What are you reading the week of February 5, 2022?

Continuing with my reading the Hippocratic corpus of documents, I finish Hippocrates II this week. One more week of this, and then I'm going to move on to something else for a while.

Just finished Maus I by Art Spiegelman for the LT read. Now reading How to Know the Birds: The Art and Adventure of Birding by Ted Floyd

Finished reading Khaki town by Australian author Judy Nunn.
Now reading two books by Ann Cleeves - because I enjoy watching Vera and Shetland TV series.

Longbourn – Jo Baker
Book on CD narrated by Emma Fielding
4****

We are all familiar with what happens in the Bennet, Darcy and Bingley households in Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice. Now, Jo Baker takes us downstairs to focus on the servants and their lives at Longbourn and Netherfield.

I really enjoyed this follow-up version. Yes, the major events from P&P are all present – the ball at Netherfield, Bingley’s leaving for London, Lizzie’s visit with Charlotte & Mr Collins, Lydia’s scandal, and the HEA endings – but Baker gives us a rich background to the servants that are mostly invisible in Austen’s classic.

Hill (or Mrs Hill as she’s known here) is the only servant we hear about in Austen’s original work. Here she is joined by her husband, and the house butler, Mr Hill, and two housemaids, Sarah and Polly. Sarah is a central character, having come to the house as a young orphan and grown up under the tutelage and care of Mrs Hill, she is in her early twenties as the novel opens. Polly is still a child; not sure of her age, but she guesses she is about twelve, and has not yet reached puberty. Sarah tries to shield her from the hardest labor, and forgives Polly for her lack of work ethic, while worrying about her innocence and vulnerability. And then there is James Smith, a strapping young man who appears one day and becomes the footman, groom, stable hand, and all-around great guy to have around.

Meanwhile, Bingley also has his manservant-footman-valet, Ptolemy. A former slave from the family’s holdings in Jamaica, he is an educated man with ambitions to start a business of his own.

The push/pull of attraction between Sarah and these two very different men is the central plot of this novel.

Regency England had many rules and restrictions that governed proper behavior, whether for the ladies and gentlemen of the upper class, or the servants, farmers and tradespeople in the towns. And this adds an additional layer of suspense in the slow-burn romance between Sarah and her paramour. There is a bit of backstory intrigue involving Mrs Hill. And the reader gets a different view of Mr Bennet’s character than the simple benevolent, indulgent father of Austen’s work.

Emma Fielding does an admirable job of performing the audio version. There are many characters to deal with and her skill as a voice artist is up to the task .

I have a few books going and am hoping to finish at least one over the next couple of days:

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

I'm still reading and loving The Outsider by Stephen King. It keeps getting better and better!

>4 BookConcierge: I have to add this to my reading list!

Nurse, Come You Here!: More True Stories of a Country Nurse On A Scottish Isle
by Mary J. MacLeod
This is the second book in the series of MacLeod’s life as a nurse and mother. In this one the family, re-locates to California due to her husband’s new job. She talks about life in the USA compared to life on the Scottish Isle they lived on but unfortunately she was unable to work as a nurse since she did not have a license to practice in the US. I am enjoying her books. There is one more book in the series that I look forward to reading.

Finished Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton. Liked it. Added Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton to my rotation.

I'm reading the brand new and very enjoyable George V Never a Dull moment by Jane Ridley.

I am closing in on the halfway point of Samantha Power's perhaps overlong but nevertheless interesting memoir, The Education of an Idealist.

It's 1785, and the famed naturalist Lazzaro Spallanzani is traveling to Constantinople to pursue his passionate study of all sorts of natural phenomena. But back home in Pavia, his academic rivals are plotting against him... The story is told in L’intrigo Spallanzani by Paolo Mazzarello. I read the first 100 pages so far, and it seems to be both a well researched and well written account.

Just finished The Vanishing Sky, a beautifully written but horrific book about a German family near the end of WWII. This is the year's first five-star read and will stay with me for a long time.

>4 BookConcierge: I would read this one but would re-read Pride and Prejudice first. I once won and read Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCraig and really liked it.

>5 bell7: I won The Lager Queen of Minnesota a long time ago. I liked it. Not sure if I still have it or gave to my library. I am in Minnesota.

Reading Texas Born by Diana Palmer.

Going to spend a good part of the day with Matrix.

Started this OverDrive audiobook novel today ~

The Last Chance Library
by Freya Sampson
(tale which takes place in England)

Let's see. Just finished The Space Between Worlds. Decided that Zero-Sum Victory was not worth the investment of time (deadly dull political science). Started The Dawn of Everything. The Tiger's Daughter is the book I actually expect to be carrying with me.

Last weekend I read The Red Badge of Courage, which was so much better than I thought it would be. Five out of five stars for that book.

Am now 1) reading Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham - am not very far into the book, but am enjoying it. Am also 2) listening to One Hundred Years of Solitude. I've been wanting to read Garcia Marquez for years but am unable to get into his books, so am trying to listen to it. I admit that I get very tangled up in the names of characters, but am rather liking the story and its style.

Ugh! Gave up on another book. Strangers I Know just seemed pointless.

Next attempt is Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I thought it might be better the second time. Sorry, I know a lot of people loved it but not for me. I will finish it.

A Children’s Bible – Lydia Millet
Digital audiobook performed by Xe Sands
3.5***

From the book jacket: Millet’s new novel follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents… the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleaders – including Eve, who narrates the story – decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside.

My reactions:
I’m not a great fan of post-apocalyptic stories but this one grabbed me. Evie’s narration is often times emotionless, almost a “just the facts, M’am” recitation. But nevertheless, the tension builds, as the children fend for themselves in a world devastated by a major hurricane and plagued by lawlessness.

Evie struggles to take care of her little brother, Jack, who has a children’s illustrated bible that he reads obsessively. He tries to interpret what they are living through in the context of the bible stories he’s read. And the scenes where he talks about these things give the entire book the feel of a morality play.

I think it would be a good candidate for a book group discussion, with the symbolism, allegory, and inherent warnings about global warming and consumer excess.

Xe Sands does a fine job narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters, but I was seldom confused about who was speaking or what was happening. The fact that Evie is narrator probably helped.

>14 mnleona: I've read P & P numerous times ... and you'll see a review of my latest re-read soon.

>15 mnleona: I'm reading it for my book club with my sister-in-law, where we read a book and cook a dish that goes with it, so at our meeting I'll bring tater tot hot dish from a recipe a Minnesotan friend gave me. I'm in Massachusetts though :) The book has been enjoyable so far.

I finished the fascinating book The Dawn of Everything It is not only an examination of the latest discoveries in archeology and anthropology, but an attempt to synthesize those findings. With the realization that present information does not fit beliefs as to the inevitability of our present social systems, the authors suggest that numerous options have existed for ages and any of them or something new should be possible now.

Finished Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton. Still a favorite read. Added The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack to my rotation.

Finishing up from the library: To Disguise the Truth by Jen Turano
New and #3 in The Bleeker Street Inquiry Agency series.

Next up: Twilight at Moorington Cross by Abigail Wilson
Although her novels written as stand alone, however, there are characters from previous novels featured or story lines continuing. Feels like a series!

Finished Gemini Cell by Myke Cole. When I first started the book, I expected it to be military SF. What it wound up being was a military urban fantasy horror romance...I think. Definitely not for everyone.

Added The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith to my rotation.

I usually have three books on the go. The real book is The Essential Henri Nouwen edited by Robert A. Jonas. The e-book is Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl. And the audiobook is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I have to admit that I read 'fluff' a little faster, and none of these are very fluffy!

Nice Work– Celia Imrie
3***

Book two in the Nice series. Love the double entendre of the title as this book is set near Nice, Cannes and Marseille in a charming small French town full of colorful characters and a tight group of expats who are trying to make a new life on the Cote d’Azur. Theresa, Benjamin, William and Carol are moving forward with plans to start a restaurant. They’ve pooled financial resources and life skills, but it’s far from smooth sailing. Meanwhile their pal Sally, an ex-British TV star, seems to be getting involved in the celebrity life now that it’s the season for the Cannes film festival and old friends have looked her up. And a very wealthy, and even more charming Russian with a large yacht is wooing Sally and her friends.

This is a fun, enjoyable read with a bit of intrigue and a likeable cast of recurring characters. Some of the family drama from book one spills over into this tale, with Theresa’s bossy and inconsiderate daughter making an appearance along with Theresa’s ex-husband. I like Theresa but do wish she’d stiffen her spine and set some firm boundaries for her family and friends. William and Benjamin’s constant bickering also gets on my nerves.

There’s a bit of a mystery involving a sort of Mafia connection to the restaurant locations previous owner, not to mention a possible drug deal.

Oh, well … The path to success is bumpy, but the crew pulls together to see one another through.

Just finished Norman Béthune en China by Tchong Tche-tcheng e.o.; had a laugh at Joliffe's Outback ; also read De kleur van geluk by Wei-wei and reread Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend. Did The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah in one haul and have finally started Dune by Frank Herbert. Quite a lot for me, but have been having some sleepless nights. And rather eclectic, which is due to me emptying all my bookshelves to pack my books ready for moving. I also made the effort to catalogue my books on China, giving them the tag Zhong. Turns out I own over 800...

Just started and loving "Book of the Year 1993"
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields also short- listed for 1993 Booker Prize.

The new thread is up over here.