Archives - December 2005 archives -- index by author -- index by category -- favorite books -- links

Search Now:

1 December 2005

• Katie Hickman's Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives is an entertaining social history of the families (not just wives, but also children, siblings, and in later days, husbands) of British diplomats from the seventeenth century to the present day. Hickman moves adroitly from century to century, linking her subjects by theme rather than by chronology and covering every aspect of diplomatic life, from the postings themselves and how diplomatic families travelled to them, to the details of their lives once they reached their postings. Particularly absorbing were the accounts of some of the hardships the families encountered; for example, Hickman uses the diary of her mother, who was on the spot, to recount how Jane Ewart-Biggs and her family dealt with the death of Christopher Eqart-Biggs by IRA bombing in 1976.
  
  My only issue with the book was the occasional hints of insularity; I suppose it's natural that Hickman, being a diplomatic daughter herself, would be a little biased on the side of the British culture, but a little more open-mindedness on the subject of, for example, the "disfigurement" of Chinese women's hands with long fingernails would have been appreciated. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book a lot, though I sometimes regretted its rather short length, for I often wanted more details about a particular person; fortunately, though, there's a useful bibliography for those who want suggestions for further reading.

Books read: 1

4 December 2005

• Sarah Caudwell's series about a group of London lawyers is easily one of my favorite mystery series; it comprises Thus Was Adonis Murdered, The Shortest Way to Hades, The Sirens Sang of Murder, and The Sibyl in Her Grave. The narrator of all the books is Professor Hilary Tamar (whose gender, interestingly, is never revealed, as the books are in the first person), an Oxford don specializing in medieval law and a friend to the London lawyers, who in each book get drawn into a mystery which Hilary then solves. Though the mysteries are generally nicely complex and clever, I really love these books for the witty, wicked writing and the wonderful repartee between the characters; I've read the books multiple times, and the dialogue and narrative still make me laugh. Sadly, Caudwell died in 2000, so these four books are all there are of her excellent work; if you haven't read them and you're a mystery fan, go out and find them -- you won't regret it.

Books read: 4

5 December 2005

• The Pythons Autobiography is a funny and fascinating history of Monty Python, by the Pythons themselves: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. (Graham Chapman died in 1989; he's represented by excerpts from earlier books and articles, as well as by his longtime companion David Sherlock and his brother and sister-in-law John and Pam Chapman.) Switching back and forth from one member to another, it covers their individual beginnings, their coming together as a group, and their work together and apart, up to the present day. The multiple viewpoints give an occasionally contradictory but always honest and interesting account of the group's ground-breaking comedy work; I particularly liked the sections on The Holy Grail and The Life of Brian. The book is fairly long (though my paperback edition isn't as long as the hardcover, which had many, many more photographs and images), but it's an absorbing read -- definitely an essential for any Python fan.

Books read: 1

6 December 2005

• I almost regret reading Justine Larbalestier's Magic or Madness -- not because I disliked it, you understand, but because I liked it so much that I'm now dying to know what happens next, and the next book in the trilogy doesn't come out until March. Reason Cansino has spent her whole life on the run in Australia (the author's home) with her mother Sarafina, escaping her grandmother Esmerelda; Reason's mum calls Esmerelda a witch and tells Reason awful stories of dark magic and sacrifice. When Sarafina has a mental breakdown, though, Reason has to go live with Esmerelda in Sydney; when she steps through Esmerelda's back door and finds herself in New York, Reason must face the truth behind Sarafina's stories and behind Reason herself: she has magic. Magic or Madness is a wonderful combination of vivid characters (especially Reason), excellent sense of place, both in Sydney and in New York, and an original and fascinating magical system (on which I won't go into details for fear of spoilers). This is easily one of the best young adult fantasies I've read in years, and I can't wait for the next book.
  
  
• Ellen Moers's groundbreaking 1976 work of feminist literary criticism, Literary Women, is exactly the kind of book I like: erudite, wide-ranging, well written, and frequently very witty. Moers examines English, American, and French women writers from the eighteenth century (plus seventeenth century Anne Bradstreet) to the present day, seeking to answer the questions of how their gender influenced their work and whether "women's literature" is truly distinct from men's. Along the way, she delves knowledgeably into the work of writers ranging from Jane Austen, the Brontes, and George Eliot to Willa Cather, Colette, and George Sand, showing thematic connections and drawing fascinating conclusions which make me wish I had worlds enough and time to read or reread every book she mentions. (Well, except Mrs. Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, which might cause me to die of boredom if I ever had to reread it; happily, Moers's summary of it is much, much more amusing and instructive.) Literary Women is deservedly a classic of feminist literary criticism; even 30 years after it was published, it's full of learning, energy, and wit.

Books read:

7 December 2005

• When I read and enjoyed Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus last year, I noted in passing that she's well known for her thrillers, so when I saw a used copy of her Mapping the Edge at a bookshop in London, I picked it up. One day, Anna Franklin packs her bags and leaves London for Florence; though her friends and her daughter know where's she going, they don't know why, so when she doesn't come back on time, they're left having no way to track her down or guess what's happened to her. In the meantime, Dunant presents the reader with two alternate storylines of what's happening to Anna; in one, she's on a sexual adventure, while in the other, she's the target of a stranger's weird and dangerous fantasy. Though Dunant is certainly good at suspense, I really didn't see the point of the dual storyline. There's no indication of which really happened, nor does the ending show how what happened might have changed Anna's life or personality, how things back in London might be different when she returns from her experiences. Mapping the Edge is an interesting structural experiment, but for me, ultimately not engaging.
  
  
• I discovered Edward Ormondroyd's charming time travel fantasies, Time at the Top and All in Good Time, years ago when I was eight or nine; then I forgot about them for a long time until I happened upon a used copy of the first book (leading me on a long search for the second, which was much harder to track down). Upon rereading them for the first time in a few years, I find that they still hold up very well. Susan Shaw is having a bad day, but when she stops to help an elderly woman with her flyaway umbrella and unwieldy packages, the old woman tells her, "I'll give you three." Three what, wonders Susan. When she takes the elevator in her apartment building up to the top floor and finds herself back in time eighty years, she figures out that "three" means three trips in the elevator to the past, where Susan meets Victoria and Bobbie Walker and their beautiful widowed mother, who are having troubles which only Susan (with the eventual assistance of her also-widowed father) can solve. These are simply charming light fantasies, with wonderful characters, particularly the spunky, clever Susan. Purple House Press has recently brought Time at the Top back into print; I can only hope that they eventually follow it up with All in Good Time, so that other readers, young and old, can discover these wonderful books.

Books read:

11 December 2005

• Having gotten to "literature - American" in my new method of reading unread books by category, I've just read a wodge of Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country, and her autobiography, A Backward Glance. I hadn't read any Wharton in years and had forgotten what a sharp and perceptive eye she has for characters; one feels that one would know any of her characters if one met them on the street. I ended up liking The House of Mirth much more than The Custom of the Country, because I found the struggling socialite Lily Bart infinitely more appealing than scheming Undine Spragg.
  
  The real revelation, though, was A Backward Glance, which made me want to rush out and acquire lots more Wharton (too bad I've currently got a self-imposed bookbuying ban); the writing is every bit as clear and lucid as in her novels, and I really liked the look at her own life and background. I especially liked her understated wit and her early amazement at becoming a well-known writer, which makes her seem very human and approachable; here's a favorite passage: "I had written short stories that were thought worthy of preservation! Was it the same insignificant I that I had always known? Any one walking along the streets might go into any bookshop, and say: 'Please give me Edith Wharton's book'; and the clerk, without bursting into incredulous laughter, would produce it, and be paid for it, and the purchaser would walk home with it and read it, and talk of it, and pass it on to other people to read!"

Books read: 3

18 December 2005

• I think I'm now officially addicted to space opera, having loved Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series, Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge's Exordium series, and now Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald's Mageworlds series. So far, this is a series of seven (I don't know if any more are planned). I would strongly recommend reading them in order, even though publication order doesn't match the internal chronological order; many secrets will be spoiled if you read out of publication order.
  
  The first three -- The Price of the Stars, Starpilot's Grave, and By Honor Betray'd -- go together to tell the story of Beka Rosselin-Metadi, estranged from her family until her powerful mother is assassinated and Beka's father gives her the task of tracking down the assassin; the plot opens up in the second book, when the Mageworlds start to threaten the Republic, and we spend more time with Beka's family, her father and two brothers (all introduced in the first volume, but given more time here). The fourth, The Gathering Flame, goes back in time a little to explore Beka's parents' past, while the fifth, The Long Hunt goes forward to the next generation. Finally, The Stars Asunder and A Working of Stars are set in the more distant past, five hundred years before the events of the first three, exploring the universe more deeply and resolving some plot threads introduced in the earlier books (so again, you really don't want to read these first, even though they're chronologically first).
  
  The setting is excellent, particularly in the clash between the two systems: the loose confederation of planets which are the home of the Rosselin-Metadi family and their allies, and the Mageworlds, which threaten the other worlds with their magical powers. What with the fast pace, the vivid characters, and the intricate plot, I was sometimes almost breathless while reading these; I almost had an Unpleasant Incident when I finished Starpilot's Grave on an airplane and didn't have the next book in my carry-on luggage to start reading immediately.

Books read: 7

21 December 2005

• E.M. Delafield's Provincial Lady books have been longtime favorites of mine, but for some reason, I'd never tracked down a copy of the third book, The Provincial Lady in America. Upon receiving a copy for my birthday this year, from a kindly cousin, I immediately set out to read the whole series: Diary of a Provincial Lady, The Provincial Lady in London, the aforementioned The Provincial Lady in America, and The Provincial Lady in Wartime. (There's also The Provincial Lady in Russia, but this is the American title given to I Visit the Soviets, and it's not really a part of the series.) The books are a series of journals written by a middle-class wife and mother, who is full of wit and literary aspirations but who is also tied down to her domestic duties; although she eventually achieves literary success, she still has to pull off a tricky balancing act between her professional and personal lives. A parade of notable characters, apparently often based on Delafield's friends and family, inhabit the pages of the books: the diarist's husband Robert, stolid and unimaginative; her children, Robin and Vicky; Vicky's excitable French governess, Mademoiselle; "dear Rose", the diarist's best friend; and many others. Though gently comic and witty on the surface, beneath runs a fascinating undercurrent of feminist sensibility and criticism (which makes me want to read a biography of Delafield, though sadly none are in print right now).

Books read: 4

22 December 2005

• Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is the author of an excellent knitting blog, Yarn Harlot, and now a book, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter. (This is actually her second book; I read the first, At Knit's End, a few months ago.) Pearl-McPhee tells funny and occasionally poignant stories about her obsession with knitting, from the crazy places she keeps her stash to what happens when her backyard squirrel starts to steal her wool. Apparently quite a bit of the material is taken from her blog, but since I've only been reading that for a couple of months, pretty much all of it was new to me. Her writing is articulate and hilarious; I was glued to the book from beginning to end -- very highly recommended for knitters with a sense of humor.

Books read: 1

23 December 2005

• My recent trip to Disneyland netted me a pair of new books: Jeff Kurtti and Bruce Gordon's The Art of Disneyland and Disneyland: Then, Now, and Forever, by Bruce Gordon (again) and Tim O'Day, both published to commemorate Disneyland's 50th anniversary. It was pleasant to read them together, because they make a good pair. The Art of Disneyland is a gorgeously produced collection of Disneyland concept art, covering every land and most attractions, even ones not there anymore, and showcasing artists from Herb Ryman and John Hench to Mary Blair and Dorothea Redmond. By way of contrast, Disneyland: Then, Now, and Forever is made up of photographs, from early construction (and pre-construction) to the present day. I have a lot of Disneyland books, but both of these had art and photos I'd never seen before. Add these to Bruce Gordon and David Mumford's wonderful Disneyland: The Nickel Tour, a history of Disneyland through postcards, and you'd have the essential collection of Disneyland history books.

Books read: 2

24 December 2005

• Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone mystery series has begun to pall for me a bit, and I strongly considered not reading the new entry, S Is for Silence. I did finally decide to read it, figuring that it wouldn't take me more than a couple of hours anyway, and I'm pleased to say that I liked it more than any of her books in a while. In S Is for Silence, Kinsey takes on a very old mystery: the disappearance of Daisy Sullivan's mother Violet, thirty years before. Grafton normally writes just from Kinsey's first person point of view; here, she interpolates third-person POV chapters from other characters, set during the events of the past. This succeeds in making the old mystery seem more immediate than it otherwise might, and I thought it worked well. The mystery is nicely involving and kept my attention, though I was a little kerflummoxed by the ending, which was abrupt and not well explained. Still, it was pleasant to spend a couple of absorbing hours with Kinsey and to think that perhaps there's still some juice left in the series.

Books read: 1

26 December 2005

• Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, and Jo's Boys are on my favorites page.

Books read: 4

27 December 2005

• Barbara Michaels (who also writes as Elizabeth Peters) is a writer of consistently good romantic thrillers, usually with supernatural overtones. After reading Someone in the House several times over the years since it was published, I've come to think that it's one of her best. Anne and Kevin are English professors, planning to write a textbook together; when Kevin's parents win the lottery and buy a country manor (transported intact from England at the beginning of World War II), he and Anne decide to spend the summer there, writing. Soon after they arrive, strange things start to happen, and Anne begins to feel that there is an inexplicable presence in the house. The story is full of Michaels' signature suspense, romance, and humor, but the utterly unexpected ending is what, for me, lifts this book above many of her others (though I note upon reading reviews at Amazon that my opinion isn't shared by most Michaels fans, so your mileage may vary).

Books read: 1

28 December 2005

• Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom are on my favorites page.

Books read: 2

30 December 2005

• By way of comfort reading while still in the throes of a nasty cold, I reread a bunch of Elizabeth Peters's romantic suspense: The Camelot Caper, The Dead Sea Cipher, The Jackal's Head, Legend in Green Velvet, and The Night of Hundred Rabbits. All five books share Peters's usual attractions: lively writing, vivid characters and spunky heroines, suspenseful plots, interesting settings (from Egypt and the Near East to England, Scotland, and Mexico), and humor. Of this lot, I particularly like The Dead Sea Cipher, The Camelot Caper, and Legend in Green Velvet; the other two are a little on the humorless side and thus not quite as enjoyable.

Books read: 5

31 December 2005

• Having long enjoyed reading and rereading Ian Bradley's excellent The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, I've been looking forward to his new book, Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan, which I got for Christmas. Here Bradley examines specifically the last forty years in Gilbert and Sullivan performances and organizations, or since about 1961, when their works came into the public domain and could be performed by groups other than the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After devoting a couple of chapters to the currently defunct D'Oyly Carte, Bradley goes on to explore other groups and performances, professional and amateur, all over the world; I was pleased to see references to my local G&S society, the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Bradley also includes chapters on G&S parodies (very funny) and on G&S fans; here I do wonder if he's overgeneralizing, as I think he may be overestimating the tendency of G&S fans to be male, but perhaps I'm simply also overgeneralizing, based on personal experience. Overall, as one would expect from a Gilbert and Sullivan expert like Bradley, Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! is a fascinating read and well worth adding to the collection of any G&S fan.

Books read: 1

Total books read this month: 42
Total books read this year: 413

Last updated 8 February 2006. All text and photographs © George Mitchell and Margaret Johnston, unless otherwise noted Comments, questions, suggestions to margaret@lonelymountain.net.