Ellie's 75, take 2 - already?!

Thread number 2, people! Thread number 1 can be found here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79224

I'm doing the 1010 challenge this year too, but I'm aiming for five books per category over there for now, to give myself a fighting chance and leave some space for those pesky 'not part of the plan but I just can't help myself' reads!

I won't use touchstones in the Master List (!) - too much hassle to keep loading and correcting them - but I'll add the message number of each review/comment for quick reference.

BOOKS READ 2010

Thread 1:
1) Sunshine - Robin McKinley (post 31)
2) Persuasion - Jane Austen (post 100)
3) Thunderball - Ian Fleming (post 139)
4) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science - Mary Roach (post 219)

This thread:
5) North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (post 64)
6) The Snow Tourist: A Search for the World's Purest, Deepest Snowfall - Charlie English (post 98)
7) Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything - Elizabeth Gilbert (post 130)
8) Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris (post 175)
*Member Giveaway 'Bonus Read': A Winter Solstice Celebration - DiDi LeMay (post 189)
9) Too Much Anger, Too Many Tears: A Personal Triumph Over Psychiatry - Janet and Paul Gotkin (post 194)
10) Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris (post 216)

Congratulations on joining the 2-thread gang!

Blimey Stasia, again with the lightning reflexes! I only hit 'submit' about three seconds ago!

I must be slowing down - 3 whole seconds!

Starred again!

I read and very much enjoyed Persuasion last year. Of the three I've read - the other two were P&P and Emma - I think this was my favourite.

I've read four now - Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility in my younger teens, Mansfield Park at university, and finally Persuasion this month. So far Persuasion is my favourite - though I'm well due a read/reread of the rest so I might change my mind again before long! Maybe it was the fact that the romance was there from the beginning in this one, and Anne's feelings were all the clearer and more heartbreaking for it. I was just aching for that happy ending, more so than most books!

ETA: Since this is a new thread, I'll catch up to date - I'm currently reading three books:
The Snow Tourist by Charlie English
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
'Too Much Anger, Too Many Tears: A Personal Triumph over Psychiatry' by Janet and Paul Gotkin

After that I've said I'll read Eat, Pray, Love and Miss Garnet's Angel. Two customers came in over the past few days looking for them, so I said that I'd call them when I'd finished with my own copies rather than ordering in from somewhere else and having to add charges for postage etc. A good motivation to get them read!

Afternoon Miss Ellie got your second thread starred :)
I'm almost glad my thread gets less traffic cos I might be able to make it to March without having to start another thread :P

Starred you again.

A pleasure to have you, ladies, as ever...

I'll be starting on Mansfield Park within the next few days, Ellie. That is the last of my Austen TBR's. Although I did find something on Barnes and Noble clearance. It is two books in one with Austen's and Dicken's thoughts about England. I purchased it but I have not rec'd it as yet. Have you heard of this book?

Note to all on the west side of the water--PBS is showing a brand new production of Emma tonight!

I found and starred you again.

Roni, thanks for the heads-up about PBS showing Emma tonight. I'll try to use that as the motivation/reward to get my homework done!

Just found you to star again Ellie! congrats on reaching your second thread so soon!

Passing through to say Hi.

Also stopping by to say Hello! Good luck moving. Keeping the house clean while you are showing is always such a pain. Have you and your mum picked out your new abode?

I read North and South a couple of years ago (probably more like 3 or 4 as it was pre-baby but it doesn't seem like it). It's the first Mrs Gaskell I've read though I do want to go back for more. It was dramatised for TV and the episodes I saw were done quite well, which made me want to read the book. I have the DVD as well for that day when I get round to watching things properly!

Waitwaitwait...Miss Garnet's Angel? You haven't read that yet? Oh my goodness gracious me!

It is a delightful book. So is Partita in Venice. I love books set in Venice, because I can't actually *see* Venice. I go there, the mold allergy swells my eyes shut, I spend my time wheezing and schnerkling and praying for death, and leave as soon as possible.

*ponders* So why is it again I've been there three times...?

Ooo! Have you read Instances of the Number Three yet either? It's set in dreary, drab England, but it's heartbreakingly honest about the nature of long-term love.

So we stop thread-jacking Angela's thread, I thought I'd reply here... you should convince your mom not to go in when it's that snowy! Not worth the hassle, especially if you guys aren't used to it. Where I live, nothing shuts down for snow, but it's a fact of life for quite a few months out of a year. When I worked at a bookstore, I did find that the nicest people came in the middle of a storm, though. It seemed like they were "hardcore" readers, and there was a camaraderie for needing a book. However, the meanest people were the ones who the storm hit on the way to the store and were really pissed that it was snowing.

Hmmm, I think somewhere else you were talking about Darcy in the mist? I can't find it now... but Darcy in the mist... *sigh* I have plans that if I ever get to the Lake District, I'm going to make my husband trudge across a field with his shirt open at dawn - even if I have to make him do it kicking and screaming. I made him watch the movie, he knows the scene!

And since you've mentioned the Dorian movie, I've totally been in a tizzy. I saw the preview for it awhile ago in another movie (and read Dorian Gray in anticipation), but kept waiting for it to be released! Your post made me check the internet, and I found out that it wasn't released in Canada, even though there was a preview :P. I really wanted to watch it because Dorian is sooo hot. So now I'm downloading it... heh.

I didn't mind the thread-jacking! :)

Hi Ellie! You and Caty have convinced me to start on The Portrait of Dorian Gray - a book I've always meant to read. So far it's riveting. There's a lot of great one-liners by Lord Henry. I usually don't agree with him...but he's clever.

Arrrgh, I can't keep up with you guys! Right, here goes:

Carmenere - I hadn't heard of that book! But good luck with Mansfield Park - even though I had to rush-read it at uni, and even though Fanny Price really does need to get a grip sometimes, I feel very fond of it now!

Thread starrers - thanks for dropping by/catching up, as always!

Emma-watchers - if it's the Romola Garai version that was on over here a month or two ago, it's great... I don't much like Emma as a character but I didn't want to throttle her in this one!

Berly - nope, no abode yet. Our house isn't quite ready to go on the market yet, maybe a month or so. Me, my mum and my sister are viewing a house tomorrow but that's all so far. My stepdad and mum will be living there, with a spare room for my sister who's at uni, then we want either a separate annexe for me, or a couple of rooms we can run together into a bedroom/sitting room suite thing. The one we're looking at tomorrow has a separate little house thing, with a spiral staircase! So long as there's loads of space for bookshelves, I'm good...

elkiedee - if you mean the Richard Armitage one, I LOVE it (and him, I might add)! One of my favourite DVDs for a lazy day, and I already have it waiting by my DVD player for another one when I finish the book!

Ricardo - I have a couple of Salley Vickers novels waiting in the wings but I haven't actually read one yet! The nice lady waiting for it said it was one of her favourite books, so I said she could have mine when I'm done... Oh, and less of the 'dreary, drab England' thanks (she says, looking out at the grey drizzle...)

Steph - nice to have you over here! No snow any more, which is good for business but has now left a grey, cloudy drizzle which sinks the spirits far more thoroughly... For me, I'd prefer to just enjoy a good snowfall and curl up with a book, but sadly this modern society of ours just doesn't like disruption one bit, does it?!

And good for you on the Dorian Gray thing! I had a crush on Dorian anyway, and Ben Barnes is gorgeous, so putting the two together was just a recipe for a new favourite movie for me! Now I'm off to read North and South so that I can watch that DVD again - Mr Thornton striding through the mill might even beat Mr Darcy striding through the mist... ;-)

Oh, hi Angela! We must have posted at the same time there. Maybe that's why I like Dorian so much - I have a little of BOTH sides of him in me. I'm bipolar and I found that this book really spoke to me, somehow. Maybe three quarters of me is the 'normal' side, the bookish and romantic and quiet side - but half of me completely understands Harry, completely understands how easily Dorian is corrupted, and realises how hard it is to escape once the wilderness sets in! Oh, how I wanted him to escape, to be redeemed before it was too late! Sometimes I get reckless and self-destructive, and crave sensation more than meaning - but as Wilde says, there's always a price to pay... That's why I always say I'm such a typical Gemini, I'm a woman of conflicting opposites!

ETA: OK, now I've kinda made myself sound like a psychopath. Hopefully you guys know me well enough by now to know me better than that... I prefer 'fruitcake', thanks. :-)

>22 elliepotten: o_O

Oookaaay....

*backs slooowly out of Ellie's thread*

Richard, Ellie just mentioned fruitcake. FOOD! You know. What half your threads are about! Don't you have any comment besides OK?

I'm late to the party and the celebration of another member of the two thread gang.

I have you starred!

22-Lol, Ellie, I think I understand what you mean! When we can identify with a main character in a book it makes ALL the difference in the world. That is probably part of the reason why some of us love a particular book while others hate it.

>24 Berly: Berlyner, "fruitcake" is not food. Scientists at major research institutions are divided about what it actually *is* but the current preponderance of opinion is that fruitcake is actually larval triffids. A second school of thought, quite persuasive IMO, holds that fruitcake is actually zombie excrement.

You Have Been Warned.

Double posted, drat and blast!

Twice! - Never mind.

#27 Reeshard--I don't consider fruitcake food. I just wanted to hear you get all indignant. Thanks! Larval triffids was nice. LOL. Oh, Hi Ellie!!

fruitcake is a weapon of mass destruction. They never change - they just get heavier.

Ellie dearest, time to go remind all and sundry about your new thread...I forgot this one existed!

*duh*

@21: OMG, what is this North and South thing you're talking about... are you saying hot Austen-esque dudes? *checks her Netflix and Library* Sweet... my library has copies of the BBC dvds. And they are now put on hold...

I watched Dorian Gray... Ben Barnes IS really hot. I'm not sure he's the best actor, a little flat at times, but definitely gorgeous. Didn't really like how they tinkered with the ending though, how they changed Lord Henry.

I'm coming in late to the D.G. movie discussion. I desperately want the new Dorian Gray to be released in the US. I've had some reservations about Ben Barnes, and changing Lord Henry seems criminal, but I still want to see it.

I enjoyed the 1945 version (with Angela Lansbury as Sibyl), but they still cut and change quite a bit.

How could they NOT change stuff in a movie of Dorian Gray? It's a curiously internal novel, one of impressions and ideas and subtle change. Howinahell ya gonna do that on film?!

Ben Barnes is scenic, and that's all I can tell. When/if the movie comes out in the US, I'll have my ten-spot in hand at the ticket window day one!

Luxx darling, the 1945 version's Big Surprise was excellent wasn't it? What a startling thing THAT was!

Hello, lovely peoples! Ben Barnes is beautiful. End of. And the movie is too - I think it's just the way they put the whole thing together that sweeps you up and whirls you round and finally throws you down at the other end exhausted! A little like 'Moulin Rouge' or 'The Phantom of the Opera' in that sense. Very vibrant.

Anyway, just dropping by to let you know I'm still around... You know, I haven't been incarcerated or anything for being a fruitcake/zombie excrement/larval triffid/weapon of mass destruction (yeah, cheers you lot!)... :-) I'm still reading North and South - not a short book, definitely one to be savoured - carry on in the meantime!

...Potten, Potten...seems to me I've heard the name somewhere around LT...wonder whatever happened to old Potten....

Ugh, please stop repeating my horrible surname... Speaking of changing surnames, I'm currently wondering if I the only person in the Derbyshire area under 25 who isn't married, pregnant, engaged, a new mother, or a mix of the above right now?! Recently it seems every one of my old schoolmates is about to get married, scouting for wedding dresses, having babies, raising toddlers... At 22, I'm not supposed to become Bridget Jones for another ten years or so, am I?!

#38: If you dislike it so much, you could always choose my option - go to court and have your name legally changed. I did in my mid-20s.

I'm going to stand up for the maligned fruitcake. A fruitcake that's moist, infused with brandy, packed with yummy dried fruit and nuts, can be quite tasty if accompanied with a hefty dollop of clotted cream and a generous drizzle of yet more brandy. I actually look forward to the one my mom makes every Christmas. There, there, little fruitcake.... I'll still love you .... well at least my mom's version.

Christmas pudding on the other hand, I completely loathe.

Yes, Christmas pudding is disgusting. Why would anyone waste time eating that when there are mince pies around?

....Faints....three hours later when she awakens....So you mean to tell me that you are into North and South as well? Lord, where have you been all my life. Not since I found Cariola who shares my obsession with North and South and all things Richard Armitage have I been this excited. Don't get my wrong I have these book and movie epiphanies from time to time with different members but its been awhile. I will be sending you a private message on when the next drool fest is scheduled.

As for North and South the book, you are right, its certainly not a small book. Also in this case, the movie did the heroine a favor because Margaret of the book is more preachy and more annoying(still love her though) than in the movie. And that travesty of having Thornton beating up one of his workers in the movie is I believe done for the express reason of making Margaret's seeming dislike of him more understandable. Without it, her angst toward him would have made her seem a whole lot more prejudiced. But I will wait till your done with movie and book to continue my conversation about either.

Ellie, you don't ever need to become Bridget Jones.

Enjoy the luxury of that uninterrupted reading time while you can.

*puts on cosy pyjamas and launches into a delightful rendition of 'All By Myself*

elkiedee - Yes, you're right - cosying up under a blanket of an evening with my book and some deliciously unhealthy junk food just wouldn't be the same a deux!

Caroline - thank you! :-)

I finally got to your thread, Ellie. Starred!

I've been too busy in the meantime. It's hard to keep up with all of you two-thread people...and it's only January!!!!!!! :D

I know! I'm pretty gobsmacked myself, after meandering through the whole YEAR on two threads in 2009. I haven't even reviewed a book on this new one yet, and we're nearly 50 posts in! I'm hoping to finish North and South tonight anyway, probably just before one of my favourite TV programmes ('Nurse Jackie', anyone seen it?), then a televised lecture by Terry Pratchett before bed. Tomorrow we're off to look at two more houses, though I don't think either of them will be 'the one' - just more points of comparison for our next househunting session!

I'll finish up The Snow Tourist as my next read, so I can concentrate on Eat, Pray, Love for one of my customers after that. I was supposed to be reading Miss Garnet's Angel to pass on to another customer but last night I discovered a duplicate copy on my shelves, so I've been able to call to offer her a shiny new unread paperback, and keep a little hardback copy for myself to boot!

I am looking forward to your review of Miss Garnett's Angel.

>38 elliepotten: Count your blessings. If you're really desperate, hop across the water--I have 2 unmarried sons.
Of course, then your last name would be "Loeffler" and I'd almost prefer "Potten"...

My maiden name start with a "W" and all I wanted when I got married (okay, not ALL...) was to move forward in the alphabet. No such luck. My husband's name starts with a "W" too, so it was the W-W-Wedding!!

>38 elliepotten: Good lord, Ellie, at 22 you're supposed to be doing whatever you please, and not tied down with a husband and babies. Oh, to be 22 again! *sigh*

>50 Copperskye: Joanne, really?!? You'd actually want to be 22 again?!? There isn't enough money, or even the hope of salvation, that could convince me to be...really, truly, any age other than 50.

It was a damned hard slog getting here, and I want no truck with going backwards! Even if I could take all my hard-won knowledge back with me, think how ghastly that would be! KNOWING that people were going to come to bad ends...KNOWING that your love interest is a rotten sleazebag, your...oh no no no! Youth was hard enough the first time!

>51 richardderus: Richard - Yup, absolutely. My experiences were different from yours, and so for me, it was all uphill from there. But I still lived in NJ then and wouldn't want to again...not that there's anything wrong with NJ...:)

>52 Copperskye: Wow. And here I thought living in NJ would be the *one* thing that could talk me into going back in time...:-P

I am eternally surprised at those who had happy youths, since each decade has been easier and happier for me...it just seems like the natural progression to me, my sisters and mother and father and I have all reported the same feelings. Happy youth, what a concept!

>53 richardderus: LOL. It's nice, then, to have a gleeful old age to look forward to. But my main point was that Ellie not be concerned about spinsterhood looming at 23.

*double take*

UNMARRIED?! AT TWENTY-THREE?!? Heavens, is the child malformed in some way? Are there extra eye sockets under her clavicle, or odd fleshy appendages behind her knees? Imagine...unmarried at twenty-three!

What is the world coming to, I just don't know, it wasn't like this in *my* day....

I always appreciated the fact that my parents didn't marry until they were 30 (they are 61 now). I never got any of that marrying pressure from them and totally was weirded out when some of my friends' parents would say the "you don't want to die alone" to us at any point younger than... let's say 25.

As someone who married past the age of 25, I can truthfully say I in no way regret it.

I envy the young people today whose choices are much wider than we had when I was their age. No pressure to get married, no expectations to have children. You want to live with someone for five years? Go ahead no one will look twice or think anything of it. No children? Who cares? Do whatever you want. Oh for the life of no expectations. *sigh*

Relationships are fraught with difficulties, no matter the age of the parties, but I think experience teaches most of us which battles are worth fighting and which can safely be left to time for sorting out.

I've always dropped hints with my kids about how marriage and kids, while wonderful, end the freedom that a single person has and can enjoy best while young and fit. Especially with my daughter, I have tried to impress on them that they don't have to have another person at their side to be a whole person themselves.

If it makes you feel any better ellie, I was the first person in my year from high school to get married - we got engaged just after I turned 22 and everyone's first reaction was 'oh, are you pregnant?'. Um, no, I wasn't. No one could understand why we wanted to get married so young for any other reason. So take heart, sometimes everyone feels like the freak!

(Edited to fix typos)

Ellie - where are you? Did we scare you off from your own thread?

I remember getting freaked out by lots of my friends getting married when I was 22 though. And now I'm recently married (at 29), I'm getting freaked out by them all having babies! Bizarrely, I'm actually finding it really hard to feel happy for them because I keep thinking how freaked out I'd be in their situation.... But it does give me a reason to knit incredibly cute baby clothes!

I'm of similar age and experiencing the same thing. It's strange seeing some of my friends get married and, in some cases, actually have kids. It was only 4 years ago I was in high school with these guys, if you would have told me in 4 years some of us would be marry with kids, I would've thought you were crazy. But there they are, 21-22 years old with wives and children. It doesn't really inspire me to be in the same situation...if anything it makes me all the more happy to be where I'm at, but it is certainly a strange sight.

Hello everyone! No, you haven't scared me away - and I'm still a happy singleton, thanks... Today I spent the day lounging around in my messy flat, wearing ancient jogging bottoms and a huge jumper, reading, crying over the last episode of North and South on DVD, and eating an enormous Cornish pasty with hot chocolate. Now, honestly, how much less fun would that have been with someone else around the place?!

Sooooo, the good news is I finally have an actual review to add to this thread!

5) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell



I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally read this! I fell in love with the story when I first saw the adaptation on TV, bought the book (and the DVD!) soon afterwards... and it has been sitting on my shelves for FIVE YEARS waiting for me to finally get my act together! Anyway, it was definitely not a short read, but so very worth it.

Basic storyline: Margaret Hale and her family move to the Northern industrial town of Milton from their sweet Southern village. The whole family is uprooted and struggles to settle into the smoky, noisy, dank atmosphere of their new home. Their earliest acquaintances there are the Thorntons - dignified Mrs Thornton, her silly daughter Fanny, and her handsome son John, wealthy master of the Marlborough Mills and a famous name in cotton. Despite Mr Thornton's best efforts, Margaret believes Milton society to be inferior to their status as gentlefolk, and so the scene is set for a Pride and Prejudice-esque story of wounded egos, longing glances, misunderstandings and, finally, true love.

Despite the similarities between this novel and the Austen favourite, there are big differences. This book is much more complex, and much grittier, leaning further towards Dickens in some respects. The poverty of the Milton workers, in which Margaret takes a philanthropic interest, is a major focus of the novel. The misfortunes of the Higgins and Boucher families, and their constant struggles against injustice, illness and uncaring employers, are carefully explored and movingly rendered. At the same time the progressive ambitions and difficult decisions made by the masters are never overlooked, providing a balanced view of industrial progress in the mid-19th century. And alongside all this Gaskell pointedly shows the contrast between the frivolity of the London social scene and the harsh life of Milton, as well as slowly drawing the reader deep into the lives of the Hale family, who have their own preoccupations, hardships and tragedies to bear.

All in all, this is a wonderful novel. It provides a fascinating insight into a time and an existence very different to modern life, while never losing the intimacy that draws the reader into the lives of these characters. I cried several times over the course of the novel, and had the HUGEST smile on my face at the inevitable and well-deserved happy ending. These characters burrowed their way into this reader's heart over the course of the book, and I've learned a little to boot. A fantastic read - and if you haven't seen the BBC adaptation with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, you should! It's what started my love affair with this story and I've been watching it very happily as I've been reading... Highly recommended.

Great review, Ellie. I have North and South in my TBR pile, and Cranford as well. Must get to them soon.

I also have a Cornish pasty craving now, too.

What a wonderful review! This one is going onto the pile, pushing others out of the way in order to get near the top. Thank you.

ETA Thumb way up.

Thumbed! I have Cranford in my TBR too. Been left with a hot chocolate rather than Cornish pasty craving though...

North and South is on my TBR mountain as well. I'm glad to hear it has touches of Austen and...Dickens...both authors I enjoy (sorry Richard)!
I'm going to have to read this sooner rather than later. Nice review!

Dickens, bah.

Mrs. Gaskell, fabOO! Good review, Ellie, and a big thumbs up from me. She was the Dan Brown of her day in terms of sales records.

And your review is already one of the Hot Reviews on the Home Page, well-deservedly so!

Wow, you guys catch up fast! Thanks... :-)

Two little things I noted down from the book... First, a line of poetry from the beginning of Chapter XVIII, 'Likes and Dislikes':

"My heart revolts within me, and two voices
Make themselves audible within my bosom."
- Wallenstein

And this, a view explained to Margaret by her brother Frederick:

"...My theory is a sort of parody on the maxim of 'Get money, my son - honestly if you can; but get money.' My precept is, 'Do something, my sister - do good if you can; but, at any rate, do something.'"

With my agoraphobia still not under control, it's all too easy for me to do nothing. I should always strive to do something, regardless of whether it might go a little awry - I'll be glad to return to this one as a gentle reminder from time to time!

> 64 You've sold me on North and South! I will have to add this to the list due to your wonderful and inspiring review.

Gawd, I wish I could read faster - at Stasia-like speed at the very least - for there are so many books like North and South still sitting on on my shelves quietly begging to be read. Glad to hear it's so good, Ellie.

Ellie, the DVD copy of North and South has finally come in! I can't wait to start it and read the book after your comments. *Steph starts to initialize the Hotness Meter* Bwhahaha....

>64 elliepotten: Here's the trick, Ellie: When you find a man who doesn't care if you lounge around in your messy flat, wearing ancient jogging bottoms and a huge jumper, reading, crying over the last episode of North and South on DVD, and eating an enormous Cornish pasty with hot chocolate, then you've got your guy. Till then, have at it!

Hey Ellie, thumbed your review of North and South and added it to the ever-growing (no, no matter how many books I read, it does not shrink, thanks for asking) TBR mountain.

I have North and South sitting here at my house to read. I really enjoyed Cranford and it sounds like North and South is even better. I need to get to it soon!

>75 tloeffler:: Hear, hear! A hearty seconding! ...in fact, if the guy is the one willing to go and get you the Cornish pastry in the first place, all the better! ;)

Elliiiiee, I've missed seeing your thread for the last ages, I don't know why.

Fabulous review of North and South... and interesting. I wholeheartedly adore Wives and Daughters and Cranford and rather like Cousin Phillis... but I've tried to like N&S - twice - and couldn't. I hate that. Maybe I need to watch the DVD.

Great review of North and South... I haven't read any Elizabeth Gaskell yet but she has such great LT buzz (I am stealing that term from someone's thread but I can't remember whose!)

And I love fruit cake AND Christmas pudding. But I'm 3 days' out of date on that conversation so I'll leave it at that.

Hi Ellie! Finally found your thread (argh - it's no. 2 already!!) after spying your well deserved hot review of North and South! Glad you enjoyed it so much - definitely in my Top 10 - wonderful book! You must give Wives and Daughters a go too (ChocolateMuse, I agree with you - it's fantastic)...

And everyone, re the BBC adaptation, if you haven't already rented/bought it following Ellie's effusions, please do so now! (mmmmm Mr Thornton...). Lovely. Although, I do have one big nitpick with it, which TrishNYC mentioned I think - why they feel the need to have Mr Thornton beat up one of his employees I just don't understand - clearly, it's the very last thing that the upright Mr Thornton would do, however stupid the man was for smoking in the mill...

Hmmmm, what else did I notice... Oh yes, Ellie, I also enjoyed the new BBC Emma that was on at Christmas, but, even though it made you like Emma more, did you not think that they actually excused her a little bit too much? ...and made Jane Fairfax a little more to blame than she is? Also, I didn't understand why they didn't use Jane Austen's dialogue very much, which surely is half the joy of her writing... I'd be interested in what you think.

Twenty-two and surrounded by babies and weddings - imagine being 32 - I've got about 1 single mate left at this point and very few of those that aren't don't have at least 1 baby! ;o)

...and fruit cake. You're all heathens except cmt and cameling - who is quite right - it's all in the Brandy and the lacing of the cake thereof... ;)

Hi, Ellie...

I usually lurk on your thread, but wanted to jump in with a vote of support for pasties. They are quite popular in Minnesota, especially the northern part of the state. (Mmm...I might have to go try to track one down).

I'm going to add North and South to my TBR list, thanks to you!

Karen O.

OMG, I watched the North & South DVDs last night and it was AMAZING! Ellie, I love you for pointing it out to me! When he says, "Look Back" I almost died! *squee!* Everyone go watch this ASAP!

@ Flissp: The commentary on the DVD says that they had him punch the man so it would be a little more P&P in giving Margaret a reason to be prejudiced against him right off the bat, because they felt that it was a bit one-sided in the antagonism early on. I also think it serves to show how intensely he cares about the welfare of the mill and the other workers, and I like how the scene can impart all these impressions quickly and effectively. But yes.... mmm Mr. Thorton! *sighs*

#75 -- Truer words were never spoken!!

Waiting to hear your thoughts on Miss Garnet, which was a book that I loved. Now it's time for me to ferret out The North and the South from wherever it is hiding, and add that to Mt. TBR. I have just opened Bleak House was was immediately grabbed by the first sentences. I doubt I'll get to Mrs Gaskell until I'm finished with Mr Dickens and Inspector Bucket, but at least she will be there waiting for me and staring at me reproachfully!

So, who is the first real female antihero? Emma? Becky Sharp? Or...?

Oh gosh. All this talk about North and South, movie and book, I am dying and going to heaven many times over. I can't begin to relay how much I love that movie so I won't even try. Your review was amazing.

Cauterize---"look back at me", gosh, I did not know if I should melt or cry. The glorious moments in the movie are just too many but another couple that break my heart/cause me to tear up(and crying is something Patricia does not do) is when he is teaching Tommy or Johnny or whatever the little urchin was called to read. And when his mother sees him asleep at his desk and she puts her shawl over him, oh my...I feel my face leaking. Yes, I am a tad, just a tad obsessed with this movie/book.

And Ellie, now that you have finished the book, can we discuss that end. What a travesty?!! "That man. That woman". What kind of an end is that? I don't blame Gaskell, apparently the fault lies with Dickens who rushed her to finish the book cause it was to be published in his magazine. Horrid man. Still loved it but I wanted a bit more after all that.

Alright, sorry to keep going on about this one book. Will discuss War and Peace the next time I swing by.

#83 Hi Cauterize, (re the beating) yes, I can see the logic behind why they added it in, but it just seems out of character to me, so it continues to bug me increasingly every time I watch it (and I've watched it a lot!)

Re the "look back" bit, I seem to remember Richard Armitage commenting that that's his favourite bit too... hee hee hee.

Mr Thornton's arrival in Spooks is pretty much the only reason I returned to watching that series after the first series, I confess ;o)

#84 Chatterbox - I love Becky Sharp - she's such a wonderful creation - not a nice person, but you can't help admiring her resilience, if not her methods...

#85 TrishNYC, re the ending, I actually don't have a problem with it not really a spoiler, but probably best to call it one just in case it leaves plenty to your own imagination - after all, can you imagine having a mother in law like Mrs Thornton?! end of spoiler. I admit, the first time I read it, the end fell a little flat - particularly after the TV mini-series, but when I started to think about it a bit more, I realised that the ending of the adaptation was far less likely in that era...

I didn't mind the ending too much, really. It was a little hasty, perhaps, but it summed up the antagonism between North and South, Milton and Helstone, Thorntons and Hales, that make up the rest of the book. And actually I quite liked Mrs Thornton! She sees the good in people as well as the bad - look how she respects John but isn't afraid to see how ridiculous Fanny is! A proper strong, dignified Northern lady, if ever I read one...

Oh I agree - but you can imagine that she would be quite involved in her son's life for as long as she can - not in any way a bad thing, but, possibly quite difficult for a daughter in law!

**Not listening, closing my eyes, not here, can't spoil it for when I finally get to it**

Brenzi---DON'T READ ANY FURTHER. SPOILERS AHEAD...

I actually really like Mrs. Thornton. I don't think she will be overly involved in the couple's life. Remember that scene where she is changing the initials on the napkins. She does this because she sees a changing of the guard and realizes that there will be a new woman at the helm of the Thornton home. Also remember when she tells John not to go see Margaret that night because she wanted one more night being first in his affection. A woman who means to interfere would not go to all that trouble, she would just carry on as if Margaret was in her way or was inconsequential. Her actions show her sadness cause she is letting go and knowing that she and John's relationship must and will change, a fact that hurts but she accepts. Mrs. Thornton comes off very strong but she is not a bad person in my opinion. Many things that she points out about Margaret are true. Many of Margaret's ways were at the time reckless, headstrong and seemingly impetuous. She knows how much her son has had to go through and perhaps seems not to like the idea of Margaret because she probably believes that John would be happier with a meeker woman because it would make for a calmer home life. But John is a big boy and can take a woman being out spoken and strong. Funny that she does not immediately take to Margaret because they are actually very similar as they are strong willed women.

I saw the movie before I read the book so I think that I was expecting a bit more ending wise. All in all, I still liked it and I just mentally fill in the end of the book with the movie's ending.

Skipping through to say hello ..... I read North and South before watching the movie and I'm glad I did.

Adding my two cents to the previous conversation on 20s .... live it up, Ellie ...... it's great being carefree with few responsibilities. I think the best years of my life were between 20 - 28 and if I could live those years over again, I would do so gladly.

Oops, sorry brenzi! Please continue with your fingers in your ears for a little while ;o)

North and South spoilers possibly ahead...

#90 Don't get me wrong, I by no means dislike Mrs Thornton - I'm completely with Ellie on this - she's a strong, but fair woman, who's been through a lot, with remarkable fortitude.

I actually thought that it was very believable that she doesn't take to Margaret immediately - as you say, they're both very strong willed women with deeply held core principles, but from very different walks of life and both of them very private - it's not surprising that they clash initially - it takes each of them a while to understand the other.

All I'm saying is that, while they do respect each other (or end up doing so at any rate), it is inevitable that they will continue to clash, being that the most important person in each of their lives is John Thornton.

I can't believe that Mrs Thornton would take herself completely out of their lives after they marry - she may be aware that her relationship with her son will change and that she must allow this to happen (witness the alterations you mention, etc), but after all, she'll still be a big part of their lives (I imagine, at that time, she'd still live there, albeit dividing her time between her children? Not sure of the historical accuracy here). Someone so forthright must continue to express her opinions I would think - I can't imagine her standing by and saying nothing at all if she disapproved of something.

End of spoiler

I saw the napkin thing as Mama making Sonny Boy feel bad, the guiiiiiiilt guuuiiiiiiiiilt of making her *sniffle* even change *teardrop* the precious nnnaaapkiiins *boohoo*

But that could simply be my response because that's the kind of mother I had.

OK, so to summarise:

Margaret Hale - stubborn lady but quite nice really
Mrs Thornton - VERY stubborn lady but quite nice really
Fanny Thornton - silly moo
John Thornton - god in britches... ;-)

Oh, and I knew the whole 'snuggling up on the sofa in a slanket' thing was a bad idea this grey and dismal evening. I had coffee and everything, but nevertheless: reading - 10 minutes; sleeping - 1 HOUR. Ooooops.

#93 Actually Richard, it's not just you, I'm inclined to think that that particular scene is about laying on the guilt too...

#94 I think that sums it up nicely! ;0)

...and the slanket snooze will allow you to read until the small hours tonight instead - clearly this was the plan...

Yikes, note to self: log in to LT *between* books to see what all is happening. In the span of 10 days I've missed out on discussions about the merits of comfort eating with or without a partner, not to mention a great review.

John Thornton - god in britches... ;-)

AMEN!!

6) The Snow Tourist: A Search for the World's Purest, Deepest Snowfall by Charlie English



What a fascinating book this turned out to be. I'd heard vague whispers about it in the newspapers when it was first published, but it was only a chance spying of it in Waterstones just before Christmas that reminded me it even existed! I'm so glad I asked for it for Christmas because it turned out to be a pretty delicious little gem.

Charlie English has grown up with a love of snow, passed on by his mountain-sport-enthuasiast father in his childhood and nurtured ever since. In this book he formulates a plan: a Snow Tour of the world to delve to the bottom of snow's mysterious attraction and intrigue. From France to Vienna to the Alps to London, he travels in search of knowledge and understanding. He learns about avalanches and the history of skiing, visits perilous glaciers and stops at the mountain claiming to be the snowiest place on Earth, explores the lure of snow to artists and poets, learns how to build an igloo from an Inuit, and looks back at the scientists who helped form our knowledge of snow and snowflakes down the years.

This friendly and accessible homage to snow is a genre-defying mix of science and travelogue, sport and nature, history and literature, memoir and art, which means there is something for everyone and it never failed to keep my interest. I have no knowledge of winter sports or of the wintry places English describes, but I never felt that I was being shut out from his journey. The only thing I would have liked was photographs - I felt that the book would have been enhanced still further by being able to see some of the incredible sights being described, evocative though the author's prose was as I was reading. There was, however, a nice little section at the back of the book filled with snowy trivia, survival tips and snippets of poetry, which was a nice touch, as well as a glossary of scientific and indigenous terminology. All in all, highly recommended - though I would caution that it's definitely best read snugly wrapped up with a mug of tea, as it's hardly the most warming of topics!

Sounds like a perfect book for the current wintry conditions back home now! What a wonderful review, Ellie ... thumbed it. Now to find it at a bookstore near me. ;-)

Great review, Ellie! You've made me want to start on a wintry read, even though I don't have that particular book on hand - for me it's The Ends of the Earth: the finest writing on the Arctic and Antarctic.

Don't think I can bear reading about any more snow right now . . . but nice review!

#98: Into the BlackHole it goes!

Ellie, you should get a deal going with Amazon.co.uk -- every time I order a book you recommend, you get a book token or something!! The Snow Tourist has been ordered...

>98 elliepotten: - The Snow Tourist sounds great - although maybe I'll wait until July to read it.

Sounds wonderful. It's been added to the list!

Another great review and another wishlist addition! As I'm writing this it's snowing outside again...

See, this is the problem with certain books isn't it? Do you read a book about snow in winter when it's lying deep and crisp and even, or do you wait until summer when it doesn't 'fit' but won't make you feel so cold? Likewise, do you read an exotic travel book in summer when you can feel the heat and immerse yourself in it, or do you read it in winter to warm you up?!

We're given more snow this week I think - just some sleety flurries this morning but it's FREEZING. It's been a drab ol' week of it, with grey cloud, drizzle, fog, some less than lovely customers and a stomach upset this morning to round it all off, so I can't WAIT for tomorrow and two days off! I've set aside the whole two days, more or less, to read and 'chillax', and ordered smoked salmon and cream cheese, bread rolls, fish fingers and chocolate for a comfort food fix! :-)

I think your plan of hunkering down under a warm blanket on the sofa - though I'd go for a mug of hot chocolate - sounds like a perfect way to read a book about snow.

Great reviews Ellie! I only wish I had already read North and South so I could follow the discussion (too many spoilers). I will have to come back after I have read it. ;)

#109 Berly (subliminal message~~~)read North and South now, read North and South now, read North and South now...(~~~subliminal message) ;o)

I am going to read North and South now...I am going to read North and South now...Huh? How did I get to the bookstore? I don't remember driving here. Oh look! North and South!! I really should get this.

Amazing... *wonders how large-scale Fliss and Patricia could take N&S mania with a little LT brainwashing*

>112 elliepotten: Well Ellie they've got me itching to find a copy of the book *and* the dvd so I don't reckon it'll take a lot :P

ETA: Oh rats... I'm buying the book tomorrow- I've just finished watching the first two episodes of the tv show and I'm wishing I didn't have to get up in the morning or I'd watch the rest now.

@113: Hehehehe!!!! I know that feeling! I'm just amazed that you could hold off watching episodes 3&4, you've got some willpower! I couldn't.

;o)

>114 Cauterize: I had to resist as it was already 1am but tonight I will probably watch the last two before I go to bed ;) I did buy the book and thank gawd for Wordsworth editions which are so cheap.

*half-heartedly shakes fist at flissp*

Mwah ha ha ha ha ha ha!

So far I am resisting flissp's brainwashing...Buuuuuuuttt.....I am going to pop in the DVDs again.... right now! *gets ready for some Mr. Thornton in the cotton mill*

Wow, I think I really need to read this North and South book. I see it was mentioned the first time in message nr 21 and is still up for discussion at nr 118. Is it really that good? Avoiding all the spoilers, I'm looking forward to start whenever I get a copy!

And maybe I'll order the DVD too.

>Apolline- I cracked and ordered the dvd last night, I want to watch it without having to keep clicking a new youtube video ;) I started the book as well so far so good :)

#120 Nice! I hope it lives up to my (now mile-high)expectations:) You've all praised it so much I can hardly believe I will find it bad.

>121 Apolline: Careful there, Apolline, with the expectations...North and South is still only a book, not a multimedia Disney theme park ride.

Thank GOODNESS.

#122 I wouldn't know about that since I've never been to a Disney theme park, though I see your point. Did you like it?

Just going to interrupt the N&S raptures a moment to add a couple of extracts from The Snow Tourist that caught my fancy. My commonplace book has gone to pot recently and I'm sick of bits of paper everywhere so I'm going to 'store' these on here for now...

This, from a section on Wilson Bentley, the first man to photograph snow crystals, in their hundreds, through a microscope:

"Bentley was no more religious than anyone else at the time, and yet his writing about his beloved crystals invokes the spiritual. In an article published in the Christian Herald in 1904 he wrote: 'The snow crystals... come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in Nature, but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade away. But... like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades to come again.'

Beauty fades, people die, civilisations rise and fall. Our lives, like those of snow crystals, are transient moments within a succession of other transiences.

We resemble those crystals in another way, too. Like them, we are made mostly of water. When we die, the water in us will find its way to the sea, where in time it will be lifted up by the sun, to fall again as snow."

And this, when discussing snow in Japanese art:

"Why did they choose to depict snow so often? 'Snow is peaceful,' said the gallerist... Japanese culture values tranquillity highly. Not all of this type of art is so calm, there are some very noisy ones too, but this was an antidote to that, to the hectic business of life. They liked peace.'

Translated literally, ukiyo-e means 'of the floating world', which in Edo-era Japan meant geishas, sumo, kabuki theatre and all the indulgences of the newly affluent Japanese middle class. Asai Ryoi's novel Tales of the Floating World, published in 1661, explains his interpretation of ukiyo-e: 'Live for the moment, look at the moon, the cherry-blossom and maple leaves, love wine, women and poetry, encounter with humour the poverty that stares you in the face and don't be discouraged by it, let yourself be carried along on the river of life like a calabash that drifts downstream; that is what ukiyo means.' These beautiful portraits of snow, then, were a call to enjoy life while it lasted; to take pleasure from, among other things, the natural beauty of winter."

Right, that's it... I'd been resisting adding this to my wishlist (just because there is soooooo much on there) but I've cracked. It's on.

>123 Apolline: Yeup. Shore 'nuff liked it. Had to return it to the liberry before I could read it again, so I can't review it yet, but it's on my list.

>124 elliepotten: Fortunately for your continued health, Miss Eleanor Potten, I had already succumbed to your blandishments and added The Snow Tourist or I'd've had to after that post. And we all know how *that* would've ended.

The Snow Tourist got here yesterday -- and 14 inches of snow fell overnight and today!! So I plan to pick it up tomorrow or the next day, and dig in. (Rhetorically speaking, since my upstairs neighbor has already done any shoveling required...)

#126 Maybe I should lower my expectations, high expectations often lead to a major downtrip if it doesn't live up to them. I think most of the people in here are seldom wrong when it comes to good books, so I have a good feeling about this one.

#124 These quotes convinced me. It goes straight to my tbr pile, even if I've had enough of snow until december:)

#127 So you're saying that those of us who've put The Snow Tourist on our wishlist should be expecting massive quantities of snow when we get around to buying it? ;o)

#128 Yes, maybe you're right - maybe you should read something else in the meantime, to allow all the enthusiasm to die down... Wives and Daughters or Mary Barton perhaps? (mwah ha ha ha hah)

7) Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything by Elizabeth Gilbert



Oh, how glad I am that I discovered this book, at this time, in this place, right here and now. Elizabeth Gilbert would say that the pieces were falling into place exactly as they were meant to. There were so many negative reviews that I went into this journey with scepticism and entirely accepting the idea that I might hate it - but it ended up changing my life for the better. No word of a lie.

Liz Gilbert went through a messy marital disintegration, then a messy divorce, and rolled into a messy relationship, and no matter how much she tried to clean things up she was pretty much at rock bottom. What she wanted, when she managed to delve that far, was to regain her strength, find peace, and ultimately achieve the perfect balance between spirituality and pleasure in her life. The best way to do this? Four months in Italy eating, drinking and being merry; four months in India, living in an Ashram and finding inner peace; and finally, four months in Bali, under the watchful eye of an old medicine man, finding her balance.

Well, once our Liz had gotten over that miserable early stage of laying out her despair (we've all done that, and to be fair it didn't go on that long), it was an exquisite journey and I felt privileged to be along for the ride, learning as she learned, understanding as she understood. In Italy she regained her strength, ate pasta, learned Italian, made friends, and came back to life. In India she learned the art of meditation, new ways of looking at life, and found peace. And in Bali she honed everything she had gained so far: generosity, spirituality, friendship, enjoyment of life. And there, too, she finds love again.

The book is split into 108 mini-chapters, like the ancient beads used to count mantras, making it easier to absorb each morsel of what Gilbert has to say, whether it is about her learning, her past, or her ideas. She is quite honest about her joy and sadness, her virtues and her vices, the parts she enjoys and the aspects she struggles with. Like everyone, she has her misgivings about certain elements of her journey, but she is never afraid to voice those misgivings, or to admit when she is wrong.

All in all, I found this to be fresh, honest and inspiring. I had bits of paper dotted through the book by the end, marking things I wanted to go back to and write down for the future. I think Eat, Pray, Love may have changed my life. I learned so much and found so many things to think about within these pages. Having an anxious personality and still suffering agoraphobia, I've already found myself using some of the techniques Gilbert used to find her peace - and they work! She's reminded me of who I want to be, how stuck I am in my own fear so much of the time, and how I lose the chance of enjoyment and peace as a result. Now I feel like I can take steps in the right direction again without being afraid.

How I can I offer any better review than that?!

Hiya Ellie, love your review of Eat Pray Love - duly thumbed! Though I probably won't be reading it myself, it's great to see a book that touches a reader just right. :-)

#130 Great review Ellie. That's interesting - my boss recommended it to one or two of us and I confess, I thought it sounded a bit meh to me, but your review actually makes me want to investigate...

#130: Terrific review, Ellie! I enjoyed the book as well.

I'm not really religious, so I was wondering whether this was going to get too spiritual and lose me completely - but it didn't. Gilbert wasn't embarrassed to share her experiences, but the wisdom she learned was so beautiful and ancient, and those teaching that wisdom so open and accepting of every individual's path to truth, regardless of religion or nationality, that I never felt uncomfortable or excluded.

In fact, I went straight online and ordered a book about incorporating Buddhist practices and ideals into a Western lifestyle. Even adopted roughly by a complete novice, some of the techniques Gilbert describes seem to have the ability to soothe and calm and comfort immediately. I'm definitely interested in learning more - it's made me want to live again, to be 22 and be able to enjoy it! Typical, isn't it, that this is the one book I now can't keep, because I promised it to a customer?!

Well, if I had a copy I would send it to you, Ellie! Unfortunately, the copy I read came from my local library. They might frown on my sending it to England :)

Great review, and I'm so glad you liked the book!

Ellie- Terrific review! I love your enthusiasm! I really enjoyed the book too! I listened to it and it was read by Gilbert, who did a great job! Are you going to be heading to India, anytime soon?

Great review. It's actually in my tbr pile. I bought it after I saw Gilbert on the Oprah show a while back (yup, that's where I heard about it), but I never seemed the come around and read it. Now I certainly will, thanks to you.

Great review, Ellie. I've had the book in my pile for awhile, and have been deterred by decidedly mixed reviews, among other things. Now you've made me want to go dig it out and move it up!

>130 elliepotten: What a great review! You sold me on this one. On to the buy list it goes. Thanks.
Velma

Glad you liked the book, Ellie, although I confess it didn't do anything for me. I think it felt too self-consciously uplifting, as some Oprah books can do. But it's certainly a book that a lot of people have enjoyed, and I'm glad it brought you so much pleasure.

Ellie-- I am so glad you enjoyed it!! It was one of my favorites from last year. I do think it is a book which grabs you if you are in the right spot for it. Your review was smashing! I have her next one, Committed, on my TBR pile. I was thinking of reading it during my anniversary month in April. A good way to think about what love and marriage mean to me. I have also seen her speak in person and thought she was quite funny and honest.

And Happy Valentine's Day. :)

Mark - no India for me anytime soon, what with the agoraphobia and the permanently dodgy stomach... Although, ironically, I've already roughly adopted some of the techniques Gilbert learned in her book and they seem to be working to battle down the anxiety and keep me much calmer. Small steps, but this might really help me get there! I even picked up a card for a meditation class starting soon.

For the record: I'm an English lass so I never saw the book/author on Oprah... I just saw it on a table in Borders while I was at uni and liked the sound of it!

Berly dear - thank you for the happy Valentine wish! My only one this year, tragically, except for our first and most treasured customer David, who brought me a bag of Toy Story chocolate mini eggs... I've got a cosy evening for one planned anyway - hot shower, fish finger sandwiches, peanut M'n'Ms, and starting The Count of Monte Cristo... in fact, if I can fit it in I might watch an old movie too, maybe Hitchcock's Rebecca or Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Depends if I fall asleep on the sofa, I guess! :-)

Nice review.....thumb.

Ellie- Well, whenever you are ready for India, maybe I'll join you and we can go join an Ashram. I'm sure that would go over real well with my wife: heading across the world with a young English lass. I'm sure it would be a big hit!

I had mixed feelings about Eat, Pray, Love, but no mixed feelings about the review. A thumb from me!

Ellie (143): I can relate to your struggles with agoraphobia. I'm extremely anti-social. I'm generally a nervous person to begin with, but whenever I have to meet a new person I practically have an anxiety attack. I blame my lack of employment on the American economy, but in truth I'm just terrified of doing job interviews. Groups of people aren't so bad for me though, because I feel like I can kind of disappear into the crowd. But put me across a desk from someone I don't know and expect me to carry on a conversation and you can forget it. I know my fears are completely unfounded, but it's something I have no control over.

Anyways, the why I post this is because it sounds like Eat, Pray, Love is what I was looking for in The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane. I was hoping for "enlightening wisdom" but was dissapointed by it because the bulk of it felt like filler. Eat, Pray, Love might be what I was looking for. It sounds like it might be garnered more towards women, but if I see it at my library I just might pick it up anyways. :)

I'm not a big Eat, Pray, Love fan...I liked the first part and didn't much care for the second and third, but that was a good review.

Thanks guys!

#147 - Sounds like you know what I'm talking about! Though actually I'm better with individuals than crowds. If the shop gets too busy I get a bit flustered, like a sensory overload. All the sounds and voices and colours and movement seem to merge together, it's quite an odd feeling. I'm just a home girl, what can I say?! I've always been the stay-at-home, solitary type so now it's just been amplified with a whole load of panic thrown in for good measure...

Yep, all that sounds familiar, just for different reasons. For me, I think it's because I'm too self-conscious. When I'm expected to speak my brain goes crazy trying to figure out what I'm supposed to say, and the result is me kind of just sitting there with brain-overload as I start feeling panicky and begin stumbling over my words. As a result, I'm also a stay-at-home person because it's just easier that way. I'm not unhappy though, I'm quite content with cozying up with a good book and tasty comfort foods. :)

I met the most lovely man yesterday. He was maybe in his fifties, and he came into the shop and bought an audiobook, then came back a few minutes later to browse the rest of our shelves. We ended up having a wonderful conversation about books - about classics and audiobooks and authors - for about fifteen minutes, and he kept calling me 'flower' which I always find quite endearing! Anyway, it was only towards the end of this conversation that he told me he had terminal cancer. He'd had numerous operations and spent a year in hospital, and was already a year over the time the doctors had given him. He was hoping to get in a few more years of life - and books - and now, tired, he was going home to read and listen to some of his favourite classical music.

Before he left he promised he'd come back in June, around his wife's birthday. I was reading The Count of Monte Cristo and he encouraged me to read and love it - and told me all about another wonderful book which I promptly ordered for myself. He affected me so much that I really want to have read it by June, before he comes back. When he left I walked into the office and burst into tears. Of course we're all going to die eventually, but it always seems to be the loveliest people who suffer the most along the way...

So now I have The Count of Monte Cristo to read, A Woman in Berlin ordered, and a very special customer to welcome back in June.

Awww...what a heartwarming, bittersweet story. Thanks for sharing.

What a terrific story, Ellie! Isn't it amazing how sometimes perfect strangers can impact us so much? I really hope the gentleman is able to keep his June appointment with you.

"Isn't it amazing how sometimes perfect strangers can impact us so much?"

And books too! Love that about reading! Love your stories too, Ellie, about your connections (or not!) with your customers. Not to be commercial when you're sharing what's in your heart, but your postings sound like the start of a pretty charming book to me! And inspirational too, what with your agoraphobia and "dodgy stomach" to work around. And, hey, it could include all the online support that we all give and get on LT--don't think anyone has written a story about that yet. Just spell our names right! Ha! Ha! Or give us good pseudonyms. What would Stasia's be, I wonder?

Stasia's pseudonym = Grandma Mazur :)

Aww Ellie your 151 story has got me all teary eyed.

@151: that must make all the rougher days there worth it.

I hate the idea of good people dying, though I know they must. I, on the other hand, will be smirking and making rude gestures at all y'all's funerals. No point dying if all ya got's hell starin' ya in the mug, y'know?

He was so lovely, he really was - so I'll be waiting eagerly in June in the hope that he'll make it back to see me again. A Woman in Berlin arrived extremely promptly too, so it's ready and waiting.

Bonnie - my mum keeps saying I should write a book about the shop and overcoming everything along the way... I'm keeping my old threads starred just incase!

Richard - you are a very bad man! Although actually if I looked down and saw you misbehaving at my funeral it would probably give me a good laugh, so bring it on! :-)

Over the past few days I've been a bit naughty and managed to acquire a whole load of new books. I ordered a big glossy book on James Dean, with photos from his estate, and found a cute book on Buddhism in the bags we got from the charity shop this week. Then from various online sellers I bought Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Guy Claxton's The Heart of Buddhism: Practical Wisdom for an Agitated World, and The Three Musketeers (a nice shiny replacement for my old copy). Oh, and A Woman in Berlin which that lovely man recommended, and 'Book Lover' (known in the US as Literacy and Longing in LA) thanks to Jess's review.

Then yesterday I had a bank appointment to keep and, being done quicker than expected, accidentally fell into Help the Aged and bought Moby Dick, Crime and Punishment, The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

Oooooops. *almighty clatter as Ellie falls right off the wagon and rolls away*

> 160 Well, if you're going to fall off the wagon, you may as well get a good haul!! Looks like you did well!

I thought the wagon was FOR the haul!! LOL

>162 Berly: Well said, Kimmers! I second that emotion!

That's OK, Ellie. I fell off the wagon too in celebrating my new job (don't tell anyone though).

I won't tell a soul - as long as you don't tip off my dear mother that the 'two or three classics' I bought was perhaps a bit of a naughty fib... ;-)

162, 163 - And I third!

I think I've given up on trying to get on the wagon. In fact, I'm thinking of selling the wagon to buy more books... :-)

I'd be interested in buying that wagon to haul my books (that I'm not supposed to be buying), home from the store.

I can't fall off the wagon...I gave it to the Haitians after the quake! Liberry for me. Oh, and garage/charity sales, since I have cash for that.

How do you accidentally fall into a charity shop?

lol ... i fall into shops all the time, especially bookstores.

>170 elkiedee: It's actually terrifyingly easy, I do it all the time. One minute you're walking along the street with no intention of going to buy books, then suddenly something in the window of the charity shop catches your eye and you find yourself inside before you know what's happened. It's a miracle if I make it outside again without finding something to buy ;)

Help the Aged's on a corner too, so all it needs is for me to take the corner a bit wrong, veer in a little to close, and voila, I'm through the door. It's a terrible, terrible thing.

On another note: the snow is back! We took another snow day yesterday - thick snow, ice, untreated roads, Sunday - in which I thoroughly enjoyed myself raiding my wardrobe for a clear-out, doing a bit of washing, dancing around to music and watching T4 Sunday for the first time in MONTHS. After the half-melt yesterday afternoon the ice today is absolutely lethal, swathes of it everywhere, so we're open but very quiet. The market's off, James and his raptors have stayed away, and anyone with any sense is staying warm. Which means a nice peaceful, if freezing, day with my book... :-)
And two days off ahead of me to boot, hooray!

Since you haven't been around, I thought I'd helpfully re-post my review of The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny here in your own personal thread, just to be sure you don't miss it:

"Okay. I've told everyone that I read books twice before I write a review, because it's not fair to someone who spends a year just bringing a book to market, plus who knows how long dreaming it up and committing it to paper and lovingly burnishing its prose, simply to wing off some half-baked sentences about it.

So I read this book twice, and thought about it, and examined my responses to it. I was careful to think through my strong reactions to the book.

I can now state, in all fairness, that I loathe Louise Penny from the depths of my soul. Hate her! Wish to see her tied to a stake and burnt as the ensorcelling, enticing Succubus of Fiction that she is!

*pause to put out spontaneously combusted desk blotter*

The rational reason: The murderer in this book is clearly identified early on; doubts are cast onto tthe murderer's guilt at the end of the book, but it's too little too late, as we are already eviscerated, devastated, squashed flat like a bug, by the revelation that Olivier...that's right, fearless readers, OLIVIER! as in the bistro's owner and Gabri...poor, poor Gabri!...Gabri's one true love is plain ol', flat-out nasty.

Yeup. Heard me right. OLIVIER is the bad guy. So what if maybe, just maybe, he didn't kill the victim? Big deal! He did some very very very vile stuff, and he did it in full possession of his faculties, and he...I mean, I mean, LOUISE PENNY did...made us love him and care for him like Gabri...poor, darling Gabri, such a pain he is, but such a mensch...does!

*pause to put out spontaneously combusted letter holder*

Okay, okay, I will attempt some restraint out of fear for my home furnishings.

Emily Carr, the Canadian artist whose life and career serve as one of the support rods of this perfidious, sneaky attack on the hearts of loyal fans...I mean, this narrative, was a delightful painter of the stunningly beautiful world of Canada's West. Penny doesn't need to make her more famous in Canada, but I venture to guess that most Murrikins have never heard of her. This is a shame, but not a surprise: How many who aren't serious art buffs have heard of Canada's Group of Seven anyway? So go look at Carr's bio and follow some links to her spectacular artwork: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Carr

Go Louise Penny. Rah.

And if it's possible, Armand Gamache becomes even more lovable in this instalment of the series. It's unnerving, really, how much I believe that he really exists, Three Pines really exists, the whole Pennyverse is actual not virtual. The Chief Inspector is so gentle and patient and loving in his treatment of Gabri. He grieves with him. He explains the facts as he knows them to Gabri, whose denial he fully and completely understands after the ending of The Cruelest Month. Armand Gamache makes the whole agonizing betrayal-fest that is this hot poker of a book worthwhile.

Oh, and Clara's art show is even more satisfying than it would be otherwise because of the way it all falls into place. That's all I can say. Plus Peter's come-uppance! After A Rule Against Murder, I actively dislike Peter Morrow; his complete and utter vitiation in this book felt *so* good. But, honestly, I don't expect that it'll last...Penny's proven she's a cruel and unusual punishment specialist, you just wait...she has some horrid shock awaiting us about Peter....

Recommended, Goddammit, because it's too integral to the series not to read. But it ticks me off to recommend it. Really, truly, it does."

So! There you have it, duckling. Enjoy them!

Yes, thank you Richard, like your devoted Penny reviews on your OWN thread aren't devilishly tempting enough, without you spreading the love through the whole of LibraryThing in this sneakily underhand manner... ;-)

Anyway, since it was my days off again (you gotta love 'em), I decided to take a little break from the misadventures of Edmond Dantes (who, FYI, is currently swimming away from the Chateau d'If to rest up a while on that little rocky island nearby) and hit the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse instead. I thought it was about time!

8) Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris



Well, I'm coming to the Sookie Stackhouse series rather late, and kinda wishing I wasn't. I made the mistake of not hopping on the bandwagon quickly enough, so I ended up watching 'True Blood' well before I even bought this first book. I knew who the bad guys were so I didn't get the benefit of the suspense as the mystery unfolded; I knew where the love scenes were so I didn't feel the chemistry in the same way; I was waiting for people and events that never appeared; and the voice 'reading' in my head through the entire thing was Anna Paquin's southern drawl - which is a damn difficult thing to keep up when you're a British lass, believe me.

Despite that, I really enjoyed it! It was quick and fluffy, with a few genuinely thrilling moments and some nice splashes of lust and blood in there, as there should be in a good vampire story. The relationships between the characters unfolded nicely and the end of the novel tied everything up neatly while still making me wonder what was going to happen next. I'm definitely looking forward to reading on (I ordered the next book already - so next week?!), and I'll make sure I get plenty more Harris under my belt before Series 2 of True Blood hits the screens here!

Well, book 2 is of the Sookie Stackhouse series is supposed to equal the Season 2, so it is good timing. The TV series does verge from the book in the 2nd season. Similar characters but there is some added story. I like both the books and the series. You can easily read through all the books and not be at all disappointed in the TV show.

Same in season 1 though - I was waiting for Tara and her mum, for Amy and Jason... but those were sometimes irritating subplots in the series anyway so I didn't mind too much. I'd still rather watch the book coming to life on the screen, gorgeous people and all, than miss out on the emotions I should have felt reading the book!

Oh yay for jumping on the Sookie Bandwagon! I actually read the 7th book last night as I was in need of something quick and easy. I have only watched one or two episodes of the series so I don't know quite how far they differ from the books but I'm having difficulty remembering a character called Amy :S gah it's perhaps a good thing that I haven't watched the series properly as I'd probably get annoyed now having read most of the books.
So what chapter are you at with Monte Cristo? I finished the first 15 chapters and I'm pretty eager to read on :)

I miss Tara in the books, at least the first two (maybe she appears later??), since she was such a loyal friend to Sookie. They mention briefly that Lafayette had a cousin but didn't bring her in to the story. I loved the flamboyant Lafayette character in the TV series and will miss him.

Just stopping by to say I enjoy reading your thread, Ellie. I agree, the story of the gentleman stopping in your store for an audiobook was very touching. What's going on with the older woman that stopped in occasionally? Perhaps hibernating during the winter months? And one other thing, I would certainly purchase your book of shop stories, very charming.

Mrs Hadfield? Our old battleaxe! Unfortunately no word from her since before Christmas, when she'd had a stroke. That was the day when she came to the shop and admitted that she was hallucinating again - the same one she'd had just before her stroke a couple of weeks before. We were worried that she wouldn't make it home alright but she was with one of those community ambulance schemes so she was in safe hands. No word since, which doesn't bode well... We're trying not to dwell on it too much because she doesn't have a soul in the world really, but she's not the kind of lady who would take well to us calling to see if she was alright, if she was just hibernating, as you say! A very proud lady, that one. Fingers crossed that she's okay...

M'lady - think I'm on chapter eighteen or so, something like that. Dante's just escaped and swimming away from the prison anyway. I've hopped back to that psychiatric memoir today to try and get a few more pages of that under my belt at last, but I'll be back with Edmond soon!

OK, I finally caved in and joined the Books off the Shelf challenge too... The books for my challenges are all criss-crossing over each other anyway, but I figured it would be a nice way to see what I'm actually clearing off my shelves compared to the new stuff that's hopping into my eager hands! The link's here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/85818

Hi Ellie- I don't need to join a "Books off the Shelf Challenge" because this is my life-long mission. Glad you are joining us on the G.R.!! Should be fun!

Thanks for the update on Mrs. Hadfield. I'll stay tuned for..........further adventures at Book End's.

Mark - neither do I, really - but I thought it would be fun to see how the numbers stack up at the end of the year - 'Books Bought in 2010 and Immediately Devoured' vs. 'Behaving Myself and Actually Reading Some of What I've Already Got'... :-)

Congratulations and applause for your bravery. I am not even going to attempt this challenge because I already know I'm likely to fail ... I find the library and stores just too enticing, nevermind all the book swapping that takes place between my friends and I.

'Books Bought in 2010 and Immediately Devoured' vs. 'Behaving Myself and Actually Reading Some of What I've Already Got'...

That sounds exactly like what I'm doing at the moment although the Devouring side is winning thus far by a large margin so in March I'm seriously going to have to crack on with those TBRs and ignore the call of the bookshops (well mostly, but if I find a gem for cheap then obviously I can get away with that :P).

Hi Ellie -- I haven't posted here in awhile but I am a dutiful lurker. Your "Behaving Myself and Actually Reading Some of What I've Already Got" category made me laugh and made me think about my reading this year. I too am making a real effort to read books that I own.

So far in 2010, I've read 17 books and I own eleven of these. *Patting myself on the back here*...unfortunately, there are only two of the eleven that I will be setting free. One is currently loaned out and the other is in the box for the second-hand bookstore.

I've been wondering about Mrs. Hadfield too. Do let us know when you hear something.

Rachel dear, I've just had a teensy nosy through some of your photos and I just gotta say - I like your style, lady! You've joined Eliza in the ranks of 'effortlessly cool people who make me feel like a mouse'...

Congratulations Donna - the reading's the important thing, right? Crunching the numbers so far over on BOTS, seven of my eight reads so far this year have been off my shelves (meaning: owned pre-Christmas 2009), and four of THOSE have gone to the shop now. The ones I've kept are two classics and one start-of-series novel, which I think is quite acceptable...

OK people, I'm not counting this one as part of my 75 since it took me all of 20 minutes to read - but as it's a Member Giveaway book from the author I'm spreading the love anyway. Anyone with kids, grandkids, imaginary kids, baby cousins, nieces, nephews, intelligent pets - read on!

A WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION by DiDi LeMay



Running a second-hand bookshop, I very often get customers coming in, heading to our kids' section, and telling me how they enjoy finding new books for their children and grandchildren that 'aren't Disney!' What they're looking for are books that are a little different, with a good story and original illustrations, to snuggle up and read together. I think this book would go down brilliantly.

It looks a little different to most children's books, which makes it stand out straight away, with the whole story written in wintry white capital letters on dark blue paper. The story is simple and easy to understand, drawing us into the tale of a little girl's meeting with the animals of the forest, and how she fights to stop her village cutting down trees for their human celebrations of the Winter Solstice. There are a few more challenging words to be learned along the way, as well as ideas and lessons about the way humans treat the world around them to think about. The illustrations by Jacquie Campbell fit in nicely with the story and add an extra dimension for children to enjoy.

It dropped a star for me just for the fact that occasionally the underlying message clobbered me a little TOO hard over the head - and for British children, there are occasional words and figures of speech where they might need a little adult 'translation' to help them understand. I also had trouble figuring out the dialect of the feisty crow in the story - was he supposed to be Jamaican?! All in all though, a sweet and wholesome, beautifully presented story, which I will be happily passing on to a little girl I know who will just love it!

I would love to work in a bookshop. I'm envious, you are so lucky.

My problem with working in a bookshop is that I would likely get no 'work' done at all!

>191 alcottacre: Our problem with you working in a bookshop, Stasia, is our wishlist growing by at least 3x's the amount of recs. you've already given us : )

BTW how are you doing with The Count of Monte Cristo Ellie? Liking it so far?

#192: LOL! Somehow, I do not think that would happen.

I do get plenty of reading done, I must say! Reading in the shop? Well, duh. Reading at home? Research. Browsing LibraryThing? Keeping up with trends and new books. It's all good.

Loving The Count of Monte Cristo so far, though I've had a break from it this week to finally finish this memoir I've been picking at since November! Hallelujah!

9) 'Too Much Anger, Too Many Tears' by Janet and Paul Gotkin

No touchstone or picture, so link is here

I've been plugging away at this memoir for about four months now - not due to any fault on the book's part, but because the subject matter is so intense. This is what I hoped for when I picked up books like Girl, Interrupted and The Bell Jar in my teens: a book that gives insight into the mind of a mental health patient, and a glimpse into the world of the mental hospital. I'm manic depressive and agoraphobic - though I coexist with both quite comfortably these days - so I'm always interested in books like these, and pounced on this one when it arrived at our shop via my mum's old GP, no less.

Janet Gotkin was diagnosed with schizophrenia around the age of 20, and her life was never the same again. She left college and spiralled into a vortex of psychiatrist appointments and hospitalisation, shock treatments, drugs and humiliation. Her memories of this time make up 'Part 1', and it is a grim and harrowing story. Her experiences of forced dependence and fear, medical abuses and breakdowns, are exhausting to read, but so fascinating and beautifully written that you can't help but read on.

Finally, in her mid-20s, Janet met Paul. At this point the viewpoint switches to show his take on their lives. For me, this section was easier to read, freshening up the narrative at a crucial point and allowing the reader to step back out of the black hole of Janet's existence a little. His new perspective on the doctors and hospitals, on Janet's state of mind, and on their struggles to get through each collapse together, in one piece, was heartbreakingly honest and offered new insight into the numbing existence Janet was living.

Ultimately, though, came enlightenment. After a horrific suicide attempt, after which Janet was in a coma for five days, she awoke with a new sense of life that changed everything. She found the strength to get away from her psychiatrist, who had so encouraged her absolute dependence on him and the drugs he doled out, and moved with Paul to Paris. There she finally found anger and clarity as to the abuse she had suffered at the hands of the psychiatric profession, the way they had labelled and humiliated her for their own benefit, not hers, and the way they had continually berated every emotion and idea she had as 'part of her sickness'. She was determined to speak out, wrote this book, and has been an activist for people like her ever since.

Janet's hospitalisation predominantly took place in the 60s, back when institutionalisation was brutal, treatments were misguided, drugs and shocks were handed out liberally, and the world bowed to the revered psychiatrists who were 'saving' the 'sick'. Today most people have a more enlightened view of mental illness, demand more from the specialists they see, and are encouraged to take a more proactive role in their own 'recovery'. Janet Gotkin's theory is that there is no mental illness, which I don't agree with. I do, however, agree that even today, psychiatric labels are often affixed to people too quickly and without thought for how they can become self-fulfilling prophecies, damaging lives and creating stigma unnecessarily. And insights like these into how it feels to live with mental illness - and treatment - are always valuable in a world in which there is still a lot of ignorance and fear surrounding mental health sufferers.

Ultimately, this book was a very rewarding read. It gave me a lot to think about, about mental health and how it can be handled, about the way we defer to experts, and about how we can make our own futures as bright as we want them to be, with a little persistence and the right attitude. And I truly believe that the insights offered by brave people like the Gotkins into how it feels to live with and around mental illness - and its treatment - are always valuable in a world in which there is still a lot of ignorance and fear surrounding mental health sufferers. I don't feel the need to keep it to read again in the future, but I certainly won't forget it in a hurry.

#194: Sounds like a very powerful book, Ellie. I agree with you completely about labels, being a 'labeled person' practically my entire life. I hope the book gave you some guidance (and some hope!)

Thanks Stasia! I don't think I need to take guidance from this book, more that it was a reminder of how easy it is to be swept into that nightmare world when things go wrong. I for one always fought back against treatment I didn't want, and made my peace with my 'labels' a long time ago. I found that other people - particularly my schoolfriends, back in the day - had a lot more trouble with these labels than I did. The instant these words are uttered you go from 'that person I've known and loved for years' to 'the scary monster', because too many people are still clueless. I learned as much as I could and wasn't afraid to stand my ground. When a GP patronised me at university and told me 'I didn't know what I wanted' and that I should start taking Prozac immediately (I'd simply asked to be referred to a local service now I was away from home), I never went back to him again. Another doctor wanted to start me on a life-long drug program at the age of about 15. I refused.

I've never had any drug therapy and now, ten years on, I know I weathered that storm - the teenage years that can multiply up the effect of something like bipolar - and I left the abyss behind me. It still hovers there, but because I did this myself I know what to watch for, how to stay balanced - and I know I've had the strength to do it before and I can do it again. It makes it a lot easier to weather everything else - plus I made my peace, accepted those parts of my life into myself, drew many wonderful things from it as well as the bad, and am quite able to talk about it to anyone who wants to know. I think of it more as a gift now - it's made me a stronger person, I read emotions better, and I've had the privilege of experiencing this heightened range of feeling and appreciate the insight and creativity that came along with it.

Okaaaaaay, I'll step down from the podium there... *bows deeply*

Before I give the book up to the shop shelves, I'll just share this, Janet Gotkin's final thoughts on what she had learned from this journey:

"For many years mental health professionals of all rank and persuasion told me I was sick. I believed them, my parents and Paul believed them, and we allowed them to perpetrate indignities upon me because we believed that their knowledge was great and their intent honorable. They only wanted to help.

But help is not help when it does violence to a person's body, mind, or freedom; it is power abused; it is medical responsibility distorted; it is liberal ethics convoluted. It is not help.

I have learned from my own suffering that we must come to accept our multi-faceted selves. That to alternate between highs of ecstasy and lows of despair, to indulge in fantasy and vision, to act self-destructive or lethargic, to refuse to conform, to lunge forward in spasms of creativity only to retreat to depths of inactivity, to cry, to mourn, to suffer, to create new divisions - is to be human, not sick."

HEAR HEAR!

Hey Ellie- Good review and a very good lecture! You are a pro!!

Thanks Mark - it's just one of those subjects I tend to get rather passionate about... :-)

Hear, hear for Ellie!

196- Ellie I'm sure you know that gets a mighty Hear, hear from me!

We definitely need to take an active role in our own health instead of blindly following what someone else tells us to do - after all, we are the ones who have to live in our own bodies. Way to go, Ellie...

As a mental health professional myself, Ellie, I applaud you. This sounds like a fantastic book. I am fortunate in that I work in an elementary school system where my primary role is to help children acquire the skills with which to manage their emotions and actions in order to prevent labeling. Unfortunately, I do have to label to acquire services for learning disabilities, but again the focus is on understanding one's own learning strengths and weaknesses to manage them.

That sounds like a wonderful book, and I've added it to my ever-expanding list.

What a fantastic review, Ellie. It sounds like a very powerful book and you certainly receive my standing ovation for being strong enough to stand up to those who wanted to put you on drug therapy rather than helping you cope with, understand and manage the challenges you sometimes find yourself faced with.

I want to add one thing about psychic drugs.

I am on them for the last 10+ years and I am glad they exist and I can take them.
I have been too far down for a large part of my life and despite some nasty side effects, I am glad I don't live anymore thinking every day about ways to end it.

But of course everyone has to make his/her own decisions and no one else but you can make those desicions!

Anita

I agree with Anita. At my job I care for individuals with mental illness and for them the medications are a blessing. The meds help them function and enjoy life.

Standing ovation from me too, Ellie!!!!

I definitely need to look up that book.

Standing ovation to all who deal with depression!

*brava brava brava*

No one should have to tread the paths blazed by others unless they go where one *wants* to go.

You stay on the podium till we've all finished clapping, thanks! Great review and I loved reading your thoughts.

Agree with all--if drugs help, take them. If they don't help or you don't want to take them, don't take them and try other things. Richard says it best (as always)!

Amen. Medications serve a valuable purpose, but medical decisions require informed, thoughtful deliberation. One-size-fits-all treatments shoved at people are never appropriate!

Help! I had added the Gotken book to my wishlist, but when I clicked the link that showed up for it on my profile page's "recently added" list, I found that the record for something called "Strawberries in Winter" showed up, instead. It seems that the two records were totally mixed up somehow. The page for "strawberries" listed me as having recently added it, and the page for "too many tears" didn't show me listing it at all. (Was the book ever published under the title "strawberries in winter?" and and a different author?)

Has anyone else had a problem with this, or have the LT gremlins singled me out again?

I deleted the book from the wishlist, for now, but still plan to read it eventually!

These LT gremlins are all over the place....

I don't think it was published under another title, and almost definitely not another author... darn gremlins!

And yes, I agree that medication can be a blessing - one I certainly wouldn't be averse to using if I had to, if the need was there and the treatment was right. But trying to force a 15 year old hormonal girl into a drug that needs to be taken for life - or trying to shovel Prozac down my throat simply for asking for a referral, completely dismissing both me and the fact that after ten years I probably had a good idea what I needed... Nope, that I wasn't having.

10) Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris



Okay, things you need to know:
1) I am definitely a 'lustful', romantic, passionate person. It's in the genes - I blame my grandmother.
2) Vampires are H-O-T.
3) Mixing the two together can be great fun!

So you can understand why a series full of adventure, seduction, fangs, blood and lust has managed to drag me in and get me totally hooked after just two books. This one I enjoyed even better than the last one, since I haven't seen Season 2 of True Blood yet so I went into it blind, which wasn't the case with Dead Until Dark.

I LOVED every minute of it. Sure, it has its moments of dreadful phrasing and glaring typos, but for pure enjoyment it was just great. A dead body in a car, an ancient missing vampire, a beautiful mad creature stalking the woods, a cult of anti-vampire fanatics... and trickling through the whole thing, one Tall Blond Viking Vampire trying to seduce our fiesty telepathic waitress away from her Southern Gentleman Vampire boyfriend... I have to admit it, I have a major crush on Eric Northman - and am wishing they hadn't changed the storyline of the second season to rule out the possibility of seeing Alexander Skarsgard in those lycra leggings...

This series is definitely my new addiction, and I can't wait for next week to hit #3!

Great review Ellie glad you're liking the Sookie books. Oh and if you're liking Eric now... well give it a couple more books and I'm sure you'll be loving him even more :P (ok I'll admit- I'm an Eric fan too)

Also I have to say that you rock for telling the psychs where to stick it- You go girl!!

Myself, I want Alcide Herveaux...you'll meet him later...*drool*

I'll say it again: HUGE BLONDE VIKING VAMPIRE. And, sorry, but have you seen Alexander Skarsgard in those tight 'I Am God' vest T-shirt thingies?! Muttering to Pam in ancient languages and smirking every time Sookie wanders past... *wanders off to find a large bucket of iced water to tip over herself*

>219 elliepotten: Oh don't get me wrong, Ell...Skarsgard can leave crumbs in my sheets any ol' time! But wait'll ya meet Alcide...ooo baby baby.

*does a bit of quick googling*

*fans self*

I think I have to take up reading vampire books.

>Caty - I just did the same ;)
*considers whether a cold shower would be sensible right now*

I'm lurking around here on Ellies thread here as usual, and after reading the last few posts I feel like I'm a teenage boy spying on a girls dormitory or something. :)

Well ooookaaay! I might just need to welcome some vampires into my lair ..err.. home if they all look like Skarsgard.

I've never read a Charlaine Harris book .... your review is piquing my interest to go check one of her books out at the library.

Have you seen the Lady Gaga video of "Paparazzi" where she slips poison into Alexander's character's drink?

>224 cameling: Fly like a bat! Haste! Haste! Oh, and check your profile.

I saw some of the Paparazzi video - until the point where he threw her off the balcony at which point it got a bit mad... Last night, there being nothing on telly whatsoever, I got watching this Swedish minidrama thingy on YouTube, called Om Sara (About Sara), about a rather clueless footballer and his troubled relationship with a clingy woman. Well - PRUDES LOOK AWAY NOW! - let's just say after a rather unexpected leaning-out-of-shower-for-a-towel scene, Eric the Viking holds NO more secrets for me... ;-)

I paid for my wickedness (*ahem*) by waking up at 2am with the cricked neck from hell and having to 'do a Renfield', getting up EXTREMELY SLOWLY at 5.30am to swallow painkillers and stick a hot water bottle on my neck, hobble round the house with my head stuck at an angle and then sit very still for a while watching Mythbusters to distract me from the pain. It's still creeping around now, like it's a trapped nerve or something, so fingers crossed I don't have another agonising night like that tonight...

*Om Sara Om Sara Om Sara*

My new mantra after a quick visit to YouTube...*sigh* Aren't men beautiful?

Hehe. Happy to help, Richard! *throws out some more sprinkles of love for handsome Scandinavian men and their cheerfully liberal approach to being naked on screen*

Now look, see what we've done here? We've taken a nice genteel book discussion and dragged it steadily down into a swirling vortex of naughtiness and Skarsgard-worship...*sits back and cackles gleefully*... my work is done. ;-)

I KNEW there was a good reason to follow your thread!

Haha! Yes, well, I'm afraid that when I find myself a nice new crush to admire, I do tend to veer away from 'good little English girl' rather sharply... which can be a bit of a surprise for people from time to time! What can I say, all the women in my family are exactly the same, we do try to scoop our minds out of the gutter from time to time but it's more fun there! ;-)

#216 - 230 chortle chortle!

Tell me Ellie, do you know "Priscilla Queen of the Desert"? I'm usually a bit meh about musicals, but Priscilla is one of my favourite films, so a mate and I went to see the musical version a couple of weeks ago - sitting very close to the front (on my sister, and another mate's advice).... Suffice it to say that I think you might enjoy it - and I will never be able to hear Take That's "Venus" the same way again and that the advice was very good! (I don't know how well a trip to London would work with your agoraphobia, but...)

I've been fending off Charlaine Harris for a while now (to be honest, it took me a long time to get in to the TV series too, although I love the theme music!), but looks like I'm going to have to cave in...

Anyway, I've been way behind on your thread, but I've very much enjoyed catching up.

I found your comments and thoughts about the Janet and Paul Gotkin book and manic depression very interesting and am extremely impressed by your do-it-yourself attitude. I had a very good friend at university, who, retrospectively I am certain would now be diagnosed as bipolar and the university councillors that he spoke to didn't seem to help in any way. They ended up putting him on anti-depressants, which I am sure are very helpful to many people (as others have said), but just seemed to be the worst possible thing for him - one of the things he used to talk with me about was a feeling of dissociation from real life and it sounded to me as though the pills only amplified this feeling. It was very difficult to watch as we just didn't know how to help. I'm very glad that books like this out there.

#231 I was more a fan of the "Sam" myself ;o)

I love "Priscilla". Great film, great soundtrack. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

#229 *throws out some more sprinkles of love for handsome Scandinavian men and their cheerfully liberal approach to being naked on screen*

Living in Scandinavia, I can assure you that not all of the men looks like him:) and those who do are (unfortunately) not as liberal when it comes to nudity as he is. Pity;)

>235 Apolline: Apolline, if all Scandinavian men looked like **that**, it would be the destination of choice for international sex tourism! Heck, who *cares* about long, dark winters when you have **that** to look at?!? ("Look at" being the G-rated version of what us gutter-dwellers are actually thinking.)

not as liberal when it comes to nudity as he is
Heck! Darn! Blast! *calls travel agent to cancel sex tourism reservation*

I wasn't going to say anything, but the thread of bipolar and depression has made me less afraid to come out of the closet. I am bipolar with depression. I take meds and no longer work but hey, I'm just happy to be alive and enjoying my son. The scary thing is that we have to watch my son to see if he is bipolar as he has been off task at school, getting out of his seat, reading instead of following lessons, talking back to teacher example "I obey my stomach not you" to the teacher. I know he is a good boy at heart, we just have to work on his temper. Right now he is diagnosed as autistic with AD disorder.

scarpettajunkie, bless you for letting us know. You are so brave! And you are doing all you can for your son--watching and looking out for him. I'm sure that all will be well.

Karen O. (not the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Karen O.)

Oh yeah...Ellie .... now why did I never see any of those delicious demi-gods when I was in Stockholm? The ones I met were all very very sweet but were definitely not as liberal. They did try to teach me some weird drinking ditty.

Bravo scarpettajunkie - you're handling your challenges and being there for your son. *sending big warm hug of support*

Ellie

Your thread reminds me once again of why I love our 75 challenge group members! Your honesty prompts others to share. Your humor, fosters our laughter. Your pain, allows others to be vulnerable.

Thanks...a lot.

Indeed, whether you're talking about prozac or penises, we love you Ellie.

... :)

"Prozac and Penises: The Richard Derus Story"--hmmm

Heh, I'm carefully avoiding almost all vampire influences since being burned by Laurell K. Hamilton. I am blissfully unaware what goes on in the Sookie Stackhouse and True Blood universe. But I do know about minds in the gutter! Because of you, my mind often swims in the gutter thinking about what I'd do to Richard Armitage if I ever got my hands on him! First things first... I'd shove the screenplay of North and South at him and also get him into some Victorian clothing... and out of it.... hehehe!

Hi Ellie- I also just landed a new copy of Norwegian Wood! We are ready to roll! Have you read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie? I listened to the audio and it was a lot of fun. I recommend it! Have a great weekend!

> 237 "reading instead of following lessons"

I'll bet most of us on LT have done that at some point! ;)

To catch up:

Fliss - I haven't seen 'Priscilla', but I've seen a couple of musical numbers (eg. on Children in Need) and it looks so much fun! And yes, Sam is a sweetheart - but just not in the same league as Eric. Still, saves fighting over him, doesn't it?!

Apolline - I am simply generalising from an interview with Mr Skarsgard. Direct quote: "I'm Scandinavian... nudity is great!" *mentally narrows 'Scandinavia' down to 'the vicinity of the Skarsgard residence' for future reference*

scarpettajunkie - Very brave of you! It's so nice that no one's ever alone on LibraryThing, there always seems to be someone to share things with and no one freaks out and runs away (not that I know of anyway!)... I hope everything goes well for your son too. :-)

Linda - How very sweet of you, what a lovely thing to say! It's just nice to have a place to be myself, no matter whether I'm happy or sad, laughing or raging or crying. Stories to tell, books to share... and with so many lovely people dropping by and sharing the ride too. *stops before she collapses into a heap of mush*

Stephen/Richard - how, um, flattering - and thanks for the laugh! ;-)

Mark - I do apologise. Here you were dropping by the nice thread of old and what do you find? It's closed down and been replaced by a madhouse with attached brothel. *leads Mark out quietly for a little sit down with a glass of water*

NEW THREAD TIME AGAIN! See you over there...

http://www.librarything.com/topic/86416

#238 klobrien2, chuckle ;o)

#243 Cauterize - you and me both!

#246 Sorted! You can have Eric, I shall have Sam. (Unless I can have Mr Thornton?) ;o)

...right, over to the new thread...

You can have both, my little pumpkin, so long as I can keep Eric... :-)

Ha ha! Fine by me! ;o)