What Book is on Your Nightstand?

The new year has arrived and one of my goals for 2015 is to make more time for reading and writing. One of the best sources for book suggestions, as well as literary inspiration, is the The New York Times Book Review. Do you read it every Sunday? Well, if you do then you probably read the column By the Book. Each week a writer is interviewed and asked questions about literature and the literary life.

I love reading the answers to questions such as: What book is on your nightstand? What book made you want to write? If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What is your favorite literary genre? How do you organize your personal library? What books do you find yourself returning to again and again?  

I can't tell you how many times I've torn out this section of the Book Review to save for future use. It is filled with great book recommendations as well as illuminating insights into the writer's life. For example, I read Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield after Sylvia Nasar recommended it as one of her favorite comic novels. And she was right! I read Goerge Eliot's Middlemarch after Anna Quindlen called it her favorite book of all time. And I agreed with her that it is truly a great book. I loved J.K. Rowling's answer to the question: If you could be any character from literature, who would it be? She answered "Elizabeth Bennett, naturally." I felt as if I knew her a little bit better and we were kindred spirits. No matter what the topic, I am always inspired by the passion that these writers have for books.

 I was swept away by John Irving's answer to the question "What book changed your life?"

"Great Expectations. I was fifteen. It made me want to be able to write a novel like that. It was very visual -- I saw everything, exactly -- and the characters were more vivid than any I had heretofore met on the page. I had only met characters like that onstage, and not just in any play -- mainly in Shakespeare. Fully rendered characters, but also mysterious. I loved the secrets in Dickens -- the contrasting foreshadowing, but not of everything.You both saw what was coming and you didn't. Hardy had that effect on me, too, but when I was older. And Melville, but also when I was older."

His answer made sense and its infectious enthusiasm about great writing made me want to sit down immediately and try to write a novel! 

In a stroke of genius, the editor of this column decided to collect 65 of the best interviews and publish them together in a book that is aptly named By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review. I got it for Christmas and have spent the last week happily browsing its pages. It was fun to ask myself some of these questions. Here are three which were easy to answer:

1. What book is on your nightstand?

There are three right now: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, Summer in February by Jonathan Smith, and The Ambassadors by Henry James

2. What is your favorite book of all time?

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

3. Are you a rereader? What books do you find yourself returning to?

Yes, I am a rereader. The three books I find myself returning to again and again are Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, Howards End by E.M. Forster, and The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. These books never fail to take me to that cozy place I sometimes crave and always make me feel good.

 I would love to know your answers to these questions.

If you are a passionate reader and an aspiring writer, get this book. You will love it!

Not Your Typical Summer Book

Well, I did it! I finished Middlemarch by George Eliot, a book I have wanted to read for a very long time. It wasn't easy but after a while I got into the rhythm of the prose, connected with the characters and grew to love it. Though I never thought I would finish it on a vacation in Hawaii!

 I was sitting poolside when I read the final chapter "Finale" with tears in my eyes. This is not exactly your typical beach read. But I have to say that the last one hundred pages were gripping and I couldn't put the book down. For me it was the perfect vacation read.

"Dorothea, he said to himself, was forever enthroned in his soul: no other woman could sit higher than her footstool."
-- George Eliot, "Middlemarch"

Have you read "Middlemarch"? Did you like it?

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I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

And reading something fabulous!

Next Up:  Ten Books For Summer Reading

Culinary Adventures

Table set for our French dinner party

I hope you had a good weekend. This weekend found us hosting a French dinner party that we and our friends donated to a fundraiser last fall. A lovely couple bought it, we finally established a date that worked for everyone, and my friend and I spent most of last week planning and cooking. I had intended to write about it yesterday but somehow felt a bit under the weather. Hmm... I wonder if it was the six course French meal we consumed on Saturday night or the superb wine pairings our friend brought to serve with each course. I tried to compose my blog post but instead spent most of the day resting or wandering from thing to thing. I plan to write about it later in the week. Here is where I spent a good part of yesterday...

Reading this book

"Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty that seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress" is the opening line of Middlemarch. I have been getting to know Dorothea Brooke, Mr. Casaubon, Lydgate, Rosamund Vincy, Mary Garth, and young Ladislaw and feel connected to all of them. They are some of the characters who reside in Middlemarch, the provincial English village at the heart of George Eliot's masterpiece. I am half way through the book and loving it. And what a treat to be reading this lovely Penguin edition. Have you seen this Hardcover Classic series by Penguin? Go here to learn more.

Perusing this blog

Photo via here

Yes, the lovely Sophie Dahl of cookbook fame now has a blog. It is called At The Table and it is just as enchanting and beautiful as she is. Take a look. It is a little like wandering through the landscape of the English novel "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith. Go here to see Sophie's recipes for homey desserts such as banana bread and peanut butter fudge, a video on the ancient art of book binding, and a list of "British Boltholes" -- don't you love that expression -- where you can enjoy the out-of-doors in comfort  -- lovely farms, cabins, and even luxurious tree houses to check into and spend the weekend. Wait until you see these tree houses! Look under the "Adventure" category on her blog.

Catching up with this newspaper article

Photo via here

A great travel piece about Oxford, England. The setting for the novel Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and the Inspector Morse mysteries by Colin Dexter, this beautiful town has so much more to it than just the university. Go here to read more.


Contemplating this beauty

Our garden is producing some amazing irises right now


Checking on the new roses

The Joseph's Coat Rose is starting to take hold


Dreaming of a fall trip

Lake Buttermere in Cumbria, England

My husband is reading the biography of Woodrow Wilson, Wilson, by A. Scott Berg and wandered into the kitchen yesterday to read me a quote. Wilson wrote, "There remained no spot in the world in which I am so completely at rest and peace as in the lake country." I began looking up information on the Lake District of England. Did you know that after the film "Miss Potter" came out a few years ago, tourism in this part of England skyrocketed? I would love to visit.


Admiring my blue and white Burleigh tea set bought at Fortnum and Mason last year

And wondering when I will have occasion to use it


Finding the prettiest scones to serve when I do

Rose and saffron scones -- go here for the recipe.


Buying ranunculuses at the market

They practically arranged themselves!


And finding this in the mail

Can't wait to read it...doesn't she look gorgeous!

By the way, it really was a great party and the people who bought it brought some lovely friends. We spent last week cooking up a storm. I can't wait to share all the recipes. To be continued...


In the meantime, here is Sophie Dahl's recipe for banana bread:

 Enjoy!

What Are You Reading?

Photo via here

Fall is here and it is my favorite time of the year.  It is a great time to read and I am making a list of the books I want to enjoy this season.  This is the time of the year when I go into nesting mode and spend a lot of time at home, especially in my kitchen --  cooking, baking, and anticipating the holidays.  But the other rooms draw me in as well, especially the ones with a comfortable chair and ottoman.  Now that the weather is cooler and the days are shorter, I love to read and have fantasies of sitting with a great book, a cup of tea at my side, and a fire in the fireplace.  I have always loved 19th-century British novels and want a book that will take me away to a place where the fog is rolling over the English moors and chimney smoke is coming out of thatched cottages.  And so this is the time of the year that I like to pick a classic book to read.  Right now a long, sprawling Victorian novel sounds perfect for those afternoons in front of the fire and the one I have decided to read is Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Have you read it?  I have always been intrigued with "Middlemarch" because so many writers have loved it.

Virginia Woolf wrote that George Eliot's power "is at its highest in the mature Middlemarch, the magnificent book which with all its imperfections is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."

When Emily Dickinson was asked what she thought of "Middlemarch" she answered "What do I think of glory?"

Zadie Smith wrote that "Middlemarch" is one of the books that had the greatest impact on her, calling it "A work of genius.  But more important...a woman wrote it...Eliot was the first woman I read who could go toe-to-toe with, say, Tolstoy."

A.S. Byatt wrote "It is possible to argue that Middlemarch is the greatest English novel."

And recently "The Guardian" published an article listing the ten best closing lines of novels.  "Middlemarch" was one of the chosen along with 'The Great Gatsby," "Ulysses," "Heart of Darkness," "Wuthering Heights," and "To the Lighthouse."

There are also some very exciting new books that have just come out or are coming out this fall that I can't wait to read.  Here are the ones on my list:

Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth
Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue
Zadie Smith's NW
Hilary Mantel's Bring Up The Bodies


What are you reading?  And are you attracted to the classics at this time of the year?  I would love to hear what you are reading right now and what is on your list for the fall and winter.

By the way, speaking of fantasies, here is the place where I would love to do all this reading.

Photo via here

Happy Fall!