Sylvia's Books and Bits (2013) - Part 2 - A Bit More

This is my "Currently Reading" List:

Unforgettable, Unforgotten by Anna Buchan (aka O. Douglas and sister of John Buchan) - my main book, from the library

A Little Book of Language by David Crystal - bedside table

The Missing Mr. Mosley by John Greenwood - in truck when I have to wait

On Looking : eleven walks with expert eyes by Alexandra Horowitz - audio, while walking the dog

Toscanini's Fumble by Harold L. Klawans - in the other truck when I have to wait

Little by Little : a writer's education by Jean Little - at the pool while kids swim

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher - in my car when I have to wait

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett - audio, reading with my son while we do chores

Just finished: Stuff : compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things by Randy O. Frost

I think you need a few more books to read...

I'll get right onto that, Morphy. 😝

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O Frost and Gail Steketee. As an accumulator of books, I sometimes wonder where one draws the line between clutter and hoarding. This book was informative and thought-provoking. The authors specialize in researching and treating hoarding and obsessive-compulsive disorders, so are very knowledgable about the subject. The first few chapters look at why people acquire stuff, why they become attached to it, and why they can't get rid of it. The ownership themes of utility, security, and sense of self are explored. Then there are chapters on animal hoarding (cat ladies), garbage hoarding and public health services, genetics, children of hoarders, and children who hoard. The last chapter provides resources for people who need help. Each chapter focuses on different case studies. One of my favourite things about the authors is that they present the people in the case studies with great respect, never belittling or judging them. The reader is able to build empathy with the subjects.

The one limitation that I see to their research is that their subjects are mostly self-identified hoarders, who have some awareness that their situation is unusual. This means that most of their conclusions are drawn from a particular subset of hoarders, who tend to be quite intelligent and articulate. That limitation is understandable, given that you can't study people who don't come forward.

Personally, I found the book reassuring. My acquisition and possession behaviours don't approach hoarding behaviour. I may buy a lot of books, but I also get rid of a lot. If I ever do slip over the edge into hoarding, following some trauma or change in my brain's chemical balance (and it probably wouldn't take much), I'm pretty sure I would be an information hoarder. The type with newspapers, magazines, and books, books, books piled from floor to ceiling all over the house. I would have a strong fear of losing knowledge.

I liked this book a lot, but will try to resist the temptation to buy my own copy—that would be too ironic. I recommend it to anyone who has a connection to a hoarder, who wonders if their own collections are getting out of control, or who enjoys Oliver Sacks-style medical narratives.

Now I'll go and get rid of a bunch of my nonfiction books.

Little By Little: A Writer's Education by Jean Little. Jean Little was one of my first favourite authors. When I visualize my childhood visits to the library, my memory always starts at her shelf. Her books From Anna and Mine For Keeps were hugely significant to me, and helped to focus my interests that eventually led to my education and career choices. I was able to relate to the families with members who lived their lives with disabilities, just as my family did.

I finally got around to reading the first volume of her autobiography, which I enjoyed very much. It is written for children, and covers her childhood and early adult years. Very quick and easy to read. It was fun to read the familiar stories from her own life that I first encountered years ago in her novels. Once again, her writing had special significance to me. It made me think about my mother, who grew up, like Jean, with "bad eyes", during the same era. Later in life, the two of them even sat on committees together.

This book provided a pleasant interlude for me, full of fond memories.

I loved Mine for Keeps, too. I still have my copy. Should re-read some day :)

Unforgettable, Unforgotten, a memoir by Anna Buchan. A year ago @jillmwo introduced me to the writing of O. Douglas, and it wasn't until a few months ago that I discovered that the author's real name was Anna Buchan, and that she was also the sister of the author John Buchan, who became Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada during the 1930s. I've been fascinated by John Buchan ever since elementary school when I read The Thirty-Nine Steps and did a project on him as Governor General. So I was pleased to find that my library system had this almost 70 year old book in their Canadiana Collection.

The book started off slowly, with childhood memories, but picked up momentum as the author aged. Her account of her visit to India is fascinating, and I enjoyed her insight into social changes wrought by the two World Wars. There are descriptions of her visits to Canada, touring the country on the Governor General's train—a most unusual perspective. It ends in 1945, three years before her death. There's no dirt dished in this book. She has nothing but good to say of anyone. Which is kind of a nice change from most modern autobiographies.

The Missing Mr. Mosley by John Greenwood. Fun, rather surreal little mystery.

Re: #7 Oh, dear. How could I have left out what her real name was? SO sorry!

>9 jillmwo: You gave me the opportunity to have an "Aha!" moment.

*drive by posting, waves*

7> Sylvia - you hit me with more book bullets than almost anyone else on LibraryThing. I was resisting Unforgettable, Unforgotten until this review. I'd already mentally added it to my pile of TBRs earlier in the review, but this line will recommend a book to me every time: "She has nothing but good to say of anyone." There is much good to say about the average person you meet, too many modern authors focus on the negative. I say, if you are going to be biased, be biased in a positive direction...

* climbs off soapbox, clears throat and wanders off *

>11 Morphidae: Who was that masked woman?

>12 MDGentleReader:
you hit me with more book bullets than almost anyone else on LibraryThing
Ditto! And I also agree with your niceness manifesto.

Gay Pursuit by Elizabeth Cadell. Light and frothy. I enjoyed it, but I'll admit there were times I was irked by every woman in the book. But I stayed up well past midnight to finish it, and all was well. Thank you, @MDGentleReader!

I've just started a new group: LibraryThing goes to the Chalet School. Please come and check it out if you like the Chalet School books, or if you would like to know more about them.

Madtail, Miniwhale and Other Shape Poems chosen by Wes Magee. A small book of very short poems that make pictures. Nothing special, except that I was startled to come across one poem in this British book that was by a minor Canadian poet who happened to be a family friend from my childhood.

>13 SylviaC: Only The Shadow knows...

On Looking : eleven walks with expert eyes by Alexandra Horowitz. I read this as an audiobook while walking the dog every morning. It turned out to be the perfect dog-walking book. The author takes city walks with experts in various fields (including her dog) to discover the details each of them notice, that would be overlooked by most people. She also writes about the science and psychology of attention. So we get to learn about such disparate subjects as typefaces, insects, the senses, geology, and pedestrian traffic. My only complaint is that I would like her to have let the experts shine more, instead of breaking off for such large chunks to reflect on the nature of attention. This is one book that translates very well to the audio format, especially as the author does an excellent job narrating this edition.

Paleofantasy by Marlene Zuk. My feelings are mixed. I agree with the author's premise, which is that our species did not stop evolving at a particular point before the onset of agriculture, but think she went about arguing it the wrong way. It would have been an excellent book on evolution if she had left out the anti "paleo lifestyle" rants. The book gives a clear overview of how evolution works, with examples of how species, including humans, have evolved, and how their evolution continues. The book's main downfall is the author's use of numerous quotations from popular media and blog comments to ridicule the "paleo" viewpoint. It's not even the blog entries that she quotes, but the comments! Because we all know how representative and well-informed some of the people who comment on blogs can be. And so, what could have been an engaging and informative book about evolution, is hijacked by the author's bugbear.

Bachelor Brothers' Bedside Companion by Bill Richardson. Disappointing. It was more scrapbook-like than the other two. A few entries caught my attention, most of it wasn't very engaging, and the character's personalities didn't really come through.

Those were my feelings exactly when I encountered it years ago. I didn't get all the enthusiasm it engendered out in the blogosphere.

Last night my husband and I went to a play called "Garrison's Garage". It was about a mechanic and a Revenue Canada tax auditor, and it was about as exciting as that sounds. Although it was a comedy, there weren't many big laughs. The acting was uninspired, and a couple of the actors always looked and sounded like they were acting. As I tried to reassure my husband, "It wasn't that bad. But it wasn't very good, either."

>21 jillmwo: Jill, I enjoyed the first two Bachelor Brothers' books, although not enough to keep them when I finished reading them. It was fun to get to know the characters, and there was a hint of a storyline to them. This one didn't have any of that.

22: If it's any comfort, I just sat through the DVD of Cleopatra--yes, the 4-hour blockbuster of 1963, with Taylor and Burton--for the first time. Aside from the astonishing, if terribly inauthentic-looking, sets and costumes, I think what impressed me most was how bad the acting was--all of it: Liz, Dick, Rex Harrison, Martin Landau, Hume Cronyn, and on down the list. Michael Hordern, Francesca Annis, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Marsh. Roddy McDowall was practically the lone standout. Otherwise it looked as if all of them were having their teeth drilled and just wanted to get it over with. And, recalling how long and repeatedly the production was delayed by Elizabeth Taylor's many illnesses and indispositions, they probably did.

>24 Meredy: Well, I guess it's something to know that even the big stars have their off days. And a whole lot more resources went into Cleopatra than into the Blyth Festival production of Garrison's Garage.

Remarkable Books About Young People with Special Needs by Alison M. G. Follos. Not the best time for me to read this, since I'm trying not to add anything to my wishlist this month. Oh, well. Any books that are really remarkable will probably reappear on my radar later.

Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther. Very nice. Very short, quiet episodes in the life of a fictional family leading up to World War II. I think my favourite thing about this book is that the husband is portrayed very positively, not as clueless or distant, as the husbands so often are in this kind of book.

I read the first Bachelor book years ago and have the other books on my Read Someday list. I'll be sure to only read the second one though.

>28 Morphidae: Yeah, there are lots of other books you could spend your time on than the third one.

28 & 29> I agree with that.

27> Mrs. Miniver is a favorite of mine. The real Mrs Miniver : Jan Struther's story by Ysenda Maxtone Graham is on my TBR list. Just checked, my library system has two copies.

My favorite chapter in Mrs. Miniver is the one where she buys her yearly diary/calendar in the stationer's shop. I end up reading it every Christmas.

I liked that chapter, too.

I've always had a weakness for stationery. In June I won a pile of Moleskine notebooks. They are so nice that I can't imagine what I'll use them for. There were three 2014 engagement books amongst them, which I took to the school and offered to the teachers. I knew that they would make better use of them than I would. When I die I'll leave behind a whole lot of blank notebooks and a deskful of scraps of paper covered in notes.

I've been hit by so many book bullets this month. I've added Mrs. Miniver. I need some gentle reads.

I'm a Moleskine fan. I have a collection of them. The problem is I write in the first few pages then lose interest. Then I get a new one. And write in the first few pages. Then lose interest. Then get a new one...

I would definitely recommend Mrs. Miniver as a very gentle read. Don't expect any sort of plot, though. It is a comforting sort of book, even though it was written on the brink of war.

I went to two more plays this week, and now I'm all played out. Normally I don't see more than one or two each summer, but it worked out differently this year.

On Tuesday, I took my daughter to see Mary Poppins. It was a mash up of the movie and the books, with extra bits thrown in. We both found the first half a bit disappointing--but at least I've read the series, so I knew where some of the stuff came from. Then the second half was excellent, and everything was pulled together and nicely tied up. They used some of the blockbuster songs from the movie, but in different scenes. For instance, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" was performed in Mrs. Corrie's shop. I was left with an urge to re-read the series to find out which scenes were from which book.

On Thursday, one of the teachers I volunteered with took her helpers out to a play called "Prairie Nurse". It was a light, fun piece of fluff, and very Canadian. It was about two nurses from the Philippines who move to the Canadian prairies in the 1960s. The other characters included a hunting-obsessed doctor, a hockey goalie/lab technician, and a cursing head nurse. The plot mostly involved mistaken identity.

The Colour of Magic on audio. This was my first Terry Pratchett book and I really enjoyed it. I tried reading it many, many years ago, but just couldn't get into it. I think that hearing it read highlighted certain aspects of the humour. Death's voice was fantastic, and I kept waiting for him to reappear. The narrator was Nigel Planer, and I will watch out for his work. I think I'll check out some other Discworld books, in print or audio.

Ooh, I bet Sir Terry would be wonderful with a good narrator.

As an aside, are you familiar with Terry Pratchett's views on assisted suicide? I am strongly for quality versus quantity of life, but assisted suicide makes me really uncomfortable. However, I haven't been diagnosed with Alzheimer's nor had anyone close to me suffer long term with any sort of dementia.

>37 MDGentleReader: MDGentleReader

I knew very little about Terry Pratchett, so I did some looking-up.

Assisted suicide is a very complex problem that is so closely linked to the issue of euthanasia that I have difficulty separating them. *I'll continue this in a PM to you, as I find my response also growing increasingly complex.

A Little Book of Language by David Crystal. Turns out this was written for young people, but I can't figure out just what age range he wrote it for. It is 260 pages long, and contains some pretty complex ideas, but the syntax is very simplistic, as though writing for preteens. I think it is meant for teenagers, but they might find the tone rather condescending. I was already familiar with most of the information in the book, but found the chapters on language use in the electronic age very interesting.

Free Stories - Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales. A short audio excerpt from Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales, issued by Audible in celebration of Nelson Mandela's birthday. It contains the two stories: "The Ring of The King" and "Asmodeus and the Bottler of Djinns". Just a brief little diversion.

I have that too, Sylvia. Haven't listened to it yet.

I think you're the one who provided the link, MrsLee. :)

Haha, glad you followed it! Let me know what you think of the tales and the telling.

They were good. They're basically children's fairy tales, so they're short and sweet--less than 15 minutes each. Both were well read, and as you would expect, Whoopi Goldberg does a fantastic job on hers.

I might listen to it just because of Whoopi. I love her.

She would be good at that kind of reading. She has a certain kind of natural cadence, I think.

The story Whoopi read was about trapping a demon, so the husky fullness of her voice was perfect. And I agree about her cadence. I don't know if she does more stories in the full version of the book.

Never Bite Anything That Bites Back by Jim Toomey. A collection of Sherman's Lagoon comic strips.

I do enjoy Sherman's Lagoon.

Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction by Annalee Newitz. Lots of scattering and adapting, not much remembering. I liked the earlier parts best, about the history of mass extinctions. I was less enthralled with her solutions, which included terraforming, space colonization, and transhumanism.

I have to ask. Does she think a mass extinction is imminent? And how will terraforming (of this planet or of any other) solve the immediate concerns of a vastly reduced population? I speak only half in snark.

Well, you hit right on a point about the whole premise that bugged me. The title indicates that the book should be about surviving a mass extinction event, but her solutions seem to be more about avoiding or averting it. Which are, of course, excellent goals, but are not what the book is supposed to be about. She barely addresses the issue of a vastly reduced population and the resultant loss of knowledge and technology. The best solution she seemed to find for that is an organization that currently maintains a database of everything you need to know about creating an early industrial society. This information can all be stored on a DVD(!) or in a three-ring binder. It was like she was too enchanted with the grand world and universe changing plans to actually research the survival issues. She does state from the start that she is looking at survival of the species rather than of individuals, so I guess that is what she's doing.

As for the imminence of a mass extinction event, she presented research indicating that we may already be in one, or on the brink of it. But mass extinctions tend to stretch out over hundreds of thousands of years, so it's not something you would notice happening in a single lifetime. Unless an asteroid hit. Or a plasma flare destroyed our atmosphere.

Christmas at Candleshoe. I read the first half in audio, then couldn't stand sticking to the pace of it, and borrowed the e-book version from the library. I like the Appleby mysteries a lot, but haven't found any other Michael Innes books that I've cared much for. In this book, I like his word choices and descriptions,and his sense of humour, but just wasn't that enthralled with the whole. My biggest complaint was the changes in tenses. The beginning of the book was narrated in first person plural present tense (We are looking...). Then it continues in third person present tense (He stops...) until the middle, at which point it changes to past tense (he puffed...). Then it switches back and forth a bit, and settles back into present tense. I can understand why it was written that way, but I found it terribly distracting.

I've come to the conclusion that I just can't handle reading audio versions of mysteries. I prefer nonfiction or fiction that breaks down easily into smaller chunks.

That type of changing tenses would drive me nuts, too.

Christmas at Candleshoe annoyed me almost to the point of quitting reading it because of the present tense thing, I was listening to the audio version of it. I persisted though and really liked it by the ending. I enjoyed the characters and such. I am not as aware as you are of the mechanics of the writer, so I don't think I even noticed the tenses switching like they did, or if I did notice, I was relieved of the break from present tense.

I think I am also the opposite of you in what types of audios I listen to. I love a story read aloud, but nonfiction, or dense reading, I want to read at my own pace.

Morphy, I found it particularly annoying in audio. I'm never very fond of present tense, but I can sometimes tune it out in print. In audio, though, it just doesn't go away. Then when he started changing tenses I couldn't take it any more.

MrsLee, I just found the first person plural opening of the book so weird, then the later changes in tenses, that I was trying to figure out why someone who is a very good writer would have made those choices. I think the tense changes were intended to emphasize the development of the two separate plot lines that eventually converge.

It's funny how we all read and listen differently, isn't it? This wasn't the first time I started a mystery in audio and had to finish in print. But I loved The Colour of Magic in audio!

Hmm. Thanks to LT recommendations, I have Christmas at Candleshoe waiting on my bedside stack until it's more seasonally appropriate. I wasn't expecting narrative style to be an issue. I don't believe I've ever read a story written in first-person plural (apart from people's annual Christmas letters to family and friends). Feeling a little dubious about it now.

The first person plural only occurs in the first chapter, so once you're past that, it's done. The present tense/past tense thing happens through the rest of the book though.

I found it to be a bit like a movie or a play. In that way, I enjoyed it, but usually present tense makes my mind flinch. Yes, the first chapter was the hardest, very strange, but after that I didn't notice much.

You're right, MrsLee, it does have that feeling to it. You really feel that you are watching the story unfold. Innes is very good at describing settings and conveying atmosphere.

I can remember watching the Disney Candleshoe movie when I was a kid. It has almost nothing in common with the book.

Nope, I cannot see this as a Disney movie! :D

That movie was a huge disappointment to me :) I remember reading Christmas at Candleshoe and liking it, and being excited to see the movie, and it was nothing like and not very good (although that may be my dislike of the changes they made to the story colouring my recollection of the movie). I should re-read - has been probably 40 years since I read it, so this discussion has been very interesting. I don't recall any of this bothering me at the time.

Changing the names of every character, the sex of one of the main characters, and the entire plot seems to be taking artistic license a bit far. The movie did take place at a house called Candleshoe, and there were children and an old lady involved. That's about it.

To begin my grand re-read of the entire Chalet School series, I read both the abridged and unabridged versions of The School at the Chalet together, to find out what had been removed. I had only previously read the abridged version (many times), and recently acquired a reprint of the original text. I was relieved to find out that no plot points had been removed. There were a lot of cuts though:

•Some information that helps to round out the characters, and provide them with more background was removed.

•Some of the descriptions of scenery, locations, and history were shortened.

•Almost any mention of events that were current at the time of the original publication (1925), as well as book and song titles were cut. (The abridgement was done in 1967.)

•All mention of Joey's admiration for Napoleon was removed, which is odd since it comes up frequently in other books in the series.

•Any mention of kissing or displays of affection between the girls was removed.

•Occasional phrases, sentences and paragraphs that weren't important to the plot were deleted.

There were also small changes to time sensitive information, such as updating vocabulary and money. Herr Rittermeister von Eschenau is reduced to Herr von Eschenau, which is also odd, because the title is relevant later in the series.

The (over-simplified) publishing history of the series is:
Chambers started publishing the series in hardcover in 1925. The last book was published in 1970.
Armada started issuing abridged paperback editions in 1967. They were published through to the 1990s.
Girls Gone By is now in the process of reissuing the original, unabridged books in paperback, with supplemental material. They are not coming out in order.

I think that when Armada published their editions, they were trying to make the earlier books in the series appeal to a different generation of girls than they were originally written for. Now Girls Gone By is marketing more to adults who want to read the original versions.

LOL - did you ever read the Hamish MacBeth mysteries by MC Beaton and then see the TV series based on it? There's a reason her next book after the series was called "Death of a Scriptwriter". Mind you, the Hamish MacBeth TV series was brilliant in its own way, unlike Candleshoe.

I think it's time I took the plunge and checked out the Chalet School books, because they sound like something I'd like. A lot. Which could be dangerous, at least for my pocketbook.

I say yes! Take the plunge! I can even give you the first two books if you want them. They are the abridged versions, which are by far the most common. And they are quite sufficiently addictive. I owned the entire 62 book Armada paperback series before I ever encountered a Chambers or GGB edition.

GGB had the first book as an unabridged ebook along with some essays an an introduction, so I got that, but thank you! I'll read it after I finish binging on Diana Wynne Jones. Should be an interesting contrast. :)

Perfect!

>68 Marissa_Doyle:: I hope you enjoy the Chalet School books! They are indeed very addictive ...

I may try to see if the library can order the Chalet books from WorldCat. Which book should I try first?

I would start at the beginning with The school at the Chalet, which covers the setting-up and first term, or Jo of the Chalet School, the second book which plunges you straight into school life. But many people have started the series in the middle, with whichever titles they could get hold of, and have managed to find their way and enjoy the books. I think I started with School at, but then read all the other out of order because they weren't all in print.

I certainly read them all out of order, but if you have a choice, starting at the beginning would probably help you keep track of the characters better. Although the characters carry on throughout the series, the events of each book are self-contained, and the background is filled in for important characters and school traditions.

Jo of the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. The second book in the series. I read the 1980 Chambers edition (1926 original) along with the 1967 Armada abridgement. I like this one a lot, too. The only thing that bothers me is one incident of disobedience by Joey which is completely out of character. Other than that, I enjoyed seeing the school grow, and Madge and Joey's lives moving along.

Once again, a lot was removed in the abridgement, but no plot points. This time the cuts weren't as easily categorized. Most of them were just occasional sentences and phrases. There were, however, some more notable cuts:

•Almost two full pages were removed which consisted of Madge reading some writing of Jo's, and discussing it with Jem.

•One full page about the girls singing during the flood.

•A lot has been removed from the chapter about the girls' hobbies.

•Some details of treatments of illnesses are removed or simplified. (This is the first time I've heard of thermogene, which was cotton batting medicated with capsicum and menthylsalicylate for a warming effect. When Jo was getting a cold, they soaked the thermogene in turpentine then applied to the chest along with goose grease. The smell alone must have been enough to cure a person!)

•Much of the mention of the treatment of servants was removed, even when positive.

•Many descriptions of hair are removed, and a few of clothing. It is actually an improvement in the case of the hair, as the author did get rather repetitive about it.

There were also some minor updates in vocabulary.

My re-read of the third book will have to wait now until the arrival of my unabridged edition of The Princess of the Chalet School.

Goodnight iPad by "Ann Droyd". A cute parody of Goodnight Moon, commenting on our obsession with electronics. I've wanted this ever since I first saw it, because it perfectly reflects my fascination with my iPad. This book will quickly become obsolete as technology changes, but here and now, for my highly connected family, it is perfect. Goodnight Moon was the first book I read to both of my kids after they were born, and we had a lot of fun reading this one aloud tonight.

Mrs. Tim by D. E. Stevenson. At last, I've had a chance to read this! It's the kind of book you get fully absorbed in, and it lived fully up to my expectations. Hester is such a nice person, who takes an interest in everyone she meets, and her relationship with her husband is loving and comfortable. I liked almost everything about the book, except I wanted to tell Major Morley to just go away. I have two more Mrs. Tim books that I read so long ago that I can't remember them at all, so I'll have to read them soon.

Mrs. Tim and Mrs Tim Carries On change positions as my favorite in the series, the latest one I read is my favorite. If Major Morley bugs you, delay in re-reading Mrs. Tim Flies Home, I find him much more annoying in Mrs Tim Flies Home, most likely for the same reason that you found him annoying in Mrs. Tim. I think that Tony Morley was the bit the was added to "pep it up a little" by DES for publishing. The original was really just her diary that she loaned to a friend whose daughter was engaged to be married to an officer in the Highland Regiment.

I also very much enjoy Tim and Hester's relationship. I quote one of my favorite bits below:

"I dive backwards into my room and pull the curtains, and Tim comes galloping up the stairs to see what on earth is the matter. Of course, I throw a pillow at him, which catches him fair and square and nearly knocks his breath away. After that he seizes me round the waist and we waltz madly round the room.

Feel ten years younger after this absurd performance, and decide that I don't care a button what the Man Who Lives Next Door thinks of me - these little idiocies are the salt of life."

Mrs Tim Gets a Job has grown on me in each re-reading. I've always loved the bits that show the characters of her children.

I got Goodnight, iPad for my brother and sister in law last Christmas. Wonderful book.

Mrs. Tim Carries On by D. E. Stevenson. Loved it! I thought I had already read this, as it's been in my bookcase forever, but I don't think I could have forgotten it. Much as I liked Mrs. Tim, I prefer this one. I enjoyed getting to know Tim better, Tony Morley behaved himself, and the details of wartime life were fascinating. It dealt with minor nuisances as well as serious situations. The children's letters are fun, especially with their creative spelling. One of the nice things about Hester is that she never takes herself too seriously, and can usually find something to laugh at.

MDGentleReader, Mrs. Tim Flies Home is the other book that I have here, and I read it when I was a teenager. I can't remember any details of it anymore, but perhaps there was some buried memory of Morley's behaviour that led to my strong reaction to him in Mrs. Tim. I think maybe I will wait a bit before I read it again.

So I'll be looking now for a copy of Mrs. Tim Gets a Job. I read it, too, very long ago. It was a library book, and I don't remember anything at all about it.

I'm going to have to push the Mrs. Tim books higher up on Mount TBR.

Go for it, Morphy!

My library has Mrs. Tim Flies Home and Mrs. Tim Gets a Job - that is where I first read them. They don't have Mrs. Tim of the Regiment any more. I suggested they buy it today. The form does say if it was published more than 2 years ago, it probably won't be considered, so I may be too late. However, they have 4 holds for Miss Buncle, the omnibus edition of Miss Buncle's Book and Miss Buncle Married and only one copy. So, I also suggested that they buy those books as they were published last fall. I feel kind of powerful. Of course, we'll see if they actually get them. The Miss Buncle edition is the first I read of Miss Buncle.

Morphy, I do hope you like Mrs. Tim.

I downloaded Mrs. Tim of the Regiment after falling in love with Miss Buncle; I guess I'll need to move it up the list too.

I gave up years ago on my library system having any of the mid-twentieth century authors that I like, but I just checked again, and they now have 8 D. E. Stevenson books! And two more on order! I already own most of them, but I've put a hold on Emily Dennistoun—and I'm delighted that somebody else has it out already. So many books that I borrow seem to be in such perfect condition that I suspect that I'm the only one who has read them.

Next month I'm going to an interlibrary loan workshop, so hopefully then I'll have access to a wider range of books.

I used to spend a lot of time at the Special Needs library until it moved further away from me. I have found that I enjoy many of the books in the Large Print section of the library. My library has 16 different D E Stevenson books, they are all the originals I read and were published in the 50s, 60s and 70s. They are fairly well-read - but not lately, I think. I guess I should start putting holds on them so that they don't get discarded before fans of Miss Buncle and Mrs. Tim go looking for them. I don't imagine that the library system has ordered a D E Stevenson since the early 70s. They certainly don't have any of the Greyladies editions.

The ones in our system are almost all from within the last five years. They are mostly Isis large print or Sourcebooks paper or ebooks. Mrs. Tim is Bloomsbury. The only older one is Miss Bun the Baker's Daughter from 1973. I think maybe I should borrow each of them in turn to keep them all in circulation.

Between the first time I looked at the library catalogue this afternoon and just now, someone has checked out Miss Buncle's Book! We are not fighting this battle alone!

Woman's Weekly Fiction Series Omnibus Quarterly, Vol. 4 No. 2, which I bought at a thrift store because it contained a story ("Holiday") by Rosamunde Pilcher. Alas, the Pilcher story turned out to be only 16 pages long, while the other three entries were each over 100 pages. Two of them were so awful as to be unreadable, and the third was a standard hospital romance from 1980--mildly diverting. The Pilcher story was a cute little bit of fluff. I probably got my 25 cents worth out of it, but not much more.

At which point, what do you do? Do you rip the book apart because the bulk of the tales are bad and no one should be exposed to such bad writing? Do you put the book into a box destined for Goodwill? Do you spill 16 oz of coffee on it and pitch it out into the garbage? It was a 25 cent investment so what's appropriate?

Also I'm seriously contemplating Mrs. Tim. It's been tempting me for quite some time, but my book budget is strained at the moment. (And I don't know if my county library system has it...)

I'm going the Goodwill route. Maybe someone our there is a connoisseur of awfulness. Or is determined to own every piece of writing by Rosamunde Pilcher, no matter how trivial.

Okay, I did it. I ordered Mrs. Tim of the Regiment from the library. There is no wait list so I'll have it within the week.

89> The latter might do it. Rosamunde Pilcher has a large, enthusiastic fan base. It's too bad she allowed her writing to be used that way, though.

>90 Morphidae: Hope you enjoy it, Morphy! Just don't expect a lot of action.

Mindless Eating : why we eat more than we think by Brian Wansink. This was quick and fun to read. He didn't have any startling new revelations, but it was interesting to read about his research--especially the bottomless soup bowl. And he pulled things together nicely.

Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective and 100 Questions & Answers About Menopause by Ivy M. Alexander and Karla A. Knight. Because...well...you know. The first was more informative than the second.

I found the bottomless soup bowl study very interesting, too.

And I got the books! Thank you so much! You are a treasure. I look forward to reading them.

I hope you like them, Morphy! Boarding school stories aren't for everyone, but the Chalet School series certainly has many adult readers. I would have hated to go to a boarding school myself, but I'm severely addicted to Chalet School books.

My sister-in-law and I went to see the play "Wingfield's Folly" the other day. There was a delicious roast beef dinner at the theatre before the play, and the play was excellent. It is one of a series of humorous one-man plays about Walt Wingfield, who has left his high-powered financial job to try to become a farmer. The actor, Rod Beattie, is brilliant at switching back and forth between about half a dozen characters, just by changing his voice, facial expression, stance and mannerisms. The audience is never in any doubt about which character is speaking. Beattie has been performing these plays for almost 30 years, and he still looks like he's having a lot of fun. It turned out that "Wingfield's Folly" is based on the second half of Letters From Wingfield Farm, which I read in the spring, so there weren't many surprises for me. But other than that, and the fact that my husband couldn't go, it was a lovely evening.

I borrowed Emily Dennistoun by D. E. Stevenson from the library. This is one of the books published from the manuscripts that were discovered in an attic long after the author's death. It may possibly have been better if this one had been left there. It is overwrought, and brooding, and almost entirely humourless--not at all like most of her writing. I liked The Fair Miss Fortune, which was published at the same time, much better. Perhaps I would have been more forgiving if I had read it as a teenager. I would recommend this only to hardcore D. E. Stevenson fans. If you're just checking her work out, don't start with this one, as it is not at all representative.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. This month's group read. I first read it when I was about twelve, and I still love it. For 60-year-old science fiction, it certainly has stood up well.

>99 SylviaC:: I just finished it on my lunch break! It really was a great read.

What with the Chalet School, D. E. Stevenson, and the triffids, I'm feeling nostalgic, so I succumbed to a sudden urge to read Working On It by Joan L. Oppenheimer. Short, simple early teen romance about a shy girl. I loved it back when I was that age, and surprisingly, still am able to get lost in it even though I'm older and (hopefully) wiser.

I've finished my comparison read of both versions of The Princess of the Chalet School. This one isn't one of my favourites, but it's not bad. I like Elisavita, and think it's too bad she only has a notable role in one other book in the series. The Armada version has some fairly extensive cuts in the first half , but hardly anything significant in the second. The biggest cuts are paragraphs and whole pages that help to flesh out some of the characters:

•Almost a page about Madge climbing a tree.

•Many paragraphs about Matron Webb that add a bit more dimension to her character, and also show her to be even more unpleasant.

•Some bits that tell us more about Margia Stevens, including a full page about her background and talent.

•A couple of pages that contain Grizel's main appearance in this book.

•A passage about Madge's hopes for Juliet's future.

•A paragraph that explains the motivation of one of the villains.

All of these passages give the original book richer characterization. I think this one has fewer cuts overall than the first two books, but some of them are pretty significant. I'm looking forward now to comparing editions of The Head Girl of the Chalet School, which had whole chapters removed in the abridgement.

That's very interesting, Sylvia. The little details that flesh out the characters are among the strengths of the series and it's a shame that Armada had to cut so many of them. I have yet to read the unabridged Princess, but am also looking forward to Head Girl when my GGBP copy arrives.

I have the 1980(?) reprints of the Chambers hardcovers of 3 of the first four books. They look lovely on my shelf together, but kind of stand out from the rest. They also have rather ugly illustrations at the beginning of each chapters. The dust covers are beautiful, though.

Am I missing much by reading the abridged versions?

There is still enough there to become nicely addicted to the series. The abridged books are the way most of us first read the series, as it is only recently that unabridged versions have started to become more available. I've been posting the main differences between the editions in the few cases where I have both. For the most part you don't know anything's missing unless you've read both.

There is some discussion in the Chalet School group here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/157655

The Head-Girl of the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. Once again, I'm comparing a Chambers reprint with an abridged Armada edition. Head-Girl was originally published in 1928, and abridged in 1970. I like this book overall, and think it is fairly significant in the development of the series, but I really don't care much for Grizel. The cuts in this book are significant in that whole chapters are deleted.

•Chapter 2 (On the Journey) is deleted, with a few bits from the beginning and the end added to the start of Chapter 3. An 11 page train trip is condensed into 1 1/2 pages. I've always wondered about The Stuffer and Maria, who are mentioned in a later book, and now I've finally tracked them down to this deleted chapter. I consider the removal of this chapter the single most significant alteration.

•Chapter 9 (A Quiet Evening) and Chapter 11 (Not Much) are both completely cut out. Both are chapters that focus on character development rather than plot development—talking rather than action.

Other cuts which are less extreme, but still notable:

•One page about Jo having a nightmare

•A passage about TB

•A discussion about the value of schillings

•Cornelia putting ants in a classroom

•One page of Grizel and Jo recounting their adventure with Frau Berlin from earlier in the book

And one little alteration that caught my interest was that Mr. Lannis' car changed from a Hispaniola to a Mercedes-Benz.

I only have Armada versions of the next three books in the series, so those will just be straight reads. Which will be much more relaxing.

Makes me crazy sometimes -- this thinking that only action and plot are attractive to a younger reader and eliminating the discussion that occurs in novels which also aids in fleshing out character.

>108 jillmwo:
Yes, and the need to update details, as though kids can't relate to anything that is "dated".

107> I have decided that characterization is really important to me, I'll make do with a lesser plot or with an episodic driven story rather than do without fleshed out characters.

109> Never a good idea to underestimate kids. It insults them and I think, can stunt growth. It is good for children to sometimes have to look up words or ask their elders questions. Also, it is healthy to imagine a world different from one's own, little details like the make of a car can help.

>110 MDGentleReader:
This morning my preteen daughter was playing a video game, and insisted in giving a blow-no-blow description of everything that was happening on the screen. When my kids do that, I start reading to them from whatever book I happen to be holding (which is usually something of no interest to them). So I started reading to her from "Wintering" in Found in the Attic. I wasn't far from the end when I started reading, and my daughter insisted that I keep reading to the end, and then go back to the beginning, and read the whole thing from the start. As the story is fifty pages long, my throat is worn out now, but the poetry made it lovely to read aloud. My daughter is an avid but very independent reader, who actively avoids following my recommendations because she wants to make her own choices. I certainly didn't expect her to be so fascinated with a D. E. Stevenson story—in verse, no less. It is a very quiet story, with no action, and the characters are almost all adults.

111: I love that story--yours, that is, of engaging a youngster by reading aloud a tale in verse. I'm often surprised at how wrong we can be about what will capture their interest.

Found in the Attic by D. E. Stevenson. This book really surprised me. It is a collection of short writings that were quite literally found in an attic years after the author's death. I thought I would like and value it because it was by D. E. Stevenson, but my expectations were not high. I've seen enough collections of "found" literature to know that many of the pieces tend to be mediocre and unpolished. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the first few stories were well written, and full of fun. Then as I kept going, I realised that everything was good. There are stories, plays and poems, speeches about writing, and an autobiographical sketch. The one thing that ties all of the pieces together (with the exception of the war poems) is the sheer fun of them. You can tell that the author was enjoying herself immensely as she wrote.

The highlight of the book is "Wintering", a fifty page story in verse, about a young woman recovering from illness, and the couple who take her into their home. I felt like I was there in the peaceful village of Wick-on-Sea, with the laughing vicar and his quiet wife. It flows beautifully—I know, because I read the whole story aloud to my daughter.

This is a wonderful addition to my D. E. Stevenson collection, and I'm sure I will revisit it often. Thank you, @MDGentleReader!

That sounds lovely!

I've got Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by Stevenson from the library. I'll be reading it in the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to it.

Enjoy it!

Indiscretion by Jude Morgan. I think I saw this one on Sakerfalcon's thread. I liked the beginning, lost interest, skipped ahead, became engrossed, and had to go back to find out what I missed. The book tended to ramble, as it is rather thin on plot, but the characters and dialogue are wonderful. The heroine is smart and good-natured, and prone to making inappropriate remarks in polite company. The interactions between some of the characters are hilarious. It was a fun book, but the villain was so villainous that I skipped the bits that featured him.

I just read this recently, so it probably was my thread where you saw it. I'm glad you ended up enjoying it! I pulled it off the shelf expecting to skim through it and discard it for the September (?) Off the shelves challenge, but I became absorbed by it in spite of myself. I was very glad when the initial section at Mrs Catling's came to an end; I really couldn't see how he could have dragged that out any longer and the change of scenery was a relief. I was impressed that a modern-day male author channelled the Austen/Heyer tradition so well.

It was a relief to get out of Mrs Catling's claustrophobic little world. I was happy to find an author who didn't find it necessary to fill his regency romance with sex scenes. It is much more interesting to let characterisation and dialogue carry the story.

I rather enjoyed Indiscretion. I liked the pacing, some of the ironic comments, the characters didn't do exactly as I had anticipated. It was an interesting dip into a romance novel that wasn't entirely predictable. The name Jude Morgan is actually a psuedonym for a British author with something like 25-30 titles to his credit.

Rivals of the Chalet School. It's okay, but not one of my favourites. It is very focused on the rivalry between the Chalet School and the new school in the neighbourhood, which shows no one in a good light.

I rather like Rivals, perhaps because the Chalet School is seen to be less than perfect for a change. I've only read the abridged version though.

That's the one I have, too. I think I would have liked to see a little more positive portrayal of Miss Browne and St. Scholastika's. It's always the Saints who are the instigators, and Miss Browne doesn't sound or act like a headmistress until the very end of the book.

At least in the abridged version, Miss Browne's transformation into a headmistress, is startling, almost not believable. Based on my experiences with the othe unabridged versions, I am thinking that her character will be more coherent in the unabridged version.

I would hope so, although the cuts reportedly aren't huge in this one. Judging by the books I compared already, that sort of character development is the kind of thing that tended to get cut out.

Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. I like this one. Eustacia is a very different character from the others, and it is interesting to get into her head to see why she acts the way she does. I also enjoy watching Jo gradually learning to take on more responsibility. One of the best things in this series is the development of the characters over the years.

But why on earth do parents continue to send their children to a school that has so many accidents and disasters? Hardly a term passes without at least one natural disaster, illness, or accident. Girls are always getting lost on mountains, falling in lakes, caught out in storms, running away, or getting kidnapped. There are floods, snowstorms, rainstorms, lightning balls, and chasms opening. Serious and even life-threatening illnessnes and injuries abound. And that is just in the first six books! It took a lot of creativity to come up with enough disasters to fill such a huge series.

The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's by Temple Grandin. An interesting handbook. It is quite repetitive in places, because it is a compilation of short articles written for Autism Asperger's Digest, and quite a few facts and anecdotes are relevant to multiple topics. She provides a lot of very practical tips, and maintains a good balance between research and personal experience. I especially like the fact that this book extends from childhood into adulthood. This would have been a useful resource back when I was teaching.

>126 SylviaC:: Eustacia is one of the best books in the series, IMO, and I do like the glimpses we get of her character in adulthood in the later books. You are not alone in noting the many calamities that occur at the CS - when reading the books one after another it does get to be a bit much! I guess the setting gives so many opportunities for things to go wrong that she couldn't resist using it to the fullest.

>127 SylviaC: I'd like to read a nonfiction book about autism but that doesn't seem to be a good one to start with.

>129 Morphidae: No, this one is more for practical information about coping with autism. You could try her book Thinking in Pictures, which is more of a narrative. I haven't read it yet, but intend to. Grandin is a good writer, and gets her ideas across very clearly.

Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined by Scott Barry Kaufman. Way more technical than I was looking for. I ended up skipping through. Except for the thread of the author's own story running through it was too much like a textbook.

The Chalet School and Jo by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. This one is less eventful than the previous books. No accidents, fires, floods or storms. There is some nice character development. Jo continues to mature, and Frieda and Marie are showing more individuality. The biggest contribution to the series is probably the arrival of Biddy O'Ryan, who will become one of the long-running, regular characters.

The Chalet Girls in Camp by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. Just a short interlude, two weeks between terms. A Guides book rather than a school book. I had the Armada and the Girls Gone By editions, but didn't compare them as closely as usual, because there were hardly any changes. Most of the differences were minimal, just updating a few words. The only real cut I could find was the removal of a passage in which Miss Wilson talks about a woman's first work being tending to to her family. Not surprising that that should have been removed in a 1969 abridgement.

The End of the Beginning : being the adventures of a small snail (and an even smaller ant) by Avi. Cute.

Four Christmas romance anthologies: Merry Christmas, Baby!; Making Spirits Bright; That Holiday Feeling; and Christmas Weddings. Nothing worth keeping.

I think its time for another round-up of what I'm currently reading--I'm losing track.

Food: A Cultural Culinary History - audio, only a few minutes left

Unseen Childhoods : disabled characters in 20th-century books for girls by Helen A. Aveling - on iPad

What, Me, Mr. Mosley? by John Greenwood - in truck

Toscanini's Fumble by Harold L. Klawans - in other truck

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher - in my car, but I now have a house copy too, so I might have more chance to read it now

The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski - bedside table

In the Beginning, There Was Chaos by Lynn Johnston - for dipping into

Bel Lamington by D. E. Stevenson - for a group read

The Empty World by D. E. Stevenson - interlibrary loan - I don't usually read two books by the same author at the same time, but I had to take the library book when it came. There's no chance of mixing them up, anyway--they're very different.

I have The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers on hand for Morphy's November group read.

I've re-read the first 8 Chalet School books, only 54 more to go.

There's usually a pretty even split between fiction and nonfiction, but right now I seem to be leaning more towards fiction.

136: Pretty impressive list, Sylvia. I must know: are the two copies of Coming Home both physical copies? I once bought a second copy of a book I was reading because I'd left it behind when I went on vacation, but I've never had two copies to read in different places at home (or even in a home-based vehicle). That is real readerly dedication.

Yes, they're both physical copies. The first one is an old paperback, and the second is a very nice hardcover that I found at a library book sale on the weekend. I'd read far enough to know that I would probably want to keep a decent copy to reread sometime, so I figured it was well worth the $2. So I'll keep the paperback in the glove compartment until I'm done, then give it away. It's a very long book—977 pages in paperback, 826 in hardcover.

Food: A Cultural Culinary History by Ken Albala. This was a Teaching Company course from Audible. It was excellent. He looks at how people have produced, prepared, and consumed food, the way that society and history affected how people ate, and how food preferences and availability affected society and history. The food history of most of the major cultures of the would is examined. I don't agree with everything he has to say about modern food production, but since I'm involved in modern agriculture myself, I have my own biases.

I liked the professor's voice and enthusiasm, and his speaking speed was perfect for me. He actually demonstrates how to prepare a few dishes, which is rather funny on audio. You can hear the sound of chopping or grinding in the background as he describes what he's doing. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in food or social history. I often thought of @MrsLee and @clamairy while I was listening to it.

Last Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton. This was my daughter's choice for me to read aloud to her. She had already read the rest of the series, and they were childhood favourites if mine. Unfortunately, the caricature of all of the French characters becomes very obvious when reading their dialogue aloud. It is impossible not to cringe when reading lines like, "Never will you learn to spik the English as he should be spoke."

I've chosen our next read-aloud book: The Blue Sword. I hope she likes it.

The Empty World by D. E. Stevenson. This book is D. E. Stevenson's only science fiction work. It is a good old-fashioned end-of-the-world book, written in 1936, taking place in 1973. I wasn't sure how it would go, since science fiction is one of the last genres one would link with Stevenson. I do, however, have a penchant for apocalyptic fiction, so I was optimistic. Surprisingly, I was able to obtain a copy through interlibrary loan. I really enjoyed it. While not one of her best books, it is definitely something I would read again. The nice people were nice (and oh, so very civilized), the bad people were bad, and there was never any doubt which were which. The technology was dated, of course--her vision of transatlantic flight was considerably different from the reality of 1973. The romance aspect was not as well done as in most of her books, but I liked the main female character, who is smart, competent, and usually confident. Of all of Stevenson's books that I've read, the one that is closest in style is Crooked Adam, which is an adventure/thriller--also a departure for her. There were some parts that reminded me strongly of The Day of the Triffids, which I reread just a few weeks ago. I will be looking for my own copy of The Empty World. Apocalyptic fiction by D. E. Stevenson. What more could I ask?

139 - It does sound interesting!

Captions Courageous, or comments from the gallery by Bob Reisner and Hal Kapplow. Very brief book, putting not terribly funny captions on great works of art.

Unseen Childhoods : disabled characters in 20th-century books for girls by Helen A. Aveling. A collection of nine essays by women with disabilities. A fascinating subject. Some of the essays are less focused than others, but overall I enjoyed it. The three broad themes that are explored are "Stereotypes", "Role Models", and "Inclusion and Segregation". From Pollyanna, The Secret Garden, and L. M. Montgomery's Anne and Emily books, through a plethora of girls' school books, to The Children of Green Knowe, Mine for Keeps, and The Young Unicorns, and on to 21st century authors like Jacqueline Wilson, the authors each selected a few books and explored different aspects of the broader themes. The book provides something of an overview of how depictions of people with disabilities and illnesses have changed over the course of the century, but ultimately, the picture is incomplete due to the limited number of books selected. Sometimes when an author used books A, B, and C to prove her point, I would think, "But if you had used books C, D, and E, from the same genres and era, your conclusions would have been entirely different!" Still, it was worth reading, and some essays, like the Chalet School one, were particularly interesting.

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. Reread for November group read. I love this book, and it has been a surprisingly long time since I last read it.

>144 SylviaC:: I'm definitely going to have to read this book. It sounds fascinating.

>146 Sakerfalcon: I got it from Amazon as an ebook. It is also available as a real book from Bettany Press.

Unseen Childhoods sounds interesting. I'm seesawing on it.

Castle Waiting, Volume 1 by Linda Medley. Delightful. At first I thought it was going to be dark, but it turned out to be quite cheerful. Now I really want to find the long version of volume 2.

I adore Castle Waiting, and am cross that I was so eager to read it all that I bought the original volume 2 which is not complete. Now I will have to buy the reissued version to find out the rest of the story. Bah!

Oh, Castle Waiting looks like so much fun. Onto Mount TBR it goes!

It is fun. I was exhausted yesterday, and looking for something to fall asleep to. Instead it kept me awake because I was enjoying it so much.

I reread The Day of the Triffids again, because I just discovered that my old Bantam paperback is abridged. I feel like I've been ripped off for years. I've replaced it with a Penguin Modern Classics edition which is not only complete (I think), but much easier to read.

For Remembrance Day, I listened to In Flanders Field and Other Poems About War by John McCrae and Wilfred Owen.

Lady Addle Remembers : being the memoirs of the Lady Addle of Eigg by Mary Dunn. Amusing parody of aristocratic memoirs.

The Rising Sea by Orrin H. Pilkey and Rob Young. A shortish (200 pages) look at the problem of rising sea levels. It raised a lot of interesting points that I hadn't thought of. The causes and scope of rising sea levels were covered well, but the authors barely touched on the consequences for large urban areas like New York, Tokyo, and Singapore. They strongly advocate "strategic relocation of infrastructure" (moving inland), instead of barriers and beach replenishment, which are extremely expensive and resource intensive, are not sustainable, and cause more problems in the surrounding areas.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Cute, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I expected to. I liked Don a lot, but couldn't really connect with Rosie and the paternity storyline.

I now have a hardcover copy of Eustacia goes to the Chalet School, so I compared it with my Armada paperback. There were a lot of very minor cuts of single sentences and short paragraphs. The biggest cuts were:

•more information about the deaths of Eustacia's parents.
•various remembrances of incidents in previous books.
•some of Jo's early reactions to Eustacia.
•some conversations about Madge's and Gisela's families.
•most of Mademoiselle's talk after Eustacia slapped Kitty, including her statement that it does not matter if boys hit one another, but girls must never do that.
•most of Madge's brief visit to the school, including the resolution of the feud between the Fourth and the Fifth.
•a lot of passages from the chapters about the half-term trip, including a two and a half page long story that Jo told the girls.
•explanation of where Miss Maynard went.

What Me, Mr. Mosley? by John Greenwood. This is the third Mr. Mosley book I've read, and the last one written. Mosley is more present in this book, but just as inscrutable as ever. I think I'll wait awhile before I read any more of them.

#139 - Oh, I'll have to look for that one! I can usually borrow them through my library. It is odd to know the person is doing something you can't see when you're listening to some of those courses. I've listened to a couple where they referenced graphs and/or illustrations I obviously couldn't see. LOL

I think you would like it, @clamairy. Food, history, and an enthusiastic professor--it has it all.

I requested it. Watch it show up the week before Christmas. :oD

I saw The Rosie Project reviewed in Entertainment Weekly. They gave it a good review. I'm thinking about giving it a try.

>163 Morphidae: I'd say go for it. The narrator is fascinating. Completely clueless socially, but a very nice person—although he has no idea how nice he is. Judging by the reviews, I seem to be in the minority in not connecting with Rosie.

Clarissa's England by Clarissa Dickson Wright. On audiobook, narrated by the author. She's not the greatest narrator, but hearing it in her own voice definitely adds to the experience. This is part travelogue, part memoir, and part folk history. Clarissa, of "Two Fat Ladies" fame, takes us on a tour of the counties of England, telling us about her own experiences and local history. Overall I liked it, with one serious qualification. I don't mind that she's highly opinionated, frequently airing her political views and her disdain for the anti-hunting lobby. That's just part of the Clarissa package. I do object to her racism, both implied and overt, which was evident a few times in the book. I enjoyed most of her anecdotes, and I now have a clearer idea of where the British counties are in relation to each other, and where the old stories fit in, but am left with with a bad aftertaste.

The Flooded Earth : our future in a world without ice caps by Peter D. Ward. This was the book I was looking for when I read The Rising Sea. It gave me a much better idea of the consequences of rising sea levels. Every chapter begins with a fictional scenario taking place in a future with increased carbon dioxide and higher sea levels. Then the author looks at the evidence for previous changes in climate, CO₂ levels, ice sheet melting, and sea level change, compares it with present conditions and projects into the future. I really liked this book, even though it is undeniably pessimistic. My only two quibbles were that there were not enough maps and diagrams, and the editing was very sloppy. There were sentences where the wrong word was used, resulting in the opposite meaning to what the author intended, and others simply didn't make any sense. But it's well worth reading if you can overlook the cosmetic issues.

What are you reading now? Anything? Or are you too busy with holiday prep and revels?

I'm almost done London War Notes, 1939-1945 by Mollie Panter-Downes, which I have on a short interlibrary loan. Only 30 more pages to go, so I should have my comments up today or tomorrow. I'm also listening to A Christmas Carol in different versions to see which I prefer. And spending lots of time running the road for Christmas stuff. And getting presents wrapped while the kids are still at school—Thursday will be their last day, barring snow days.

London War Notes: 1939-1945 by Mollie Panter-Downes. Another book to add to my favourites for the year. This is a compilation of the articles the author wrote for The New Yorker, roughly every two weeks throughout World War II. Every article covers a variety of subjects, all very much about the war. The effects of the war on the British people, especially Londoners, are related as events unfold. Battles, international relations, politics, air raids, rationing, national defence, evacuation, morale, and the housing crisis are recurring topics.

It is fascinating to follow as the author narrates the events of the war without the benefit of foresight. On October 29, 1939, she tells us that "Food rationing is in the offing," and that "Generous allowances are promised". On December 13th, 1942, we learn that "Turkeys are difficult to find, though it's rumored that tinned ones will be available--a bleak prospect for those who can't work up any suitably seasonal emotions at the thought of getting out the yuletide can-opener." She realizes by June 15th, 1940, that it was "certain that the end of the war will find a changed--perhaps a better, possibly a less pleasant--England, in which Englishmen will no longer be able to give their loving and undivided attention to the cultivation of their gardens." I learned about things like Anderson and Morrison shelters, and the bunk beds in the tube stations.

Considering that the author was working under the constraints of censorship, she managed to pack a lot of information into her short articles. I have no way of knowing all that had to be left out, but a few things are notable. There is no mention of numbers of casualties, either at home or abroad, and no specific mention of high-casualty air raids. V-2 rockets started hitting London at the beginning of September in 1944, but it wasn't until November 16th that they she could write about them. She says, "Prime Minister Churchill's statement, which made it all right to talk about V-2 instead of cautiously referring to it as if it were something supernatural which had dropped in somehow and made a big hole in the back yard, came as a relief to the inhabitants of southern England."

Mollie Panter-Downes' writing style is understated with humourous touches, and clearly conveys national sentiment. I came away with a better overview of the war than I had before. I just wish I could have spread out my reading of it over more time, instead of having to rush through the whole war in a week.

169: Won't you post your comments as a review on the book page so I can give it the thumbs-up it deserves?

170: Done!

And done. Thank you.

Thank you, @Meredy!

Bel Lamington by D. E. Stevenson. I reread this for a group read on the D. E. Stevenson Yahoo list. I like it, but it isn't one of my top tier DES books. I think I appreciated it more when I read it all at once than this time, reading it chapter by chapter. Going so slowly and discussing each chapter made me more aware of plot weaknesses. Some books a should just be enjoyed and not analyzed.

I'm in absolute agreement with you there! Some books are charming and that is more than sufficient as a reason for being. I bless those authors as much as I bless the others.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This was an audio version produced by SonicMovie.net, read by multiple narrators, with music and sound effects. It was quite well done, and fun to listen to. The only problem I had with it was that I had some trouble understanding a few of the voices, especially the ghosts. But that may have been due to peculiarities of my own hearing rather than any fault of the production.

I first read A Christmas Carol in print a couple of years ago, and it is the only thing I've tried by Dickens that I actually like. I love the humour of it, and can't understand why so many of the adaptations play it straight.

I've been looking for a decent audio version of A Christmas Carol to listen to over the next couple of days. I loved the crappy old LP version we had when I was a kid. :o/

I have the audio version with Tim Curry reading The Christmas Carol from Audible.com. I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm expecting great things.

AHHH! Tim Curry!!! I just downloaded the version with Ralph Cosham narrating via Overdrive.

I think you should get both. I don't know about Ralph Cosham, but I'm pretty sure I could listen to Tim Curry read anything. :)

178, 179: Let me know how those ones go. I tried a Simon Vance one, but I returned it because it was rather boring after listening to the SonicMovie version.

NPR did one with Jonathan Winters--he does all the voices, and it's lots of fun. But the Tim Curry one sounds awesome.

>182 Marissa_Doyle:
That sounds intriguing, too. Maybe I'll make it a tradition to try out new ones each Christmas.

174> yes, some books are just meant to be enjoyed. I managed to send all my DESie e-mails into a folder on my mail server and haven't retrieved them in a while, so I am behind. I DO love the parts of the discussions where folks bring up comparisons to other books by DES. We are talking major fandom here. But analysis? DES knew and liked people and I like reading many of her books. The end.

>184 MDGentleReader:
I enjoy reading everyone's comments, and sometimes get new insights into characters and settings. I think my main problem was with stretching it out over such a long time, which meant focussing on the parts more than on the whole. I think I'll just read the book at my own pace for the next one.

Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson. Another candidate for my list of favourites for the year. I've had a good run of nonfiction this month. The author looks at the history of food preparation, kitchens, utensils and appliances. It is surprising just how new our present concepts of kitchens and personal cooking are. If you had money, you also had servants to do your cooking, and the kitchen was not optimized for their comfort or convenience. Cheap and abundant labour meant little motivation for innovation. If you were poor you would just be cooking over an open hearth in the living area of your tiny home, or buying food from street vendors. So I appreciate my big, sunny kitchen, with it's full range of appliances, even if I do complain about the lack of cupboard and counter space.

The writing is breezy and personal, so you don't realize just how much research has gone into it until you come across the copious endnotes and bibliography. More illustrations would have been nice, as I frequently resorted to Google. Starting about halfway through this electronic edition, there were some typos that looked like they occurred during formatting, and should have been easily picked up by a proofreader.

The book was pleasant and quick to read. It gave a nice overview of the history of cooking without getting bogged down in technical details.

185> I had a terrible time with the pacing of the group reads. Way too slow for me. I had to struggle with what I knew at the chapter the questions were asked, versus what I had read, to say nothing of them all being re-reads for me.

#186 - Yeah, I noticed some content error as well. Odd for a new book. My guess is that a digital copy was made into a Kindle version before the final editing was done.

More illustrations would have been awesome. I never knew what a 'mezzaluna' was called before seeing the illustration in there, and so I mentioned how much I wanted one while watching an episode of chopped one night, and found one under the tree this week!

Nice present, Clamairy. Between that and the cheese knife, you could be dangerous! After reading about the mezzaluna, I want one, too. I might be able to chop stuff without worrying about cutting myself.

Mine is small, but I have little hands. They make two handled ones, and two handled ones with double blades!

This is NOT the one I got, BTW.



Cooking gadget stores are almost as good as book stores...

If only I cooked...

I love the paraphernalia, and I love cookbooks, and food history fascinates me, but I do very little interesting cooking. The kids would be happy to live on rice and bologna, and I married the only farmer on the continent who doesn't like home cooking. Every summer I have a friend who visits for a week, and we rummage through cookbooks and magazines, trying out all sorts of new recipes.

Exploits of the Chalet Girls by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. This one started with a strong storyline, which was just left hanging halfway through the book. After that midpoint, the book is just a string of detailed descriptions of entertainments: tableaux, games evening, Christmas pageant.

**Added June 15, 2014:
I found a Chambers hardcover of Exploits of the Chalet Girls, so was able to compare it with the Armada edition. The Friends of the Chalet School chart describes it as "uncut". I found several very small cuts (sentences and short paragraphs), mainly transitions, elaborations, and asides. There were only two cuts worth mentioning, each about half a page long:

• Madge tells Elsie Carr that her sister Lilias is getting better and will probably be able to go back to England in the spring.

• a passage about Matron having a "big jorum of senna" for the girls who over indulged at a party.

The descriptions of their entertainments remain mostly intact, in all of their excruciating details. Tableaux, games evening, and Christmas pageant.

I am very pleased that my kids have each read the first of their Christmas books, and they LOVED them. My daughter read Wonder (as recommended by @Morphidae), and my son read Ready Player One (which I chose because so many people here liked it). They didn't merely enjoy their books, they were really excited about them, and kept reading bits out loud to me. So even if the rest of their books turn out to be duds, which is highly unlikely, those two alone made it all worthwhile. (By the way, these are kids who already love reading, so it's not like this is a breakthrough or anything—just gratifying to the giver.)

Wonder was one of my favorite books this year so I'm happy that your daughter is enjoying it so much!

Well, you and @clamairy have persuaded me that Consider the Fork might well be a fascinating read for 2014. I've added it to my wish list!

Three Blind Mice and other stories by Agatha Christie. I strarted out enjoying this collection, then came the story that made me mad, and I couldn't get back into it. That story was the one where the solution to the murder was given in the title of the story. What kind of feebleminded editor would do that? I felt like I'd been cheated.

2014 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/163338

191 - This made me laugh out loud with pleasure, thank you for sharing. :D

I have love reading your thread this year, and look forward to reading different books together in 2014. So fun to talk to like-minded friends about what you read!

Glad you were here, MrsLee!