In the High Peaks
















Monday, December 30, 2019

The Ice Storm Cometh--And Books in the House

Our entire region has ground to a halt due to an ice storm that started early last evening and is expected to last another 24 hours. Why we still have power and internet early this morning is a mystery. But I'm sure we'll lose it soon, so I may not be able to respond to comments or post for an indefinite period of time.

Over the Christmas and New Year period, I have an annual habit of hauling home loads of books from the library. It seems that borrowers return all their books before Christmas. As a result the "New Books" shelves are stacked to the hilt, and I can often find recently published books that I haven't seen at the library all year. This is especially true of audiobooks.

But today I'd like to mention some titles that are still popular written a number of years ago. I'll start with The Observations by Jane Harris (born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and raised in Glasgow), published in 2006. This is Harris's widely acclaimed debut novel.
Set outside of Edinburgh in 1863, a young Irish girl goes to work in a country manor house. She has no experience as a maid, but as it turns out, the mistress of the house hires her because she can read and write, not for her skills in the scullery. Dark secrets abound all over the house, and soon the mistress directs the girl to keep a journal of her secrets.

Another title that piqued my interest is a short novella (or a long short story [62 pages]) by the Irish writer John Connolly entitled The Caxton Private Lending Library and Book Depository. The tale is available on its own via Amazon, but it is also included in a collected volume of tales entitled Night Music. John Connolly is also the author of the Charlie Parker mysteries, which I have never read. A man who prefers books to people is the hero of this mystery, which received a 3.95  rating on Goodreads.

The next book I'll mention is a recently published book, which I'm listening to as an audiobook. Mayflower Lives: Pilgrims in a New World and the Early American Experience is written by the English popular historian, Martyn Whittock. When I first heard about this book earlier this year, my knee-jerk impulse was to reject it, because of my absurd bias favoring American scholars when it comes to 17th century American colonial history. I reconsidered and realized it would be very interesting to read about the so-called Pilgrims' first years in America (only about half the group were Puritans and Dissenters), seeing it from the perspective of a writer of  English history. It's good for Whittock that he published this one in 2019--I suppose we must get prepared for the flood of Mayflower-inspired books that will appear in 2020, the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower Landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (A 4.05 rating on Goodreads.)  I don't mind the flood, actually, because in the past ten years or so, I have been continuously fascinated by the 17th century in the Americas,  and globally as well.

12 comments:

  1. Down on Long Island we are getting the same storm in the form of rain.

    All of these books look interesting. I may read Mayflower Lives myself in the upcoming months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad for you at least that this one is a rainstorm. We do not like icy monstrosity storms here.
      As far as Mayflower Lives goes, I'm glad I have a drive to Boston coming up next Monday, and home on Wednesday. I'm enjoying this one, and how much it helps me endure the endless miles of the Mass Turnpike. Oh, how I detest that road, always with problems. Got to hop over to visit you at your blog, Brian.

      Delete
  2. What interesting sounding books, I'll definitely have to get around to the Jane Harris one which I have somehow completely missed! I hope your power stays on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katrina,
      I've heard only good things from people who have read The Observations. I'd also love to see what Harris wrote after this debut. As of the New Year's Day at 6pm, we are still having trouble maintaining electric power! It comes and it goes, and comes and goes again.

      Delete
  3. I do like that photo of Ken resting at the top of your blog now.

    The Observations by Jane Harris sounds very interesting, I like stories set in manor houses and especially when they focus on servants. I will definitely look into that one. Also the novella by John Connolly (I have not read anything by him).

    In a previous post you talked about The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen, which I am interested in. That is part of a series? The Royal Spyness mysteries? Have you read any more of those? Did it matter when reading Twelve Clues?

    I hope the ice storm is coming to an end and has not affected you too adversely. Having never experienced that kind of extreme weather, I cannot even imagine. (Once when I was a child we had 10 inches of snow in Birmingham, Alabama and in more recent years they have had snowstorms where everyone lost power and had no heat, but I never experienced any of that.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tracy,
      I have heard and read such good things about The Observations. And I can't wait to read Connelly's novella.
      And yes indeed--The Twelve Clues of Christmas is one of the best in the Royal Spyness mysteries, in my opinion. So much fun, so intriguing, a five-star Christmasy bet. I read the first one or two in the series after reading this one, actually. I did not care for them as nearly as much as The Twelve Clues. I think this one stands alone very well.
      Tracy, I can tell you the trials of the last 72 hours, though they've been considerably stressful for us in ways I would bore you to death to enumerate, just let me tell you that the wildfires that you've had to experience are a thousand-fold worse.
      I am so shocked that you had 10 inches of snow in Alabama when you were a kid. I imagine you and your friends must have had a blast!! Did you? Do tell!

      Delete
    2. Judith, thanks so much for answering my question on The Twelve Clues. I will be seeking out a copy of that.

      Ten inches of snow in Birmingham was so unexpected, and we must have had a great time, although I remember no details. It was a great experience, because I have never lived anywhere near snow or even visited anyplace with snow, so it is my only memory of snow. Now rain, in Alabama there are months where we had monsoons (or close).

      Delete
    3. I think you'll love the 12 Clues. I guess Alabama and Mississippi had flooding rains yesterday and today. They have been experiencing more extremes in precipitation in recent years.

      Delete
  4. I really enjoyed The Observations. I hope you do too. I loved the voice of Bessy, the would-be maid, especially.

    I think a book on the Mayflower history might be interesting from the POV of a non-American. But I don't read much history or non-fiction at all. I am going to see the musical Hamilton next year however and as a result of listening to the sound track, am actually tempted to tackle that 800+ page behemoth by Ron Chernow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ruthiella,
      I'm so glad to hear that you really liked The Observations. This increases my desire to get to it soon.
      How interesting that you'll be seeing Hamilton in 2020. I must, must listen to the soundtrack. I listened to Teri Gross's (Fresh Air) long interview with the creator, which was repeated this past week. And I'm dazzled to think that it may have inspired you to read the Chernow bio. How interesting!

      Delete
  5. Lots of interesting books to keep you occupied! Stay safe and warm, Judith... hope you don't lose power for too long. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, Jo Ann, we've lost power and had it returned for several hours before losing it again, over and over during the last 80 hours. Snow fell on top of the ice-encrusted trees, so it's still bad. We have power this evening at least. Wishing you a very happy FLORIDA New Year! Good for you!

      Delete