Streaming through Summer

 via

I am choosing to leave Atticus Finch just where I left him. A fictional hero who has stood the test of time and whose struggles,compassion,wisdom and grace resonate today as they did in 1960. Jean Louise's dad may be fiction, and we know real heroes walk amongst us everyday, but integrity, courage and character with a capital C are needed in our popular culture.  It would be a unforgivable if To Kill a Mockingbird's lesson plan in every Junior High school now had to come with an asterisk.   I have no  interest in picking up To Set a Watchman ,Harper Lee's new/old novel. She apparently wrote this before she wrote her Pulitzer Prize winning classic.  I like my heroes in tact thank you very much... and of course there is always Gregory Peck to remind me why To Kill a Mockingbird means so much to so many.  “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

This summer in fact is more about dusting off my books than reading them...Summer is flying by without me. I'm not sure where July has gone, or June for that matter-wasn't I just shoveling my way out the back door?  In the precious down moments that I can grab I seem to be streaming ,sadly not reading, but there are heroes there too.

  Poldark on PBS, a remake of the 1970s series based on the novels of Winston Graham's 18thc romantic saga.  I remember the original series  but this production has me captivated. Ross Poldark is a romantic hero for any age! and Aidan Turner has a screen presence you cannot take your eyes from.  Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza is pitch perfect as the scrappy urchin who blossoms into a strong and fiery woman who  can hold her own in any situation.  A sweeping, romantic, wonderful adventure.

via

 Also on the Summer Stream List :


The Astronaut Wives Club-Based on the true lives of the first astronauts' wives...there was a lot more happening on the ground than in space...love the clothes!

Gossip Girl-the clothes, the apartments, the characters...addicting.

The Hour -a 1950s BBC newsroom filled with dark mystery and passion.

The Newsroom-and speaking of newsroom Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston and Emily Mortimer are wonderful in this perfectly scripted Aaron Sorkin series.

Death Comes to Pemberley -based on PD James novel-I love the after-story of Elizabeth and Darcey

Sherlock-Not your typical hero... but Oh Mr. Holmes!

Gilmore Girls-Don't miss the chance to hang with the girls in Stars Hollow.

Downton Abbey-Enough said but watch it from the beginning!

Friday Night Lights-Get ready for football season or just believe in "clear eyes full hearts"  

The Jewel in the Crown-Critically applauded 1980s series set in the last days of the British presence in India.

Pride and Prejudice-Colin Firth!

Grand Hotel-A soapy Spanish period drama set in...a Grand Hotel

Velvet-Love, Romance, Drama all in an upstairs downstairs family saga department store setting in Madrid in the 1960s-come for the clothes stay for the characters.

Grace of Monaco -again... the clothes, the sets...

...And while we wait for the return of Project Runway:

Charade-Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and Paris-you need more??

Roman Holiday-Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn and Rome-you need more?

Houseboat- A Perfect summer spot

 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -Like you would miss a chance to spend time with Newman and Redford

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day-Adore Frances McDormand and Amy Adams in this delicious fluffy film

Lawrence of Arabia-as big as it gets!

An Affair to Remember...and you will!

How to Steal a Million-Audrey, Peter O'Toole and Givenchy in Paris!

When Harry met Sally-It still works!

A Room with a View -Florence Italy, E.m. Forester tale, Maggie Smith--enjoy!,

It Happened One Night-Classic is as Classic does!

Happy Summer Streaming!

Happy 200th Birthday Lizzie and Mr. Darcy!

 via

" It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

200 Years after "a LADY" published Pride and Prejudice her novel about The Bennet Family and their quest for suitable suitors is perhaps more popular than ever before.  Beloved dog-eared copies remain on our shelves and we revisit favorite pages and parts whenever we need to spend time with an old friend. 

 

Title Page from the First Edition of Pride and Prejudice first published in 1813 via

 Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice before she turned 21, the same age, in fact, as her  heroine Lizzie Bennet. Jane's manuscript was rejected by a publisher who did not even read it and eventually was purchased by Thomas Egerton in 1812 for £110. An edition of just 1500 copies was published in January of 1813 and sold for 18 shillings. Writing to her sister Cassandra on 29 January 1813, Jane  Austen expressed  her feelings about her Lizzy: "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know."

 

via

"The business of her life was to get her daughters married"

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Lizzie and Darcy I went in search of some of the covers that have wrapped around Jane's words in the past 200 years. Lots of "proud as a peacock" covers.  Since the original title of the novel was "First Impressions" the covers are a wonderful look into this most beloved story.  Here are some favorites of mine  with a few memorable quotes to go along with.  Whenever I re-read Pride and Prejudice I still hold my breath in anticipation to see whether Lizzie and Darcy will in fact get together.  
She was unlike any woman he ever met, spoke her mind, had her own will and did not fall at his feet-she could stand toe to toe with any man-even the proud Mr. Darcy-made for each other wouldn't you say!! 
 
"You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them."

  Jane Austen could never have imagined 200 years later that Darcy and Lizzie would still be together in our hearts and on our bookshelves.  Happy Birthday! 

 

" It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples."

 

 "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."

 

"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."...

"You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner. "

             

"Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? "

 "My good opinion once lost, is lost forever."

"You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever. "

 Want a clue what I will watch tonight!!!  

Images Via The Atlantic Wire

Turning Pages

 

via

Summer as we know moves too quickly...days are supposed to be long and leisurely yet I find myself chasing them and wondering why summer can't wait for me!  I always make BIG plans for my summer and on that list of  "I WILL DO!" is a stack of books piled high and calling me to just SIT!

via Inslee

I know I am not alone when I say that my day to day has become plugged in from the moment the eyes open in the morning to the moment the eyes slam shut at night- I am constantly checking or posting or emailing something somewhere-glued to the smart phone or laptop as if it were a fashion accessory that I wear.  True a lot of this is business oriented of course, but some of it is all new found habits and all of it takes time away from what every brain needs-quiet.  Reading has always been the place I go when the world gets too big and noisy and grouchy and though I am the queen of multi-tasking do I really want to spend every second of my precious summer days doing that???

Nishan Akgulian

I may not get through the whole pile of books on the bedside table in the next few weeks, and certainly not without checking the phone every chapter or so, but I'm turning a page for what is left of my summer--laptop down, book up!-Yes, I still like an old fashioned book with real pages in my hand--have not given in to the Kindle yet!

via

So off I go to find myself a special spot with no room for the laptop or phone-now the question remains can I read more than one book at a time--how about knitting while reading--so much for the vacation from multi-tasking :)

Illustrations by Nishan Akgulian for one of my favorite bookshops Bas Bleu

Here are some of the authors and titles I have ready and waiting-every summer I try to re-read a classic or two, usually at least one from Jane Austen of course -last summer was Dickens  Great Expectations  and this summer in advance of the Baz Luhrmann film it's The Great Gatsby.  Now, go find yourself a comfy spot!

The Shoemaker's Wife, Adriana Trigiani

The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach

Fly Away Home, Jennifer Weiner

My French Life-Vicki Archer

Unbroken-Laura Hillenbrand

The Chaperone -Laura Moriarty

Summer Rental Mary Kay Andrews

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake-Anna Quindlen

The House at  Riverton-Kate Morton

Rules of Civility -Amor Towles

Porch Lights-Dorothea Benton Frank

A Crimson Warning-Tasha Alexander

A BIG Box of Crayons...and LOTS of New Books! First Book for Back to School

Nishan Akgulian

"We have a little girl in our program, a pre-school child. She liked her book so much, she slept with it every night under her pillow. She wouldn't part with it for anything!" First Book

I think the true sign of Growing Up, not Growing Old- just growing up, is when Labor Day weekend rolls around and you actually miss going back to school...guess I am all grown up because all I want to do is go shopping for a Big Box of crayons, some cute folders, new pencils and lots and lots of new books.

Nishan Akgulian

What's your favorite book? Do you remember the first book that was your very own? How about a book that inspired you? Maybe there is a special book that introduced you to new horizons, brought a new kind of magic into your life and set you on the path to a lifetime of reading?

Books are a treasure in my life and I cannot imagine my world without them. I adore Nishan Akgulian's whimsical illustrations for Bas Bleu, my favorite little book and reading catalogue.

Akgulian's work happily expresses the joy of reading anytime, anyplace,anywhere, and what a special role books have in our lives. 

 A teacher told us that when she asked her class to bring in a book from home, three of the students brought in the phone book because that was the only book they had." 
Kyle Zimmer, First Book

First Book works to get books into the hands of kids who don't have access to new books, opening a world of reading to them.  Come join me in a Back to School Celebration by supporting First Book-Please Visit Pearls of Grace

A Good Cover! Out of Print-T Shirts with a Mission

Out of Print

Books are the treasured

wealth of the world

and the fit inheritance

of generations and nations.

-Henry David Thoreau

As long as I can remember I have loved old book shops.  They are few and far between in this country now, even in an old city like Boston. As we go digital and Kindle out our libraries, the feel of the page and the weight of the book in our hand connecting us to the words we read is getting lost, as is the experience of flipping through a dusty book that has been lovingly read by who knows how many adoring readers. Old books shops and independent bookstores are treasures, you never know what you will find and often you can  uncover some out of print covers.

When you roam the shelves of your favorite book shop searching for something new to read it is the cover that draws you in first-that cover must tell a story long before you turn the first page.  Book jacket art very often sells you the book, books with stories that you may hold dear and return to again and again.  A wonderful site, Out of Print ,celebrates classic and iconic book cover art, often from out of print editions of famous titles, and prints them on Ts that are  "...treated to feel soft and worn like a well-read book."  

T shirts are not only fun fashion,but also a way to make a statement. The Ts from Out of Print  not only  cheer great literary art and our love for all things with pages, but with every T sold  Out of Print  will donate a book to a community in need through Books for Africa, an organization dedicated to "ending the book famine in Africa" by collecting and distributing books to children in Africa and spreading the joy of books and reading. In October of last year after only 10 months Out of Print sent over 20,000 books to Africa.  

Out of Print also sells iPhone and e-reader covers with their cover art. Be sure to visit their blog with posts all about wonderful independent new and used bookshops and great literary finds. Come Visit Pearls of Grace.