Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2

[mrssherlock]

This is the place to talk about the works of fiction you are reading, whether they are new or old, and share your own opinions and reviews with interested readers. Every week the new bestseller lists come out brimming with enticing looking books and rave reviews. How to choose?

Discussion Leader:  Judy Laird

Mary:  Forgive me; my mind is like a sieve.  I do thank you for the mention, didn't know it was on DVD.

[Steph]

I heard syphilis as well, but varicose ulcers sound more likely.   I saw the famous portrait of him at a museum( Tate probably) in London. That was likely late 30's or so since he is very stocky, but not really fat.. Formidible man.. I just found that several books I have read talk of the incredible vanity and that when he was young, he was good looking , but later all you hear is that he became a monster. Interesting what ultimate power can do to you.

[MaryPage]

MrsSherlock, The Cazelets was on Masterpiece Theatre some years ago, and that is what caused me to read the books and buy the series.  It was a mini-series, not a seasonal series.  If you go to Barnes & Noble (which is where I practically live) and click on DVDs and then put the name THE CAZELETS in Search, it will show you what is available.  For those who do Amazon instead, you can do the same.  And if you do Amazon.uk you can find all of the Masterpiece Theatre stuff.  DO NOT order DVDs or videos from the UK;  they won't work on our equipment.  Books, of course, are just fine and it is cheap and quick to order them this way.  You can often get things directly from the UK that are not yet available here.  You do have to be a bit careful, though, even with the books, as frequently a book will have one title in the UK and another in the USA.  This was true of the Harry Potter books, for instance.

One of my friends was raving about The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest last spring, and I pointed out to her that it had not yet been published here.  "Oh," she said, "I couldn't WAIT after reading the first two, so I sent across the pond for it via Amazon.uk!"  I was so jealous, but had already preordered it from Barnes & Noble.

Have always read all I could get my hands on about Henry VIII (well, all English History, actually, and if you have not yet read Thomas Costain's THE LAST PLANTAGENETS, do!  3 or 4 books, as I remember, and in the list for the best history reading Ever!  Henry VIII not in these books.) and it is clear that he was held as a wonderful young man of great high spirits and congeniality, and that the leg problems changed his personality, not his power.

[mrssherlock]

How I loved Thomas P Costain! The Silver Chalice  His historical novels carried me to glorious vicarious adventures.  The Conquering Family is the first of his non-fiction series about the Plantagenets.  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/thomas-b-costain/conquering-family.htm

[MaryPage]

I agree, MrsSherlock;  I found everything Costain ever wrote to be wonderful and exciting;  not to mention I learned a lot the easy way!

[mabel1015j]

Those non-fiction Costain books sound interesting, Jackie, i'll have to look for them. Maybe you should post that in "non-fiction" also. They are always searching for good non-f.

I finished Dana Fuller Ross' Wagons West:Independence It was enjoyable, not heavy, maybe a little predictable, but a fun read. It is the first in a whole series of the move west. The next one is Nebraska which i also have.  I have found that there seems to be a confusion around the name Dana Fuller Ross. It's been used by two different authors as an alias and both of them write historical novels about the West and the military. Noel B. Gerson, who apparently - it's hard to tell which DFR is which, it looks like they are confused even on the fantastic fantasy website - has written at least 325 books, was the first one to use the DFR name and he died in 1988, according to the NYT. Now an author named James Reasoner is using the name DFR. He has collaborated w/ his wife and other authors at various times to write in the same  genre. Sounds a little fishy to me.......................some of the bibliography lists have the two authors confused................but the books all sound rather interesting, so maybe it doesn't matter. They will give me enough reading for the next 20 yrs.........lol...............altho Gerson's ghost may not appreciate someone else using his nom-de-plume.

I'm also reading a very good Mary Alice Malone book - is there any other kind than "very good?" I guess that's a redunancy.   Time is a River Different from the other books of hers that i've read.

It is not a "beach" setting, but set in the mts of western NC and it is not an intergenerational story like Beach House, etc. But it is about a woman who has survived breast cancer and is dealing w/ the aftermath, including a husband who has decided he now wants someone else.

As usual w/ MAM's books, i am learning about a subject i know nothing about - fly fishing! Having grown up in an Applachian valley in Pa, i love reading her descriptions of the woods, mountains and river. I spent many hours on a piece of mountain land that my father owned about 10 miles from our house - so quiet and pleasant and natural.......The book is similiar enough to So Happy Together that i have to be sure my mind is thinking about the right book and character when i talk or write about either of them.................jean

[Tomereader1]

Did you mean Mary Alice Monroe?

[mabel1015j]

Yes! Of course! See, my  mind is still confused..........LOL.......where did Malone come from??...jean

[Tomereader1]

Malone, a good Irish name and no one could mind being called a Malone!  My mind stays confused...I couldn't have named Mary Alice, except I knew the Malone didn't quite work.  Hang in there. 

[roshanarose]

I fear it may sound as though I am harping, but....  Alison Weir writes the best historical biographies I have read.  I am currently reading "Elizabeth.  The Queen" and I am so consumed by it that I feel as if I am in Elizabeth's life.  Lexically dense, but excellent.  Also take a look at Weir's bio of Eleanor of Aquitaine, probably my favourite Royal.  Weir's specialty period is Tudor and although she hasn't written a book about Henry VIII himself she has written "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" which is waiting on my bookshelf to be read after I finish Elizabeth.

[roshanarose]

jackie - A long long time ago I saw a movie called "The Silver Chalice".  I think Paul Newman may have been the star.  Am I on the right track?

[mabel1015j]

Yes, i like Alison Weir also, but the last one i read on Eleanor of Aquitaine was more about Henry the II than EA. Of course, that material would be easier to come by. ........... It was a DNF for me, altho i read about 2/3rds before i gave up.................jean

[roshanarose]

Jean - Don't let that turn you off.  Please persevere - it is worthwhile.

[Steph]

I love Thomas Costain and have the nonfiction four volume on my book shelves. Hate to mention how old it is.. I remember Silver Chalice.. We got out of school ( the latin classes) to go to the movie. First movie role for Paul Newman (I think).

[Babi]

Not at all, JEAN.  There's 'good', and then there is very good. 'Good' is enjoyable, 'very good' is recommended.

[mrssherlock]

Look at the cast members, so many famous names.  Paul Newman became the object of worship for me and my high school buddies.  We went downtown to see a movie every week. (No one was dating yet) Remember downtown?

[mrssherlock]

PS Here's the link to "Silver Chalice" featuring Paul Newman:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047494/

[MaryPage]

Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of my top favorites, too;  and I own that and several other books about her.  Also own The Six Wives of Henry VIII.  Remember how we learned them?  Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, lived!

[JoanK]

I had the biggest crush on Paul Newman -- still do. I was saddened when he died. It's nice when you have a crush on someone who seems like a good person. My other crush was on Frank Sinatra -- less good.

We didn't get to go "downtown" to see movies -- there was a theater in the neighborhood.

[joangrimes]

I learned it
divorcecd , beheaded, died,  divorced beheaded survived...JoanGrimes

I still believe that sphyllis caused the ulcerative condition on HenryVIII's leg...remember there were no miracle drugs to cure such things.JoanGrimes

[Tomereader1]

I had always heard that he had "gout". 

[mrssherlock]

Gout is a build up of uric acid crystals in the joints; look like needles.  He may have been diabetic since wounds don't heal normally if the pancreas is under-performing. 

[roshanarose]

mary page:  Alison Weir has now turned her skills to writing historical novels.  I actually used the book called "Innocent Traitor" about Lady Jane Grey as my "Author, author" challenge.  You may like to check it out.  It must be exciting for her to be able to utilise her talents as a historical biographer into a "new" career as a novelist. Wouldn't it be something to be able to write like that?   Long may she reign. 

[Gumtree]

I thought Henry's leg problem was caused by syphilis - but gout and diabetes could be present as well. I know Henry was much earlier but I read somewhere that in England during 19th century one in ten people were suffering from syphilis - this included children born with the disease who had little chance of survival. Thanks be for modern drugs.

[MaryPage]

Well, it looks like 2010/2011 is going to be the Plague of the Bedbugs!  Gives me the willies, it does!

[Steph]

Bedbugs.. Oh me, I can just hear my Mom.. She regarded them and headlice as proof of dirtiness.. Now it seems that lice is common in most schools.

[MaryPage]

So one of my granddaughters tells me.  Two of her three little kids (3 of my 17 great grandchildren) are in elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland.  That area has long been a "bedroom" community for Washington, D.C. and had one of the top ranked school systems in the U.S.A.  Lo!  They have a big infestation of head lice and these critters seem to be getting immune to what used to get rid of 'em!

Apparently that is the problem with these new generations of bedbugs;  we lack the pesticides to kill them.  I would sort of like to become a hermit until they find something.

[mrssherlock]

And we all thought DDT was a miracle.  Survival of the fittest in action.

[marjifay]

When I was a young girl, my family moved into an old farmhouse in Iowa.  We discovered we had bedbugs.  Ugh.  My mom got DDT and that got rid of them in a big hurry.  I suppose it's not safe to be used regularly, but too bad they can't use it against those pests.

Marj

[mrssherlock]

Marj:  These pests abound because their ancestors survived the DDT generation and produced offspring mostly immune to pesticides.

[JoanK]

MARY: I lived in Montgomery County for 40 years, (and yes, my children got head lice): my sister, PatH, still lives there. Where do your granddaughters live?

Good luck with the bedbugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JoanK]

If you're thinking of joining the Zeitoun discussion in September, but haven't been in the prediscussion, the Zeitoun family will be interviewed on PBS's Tavis Smiley show tomorrow (Friday).

[MaryPage]

JoanK, MaryPage is my first name,  am not called Mary.  I, too, lived in Montgomery County for years.  Silver Spring from 1946 to 1953, then Rockville from 1953 to 1962, then Bethesda from 1962 to 1967.  Then moved to Fairfax, Virgina and lived there 1967 to 2000, when I moved here to Annapolis, which you would know is in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

This particular granddaughter lives in Montgomery Village, which back in my day used to be farmland with a Gaithersburg post office address.  Now they have their own zip code!  When I go to visit with them, I just cannot get over the changes!

I do not have bed bugs, and have never seen one in my entire 81 years!  Am just really afraid of the nationwide problem erupting.  They are now saying not to go to the movies (in the upholstered chairs), fly on planes, go on cruises, go to hotels, even not to sit in upholstered chairs in doctor's offices!  Scary stuff indeed.

[Steph]

Yes, I gather that DDT did horrid things with the survival of some of the bugs. all resistant to almost anything. Oh well, once we had sand fleas in the house and I guarantee those little horrors were a mess to get rid of as well..

[JoanK]

MARYPAGE: I'm glad you told me -- I almost called you Mary on another site.

I lived in Montgomery Village for 37 years (in Stedwick II). When I moved there, I could see farms from my house and hear roosters crowing in the morning. The woods were full of birds and I could see the stars at night. By the time I left, all those things were gone.

Not go to movies!! My grands will revolt!

[MaryPage]

Joan, I can remember when Quince Orchard Road was not even paved!  I had a dear friend who had a farm there, though she only grew horses and iris and stuff for her own family to eat, back in the fifties.  Now, one daughter and two granddaughters and 6 great grands live in Montgomery Village on Oak Bluff Drive, almost across the street from one another.  One granddaughter is divorced, and her mother lives with her and her 3 kids, while the other granddaughter, her sister, lives with her husband and 3 kids.

[salan]

I just finished Yann Martel's latest book, "Beatrice and Virgil".  I was anxiously waiting for this book as I absolutely loved his "Life of Pi".  The book was a big disappointment to me and I would not recommend it to anyone.  Has anyone else read it.  If so, what did you think???

Sally

[pedln]

Just wear long sleeves, so your friends won't know, and will let you come into their homes.   

Remember Hiding Place author Carrie Ten Boom.  She and her sister were so dismayed when they arrived at the concentration camp and found their section of the barracks to be infested with either bed bugs or fleas.  However, there was one bright spot -- the Nazi soldiers never ventured into their area -- because of the bugs.

[Steph]

My sister in law is here and we are having great book discussionis. She is a teacher of teachers, etc. at a college level and have so much fun discussin what we are reading and the world of teaching from her level.

[mabel1015j]

What a joy that must be STeph, i wish i could be a fly on the wall......jean