Our Winter Shelf

Just in time for the Winter Solstice on December 21, here are the books you suggested for Our Winter Shelf.

Many of you chimed in with The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, especially The Long Winter, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Both perfect choices.

Here are more:

Joyce F:
An entire shelf of cozy mystery suggestions - M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin, Hamish MacBeth), Mary Daheim (Alpine series), Jeanne M. Dams (Dorothy Martin or Hilda Johannson books), Diane Mott (Goldy Bear caterer), and Jo Dereske (Miss Zukas).

Lark:
Winter Solstice or any other by Rosamund Pilcher.
Nine Coaches Waiting and Thornyhold by Mary Stewart.
Jane Austen - take your pick.

Penny:
The Agatha Raisin books - here's one appropriate title, Kissing Christmas Goodbye.

Agatha Christie  - I found these two titles that fit our theme - Hercule Poirot's Christmas and The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (short story mysteries).

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff.

From the irrepressible Tullik:

The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys (I wrote about this splendid book here).

Winter: Five Windows on the Season by Adam Gopnik - a series of lectures given on the impact of winter on art, culture, polar exploration, etc.

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann - Tullik suggests that if nothing else, read the chapter 'Snow'.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf for the frozen Thames chapter.

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens for its chapter 'Christmas at Dingley Dell'.

Christmas Day - tongue in cheek poem by Irish poet Paul Durcan.

The Ice Palace - a short novel by Tarjei Vesass who was Norwegian and should know something about winter. I found an Amazon Kindle edition for 99 cents.

My thought for the Winter Shelf was for it to hold books I already owned and wanted to reread. That way, I wouldn't have to leave my house and brave the snow and ice and cold to get to the library or bookstore.

So here are my choices, many of which I have written about before on Belle, Book, and Candle and I have included links to those posts.

I had Little Women in mind when I started thinking about this list and have an edition (see the photo at the top of the post) that is inscribed in my grandmother's handwriting to my mother - Christmas 1932.

The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink - just in case I want to spend a little time in the Florida sun (here).

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas - my parents gave me this little book with woodcut illustrations and I reread it every year.

Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols - I'll save this one for the approach of spring to get me in the mood to think about the garden.

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg - I read this suspense novel a long time ago and remember that Smilla, a Greenlander now living in Copenhagen, surely knows her way around snow and ice.

Essays by E.B. White - almost anything written by him brings me comfort.

Endangered Pleasures by Barbara Holland - its subtitle says it all - In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences (here).

And finally,

Simple Pleasures: Little Things That Make Life Worth Living - a collection of essays by various British writers published by The National Trust (here).

So there you have it. Plump up the pillows in your reading chair, gather a warm, soft throw and your favorite cup of tea, and settle in for a long winter's read. Enjoy!

In Which I Meet Alexander McCall Smith

I adore a man in a kilt and when that man happens to be Alexander McCall Smith, well, then I swoon.

And swoon I did last Thursday night when Mr. McCall Smith appeared at the library on the first stop of his book tour for Emma, a modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic. In his version, Emma Woodhouse is an interior designer who has returned home to her village of Highbury. What goes on from there I won't be able to tell you until I read my Autographed Copy.

Mr. McCall Smith has created such wonderful characters. I am a fan especially of his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books (there are fifteen so far and another one due out in October). He also writes of Isabel Dalhousie, the 5-year-old Bertie and other residents of 44 Scotland Street, and has written stand alone novels as well.

In Which I Crash the Party

I arrived at the library an hour before AMS was scheduled to speak so as to get a front row seat (which I did). I had just settled in when a woman who works at the library and knows I am a fan told me of a private tea-and-crumpets reception that was being held in his honor in the lower level conference room. I decided the only thing to do was to crash the party. I determined I could flash my well-used library card and gain admittance.

I needn't have worried. I thought perhaps there would be a room full of people all standing around holding teacups. I was wrong. There were maybe thirty people in attendance most of them sitting at the long conference table. I swanned in just like I belonged there and immediately spotted AMS. After all, it is rather difficult to miss a man wearing a kilt. He was standing to one side surrounded by a few women. I walked up to the group and in a few seconds he turned to acknowledge me and I introduced myself as a writer from a local woman's lifestyle magazine (which I am) and told him how we were thrilled with his strong, independent female characters (which we are). 

After that I never left his side. 

People would come over to speak with him. I would take pictures for them and then AMS and I would have a few minutes of private conversation before another couple of people came over to meet him. More photos. I think they all thought perhaps I was his handler or aide-de-camp.


At one point I found myself holding his reading glasses, his glass of Diet Coke, and the book he was clutching while someone took a group picture.

I admit that I gushingly told him that I never in my life thought I would have the chance to meet him and how thankful I was that he came to Louisville. He was perfectly gracious.

Not a single person questioned my presence. It just goes to prove that if you act as if you belong somewhere, well, then you do.

In Which Mr. McCall Smith Speaks

His presentation to the audience of well over 300 people was as delightful as expected. He was so comfortable on stage and told story after story about his characters and his writing adventures and his creation of The Really Terrible Orchestra in Edinburgh. 

He ended with a particularly hilarious story about a botched car rental reservation at the Pisa airport and how that resulted in his rental of a bulldozer and his slow drive to Sienna. Along the way, he said, because he was traveling at such a slow rate of speed he really got to enjoy the scenery. And if there was a hill or fence that he didn't like the looks of, well he was driving just the vehicle to eliminate it. 

We were all laughing so hard and he got tickled too and laughed along with us. His eyes just sparkled.

After his presentation, he took questions from the audience. I asked if he remembered learning to read and what books were on his family's shelves when he was growing up. He paused. He hadn't been asked that one before, he said. He recalled a book called Ginger's Adventures that was his favorite. It was the story of a farm boy, Tommy, and his dog, Ginger. Ginger somehow ends up as a girl's pet living unhappily in London with ribbons in his hair but eventually makes it back to the farm where he and Tommy get to roll in the mud and do what boys and dogs do.

An aside: I looked up the book and sure enough, it was published by Ladybird Books in England in 1940 and was illustrated by A.J. McGregor and the story written in verse by W. Perring. I don't see that it is available here in the United States but Amazon UK does have copies for sale.

I was second in line to get his autograph in my newly purchased copy of Emma. By then I felt as if we were old friends. I also brought with me my hardcover copy of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency which he kindly autographed as well. 

It was a wonderful, unforgettable evening. Eventually the video of his presentation will show up on the library's website. I will embed the link when it does so that you all can enjoy his appearance as well.

In Which The Professor Pays a Visit

I had quite a literary visit yesterday with my neighbor The Professor. I have mentioned him before...he is in his eighties, is a retired university professor of philosophy, has a house full of books (even though he has sold his 'libraries' twice), and is always seen in a freshly pressed Oxford cloth shirt and tie. I am sometimes the grateful recipient of his well-thumbed 
New York Times Book Review and American Scholar journals.

He is most erudite and is very likely my smartest acquaintance.

It was an abnormally cool August day. I was sitting on my front porch in the late afternoon engrossed in So Big by Edna Ferber when I was greeted by The Professor's cheery hello. He was standing at my gate - he was on his way back from the barbershop - and was in good spirits as usual. I invited him up and we visited for 45 minutes.

In addition to a rousing report on a recent dinner party he attended with a few of his former university colleagues, our conversation ran along these lines:

Jane Austen; the Jane Austen Festival; A Jane Austen Education (which we have both read) and Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things (which neither of us has read) ; book clubs; Edna Ferber; Dr. Samuel Johnson's dislike of music (with supporting quotes); The Magic Mountain; Arthur, a mutual friend, long dead, who for years ran one of the first local bookstores; Vanity Fair; P.G. Wodehouse; a surviving independent bookstore and one that has gone away; Florence, Italy; and, the Harvard Classics.

The Professor is like ten book blogs rolled into one! A fine ending to a fine day, wouldn't you say?

A Life in Small Things

If you can bear one more Jane Austen post, then read on. 

I stumbled across this article by Kate Hutchings in which she takes a look at ten books to keep Janeites entertained over the summer. The one book that I thought sounded fascinating was The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne. The subtitle is A Life in Small Things and the biography takes a look at Austen's life as "revealed through the small things - a scrap of paper, a gold chain, an ivory miniature - that held significance in her personal and creative life."

How refreshing! To examine the author's life through the items that she held dear. I now am next in line on the reserve list for the book from the library. 

I wonder what 'small things' a biographer would use to examine my life (not that that is ever going to happen, but I wonder just the same). Would that collection include my fountain pen? the diamond ring inherited from my grandmother? my favorite childhood game of Spill and Spell, its letter cubes still in their original garish orange container?

Oh yes, these are idle thoughts for an idle day. 

Have you read this book about Our Jane? What 'small things' would show up in your biography? 

A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz

I can't tell you how helpful and entertaining A Jane Austen Education (2012) was. Author William Deresiewicz mixes memoir, biographical and historical information about Ms. Austen, and recounts how reading her novels helped change him from a brash, self-absorbed, know-it-all to, at least, a much less brash, self-absorbed, know-it-all. And I say that in the kindest way.

I learned a lot, along with the author, about what Ms. Austen's novels were about: friendship, family, romance, love, making mistakes, wisdom vs. wit, character, feelings, making choices, change, learning, new experiences, boredom, loyalty, inner riches, reading, being useful, community, intimacy, and thinking. 

Wow! I had no idea. And all that in just six novels written before her death in 1817 at the age of forty-one.

Really, this was a fascinating book and one I highly recommend. It won't matter if, like me, you have only read one of Ms. Austen's novels, the education is here. I highlighted many, many passages. I must say that sharing Mr. D's insights and experiences with the characters - Elizabeth Bennet, Emma, Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland, sisters Marianne and Elinor, and Fanny Price - has inspired me to give Our Jane another try. 

The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey

Normally, I read my mystery stories at bedtime. I sometimes lose track of the characters and the action - I tend to nod off - but that doesn't spoil my enjoyment each evening. I can usually quickly catch up on what is happening.

I was so enthralled with The Last Detective (1991) by Peter Lovesey, though, that I kept reading it during the day so I could keep up with the clues. 

Mr. Lovesey is an award-winning British author who has written quite a few mystery series - Sergeant Cribb (made into a TV series); Victorian mysteries featuring the Prince of Wales; and, some stand alone puzzlers as well. This is the first of his books that I've read.

The Last Detective introduces Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond. When a woman's body is found floating in a lake, the only identifying characteristic is her long red hair. Eventually
her identity comes to light and all sorts of characters become suspects in the eyes of DS Diamond and his new partner, John Wigfull, whom he doesn't really trust.

The action takes place in the early 1990s in Bath. DS Diamond, is in his forties, is a bit pudgy, and doesn't trust the computers and scientists that have taken over honest-to-goodness detective work that he so believes in. "There's a danger in surrendering to technology," he tells his chief.

One of the suspects, the dead woman's husband, is a professor of English at Bath University. He was in charge of assembling an exhibition of Jane Austen, to celebrate her time in Bath, that opened the same weekend that his wife was killed. Part of the mystery revolves around the disappearance of two letters supposedly written by Jane to her aunt. 

All this was so in keeping with my Jane Austen Festival weekend.

I liked Mr. Lovesey's writing style. Nothing too graphic, the location in Bath (which I have visited), and the Jane Austen references, not to mention a great puzzle, made for a pleasant read. I am glad to have made DS Peter Diamond's acquaintance and look forward to seeing what he is up to in the second book, Diamond Solitaire.

The (Oh So Dead) Lady in the Lake

Photograph:VisitBritain/Rod Edwards/Getty Images

I hope I have found a new mystery writer to follow. I downloaded from the library the first in the DS Peter Diamond series written by Peter Lovesey.

The Last Detective (1991) opens with the discovery of the dead body of a woman floating in a lake near Bristol. At first, no one can identify her and she becomes known as The Lady in the Lake. 

The blurb on Amazon states that in order to solve the mystery, Detective Superintendent Diamond must find two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen.

Really!? Another Austen connection? I didn't know about that until after I had downloaded this mystery. Now it seems as if Our Jane is following me everywhere...

Anyway, I have barely begun DS Diamond's adventure but I love   an old-fashioned British police procedural. I am sure we will get   along just fine. 

In Which I Attempt Once Again to Befriend Jane Austen

Our Jane

I am not really sure why, but I just don't 'get' Jane Austen. It took me forever to read Pride and Prejudice all the way through. Actually I had to watch the movie before I could try for the third of fourth time to read it. Somehow hearing her words spoken aloud helped me wade through her sentences.

I have lovely hardcover editions of all her books and yet...they sit on the shelf unopened. Well, I did start to read Persuasion. I gave up and rented the TV adaption with Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones. I didn't much like the heroine, Anne Elliot. 

I rented the movie The Jane Austen Book Club hoping for some insight but none was forthcoming. Because I hadn't read the books, I couldn't nod in agreement with the women's comments and I had no clue as to how the modern day relationships 
paralleled the ones in Ms. Austen's books. 

And yet, I have not given up in my pursuit of Ms. Austen. Yesterday I checked out A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter. The author, William Deresiewicz, takes a look at how his life was affected by reading Emma and what lessons he learned from that book and the five other novels written by Ms. Austen. 

So you can see that I am trying!

All this has come to the fore because this weekend a Jane Austen Festival is happening at Locust Grove historic home not 10 minutes from my house. It is the sixth festival put on by the local Jane Austen Society.

There will be tea and scones, Regency fashions, a panel discussion with Pride and Prejudice sequel authors, a duel between gentlemen, and a cricket match. What, ho?

It looks to be great fun and if the temperature is not in the 100s I just might attend if for no other reason than to participate in the P&P reading marathon that will take place on the veranda. I hope they will be serving (iced) tea.

My Score at the Store

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a Barnes and Noble gift card must be in want of many books.

Yesterday, I spent an hour before I was to meet my friend browsing about the myriad shelves and tables and displays of books at Barnes and Noble. I saw so many books I did not want to buy:

Battles of the Medieval World
1000 Tattoos of True Love
Gaga: A Photo Album
Bayonets: An Illustrated History

I searched for Thirkells but there were none to be found; not a Sylvia Townsend Warner among the fiction; no Collette.

I wandered aimlessly into the children's department looking for hardcover copies of Laura Ingall's Little House books. Zero.

My friend arrived. We went to have our 'buy one get one free cookie.' Unfortunately there was only one chocolate chunk chip delicacy left. We were told to try back in 20 minutes or so as the guy behind the counter was getting ready to bake another batch.

We left the store and went to lunch. We came back. Again I wandered from shelf to shelf. My friend understood my dilemma: I didn't want to fritter away my $25 gift card. 

I needed to take myself firmly in hand. Finally, I made a decision and purchased five hardcover editions of Jane Austen novels: Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion.

These are B&N Classic editions with lovely covers that were on sale. I paid a mere four dollars for each book. 

You notice there is no Pride and Prejudice. Well, there wasn't a copy to be found. That's OK. P&P is the only Austen book I have read. (When I got home I located a copy of the same edition at Abe Books, so I can complete my set.)

Now here is the rub. I hope I like Ms. Austen! If I remember correctly, I had a few false starts before I finally finished P&P. In any event, these volumes will look beautiful sitting on my shelf as I read my way through them. 

We finally did get our cookies and sat in the cafe watching other shoppers wander about the huge store looking dazed and confused.

In the end, here is what I know about myself and book buying:

I thrill to the chase; I much prefer digging around in a used bookshop being surprised by treasures unsought -- books I didn't even know I wanted. 

Dust be damned.