A Book of One's Own: People and their Diaries by Thomas Mallon

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Thomas Mallon. I found it in my daughter's Goodwill while I was visiting her last Spring. I just finished it!! I know. That's bad, but I had other books to read as well, the summer job and I finally picked it back up this past weekend from the table by my couch. I had been stung by a virulent yellow jacket and needed book sustenance of a lighter kind where I didn't have to figure out a mystery, a murder, etc...

 

This book was published in 1984. I love the cover. The funny thing was this: when I grabbed this book off the shelf I also grabbed two more and what do you think they all ended up being about? Diaries. So I took it as a nod to "Hello! You may want to start one!" So I did.  It may not prove to be as fascinating as the diaries that Mallon discusses in his book.

 

Mallon says he had read "hundreds of diaries" and that he came "to feel sure of three things":

-writing books is too good an idea to be left to authors

-almost no one has had an easy life

-no one ever kept a diary for just himself

 

You really do want to read the diaries he has picked to discuss and go back in time to experience the daily life of a downstairs servant, or what the gossip was at court during the reign of this or that King or Queen, or what it was like to be a grave robber. Famous diarists such as Sylvia Plath, Samuel Pepys, Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, Queen Victoria, Thoreau, C.S. Lewis, Anne Frank, Mary Shelley and so forth. To get into their minds is to get into their daily thoughts whether uplifting or downtrodden. To look through the window of their soul.

 

Mallon explains that a diary keeps a person alive and some if not all of the diarists within his book carry this wish when they are writing. That they may live on eternally.

 

I get it!!

 

So if you can find this little gem then grab it. It'll be a good read.

 



Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

 

Here's a classic that I was trying to read last summer but finally read this summer. Better late than never, right?

 

Yes, I found this book on my Goodwill shelf and grabbed it before anyone else could. Don't you love the book cover? So haunting. It befits the story that always seems to be brooding, self loathing and quite sparse of cheer, sunshine and flowers. But one is compelled to continue reading even though one knows that the outcome is not going to produce rainbows and lollipops but rather dismal rain and sorrow.

 

We are intrigued with Catherine and Heathcliff, their deep and eternal love that exudes such highs and lows to the point of devastation. Would one really want that kind of love that pulls one only into another and without that other then one drowns in one's own contemplation in solitude and despair? Regardless we must read on and on to the conclusion which has a glimpse of redemption and recovery for us to feed on.

 

If you have not read this classic, then I suggest you grab one from a friend, the library or off a shelf somewhere. Even though you are not going to laugh uproariously nor smile from ear to ear I think you will be glad you can say that you read it.

 

If I wanted to throw a pun in I would call this novel "Withering Heights" because that is what happens to everyone, almost, who surround themselves around Healthcliff. He is a social vampire.

 

I must admit though that I like the 1939 movie with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier. It has one of the best lines in it that I love which is not in the book. 

Suspense and Sensibility (Or, First Impressions Revisited) by Carrie Bebris

This is "A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery". Therefore you will be solving a mystery along with the Darcys as they live their Jane Austen written lives beyond her hand written novel.

 

Are our first impressions really whom we see before us or is there another person lurking below the well dressed facade in front of our very eyes? Do we need to just look in a mirror to see our true selves?

 

All is not what it appears to be as the Darcys take their siblings to London for The Season. Hopefully there will be weddings in the offing but will there? One can only hope and despair either to the point of emaciation or gluttony. What do the gossips say? Can they be trusted?

 

This book caught my eye because of its title and front page. We all seem to love Jane Austen so why not a book which "carries on" the relationships. I personally would have enjoyed reading about their regular lives, what they ate, wore, saw and experienced rather than adding a mystery to investigate. But that doesn't mean I did not enjoy the book.

 

In fact the author has written more Austen-ish mystery books that I hope to find at my local Goodwill where I found this one. I would say they are a good summer read or if you are snowed in.

 

I will keep my eyes peeled and keep you posted!

The Forgotten by David Baldacci

 

Hey Folks! Here's the next book I have finished this summer. It's June 9th and I have read a lot of books so far.

 

As usual I got this at the GW (short now for Goodwill). I think this might be included under "Guy Reads" because it was ok but didn't rock my Baldacci world as some of his books have done.

 

That said, it was about an Army guy on R&R who ended up using his time solving his Aunt's murder which happened in a nice retirement neighborhood of Florida where no crimes seem to be committed. But right under everyone's sunburned social secuirty receiving noses is a huge illegal business that happens during the wee hours of the night when everyone is finally asleep.

 

But if you can't seem to close your elderly eyes and sleep but rather decide instead to take a drive in the night then you may have wished you had stayed in bed or watched reruns of Andy Griffith. Why? Because you may find yourself in a nose dive in your backyard fountain for your spying.

 

Go back to bed!

 

If you want a read that will get you through until your next really exciting book, then pick this up but don't pay full price. So to your local GW and see what you can find.

 

I love you, David, but I am sorry that this one didn't hit the mark with me. But don't worry. I am only one person in a billion and my opinion usually doesn't count.

 

Sleep tight!

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

First of all, don't you love the cover? And the red font? How stunning! If that doesn't grab you from the start then I think you need to rethink yourself.

Also I had heard that this book was a great read so when I saw it at the Goodwill (where else?) I grabbed it off the shelf. It certainly grabbed me. How could I pass it up with such a beautiful cover? My question to myself was, "Could I paint that?"

But you may be asking yourself, "What is a red tent and what is its significance?"

You will find out if you read this book but I will give you a hint ... what comes once a month for most women? Now maybe the tent in and of itself was not the color red but what happens inside it does include that color. But more goes on there than mere cyclical necessities. The tent is where the women can talk and share their thoughts and where they can rest from their work.

Ok, women out there, do you wish you had a red tent where you could rest from your work for about three or four days every month, and you would be handed food and cared for? Sounds like a plan, right?

But this book really is about the biblical Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and their women and events behind the scene of the events. What went on with the lives of these people in a daily grind of living not to mention of birthing lots of children for the men. The more you had, the merrier you were supposed to be, or rather the richer. You could say, Look at me I have a billion sons to carry my seed on and on. I am great and powerful.

I am being facetious but there is a lot of birthing going on in this book. After all it is mostly about the women behind the men.

That said I liked the book. It was not a cliff hanger as the Bible seems to be at times during the events covered but it does capture what it would feel like to be a woman at that time. It is spoken through the voice of one of the daughters, Dinah. I haven't yet opened my Bible to see if see is specifically named so I need to get with that program. I personally don't remember her and she seems to be invisible most of the time in the book.

At any rate, I hope your Spring was full of interesting reads and that your summer proves to be even more exciting. Mine is getting a boost by the next book I am reading. A David Baldacci. I'll clue you in after I have read the whole thing.

Ta ta for now!



September by Rosamunde Pilcher/A Book of One's Own by Thomas Mallon/Cordina's Royal Family by Nora Roberts/In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

OK. So you are probably wondering why I have a gazillion book titles in the heading!?! It's simple. I am reading them all at the same time. Yes, it's true.

I started with In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden who is, as you know from previous posts, one of my mother's favorite authors. It is very interesting but is slow so I picked up another book as well to read that moved along in a faster pace. I will tell you about it next. But first let me tell you a bit about Godden's book. In short, the House of Brede is a convent. Thus the slowness of the plot yet you get to look into the lives of the novitiates as they go through the process of becoming a nun or not. Also the thoughts of the mother superior as well as the nuns who have lived there for a long time. Each has their duties within the convent and tend to gravitate towards tasks they are suited for, such as cooking or gardening. Is there jealousy, gossip, or actions among the ranks that need to be subjected to submission to the work of the Lord? Well yes. They are only human. If you were brought up Catholic or you are just curious what goes on behind convent walls, then pick this book up.

It is centered on a woman who has been climbing up the corporate ladder of success only to get to the top rung and decide there has to be more to her spiritual life and her life in general. To tell you the truth I haven't finished this book yet as I am reading so many at one time. So I don't even know if she decides to stay or go.

Have I finished any of the books listed above?

Yes, I finished September by Rosamunde Pilcher while I was visiting one of my daughters. This was the book I picked up to read as I was also reading Godden. I left Godden behind on the table beside my couch and toted Rosamunde with me on the two hour plane flight. Before I knew I had landed and the lady beside me woke up from her silent nap.

As some of you may know, Rosamunde is my Dad's all time favorite author. This book is essentially a sequel to The Shell Seekers. So if you liked that one then get this one and continue to read about what happened to Noel Keeling after his mother died suddenly. Did he shape up and fly right? Also, as you have probably guessed, this book culminates in the month of September for a family wedding. Who shows up and who does not?  Does the past show up to unravel people's feelings about themselves. Is there forgiveness? As only Ms. Pilcher can do, the story moves along at a pace that one enjoys and she doesn't leave anything out. You really get to know the characters by the time you have read 536 pages in a hardback. Yes, that's what I had and it was a doozy to hold while laying on my side in bed at night to read before going to sleep. I had to prop it up on a pillow.

But it was all worth it. Thank you, Miss Rosamunde for another good companion in my life. It is sitting on my book shelf amongst the other Pilchers. Are they having a family reunion while I am asleep and gossiping about me?

"Isn't she just a darling? She keeps reading our books and saving them for posterity on her shelves. What a jewel. I think she's a keeper too, don't you?"

Since I finished September there wasn't anything for me to do but I had to go to the local Goodwill with my daughter and buy another book to read. Ok, so I bought more than one book but at those prices who can resist? One, which I have yet to finish but which has motivated me to write a "common book", is called A Book of One's Own by Thomas Mallon. The cover got my attention as it looks like wallpaper designed by William Morris long ago. Thomas read many personal diaries written by famous people that have been stored in famous libraries. He shares his insights about  those diaries and what they mean and about the people who wrote them. All very faciscinating. I had to read the book with a fine tipped Sharpie at the ready to underline fabulous lines. Therefore I read it like having a good meal. I chewed every bite slowly and got all the taste out of each morsel. I haven't gotten to dessert yet so I can't quite pat my lips and put down my napkin. Perhaps I will finish digesting all these books at one time and I will feel so full that I will actually not read for a day.

I doubt it.

Another book I bought at that Goodwill was Cordina's Royal Family by Nora Roberts. It's a romance novel and like all romance novels it is about falling in love and usually with someone who really gets under your skin and makes you furious at every turn yet pushes the right love buttons in due time and you can't resist them and yada, yada, yada. This one is woven around someone with amnesia who has to relearn how to be Her Royal Highness all over again. At least she woke up into a filthy rich monarchy!! We don't feel too sad for her. It's a good filler and if you are into romance novels then she has written a multitude of them that will fill your heart. I'm not really sure I will finish this one but I may if I am in the mood. Haha.

Well there you have it.

For now.

Authors: J.J. Marric and Dell Shannon

 

 Hello followers!!! I have been slack on posting the books I have been reading. Why? Can I blame it on the snow I had here in my fair city?

 

No?

 

O.K.

Well I take a picture of the book cover and place it at the top of my post for your enjoyment and I did, I really did, but for some reason my PhotoshopElements is still not behaving. Oh well. Can I blame that on the solar flare that has been causing havoc upon the Earth?

 

No?

 

Well I say yes to blaming the sun's tantrum because I really wanted you to enjoy the old paper jackets on the collection of the old detective/murder books from these two authors. My mother gave me her collection of them in 2011. I am just now reading them. I can't blame that on anything or anyone but myself.

 

J.J. Marric's main character, George Gideon, is Commander of London's Criminal Investigation Department, and solves cases with panache. Perhaps a little methodically slow and that's what the read is as well ... slow but steady. I find they are good fillers between more in depth and involved reading. I really wish you could see the covers. They remind me of the black and white Masterpiece Theatre figures that would pass across one's TV screen mysteriously before Alistair Cooke would quietly tell us from his cozy chair what we were about to see.

 

 My mother had checked off in pencil the books she had read by Marric which were listed on the page before the title "Gideon's Badge". This story took Gideon and his wife across the ocean to a steaming and humid New York. Each of Marric's book titles start with the word "Gideon's _______" and then one word follows. Easy to find or look up.

 

Well I looked him up online and found to my amazement that his real name was John Creasey and he was was born in 1908 and died in 1973 but not before he wrote "more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms"! He wrote not only in crime but also in science fiction. So if you like his style of writing and his characters then you have a zillion books you can pick up at your local library. My goodness!! When did you ever sleep?

 

Now on to Dell Shannon whose main character is Luis Mendoza who works in homicide for the L.A.P.D. Again, Shannon's books are also slow and plodding but have a bit of humour thrown in from time to time. I looked Dell up too online and to my second amazement found out that the 'he' in my mind was a 'she'. Dell Shannon was really Barbara "Elizabeth" Linnington who was born in 1921 and died in 1988. She was a "prolific American novelist", says Wikipedia, and was "regarded as the "Queen of the Procedurals." She was one of the first women to write 'police procedurals'  — a male-dominated genre of police-story writing."  Well no wonder she had to write as a male!! You go girl!

So if you feel like helping Mendoza or Gideon solve a crime or two then check these copious author's books out.