March 2023 Wrap Up

Books Read:
No physical books this month, though I have been reading quite a good one that I'll be able to report on in April.

Audio Books Completed:

As is apparent, this month I have been indulging in a binge reread of the Russell/Holmes series. 

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King (1995)  4/5 stars

When I first read this in 2018, I gave it three stars, saying that it was still like fan-fiction and was so slow to start that I nearly abandoned it.  While I still agree with the first statement, I disagree with the later.  I enjoyed this immensely this time around, and found the gradual build-up of plot to be most satisfying.  Perhaps it's because it's a second reading (though I remembered very little about it), or maybe it's because I've become used to King's style over the years, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King (1996)  4/5 stars

Laurie R. King

I also first read this third in the series in 2018, gave it three stars, commented that the writing had greatly improved but said that I was disappointed with the ending.  The writing is considerably better than the previous two, but I wasn't let down by the denouement this time.  Granted, the mystery itself wasn't as exciting as earlier ones, but it is still intelligent, interesting, and compelling.  I was completely invested in the characters and fully engaged in the plot, despite the obvious solution.  As a result, I've raised my rating to four stars.  

The Moor by Laurie R. King (1998)  4/5 stars

In this entertaining mystery-adventure, King skillfully blends her original ideas with both canon Holmes and historical fact, creating an interesting, engrossing story.  I enjoyed this reread just as much, despite remembering some of the plot.

O, Jerusalem by Laurie R. King (1999)  4/5 stars

I skipped this one after a few chapters my first time reading the series, because I didn't think I would be interested in it.  Then, when I started the next book (Justice Hall, see below), characters from O, Jerusalem featured and I regretted my decision.  This read through, though, I did not skip it and I ended up loving it!  It fills out an adventure alluded to in the very first book, when Russell was still Holmes' apprentice. They ventured to Palestine on a mission for Mycroft, and became involved in a most dangerous adventure.  This is a vibrant story, full of interesting characters, well-written suspense, and darn fine storytelling.  Once again, King weaves her original character with both world history and Holmes' canon into a believable fabric.  By this time in her career, King's books are polished, much less like fanfiction, and completely enjoyable.

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King (2002)  5/5 stars

This one knocked my socks off when I first read it and I think I loved it even more this time.  It's not so much a "novel of suspense" as is general with the Russell/Holmes series, as it is the story of families -- the love, pride, and devotion engendered by family members, family history, and family name.   World War I features largely; it's an area of great appeal to me, which no doubt added to my enjoyment, but may lessen that of other readers without said interest.  I found it engrossing, moving, and deeply satisfying; it's definitely one of my favorites of the series.

Note: I recommend this series whole-heartedly for fans of Holmes or historical mystery, but strongly recommend reading them in published order.

Shelf Control: Penelope Fitzgerald

  Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Literary Potpourri to discuss unread books sitting in our to-be-read piles.

For today's Shelf Control, I'm featuring my matched set of six of Penelope Fitzgerald's novels. Fitzgerald (1916-2000) was a well-respected English novelist.  She was nominated for the Booker Prize for The Bookshop, and later won for Offshore.   She was also given the Golden PEN Award for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature" in 1999. 

Many years ago, I read The Bookshop, and I remember thinking it to be an excellent, if somewhat sad, character study. When I saw these at our local used bookstore last year, I recognized her name and was struck by the beautiful copies, so I grabbed them.  I've been planning on rereading The Bookshop first but have yet to do so.

Reviews of The Bookshop are somewhat mixed on Goodreads so I'm interested to see what I think of it now, some twenty years after my first reading.  Have any of you read a novel by Fitzgerald?  Would you recommend it? 

Word of the Week: Etymology of Cole Slaw

 *"Word of the Week" is a meme hosted by the Plain-Spoken Pen on Mondays in which we share a word that we find entertaining, enlightening, edifying, or just plain fun to say! 

I'm back to etymology this week.

We have relatives coming into town over Easter weekend, and thinking about that led me to thinking about feeding them, which led me to thinking about take-out, which led me to thinking about side dishes, which led me to cole slaw.  

I live in the Southern US, and slaw (as we call it) is a staple side dish for potlucks, picnics, funeral meals, and family get-togethers. It's highly popular when served with another Southern staple, barbeque. 

In my part of the world cole slaw is mainly just shredded cabbage (green or red or a mix) and shredded carrots mixed with mayonnaise and your choice of seasoning, usually black pepper, maybe some dried mustard, and/or a little sugar.  Other regional recipes are made with vinegar/vinaigrette instead, or some sort of salad dressing, or even sour cream, with spices and additions varying widely.

Personally, I hate the stuff.  But that's a nonissue here.

Why, I wondered, is the dish called "cole slaw"?  Perhaps a corruption of "cold"? But where'd the "slaw" part come from?  The internet to the rescue.

Cole slaw, it seems, has Dutch roots, with the world "cole" coming from the word "kool" (cabbage).  "Slaw" comes from "salade" (salad), shortened to "sla".  The two combined sometime in the 18th century to form "koolsla", around which time the dish was brought to the US and the name changed to "coleslaw" or "cole slaw" depending on where you live.

Not particularly exciting, as far as etymology goes, but interesting all the same because cabbage is not native to North America, and yet was widely used enough by the 18th century to be a popular dish.

Oh, you want to know more about that cabbage, you say?  Well, I'll tell you!

It's an ancient plant, probably domesticated before 1000 B.C.  It was extremely popular in Europe by the High Middle Ages (roughly 1000-1300 A.D.). During the 17th and 18th century cabbage became a staple in many of the more northern European countries.  The Low Countries and Germany began to pickle it as a scurvy preventative around the same time (sauerkraut).  French explorer Jacque Cartier brought it over in the mid-1500s, and it was popular enough here that cole slaw was a popular dish by the mid-to-late 1700s.

So, now that you know far more about cole slaw and cabbages than you ever wished, what side dish is a staple for your part of the world?  And did you find any words of interest this past week?

Six For Sunday: Yellow

Six for Sunday is a feature by Steph at A Little But A Lot

This week's  Six for Sunday  topic is "yellow books".  What a cheerful springy color!  I know I could have picked any yellow tomes, but I wanted to be able to share a photo, so I used books I own.

1.  The Whispering Rabbit and Other Stories: Margaret Wise Brown, author; Garth Williams, illustrator (1965)
I'm reusing this book from last week's post, because it was the first one to pop into my mind.  Despite it's well-loved condition, that lovely yellow cover is still bright and cheerful!

2.  Men of Iron by Howard Pyle (1891)
This 1919 edition came from the library's used book sale back in the late 1980s.  The dust jacket is cracking a bit at the spine, but otherwise, it's still in good shape and quite yellow.

3.  The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier (1965)
The color of this original 1965 dust jacket didn't photograph well, but it's a rich goldish-yellow.  Du Maurier is one of my favorite authors.  Her unique plots, excellent writing, and talent for twists make her books fascinating, engrossing, and sometime even unsettling.

4.  Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)

This is the 1986 Oxford Pocket Classics edition, a nice range of yellows.  I've never read this book, nor seen a movie version, so I only know what I've picked up through reference in other works.  I don't know that I will ever be moved to read it, but I love this little edition.

5.  The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden (1977)
This lovely little volume is the posthumous printing of British artist Holden's 1906 nature journal, gorgeously illustrated with her drawings.  My 1982 copy is a softcover of a pastel shade of yellow.

6.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby  (1997)
Bauby's haunting memoir tells of the stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome. He dictated it, letter by letter, by blinking his one responsive eye when his helper spoke the correct next letter.  I was so moved by it, that I gifted it to everyone that year I read it.

So, there are six lovely yellow books from my shelves -- do you own any or have any favorites of that shade?

Book Blogger Hop: Are books a must-have in your home?

  The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly feature hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  A bookish prompt is given, for the dual purpose of giving the blogger a topic to discuss, and a way to find other book blogs to read and follow.

Today, the Book Blogger Hop question is: "Are books a must-have in your home?"  Well, yes.

Erasmus by Dürer 

I grew up having my own bookcase, and by early teen years it was overflowing.  When we moved to a new house when I was in high school, I was given larger shelves, and I filled them full that very first year with a trip to the library used book sale. That's the point when I fell in love with antique books, vintage paperbacks and any book, in fact, old or odd. My husband is a reader as well, and our first conversation about finances was me telling him that I didn't care how much we spent on books  -- we'll work around any thing else after books.  After all, as Erasmus said:

When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.

That's how our marriage started more than twenty years ago, when we combined our two libraries.  Now. . .  Well, here are two of our shelves.  The one on the left side of the hall is nonfiction; the right side is fiction.  As you can see, we are totally out of space there, and our other rooms have full smaller shelves as well.

So, yes, books are a must-have.  In fact, despite our current wealth of books, we went to the county library's annual used book sale yesterday, and came home with a nearly complete matched set of 1909-1910 Harvard Classics, missing just two of the fifty volumes.  I had to empty two shelves in the living room to accommodate them, but it was worth it!

  

Shelf Control: Alva, That Vanderbilt-Belmont Woman

 Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Literary Potpourri to discuss unread books sitting in our to-be-read piles.

 

I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, the home of George Vanderbilt's castle, the Biltmore House.  History interested me at an early age, as did the fairy tale aspect of Biltmore, so I loved visiting and learning about it from preteen age and up.  In my mid-twenties, my workplace was a few minutes away, so I kept a season pass and on my lunch break would spend twenty minutes driving the three mile Approach Road (landscaped by Fredrick Law Olmstead), past the house, and back out, while eating my sandwich and just soaking in the atmosphere.

On one of my many trips to the Estate shops, sometime back in the late 90s, I bought Alva, That Vanderbilt-Belmont Woman: Her Story as She Might Have Told It, about Vanderbilt's sister-in-law.  I don't know much about Alva (1853-1933), other than that she was both a multi-millionaire and a women's suffrage advocate, that she divorced William Vanderbilt on the grounds of adultery at a time when divorce was scandalous, and that she was apparently a strong-minded, opinionated, and out-spoken woman.  She seems so interesting that I was quite looking forward to learning more.

The book cover calls it the "first biography of one of America's richest and most powerful women", so I bought it expecting a true biography, and was disappointed to discover later that it's written in the first-person, and therefore actually fiction.  

So the question is, will I ever read it?  I don't know.  The Goodreads reviews are mixed, it's over 300 pages long, it's not a actually a biography, and life is short -- so probably not. Regardless, it's full of photos which makes it interesting to browse.  

How about you?  What books of interest are on your TBR?

Top Five Wednesday: Biographies

This week's Top Five Wednesday challenge is "biographies".  I love biographies, especially those featuring more than one person (though I seem to do more collecting them than reading them).  Here are five that I own that are calling to me the loudest.

• Sisters of Fortune: America’s Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad by Jehanne Wake (2010)
  Regency England has long been a period of history that interested me, so this one is extremely appealing.  These four sisters, despite English prejudice against both Americans and Catholics, made a success of themselves in Regency Society due to their intelligence, beauty, and charm.  Wake makes extensive use of their letters, which as the sisters were apparently "lively and opinionated", should make this one great fun.
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
• Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox (2011)
  Katherine, first wife of Henry VIII, and Juana, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, were the daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.  They both experienced tragedy and hardship, and, while generally glossed over in history as "wronged wife" (Katherine) and "mad queen" (Juana), were apparently both full of character, intelligence and deep conviction. I have a general knowledge of Katherine, but know nothing about Juana, so I expect to find this one quite interesting.
  
  
• Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser (2004)
  Another joint biography of sisters, this one also makes use of correspondence to give a voice to these "handsome, accomplished, extremely well-educated women".  I know a good deal about their brother, George (first the Prince Regent, then King George IV), but I have never read anything about them.  Again, it's a particular era of interest for me, so I know that this one will be enjoyable.
  
  
  
  
• The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak (2022)
  This one is about Brunhild and Fredegund, sisters-in-law and rivals, who ruled realms during in sixth-century Merovingian France.  I know very little about Europe before Charlemagne, so I had never heard of these queens.  Discovering little-known but influential historical figures is something I truly enjoy.
  
  
• The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser (1988)
  Fraser, whom I greatly admire, explores a wide selection of female rulers throughout history and across the world who have led their nations in war.  While I'm familiar with some, I'm not at all with many, so I expect this to be a fascinating read.
  
  
  
  
  

How about you?  Do you like biographies?  Have you read any of these or have any to recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday: Less Than 2000 Goodreads Ratings

Today's Top Ten Tuesday * topic is the free choice of a prior TTT topic.  I'm choosing "books I loved with fewer than 2,000 ratings on Goodreads", because I featuring my lesser known favorites is always a pleasure.

1. Modern Instances by Ella D'arcy (1898) 5/5 stars 
   1 Goodreads rating (and that one is mine)
   I featured this one last month, but it's so good it's worth another mention.  My 2011 glowing review is here, so I'll just note that her short fiction is fantastic. 
   
   
2.  Thirty Odd Feet Below Belgium: An Affair Of Letters In The Great War, 1915-1916 by Arthur Stockwin (2005) 5/5 stars
   9 Goodreads ratings
   Over the past twenty years, my previous interest in World War II has turned to an absolute passion for World War I.  This small volume is a sweet, poignant, heartbreaking tale of that Great War, told through personal letters. I found it enlightening, engrossing, and memorable.
   
   
3. Birthday Party by C.H.B. Kitchen (1938)  5/5 stars
   26 Goodreads ratings
   I just recently read this one (here's my review), so I'll just say it was fantastic, but only for a certain niche of readers.
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Black Iris by Constance and Gwyneth Little (1953) 4/5 stars
   28 Goodreads ratings
   Constance and Gwenyth Little were sisters who co-wrote mystery novels during the 1940s-50s. Channeling the popular humor of the time, these books are screwball comedies with a fast pace, witty dialogue, and bizarre plots. I've yet to read one that disappointed me, though some are, of course, better than others.  This one is a good example of their craft, and would be a fine one to start with for those new to these authors.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. The Killer and the Slain by Hugh Walpole (1942) 5/5 stars
   41 Goodreads ratings
   This is quite a book!  My full review of this disturbing, tense, and uneasy read is here.  It won't be for everyone, but it was stellar to me.
   
   
6. Trying Neaira: The True Story Of A Courtesan's Scandalous Life In Ancient Greece by Debra Hamel (2003) 5/5 stars
   92 Goodreads ratings
   Disclaimer: Deb is a friend of mine.  Despite that, I'd still love this book -- it's a well-written, witty, and easily accessible nonfiction account of Neaira, a prostitute in 4th century Athens, and the trial that set out to defame her patron.  If you have absolutely no interest in the judicial system of Athens, no fear!  I didn't either, and yet, I found this surprisingly fun, full of sly humor and bizarre trivia.  My full review is here.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Chasing the Rose by Andrea di Robilant (2014)  5/5 stars
   245 Goodreads ratings
   This is a well-written and graceful memoir about roses, both historical and horticultural.  My full review is here.
   
   
   
   
   
8. When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1909)  4/5 stars
   293 Goodreads ratings
   My review of this laugh-out-loud funny novel is here.  For those that enjoy turn-of-the-twentieth-century prose, this comedy is a must.
   
   
9. The Householder by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1960) 5/5 stars
   323 Goodreads ratings|
   I absolutely adored this coming-of-age story; it needs more love!  My full review is here.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim  (1920) 4/5 stars
    930 Goodreads ratings
    This is a compelling and gripping thriller which I enjoyed immensely.  My full review is here.

What about you?  Do you have any much-loved but lesser-known gems to recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Word of the Week: Antepenultimate

I can remember the first time I heard the word "penultimate".  It was on my tenth-grade vocabulary list one week, and I was scornful of it.  I wanted to know why in the world it would be needed when "the next to the last" would work just as well.  My teacher just smiled and shook her head and told me it would have it's uses. She was right -- since then, I've used it who-knows-how-many times.  It's a wonderful word!

Saturday, my husband popped his head up from the book he was reading to say "antepenultimate, hmm" in a musing tone.   I knew immediately what the word meant, but I had never encountered it.  What a super fantastic addition to my vocabulary!  

How about you -- did you already know it?  And have you heard any other great words or phrases this past week?

*"Word of the Week" is a meme hosted by the Plain-Spoken Pen on Mondays in which we share a word that we find entertaining, enlightening, edifying, or just plain fun to say! 

Six for Sunday: Animals

This week's  Six for Sunday * topic is "books with animals". Now, here's a little fact about me: exposure to Charlotte's Web as a preschooler cured me of any tendency toward wanting to read a book about an animal, and the required reading of Old Yeller in elementary school put the seal on it.  So, if you're looking for a list of those kinds of animal books, you'll not find them here.  Instead, here are six cheerful books, all favorites from my childhood, filled with animals that don't die -- because when it comes to fauna, I do not want to cry.

1.  Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (1926)

Pooh Bear doesn't need any introduction or explanation.  The complete copy was a gift from a college friend, but the little boxed set was a preschool age Christmas gift from Mom.

2.  The Pig Who Saw Everything written and illustrated by Dick Gackenbach (1978)

Oh my gosh, you guys, I love this book!  I've had this same copy since I was in kindergarten, and it's quite well-loved.  The best part is when the pig sees the truck leaking oil and calls it "oozy droppings".  I'm dying laughing over here just typing it, and you are all just looking at me, eyebrows raised, heads shaking, saying "ooooooh-kay". . .  Just trust me, it's the best exploration book ever!

3.   The Whispering Rabbit and Other Stories: Margaret Wise Brown, author; Garth Williams, illustrator (1965)

I have loved this book so much for so long.  Mom got it for me from the library's used book sale when I was quite young, and I've had to work hard to keep the pages from falling out. There are several poems and two stories all of which are great, especially the one when the little duck throws a little rock, but Williams' illustrations make them even better.

4.  The Bat-Poet: Randall Jarrell, author; Maurice Sendak, illustrator (1964)

Here's another one that came from the library's used book sale when I was a child, and is quite possibly the reason I love bats so much. This is an illustrated chapter book about a bat who sees things differently from his colony, and how he learns to express himself.  Oh, it's a beautiful, beautiful book!

5.  A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (1958)

I got this in my Easter basket one year, and wore it out reading it over and again.  (This is a second copy.)  I can't make it through the grapefruit-in-the-eye incident without guffawing, even when trying to read it out loud.  What a great book!

6.  Mystery in the Night Woods: Jon Peterson, author; Cyndy Szekeres, illustrator (1969)
Yet another from the used book sale, and one more reason for my love of bats.  This illustrated chapter book is a set of connected short stories about the anthropomorphic residents of the wood, focusing particularly on Flying Squirrel and his friend Bat.  

*Six for Sunday is a feature by Steph at A Little But A Lot

Top Five Wednesday: Book Intimidation

This week's Top Five Wednesday challenge is to list five books that I want to read, but for various reasons I find intimidating.  Here are five well-known classics that make my list.

• Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle by Vladimir Nabokov (1969)
  Having read Lolita and two more of Nabokov's novels and found his talent to be prodigious, I've collected a stack of others that have since gotten dusty waiting on me.  One is Ada which, due to it's reputation as Nabokov's masterpiece and it's girth of 600 pages, has always seemed intimidating.  Having looked it up on Goodreads while writing this I see that the topic is even more distasteful than that of Lolita, and I wonder if I could stomach it -- which has added even more to said intimidation!
  
  
  
  
   
  
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
  I was too young when I first tried to read this classic, so found the language and style overwhelming.  As a result, that impression has stayed with me and I've been hesitant to try it again.
  
  
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf (1928)
  I don't know why this book has intimidated me so much, despite my love for Woolf's other novels.  Perhaps it's the fact that it's a historical setting instead of her usual contemporary one, or maybe because it's so popular.  Regardless, I've avoided it while devouring the rest of her work.
  
  
• Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)
  I fell in love with Hardy's novels in high school, where I read The Return of the Native, Far From the Madding Crowd, and Tess of the D'Urbervilles in quick succession.  Jude the Obscure was next on my list, until a lunch table discussion revealed that my classmate has just finished it and hated it.  That put me off and I've never returned to give it a try.
  
  
• A Passage to India by E.M. Forster (1924)
  I've read and others of Forster's work, but despite being quite an admirer I've never read A Passage to India.  When I first began to read Forster, I didn't have the knowledge I now have of India's history, so I wasn't as interested in the location, and the seriousness of the subject matter scared me.  It's not so intimidating now, but I still have an odd reluctance to commit to it.
  
  
  
  
  

There are my top five -- have you read any of them?  What books do you find most intimidating?

Shelf Control: Green Mansions

Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Literary Potpourri to discuss unread books sitting in our to-be-read piles.

  

My Shelf Control book this week is Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest by W.H. Hudson*. It was a favorite of my Mom when she was a teen and she still regards it fondly.  She tried to get me to read it time and again when I was younger, but it never struck my fancy because I found it slow to start.  I tried it again, not too long ago, on audiobook, but the narrator was absolutely terrible, so I abandoned it after about an hour.  I'd like to read it, though, for several reasons:  one, because Mom recommends it; two, because it's an Edwardian-era adventure (a genre I truly enjoy); and three, because after researching Hudson, he seems like quite an interesting fellow. 

William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was born to British settlers in Argentina, where he lived until he emigrated to England at the age of 33.  He wrote a slew of nonfiction books, including a popular memoir, as well as several novels, with the best known being Green Mansions (1904).  In addition to his literary talent, he was a recognized ornithologist and naturalist; several towns and other public places are named in his honor in his native Argentina (where he is known as Guillermo Enrique Hudson)

I own a copy, which I found in the free bin at our local used book store a few years ago.  Now that I know more about it (particularly the appealing fact it's a turn-of-the-twentieth-century publication) and that Hudson was actually familiar with South America (goodness knows he wouldn't have been the first Victorian or Edwardian author to write about something exotic and completely alien), I'm really keen to give it another go.

What about you?  Have you read Green Mansions?  (It can be read or downloaded for free at the magnificent Project Gutenberg.)  What interesting book do you have on your TBR?

*Goodreads link

Word of the Week: Etymology of Bumper Crop

 

For this week's "Word of the Week"*, here's a common phrase I encountered a few days ago, while reading a sermon by St. Augustine, on the feast day of Saints Perpetua and Felicity. The quote, translated by Edmond Hill, O.P. in 1994,  is

and in order that this bumper crop of Christian peoples might spring up like sprouting seeds, they watered the earth with their blood

Now, is it just me, or does the phrase "bumper crop" seem out of place in the musings of a 3rd Century scholar? The incongruity of the phrase sent me to researching it's etymology from various sites across the web. 

First noted use is in the 17th Century, when "bumper" referred to a brimming-full cup; within the next hundred years it began to mean something large; by the mid 1800s, it was most often used in the term "bumper crop", rather than as a stand-alone word.

There's my answer, then. . .  The translator, in his endeavor to make the sermon accessible for everyone, threw in a phrase that doesn't feel appropriate. I would love to know what the original phrase was in Latin, and other ways it might have been rendered.

How about you?  Did you run across any interesting words or phrases this past week?

*"Word of the Week" is a meme hosted by the Plain-Spoken Pen on Mondays in which we share a word that we find entertaining, enlightening, edifying, or just plain fun to say! 

Six for Sunday: Characters With Floral Names

Six for Sunday is a feature by Steph at A Little But A Lot.  This week's actual topic is "favourite women in stories", but having done one similar rather recently, I decided to follow her suggestion and pick an older prompt.  "Characters with floral names" was the topic for this week in 2022, and seemed like a fun one.

• Daisy Dalrymple came to mind quickly.  She stars in an ongoing series of light, historical mysteries written in the cozy style by Carola Dunn.   I've read ten or so of them, and while none are particularly memorable, they are fun and quick.

• In Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide (1944), Poirot works to solve the murder of Rosemary Barton before another take place, with the next intended victim being her sister, Iris Marle.  It's an enjoyable novel (my review here), and though it is an expansion of the basic plot of her short story titled "Yellow Iris", there are enough differences that both can be enjoyed.
  
  
• Elizabeth Fair's six novels have been reintroduced to the reading public rather recently; I discovered her on bookstagram when one of the beautiful new covers caught my eye.  She wrote well, created charming but amusing stories, and had a touch of the Angela Thrikell snarky wit.  I definitely recommend all six.  Seaview House (1955), centers around Edith and Rose, sisters who run a small hotel in an English village.

• Daisy Miller is the center of the eponymously name Henry James novella written in 1878. It is a well-written character study, accessible and alive,  that follows the American Miss Miller during a trip to Switzerland and Italy, which would make a good introduction to James.
  
  
• Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) introduces the reader to Holly Golightly.  Holly has captured the imagination of many, due to Audrey Hepburn's portrayal in the movie version -- a film which is quite different from Capote's work. I genuinely did not care for the novella, and you can read my reasons here.
  
  
• Lily Briscoe features importantly in To the Lighthouse (1927), an excellent example of Virginia Woolf's talents.  I've written some thoughts on this novel here, 

Spell the Month with Books: March 2023

 

Jana (Reviews From the Stacks) hosts a monthly event called Spell the Month with Books in which you spell the name of the month with book titles that fit the monthly theme.  For March 2023, the theme is "spring";  I've increased the challenge for myself by only using books I own. 

My choices are:

M -- Maris by Grace Livingston Hill

A -- Absent in the Spring by Mary Westmacott

R -- (A) Room with a View by E.M. Forster

C -- Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey  

H -- (The) Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Maris by Grace Livingston Hill (1938)

What is more spring-like than a wedding?* As a young-to-middle teen, I loved Grace Livingston Hill's novels, and I read them over and over again.  As an adult, I've collected all she wrote, partly for a love of the retro covers, and partly because sometimes I just need a old-timey fluff novel.  While it's been who-knows-how-long since I've read Maris, I can guarantee it's a light, gentle, and clean Christian love story. 
*(Okay, I know, it's a tenuous connection to the theme, but I struggled with this letter since I wanted to use a book I owned. It does look like it might be a spring wedding. . . )

Absent in the Spring by Mary Westmacott (1944)

This 4 star read is an obvious choice.  Westmacott was the pen name that Agatha Christie used for her non-mystery, character-driven novels.  My review is here.  It's a thought-provoking book, not exactly "enjoyable", but definitely memorable.

(A) Room with a View by E.M. Forster (1908)

This classic  begins in Florence in the spring, with the second part taking place in England a few months later.  It's a favorite of mine, and even the film is great (which is rare in a book-to-movie).   My last reread was some time ago, so I have no review to link.  I will just say that it's an unforgettable coming-of-age story, novel of manners, character study, and romance that is well worth reading.

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey  (1932)

What a stunning novella this is!  It takes place on a March wedding day, so it fits perfectly with the theme. My glowing five-star review is located here, so I'll only briefly note that it has moments of pure perfection, and that I reread it as soon as I finished the last page.

(The) Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)

Bilbo starts his adventure in the spring, and experiences a sort of spring awakening himself, making for such a satisfying reading experience.  My last reread of this one was also some time ago, but no review is necessary for such a well-known treasure.

 

*I discovered this through Marianne from Let's Read.