Top Ten Bookworm Delights

Posted on April 26, 2016 by vlaw759

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they provide a prompt for bloggers. Today’s prompt is Top Ten Bookworm Delights.

BOOKWORM DELIGHTS come in all guises! I’m talking about the periphery, the delights beyond lovely language, powerful characters, and compelling plots.

Bookworm Delights #1: I love old books.

DIRECTIONS FOR COOKERY, IN ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES, BY MISS LESLIE, 1843, book, bookworm delights, top ten tuesday — *Directions for Cookery, In Its Various Branches*

My oldest books are cookbooks. The oldest is DIRECTIONS FOR COOKERY, IN ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES, BY MISS LESLIE, 1843; unfortunately it isn’t at all photogenic. It includes helpful hints, such as two jills are half a pint; preparations for the sick; receipts [sic] for perfumery, and pudding catsup; uses for peach pits and plum stones; and advertisements for a treatise on the physiological and moral management of infancy, a book on the culture of flowers and grapes, and THE HOUSE BOOK: OR, A MANUAL OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY BY MISS LESLIE.

White House Cookbook, bookworm delights, top ten Tuesday — *White House Cookbook*

Sometimes old books yield bonuses. This 1899 printing of the WHITE HOUSE COOKBOOK came with four 1917 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture pamphlets with titles like “Do You Know Corn Meal? ITS USE MEANS Service to Your Country, Nourishing Food for You.”

I don’t actually collect antiquarian books, cookbooks or otherwise. But I like having old books around, and many on my shelves date from the 1930s onward.

inexpensive paperbacks, bookworm delights, top ten tuesday

Given my druthers, I’d still read the fifty- and sixty-cent paperbacks rather than the shiny new editions from the bookstore.

Bookworm Delights #2: I love sets of books

books by Tony Hillerman on shelf, bookworm delights, top ten Tuesday — Books by Tony Hillerman

When I find an author I really enjoy, I want to read everything he or she wrote. And I keep the ones I like best, both fiction and non-fiction.

Bookworm Delights #3: I love books about places I’ve lived.

Carroll, Ohio by Mildred Marie Clum, Virginia Curiosities by Sharon Cavileer, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday — *Carroll, Ohio* by Mildred Marie Clum and *Virginia Curiosities* by Sharon Cavileer

Therefore, I have an array of books about Upstate New York, Washington, DC, and Maryland, as well as Ohio and Virginia.

Bookworm Delights #4: When I travel, especially abroad, I love bringing home books of memories.

I have everything from books of cityscapes to fiction in translation and historical summaries. I’ll spare you photos of all the foreign cookbooks I’ve accumulated. But here are a couple representing Germany and Italy, places I’ve visited more than once.

travel book, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday

Bookworm Delights #5: Oddball books give me great pleasure.

My favorites of these are the three volumes of Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices by George Leonard Herter and Berthe E. Herter.

colletion of oddball stories, Bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday — *Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices* by George Leonard Herter and Berthe E. Herter

The first printing of the first volume was in 1960, and the three volumes are extremely entertaining examples of do-it-yourself publishing. The books contain wonderful paragraphs of opinion and assertion, with no attempt to document sources for the statements. For example, his recipe for Doves Wyatt Earp begins with four pages of purported biography of Earp. The recipe itself begins, “Pick ten doves and cut off their wings, feet and head. Remove the entrails and singe off the hair feathers with a candle.” Some of the recipes are quite tasty, the historical bits are fun reading, and all three volumes are illustrated with hundreds of black-and-white photographs, most of them by the author—at least, no photo credits are offered.

Closely related to oddball books are books on oddball topics—or if not oddball, at least on narrow topics—which I enjoy immensely because of the information therein.

three oddball books, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday

There are whole books out there on toads, dung, how to hide one’s assets and disappear, and just about anything else you could think of.

Bookworm Delights #6: I love having shelves of unread books!

It feels like money in the bank.

unread books, to-be-read shelf, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday — Shelves of unread books

With unread books on hand (and this can include unread books on an e-reader!), should you suddenly find yourself unemployed or otherwise short of money to buy more books just now, no problem! Ditto should you find yourself laid up with a broken back or a lingering case of flu.

Bookworm Delights #7: I love receiving books from family and friends.

It’s better if I actually enjoy the book. But opening books inscribed by loved ones, knowing they were thinking about me and my interests—however imperfectly—when they bought them, makes me glow.

Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson by Alan Pell Crawford, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday — *Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson* by Alan Pell Crawford

And what are books without bookmarks?

Bookworm Delights #8: I love bookmarks.

My favorite commercial bookmarks are book darts.

book darts, Bookworm delights for Top Ten Tuesday — Book darts

They are simple, slim, and elegant. They stay put. They can mark a page at top or side or bottom (though I don’t see the point of bottom). Unfortunately, the local Barnes and Nobel doesn’t carry them anymore.

And did you know that Post-Its were invented by a man who was trying to create a bookmark that would stay put when reading on airplanes?

And speaking of bookmarks, decades ago I started using postcards as markers in cookbooks—books that often need more than one marker AND are opened frequently.

postcards, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday

Bookworm Delights #9: I love coming across a postcard sent thirty years ago by someone traveling near or far.

They make me smile and think of the sender. Many of those senders are dead now. And I suppose postcards are going the way of the dodo bird, as friends now send e-mails with photos. Oh, sigh. All the more reason to treasure the ones I have.

Last but not least. . .

Bookworm Delights #10: I delight in my reading chair!

recliner where I read, bookworm delights, Top Ten Tuesday — Recliner where I read

True bookworms read anywhere and everywhere. I read in doctors’ waiting rooms, and in the dentist’s chair waiting for the impression gunk to set up. In the car when it isn’t my turn to drive. When I’m in bed, lights out, the only glow that from my Kindle. Yes, I’ve even been known to read in the bathroom. But the best, coziest reading—whether with fireplace or AC—is in my recliner, feet up, padded armrests supporting my elbows.

Bottom line

Bookworm delights are as many and as varied as bookworms themselves. What are yours? Tell me in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter.

Top Ten Tuesday: Funny Writing

Posted on April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 by vlaw759

Top Ten Tuesday, books on humor, funny, humorous books — Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they provide a prompt for bloggers. Today’s prompt is **Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh**.

FUNNY WRITING : I don’t do that. It isn’t for lack of interest; it just doesn’t come naturally to me. I have sometimes written things that make people smile, and several of those short pieces appear in Different Drummer. But when writing those things, humor wasn’t my goal. On the other hand, I definitely chose the cover for smiles!

Different Drummer by Vivian Lawry, humor stories, short stories, funny

That said, I do like to laugh. And it’s a scientific fact that you can’t get ulcers while laughing. So for the sake of your physical and mental health, write funny if you can. And if you can’t, read some of the following.

My all-time favorite humorist is James Thurber—and not just because he lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio. Not only does he write funny, he draws funny! His stories, illustrated with his own cartoons, appeared dozens of times in The New Yorker. If I had to choose just one book of his, it would be The Thurber Carnival.

James Thurber, funny writing, humor writing — *The Thurber Carnival* by James Thurber

For one thing, it includes selections from several of his other books, as well as some previously unpublished stories. It begins with a third-person bio which Thurber wrote about himself. Even his titles make me smile, e.g., “Are You the Young Man Who Bit My Daughter?” and “Darling, I Seem to Have This Rabbit.” But really, snap up any Thurber you happen to come across.

James Thurber collection of novels, funny writing, humor writing — James Thurber collection of funny writing

I tend to like collections of humor writing. For example, Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, edited by Jennifer L. Leo, contains stories by Anne Lamott, Ellen DeGeneres, and others.

Sand in my Bra short story collection, funny writing, humor writing, — *Sand in My Bra*

Two great classic collections are Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker, edited by David Remick and Henry Finder, and An Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor, edited by Bennet Cerf. Both include dozens of time-tested stories.

Fierce Pajamas collection of funny short stories from The New Yorker, funny writing, humor writing — *Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing*

Modern American Humor, anthology, funny writing, humor writing, short stories — *An Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor* anthology of humor writing

I also enjoy a number of writers who have assembled entire books of their own work. P.S. Wall’s My Love Is Free . . .But the Rest of Me Don’t Come Cheap comes to mind, as does David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and Erma Bombeck, All I Knew About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann’s Dressing Room.

P.S. Wall "My Love is Free. . .But the Rest of Me Don't Come Cheap," humor writing, funny writing — *My Love is Free. . .But the Rest of Me Don’t Come Cheap*

David Sedaris "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," humor writing, funny writing — *Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim*

Erma Bombeck, "All I Knew About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann’s Dressing Room," humor writing, writing funny — *All I Knew About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann’s Dressing Room*

Then there are the humor books targeted to specific groups of readers. The Primal Whimper (Glenn C. Ellenbogen, Ed.) a collection of made-up research that pokes fun at psychologists and psychiatrists. I like What Dr. Spock Didn’t Tell Us: A Survival Kit For Parents (B.M. Atkinson, Jr., with Whitney Darrow, Jr.). I recently found four copies on Amazon to gift to the “children” of friends who are now parents themselves. Maybe part of the reason I like it so much is that the drawings remind me of Thurber!

The Primal Whimper, Glenn C. Ellenbogen, Editor, writing funny, humor writing — *The Primal Whimper*

What Dr. Spock Didn't Tell Us, writing humor, funny writing — *What Dr. Spock Didn’t Tell Us:*

Perhaps the greatest admiration should go to people who can write entire novels that make us laugh. I’m thinking particularly of Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones.

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, writing humor, humor writing — *Tom Jones*

Also remember P.G. Wodehouse and Steven Leacock. And who could forget Mark Twain? The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But consider the slim volume The Jumping Frog. It pokes fun at literature in translation!

The Jumping Frog, Mark Twain, writing humor, funny writing — *The Jumping Frog*

And where do I fit in Peg Bracken? Most well-known for The I Hate To Cook Book, she is just as funny in But I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For the World.

But I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World! by Pec Bracken, writing humor, funny writing — *But I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World!*

But we mustn’t limit our laughs to books written primarily for humor. Think Jane Austen and Mary Roach.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, humor writing, funny writing — *Pride and Prejudice*

Bonk, Mary Roach, writing funny, humor writing — *Bonk*

Takeaway for Readers

Take your laughs where you can find them.

Takeaway for Writers

Good humor writing is timeless.

What books make you laugh? Tell me in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter.

Queen of Mystery

Posted on April 15, 2016April 15, 2016 by vlaw759

No, I don’t mean Agatha Christie. Frankly, Christie’s mysteries usually annoy me—too much alligator-over-the-transom in her solutions—meaning that some completely unforeseen, unpredictable bit of info suddenly appears and unlocks everything. (No offense to Christie fans out there; but reading preferences are very individual. Ask any writer who’s received multiple rejections for a piece of work that someone more on the same wavelength eventually accepts.) No, if I were bestowing the crown, it would be Dorothy L. Sayers.

Sayers was a woman of many achievements. She translated Dante, wrote poetry, and worked as a copyeditor. She was a playwright, essayist, literary critic, and Christian humanist, as well as a student of classical and modern languages. But she is best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries. You may recall from last Friday’s blog that Sayers is one of the few fiction authors I periodically re-read. Now, you might ask, “Why would anyone reread a mystery? Once you know Who Done It—and probably how and why—what’s the point?”

Dorothy L. Sayers The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club; The Five Red Herrings

In the case of Sayers, my answer is three-fold. First there is her openings that draw me. The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club begins, “’What in the world, Wimsey, are you doing in this Morgue?’ demanded Captain Fentiman, flinging aside “The Evening Banner” with the air of a man released from an irksome duty. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t call it that,’ retorted Wimsey, amiably. ‘Funeral Parlor at the very least. Look at the marble. Look at the furnishings. Look at the palms and the chaste bronze nude in the corner.'”

Five Red Herrings opens, “If one lives in Gallowy, one either fishes or paints. . . To be neither of these things is considered odd and almost eccentric.”

Strong Poison begins, “There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood. The judge was an old man; so old, he seemed to have outlived time and change and death. His parrot-face and parrot-voice were dry, like his old heavily-veined hands. His scarlet robe clashed harshly with the crimson of the roses.”

Have His Carcase begins, “The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. Much more efficacious are honest work, physical activity, and the sudden acquisition of wealth.”

The second reason to reread is to really grasp the intricate plots that often allow me to learn something. And, coincidentally, to appreciate all the ways she foreshadowed the ending and inserted the evidence and clues without telegraphing the ending. In various Sayers novels, I learned the effects of chronic ingestion of arsenic, a lot about English bell-ringing, cyphers, the advertising world, a great deal about the questions surrounding the execution of the family of Czar Nicholas II—among other things.

And then there are the characters and their romance. I recently read that Sayers once commented that Lord Peter Wimsey was a mixture of Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster. I always envisioned Wimsey as Astaire, even when the TV serials starred Ian Carmichael or Edward Petheridge. He’s brilliant, graceful, athletic, debonaire—plus he blathers, and suffers “shell shock” (a.k.a., PTSD). Harriet Vane is highly intelligent, strong-willed, principled, with a low opinion of men—and not really beautiful. I find them appealing in their flaws.

Sayers set her mysteries between WWI and WWII, but they are still popular today. Masterpiece Theater aired the series. The complete DVD collection was released in 2003.

Harriet Vane was very atypical for her time. Sayers did not devote a lot of time to talking or writing about or otherwise dealing with her own non-traditional choices, let alone her heroine’s. In Are Women Human, two Sayers essays address the issue of women in society. Her position is that women are first and foremost human beings, and that women and men must be regarded and treated as essentially much more alike than different. Human beings—color, age, background or abilities aside—are equal. Sex does not, a priori, determine anything. Sounds pretty modern to me!

So get thee to the library or Amazon or your favorite bookstore and sample Dorothy L. Sayers. Her first mystery was Whose Body? That’s as good a place as many to start. Unless you’d rather go for romance first, in which case, start with Strong Poison. But do it!