This and That

[[deleted user]]

Gabriele, that didn't cross my mind. You'll probably have to wait an age :(

Anyway, as my GR friend Fiona said, it's ITV not BBC so... well, personally I don't think they're all that great when it comes to period pieces.

Susanna, I'd heard about the up-and-coming addition to U.D. I really ought to track down the original before that airs.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

The original is fabulous.

[Gabriele]

Susanna wrote: "The original is fabulous."

Absolutely!!!

Lauren, we get British programs through 4 different channels, so hopefully one will pick this up, and soon after it's released in Britain.

[[deleted user]]

I quite like Foyle's War, although I've only seen a few. Have to disagree about Heartbeat and The Royal, though! I found them woeful.

Re Downton Abbey - I just hope it isn't cheesy. That's my usual grievance with ITV.

[Gabriele]

We've been watching Heartbeat since it started, and actually saw some of the filming back in 1995 when we visited Yorkshire and had lunch at the "Aidensfield Arms". What fun that was! It's just become a tradition at our house, and always transports us back to that lovely village of Goathland where the series is filmed.

Loved Foyle's War, and enjoyed The Royal. Basically I'm a sucker for almost anything British, as long as it's not really violent.

[Gabriele]

I've started reading Good Behaviour by Molly Keane, but haven't really been able to get into it, and put it down to read another book. Has anyone read it? What did you think?

[DJ]

Hi,just wondered if we are planning another groupread soon,or if we are taking the summer off?Sorry if this has been dealt with,I haven`t been about.....

[Gabriele]

Since we didn't have many participants in the last read, I thought that we would wait for a while to have another.

[DJ]

Thanks Gabriele, I wasn't sure if I had missed it.
I think a summer Hiatus is a good idea.Could you let me know when we are next choosing a book.
I still haven't managed to pick up a second hand copy of THE PRIORY......
Happy Summer to you :-)

[Gabriele]

And to you, DJ!

[DJ]

Thank You.
With a Sun filled Smile.

[[deleted user]]

Anybody going anywhere nice this summer? (I'm trying to spark up some conversation! :D)

[DJ]

I will be going back to Aberfeldy and Kenmore soon and The Lake District in September....What about yourself?
I'm taking my Budgie and my Three Jack Russell Terriers...

[Gabriele]

I loved the Lake District when I was there many years ago! We did a lot of hill walking.

I'm soon doing another research/working holiday in my favourite lake district of Muskoka. Isn't it great to have an excuse to go somewhere you love? We're also trying to snatch a few weekends at the family cottage (summer home) on an island in a different area called The Kawartha Lakes. We were there last (long) weekend with fabulous weather, and with the lake already warm enough for swimming. Ahhh... summer!

[DJ]

Hi Gabriele....LOL with 3 Terriers we will also be doing a lot of walking! We are going to the same Hotel that we went to on our Honeymoon,where we had a suite in a Tower,with its very own Romeo and Juliet Balcony.Above the Bed there is the most Beautiful Stained Glass Ceiling and the actual Tower is our sitting room.We are going back to jointly celebrate my 40th Birthday and our 10th Wedding Anniversary.I will wake up to that ceiling in that room with Husband and all my Girls....What could be more perfect?

I cannot remmber if I posted here or not But the reason that I wasn't around is that my Dad died.I just wanted to say so that you would know it wasn't that I have lointerest in the group...far from it it is amongst my favorites.

It sounds like your holiday is going to be pretty wonderful to....I look forward to hearing about it.

[Gabriele]

Oh DJ, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad! What a difficult time for you.

Your destination sounds absolutely magical! Happy Birthday and Anniversary! Hope you find joy and comfort there.

[DJ]

Thank you and Thank You.If that makes sense.I just felt really guilty about not being around.....

I think the break will be a good thing,Strangely turning 40 doesn't seem to bother me but other people seem to think it should.....

[Gabriele]

You're just entering your prime (as Miss Jean Brodie would say). I was never more productive than after I turned 40, and in fact, have done even more in my 50s. So enjoy yourself and celebrate, DJ!

[DJ]

Exactly what I'm thinking!!

[Gabriele]

BTW, if you want to see what Muskoka looks like, have a look at my trailer on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcAOJb...

The bird call at the beginning is one of the cries of the loon - beautiful birds that we love watching and listening to on our lake. My daughter does a really good imitation and carries on hilarious "conversations" with them!

[[deleted user]]

So sorry about your dad, DJ :(

I would love to visit the Lake District. It looks stunning.I love hiking so I do plan to go their one day. I actually have never been further north in the UK than Oxfordshire - terrible, isn't it?

Gabriele, Muskoka looks lovely. I have always wanted to visit Canada - perhaps I will one day. Such raw beauty. Makes much of England look so tame.

I'm just going to Spain this year. Avoiding the touristy parts, which I swear are populated more with Brits than the Spanish, and hopefully going to see some of the ancient cathedrals etc. Last time we went up to see the old white houses of Casares, Andalucia, and my god it was gorgeous. Almost labrythian once amonst it all.

[Gabriele]

"Just" going to Spain, Lauren? Sounds wonderful to me! I'd like to get there some day. And Italy, and Greece.... And back to Britain and France.

I actually think it's cheaper for us to fly to Europe than to western Canada, so I have yet to really see the Rockies. (We had a stopover in Vancouver once.)

Hope you do manage to come to Canada some day!

[[deleted user]]

:) I realise how that came across! No, it's just that we went there last year, and I really wanted to go somewhere further afield this year (India is the dream) but we just don't have the money, sadly. Spain is lovely in parts but so much of it has been turned into holiday resorts and ugly skyscrapers.

It must be so strange to live in a country so massive that what you say above is true. I suppose the landscape is so diverse that it it doesn't all feel the same country.

[DJ]

Thanks Lauren...
I'm really glad that you get to the REAL SPAIN ,if you catch my drift?

Gabriele I simply adore Greece,again I like Lauren tended to head away from the Touristy areas.I only stopped going when I got my girls...I hope you make it some day.Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

[[deleted user]]

Hi, for anyone who's interested, I thought I'd supply this link because it's completely relevant to the group:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...

'We are among the ruins', wrote DH Lawrence describing the decade after the First World War. The inter-war years generated self-doubt and ideological crisis as Britain contemplated the devastation of war and the demise of empire which would transform the British novel.

Some of the greatest, most innovative works of modern British fiction were written during this period and they have retained their power over the fate and fortune of the novel ever since.

I just hope BBC iPlayer is available to those of you in Canada and beyond =)

[Gabriele]

Darn! Can't get it outside the UK! It looks terrific, Lauren. Thanks for posting the excerpt. I hope that PBS or another channel brings it to us soon!

[[deleted user]]

Oh, sorry about that! I thought that might be so, because the BBC is funded on the TV license. It was worth putting it out there anyway. :)

[Gabriele]

Yes, great for all of you in the UK. I'm intrigued now!

[[deleted user]]

You should be! There are some great clips, taken from interviews with Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster. Maybe BBC Canada will get hold of it, but even in the UK it wasn't prioritised, broadcast instead on BBC4. The BBC is dumbing down so much, putting gameshows and the like before history & culture.

[Gabriele]

NO! I rely on BBC for much of my entertainment! We have TVO in Ontario, which is an "educational" government channel that - like PBS in the States - brings us lots of British programs. Hopefully this will be one of them!

[[deleted user]]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/interv...

Downton Abbey is to come to our screens in the UK this week. I've read they're in the process of filming the new Upstairs, Downstairs at the moment.

[Gabriele]

Downton Abbey looks great, Lauren! I hope it comes to our shores soon. I do like Julian Fellowes' work. And the new Upstairs Downstairs to look forward to is exciting as well. Thanks for posting this, as it gives me something to keep an eye out for.

[DJ]

It sounds really good....And Julian Fellows himself made it sound so appealing when he wad at a Q and A at the GFT during the film Festival.
He wad really pleasant to meet and signed a friends festival programmer for her....
It wad amazing the signatures she collected!
I can't wait to see it.....

[SarahC]

I hope this isn't terrible off-topic, because it sounds like the book covers the WWI era and around then. I just got a notice from Penguin about the release of the first of the new Ken Follett series. So why would the list price for that book be $36? I know it is offered lower at major stores, etc. I just don't understand publisher pricing. Maybe we aren't in a recession, technically, or non-technically?? :)

[SarahC]

Gabriele wrote: "I've started reading Good Behaviour by Molly Keane, but haven't really been able to get into it, and put it down to read another book. Has anyone read it? What did yo..."

Gabriele I just saw this comment as I was scrolling down to add my comment on the Follett book. I recently read Molly Keane's Loving and Giving. I just didn't really connect with it or understand it much. Have you read others by her? My review is here on GoodReads, Loving and Giving was one of her last and her career was very long I understand, so I just wondered if her work is different at different times.

[Gabriele]

Sarah wrote: "I hope this isn't terrible off-topic, because it sounds like the book covers the WWI era and around then. I just got a notice from Penguin about the release of the first of the new Ken Follett ser..."

I'm looking forward to Ken Follett's new book, Fall of Giants, Sarah, and I do think it covers the post WW1 era as well, so it fits into our mandate. Interestingly, my books explore the same era, but concentrate on a few families rather than try to cover all of world history at that time.

I'll wait for it to come out in paperback before I buy it!

[Gabriele]

Sarah wrote: "Gabriele wrote: "I've started reading Good Behaviour by Molly Keane, but haven't really been able to get into it, and put it down to read another book. Has anyone rea..."

I read one of hers, Sarah, and didn't really connect with it. I gave Good Behaviour two stars.

[SarahC]

Gabriele wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I hope this isn't terrible off-topic, because it sounds like the book covers the WWI era and around then. I just got a notice from Penguin about the release of the first of the new K..."

I am looking forward to Fall of Giants too, guess I will just be looking forward longer. haha

[Gabriele]

Couldn't resist! - for all you cat lovers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P...

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Ah, Nora the Piano-Playing Cat strikes again! Love the duet.

[Linda2]

Cats are so intelligent.

[Debbie]

i read "the postmistress" i thought it might fit into this group. it is set "on the eve of WWII" but is so good.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Debbie. It looks interesting.

[Debbie]

i was just looking at other recommendations by other goodreads members

[[deleted user]]

Oh, you haven't read it yet? I add a lot of books to my tbr that way. I really think a personal recommendation is the best kind.

[Debbie]

no i have read it. just seeing what others had to say about it and then look at the shelves of those who liked it to see what else they liked to get ideas for other books for "between the wars"

[Debbie]

read "bleeding heart square" after seeing it on someone's thread and really enjoyed it. am currently reading "the resurrectionist" from another thread or bookshelf and am hooked

[[deleted user]]

Great! I do that, too. Sometimes I end up in the funniest places. :)

[[deleted user]]

Does anyone else here subscribe to the Persephone Biannually? Although it's mainly there to advertise their books, it has some really interesting articles, many of which are about the interwar period, and best of all it comes with free bookmarks :D It's free and they send it overseas.

I recently watched The Heart Of Me, based on Rosamund Lehmann's The Echoing Grove. It was a little disappointing tbh.

Oh, and Downton Abbey, has anyone in the UK been following it? It's a lot more soapy than Gosford Park but still gripping in my opinion.

Hope you're all well x

[SarahC]

I haven't purchase many Persephone books in a while, but I do get the mailings. Great idea to remind everyone of that, Lauren.