MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote

Thank you for joining me this week for Book Beginnings on Fridays where participants share the opening sentence (or two) from the book they are reading. You can also share from a book you want to feature, even if you are not reading it at the moment, which is what I'm doing this week. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Talk about mean! Odd Henderson was the meanest human creature in my experience.

-- from The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote.

The Thanksgiving Visitor is a short story by Truman Capote originally published in the November 1967 issue of McCall's magazine, and later published as a book by Random House in 1968. It's a childhood tale about a boy and a bully bothering him and was inspired by Capote's own childhood in Alabama. 

I thought this would be a good pick for Thanksgiving week. For those of you celebrating, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving and a relaxing holiday weekend! If you want to read The Thanksgiving Visitor, it is available online here. There is also a beautiful Modern Libray edition combining another, connected story called One Christmas.  

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Please add the link to your book beginning post in the linky box below. If you participate or share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so other people can find your post.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 asks participants to share a two-sentence teaser from their book of the week. If your book is an ebook or audiobook, pick a teaser from the 56% point. 

Anna at My Head is Full of Books hosts The Friday 56, a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please visit My Head is Full of Books to leave the link to your post. 

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from The Thanksgiving Visitor:

The noises of the house were lovely, too: pots and pans and Uncle B.'s unused and rusty voice as he stood in the hall in his creaking Sunday suit, greeting our guests as they arrived. A few came by horseback or mule drawn wagon, the majority in shined up farm trucks and rackety flivvers.

I pulled that from roughly 56% of the way through the book because the story is not 56 pages long. 

 

Christmas!

 

CHRISTMAS

Have a merry and blessed Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wishing you a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope you have time to enjoy some good books this holiday weekend. 

Thankfulness -- BOOK NOTES

 

BOOK NOTES

A Thankfulness Stack

It’s Thanksgiving week, so I’ve put together a thankfulness stack to remind me to focus on my blessings, be content, give thanks, and show gratitude. I love Thanksgiving and the entire Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It's is a time of reflection for me, and filled with nostalgia. Thanksgiving is also the gateway to Christmas, which I really love. 

🦃 The Blessing by Nancy Mitford

🦃 A Little Book of Japanese Contentments by Erin Niimi Longhurst

🦃 Thank You for Smoking* by Christopher Buckley

🦃 Gratitude: Reflections on What We Owe to Our Country by William F. Buckley

I haven't read The Blessing yet. I picked this one for the title. I love Nancy Mitford, though, so I look forward to this one, which is described as her most autobiographical novel.

A Little Book of Japanese Contentments is one I really enjoyed. The author looks to Japanese traditions like "forest bathing" and wabi-sabi to gently advise on how to be more grounded and live in the present. The modernist, Japanese-style illustrations make the book beautiful and a good gift idea.

Thank You for Smoking may seem like dark satire for a post about thankfulness, but it’s actually right on point. My husband, also a lawyer, spent a big chunk of his career litigating cases for Philip Morris. Around our house, there’s more truth to that title than we care to acknowledge. 

The William Buckley book, Gratitude, is still on my TBR shelf but one I'd very much like to read. I think I might read it over Thanksgiving weekend. 

For my fellow Thanksgiving celebrants, what are your plans? My husband and I are on our own this year and plan to have a very laidback holiday. We certainly are not cooking a turkey dinner for the two of us! We are going to get lobsters from the tank at the Chinese grocery store. And I will be avoiding Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all the rest of it, like I do every year. 

Also, as is the tradition around our house, I'll go to the tree lot and get our Christmas tree on Saturday or Sunday. I no longer make my husband crawl around in the Oregon mud to cut our own tree, but I still insist on a fresh tree. 

Christmas!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas Books

CHRISTMAS BOOKS

One Christmas tradition I have — and I don’t think I’m alone in this — is to plan at least 100 Christmassy things I want to do in December and then abandon at least 80 of them when reality sets in. Prewrap the gifts with gorgeous ribbons and coordinating gift tags becomes shove everything into gift bags and write the name on the bottom with a sharpie. Bake all my own cookies and pies becomes buying shortbread and an almond ring from my favorite bakery and begging Hubby to make a gingerbread cake.

You get the idea!

One of my dream plans every year is to spend December in a cleaned and decorated house, in front of a fully decorated tree, a fire going in the fireplace, a warm adult beverage to hand, reading nothing but Christmas books. And then November fades away and I still have a dozen or so books I planned to read this year demanding attention. My list of Christmas books get set aside to “next year” like always.

I’m sticking with this tradition for Christmas 2024! 

This month, I seem to be reading a lot of mysteries. I am also finishing my last three book for the TBR 23 in '23 Challenge. By happenstance, the one I am reading now, Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, has two stories in it set at Christmas. So I managed to get in at least a little holiday-themed reading. 

Also, this year I gathered the Christmas books I could find around the house into a stack for inspiration. I’m going to keep this stack on my bedroom table where I keep books I plan to read, like my TBR 24 in '24 books. That will remind me to get the others finished by the end of November so I can indulge my fantasy of reading these in December. I am particularly looking forward to that Nigel Slater Christmas book. I really love food books with a Christmas theme. 

See any here you’ve read or want to? Do you have any favorite Christmassy books? I'd like to get more books or at least make a list of possibilities here on the blog.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

Happy New Year!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!

I started this New Year by cracking open War & Peace! Talk about classic resolutions!

January 1, 2023 is the first day of a mammoth War & Peace readalong over on Instagram, hosted by @renie_reads and @footnotes.and.tangents. The plan is to read one chapter a day and we will be finished before next New Year’s Eve! The hashtag for the readalong, if you are interested in playing along, is #whiskyandperseverance, or #warandpeace2023 for those readers not inclined or too young for whiskey.  

I'm ready! I read the first chapter today. I plan to read one chapter a day. But if that gets too crazy-making, I may read seven chapters each weekend to be ready for the group chat the following weekend. Or, just read at my own pace and chat as I can. We will see how it goes.

This is the first time I’ve read Tolstoy’s masterpiece, so I dragged in my Russian icons to give me a little saintly support! That, and the whiskey. 

Hubby gave me the fancy Easton Press edition for Christmas. Mine is the Aylmer and Louise Maude translation, with one twist. Maude and Maude lived in Moscow, spoke fluent Russian, and knew Tolstoy. Tolstoy gave his stamp of approval to their 1922-23 translation of War & Peace. They later revised their translation for a 1938 Heritage Press special edition. It’s this 1938 revised Maude & Maude translation that Easton Press used for this one, which was part of its set of The 100 Greatest Books Ever.

Have you read War & Peace? Is it worth it? Did you make any of your own bookish resolutions for 2023?

Christmas!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, King James Version:

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing you a happy new year full of good books and all good things!

Katherine by Anya Seton -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Happy New Year to all of you! And a heartfelt THANK YOU for playing along with me for another year of Book Beginnings on Fridays! This weekly event is the highlight of my book blogging and I appreciate all of you who join me, whether you come every week or drop in now and again. I hope to see you back again in 2022!

Please share the last book beginning of 2021 in the Linky box below. Share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week, or just a book you want to highlight. 

I'm ending the year with a chunky historical fiction classic, Katherine by Anya Seton. I just started it this morning and I am already sucked into this lavish, intricate tale of court life in 14th Century England. 

I plan to spend this New Year's weekend reading Katherine and organizing my 2022 reading challenges. Do you plan to do any challenges in 2022? Which ones? I hope you consider the European Reading Challenge -- it's the 10th anniversary of that challenge here on Rose City Reader! And the TBR 22 in '22 challenge, also here on my blog. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In the tender green time of April, Katherine set forth at last upon her journey with the two nuns and the royal messenger.

-- Katherine by Anya Seton. This classic romance, published in 1954, brings to life the historic tale of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the ancestors of most of the British royal family.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please leave a link to your Book Beginning post, not your blog home page or social media landing page. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Katherine:

The royal family were still only glittering figures to be glimpsed at the High Table, and the Queen only a name. Katherine had nothing to wear except the violet gown borrowed from Matilda and no finery to put on, so she sat idly for awhile on the bed that she shared with Philippa and Johanna Cosin, listening to the excited female gabble and longing to be out in the spring dusk.

Merry Christmas!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

21 Book Ideas for Holiday Gifts in 2021

 

21 BOOK IDEAS FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS

Books make terrific presents! Here are 21 ideas for the people on your list: fiction, nonfiction, history, mystery, cookery, gardening, memoir, house books, pictures books, even a sticker book -- a little something for everyone!

These are my personal picks for book gift ideas. Links go to my Rose City Reader bookshop.org shop. You can find my other bookshop lists there too, like 15 Favorite Campus Novels, Winners of the Women's Prize, and others. Feel free to poke around!

THE BOOKS

In alphabetical order by author name:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton. A smart, sexy rom-com perfect for holiday reading. Came out August 2021 and was shortlisted for the Wodehouse prize for best comic novel.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara. On the edges of a sprawling Indian city, a boy and his two friends set out to solve the mysterious disappearances of several children. This spellbinding mystery deserves the international praise heaped on it. It came out in 2020 and won the 2021 Edgar Award for best mystery novel.

Flavours of Greece by Rosemary Barron. Rosemary Barron started a cooking school in Greece in the 1980s and has been championing Greek food ever since. This redo of her best selling cookbook is a must-have for any lover of Greek food who wants to cook at home. Out June 2021 from Grub Street Cookery.

Dragons & Pagodas: A Celebration of Chinoiserie by Aldous Bertram. For the chinoiserie lover on your list, this one is a show stopper. Complete with Bertram's own chinoiserie–inspired watercolors and collages, Dragons & Pagodas is an irresistible confection. This coffee table gem came out September 2021.

Shoot the Moonlight Out by William Boyle. A neo-noir crime story set in pre-9/11 Brooklyn. Fans of Dennis Lehane or Michael Connelly will like this new rich, complex thriller. Out November 2021 from Pegasus Crime.

John Derian Picture Book by John Derian. This oversized coffee table book (11" x 14") came out in 2016 but is so gorgeous it deserves a spot on a gift list. Dreamy! 

John Derian Sticker Book by John Derian. For anyone who loves the world of John Derian -- or just loves really cool stickers! Came out November 2021.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Lawrence Ellsworth is in the middle of the first new translation of Dumas' "Musketeer Cycle" in over 100 years. His take is is fresh and lively, without the Victorian fustiness of earlier versions. If you thought the Musketeers were fun before, wait until you see how they swashbuckle now! The Three Musketeers is the first book in the series and came out in 2018. It's nice to start at the beginning. Four other books in the series are now available.

The Beauty of Home: Redefining Traditional Interiors by Marie Flanigan. New in 2021, this design book showcases Marie Flanigan's timeless, livable style. She also explains the elements needed to recreate her signature look. Can you tell I like pretty coffee table books? There's probably someone on your list who does too.

The Accidental Collector: An Artworld Caper by Guy Kennaway. This frolic through the world of art dealing and English villages is a freewheeling farce that will bring a smile with every page. It won the 2021 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction. 

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson. Erik Larson writes nonfiction history books that read like the most exciting thriller novels, like The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake. This one came out in 2020 but there are probably people on your list who missed it, just like I did.

Island of Gold by Amy Maroney. Amy Maroney launched a new series with this rollicking adventure story set in 1454 on the Greek island of Rhodes and featuring a strong female protagonist. Great pick for teen readers and any fan of exciting historical fiction.

The Garden in Every Sense and Season: A Year of Insights and Inspiration from My Garden by Tovah Martin. These 100 essays are like spending a year in a garden with a good friend. This reissued edition of Martin's garden classic came out in March 2021 from Timber Press.

Murder at the Castle: An Iris Gray Mystery by M. B. Shaw. Portrait painter Iris Grey arrives at Pitfeldy Castle in the Scottish Highlands to paint a portrait ahead of a New Year's wedding. But she must solve a murder instead. This Christmas-themed cozy mystery is PERFECT for the holidays. It comes out December 7, 2021.

Double Blind by Edward St. Aubyn. As you would expect from the author of the Patrick Melrose novels, Double Blind is rich literary fiction reminiscent of Iris Murdoch or Kingsley Amis. Came out June 2021.

The Florentines: From Dante to Galileo: The Transformation of Western Civilization by Paul Strathern. This masterful examination of the history of Florence is a nice choice for the history buff or Italian lover on your list. Out July 2021 from Pegasus Books.

Hill House Living: The Art of Creating a Joyful Life by Paula Sutton. Paula Sutton is a stylist, writer, and creator of the popular blog, Hill House Vintage. She's like a British, Black, 21st Century Martha Stewart and this is my favorite coffee table book of 2021. Get it for anyone with a sense of vintage style and dreams of living in a Stately Home of England. Came out October 2021.

Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking: A Cookbook by Toni Tipton-Martin. Fresh and modern recipes with deep roots in African American culinary history. This award winning cookbook hit the shelves in November 2019 but is still getting attention. A solid building block for a cookbook library.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. The new book from the author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility. This came out in October 2021. Given the almost universal popularity of his earlier books, you probably can't go wrong with this one!

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci. Who doesn't like Stanley Tucci? For the foodie on your list, this one fits the bill. It came out in October and is getting all the buzz.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. Literary noir set in 1959 Harlem. This page turner of a caper shows Whitehead at his storytelling best. Came out September 2021.

Happy Halloween!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Have a fun and safe Halloween! It is a beautiful day here in Portland. My neighborhood is geared up and ready to celebrate. It looks like most houses have some kind of decorations up, more than usual. I think last year was so grim, people want to make up for it. We expect we will have a lot of trick-or-treaters!

New Books and Birthday Books for MAILBOX MONDAY

 

It's Mailbox Monday and an icy Presidents' Day weekend here in Portland. Three-day weekends, snow days -- these concepts don't mean much when you are working from home anyway! So my office officially declared today a bon bon day and we are doing no real work. Which means I have time to catch up on my book blogging!

What new books have come into your house lately? A few have come my way since I last posted for Mailbox Monday:

-- The Anglophile's Notebook by Sunday Taylor, a novel about a magazine editor who travels to England to research a book about Charlotte Brontë. I've flipped through it and it is overflowing with literary tidbits and British coziness. This one has gone straight to the top of my TBR stack.

-- The First Lady of Underfashions by Christina Erteszek (available for pre-order now). This is the story of Erteszek’s parents Jan and Olga escaping WWII Poland, immigrating to America, and starting the Olga “underfashion” company. I love real-life stories of family businesses. 

Hubby knows how much I love coffee table books and got me two for my birthday he knew would be right up my alley:

-- Winston Churchill: Painting on the French Riviera by Paul Rafferty. Rafferty tracked down the location of many of the 120 or so paintings Churchill made in the South of France. The book features 35 of the paintings juxtaposed with a photograph of the scene from the same angle, taken in the same light. Rafferty also provides the story behind the paintings and locations, along with dozens of photographs of Churchill, his friends and family, the places he visited, and historic artifacts. It’s gorgeous and fascinating!

-- The English Country House by James Peill, photographs by James Fennell, forward by Julian Fellowes. Can’t wait to snuggle up with this coffee table queen on this snowy weekend!

MAILBOX MONDAY 

Join other book lovers on Mailbox Monday to share the books that came into your house last week. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis -- A New Year BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

For the first Book Beginnings on Fridays of the New Year, I'm featuring my last read of the old year, Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis.

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a chance to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading this week. Please share the link to your blog post or social media post in the Mr. Linky below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From Lucky Jim, published in 1953. I read this in college and am treating myself to a reread: 

"They made a silly mistake, though," the professor of history said, and his smile, as Dixon Watched, gradually sank beneath the surface of his features at the memory. 

Lucky Jim was an eyeopener to me when I first read it. After years of reading "literature" in high school and college, it was the first book of "literature" I read that was FUNNY. I mean, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, yes, they all said funny things. But Lucky Jim is all about being funny. James Dixon is a young college lecturer slacking off at his job, getting drunk, trying to get laid, and getting into one mess after another. And just like that, Amis was a literary sensation. 

I was hooked. Who knew literature could be fun?

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Please post to your Book Beginning post, not your blog home page or social media profile page. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

The little town and the city were in different counties; the local pubs, unlike the city pubs and the hotel he went to with Margaret, stayed open till ten-thirty during the summer, and the summer had now officially begun. His gratitude had been inexpressible in words; and only further calls at the bar could pay that happy debt.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's wishing you all a happy and healthy 2021! What is the first book you will read in the new year?

Merry Christmas!

 

Wishing you a happy and blessed Christmas and a healthy New Year!