Preparing for Spring Reading, not Spring Cleaning

Heartened by the jaunty daffodils (above) that appeared seemingly overnight in my yard, I devised a list of springtime reading to carry me through this most bewitching season.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The opening of this delightful tale finds Mole fed up with spring cleaning. His escape from those worrisome chores is the start of his many adventures with Rat, Badger, and Toad. 

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Who of us can resist this captivating story of four women who spend the month on holiday in Italy to escape the grey, rainy days of the English spring. I wrote about it in 2012 here. It is such a lovely movie as well.

Uncle Fred in the Springtime by P.G.Wodehouse
I am ready to read any of the Blandings Castle books no matter what the season. This one concerns a fitness program for the Empress of Blandings (Lord Emsworth's prize pig), romance, money troubles, Mickey Finns, a locked cupboard, and other Wodehouse shenanigans.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
This classic was one that I didn't discover until I was an adult. The story of the (dare I say it?) budding friendship between Mary and Colin, along with Dickon and his affinity for the creatures of the moors, proved to be one that definitely calls for rereading.

The Gardener's Year by Karel Capek
Of course there are many, many garden books to choose from - Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols and Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katharine White - but this one by Czech writer Capek is a literate and funny account of his trials and tribulations in making his garden grow. A bonus: The illustrations are by the author's brother Joseph. (See his Gardener's Prayer below in Penny's comments.)

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
I don't know if this one actually takes place in the spring, but it is such a humorous telling of a boating holiday on the Thames that I thought I would include it anyway. It is part travelogue, part history, and All Fun. Just the book to read during a seasonal downpour. 

What books have you unearthed for spring reading?

Ciao, Tuscany

Tuscany, Italy

My Mayes Marathon is almost complete. Just of few pages more and I am finished with Tuscany - Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany, and Every Day in Tuscany. I hate to say this but I am almost put off Italy by this last in the series. Way too many perfect friends, perfect homes, perfect outdoor meals and the perfect wines to go with all. Not to mention a perfect grandson. And, lest I forget, way too many Italian terms splattered across the pages. Even though she translates, it slows down the enjoyment for me. Frances, you are beginning to bore me but I will carry on to the end.

I did finish The Enchanted April. It was a very sweet book. I think I came to like Lady Caroline the best. And I certainly couldn't see anyone else but Joan Plowright as Mrs. Fisher. Perfect casting there. I have heard good things about another of Elizabeth von Arnim's books - Elizabeth and her German Garden. Another one for the long, long list of Books to Be Read that I keep on my computer.

It seems I have finished three books all at once. Isn't that the way, though. But, oh joy, that just means I will be starting at least three new books from my list.

Room angst

Before I go to bed, I am reading The Enchanted April on my Nook. So here are the women gathered together in San Salvatore and there is conflict over the bedrooms. Mrs. Fisher and Lady Caroline both arrived a day early to pick the best bedrooms in the house for themselves - even though they were the two add-on residents for financial reasons. The original two ladies, Rose and Dotty, got stuck with smaller rooms. To add insult to injury, Mrs. F. and Lady C. had the extra beds in their rooms crammed into the smaller rooms of R and D. Mrs. F. even barricaded the sitting room next to her bedroom and claimed it for her own.

All of these shenanigans give me pause. I am someone who frets about getting the perfect room at a hotel or bed and breakfast. So I found myself anxious as if I were the one getting snookered about. Everyone in the story wants to be alone with their thoughts or their memories or their sadness. I can identify. I would be worried as well that someone was going to take over my space, my time, intrude on my experience.

And now one of the husbands may be coming to join the ladies and there is more conflict about sleeping arrangements.  Another bedroom might be taken by Dotty's husband until Mrs. Fisher connives to announce that she is inviting a female guest and that ends that as there is only the one bedroom left. Dotty and Mellersh will have to share.

Lady C. is fearful that a man in the mix will only cause trouble. Men like to grab, she thinks to herself. I don't know so much about grabbing, but men do like to talk, make noise with their coughs and snorts, and be the center of attention. So this development would displease me as well.

So instead of having a lovely Italian holiday with the women in a house overlooking the sea and fragrant gardens, I am left with a strange anxious feeling in my stomach.

L'incantevole aprile

Returned two mysteries to the library that just wouldn't do. One was too dark and one was too annoying. The author of the second one had the narrator cutting off pronouns at the beginning of sentences. For example "Must talk to grandmere about this." or "Can't let Claude know about that." or "Am confused." She wasn't the only one.

It was disorienting because she didn't do this all the time, but often enough that it sort of jolted me. Sometimes I couldn't figure out if she was talking to herself or if someone was talking to her. It would have been all right if these were journal entries... Anyway, I let Murder on the Riviera go.

Finished Under the Tuscan Sun. I very much enjoyed Mayes's writing style. It was a bonus that I had been to Cortona, the town in Tuscany that she calls home, and that I had some recent experience with contractors having just gone through a remodel of my own. Of course, I didn't have to contend with a language barrier, but I could identify with workers not showing up and unsuspected complications with the project. This is the second book I have read this year about house restorations in foreign countries. Do I see a pattern? Maybe I just love reading how others have dealt with their projects. And the distant locales add to the fun.

Started The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Van Arnim on my Nook Color. I am enchanted. I am enamored of Lady Caroline, such a beauty, who just wants to be left alone. And surprises herself discovering that she just wants to think. And then Mrs. Fisher who wants to be left alone with her memories. Lotty who knows they are all in heaven and only good things will come of it. And dear Rose who is so unhappy and would so like her husband to love her.

Things are going to change, I am sure. I have seen the movie but reading the story goes much deeper into each character's thoughts and motivations. And then of course there is the fact that the four women are in Italy. Sigh.