Cranford!

I received a terrific gift for my birthday, and it WASN'T a book.  (Let me 'splain, Lucy!)  My great friend Karen gave me a DVD set of Cranford and Return to Cranford, starring Judi Dench, Michael Gambon and Eileen Atkins among many others.  This BBC/PBS mini-series is based on the mid-nineteenth century books of Elizabeth Gaskell.  I have to admit I had never heard of her, but after being mesmerized by the film, I decided I had to check her out.  I started with Cranford, published in 1853. Wow. She was WAY ahead of her time.  And SO funny!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Gaskell writes stories based on her own personal experiences in a small provincial town, one that seemed to be populated mainly by women.  Strict social rules are in place, and woe to those who break them.  Basically, the women are large and in charge, attending to the important social graces of the time.  I think my favorite quote is this:  "A man...is so in the way in the house!" But their worst enemy is change, which is a HUGE problem with the railroad heading their way. 

I watched the DVD first and then read the book, and I'd recommend everyone do it that way.  The book is not hard to read, in fact, Gaskell translates amazingly well to our world today.  But the film is brilliantly acted and produced, and it just added to my enjoyment of the book.  Am I making sense????  In a nutshell:  WATCH Cranford, then READ Cranford.  You'll be glad!

I Am NOT Sick of Flavia de Luce!

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, by Alan Bradley, is the newest installment of his Flavia de Luce mystery series.  The only problem I have with this book is that I already finished it, and now I have to wait until he writes the next one.  Flavia is just SUCH an interesting character that it is nearly impossible to stop reading her books once started.  After all, how many 11-year-old-girl-chemistry-geniuses-with-a-penchant-for-stumbling-upon-murders do you know? And now, back to the book...

Flavia and her family live at Buckshaw, the ancestral de Luce estate.  It is an idyllic English country home  with not so idyllic debt trouble.  So, Flavia's father rents the estate to a film production company, and that is when mayhem ensues.  Oh, it's also Christmas, and Flavia is determined to prove that Santa exists, whilst at the same time proving her horrid older sisters wrong.  This will involve some rather sticky chemistry.  Literally.

Does Flavia catch Santa, or just a murderer?  It's elementary, my dear...Read the book!

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Hey, y'all! After several "likes" I have just read a book that I LOVED.  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman is the story of Cecelia. She has lived the first 12 years of her life in a small Ohio town, complete with lilac bushes and 4th of July parades. It sounds idyllic, but when your mother runs around in old prom dresses and tiaras, you are deemed crazy by association, and your only friend is 80+ Mrs. Odell next door, nnnnot so much.  After her mother's tragic death, CeeCee is whisked away to Savannah, GA by her Great-aunt Tootie, where she is dropped into a fairy tale world of incredible gardens, historic homes and eccentric women.  It is a cinnamon roll scented place of healing, and I want to go live there.

I was enchanted by Saving CeeCee Honeycutt from the first sentence of chapter one.  So make yourself some sweet tea and get to reading.  This one is a peach!

Nostalgia

Here's an idea for a cold foggy day...read a classic, then watch the movie!  I recently re-read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and this morning I popped in our old VHS tape of the 1950 Disney movie.  It was worth the trip down memory lane, and made my ironing more tolerable.  Try it some time!

Two Books I Neither Loved Nor Hated, BUT That's Just My Opinion...

Susan Orlean has written Rin Tin Tin, the Life and the Legend.  Rin Tin Tin was a real dog, and his story is fascinating. The author dedicated ten years of her life to researching this legend of movies and TV, and that may have been the problem for me.  I think she took the long way around the barn.  Enough said.

My sister-in-law came to visit and left me Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal.  It claims to be of the "Jane Austen Genre", but I think it tries too hard.  It's entertaining, if you don't have anything else to read.

Buh bye for now.

Wildwood

Attention Narnia and Harry Potter fans!   Have I got a book for you!!  I was minding my own business at the grocery store when I happened down the book and magazine aisle.  There, practically begging me to buy it, was Wildwood by Colin Meloy.  If not for the beautifully illustrated cover done by Carson Ellis, I most likely would have gone right on about my grocery business. Instead, I made a beeline for that book, admired the art, read the fly leaf and was hooked.  Sometimes you CAN judge a book by its cover!

The story takes place in Portland, Oregon, where our 12 year old heroine, Prue, lives with her baby brother, Mac, and their parents.  Until the fateful day when Mac is kidnapped by a murder of crows and flown off into the Impassable Wilderness.  All manner of weirdness follows, as Prue goes on a mission to rescue Mac and save Wildwood in the process.  You'll have to read the book to find out the rest.  Sorry.

Now, some would say this is a children's book.  I say NOT!  It definitely speaks to all ages, as the struggle between good and evil knows no boundaries, actual or metaphorical.  So read Wildwood!  You'll never look at that neighborhood forest or parkland the same again.  And beware of wayward crows.

Rules of Civility

My daughter gave me Rules of Civility by Amor Towles for my birthday.  It was a great choice.  (I love you, Kate!)  And I loved this book.  It is the story of Katey Kontent, a Manhattan secretary who through a chance encounter is introduced to the cream of New York society.  But don't turn up your nose, this tale is much more F. Scott than Judith Krantz.  Katey isn't a lost heiress, and she isn't saved by the handsome-yet-brooding-boss-with-the-tragic-past.  She navigates her way through college co-eds, awkward millionaires, and tyrannical mentors by making her own decisions, something a little unusual for women in 1938.  But does she learn to be content, just like her name?  Read the book and see for yourself!

Amor Towles has written a great first novel.  It is a story that transports and fascinates, and I hope he writes more.