THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

Marge, I feel the same way but I wonder what the world was like at that time for the postman's daughter? That is the station I would have been relegated to. Although my husband would have been the son of a trunk handler at a carriage rental place...would that be equivalent to baggage handler at the airport today? :)

Marge wrote: "I am currently reading "Cranford" by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is soooo wonderful. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country in the wrong time."

WONDERFUL BOOK MARGE!!! HAVE YOU READ MANY OF GASKELL'S BOOKS?

Currently I have three books going. First is Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman. I'm also reading The Christmas Blessing by Donna VanLiere and The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine. The Fairy's Return is a compilation of her six Princess Tales books in one book.

wow- how long is The Fairy's Return?

Rick wrote: "Marge wrote: "I am currently reading "Cranford" by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is soooo wonderful. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country in the wrong time."
WONDERFUL BOOK MARGE!!! HAVE ..."

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell can be read online at:
http://www.readbookonline.net/title/9...
GR description: ..."witty comedy of early Victorian life..."

Wiki says:
"Cranford is the best-known novel of the 19th century English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. It was first published in 1851 as a serial in the magazine Household Words, which was edited by Charles Dickens."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranford...

The book is in the public domain.

Below is an excerpt from Chapter One:
=====================================================
"In short, whatever does become of the gentlemen, they are not at Cranford. What could they do if they were there? ...the ladies of Cranford are quite sufficient. 'A man,' as one of them observed to me once, 'is SO in the way in the house!'"
=====================================================

It seems to be a very good example of the witty flavor of the book.

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Rick wrote: "Marge wrote: "I am currently reading "Cranford" by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is soooo wonderful. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country in the wrong time."
WONDERFUL BOOK MARG..."


sad that Ms Gaskell passed away so young before completing Wives and Daughters

Rick wrote: "sad that Ms Gaskell passed away so young before completing Wives and Daughters "

I've put the DVD of it on my Netflix queue.

FROM WIKI:
====================================================
"Wives and Daughters is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the Cornhill Magazine as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. When Mrs Gaskell died suddenly in 1865, it was not quite complete, and the last section was written by Frederick Greenwood."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wives_an...
=====================================================
Below is a link to the description of the DVD at Netflix:
"Wives & Daughters"(1999) NR
http://www.netflix.com/Search?oq=&...

PS-And of course there this:
"Cranford" (2-Disc Series) (2007) (with Judi Dench)
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Cranford...

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Rick wrote: "sad that Ms Gaskell passed away so young before completing Wives and Daughters "

I've put the DVD of it on my Netflix queue.

FROM WIKI:
==============================================..."

thanks for the great info joy!

Just ordered "The Other Side of the Night", the story of the Californian and the Carpathia, the ships that were involved with the Titanic on that fateful night. Has anyone read it? The author is Daniel Allen Butler who has written several books on ships and on sea power during WWI.

NO-JILL- you have to let us know what you think of book

I just finished reading Two Girls in Gettysburg by Lisa Klein. I chose this book to read for History. I reccomand anyone of you who like reading Historical Fiction to read this. The book takes place in the time of the Civil War.

Currently I just started reading Hope's Crossing by Joan Elizabeth Goodman. I was searching for a historical fiction book when I came across this book. I found it interesting. So far it's good.

Blooming wrote: "I just finished reading Two Girls in Gettysburg by Lisa Klein. I chose this book to read for History. I reccomand anyone of you who like reading Historical Fiction to read this. The book takes pla..."check out- Alison Weir and Phillipa Gregory
Both have written alot of non-fiction- but both have nevels of 6th century England too

Thanks. I'll sure to check the authors out.

((By the way, You don't have to call me Blooming. You can call me Soumya. This goes for everyone else.))

OK Soumya- both of those writers have a background in biography- but have written several novels as well

Finished Descent into Hell, not the best Charles Williams book I've read. For an esoteric writer it's even "more so". Still have Under the Banner of Heaven here and plan to finish it before starting a couple of T. F. Torrance's volumes (inter-library loan). There are also several light novels that have arrived from the library at the same time. Some will have to wait.

Mike wrote: "Finished Descent into Hell, not the best Charles Williams book I've read. For an esoteric writer it's even "more so". Still have Under the Banner of Heaven here and plan to finish it before startin..."

define "light novel" Mike!!!

I've a Lawrence Block and a Simon Green on the table next to me. Lonesome Dove was in the last batch of books I picked up along with Mike Carey's The Devil You Know and Captain Blood by Sabatini. A book titled Wondrous Strange someone here at Good Reads recommended is waiting along with Random Acts of Senseless Violence. This doesn't list the other nonfiction books waiting. These are all from the library, so I have to move them up to the top of my reading piles...it seems there is nothing in, or everything comes in.

reading Captain Blood now
hard to read it and not think- Errol Flynn

Haven't started the book yet, but you could probably do worse than Flynn, I liked the movie. Like Granger in Scaramouche to, even though they cut the book badly to make he movie. I comfort myself in thinking of them as separate stories.

Hey i am reading The Sunflower bye Simon Wiesenthal, its about the holocaust. My school is studying the Holocaust and wars right now and the subject of forgiveness..so ya!

Jenny❤ wrote: "Hey i am reading The Sunflower bye Simon Wiesenthal, its about the holocaust. My school is studying the Holocaust and wars right now and the subject of forgiveness..so ya!"

Night by Eli Weisel is the book Iturn to-

Am reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd for English class.

I love the short stories of Poe. I even remember getting hooked on a TV series featuring these stories.

I like Twilight - the language may not be very literary but Meyer is one great storyteller! I love Breaking Dawn best, can already imagine how it would look in the film especially the scene where vampires all over congregated!.

I also read several books at a time. If i get stuck in a book, i switch to the next one. Right now, can't seem to finish A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of A Boy Soldier because its really really sad so i put it down and began The Tavern on Maple STreet by Sharon Owens.

Oh, I love Alexander McCall Smith!

Lai wrote: "I love the short stories of Poe. I even remember getting hooked on a TV series featuring these stories.

I like Twilight - the language may not be very literary but Meyer is one great storyteller..."

My brother read A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of A Boy Soldier and said it was heartbreaking, Lai

It is! It's like reading Tears of the Desert by Halima Bashir all over again. I cried pools reading that one. So now i always try to pair off a tragic book with a light read, a YA or a travel book.

Has anyone read Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner? Interesting stuff!

I am reading 39 Steps in anticipation of PBS's presentation on Sun., reading A Passage to India as part of the Young, Bright Things group, and In the Woods which was a get well gift from my brother and sister-in-law when I had pneumonia in the fall. My reading choices are diverse and random. I do like to be able to discuss them with other people. It's like having desert after a good meal and gourmet coffee that is savored.

Sheila, I read The 39 Steps relatively recently, and enjoyed it! I'll be interested in hearing what you think of it. A PBS adaptation of it sounds great --too bad I'll have to work Sunday night, as I nearly always do!

I'm currently re-reading The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins is always good for another read. I'm usually reading several books. Another grabbing my attention at the moment is Henning Mankell's The Man From Beijing. If you enjoy thrillers, I'd recommend this one. Its a stand-alone; not one of his Wallander series.

Right now I'm reading the "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" series by Alexander McCall Smith. I'm on the last of the three books. I LOVE them; laugh out loud funny (to me, anyway).

I'm reading these because (believe it or not) the cover of the second book ("The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs") was intriguing. (I used to own dachshunds, so there you go). Also, they're very quick reads. And I've been in more of a novella mood lately, anyway.

I finished Tavern on Maple Street last night and im now on to Alexander McCall Smith's In the Company of Cheerful Ladies. Love his books, too!

By the way, i first tried Dream of Fair to Middling Women but i just couldnt grasp the language! So i dropped it. For now.

Currently I'm reading The Eighth Promise by William Poy Lee. It's really interesting and I'm enjoying it so far...even if the binding has seen better days!

Since you asked, I am reading Bruce Feiler's America's Prophet:Moses and the American Story. I like it a lot. It is very readable, well-written and above all fun and interesting. If you liked A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz then you will love it.

http://maphead.wordpress.com/

JUST PICKED UP SOME EDMUND CRISPIN MYSTERIES- SEEMS LIKE MY CUP OF TEA!

Lai wrote: "I finished Tavern on Maple Street last night and im now on to Alexander McCall Smith's In the Company of Cheerful Ladies. Love his books, too!"

Lai
Thought you might find this bio info interesting

Alexander McCall Smith
Bestselling Author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series

Alexander McCall Smith has written more than 60 books, including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and a number of immensely popular children's books. Referred to as our new P.G. Wodehouse, he is best known for his internationally acclaimed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which rapidly rose to the top of the bestseller lists throughout the world. The fifth novel in the series, The Full Cupboard of Life, received the Saga Award for Wit. The ninth book in the series is The Miracle at Speedy Motors (April 2008), and the tenth book in this series is Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (April 2009). The series has now been translated into 45 languages and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. The first episode of a film adaptation, directed by Anthony Minghella, and produced by the Weinstein Company, premiered on HBO in March 2009. Another series, beginning with The Sunday Philosophy Club, about an intriguing woman named Isabel Dalhousie, appeared in 2004 and immediately leapt onto national bestseller lists, as did sequels, Friends, Lovers, Chocolate, The Right Attitude to Rain, The Careful Use of Compliments, and The Comfort of a Muddy Saturday. The sixth Dalhousie novel is The Lost Art of Gratitude (Fall 2009). McCall Smith's serial novel, 44 Scotland Street, was published in book form to great acclaim in 2005, followed by Espresso Tales and Love Over Scotland, and then by The World According to Bertie (Fall 2008) and also The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (Fall 2009). In late 2008, the serial novel, Corduroy Mansions, depicting the lives of the inhabitants of a large Pimlico house, began to be published and podcasted in 100 daily web episodes by the UK's Daily Telegraph prior to its hardcover release in 2009. Alexander McCall Smith published a solo novel, La's Orchestra Saves the World, in December 2009.

In addition, McCall Smith's delightful German professor series, Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances were published in the US in January 2005. He is also the author of several children's books, including the Akimbo series, about a boy in Africa, the Harriet Bean series, the Max & Maddy series and The Perfect Hamburger and other Delicious Stories. Akimbo and the Baboons, the fifth book in the Akimbo series, will be published in November 2008. Pantheon has published Alexander McCall Smith's collection of African folktales, The Girl Who Married a Lion. McCall Smith is also the author of Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams, a contemporary reworking of a beloved Celtic myth and Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations, a collection of short stories examining the mysteries of dating and courtship.

McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and was educated there and in Scotland. He became a law professor in Scotland, and it was in this role that he first returned to Africa to work in Botswana, where he helped to set up a new law school at the University of Botswana. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and has been a visiting professor at a number of other universities elsewhere, including ones in Italy and the United States. He is now a Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh.

In addition to his university work, McCall Smith was for four years the vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the UK, the chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee, and a member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Crime Writers' Association's Dagger in the Library Award, the United Kingdom's Author of The Year Award in 2004 and Sweden's Martin Beck Award. In 2007 he was made a CBE for his services to literature in the Queen's New Year's Honor List. He holds honorary doctorates from 10 universities, most recently from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

Beth wrote: "Currently I'm reading The Eighth Promise by William Poy Lee. It's really interesting and I'm enjoying it so far...even if the binding has seen better days!"

haha - bad binding usually means great book- as it has been read alot!

J.R. wrote: "I'm currently re-reading The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins is always good for another read. I'm usually reading several books. Another grabbing my attention at the moment is Henning Mankell's The Man F..."

Wilkie Collins is my favorite writer! recently finished The Lady and the Law - LOVE his work!!!

Getting ready to start Mansfield Park .... that and The First World War by John Keegan for another goodreads group. Almost finished with The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey.

I'm always reading more than one book at a time. My rule is: only one book per genre, so I'll be reading a science fiction/fantasy book and a history book and a british classic and a collection of short stories and a "waiting room" mystery or chick-lit book. (waiting room books are the written equivalents of TV shows like "Gilligans Island" or "Bewitched", quick, entertaining, easy to put down, easy to pick up)

Has anyone read Alan Bradley's series featuring Flavia DeLuce, a delightfull 11-year-old chemist and lover of poisons? I read the first, 'Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' last summer and recently read the second, 'The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag.' They are set in a small English village in the 1950s.
Speaking of Crispin, P.D. James recommends him in her 'Talking About Detective Fiction.'

Deedee wrote: "Getting ready to start Mansfield Park .... that and The First World War by John Keegan for another goodreads group. Almost finished with The Gates of Sleep b..."
DeeDee........I also follow your rule for reading multiple books.......one history, one British mystery (or Nero Wolfe mystery) and one "easy read" (right now my easy read is "The 100 Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Times"). I guess all book lovers are alike!!!!
By the way, if you like good history of WWI, try "Paris 1919" by Margaret McMillan which is one of the best written about the travesty known as the Versailles Treaty.

Rick wrote: "Beth wrote: "Currently I'm reading The Eighth Promise by William Poy Lee. It's really interesting and I'm enjoying it so far...even if the binding has seen better days!"

haha - bad binding usual..."

Sadly this happened to the first reader...my mom! I'm only the third to read it! Shame on the publisher!

I'm currently reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I wanted to read something pertinent to American Black History Month which occurs in February.

J.R. wrote: "Has anyone read Alan Bradley's series featuring Flavia DeLuce, a delightfull 11-year-old chemist and lover of poisons? I read the first, 'Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' last summer and recentl..."

JR- never read Bradley- will have to look him up- sounds great!- but from now on library!!! folks keep bringing up great authors and i buy them - like edmund crispin- need to make use of library more!!:>)

J.R. wrote: "Has anyone read Alan Bradley's series featuring Flavia DeLuce, a delightfull 11-year-old chemist and lover of poisons? I read the first, 'Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' last summer and recentl..."

SOME INFO ON ALAN BRADLEY


Alan Bradley received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, as well as the first Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award for Children’s Literature. He is the author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. Bradley lives in Malta with his wife and two calculating cats, and is currently working on the next Flavia de Luce mystery, A Red Herring Without Mustard.

I'm now working on two T. F. Torrance volumes:
The Christian Doctrine of God and
Royal Priesthood

Back to fiction after these for a few volumes. Trying to get a move organized in March to.

J.R. wrote: "Has anyone read Alan Bradley's series featuring Flavia DeLuce, a delightfull 11-year-old chemist and lover of poisons? I read the first, 'Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' last summer and recentl..."

I read "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" last year and enjoyed every page of it. Flavia is a terrific character and the mystery was well-plotted, I thought. I'm looking forward to reading the new book very soon.

Right now I am reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson and I'm finding it pretty much unputdownable! I had been meaning to read this book ever since it came out. I'm so glad I finally got to it on my list.

Yes, the Stieg Larsson books are excellent. I'm anxiously awaiting the third in the series. Too bad he didn't live to give us more.
Dorothy wrote: "J.R. wrote: "Has anyone read Alan Bradley's series featuring Flavia DeLuce, a delightfull 11-year-old chemist and lover of poisons? I read the first, 'Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' last summe..."

Reading twilight by Peter James, I recently got another one of his books as a birthday present and I absolutely loved it so it prompted me to read another of his, a day after the first lol.

Thanks, Rick for that very interesting info on Alexander McCall Smith!I have most of his books but I aim to have the entire collection. Sadly, the film adaptation has not been shown yet here in the Philippines.

I just finished In the Company of Cheerful Ladies and am now reading Wild Swans :D

Cheers!

Lai wrote: "Thanks, Rick for that very interesting info on Alexander McCall Smith!I have most of his books but I aim to have the entire collection. Sadly, the film adaptation has not been shown yet here in the..."

VERY WELCOME LAI!