, very funny and dry in this one, poking sly fun at everything from religion to literary snobs. I've made it a challenge to try to find all of his writing now and have picked up two more from the BookDepository recently.

As a big fan of A Month in the Country, I will definitely look for the other Carrs. Sorry about your neck, etc., but glad you're being sensible (except . . . am I not just posting after your post????).

hehe you are, Rebecca...but no long reviews these days.

Hi, Tui! I'm sorry to hear that you're still having problems with your rotator cuff(?), and I hope that this gets resolved soon.

*waves*

48. The Sheik by E.M. Hull



A recent Virago Modern Classics acquisition for my collection, this bodice ripper from 1919 was quite the tale. Here's an excerpt from the Introduction by Kate Saunders:
For modern readers, however, the story's blatant racism and sexism are offputting, to say the least. So any introduction must begin with a warning: suspend political correctness, all ye who enter here. I can only illustrate "The Sheik's" continuing power with my own reaction upon first reading it--which was profound envy. If I were taken by force to a luxurious tent with an en suite bathroom, pampered by servants, loaded with jewels and rogered senseless by a gorgeous millionaire, it would be several years before I got round to shouting for help."

Written during the first World War with her husband off fighting that war, leaving Edith Hull at home to manage the pig farm, the book's success surprised everyone and brought unwanted notoriety to the intensely private author. This is nothing short of a woman's private sexual fantasy and for its post-Victorian audience, it must have been a steamer. The sexism and racism I took as representative of the times (fortunately largely gone). Forget plot. Forget the flights of overwrought languge. But as a representation of sexual fantasy writing, as Kate Saunders notes: Yet in its peculiar, mesmering way, this is a masterpiece. Remember, it is a female sexual fantasy, speaking directly to the sexual fantasies of other women, in a way that has rarely been bettered. In the scanty literature of women's sexuality, E.M. Hull's "The Sheik" is a milestone."

So there you go, a classic bodice ripper.

Wow. I need a cold shower just from reading that review, Tui!

I cannot help but think of Rudolf Valentino when I hear The Sheik!

In 1919 that must have caused quite a few whispered, giggling conversations!

>15 lauralkeet:: but Laura, the thing is she doesn't actually say anything. It's all "the next day" kind of stuff. You don't need a cold shower, just a good imagination.
>16 alcottacre:: eggsactly, Stasia! But I think the book is better.
>17 TadAD:: Tad, you know it! And secret copies passed in mending baskets or tucked under linen with a cake on top.

I just found this definition of "Tui" on Wikipedia:

A Tui is an intellectual who sells his or her abilities and opinions as a commodity in the marketplace or who uses them to support the dominant ideology of an oppressive society.

Who knew?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tui_%28intellectual%29

G'wan! Not too happy with supporting the dominant ideology of an oppressive society, I must say! It's also a chapter of the I Ching called Joyous Lake and a bird in New Zealand. I much prefer the latter two definitions.

A very pretty bird too, it seems!

49. Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff



I love Helene Hanff. A dear book.

#23: I love that one almost as much as I love 84, Charing Cross Road. Glad you liked it too!

Love the tui (bird) photo. Our house is right near the native bird sanctuary (http://www.visitzealandia.com) and over the last few years more and more tui have turned up in our kowhai tree. They have a beautiful birdcall as well - can't find a link online at the moment.

I'm adding that Helene Hanff to my wishlist!

50. Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn



This is really, really, really good writing. A collection of short stories with links story to story through the characters, set in a mill town in Lowell, Massachusetts. Some of the best characterisations I've read in a long time.

#26: I thought that one sounded familiar. Sure enough, it is already in the BlackHole. The local libraries still do not have it, but it is available for the Nook. That is good news!

>26 tiffin:: oooh! ooh! ooh! I have that book! Somebody somebody here recommended it to me, methinks it was Bonnie/brenzi and I picked it up at The Strand in NYC a couple of months ago. Must read soon.

Laytonwoman3 did a really good review of it (last year?).

Just wanted to speak and hope that you are improving physically. I normally don't have much patience with short stories, but you're making me wonder about *Somebody*.

Hi Peggy...it's very slow but I have begun massage therapy and it is helping a lot. These stories link together so it's more like a lens zooming in on various people in the town while moving 360 degrees around the town, if that makes sense. She makes you care about the people intensely...quite accomplished for a first book!

ETA: and thank you for asking!

>23 tiffin:: I'm afraid to read any more Hanff--84, Charing Cross Road was so perfect and I don't want to spoil it.

It won't spoil it, Tad, it will enhance it. At least I felt it did.

51. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman



Well this was fun! I've had it sitting on the shelf for yonks and finally decided to just read it. Connected to American Gods by the character of Anansi. A light, quick read, the Anansi boys are the twin offspring of the god, who don't really get to know about each other until adulthood. Perhaps not Gaiman at his best but good enough for an entertaining evening's read.

#33: I agree with you there, Tui.

#34: One of these days I will get around to American Gods and Anansi Boys. I just need to be triplets or something.

I really loved American Gods, Stasia. This was fun but not of the same quality by any means. I do like the lad's writing a lot, though.

All right. I'll put it in the Wish List.

#36: OK, I will try and tackle American Gods next year then.

Stasia as triplets? Bookstores and publishers everywhere rejoice...

#39: It would certainly make my local library happy! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), there is still only one me.

Reading slump. Might not make even 75 this year. About 5 books started and draped all over the place. Gack!

Sorry to hear about the reading slump, Tui! I hope it goes away soon. No worries about making 75 or not :)

Here you are, Tui! Surely the reading will follow quickly. Maybe #6 will turn the tide.

I lost you here for a while; don't know why. I certainly did enjoy Mrs. Somebody Somebody, and I'm glad you agreed. And I keep looking for Q's Legacy when I'm book hunting, 'cause I know I'll love that one too. I'm dithering over what I'm going to read next--I need something engaging but not too demanding, with Thanksgiving busy-ness and house company and all that coming up.

Hi Tui. I just read Souvenir of Canada, which you recommended to me last year. Thanks! It was a great recommendation.