January Reading Recap

Here is my reading recap for January:

Books read: 14
Books bought: 3
Books returned to the library unread: 2  (Venice by Jan Morris; To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis)
Books started and still reading: 2  (A Lighthearted Quest by Ann Bridge [on  my Nook]; Victorian Women in Crime compiled by Michael Sims)
Authors met: 1

Best mystery: Killed at the Whim of a Hat
Best romp: Framed
Coziest: Mrs. Daffodil
Outside my usual purview: Mr. Jefferson's University

Believe  me, reading 14 books in one month is not my average. I don't know if they were all so good that I just flew through the pages or if my not spending so much time on the computer reading other book blogs gave me space to read.

Anyway, I am looking forward to February. It  might be a grand idea to read books that I own but are languishing on the shelf. A project.

Victorian Detectives of the Female Persuasion

Last night I started reading a book I have had for a while: The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime edited by Michael Sims. Sims is the author of The Story of Charlotte's Web and he was here last year at a book signing event that I attended as I am a great fan of E.B. White.

As I was browsing on the internet for other books Sims might have written, I came across Victorian Women in Crime and decided it was right up my alley. I do love a mystery. And here we have short stories and parts of novellas that feature women detectives and maybe a female crook or two from the days when Sherlock Holmes roamed the streets of London.

In the first story, private detective Mrs. Paschal dons a disguise as a lady's maid to gain entry into the Belgravia household of the Countess of Vervaine to find out how she is really supporting her lavish lifestyle.

I admit I am not a fan of short stories, but will sometimes make an exception for a compilation of who-done-its. And don't you just love the cover? Imagine tracking down miscreants in those long skirts and a feathered hat!

A Sunny Sunday

Finished up two books today: Millions and Mrs. Daffodil. The first was written by the same author as Framed (here). Another story narrated by a young boy. This time it's Damian. He finds a bag of pounds sterling that is destined to be burned by the British government in preparation for switching over to the euro. The money is part of a bigger robbery and must be spent in just 17 days or it will be worthless.

Damian is in the fourth grade. His brother Anthony is in the fifth. Their mother is dead and the dad works long hours. Anthony wants to buy stuff; Damian, who studies the lives of saints, thinks perhaps the money (which he is sure was dropped out of the sky by God) could be put to more charitable purposes. There are Mormans, greedy classmates, their parents, the Man with the Glass Eye, and a donkey. And then there are the real saints...Francis, Joseph...who keep appearing to Damian. It is all rather a romp. Just the book for reading before going to sleep.

Mrs. Daffodil was a delight (here). I do love books written about country life. Having read Gladys Taber's first-person account of life in the country, Stillmeadow Calendar (here), it was a bit disconcerting to read this book which is written in the third person. I know all along that these are Gladys' experiences.

I wonder how she liked writing in this detached way. Makes me want to try it sometime.

Blood, Bones & Butter

Author event at the public library today. Chef Gabrielle Hamilton, author of Blood, Bones & Butter. I didn't know what to expect. I am not a cook, but am working on cooking for myself more and am enjoying it.

This is not a cookbook. It is Hamilton's memoir: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. She has owned and run Prune restaurant in New York's East Village for 12 years. She has worked and eaten in many kitchens from her mom's to her own to kitchens in France, Turkey and Italy.

She read from her book for about 30 minutes and then took questions. She was very engaging. She recounted the time she cooked at a summer camp. There were wild turkeys, a bear, and lobsters. You had to be there.

I did buy the book. I don't always at these events. She autographed it to me and because I told her I was just beginning (again) to cook for myself, she added "Cook and cook and cook."

Maybe 400 or so people were in attendance. She had anyone who was in the food industry - chef, server, or farmer - to stand. There were quite a few.

She told us that she had long wanted to be a writer. She quit chef-ing and earned an MFA in fiction writing at the University of Michigan. Then she tossed that aside and opened her own restaurant and grieved the loss of a writing life. But, lo and behold, soon after, as is sometimes the way, she was asked to write a food article and the writer in her was reborn.

She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, and Saveur.

I am anxious to read her story.

Money, Eternity, and Books

Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project has really gotten me thinking about what activities and actions add to my happiness.

July - We have gone through money: Indulge in a modest splurge; buy needful things; spend out; and, give something up.

August - We have contemplated the heavens: Read memoirs of catastrophe; keep a gratitude journal; and, imitate a spiritual master/teacher.

September - Today we pursued a passion: Write a novel; make time; forget about results; and, master a new technology.

I am with her on the money. I do occasionally splurge - I bought myself an espresso maker for Christmas; I try to keep supplies of what I always use - toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo -- on hand; I took a friend to lunch today; I gave up buying stationery...well, mostly.

As to the heavens, I do not read misery lit or memoirs of devastating disease or death; I keep a gratitude journal in my heart; and, my spiritual teachers are writers on nature - the turning of the seasons, the beauty of the landscape, the joys of gardens, forests, and oceans.

Rubin's passion has to do with books and writing. Mine too. No argument there, but I don't have a desire to write a novel in 30 days as she did. I do, however, like the idea of commiting to some activity every day for a month. Sketching, reading poetry, or taking a walk outside. The feeling of accomplishment brings happiness.

I do make time to do something every day that I enjoy. I have a bit of trouble though in letting go of results. Like this blog. Even though I don't promote it, yet, I still hope to see a comment by someone who has stumbled on Belle, Book, and Candle. And it seems as if every day there is a new technological puzzle to solve.

I find it inspiring to read what steps Rubin has taken to enhance her happiness, to see if they have worked, and to see how many activities we have in common. I doubt if I would get as much satisfaction from someone who has, let's say, more active activities - mountain climbing, scuba diving, marathoning. Although those narratives can be inspirational, I am just not someone who is going to look to such recreations to bring me happiness.

Slash and Burn

This is the latest in the mystery series featuring Dr. Siri by Colin Cotterill. The setting is the People's Democratic Republic of Laos in 1978. Dr. Siri is the national coroner. He is in his late 70s and really wants to retire. He is surrounded by a group of characters like none other: Mr. Geung, his mortuary assistant with Down Syndrome; Nurse Dtui, his assistant who studies medical texts in Russian; Daeng, Siri's wife who owns a popular noodle shop in Vientiane; Civilai, Siri's oldest friend; and Siri's nemesis, Judge Haeng, who keeps getting the doctor involved in misadventures of death and destruction.

The thing about reading this series (and I have read all eight of them now) is that the characters and the setting are so, well, foreign. Also, humorous and at the same time historical. Laos after the Vietnam War? I am learning much about the political shenanigans that went on during the war. And its aftermath as well.

This particular mystery has to do with a missing American helicopter pilot and the search for his body 10 years after his reported death. There is the murder of the American major sent to investigate. There is an American Senator on the take, his mistress, hired assassins, and a dog, Ugly.

The narrative moves along in a series of scenes from a former CIA compound through the villages and jungles of Laos. The conversations between Siri and Civilai are right on:  two old friends trying to one-up the other with affection and deep commitment to their long-standing friendship.

There is plenty here to keep me interested. The loose ends get tied up. A heartwarming ending. And if my mind drifts during some of the political discussions, well, who cares.

Oh, and the slash and burn? That is a way of regenerating farm land. After a few years of growing crops, the remaining vegetation is cut, or slashed, and once dried is burned. The ashes provide nutrients to the soil.

So there you have it.

Mr. Popper's Penguins - Redux

Another case of the book being better than the movie. Jim Carrey, who gets on my nerves most of the time, plays Mr. Popper. He is a man with a heart as cold as an ice floe until a crate shows up from his deceased father containing a penguin. Cute as a button. Then five more arrive. Popper's estranged wife and two children are taken with the creatures and the family rifts seem to be on the mend.

Popper becomes enamored, obsessed and overtaken with care for the little fellows and gals. Eggs show up. Heartbreak comes when one egg doesn't hatch. Back in the freezer goes Mr. Popper's once-thawing heart.

Then there is a rescue, reconciliation, and redemption. All in 90 minutes.

The best part of the movie is watching the penguins which I thought must be some sort of robot penguins. But no, they were real and trained. Apparently penguins will do just about anything for a fish. Some of the scenes featured 'created' penguins. I guess you can't teach a penguin to dance.

I can't help but wish that someone would make a film that tells the original story by Richard and Florence Atwater of Mr. Popper the house painter. And I can see Hugh Laurie playing Popper. He would be perfect with the penguins.