Farewell and adieu, ye fair English book-reads

Posted on May 4, 2020 by smellincoffee

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So ends another April, and with it — Read of England.   Perhaps this April should have been watch of England, since I did re-watch Fawlty Towers (for the 856th time, I think), began exploring Sherlock and Outlander, revisited most of my favorite Rowan Atkinson sketches ,  and finally watched the Downton Abbey movie.   Although I couldn’t eat any authentic British biscuits, a tea-loving friend of mine and I did bake scones and enjoy a few Sunday teas together .   This corona business has been awful for diets – -everyone is baking and snacking during Netflix binges, myself included. And it doesn’t help that my coworkers keep baking!

scones
We did plain, cranberry, and chocolate-chip.

Book-wise…

History
The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great,  Benjamin Merkle
The Warrior Queen: The Life and Legend of Aethelflaed, Joanna Arman
The Making of the British Army, Allan Mollinson
A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages, Martyn Witlock

Historical Fiction
The Bright Blue Sky,  Max Hennessey
Cruel as the Grave,  Sharon Kay Penman
Outlander,  Diane Gabaldon

Literature
“The Lady of Shalott”, Alfred Lord Tennyson
“Enoch Arden”, Alfred Lord Tennyson

Outlander is technically still in progress.  Now, if you’re slow-blinking at me for reading a romance novel when romance is one of the things I like least in books,   I blame two female friends for preying on my historical interests.  The basic premise (a woman thrown back into 18th century Scotland) was enough to lure me in, or at least distract me from continuing with Narcos, Better Call Saul, and Waco.    It’s not a series I’ll be continuing in, I wouldn’t think.   I also FINALLY sampled a bit of Tennyson, at least something beyond his “Charge of the Light Brigade”.   Enoch Arden was beautifully tragic, and I was surprised to realize  one of  my favorite paintings is based on “The Lady of Shalott”.    There were also a few books I didn’t get to, some of which may pop up as May goes on, including a history of the Plantagenets.    Also in May, expect a fair bit of science.

 

Finally, “May the Fourth be with you”. I was going to do a Star Wars books post, but then I realized I haven’t read that much Star Wars literature of note, the exceptions being the Darth Bane trilogy and Matthew Stover’s excellent movie novelization of Revenge of the Sith.

 

 

 

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COVID Diary #6

Posted on May 1, 2020 by smellincoffee

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As the expiration date for the governor’s stay-at-home order approaches, we in the Heart of Dixie have been waiting expectantly to see what will happen. The governor declined to open early last week, when the states surrounding us did, and maintained that Alabama’s re-opening would be data-, not date-driven.      Three days ago  we received the new ‘safer at home’ order, which is a ..very slight relaxing of the rules.   Retail is now re-opened, though entertainment venues, gyms, and hair salons remained closed, and restaurants must hold the line as far as takeout-only.   The changes strike me as minimal, with only the opened beaches striking me as a point of concern: I think people will swamp them just as in Georgia they’re currently swamping the restaurants and hair salons.  Retail is less problematic…. I can’t see people storming the gates of Books-A-Million and BassPro Shops at the moment. (Actually,  depending on where you live, BassPro was probably still open — two thirds of their stores never had to close. God himself can’t cancel turkey season.)

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Two weeks ago the library staff began pondering what a phased re-opening would look like. Our plan, in the event of re-opening, was to open only for three hours in the afternoon, the rest of the day being reserved for our curbside service, and to sharply restrict the number of people in the building, and their time using the computers, in conformity with whatever the governor declared.    We’ve removed chairs so that no one can sit within the six foot radius of another person (going from 40+ computer stations to 15), and would be closing the building an hour before our official closing to enable deep cleaning.   All staff and all visitors would be required to wear masks and gloves, and the librarians have been making masks to give to those who have not been able to find any. We’re also covering the keyboards and mice  with plastic film,  some of which can be cleaned after every use and some of which will be disposed of after every use.  All this seems to comply with the governor’s new rules, but we’ve decided to follow her example, insofar as caution is concerned, and so we won’t  try this restricted opening until May 18th.

Last night I visited Walmart to pick up some groceries and was annoyed by the outside loudspeakers declaring that loitering inside or out was strictly verboten.  Inside,  I noticed there were new stickers on the floor informing people they could only enter aisles from certain directions, to create one-way traffic.    Though I understand the purpose,  the atmosphere  all this creates is ominous. I half-expected to have to present my papers to some humorless individuals wearing Hugo Boss uniforms.    Amusingly,   the policy was adopted by Walmart corporate about a month ago, but my local store is only just now putting it into effect.

It seems like we’re at the end of the beginning — though I imagine it will be some time yet before we approach the beginning of the end!

 

 

 

 

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British Historical Fiction

Posted on April 29, 2020 by smellincoffee

This is an index post of historical fiction set in Britain that I originally published in November 2016. I’ve just updated to keep it current. The order of books is roughly chronological.



Ancient and Legendary Britain
Stonehenge, Bernard Cornwell
The Winter King: A Story of Arthur, Bernard Cornwell
Enemy of God: A Story of Arthur, Bernard Cornwell
Excalibur: A Story of Arthur, Bernard Cornwell

Roman Britain
Under the Eagle, Simon Scarrow
The Eagle’s Conquest, Simon Scarrow
When the Eagle Hunts, Simon Scarrow
The Eagle and the Wolves, Simon Scarrow

The Birth of England: Anglo-Saxons and the Viking Era
The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell
The Pale Horseman, Bernard Cornwell
Lords of the North, Bernard Cornwell
Sword Song: the Battle for London, Bernard Cornwell
The Burning Land, Bernard Cornwell
Death of Kings, Bernard Cornwell
The Pagan Lord, Bernard Cornwell
The Empty Throne, Bernard Cornwell
Warriors of the Storm, Bernard Cornwell
The Flame Bearer, Bernard Cornwell
War of the Wolf, Bernard Cornwell
The Sword of Kings, Bernard Cornwell
War Lord, Bernard Cornwell
Finn Gall, James Nelson (IRISH EXTRA)
Dubh-Linn,  James Nelson. (IRISH EXTRA)

High Middle Ages
Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Acquitaine, Alison Weir
In a Dark Wood, Michael Cadnum
Here There Be Dragons, Sharon Penfield
Cruel as the Grave, Sharon Penfield
The Archer’s Tale, Bernard Cornwell
1356, Bernard Cornwell
Heretic, Bernard Cornwell
Azincourt, Bernard Cornwell
Longbow, Wayne Grant
Warbow, Wayne Grant
The Broken Realm, Wayne Grant
The Ransomed Crown, Wayne Grant
A Prince of Wales,  Wayne Grant
Hood, Stephen Lawhead
Scarlet,  Stephen Lawhead
Tuck, Stephen Lawhead
Essex Dogs,   Dan Jones
Lionheart, Ben Kane
Crusader, Ben Kane
King, Ben Kane

Tudors, Stewarts
Katherine of Aragon: the True Queen, Alison Weir
The Other Queen, Phillipa Gregory
The Lady Elizabeth, Alison Weir
The Marriage Game, Alison Weir
Armada, John Stack
Come Rack! Come Rope!, Robert Hugh Benson
Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir
Fools and Mortals, Bernard Cornwell
A Taste for Blood, Ellis Peters
Acts of Oblivion,  Robert Harris

Age of Discovery and Early Empire
A Conspiracy of Paper, David Liss
A Spectacle of Corruption, David Liss
The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War, Bernard Cornwell
Redcoat, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Tiger, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Triumph, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Fortress, Bernard Cornwell

England against the World: the Napoleonic Era
The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower, C. Northcote Parkinson
Young Hornblower, C.S. Forester
Captain Horatio Hornblower, C.S. Forester
Commodore Hornblower, C.S. Forester
Lord Hornblower, C.S. Forester
Hornblower and the Hotspur, C.S. Forester
Hornblower during the Crisis, C.S. Forester
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies, C.S. Forester
Master and Commander, Patrick O’Brien
Sharpe’s Rifles, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Eagle, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Trafalgar, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Havoc, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Gold, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Escape, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Fury, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Battle, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Company, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Sword, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Enemy, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Honor, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Regiment, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Siege, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Revenge, Bernard Cornwell
Waterloo, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Devil, Bernard Cornwell
Sharpe’s Christmas, Bernard Cornwell
Rifleman Dodd and The Gun, C.S. Forester
Any Approaching Enemy, Jay Worrall
A Sea Unto itsself, Jay Worrall

…and thereafter
Gallows Thief, Bernard Cornwell
The Scarlet Thief, Paul Fraser Collard (Crimea)
Aces over Ypres, John Stack (WW1)
The Lion at Sea, Max Hennessey (WW1)
Falling into Battle,  Andrew Wareham (WW1)
The Bright Blue Sun, Max Hennessey (WW1)
The Mustering of the Hawks, Max Hennessy (WW1)
The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, Helen Simonson (immediate postwar)
The Dangerous Years, Max Hennessey (interwar)
Enigma, Robert Harris (WW2)
Breaking Point: A Novel of the Battle of Britain,  John Rhodes (WW2)
To So Few,  Russell Sullman (WW2)
Darkest Hour, James Holland (WW2)
Blood of Honor, James Holland (WW2)
The Fox from his Lair,  Max Hennessey (WW2)
V-2, Robert Harris (WW2)

 

*cackles*
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Some favorite bits of corona culture

Posted on April 28, 2020 by smellincoffee

This is just a quick post to share some of my – — well, it’s there in the title.  Presented in the order that they come to mind.

“One Day More”


“Sh%t Southern Women Say in a Pandemic”


“When this thing’s over, I hope that woman stays six feet away from me.”

(This is part of a series which I’ve linked to before.)

“Maskmaker, Maskmaker, Make Me a Mask”

“Gee, Dr. Fauci” to the tune of “Gee, Officer Krupke”

 

 

I think there’s a limit to the amount of embedded videos in WordPress, so I’ll limit it to those four — but I also enjoyed “Do Re Mi – COVID-19“, and of course John Krasinki’s wonderful “Some Good News”.

Feel free to leave links to your own favorites below!

 

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Cruel as the Grave

Posted on April 28, 2020 by smellincoffee

Cruel as the Grave: A Medieval Mystery
© 1998 Sharon Kay Penman
274 pages

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Justin de Quincy has a problem. Several problems, actually.   Chiefly, there’s the fact that his king is presumed captured overseas, and possibly dead, while the king’s malicious brother John  is actively trying to seize the throne against the wishes of Justin’s master, Richard’s mom — Eleanor of Aquitaine.    Justin’s lover was recently exposed as a concubine and spy for John, so he’s a bit moody about that, and now some friends are asking him to look into the sudden death of their daughter, who appears to have been raped and murdered in a church cemetery.   The Queen wants Justin to sneak into one of John’s castles, presently under siege, to convey a message, so juggling that, the case, and the lover, will take some doing.   The result is a diverting medieval mystery/spy thriller, though not one long enough to develop serious interest.     The book read rather differently than Penman’s Here be Dragons, which combined historical narrative with nonfiction,   though it does work in a few choice bits of historical detail — the Hue and Cry being raised, for instance.  I would have been more attached to the characters had I read the first volume in this trilogy (where Justin’s lover is exposed),  but I didn’t realize at the time that this wasn’t a standalone.  As it was,  I enjoyed it quite well enough. Historical mysteries are a rare find; I don’t know of many others besides Cornwell’s Gallows Thief —  and of course,Steven Saylor’s Gordianus series.

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The Bright Blue Sky

Posted on April 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

© 1983 Max Hennessy
250 pages

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High above was a layer of stratus, ice-white so that the sky seemed full of light, and Dicken knew against it they were silhouetted perfectly, a wonderful target for the ground gunners.

Dicken Quinney didn’t enter the war for politics or glory — he just wanted to fly.    Dangerous as it was, once he’d experienced soaring above the clouds, he couldn’t tear himself away from it. From France to Italy,  “Dick” gets his chance here,  facing the Hun, imperfect machines, and malicious COs alike.   He begins as a lowly artillery observer before trying his luck in the Royal Flying Corps,  where he flies against Germany’s best in some of England’s worst  — not until the very end of the book is he flying a decent ‘bus’, in fact. What gets him through is sheer luck and a bit of skill.

Bright Blue Sky is principally a work of aerial combat,  with some character drama (and development) thrown in.  Hennessey’s work is definitely not wish fulfillment:   “Dickie” makes the most of what he has, flying canvas crates while Germans in proper planes are massacring his brother airmen.  He also has little luck, romantically,  though despite this he’s an object of jealousy from the aptly-named Diplock, a sniveling toadie who did get the girl — and the promotion —  but apparently feels worlds insecure in both.   Other memorable characters include Zoe (a liberated wrench wench), and Willie Hatto, a poor Irish nobleman who cheers up any scene he’s in.  Most appreciated is Hennessey’s visit to the often ignored Italo-Austrian front.  The author seems to have numerous air-and-sea series scattered among the world wars, I imagine I’ll be reading him again.

Some of my Kindle highlights:

“Just in front of the shell hole were abandoned packs, rifles and shovels, and unspeakable bodies from the previous winter, black, damp, and decomposing, together with a dead mule, disemboweled by a shell, a man sitting with his back to it, bolt upright but headless. Nauseated, he turned away to find himself staring into the single dead eye of the forward observation officer, and at the moment he decided he didn’t like trench warfare. ”

“For the most part, the future didn’t exist, because the war stretched in a bloody blur across it, leaving a curious sense of emptiness and want.”

“‘They’re very pretty’, Zoe said, fingering the wings on Dicken’s tunic. ‘And I see you’ve got another medal, too. What’s that for?’
‘Saving Willie Hatto’s life.’   She touched the ribbons.
‘I thought that was for saving Willie Hatto’s life.’
‘This one’s for saving it again.’
‘It sounds like a put-up job to me. What does he do? Go around getting himself into trouble so that you can drag him out?'”

“[Hatto] held up the bottle. ‘Have a go?”   Dicken shook his head.
‘No thanks’ he said, ‘We thought you were dead and we’ve had too much already.’
‘Because you thought I was dead? Dear old fruits, what a jolly decent thing to do!'”

 

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The Weather Machine

Posted on April 25, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Weather Machine: How We See Into the Future
©  2019 Andrew Blum
224 pages

weathermachine

How do we know what the forecast will be?  Well, we don’t — yesterday my chances of afternoon rain were supposedly minimal, and yet by the end of it there  I was, delivering books under an umbrella!   But forecasts are much better than they used to be, to the point that a six-day forecast today is about as good as a two-day forecast thirty years ago.   How is that possible?     In The Weather Machine, Andrew Blum offers a quick history of how the ‘weather machine’ —  a network of observers, scientists,  sensors, and computers across the globe — came to be, beginning with one Norwegian’s theories about the physics of weather.  It’s not nearly as comprehensive as Tubes, in which Blum traced the physical infrastructure of the internet,  and there’s more emphasis on the model than the metal bones of it all,  but it has more than enough interest to merit the $2 sale price I picked it up for.

We begin with a discussion of the telegraph, which made the idea of the weather machine possible: for the first time, it was possible to receive instant information about the weather conditions throughout the world, and from these assembled pieces, discern patterns.  Observation is only part of the equation, however: key to creating a working weather forecast was a model about how the atmosphere created weather.   Enter the mathematicians, and things get complicated indeed. The physical infrastructure continued to develop,  spurred by war: Blum notes that we learned to see the entire Earth through means that were created to destroy it.   One of the more interesting examples of this is that during World War 2,  Germany made several meteorological innovations because of its being cut off from Allied weather information — creating remote  devices and planting one in Canada that would autonomously absorb and relay information about temperature, wind, etc — to  its weather service for forecasting purposes.   Bear in mind, of course, that during wars, the weather is a vital piece of the puzzle, especially  where shipping and air operations were concerned.

The Weather Machine is a fun little piece — not a systematic overview of how a forecast is generated, but one that covers enough of the pieces for a reader to go away suitably impressed by the vast concert of ground observers, satellites, and data crunchers.

Related:
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, Erik Larson.   While this is chiefly about the Galveston hurricane of 1900, it featured a lot of background information on the growth of the Weather Bureau.

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An English shield-maiden and England’s army

Posted on April 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Time for two mini-reviews!

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First up, The Making of the British Army.   Retired brigadier Allan Mallinson  traces the history of Britain’s army to the creation of the New Model Army during the English civil war. Unlike armies of old, the New Model Army was a professional, standing one; it wasn’t a feudal rabble, an emergency militia rudely armed with farm implements and dispersed as soon as danger was over.   After the roundheads  were defeated and cheerful corruption replaced by dour, humorless corruption, the army found a peaceable purpose for itself as the keepers of public order. Although frequently challenged by fiscal tightening,  England’s rise as an influencer on the continent  — and then the world —  gave it steady work, despite being overshadowed by the Navy.    Although Making is technically a military history, it’s not  a chronicle of battles. Instead, the focus is on the British army as an organization;    certain battles are highlighted for  bringing prominent leaders to the fore,  or  developing Britain’s military philosophy.    I found it quite the education, and not just about the British army!  Whenever I encounter lancers in the 19th century, I invariably used to think of them as medieval anarchornism that Europe hadn’t gotten around to disbanding yet. I had no idea that lances actually made a comeback once infantry began going without armor ! That’s what happens when most of one’s military interest involves either swords and shields, or airplanes:   a great deal in the middle is overlooked entirely.

 

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Although there are not many facts to work with, Arman has created a very readable and balanced story of Æthelflæd’s extraordinary life. Resources on her more famous father, Alfred the Great, are hard to come by themselves, so you can imagine how scarce materials are regarding his daughter — who, though accomplished, led a much less prominent kingdom than Wessex. Arman does her utmost to glean a story about Æthelflæd’s life by reading between the the lines of other sources — guessing at what her education might have been through comparison with similar subjects, for instance, and consulting other histories and literary works for allusions to her. I was particularly taken with Arman’s frequent gentle reminders to readers that there’s a great deal believed about the modern period which is misleading, if not downright erroneous. The world was not regarded as flat, and women did not sit at home darning their husband’s tights: in the medieval household, regardless of social position, husbands and wives were two oxen at the same plow — both working together. Æthelflæd’s novelty was as ruling as queen in her own right, well after her husband had perished, and training her daughter to succeed her. Arman also notes Æthelflæd’s military activity, although she notes three other examples of prominent military females in the medieval period — and none were Joan of Arc. While this narrative is more about Æthelflæd’s times, rather than a detailed account of her life, it has much of interest.

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Quarantine Gaming

Posted on April 17, 2020 by smellincoffee

I’ve been gaming a bit more in the last month or so as a result of La Corona, so I thought I’d share a few screenshots…..because I can. wastoldtocookI was told to cook. No one told me when to stop.

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Ladies, I know there’s a rule that you have to go to the bathroom together, but this is a bit…silly. (And no, I didn’t pick out any of these clothes, especially that godawful yellow work uniform assigned to poor Anna.)

yikes

Bored? Who, me? Why do you ask?

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This game is so freakin’ adorable sometimes.

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During a desert storm…

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And after!  What a beaut this game is.

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One quiet morning I was sneaking around the lake, hunting for beaver. I was surprised by a moose — and horrified, because I didn’t have anything to bag it with. I was only carrying my small-game rifle, wholly inadequate to taking a moose, especially if I wanted to preserve the pelt. Fortunately,  Mr. Moose was a bit thick, and struggled to get out of the lake, giving me time to call my horse and fetch my poison arrows. I was able to claim its luscious fur for my future wardrobe needs.

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Um…I thought I was playing this to get away from the pandemic.

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Beautiful, right? Now imagine bullets coming out of that, with no way of knowing who’s  shooting at you! That happened to me tonight. I was able to retreat to higher ground, and once the storm passed…..revenge.

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You know, game, you don’t need to be this gobsmackingly pretty all the time.

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Sick air, brah.

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One of the more mesmerizing things about RDR2 is that animal behavior is programmed into the game — so it’s possible to see wolves playing,  bucks fighting,  bears  hunting, etc.  While hunting I happened to hear wolves playing.

 

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Corona Diary #5

Posted on April 14, 2020 by smellincoffee

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Library service, corona style!

Sunday, all news of pandemics disappeared as we in Alabama looked to the darkening skies and wondered what Easter night would bring.  It was nine years ago that an April outburst of tornadoes killed over three hundred people, over half of whom were Alabamians,   and like most residents I wondered what tomorrow might bring.  I went to bed fully dressed in case I needed to wake and run (the worst activity was forecast from 11 pm  to 3 am),  with lanterns at the ready.  Today, however, the skies are blue again, and aside from a few fallen trees we in Alabama have escaped the sadder news of our neighbors in Mississippi and Georgia.   When I began surveying the Monday morning news with my coffee,  I was surprised at the amount of corona optimism I saw, too — NYC pondering what circumstances it might reopen, California predicting a peak this week,   doctors talking about that we should do next time instead of talking about what’s left to do now.

Work goes on at the library. We’ve continued to tweak our system;  we’re now using a couple of tables (that shot was from last week) for document/book deposit and pickup,  and demand has proven steady despite the awkwardness.  We’re hoping to start phasing in normalcy in May, but that all depends on what the news brings us in the next two weeks.

Book-wise…I’m plugging away at The Making of the British Army, and am in the midst of the Peninsular War at present.

Here’s hoping we’ll all be out and about sooner rather than later!

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