Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

 

I like a joyful cook, and Ina Garten has been just that kind of TV personality for several decades. Her newest show is called Be My Guest. It is as delightful as all of her earlier shows. 

She has written a memoir, and it is an astonishingly interesting and highly readable book. I don't gravitate toward memoirs, in general, but this one is a bit different. This one reads like a novel. The author has used a ghost writer, and she must be a good one. The story most definitely has a a ring of authenticity about it.

The life of Ina Garten has had some surprising twists and turns. How she navigated these is genuinely interesting.

Philip Gulley

Sometimes I look on my reading blog for a book or a series of books that I am sure I have reviewed, and am astonished to find that they are not there. I have enjoyed Philip Gulley's books for many years and maybe even a couple of decades now, but  neglected somehow to record this fact on my reading blog. Time to correct this.

Gulley has written collections of essays called the Porch Talk books, and a fictional series called the Home to Harmony books. He set that fiction series aside a few years ago to write religious nonfiction, but readers apparently clamored for more of his fiction and he has revived and updated the Harmony series. I don't want to spill any plot details, but the book cover below is the beginning of his new story.

Gulley is funny; he is thoughtful; and he has a talent for capturing the foibles of human nature in a way that helps us take ourselves less seriously. Who doesn't need a lesson or two in that? In his Harmony/Hope series, he is a small town preacher in a Quaker church in rural Indiana. If you have had the pleasure of reading the Thrush Green books set in rural England and featuring a small town vicar (Miss Read), or the All Things books by Herriot you will be happily entertained by this American version of village life. 

"I don’t want to spend this last half [of my life] trying to recapture the first half. I want to stretch and grow and do bold things, question what I’ve been taught and generally alarm people with my broad-mindedness." This is the sort of optimistic self-reflection that Gulley gives his fictional character; his lighthearted ruminations are deep enough to stimulate some thought without getting too lost in it. 

Winter is around the corner; the days are already shorter. Either the Gulley essays or the fiction will provide amusement and add a little light to a long winter evening. You can find a comprehensive list of his work here.

 

Jon Hassler

One day many years ago, I was walking into a used book store and I paused at one of those carts placed outside the store with bargain books. The name, Jon Hassler, jumped out at me from the cover of a book titled: North of Hope. I noticed the name because Jon Hassler had been the name of my freshman English teacher at Brainerd State Junior College in 1969-70; now Central Lakes College.

I picked up the book and looked for the author photo. It was most definitely the same person! He was a very handsome fellow, but I think what enhanced his good looks was his extreme kindness. When all of the assignment details have faded from the courses we take, we are left with some foundational ideas and the essence of the person who made the assignments. All I remembered from freshman English was the respect and kindness that Jon Hassler showed every student regardless of their performance or ability.

I had no idea that he had been or had become a writer, and I was curious. North of Hope did not disappoint. Subsequently, I looked him up and read a few more of his works. They are easier to find in Minnesota bookstores than they are here on the West Coast, so when I go back there, I usually find a few more. I have read nearly everything he has written and passed the books along to friends.

If you don't live in the Midwest, used books are pretty easy to find on line. The following link gives the names of his works. They are, in my opinion, pretty timeless stories. The plots are good, the characters are unforgettable, and the themes are the stuff that make readers everywhere grateful for the gift of language.

Especially fun for me in this journey of discovery was an anecdote in the forward of the book Rufus at the Door and other Stories about how and when he began to write. He recounts leaving one of his classes at the Brainerd college, going to the library during his free period, and sitting down to begin writing for the first time. It was 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Hassler

The Paul Stuart Stories

Treat Yourself!

There are authors and there are authors. Alexander McCall Smith is the best of the lot for several reasons. The first is that he is amazingly prolific, and not because he is farming out the writing to interns who follow a formula and crank out a book that has some vague resemblance to literature. I have honestly lost count of all the series that he writes, and they're all first rate.

Additionally,  McCall Smith's characters are so likable that I am convinced he must love people generally. If ever anyone succeeded in seeing the good in everyone, it is this author. His writing can be trusted to entertain and to provide interesting ideas and musings. Every series, every character, and every plot is pure artistry.

McCall Smith has led an interesting life and his writing is chock full of thought provoking ideas and questions. He has lived and traveled in more places than most of can name, and his writing reflects a kind of world view that is very charitable. 

This new series with Paul Stuart is infused with unparalleled whimsy with a capital W.  There are times when reading is an almost necessary escape, and these two stories will take you away from whatever you're trying to avoid. And sometimes, that's a real necessity!

A Few Weeks in Provence!

If you would love to visit the south of France, but feel that you can’t afford it, you can visit there for a period of a few weeks absolutely free. To accomplish this minor miracle you need only check out a dozen or so books by Peter Mayle from the local library.

Mayle has written several  nonfiction books  about his experiences in the region of Provence in southern France, and he has also written a handful of near farcical novels set in the same region. The net effect is quite similar. The descriptions of food, terrain, local residents, wine, and weather are altogether intoxicating.

His first book about the region was a memoir about his first year as a resident of Provence. This book, A Year in Provence, gained a great deal of attention and he went on to pen several more.  Mayle’s fascination with and love for the area shows up in his work. There is a lighthearted and joyful attitude that permeates all of the stories as well as the guideooks.

Bon Voyage!

Corduroy Mansions

This is yet another series by Alexander McCall Smith. (He is probably most famous for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.) I don't know how he does it, but I'm very appreciative. There are three books in the newest series. This one is set in London in what we might call an apartment building. As usual, there is a motley cast of characters and this new crew is as quirky and charming as all of the others. Smith is well traveled and well educated and his view of human nature is as kind as it could possibly be. Even when his characters are narcissistic or dishonest or just plain annoying, he still treats them gently and allows them to get along in the best way they can. Reading any of his books is a good way to don some rose colored spectacles.

There are so far three books in the series: Corduroy Mansions, The Dog Who Came in From the Cold, and A Conspiracy of Friends. Although this author is so prolific, another in the series might have popped up while I've been typing!

Kingsolver

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
This is a novel that contains many facts and issues relating to farming. The context of this excellent novel becomes much clearer several years later when she publishes Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Slice of Life

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
This is a Bridget Jones Style novel about working mother woes. It is very funny and very well written. It is possible that you would have to have been a working mother to really appreciate it.

Last Cocktail Party and other books by Elisabeth McNeill
I have not seen very many of these, but every one that I have read has been excellent. She is a Scottish author who knows something about East Indian life. Some of her novels are mysteries and some are just good stories.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith
Smith also has two or three other series, but this one set in Botswana if the hands down winner. This series paints a new and positive picture of this country in southern Africa.

44 Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith. Other books are: Expresso Tales, Love Over Scotland, and The World According to Bertie
The best plan is to read these books, go to Edinburgh, stay in New Town, and then re-read them!

Sunday Philosophy Club series also by Alexander McCall Smith
These are also set in New Town, and are good reads by any standard.


Home to Harmony series by Philip Gulley
This series is reminiscent of the Miss Read books. They are well written, and funny, and paint a humorous picture of small town life. Each story features some small town problem, but the stories are character driven rather than plot centered. There will undoubtedly be more of these, and they are definitely something to look forward to.

Miss Read

No one deserves a class by herself more than Miss Read, which is a pseudonym for Dora Jesse Saint. Most likely, however, library catalogues list these books under "Read, Miss".This author retired from school teaching in the 1920's or 30's. Around the mid fifties, she began writing a book a year and continued into the late 90's! She wrote two series: one about a school teacher in the English village of Fairacre and one based on the life of a village vicar in the village of Thrush Green. Miss Read's skill with language and her ability to create very loveable and believable characters has made her a public icon. Everyone who reads these wants to move to an English village and stay there. Her portrayal of ordinary people makes readers happy to be among the human race. I understand that somewhere in Michigan they hold a Miss Read festival every year. I have a list of these books (in chronological order, of course), which I happily distribute to any willing recipients.

Books by Miss Read (pseudonym for Dora Jesse Saint)
Born 1913


1955 - Village School
1957 - Village Diary
1959 - Thrush Green
1959 - Storm in the Village
1960 - Fresh in the Village
1962 - Winter in Thrush Green
1963 - Miss Clare Remembers
1964 - Over the Gate
1966 - Village Christmas
1966 - Market Square
1967 - Howard's of Caxley
1968 - Fairacre Festival
1970 - News from Thrush Green
1971 - Emily Davis
1972 - Tyler's Row
1973 - Christmas Mouse
1975 - Farther Afield
1976 - Battles at Thrush Green
1976 - No Holly for Miss Quinn
1977 - Village Affairs
1978 - Return to Thrush Green
1979 - White Robin
1980 - Village Centenary
1981 - Gossip from Thrush Green
1982 - A Fortunate Grandchild
1983 - Affairs at Thrush Green
1985 - At Home in Thrush Green
1987 - School at Thrush Green
1988 - World at Thrush Green
1989 - Mrs. Pringle
1991 - Friends at Thrush Green
1992 - Changes at Fairacre
1982 - Celebrations at Thrush Green
1983 - Farewell to Fairacre
1995 - Tales from a Village School
1997 - A Peaceful Retirement

Time Remembered - 823.914 (Read)

(Some dates are British publications and some are US version, so may not always match exactly - they may be off by one year.)