Laura (lauralkeet)'s 2013 Reading - Part 3

Boppard am Rhein, Germany
Continuing the theme of "places I've called home," when I was 4 my father was transferred and we moved to Germany. We lived in two different towns over 2.5 years. Boppard, a town on the upper middle Rhine, was the prettiest. We returned to Cincinnati in time for me to start first grade.

My WikiThing is where I keep an archive of links to personal threads from a variety of LT groups and group reads, past & present.

Books completed ("details" jumps to location in this thread where review & links can be found)
16. The Great Gatsby - details
17. The Misses Mallett - details
18. The Thing Around Your Neck - details
19. The Big Rock Candy Mountain - details
20. The Means of Escape - details
21. Life After Life - details
22. A Glass of Blessings - details
23. Queen Lucia - details
24. A Single Man - details
25. Framley Parsonage - details
26. Revelation - details
27. The Mother's Recompense - details
28. The View from Castle Rock - details

16. The Great Gatsby ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves
Why I read this now: I wanted to read it before seeing the movie.

The Great Gatsby is commonly read in secondary school, but I missed out, and the upcoming film release was just the inspiration I needed to finally read it. That, and a husband who read it about a month ago, and really wanted to discuss it.

The story is short, and seemingly straightforward. Jay Gatsby is a wealthy man known for throwing huge, lavish parties on his Long Island estate. His next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, narrates the story and views Gatsby with a sort of detached awe.

I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited -- they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby's door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission. (p. 41)

Nick's friends, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, are also new to Gatsby's parties, but not new to wealth, being part of old, established Long Island "aristocracy." Gatsby himself maintains an aura of mystery. No one knows much about his past, and speculation abounds: he's a bootlegger, he killed a man, he served in the war, he went to Oxford ... or perhaps not. But he's clearly "new money," and Daisy and Gatsby have a shared past which becomes a central conflict in the novel.

The Great Gatsby is a tightly written work of only 180 pages. Fitzgerald quickly immerses the reader in 1920s society, infuses his characters with a certain emotional desperation, and uses them to portray everything he felt was wrong with America during this period, especially greed and the quest for wealth. None of the characters are particularly likeable, but to a great extent they are simply vessels for Fitzgerald's message. And despite being short on both character development and setting, Gatsby still feels complete, with a strong plot and thought-provoking themes. I'm looking forward to the film to see how these themes are brought to life.

Oooh, lovely photos! Do you remember much about living there? I have hardly any memories before I was 5, which is why I ask.
And I'm another who somehow didn't get assigned Gatsby in school. Must read it soonish, I think.

I don't remember much, Amber. We have tons and tons of family photos, all in slide format, that we used to watch when I was a kid (like watching old family movies). Most of my "memories" can actually be found in those boxes of slides. There are one or two actual memories, mostly involving uncomfortable situations. For example, I remember my first day of preschool. I didn't speak the language yet, but there I was -- total immersion in a local preschool. For snack we had oranges. I'd never had one before, didn't know how to eat it, and didn't like the pulp. I still have an aversion to whole oranges!! These are the things you remember when you're four ... :)

But then, about 10 years ago, I happened to be in Germany on business, staying in the second town we lived in which was near Frankfurt. I had the address of the house we lived in, and had a local map, so I went out for a jog and found the house. That was really cool because the house and surrounding area was familiar. I only hope the current residents didn't see me creeping around there.

Laura, I really should read The Great Gatsby again, if I plan on seeing the movie. Funny how movies do that to us. I read Anna Karenina early this year, as I felt I had to read it before seeing the movie. I had never read that one, and it is now in my top 10 ever list. Thank you for the nudge to read Gatsby again.

Nana, I watched the movie trailers yesterday. I'd seen them before but wanted to see if I picked up any details after reading the book. Yes there's a lot of glitz and glamor, and modern music, but it also looks like the film will be very true to the book. I'm eager to see it.

Hello Laura, congrats on a beautiful new thread. I love your photos of Boppard am Rhein. When I first saw the photos I thought it was Passau.

Fantastic review on The Great Gatsby I kind of felt the same as you but most of all I loved his language.

What a pretty town.

I wrote my Masters thesis on tGG - and ended up awestruck - the more I studied 'how he did it' and what he did, the more astounded I was and still am. I ended up feeling like everything about America, good bad and ugly is contained in those scant pages. I didn't start out that way - I was basically (it was an MFA in writing program) thinking about how he handled Nick as an unreliable/reliable narrator.

That's very interesting, Lucy. I've been surprised at how much this book has made me think, not so much while I was reading it but afterwards.

For myself it was the same. What struck my cord from the beginning was his incredible discriptive use of language and by the story itself I actually felt quite underwhelmed. However, when I finished I kept mulling over things and went back to reread particular chapters and I only can say that I loved this little treasure of a book.

>11 drachenbraut23:: yes, my sentiments exactly!

Wonderful review of The Great Gatsby Laura. I think the beauty of that book is the afterglow. It leaves you with so much to think about and I can see perfectly well why Fitzgerald is considered a genius. I've read it twice now and it does not suffer from a rereading.

I love the pictures of Germany.

I must reread that because things studied four decades before can sometimes be far more brilliant when (a) you don't have to read them but choose to, and, (b) we grow too soon old, and too late smart, as the Mennonites say. So maybe it would speak to me in a whole different way now.

Love the pics up top, Laura. Do you remember any German?

I really need to reread Gatsby as well. Loved it when I read it in high school but I agree with Tiffin I might get some new meaning now that I'm not required to read it.

>12 lauralkeet:: "afterglow" is a great way to describe the feeling, Bonnie!
>13 brenzi:: Tui, I think it's definitely worth a re-read. Go for it! As for my German, yes I remember some. I took German in high school and it was pretty easy :) Later, when I traveled there as a an adult it came back pretty quickly. I wasn't fluent but I could get by as a tourist.
>14 tiffin:: A new visitor! Hello! I heartily recommend a re-reading when not encumbered by school commitments.

I have to confess I haven't read Gatsby since high school and, not having liked it then, I've been reluctant to reread it. If I had all the time in the world . . . and if I didn't have all those other books on the TBR . . .

17. The Misses Mallett ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: My Virago Modern Classics collection
Why I read this now: It's my VMC read for April.

'The Malletts don't marry, Henrietta. Look at us, as happy as the day is long, with all the fun and none of the trouble. We've been terrible flirts, Sophia and I. Rose is different, but at least she hasn't married. The three Miss Malletts of Nelson Lodge! Now there are four of us, and you must keep up our reputation.' (p. 79)

And that's the book, in a nutshell. Caroline, Sophia, and their stepsister Rose are all unmarried women of a certain age, although Rose is several years younger and still considered attractive. When their niece Henrietta comes to live with them, she upsets the gentle rhythm of spinsterhood. These women have become very, very comfortable just being themselves:

Sitting up in bed looking grotesquely terrible, they discussed the event. Caroline, like Medusa, but with hair curlers instead of snakes sprouting from her head, and Sophia with her heavy plait hanging over her shoulder and defying with its luxuriance the yellowness of her skin, they sat side by side, propped up with pillows, inured to the sight of each other in undress. (p. 32)

Hmm ... perhaps they're a little too comfortable!

Henrietta is young and has a mind of her own. While she loves and admires her aunts, she has no intention of following in their footsteps. And so she sets her sights on local heart-throb Francis Sales who, incidentally, has had a secret "thing" with Rose for some time. And who, incidentally, is also married to an invalid confined to her bed. Meanwhile Henrietta is being pursued by the dull but caring Charles Batty, a man who loves music, but can't stand to attend concerts because other patrons whisper and crinkle their programs. Rose attempts to resolve the conflict with Henrietta in many ways, all indirect because heaven forbid the situation be brought out into the open. I found this infuriating, and lost patience with them more than once.

While Young's social satire is amusing, autobiographical details add much interest to this story. E. H. Young's husband died at Ypres, and later she went to live with Ralph Henderson, a school headmaster, and his wife, who was a wife in name only. They were inseparable, and while those in their social circle understood the situation, their relationship was not publicly acknowledged. Young wrote The Misses Mallett when her living arrangement was still fairly new, and I can see how she used the experience to work through issues she must have wrestled with at the time. Oh, how I wish she could have written more openly about that situation!

Lovely photos of Germany Laura. I've only ever travelled through it on my way to other places and I really should make the time for a proper visit one day.

The Great Gatsby is a book I really struggled with and one that made me think I just didn't 'get' American literature. The Misses Mallett sounds much more my sort of thing!

Heather, I'm pretty sure The Misses Mallett would be your thing, but now I feel I must help you 'get' American literature. Have you read any Edith Wharton? She's a VMC author, so might be more to your taste.

The Misses Mallett sounds good. It is headed to my wish list.

Happy new thread!!

Great thread topper picture ... So beautiful!

Love your review of Gatsby!

Hi Laura - Congrats on the new thread!

#18 - I know I've picked up a few E.H. Young novels in recent months. Have you read any others that you'd recommend? This one does not exactly sound riveting (and it sounds like you might agree to some extent).

>21 NanaCC:: Be careful Nana, this could lead you into the realm of Virago Modern Classics which is a true addiction for many here. There's even a group devoted to those who collect & read them. We're a very nice bunch, you might pay us a visit! (I feel a bit like the witch in Snow White holding out an apple ...)

>22 TinaV95:: Thank you Tina! I've been thinking about you a lot this week and can't wait to see wedding pix.

>23 DorsVenabili:: Kerri, Miss Mole is definitely my favorite EH Young novel and I believe it was the first of hers that I read. And to be honest, she's never done me wrong -- I've read several and have a couple more on my shelves.

Miss Mole is my favourite too, Laura. You have given me a nudge in the direction of the Misses Mallett and I'm having deja vu, as though I've read it at some time, in the first few pages. If it has been within the last three years, I'm checking in to Mindgone Acres.

I will definitely check out your group. I don't need much in the way of coaxing to lurk on a few of these threads. :-) The downside, is that since I joined LT in January, I think my reading has slowed down a bit. There is just so much that I am finding interesting, and my wish list is growing in leaps and bounds.

Laura, what a wonderful review of The Misses Mallett! Thumb-up from me : ).

>5 lauralkeet:: Laura, how cool that you were able to skulk around your old German neighborhood. I went to a real German Kindergarten and had much the same experience you had with pre-school, although I don't remember any oranges! Then I went to an American school for first and second grades. I have memories of looking for cuckoos in the woods near our home with my older brother. I don't think we saw or heard any!

I'm looking forward to seeing The Great Gatsy film, too. The book isn't my favorite but I appreciated it more the second time I read it.

I almost had a copy of Miss Mole Laura but it got lost in the mail from PBS:( Thumbed your wonderful review of The Misses Mallett though.

*waving* at Laura

>25 tiffin:: I'm checking in to Mindgone Acres. I'll come visit you, Tui!

>26 NanaCC:: Nana, the problems of reduced reading time and an expanding wish list are very common around here! And of course we all enable each other too.

>27 lit_chick:: Why thank you Nancy!

>28 Donna828:: Donna, I'd forgotten you also spent time in Germany as a child (I don't know when we talked about it, but I know we did, on some thread somewhere!). I went to a German preschool for one year and then an international school for kindergarten. We returned to the US in time for me to start first grade.

>29 brenzi:: Ooh, Bonnie, that's maddening! I hope you manage to get your hands on a copy someday.

>30 alcottacre:: Hi there Stasia! Thanks for stopping by.

I'll be on the look out for The Misses Mallett - amazing how often those menages were going on but unacknowledged.

18. The Thing Around Your Neck ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves
Why I read this now: This year I've worked my way through a pile of short stories, usually as bedtime reading. It's been 5 years since I read her novels, and I needed an Adichie fix while waiting for her new book, Americanah, which will be released in the US in May.

This collection of twelve short stories begins in Nigeria, exploring contemporary life and the effects of the 1967 Biafran Civil War. Later stories focus on immigration issues and life in the United States. I was struck by Adichie's ability to write a well-crafted and deep plot, with very real characters, all in 15-20 pages. These stories hooked me within a few sentences -- I really cared about the characters, to a degree that's unusual for the short story form. Some of the better stories included:

• Imitation - A woman living in the US with her children sees her husband only once a year. When she learns he is having an affair back home in Nigeria, she takes an important step to change the situation.


• A Private Experience - A woman caught in a riot takes refuge in an abandoned shop and finds another woman there. One is Igbo, the other Muslim, but they share a few hours of community and support each other through loss.


• The Thing Around Your Neck - in this immigration story, a Nigerian woman's relationship with a white man creates cultural tension.

Adichie is better known for her novels, Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun; the latter won the Orange Prize (now Women's Prize) for Fiction. The Thing Around Your Neck demonstrates the broad range of her writing talent.

Nice review of The Great Gatsby, I really enjoyed that book when I read it a few years ago. I'm surprised at how many people think this story is about the great beauty and glamour of the American Dream...so I was shocked when I read it and realized that it was about all-that-is-wrong in the American Dream.

Glad you liked The Thing Around Your Neck. I should really read it. I loved Half of a Yellow Sun! She has a new book coming out in a few months, right? Americanah I think it's called. :)

I do think Adichie is better as a novelist than a short story writer, though. It's been a while since I read The Thing Around Your Neck but I remember thinking that some of the stories seemed similar. I'm looking forward to her new novel.

Hi Laura! I LOVE the photos at the top of your thread! I also love the theme -- places I've lived. I may have to do that one next year, as I've been pretty lucky to live in some wonderful places.

Great review of The Great Gatsby. I read it in high school, and listened to the audio a couple of years ago. It was a masterful production -- not "clean" the way most audios are, so I could hear the narrator turning pages, shifting in his chair, breathing, etc, but rather than detracting from the experience, it enhanced it. I felt like I was hearing the story from Nick himself, and that I might even hear the clink of ice in his glass or smell his cigar. We might have been sitting in some dark-paneled study together.

Lovely new thread, Laura, and lovely reviews as usual. I join you in Gatsby love and Miss Mallett like, and agree that Miss Mole is the best E.H. Young that I've read so far. I do want to get back to Adichie eventually.

Hi there Rachel, Rebecca, Anne, and Peggy! I hope you've all had wonderful weekends. I spent most of mine in the garden. It was both productive and fun.

I agree Adichie is better at the longer form, I was just surprised how much I enjoyed the stories. Maybe it was because of the very different subject matter, but they "grabbed" me more than the American short stories I've read so far this year.

Hi Laura, I'm finally all caught up. And I'll be adding the Adichie to my wish list.

I'm one of those people who didn't care for Gatsby the first time, but was much more impressed on re-reading it just a couple years ago. Now your review makes me want to read it again. I must say, though, that despite the talent in the cast, I'm not being drawn to the new movie by the ads I've seen for it. I also feel we might need to "gang up" on Heather and get her to love more American lit. Fitzgerald is not at all representative, but then who could we say is? Wharton, Cather, Faulkner, Stegner, Melville, Twain, O'Connor, Welty, Dawn Powell, Hemingway, Roth, Henry James, Harper Lee, Margaret Mitchell??? All so different...all so American.

#20 Thank you for reminding me Laura. I love Edith Wharton so I'm relieved to find I'm not a complete dummy when it comes to American literature. And I did enjoy Willa Cather's My Antonia when I read it a few years ago although I haven't got round to any of her other books since. I am drawing a blank on other American classics though - I've been meaning to try Henry James for a while because his books seem to be recommended if you like Edith Wharton's.

#40 :-) And another nudge reminds me that I have read Moby Dick and found it quite interesting and Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were childhood favourites (how I managed to forget those when I think of American lit I don't know).

I think it's the 20th century male authors I'm scared of - Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, Stegner, Roth etc. Why? I don't know!

Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird, Heather? I'm always pushing that on people who haven't tried it yet. Steinbeck and Stegner are great story-tellers, and not at all frightening. I'd leave Roth alone (he scares me too!) If you've bumped into my posts anywhere, you probably know how I feel about Faulkner (he's The One), but he's not for everybody, and probably not the gateway to loving American lit!

All so different...all so American. -- well said Linda!

I also second your recommendation of TKAM for anyone who hasn't read it.

Stegner's Angle of Repose is one of my all-time faves. I'm reading his The Big Rock Candy Mountain right now and it's very good too. I also really liked James' Portrait of a Lady. Ironically, I was inspired to read James after reading Colm Toibin's The Master.

Laura congratulations on your new thread. Love the Rheinish riverscape that adorns the top which reminds me of my time at cycle racing camps in Valkenburg, the Netherlands from where I would often take the day off and spent a few hours on cruises up the river to Koblenz and Koln looking and the banked vineyards, visiting the cathedral and drinking the local vino - not surprising really that I rarely won any races!

Glad Adichie got the thumbs up. Her novels are better but I enjoyed the short stories (most of them anyway) when I read them last year.

Probably a book about all the attempts to make a 'good' or 'great' movie of The Great Gatsby would make a better read than anyone of the movies make for viewing. Many producers have lost fortunes trying, that is what makes it interesting. As 'cinematic' as that movie feels when you read it, curtains blowing, the spectacles over the ashen landscape, the uncut books, the closets of untouched shirts...... it just doesn't work.

>44 PaulCranswick:: Paul, my father became quite a oenophile during our time there (I was a bit young for that!).
>45 sibylline:: Lucy, that's an interesting comment. From the trailers it looks like the film is true to the book. I'm all the more interested in seeing it with your comment in mind.

Laura, I still haven't done a reread of Gatsby, but I keep wondering about Leonardo DiCaprio in that movie role. I may be one of the few that doesn't quite get him in some of the later roles he has played. He has such a baby face that I don't feel he has matured into the roles. Of course, I am old, and that could be why I think he looks too young. :)

19. The Big Rock Candy Mountain ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves
Why I read this now: Well ... I meant to read it in March as an LT group read, but I was overcommitted. Better late than never!

Long afterward, Bruce looked back on the life of his family with half-amused wonder at its rootlessness. The people who lived a lifetime in one place, cutting down the overgrown lilac hedge and substituting barberry, changing the shape of the lily pool from square to round, digging out old bulbs and putting in new, watching their trees grow from saplings to giants that shaded the house, by contrast seemed to walk a dubious line between contentment and boredom. What they had must be comfortable, pleasant, worn smooth by long use; they did not feel the edge of change. (p. 374)

The Big Rock Candy Mountain tells the story of the Mason family, who lived in the western United States in the first half of the 20th century. It opens with Elsa leaving her home in Minnesota after her widowed father marries her best friend. Elsa meets and marries Harry "Bo" Mason, a restless idealist with a continuous stream of ideas for making big money. Whenever Bo lost interest in his current business venture, they pulled up stakes and moved on to the next opportunity, the "Big Rock Candy Mountain where life was effortless and rich and unrestricted and full of adventure and action, where something could be had for nothing." As you might imagine, things never panned out as expected, and their life was a hard one filled with dashed hopes and unrealized expectations. Bo and Elsa had two sons, Chet and Bruce, who experienced not only Bo's whims, but also his strict parenting style and volatile temper. By the end of the story, the boys have grown up and the family is deeply scarred.

It sounds like a real downer, doesn't it? Well, yes, it is. For several days nagging, low-grade feelings of anger and sadness infiltrated my heart and mind. I was angry at the way Bo jerked them around, and the ways he emotionally manipulated his wife and children. But Stegner was a very skilful storyteller. Each time Bo lit on a new scheme, I hoped it would work out for them. I celebrated small victories, and mourned losses. When the influenza epidemic hit their rural town, I felt both desperation and hope. As Bruce comes of age he plays a larger part in the story, and I was right there with him as he tried to make sense of the man he has become:

"I suppose," he wrote, "that the understanding of any person is an exercise in genealogy. A man is not a static organism to be taken apart and analyzed and classified. A man is movement, motion, a continuum. There is no beginning to him. he runs through his ancestors, and the only beginning is the primal beginning of the single cell in the slime. The proper study of mankind is man, but man is an endless curve on the eternal graph paper, and who can see the whole curve?" (p. 436)

In the novel's last pages, the adult Bruce reflects on life with his father, how the experience shaped him and what it means for his future. It was a very moving scene that I won't soon forget.

Readers should be ready to feel uncomfortable, sad, and angry. But it's worth it for the reading experience.

I am so late to your "new" thread, Laura. Now that I've staked a claim, I have to go back and read your reviews. I've had my eye on some of those books so I need to know what you think!

Laura, that was a lovely review of The Big Rock Candy Mountain. It brought out the same emotions in me no matter how much I resisted. I think I have a few lesser known books by Stegner around here that I should read. Thumb from me!

I have had The Big Rock Candy Mountain in the BlackHole forever. I really need to get hold of that book. Nothing I have read of Stegner's has disappointed yet.

Lovely review of the Stegner, Laura. I hope to get to it one day, now sooner than later thanks to you.

I just read Gatsby for the first time and am sorely lacking in any classic lit. TKAM is on my TBR stack already. What other "biggies" are absolute essentials?

Julia, it's nice to see you here. The nice thing about LT threads is they never expire so you can stop by and catch up anytime.

Donna, thanks for the thumb! I still have Crossing to Safety on my TBR so I'll have to get to that someday.

Stasia, I know what you mean. I loved Stegner's Angle of Repose too (the only other book of his I've read so far). Do you have a favorite?

Peggy, thank you! Happy to tempt you with a good book.

Tina, in recent years I've turned to classics more than contemporary fiction. TKAM is superb of course. I also love Edith Wharton -- if you haven't read her books yet I highly recommend The House of Mirth.

I've been very engaged by every Stegner I've read - sometimes unwillingly or surprisingly - yr review of BRCM is terrific.

Second the recommend of House of Mirth

Laura- Excellent review of Candy Mountain. I think you captured the book very well. My favorite Stegner remains angle of repose but Crossing to Safety is a close second.
Hope you are having a nice week.

#42 Linda, (and Laura) I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird and it is one of those books on my 'I can't believe I still haven't read this' list so it probably is a good place to start!

Another thumb from me Laura. I went through the Stegner oeuvre in the late 80s/early 90s and am really ready for a reread of at least some of them. I remember telling someone how wonderful he was and when they asked which book they should read I said, "any or all." He' was such a wonderful writer.

Hello Laura, just chiming in with everyone else what a great review of Rock Candy Mountain. I am not quite sure whether this would be a book for myself, but you definitely made it sound intriguing.

It's so nice to stop in at the end of my workday and see more visitors! Hello to Mark, Heather, Bonnie & Bianca.

Mark, good to know about Crossing to Safety.

Heather, you bet it is!

Bonnie, it seems you really can't go wrong with Stegner!

Bianca, it's a fairly "American" book in an early 20th century sort of way (not a post-9/11 sort of way ... yech). So if you are looking for a taste of that kind of thing, either BRCM or Angle of Repose would do nicely.

20. The Means of Escape (DNF)
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves
Why I read this now: This year I've worked my way through a pile of short stories, usually as bedtime reading. I have no idea why I had this book on my shelves, seeing as I really disliked Fitzgerald's Booker Prize-winning novel, Offshore. I should have known better.

The Means of Escape is a mercifully short collection of ten stories. I read half of them before throwing in the towel. The title story, where a woman helps an escaped convict in hopes of running off with him, was the best of the bunch. One story, The Prescription, was so indecipherable to me that my notes just say, "???". The last story I read, The Axe, began with promise. It took the form of a letter written by a manager who had recently made a long-time employee redundant. Clearly he felt the decision was unjust and had sympathy for the employee. But it took a sudden turn into very strange territory, and that's when I knew I was done with this book.

This book was just too full of "quirky" characters and bizarre situations. These might work better in a long-form novel, but encountering a new set every ten pages or so was just too much for me.

I'm laughing at your notes just saying "???". This one won't be going on the "must read" list. Thanks, Laura.

Hi Laura!

#33 - I still have to get to her. I know I have Purple Hibiscus on my Kindle. Thanks for the reminder.

#48 - Great review! It's on my TBR pile, along with Crossing to Safety.

#61 - Oh no! Also, you didn't like Offshore? That's one I'm hoping to get to eventually. I quite liked The Bookshop.

Hi Kerri, I'm afraid I won't be giving The Bookshop a try. I'll have to take your word for it!

Just checking back in, Laura. I caught the end of a book review on NPR yesterday or Thursday --- Adichie's latest, Americanah, and it looks good! Everybody else probably already knew about it, but it's just out.

>65 LizzieD:: I've really been looking forward to that one Peggy. Now that it's out, I need to get my hands on it. Thanks for the reminder!

Just catching up on your thread. Love the pics of Germany.

Hi Joyce!

Question for my visitors: Peggy (LizzieD) reported that she received malware alerts when visiting this thread today. Has this happened to anyone else? I can't imagine why other than possibly something in the images in my thread topper, but those have been there for a month.

>68 lauralkeet: Laura, I had forgot to mention that I have also received malware alerts when I used my laptop to visit your thread, on at least two separate occasions.

It was great to meet you in person today! My only regret was that I didn't have more time to chat with you and several other people who I hadn't met before.

>69 kidzdoc:: Darryl, I had so much fun today and really enjoyed meeting you, too. I also wish I'd been able to spend more time one-on-one with each member of the group.

Does anyone know how to determine the cause of these malware alerts? I'm not receiving them so it's difficult for me to troubleshoot.

>70 lauralkeet: I can check when I get back to Atlanta on Monday. BTW, I use Avast as my antivirus program on my laptop, which gave me the malware alerts.

Have never had a malware alert visiting you, Laura.

Penelope Fitzgerald can be tough - I don't think I've gotten much beyond The Bookshop and the occasional story - I have to go remind myself of the plot of the former now, I can't remember anything at all. But I think maybe I tried another one at some point and gave it up too.

Oh yes, the failed bookshop, or rather the bookshop with the malicious bookshop slayer - a very odd book.

Back to say that my other Fitzgerald read was The Gate of Angels - which I remember liking very much, in fact. Read it a long long time ago.

No malware alerts for me. Just popped in to say hi and what lovely photos up on FB of your meetup!

For anyone interested in photos of the Philadelphia meetup, here's a link. This will take you to a specific message on the meetup thread, where Darryl posted two photos. There are sure to be more in subsequent messages. It was a great event; here's what I wrote on the thread:

Well, I was with the group today from about 9-3 and had a wonderful time!! Zoe wins the shutterbug award, having taken a million photos which will be fun to see. It was such a thrill to meet so many LTers face to face, and everyone was exactly as they are here. Such wonderful, smart, and of course well-read people. Although we spent our time "doing" things like visiting the Museum of Art, it was the conversation I enjoyed the most. When I left, the gang was heading out for a late lunch (early dinner?) and, I'm sure, more interesting conversation.

I am getting the alerts. It's a graphic that you have coming from a site with spiun between the www and .com. The specific graphic is 537b1_ren5.jpg. Hope that helps you figure it out.

>76 thornton37814:: thank you very much. It was one of the photos in my thread topper, and I've removed it.

21. Life After Life ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my Kindle
Why I read this now: I'd been looking forward to it all year, and when it was shortlisted for the Women's Prize, I felt like I just had to read it. So glad I did -- it's my best book of the year so far!

When I was in my teens, summer nights were often spent in the company of three or four neighbor kids, all the same age. I remember sitting under the stars, eating pizza, playing cards, and sharing our hopes and dreams. One summer, we became a little obsessed with the ways small events could completely change our lives. It probably started with something serious, but eventually we came to see even the tiniest detail as potentially significant: "If I hadn't eaten this pizza, our whole lives would be different." It was a bit of silliness, really, but reading Life After Life sent me down memory lane, wondering which seemingly inconsequential events and decisions actually had far-reaching consequences.

In Life After Life, Ursula Todd is born again and again, and each time her life takes a different course. She dies repeatedly, in many ways and at different times. In the first few pages, Ursula dies immediately after birth. Later, an adult Ursula dies in one of several bomb blasts in London during World War II. Each of her lives plays out differently, and often has an effect on the lives of family members and friends. Sometimes Ursula's life feels vaguely familiar to her:

And sometimes, too, she knew what someone was about to say before they said it or what mundane incident was about to occur—if a dish was about to be dropped or an apple thrown through a glasshouse, as if these things had happened many times before. Words and phrases echoed themselves, strangers seemed like old acquaintances.

And at other times, she acts impulsively to change the course of events:

Ursula had done a wicked thing, she had pushed Bridget down the stairs. Bridget might have died and she would have been a murderer now. All she knew was that she had to do it. The great sense of dread had come over her and she had to do it.

I absolutely loved this book. Kate Atkinson brilliantly constructed a series of intricate life stories, repeatedly taking the reader back to specific points in time: Ursula's birth, the 1918 Armistice, the London Blitz. It was fascinating to see lives take so many paths, and how often this was due more to small everyday events than to life's "big decisions." I enjoyed the way Ursula would sometimes act to change the future based on knowledge from an earlier life. Atkinson also kept me guessing about other characters in the story. In one life, something bad would happen to them. Would it happen again in Ursula's next life? Or would their fate take a slightly different turn?

Life After Life was a bit like working a challenging puzzle. This book begs to be re-read as I'm sure there are details I missed. And I know I'd enjoy it just as much the next time, and the next ...

Great review of Life After Life, Laura! I agree, it does beg to be read at least a second time. After we talked about it during the meet up yesterday (or was it Friday?) I've chosen it over Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel as my choice for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction.

Checking...yes, it's my favorite book that I've read this year, too.

Now I'm wondering if I should have gotten a malware alert! But I guess I would have had to click on the photos to run into trouble.

Laura, that is a great review of Life After Life. It is one of my favorite books read this year. I will be buying a copy for future rereads. I would be very happy if this one wins the OP but I still think BUtB is a slightly better book.

You looked like you were having fun in Philly. Lucky you getting to go to the meetup event of the year. I must plan to get out of the Midwest more often!

>80 rebeccanyc:: Rebecca, I know, it made me a little nervous too but anyway, I've banished it so hopefully there will be no adverse effect on anyone's computer.

>81 Donna828:: Donna, this was an "easy" meetup for me, since I live only about an hour outside the city. I was impressed with the distance some traveled to be there -- like the Joplin Meetup emissaries (Terri & Brenda), and Belva who hails from Washington state.

Just thumbed your excellent review of Life After Life Laura. What can I say except I too, plan on rereading it.

Laurel, I just thumbed your fabulous review of Life After Life, too. Loved your intro of your teen years, contemplating how our actions can change the course of life. I also just finished it. Didn't enjoy it as much as you did, but it is certainly worthwhile.

Hmmm....I've visited here multiple times since you started this thread, and I never got any alerts. Spooky. I've thumbed your review of Life After Life. Sebastian Faulks seemed to be attempting something similar, although not with multiple lives for the same person, in A Possible Life. I liked the concept, but didn't think he pulled it off at all. Since you and Darryl both agree this one is a winner, and since I've liked other Atkinson books I've read, I'm putting it on my wishlist.

Laura, Life After Life is loaded on my Kindle. Just need the right time to read it.

Another thumb from me although I'm not the fan that you and Darryl are.
I mentioned The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson somewhere else. It's his take on reincarnation where 3 or 4 characters are reborn life after life - sometimes male, sometimes female, but always in the same general relationship to each other. I think I prefer *LaL*.

>#79:
Agreed Darryl! I have been awaiting my first 5 * Orange listed book for 2013 and think I have found it. I will know for sure tomorrow when I finish it.

It was so nice to meet you in person Laura. I enjoyed myself immensely.
I've lucked out. Whisper1 has offered me a lift to the airport when she takes brenpike & tlloeffer back to catch their flight/flights. I'm a lucky dog.
I enjoyed & thumbed your Gatsby review & like a great many others, am feeling like it is time for a re-re-read.
hugs,

Hello everybody! I'm rushing about this morning without much time to comment. But I sure do appreciate all the visitors!

Safe travels, Belva. It was a pleasure meeting you F2F also.

#88 Oooh...an extra mini-meet-up on Linda's Airport Shuttle. A car full of lucky dogs!

A quick catchup with higher aspirations... Great to meet you on Saturday!

Hi Laura
Thanks for the link. I've been looking for you under your previous LT nickname.

Regarding Life After Life, Belva finished it yesterday and was raving about it before we left for the airport.

Again, it was wonderful to meet you!

Hey there Katherine, I really enjoyed meeting you too.

Hi Linda, I'm so glad you found me! :)

54 & 55 -- I've added The House of Mirth to my library list (which is rather long, but at least I will remember the recommendations this way). Thanks to you both!

Heading over to check out pics of Philly meet up now!

Laura- I hope to get to Life After Life soon and I'll come back and check out your review. It sounds like you guys had a great time at the Philly Meet-up! Meet-ups are the best!!

Laura, just saying again, how great it was to meet you!

22. A Glass of Blessings ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: My Virago Modern Classics collection
Why I read this now: It's the May read in the Virago group's 2013 Pym Centenary

Wilmet Forsyth is a bored housewife in 1950s England. She and her husband Rodney have no children, and he takes her for granted, like part of the furniture. So Wilmet looks for stimulation elsewhere, and finds it, in a way, in the life of her church. Specifically, she takes a keen interest in the lives of three unmarried priests and their male housekeeper. She also joins her mother-in-law in taking Portuguese lessons from Piers Longridge, the attractive brother of her friend Rowena. This is yet another idle activity: Wilmet has no need to learn the language, but it fills up otherwise empty time. The only real excitement in her life comes when she finds herself the object of Piers' attention, and Rowena's husband Harry begins flirting with her. Rodney is oblivious, which gives Wilmet considerable freedom, but dampens her excitement as well.

Readers experience the story through Wilmet's narration, which is rather unfortunate since she is insufferable. Pym makes this clear early on, when Wilmet says, "I was pleased at his compliment for I always take trouble with my clothes, and being tall and dark I usually manage to achieve some kind of distinction." (p. 5) Later, when a church member is seriously ill, she hopes to make herself useful: "I suppose I had imagined myself busy in a practical way -- cooking meals or running errands, even being what people call a tower of strength." (p. 107) Wilmet is completely serious, but this is typical Pym humor. Her characters are always well-drawn, their foibles obvious and amusing. I enjoyed her digs at Wilmet, and her portrayal of certain minor characters, such as the housekeeper Mr. Bason and Piers' flatmate, Keith.

However, it was difficult for me to get over my dislike for WIlmet, and I didn't care much about resolving the conflict that stemmed from her idle flirtations. In the end, this was a respectable read but not my favorite Pym.

>94 TinaV95:: Tina, I hope you enjoy The House of Mirth, whenever it gets to the top of your TBR tower.
>95 msf59:: Hi Mark! I can't wait to see what you think of Life After Life.
>96 Whisper1:: Hello Linda! I have to say I'm still basking in the glow of our Philly meetup. What a fun day. And really, there are so many of us who live within a couple hours of Philly, we really should get together more often.

So exciting that the latest Atkinson is so good!

Laura, I think the same. We should make a concerted effort to meet more often.

Last year in June, Cheli and I met mid way between MD and PA at a clock museum. We had lunch and visited the museum. It was great fun.

Hi Laura. I am glad that we met in Philly this past weekend. We didn't get to talk for much of the visit but it was still a wonderful time. It took me until Tuesday to start feeling myself again. It was such a great time and the most fun I had in a long time.

I see you read The Great Gatsby. I so want to read it before seeing the movie. It is one book I never read in high school. I think I will pick it up this weekend since I just finished a book today.

Happy Reading!

Hi Laura (at last)! I went to the big Amazon shop in the clouds as soon as I read your review of Life after Life and have read the first three chapters already. Great review!

I read A Glass of Blessings and couldn't stand Wilmet, and it was my second Barbara Pym that I didn't love - I enjoyed Excellent Women more but still wouldn't rave about it.

Loved the meetup reports and it sounds like a great time was had by everyone.

>99 sibylline:: Lucy, I hope you'll read the Atkinson soon! Listen to Cushla, who as you can see in #102 is loving it already (yay Cush!)

>100 Whisper1:: Linda, I understand there's an excellent yarn shop in Bethlehem. I'm not sure I'd make the trip just for yarn, but yarn and books, or yarn and a college visit? Both are possible!

>101 crazy4reading:: Monica, I know what you mean about being on a "high" after the meetup. I hope there will be more -- Philly seems to be a great location for many LTers. I understand there's a DC meetup planned at the National Book Festival in September but I'm not sure I'll be able to make that.

>102 cushlareads:: Interesting thoughts on Pym, Cushla. I really liked Excellent Women, it was my first Pym and convinced me to read more. But I actually think Crampton Hodnet is one of my favorites, and it's more somber than her typical books.

23. Queen Lucia ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves, a recent purchase.
Why I read this now: I needed something light.

Queen Lucia is the first in a series of six novels satirizing a slice of 1920s English society (which Simon at Stuck-in-a-Book recently christened, "Bright Middle-Aged Things"). Mrs Lucas is the self-appointed "queen" of Riseholme, a sleepy village somewhere near London. Her speech is littered with Italian phrases, inspiring the nickname Lucia. She prides herself on staying au courant with all the local gossip, cementing her dominant social position in Riseholme. Lucia is an amusing character in her own right, and Benson populates Riseholme with an extensive supporting cast. Mrs Quantock gets caught up in every cultural fad (first yoga, and later spiritualism). Olga Bracely, an opera singer, takes up residence in Riseholme and threatens to disturb the social order. Lucia's dear friend Georgie simultaneously worships Lucia and works to subvert her power. And there are many more ...

In lieu of a complete story arc, the novel meanders through a series of vignettes intended to both define the social order and amuse the reader. Each one is a comedy of manners where situations and people are not as they seem, misunderstandings abound, and someone gets their comeuppance. Benson's Riseholme came to life, and Reading Queen Lucia I was transported to a time when people communicated by letter several times each day, servants were largely invisible until they decided to (shock!) marry one another, and formal dinner parties with music and tableaux were routine entertainment. It was all quite cozy and fun.

Some readers criticize these books, and the characters, for being shallow and mean-spirited. But it's satire -- it's meant to be biting, and the humor makes you stop and think about how ridiculous and self-important people can be. If you're looking for light amusement, this is just the ticket.

I scuttled over here to *thumb* this!

I am so glad that you enjoyed it too. I agree with "cozy and fun".

If, for some dreadful reason, I couldn't take Diary of a Provincial Lady to my desert island I would happily make do with the Mapp and Lucia novels - I have an omnibus edition.

I have read 3 of the Mapp and Lucia novels, but not this first one. I found them to be delightful. Someday I will complete my set.

Nice review, Laura. I read Queen Lucia in my early 20s and didn't "get" it. I think I may give it another try...

Hello Tui, Nana, Kerry, Julia and Katie! I never knew Lucia had so many fans (well, yes, actually I did ... ). Katie, I hope you try again, I do think this might appeal more as one "matures" :) I have the next two on my shelves and am keen to complete the set so I'm sure I'll be reading them all.

Hi Laura, I am getting caught up here. I loved your review of The Big Rock Candy Mountain. I have been stuck on the first 50 pages for six weeks or so -- not for not enjoying the book or anything, but for lack of time and other books that distract me. I think it's my book club's most recent read, though I haven't had time to go there either:( Your review is inspiring me to get to it again, for I do love Stegner. I enjoyed Angle of Repose (I would say loved it, but the ending clouded my feelings for it) and i did LOVE Crossing to Safety. I think you'll enjoy it when you get to it.

I also loved your review of Queen Lucia -- how fun! I had been making my way through my library's collection of Angela Thirkell audios until they were largely weeded (devastating to me, but I do admit they were in bad shape). If you haven't read her, I highly recommend them -- think early 20th century Jane Austen. I've been a bit of a Thirkell evangelist since Richard recommended her.

Another Lucia fan here! - although I have drifted away from the series after Mapp And Lucia in pursuit of far too many other series. Must get back to it...

I'll come back to read your review Laura. I'll finish the book tomorrow and have really enjoyed it although Lucia is about as unlikable a character as you'd want to meet. I have all the Mapp and Lucia collection on my iPad so I'll read them all eventually.

The brilliant thing about the series is the way your sympathies shift after the introduction of Miss Mapp... :)

Miss Mapp of the "fat white feet". hehe

...and the hunt for Lobster à la Riseholme... :D

There is a yarn shop on Main Street in the historic district.

It would be lovely to see you.

>111 AMQS:: Anne, I was introduced to Thirkell through Pomfret Towers, which I received at Christmas and read shortly thereafter. Loved it! I will definitely be reading more of her books.

>112 lyzard:-116: I can't wait to meet Miss Mapp now! Ha!

>117 Whisper1:: It's The Knitters Edge, right Linda? I found them in a knitting magazine and from their website the shop looks like a treasure trove!!

23. A Single Man ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves
Why I read this now: Just working my way through stuff on my stacks.

I hate it when a much-lauded book just doesn't grab me. I'm sure it's me, and not the book.

A Single Man takes place over 24 hours in 1962. George is a 58-year-old Englishman, and a university professor somewhere near Los Angeles. Several months earlier his partner Jim died suddenly, and George is trying to put his life back together. He goes through the motions of his daily routine, teaches his English classes, speculates on his students' lives outside of class, chats with neighbors, and visits a woman friend. He is haunted by memories of Jim and their life together -- a life that, in 1962, was a closely guarded secret.

This book is billed as "one of the first and best novels of the gay liberation movement." I probably don't understand the movement's history well enough to appreciate the significance of this work, and viewed through a 21st-century lens, it's not as daring as it was in the 1960s. But the blurb on my edition also describes it as "constantly funny, surprisingly sad," and for me, it failed to delivery. I couldn't muster the expected emotions. George certainly mourned Jim, but I didn't feel his grief. I saw him simply putting one foot in front of the other and erecting a barrier around himself, one I thought as the reader I'd be able to break through.

So the book didn't work for me, but I haven't given up. It was made into a film starring Colin Firth, and I've just discovered it's available from my local library. This could be the subject of a future "book vs. movie" post!

Hi Laura- "A Single Man" is a very good film but it looks like I can avoid the book. LOL. I only have a few pages left in Life After Life. It's such a good read.

I quite liked the film 'A Single Man' but I've not read the book. I'd be very interested to read a 'book v. movie' post!

Just a quick drive-by 'Hi' Laura. Still on my 'PHILLY HIGH'.
The Mapp and Lucia omnibus awaits on one of my shelves. I am hoping to work it or part of it into my summer reading plan.
Again it was so lovely to meet you in person.
hugs,

I hate it when a much-lauded book just doesn't grab me. I'm sure it's me, and not the book. Oh, I've had the same experience a number of times, Laura. Feel like a fish swimming upstream, I do. That said, I won't be going anywhere near A Single Man. (just realized how odd that sounds once I'd typed it, LOL)

I am a Thirkell fiend. I have no idea how or where I found my first one, but it was wayyyyyyyyy long ago and I feel so fortunate as I have some great old editions.

Oh dear, I've been neglecting my thread! I meant to return and say hello to my visitors from last week: Mark, Julia, Belva and Nancy. And now Lucy! Oops, sorry about that.

It will be a while before you see a review here. I am now reading Trollope's Framley Parsonage, which is a serious chunkster at 550+ pages. It's quite enjoyable, but will take me a while to finish.

But the blurb on my edition also describes it as "constantly funny, surprisingly sad,"

The book hasn't crossed my radar, but I really enjoyed the film version. Definitely didn't find it funny at all, but it was sad, . . . . but not surprisingly sad. I could tell right from the beginning it was going to be sad. Maybe the film is different? Anyway, Colin Firth did a FABULOUS job--the script is very repressed and understated, so you get all the feeling out of his expressions, movements, and delivery. You've reminded me that I really need to watch it again . . .

I didn't find anything funny in A Single Man, book or movie, Joyce. I did think the writing was brilliant in the book, but had some issues with the way it ended.

Joyce, Linda, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who questioned the "surprisingly funny" aspect. To be fair, based on what I heard about the book I wasn't expecting laughs. I'm sure Firth is great in the role.

25. Framley Parsonage ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my Kindle
Why I read this now: It was a group read which has been a really fun way to work through this series.

It is no doubt very wrong to long after a naughty thing. But nevertheless we all do so. One may say that hankering after naughty things is the very essence of the evil into which we have been precipitated by Adam's fall.

Mark Robarts is the recently appointed vicar of Framley, and happily married to Fanny. His future appears secure, but Mark longs after "naughty things" like fox hunting, horses, and parties. His troubles begin when he co-signs a loan for a so-called friend, Nathaniel Sowerby. Unbeknownst to Robarts, Sowerby is deeply in debt and on the run from creditors and bill collectors. Robarts naively believes everything will work out, and fails to tell his wife about the debt he's incurred.

In Framley Parsonage we are also reunited with several other notable characters from the three previous books: Archdeacon Grantly and his family, Dean Arabin and his wife Eleanor, Mrs Proudie the bishop's domineering wife, Doctor Thorne, Frank and Mary Gresham, and the outspoken and very funny heiress Miss Dunstable. I loved seeing these old friends in new settings. I also enjoyed Trollope's wit, as he poked fun at the clergy:

Let those who know clergymen, and like them, and have lived with them, only fancy it! Clergymen to be paid, not according to the temporalities of any living which they may have acquired, either by merit or favour, but in accordance with the work to be done! O Doddington! and O Stanhope, think of this, if an idea so sacrilegious can find entrance into your warm ecclesiastical bosoms! Ecclesiastical work to be bought and paid for according to its quantity and quality!

And at men in general:

"My dear!" said her husband, "it is typhus, and you must first think of the children. I will go." "What on earth could you do, Mark?" said his wife. "Men on such occasions are almost worse than useless; and then they are so much more liable to infection."

But back to Mark Robarts. It wasn't long before his future looked bleak, but this is Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire, where things invariably turn out well in the end. In fact, the last chapter of Framley Parsonage is entitled, "How They Were All Married, Had Two Children, and Lived Happy Ever After". The journey from near ruin to happily ever after is a long, meandering one with several related threads. As Mark is facing financial ruin, his sister Lucy comes to stay, and meets young, unmarried Lord Lufton. They are instantly attracted to one another, but Lady Lufton has strong feelings about her son marrying the vicar's sister. And so begins another long, meandering journey in which Lady Lufton discovers why Lucy is the ideal choice for her son, and learns a few things about herself in the process. Trust me -- that's not a spoiler! Trollope's outcomes are always predictable, but it doesn't matter because getting there is so much fun.

I love your review. Framley Parsonage sounds like a fun read.

It was Colleen. I'm sure you could read it on its own but it's #4 in a series and it's well worth starting at the beginning, even though the books are all chunksters.

Oh, and now I'm reading the 4th Matthew Shardlake, Revelation.

From the frying pan into the fire, chunkster-wise! I haven't read Framley Parsonage. Must hunt down that one.

I happen to be partial to chunksters. :). On to my wish list they go! I may do the 3rd Matthew Shardlake soon.

Laurel, wonderful review of Framley Parsonage. So glad you enjoyed : ).

Terrific review Laura. If only Mark wouldn't have longed for "naughty things." Well, then it would have been an entirely different book, wouldn't it? Can't have that. Thumb!

Oh I see you have managed to get to Revelation before me. I don't think I can get to it this month or even next month.

Hi there Tui, Colleen, Nancy & Bonnie. It's so nice to see all your messages after a busy and somewhat stressful day at the office. I love connecting with others who are not afraid of chunksters. Admittedly when I finished the Trollope I thought I'd move on to a shorter book. My copy of Revelation didn't look very chunky to me so imagine my surprise when I peeked and discovered it's about 530 pages! But it's also easy, fun reading so I'm not really concerned.

Just saying hi - am 250 pages into FP and loving it (and not reading your review, just in case, till afterwards - but I can see you liked it too!)

I think Revelation was my favourite of all the Shardlakes so far. I haven't read Heartstone yet but have it here.

Hope your day at work has been better today.

Laura, you are so right about the fun in getting to Trollope's predictable and happy endings. Though his books are long, they are pure joy to read. I'm also a C. j. Sansom fan and rather sad about having finished the Shardlake series. Thank goodness I have many of those long Trollope books to look forward to!

How many books are there in the Shardlake series? I've read two so far, and look forward to the rest of the series.

I called you Laurel at #134. Apologies, I know your name is Laura!

>138 Donna828:: Donna, clearly you need a new series to keep you busy :)

>139 NanaCC:: Colleen, there are five. Heartstone is the last one. By the way, the LT book page tells you if a book is part of a series, and you can then click to find out about the other books. Here's the Shardlake Series as an example.

>140 lit_chick:: No problem, I've been called worse!

Thank you, Laura. I should have known that. I want to savor these books, so may spread them out even more.

I read Trollope (and Galsworthy) avidly during my twenties - in fact I can barely remember doing anything else (!!!!!!)

>143 sibylline: You have just reminded me to put Galsworthy on my TBR. Thank you.

>143 sibylline:, 144: must. not. add. to. TBR.
* la la la I can't hear you!! *

Oh Laura, as you well know, resistance is futile. Besides you will LOVE them. I also loved Mazo de la Roche back then......mwah ha ha ha ha

>146 sibylline:: pffft!

And a belated hello to Cushla! I'm sorry I failed to respond to #137! I'm so glad you're enjoying FP as much as I did. And Revelation is living up to my expectations so far.

Just popping out of lurk (I typed "pooping" - glad I realized that it didn't look right) to say that you are doing a brisk business in favorites over here. Lucia! Shardlake! Both Barsetshires! Galsworthy! I have not gotten into Jalna, so I'm singing the lalalalala right with you.

#97 "Readers experience the story through Wilmet's narration, which is rather unfortunate since she is insufferable." I completely agree about Wilmet except that I enjoyed finding her insufferable if that makes sense?

#104 So pleased that you've started and are enjoying the Lucia books.

#114 "The brilliant thing about the series is the way your sympathies shift after the introduction of Miss Mapp... :)" Yes!

#129 Excellent review of Framley Parsonage Laura although I think your opening quote has accidentally become a bit garbled.

#143 & 144 Oh dear, Galsworthy added to my wishlist too.

#149 Very well put, about Wilmet, Heather. I enjoyed finding her insufferable too...I know exactly what you mean. I don't want to like everybody I read about, and seeing things from the "slightly off" perspective is a nice change once in a while.

>148 LizzieD:: Sorry Peggy, I can't hear you, I have my fingers in my ears. :)
>149 souloftherose:: oops Heather, thank you for mentioning that opening quote. Cut and paste problem!
>150 laytonwoman3rd:: good point Linda!

Hi Laura- Are you still reading the Munro collection? LOL. I NEED to get to the Shardlake series! There are far to many LT fans!

Hi Laura, just passing through to wish you a happy weekend. Great review of Framley Parsonage!

>152 msf59:: why yes Mark, I'm still reading The View from Castle Rock. It's my short story book for June so I read a little bit at bedtime, most nights. I'm liking this one much more than the last Munro I read. Was it on your thread that everyone was bashing Munro? Or Darryl's? Anyway, this one's pretty good.

>153 AMQS:: Hi Anne, hope you're having a great weekend too! *waves*

The View from Castle Rock is probably my favorite of the Munro collections I've read.

Just to fan the flame..... I wonder how Jalna would seem now? Whether they are still readable. Mazo herself was intriguing too....

We had them all in the household bookshelves, so my mother (or her mother?) must have liked them (we had a lot of Galsworthy and Trollope too -) Mum was a prodigious late night reader. I'm envious of that, I get in bed and fifteen minutes later I'm snoring.

I bought a set of the Jalna novels a year or two ago - cheap 2nd hand hardbacks - with the intention of re-reading them. I last read them as a teenager, many years ago now. Well, they look nice on my bookshelves but the re-reading hasn't happened yet!

Galsworthy. I read them in my teens, maybe. It's nice to hear about them again. And of course I was glued to the BBC version back in the day.

I have got to get Life after Life back from the library. I had it out but had to return it before I got a chance to read it.

>156 sibylline:-157: Jalna? Who is this Jalna of which you speak? No ... really ... I don't want to know
More *la la la la* !!!

>158 ffortsa:: where the h*** have I been? I haven't heard of this one at all.
*la la la la* !!!

>159 alcottacre:: Oh Stasia, I hope you are able to get to it soon. It's wonderful.

Morning Laura- No, Munro basing on my thread, thank you very much. Sadly, I have only read one of her collections but I have at least a couple more in the stacks, including Castle Rock.

Jalna is the name of the 'great house' in the de la Roche novels.......

Hey Laura! Sorry it has been so long since my last visit, but I'm caught up now! Nothing intelligent to add, so I'll just leave it at "hi!" :)

Hi Laura

I'm stopping by to say hello. The opening photo is lovely. My partner Will lived in Germany after attending med school in Philadelphia. He enlisted in the Army and lived in a small town near Darmstadt.

He returned to Germany to visit many times and often notes that he wishes he would have remained there.

It is a standard joke in our house whenever we are walking or driving and observe someone throwing litter. He says "Now, you don't see that in Germany!"

I hope all is well with you.

>161 msf59:: Mark, I'm moving slowly through Castle Rock but I'm enjoying it. I think you would, too.
>162 sibylline:: Nope. Not even curious :)
>163 TinaV95:: Hi Tina! It's always nice to see you. I've been lurking on your thread ...
>164 Whisper1:: Great story about Will, Linda. I work with a few Europeans and I really enjoy comparing cultures.

26. Revelation ()
My Review (not much of one, this time)
Source: From my stacks
Why I read this now: It seemed like a good summer read.

I finished this last night, and I have a busy few days coming up. So I'm not sure if I'll review this in the usual way. This is the fourth Matthew Shardlake mystery set in Tudor England, and I found it just as good as the others. In this book, Matthew vows to avenge a friend's murder by finding his killer. He learns of a previous murder, sees a pattern, and realizes he's on the hunt for a serial killer who is likely to murder several more people. There are plenty of grisly murder scenes in this one. Matthew's sidekick Jack Barak, and his friend and apothecary Dr. Guy Malton, figure prominently in this story as well, and provide interesting subplots. There's only one book left in this series, and I'll be sad when it ends.

I have been trying to spread out the Shardlake books. Next up for me will be the third. I believe that one is called Sovereign. I am headed to Cape Cod for the week with a few of my grandchildren. I am reading Brideshead Revisted right now, but never know how much reading time I will get.

Enjoy your busy days.

27. The Mother's Recompense ()
My Review
Source: My Virago Modern Classics collection
Why I read this now: It's my Virago of the month.

In one of Edith Wharton's later novels, the author explores issues of morality and sexuality in the context of a mother-daughter relationship. Kate Clephane left a loveless marriage and was denied further contact with her young daughter Anne. She escaped to the French Riviera and moved among society there. Kate and Anne are reunited many years later. Anne is now a young adult, and surprisingly welcoming. She introduces Kate to post-World War I New York society, where much has changed from the world Kate once knew. Anne and Kate's relationship blossoms, but is severely tested when one of Kate's "old flames" arrives on the scene. For the first time in many years, Kate has to think about someone other than herself, and sort through several moral dilemmas. Wharton is masterful at showing the constraints women faced in those days, and resolves the conflict in what was probably the only way possible. Wharton is one of my favorite authors, and I really enjoyed this book.

I am in a "review funk" at the moment! I am enjoying my reading but am not up for writing the longer reviews I've done int he past. I'm not sure if this is temporary or permanent, but it is what it is!

#169 And yet, you've told us a great deal about the book and why it's a worthwhile read. Doesn't look like a funk to me!

I can't believe it - but I think I've never read this Wharton. I-Must-Find-It!!!!!!!

Laura, I just stumbled across a Virago edition (though different than the one you show) of The Mother's Recompense. I'm glad to hear it is a good one!

Re: review funks - I find the pressure to write reviews (self-imposed pressure but still....) one of the hardest things about LT. As a result, I'm pretty inconsistent in the length, format, and quality of my reviews, but c'est la vie!

Laura, you know that I join you in your current not-a-long-review policy. Anyway, I have Heartstone yet to read and no time set to read it, but I do enjoy Shardlake. AND the Wharton is very appealing. I've never heard of it either although I easily might not have.
Hope RL calms down enough for you to read again soon.

Add me to the list of those whose reviews are getting shorter (or nonexistent). Nae bother aboot it.

I found it for 99cents on one of the alternative book places here! Yay! So it is ordered and on its way. I think I decided, because I don't much care for the title, that I wouldn't like the book.... but now I think I will. I think I decided it was something about WW1 and loss. Don't ask me how.....

>168 lauralkeet:: Laura, I very much enjoyed your review of a new-to-me Wharton. I am tired of writing reviews. Period. And I have written almost exactly 100 fewer of them than you have. I say review when you feel the urge, make a few comments when you don't. It works for me!

Thanks for the moral support everyone! My "crisis of faith" around reviews extends to my blog, which I've kept going for over 6 years. Some days I enjoy it, but lately it's felt like more of an obligation. And what I really value is book chat, which I find plenty of here. So I'm thinking of taking a break for a while and living by Donna's wise words: I say review when you feel the urge, make a few comments when you don't. It works for me!

I wasn't familiar with The Mother's Recompense either, but am so glad I had it among my VMCs. She wrote it when she was 65, so very much later than her better-known works. But she still had her mojo!

I've never heard of that book, but I generally enjoy Wharton, so I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks.

I am another one unfamiliar with that book by Edith Wharton, Lucy. Reliably good writer though wasn't she?
Have a lovely weekend.

Reliably good writer though wasn't she?

Good observation. Yes, yes I agree with what I've read so far with what I've read of her oeuvre (Ethan Frome, about 6 short stories, the Age of Innocence and the House of Mirth, in that order). Every single one highly rated.

I thought you'd been a bit quiet on your blog lately. Come back soon though, we miss you there

Judy, Paul, Joyce: I've loved almost every Wharton I've ever read, the only exception being The Buccaneers, which was incomplete when she died and finished by someone else.

Karen, thanks for the encouragement. Life gets busy sometimes ...

Hi Laura- Just checking in. Hope the weekend is going well for you.

That's a good review of a Wharton I've never heard of Laura, and it gives plenty of information. I go back and forth about reviewing but my last two were the kind that wrote themselves, including the one I wrote yesterday for my latest Pym, which I loved. (It's much easier for me to write a review for a book I love. I'm not very good at the hatchet job type of review.) Whatever you decide to do should make you feel good. What is the point if it doesn't?

I thought I was seeing less and less of you. I find that LT itself has gotten a bit overwhelming so I've been pulling back myself. I'm actually glad I can't start a new thread this month, like I'd been doing all year, because I'm pretty far from the 200 post automatic thread continuation. I'm feeling relieved that I don't have to do that. Heh, the pressure I put on myself is ridiculous.

Back to Wharton...I planned to make this my year for reading Wharton since I loved the three I've read but somehow Barbara Pym and Anthony Powell got in the way. Not that I'm complaining haha.

I am reading The Age of Innocence now. The only other Wharton I've read is House of Mirth which I quite enjoyed.

Hi Laura - so happy to be catching up on your LT thread! I read your blog post this morning before school and am glad you're still reading such great books even if you don't feel like writing long reviwes. Your short ones are still great.

I finally read some Edith Wharton in 2011 - The Age of Innocence - and loved it, so I will look out for The Mother's Recompense. But at the moment I'm in the mood for comfortable reading so Trollope it must be! And I still have to read Heartstone too.

>183 msf59:: Hi Mark, the weekend was OK but even better is that I have this week off from work.

>184 brenzi:: Bonnie, I completely understand being sidetracked by Pym & Powell. It's happened to me before too! :)

>185 NanaCC:, 186: Colleen & Cushla, my favorite Wharton is The Custom of the Country, which has one of those heroines you love to hate. But really, you can hardly go wrong reading her books.

Enjoy your week off! YAY!
I've told you, havent I?, about my couple of AP students who read The Custom of the Country together and found Undine completely charming and misunderstood and persecuted. They felt the same about the oldest daughter in The Poisonwood Bible. I was torn between laughter and tears.

ROFL, that's funny Peggy!

Cripes, Peggy!

28. The View from Castle Rock ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
Source: On my shelves
Why I read this now: As part of a 2013 reading project, most nights I read in bed for about 15 minutes before going to sleep, and while I don't always read a complete story, I can usually finish a book of stories within a month.

In The View from Castle Rock, Alice Munro mines her family history to create a set of linked stories spanning 150 years. Part I begins with ancestors who farmed the land near Edinburgh, Scotland, and eventually made their way to North America, and ends with Munro's parents making a living in the fur trade. The stories in Part II are more contemporary, and more personal, dealing with the life of a young woman (presumably based on Munro herself).

Because the stories are linked and chronological, with recurring characters, the book reads like a novel. In fact, for the last third or so I treated it that way. Rather than reading a few pages each night, I made this book my "primary read" which allowed me to get inside the characters and see connections between events in different stories.

I enjoyed this book and really, my only quibble is not with Munro but with the publisher, Vintage Books, for poor cover design. My edition sports a woman (headless!) lying on a sandy beach. There isn't a single story that matches this image, nor do the stories depict the "lazy days of summer" implied by the cover design.

I am a sucker for covers that I like when it comes to choosing books. That one would not draw me to it at all. I hate when they do that.

What a terrible cover indeed - in fact I was so surprised when I saw it was an Alice Munro book I did a double take.

Oh my...that cover is unforgiveable. I've read this one, and enjoyed it a lot. Whoever picked that cover clearly did NOT read it, and was just hoping to rope in a certain customer base.
My cover looks like this, which is so much more appropriate:

Hi Colleen, Lucy & Linda. Linda, your cover is indeed much better. If I didn't know Munro, my cover would lead me to expect something more "chick lit". Well, it's out on Paperbackswap now for someone else to enjoy!

OK, I'm bored with this thread, and pets are usually a good way to take a thread over the 200 mark. This video was taken last week. We've had a very rainy summer so far and it doesn't take much to create ginormous puddles. Between two torrential downpours we decided to let our dogs out to play in the water: Lilly & Woody.

Very cute, Laura! Which is Lilly and which is Woody?

Lovely dogs!

>197 rosalita:: oh, sorry. Lilly is a 10 year old English chocolate lab, and Woody is a 5 year old American yellow lab.

They are both very cute. It looked like Lilly was definitely enjoying the water!

I am glad that someone is enjoying all of this rain. :) Very cute!

I love Lilly writhing on her back in the grass. Our black lab, Louis, likes to do that on our carpet :)

I've watched that video several times now because it makes me smile so much. Lilly galumphing through the water is pure joy!

I loved The View from Castle Rock and I'm appalled by your cover! Here's mine, which I think is excellent.



Very very cute dogs!

>204 rebeccanyc:: now that's a perfect cover.

Glad you are all enjoying the pooches! Lilly especially loves water. Woody is less of a water dog, but loves wrestling with Lilly. And Katie, Woody really likes writhing on one of our area rugs. It's a long narrow rug, more like a runner, and when he's through it's usually all bunched up.

I'll get around to a new thread sometime this weekend!

Happy 4th, Laura. Hope you have a great holiday! And congrats on finishing Castle Rock! I NEED to bookhorn in Munro, sometime in the next couple of months.

It was the original hardcover edition, Laura, at least in the US.

Happy 4th, Laura! I love the video too - boy y'all are splashy!! (Our little river is maybe 10 feet above flood level, way up in people's yards, but not as bad as I've seen it.) That is doggy joy! And doggy soggy!