It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.
Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.
Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.
Dear Ms. Simonson,
Huzzah. A new book from you. I’d almost given up when I saw it on a “to be released” list and sprang at the chance to read it. It’s a complicated and at times melancholy and heartbreaking book. It also, yeah, takes a while to get into gear and truly had me guessing how certain things would be resolved.
Constance Haverhill is drifting in the early summer of 1919. She has been firmly eased out of the job she did to “do her part” for the war effort. Dreading becoming a governess, she gladly agrees to be a companion to a (truly sweet) elderly lady at a seaside resort and there becomes acquainted with a group of women similarly looking for the means to support themselves. The War has changed social mores and expectations, or so Constance and the other women hope. But has it really and is Constance truly a part of this society or merely there for a summer?
Rereading my review of “The Summer Before the War,” I should have remembered that your style is to slowly introduce the characters, set the scene, and only then allow the story to get going. This mimics the slower pace of life in a smaller seaside vacation town of 1919. People are not flicking and scrolling their phone screens and rushing around. Even with the gentler tempo, things are still going too quickly for middle aged characters who decry the sudden changes that are jolting their world. Meanwhile (usually wealthy) young women who see new opportunities are champing at the bit to enjoy life or, if they’re working class, are desperately attempting to find a job and scrounge a living. Those who fought and survived are learning how to live with their new realities.
Tertiary characters fill out the background and show how various social outcasts ease through this world. Naturalized German Klaus was once a sought after waiter in better hotels but made it through the war working hard in low rent jobs in London. Captain Pendra, a skilled Indian pilot, had to approach the French to get a commission before the embarrassed British would accept his credentials. Simon and Matilde de Champney have always faced racism due to their mother and the fact that their parents weren’t married. Sam might have money but it was made through trade so he’s not quite totally accepted into the golden circle. Meanwhile as one working class man says the rich live by different rules.
Constance is inhabiting a middle ground. She’s not truly a part of the wealthy titled world that she lives in and can easily see herself sinking into the unnoticed working class. She knows that she must forge her way in the world which still views women as wives and mothers even though there is now a generation of women who will never find a husband. The camaraderie she sees in the motorcycle club draws her though some women are dilettantes and others are looking for money to supplement woeful pensions. I liked Constance and felt she was standing up for herself as well as she could in her situation. Yes, she bites her tongue at times but she has to keep on on the good side of certain characters who control her employment. But she does stick up for Mrs. Fog and that woman’s lovely second chance.
She’s not at all sure about the brother of her new friend, Poppy. Harris has inherited a barontency but is mired in depression due to his amputation and the feeling that he should have died in the war with his friends. He is (usually) well mannered but also brittle and given to retiring from social events. A strong sense of responsibility for his former mechanic and a gift from his sister might be what drags him back even before the stark realities of the financial situation of his estate yank him out of his funk. I could understand Harris’s desire to withdraw from company, especially as we learn of past relationships that have been broken. Poppy is a character who both charmed and annoyed me. Often her heart is in the right place but she can also duck responsibility when she feels like it and makes a decision that causes a stunned Constance to tell Poppy that she just doesn’t understand the people in this (rarified) world.
There are events and revelations that call out the racism and classism of this world. Some people will end up having to reap what they have sown. Some innocents will pay the price for jingoistic attitudes. I was annoyed at how a few people seemingly abandoned those who depended on them but at the same time, some of this was caused by the post war government policies dictating what genders could be employed. Still it stung. Rigid conventions almost upend a relationship until one person’s true colors emerge which allows the changing social mores to finally deliver what I’d been waiting for. This story is much more historical fiction with romantic elements than a romance. The pace is leisurely. Bad things happen to some people. Other people get off the hook. But Constance’s eyes are open to what she’s going into and Harris knows that he’s found the woman he can respect and admire. B
~Jayne
Astronomers’ Library by Karen Masters
Indulge in this collection of the best astronomy books from the past 800 years. The Astronomers’ Library is a rich history of astronomy (and astrology) publishing across Europe.
This is a carefully selected arrangement of publications from all over the continent – Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. And of course, as the original world leader in astrology, the middle east is featured, with multiple books from Persia.
Humankind has looked to the heavens since the dawn of time, wondering what is out there, as well as how everything works and (originally) who was responsible for it. Every tribe, race and civilization has wondered about our place in the universe and what lies beyond and what lies within it, below our feet.
Lately, attention has turned to the origins of the universe. From the turn of the millennium, knowledge and ideas were recorded, first on tablets or rock, then in the form of simple manuscripts, and eventually in a much more elaborate fashion as illustrative and engraving skills evolved.
The advent of printed books saw the production of highly illustrated tomes that showed off the skills of the printers as well as the newfound knowledge of the scholars and artists that wrote them.
Many of these works pushed the boundaries of illustrated publishing (and continue to do so to this day). They commanded expert illustrators and skilled engravers and hence didn’t come cheaply. They were treasured in the libraries of the wealthy and their intrinsic worth has meant that there is an incredible wealth of beautifully preserved historic examples from the 14th century onwards.
The significant difference we acknowledge today between astronomy and astrology has a relatively recent past, and the stars have long been associated with creatures, gods, characters and all sorts of divine beings. The study of such has a long, fascinating history that is shown in beautiful detail in the pages of these many beautiful books, and the transition from seeing the stars as characters to understanding them as spinning, celestial beings and part of our huge universe is akin to witnessing the history of the world.
Review
The blurb will tell you almost all you need to know about the book. Professor and author Karen Masters takes us through the best historical books about astronomy/astrology (as for a long time these were synonymous) from around the world. She selects best examples of books and arranges them loosely in chapters such as Star Atlases, Mapping Other Worlds, Astronomy and Culture, and Modern Astronomy – which contains a great resource list for further reading.
Rather than sticking closely to European viewpoint, entries are from all over the world with many more Islamic, Asian, and Mesoamerican examples than I’m used to seeing in similar books. The names by which they’re known might differ but the stars are the same as is the fascination of those who gazed at them and tried to understand them. I did notice a tendency for Renaissance European illustrators to include lots and lots of stargazing cheeky cherubs.
The illustrations are gorgeous and the tidbits and nuggets of information that Masters shares about her selections are fascinating. Given the layout and wealth of images, plus the fact that the digital and hardback prices aren’t that much different, it might be worth it to get a hardback copy in order to better enjoy it. The price right now will probably limit the book to hardcore enthusiasts. B
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A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages: The World Through Medieval Eyes by Anthony Bale
A captivating journey of the expansive world of medieval travel, from London to Constantinople to the court of China and beyond.
Europeans of the Middle Ages were the first to use travel guides to orient their wanderings, as they moved through a world punctuated with miraculous wonders and beguiling encounters. In this vivid and alluring history, medievalist Anthony Bale invites readers on an odyssey across the medieval world, recounting the advice that circulated among those venturing to the road for pilgrimage, trade, diplomacy, and war.
Journeying alongside scholars, spies, and saints, from Western Europe to the Far East, the Antipodes and the ends of the earth, Bale provides indispensable information on the exchange rate between Bohemian ducats and Venetian groats, medieval cures for seasickness, and how to avoid extortionist tour guides and singing sirens. He takes us from the streets of Rome, more ruin than tourist spot, and tours of the Khan’s court in Beijing to Mamluk-controlled Jerusalem, where we ride asses across the holy terrain, and bustling bazaars of Tabriz.
We also learn of rumored fantastical places, like ones where lambs grow on trees and giant canes grow fruit made of gems. And we are offered a glimpse of what non-European travelers thought of the West on their own travels.
Using previously untranslated contemporaneous documents from a colorful range of travelers, and from as far and wide as Turkey, Iceland, North Africa, and Russia, A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages is a witty and unforgettable exploration of how Europeans understood—and often misunderstood—the larger world.
Review
This looked interesting and for the most part it was. After an opening chapter on what travel means (just keep going through this), Bale dives into various historical accounts of (mainly) Europeans venturing far from home for various reasons though the last chapter covers a few journeys made to Europe, Africa, and the Arabian peninsula by people traveling westward from China and Mongolia.
The most time is spent on religious pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem, Egypt, and other parts of the Middle East by European Christians. Maybe this was covered so extensively due to the availability of texts? It’s interesting but does go on a bit. Honestly, the conditions sounded as horrendous as the pilgrims probably found them to be. Traveling simply for wanderlust or pleasure didn’t appear to be that popular though perhaps the Europeans who left home for this reason decided not to go home and thus left no records? Trade was another major incentive to leave home and several merchants and traders left accounts of what they went through trying to buy and sell or set up trade hubs and links in foreign lands.
The book jumps back and forth from various sources to cover different aspects of a typical journey that might have been made rather than sticking with one person’s narrative for a whole trip. Some travelers were enthusiastic while others were grimly determined and also expecting things to be ghastly. For pilgrims, the suffering along the way seemed to enhance the payoff of the trip (shortening time in Purgatory by years or totally for those who made it to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem but check the 1450 guide in Rome to see exactly what indulgences are available and how much time you’ll save or how to get one soul out of Purgatory!). Some traders loved the chance to see new places while others caught cities or rulers having a bad day. One Chinese traveler was awestruck by Hormuz while a Mongolian Christian enjoyed sitting in a beautiful garden in Naples overlooking a sea battle.
Bale doesn’t shy away from the fact that – just like today – people had their prejudices and preconceptions. Some of these are racist. Some people are great to travel with while others are grumps. What got written about depended on what a person thought was important rather than what we might love to read about today.
Several fun tidbits of information are included such as an exchange rate so you know how far your plapparts will take you (also change money in Bruges where there’s a bank), don’t forget a staff (support and beating off bandits) and a bag, where to find a licensed guide in Venice who won’t cheat you while booking your travel on to the Holy Land, some travel costs in Egypt and the Holy Land (just accept that you’re going to be stiffed for money all along the way), that the locals who aren’t making money off of you will probably be annoyed by you (jeering and stone throwing are probable), some handy phrases translated into Greek, Albanian, Turkish, and Arabic, medical advice for those traveling overseas (some of which is … not bad), India has both manticores and unicorns, and when traveling from Tana to Khanbaliq (Beijing) don’t be chintzy when hiring a dragoman – splash out and hire a good one,.
The little snapshots of things I hadn’t expected – life in a caravanserai (like a modern travel pit stop); that people from all over the world had traveled much farther into distant lands than I expected; that an Italian saw and saved two Tartars in bondage in Italy, one of whom he’d met before on his travels – were what made the book for me. It ends with sources, references, and further reading. When it’s all said and done, it appears that travelers and traveling experiences haven’t changed all that much over the centuries. B
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Otherworldly Antarctica: Ice, Rock, and Wind at the Polar Extreme by Edmund Stump
With stunning original photographs, an Antarctic scientist and explorer takes us to one of the most sublime, remote, and pristine regions on the planet.
The interior of Antarctica is an utterly pristine wilderness, a desolate landscape of ice, wind, and rock; a landscape so unfamiliar as to seem of another world. This place has been known to only a handful of early explorers and the few scientists fortunate enough to have worked there. Edmund Stump is one of the lucky few. Having climbed, photographed, and studied more of the continent-spanning Transantarctic Mountains than any other person on Earth, this geologist, writer, and photographer is uniquely suited to share these alien sights.
With stories of Stump’s forty years of journeys and science, Otherworldly Antarctica contains 130 original color photographs, complemented by watercolors and sketches by artist Marlene Hill Donnelly. Over three chapters—on the ice, the rock, and the wind—we meet snowy paths first followed during Antarctica’s Heroic Age, climb the central spire of the Organ Pipe Peaks, peer into the crater of the volcanic Mount Erebus, and traverse Liv Glacier on snowmobile, while avoiding fatal falls into the blue interiors of hidden crevasses. Along the way, we see the beauty of granite, marble, and ice-cored moraines, meltwater ponds, lenticular clouds, icebergs, and glaciers. Many of Stump’s breathtaking images are aerial shots taken from the planes and helicopters that brought him to the interior. More were shot from vantages gained by climbing the mountains he studied. Some were taken from the summits of peaks. Many are of places no one had set foot before—or has since. All seem both permanent and precarious, connecting this otherworld to our fragile own.
Review
Fifty years ago, geologist Edmund Stump began a love affair with the beautiful but also brutal world of Antarctica. Luckily for us, he’s also a great photographer and he snapped gorgeous pictures of the continent while doing scientific research there. Major bonus points that he accomplished this in an age before drones.
Think of purest white—the brilliance of all colors—and fathomless blue. Sprinkle in a few dark rocks and the total lack of green and you have Antarctica’s minimal pallet.
If someone offered me a chance to visit Antarctica, I’d be hard pressed to turn it down regardless of my risk of panic attacks while flying. Seriously, it wouldn’t be pretty. But if I could see IRL what I see in these images? I might take a deep breath, live better with chemistry, and go for it.
We were suspended on a transparent surface surrounded by bits and pieces of sparkling crystal, tinged blue beneath the waterline. A dome of matte gray illuminated the shadowless landscape. Ringing the cove were steep walls of ice fed by glaciers from the slopes above. Their faces bore the scars of tension and release where they had calved the icebergs that spread throughout the cove. The ice of the walls was young, only faintly blushing blue.
The book is divided into three sections: Ice, Rocks, and Wind. Stump adds geographic information for each image as well as describes his time there. There is a lot of scientific geology-speak to explain what readers are looking at which is helpful but Stump is also awed by his surroundings.
In the lifeless world of Antarctica, the wind is an animate force active in human-time— miles per hour, a heartbeat. It may be fierce, it may be calm, it may be steady, it may be restless or fickle or faint. Sometimes it isn’t even there at all. It is the bearer of cloud and the deliverer of snow. It can be a fearsome force, roiling through the mountains.
I found myself spending more time studying photos, inhaling this truly “otherworldly” place. Some photos made the landscape appear to be an intimate 50 or so feet across only to have the author reveal a scale of miles instead. Other images are up close and have a span of mere twelve inches. This is another book which is probably best as a coffee table hardback edition. B
If I had one hour more to savor Antarctica, it would be on a névé—a snowfield, circled at a distance by low mountains, snow gracefully rising to narrow ridgelines. A light breeze would nip my nose to remind me of where I was. The midnight sun would be low in the southern sky, casting long shadows and a faint alpine glow. And I would be standing in the midst of a field of the most exquisite sastrugi—wind-carved snow—as far as the eye could see.
Drawing on the little-known true story of one tragic night at an Ozarks dance hall in the author’s Missouri hometown, this beautifully written, endearingly nostalgic novel picks up 50 years later for a folksy, character-driven portrayal of small-town life, split second decisions, and the ways family secrets reverberate through generations.
Daisy Flowers is fifteen in 1978 when her free-spirited mother dumps her in Possum Flats, Missouri. It’s a town that sounds like roadkill and, in Daisy’s eyes, is every bit as dead. Sentenced to spend the summer living with her grandmother, the wry and irreverent town mortician, Daisy draws the line at working for the family business, Flowers Funeral Home. Instead, she maneuvers her way into an internship at the local newspaper where, sorting through the basement archives, she learns of a mysterious tragedy from fifty years earlier…
On a sweltering, terrible night in 1928, an explosion at the local dance hall left dozens of young people dead, shocking and scarring a town that still doesn’t know how or why it happened. Listed among the victims is a name that’s surprisingly familiar to Daisy, revealing an irresistible family connection to this long-ago accident.
Obsessed with investigating the horrors and heroes of that night, Daisy soon discovers Possum Flats holds a multitude of secrets for a small town. And hardly anyone who remembers the tragedy is happy to have some teenaged hippie asking questions about it – not the fire-and-brimstone preacher who found his calling that tragic night; not the fed-up police chief; not the mayor’s widow or his mistress; not even Daisy’s own grandmother, a woman who’s never been afraid to raise eyebrows in the past, whether it’s for something she’s worn, sworn, or done for a living.
Some secrets are guarded by the living, while others are kept by the dead, but as buried truths gradually come into the light, they’ll force a reckoning at last.
CW – Violent death depicted on page, the aftermath of identifying remains is discussed – both these sections get graphic. Death of an infant.
Dear Michelle Collins Anderson,
Lately I’ve been in the mood for historical fiction and when I saw this cover I fell in love with it. That plus a story set in 1978 (which I remember quite well, thank you very much) closed the deal.
In 1928 most of the young people in the small town of Possum Flats, Missouri are at the upstairs dance hall late in the evening when suddenly it explodes in heat and flame. By reason and chance of where they are some are spared while others die horrible deaths. Stunned, the town rushes in to try to save the living then gather the dead.
Almost fifty years later, young fifteen year old Daisy Flowers is dropped off at her grandmother’s house in some podunk town in Missouri after which her peripatetic mother leaves for California along with her latest lover. Daisy and Rose awkwardly work out how they’re going to live together until Lettie sends for her daughter. As Rose now runs the town’s funeral home and lives above it, Daisy is desperate to get out. When Rose takes Daisy along with her to the local paper to hand in an obituary (for the beloved town mayor who died in flagrante delicto with a woman who was not his wife), Daisy is fascinated by journalism and determined to get a job there.
Some fast talking gets the interest of the editor who offers her a summer internship but writing obits (though she’s good at it) bores Daisy who jumps at Fence McMillan’s offer to dig through old newspapers and write a history piece. She latches onto the idea of revisiting the 1928 explosion and telling the story via interviews with survivors. Stunned at the negative reception she gets from various townspeople, Daisy nonetheless forges ahead. But when the last of her four part series has been published, old and well hidden secrets will be unearthed and lives will be changed forever.
I loved these characters. None of them are perfect. Rather they are flawed in great and small ways that make them come alive. Daisy is intelligent and stubborn, things that Rose immediately remembers in her daughter Lettie who fought against the restrictions on females in the 1940s and finally fled town to escape. Rose is meticulous about her job and proud of the service she supplies but lived a painful life with her husband and in-laws who disliked her. Rose also still mourns her twin sister who died in 1928.
One of the local pastors was a party boy until that night after which he devoted his life to God, something he never thought or planned to do after a horrible childhood. The stubborn sheriff has devoted his life to the town and its people. He might take an afternoon nap in the office every day but he’ll never leave a job undone. The other reporters take Daisy under their wing and try to give her good advice and photography lessons but warn her to tread lightly as despite the passage of fifty years, the town is still sensitive about its losses. Meanwhile Daisy keeps sending letters to her mother even though she’s yet to hear back from Lettie.
I did guess a few of the secrets and who was responsible for them. Clues are given and if readers pay attention, not much will be a surprise. But the enjoyment is in watching the various characters interacting, remembering, and coming to terms with events past and present. There is an “epilogue” of sorts which shows what will happen to some characters and allows forgiveness for others which I liked but might be too sappy for some. I’m still debating some of the outcomes. This is not a light and fluffy book though parts are truly funny. I enjoyed watching Rose and Daisy, who are both strong women, as well as revisiting the late 1970s but be warned that there are graphic scenes in the book. B
~Jayne
A sharply hilarious and ultimately heartfelt novel about a former teen superstar who grudgingly agrees to a reboot of the show that made her (in)famous, from the author of Reasonable Adults.
Twenty years after Ocean Views went off the air, the beloved TV show about teenage romance and angst is back. No one is more surprised than its former star, Agnes “Ness” Larkin, that she’s agreed to step back into the role of Hailey Grant. After her father/manager took off with her earnings, Ness ran away from the spotlight in shame. But maybe it’s time to stare her past, and her castmates, in their discreetly Botoxed faces.
That enthusiasm lasts until the first table read, which, in co-star Coco’s words, is “like a high school reunion without the dim lighting or booze.” Ness assumed her old fling Hayes Beaumont would be too busy doing Big Hollywood Things to take part, but there he is, seated beside her, exuding pheromones and success.
En route to the deluxe Bahamas resort where they’re to start filming, the cast gets stranded by a storm. Stuck on a tiny island with a paltry cache of food and quite possibly the most useless survival group in history, Ness tries to reconcile her youthful dreams with where she’s ended up—figuratively and literally. The producers wanted drama on and off-screen, and they’re going to get it, but where will Ness be when it’s all over?
Dear Ms. Lefler,
Well, this certainly is not how I pictured this book would go. I thought I was getting a rom-com second chance romance. I didn’t. I must also question it being described as “sharply hilarious.” There is some “heartfelt” I will give it that but when all is said and read, even that is in short supply. What I wrote on my reading list is “Bonkers TV show revival with self centered Millennials on a survivor island.”
Agnes “Ness” Larkin is hoping for a second chance at … everything. The blurb lays it all out. She’s a former YA/NA star who lost it all first when her father absconded with all her hard earned money and second when she reacted badly to that, pushed her friends away, and ended up slinking back home to Toronto where she’s spent years as a property manager. I will give her props for actually doing that up to and including unstopping toilets, laying floor tile, and dealing with demanding tenants. She took this job looking for a paycheck to maybe finance buying another property but mainly to make amends for her past behavior.
First let me say there were way too many characters dumped on me at the beginning of the book. With seven cast members and a crew person to keep track of, I was desperately scrambling to keep a mental list of “who’s who” in my head. Eventually I could keep everyone straight in my head but that took a long time.
The setting for this version of “Survivor” was interesting. The castaways find themselves on a now deserted island in the Bahamas which used to be owned by a porn film king. The decor is tacky trashy and as it’s been abandoned for years, it crumbles around them. Without much food, a generator with only 5 containers of gas, no cell service, and questionable water they’re stuck. They do manage to pull off a bit of trying to make the island visible to possible searchers but fail to do something that I would have thought would be “up there” on a list of things to search for. It’s not the first silly or stupid thing they’ll do.
Ness is getting her chance at trying to make things right with those she spurned in the past alright. For some reason, be it spite or the fact that she’s been a hands-on property manager for years, all tasks – icky or otherwise – seem to fall on Ness. She might grumble and huff a bit but darned if Ness doesn’t actually have some know-how and leadership skills. It’s needed because Lawd these are some whiney ass cry babies she has to deal with. Honestly there were times when I wanted to lean into the book and advise Ness to head off on her own and leave these entitled losers behind. At almost every stage they blamed Ness for almost everything.
About 2/3 of the way through the book I finally just decided to go with the flow and see how this mystery (and the book is mainly the mystery behind how they ended up on this island) resolved. I guessed what was actually happening
Spoiler: Show
Being stranded and in close proximity with all these people gives Ness a chance to make some amends and face her own past. She does learn, she does take advantage of the opportunity, she does come out stronger. Yay Ness. If I were her, I would think long and hard about the fact that so many of them were willing to believe the worst of her but then we’re talking about actors who are seemingly willing to do just about anything to climb the ladder in Hollywood. The ending is completely bonkers. I’ll give the book credit for getting enough of my interest to keep on keeping on when I was bewildered by who’s who and for getting me to stick around to the end just to see how the others would apologize to Ness but this is not a book I would be interested in rereading. C
~Jayne
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Tomlinson comes an inside account of the Westminster Dog Show that follows one dog on his quest to become a champion—and explores the bond between dogs and their people.
Tommy Tomlinson was watching a dog show on television a few years ago when he had a sudden thought: Are those dogs happy? How about pet dogs—are they happy? Those questions sparked a quest to venture inside the dog-show world, in search of a deeper understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans that has endured for thousands of years. Dogland shares his surprising, entertaining, and moving adventures.
Tomlinson spends three years on the road and goes behind the scenes at more than one hundred competitions across the country, from Midwestern fairgrounds to Madison Square Garden. Along the way he is licked, sniffed, and rubbed up against by dogs of nearly every size, shape, and breed. Like a real-life version of the classic mockumentary Best in Show, Dogland follows one champion show dog—a Samoyed named Striker—as well as his handler, Laura King, and his devoted entourage of breeders and owners as he competes in the 2022 Westminster Dog Show.
Striker’s whole career has been leading up to this moment. As Tomlinson writes, picking a top show dog is like drafting an NFL quarterback when they’re still in elementary school. Now Striker has made it to the Super Bowl. Tomlinson takes readers on the long road to glory, bringing the dog-show circuit to life as he witnesses teams scrambling from town to town in search of championship points and large, colorful ribbons. (Striker and his crew travel in a custom-built RV named after Betty White.)
Tomlinson’s limitless curiosity about people and dogs reaches far beyond the show tents and into the ordinary lives of dogs. We hear from experts who have discovered new insights into how dogs and humans formed their bond—and how that bond has changed over the centuries. We discover the fascinating origins of different dog breeds, learn about the elaborate breed standards that determine an ideal show dog, and consider the health issues that can arise in purebred dogs. We also meet dog lovers who applaud every dog, regardless of breed, simply for being themselves, such as WeRateDogs, the social media phenomenon with millions of followers, all for posts celebrating the day-to-day goofiness in most dog owners’ lives.
Engaging, charming, and insightful, Dogland is an irresistibly appealing read that invites us on a rollicking backstage tour through the rituals, tricks, and wonders of the dog-show world—and reveals what matters most for the happiness of dogs and dog lovers everywhere.
CW – deaths of loved pets is discussed. The word that properly refers to a female dog is widely used as it is in the fancy.
Review
I grew up with cats. My parents couldn’t agree on what type of dog to get so they compromised on a Siamese cat. It wasn’t until I was an adult and had the space and means that I got my first dog. Eventually I found my breed and more eventually I got to live with a retired show dog. As I pitched it to the publishers to be allowed access to this book, I didn’t finish this dog to his championship. He was a sweetheart who still stopped traffic when we took our daily walks. He got half of my sofa and I got the other half. But I did often wonder, as he lazed away the afternoons, was he happy out of the spotlight? Did he miss those days?
Author Tomlinson goes into the book with a similar question. As he watched a dog show on TV, he too wondered, are those dogs happy? And so he began a years-long journey into the world of showing dogs, one I know a little bit about from having been around dog people and show dog people. I used to go to a “cluster” of shows near where I live and can attest that what he describes about them hasn’t changed from what I saw years ago.
The dog and handler Tomlinson ultimately decided to focus on are Striker a Samoyed and Laura King his professional handler. We learn about how Striker was chosen from his litter as a promising puppy and how he’s lived with King and her partner for over two years on the road to greatness. Stryker is a MBIS (multiple best in show) winner and over the course of the book, his last show – Westminster 2022 – is detailed. I do wonder why an Afghan hound is on the cover instead of the Samoyed who was followed for so much of the book but whatever.
There’s a lot more in the book than just dog shows and show dogs including some short breaks for interesting dog facts, what might be the history of human and first dogs, many things that dogs are capable of doing and tales of Tomlinson’s dog Fred and Scott Van Pelt’s dog Otis. Tomlinson doesn’t shy away from talking about how show dogs are all basically inbred and many suffer from health problems that are visible such as breathing problems for brachycephalic (flat faced) dogs and difficulty whelping for dogs with narrow hips (both of which the now popular Frenchies have) or maybe not visible such as deafness in Dalmatians, heart issues in Dobermans, and a tendency for bloat in bigger, leaner dogs. We have bred these dogs and thus we are the ones who have landed them with these things.
Now about the answer regarding dog happiness? Well, dogs could probably teach a master class in making us think they are happy and like us because they discovered eons ago that life with us is a bit easier than life without us and they know which side their bread is buttered on or rather which bowl their kibble is poured into. Tomlinson says that in all the shows he attended, he never saw any dog abuse. The most he remembers? Maybe a few dogs looking bored. He did see dogs and owners/handlers paying close attention to each other, smiling (and Sammys always look like they’re smiling), and while he was talking to a handler, her dog (Scottish deerhound called Claire named after guess who) watching them, content to be there.
Dogs give us so much. Mostly, they just want to be there with us. One time I took my retired show dog to a specialty show near me. At first he perked up as if to say, “Oh, I’m going to do this again? Okay.” When we just stood by various rings and watched he settled down and seemed to enjoy doing just that, with me. Then we came home, he jumped on the sofa and we watched a bit of mindless TV. Was he happy at the show again? Maybe. Was he happy to be back home? Yes, he was.
This book is informative, chatty, thought provoking, and will give you plenty of inside scoop on “the fancy” as the dog showing world is known. And yes, they know about the spoof movie “Best in Show.” For a lovely tribute to one family’s dog, type “One Big Thing: Otis the King | SC with SVP” into the search function on youtube. Have some tissues handy. B
~Jayne
Enoch Wallace is an ageless hermit, striding across his untended farm as he has done for over a century, still carrying the gun with which he had served in the Civil War. But what his neighbors must never know is that, inside his unchanging house, he meets with a host of unimaginable friends from the farthest stars.
More than a hundred years before, an alien named Ulysses had recruited Enoch as the keeper of Earth’s only galactic transfer station. Now, as Enoch studies the progress of Earth and tends the tanks where the aliens appear, the charts he made indicate his world is doomed to destruction. His alien friends can only offer help that seems worse than the dreaded disaster. Then he discovers the horror that lies across the galaxy…
Review:
I liked it and respected it quite a bit, but it did not knock my socks off AND I know the main reason it did not knock my socks off! It is not a fair reason at all, but it is not as if it happened on purpose. See I am a big fan of the Ilona Andrews’ writing duo and I now strongly suspect (don’t know for sure of course) that their Innkeeper series main premise took its inspiration from this book.
Obviously this book was first, and of course Simak deserves all the credit for coming up with the idea of galactic transfer station old Earth. But Andrews developed it so much more with the premises of Inkeepers as a profession, their Houses being alive, so many fun alien beings and all the adventures. Anyway, now unfortunately this story pales in my mind in comparison to those series through no fault of its own!
I really liked the description of the alien travel here; it may have been quite new for its time I think. It was interesting and the main character was wonderful. I thought the writer described his struggles really well. I also think that author showed Enoch as someone who is older despite not physically aging while he is inside the house. I liked it much better than what I find in some fantasy romance stories when the character is presumably hundreds years of age (part of the reason why I almost stopped reading about vampires) and the thoughts they have are of the young people in their twenties.
Not here. Enoch is very curious about the world around him and his Guests and the Galaxy he got exposed too, thats why he reads as a dynamic character, but he very much remembers his past and things that changed or not changed. I thought his story was well done.
Now, the blurb if you ask me gives enough spoilers already – I feel like the main premise should not have been spoiled, so I am going to try scratching my head about another character without giving too many spoilers. There is a young woman there, who cannot speak or hear and she ends up having a good ending as a character, but she also ends up being very VERY special and I just don’t know about that. I think her disability and her being special was too connected if that makes sense.
Also, and I know I keep talking about other things in this review rather than the book, but hopefully it is at least somewhat connected to the book. Some of you may remember the Hugo related squabbles few years ago and the arguments that science fiction of the past was not progressive or something, did not discuss the political issues of the days it was written in or something.
I take it they did not mean this book when they were making those arguments.
Grade: B
What’s the difference between mazes and labyrinths? Proverbs and adages? Clementines and tangerines? Join author Eli Burnstein on a hairsplitter’s odyssey into the world of the ultra-subtle with Dictionary of Fine Distinctions. Illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck, this humorous dictionary takes a neurotic, brain-tickling plunge into the infinite (and infinitesimal) nuances that make up our world.
The perfect gift for book lovers, word nerds, trivia geeks, and everyday readers, this illustrated gem is more than just a book—it is an indispensable resource akin to a thesaurus but filled with charm and wit. Each entry, from “latte vs. flat white” to “Great Britain vs. The United Kingdom,” is accompanied by mnemonic aids, quirky asides, and detailed illustrations, making it a standout dictionary for any bibliophile or language enthusiast’s library.
Review
This looked entertaining and since I’ve enjoyed a number of books dealing with words and what we do with them, I asked to review it. The blurb correctly leads one to believe that the distinctions between the terms covered will be, in most cases, small and I found this to be the case. I amused myself by glancing at the word pairings and seeing if I could mentally distinguish between them before reading what Burnstein had to say about them. I did okay on my own but did learn some things that, frankly, I’m not sure I’ll retain. Burnstein also said that for many of these pairs, the distinctions are being lost so this book is probably aimed at those who are curious or those who want to be pedants.
The book is filled with line drawings to illustrate differences but these are rather hit or miss as to usefulness. And despite being over 200 pages, it’s a quick read. The words chosen to examine varied from common to vanishingly specific. There is little to no organization that I noticed so readers can fill a free moment or two without fear of losing their place. Here are some (abbreviated) examples of what you can find discussed.
Ethics vs morality – … why an immoral act sounds graver than an unethical one: One may get you fired, but the other could land you in hell.
Snitch = tattletale and a rat = traitor
Amp vs. Volt vs. Watt – In short, when you hear amps, think current, when you hear volts, think pressure, and when you hear watts, think utility bill.
AWD vs 4WD – One is safe and sophisticated. The other, rugged and badass.
Parable vs fable – A parable is a brief tale with a moral lesson. A fable is a brief tale with a moral lesson – plus animals.
I had fun reading it but it is more entertainment rather than a reference to be returned to. B-
~Jayne
Fanfiction is such a broad community that we’d love to hear about your fandoms! You may even find someone in the comments who travels in the same fandom circles and could have a few amazing recommendations.
I’m not on a current fic kick, but I’ve pulled some from my favorites or “Marked for Later” history on Ao3. Full disclosure: I am Reylo trash and Dramione (DracoxHermione) is my favorite pairing, though we do not support Rowling in this household. I wrote anime fics in high school and wrote a single chapter of a Reylo fic when the itch struck me and then promptly abandoned it.
The Shooting Party (sea_spirit): Pairing is Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones (TV). This is an AU (alternate universe) set in 1920s Scotland during a hunting party. Tropes: Fake dating and friends to lovers.
Starry-Eyed: One Shots and Novellas (NewerConstellations): Pairing is Kylo Ren and Rey from Star Wars. I was introduced to this writer through one of my favorite Reylo fanartists, Elithien. Elithien is the one who did the cover for The Love Hypothesis. These are just a collection of quick fics that I can dip into whenever.
Everything to Prove (crossingwinter): Pairing is Kylo Ren and Rey from Star Wars. I’ve probably mentioned this before on the site, but this is a Great British Bake Off AU, where the characters are contestants on a baking show. Shoutout to Kay for putting this on my radar and it’s been a favorite for ages.
For Dramione fics, I have way too many by Freya_Ishtar and senlinyu to mention individually.
Love In a Time of the Zombie Apocalypse (rizzlewrites): Pairing is Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. Wizard and zombies; what more could you ask for?
The Politician’s Wife (pir8fancier): Pairing is Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. I’m pretty sure I found this through fanart too. In fact, I find a lot of fics through fanartists I follow. They typically do a great job of citing their inspiration. The description for this is, “Our main characters are Ministry employees, middle-aged, and the majority of them not very happy.” Sounds very dramatic and dishy.
So what are the fandoms you follow? Tell us which fics you’re currently eager to read!
“When the time comes for you to retire, Hugo, if you want a quiet life, don’t settle down in the country. Bury yourself in London or any really large city, and you can live like a hermit, but avoid the outskirts of a village. I am dazed by the ceaseless whirl of activities in which almost everyone in and round Ravenskirk is involved.”
Sara Monteith makes an ideal correspondent for Hugo Jamieson, brother of her lost love Ivo, killed in the war before they could marry. Her neighbours in the lovely Border village of Ravenskirk don’t know that Sara has moved here because it’s where Ivo and Hugo grew up, but they welcome her warmly. Soon, she’s drawn into the active village social scene of tea parties, gardening, carol-singing, and Coronation festivities, dodging the judgments of stern Miss Bonaly, defending her helper Madge Marchbanks, an unwed mother, befriending kind, practical Elizabeth Drysdale and charming Mrs. Currie and her daughter Sylvia (the latter first met halfway through Sara’s drawing room window), and having an embarrassing first encounter with rugged Major Whitburn. Add in her nephew Arthur, neglected by an indifferent father, Arthur’s dog Pam, and even Hugo himself returning unexpectedly from overseas, and Sara’s life is a ‘ceaseless whirl’ indeed!
Review
Furrowed Middlebrow comes through again. Molly Clavering was born in Scotland around the turn of the twentieth century and eventually became a neighbor of DE Stevenson. If the rest of Clavering’s books are like this one, I think I can safely say that if you like Stevenson, you will like Clavering.
The blurb can’t be improved upon. “Dear Hugo” is an epistolary novel in which Sara relates to her should-have-been brother-in-law Hugo everything that goes on in this small Border village. I was never sure of the source of Sara’s money but it has allowed her to purchase a small cottage and to enthusiastically whack away in the garden behind it as well as roam the hills around her. However once her neighbors get their (mostly very nice) hands on her, she is whisked away to various village committees and groups. As she tells Hugo, a small village is more full of things to do than any large city.
Sara enjoys where she is both in place and time. She did choose the village as her lost fiance Ivo and Hugo had grown up here and it’s obvious that she’s seeking some kind of peace. Yet Sara doesn’t mope, cries her tears in private, and seeks to be an open hearted neighbor. As it’s the early 1950s, the older villagers still tend to think in ways that are even then passing out of style.
The lovely Mrs. Keith who lives in the stately Ladymount still has two live-in servants who are fiercely loyal and protective of her. Sara soon gains a local who comes in “to do” for her three times a week. Madge Marchmont had met with a man during the war and is now a single mother (of wee Helen) living with her aunt who sought the position for Madge. The occupants of the cottage near Sara are mysteriously absent and then mysterious after they’re there. A charming family lives close by with a mother who cheerfully manages her brood while dragging Sara into village life.
Then there’s the Major (Sara just knew that the man had some title other than Mr.) Sara met in less than ideal circumstances and his single sister who is both witty and biting. Sara quickly learns to beware of Miss Bonaly who pries information out of people like MI6 and who is less welcome in most houses she just “happens to be passing by” when she arrives on her gossip gathering mission. Then there is Atty, a (IIRC) thirteen year old second cousin who is landed on Sara when his remarried father and new wife head off to Washington, DC. Atty, as Sara soon learns, is a dear boy with a bottomless stomach.
Sara’s rambling letters detail everything for Hugo and for readers. All the village secrets and goings on plus lots of descriptions of the scenery that is obviously so beloved to both Clavering and Stevenson. It’s a nice, easy going novel which really is women’s fiction as it tends to focus on the female characters and how the men relate to them. I wasn’t sure just how it would end but I’m both slightly surprised yet also very satisfied. I’ll leave readers to discover for themselves how things turn out. B+
~Jayne
70 years on the throne. 13 American presidents. One extraordinary queen.
From the moment she first enchanted the world as a youthful princess, Queen Elizabeth II found a unique place in American hearts—and she also played an unprecedented role in forging transatlantic ties. Over her seventy-year reign, she developed extraordinary and varied personal bonds with thirteen U.S. presidents—Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Bush Sr. and Jr., Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden—that other diplomats and leaders could only dream of.
A fascinating, in-depth look at international relations and interpersonal intrigue, Royal Audience peels back the curtain on the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. as embodied by the Queen herself—charting Elizabeth II’s distinctive brand of one-to-one diplomacy through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand. From horse-riding with Ronald Reagan, to sharing her recipe for scones with Dwight D. Eisenhower, to striking up a kinship with the Bushes and the Obamas, the Queen’s interactions with her U.S. counterparts often acted as a restorative tonic for relations between two nations, even when political tensions ran high. Not all royal encounters with U.S. presidents went smoothly, though. Between Jackie Kennedy’s complaints about Elizabeth and the Queen Mother’s shock at being kissed on the lips by Jimmy Carter, there was never a dull moment.
Throughout the years, Queen Elizabeth II’s sense of duty and service remained steadfast, and her iconic legacy is unlikely to be repeated.
Review
Looking at the cover and reading the blurb, I went into this book hoping for a bit of “behind the scenes” and maybe little tidbits of historical information from the many meetings between Queen Elizabeth II and the fourteen US presidents she met over the course of her life. I did learn some things but as was often mentioned in the book “what happens at private lunches/teas/dinners/meetings with the Queen, stayed with the Queen.”
I’ll be frank and say that the extensive background on the international events of the day was probably needed – especially in the case of the things that influenced US/UK relations 70 years ago (how up are you on the Suez Canal Crisis of 1955?) – but these were inserted as history lessons and they read as one. After the major UK/US kerfluffles during each presidential term(s) were outlined, there usually followed a tit-for-tat exchange of excruciatingly correct notes and letters that could be studied as an etiquette guide. Only after that stuff did the meetings between the Queen and the presidents get discussed.
Once things got personal and the trips/state visits were delved into, I enjoyed the little glimpses of these relationships. Beginning with President Truman while she was still Princess Elizabeth, including President Hoover long after his term, and continuing through President Biden, the Queen was seemingly wielded as diplomatic “oil on troubled waters.” When the Special Relationship (use that as a drinking game and get drunk quickly) between the US and UK needed work, out would come an invitation from one side or the other and she would be put to work.
Despite the protocol filled meetings, from the information and recollections of those there, her tact, charm, sharp sense of humor, and decades of experience did seem to work a charm. From being on the receiving end of a hug from a woman in Maryland, visiting a US grocery story along with Prince Philip, exchanging views on standing for hours in heels with Michelle Obama, or enjoying private visits to the US where she could “let her hair down” a bit more than was possible in the UK, the Queen rolled with the punches, smiled through summer humidity in DC, and forged relationships with the presidents that they fondly recall.
After I began skimming some of the more recent political events and crises – since I lived through them and already knew them – and then also skipping the note exchanges, I cherry picked out the bits that I came for. Perhaps it’s better that the curtain not be entirely pulled back and some of the mystique remain but there are quick flashes here that give a peek into what made her special and such an unrivaled asset for British relations with the US. B-/C+
~Jayne
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