What are you reading?

[Dorothy]

John wrote: "One of my favorite books from last year was Art of Racing in the Rain. Now I am going to start How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, I hope it is as good."

Who is the author?

I've just finished "The Angel's Game" by Carl Luis Zafon. What a wild ride! I don't usually enjoy gothic novels but this had all the elements...ruined houses, supernatural events, a whiff of sulphur, and of course all the references to the great English novels.

[John]

Both books are by Garth Stein. He is a Goodreads author and lives in Seattle.

[Dorothy]

Thank you John for recommending "The Good Mayor". What a delightful book...I thoroughly enjoyed it and have recommended it to others. I did like the humour and the Mayor's delight in special words. I myself have adopted the word "bloedig" which I think will come in handy in moments of frustration. How are you enjoying it Roberta?

[Dorothy]

I've just finished a book called "The Carpenters' Pencil" by Manuel Rivas set in the Spanish Civil War. I seem to have read a lot of spanish language books recently and this one does not disappoint. It is faily poetic and includes some of the poetry mentioned in the text.

[Roberta]

I'm liking it. Loved the courtroom scene.

[John]

One of my favorite images of "The Good Mayor" was how Tibo was so desperately in love with Agathe that he would lay on the floor and look under his door just to get a peek at her toes, and then have to dust his suit off before she came into the office. Madly in love!

[John]

StartingOperation Cicero the story of a spy in neutral Turkey during the second world war. It was made into a movie called "5 Fingers" and starred James Mason.

[Dorothy]

I've finished 3 light mystery type novel on audio this month, but for more serious fare, I'm reading "New York" by Edward Rutherfurd. It is going slowly as it is a thick book but am really enjoying it and finding out more about the history of the city. I recently watched the series on New York on Knowledge Network and this is adding to what I learned there.

[Dorothy]

I'm also reading a paperback by Jane Gardom: "Old Filth". I first read this when it came out some years ago but wanted to refresh my memory since I have recently read the companion novel "The Man with the Wooden Hat. I like both books, but have a slight preference for "Old Filth" about a prominent lawyer and Judge in the days of the end of British rule in Malayia and Hong Kong. The companion novel tells the same story from the wife's point of view.

[Roberta]

Just started Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. So far - silly, fluffy and very entertaining. Not sure why, maybe it's that whole repressed Englishwoman thing, but it is setting off Enchanted April echoes in my head.

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "Just started Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. So far - silly, fluffy and very entertaining. Not sure why, maybe it's that whole repressed Englishwoman thing, but it is setting off Enchanted April ..."

I quite enjoyed the movie..we rented the DVD a few months ago.

[Roberta]

I didn't know there was a movie. Thanks!

[John]

This month on of my book groups short listedTheir Eyes Were Watching God, it didn't get chosen but it is the book that I have on hand so that is what I will read next.

[John]

I feel like a good laugh so I going to try reading Off Islanders

[Roberta]

Haven't heard of it. What is it? And have you ever read My Family and Other Animals?

[John]

Roberta wrote: "Haven't heard of it. What is it? And have you ever read My Family and Other Animals?"

It is a story of a Russian submarine that gets stuck in the sand off Nantucket. It was written in 1961 so during the Cold War. The Russians meet up with a family vacationing on the island. I remember it being funny when I first read it back in 1967.

I have not read any of Durrell's books though I have heard of some of them. Is he a funny author?

[Dorothy]

John wrote: "Roberta wrote: "Haven't heard of it. What is it? And have you ever read My Family and Other Animals?"

It is a story of a Russian submarine that gets stuck in the sand off Nantucket. It was writt..."

Was this made into a movie...I seem to remember something of that vintage but can't recall the title.

[John]

It was called "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" - Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Winters, Theodore Bikel - directed by Norman Jewison a good Canadian director.

[Dorothy]

John wrote: "It was called "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" - Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Winters, Theodore Bikel - directed by Norman Jewison a good Canadian director."

I remember it... a good movie

:-)

[Roberta]

I remember hearing about it but not seeing it. Gerald Durrell was a very funny writer and My Family...is the best. The dinner scene with the whole family including his older brother Lawrence lanquidly mooning about never fails to brighten my day,

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "I remember hearing about it but not seeing it. Gerald Durrell was a very funny writer and My Family...is the best. The dinner scene with the whole family including his older brother Lawrence lanq..."

I think I read that as a teenager but haven't revisited it recently.

[John]

Starting Never Shoot a Stampede Queen: A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo the story of a rookie reporter in Williams Lake.

[Dorothy]

I've just come back from a weekend at Yellow Point Lodge where I read for most of 2 days. I finished off the mystery I had been reading, started and finished another mystery/action book by Robert Goddard called "Found Wanting", and started "Barnacle Love", a Giller finalist by Anthony Da Sa. What a perfect way to spend a weekend.

[Roberta]

Sounds luxurious Dot. I love Yellow Point, though I haven't been there for years. Did you stop at the Barton Leir gallery?

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "Sounds luxurious Dot. I love Yellow Point, though I haven't been there for years. Did you stop at the Barton Leir gallery?"

No...didn't leave the property the whole time we were there...but I have been there before...what a neat place!

[Dorothy]

Just finished "Barnacle Love". I seem to be reading a lot of books set in Newfoundland this year...this one is a series of linked short stories which form a novel about a Portuguese immigrant and his family. An engaging book but very sad.

[John]

For my birthday my wife gave me Incontinent on the Continent: My Mother, Her Walker, and Our Grand Tour of Italy. It is the story of lady and her mother who although they love each other, don't particularly like each other. So the daughter decides to take her mother to Italy for a six week vacation to try to reconnect with each other. I love the description of the mother. She is said to be a cross between the Queen Mother and Hyacinth Bucket.

[Roberta]

I've read this book and will be very interested to learn your thoughts on it.

The same woman also wrote, What the Psychic told the Pilgrim, a journey along the pilgrimage trail in Spain (can't spell it).

[John]

I read a book about the same trail . He wanted to be authentic so he took a donkey along to haul his stuff. It was pretty funny.Travels with My Donkey: One Man and His Ass on a Pilgrimage to Santiago

[Roberta]

I'll look for that. The title sounds promising.

I just finished A Stopover in Venice. I enjoyed it because it was about Venice and I could imagine myself back but it's not a book I could recommend. I did discover Giorgiano the painter though and that was a good find.

[Dorothy]

I have John Berendt's book on Venice on my shelf, still unread...but I too love Venice and like to read about it. Have you read "Miss Garnett's Angel" ? I read it before I spent time in Venice and tried to follow the character's footsteps...though the church that figures largely in teh book was being renovated so I couldn't go in. Anyway...I recommend the book if you like things set in Venice.

[Roberta]

I loved Miss Garnet's Angel and only found it after I returned. I'll dig through my Italy pile and send you any titles on Venice I can find. Any others you can think of?

My husband thought Venice was like a moldy stage set but I loved the no traffic and the quiet and fell in love with the mosaics. We stayed in a little apartment on the edge of Dorsoduro and it felt like a neighbourhood.

[John]

JB's book - "City of Falling Angels". It was an interesting book but certainly not a way to learn lots about Venice. My wife and I were in Italy in 2008 and got talked into Siena rather than Venice. That is why I am looking forward toIncontinent on the Continent: My Mother, Her Walker, and Our Grand Tour of Italy. They go to both Siena and Florence where we were.

[Roberta]

I missed Siena but we did get to Florence. Did you like it? My favorite was the Boboli Gardens.

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "I loved Miss Garnet's Angel and only found it after I returned. I'll dig through my Italy pile and send you any titles on Venice I can find. Any others you can think of?

My husband thought Veni..."

Roberta wrote: "I loved Miss Garnet's Angel and only found it after I returned. I'll dig through my Italy pile and send you any titles on Venice I can find. Any others you can think of?

My husband thought Veni..."

Roberta wrote: "I missed Siena but we did get to Florence. Did you like it? My favorite was the Boboli Gardens."

We spent a day in Sienna so didn't see much and we did not get to Florence as that was the year that there was some problem with the Uffizi (bomb?) so we stayed away. Venice we spent time in, got caught in the Aqua Alta..etc etc.

I've enjoyed all teh Donna Leon books and tried to follow in Inspector Brunetti's footsteps...esp to his favourite coffee shop.

[Roberta]

Where was his favorite coffee shop?

[John]

Roberta wrote: "I missed Siena but we did get to Florence. Did you like it? My favorite was the Boboli Gardens."

Looking at a map now, we walked around the Boboli Gardens but never through them. We walked up into the hill behind the gardens and over to the church Monte alle Croci and Piazza Michaelangelo then back to town. i loved being able to walk on some of the vias with not cars (we need to do that with part of Government St).

The best thing was a one day guided cycling tour up into the hills to a town called Fiesole and looking back down to Florence. From there we rode to a real mom and pop Italian restaurant for lunch then to a former mission that now makes their own wine and olive oil. It was a fabulous day!!!

[Roberta]

Our hotel was right across the streeet from the Boboli Gardens in an old Medici villa. The bicycling sounds great. We didn't do any of that (being a wino I have a limited tolerance for hilly cycling) but we did walk for miles and up the hill to the Piazza Michaelangelo. What a vista!

[John]

Roberta wrote: "Our hotel was right across the streeet from the Boboli Gardens in an old Medici villa. The bicycling sounds great. We didn't do any of that (being a wino I have a limited tolerance for hilly cycl..."

We consumed our fair share of wine too. We stayed a stones throw from the Duomo on Via del Calzaiuoli a straight walk down to the Uffizi Gallery. There was a parade out our hotel room window, plus all the street vendors with their handbags, art reproductions and toy helicopters. They were the only bad things about Florence.

[Roberta]

Oh my. Meant to say wimp but I do consume my fair share of wine as well.

[Dorothy]

I've just started reading "Deloume Road" by Matthew Hooton, set in the Shawnigan Lake/Mill Bay area. Nice to read something in a local setting. Also listening to an audiobook : "Venetia Kelly's Travelling Show by Frank Delaney. He is a good story teller in true Irish tradition.

[Roberta]

It's good to get an audiobook suggestion. I'm having eye surgery in early April and won't be able to read for a few days.

When my son was 12, he was hit in the eye by a hardball and spent most of a summer on the couch. No books, TV or somputer and no running around. Audiobooks saved us and broadened his horizons.

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "It's good to get an audiobook suggestion. I'm having eye surgery in early April and won't be able to read for a few days.

When my son was 12, he was hit in the eye by a hardball and spent mos..."

I borrow from the library...they have a huge selection and you can get most books on audio through the catalogue. Good luck with the surgery!

[John]

I have been talking with Goodread's Classic Movie group about old westerns and it has inspired me to re-read Shane

[John]

Roberta wrote: "I've read this book and will be very interested to learn your thoughts on it.

The same woman also wrote, What the Psychic told the Pilgrim, a journey along the pilgrimage trail in Spain (can't s..."

I rated it higher than you did, I quite liked it. The two women were very frustrating. They both would have had a better time if they had gone with someone more compatible. It was odd how little the author knew of her mother's various medical problems. They both disliked Siena and Florence and I loved them both.

[Roberta]

I had a hard time relating to either of the and i thought the author acted like a spoiled teenager much of the time, what with her list of grievances and all. Nothing like family to really bring the worst out in folks sometime. I was positive there was a better way for the mother to enjoy Italy.

[Dorothy]

Dot wrote: "Roberta wrote: "We will be reading it at the same time Dot. I'm just finishing Her Fearful Symmetry, which I enjoyed intermittantly."

I'll start this evening ;-)"


How did you like "The Good Mayor"?

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "Where was his favorite coffee shop?"
I had to ask a friend who has been to Venice more recently than me and who is also a Donna Leon fan. This is what she said:
I found two listed in the book Brunetti's Venice by Toni Sepeda. The first was Rosa Salva Castello cafe in Campo San Luca. Paola says they serve the best coffee in Venice. Another favourite Brunetti coffee shop was Tonolo near Campo San Barnaba.

I'm not sure now which of these I went to...it's been too long!

[Roberta]

WE stayed just off Campo San Barnaba! We had coffee every morning just in front of the Church there.

Our favorite thing in Venice was the operas we saw at the Scuolas. Not fully staged but you are right there almost on the stage and the voices were glorious.

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "WE stayed just off Campo San Barnaba! We had coffee every morning just in front of the Church there.

Our favorite thing in Venice was the operas we saw at the Scuolas. Not fully staged but you..."

How wonderful. We had a moment of serendipity in Rome. We wandered into Santa Maria in Trastavere and found a concert in progress. It was amazing...we sat there and listened to a Norwegian a capella choir singing Negro Spirituals in Italy...talk about the Global Village!