How to Start the Year Off Right

For one, I'd suggest beginning with some Dorothy Whipple. As 2010 began, I had a nice little stack of books on my nightstand, each of which was making me happy. They Were Sisterswas pleasing me most of all. This is the story of, yes, three sisters, and their relationships with one another and with their own families. One sister became caregiver to the others quite early on so she remains a bit of an authority figure to them. These three sisters are married, one to a somewhat dull but very solid presence, one to a loving husband whom she does not respect, and one to an abusive and degrading man. It is worth mentioning that Whipple creates a sense of fear surrounding this abusive man, and yet there is no physical violence, he abuses with his words and attitude.

How very difficult it is to describe what is so wonderful about Dorothy Whipple, why her books are just so readable, for that is what they are. Characters are fully and honestly drawn, and the drama all happens at home or in the minds of the characters. Whipple's books are not the sort that would be termed cozy; there is a great amount of discord and unrest here, and one hopes that there will be a happy ending for someone, at least. All in all, totally satisfying for me and it is all I can do to stop myself from plowing through my other Whipples right now.




Another book that started off my year right was John Harwood's The Seance. I had wanted to read this ever since I first heard about it, despite my slight disappointment in the ending of his previous novel, The Ghost Writer. The Seance has many elements that I enjoy; a Victorian setting, a mystery, somewhat of a story within a story. In a nutshell, Constance Langton has had a disappointing childhood, and as a young woman finds that she has inherited an old country mansion Wraxford Hall. But this is no ordinary mansion, as Constance is advised, amongst other strange occurrences, people have vanished into thin air. The middle part of the book is told from several perspectives, detailing the mysteries surrounding Wraxford, then for the ending we go back to Constance for a final adventure. I liked this book a good deal, but something occurred to me; I think I like John Harwood's writing better than his plotting. Sometimes things get a bit far-fetched, or complicated, but it's all beautifully told. Another book to recommend, and an author to watch, for sure.

A Red Letter Day

Today is truly a Red Letter Day for me. Last night I finished my

100th

book of the year. For the past few years I had trouble breaking 80, which I finally did in 2008 so this is really a great achievement for me. Will I ever do it again? Who knows, but I'll have a bit of fun bragging about 2009.

You might be wondering what book was my 100th of the year. That honor goes to Persephone's The Carlyles at Home by Thea Holme. I'll be honest and tell you I didn't know a thing about author Thomas Carlyle before I began this book but that mattered not a whit. What I am interested in, and what this book provides, is a peek into everyday life in a Victorian home.

From finances to home renovations, illnesses, noisy neighbors, and particularly servants, Thea Holmes has woven a picture of the day to day life of the Carlyes. The most prominent subject in the book are the servants that revolve through the Carlyle's door. One after another they arrive, some are competent, others steal, some stay a few weeks, others a few years. Jane adores some of them, but that adoration almost always turns into distaste. Jane Carlyle would surely have agreed with the sentiment 'good help is hard to find.'

I've read here and there that the Carlyle marriage was famously unhappy. That is not evident here. Perhaps I shall have to read the sections on the Carlyles in Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages which has been sitting patiently on my shelves.

It was fortuitous that Persephone published a picture of Jane Carlyle on their daily blog recently(page down to December 2). Isn't she lovely?

I'll end today with a little, okay a BIG treat. I came across this post on Smitten Kitchen (great recipes) the other day, and having all the ingredients in the house I made this crazy delicious yet super easy butterscotch sauce. OH MY. Is this stuff ever amazing. I found the last box of jars at the grocery store, and my yearly neighbor gift giving quandary has been solved. I bet you wish you lived next door right about now, no? ;-)

Mariana

Mary, fairly newly married, hears on the radio that the British destroyer her husband is on during WW2 has sunk and there are many casualties. Knowing that she will not be able to find out the fate of her husband that night, Mary goes to bed and unable to sleep, thinks about the many events that have made up her life. Thus begins Mariana (Persephone Classics) by Monica Dickens, the coming-of-age story of a woman, a woman that could be everywoman.

She is not the prettiest or the smartest or the most clever. She is not always lucky in love or circumstances or her career. But what she is good at is being herself. In one of my favorite lines from the novel Mary thinks "All one could do was to get on with the one job that nobody else could do, the job of being oneself."

We get to know Mary as a schoolgirl, enjoying holidays with her cousins in the country. From the beginning, we see that she is besotted with her cousin Denys, who will break her heart. Mary is not sure what she wants to do with herself besides become a wife and mother. Drama school does not work out all that well and a trip to Paris to learn dressmaking seems to go well until Mary meets the Wrong Man. Mary seems to sense that he is wrong, but not wanting to displease anyone, and hopeful to improve her family's circumstances, Mary carries on with him, until she simply cannot do it any longer. Finally, there is the Right Man, and with him comes all the joy that Mary has been hoping so long for.

Harriet Lane writes in the preface that "Mary is sometimes quite difficult to like." I did not find this this be the case at all, in fact quite the opposite. In fact, I loved Mary, in all her ordinary-ness. Weren't we all Mary at one time or another? I identified with Mary time and time again, when she felt out-of-place, heartbroken, or simply just not enough. Mariana is simply a brilliant portrait of a girl, she could be any girl, at any time, really, which is what makes this 1940 novel timeless and relevant. With this book, it is easy to see why Persephone began publishing in the first place, to share treasures like this one.

Merry Christmas to me!

As promised, here are the books 'my husband' got me for Christmas. (I chose and ordered all of them. Which makes me perfectly happy.)

Here are the Persephone Books. I'm sorry the photo is so terrible, there is no light here, we're expecting a storm. I ordered the short stories by Dorothy Whipple and the Vere Hodgson Diaries. I've had my eye on both of these for some time.



Here are the cookbooks. I'm having a wonderful time reading these! The Riverford Farm book is arranged by vegetable alphabetically, the Abel & Cole is arranged by season. Both are lovely, with lots of photos and inspiration. My only question is, what is swede? My guess is turnip.



Here are the rest from The Book Depository. Emily Barr is my guilty pleasure, another by Mary Stanley, I believe this is the only one I didn't have, and Shopped as recommended by Nutmeg. I figure whatever is going on in British supermarkets is probably going on here.



Finally, I placed an order with a used bookstore recently and ordered these for myself. A couple Viragos, and I chose the Barbara Ewing book since I enjoyed her book The Trespass a few years ago.



The reason I was ordering from a used bookstore was to buy this, A Ride on The Red Mare's Back by Ursula Le Guin. Have you heard of it?



My daughter read it at school and they did a unit about it. She loved it and wanted her own copy but it's out of print. This is the gift she was most excited about, which was pretty thrilling. The copy is very nice with dust jacket intact. It is inscribed 'To my little Susie, Love, Grandma' so I had to explain that. I'm not sure how much Susie liked it since it's in such good condition.

I have a few reviews of 2008 books yet to write, but with all these people in the house and getting interrupted every 83 seconds prevents me from doing them. Also, I'm still watching Lost and have finished up to episode 13 of the first season. What did Kate do? Will the Korean man ever discover his wife's secret? Who was Ethan? Yep, I'm obsessed.

House-Bound

House-Bound by Winifred Peck begins with an interesting premise. Rose Fairlaw, a lady of leisure in Castleburgh, Scotland in 1942 has come to find that the office that supplies domestic workers has no one to supply. The women who had previously worked as domestics, have gone off to join the war effort and left Rose and other ladies like her with houses difficult to care for and no one to help. Rose considers moving to a hotel- can you imagine the idea? - but decides against it. She makes the unpopular decision to take care of her home herself. Unpopular with her friends as well as her family who want their mother to be 'a lady' and not a woman with rough hands.

Rose begins her new endeavor. It was amazing to me the sort of detail that was paid to every bit of the house. Perhaps this is because I am quite a poor housekeeper myself! Obviously it would be difficult if not impossible to maintain the standards of cleanliness and formality to have one unskilled person doing everything rather than many skilled people. But Rose tries to maintain and comes to resent her husband a bit for what seems an easy life - go to work and to the club, expect to arrive home to a hot bath and meal. Rose finds herself identifying with women of working class background, understanding what they go through. I really enjoyed this part of the book. It had a degree of humor that reminded me a bit of Monica Dickens' One Pair of Hands. Rose did get a bit of help with the house, which bothered me a bit, though I suppose she really did need some training.

Rose seems to have gotten a bit of a handle on things when we begin to learn more about her background and family including Flora, Rose's only daughter. Rose admits to herself that she never paid proper attention to Flora nor really got to know her. At one point Rose thinks , metaphorically speaking, that "All her doors and windows are locked and shuttered, and I've never been inside since she was a baby." Quite sad, really. Even more sad when we come to know Flora and what a disagreeable person she is. It is hard to know which came first - Flora's temperament or her mother's neglect. In any case, she is one of the most unpleasant characters I've come across. I didn't enjoy this part of the book quite as much. I think it was partially me and being tired and partially Flora.

I do find this novel a fascinating social document, being that it was published in 1942, and this is really what was going on in Britain and Scotland at the time. From what I understand, the lack of domestic help that had always been there changed lives for many people. For women like Rose, this situation sent them back into the home to care for their homes and family. For women that would previously have gone into service, they were afforded the opportunity to make their own way instead of cleaning up after others.

Well, I am a lady that need to clean her house and how well that will be done remains to be seen!

Upstairs/Downstairs

Since I've started reading more than one book at a time - since I've been writing this blog, really - I've begun to notice similarities between the books. A few weeks ago I realized that through no plan at all I was reading three books that all tied together through the presence of servants. I was reading Miss Pettigrew in which Miss P has worked as a governess and is looking for another post. This book was much too nice to cart back and forth to work so I added The House at Riverton to the mix since it was both portable and a comfort read as I was feeling ill. I also found myself immersed in a nonfiction title, One Pair of Hands. I topped all that off by watching Manor House, also known as The Edwardian Country House in the UK. Manor House is another edition in PBS's house series dealing obviously with Edwardian times and the Upstairs/Downstairs issues that came along with it. I enjoyed the program, though not quite as much as The 1940s House. There are so many people in Manor House it is difficult to get to know them as well. It is a fascinating program though, particularly because it seemed the Lord and Lady of the Manor took to their roles a bit too easily and would have happily lived on in the house. The servants on the other hand had it much worse. It's hard to imagine signing up for this program and just cleaning and cooking for three months straight. Though I think they came out of it with a better understanding of the period.

On to the books.

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton is one of those books that just kept popping up all over the place, mainly on UK blogs. I just knew I had to have this one so I ordered it from The Book Depository though it seems this book is being published now in the US. House at Riverton is told from the point of view of Grace, an elderly woman who went into service as a young girl. She became quite attached to the family and the daughters in particular. At the end of her life she is being interviewed by a film-maker who is working on a project dealing with a suicide at Riverton that drove a divide between the sisters. It is obvious Grace knows something about the suicide that no one else has ever found out. This was an enjoyable read for me but I never fell in love with it. I liked the story and the writing but at times I felt the book was weighed down by dialogue. There is one instance I recall in which the sisters discuss for several pages what color dress to wear - it just didn't seem to move the story along at all. I also felt the ending was a bit abrupt after such a long book. Overall this was a good comfort read and I would recommend it. There is a nice Author's Note at the end with loads of additional reading suggestions about the period.

Monica Dickens was Charles Dickens' great-granddaughter and wrote One Pair of Hands in 1939 after putting herself into service. I was never quite certain how well-to-do her family was, but it seems she was bored with the party scene and was looking for another way to spend her time. Dickens writes about multiple households that she cooks and cleans for and the situations that ensue. On the one hand this is a fascinating book in terms of learning how people lived and ate at that time. So many people had help in their homes, both small and large. It's hard to imagine there being someone else in my home everyday, just a room away, cooking and cleaning up. On the other hand, this is quite the comedy and Dickens' skill in recreating her various employers is brilliant. For me, this book was better read in short bits rather than large, but was overall immensely entertaining.

The Divine Miss P

Miss Pettigrew, that is. I avoided Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson for a long time. I knew that it was Persephone's top seller and I generally avoid books on bestseller lists, or that everyone likes on principle alone. Over time, I have found that this policy doesn't really serve me, as I've come to learn after reading these sorts of books after they've fallen off the radar. In any case, I saw the preview of Miss Pettigrew - the movie - a few months ago and thought I'd better read the book before I saw the film.

I finished the book earlier this week and found it utterly delightful. I'm sure most know the plot but for those who don't, Miss Pettigrew is a down on her luck governess who ends up at the apartment of the lovely Miss LaFosse about a job and they spend a whirlwind of a day together, the best day of Miss Pettigrew's life. This book was originally published in 1938 and it seems to me it would have been quite risque for that time, in the most wonderful way. While many of the situations and misunderstandings that occur seem....highly unlikely...this delightfully funny book made me smile and cheer for its heroines. Has anyone read anything else by Watson? She had 5 other books published and now I am curious about them.

Having finished the book in good time, I had tentative plans to see the film last night with a girlfriend. The date having fell through, my husband who cleared his calendar for the event sent me on my way. Lest you think this was particularly generous of him, keep in mind that he is planning on watching basketball with his friends non-stop for the next 2 days.....tournament time, you know. I took myself to a new theater with plush seats and lots of leg room and after watching about 10 previews immersed myself in Miss Pettigrew's world yet again. I think because I saw the preview before I read the book, I had the actresses images in my mind for these characters so that wasn't a big stretch. The film was very entertaining, 'not as good as the book' as we like to say. The bones of the story are there and almost all of the characters. Many of the situations and lines come straight from the novel. There are changes in the story, for dramatic effect I am certain, and some of the more unrealistic aspects are adapted, or addressed earlier on. It was a fun film experience and especially nice to see on the big screen.

The book gods have been good to me lately. Very, very good.

This isn't even all of them. I'm frankly too lazy to go hunt down the rest.


I didn't purchase all these. Six of them came from paperbackswap. A few are gifts. A few are prizes - thanks Iliana and LibraryThing!


I did not arrange them into any sort of order here. Let's see...we have 13 fiction books, 6 nonfiction, 2 Viragos, 4 about India, many that would not be there if it were not for all of your recommendations.


I promised myself I wouldn't write about this publisher again after what Elaine has so aptly named Yammergate. I figured I'd still buy from them but not advertise anymore. But I have to show you this book. It's available from US Amazon. It only cost around $10. And it's really, really lovely. The same size as the others, it is beautifully published with a gorgeous cover and luxurious paper inside. It does look a little more bookstore-friendly than their other editions. I hope there will be more to come. That I don't already own.


Here is the inside cover. I love the flap.

Miss Ranskill

I'm feeling a bit emotional at the moment. I've just been to see Atonement and thought it was wonderful. I really enjoyed watching the film, even though my heart was breaking knowing how it would end. There were quite a few previews and a couple caught my eye. The first film I've known about but hadn't seen the preview for was Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day which looks perfectly charming. The second was for Young@Heart - this is a documentary about a chorus of elderly people singing rock songs. Here is a link about them.

Now on to the title of this post, Miss Ranskill, Nona Ranskill that is, who was stranded on a desert island for some 3 years and returns to England to find the country is in the midst of World War II. This is the story told by Barbara Euphan Todd in this republished 1946 book, Miss Ranskill Comes Home. Nona Ranskill has returned a brave and practical woman, yet the England she returns to is greatly different than the one she left. There is humor in this tale, of a woman who does not understand the status quo; along with this comes embarrassment and confusion. I spent the first part of the novel feeling so badly for Miss Ranskill - to the point at which my husband told me 'it's just a book, you know!' Well, yes it is, but so well told I really felt for the heroine. I couldn't help but think, as annoying as I think many of us consider 'the media', what a different welcome Miss Ranskill would have had in 2008. She would appear on the news, be cared for at a hospital, be provided for and her family would be found. I don't like to give the plot away, but let's just say Miss Ranskill experiences a quite different 'welcome'. This is the tale of a great and abiding friendship that transcends sex, class and even life, of a woman who must find a way in this new world this she does not quite understand and how she does it with strength and grace and love. A most remarkable book.

Care to snoop?

I love looking through bookshelves, either in person or in photographs and I thought I would show you some of mine. These photographs are of my new shelves which contain lots of favorites and many unread books. I have another bookcase filled with Viragos and other shelves all over the house.

The top left shelf contains all the grey books as well as my vintage books. It is difficult to read the titles but I have copies of Little Women, The Mill on the Floss, Maggie Now by Betty Smith, Because of the Lockwoods by Dorothy Whipple, A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband (more on that book later), and The Shuttle.


The decending four shelves contain fictional books. This is a small part of my stash.




The top right shelf contains much of my English history and biography collection. The one beneath it is also nonfiction, some grouped by country, some miscellaneous.


Here are most of my cookbooks.



This bottom shelf has a bit of cookbook overflow and other nonfiction titles about food. There are also some children's books, including my 1937 collection of My Book House books. My daughter is enjoying these despite being continually told to "be careful!"

Stacks

I think I'd like to take a look at the books I've acquired lately.



The first stack is all from mooches and swaps except for The Other Eden. I've been reading so much about Snowbooks lately and was thrilled to find this at Half Price Books. The top three books by Monica Dickens came from an American woman that spent time in the UK some years ago. I'd been hoping to come across a copy of One Pair of Hands for some time and the others are the icing on the cake. Nutmeg wrote so eloquently about Gift From the Sea, I just had to procure a copy for myself. I am already enjoying just opening it up and reading passages at random. The book on the bottom, Ordinary Lives, A Hundred Years Ago is a Virago. Published in 1982, it is filled with wonderful photographs and first hand accounts of life prior to 1900.




The second stack is made up mostly of birthday gifts. In a Sunburned Country was a recent impulse buy and I'm currently about halfway through it. The Allison Weir book Innocent Traitor is her latest release. I've read lots of her nonfiction books about Henry VIII. I was happy to see this book about Lady Jane Grey since she has been a sort of pet subject for me ever since the movie in the 80s starring Helena Bonham Carter. Real Cooking at the bottom was a birthday present to myself. I just cannot get enough of Nigel Slater's writing. His next book looks to be about English Cooking and I don't expect it to be published here. Book Depository, here I come.





This last photograph shows the titles here a bit better. I've been thumbing through How to Run Your Home Without Help and I'm exhausted just looking over it. I have a new appreciation lately for all my modern conveniences.

This will be a working weekend for me, so I will not be getting too much reading done. Bill Bryson's book is certain to keep me entertained during my meal breaks. I'll be eating that wheatberry salad again. Have a wonderful weekend!

Yammering on about The Shuttle

I awoke today, without any house guests, and eager to return to the blogging world to visit my favorites blogs and write a bit about my experience with The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I began my time online by visiting Karen who has commented quite eloquently on the recent Persephone Books letter dated May 30. I think this line from the letter sums it up:

Hurrah for blogs, we say – but only if they are never mistaken for anything but yammering.

Pardon me? I cannot possibly say what Karen has any better but would like to add a few thoughts of my own. I'm not quite sure how Persephone thinks they have any sort of following in the US. I know for certain they have had a few mentions in Domino Magazine. Besides this, I am not sure where intelligent, literate Americans are supposed to hear about these books. Persephone suggests that what the critics and reviewers have to say is all important but they are not writing about Persephone books here. How else is one to learn of them? Let me tell you how. When I became interested in these books, naturally I googled them and what sites do you suppose came up? Book blogs, of course. Yarnstorm, Random Jottings, Cornflower, I could go on. Aside from Persephone's own site, these are the places to connect with other Persephone readers, to read reviews and 'talk' about these books. No one else in my everyday life is reading them. I believe Persephone has done their readers and their company a great disservice by publishing this condescending letter. As Elaine commented on Karen's post "talk about biting the hand that feeds you...". And all this comes just as my husband has offered to buy 3 more titles for my upcoming birthday.

So today I have chosen to share the above photograph of another copy of The Shuttle which I do own. I love the attached sticker on the cover. There is a full page illustration inside entitled "I am that unfortunate beggar, Mount Dunstan, myself."

I did love this book. For those who do not know, the plot entails Miss Betty Vanderpoel - a rich, beautiful charismatic New Yorker, traveling to England to find out whatever has become of her sister Rosalie. Rosalie, a sweet and simple young lady, married Sir Nigel Anstruthers some years earlier. He married her in the hopes of gaining access to her fortune. I was considering starting another post, in which I could discuss the plot more so as not to ruin it for others. I am not sure if that would be desirable or not.

This book is long and descriptive but quite readable. The first 100 pages or so is very positive towards Americans, in terms of their industry and work habits and general 'get it done' attitude that America has always been known for. Betty arrives in England and travels to her sister's home. At this point in the novel, it becomes somewhat of a love letter to the English countryside, describing the villages, great houses, and beauty of the land with great love. It is clear Burnett had respect and love for both countries she lived in. Nigel is both a wonderful and horrible bully of a man, wonderful in that he is written so well. It's hard to believe this character was written over 100 years ago and is so absolutely detestable. The book has the appropriate amount of melodrama and I was truly guessing how it would end, up until the very last moments. The only parts I found difficult were those in which the 'lower classes' were spoken to or of as lesser beings. I really had to remind myself of the period and move on. Having read this, I am certainly interested to know if there are other adult books by Burnett worth seeking out.

Edited to add: Persephone has changed the letter that appears on their site. The quote I have included above regarding 'yammering' is no longer there, but it was at one time, and there are others who can attest to it.

Stacks of books

Lots of books have made their way into my home lately. The first stack, and my favorite, is my Mother's Day gift from my husband. I gave him a shortlist of Persephone titles that I wanted and asked him to choose 3 and have them shipped to me. We did this for my Christmas present as well. These beautiful grey books arrived last week and I am thrilled to add them to my collection.




This second stack comes from bookmooch, paperback swap, and 2 titles are from a used book store. I was most happy to find the 2 Rosamond Lehmann titles. I have 'met' so many wonderful people from blogging, but also from bookmooch and paperbackswap. It's so amazing to receive a book from someone and then have a dialogue with them about where life has taken them.




Free books anyone? Have you heard of mypoints? A friend suggested I sign up with them - it's a way to earn points and then you can use your points to 'buy' gift certificates. How do you get points? Well, they send you multiple emails daily usually advertising something and if you do the 'click thru' you get 5 points. The quicker way to get points is by shopping online and going through mypoints to get to the retailer. I personally do a lot of online clothing shopping and have earned many points this way. Another way is to join, or rejoin one of the online book clubs such as zooba or book of the month club - I earned 1500 points from joining zooba.



The books you see here arrived from overstock.com. I had 2 $25 gift certificates compliments of mypoints and my portion of the bill for these was $9 and some change. One of my other friends tried mypoints and was annoyed by all the emails; it's not for everyone, but it works for me.

I would like to go on about all these titles but to tell you the truth, I'm not feeling well. I think I picked up a virus from my daughter ( that she has in addition to the strep) and as I've been typing I've been feeling more and more out of sorts. I think I'll go lie down.

A good bookshop

I'm lucky in that there are quite a few used book shops in my area, though I have scoured most of them pretty well. One I like to stop into every few months is Magers & Quinn. They sell used and new books and shelve them together. I've found quite a few Viragos there, both the older ones from the 80's as well as newer editions. In fact, they have so many newer Viragos, as well as other books printed in the UK, that I'm thinking they must order them on purpose.

I picked up these books on my last trip there. I was pleased to find:

The Complete Novels and Selected Writings of Amy Levy - Persephone publishes her novel Ruben Sachs and I was thrilled to find this.

Cullum by E. Arnot Robertson
The Unlit Lamp by Radclyffe Hall

Both of these are 80s Viragos, both in unread, pristine condition, and both found on different clearance carts priced at $1. How many more of these lovely books are sitting on clearance carts somewhere? I hope I find them before they are tossed away.

Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann - A 2000 Virago publication and looks like a wonderful story.

The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay - A 2002 Virago publication.

Tree of Angels by Penny Sumner - I don't know a thing about this except it was published in the UK and looks like a family saga beginning in Russia and moving to London.

Bookmooch and paperbackswap have brought me:

The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark

Fanny Burney by Claire Harman - I've meant to read Burney and have never quite gotten to it. I do love a good biography though, and this looks to be entertaining.

I am currently reading The Observations and enjoying it. It turned out to be just what I was looking to read over this past weekend when I was back and forth to work.

I'm off to THE MALL today, yes, I mean The Mall of America. A bit embarrassing really, that it's the biggest tourist attraction in the state, but it is the closest shopping center to me and I have some things to return.

Friday Roundup

I finished 2 more books this week:

24. Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution by Thomas McNamee - I really enjoyed this. I've never been to Chez Panisse but it and Alice Waters have been in my consciousness for some time. This book was 'approved' by Waters so I was afraid it might be, perhaps, less judgemental than a non-approved book but did not find that to be the case. The book details Waters' history, how the restaurant came to be and continues to be, and the many people that have been involved over the years. The book doesn't shy away from the less positive aspects of Waters and the restaurant. Miss Waters is a huge proponent of the Slow Food movement, local eating, sustainable farming; Michael Pollen, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma is even mentioned as the impetus for Chez Panisse serving only grass fed beef. Alice Waters' believes that through food, what we eat and how it's grown or raised, 'we can change the world'. This mantra really speaks to me, as presently I am really trying to educate myself about these issues. It is somewhat discouraging knowing that Waters, somewhat well known, has been trying to get this message out for over 35 years and it's seems people are just starting to listen. It seems such a small bit that I can do as a consumer. I do hope others in the public eye will also try to instigate change.

25. Alphabet Weekends by Elizabeth Noble - This what kind of..........eh. Predictable, superficial. I'm not sure why I bothered with it but I wanted something light. It provided a bit of entertainment.

The mail has brought me:

Family History by Vita Sackville-West - A VMC from paperbackswap.com. It is in nearly pristine condition. So many of the VMCs I have collected seem to have never been read. Sigh. What a shame.

I was thrilled to receive the Persephone Biannually. It is full of delicious things to read and I'm waiting to savor it. Only sad that there will not be another until October.

I am looking out for a few more packages to arrive. Books, of course.

I work in health care (part-time) and have to work this entire weekend. I needed a book to read on my breaks that is absorbing but not too taxing. I decided to pick up The Observations by Jane Harris last night and read the first few pages. So far, it seems that it will do.

It's not them, it's me.

I have three books going right now, and they are just not satisfying me. It's not that they are not good books, but they are just not grabbing me. Perhaps none of them are the book I am meant to be reading at this moment. It occurs to me that this ties right in to my last post, so is my lack of literary inspiration carrying over to the kitchen? Or vice-versa? Who knows. Maybe it's the season of my life right now. I really feel I need to pick up that book that's just a good story, that grabs and engages me and then I'll be out of this funk.

I would like to wish a warm welcome to the following, all of which have arrived lately from paperbackswap, bookmooch, and abebooks. Paperback swap has over 1.1 million books available - check them out if you're in the US.

Period Piece by Gwen Raverat - This is, I believe, a memoir. She happens to be Charles Darwin's granddaughter.

A Literature of Their Own by Elaine Showalter - I understand this book has influenced Virago quite a bit.

Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson - Thanks to Elaine at Random Jottings who wrote so eloquently about this author.

The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West - This was on my wishlist.

An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork by Etty Hillesum - Persephone publishes this, but this copy is a very nice trade paperback that has photographs.

4 (yeah!) Virago Modern Classics

Crossriggs by Jane & Mary Findlater - My first copy has very bad water damage.

At Mrs Lippincote's by Elizabeth Taylor - One of my very favorite VMC covers.

Open the Door! by Catherine Carswell

Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann - I've had The Weather in the Streets for a while and wanted to read this first. It has been difficult to locate, especially in this 1985 edition.

My Viragos

The first of the Virago Modern Classics I purchased was The Lost Traveller by Antonia White. I'm not sure what stood out to me besides the beautiful green color and partially eaten apple - I seem to have an eye for picking British book editions out of shelves of American ones. Quickly realizing The Lost Traveller was part of a quartet, I knew there must be more out there and my quest began. It was helped along a bit by the section on Viragos in Nancy Pearl's More Book Lust.

My collection currently consists of 15 of the glossy black Dial Press editions and 27 of the green editions. I love these older editions, especially the very dark green ones, with the beautiful artwork on the covers. The new 'modern' covers are not nearly as enticing.

I have been scouring my local used bookshops for these books and have pretty well cleaned them out. I love the thrill of wondering what I will find, how many dark green or black books I will come out with. It is so easy now to find what you are looking for online, but for me, the mystery that comes with finding what I didn't know I was looking for is the best part of collecting.

One of my other recent finds that I am so excited about is a boxed collection of 3 books by M.V. Hughes (Molly Hughes) including A London Child of the 1870s, A London Girl of the 1880s and A London Home in the 1890s. Persephone Books publishes the first of these three, and I think I gasped out loud when I came across these, published in the UK in 1980.

I have 2 more Viragos on the way, compliments of paperbackswap.com and 2 more ordered from Abebooks by E.H. Young - William and The Misses Mallett. I really wanted to have all her books and wasn't having any luck in the local shops.

Currently reading The Birth House by Ami McKay which I am enjoying quite a bit.