What are you reading now?

[Peter]

Since the last thread on this topic has reached the dizzying heights of 5 pages I've started a new literary corner!

I'm still reading the biography of that amazing lady Alice Sommer-Herz who along with her son the cellist Raphael Sommer survived Theresienstadt. Can you believe that under such terrible conditions she used to give concerts that included all the Chopin etudes at a single recital? Apparently even Rubinstein backed off from that feat even under normal circumstances! She is still alive today at the age of 107 living in London. Truly a remarkable and inspiring person.

Watch her BBC radio interview on youtube given when she was 103!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4M6...eature=related

[Joy]

This book has nothing to do with music but I'm reading the 'Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs'. It's a fascinating book with some wonderful illustrations and since I have always been interested in paleontology it has been a great read.

[Joy]

Since the last thread on this topic has reached the dizzying heights of 5 pages I've started a new literary corner!

I'm still reading the biography of that amazing lady Alice Sommer-Herz who along with her son the cellist Raphael Sommer survived Theresienstadt. Can you believe that under such terrible conditions she used to give concerts that included all the Chopin etudes at a single recital? Apparently even Rubinstein backed off from that feat even under normal circumstances! She is still alive today at the age of 107 living in London. Truly a remarkable and inspiring person.

Watch her BBC radio interview on youtube given when she was 103!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4M6...eature=related

Amazing is right!

[Bonn1827]

Sorry Joy, but on first sight I thought your book on Dinosaurs was actually about politics!

[Joy]

Sorry Joy, but on first sight I thought your book on Dinosaurs was actually about politics!

Ha! Ha!

[Michael]

You might notice a slight trembling in my writing because I am ploughing through a huge volume of Irish Ghost stories, mostly from the 19th century.

[Megan]

Lord Byron

One of my favourite poets is Lord Byron, and most conveniently, a bookshop near be decided to have a sale, and guess what I found. A book on Byron ! Partly his poetry , but mostly to do with the rivalry of the two women he left behind, his society wife Annabella Milbanke, and his half sister, Augusta , both of whom bore him daughters.

The book is called, The kindness of Sisters

[Bonn1827]

Wasn't it Byron who said:

"Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter,
Sermons and soda-water the day after". (Don Juan)

Yuk factor with the half sister thingy, though.

[Sorrano]

You might notice a slight trembling in my writing because I am ploughing through a huge volume of Irish Ghost stories, mostly from the 19th century.

I love ghost stories! Generally, I will have several volumes on hand with actual accounts, as well as fictionalized. Just don't mind that odd shadow behind you....

[Joy]

Ghost stories are a fun read and I have a few books on the subject. One is Haunted Heartland with lots of short stories which are pretty good and scary.
Uh, oh, here comes that dark shadow, yipes!

[Michael]

Ghost stories are a fun read and I have a few books on the subject. One is Haunted Heartland with lots of short stories which are pretty good and scary.
Uh, oh, here comes that dark shadow, yipes!

I think there was a spooky TV series called "Tales from the Heartland" - but maybe I've the name wrong.
The book I'm reading now has a large selection from the Irish writer Joseph Sheridan le Fanu. His short novel "Carmilla" influenced Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Another of his stories, "Green Tea" has turned up in a lot of collections.

I looked up your book, Joy - and the stories are supposed to be true!

[Joy]

I think there was a spooky TV series called "Tales from the Heartland" - but maybe I've the name wrong.
The book I'm reading now has a large selection from the Irish writer Joseph Sheridan le Fanu. His short novel "Carmilla" influenced Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Another of his stories, "Green Tea" has turned up in a lot of collections.

I looked up your book, Joy - and the stories are supposed to be true!

From what I remember, I believe you're right about the 'Tales from the Heartland' being a TV show. In my book it asks the question 'are the stories that follow true?' and it goes on to say 'we don't know but we believe these stories have been told by the people involved as if they were true. The tales are passed along as accounts of what happened to ordinary people.' In any case they are very good and since I grew up in that part of the country, the midwest, they are very interesting to me. It's written in a way so it takes you back to that time and place. They also have tours you can go on. Sounds fun.
You're book sounds fascinating and I'll have to look into that one.
My dad had the entire Sherlock Holmes collection which was another interesting read.

[Michael]

My dad had the entire Sherlock Holmes collection which was another interesting read.

Don't get me started on Sherlock Holmes. I've been a fan since I was twelve!
Conan Doyle himself wrote some very good creepy stories.

[Michael]

You're book sounds fascinating and I'll have to look into that one.
.

It's "The Wordsworth Collection of Irish Ghost Stories". My copy is from the library and it's over a 1000 pages in length, so I may have to renew it a few times. I don't know if the "Wordsworth" publications are available in the USA but they publish a huge selection of classics in paperback editions which are extremely cheap but very well presented. They concentrate mostly on 19th century fiction (which is conveniently out of copyright).
I think they provide a valuable service nowadays. For example, you can get the two volumes of "Les Miserables" for about six euro (six dollars? I don't know the rate of exchange.)
Anyway, you can get a nice book to hold in your hand instead of trying to read it off a computer screen. Here is a link:

http://www.wordsworth-editions.com/

[Sorrano]

Don't get me started on Sherlock Holmes. I've been a fan since I was twelve!
Conan Doyle himself wrote some very good creepy stories.

I've enjoyed reading all the Sherlock Holmes works, too! What others would you recommend by Doyle?