England Books

i read this book when i was a kid and it was just so cool. i must have checked out this book a dozen times. this book reminds me of something thast would have influenced rk rowling. it is so british, has the eerie fog and magic, waaay cool book. great reading for kids.

This book is one that I remember very fondly from my youth, though I was not a fan of fantasy books. I read it again and again for the uniqueness of the story and because of Jonk, the main character, who has many troubles but at least as much appeal. At one point the book is almost too bleak, but this makes the conclusion even more satisfying. I hope you can find this one for your young teenager - it seems rare now. Good luck!

I remember this book vividly from when I read it as a child. I checked it out repeatedly from the library (I can even picture in my mind's eye exactly where it was on the shelves). It was unique among fantasies written for young people in that it really was frightening.

Many children's books make the mistake of talking down to kids-- they make things saccharine and elide the scary bits. They do not need to be explicit or blood-soaked, but at any age it helps if things feel real. Gordon is to be highly commended for not dumbing down his writing.

Jonquil is in a bad mood and wilfully deserts the rest of her class on a field trip to the backlands. The ground itself seems to approve of her going AWOL and she finds a piece of metal tucked among some ridges in the soil. This discovery pulls her into a dangerous adventure filled with vicious dogs, grey men, leather men, and the charming Elizabeth Goodenough. _The Giant Under the Snow_ is comparable to _The Dark is Rising_ books in that it draws from traditions of British folklore and mythology.

Difficult to find these days, but worth the effort.

I've read this book many times! Great for any teenager who feels lonely and powerless to control their world.

This is the most entertaining book I have read in a long time. I happened upon the Barbara Pym web page and there was a page of quotations from her novels that were very amusing, kind of off-the-wall. Usually, humor from another era seems very tame or just doesn't hold up. I looked for a copy of one of her books and came across an old paperback copy of this one at the public library. The perceptions of the lead character, Wilmet Forsyth, a 33 year old childless married woman with a lot of free time on her hands, make up the book. I could describe some of the events in the book which involve men she finds attractive and men who find her attractive, church functions, a homosexual relationship, etc. but I won't bother. Sex is never overtly mentioned or contemplated by Wilmet in this book. The portrayal of a gay couple in England in the 1950's fascinated me. Wilmet is so cautious and careful in her observations even though she is opinionated. I was happy she wasn't harsh toward these gay characters even though she is heavily involved in her church. Wilmet is not a really deep thinker, but she's funny and kind. Anyway, it's a fun book you should seek out.

This is truly a great book. In all of its proportions it is graceful and beguiling. Themes of love are presented with humor.

St. Luke's head is called, Pym-like, Father Thames. At the service, Wilmet Forsyth, wife of Rodney a civil servant, meets her friend Rowena's brother, Piers Longridge. She and her friend Rowena were Wrens during the war. They met each other and their husbands while stationed in Italy.

When Wilmet visits Rowena and her family in the country she goes to the country church. It seems to her that country churches are surrounded by graves and yew trees. Wilmet learns that Father Thames carries a sense of disappointment that he never became an Archdeacon. There is a reception held in honor of the new assistant, Father Ransome.

Wilmet and her mother-in-law Sybil decide to take evening classes from Piers in Portuguese. Wilmet explains to Piers that she was named for a character in a Charlotte Yonge novel. She gives blood and is drafted to help an acquaintance, Mary, find a suitable dress. It is possible that Wilmet is being pursued by both Piers and Rowena's husband, Harry. She find the Christmas Eve service beautiful and exhausting. She attends service alone since Sybil and Rodney are agnostics. Sybil remarks that she doesn't know what is expected when Christians pray for the sick.

When one of the communicants, (Mary), experiences her mother's death, she joins an order, but decides later that she is not suited to religious life. In the end Mary and Father Ransome marry and Sybil marries too, causing Rodney and Wilmet to be turned out of her house. Rodney and Wilmet find an appropriate flat in the vicinity. A bare outline of the plot does not do justice to the book.

Jilly Cooper says that Barbara Pym's books remind her "of what is true.....about English life". In the case of A Glass of blessings, this refers to a very small, but significant part of 1950's English life in the 1950's, and Barbara Pym portrays it beautifully. Her characterisation is excellent, as are her descriptions. She must have been a very observant woman. To say that she is snobbish is unfair. She portrayed her part of the world as she saw it. And note that the very implicit sexual backdrop never has to be referred to explicitly at all.

Whetehr the fifties were "better" than now is open to doubt: but if you want a picture of a small part of 1950's England, then this is an enjoyable way to find it.

Blessed with money, position, and marital stability, Wilmet Forsyth lives in the heart of London with her husband and mother-in-law and tries to spice up her staid life by imagining the possibility of romance coming to her from handsome clergymen or lonely bachelor friends. The intertext for Pym's 1958 novel is clearly Jane Austen's EMMA, with the main character again trying to offset the end of narrative possibilities for herself that marriage brings. Philip Larkin praised A GLASS OF BLESSINGS as the subtlest of Pym's comedies, and although it's depiction of grace operating among the very respectable and genteel is very charming and even ultimately moving it is not one of her funnier books (in part because it is told from Wilmet's point of view and she, unlike Pym's more disadvantaged heroines, is so limited in her outlook). But the novel is pretty joyful nonetheless, and its depiction of a 1950s London gay subculture at the end of the book is fairly fascinating.

"The Glimpses of the Moon" (1978) was published twenty-six years after Crispin's penultimate Fen novel, "The Long Divorce" (1952). It is sandwiched between two collections of short stories: "Beware of the Trains" (1953) and "Fen Country" (1979- published posthumously.)

In this novel, Professor Fen is on sabbatical in the Devon countryside. He is house-sitting for a couple of friends, writing a book that critiques the post-modern novel (this is funnier than it sounds), and pre-masticating pansy petals for his friends' finicky, gourmand tortoise. Since this is another of Crispin's fine pastorals, there are also a variety of pigs (living and dead), cows, a sex-crazed tomcat, a narcoleptic horse, and a cocker spaniel that plays a minor role in the murder mystery.

In fact the mystery of who killed whom is almost buried under the goings-on of the livestock, the rural electric board, and the church fete. Fen concerns himself not so much with the identity of the murderer, as he does with the identity of the person who kept sneaking into a tent at the rector's annual fete and cutting bits off of the concealed corpse.

One might even classify "The Glimpses of the Moon" as a 'locked tent' mystery.

Fen seems to have lost a great deal of energy since "The Long Divorce," twenty-six years past. He does not detect so much as get detected upon by his friends, the Rector, the Major, and the Horror-film Composer. There are huge digressions that are interesting, but have nothing to do with the plot. For instance, the bumblings of the South Western Electricity Board (Sweb) and the fox-hunt protesters get more page time than the murders. There is also a great deal of satirical commentary on the "over-developed sensibilities of under-developed nations" by a foreign correspondent who is rusticating in Devon, after getting kicked out of yet another African country (some readers might find this offensive).

However, a Fen is a Fen and this is his last novel. First-time readers might want to begin at the beginning of the series with "The Case of the Gilded Fly." My own favorite Fen is "Love Lies Bleeding," followed very closely by "The Long Divorce." "The Moving Toyshop" is the most-published of Crispin's mysteries, and probably the easiest to locate. And don't neglect "Frequent Hearses," which features a maze scene that is frighteningly reminiscent of M.R. James (in fact the woman who is lost in the maze quotes M.R. James at length---a very Crispian characteristic.)

Crispin's short stories featuring his remarkable detective-professor were originally published in a newspaper, to be read (and solved) on the train home from work. They are fiendishly clever intellectual exercises but lack the depth of characterization and the sparkling, erudite conversation of his novels.

An absolutely wonderful book. The most amazing characters spring forth - the cavalry Major (you must always have a Major) whose happiest day was when they replaced horses with tanks, the inspector who has to baby his pipe so much he can hardly finish a sentence, the spinster sisters who own a horrendous painting they insist is a Botticelli, which they sell tickets to at the annual church fair. They share a hearing aid, and must pass it back and forth during an interrogation. There is also a musician who earns his living writing movie scores (as did Crispin), and must write 12 seconds of music to accompany the monster eating the children. The tavern owner who never gets out of bed, the hunt saboteur who mouths left-wind idiocies. It goes on and on.

Thanks, Starmoth for a really complete and informative review! I wish I had written it.

I would add a couple of things. For me, Glimpses of the Moon was Crispin's best because of the wicked wit. Nearly every paragraph, surely every page has some sly hit against the modern world. I have read this book about four times and I couldn't tell you the story. But each time I pick it up, I know I will spend the next couple of hours laughing out loud. I have examples in mind, such as his two page description of a pompous policeman lighting his pipe. But it really takes Crispin's skill to bring the story and his quirky, unforgettable characters to life.

I don't expect readers to get offended by his satire. Crispin is a bit like Saturday Night Live. It's difficult to resent attacks that are directed at everything, especially when they are so light-hearted and good-natured.

This is really a great book that is worth reading!

My favorite mystery ever. At times, the author's sense of humor and cynicism just makes me laugh out loud. Gervase Fen is surely one of the more noxious, but lovable, detectives in the literature, and Crispin writes with a sure, erudite hand.

I saw this book at a friend's house and loved it just looking quickly. My daughter gave me this book for Mother's Day and it's great to be able to read it and peruse it slowly looking at all the fabulous stonewalls. Definately a recommended coffee table book.

I am a fan of New England stone walls. All my life I have been literally surrounded by New England stone walls. As I type this, I can look out the window in front of my desk and see one such wall, and out the side window along another. Thwy are folk art and history and the living bones of New England. Robert Thorson's "Stone by Stone" and Susan Allport's "Serons in Stone" permanently sit on the bookshelves next to my computer. Well, her's another fine book to add to my collection. William Hubbell's "Good Fences" is filled with his own excellent photographs of stone walls all across New England, old walls for the most part, but some new ones as well. Even if you are not lucky enough to have your own stone wall or to see them every day, this book is a genuine pleasure.

The popular saying is that "good fences make good neighbors." My thought is that the book "Good Fences" will make many of us more knowledgeable about what is around us. I live in Maine. Rural Maine. We have a lot of stone walls on the property. Some were from stones that cleared the fields so that cows could pasture. Others were moved to form a cow run to a pond so that the cattle could drink in an orderly fashion. They are large rocks for the most part. Not easily moved and majestic in repose.

I have always looked at stone walls with a sense of appreciation of why they were constructed in the first place. Especially when deer hunting and you think you are a long way from civlization and you come across a stone wall in the middle of the woods. It didn't just grow there. Someone built it and the "why and how" is the most interesting aspect of it.

William Hubbell has collected a number of such walls in the pages of this book and photgrahed them in a loving fashion and told their story in the the same way.

I have seen such walls constructed. It takes a special person to carry and fit the stones. They often have as much imagiination as one who weilds a paint brush over a canvas. The results can be stunning or simply practical.

In any event they are a phenominon worth dealing with and Mr. Hubble has done it in a most worthwhile way.

GOOD FENCES: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND'S STONE WALLS provides a lovely pictorial celebration of these walls accompanied by text surveying their history and construction. Six stone wall builders and their works receive in-depth focus, while photos provide close-up details profiling unusual walls. A rare, visual treat documents a profession that leaves behind monuments of wonder from its builder/artists.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The best of this short book are the first and last stories, but it is engaging throughout. A man's book, to be sure.

A very entertaing and interesting book with a diary-like story of one man's experience with European aristocracy. It is full of English wit and humor. Most of the book deals with how the elite seek to entertain themselves, whether it be by partying, hunting, or participating in death-defying exploits.

Luke, the main character, is an American who is able to move comfortably in thir world, but it appears to take its toll both
mentally and physically.

The end of the book reads like an act of contrition. The ex-
cellent description of Luke's episode of either mental fatigue or some type of seizure launches Luke into the process of ques-
tioning what life is really worth. It is rather profound and
sad at the same time.

This book is truly remarkable in the sense that it creates a unique and defined platform into the imagination. It is an informative compilation of information into one mans journey with the aristocrats and their witty banter... The depth of the main character is triumphantly designed to enhance one's infinite thoughts in taking this journey with him. While the genre not a usual for me; I found it a funny, fascinating and informative look through Europe's high society's stethoscope.

This book displays so much talent both technically as a piece of good writing and as a celebration of the author's extraordinary creative charm. Crispin Culbertson shows the most intelligent perspicacity as to the contemporary character of some of Europe's existing ancient elites and what is left of their preferred social milieux. What the quality of his work also demonstrates is that this is no one-off; rather we can look forward to much more glorious modern creative writing and acute sociological analysis from this brilliant young man. I say it is 'modern' because it is: it is new; it is fresh; it is original. But this is also an author who knows how to stand on the shoulders of giants and you can see the history and scholarship in his composition.

One more thing - its a damn fun book, so beware the smile that will make your cheeks hurt. And when, having read it cover to cover, you do put it down, you'll walk away with a spring in your step.

If you want to learn about your favorite Rock drummers from the 60s, this is the right book, but the first thing you should know is this was written by a pro drummer who was originally inspired to play drums by these drummers, as he first started playing drums in the 60s himself. The first half of this book is about a lot of lesser known drummers who happened to be the authors favorites. Actually, it starts with Carmine Appice whose very well known and then the next several chapters are about the drummer for the Hollies, the Turtles, the Zombies, the Kinks, the Ventures, Steppenwolf. Later he talks about Ringo Starr,Charlie Watts,Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell. He was able to get personal interviews with most of them, except for Mitchell. The interviews were good. The author did his homework, all together I thought was a pretty good book. I'm not askin for my money back.

Now in its second printing, the classic survey GREAT ROCK DRUMMERS OF THE SIXTIES provides a history of the era's best rock drummers and drumming - and here is reissued in its original form with added revised data updating drummer biographies to modern times. All notable drummers of the era, both famous and lesser-knowns, are included in chapters which review tours, notable achievements, pack in plenty of vintage black and white photos, and chart the rise of rock groups.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I appreciate this book because drummers often don't receive the praise they deserve, and the 60's produced some of the world's best drummers. I'm glad the author wants to print an updated version. I was delighted to see my favorite drummer of all time, the late B.J. Wilson of Procol Harum, included under the Honorable Mentions. I do want to point out an error in the book that's unfortunately all too common: Bobby Harrison did NOT play on the hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale" -- that was the great session drummer Bill Eyden, who certainly deserves to be in this book. Come visit the WebPages devoted to B.J. Wilson and Bill Eyden via the FEATURES menu at the Procol Harum Website -- email me for the URL if you can't find it.. And enjoy this Book!

I bought this book when it was first published, and I still go back to it from time to time. Just the Rogers drumset on the cover was enough to grab my interest. This is an interesting read complete with pictures of some '60s heroes playing the kits everyone is bidding on ebay for!

Nice one, Bob!

I loved this book! I live on the NY/VT border, so I spend a lot of time in southern Vermont, and it was so great to be reading about places that I have been to. It's really interesting to have a mental image of a place because you've been there, and then you learn that this place has a much darker past than you ever could have imagined, and the picture changes, but your interest increases. It's really cool. Citro's books are some of my favorites. He's a great author - I love his writing style.

Joseph Citro's collections of Vermont folklore have become as much a part of the Green Mountain State as sugaring and the Lake Champlain Monster. GREEN MOUNTAINS, DARK TALES continues this series of terrificly readable and enjoyable stories based on Vermont folklore and legend. Anyone who likes the state or just likes a good story would do well to pick up this book. It makes for addictive reading.

Yet again, I have been enthralled, scared and drawn in by Mr. Citro's tales about my home state. He even covered my home-town ghost in this installment, which thrilled me to no end. He is truly one of our master storytellers, and I highly recommend all of his work.

In the tradition of old-time Yankee yarn-spinners, Citro delivers something that's all too rare nowadays--a darn good story. Dozens of them, in fact. I got so wrapped up in the tale called "The House of the Feasting Dead" that I nearly went past my subway stop. This is a hair-raising tour "dark" side of Vermont, a place populated by ghosts, mystics, spiritualists and even a "stone-throwing devil."

I want to start off by saying that "Gwen's Story" was a very satisfying conclusion to the Quantock Quartet. These four books are some of the best I've ever read, and Gwen's Story lives up to the expectations created by the others. The first part of the novel covers her young years, mentioning some of the same events as the earlier novels. We find out what happened to Gwen on the walk over the Quantocks. Most of the story covers Gwen's later life, which you think would make it hard to relate to, but makes the story much more interesting. More is learned about Frances' and Julia's later life, and I came to love Tony, who very much takes after Antony (who I always liked). My only small complaint is that we never see Sarah again, expect in the occasional mention of a letter to or from her. Gwen asserts her independence in a trip to Germany and she finally lets go of something she'd been holding on to for a long time. All in all, Gwen's Story is one of the best in the series, and a wonderful end to the Quantock Quartet.

Gwen's Story was a great way to finish the series. You learn more and more about each character as you read each novel, and when you reach Gwen, you learn things about her that you never even realized in the previous novels. Gwen's story, I think, is the most tragic of the four in the set. It's definately a must read to end off the series. Also, Gwen's story goes into the 1930s, so you get to see how all of the other characters have developed over time (from Gwen's perspective, of course).

I have read all four of this quartet and found this one the most interesting all the way through. I liked Sarah and Frances's stories, but found they still became boring in parts, and didn't really like Julia's at all. This was easily the most touching and sad of the books, and I think, the most well written.
Unlike the other books, this one doesn't have much about the First World War in it, instead concentrating on Gwen's later life. I expected this to make the book boring, but it doesn't. Instead it makes it far more realistic and original. (The reason I didn't really like Julia's book so much was because it was the typical 'war story' and the characters were boring.) Gwen, although she fades into the background in the other books, is actually a very interesting character and I like Antony the best of the Mackensie brothers.
This whole quartet is great for anyone who likes historical fiction, though I advise reading them in order (I didn't) otherwise you can get a bit confused.

Gwen's Story is a wonderful book. She loves to garden and to paint flowers. Gwen has always been in both of her older sisters shadow. If you love to read good books, read this series!!!!!!

I read Hand to Hand during my sons deployment to Iraq. It was acomfort and a blessing, we have since sent copies to soldiers deployed for their encouragement and support.

This book helped increase my faith and sense of expectation for what God might do through our prayers. As I read the stories of miraculous healings, I was inspired to try this type of prayer, and guess what? It truly works. I definitely recommend this book, and this type of healing prayer.

I first read this book in 2001 and have recently reread it. I am as awed by it today as I was then. Nigel Mumford was called by God in much the same way men are called into active military duty. It is only fitting that Nigel, a former British Green Beret, would faithfully obey the Lord's Call and follow that Call wherever it has led.

This book is one that has the ability to transform lives through the many testimonies of salvations and healings that are told within it. That Nigel Mumford was a hard core Marine, opens the door especially for the men who will read this book, to rethink what "strength" really is. "Hand to Hand" is a wonderful introduction to the healing gifts of Jesus Christ and will serve to open the hearts and minds of believers and "yet-to-believers" alike!

We found this book to be very inspiring, and helpful in the depth of prayer life, especially in the need of deep inner healing. God has a purpose in our reading this as we pray earnestly for the healing of a loved one.

This is the best book I've ever read.It is great for children as well as for grown ups,who shouldn't forget that they were children once too.

I am a big fan of Oscar Wilde, and this just proves even more how wonderful a writer he is. These stories are for the young and the old. You will laugh and cry. Wilde writes them in such simplicity that they are absolutely wonderful. I personally cried at the end of the story "The Happy Prince" and came very close to doing so for a good number of the other ones. Don't just think that these are sappy kiddy stories though because there is also a great deal of Wilde wit and sarcasm in them. You can't help but smile and laugh. This is really one of those books to share with your friends.

I like this book because there are a few little interesting short stories in it. The fairy tales want to tell us something about social problems. If you read this book it opens your eyes so that you can see that there are these problems in our society too. But the book is also good for little children, because the fairy tales are written in a nice language. They are very pretty,
My favourite story in the book is „The Selfish Giant". Because first the Giant is very selfish and doesn't want the children to play in his garden but afterwards he sees the happiness of the children when they play in his garden and this gives him happiness too. Also the relationship between the little boy and the Giant is great.

I am no expert on Oscar Wilde, but I've been reading fairytales long enough to be able to tell the difference between an enchanting story and a bunch of pap. The nine magically airy yarns in this small collection are definitely in the first category.

"The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant" are perhaps the most famous of the nine. In the first story, the golden statue of a prince weeps for all the suffering people he sees and begs a swallow to strip him of his riches and distribute them to the masses. In the second tale, a giant builds a wall around his beautiful garden to keep out the noisy children, only to find out that he has also locked out the Spring.

"The Young King" is a variation on the theme of "A Happy Prince". When a young monarch learns of the suffering and misery caused by his requirement for a robe, a crown, and a sceptre, he refuses to handle any of these riches and is given a more fitting raiment by a Divine Power. Keeping with the royal theme is "The Star-Child", about a beautiful but horrible young boy whose physical appearance grows to match his ugly spirit. Another little bird appears in "The Nightingale and the Rose", to help a young man win the heart of the woman he loves.

The stories' themes include beauty, tragedy, agony, compassion, innocence, and (Platonic) love. Some characters give their lives, or sell their souls, in the name of love. There are also the same archetypes that appear in dreams: the Divine Child, the Trickster, the Wise Old Man or Woman, the Number 3, and more. Add all this to Wilde's delicate writing and gilded imagination, and you get some of the most original tales ever written.

Though most of these stories end happily, all end tragically. That is to say, even when the endings are happy, someone always dies. Each story manages to associate everything thrilling and exquisite about beauty with the starkness of death. Accordingly, not all of these tales are suitable for children. For example, one scene in "The Fisherman and His Soul" features witches dancing before the devil and the princess in "The Birthday of the Infanta" is a heartless child whose mockery leads to the death of a little dwarf. Though the stories are moral at the core, and often explicitly Christian, they do not always make sense.

Despite the faults, the keening, poignant loveliness shines through, making me want to read each story again and again and again.