Comfort reading

Tags

Desmond Guinness, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler, Michael Busselle, Simon Sebag Montefiore

In this post: Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen

How do storms affect your reading? Do you go for comfort reading?

How do you deal with power outages? Do you read by candlelight? Flashlights? Use a self-lit e-reader or tablet? Skip reading altogether for the duration and instead play games with the family?

Let it pour, let the thunder roll, let the lightning crack by the window. The more furious the storm, the more likely I am to bury myself in a book.  I experienced using a flashlight but only once or twice and very quickly each time. Back home power outages often occurred as soon as the sun set. I would watch my mother read her Bible with a little gas lamp; moths hover around the light and then drop one by one. We would linger in the living room after vespers waiting for electricity to come back. When it didn’t the parents would play scrabble by candlelight while I would leaf through a book, end up reading a few pages before falling asleep.

Thursday Thirteen: Books I bought just for the delight of owning themThe first four are coffee table books. The rest are bought for the European countryside in them, ancient architecture, ideas for keeping books, Asperger Syndrome, and so on.  I’m having a great time with them. These are 13 books I recently added to my bookshelf –

1 A guide to photographing landscapes and gardens (2002) Busselle
2 Irish houses and castles (1971) Desmond Guinness and William Ryan
3 Living with books  (1999) Alan Powers
4 Creative Country Decorating  (1996) Ward Lock Book
5 Senryu: poem of the people (1991) J.C. Brown
6 Books that changed the world (1983) Robert B. Downs
7 Dear John (2006) Nicholas Sparks
8 Nights in Rodanthe (2002) Nicholas Sparks
9 The Jane Austen book club (2004) Karen Joy Fowler
10 The house of seven gables (1988 Tom Doherty Asso) Nathaniel Hawthorne
11 The brethren (2000) John Grisham
12 The girl with the dragon tattoo (2008) Stieg Larsson
13 Speeches that changed the world (2010) Simon Sebag Montefiore

HAPPY THURSDAY MY FRIENDS 🙂

A fire was in my head

Tags

Jane Austen, Song of Wandering Aengus, W.B. Yeats

In this post: Teaser, Top Ten, Tune In

Teasers:

She had resolved that one and twenty should be the period.  With the fortitude of a devoted noviciate, she had resolved to complete the sacrifice, and retire from all the pleasures of life, of rational intercourse, equal society, peace and hope, to penance and mortification forever.

p. 423, “Emma” by Jane Austen (Volume II, Collected Edition)

A classic look at misconstrued romance. Foolish, arrogant, sensible, oblivious or endearing characters are excellently portrayed. If you’ve read this before, marvel anew at how people from way way back are actually alike ourselves nowadays in many ways.  If not, get ready to observe human behavior described with humor and skill that made Jane Austen a much-loved author with millions of fans.

*Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading

Top Ten: Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read

Perhaps easy accessibility was taken for granted. But there’s no excuse for not having read #6, especially for someone like me who did grad time in the Humanities- Communication Arts no less. This reading life is stranger than fiction.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Anne Shirley of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
3. Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
4. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
8. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
9. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
10. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

*Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Tune In : Song of Wandering Aengus

There’s a new kind of fun around here – exploring literary works, especially classical poetry set into music.  Here’s one I found:

Lyrics from a poem of the same title by W.B. Yeats
Vocals by Donovan & Video illustration by Sissham

*Tune in Tuesday is hosted by Ginger at GReads!

Please leave your permalink so I can check it out.

Happy birthday, Jane Austen

Tags

Jane Austen, Weep You No More Sad Fountains

This low wooden black table issued by apartment management is an elegant contrast to a seldom used pure white porcelain teapot – a personal treasure out of its bookcase drawer where it sits all year long and comes out only during special occasions. Like today.  My faves are things I happily do to celebrate my favorite author, Jane Austen’s birthday:

i. Drink tea of course.  A quaint break from the usual Moccona – it’s Oolong today.  Ti Kwan Yin, the brand I use is said to be universally held as rare China luxury, and a brew of long-enduring aftertaste.

ii. Color a Northanger Abbey illustration, captioned Pinned up each other’s train for the dance. It’s my first time to hold a watercolor brush since 3rd grade.

iii. Read a chapter of Sense and Sensibility, which is celebrating its 200th publication anniversary this year. The first page of chapter 17 paints a delightful picture of a mother with captivating manners a man could not very well be in love with her daughters without extending the passion to her.

iv. Listen to Weep You No More, Sad Fountains a classical poem by John Dowland, set into music and sung by Marianne Dashwood in the film Sense and Sensibility.  Candesca, a Canadian operatic ensemble is a new find. Their rendition of Weep You No more is beautiful.

v. Put the (Weep…) poem on a free image of an1888 Victorian floral border. It was fun to make, and it looks like this:

Credits: AllPoetry, Liam’s Pictures from Old Books

This could be one my most aesthetically fulfilling week of the entire 2011. It feels wonderful, and I am grateful.

Susanne of Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday’s Fave Five.

Put the kettle on

Tags

Burton Agnes, Guy Fawkes, Jane Austen, York Minster, Yorkshire Dales

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a scribbler in possession of a Jane Austen addiction must be in want of an austenish Muse – Hazel @ Stasia Desiderata

Purpose of visit: To fulfill a childhood dream – see an English castle.

After examining my visa application and inch-thick supporting documents, the British immigration officer looked me in the eye, “I’m giving you six months.”  Spontaneously he encoded his decision into the computer, while I gawked in momentary disbelief.

On a sunny April afternoon I came out of Heathrow in a Mercedes Benz, and my date with beauty and charm began. As England unfolded through the car window, those illustrated storybooks I slept on when I was little came to life.

I used to imagine Rapunzel and Cinderella waiting for their princes in the keep of Windsor. I did not realize Da Vinci’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man was in there too.

Mrs. Weasley composed an award-winning howler when Ron flew the family car over, and almost dropped Harry Potter in the Yorkshire Moors. Hogwarts must be somewhere in its vastness.

The guide in Beamish spoke Geordie. After listening to him without understanding a word, my friend Anne and I followed him inside a coal mine. I would do that again and again if I could break free from rioting students.

A sign above the door of an antique shop in the Yorkshire Dales got me chuckling: “No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.”

After many hours sitting in English literature classes and wondering about this guy whose writings I am required to analyze, Shakespeare finally became easier to picture when I set foot in his home. Signatures of Dickens, Twain, Tennyson and other literary greats who visited the famous playwright’s home awed me no end.  I bumped my head on the low ceiling of Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Back to reality girl but worry not. Quaintness warrants quick healing.

I could not decide which held my attention longer: the Grinning Skull of Burton Agnes or the manor house at its rear which is older than my country.

At the end of The Shambles is the starting point of a ghost walk. I wanted to join but stayed put at Guy Fawkes as I couldn’t stand the cold. The room window is like a picture frame into which part of Northern Europe’s largest cathedral fits.

York Minster’s vesper chimes beckoned me in. I have never experienced such beautiful worship.  As choir voices rose to the spires so swarmed goose flesh from my gloved hands to my shivering scalp.

So has my congealed Southeast Asian blood thawed yet? Now if my Muse would poke me.

MUSE @ Sunday Scribbling

Northanger reverie

Tags

Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort – Jane Austen

and when it’s raining and there’s hot chocolate with magenta silk to wear the package is perfect. Things that have kept me from blogging have calmed down.  It is wonderful to be back online and do (one of my most favorite memes) the week’s faves:

Relaxing an entire week. Our students were rioting last week.  Armed police and the media got in. Guns were involved but no one was injured.  Academic operations were suspended for a week but not our pay: a bonus on top of being safe. Students here are usually happy when classes are canceled. Well, teachers are just as happy. 🙂

Going easy on my ISP. I try to grin and bear it when internet is slow. But it gets a bit irksome when it’s gone for hours. ‘… Nah, count your blessings,’ I thought of the riot and the one week holiday. Patience delays wrinkles.

A new-to-me cafe called Secret Recipe. The mushroom chicken cheese and garden salad brunch lasted me the rest of the day.  I fancy a return to try the cakes which are their specialty.

Listening to my money’s worth. Mama is quite animated on the phone as she describes CJ at their Language Week show in school. He made it to the finals in some contest, but the fact that he participated at all is enough to make me happy tackling pricey therapy sessions not covered by insurance.

Reading Northanger Abbey. Fave number 1 came with a serendipity. I fluttered into regency dream mode, a default with Jane Austen. The bookmark is a flea market find.

I mentioned a literary puzzle on a previous Friday’s Fave post and remembered some FFF participants saying they wanted to see a picture of that. So here it is:

This post is linked with Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five at Living to Tell the Story.

Jigsaw puzzle and tea

Tags

Jane Austen, Jigsaw puzzle

“A time to look over our week, recall blessings great and small and pick our five favorites to share”

Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for more.

Cassia Cafe and Tea Room. I’ve been fancying this lovely place since I found it online. Finally I went and had steak and kidney pie. The green tea with milk and honey is divine.

CJ talked to me on the phone! “Mommy, I’m reading.”  The therapy sessions must have started taking effect.

Entertaining. Wednesday was a holiday and I had company over  which meant enjoying the added bonus of having my space especially clean and the fridge well-stocked. We were deep in girl talk late into the night.  When there’s no pressure and no tension that you’re still in pajamas at 11 AM, it’s a holiday indeed.

Work permit found! It was missing for days. I was worried sick thinking of the red tape I’d have to get through to get a new one. Just when I was ready to accept that, I found it underneath five pairs of sunglasses on the left side of one drawer.

Jane Austen jigsaw puzzle. It’s the most charming treasure I have bought so far. “Packaged in a book-like box, it features illustrations from the Regency era paired with quotes from Jane Austen’s beloved novels.”

More sense, more sensibility

Tags

Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Jane Austen, Jollibee, Strickland Gillilan

When I asked CJ a few hours ago on the phone what was he doing, he said, “I want to eat lollipop.”  The rest of his replies gave me ideas for our summer plans.

Helicopter tour
I was ready to take a helicopter tour over Cambodia’s Angkor Wat recently but glad I didn’t because I wasn’t exactly interested in flying without CJ so for this summer I plan to re-plan the whole thing instead.

Jollibee birthday party
After Disneyland for CJ’s birthday last year, and a submarine ride the birthday before that, I want something he has never experienced before and that is a Jollibee party.  I am probably more excited than he is.

School and extra-curricular lessons
CJ’s psychologist recommended a school so I’m going to check it out.  Art, music and swimming are up on the list too.

Candlelight dinner
I want to date CJ in either East Asia Royale Hotel or Paseo del Sol before I fly back to Bangkok.  A lot of other interesting places came up on my search so these two are tentative, but I hope I can find one that will suit us best.

Read books
It is a family tradition but I want to read to CJ this time with more sense and sensibility (Jane Austen addict here :)).  Strickland Gillilan’s poem will be my summer reading motivation:

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch.
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be —
I had a Mother who read to me.

This post is linked with Mommy Moments