In the High Peaks
















Friday, February 21, 2014

Inches of Sleet and Rain Make Me a Sloth Reading Books

What miserable weather! Even Sasha wanted nothing to do with today's sleet and downpours. She curled up into a tight ball, her nose under her tail, and slept all day. I tried to be more active but failed. I succumbed early this afternoon and headed under bedcovers with my books, the rain hammering our metal roof. I finished Motherland by Maria Hummel, which was an exquisite, touching read of one mother's struggle to keep her children alive when Germany fell in 1945.

And I'm well into my Julia Spencer-Fleming mystery read for 2014, To Darkness and to Death, the fourth in the series starring Episcopalian minister and former Army helicopter pilot Clare Fergusson and Millers Kill Police Chief Russ Van Alystyne (sic). I'm determined to read the Clare Fergusson novels in order, though I'm itching to get at some of her best that are to come. As you may recall, the incomparable In the Bleak Midwinter is the first in the series and is a book I constantly try to foist on unsuspecting victims--all for a good cause--the joy of a great book. To Darkness and to Death is my next "easy" read after Red Wolf.

The other book I'm just starting is The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, and a Family Secret by Catherine Bailey. I can finally, at long last, really dig in because I have my own copy now, so I can mark it up the way I want. It's a riveting history. No wonder, the English castle dates back to the 12th century. This book is a reading event! I discovered this from dipping into the first few chapters of my library copy, which has since been returned.

And, to think, the last episode of Downton Abbey, Season 4, is being broadcast on Sunday. How depressing that will be as it closes for another season. The only bright light is that it will be around for a fifth season!

6 comments:

  1. We are beginning Season 4 (finally) of Downton Abbey this week! So funny you seeing the last. I could feel the cold there and felt comforted knowing you were under bed clothes with your dog and books. Such an awful winter you're having. We're still in summer but can feel fall moving in.

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    1. Oh, Pam, I'm so happy you have the whole of Season 4 ahead of you. Ken and I discovered, with the last few episodes, that events were happening so quickly that we needed to watch each one twice. So don't press the delete button!
      And, yes, it has been a very cold winter, which I tolerate very well, except for our exorbitant fuel bills. Atrocious, really.
      I hope your worst heat is over. Did you watch the Australian Open? We did, and it did seem they were having terribly hot weather.
      Happy reading!
      Judith

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  2. Lucky Sasha that she can curl up like that and sleep through the blizzards and cold weather.

    Oh, no, Downton Abbey's last episode is Sunday. I will miss Maggie Smith's acerbic, condescending wit and the drama going on upstairs and downstairs. I'll have to start watching re-runs from the library, but I'm looking forward to more of The Bletchley Circle and Call the Midwife, which is coming up.

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    1. Kathy,
      I agree that I'm going to need reruns to help me through the coming year. We love Call the Midwife! And The Bletchley Circle--we'll look that up. Hope we can get it.
      Judith

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  3. I have The Secret Rooms on hold at the library... wonder if I'll need my own copy, too. I can't wait for Downton tomorrow night, but so hate to see another season end and the long wait begin.

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    1. JoAnn,
      I tell you I read only about 15 pages of the library copy and did lots of browsing of the rest of the tome when I realized I wanted to drench myself in every single factoid. One surprise this 2014 year: I'm loving the history I'm reading, so I've got more volumes of it lined up.
      Catherine Bailey has done a tremendous job of making The Secret Rooms so readable and so intensely researched.

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