The Doll by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is one of my favorite novels. I reread it this summer and enjoyed every word, every mood, as much as the first summer I read it in 1977.

Don't Look Now was one of my favorite selections for Carl's RIP VI Challenge this October. I was thoroughly entranced with the mind game Daphne du Maurier played with me in the canals of Venice.

So, it was with great delight that I accepted The Doll to review this month. Daphne du Maurier's lost short stories? I was all over that!

Until I read the first one about a ship bringing a strange northeast wind which caused a certain village inhabitant to brutally murder his wife with an ax, only to find the ship gone the next day when he awoke to fully discover what he'd done. "Okay," I thought. "We're off to a rocky start. Surely the next one will be better."

The next story in the collection was the title piece, The Doll. This story upset me so much that I  actually had a nightmare two evenings later, and I haven't picked the book up since. I absolutely cannot subject myself to the darkness within, which is far more than a creepy story; it made me feel slimy with poisoned filth.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Such an utterly disappointing book to me. I read doggedly on, until the bitter end, in the hopes that surely I would see what made this book a best seller. A spy novel extraordinaire. Any reason whatsoever to turn it into a film.

Alas, I find practically nothing.

Is the story of finding a Russian mole within British intelligence told with any clarity whatsoever for those who are not spies? Does it follow any logical, sequential order? No, Le Carre fills it with jargon best known to those involved with espionage, and flashbacks which made my head swim.

I wasn't even comforted by caring about any of the characters. George Smiley, to be sure, is the most likable of them all. We see his weaknesses, briefly, underneath a stoic and calm exterior. But, we don't come to know him. I, for one, cared little about his disappointment when he discovered which  tinker, tailor, soldier or spy was the mole set by Karla in the Circus (Secret Intelligence Service).

The Girl On The Cliff by Lucinda Riley

What a lovely book to spend reading over Thanksgiving vacation. I just finished this saga last night, a wonderful, involved novel of two families and the effect that they had on one another through the generations. I was completely caught up in Grania's story, set mostly in Ireland, through whose point of view most of the novel is told. She has left her fiance, Matt, behind in England to return to her home in Ireland. During her stay with her Mam (love that word!) she encounters a girl on the cliff, Aurora, who completely captivates her heart much to Grania's mother's dismay.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

Come, ye thankful people, come,

Raise the song of harvest home;

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide

For our wants to be supplied;

Come to God's own temple, come,

Raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God's own field,

Fruit unto His praise to yield;

Wheat and tares together sown

Unto joy or sorrow grown.

First the blade and then the ear,

Then the full corn shall appear;

Lord of harvest, grant that we

Wholesome grain and pure may be.

I spent yesterday with my mother, preparing a pumpkin cake which is not any mere pumpkin cake. Indeed it has pumpkin, and a cream cheese frosting, but it also has 8,000 steps and at least that many pounds of butter. It was complicated, and caloric, and I can't wait to eat it after the meal. Here is the the recipe for this cake:

The other thing which I'm excited about eating is my husband's stuffing. A mixture of beef, pork, onion, sage and potatoes, we typically put it inside crust to make a meat pie for Christmas. At Thanksigiving, it stands alone, a tradition he brought to me.

But food is only a small part of the day, really. Most important is to recognize the bounty and blessings, with the knowledge that they are not forever. Some Thanskgivings won't be so thankful in the years to come, as we face the issues of aging, the possibility of losing one's pension, (maybe you could be thankful you're not a teacher in Illinois? :) and untold other woes.

Yet in all things, give thanks, (1 Thess. 5: 18) and that is what I'm hanging on to. Especially today.

May your day, may your year, be wonderfully blessed.

What Are You Listening To Wednesday

Yesterday, one of my teammates and I showed our classes A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Very soon into the opening Sally is exclaiming, "I haven't even eaten all of my Halloween candy yet!"

Only too bad for Sally, because if she was in our town around Thanksgiving? She'd be looking at Christmas decorations.

So, this Wednesday I'm listening to the still, small voice which says, "Be thankful. Be quiet. Take nothing for granted. Rest in each moment with your family, remember each blessing."

And this is the verse I'm holding in my heart: 1 Chronicles 29:13

People Tell Me Things by David Finkle (And Give-Away)

With an acerbic wit that had me smiling, if not laughing, on every page, David Finkle tells us the things that people have told him in a wonderful compilation of stories. For those of us who wish we could listen to the personal stories of others, or for those of us who are glad we don't have to sit across from someone face to face in order to hear their anecdotes, People Tell Me Things is an hilarious glimpse into lives that people have led. (Although, as anyone knows, the other side of hilarity is sorrow, and at the same time that I was laughing, I was also grieving for the poor choices, the loss, the maze that one calls life when one has lost one's way.)

In the course of reading this book, I came across many names which I felt sure I should have known, especially if I had lived in New York and been employed in a more sophisticated place than an elementary school classroom. For example, I know of Rembrandt. But, Diane Arbus? Never heard of her, this photographer from the 1960's who apparently made perfectly normal people look completely deranged. Case in point:

These are not the two men which are told about in the story "Duck! It's Diane Arbus!" But, they are as close an example as I could find of Arbus' work under a Google search. And they do give a clear indication of why it might not be appealing to be photographed by her, and then appear unbeknownst to you, the subject, in an exhibit.

The stories in People Tell Me Things include fantastical tales with the following chapters:

• Hey, that's me up there on the printed page!
• People tell me things
• Rembrandt paints again
• Duck! Here comes Diane Arbus!
• Stanley Konig writing as Conrad Stamp
• Off on the wrong foot
• Blue Beard
• Not Talking
• Banana nose
• Memorial

Most of them have to do with the famous people the author knows, or have anecdotes which include him, to his own chagrin. For example, in Blue Beard he is an  aspiring lyricist...but, at the ripe age of 20 something doesn't realize that he and his pianist are actually the cover-up for an illicit affair.

My favorite story was the one which dealt with Rembrandt. The real Rembrandt van Rijn appears to Cleve Morris, and not only talks with him in his studio, but paints Cleve's portrait. When invited to see the painting, this is what Finkle describes, "There on the wall where the Fischl had been was a portrait of Cleve. I don't mean just any commonplace likeness. I mean a magnificent specimen. Cleve, in a single-breasted brown suit (Tom Ford?), olive-green shirt and green-and-brown patterned tie, sat against a black backdrop looking simultaneously intelligent, affluent and ineffably sad. The likeness was remarkable." Sadly, Rembrandt disappeared before Finkle could meet him. But, the sheer incredibility of such an event happening gives me a thrill of hope that maybe it could. Some day.

I ended up uncertain as to the veracity of these stories, but as with any novel perhaps that matters not at all. What matters is that we are amused, that we look around us with newly opened eyes, and that as often is the case, we are relieved by the lives we may be lucky enough to live ourselves.

TLC Book Tours tells me I can give away one copy of this book (U.S. and Canada only, please). Simply leave your name if you're interested in joining the drawing, and I will pull a name a week from today.

Find more stops along the tour here:

Monday, November 7th: Books Distilled

Wednesday, November 9th: The Broke and the Bookish

Monday, November 14th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Tuesday, November 15th: Life in Review

Friday, November 18th: A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, November 23rd: Take Me Away

Monday, November 28th: Literature and a Lens

Wednesday, November 30th: Unabridged Chick

Thursday, Dec. 1st: Sarah Reads Too Much

Venice in February: A Reading Challenge for 2012

A few months ago Ally from Snow Feathers asked if I'd like to co-host a reading challenge called Venice in February. Her thoughts were that Venice would be the focal point because Carnival takes place there during that month, and there are so many exciting books which have Venice as the setting. Behold just a few:

A Brief History of Venice by Elizabeth Horodowich

A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich

A Taste of Venice by Roberto Pianaro

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlene de Blasi

A Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice

A Venetian Reckoning by Donna Leon

Across the River and Into The Trees by Ernest Hemingway

A Stopover in Venice by Kathryn Walker

A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century by Andrea de Robilant

Casanova: Actor, Lover, Priest, Spy by Ian Kelly

City of Fortune by Roger Crowley

Crossing the Bridge of Sighs by Susan Ashley Michael

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Don't Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier

Francesco's Venice by Francesco da Mosto

In The Company of The Courtesan by Sarah Dunant

Italian Hours by Henry James

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer

Meet Me In Venice by Elizabeth Adler

Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers

Othello-The Moor of Venice by Shakespeare

Pictures from Italy by Charles Dickens

The Anonymous Venetian by Donna Leon

The Aspern Papers and Other Stories by Henry James

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan

The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice by Laurel Corona

The Good Thief's Guide to Venice by Chris Ewan

The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins

The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal

The Last Gondola: A Mystery of Venice by Edward Sklepowich

The Palace by Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

The Siege of Venice by Jonathan Keates

The Silent Gondoliers by William Goldman

The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (this is the graphic novel)

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Barry

The Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker

The Venice Experiment by Barry Frangipane

The Wings of The Dove by Henry James

Vaporetto 13 by Robert Girardi

Venetian Dreaming by Paula Weideger

Venetian Journal by Tessa Kiros

Venetian Stories by Jane Turner Rylands

Venice by Peter Ackroyd

I can personally vouche for The Thief Lord, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Don't Look Now. I read, and mostly enjoyed, A Thousand Days in Venice (although it reminds me a bit of the horror I felt Eat Pray Love to be). I plan on reading some Jeanette Winterston (The Passion) and Donna Leon for this challenge, as I hear they are wonderful writers, but I've not yet read anything by either of them. Also, I'm very intrigued by Ian McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers and Henry James' Wings of The Dove. So, there are lots of possibilites, from classics and mystery, to travel, history and cooking; all of them look so promising.

We've created two buttons for you to choose from should you decide to participate and/or wish to put one on your blog. The first is mine, from a person who loves flowers:

The second is Ally's beautiful creation with more festive colors:

We'd love to have you read with us. Just read any book(s) having to deal with Venice that you'd like during the month of February. Doesn't that sound like fun?

You can find a review site here which will help us locate one another's posts on the books we've reviewed.