TIFFIN THREE FOR 2010

The witch in her garden

Second thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/87583#2061066

THIS IS A MOVING GIF-FREE ZONE...I block them because they bug my eyes.

EVALUATION SCHEME
0-1.5* = disgusting use of a perfectly good tree
2-2.5** = meh, don't bother
3-3.5*** = quite creditable and not a waste of time, liked it
4-4.5**** = a really, really good read, enjoyed it thoroughly, would recommend it happily, wish I'd written it
5***** = knocked my socks off, blew me in to the next stratosphere, turned me into a molten puddle, sheer perfection and no you can't borrow it, this one stays right here

When I * a book, I don't compare it to another book I've *ed. It's an instinctual, gut thing. Totally subjective. So Wolf Hall got 5 stars last year, a big thumping well researched and beautifully written book, but so did The Earth Hums in B Flat because it moved me to those same depths, although in different ways.
Number of Books Read



Number of Pages Read



READING GOALS FOR 2010
1. Read a good chunk of the books I have sitting here in the TBR bookshelf.
2. Read a new-to-me author once a month.
3. Reread several classics I've forgotten because it has been so long.

JANUARY
1. The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan 5 stars
2. Old Filth by Jane Gardam 4.5 stars
3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 4 stars
4. Giving Up the Ghost, a Memoir by Hilary Mantel 4.5 stars at the very least
5. Women Who Write by Stefan Bollmann, with Introduction by Francine Prose
6. Augustus Carp Esq., by Himself by Henry Howarth Bashford 4.75 stars
7. Cleaving by Florence Treadwell.
8. bird by bird by Anne Lamott (98% read in Jan., finished in Feb.)

FEBRUARY
9. Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles
- The Underneath by Kathi Appelt - not fully read so not counted
10. Translation is a Love Affair by Jacques Poulin 4.5 stars
**The Olympics ate up two weeks here....virtually no reading**

MARCH
11. Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton
12. In the Garden with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson 4.5 stars
13. Chateau d'Argol by Julien Gracq...not even going to try to rate this
14. The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier 2.75-3 stars
15. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery 4.5 stars

APRIL
16. The Duke's Daughter by Angela Thirkell
17. Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
Not counted: 2 editions of Slightly Foxed

MAY
18. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
19. The Road by Cormac McCarthy...actually, I read this before the Wodehouse and read the Wodehouse to try to cheer up. And I sped read it, as it was making me utterly miserable.
20. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell
21. Anitya: Halfway to Nowhere by Mridula Garg

JUNE
22. Jutland Cottage by Angela Thirkell 4 stars
23. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 4.5 stars
24. Poetic Lives: Keats by Robert Mighall
25. The Waterproof Bible by Andrew Kaufman 4.25 stars and Canadian
Not counted: Summer 2010 edition of Slightly Foxed

JULY
26. The War Memoir of HRH Wallis Duchess of Windsor by Kate Auspitz (Early Reviewer edition) 4 stars
27. Emily Dickinson is Dead by Jane Langton
28. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson 4.5 stars
29. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
30. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson
31. A House in Flanders by Michael Jenkins 4.25 stars
32. They Found Him Dead by Georgette Heyer
33. Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve by Gioconda Belli 4.5 stars
34. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 5 stars
Not counted: back issue of Slightly Foxed (Vol. I)

AUGUST
35. Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker 4.5 stars
36. Jane Austen by Carol Shields (Penguin Lives series)
37. The Uncommon Reader; a Novella by Alan Bennett 4.5 stars
38. Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami
39. South Riding by Winifred Holtby 5 stars
40. What is America? A Short History of the New World Order by Ronald Wright 4.5 stars

SEPTEMBER
41. A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright 4.5 stars
42. A Cab at the Door by V.S. Pritchett 4 stars
43. Not That Sort of Girl by Mary Wesley 3.5 stars
44. The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley 4.25 stars
45. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West 4 stars

Are you reading the Angela Thirkells in order, or just jumping around as you find them available? I've had some of them in hand, but hesitated to start reading in the middle of things, you know?

Linda, they don't really need to be read in order but I think to be fully appreciated, they should be. People appear in the background and later on get their own star billing. I read somewhere on LT that (to paraphrase) when Mrs. so and so is horrid in one novel, it makes more sense when she gets her comeuppance in a later book. I've been trying to find and read them in order but it isn't working out that well.

Hi Tui...find-it-later post.

Star! *sigh* I'd adore to have all the Barsetshire novels so that I could go through them in order. Maybe someday. (I missed 4 on pbs last week and am still kicking myself.)

Yabba dabba doo! A new thread!

Hey, tiffin! Glad to find your new thread.

Just waddling by to say hi ... and to star your new thread.

From your previous thread: since I do like magical realism, I am adding The Waterproof Bible to the BlackHole in the magically realistic hope that my local library will one day acquire it!

Stasia, I liked it so much that I'm tracking down his first novel, All My Friends Are Superheroes.

Touchstones not working.

I love the Witch in her garden at the beginning of your new thread! Neat!

Starred! If I were to read the Thirkell books in order Tui, where would I start?

I just typed out the whole list of Thirkells and *blip*, it got lost before I posted it. GRRRROWWWWLLL

ETA: here's a website with all her books listed:
http://www.angelathirkell.org/atbooks.htm

Belated review for The Waterproof Bible by Andrew Kaufman


Review Link

Rebecca Reynolds and Lewis Taylor are in the back seat of a limousine on the way to her sister’s funeral (Lewis’s wife, Lisa), when they are almost T-boned by a white Honda Civic driven by a green woman with gills. Three pages in to the story we experience one of those little paradigm shifts in reality which tells the discerning reader that we’ve just left the planet as we know it.

Equally quickly, we learn that Rebecca transmits every emotion she feels to everyone around her so when she feels fear, guilt, anger, etc., this is projected into everyone in a radius relative to the strength of the emotion she feels. She has learned to conceal her feelings in everyday objects which she stores in locker #207 at the E.Z. Storage facility. Bereft by the loss of her little sister and with nothing at hand to channel her feelings into, she gives Lewis the full blast of her anger, grief, and intense hatred of him in the backseat of the limo - so much so that Lewis flees the car and starts flying aimlessly across the country, in great need of personal repair.

Aberystwyth, the green-gilled one, is attempting to drive to Winnipeg to save her mother’s soul. She is one of the race of Aquatics called the Hildafgod (I can’t reproduce the letters as Kaufman wrote them), who live in cities deep in the ocean’s canyons, a race which discovered they could breathe underwater when the Great Flood covered the earth with water. God, apparently, preferred water to things like mountains or fjords. They live much as we do, even evolving a theology with its moral dos and don’ts which, while different in its specifics, is similar in its aspects of control over its adherents.

Kaufman gives us doses of Aquatic spirituality and religion, over-achieving rainmakers, Rebecca’s ex-husband who builds a sailboat on the prairies, great sweeping questions about souls and owning our emotions, God in the guise of a bicycle courier but none of it seems silly. It seems, rather, possessed of tremendous sweetness without being the least bit treacly. It is, in the end, a story about recognising what’s important and keeping that close to your heart.

Great review, Tui! One thumb!

Make that Two thumbs!

What a great review and interesting book.

Wow, very different stuff but sounds quite good.

Great review - thumb from me and added to the wishlist;)

26. The War Memoir of (HRH) Wallis Duchess of Windsor by Kate Auspitz



My Review

An Early Reviewer book which I quite enjoyed.

Excellent review, Tui! Have you ever read Caroline Blackwood's The Last of the Duchess? Her circumstances did not improve after the Duke's death. The author has brief interviews with two of the Mitfords in it, btw.

thanks, Christine...and no I haven't read that one. I'll put it on the wishlist right now.

>19 tiffin: Thumbs up, Tui! BTW...I think Auspitz was eerily close to the truth. But I'm an inveterate cynic.

#19 Thumb from me, too. I requested that ARC and didn't get it. I will be looking for it from the library; it sounds fascinating.

Hi There
If you check the hot review section you will see that all ten hot reviews are from our 75 challenge group. Congratulations...You are one of the ten!

27. Emily Dickinson is Dead by Jane Langton



Just what the doctor ordered as a hot weather read: not too taxing yet full of wonderful snippets of Emily Dickinson's poetry, a bunch of English Lit., types, a satisfying mystery plot with good characterisation and a satisfying denouement.

>27 richardderus: ----and don't you enjoy the drawings!

>25 tiffin: Ahhh, Mrs. Langton's books. How satisfying they are. I knew her son once upon a time, like 25 years ago...Andrew, his name was (probably still is, since he's a little younger than me and thus not likely to be dead)...and he's the one who turned me on to her enjoyable books.

Since Emily Dickinson is my favorite poet, and because your description is delightful, I'm adding this one to the pile.

I lucked into about the last 5 minutes of Terri Gross interviewing Billy Collins about ED and a new ED biography last night. I think it was probably an excellent interview, but I didn't stick around to hear about the new bio since I have an unread one by Cynthia Griffin Wolff waiting patiently on the shelf.

I checked the online catalog and found my local library has the Emily Dickinson Is Dead book. I'm heading there after work.

Whisp, I think you would like this one. Richard, I suspect that you know everyone! Lizzie, yes I did like the sketches...and the photos of ED.

Well, my batch of Thirkells arrived today, and now you've got me buying the Jane Langton mystery as well... Grrrrrr.....

Adding Emily Dickinson is Dead to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Tui!

I'm currently reading Emily Dickinson is Dead and I like it very much! Thanks for the recommendation.

You're more than welcome, Whisp! I liked how she tied the poems to the action.

28. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson



Well! Every now and then it's good to push yourself out of your comfort zone because otherwise you would miss some astonishing reads. The Larsson series has been definitely outside of my comfort zone: I don't normally enjoy reading cruel, violent material. But there is so much more going on here in this series. Larsson has ripped the protective skin off of matters we don't like to think about or unconsciously tolerate so that we will be forced to look at the guts of a matter he feels is important: the persistent abuse of women.

At the end of the second book, it's pretty evident that Larsson was passionate about taking a stand against misogny of any sort, whether the overt bestiality of a certain kind of man who abuses women for sport (sexual, emotional, physical) or the insidious perception of women as second class to men in jobs and ability. He is firmly saying that an individual's sexuality is his or her own business, if it is loving and consensual, and that the expression of it is nobody else's business.

His women are strong, intelligent, as capable (often more capable) as his male characters. When a female television reporter has her research and insights given over for credit to her male coworkers, Larsson writes this in. His women lead corporations, are brilliant lawyers, good cops, true friends. And sadly too often, victims.

And then there is Lisbeth Salander, one of the quirkiest, most fascinating anti heroes I've come across in years. Her character is crafted to perfection as the true star of the book (even if the cover does give that status to Mikael Blomqvist - how ironic). Blomqvist, and characters like Armansky and Palmer, with their compassion, tolerance and intelligence, stand in stark contrast to characters like Zalachenko and Niedermann whose evil leaves the reader yearning for revenge along with Lisbeth.

No, not easy stuff to read. But the writing is crisp and clear. Larsson leaves no detail unconnected. His characterisations are the best I've read in years. So even though this stuff tears my innards out, I will carry on to the 3rd book because he has made me care so much about all of it. I must know how it ends.

#36: Glad Larsson has found another fan! Isn't it wonderful how LT expands our reading horizons?

Stasia, isn't it sad that we won't be getting any more of his writing? He had so much to say and said it so well. But if you only get to write one book (or series), wow, what a statement to leave as your legacy. This is to the abuse of women what To Kill a Mockingbird was to racism.

#38: It is tremendously sad that his planned 10 book series will never come to fruition. I am just grateful for what he did write.

Everyone's talking about this series these days. People who I don't normally discuss books with but who know my reading habits keep asking me if I've read them. I don't usually get to the popular series until late given my hunt and find buying habits, but I might have to break down on these.

I had to read it in bursts, bdb, because sometimes it was so overwhelming that I'd have to put it down and leave it for a while. But his writing style is so clean, without excess or anything unnecessary. His characters are really quite extraordinary. Some books you read, some you experience.

This is to the abuse of women what To Kill a Mockingbird was to racism. I've been undecided as to whether I want to read these books. A friend of mine with Swedish friends was touting them to me even before they took off here. But if you make such a comparison, I think I'm hooked.

>42 laytonwoman3rd:: yeah, that comparison grabbed me like nothing else has so far.

>42 laytonwoman3rd:, 43: I would hesitate to urge these books on anyone because a person's tolerance of unpleasant graphic material is so individual. But the humanism and decency underneath all the surface stuff just reached out and grabbed me, as did the fascination with Salander's character, so the gripping nature of how the tale was being told overrode my usual distaste of this kind of thing. Larsson doesn't make it unrelenting or gratuitous, thank goodness - it's there for a purpose.

And I guess that's a nod to the skill of Larsson's writing, that he can make a person like me who normally recoils from this kind of thing finding myself unable to put the book(s) down.

Hi
Please post your review. It is incredible.

And, thanks again for recommending Emily Dickinson is Dead. What a joy!

Thanks, Whisp. Ok, just for you:
My Review

"Emily" is a good read, isn't it!

I read some other reviews about Book 2 in the Millennium series, just to see how it sat with others. Wide range of responses, from those who took it as an action thriller with almost comic book characters to those who were bored by it, to people like me who don't have much experience with the genre so were reading it without any preconceptions. Ended up feeling glad I had come to it fairly naively because I wasn't cynical or jaded about it. The strong support for women was able to come through because I wasn't looking for other things.

My thumbs up was the fifth one! Obviously, it is well deserving of a hot review!

Congratulations on not only one, but two hot reviews listed on today's home page!

oh crumbs...thanks, Whisp. I wish there was a 'disable hot review' feature.

29. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson



I'm too beat from reading 746 pages to write a review just yet, so just "wow"!

#51: Glad you enjoyed it, Tui! Sometimes those one word reviews are just perfect for a book, so "Wow" works for me.

Thanks, Stasia. I'm still absorbing the magnitude of these three books. What an imagination the guy had!

Glad you found reading the Larsson books so rewarding, Tui. Excellent review of #2, and I'm with Stasia, above. The books work on so many levels, from thriller to social commentary. I can see re-reading them for years to come. In fact, I'm about to go see the second of the Swedish films (I think it just came out this weekend), and will probably re-read #2 and #3, back to back, right afterward, as I did with the first book after seeing the first film.

#53: Yes, he did, and it is so unfortunate that there will be no further books from him.

A friend recently told me that the real title for the first Larsson book, which they (for obvious reasons) didn't decide to go with in North America, is "Men Who Hate Women". I'm not sure if that makes me want to read it or not...? I'm hesitant to pick it up because of the graphic violence against women that I've heard is in it, but many people here say that it's worth reading anyway for the storytelling...

...I'm so confused as to what to do!

#54 : Suz .. there's a Swedish movie of the 2nd book? I thought there was only the one of the first book. I have to check if our art house cinema house is going to be screening it.

After reading so many wonderful reviews I think I may have to jump on the bandwagon.

Caro, it's just opening now. I was surprised to see the posters up... Think it starts later in the week at the Lincoln Plaza cinema and may already be at the Angelika.

>56 dk_phoenix:: I'm as wimpy as they make 'em, dk, but I was able to read this series because the "men who hate women" are Voldemort, the Dark Lord, the dark side of the moon in the books. They are presented as evil and dealt with as such. There are really good men who do not hate women in the series and the women are real, not caricatures. It really is one enormous book broken into three, so you kind of have to persist right through the third book to get the whole ball of wax, even if some of the earlier stuff is off-putting.

>60 tiffin:: Ah, interesting... thank you for that. I feel a little better about maybe trying out the first book and seeing how it goes. :)

30. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson



One of the new Bloomsbury reprints in peppermint green. Hester, Mrs. Tim Christie (as they would have written it between the wars), has to pick up and move house frequently as the wife of an army officer. Captain Tim has given her a journal for Christmas in which she faithfully records the events of the day, so the diary format forms the structure of the book. We move with the family up into Scotland, meeting the redoubtable Mrs. Louden and family, as well as denizens of the town. Tim's superior, Major Morley, is a quixotic and fascinating character. True love soldiers on (pun intended), new love is thwarted or daringly pursued, unrequited love follows its usual course, with all subjected to the canny pen of the author. D.E. Stevenson is funny, wry, dry and observant - somewhat Pymish although without Pym's sardonic tone. I enjoyed this read and must hunt down the rest of the series.

That is one minty green cover! Puts me in mind of a gobbet of Mylanta.

My mother was "Mrs. Dick" to my father's mess-mates. She was Most Unhappy with that.

>62 tiffin:: I read this last year and enjoyed it a lot. The first sequel, Mrs. Tim Carries On is far too expensive second-hand, so I've been waiting for the one copy in our county library system to become available. It was "lost" for a while but appears to have been "found" as the number of people waiting is diminishing. (I'm suspecting someone just didn't return it for a long time.) I'm #2 right now. I'll let you know how it compares to the first...unless you find it and read it before I do.

I'm not sure I'd read the book but the green sure is pretty.
Also, I keep forgetting to de-lurk and tell you how much I like your garden witch.

So glad you jumped on the Larsson bandwagon with the rest of us Tui. I'm still hoping his long time partner finishes the fourth book and then we can put to rest how much she's had to do with the writing of the trilogy.

#62: I have that one! I just need to find where I put it . . .

31. A House in Flanders by Michael Jenkins

Plain blue cover on Slightly Foxed hardbound edition (with lovely blue ribbon bookmark)

When the young Michael Jenkins is sent to the house of some "aunts" in Flanders for a summer just after the war, aunts he has never met and who aren't really biological aunts, the shy, introverted pre-teen might be forgiven for feelings of trepidation. What unfolds, however, is an experience which gives him a sense of deep roots with these wonderful aunts (and an "uncle").

His writing of this extended stay is luminous and is certainly profoundly loving. He grows in every way conceivable, from height to self-confidence. I think the ground is laid for his later work as an ambassador, as this one and the next invites him into their confidence. Welcomed into their home, their lives, and into the life of the nearby village, this summer is one of those watershed moments we are sometimes fortunate enough to experience in life. How lucky for us that Michael Jenkins put pen to paper about all of it.
My Review

Comment outside of the review: this book was one of those ones which stays with you after you close the covers...it had me wondering if there had ever been anything of such watershed importance in my own life and what it might be. Certainly nothing as rare as Jenkins'!

#68: Another one for the BlackHole from your thread, Tui!

Thanks, Stasia. I'm going to get some more of these Slightly Foxed editions. Perfect size to fit in your hand to read one-handed, lovely paper quality and I love the built in ribbon bookmark. They are all autobiographical.

Hi catching up on your wonderful thread. I've added The Waterproof Bible and Emily Dickinson is Dead because both you and Whisper (Linda) enjoyed it, that's good enough for me.

#70: Is Slightly Foxed the publisher or is that just the name of the editions? If so, who is the publisher, Tui?

Slightly Foxed is a wonderful quarterly readers' magazine:
http://www.foxedquarterly.com/

but they also are putting out this series of autobiographical books. The Jenkins is the latest of ten so far.

#73: Thanks for the info, Tui. I will check it out.

I've wishlisted Flanders, thanks Tui.

Congratulations on your hot review listed on today's home page!

I went and ordered it....and Corduroy as well. You are a baaaaad influence on me, Friend Tui. (Although I admit I was very near to acquiring A House in Flanders even before I read your review.)

Tui dear: Go here!

>68 tiffin:: That sounds like a wonderful book, Tui. I'll give it a try.

32. They Found Him Dead by Georgette Heyer



A easy summer mystery perfectly suited to hot weather.

33. Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve by Gioconda Belli



I read about this book in Belletrista and dashed off to the BookDepository on the basis of the Belle review. A small book but a fascinating exploration of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. This book is a chocolate truffle of ideas: dense, rich, to be savoured slowly and meltingly.

ETfix Belli's name: I left the i off the end

ET2: here's the wonderful Belletrista review that made me have to read this one:
http://belletrista.com/2010/issue6/reviews_5.php

Everyone seems to read Georgette Heyer. I never have. I wonder what I'm missing?

Anyway, the Bell book will require investigation. I'll go poke around Belletrista.

#80: I wonder how I overlooked the Bell book in Belletrista? Oh well, it is in the BlackHole now!

mea culpa: I left the i off the end of Belli's name. Fixed now. Tad, the Heyer was ok but nothing to rave about. I hadn't read one of her mysteries before. Perhaps others who read Heyer would know of better ones.

Heyer mysteries?

My personal favourite among Heyer's mysteries is Footsteps in the Dark. It's sometimes a bit silly (in the madcap, frivolous sense - it has a few moments that are somewhat Scooby-Doo-esque, though minus the dog), and I see that it doesn't score as well ratings-wise as some of her others.

I'm also very fond of The Unfinished Clue, which I think is an excellent mystery. It has a strong romance sub-plot, so if that's something that doesn't appeal then it might be better to go for a different title.

I think No Wind of Blame and Behold, Here's Poison are probably the best to start with: they're straightforward mysteries, well told.

ETA: while there are some that form loosely-connected series, they are only loosely connected, and reading them out of sequence wouldn't be a problem. The only exception to this is that They Found Him Dead ought to be read before Duplicate Death, because they deal with the same family and the latter has some spoilers for the former.

I definitely need to add Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand to my obese wish list. Thanks for the recommendation, Tui

Thanks, Caty. I'll keep a lookout for those titles in the local 2nd hand book shops.

You've been writing some compelling reviews, Tiffin. I think I might try one of those Heyer mysteries, too. Thanks.

34. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson



The fact that I read this book is another tribute to LibraryThing as I don't think I ever would have picked this up on my own. But several compelling reviews from readers whose opinion I have come to trust (including the one who mailed it to me!) have led me to spend several very enjoyable evenings between its covers.

Why wouldn't I have read it? Well first of all, the narrator, John Ames, is a Congregationalist preacher and normally this would have had me stepping backwards, arms stretched out, palms outward, with a stiff smile and a "see you later". But the mind of John Ames is one of the warmest, kindest places I've basked in in a long time. He tries - and for the most part succeeds - to be as tolerant and compassionate as he thinks his God would have him be. Secondly, it is very American and there is a certain kind of American lit that I just don't connect to (settling the west, Cold Mountain kind of stuff).

In Robinson's hands, the faith of John Ames is not a blind unquestioning adherence to a mean-spirited narrow path but a wide, searching, intelligent quest for relevance and meaning to provide cohesion between the scriptures he believes in and the life he lives. His sermons are carefully crafted, painstakingly researched and represent the best he can give his flock (who seem to love him) from his mind and heart. This I could respect and not feel repulsed by, for there is no strident proselytizing here.

And in fact the book isn't about his faith, although it does inform all his thoughts and actions. I wasn't far into this book when I realised that I was being given a vision of pure Americana, of an Iowa already fading into history when the book is set. Televisions are beginning to appear - I love Ames's take on them because he prefers the radio as more three dimensional, just as a book can often have more power than its movie because one's imagination gets a freer rein. A way of life is fading: simple old churches will be torn down, people will leave to find work elsewhere, its last remnants will die, like Ames and his friend Boughton.

John Ames, old and with a bad heart, has had two blessings arrive late in his life: a wife whom he loves with an astonishing passion and from that love, the greatest treasure of all, his son. "Gilead" is Ames's love letter to this son. He knows he won't be around too much longer and wants to leave his lad some piece of himself so that the boy will know him but also so he will know his history. He rambles, he digresses, he records and opines, and through all of it, this reader came to love him more and more. I didn't want the book to end because it meant he would end too. I want to think of him as frail but with that vital intelligence, alive somewhere out in Iowa, loving his wife in her blue dress and his son in his red shirt.

Beautiful writing, clean and spare. Highly recommended.

ET fix an awkward bit.

What a lovely lovely review, Tui. I wish I could have gathered my thoughts and impressions of this book so cogently. I felt it too much to put it into words, I think. Thank you for doing it for me. I passed my copy on to my Mom, and I expect her to react to it just as you and I have.

#88 What a great review! Thanks for reminding me that I really must pull this one out of the TBR pile soon!

Well thanks, Linda. It was a special book, wasn't it. And thanks as well, Caty. I can't see how anyone would regret reading this one. I gave it five stars because its emotional impact just went there for me.

I'm so happy to read your review, Tui, that I'd like to thumb it - so I'll go look. I appreciate your appreciation of the way Ames's faith informs his humanity. I didn't know whether that would happen, and other readers didn't seem to get it. I'm glad that you did and have the ability to write about it sensitively.
ETA: That's right. You aren't a thumb counter, are you? I do wish you'd make an exception and put this review with the book!

Wow...I don't think I can put into words how much I loved your review of Gilead, Tui. You've made me finally understand why this book is so highly regarded, and I will now get it and read it, which I hadn't planned to do before now.

I'm with Lizzie; your review is superb, and deserves to be read by anyone who is thinking of reading this book.

Beautiful review! Are you going to post that so I can "thumb" you?

Thank you, Peggy and Darryl. I didn't know whether or not my mentioning not enjoying heavily Christian lit would be the kind of thing I ought to say in a wider forum, so I just put my thoughts here, where only a select few would bother to read it. (I can't explain why I loved Milton's "Paradise Lost" so, unless it was that he was secretly of the Devil's party, as Blake claimed.)

I also couldn't figure out whether I should have a "by" after repulsed or if that would be ungrammatical. Sometimes the simplest points of grammar or spelling seem elusive these days. And no, Peggy, I'm not a thumb counter. I put these thoughts out for friends who drop by but also so I'll capture a book in those moments after reading it, to remember it better.

Absolutely wonderful review Tui. I think you captured the essence of the book so well and why it will be one of those books that holds up many, many years from now.

>88 tiffin:: Tui, that's a really lovely review. Like Linda (#89), you captured thoughts and feelings that I struggled to put into words. I especially appreciate the perspective you brought, reading it as a Canadian. Now you really must read Home. And personally I think it would be just fine to post this in the reviews -- people seem to be fairly candid there, whatever their beliefs.

>93 kidzdoc:: Darryl, do not pass GO, do not collect $200, get yourself to one of those fancy schmancy San Francisco bookshops and add this book to the gigantic pile you are stuffing into that extra suitcase.

Lovely review, Tui! I just brought that one home from the library so I will be reading it in the near future.

Bonnie, I agree with you: this book has staying power.
Laura, I intend to read Home. Very eager to read the Boughton side of things.
Stasia, I predict that you will love this book. In fact, I suspect it will knock your socks off!

#99: I will make sure and read it barefoot!

>100 alcottacre: No! No!! Wear socks so it doesn't knock your feet off!!!

I was just describing Gilead to my 90 year old mom, who used to be an avid reader but is now, sadly, blind. I said that as I got into the book I found myself eager to get back into it each night - almost yearning for it - as it was such a warm and kind place to be. I think as a society we are so burned out on the negative being pumped unrelentingly at us: the serial killers, the disasters, the war(s), the cruel and sick, the banal and the stupid. It felt like a balm to read about kindness and generosity of spirit, compassion and deep personal honesty, an affirmation that such things still actually exist. So I think I'm going to try to find it on a cd for her and get her a cd player so she can hear it.

Hey there Tui girl;
I, too, am on an Angela Thirkell rage this year. Love, love, loving her books and her writing style. They are a lot of fun.
I am right now in the midst, however of Home by Marilynne Robinson who wrote also Gilead that you were just speaking of. She is marvelous. I hadn't had time to read any of the Orange books for Orange July and I happened to have this one on my shelf so I grabbed it. Bloody wondrous, I say!~! I loved Gilead too.
Well, it is getting late but I did so want to pop in and say Hello to you and how much I am missing all of you.
Good reads & hugs to you Tui,
belva

#102: That sounds like a wonderful plan, Tui!

>102 tiffin:: It felt like a balm to read...
Have you ever heard the spiritual, There is a Balm in Gilead? I don't have time at the moment but am sure you can find it on YouTube, done by a choir. I absolutely love it (having sung it in a church choir in my younger days), and I suspect Robinson had it in mind when writing Gilead.

#105: How about Mahalia Jackson's version?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFMY4V7RdbU&feature=related

#106: I love it!

#105 You beat me to it, Laura. I had that song caught in my head most of the time while reading Gilead.

>106 alcottacre:: oh yeah. I'm rather partial to SATB choral arrangements, but that woman can SING.

#109: That's the truth!

#106 Oh, that's glorious.

>105 lauralkeet:: no, Laura, I hadn't heard it. The choir I sang in as a sprat tended to hymns like Jerusalem rather than spirituals, about which I know almost nothing.
>106 alcottacre:: thanks, Stasia. She sure had a set of pipes!

That really was a lovely, thoughtful, well-written review. Gilead probably isn't a book I would have sought out, either. (I'm religious, a pastor's wife, but I still don't tend to read a lot of "Christian" novels because so much of what passes as Christian literature today a)is too simplistic or b)is pushy and doesn't fit with my brand of theology or c)just isn't well-written d)any or all of the above. ) But you make Gilead sound absolutely refreshing! I shall seek it out!

Wow, Tui! That was a sparkling review!

Thumbed for fabulousness.

#102, It's nice to find such authors with those kind of stories......if you liked Gilead I would highly recommend the writing of Kent Haruf, Plainsong and Eventide are wonderful books of that type. While hard things happen in the stories, he writes about good people trying to help each other.

35. Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker



Link to my Review

There is this magic called The Spur of the Moment where one invents or creates (cruel people might call it lying) but in some people this gift is dangerous for their "Spurs" have the potential to become real. Norman Huntley and his father, Cornelius, are such folk and young Norman learns to his peril that this gift isn't one to be mucked about with.

Norman, with his friend Henry Beddow, think they are playing a silly game at an old church in Ireland, making up an 83 year old woman named Constance Hargreaves to dupe the Sexton but when they return to England, they soon learn that their imaginations have a potency they hadn't hitherto suspected. What was a joke becomes distressingly real and Norman, in particular, has to deal with the consequences of his Spur of the Moment and his unique gift. Miss Hargreaves, with her quirky poetry and astonishing hats, becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Much sweeter than Mary Shelley's monster, and yet with the same deadly ability to turn on her creator, "Connie" Hargreaves morphs into a somewhat terrifying creation when Norman gives her a title: Lady Hargreaves. He and Henry are forced to extreme measures to deal with their "monster". Baker's story is delightful. Much to think about concerning the power of the imagination and responsibility for the act of creation. Or not to think about at all, simply to enjoy as something unique and delightfully written.

>115 blackdogbooks:: BDB, you are the second person whose reading and reviews I enjoy who said that Plainsong was a good read. I've added it to my wishlist here. Thanks!

>113 tymfos:: Terri, I know exactly what you mean. I think Gilead works because it is an internal dialogue - or at least the private thoughts of a man to his son - so what the reader is getting is how his mind works, rather than a book trying to tell us how our minds should work.

#116: Nice review, Tui. I will have to look for that one. I do so love those Bloomsbury books.

>116 tiffin:: That one sounds good, Tui; I'll add it to the list.

116- Wishlisted, thanks!

Tui, just wanted you to know: I found and purchased an inexpensive copy of Gilead in a used bookstore I visited today! The book was at the top of my wishlist, thanks to your great review. I think it is just the sort of thing I want/need to read now -- next up as soon as I finish the novel I'm currently reading.

Terri, I will be very interested to know what you think of it.

36. Jane Austen by Carol Shields



I picked up this Penguin Lives series at the annual library book sale at Niagara on the Lake when I was visiting the Shaw Festival in July. A small book at 185 pages, it gives a good précis of Jane's life with some interesting insights into how she wrote and the events which shaped her. I wish to heavens her sister Cassandra hadn't destroyed the bulk of her letters from her Jane, though. It might stop some of the opining and conjecturing which goes on about Jane Austen, which somehow seems futile in the face of no evidence.

Carol Shields makes a note of the things which aren't in any of Jane's novels. One of these is religion and she wonders if it is because Jane was an unbeliever. No, I don't think so. I think it's because religion and church were just organic for Jane, not talked about because like kangaroos in Australia they were just there.

I wouldn't rush out to buy this if I hadn't scooped it for $2 but if your library carries it, it's worth a read.

#123: My local library does carry it, so I will probably read it next year when I plan on reading through all of Austen's books again.

37: The Uncommon Reader, A Novella by Alan Bennett



I'm probably the last person at LT to read this so I won't bother with a review, just a comment: what a pet of a book. I do hope the Queen read it.

#125: Glad you enjoyed it, Tui!

>125 tiffin:: Well my goodness, I could have sworn I heard about this book from you. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It's a real gem, the kind of thing you can take out and read again and again just as a pick-me-up.

Just added Gilead to my Kindle immediately after reading your review...

That's two additions to the Kindle TBR today alone!

Wonderfully put 'pet of a book' -- exactly.

38. Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami
Translated by Michael Emmerich



An advance galley so not yet for sale. I will be reviewing this for Belletrista so won't be saying anything about it at the moment. I will be saying a LOT about it for Belle.

#130: I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the book, Tui.

Ooh ... that's a teaser!

>125 tiffin: No, you are not the last person to read it. I really must get to it sometime soon.

Can you give us thumbs up or thumbs down, at least, Tui???

Up, CB, but with caveats. I really can't say more as this will be the heart of the review (currently burfolating in tiny brain).

"burfolating" is my new favorite word.

It's like percolating only with those blorp sounds.

#137: I think it is scary that I understand that!

Ooooh, I love that word. I only wish an editor somewhere would let me get away with using it!!!!

Burfolating, burfolating, burfolating.... Love it.

39. South Riding by Winifred Holtby



What a book! What a story! Rich with fascinating characters and their lives in a Yorkshire village, Holtby kept me enthralled for all 492 pages. Review to follow.

#140: I look forward to your review, Tui!

40. What is America? A Short History of the New World Order by Ronald Wright



This book should be compulsory reading for every high school student in North America, particularly Americans. It is, as the title states, a short history so it isn't all encompassing in its analysis. But I think it would be an enormous wake-up for many Americans who have idealised and glossed over their history, who have bought into the myths of that history, or who simply don't know it.

As an LT reviewer, shawjonathan said in his review: "And at times it’s very hard to read, not because it’s poorly written – on the contrary, the writing is clear, passionate, engaging - but because the story is so hideous." Yes, at times, but for the most part I found it incredibly illuminating and instructive.

Ronald Wright is a Canadian author whom I have had the pleasure of meeting - and hosting - when he was our guest writer at the Writers' Reading Series at the university where I worked. A charming man, he is also brilliant and something of a modern philosopher who found his niche as a writer despite his training as an anthropologist/archaeologist. I say "despite"...perhaps I really mean "because of". His earlier book, Stolen Continents remains one of the best books I have ever read on the subject of the effects on the indigenous peoples of the ruthless colonisation of North and South America by the Europeans. So I picked up "What is America?" out of a kind of loyalty but have ended up enormously grateful for the education I have received in reading it.

There is much in this book which explains our often puzzling neighbours to the south of us. Sometimes we Canadians just don't get what on earth is going on down there, who these people are who talk like us, look like us, but who don't seem to think like us a lot of the time. Enlightening and recommended.

>142 tiffin: And onto the wishlist it goes! Thanks, Tui!

Verrrry interesting.

>144 lauralkeet: I just heard Arte Johnson in my head for the first time in nigh on 40 years!

So funny...

#142: Tracking down a copy even as I type. . .

>145 richardderus:: oh my goodness, Richard, that was completely unintentional! But the phone rang a few minutes ago, and it was Ernestine! "Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?" :)

One ring-a-dingy, two ring-a-dingys..........

when I type *snort*, I am doing her snort in my mind.

Ronald Wright is a great writer -- very fresh voice. I've read some of his tks to a former bf; now have A Short History of Progress sitting on Mt. TBR and glaring at me accusingly...

As Nixon once said, "Sock it to ME?!"

Loooved that show. Even bought the DVDs once, but they were Mysteriously Gone one day and my daughter started following my references. I have my suspicions.

>151 Chatterbox:: I have that one sitting here too, CB. Tempted to dive right into it, ackshully. Was standing in front of about 200+ books TBR last night, thinking "I don't have anything to read". How pathetic is that. Like someone with wall-to-wall clothes not having anything to wear. But nothing was grabbing me.

>142 tiffin:: Sometimes we Canadians just don't get what on earth is going on down there, who these people are who talk like us, look like us, but who don't seem to think like us a lot of the time.

*sigh* Sometimes, Tui, we Americans just don't get what is going on here, either. I've added the book to my list because, while it's often humiliating, I do like reading outside perspectives on us.

#154: Ditto.

#154 And again.

>154 TadAD:: Tad, I certainly wasn't thinking of my reading, thinking Amurcan acquaintances here. And I do know from having listened to very dear American friends how confusing and frustrating it all is.

Wright doesn't set out to humiliate but he doesn't pull his punches about demythologising American history (he touches on Canadians too but we're a heckuva lot smaller population-wise and we didn't expand the same way America did). And he gives credit where it is solidly due, so there were some good moments. He is ironing out the wrinkles of American history so that the garment can be seen for what it is.

The Halloween thread is up.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/98082&newpost=1#lastmsg

41. A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright



I found this fascinating. And at times terrifying, at others depressing (the human race really stinks, doesn't it?), at times profoundly wise. But mostly fascinating. I think this is an important book and am very grateful for the CBC Massey Lectures for bringing it to my attention. I'm tempted to write something sweeping like "if you love this planet, you should read this book" because it has made that deep of an impression on me ...the quotation from the Globe and Mail (a Canadian national newspaper) on the back says: "I don't care if you have never read and will never read any kind of book at all, but you must read this one." It does that to you.

Only 132 pages long (minus the endnotes, which are copious but worth reading too). It was a #1 bestseller in Canada.

The 7th issue of Belletrista is up now so here's a link to my review of Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami:
http://belletrista.com/2010/issue7/reviews_15.php

#157/158: Both of those look good, Tui! Thanks for the recommendations.

42: A Cab at the Door by V.S. Pritchett



My Review

Victor Sawdon Pritchett was born in 1900 and died in 1997. That period covers two world wars, landing on the moon, the birth control pill--in other words, a remarkable condensation of technological achievement encompassing the fledgling days of the industrial revolution, space and cyberspace. This autobiography focuses on his extraordinary childhood. Eventually he would become a highly respected English writer with “Sir” before his name but he didn’t shun his humble beginnings. In fact, he used them as fodder for his writing.

His father, Walter, was a strutting popinjay of a man who indulged his taste for fine clothes to the point of dandyism, pursuing his dreams relentlessly no matter how many times they flopped, and demanding to be above criticism by his family no matter how many times he let them down. The cab of the title had to be called to the door umpteen times to move this unfortunate (and ever growing) family because of his unpaid bills and mismanaged finances. But “father never gives up” so this little tyrant clung to both his dreams and his iron control over his family.

V.S.'s mother, Beatrice, was a Cockney born and bred, full of imagination, humour, laughter, music and fun, yet given to tremendous anxiety and moments of despair. How could she not, tethered to Walter and ground down by him and their circumstances. She would be reduced to helpless laughter by the word “bloomers” but the planes attacking London had her spinning in mindless terror, clutching her children to her. She would tear down curtains and sew slapdash pants for her sons. She never could cook but she gamely tried. Yet her focus was on Walter, so that V.S. could never entirely count on her support for himself. He loved her but he could call her “shifty”.

Reading of his childhood, youth and adolescence was like finding a lost novel by Dickens. Despite trips up to Yorkshire at various times, the real heart of the story was in London with its curry coloured fogs, horses and cars comingling in the streets to provide noise and danger, schoolyards full of fighting, brawling boys and shrieking, slapping girls. His stint in the Bermondsey leather trade was remarkable with its insight into the factory trade but even more interesting for the characters who worked there.

At times it felt as though the story wasn’t being told by a writer who was polishing his verbs and setting his adjectives a’twinkle but by a man exhilarated himself by the memories rushing out of him, eager to get them out swiftly because there was another wave of them waiting to dash on to memory’s beach, his pen barely able to keep up.

A lovely little book in a gem of a publication by Slightly Foxed (I do love built-in ribbon bookmarks). Recommended.

Tui, great review of Manazuru! Did I miss your review of South Riding? No pressure, but I would like to see it. (Looking at the posts above, I have to ask whether Huggins's wife with the hairnet made you think about Gladys Ormsby (?) from "Laugh-In.")

Tui

I'm adding A Short History of Progress to the tbr pile.

Great review!

Hi Peggy: I haven't written it yet. There was so much to say about it that I kind of jammed up. And no, Gladys Ormsby didn't cross my mind. Not once!
Hi Linda: Thank you!

I love built-in ribbon bookmarks too! :)

Oh, good. My local library has a copy of The Cab at the Door. Thanks for the recommendation, Tui!

I'm a big Pritchett fan, will have to look for this bio! Marvelous review.

>166 BookAngel_a:: they don't fall out when you fall asleep reading!
Stasia, I think you'll like it. And thanks, sib...his dad just had me shaking my head at times.

Wow Tui, what a great review of Manazuru. That's definitely a book I'm going to keep my eyes out for. Thank you for the recommendation.

What is a "built-in ribbon" bookmark?

Thanks, wee camel...it's deffo not everyone's taste but I just dug in because I had to review it and in the end it got through to me.
Whisp, you know those books that have a ribbon sewn into the spine so that you can use it as a bookmark? A lot of older books have them. I don't know why but they are often dark blue. That's a built-in ribbon bookmark.

I don't know why, but I always think the ribbon bookmarks are such a nice touch.

The Pritchett sounds interesting and it's dutifully added to the TBR pile.

43. Not That Sort of Girl by Mary Wesley



Exactly the kind of book to read with insomnia: interesting characters including two to hate soundly, light but not light weight, lots of sexy bits which were appropriate to the story and not merely to titillate, and interesting themes of true love, the test of time, marrying a good man for the wrong reasons, and finally getting it right. Somewhat Pymish in its lack of sentimentality with the same kind of eagle eye.

174- I just got that book from bookmooch! Now...when will I actually READ it? Lol...

#174: As I am a Pym fan, I will be looking for Not That Sort of Girl. Thanks for the recommendation, Tui.

I am crazy about Mary Wesley and so impressed with all she did with such a late start.

And I own some Mary Wesley but haven't gotten to her. Thanks for the nudge!

I think she was about 70 when her first novel came out! They are so crisp and unblinking, so well-written and funny. A little more unbuttoned than Pym -- a little less nasty than Spark, and I like too that many characters turn up from book to book -- for that reason you might want to read them starting with the first published one. Not that it really matters, but it might. I read them as I got them. She is a writer I do intend to reread. And I don't do much rereading.

Have almost finished her Camomile Lawn now. Yes, "unbuttoned" is a perfect term...I was thinking of her insight into people's characters when I said Pymish. I think she was 72 when her first book got published - gives us hope! She does champion the older woman, doesn't she.

Lucy, you can't know how it warms the heart of the aging novelist to hear of Wesley's late (reaaallly late) start! *sad sigh* For one as old as I am, doddering really, the grave yawning open before me and one foot on a banana peel, it's a tiny ray of sunshine in an otherwise rain-slicked world.

You and Tui will find out one day. It will happen to y'all too.

#181 Listen, young man, you cut that out. I know what birthday you just celebrated. It does not entitle you to make old man noises.

And I've got a decade plus on you, whippersnapper, so shut yer cake 'ole, as they say in London.

*sigh* if only the novels I write between my ears could magically transfer themselves to paper, I'd be deemed prolific.

*adjusts bifocals* darn these things, can't see from 'em no matter what

Eh? What's that? Speak up! Darn kids always mumbling, didn't their parents teach 'em how to talk?

Actually, I was under the impression that it was Richard's second or third celebration of that particular birthday. Maybe not.

*sigh* if only the novels I write between my ears could magically transfer themselves to paper, I'd be deemed prolific.

Truer words were never spoken.

Well, Bonnie, he'll probably never tell us the truth, without torture.

Look, I've seen pictures. No way is that man anything but an antiquity wannabe. You need not practice, Richard; it will come!
Meanwhile, I'm off to see what Mary Wesley I do own. (And I'd better get cracking if I'm to make my first novel appear at 70 or whatever.) (I wish.) (I do wish.)

I'm a Mary Wesley fan as well. My first of her books was Harnessing Peacocks and the Camomile Lawn was the 2nd straight after. I've still got Second Fiddle in my TBR Tower ... and I'd forgotten, so thanks for reminding me that I have another delight to get to. I've not yet read Not That Kind of Girl but will be adding that to my obese wish list.

Oops..forgot, I've also read The Vacillations of Poppy Carew and A Sensible Life.

44. The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley



No review at the moment but this was really, really good.

LT is doing weird things to me today!

Off to see if the local library has anything by Mary Wesley.

I suspect La Wesley will make it onto my wishlist after I'm done being stubborn.

Richard -- just so thee knows I am quite a few years older than thee. Like six. (Unless you were celebrating a 'forever' 50 in the style of Zsa-Zsa.) Nevertheless I am thrilled you think I'm younger than you, of course!

OK I'm getting the idea that I should try something by Mary Wesley. Off to see what my library has by her.

Whoopeee... another to the Mary Wesley fan club. Welcome Tui. :-)

I'm definitely going on the hunt for more of her books but I think it would be hard to top the Camomile Lawn. She's writing in an era of England that I love reading about, in this case just before and during WWII.

You are only as old as you think. If you think young, open and fresh, you are. Which is one of the charms of Mary Wesley, the play between the generations with the young 'uns thinking people in their 40s are old and later the thoughts of the old ones being so young, although their bodies no longer are. Good stuff.

Hi Tui
I've been looking for this thread for nine months (not really). Anyway, very pleased that I have found it. Interested to see the books which you've given a high rating.

Would you characterize Wesley's books as romances?...as historical fiction? I'm trying to get a handle on them from the reviews and they won't come into focus. I've never read any Pym, so that doesn't help. Is she D. E. Stevenson-ish?

Wesley has the same kind of eagle eye for detail about people that Pym has, not missing a thing. But she isn't as genteel as Pym. "Unbuttoned" is a perfect word as she is unblinking about people's sexuality and sexual antics...at least in the two books of hers I've read. She writes of an England between the wars, coping with the results of WWI or with the reality of WWII. So fiction but with the experience brought to the writing of a lived reality. Yes, there is romance, but it isn't easy for her characters...kind of like real life *wink*. Both books have covered much of a person's lifetime, taking them into solid middle-age. No, she isn't particularly D.E. Stevenson-ish...not the same use of humour. She has her own voice, Tad, and tells a good story. I think that's what I like the best about her writing, the good story bit.

>200 tiffin:: Thanks, Tui. Maybe I'll give The Camomile Lawn and try and see.

Perfectly put, Tui. And Wesley is so unsentimental and funny and acerbic in a loving way. There is often an older widowed (or divorced with grown up children) woman in the story who LOVES being alone at last, free to do as she pleases with her day and not wait on anybody. In one I think a son wanted to move back in and she has to discourage him and it's very funny and real. Oh, I can relate to that when my teenaged daughter bellows "Mmmmmoooooooooommmmmm!!!!" like there is a huge emergency. And just wants to know where the nail clippers are.

45. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West



This was a fascinating look at England at the end of one era as it takes its fledgling steps into the next one, as the effects of the industrial revolution were beginning to make themselves felt in the ancient feudal bastions of the upper class. Young Sebastian, Duke of Chevron, and his sister Viola, have taken the measure of their mother's world and found it sorely wanting. But tradition and duty have a stranglehold effect on this entire class, both from the desire to keep their wealth and privilege, and from extreme inertia. Their shallow, trivial lives no longer serve the purpose they once did as the source for sustenance for everyone below them on the ladder. Young men no longer want to follow their father and grandfather as the Duke's carpenter but head off to be mechanics.

As an insider in this upper echelon, Vita Sackville-West was in a perfect position to reveal its workings, foibles and uselessness. And yet there is a tremendous wistfulness for a way of life passing, for a kind of beauty which will never come again in a place like Chevron - essentially a small town of its own with its own industry and the connection of its people. It was precisely this insider understanding which held me fascinated, more so than for the story itself. The characters were almost secondary to her exploration of how the whole thing worked and what was going to happen to all of it.

Viola shoots straight as an arrow to where she means to be next but Sebastian, who makes some unfortunate choices despite his intelligence and good heart, will he be able to bridge the transition between the feudal world and the world edging its way in without losing himself in the process? Full marks to Vita for her characterisations, particularly of those who worked at the tasks which kept Chevron running and of the women of the upper crust. Of the latter:
She marvelled at the uniformity of their appearance: tall or short, stout or thin, young or old, there was an indefinable resemblance, something in the metallic glance of the eye, the hard line of the mouth, the movement of the hands with their many rings and bangles. This glance of the eye was peculiar; although penetrating, it had something of the deadness of a fish's eye; glassy, as though a slight film obscured the vision; and the eyelids moreover were sharply cut, as though a narrowing tuck had been taken in them, still further robbing the eyes of any generosity they might once have possessed. Good stuff!

Oh, well said, Tui!

Indeed! I read this years ago and feel chagrined that I don't remember it better.

#203: Sounds like very good stuff, Tui! Thanks for the review and recommendation.

I love Vita S-W. This one looks good. Thanks, Tui!

Sounds excellent. Ashamed to say I have never read any VSW, but I do own one of her novels.

I have The Edwardians in the TBR pile: I shall have to move it up nearer the top.

I've had The Camomile Lawn sitting on my shelf for years, as well as one of Wesley's other books, title slipping my mind at the moment. I'm definitely going to have to give one or both a read soon.

Just popping in to say hello!

Tui, any Twelfth Night allusions in that Sackville-West book?? Just based on the names of the characters, it seems likely...

I MUST read Mary Wesley, and will hare off to Paperbackswap and Amazon in search of tomes as soon as I finish this post. Must also now read the Ronald Wright book!!

I completely, enthusiastically agree with you on the CBC Massey lectures. They are gems. I have tried to get hold of the written versions of as many of them as possible -- think I have one by Michael Ignatieff here. For those who aren't in Canada, go to Amazon.ca and just type in CBC Massey lectures, and you'll find an amazing array of short books on fascinating themes.

OK, have ordered a bunch of Mary Wesley books from Paperbackswap, and looked her up on Wikipedia. I was immediately convinced I needed to read her books by the following:
"Late in life Wesley ordered her own coffin from a local craftswoman and asked it be finished in red Chinese lacquer. She kept it as a coffee table for some time in her sitting room. She suggested that she was photographed sitting up in it for a feature in the magazine Country Living - it was politely declined."

>213 Chatterbox:: One Of Us! She was a spunky gal, if her writing is any indication.

CB, I was so busy absorbing VS-W's perspective on the titled and privileged that I didn't pay any attention to the Twelfth Night possibilities. They might be there but I didn't catch them (apart from the names).

ETA: halloooo Terri. Aruba, I think you just might like her. And thanks Richard, Stas, Laura, Amanda. Sib, it's worth a reread.

I read Mary Wesley's books when they first came out, and for some reason didn't keep them. I've ended up buying or mooching most of them recently and plan to reread them at some point. I also want to read the biography of her I own, Wild Mary by Patrick Marnham (the touchstone for this originally came up as Wild Animals).

Just checking in---is this your current thread? Whatcha been readin?

>216 laytonwoman3rd:: here's a more recent thread: Tiffin Four.

Thanks, Laura. I had that one starred, but I still couldn't find it!