Victorian literature and Kindle

Well, first of all, I have to talk about the latest paperback book I have read. Cousin Phillis and Other Stories is by Elizabeth Gaskell, a Victorian novelist. I have read Cranford which I really enjoyed, and this one too, was very enjoyable. It is a book of short stories, and as with Ms Gaskell's other books, the females, although feminine, enjoy strong roles and characters. The emotions throughout all the stories are so strong and pure, you cannot help believing in love and propriety, and wondering how much simpler life was then, with the social rules in place. As a bonus with this book, there is a fantastic chronology of the author's life, mapped against historical and cultural events at that time. It really put things into context and it was so interesting seeing how she worked alongside Charles Dickens and other famous authors of the time. Elizabeth Gaskell brings me onto the second part of my post. I am wondering if I have sold out. I love books, with a passion, but I have bought myself a Kindle. There is a good reason for this. I am doing a PhD, and I need to do lots of reading. I don't have a printer, and yes, I could get one, but I would prefer not to print out loads of papers. Initially, I thought I would read the papers on my netbook. However, on the train, when I do all my reading, I rarely get a seat, so the netbook idea doesn't work. So, I am experimenting with Amazon's Kindle, and it is working out quite well. I don't know if it is as sophisticated as the Sony eReader, but it is cheaper and it does everything I need it to. Also, when you turn it off, it displays beautiful images from old books and of famous authors. I love that. It is very pretty. I bought the wifi version. I did have a few blips at the start, but I have worked out my system now. Rather than transferring books via wireless from Amazon to Kindle, I download them to my netbook and then transfer them via the USB cable. This is much quicker. Saying that, I did buy a book from the Kindle store and it was delivered within seconds. I can store PDFs of the papers, and make notes, even while standing up. The other thing which I have discovered to my detriment, as it is distracting me from my reading, is that you can download more than 4,500 electronic books for free, from Kindle alone! So, I have downloaded Sherlock Holmes, and I am allowing myself some time for pleasure-reading, and what a pleasure Sherlock Holmes is! I love the characters and all the mysteries, but I cannot help comparing Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to Monsieur Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings. The similarities are just all too strong, with Monsieur Poirot and his "little grey cells" and Mr Holmes with his observations and deductions. How can two people come up with so many mysteries!

Something new...

Having read some older books, rather than from modern authors, I thought I would continue on this theme. So, I bought Cranford: and Other Stories by Elizabeth Gaskell. I don't have a television, so I hadn't seen the series on the BBC. I loved the book; the characters were so believable and enjoyable, and it was quite unusual to have the females as the dominant characters. I read the omnibus edition, which includes the stories 'The Lady Ludlow', 'Mr Harrison's Confessions' and 'The Cage at Cranford'. The stories and the characters were so delightful, and the historical element was really interesting. A lovely Winter's read, which was followed by a book from one of my usual genres. Elinor Lipman's The Family Man follows her usual style of complicated family setups with strong characters, some of which from Jewish backgrounds. This book tells the story of Henry Archer, a gay man, who used to be married, and who meets the daughter he adopted and lost about 25 years ago. This was a complicated, but easy to read story, which had me giggling in my seat. I really like the way Elinor Lipman writes. She covers some sensitive topics, but with a perfect amount of humour. Really enjoyable!

Current state of play...

Just finished The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. I was a huge fan of her first book, The Secret Life of Bees and was delighted to find this book in a second-hand bookstore. She writes beautifully, although being religious, it did raise some confusing feelings. However, the end was good and as it should be, and I finished reading with no unease. It is a story about saints, legends, and relationships, and it is set on a mythical island off South Caroline. It was very thought-provoking and a wonderful tale.

Gosh! How time flies!

I hadn't realised how long it was since my last post. My life has been a little complicated and work has been hard, but good, but my brain has needed some easier reading. And reading is exactly what I have been doing lots of to relax and escape. As previously, I have reverted back to childhood and read some recognisable titles, with a grown-up viewpoint. The Enid Blyton Omnibus is an old favourite - good vs bad, right vs wrong - no hazy areas, everything clear. If you are nice, you get a reward from the fairies; if you are bad, then the goblins will get you!

I was delighted to find two Chalet School books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, in one of my local charity shops recently. They are such a pleasure to read. The perfect grammer, and beautiful descriptions of the characters and the scenery. I would have loved to have been a pupil there. I love the use of different languages to make you feel that you are experiencing the different cultures attending the school. I have just read Jo of the Chalet School and am looking forward to the next one. I am also going to keep a close eye out in the charity shops to find some more. I know I can get them on eBay, but there is something special about finding them by accident!

I then went onto some classics. First of all, I read Anne of Green Gables, by LM Montgomery, which is such a great story about an orphan moving to Prince Edward Island, who has such a wonderful imagination and keeps everyone in her village entertained, including the family she lives with, who were originally expecting a boy to help them on the farm. I then read A Little Princess, which is just lovely, and similar as it is about a little girl who users her imagination to conjure up the most exciting stories. I love the scenes with the Indian friend and his monkey, and the magic they created. After that, I read The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild, which was accidently most appropriate because one area of this story was about a little girl acting in the film of A Little Princess, so I could re-visit the book I had read earlier. I did enjoy this book although sometimes the children quarrelling was a little too realistic!

Another book I got from the charity store is Jumping To Conclusions by Christine Jones, a story about a woman who moves into a little village to open a bookshop. This is my dream! Anyway, it is an easy read, describing the horse-racing industry and rural life. Very much a good holiday read!

I have been taking advantage of 3 for the price of 2 offers, and have recently read By The Shore by Galaxy Craze, which is a story about a 12 year old girl living with her mother and brother in a guesthouse by the sea. The story is told from the girl's point-of-view and it is just a really good tale. The second book out of this collection was The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson, which is the story about a woman who finds the body of her neighbour's daughter floating in her swimming pool. The story looks at her complex relationships, with her own daughter, her husband, her family, in particular her sister, drawing on past history, and watches her work out what has happened to this girl in her pool. It is very entertaining, sad in places, but keeps you turning the pages until the end. The last one in this collection is Gifted by Nikita Lalwani, about a girl, born in England to Indian parents, who at the age of 5 is discovered to be a maths prodigy. From that discovery, her life changes as her father becomes obsessed with her fulfilling this prophecy that she is a maths phenomenon. The story looks at the differences between East and West, and the expectations of Asian females in England. It is a very human story, because you can feel that the father just wants the best for his daughter and is supporting her as best he can. But you can also sympathise with her, because as she grows into a teenager, she has different desires, and inevitably clashes occur.

So, I have been reading, and enjoying all my books, I am currently reading The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, so I am going to log off for now, and get back to finishing that one.

Summer spent reading

Yet again, time has flown past. Work and holidays has interfered with my reading, but I have managed to find some gems as well as some favourites. Obviously, I read the final instalment of Harry Potter - the Deathly Hallows, and JK Rowling really could not have created a better ending. It was perfect, and I shall enjoy re-reading it in due course.

I have just finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club and it was wonderful, only the second book to make me cry (the first being Shadowlands - the true story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman). The whole book describes the lives of a group of women who attend a knitting club, which was set up quite spontaneously, and is not just focused on knitting, I might hasten to add. There are wonderful tips for people who are actually interested in knitting, but the majority of the book is about the differences between the women, but how they all complement each other. It is fun, serious, happy and sad, and completely brilliant. You can read more about it on their web-site. I cannot wait for Kate Jacob's next book.

At the moment, I am reading Jeffrey Archer's Cat O' Nine Tales, which are stories of some of the people he met while at Her Majesty's pleasure. I have read and enjoyed all his short stories, and from his novels, I have read Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, A Matter Of Honour, and his most recent on A False Impression, and I have enjoyed the twists in all.

I also read over the Summer, Probable Future, by Alice Hoffman, and Digging to America by Anne Tyler. They definitely continue to be on my favourites list!

Finally, I read The Other Side of the Bridge, by Mary Lawson, which was about the turbulent relationship of two brothers in rural America. This was such a well-written story. I really felt all the conflicts and struggles, and I felt the love that was given throughout. It is a tremendous story with really strong characters. Crow Lake was written by the same author, and I found that story equally gripping. She is another wonderful storyteller to add to my collection.

So now you can see why I struggle to find time to blog. Until next time....