MDGentleReader - off to a late start

I'll start with a partial list of what I have read so far this year. I've got a couple of book bundles that I have not read every book in and need to figure out how to handle that.

The young Clementina
The toy sword
The English air
Life Itself: A Memoir
The painted garden
Gerry Goes to School
Wednesdays in the tower
Drina Dances in Exile
The scandalous sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
Ballet for Drina
Drina Dances in Paris
The Ballet Family
The Ballet Family Again
Alive, alive oh! : and other things that matter
The African Svelte : ingenious misspellings that make surprising sense
The book of joy : lasting happiness in a changing world
Julia Child rules : lessons on savoring life
The Gentlemen Go By
Making habits, breaking habits how to make changes that stick
Lillian Boxfish takes a walk
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
No biking in the house without a helmet
Tuesdays at the castle
Thursdays with the crown
And live rejoicing : chapters from a charmed life : personal encounters with spiritual mavericks, remarkable seekers, and the world's great religious leaders
Yesterday morning
Four weddings and a sixpence : an anthology
The Queen of the Tearling: A Novel
One wonderful night; a romance of New York
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel
This Is Not the Story You Think It Is...: A Season of Unlikely Happiness
The fate of the Tearling : a novel

ETF: The Gentlemen Go By (Around the Rugged Rock) Touchstone.

Finished False Colours last night.

Your lists always make me happy!

I used to read False Colours a lot, because it was one of the first few Heyer books I owned, but it's been a while now. I really like Kit, but found Evelyn's selfishness annoying. Sir Bonamy Ripple is funny.

I would like to read the La Rochelle books, and the other EBD books that have Challet School connections. I'm afraid I've mostly missed the boat for buying the GGB editions of them. It would be nice if they would put all their books out in ebook format.

Was The African Svelte any good? It looks cute with the Roz Chast illustrations.

And you already know that The Young Clementina is a favourite of mine.

Oh GOOD! Glad to see you back.

Doesn't African Svelte look fun? Not so much. I did finish it, but it as not a very big book. First issue is one that plagues any book of this type, it is something to dip into, not read through. Trouble is, someone convinced the author that the end of each entry needed to segue into the next one. So, you have the stretch of the original entry followed by the stretch relating it to the next. If you are reading it episodically, where do you stop?

Gerry Goes TO School was a re-read, though and I will continue to re-read it. I read Maids of La Rochelle and really disliked it. When I mentioned that in Show & Tell, @sakerfalcon, had recommendations that are in my to read list, but the whole natives are superstitious, ignorant lot really tone bugged me, and I am not anxious to read others.

I enjoyed The Young Clementina much more this time. I have some spoilerish comments to make ( I'll put them in spoiler tags) in the next day or two about D E stevenson's writing prompted by my re-read of this book and your feelings about the book, @SylviaC.

Of the list of read so far this year (mostly), I recommend The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel particularly.

Nice to see you, @2wonderY, hope life is calmer for you and less stressful now.

>5 MDGentleReader: Hmm. I enjoy that sort of wordplay, and some compilers manage to have some succinct and pithy commentary, but it sounds like that one was just trying too hard. And if there are cartoons, any commentary could be overkill.https://www.goodreads.com

Gerry Goes to School is probably the one I want to read the most, because I liked her when she showed up in Rivals of the Chalet School. She seemed very sensible, and an odd friend for Grizel.

I've been trying to ignore all the praise I've been seeing lately for A Gentleman in Moscow, but if you're recommending it, I guess I should pay attention. Maybe I'll check out The Chilbury Ladies' Choir after I get over my disappointment in La's Orchestra Saves the World, which seems to be somewhat similar.

I'm looking forward to your comments on The Young Clementina.

It sounds as if I enjoyed La's Orchestra Saves the World better than you did, but I do think that The Chilbury Ladies' Choir is much better. The was occasionally a little more drama than I like, but mostly a gentle read about ordinary folks doing their best under trying conditions.

I resisted A Gentleman A Moscow for awhile, I am glad I gave in. It is very interesting to me that you were also trying to ignore all the praise, @SylviaC I wonder what it was that made us think we wouldn't like it. I'll be interested in your thoughts after you have read it.

My thoughts aren't as fresh as I'd wish, although I've written the post in my head a couple of times, but I last read The Young Clementina weeks ago.

Some thoughts about The Young Clementina and themes in D E Stevenson books, mostly covered by spoiler tags for those who have not read the book and/or haven't read every DES book they could get their hands on multiple times (with a few exceptions).

I was so very, very angry with pretty much every adult in Clementina's life after my first read, especially her father who was supposed to be a decent sort. Her mother was too selfish and spoiled to be a good parent.

This read I was able to notice that Clementina is actually a pretty interesting person and that Char definitely is a positive influence in her life.

I am really not sure that Char has any business trusting Garth again after the way he treated her. For one, he used his knowledge of her to be very cruel. Then, he did not trust years of friendship and knowing exactly who Char is and what her values are when Kitty spins her tale. He seemed more possessive than appreciative of Char to me.

D E Stevenson is really, really good at portraying middle class neglected - to the point of abuse -children. I find that is true for some other authors I like who were children during WWI. I am especially thinking of neglect that was somewhat sanctioned by British Isles middle/upper middle class of the time. Jane Duncan, Rumer Godden and MM Kaye come to mind here in their fiction, and where appropriate, in biography/memoirs. D E Stevenson writes about this neglect in such a way that you have some understanding of how it came about without lessening the impact it had on the children.

Something else that D E Stevenson is really good at is writing conversations between women friends. The friendship in this book is, as you say, especially lovely, @SylviaC. I tried to focus a little bit more on the friendship this read, although it certainly struck me first read as well. I just used up a lot of attention and energy in telling off adults who treated Clementina so badly.

>5 MDGentleReader: I had to go back to the Show and tell thread to see what I'd said! I still agree with you about disliking the "superstitious ignorant natives" tone in Maids of La Rochelle; it really spoils the book. Gerry goes to school and A head girl's difficulties are my favourites, with Heather leaves school close behind.

I too am very much looking forward to A gentleman in Moscow but am trying to be patient and wait for the paperpack release.

Hey, does anyone hanker for their own copy, with slightly tattered dust jacket, of Dear and Glorious Physician? It's one I'm afraid I'll never get around to reading. Send me a message, and I'll send it to you as soon as I can.

>9 Sakerfalcon: I was able to get A Gentleman in Moscow from the library.

Finished Any Duchess WIll Do last night. A worthy successor to Georgette Heyer if you don't mind sex in your Regency romances. Witty dialogue, well done characters, silly situations, the aww factor of being seen for who you are. I could have done with fewer sex scenes, but it didn't feel as shoved in to meet the erotic quotient as so many romances.

Started Enstein At Home last night. A slender book, may barely be worth the trouble to read, we'll see.

My library system has both Gentleman and Chilbury, so I should have no problem getting either of them.

The Young Clementina: *BIG spoilers* Char definitely deserves better than Garth. Much as I love a happy ending, I think I would have found the book just as satisfying if Garth had stayed dead. Char could have been left with an understanding of his actions and some sense of closure from the diaries, and not get tied to someone with such a problematic personality. He clearly had what we would now call PTSD when the initial misunderstanding occurred, but that cruel streak seemed to become pretty deeply ingrained. I guess we should just accept that the life-altering experience of war distorted his judgement and personality, then the life-altering experience of his African ordeal changed him back to a kinder person. (The wonders of fiction!)

The best thing in the book for me is Char's friendship with Clare/Paula, but I also love the portrayal of Clementina as a complex person who has adapted to cope with the awfulness of her adults, and the relationship of mutual respect that she develops with Char.

You're right about the neglected children. I can think of several right off the top of my head. It seems like something that was fairly ingrained in their society by both the Imperial tradition of sending the children back to England and the boarding school system. Parents apparently weren't expected to have much involvement with their children—the opposite extreme to today's helicopter parenting. Not that there's any shortage of neglect and abuse now.

Still available: Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell. It's a biographical novel of St. Luke.

12> Continuing big spoilers for The Young Clementina I am so glad I am not the only one who would have been fine with Garth staying dead. I feel like I am supposed be happy with the standard romance ending and give a happy sigh about the last line, but nope, not at all. I do like happy endings, just not convinced that this ending was a happy ending for Char. Her relationship with Clementina and Clare/Paula were lovely things - and well written. Also, her growing friendships with folks in the neighborhood could have led to a fulfilling life sans Garth.

I really liked Char and Clare/Paula and enjoyed reading about them. Clementina was a very interesting person, too.

I do need to remember when this was written - some of what she wrote was really quite modern for 1935 and the stuff that might have made it more palatable for readers and publishers of that era is what I object to the most, I think.

I need to make a study of her books in publication order and by publisher, wonder if there are trends that are apparent.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon - recommended.

Comfort re-reads:
Cotillion Freddy!
The Blue Castle

Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill poor, virtuous young woman's adventures. First of a long series. Perfectly fine representation of the genre, what I wanted to read at the time. Many more to come.

Good comfort re-reads!

I love The blue castle!

>16 SylviaC: yes. Happy sigh.

>17 Sakerfalcon: Me, too. I like it better than The Ladies of Missalonghi

Why Science Does Not Disprove God. I learned some science from this. It also helped crystallize how unhappy I am with those New Atheists who mimic the most sanctimonious and censorious utterances of some religious folks without even the leavening of the positive aspects of religious beliefs. Recommended for folks of faith who also have a strong interest in science. Tepid recommendation, though. Somewhat repetitive.

Same goes for my next read Einstein At Home. Some interesting info presented in an odd format. The author interviewed a woman who was housekeeper to the Einsteins in the 1930s, decades after the fact. The author is fascinated by Einstein, has written books about him and felt compelled to interject information into the interview that might have been tangentially related to subject at hand. Maybe. I do not regret having read it.

I am about to go on vacation and have anxiously gathered together reading material from the library in preparation:

The emperor of all maladies
Written in red : a novel of the Others
A curious beginning
Buckle and Squash
Me, myself, and us
Counting by 7s
Washington : the making of the American capital
The glass universe
The Knox brothers
The Elephant Vanishes
Dancing fish and ammonites
Sailing alone around the room
Valiant ambition
Death comes for the archbishop

Will probably leave Emperor of All Maladies and The Knox Brothers at home.

Am slowly reading The View From the Cheap Seats, too little left to drag hardback to beach.

>20 MDGentleReader: The emperor of all maladies is an excellent book, but perhaps not vacation material. Death comes for the Archbishop is one of my favourite books.

I wish you a relaxing and trouble-free vacation.

Thank you, @Sakerfalcon. This is our 13th year vacationing with a group of boardgaming friends. I actually don't usually read all that much. Too busy playing board games, chatting, walking on the beach, eating yummy food folks have provided, and hanging out in the hot tub. MUST be prepared, though!

Have fun on your vacation! With that selection, you should be prepared for any mood.

>24 SylviaC: that was the idea :-).

I didn't finish any books on vacation, but I finished 3 really good ones when I got back.

Written in Red a really good start to a new to me series. Well written, the characters were consistent, the suspense was well done. Information that I didn't even know I needed was slipped in just when I needed it, naturally as part of the story line. The Others' relationship with humans made me think about human interaction with the natural world in new ways, not always the ways directly suggested by the story. There was violence, which I usually avoid, but somehow I was able to handle it.

Counting by 7s I guess this would be called realistic fiction, a genre name I hate and a genre I am not drawn to. Somewhat reminiscent of Everything on a Waffle or My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She's Sorry, but better and really its own story. Trigger warning adoption combined with adoptive parent loss - whew! . What a lovely collection of people came together in this book. Not that each one was lovely in themselves, in fact, there flaws were apparent, but together? Lovely.

Death Comes For the Archbishop, I suspect anyone who reads this has read this book. Wonderful sense of place and well written characters. Captured a place and people at a particular time in history and some admirable and not so admirable, but human people.

All 3 featured protagonists who ultimately made the best of the hand they were dealt while retaining their essential humanity and kindness. Yet none of them were unrealistically perfect and each behaved in character throughout. All 3 were also about acceptance - of others as they are and of life's sometimes very difficult circumstances. A message I really needed in my life right now.

Happy sigh.

How do non readers do through life without this experience? I am richer, wiser, gentler, more humble, uplifted and comforted for having read these 3 books.

Still working through The View From the Cheap Seats. Have also started Washington : the making of the American capital and A Curious Beginning. Occasionally dipping in to Dancing fish and ammonites and Sailing alone around the room. All enjoyable, but none of them seem, so far, to reach the level of the 3 in the previous post.

I'm glad you had such a good run of books!

I loved both Written in red and Death comes for the archbishop. They are so different from each other but both have wonderful characters.

VERY different, but as you say, wonderful characters.

I read these earlier this year, they are part of
Carolyn Wells Collected Works
Patty Fairfield
Patty at Home
Patty's Summer Days
Patty in Paris
Patty's Friends
Patty's Success
Patty's Butterfly Days
Patty's Social Season
Patty's Suitors
Patty Blossom
Patty and Azalea

Not sure how to catalog them. I added them as part of the overall work, but to I need to add them separately to tag them as read in 2017?

Wealthy young motherless woman grows up in early part of 20th century, learns to keep house, host parties, make friends in foreign country, interfere with friends' lives, assist those less fortunate than her tactfullly, make poor choices, raise children, etc while being kind, silly, generous, impulsive, graceful, enthusiastic.

Well done of its type and there is a reason they are still read by some of us. Believable, interesting characters, somewhat less believable dialog, plots in latter books requiring much suspension of disbelief.

Relatively little racism and mild sexism for the period.

Also In the Onyx Lobby, a golden age mystery in the same collection set in the same time period. This one took me a while to finish, mostly because I was reading it in eBooks format, I think. It also dragged a little bit during the part which cast suspicion on many of the main characters. Rampant sexism, some racism. Some women had a chance to think and act independently, though. so-so mystery, some social commentary of interest to me, anyway.

>31 MDGentleReader: I hadn't heard of those before. I see there are a lot of collections on Amazon. How is the formatting in the one you have?

With that kind of thing, I usually catalogue the collection as a whole when I get it, then add the individual books separately as I read them.

>32 SylviaC: The formatting if the books is fine. There is a table of contents at the beginning where you can click on the link for the Patty books, for instance, the you get a list of the individual books, then if you click on that link, you get links to the chapters. I've seen much worse.

I started on another detective story that I haven't finished. The Marjorie series is one that I decided that I did care to read after starting the first one.

I'll get that one, then. Some of those collections can have be pretty awful.

I thought my LT anniversary was the 26th of June, turns out it is the 24th. Fortunately, I bought books on the 24th. I think I am still one or two short, though.

The Ghost and Mrs. Jeffries. And early one in the series that will have its 36th volume published for this year. Great literature? Nope. But I enjoy reading about the characters and seeing their growth through the series. Learning about Victorian life in England and all the myriad reasons someone might resort to murder is interesting, too.

The Glass Magician. I started this one right after reading The Paper Magician, but I stopped for a bit. The author went to far for me in threatening one of the heroines to build up the tension. I am sure that our heroines will win through, but. Shudder. The magic is interesting, the characters are pretty well done, but if I finish this, it will probably be the last I read in the series.

The Murder At Sissingham Hall. First in Angela Marchmont series. Solid British Classic mystery. I'll snag the next couple to have on hand at $2.99 USD a piece.

A Leap of Faith, contemporary romance with believable, interesting characters. Necessary to suspend disbelief a bit for the plot, but fulfills the same role in my reading life that Georgette Heyer does. I will seek out others in the series.

Next two Angela Marcmont, another Trisha Ashley:
The Mystery At Underwood House
The Treasure At Poldarrow Point
The Little Teashop of Lost and Found

ETF: touchstones, add purchases I talked about making.

I picked up a collection of the first three Angela Marchmont books for free a few months ago. Haven't started reading them yet.

I'll have to check out Trisha Ashley.

I read the excellent Hero of the Empire, my first Candice Millard. I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said about this book. Very readable, in this case, the subtitle is quite accurate. Not sure that I'll ever read her River of Doubt, though. I've read enough about that trip to have an idea just how horrific it was, don't need more detail.

Still reading Washington: the Making of the American Capital. It is interesting enough, but somehow it doesn't call out to me from another room, for instance when I am looking fir something to read. Rampant self interest in Congress is not new. And there have been nastier presidential elections than the recent one, too.

Read the second Veronica Speedwell, A Perilous Undertaking. This is a series that I will continue.

I've stalled in a few other books, in part because they are eBooks that I own, I think. A Useful Woman, the second in the Ruth Fielding series, another one that I cannot even find the name of, some fairly self aware young man having a difficult middle school year. Then there are the library books staring at me reproachingly. Not sure I will finish Me, Myself and Us or And Nanny Makes Three. Perfectly fine books, just not drawing me in at this time. I will finish The Birchbark House before I return it, though.

Just saw this thread, starred!

My Thingaversary was this week, too, forgot the exact day.

EDIT: it was yesterday, ha. Gotta go buy books...