Books Finished Since May 1

 Word Origins and How We Know Them, Anatoly Liberman
IMHO, you have to be a real word geek like me to appreciate this book of linguistic and etymological origins, which begins with the author trying to make sense of the origin of the word "heifer." There are a lot of false stories of word origins out there and Liberman addresses most of them as he chronicles onomatopoeia, Latin roots, reduplication, eponyms, unlikely compounds, foreign imports, vowel and consonant shifts, and all the lovely contradictions that come together to make the English language. I loved it all dearly; YMMV!

 An Unmarked Grave, Charles Todd
In this fourth mystery involving World War I nursing sister Bess Crawford, Bess is already exhausted from nursing victims of the Spanish influenza when an orderly shows her a mysterious extra body in a shed being used as a morgue. From her medical experience Bess can tell the man has not died from the influenza or of battle wounds, and she is horrified to discover that the man is a friend of the family. Before she can report her finding, she is felled by the influenza herself, is finally shipped home for nursing by her family, and only after she recovers can she take up the thread of the mystery.

I found this new story a page-turner, although Bess' cool reception of her rising string of male admirers is starting to become a puzzle. This time there's an American soldier who aids her in her investigation. One wonders, in fact, since her father's associate seems always available when she is in trouble, and he is just about her age, is there some feeling they are both repressing about each other? I also felt that the actual perpetrator of the crime came a bit out of left field. However, her trips to and from the front feel much more logical in this volume, we see more of her family and learn of the power her father commands, and I also enjoyed the subplot about the young soldier who helps her while all the time intending to use her as an escape from the horrors of the battlefield.

 Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero, Larry Tye
I debated over ordering this book because I have not really read or viewed a "Superman" product for some years: didn't watch Smallville nor the new film. However, I was brought up on The Adventures of Superman, saw the first two Christopher Reeve films, bought the comic during the WGBS years, and was a Lois and Clark fan for a while, and also have a couple of well-read books on Superman: the excellent From Serial to Cereal and an encyclopedia. So I wasn't sure what to expect when the book arrived.

I found it a complete delight to read. Over the years I had read articles about Shuster and Siegel, but never a full chronicle of their early lives, the creation of the Superman character, the sale of the rights to what later became DC, and the less than ideal circumstances of their later lives, so this information was all fresh to me, as it might not be to a Superman aficionado. I also enjoyed the examination of how Superman was reinvented for each generation; it put me in mind of the book The Life and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge, which chronicles how A Christmas Carol has been interpreted--and re-interpreted--by each succeeding generation. I very much enjoyed the summation of the circumstances surrounding George Reeves' death, the discussions of the "imaginary stories" era and the Superman dilemma during World War II, and the differing viewpoints of "who is the alter ego, Superman or Clark"? The author writes simply but effectively, with no academic pretension, making it easy reading without resorting to simplistic vocabulary. The one mistake I did notice, and hope will be corrected before publication, is the statement that Mighty Mouse was a Disney creation. Mighty Mouse was created for "Terrytoons," not for Disney.

I recommend this book for anyone who is a Superman fan, a comics fan, or even someone interested in the cultural effects of media creations.

 A Stranger in Mayfair, Charles Finch
I've never been so frustrated by a mystery novel in my life. The Charles Lenox books waver from good (I loved September Society, especially the descriptions of Oxford) to merely okay, and this one was less credible than usual. This is frustrating because there is a good story in here: the murder and its motive, Lenox trying to balance his need to solve crimes with his new duties in Parliament, red herrings and cover-ups...

Our story so far: Lenox and his new bride Lady Jane, have returned from their honeymoon on the continent so that Lenox may take his post in Parliament. Their two adjoining homes have been joined together, and in order that no one be put out of work, Lenox proposes that his faithful butler Graham became his secretary in Parliament. Their friends "Toto" and Thomas McConnell are about to become parents. Everything seems at "happy endings" when Lenox is asked by an old friend to help investigate the murder of his footman. Lenox is happy to oblige, and then is astonished when the old friend makes an about-face and calls the police instead. Still, Lenox and his young assistant Jack Dallington persist as Lenox juggles crime-fighting with politics.

Where do I begin? These aristocratic characters are still too familiar with the servants. At one point, Lenox, delighted about something, says "That's terrific!" The use of "terrific" for "great" or "wonderful" didn't happen until years later. Lady Jane, who has always been interested in Lenox's work, suddenly changes her mind about it. (Incidentally, Jane is as much a cipher as ever. I can't even recall what color her hair is or the color of her eyes, if she's tall or short, or what. Lenox might as well be married to a woman of paper.) Something in the footman's past is revealed very early in the story, early enough ahead than when it finally dawns on Lenox, I shouted aloud, "It's about time you figured it out, you idiot!" The footman's employers are referred to as acting "strangely" so often it was tiring.

There are Victorian novels like those by Perry, Pearl, and others that make you feel as if you are right there in the twisting streets with horse-drawn vehicles, sidewalk vendors, slums and aristocratic homes separated by mere miles, fetid jails, paneled halls. Then there is this book, which takes every opportunity to toss you out of the setting with misplaced words, flat characters, awkward sentences, and incongruous situations. I am really hoping some improvement happens in the next novel.

 Home for a Spell, Madelyn Alt
Seriously hobbled by the broken leg incurred in Alt's previous installment of the adventures of Maggie O'Neill, Midwestern witch, our heroine thinks it's time she started planning for her future without her lifelong friend Stephanie, who's planning to be married soon. Maggie also feels uncomfortable depending so much on her generous and handsome boyfriend Marcus, whom she thinks is putting off going back to school for her. So she looks into getting a new apartment—and, you guessed it, stumbles right into a murder scene.

I've been a little ticked by this series because I felt Maggie's romance with solid, dependable Tom, the police detective, was broken up with detriment to Tom in favor of romance-novel wannabe Marcus. Maybe Alt received some complaints about that because she's now dropping hints into the story that Tom wasn't exactly blameless in the breakup. Okay, I guess. Thankfully, there's more mystery in this one, although I guessed right off the bat why the murder victim was killed; it was just a matter of when the clues would lead everyone else to the same conclusion. Do wish the author would get back to the esoteric aspects of Maggie's life a bit more, rather than little spells wrought by Liss. I miss the other members of the N.I.G.H.T.S., too., although regulars Tara and Evie do help Maggie look into the motive for the murder.

 Shelf Discovery, Lizzie Skurnick
A fun book of essays about those childhood classes we never forgot and still read, even if it's sometimes surreptitiously away from acquaintances and co-workers who would be goggled-eyed at your reading "a kids' book!" From the Little House books to Madeleine L'Engle and Beverly Cleary to those forbidden books written by V.C. Andrews, Skurnick (and guest essayists Meg Cabot, Laura Lippman, Cecily von Ziegesar, and Jennifer Weiner) leads us on a journey through memory lane. And as far as I'm concerned, anyone who still loves Meg Murry, Vicky Austin, the incomparable Mary Lennox and Elizabeth Ann, the Gilbreths, and Hangin' Out With Cici is my kinda gal!

 Mr. Monk on the Couch, Lee Goldberg
Nope, it's not a story about Adrian Monk's psychiatric treatments. Monk and Natalie are involved in several murders that appear to be tied to possession of an old sofa when he becomes obsessed with the cleaning crew assigned to bring the crime scene back to normal after all the evidence has been gathered, while Natalie is determined to find out the identity of one of the murder victims, a man Monk considers not worth his time. And then Adrian finds out his agoraphobic brother Ambrose is sharing his home with a "tattooed biker chick." [Yuki, from the previous novel, On the Road].

My suspicions that Goldberg has been allowing the characters to grow past their original series' characterizations for a reason was given credence recently with the discovery that the novel he is working on now will be his final Monk novel. So while Monk plays cleaning crew and solves the sofa crimes, he must also come to terms with the fact that his brother has fallen in love with someone he considers unsuitable and that Natalie is trying her wings rather successfully with help from Ambrose. There's also nice character development in Stottelmeyer's new assistant, Amy Devlin, who's definitely not a Randy Disher clone. Recommended for those who enjoyed the series and have become invested in the books.

 American Children's Literature and the Construction of Childhood, Gail Murray
I enjoy books examining children's lit and from some excerpts I saw this one looked fascinating. And I am not saying that the author's conclusions and examinations of the different eras in children's book publishing (from treating them as inherently sinful to treating them as the paragon of innocence, for instance) are without worth. She discusses tracts, instructional books, the much-hated series novels and dime novels, children's magazines, texts for those children who were not white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (and how publications for the white majority so misrepresented minority groups and foreigners), sexual roles, and more with a minimum of pedagogical technospeak. However, when I read a book based on facts I expect those facts to be correct, especially in a scholarly publication that could conceivably be used as a textbook, as this appeared to be. Instead, this is riddled with mistakes—and these are just the mistakes I noticed because I hadn't read every children's book noted by Murray—were there more? I could have written off "Jo Marsh" (March) as a typo if it hadn't happened twice. But "Jason" being the rich boy who befriended the five little Peppers? His father hiring Mrs. Pepper as a "housekeeper"? Nan in Little Men doesn't become a doctor, but "capitulates to practicality"? She certainly doesn't, but becomes a doctor and doesn't marry. The Grace Harlowe series is mentioned, with Grace's last name misspelled, and the later "Overland Riders" series of Grace Harlowe books is stated as being a completely separate series "written by Grace Harlowe (a pseudonym)"! Elizabeth Ann does not narrate Understood Betsy, and her transformation is not because she moves to a "warmer, more nurturing home"--it's because her original guardian cousin is TOO nurturing, smothering the child in the name of care, projecting her own fears onto her, never allowing her to become independent, while her Vermont cousins care for her, but give her room to grow and develop independence and self-worth.

Again, there are good discussions of all aspects of American children's literature in this book. But be aware there are also myriad errors.

 How the States Got Their Shapes Too: The People Behind the Boundary Lines, Mark Stein
In Stein's first book, he discusses the often interesting quirks in each of the United States' boundary lines: a tip of land in Georgia sticking up into Tennessee, the reason the Western states are so large, why Idaho and Montana share that particular border, etc. In this newer entry, he talks about the people behind the making of the boundary lines, from Roger Williams, who dared to think the word of the Narragansett Indians was as important of those of the colonists, to Eleanor Holmes Norton's efforts to get representation for the District of Columbia. Along the way we meet those known—Mason and Dixon, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Sequoyah, James Gadsden (remember the Gadsden purchase, anyone?), Stephen Douglas, William Seward and more—and those little known, like what the conflict that began with Robert Jenkins' ear did to the boundaries of Georgia, how the Erie Canal influenced the edges of the first "West": Ohio, Indiana, etc., why Iowa and Utah aren't larger, why California isn't in two parts, and more. American history lovers should enjoy this book, with many small tales combining to make the quilt of states that is now the USA. And you just might be surprised who Ellis Island belongs to!

 Styx and Stones, Carola Dunn
Daisy Dalrymple, now engaged to her Scotland Yard inspector and busier than ever writing articles for "Town and Country" magazine, travels to Kent at the request of her brother-in-law to see if she can ferret out who's been sending poison pen letters to him. She's glad to escape the heat of London for the cool of the country in Rotherden, but the village is just as warm with secrets aplenty, a reluctant vicar and his atheist brother, and, eventually, a dead body in the churchyard.

Repercussions from the First World War drive this seventh of the Dalrymple mysteries, and it is a bit darker than the usual story. Dunn's village characters are perhaps not so well done as Sayers' or Christie's in the beginning, but as the secrets multiply, the personalities become a little more solid and realistic. We also see a bit more of Daisy's family and her emotional ties with Alec Fletcher's daughter Belinda grow closer. A nice solid entry in the Daisy Dalrymple series.

 Chicks Dig Time Lords, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea
This book won a Hugo award and deservedly so; I enjoyed every moment of my read. While there are tons of great essays about the show itself: about Nyssa, Rose, the role of the female companions, an interview with Sophie Aldred and India Fisher [Charley from the "Big Finish" audios], cosplay, sexuality in Who, etc., I was most entranced by the stories of female fans discovering the series, including a delightful piece written by John Barrowman's sister and several ladies who, basically, like me, discovered the series before everyone else and suffered the pangs of having no one to share this super discovery with—even my best friend couldn't figure out what I saw in this weird British show with a guy traveling around in a telephone booth. :-) If you're a Doctor Who fan, a must!

 The Traitors' Gate, Avi
Young John Huffam's life is turned upside down the day he, his parents, and his older sister are turned out of their home because of Mr. Huffam's gambling debts. He is headed for debtor's prison unless John can talk a wealthy relative into giving the family the money. In short order the boy is amazed to find himself followed by Scotland Yard detectives as well as a bright young slum girl named Sary, and to hear whisperings about "traitor" attached to his father. But who can John believe?

This is a topping young people's Dickensian mystery, which is suitable because it's based on incidents in the life of Charles John Huffam Dickens. Avi paints a vivid, but not too scary for the younger crowd portrait of the slums and streets of London as John contends with a confusing adult world to try to save his family's future and name. The story takes place at the time David Copperfield was being serialized, and it is mentioned often, especially in connection with someone using the name "Inspector Copperfield." John is a resourceful and likeable boy, and Sary a charming gamin.

 Literary Landscapes of the British Isles, David Daiches and John Flower
This is a neat book I found at the library booksale which contains essays about the landscape of England as seen through the pens of some of her most noted writers, starting with the London of Chaucer: what the city looked like at that time, her boundaries, social ills and highlights, historical events, and real-life personages. Subsequent chapters deal with the same subjects in the London of Shakespeare, Samule Johnson, Charles Dickens, and finally Virginia Woolf, before moving on to the Bath of Jane Austen, the Lake District as seen by its most famous poets, before leaving England briefly to touch on her romantic poets on the continent, and then returning to the Yorkshire of the Brontes and the fictional Wessex of Hardy. A final English chapter about the industrial revolution's changes to the country then leads into a look at Scotland in literature and the Dublin of Joyce. I liked the earliest chapters of this book the best; it seems as both the Virginia Woolf and James Joyce chapters had nothing but long narratives about the streets their characters walked, directly from the book, rather than interesting sidebars about history.

 The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton, Elizabeth Speller
I didn't realize when I was offered this book that it was a sequel to The Return of Captain John Emmett, but luckily I had that book in my to-be-read file and was able to preface my reading of Easton with the introduction of the character of Laurence Bartram in Emmett.

This is a completely different book from Emmett, which chiefly deals with repercussions from the first World War and the problems of shell-shocked soldiers. Easton is more of a country house mystery in which the couple Bartram befriended during his previous investigations, the Bolithos, are involved with the restoration of a manor church and construction of a labyrinth at the request of the estate's mistress, a troubled woman whose five-year-old child disappeared almost fifteen years earlier. Restoration of the church reveals long-buried family secrets, and then a young servant disappears in an eerie echo of vanished Kitty. I found this an enjoyable, nicely-written period piece which captures the atmosphere of a country village of the early 1920s, but if you like your mysteries fast-moving, this probably isn't the read for you. Also note a rather startling sexual scene near the end of the story; I understand why it's there, but it may seem rather out-of-place after the methodical classic mystery preceding it. Missing in this outing and missed is Lawrence's friend Charles, who keeps pushing mystery books at him and previously helped him with the mystery of John Emmett.

Books Finished Since April 1

 Dead in the Water, Carola Dunn
In this sixth Daisy Dalrymple mystery, Daisy is staying with her aunt and cousin at their home near Henley-on-Thames, having been assigned to do an article on the Henley Royal Regatta. She's looking forward to the weekend when she will mix business with pleasure; fiance Inspector Alec Fletcher will be joining her for a relaxing weekend. Daisy enjoys among her relatives and the rowers staying at their home, except for the rude comments of snooty Basil DeLancey against the team's coxswain, a blunt tradesman's son. Things come to a head when young DeLancey dies after coming home looking as if he was drunk. However, the doctor who examines him says he suffered a head injury that probably killed him. Could Bott, the coxswain, be the culprit?

This is a pleasant entry in the Daisy mysteries, if a bit plodding. Many characters are tossed at you pell-mell in the first couple of chapters, and some of the supporting actors are so briefly sketched that they blend into one another. Even some of the more prominent characters seem two-dimensional. In addition, most of the sinister situations in the book are recounted later instead of shown. However, there are some nice bits with Daisy and Alec, and the pleasures of a country-house weekend are shown. And thankfully, there are some of Daisy's relatives who actually like Alec!

 Walt Disney's Story Land
All right, it was slightly Goofy of me to have bought this, but I remember how I wanted it as a child, when it was always out of reach financially for my folks. It's a collection of short stories taken from Disney short subjects (Silly Symphonies, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons etc.), animated features, and even a few live action entries, like Davy Crockett and Darby O'Gill. This wouldn't be the version around when I was a kid, as there are modern stories like Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast adapted (probably having ousted earlier post-Disney cartoons, as I didn't see hide nor hair of Jungle Book or Aristocats inspired tales).

Still, it was fun to read after all these years. I was very amused to discover that all the Donald Duck stories, which usually end with el Donald squawking in impotent fury, were turned into life lessons about driving well and not losing your temper and being nice. The longest story is that about Dumbo, which was lengthy enough to be an independent storybook. I was a bit perturbed at their adaptation of Lady and the Tramp, though, which has only Jim Dear going away, presumably leaving Darling so besotted over the new baby that she doesn't notice how Aunt Sarah is abusing Lady! It makes Darling look really stupid, too. Sill, glad to have had the chance to read it after all these years.

 The Hidden Gold, Sarah Masters Buckey
In the first of three new "American Girl mysteries" for 2012, Marie-Grace and her father are traveling north by steamboat to visit family when a little girl comes onboard, returning to her home after her father died. Young Wilhemina's father had discovered gold in the gold rush, but died before he could tell her the location. If it isn't found by the time she gets home, her family will have to separate. When she shares Marie-Grace's room, the two girls try to solve the mystery.

It's a pity the limited page format of these mysteries don't allow for further elaboration of setting and perhaps a subplot, as this is an exotic nearly-forgotten mode of transportation and many tales beside the basic mystery could have been told. This may be the first AG mystery where the setting is just as important as the mystery. A subplot concerning one of the steamboat workers or one of the deck passengers would have been cool had space been available.

 Town in a Blueberry Jam, B.B. Haywood
Once Candy Holliday was a high-dollar executive with an executive husband and city dweller. But due to debt and divorce, she's now back home with her dad "Doc" Holliday, raising blueberries for local consumption and a small flock of chickens. As our story opens, the whole town is preparing for the local blueberry festival and whispering over the recent death of town playboy Jock Larson. But that isn't a patch on the gossip that occurs when local newspaper columnist Sapphire Vine wins the Blueberry Queen title—and then is found dead in her home!

Your enjoyment of this series will reflect your tolerance for cozy settings and detectives. For my part, I liked the characters and the setting, a small Maine town filled with the usual town characters, although save for the blueberries and the lobster, the setting seems pretty generic "small town" rather than specifically "Maine." The one thing that irritated me is that in the course of investigating the crimes Candy and her pal break so many laws you're wondering if the next book is going to take place with Candy investigating a crime in the hoosegow! Of course she is forgiven in the end, but the lawbreaking is pretty blatant. The mystery itself was pretty puzzling as cozy mysteries go, but it's the personalities who take first place here. Would love to see a mystery revolving around Candy's dad. Perhaps in a future story!

 Dorchester Terrace, Anne Perry
While Thomas Pitt eases into his new position at special Branch, a report comes in of suspicious activities on the railway. Could anarchists be after an obscure Habsburg royal visiting England soon?

In the meantime, Lady Vespasia visits an old friend who is descending into senility. Once a freedom fighter, the woman is afraid that something she has said or will say about secrets she had hidden will bring about her death. When she is indeed found dead, a stunned Vespasia, along with Victor Narraway, tried to discover who was behind it. Gradually both cases mesh.

This book gives a better chance for Charlotte to help her husband with his cases, and both plots are absorbing enough, but I still miss the days when Pitt solved society crimes. I also miss the characters who once surrounded the Pitts like Tellman and Gracie. One would not expect Minnie Maude to be like Gracie, but her staunch support of her employers is missed. And Perry seems to have done for Charlotte's sister Emily what she did with Margaret in her Monk mysteries: turned her into someone who turns against someone close to her. Emily's protectiveness of her husband seems misplaced when it causes her to distrust and quarrel with her sister Charlotte. For those reasons I did not totally enjoy the book, but it was still a good read.

 The Cameo Necklace, Evelyn Coleman
Cecile has borrowed her aunt's necklace to wear to a circus show being held at a showboat. But as she exits the boat with her friends, the cameo necklace is lost. Is it lost forever or did someone possibly pick it up—or indeed perhaps steal it? Could it be one of her own friends? the mysterious fortuneteller with all the rings? two children that she noted in the crowd?

This is a lively mystery showcasing not only the excitement of a showboat stopping in New Orleans, but examining the story of the maroons, former slaves who live deep in the bayou where slave hunters cannot find them. Along the way she encounters people at all levels of society and learns the price some people must pay for their freedom, and we learn a little painless history in the process.

 The Crystal Ball, Jacqueline Dembar Greene
Yet another mystery involving a fortuneteller, and whether the future—and bad luck—are in our stars or in ourselves. Rebecca and her family, gathering for a public appearance of Harry Houdini, where they also watch a performance by a fortuneteller. When the Rubins' neighbor Mr. Rossi suffers a run of bad luck, he consults the same fortuneteller. But is she really seeing into his past and his future? Even worse, some objects have gone missing from the Rubins' tenement building. Could Cousin Josef be the thief?

The "bad guy" of the piece is fairly obvious here, but otherwise this is an interesting portrait of an era when there was a great deal of interest in magic and spiritualism. There is a cameo by Harry Houdini doing a trick which was actually done free to the public as portrayed in the story, as well as the description of the fortuneteller and her routine. In addition, there is some friendly rivalry between Rebecca and her older sister Sadie which, in the end, proves to be useful in solving the mystery.

 The New England Year, Haydn S. Pearson
This is a lovely book of remembrances of farm life in northern New England, told in a seasonal narrative, by Pearson, who grew up on a family farm at the turn of the 20th century. If you have read any Gladys Taber, Barbara Webster, or Eric Sloane, the story of the plain joys of hard work, the turn of the seasons, the everyday cycles of farm crops and animals, and home cooking will be familiar. Pearson isn't quite as poetic as Taber, but he still brings the old-fashioned slow farm life to vivid life, whether it be the cold of a winter night, the scent of fields and animals, the lure of the mail-order catalog, country harvests, family gatherings or animal life both wild and domesticated. A sure bet if you are a Stillmeadow fan!

 Maphead, Ken Jennings
When I was younger, one of my future daydreams was of cartography; I loved to draw maps and pore over atlases. Despite GPS, I still keep road maps in my car and would not give them up. Perhaps I wasn't as assiduous as memorizing country and state and province capitals as Ken Jennings was, but it was still a sweet dream.

Which is why I was totally delighted by this book, subtitled Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks. Jennings first tells us of his own youthful fascination with geography and maps, then goes on to examine the history of maps, the truth or perhaps myth of the lack of geographical knowledge taught in schools (me, I blame it on the switch from lively geography to dull-as-ditchwater social studies), people who collect ancient maps and others who delight in vintage road maps, map errors, geography bees, highpointers, geocaching, GPS mapping, and more.

If you've ever created islands and towns just so you could draw the map of the place and name all the physical features, cities and places of interest, this book is for you. It's funny and informative and just a plain joy to read. Geography wonks unite!

 Inside Narnia, Devin Brown
A super book I found at a used book shop while away for the weekend: Brown covers each chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, while examining how story events in the novel relate to the other six books in the Narnia series.He also examines how elements from Lewis' past and beliefs found their way into the story, elements of mythology and other fantasies as well as Biblical references in the stories, and how Aslan stands for, but does not totally represent Jesus. There is also a nice examination of Edmund's role in the story and how the voyage to Narnia changes him. Even with the distraction of the e-book I had with me, Brown's narrative totally captured my attention. Any fan of the Narnia books should enjoy this one.

Books Finished Since March 1

 Names on the Land, George R. Stewart
I can't say I never found anything good on the shelves of Barnes & Noble: this is a dandy volume from their scant nonfiction section, a reprint of the 1957 update of a 1944 book chronicling the history of United States place names, from "discovery" by European explorers through settlement. Early English and Spanish place names were variable and changed many times; Native American names were misunderstood and mistranslated. And some names came from jokes! Other naming conventions, in both English and Native Languages, were based on landmarks, historical events and figures, animals, and weather.

If you are a name junkie like myself, you will love this book. Did you know Dayton, OH, was named for an up-and-comer who had the unfortunate fate to back Aaron Burr? What's the mystery: was Rhode Island named after the island of Rhodes? or the Dutch word for the color red? How many cities are named after Biblical places? It's a brook in New England, but a stream in the South—what's the difference? (Nothing!) Wheeling, WV, probably has nothing to do with those objects that go around, but is a Native word for "place-of-the-head." (Someone was beheaded there.)

The writing style is slightly old-fashioned, but author Stewart brightens the text with wry humor. Linguistics fans and history buffs should love it.

 Mr. Churchill's Secretary, Susan Elia MacNeal
Margaret "Maggie" Hope was born in England, but raised in the US by her aunt after the death of her parents. She is gifted in mathematics and planning to attend graduate school when her grandmother dies. Her aunt refuses to return to England, so Maggie is sent to London alone to supervise the disposition of her grandmother's estate, to which she is named heir. But the house proves difficult to sell, and Maggie lives in it instead, surrounding herself with three roommates: her American friend Paige, ballerina Sarah, and outspoken "Chuck," who is dating an RAF pilot. Maggie herself falls in love with living in London, and the plucky grit of the British, as the Phoney War ends and the Blitz begins. She hopes to find a job to challenge her mathematical abilities, but ends up accepting a position as typist in Winston Churchill's War Room instead, despite the protests of the officious office manager, who has a low opinion of women in the workplace.

The description for this book states "for lovers of Jacqueline Winspear...and Anne Perry," but you will find little of Winspear's/Perry's introspection in this novel. Once Maggie begins work for Churchill (replacing a young woman who died in a brutal attack), the plot proceeds at a fine clip, mixing an evocative portrait of wartime London with terrorist activities (not all of them German), Maggie's adjustment to working with Churchill and her efforts to be more than a secretary, her aunt's continual urging of her to come home, the presence of spies and codes, and hinted from the beginning, a hidden secret from Maggie's past.

This novel is enjoyable for the most part if you don't expect the social commentary present in Winspear's and Perry's World War I novels and can ignore several historical gaffes which are touched on in other reviews. I liked the characters for the most part and felt the inaccuracies could be skimmed over, but the story eventually gets a "boy's own adventure" feel to it as the spy/Maggie's secret/terrorist/mystery elements come together in later chapters. I am, however, interested enough in Maggie's new life in England to check out the next entry in the series.

 Damsel in Distress, Carola Dunn
In this fifth in the Daisy Dalrymple series, Daisy's childhood friend Phillip Petrie has met his true love: the vivacious Gloria Arbuckle, daughter of a wealthy American businessman. Vivacious Gloria is equally smitten, and her father even likes him. But when Phillip stops to help the Arbuckles after a motor breakdown, he is kidnapped along with Gloria, then released instead of being disposed of. He finds himself at Daisy's ancestral home, now owned by her cousin, and claims to have been in a car accident. When Arbuckle contacts him, begging to keep the event silent in fear of Gloria's life, Phillip calls Daisy instead. She and her friends arrive at the estate to help Phillip search for his beloved.

This is very much an amateur crimefighting effort, as Daisy and her friends conduct awkward searches in the countryside looking for Cockney-speaking strangers. They make a good go of it, but it eventually starts feeling like a "boys' own adventure" with a bit of Trixie Belden tossed in. There are some truly exciting moments involving Daisy's adventure in a deserted cottage and the climax involving Daisy's beau Alec Fletcher, but there are incredulous moments as well. Still, enjoyable characters as always.

 Origins of the Specious, Patricia T. O'Conner
Well, everyone knows you should never end a sentence in a preposition! And a double negative makes it a positive! And you can't split an infinitive! And...

Well, not quite. This book is subtitled "Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language," and with humor O'Connor goes on to bust most of those ubiquitous language myths and addresses mondegreens, spoonerisms, vowel shift, idioms, word origins that everyone knows and that aren't accurate, those "dirty words," and all the other wonderful spelling and grammar details that we word geeks revel in. If you like your English language trivia served tongue-in-cheek, this is the book for you!

 The Girl is Murder, Kathryn Miller Haines
Ah, the 1940s teenager: pretty, neatly-dressed bobbysoxers having their books carried home by handsome young men with neatly parted hair, and pitching in collecting scrap, knitting for the soldiers, and saving fat during wartime!

This isn't that tale. Instead, it's the story of fifteen-year-old Iris Anderson, former private school student, now boarding in someone else's home with her grim father, who lost a leg at Pearl Harbor, in New York's Lower East Side, still stunned by her mother's suicide, the loss of her best friend Grace, and her introduction to a rough public school environment. Iris knows her father is having trouble keeping up with his cases because of the loss of his leg, and desperately wants to help him, and when a boy from her school disappears, this seems to be her chance.

This is the flip side of all those MGM Technicolor movies about 1940s teens: Iris faces a tense home life, less than friendly classmates, her own demons about her mother's death, and the less sunny-side of a teen's life during the war years is shown: zoot suit hatred, V-girls, teenage drinking and drug use, sneaking out to dance clubs, gang conflict. Haines enlivens the text with 40s slang and dress, and none of her characters is a Perfect Polly or Paul. Iris can be annoying and occasionally hard-headed, not a plaster saint from a homefront movie. If you want a nostalgic mystery, find an old Nancy Drew or Dana Girls; if you're looking for something with more rough edges, this may be your sip from the hip flask.

 Under the Vale, edited by Mercedes Lackey
Er...why does the Companion on the cover have brown eyes? Companions have blue eyes. (All right, now that I look at it again, it's more a brownish-purple. But it's definitely not blue.)

More tales from Valdemar: my favorite story was "Fog of War," the war story taking place during the Tedrel War in the battle where King Sendar was killed. It was very down-to-earth about the everyday responsibilities of a soldier Herald. The first story, about the gigolo, was fun, and I also enjoyed the story about the motley group which includes a drunken Herald who refuses to acknowledge his Companion. Some of the stories, like "A Leash of Greyhounds," are more about aspects of Velgarth society rather than Herald/Companion stories; they aren't bad, but nothing special. "Discordance" is an unusual story about Bardic power that has not been addressed in other stories.

For fans of Jem and Ree, there are two stories involving the pair; a pleasant tale about Herald Jors and his companion Gervais; and another installment in the Dann family chronicles.

 Sorry, I'm British!, Ben Crystal and Adam Russ
Tongue-in-cheek and thoroughly amusing book book about the vagaries of the British psyche and society, with hilarious cartoons, of which my personal favorite is the subway car full of adults reading Harry Potter books while the one child in their midst is reading Proust. I might have hoped for more entries and fewer cartoons, but for Anglophiles, this is a fun read.

 Nancy Drew and Her Sister Sleuths, Michael G. Cornelius and Melanie F. Gregg
This is a dandy series of essays about...well, just as the title says. Intro and first five essays are about Nancy, the rest about Linda Carlton, a "girl aviator"; the odd "Melody Lane" books; Cherry Ames; family as portrayed in the Trixie Belden books; modern girl sleuths like Veronica Mars; Hermione Granger and how she fulfills the sleuth role; and a final occasional stream-of-consciousness essay about the effect of Nancy Drew on her readers.

Probably my favorite essay in this book is the comparison between the original books and the French translations, in which Nancy is "Alice Roy," she is of French heritage but hails from Missouri, her sense of honor and integrity is constantly played up, George Fayne is pushed to the background due to her boyish mannerisms (or given more feminine attributes!), and Bess Marvin is emphasized due to her femininity. It's an eye-opener in how the characters were tweaked to fit French sensibilities; I would have loved more essays about the different translations alone! One essay chronicles the history of the Stratemeyer syndicate and of the Nancy Drew books, another addresses the authorship question, a third touches on the race question in the original series, while the fourth illustrates how Nancy has remained naive about scientific subjects, perhaps still reflecting the attitude even today that girls do not make good scientists or researchers.

Of the remainder of the essays, the most interesting is an examination of the Lillian Garis "Melody Lane" series. Melody Lane was not a girl, but a place where the girl detective lived. These are odd "girl sleuth" books, with the girl being a reluctant sleuth in at least two of them, with contrary characters and sometimes inexplicable plots. The Hermione Granger piece is excellent; I would have preferred another essay about classic girl sleuths (Judy Bolton, perhaps, or the Dana Girls) rather than the piece about modern girl sleuths. All in all, however, a very satisfactory volume!

 The Solitary House, Lynn Shepherd
This is an intriguing mystery based in part on characters created by Charles Dickens in Bleak House, with several characters from Willkie Collins' The Woman in White also mentioned. Protagonist Charles Maddox is an ex-police officer now operating as a private detective, still taking advice from his aging, ex-thief-taker uncle, whose mind is being destroyed by encroaching dementia. A powerful attorney asks the younger Maddox to find the man who sent a member of the aristocracy threatening letters. The investigation not only takes Maddox to the seamier side of London, but reveals an even more horrifying secret being kept by members of the aristocracy.

I have to admit that I have never found novels narrated in the third person omniscient to be appealing, plus occasionally the narrative itself got a bit "precious" (a few times the language almost wandered into the diction of the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter); however, having now familiarized myself briefly with the basic plot and structure of Bleak House, I understand why the author structured her novel in this way. Her portrait of the squalor of the slums of London is vivid and often as repulsive as the real thing, she paints evocative portraits of the streets, atmosphere, and personas, and the epistolatory segments by Hester are appropriate to the language style of the day. The relationship between Charles and his aging uncle are also well done and often affecting as the brilliant former thief-taker descends into the twilight world of Alzheimer's disease. However, I didn't warm up to Charles as much as I would have liked, and, although the narrative describes him as being quite intelligent, he makes several elementary mistakes and most of his good clues come from his uncle in his more lucid moments or occasionally from dumb luck.

I suppose I might have gotten a bit more from the book had I been familiar with Bleak House or the Collins book, especially as both the attorney and Inspector Bucket are major characters in the Dickens novel. Since I haven't read either book, I have no way of knowing if these characters were portrayed faithfully, so I cannot comment on that. In summary, I enjoyed the sensual portrait of the London slums and countryside of that era and did find the mystery compelling; however, I found the lead character a bit lacking in personality except in exchanges with his uncle, and not quite as intelligent as the narrative implied.

 Clara's Kitchen, Clara Cannucciari
This is a slim little book of mostly recipes by Cannucciari, who became a media sensation after the real-estate bust in a series of YouTube videos in which she cooked frugal meals from the Depression that helped her family survive. The main charm in this book is reading Clara's memories which accompany each recipe. No prim, perfect little girl, feisty Clara relates school antics, family gatherings, and everyday life, as she and her family faced the Depression with fortitude and fun. If you are amazed that people made it through hard times without iPhones, television, and designer clothes, this is the book for you.

The Author of Eden's Outcasts Speaks at Orchard House

John Matteson

Spring Book Sale Tally

Having intended to get to the book sale when it opened, but was delayed by a sinus headache. After breakfast, on the way, realized as I was driving to Jim Miller Park that I didn't have cash. Only cash or checks are taken. So I detoured to Publix, but this isn't one with my bank. I bought two Lindt chocolate bunnies for Easter and got cash that way.

Was lucky to find a space at the front. In retrospect, it would have been closer to the entrance if I'd parked in the "ditch" behind the exhibit buildings. Unfortunately I got to the children's books just as all the SAHMs with the strollers arrived. Now, this was eerie...I was thinking to myself, what would I most like to find at this book sale? And my answer was "Hardback copies of The Good Master and The Singing Tree (by Kate Seredy) with the crayon portraits and the map."

And darned if I didn't...

Well, I didn't find both of them, but pretty much as soon as I looked in a few boxes I did find a nice hardback of The Good Master, along with a good hardback copy of The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden and Dobry by Monica Shannon (a Newbery winner I've never read). I also picked up a rather tatty paperback copy of Theatre Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, but I've wanted to read this one because the Fossil sisters of Ballet Shoes are mentioned in it.

The stroller/plunk your box on boxes people are trying to look through/people with crates and suitcases on wheels finally got too much for me and I went into the other building. The history aisle was choked full at first, as was biography, so I started along the wall with humor/travel/etc. until I found the section where they had put the Christmas books. Alas, I did not find another Sutton House book about Christmas in England, however, ignoring the craft and cook books, and the sentimental fiction, I scored Spirits of Christmas by David Hartwell, supernatural Christmas short stories which include Dickens' "The Haunted Man," The Guideposts Christmas Treasury from 1973 (I could tell just by the cover font when it was printed!), and A Christmas Secret by Anne Perry, which I had borrowed from the library when it was released and really liked.

By the time I got done there, the crowd at History, Biography, and Literature had cleared and I found the following: Reading for Pleasure by Bennett Cerf, a collection of short stories, including Capote's "A Christmas Memory" and Davis' "The Bar Sinister," Literary Landscapes of the British Isles, which is exactly what it states, places in Britain which have been made famous by fiction, When Trumpets Call by Patricia O'Toole (Theodore Roosevelt after the White House), America's Hidden History, which I passed on way back at Borders but which was okay for a buck, and A Choice of Days by H.L. Mencken, a chronicle of his early life.

My bag was getting a bit overloaded when I headed back toward the children's section. I didn't bother hitting the fiction books, as they run pretty hard on bestsellers and not much else, or the paperbacks, which are usually in bad shape. Well, I came upon a treasure-trove.

World Book released a set of "Christmas in..." books in several editions, and I found two different boxes of them (glad to find the second box, because the initial Christmas in Britain I found was in pretty bad shape). I had actually been looking at a sale set of them advertised by World Book about a week ago. I didn't buy all of them, but did score Christmas in...Britain/Italy/Colonial and Early America/America in the 1700s and 1800s/Scotland/Austria/Germany/Switzerland/Washington DC.

In the first box I also found a copy of the mystery Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death by M.C. Beaton, apparently just dropped there by someone.

Finally, I picked up a very nice Lady and the Tramp storybook, and something called Walt Disney's World of Nature, which I would have passed on had it not had the complete story from "Flash, the Teenage Otter" at the back.

Good thing I had brought a second bag with me. :-) This totted up to $29.00.

Horrors! It was raining outside! Now I wished I had parked in the ditch! Luckily it was light rain, and I darted (as well as you can dart with two large reusable grocery bags full of books!) from overhang to eave to tree and finally one last sprint to the car.

Now I just have to find somewhere to put them. This may be harder than carrying the bags!

Revisiting M'Lord

A friend of mine has just gotten into Lord Peter Wimsey via the audiobooks and I'm reliving the delicious memories of having discovered him back in the 1970s when I saw Murder Must Advertise on Masterpiece Theatre. I confess to raiding my college textbook funds to buy, two at a time, the Wimsey novels in paperback (from Providence's old Paperback Books on Weybosset Street, cattycorner from the Outlet). They were $1.25 at the time, and I remember Mom being wide-eyed when I spent $3.95 for the trade paperback collection of all the short stories, Lord Peter. Murder Must Advertise has always remained my favorite of the books, followed by The Nine Tailors (Dimity, John, Jericho, Jubilee, Gaude, Saboath, Tailor Paul and Batty Thomas...that's all from memory...LOL).

Sayers stopped writing the books after Busman's Honeymoon so she could give full time attention to translating Dante, but she left an unfinished manuscript (Thrones, Dominations, which was completed by Jill Paton Walsh, who later did two other Wimsey novels), and, during World War II, she publishing a series of fictional letters from the Wimsey family and friends (including Miss Climpson, the Reverend Venables, Mr. Ingleby from Advertise and others) in the British magazine "The Spectator."

If you've been curious about "what happened to" in Sayers' mind:

"The Wimsey Papers," Part 1

"The Wimsey Papers," Part 2

Good heavens, Lord Peter even has a page of tropes on TVTropes.org. (Don't worry; you have to highlight the blocks to see any spoilers.)

"Reading" History

One of the best television history shows ever. Had to order it from Great Britain because, even though it is about the United States, it was never released in Region 1 format.

For some reason, the Civil War segment, "A Firebell in the Night," is missing. It would have come after "Gone West." The final part doesn't really live up to the rest of the series. I would have preferred Cooke talking about the Cold War, civil rights, the Space Race, perhaps the rise of teen culture.

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 1: "The First Impact"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 2: "The New-Found Land"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 3: "Home from Home"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 4: "Making a Revolution"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 5: "Inventing a Nation"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 6: "Gone West"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 8: "Domesticating a Wilderness"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 9: "Money on the Land"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 10: "The Huddled Masses"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 11: "The Promise Fulfilled and the Promise Broken"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 12: "The Arsenal"

Alistair Cooke's America, Part 13: "The More Abundant Life"

Daddy Long-Legs: The True Story

Most musical fans know the story of Daddy Long-Legs, with Leslie Caron as a French orphan and Fred Astaire as the man who sends her to school. But that's not how the book goes, and I've always been a bit PO'd that they never made a better adaptation of the book.

However, the Japanese have done so, in anime version (although Mrs. Lippett is a lot nicer in the anime!):

Daddy Long-Legs, Part 1

Daddy Long-Legs, Part 2

Daddy Long-Legs, Part 3

Daddy Long-Legs, Part 4

Daddy Long-Legs, Part 5

Daddy Long-Legs, Part 6

I wish anime sellers in stores and at science fiction conventions who bring boxes upon boxes of DVD sets would also sell stories like this, not just the titillating girl-adventure stories like "Dirty Pair," or the sci-fi fantasy stuff, and the Transformers-type tales, but the classic book adaptations. There are so many of them that I'd like to see: A Little Princess, Heidi, Lassie Come Home, Tom Sawyer, A Dog of Flanders, Anne of Green Gables...

And speaking of Daddy Long-Legs, with the popularity of Anne of Green Gables and Christy and its sequels, why hasn't anyone made a film of Jean Webster's sequel, Dear Enemy? For God's sake, yes, get rid of the eugenics twaddle, but what a book you have left: early 20th century girl trying to get beyond the prejudices of the day relegating women to comfortable marriage and motherhood, trying to change a dreary institution into a place where, if children do not get adopted, they at least grow up knowing love and how to function in the outside world as something else besides a servant! The Allegra storyline along with the danger element later in the novel would make for a fine dramatic film, along with Sallie finding herself as an independent woman. Where's Gillian Armstrong or someone of that ilk when we need her (without, of course, Miss Armstrong's preaching; the book contains enough revelations without resorting to heavy-handed commentary)?

Books Finished Since February 1

 Letter Perfect, David Sacks
Another super read if you are a linguistics junkie like myself: a history of the alphabet. One of my great joys as a a kid was reading through the World Book, each volume which began with the history of the letter (or letters) referenced. Since my latest World Book is of 1995 vintage, I had no idea there had been a 1998 discovery of an earlier alphabet than the Phoenician, found that year in Egypt. It's much more than just alphabet history, however; Sacks discusses vowel shifts and how our pronouciation of words has changed ("tea" was once "tay," for instance, and, further back, the letters themselves were pronounced differently), spelling changes, even typefaces, all movie popcorn treats for word lovers. The one distraction: informative, but badly placed sidebars which occur smack in the middle of chapters...they would have been better placed between the chapters. All in all, though, a great read.

 The Tale of Oat Cake Crag, Susan Wittig Albert
The peaceful farm life in the village of Sawrey is broken when one of the newfangled "aeroplanes" begins testing at the edge of Lake Windemere, leading the angry townspeople to call a meeting. And another storm is ready to break: Miss Beatrix Potter feels she cannot keep her secret engagement to attorney Will Heelis confidential much longer.

As always, a laid-back entry in these quaint cottage tales in which the village and countryside animals have as much to do with the plot as the people—Rascal the terrier even gets a moment of heroics in. As a mystery, it's rather weak, but as a gossipy take on early 20th-century village life, what with secret engagements, resentful servants, and tittle-tattling neighbors, there's never a dull moment if a cozy is what you're in the mood for. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Beatrix's letter arrives...

 In the Beginning, There Was Chaos: For Better or For Worse 2nd Treasury, Lynn Johnston
This is a two-year collection of Johnston's comic strip taking place when Michael was in first and then second grade, and Lizzie became more verbal; John continues his snark and Elly takes continuing education classes and works at a local newspaper. Besides the great fun of the strips, the explanations of which stories are true—many of the Patterson children's situations came from Johnston's own childhood, not her children's—and which were flights of fancy are neat to read. There are several newspaper stories about her work and the strip, some cartoons she did for a local newspaper, and even a color cover that wasn't used on one of her comic collections. Great fun for FBOFW fans!

 A Marked Man, Barbara Hamilton
The Tory Fluckner family, appalled that their daughter is in love with a mere bookseller and avowed member of the Sons of Liberty, are equally saddened and overjoyed when a British officer also vying for their daughter's hand (and the lands in Maine she will inherit) is killed and the suspect is the selfsame rebel Henry Knox. Thus Abigail Adams is pulled into the search for the real murderer before "Harry" can be shipped off for British trial.

Those who had eyebrows raised at Abigail's going far afield in the first mystery by Hamilton will find her on firmer ground, trying to work her sleuthing around housework, raising her children, and tracking the comings and goings of husband John and the rest of the Sons of Liberty. To do so she must ally herself with Lucy Fluckner, the British woman who's become her duenna, and the two British soldiers who helped her previously, Lieutenant Coldstone and Sergeant Muldoon. Hamilton weaves a complicated, page-turning tale around Boston town life and the high passions of two groups, the British quartered in the city and the colonists fomenting for freedom, and in doing so brings both groups vividly to life, not marking the "redcoats" as stereotypical, but just men doing a job. Her descriptions of Boston in February will bring a chill to you even in midsummer!

 Bryant and May on the Loose, Christopher Fowler
So I went from frigid cold and snowy Boston of the 1770s to damp, dank, rainy London of 2010. I figuratively squished through this latest Bryant and May mystery as Fowler transferred the depression surrounding the disbanding of the Peculiar Crimes Unit to the English weather. Arthur Bryant has retreated to his flat, allowing ennui to overtake him. Janice Longbright has found work in a vintage shop. John May has not stopped looking for alternatives for his team, and the rest are struggling to "make do"—until a former team member finds a headless corpse in the disused freezer of an abandoned shop in the King's Cross area. The area is undergoing revitalization for the upcoming Olympics and May persuades the Metropolitan police that the crime must be solved before the area receives a bad name.

And then a passerby is attacked by a weird half-man, half-stag figure, arousing Bryant's dormant interest.

This is another quirky entry in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series, in which the team is reassembled, housed in yet another inadequate building, immersed in headless corpses and tales of Britain's pagan heritage and historical myths, including a mystery going back to World War II. In addition, the team makes an enemy of a violent new criminal. Not the best in the series, but a welcome new entry nonetheless.

 Always Reddy, Marguerite Henry
This is the short, touching and funny story of Shamrock Queen, the hunting companion of Mr. Hoops, City Treasurer in the little community of Bellville. "Reddy," as she's called, is raising what will probably be her final litter, and Hoops picks out one of her puppies for them to train together. And then, calamity! Mrs. Hoops' mother is coming to live with them, and she's allergic to dogs! What will happen to Reddy and her son Snippet now?

Sadly, the Wesley Dennis illustrations are a bit off in this otherwise adorable story, with the Irish setters illustrated in red against a different colored background. Not sure why this was done. It doesn't detract from the story, but it's a bit of a disappointment to those who love Dennis' work.

 The Garden Intrigue, Lauren Willig
Augustus Whittlesby has spent ten years as an English spy, writing such insufferably bad poetry that it is dismissed by the French but coveted by the British, since it contains coded messages. He's weary of the role and wants nothing more than to retire with his ideal woman, the Pink Carnation herself, Jane Woolliston. But Jane seems oblivious to his attentions, and a more annoying problem has arrived, young widow Emma Delagardie, who appears to be his only way into Napoleon's stronghold to discover what he can about a new seagoing weapon that will help the Emperor invade England. (If you've read The Mistaken Wife by Rose Melikan, you will know what this weapon is; the same one features in each book.)

If you are a Pink Carnation fan, you know immediately where the story is going. Augustus and Emma make lively antagonists in their espionage and romantic adventures. Meanwhile, in the modern world, Eloise Kelly has her own decision to make. It's been over six wonderful months since she discovered the Pink Carnation papers and became involved with Colin Selwick. But is this a lasting relationship? And what about this "treasure" Colin's odious cousin Jeremy is apparently hunting for at Selwick Hall?

I remember reading that this series was going to run to six books; it's now at nine and shows no sign of stopping, with each just as good as the last. I've had a guess about whom the chill Miss Woolliston will eventually fall for, and the finale appears to be proving me correct. Or perhaps not. But I'll surely enjoy the ride wherever it goes. :-)

 A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (50th anniversary edition)
Meg Murry is "all wrong": an awkward teen who can't fit in, who worries over her little brother who's called names and her father who has disappeared while doing secret work for the government. But it is her "dumb baby brother" who initiates a friendship with a mysterious elderly lady that takes them and a popular boy from school on an amazing voyage to a frightening place to rescue Dr. Murry.

This is so much more than a fantasy story: it is a book about love, and about conformance, and if conformance can be carried too far. In an earlier age this was seen as a parable against the Soviet Union, but it speaks against any restrictive society. One must be brave enough, yet disciplined enough to overcome it.

I read this for the first time in seventh grade and have loved it ever since: filled with memorable characters like the sagacious but flawed Charles Wallace, the eccentric Mrs. Whatsit, loving Aunt Beast, and the sinister IT. Even in the 1970s, Meg was a unique character in children's literature: a strong, if flawed, young woman in a genre filled with heroic boys. Her appeal comes from her fallibility; that any of us could be Meg. Plus the book challenges the mind with its scientific and sociological concepts wrapped in a nifty fantasy.

This 50th Anniversary edition comes with photos of L'Engle, a copy of her Newbery Award acceptance speech, Madeleine's edits to a facsimile of Chapter 1, and an introduction by her granddaughter. Pure gold.

 A Pictorial Life Story of Misty, Marguerite Henry
As a kid I was as addicted to animal books as I was to animals. One of my most beloved authors was Marguerite Henry, but I had little hope of owning any of her volumes. They were all in hardback back then. So via the library (and the tucked-away bookshelves in Shepard's department store) I read and re-read all I could find, even the obscure ones, like Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin. Later, when college was done and I went to work, the books were finally out in trade paperback, and I bought them two by two every payday. Some I had to collect later via the internet, the ones that never made it to paperback status: White Stallion of Lipizza, Benjamin West, Cinnabar the One O'Clock Fox, etc.

I had forgotten that there were a few gaps to my collection until just recently when a friend who is reading the books mentioned them, and I turned back to my old friend the internet. This brought me one of the most longed-for books, A Pictorial Life Story of Misty. Not the story Henry told in the novel, but the real story of how Henry bought the young filly (after she was weaned) and her life on Henry's little country place, "Mole Meadow," with Friday the Morgan horse and Pixie the cocker spaniel, and later Brighty the donkey and Alex the dachshund, until Henry decided it was time for Misty to return to Chincoteague and have a family of her own, all with color and black and white photos of Henry, the horses and other critters, and Wesley Dennis' beautiful artwork tucked in the margins. I sat reading it with a big grin on my face and as many chuckles as it would have given me way back when, and I finished it with a sense of completion and satisfaction. If you loved Misty in particular or just Henry in general, you will love this book.

 Pagan Christmas, Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling
If you are looking for a "unique" Christmas book, you wouldn't have to look much further than this volume. Described as "an ethnobotany of Christmas," it traces the background and the use of all the plants we think of as traditional to the holiday—mistletoe, holly, fir trees, poinsettias, etc. However, it chronicles all the plants over the years having been traditionally associated with the holiday, including the white-spotted mushrooms (the fly agaric) so commonly duplicated as ornaments on European trees, yews, and all the fragrant herbs and spices, i.e. rosemary, bay, ginger, anise, etc., most of which trace back to pagan antecedents and some to drug use to obtain "visions." For that reason, I strongly suggest this book is definitely not for children, as there are reference to sexual practices as well. However, as a book for adults I did find it quite entertaining, reading about customs from the past, some which even dated back to near-prehistoric times. And, indeed, many of the images we think of as "Christmassy," the Scandinavian "julebok" and the Julenissen, St. Nicholas' white horse, the smokers of Germany, the colors red and white, hark back to far older solstice and Yule celebrations. As a plus the book is illustrated with not only photos of the plants, but liberally illustrated with Christmas imagery that goes back to early Victorian chromolithographs, of delightfully pagan-based postcards, advertisements, and greeting cards that were sold freely in Christian countries. Just a very neat book, but not for everyone.

Misty Comes Home

As a kid I was as addicted to animal books as I was to animals. The latter were much more pleasant people than the humans I had to deal with, especially at school. I much preferred the company of adults anyway, as long as they weren't discussing politics or [shudder] budgets.

As I made friends with the neighborhood pets (I knew people by their dogs--it wasn't Bill's house, it was Gigi's...Rex the collie's house...not the Ferrantes, but where Buttons lived.) Since I was allergic, I couldn't have my own pets, so I made pets of everyone else's, including those in books. I loved Anne H. White's offbeat critters (Serapina the cat with the telescoping tail, Junket the Airedale, Scholar the Golden Retriever), Jim Kjelgaard's hunting dogs (Big Red and his ilk), the Arctic adventures of Mounty Jim Thorne and his magnificent Silver Chief, even the sad books like Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe. Library books wore out in my hands: The Green Poodles, Runaway Pony Runaway Dog (which I didn't realize until much later was just one of a series of books about Sassy and Tough-Enough), Champion Dog Prince Tom, Lad: A Dog (and everything else by Albert Payson Terhune), Blitz (a fire horse). At home I had what we could afford in cheap Whitman editions, mostly the Lassie books and Albert Miller's three Fury novels in inexpensive Grosset & Dunlap editions. My favorite Bobbsey Twin characters were Snap the dog and Snoop the cat (who didn't appear half enough to suit me). And I mourned a little when the animal stories that appeared in Scholastic's book club editions were still too far beyond our reach: White Ruff and Champ, Gallant Collie and Clarence the TV Dog.

One of my most beloved authors was Marguerite Henry, but I had little hope of owning any of her volumes. They were all in hardback back then, costly volumes around $5, back in the day when 29 cents for a Whitman book was the norm, and 60 cents for a paperback of National Velvet or My Friend Flicka was a splurge. (My copy of Green Grass of Wyoming, which I received for a good report card, was 75 cents, which utterly horrified my father. With only one parent working and in a factory, yet, 75 cents was a good deal of money.) So via the library (and the tucked-away bookshelves in Shepard's department store) I read and re-read all I could find, even the obscure ones, like Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin. Later, when college was done and I went to work, the books were finally out in trade paperback, and I bought them two by two every payday. Some I had to collect later via the internet, the ones that never made it to paperback status: White Stallion of Lipizza, Benjamin West, Cinnabar the One O'Clock Fox, etc.

I had forgotten that there were a few gaps to my collection until just recently when a friend who is reading the books mentioned them, and I turned back to my old friend the internet. This brought me the funny short book Always Reddy, the story of an Irish setter, and one of the most longed-for books, A Pictorial Life Story of Misty. Not the story Henry told in the novel, but the real story of how Henry bought the young filly (after she was weaned) and her life on Henry's little country place, "Mole Meadow," with Friday the Morgan horse and Pixie the cocker spaniel, and later Brighty the donkey and Alex the dachshund, until Henry decided it was time for Misty to return to Chincoteague and have a family of her own, all with color and black and white photos of Henry, the horses and other critters, and Wesley Dennis' beautiful artwork tucked in the margins. I sat reading it with a big grin on my face and as many chuckles as it would have given me way back when, and I finished it with a sense of completion and satisfaction.

Books Finished Since January 1

 A Book of Feasts and Seasons, Joanna Bogle
I had never heard of Ms. Bogle until I happened to record a few programs of hers off the EWTN (Catholic) network, a simple series called Feasts and Seasons in which she chats about the liturgical year and makes easy recipes associated with each season. (And I'm really unhappy that I missed the programs concerning the first and second Sunday of Advent!) This is a book having to do with the feasts within the liturgical year, and the mainly British-themed (Bogle is a Catholic Briton) traditions and food that goes with them, told in a matter-of-fact style with a dry humor I enjoyed. I found this book fascinating, but then I'm an Anglophile. Catholics should also find it of interest.

 Santa Claus: Last of the Wild Men, Phyllis Siefker
How did a dour, austere bishop from Turkey evolve into a jolly, fur-trimmed chubby fellow driving a team of reindeer? Most histories of Santa Claus cite a softening of notions of discipline, concepts of various artists over time, and other evolutionary changes. However, Siefker has written an intriguing study that offers us instead Santa's evolution from an older religious symbol, the pagan Wild Man of the forest, who has been embodied in St. Nicholas' European companions (Belsnickel, Pelznichol, Smutchli, etc.) as well as in other iconoclastic figures such as Robin Hood, the Harlequin, and Puck. She digs deeply into pagan traditions and, whether you agree with her theory that the pagan Wild Man became intertwined with the Christian gift giver or not, gives examples of some fascinating ancient traditions revolving around old pagan beliefs, some traditions which lasted well into the 20th century. My big complaint is that most of the illustrations supporting Ms. Siefker's theory are badly printed (some are no more than two-tone outlines that look like badly photocopies illustrations). For instance, a picture of an ancient wagon supposedly dug up from an archaeological site is so bad it could be a 19th century farm wagon. Still, the text is readable and thought-provoking.

 A Secret Gift, Ted Gup
In 1933, at the height of the Depression, the mysterious "B. Virdot," via a newspaper ad, offered the citizens of the hard-hit city of Canton, OH. the sum of $10 for letters telling about their circumstances. Back in the 1930s, charity was anathema to most people, so it was telling that "B. Virdot" received so many letters that he instead sent $5 to twice the amount of people. The incident might have been forgotten had not Ted Gup inherited a suitcase with his late grandfather's papers, and discovered that his relative had been the mysterious "B. Virdot." Using the carefully saved letters and followup correspondence, Gup tracked down each of the families that received money and discovered what that small but welcome gift did for each of them. It's also the story of Gup's grandfather, Sam Stone, an immigrant who knew what losing it all meant.

I enjoyed this book as a portrait of what the everyday Joe went through during the Depression, and also the gradual revelation of what made Sam Stone the man he was and perhaps why he felt he had to give the money away. The text is a tad padded, and Gup's "big reveal" isn't as dramatic as the lead in would have you believe, but those are minor quibbles. The main story is the one of the beneficiaries of "B. Virdot" and how they survived.

 Murder on the Flying Scotsman, Carola Dunn
Daisy Dalrymple is heading northward on the Flying Scotsman to another historical home in order to write an article for "Town and Country" magazine when she discovers an old friend, 11-year-old runaway Belinda Fletcher, daughter of Scotland Yard inspector Alec Fletcher, who has investigated several murder cases Daisy has stumbled upon—and someone she is becoming very fond of. Daisy takes on care of Belinda until her father can be contacted, and the pair encounter the family of a dying wealthy landowner heading into Scotland for a last meeting with them. The large, mostly ungrateful family includes the man's twin brother, his heir, who has scandalized the family by planning to leave his fortune to "a foreigner"!—a young Indian doctor. But the trip turns deadly when the old man is murdered, and Belinda was a witness to one of the clues.

Like the previous mysteries, this is a chipper, quick moving, good-natured classic mystery story. Repercussions from the First World War are mentioned, but this is not an introspective mystery like the Maisie Dobbs stories, or Anne Perry's Great War puzzlers. Characters have an Agatha Christie type manner, and while the plots aren't as clever or convoluted as Christie, or the characters as complicated, it's a thumping good period intrigue. It's also nice to see a child who isn't angsty about the idea of her father remarrying!

 The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: The Discerning Fan's Guide to Doctor Who, Marc Schuster and Tom Powers
Essay collections about themes and concepts in Doctor Who vary in quality; this one is quite good, with essays ranging from the Doctor's relationships with his own kind and with his companions to larger themes such as the future of humanity as portrayed in the series and the concept of faith. Other parts deal with the series as spectacle, the various personalities of the Doctors and how they become a coherent whole, and the concept of death. There are eight essays in all, and all are worthwhile for any Doctor Who fan looking for more info about the series than simply a cast list and pictures of monsters.

 Elegy for Eddie, Jacqueline Winspear
Everyone in the costermonger community knows Eddie Pettit, a slightly "slow" man (today we would say he was autistic) who was born in a stable and has an uncanny way with horses. So when Eddie dies under unexpected circumstances at a paper-mill, the costermongers hire Maisie Dobbs, whose father was once one of their number, to look into Eddie's death. They fear the killer was a young man who "had it in" for Eddie and want him brought to justice.

Once again Winspear is allowing Maisie to progress with the times. Her previous World War I-consequence investigations have given way to those which touch upon the tenuous times of the 1930s, with Adolf Hitler coming into power and the fears of perceptive politicians and those alert enough to read the signs of approaching trouble. Innocent Eddie, his last weeks troubled by a new friendship, had gotten himself involved in something much bigger than horses and the costermongers, and Maisie will need all her wits to follow the threads of the mystery.

In addition, she is still reluctant to commit to her relationship to James Compton, and, when one of her employees is attacked, must come to terms with her tendency to meddle in people's lives for her own comfort. This was a page-turner from the prologue, where we learn of Eddie's origins, and, although the three-page wrap-up of world events in chapter one is a bit awkward in getting us up to speed, the rest progresses at a quick clip, not allowing Maisie's self-doubts to slow down the continuing riddle of Eddie's death. Winspear's chronicles of Maisie continue to please. Once I started reading I could not put it down, except to get a night's sleep.

 A Pocketful of History, Jim Noles
A neat book telling the stories behind each of the images on the reverse side of the state quarters (and also the US possessions) that were released for ten years starting in 1999. Some icons were obvious—the Massachusetts Minuteman, Hawaii's King Kamehameha, Abraham Lincoln gracing Illinois—but who is that horseman on Delaware—hint: it's not Paul Revere, but another Revolutionary War hero—why are diamonds gracing Arkansas and a buffalo centered on Kansas? Virginia's quarter will teach you about those other ships: not the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria or the Mayflower and the Speedwell, but the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed. You'll learn about Connecticut's Charter Oak, Nevada's mustangs (and the famous "Wild Horse Annie"), and more. A great bedside book for an easy and enlightening state per night.

 The Fleet Street Murders, Charles Finch
Amateur sleuth Charles Lennox attempts to juggle running for Parliament in a village close to Durham while still investigating the murders of two journalists, one venial and taken to bribes, the other a god-fearing man. What links their deaths? If that wasn't enough to worry about, his best friend and his wife endure a grevious loss, which leads his fiancée to have second thoughts about being married soon.

I didn't like this quite so much as September Society, as I found the bits where Lenox is getting the constituents of the village to like him a bit tedious, although it is intriguing to see how the Parliamentary procedure worked back then (imagine representing people you know nothing about!). Again faithful butler Graham proves himself a veritable Bunter in getting people to like his employer due to his affable personality, and again a book set in an earlier time proves politics hasn't changed much, as an aspect of this story owes much to tales of bygone Chicago elections.

 House M.D., The Official Guide, Ian Jackman
This is an enjoyable look behind the scenes at the series House, MD. Chapters take you though the inception of an idea through filming an episode, while interstice chapters examine each of the lead characters and what makes them tick, and also discusses with each of the actors the thoughts they put into the motivations behind their characters. No really surprising insights, but still of interest, and Hugh Laurie's introduction is a "hoot."

One oddity to this book is a persistent printing error when anything is italicized: all the ligatures (ff, ffi, fi), etc. are absent—there's just a blank space in the word! This tells me that the italic font they used to print the book didn't have ligature characters. Very unprofessional of the publisher not to notice it.