Monday Malarkey

Happy Monday! I've got two stacks of arrivals, this week, thanks to our trip to Tulsa just before the 4th of July. I took a bag of books for swapping and came home with a small stack. But, first the regular arrivals.

Recent arrivals, clockwise from top left: 

• All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman - from Random House Children's Books for book tour
• There There by Tommy Orange - purchased
• Who Was Genghis Khan? by Nico Medina and Andrew Thomson and
• Who Was George Washington Carver? by Jim Gigliotti and Stephen Marchesi, both from Penguin Workshop for tour

The latter two books are companions to a Netflix series. There, There (or There There -- I'm unsure about punctuation or lack thereof) is one of the books I ordered from Book Depository, a few weeks ago. One more should be arriving soon.

Books acquired at Gardner's Used Books and Music in Tulsa with credit (and some cash), top to bottom:

• The End of the Battle by Evelyn Waugh
• Officers and Gentleman by Evelyn Waugh
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
• Without My Cloak by Kate O'Brien
• Saraband by Eliot Bliss
• Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
• Assault in Norway by Thomas Gallagher

Not pictured:

• Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees: A Narrative of Captivity by Sarah F. Wakefield 

I've had a copy of Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms for eons. Haven't read it, but now that I've got the full set I can read all three back-to-back if I choose, when I get to them, provided this series works for me. I loved Brideshead Revisited and a couple other Waugh books, but there's been at least one that I've attempted 2 or 3 times and never managed to get through.

I'm pretty sure I've never read Elizabeth Gaskell and I haven't seen the North and South mini-series, which is suprising given my love for British television. The next three books are Virago classics and of those three, the one I would have happily kept reading on the day I sat in a chair and paged through the books to see if they interested me, Saraband most thoroughly sucked me in. I just reread the first page and I'm tempted to find a soft spot with a lamp and hide.

Assault in Norway is a WWII tale about "sabotaging the Nazi nuclear program" (that's the subtitle, actually). I always glance at the WWII section in history to see if there's anything interesting and I believe that one caught my eye because of Foyle's War. I'm not positive, but I think Norway is where Paul Milner (Foyle's second in command) was injured and I'm pretty sure I haven't yet read anything about Norway's part in WWII.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Between You and Me by Susan Wiggs

I only finished a single book primarily because I was sleeping well, last week (once I returned home). Since I read at bedtime, if I fall asleep easily it usually means less reading and that was the case -- which means I need to head to bed earlier so I can read more, of course. Between You and Me is a very sweet romance between an "English" doctor and an Amish man. I haven't read a story set in the Amish community for some time, so I'd forgotten that people who live outside the Amish world in America are referred to as English. 

Currently reading:

• Israel/Palestine by Alan Dowty
• What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarro
• Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees by Sarah F. Wakefield
• Bring Me Back by B. A. Paris 

The first two have bookmarks in them but I've made no progress on them for a week or more. Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees is the non-fiction title that has my attention, right now. However, I'm really in a fiction mood and tempted to pick up another fiction title to alternate with Bring Me Back and Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees.


Last week's posts:

• It's the 4th  (cat photo/holiday wishes)
• June Reads in Review, 2018 (one month's reads in brief)
• Fiona Friday - No videos allowed, Mom (cat photo)

No reviews at all because I was out-of-town part of the week, but hopefully this will be a good week for reviewing. We shall see. There's not much catch-up to be done.


In other news:

We had a delightful surprise, this week. Husband and I had thought we were done with Foyle's War because the 8th season was followed by a number of specials about the series. But, then he paged down and discovered another season entirely. We have one final episode and then we'll definitely be finished.

The Cold War Years episodes are very different from the WWII episodes and often the stories don't feel quite as complete to me, but I'd have been happy if Foyle's War went on forever. It's such a fascinating series and I love the main characters.

As to what we'll watch after that last episode of Foyle's War is over (probably tonight), problem solved! I saw a commercial for Our Girl on BritBox and was intrigued. Husband was not, but I decided to turn on the pilot "for a few minutes" to see if I'd like it, figuring it would be something I'd watch on my own. Molly Dawes is a medic in the series and the pilot shows her chaotic, messy life and how she comes to get tested and go through preliminary and basic training. She's just arrived in Afghanistan at the end of the pilot.

I wasn't sure I was going to like the show, at first, and my delightful spouse was absolutely not interested. But, I never did turn it off, obviously. And, midway through the pilot, Husband put down his phone. It's a compelling story and I liked the growth of Molly during the pilot. When it was over, I asked if he wanted to continue the series or if I should watch it on my own and he said, "We can watch it together." Yippee! There are only two seasons, so I'll have to keep scouting what to watch after that, but I'm excited.

For those who kindly recommended Broadchurch . . . that turned out to be a no go. Husband has watched the first episode and he declared it too violent for his taste. I might someday watch it on my own, but it won't be one we view together.

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