SylviaC's Facts and Fiction for 2014 - Part II

Halfway through the year, time for a new thread.

This is a rundown of what I'm currently reading:

Countdown! : or, How Nigh is the End? by Patrick Moore - in vehicle #1

Toscanini's Fumble by Harold L. Klawans - in vehicle #2 (which is rarely used)

A Field Guide to Germs by Wayne Biddle - in vehicle # 3

Delight by J.B. Priestley - bedside table

Lavender Laughs in the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer - for my grand Chalet School reread project.

Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson - for a group read with the D. E. Stevenson Yahoo group.

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill - audio

---

I will soon be starting:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - for Morphy's July read

What the Butler Winked At by Eric Horne - is just about to come in from interlibrary loan.

---

(I just learned to make these nifty lines from The New How To Do Fancy Things In Your Posts Thread)

For my own convenience, here is the Chalet School thread: LibraryThing Goes to the Chalet School

I'm interested in your thoughts on Why We Buy. It's on my TBR Someday list.

I like the lines, too, and might use them.

If too many people start using the lines, LT will probably run out of stock. I'm sure the inventory is based on historical usage.

>2 Morphidae: It's interesting so far, but I'm only on chapter 4 of 20.

>3 suitable1: The more we use, the more they'll order in. Maybe there will even be a line sale.

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome by John Scalzi. I looked for this after reading about it on @jillmwo's thread. It was right up my alley, since epidemics and disabilities are both particular interests of mine. I liked the "oral history" format, too. It is a background novella to Lock In, which I read a few chapters of online. I doubt that I will pursue that one, as I'm just not into FBI detective stories, even if they're SF with really cool technology and ethical dilemmas.

We need a supply of straight lines to give the comedians something to play off of.

It works! I used a few straight lines, and @suitable1 showed right up! They're like comedian bait.

Hey! I'm right here.

>8 suitable1: And very nice to see you, too. :)

There's no such thing as invisibility in the pub if straight lines are properly rendered.

The Martian by Andy Weir. After months of waiting, it finally came through on Overdrive. And it's just as good as everyone says! One of the things that I liked was that it didn't seem like the author kept dumping excessive problems on Mark, just to show us that he could solve anything. Sure, things went wrong, or there would have been no story. But there were lots of other things that could have gone wrong but didn't. Mark was very likeable (and just plain fun), and he made enough mistakes that he didn't seem too perfect. I hope I can keep it on my e-reader long enough that my son can read it, too.

This was a great story! I liked how believable Mark was, and corny and fun. I was rooting for him in a way I don't normally, like he was a real person.

>12 sandragon: That's just how I felt, too.

What the Butler Winked At by Eric Horne. This book was referred to extensively in one chapter of The Perfect Summer by Juliet Nicholson, so I really wanted to check it out. It is the memoir of a man who spent most of his life in service to the aristocracy. He was born around 1850, and wrote the book when he was in his seventies. The author has a very distinct "voice", as his own spelling and storytelling idiosyncrasies remain intact.

This is the side of the story that we don't usually read about. While he spends a good bit of time lamenting the loss of the old ways, he also makes it clear that the old ways weren't very good either. He writes about camaraderie amongst the servants, and the pleasure of working for a considerate employer, but also of unreasonable demands, outright cruelty, and the loss of any personal life or independence. He looks back over his career with both nostalgia and bitterness.

I'd recommend the book to anyone interested in Victorian and early 20th century social history, or who reads lots of books that take place in great houses with rafts of servants always conveniently at hand.

Hmm. I'll put it on my Watch list. Not quite a TBR list, more like a Maybe list.

Finally finished some more books. It's been a slow month, readingwise. (Of course, it's been a hectic month everything else-wise.) This has to be one of the weirdest combinations of books that I've ever read at the same time.

World War Z by Max Brooks. I really liked the format. I'm not into zombies, but thought this seemed like an interesting concept. In the first third of the book I almost got bogged down in the military and political stuff, but outside of that, I found it very engaging. It would have been nice to learn more about the science of the outbreak, but I guess they were too busy surviving to do research.

Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson. I first read this so long ago that it felt like reading it for the first time. I definitely appreciate it more now than I did as a teenager. A lot of fun to read. I liked that Miss Buncle was so observant that she could see right through the villagers, and fill in the missing pieces so accurately.

Two goodies. I adored World War Z and gave it one of my rare 9/10 stars. I've heard a lot of good stuff about Miss Buncle's Book and should be reading it in the next month or two.

>17 Morphidae: I think you're the one who convinced me to try WWZ.

>18 SylviaC: Of course I did. I was just, um, reminding you I loved it. Yeah, that's it. Nothing to do with my awful memory. Not at all. Really. Nothing to see here. Move along now...

Miss Buncle's Book was a delight. The sequel, however, was quite a letdown.

>20 Meredy: I'll have to see how the next two books hold up when I read them in the fall. I read them all years ago, but don't remember them at all. Miss Buncle is a complete story in itself, so sequels weren't really necessary.

>22 Meredy: Exactly. And I think that's why it didn't work.

>22 Meredy: Agreed. There wasn't much point--or plot--to the second book, so it sat there rather like a flat cheese souffle.

>23 Marissa_Doyle: Yes. And one with a little too much cheese.

I have Miss Buncle's Book on my Nook. I got it as a free ebook from Barnes & Noble months ago. I liked Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by the author so I'm hoping to like this one as well. As soon as I get a round TUIT.

>25 Morphidae: It's fun. Nothing deep or meaningful, just fun.

>26 SylviaC: That describes over half the books I read, anyway. :D

For anyone who has read Miss Buncle's Book, here is a funny summary of it in Facebook format: http://dalyght.ca/DEStevenson/bunclebook.html
It was written by Susan Daly, who runs a D. E. Stevenson website. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there's a link to the rest of the site.

I haven't been getting much reading done this summer. It seems like I should have all the time in the world, but it just isn't so! I already know that I will get even less read in August, so I'd just like to put in a good word for a book that I've been dipping into.

The Assassin's Cloak: an anthology of the world's greatest diarists edited by Irene and Alan Taylor. This is a huge anthology of diary entries from 170 different writers, from the 17th century to the 1990s.

The layout is unexpected in that the chapters go through the year from January 1st to December 31st, with several entries from different diarists for each date, ranging over a span of centuries. So ”1 January”, for instance, includes entries from Samuel Pepys in 1662, James Boswell in 1763, Sir Walter Scott in 1872, the Brothers Goncourt in 1866, Alma Mahler-Werfel in 1902, Katherine Mansfield in 1914, Virginia Woolf in 1915, Ian Maclean in 1970, and Adrian Mole in 1983. Not every date has that many entries, but there are always a few.

The vast majority of the diarists are real, but there are a few fictional entries, like Adrian Mole, tossed in. There is a convenient biographical listing in the back so you can figure out who people are. The entries range from profound to frivolous. I've barely scratched the surface so far, but I've encountered entries about wartime horrors, slavery, daily drudgery, sexual exploits, concerts, parties, poetry, and insomnia. There are the truly humanitarian, and the incredibly self-indulgent.

I love opening this book up to find wonderful, bite-sized morsels of history.

The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye. It was an undemanding readaloud for my sick little girl. I've always loved this fun little story, and it hasn't lost any of its charm.

Well, I dodged the bullet in >30 SylviaC: but then got hit by the one in >29 SylviaC:...

>31 jillmwo: Considering what just shot out of your thread, I would say that it's only fair.

A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simonds. Cookbook and tribute to Chinese medicine. Reasonably interesting, nothing profound. Many of the recipes included ingredients that would not be readily available in my area.

Does it make the medicine go down?

>34 Jim53: I was thinking of that, because my daughter was taking some truly horrendous antibiotics last week, and the only way she could get it down was mixed with caramel sauce. I don't think a spoonful of ginger would have done the job.

>35 SylviaC: Hope she's better!

I took a peek at what I should borrow from you and along with all the usual suspects I saw one author I didn't know, Deborah Crombie. You have A Share in Death marked as read but unowned, but with no stars. I don't really need another book for Mount Tooby, but she came up because of similarities to Julia Spencer-Fleming and Louise Penny, two of my favorites. Do you remember the book and what you liked or didn't?

>36 Jim53: Her throat infection cleared up after the first three days. Then she had to keep taking it for another week. That took a lot of caramel sauce.

If you like Spence-Fleming and Penny, I would definitely try Crombie, too. I liked A Share in Death quite a lot, and the next few books in the series. The reason I didn't keep it, and dig deeper into the series is that I'm trying to avoid getting too tied up in a long series while I have so many unread books on my shelves. Also, I just don't read as many mysteries as I used to. The detectives are both very likeable and civilized, and not angst-ridden, which is a pleasant change.

How gruesome does Crombie get? I don't think I've read any of hers (and yes, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that publicly.)

I don't recall much in the way of gruesomeness, and I think I would have remembered it, since my tolerance is quite low.

The series should probably be read in order, since the personal lives of the detectives are very much part of the ongoing story.

Lavender Laughs in the Chalet School (Lavender Leigh at the Chalet School) by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. I finished this a few weeks ago, but have been a little slow to compose my review. Like most of the wartime books, this is another strong entry in the series. I compared the Girls Gone By edition of Lavender Laughs(copied from the 1943 original) with the Armada version of Lavender Leigh (abridged in 1988). There were many, many small cuts and a few big ones.

I noticed in this one that there were some alterations to the text, beyond the usual vocabulary updates. Several times the names of the speakers were changed, for no apparent reason. Sometimes sentences or phrases were reworded, and paragraphs or even pages were collapsed down to one or two summarizing sentences. One little change that irked me was that in the GGB version, a girl says that she would like to be a doctor, but in the Armada version she wants to be a games mistress. The Armada edition is supposed to be the more "modern" version, so why on earth would that have been changed?

There were a couple of cuts that I felt were significant to the development of the story:
• the staff discussing Lavender's personality and schoolwork, and how to proceed with her;
• Lavender's realization that she could write her own stories, and first attempt at writing (a pretty big step in her character development).

Some of the other big cuts didn't directly affect the storyline, although the material was interesting, and often relevant to the series as a whole:
• lots of mentions of characters from previous books, and updates on their lives;
• the background of the McNab/Marilliar family;
• Jesanne and Lois' backstory, with teasers for The Lost Staircase;
• a six and a half page discussion between Robin and Daisy (two chapters were compressed into one here);
• about half of Lavender's stay in the San;
• about one third of the section where the girls visit Jo's house at half term.

For anyone who is interested in Deborah Crombie's books, and buys from Audible, today's Daily Deal is A Share in Death, the first in the series. It's coming up for me at $2.95.

I had a chance to sit down in a quiet house today, and read a book, from start to finish. I didn't aim high, because I wanted something I knew I could finish in the allotted time.

The Young Doctors Downstairs by Lucilla Andrews. Just a simple hospital romance from the early 1960s. Typical of the author's early romances. Very predictable in that comfortable, favourite author way. Certainly not one of her best books, but not one of the worst either. As with all of her books, the strength lies in the details of hospital life. My biggest complaint was that the main character kept jumping to conclusions based on insufficient evidence.

A Field Guide to Germs by Wayne Biddle. Really just a glossary of germs and diseases. It describes the diseases, and provides some historical perspective. Published in 1995, some bits are a little out of date, but overall, it is interesting and informative. (If you happen to be into diseases.)

The Young Clementina by D. E. Stevenson. One of my favourite books ever. I've read this many, many times since I was a teenager, and every time it makes me cry, and makes me happy.

>44 SylviaC: I had a negative impression of this one the first time I read it, just because the parents were so incredibly selfish and I hurt so much for Young Clementina. I owned it though, so eventually I re-read it because, well, DES. I enjoyed it much more the second (maybe third time) time. (I think the first, first read might have been from the library years ago).

>42 SylviaC: The Young Doctors Downstairs by Lucilla Andrews. One of many I haven't read yet. Perhaps I'll add it to my Alibris Wish list.

>45 MDGentleReader: I think a lot of DES fans don't care as much for The Young Clementina, and I can see some of the things that could be considered objectionable. My love of the book is tied to the very strong connection that I made with Charlotte. One of my favourite things about the book is the Charlotte/Clare friendship thing, and the way that plays out.

The Young Doctors Downstairs is worth buying if you can get it for a good price, but I wouldn't advise going to a lot of trouble or expense for it unless you are having completionist urges.

Why We Buy: the science of shopping by Paco Underhill. Audio. I enjoyed it, because I have an insatiable desire for information, no matter how useless it may be to me. The writing was chatty and engaging, the narration was excellent, and the subject was easy to understand, since shopping is such a regular part of life. That said, the subject was not "why we buy", but rather how to get customers to buy more, or Merchandising 101. At least a quarter of the book was shameless self-promotion for the author's company, which became mildly annoying.

>47 SylviaC: I've got that book on my TBR List. How many stars would you give it?

Close to 3.5, but not quite. The writing is engaging, but the self-promotion brings it down a bit.

Well thank heavens for that, @SylviaC. I had considered that book in the hope that it would help me navigate large department stores without succumbing to marketing manipulation. It doesn't sound like the book would have done that.

Book Bullet Averted.

>50 jillmwo: It is more about what stores are doing wrong. Stuff like: seniors tend to have bad knees, so stop putting their products on the bottom shelves; and people won't buy much from a rack if they keep getting jostled.

I would say it's worth reading if you come across it, but don't go out of your way looking for it. Unless you're a retail decision maker, then READ IT, READ IT!

Earth (The Audiobook): a visitor's guide to the human race by Jon Stewart. A history of the human race written for the aliens who will arrive after we wipe ourselves off the face of the Earth. Quite funny. Very sarcastic, a bit of profanity and obscenity. The only thing that I found objectionable was some national stereotyping. I've never watched The Daily Show, but the book was pretty much exactly what I expected. The audio was done very well, with different narrators for the main text, headings, sidebars, FAQs (Future Alien Questions), and other parts.

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer. Audio. One of my almost-favourite Heyer books--I like it a lot, but it doesn't quite make my top 3. This was the first time I listened to an audio version, and it was very engaging, except that the narrator was not very good at doing male voices. Either do distinct voices consistently, or don't do them at all.

>53 SylviaC: Could you please tell me which Heyer to start with? I've heard enough about her in here that I think I'm finally going to take the plunge.

>54 clamairy: Frederica would be a really good jumping off point. Very funny, with kids and a dog. The Talisman Ring, The Unknown Ajax, The Toll-Gate, and These Old Shades are also excellent.

I'm reading Heyer in publication order, but then I'm a bit of a weirdo.

What are your top three Heyer titles, @SylviaC? You named five in your response to clam and now I am curious.

Oh--The Unknown Ajax is wonderful, but I might try starting with Frederica or Cotillion or Arabella, and save The Grand Sophy and The Unknown Ajax as a treats to look forward to.

>56 majkia: Are you reading the mysteries, too?

>57 jillmwo: Usually my top three are The Talisman Ring, The Toll-Gate, and The Unknown Ajax, but sometimes they get bumped by something else. The books in a very tight cluster behind those three are These Old Shades, Cotillion, Frederica, The Grand Sophy, and The Foundling.

>58 Marissa_Doyle: I was going to include Cotillion in my list for Clam, but then thought that Freddy would be more fully appreciated after meeting some of Heyer's more traditional heroes.

Sylvia, I am. My first Heyer was a mystery, then I decided to read all of her works. :) I enjoyed the sparkling banter so much!

>60 majkia: She excelled at writing banter! I have read several of the mysteries, but most of them weren't very memorable to me. My favourite was The Unfinished Clue.

I tried Duplicate Death because of the bridge angle, but I was underwhelmed.

Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed It took a long time to read, but I liked it a lot. I liked Guns, Germs, and Steel, but preferred Collapse because his arguments were better organized, and seemed more solid. (Except the odd time when he went off into fantasy--but at least he made it clear that he was just imagining.) I expected to be interested in the case studies of ancient civilizations, but was surprised to be drawn into the modern society and big business sections, too. I'm glad he tried to end on a "cautiously optimistic" note, because so much of the book was discouraging. Myself, I'm afraid I don't have very high hopes for being able to turn things around at this point.

I found Jared Diamond's website, which provides a bit of updated information. I read the earlier edition of the book, which did not include a section on Angkor.

So far I've liked Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, and disliked The World Until Yesterday. I think the next one of his books that I'll read is Why Is Sex Fun?.

Death in the Stocks was the one I loved.

Envious Casca was my favorite of her mysteries. The touchstone isn't working for me unfortunately.

Sleeping Tiger by Rosamunde Pilcher. After Collapse, I needed something light to relax with. I chose this from my massive TBR pile mainly because @MrsLee liked it, and I know she is particular about her Pilchers. Light, frothy, unrealistic, and very relaxing. I was quite content.

Countdown! : or, How Nigh is the End? by Patrick Moore. This was the book that I kept out in the truck, so I was just reading it by dribs and drabs. The answer is: Not very nigh. Not being familiar with Sir Patrick Moore, I hadn't realized that the book would be focused on astronomy. The author provided a cantankerous overview of historic apocalyptic prophecies, then explained the likelihood of various cosmic disasters destroying the earth in the foreseeable future. His comforting conclusion was that we may blow ourselves up, but the planet will survive for thousands of million years until the sun destroys it. Parts of the book were interesting, but I was skimming towards the end.

Glad you enjoyed the Pilcher. :)

Portrait of Saskia by D. E. Stevenson. This as a recent collection of previously unpublished stories by D. E. Stevenson. It contains a novel and five other stories. It was okay, but I definitely preferred the other new collection, Found in the Attic. The novel was nice, but nothing special, while some of the stories were a bit melodramatic and short on humour.

>69 SylviaC: I have yet to finish the title story in Portrait of Saskia , I believe. Found in the Attic was a much better collection of her writing.

>66 SylviaC: "Light, frothy, unrealistic, and very relaxing. I was quite content." When I am in the right mood, that is exactly what I am looking for.

>70 MDGentleReader: Found in the Attic had much more humour, and showed a wider range. In Portrait of Saskia, the title story is the best part of the book, but it doesn't have much depth. "Where the Gentian Blooms" was alright, too, but the other four stories didn't appeal to me at all.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. I liked Harold enough to read the whole thing, but I didn't particularly enjoy myself. The blurbs all said it was funny, but there was far more sadness than humour. It probably didn't help that I had already figured out the biggest revelation by the fourth page of the book. A look at the reviews indicates that my opinion is in the minority, but it just wasn't my thing.

>72 SylviaC: I'm with you. I found it poignant and wry rather than funny, but it wasn't really my thing. I'm always a little bemused when people talk about an amazing twist that has been so thoroughly signposted.

However my mum and my mother-out-law both loved it, so at least there's an easy obvious Christmas gift for them in the shape of the sequel ;)

>73 imyril: That should certainly be the right gift for them. I think I'll skip reading it.

Mrs. Lorimer's Family by Molly Clavering. A pleasant book, similar in style to D. E. Stevenson or Elizabeth Cadell, although not as good as either of them at their best. Mollie Clavering was a good friend and neighbour of D. E. Stevenson, and the Mrs. Lorimer character is said to have been based on Stevenson, while another character is based on the author herself.

Alister and Co. & It's Nice to Be Me by D. E. Stevenson. A short book of light, simple poems for children. Nice.

Mark Twain’s Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race. Audio. A collection of Twain's letters, lectures, essays, and excerpts from books. Quite entertaining, as one would expect. The narrator, Grover Gardner, has a very good voice for reading Mark Twain.

>72 SylviaC: I had already decided not to read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, your thoughts just help bolster the rightness of that decision.

>75 SylviaC: Added to my Alibris WishList.

>76 SylviaC: I've watned to get that book since it was first referenced in... can't remember which DES book.

>77 SylviaC: Hmm, I don't usually do audio, but MArk Twain with the right narrator would work really well, I think.

>78 MDGentleReader: Yes, I think you would find it worthwhile to read Mrs. Lorimer, it's your kind of book, even without the D. E. Stevenson connection. When I ordered it, I knew that Mollie Clavering was her friend and neighbour, but it wasn't until after I read it that I learned that Mrs. Lorimer was based on her.

I don't read a lot of Mark Twain, but that was fun to listen to.

Aunt Crete's Emancipation by Grace Livingston Hill. Very short Cinderella-type novel. Sweet older lady is rescued from life of drudgery by long-lost rich nephew. The good are very good, and the bad are unremittingly selfish and mean. Less overtly religious than most of Grace Livingston Hill's books. Impressive descriptions of early 20th century women's clothing.

Aunt Crete's Emancipation is one of my secret comfort reads. GHL wasn't a great literary figure, but some of her books I still return to as comfort reads. Every once in a while, I find one of hers that I haven't yet read and it's always a great treat to me. (Some of them are as dippy as can be, but I still find I like them...)

>81 jillmwo: As I was reading it, I was thinking, "There really isn't much to this book." But after I finished, and had to decide whether or not to keep it, I found that I just couldn't let it go. I'm quite fond of Miranda, Rose Galbraith, and The Obsession of Victoria Gracen, too.

Yes, I liked The Obsession of Victoria Gracen as well, but also Spice Box and A Daily Rate. ( I have a secret collection of paperbacks and hardcovers of her stuff.) Totally unrealistic stuff but...

We need a bit of unrealistic stuff to add a little froth to reality.

>84 SylviaC: Yes, indeed. GLH has been less on my list lately. Oddly enough, it is because she is not always frothy enough for me. Too much time spent building up just how awful life is and how helpless women, in particular, can be before things start to get better.

The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance. 23 short stories by different authors. Considering the title and the cover illustration, the quality of the writing was surprisingly good. I didn't read every one of them, since some simply didn't interest me, but there were several that I enjoyed, and a couple of gems. There were even a few (very few) of them that weren't erotic. I'm getting rather tired of stories being written around the sex.

I know. I can remember when regency romances as a genre were safely chaste.

>87 jillmwo: Select traditional regency romance to avoid smut. They are still being written...

>88 MDGentleReader: I didn't realize that "traditional regency romance" was a thing. Now I feel old.

Lady Fortescue Steps Out by Marion Chesney (M. C. Beaton). Since I was already in a regency mood, I tried the first book of The Poor Relation series. I think I first heard of it from @jillmwo. Quick and fun to read. While I didn't become particularly attached to any of the characters, I would like to read the rest of the series to find out what happens next to them.

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John H. McWhorter. Audio. McWorter is an engaging writer and narrator, but there really isn't a lot to this book. It is about the development of the English language, but only actually focuses on a few of his own pet theories. His theories sound plausible, but I know next to nothing about linguistics. The nice thing about the audio version is being able to listen to the comparative language examples being spoken.

>90 SylviaC: Oh, we're going to try to interview Marion Chesney and a few other traditional Regency authors for the blog I co-write with a friend. I'll let you know if she agrees.

>92 Marissa_Doyle: That should be interesting! Is that your NineteenTeen blog? I check it out every now and then. (I don't follow any blogs regularly—I spend too much time online just keeping up with LT, Facebook, and Twitter.)

Lucilla Andrews An Appreciation by Shirley Brealey. A fan tribute, more enthusiastic than literate. I wasn't aware of how many works had only ever been published as serials in women's magazines.

A Similar Taste in Books by Linda Banch. Regency romance. A short Kindle novella. Couple meets over Pride and Prejudice in the library. Could be worse, could be better. I don't think I would pay to read any more of the series.

She Goes to War by Edith Pargeter (who I know better as Ellis Peters). A very appropriate Remembrance Day book. This is one of the author's earlier books, originally published in 1942. It is the story of a twenty-seven year old woman who joins the WRNS as a teleprinter operator in 1940. The book is written in epistolary format, as a series of letters to a very close friend who is a disabled WWI veteran.

In the beginning, the book feels like a lightweight romance, with Catherine joining up on a whim, which causes an argument with her fiancé. As she reveals more of her thoughts and feelings, and as she experiences more of the war, the the book develops more depth and intensity. Catherine's letters are articulate and introspective. The book is less about things happening, and more about Catherine's reactions to events, and the growth of her social conscience. Pargeter was rather bluntly pushing some social/political messages which may not have been very popular at the time. The war itself is a main feature of the story, not merely the background.

She Goes to War was not what I expected, but I still enjoyed it. While it certainly is not a happy book, there is a core of optimism that runs through. I liked Catherine, and her descriptions of life in the Wrens, and was intrigued by the glimpses at her rather mysterious correspondent. I found the climatic chapter poignant, especially when reading it on Remembrance Day.

I've been spending a lot of time working in the barn lately, so I have been listening to lots of audiobooks.

The Poets' Corner by John Lithgow. A collection of 50 poets, with one or two poems by each, and biographical information and commentary by Lithgow. Read by a star-studded cast. Poetry lends itself to being read aloud, and it is read well here. The Romantic poets still do very little for me.

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida. A 13 year old boy with autism answers questions about why he behaves the way he does. The questions and answers are interspersed with pieces of his fiction writing. It is brief, but informative. Naoki conveys a strong sense of loneliness. He would like to interact more with other people, but his behaviour upsets them, and his lack of verbal communication skills keeps him separate.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan. Audio. I hadn't heard of Jim Gaffigan, but the book looked interesting and was recommended in the audiobooks group. Funny, with one or two laugh-out-loud moments. I could relate to most of his parenting experiences, but really can't imagine raising five kids in a two-bedroom apartment in New York.

Language A to Z by John McWhorter. An audio course from The Great Courses. I liked this much better than Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue. It covered many more linguistics topics (26 of them, to be exact), and McWorter didn't just seem to be pushing his own theories. A nice overview.

What's So Funny?: My Hilarious Life by Tim Conway. Yet another audiobook. An average celebrity autobiography, that got rather tedious. I would have quit after the chapter on the Carol Burnett Show, but I had nothing else ready to replace it. It was reasonably entertaining for awhile, but degenerated into a lot of rather juvenile "Teehee...look at the tricks I played on Harvey Korman," and name-dropping. On the positive side, it is a cheerful book, and I now have a craving to watch some old episodes of Carol Burnett.

Miss Buncle Married by D. E. Stevenson. The second Miss Buncle book, which I read for a group read on the D. E. Stevenson Yahoo group. I think my judgement is off on this one, because we picked it apart and dragged it out until it was completely distorted. Many D. E. Stevenson books are just meant to be light, relaxing reads, and this definitely falls into that category. I thought it got off to a very strong start, but was more uneven than Miss Buncle's Book.

>101 SylviaC: I thought it was such a disappointment after the first one that when I gave away my copy of Miss Buncle's Book, I advised the recipient not to even look for the sequel. My posted review began: Weak tea following predecessor's hearty brew.

I really liked the opening chapters, but my reading of the rest of it was too disjointed for me to form a definite opinion. We'll be reading the third one next, and then I won't volunteer to lead a section of the discussion. I'll just read it straight through at my own pace.

The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Reread. A good choice for a snowy day like today. This book has my favourite Heyer heroine.

>104 SylviaC: That's one of my favourites too!

>104 SylviaC: I had somehow missed that one, and read it for the first time just last week. I did like Sarah, though Eustacie got wearing very quickly.

And yes, Miss Buncle Married was disappointing. I think the problem was that it had no plot.

>106 Marissa_Doyle: It had no plot, and it was a (presumably unintentional) self-parody. The author should have heeded her own "we can't go back" conclusion to the first book.

Unfortunately this is the fate of many sequels, the author trying to scavenge a few remaining crumbs of possibility out of what had been a nicely rounded loaf. There's just not enough to make a meal.

Born Like That by Denise Legrix. An impressive woman, born in the French countryside in 1910, without arms or legs. Much of the book is uncomfortable to read, especially her sideshow experiences, and life during and shortly after WWII. The book was published in 1960, when she had achieved a high level of independence, and was becoming recognized as a painter. When I checked Google, I was delighted to learn that she lived to be 100, made a difference in the lives of many people with disabilities, and received a number of awards and honours. I did find the writing a bit clunky, but that may have been the fault of the translation.

The Little Book of Pandemics by Peter Moore. I didn't actually read this, just flipped through, but I am going to keep it. It is a nice little reference book of infectious diseases, though by no means in-depth or comprehensive. Each entry includes a human body diagram showing which parts are affected, and also a world map to show where outbreaks have occurred. The biggest problem with the book is that the layout is not at all intuitive--to find a specific disease, you have to look it up in the index.

I think that for the rest of November, I'm going to try to pare down my TBR pile a bit, then I'll mostly reread old favourites during December.

>110 SylviaC: That's a nice idea. What's on your list of old favorites to reread during December?

Definitely some more Georgette Heyer, probably Cotillion or These Old Shades. Some D. E. Stevenson, most likely Kate Hardy, since I haven't read it in a very long time. Something by Nevil Shute, Elswyth Thane, Anne McCaffrey, Sarah Addison Allen, Mary Stewart. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Winter Solstice.

Perhaps some childhood favourites: Charlotte Sometimes, The Sword in the Stone, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I mean Noel), The Stones of Green Knowe.

Maybe revisit some of my favourite poetry books: The Mentor Book of Irish Poetry, The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets, Tribal Drums.

Of course, it's unlikely that I'll get to all of those, and I might feel like reading different ones, but most will probably come from that list. They're the ones I've been thinking about lately.

>112 SylviaC: Hmm, no reviews of any of those poetry books. Care to say something about them?

>113 Meredy: Quick descriptions (I'll say more if I get around to rereading them):

The Mentor Book of Irish Poetry was the first "grown-up" book of poetry I really got lost in. Just a basic, straightforward anthology. It introduced me to poets like Joseph Campbell and James Stephens, with their wonderful sense of place and history.

Tribal Drums is a poetry compilation for Canadian highschool students. It was published in 1970, and is representative of the vibe of the time. It's full of war, peace, and love, and that "We're going to change the world" attitude. Song lyrics are treated as poems, so people like Buffy Sainte-Marie, Pete Seeger, and Leonard Cohen are interspersed with more standard poets.

The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets is by Dennis Lee, a Canadian poet who is better known for his children's collections. His poetry is mostly light and cheerful, and fun to read out loud.

Toscanini's Fumble: And Other Tales of Clinical Neurology by Harold L. Klawans. Popular medical writing along the same lines as Oliver Sacks or Berton Roueché. The case studies are each presented individually, without being tied together at all. While the doctor is present in all of the studies, I didn't feel that everything was revolving around him, as happens in some of these books.

A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan. Audio, read by the author. Michael Pollan describes the experience of building his small writing house, from conception to finishing. Somewhat self-indulgent, but mostly interesting, except when he waxes philosophical about windows and such. My favourite bits were the historical reflections on the history of building. The most prevalent theme seemed to be the idea of architecture as art, and the tension between architect and craftsman. I don't know whether I would have stuck with this one all the way through if I had been reading it in print.

Miss Davenport's Christmas by Marion Chesney. It just didn't hook me.

Whistle and I'll Come to You by Agnes Sligh Turnbull. Okay. I probably liked it better when I was a teenager, although I don't really remember it.

The Lady Most Likely... by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway. Three regency romances taking place at the same house party. I kind of liked the first, didn't like the second, and was neutral about the third. The three parts were tied together better than some of these things are.

OOF! Took a bullet on Toscanini's Fumble. I'm a huge Berton Roueche fan and always on the lookout for similar work. I've read a few more recent authors doing the same kind of writing, though, and have disliked them--they lack Roueche's quiet compassion and humanity. Do you put Klawans' books in his class?

I would say that Harold L. Klawans is pretty close to Roueche. His writing doesn't quite reach the same level of clarity, but it is still quite good. The main difference between them is that Klawans writes about his own patients, so he is present in all the essays. His compassion and respect for his patients are evident. There was one story in particular about a man who had been in a concentration camp, that really stayed with me.

I have a couple more of his nonfiction books that I'm looking forward to reading. He wrote some medical thrillers, too, but I don't get the impression they're anything special.

>116 SylviaC:, you may not be able to recall (as it's been two weeks since you reviewed it), but how did the man manage to wax philosophical about windows? Was it the shape of the panes that caused him to go off? Was it the actual view out the window? I'm just curious.

>121 jillmwo: I don't know Sylvia's book, Jill, but windows certainly inspire me to philosophical ruminations. In fact, doors and windows are a very strong theme for me, one that I've never felt quite able to explore adequately. So I'm interested in Sylvia's response too.

I can't remember the details, since my retention isn't good when I read with my ears rather than my eyes, but I think a lot of it had to do with the separation of inside and outside, and how different sizes and shapes of windows affect the degree of separation felt by the viewer.

Seven Ages: An Anthology of Poetry with Music. A fairly short audiobook, with 150 poems selected around the theme of Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man", and read by a cast of 30 all-star readers. I found the selection excellent, with a good balance of light and serious, and I enjoyed the voices of every one of the readers. One of the stand-outs was an exciting rendition of "Macavity" read by David Suchet. Highly recommended.

>124 SylviaC: Do you mean "Macavity the Mystery Cat," the poem by T.S. Eliot? I would LOVE to hear David Suchet read that. I wonder if it is on YouTube? Going to search now.

Nope.

>125 MrsLee: Yup, that's the one. Too bad you couldn't find it. It was pretty spectacular!

And now I want to watch Cats again.

I've started my December rereads with Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. Lovely, with such a sweet, unexpected hero.

For some reason, at the beginning I nearly always stop reading this one. Well, by the third read, I started to remember the rest... But, yes, Freddy is a favorite of mine.

>128 SylviaC: I know exactly what you mean. It takes a while to pick up momentum, and the only thing that keeps me going through the first part is the knowledge of what is to come.

>128 SylviaC: Cotillion is one of my top five Heyers---I do love Freddy's character arc!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. In between readings, I always think of this as a light, happy book. Then when I re-read it, I take an emotional hit when I get into some of the accounts of the war. A wonderful book.

>132 SylviaC: I must reread that. I also recall it as fluffy and delightful, but there was a lot more to it than that!

>133 imyril: I think that the undeniable fluffiness of the ending is what leaves us with that warm fuzzy feeling, along with the humour that is present throughout the book.

>134 SylviaC: I think you're right. It does make for a very satisfying read all told.

Kate Hardy by D. E. Stevenson. Re-read. This seems to be less popular among D. E. Stevenson fans, but I like it. Unusually for the author, she highlights the changes in the English social class system which were brought about by World War II.

The Wind Off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart. Re-read. A very short, little known Mary Stewart book. It doesn't have the element of suspense that was present in most of the books that she wrote in the 1960s.

>136 SylviaC: I like Kate Hardy, too. They are reprinting Peter West which I had decided that I did not need to read, much less own. But I want them to reprint Five Windows and more the the Mrs. Tim series. So, I may wind up getting it anyway.

>137 SylviaC: What did you think of it?

>138 MDGentleReader: I have no desire to read Peter West, either. Emily Dennistoun was so disappointing that I don't really want to try another "serious" book. I would like them to reprint Five Windows, though.

I like The Wind Off the Small Isles. It's a soothing book. (Not that I need much soothing right now—I'm practically comatose.)

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer. This was always one of my favourites, but I've been reluctant to re-read it for several years, for fear that the suck fairy may have struck. I am delighted to state that she has not even peeked at it. This has more meat to it than most of Heyer's romances, but is full of her usual humour. I still love it.

These old shades is probably my favourite of Heyer's Regencies. Leonie is just delightful!

>141 Sakerfalcon: Yes, and some of her comments are hilarious.

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher. Re-read. For the last few years, this has been my annual Christmas must-read book. So far, I've found that Pilcher's novels are either so-so or excellent. This one definitely falls into the "excellent" category. The best thing about it is Elfrida Phipps, the main character, a 62 year old former actress, who lives her life to the fullest, and has a talent for friendship.

>143 SylviaC: Love Elfrida. One of my favorite characters in any book.

I am reading Brimstone in the Garden for the first time. Has an interesting extra component not usually present in her books. Still present is quirky characters and descriptions of village life. A lightweight read, just what I need right now.

Definitely not the year for Christmas reads for me this year.

>144 MDGentleReader: Brimstone in the Garden is another one that I've never seen a copy of anywhere.

"Wintering", a story in rhyme from Found in the Attic by D. E. Stevenson. A lovely story for Christmas.

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Re-read. After staying up all night with a sick child, my brain couldn't handle anything too strenuous. This is one of the books that I've owned as long as I can remember, and I used to read it over and over again when I was a child. My favourites were the Taffy stories, the Elephant's Child, and the Armadillo. I hadn't read it in many, many years, but today I found that it is still wonderful. The language is delightful, and Kipling's illustrations are impressive.

>147 SylviaC: That is the book I read to my father when he was dying. In my head was the sound of him reading it to my brother years ago. (I don't remember anyone reading to me, although I know many people did, once I learned to read I was off and running). The Elephant's Child is a favorite of mine. O Best Beloved... Happy sigh.

>146 SylviaC: Found in the Attic has some wonderful material. I don't think the other finds from the attic published recently have nearly the quality.

>145 SylviaC: I searched ILL for DES and was not successflu, I don't know what prompted me to search for Elizabeth Cadell recently, but I found those two and was quite pleased.

I sometimes tease my sister(mother of two boys) with, "Son, son, son," said the Mother Jaguar, ever so graciously waving her tail.

And I have several times posted pictures of the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River all set about with fever trees, in this pub. Maybe I should dig out a picture of an Elephant's Child ;)

>150 hfglen: great grey-green greasy Limpopo River all set about with fever trees

And that delicious phrase was one of my favorite things to say when I was about six years old. It still rolls off the tongue just as readily as "roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble" and other classically poetic bits of children's literature.

I think it's great that so many of us have such fond memories of Just So Stories. It's perfect for reading aloud, with the words just rolling off your tongue. And I love when Hugh posts a picture of the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River all set about with fever trees.

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday, hopefully involving lots of books given and received!

My whole family has been levelled by a stomach bug, but by tomorrow we should be feeling lively enough to enjoy ourselves. Christmas dinner is going to have to wait until next week, though.

Oh, my, that just seems so cruel. Ah well, you will be able to concentrate on enjoying one another's company and your gifts, unhindered by that lethargic, semi-comatose felling after eating a large meal. And nobody has to do a whole lot of cooking. Ponders separating the Christmas meal from other Christmas festivities.

Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow.

I'm a big believer in spreading out as much of the celebration as possible over the course of the seven to twelve days allotted. A bit of celebration here, a bit more across town tomorrow, another gathering on the weekend. If you do it right, you have several days of joy with those you care about. So accept the stomach bug for a day or two, and then embrace the opportunity to do another round of celebration as best you can.

Here's hoping that you and your family recover soon, and enjoy the feasting all the more for the delay. Blessings to you!

I hope you're all feeling much better today and enjoy the festivities.

Thanks, everyone! We're feeling much better now, just tired, and not very hungry. It's actually kind of relaxing not to have to worry about cooking anything more strenuous that scrambled eggs on Christmas.

The Mentor Book of Irish Poetry edited by Devin A. Garrity. Re-read. My mother received a copy of this as an award for something in university in the early 1970s. It was the first "grown up" poetry book I read and made a connection with. My mum's original copy fell apart long ago, but I was fortunate enough to find a replacement somewhere, for $2.00. It'so delicate, but intact.

I like poetry that is simple, not requiring deep analysis. It's nice if it tells a story of some sort, especially a historical one. This book gives me plenty of that. Some of my favourites are "The Newspaper-Seller" and "I Will Go With My Father a-Ploughing" by Joseph Campbell, "The Mountain Tree" by Hugh Connell, "The Mason" by Robert Farren, "If Ever You Go to Dublin Town" by Patrick Kavanagh, "Barney O'Hea" by Samuel Lover, "A Warning to Conquerors" by Donagh MacDonagh, "A Piper" by Seamus O'Sullivan, "What Tomas Said in a Pub" and "Why Tomas Cam was Grumpy" by James Stephens, "The Ballad of Father Gilligan" and "The Fiddler of Dooney" by William Butler Yeats.

You Are Here : around the world in 92 minutes : photos from the International Space Station by Chris Hadfield. Beautiful pictures. Not only do we get to see some of the amazing variety of natural and man-made terrain, but Cmdr. Hadfield shows us different shapes and patterns that he found hidden in his pictures.

What if? : Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions by Randall Munroe. A fun book from the xkcd cartoonist. My brother gave me the hardcover edition, which is a beautiful book. I will probably get the e-book version as well, so I can easily follow some of the links.

As anyone who is familiar with xkcd would expect, the book is hilarious, with lots of stick figure illustrations. It provides answers to such important questions as:
•What would happen if you made a periodic table out of all the elements?
•If everyone disappeared from the Earth, when would the last artificial light go out?
•If you began rising 1 foot per second, how would you die?
•What would happen if your DNA vanished? How many Lego bricks would it take to build a bridge between London and New York?
•What would happen if you drained the oceans through a portal to Mars?
•If you call a random phone number and say "God bless you," what are the chances that the person who answers just sneezed?

Many of the scenarios end badly, but Munroe found that if the sun switches off, there are a surprising number of benefits to humans.

>161 SylviaC: Will you share one of the answers? I'd like to know about this one:

•If you began rising 1 foot per second, how would you die?

This sounds like a great book to remember for gift-giving next year. I can think of two people on my list who would like it. Naturally I'd favor giving it to the one who shares my household, so I get to enjoy it too.

>161 SylviaC: I think I've taken a bullet. Happy new year!

>162 Meredy: If you were dressed warmly enough, you could last about 7 hours until you reached the Death Zone, where you would rapidly lose consciousness and die due to lack of oxygen. If you happened to be nude, however, you would succumb to hypothermia around the 5 hour mark.

>163 Jim53: Happy New Year to you, too!

What if? is on my wishlist, unpurchased. I think I might have to give it to myself as a New year treat!

>165 Sakerfalcon: Do it! It's excellent!

Go for it, @Sakerfalcon. I suspect that New Year's Treats are similar in nature to one's Thingaversary. I had to order a cutting board from Amazon the other day and when the package arrived this morning, it included four other titles...And today's date is December 31 -- so New Year's Eve. A coincidence? I think not.

>164 SylviaC: Thanks. Specific details make things so realistic. This doesn't bode well for ascents to heaven, though, does it?

See you on the other side of the 2015 portal. Happy new year.

>161 SylviaC: I know there's a copy of What If? in the house as my good friend and sometime lodger has been borrowing it. I think it's time I rescued it from the back bedroom and read it myself :)

Happy New Year Sylvia! I remember why I resisted reading everyone's reading threads now - my wish list and TBRs grow exponentially, but What If sounds like so much fun.

My copy of What If? has gone wandering off to someone else's room already. It was a great book to finish off my reading year.

2015 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/185680