Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

I'm in love with Major Pettigrew. Or, maybe I'm in love with Edgecomb-St. Mary's. Or, maybe I'm just an Anglophile.

Last spring break, we (Mere, MR and I) picked this book up at the Mt. Pleasant Barnes and Noble and decided that it would be our next "Williamson Girl Book Club" selection. I recall liking the cover art and the brief back cover write-up. Then, we put the book down, Mere deciding she'd buy it on Kindle (did you?) and I decided I'd buy that fifth Outlander book (really, when am I going to stop reading those!!) instead and that I'd get Major Pettigrew's Last Stand as an audiobook later.

I am confident, CONFIDENT I must say in all caps, that you all will love this book, too. It's sharp, funny, peaceful, and sweet. A well-written little gem with lots of little conversations and sentiments that make me wish I had the paper version so I could dog ear the corners of the pages that I really like. But alas, the narrator is wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I keep losing my place in the audiobook and find myself going back and having to relisten to whole chapters of the book and not really minding a bit.

And remember, you're never too old to fall in love with an unsuitable person. xoxo

By the Lion, Patrick Stewart!

First of all, I would like to salute the good Capt. Picard for doing an amazing job at narrating "The Last Battle." Sure, the female voices could be... more female, but I really don't see anyway of getting around that (likewise to all the male voices by Kate Reading (Mistress of the Art of Death (Mom, did you ever finish it?) and weirdly Shopaholics as well). Harrrrrryyyyyy!)


I find that, once into a book, I really start to forget whether or not I like the narrator, as long as the book is good. Sometimes the narration is helped by having appropriate accents for the narrators (Life of Pi) or additional voices (Broadway Nights). I was continuously appreciative of several things about Patrick Stewart, including his definably different character voices and his ability to speak quickly in extreme situations while still dictating/annunciating well (he also just has a really nice voice)!

As for the book, I really love most all things Narnia and this is no exception. Having gone through the audio books lately, however, it has been interesting to re-gauge my reaction to them with my somewhat more feminist and analytic eye/ear. It is always frustrating to listen to anything I idolized as a kid, and then realize as an adult that the girls are sometimes really treated as 'little delicate things...' I disagree, however, that Lewis was completely sexist. I don't want to defend his treatment or old-school thinking, but the fact remains that Aslan appears most to Lucy and there is ne'er a book where an important (if non-fighting) female is opposite a male. I seriously wonder if the girl characters would be written differently if Lewis was writing today. I also am a supporter of girls and boys being different and better at certain things than the other in some cases, which also come into play often. I, after all, feel a little surer of showing a bike problem to a Dad or guy friend, but I would just as soon show it to Capers if she is around! I don't really feel like addressing the Christian analogies right now, but I like them, and maybe it's something for the comments.

Hope I haven't lost anyone here. My personal opinion (of which there are plenty in the various book blogs/reviews found simply in searching for a picture for this blog) is that I still love the book and find its metaphors good, but there are somethings I don't like. The good outweighs the bad, however, and I don't feel like I'm compromising my standards to say that.

Krakauer

Remember back when Gwennie posted this about Jon Krakauer? Well, the spell has taken me in as well. However, I'm going in a bit of a different order. I listened to Into Thin Air, just finished Under the Banner of Heaven and am now listening to Into The Wild.

I've seen the movie of Into the Wild so I have a good idea of the storyline, but I think his writing really does pull you in more than even a visual story can. Thoughts?

I'm also thinking that Under the Banner of Heaven will be my least favorite. I don't hate it persay.. and it definitely made me think... it's just... depressing. I realize that might be a funny thing to say since the other two also involve death, but it's in a totally different way. Murder vs. Extreme outdoors. I also have been telling people about Under the Banner and for some reason they always tell me to stop. Hmm.. Did anyone else read/listen to this?

By the way, is anyone buying an AT&T accessory anytime soon? I have a 25% off coupon and will mail it to you...

“Jesus, Mary, Muhammad and Vishnu, how good to see you Richard Parker!”

"The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is one of Auntie G's absolute most favorite books, with good reason.


I like bragging that I read it (starting with a couple chapters at JoBeth because I was waiting for my nerd friends to come back from the graphic novels) a waaaay long time ago. This has, however, lost effect since I didn't really seem to remember why I liked it so much. 


For one (1), it is simply a great story, with stories in stories.

Two (2), the way in which it is written has a very old timey feel, I find, of explaining things so well that you can truely see them. This book is full of things for the senses.

Three (3), with all the tragedy that goes on, it still manages to be uplifting. I was constantly amazed at the voice of the narrator (i.e. Pi) and his outlook on all that he went through.

Four (4) it is the very best when reading it. Holding on to the feeling it gives you is so wonderful. When it ends... it just ends.


Lastly (no number), and this is not really positive or important, but rather a peeve... I don't think any illustrations fit that of the boat. It was bigger. That bugs me, but I still love the cover (which drew me to it in JoBeth) and I recommend it. Am I preaching to the choir here? Do you guys have anything more constructive to say about it?

Dear Tina Fey,

Thank you for Bossypants, the audiobook.  I was listening to you this morning while I was running, started laughing, couldn't catch my breath and almost ran into a mailbox.  Perhaps I should not have interrupted my reading/listening of the Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, a novel narrated by a chimpanzee which has yet to make me laugh, to start Bossypants.  Clearly, I should think twice about driving whilst listening.  I haven't had this much fun since Broadway Nights.  Now, if I can just figure out how to download the .pdf so that I can see the white denim suit.   

Sincerely,

G. Mathews

Baby's First Audiobook

I finally did it!

At long last! Success!! I conquered an audiobook AND Everest!

I knew that I had to be a Williamson girl deep down and have felt so out of the loop with my non-audiobook-listening. Poor Isabug downloading audiobooks, but never actually listening to them. What a loser. Anyway, can I join the club now?

Onto the details. How? Why? When?

After entering the Frankfurt airport at an early (Claire even drove me!) 9:45am I proceeded to my gate where they basically lock you in with no options of food or drink and one TV. I parked myself in front of the TV that had no sound and watched some news while debating how I could bide my time. As it turns out I was a little tired of Wicked, having listened to it repeatedly for the past month with no break while I was in Germany, so scrolled through my boring music selection. Finally I decided to check out the audiobooks and lo and behold but I saw Into Thin Air. "Smart thinking, Isabug." I said to myself. I have always wanted to read it and this was my chance. I quickly pressed the play button and my journey began. I listened and listened and listened. I listened while I watched the Royal Wedding that appeared on the TV shortly after.. I listened as we boarded the plane.. I listened as the man in front of me obnoxiously sang along with his iPod on the phone (WHO DOES THAT?!?!)... and I listened in spite of having over 20 movie selections, most of which I had been waiting to see (King's Speech anyone?). Thankfully, I had a 7.5 hour flight so it was pretty much over by the time we landed. Maybe that's the key to my audiobook plight - listening all at once?

In any case, I loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I want to listen to it again and again.. although now that I'm back in New York I'm afraid that my audiobook listening days may be limited. Darn you loud subway riders and the need for no distraction so that you get off at the right subway stop. Yes, that happened this morning. I walked from 53rd and 5th to work...surprisingly for the first time ever! I don't know if I'm actually a changed person yet, but at least I have conquered one audiobook. Hello Williamson girls, I'm here!

ibooks...

Ok, while I realise we blur the lines of "reading" a lot on this blog in favor of listening, I'm still not sure if an ibook really counts more than an audio book, especially if you are reading it off something the size of your palm (David would have the advantage there... huge mitten wearer)... and I'm off on a tangent already. The point I wanted to get out here is that I know many of you dear readers have handy...cell phones ;) and most classics are available FO FREE!

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but COOL. Jane Austens, Jane Eyre, Huck Finn, etc! I haven't read a full book per se, but rather SHERLOCK HOLMES which is FREE/awesome. I recommend it for everybody.

This example even contains an ibook ihave (Winnie the Pooh) and one I've listened to but not "read"... (House Rules)!

I am going to look for more Sherlock Holmes now. I like them because they're not so long, so you're not looking at that little screen forever, and because they're great.


EDIT: speaking of blurring the lines, I have not found more Sherlock Holmes yet because "The Warblers" apparently have an album!!!!@!@$#@$Q