Vienna and More from Eva Ibbotson

    Recently, I made a short mention of a book by Eva Ibbotson -- The Star of Kazan.  This story is set in Vienna.  According to a description of the book, it is set at the end of the 18th century.  However, while reading the book, I got the impression that it was set around 1908, though I am not sure.

     From wikipedia:  "The Star of Kazan (2004) is a novel written by Eva Ibbotson. It is about a child called Annika who was left as a baby just days old in a church. A cook and a housemaid take her home to some peculiar professors who live in Vienna."  From the book description at Amazon, "In 1896, in a pilgrim church in the Alps, an abandoned baby girl is found by a cook and a housemaid. They take her home, and Annika grows up in the servants' quarters of a house belonging to three eccentric Viennese professors."

     I guess that explains the book's time-setting misunderstanding I had.

     Another main character is "Zed ... a friendly gypsy boy who works for Edeltraut von Tannenberg. He is the son of a horse dealer and is descended from gypsies."

     These two become friends and their lives become intertwined.

     I mentioned this book in a post about books about WWI.  The main action of this story takes place before the Great War, in a time when Emperor Franz Josef was much beloved and Vienna was unaware of the world that was to come to Europe in less than a decade.  It is a wonderful time, it seems.  Vienna is a wonderful place to be.  I had added this book to the list of books about WWI because, knowing what was coming so soon ... made the story more poignant for me as a reader who enjoyed the story and liked the characters.

     Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna in 1925.  I was planning to share a bit of her biography here, but ... I think you will have to check out the Wikipedia article and two obituaries  (and probably some of the other citations for the Wikipedia article -- links to the two obituaries are at the end of the post) to try to figure out how long she lived in Vienna.  Vienna is the setting for at least three of her books.

     Other books by Eva Ibbotson that I have read or listened to include:

     *  The Ogre of Oglefort

     *  Dial-A-Ghost

     *  The Secret of Platform 13

     All three of these fantasy books are fun to listen to.  My favorite of the three is The Ogre of Oglefort, published in 2010.

     In The Secret of Platform 13, four rescuers are sent to London to retrieve the kidnapped son of their king and queen.  Every 9 years, a gump under Platform 13 of King's Cross Station opens up.  This allows the residents of an unknown island to travel to London or for others to travel to the island.  Nine years ago, the prince was kidnapped.  The four rescuers -- a wizard, a giant ogre, a fey and a young hag -- have nine days to find, rescue and return the prince to the island.

     DO NOT read the Publisher's Weekly review / synopsis of the book!  It's a "spoiler" -- revealing what most readers figure out very early and the book's characters figure out only at the very end.  They, Publisher's Weekly, must think that if readers will make this discovery for themselves so easily it is okay for them to reveal it.  The book is aimed at an audience 9 to 12 years old or grades 4 to 6.  Readers at this level (or probably at any level) will be pleased to figure out how things are long before the supposedly wise and able rescuers.  Why spoil that?

     If you read reader reviews of books, disregard any that claim this book is a Harry Potter "wanna-bee" or imitator.  The publication of this book preceded the Potter series.

     Oh, and one reviewer mentioned something I had forgotten (and I just listened to this book in the last couple of weeks) -- the harpies!  They are hilarious.  And there is one that carries a handbag and seems to resemble a certain "iron lady" of British politics ... Meaning, this book can be shared by adults with their children and the adult will find enjoyment in it too.

     The Ogre of Oglefort, again features a set of four rescuers.  This time to they go to an island.  Here they are to rescue a "princess" (daughter of a family that lives in a castle but the island really does not have a monarchy) from the clutches of an evil ogre.  These four rescuers include a hag who moved to London from a "dribble," an orphan named Ivo, a troll who works as an orderly in a hospital, and a wizard who is the son of a banshee. 

      When the four rescuers make their way to the ogre's castle, they discover that things are not what they seem ... and it is the ogre who needs "rescuing."

     This is another book adults won't mind sharing with children.  The audiobook version, suited for a car trip or just listening to instead of turning on the TV, will be enjoyed by all.

    I'm afraid it has been over a year since I listened to Dial-A-Ghost.  I remember bits of the plot and its twists, but not enough of them to give a synopsis of the book -- except to say that the ghastly ghosts, that have been rented to haunt the castle, go astray;  gentle ghosts arrive instead.  I remember that I enjoyed the book -- so it is probably time to listen to it again.  :-)

     Have you read any of these Eva Ibbotson books?  Or some of her other books?  Let me know in the comments section and I'll email you a pdf file with a printable bookmark and bookplate.

[If you wish to read a little more about Eva Ibbotson, here are links to two obituaries about her:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/8086363/Eva-Ibbotson.html

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/24/eva-ibbotson-obituary]

2 Books Jake & Kitty Suggest ...

Jake and Kitty are excited ... We just finished listening to a book I borrowed from the Public Library's online digital library.  They enjoyed the book so much they hope I will either borrow it often or see about adding it to the library of available audiobooks right here at home.  The Mouse With the Question Mark Tail  by Richard Peck, and read by Russ Bain is about three and half hours long, and fun to listen to.
     Set in the reign of Queen Victoria, in fact, on the eve of her Jubilee, the story is about a small mouse who doesn't know his name, who in one day breaks two very important rules -- including, never be seen by humans wearing clothes and not on all fours ... At first, Kitty was not interested in a story about a small mouse.  But, even Kitty got interested when the little mouse headed off for his first day of school -- being very sure the little mouse would get beaten up for being so small.  (Kitty, as sweet as she is, is after all, a cat ...)  This little mouse, who lives in the mews of Buckingham Palace in London, eventually gets the idea that the Queen herself might be able to help him figure out who he is and to find his place in the world.  In the end, even Kitty decided it was a good story, because it had a cat in it.  :-)

     Another story Kitty especially likes to listen to with Jake and me is Whittington by Alan Armstrong and read by Joel Rooks.  The book is a Newbery Honor-winning book about a tom cat, Whittington, who arrives at a New England barn that is full of rescued animals.  He begins to tell a story about his namesake, Dick Whittington, and his cat.   The barn owner's grandson and granddaughter come along and listen to the tale as well.
     Dick Whittington is an authentic character from London history -- serving as the city's mayor.  However, there are lots of stories about him, where he came from and what his life was like before he became mayor.  This is a good tale and fun to listen to.  Jake and I love the story probably even more than Kitty loves it -- she loves it because of the fact a cat is telling a story that depends on a cat so much.  :-)  Jake and I enjoy the adventure of it all.  We think you will enjoy the tale as well.
     So, check out The Mouse with the Question Mark Tale and Whittington;  we're sure you'll be glad you did!

[Not that you probably care, but when I clicked to get a preview of this post (best way I have found to proof read and still often have to do an edit later **sigh**), I see that the time the post was posted is off by 2 hours ... finally figured out where to go to check the time, date and time zone settings for the blog, and they are correct but ... somehow, the time posted is showing a time 2 hours earlier than the actual time ... unless my computer is actually off by those two hours ... I wonder which it is?  Oh well, it isn't truly important right now.  Thought I would mention it just in case you are interested ... **snicker**]

Another Kid's Book for Adults to Re-read ...

This is another of the books from the list of kids books that adults should reread.  Again, this book is a "first read" for me.

The main character is Dickory Dock, aged 17 and an art student who answers an ad to be an artist's assistant.  The book description says it is for readers at the 5th grade level and up.

I have not yet finished reading the book, but I find it is full of word play and satirical elements.  I am enjoying this book A LOT and am very happy to find that it is available from Powell's Books!

Who Needs Donuts? via ...

From Powell's Books. Turns out I did not need to wait for an application process, I just had to fill out the forms and Voila, I'm a Powell's Books "partner." Now the book I am sharing with you today is ... WONDERFUL! 
A couple of weeks ago, Book Riot (a page over at Facebook) shared a link to a list of kids books that adults should reread.  Hmmm ... lots of the books were newer than when I as a kid, so many are first reads for me  :-D
I went through the list with my public library's inter-library loan catalog up and running and found a few of these books.  Hubby's most recent visit to the library brought home a few of them.
Who Needs Donuts?  is one of the ones that are a "first read" for me.  There are a couple other books that he brought home that I will share with you very soon.  
Sort of like Where's Waldo, in that the pages are full of things to explore.  In this book, you are not seeking anything or anyone specific, just having a fun time reading all the signs and messages, seeing all the interesting items that fill all the space.  You've heard of "abhor vacui" in art?  Fear of White Space.  Well, it is certainly true here and well worth the time it takes to read the story (excellent) and to peruse the pages at a leisurely pace.
The book has a copyright of 1975 and I was afraid I might not find it at Powell's but I did.  I think you will love this book -- and if you borrow it from your library, you may decide to visit Powell's Books to find a copy for your own bookshelves!

Okay, a little more about the book so you know whether to seek out this book.  First, the story is about a little boy who wants donuts -- gazillions of them (not actually the amount referred to in the book), and far more than his parents could ever buy for him.  So, one day he peddles his trike to a big city and goes searching for donuts.  He finds donuts and more.  Great story even if you don't take the time to inspect the pages.  In fact, you probably want to read the story all the way through, then go back and spend a lot of time enjoying the pages at a slow pace.
What's on these pages that will make you want to spend so much time with them?  Well, they are pen drawings, in the cartoon style of Where's Waldo.  
I'm looking at the back cover of the book -->

• Inside the trash can, empty bottles labeled "Banana Cider"
• A pigeon, but with a horse's head, drinking from a can being held out to it that is labeled Yaussot's Hay Soda
• A can in the detritus on the ground labeled Chive Soda
• An old woman 
• A copy of "Old News" in another trash can with the headline "Worm Eats Building"
•  Another horse-headed bird, flying, wearing tie shoes, smoking a pipe that is putting out a shirt, a sock and a hair ribbon instead of smoke
• And lots and lots of artsy details

Yep, check out Who Needs Donuts, and maybe even revisit Where's Waldo while you are at it.


[edited -- added 5/30/14 -- I headed over to Book Riot to see if I could find their "Critical Linking" link to the list of children's books that adult's should reread.  Couldn't find it (easily) and gave up.  So just typed in the address bar (it will do a search from there -- cool beans) "kids books adults should reread" and got a few articles to choose from.  Here is the one I went through:  http://www.businessinsider.com/kids-books-adults-should-read-2014-2?op=1]

Affiliate & Privacy Info Disclaimer

Ugh, basic maintenance -- not the fun stuff but it needs to be done --> hence, the really silly pic of me over there ... :-)

Okay, it is apparent that I need to take some time for blog maintenance and clean up the stuff in the right sidebar.  And I need to add an affiliate and privacy policy disclaimer.

However, before I add those to the sidebar, I need to let you know the following:

• At present, (May 23, 2014), I am an "affiliate" with Amazon dot com.  That means, if you click on a link (usually a book title here) and it takes you to Amazon dot com, a cookie will be placed on your computer.  If you make a purchase at Amazon during the next 89 days, I will receive a small commission on your purchase(s).  Unless you click on a link to Amazon dot com at someone else's site in the meantime, then they get the commission.  (I hope you would come back here and click through to Amazon, find the item(s) you want to purchase and check out -- I really could use the income!)
• However, I will not be closing my Amazon affiliate account, but ... Amazon is currently engaged in some business practices that I find offensive and unethical.  Here is an article about that:  Amazon Flexes Its Muscles in Fight Against Publishers.  This behavior is one I do not agree with.  Also, I find that searching for book titles at Amazon takes me to the Kindle Store rather than to a page for a physical book.  If I click on the link to the physical book, I get a page that looks like I will be dealing with sellers who sell through Amazon and not be directly dealing with Amazon.  (Please note, sales through these sellers still result in a small commission to me, but many people prefer to deal with the company rather than an unknown seller.  My experience has been exceptionally good, though, dealing with other sellers through the site.)
• I have applied to Abe Books to become an affiliate there.  And may apply to Powell's Books as well.  If either of them accept my application, future book suggestions will take you to one of their pages instead of Amazon's pages.  Links already pointing to Amazon will remain in place. 
• Barnes and Noble's online store does not have an affiliate or partner program that I can find.  However, if you, like me, don't agree with Amazon's business tactics and want a different source for books and related items, Barnes & Noble is another option.
• (Since I cannot figure out how to get out of this bullet list, I'll go on to Privacy Policy issues in the list rather than as a separate paragraph ...  **sigh**)  I do not collect any info from you unless you sign up to follow the blog or for a newsletter (sign-up box for that to be added later).  Actually, I don't even collect and store that info, it goes to the service that handles that action.  
• I have seen a notice on some Blogger  / Blogspot blogs that they place a cookie on your system.  But that has not been at every Blogger / Blogspot blog I have visited.  And as far as I know, this blog does not do that.  If someone ever sees such a notice at the top of the page for this blog, PLEASE let me know immediately and I will do my best to find out what the hay is going on.  If it is being done, it is by Blogger / Blogspot (which is an Google application, by the way).

More Books "On A Subject" -- Sort of

I don't know what sent me down this path to create this reading list.  I know that I wanted to watch an old movie but the DVD did not work ...

The movie was Arsenic and Old Lace.  But I think the desire to watch that movie came somewhere after the reading list was being created and being worked through.

The sort of unifying theme was Teddy Roosevelt and WWI.

Many years ago, I introduced myself to WWI (having learned very little 20th century history in my history classes at school but wanting to know more about it), starting with Barbara Tucman's The Proud Tower -- a look at the  European events and forces that came together to create the atmosphere that spawned the Great War.
 

Here is a sort of Reading List on the subject plus some fiction that in some way is informed by that time and / or that Great Disaster:

• The Proud Tower - A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914, Barbara Tuchman
• The War That Ended Peace - The Road to 1914, Margaret MacMillan [While Tuchman's book did not really explain what the Dreyfus Affair was in France, and this one did ... seems to be more an expansion on Tuchman's book than much new info -- but that could be just my impression;  there have been a few years between Tuchman's book and this one in my reading list]
• The Imperial Cruise - The Secret History of Empire and War, Richard Poe [I thought I was getting a book about the world cruise of the first large warships, this book turned out to be quite different AND quite informative.  The book description did say when this cruise occurred, but I did not trust the description.  I have encountered far too many inaccurate book descriptions to take them seriously any more -- sometimes I doubt that the editorial staff of the publishing house ever read the book being described ... Anyhow, I am glad I borrowed this book from my public library!]
• Colonel Roosevelt, Edmund Morris [A different view of the Rough Rider ...]
• A World Undone - The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918,  G. J. Meyer  [Kind of slow as it takes the reader through the war and its battles, covering just about all of the ground covered in the battles of Ypres.  I did learn something, not explicitly in the book but inferred from it -- why it is important that the President of the USA is considered the Commander-in-Chief of the US Military.  If you read this book and have an idea what I am referring to, leave your idea(s) in the comments for a downloadable bookmark & bookmark I will send to you.  This book also described how the assassination of an Austrian Archduke ended up causing a World War -- finally, something that never made any sense to me was explained.]
• Overthrow - America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, Stephen Kinzer [this book relates more to The Imperial Cruise than to WWI but sort of fits in to the list in its own way]
• The First Casualty, Ben Elton 
• The Maisie Dobbs series, Jacqueline Winspear 
• The Star of Kazan, Eva Ibbotson (This book really does not fit the theme, but after learning about Austria and WWI in A World Undone, it put a different tint on the story -- at least for me)

There are plenty more that could be added to the list, including Agatha Christie novels featuring Hercule Poirot, a refuge from Belgium who emigrated from Belgium to Britain during WWI, particularly the first book The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and those books that are set between the wars where the gentry often refer to how things have changed since the war in terms of being able to get proper maids and gardeners.

So, why did I want to watch Arsenic and Old Lace?  Leave your answer in the comments, get it right and I'll send you a bookmark and bookplate you can download and print. 

That gives you two chances to get a bookmark and bookplate ... If you answer both, you'll get two ...

Good reads to ya!

Sue 

PS -- OOPS, this got posted at the wrong place.  I'm leaving it here and then going to cut and paste it to the correct place.  **Sigh**

Some Titles You May Find Interesting ...

I was planning to post a clever book review but ... I've listened to so many books since I last posted to the blog, that I thought I would just like to share some titles ... [So, click here to read the rest of the post ... link removed because you are now "here" ...  the link came from the SuseReads blog at WordPress].

I've decided to continue posts here at Blogger because WordPress has become a pain to deal with -- with too many limitations on formatting options, etc., unless I move over to a paid version.  When I had first started using WordPress, it was the one with the formatting options and Blogger was the one that was severely limited.  Things have changed and Blogger/Blogspot is now the place to blog -- well, for me.  :D

All over the Web there are "new & improved" versions of the popular sites that tend to be exactly like just about every "new & improved" product on the market.  New?  Yep.  Improved?  Usually only for the manufacturer or service provider -- a way to cut corners and make a bigger profit no matter whether the changes are really better for the user / consumer.  **sigh**  It has been this way for forever, I think.

So, who knows, one day I may be redirecting to some other blogging platform but for now, I will stick with Blogger/Blogspot;  it offers the user-friendliness I am seeking for an online experience.  :-)

Now, on to the books:

No review, just a theme.  Can you figure out what it is?

Okay, let me clarify.  It is not a theme but they have something in common.  If you have an idea what that might be -- leave a comment but do not tell what that "in common" is ... When I get notification that you left a comment, I'll email you to find out what you think the "in common" bit is.  If you are right, I'll send you a download file for a bookplate and bookmark set that you can print and use.

Now, here are the books:

Glimpses of the Moon by Edmund Crispin
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
A Small Case for Inspector Ghote by H. R. F. Keating
Catilina's Riddle by Steven Sayler

One quick review note -->  Steven Sayler's books are set in Rome.  He has a history degree and at least one of the books, that I have listened to so far, has had an author's note at the end telling about the real history that is fictionalized in the novel.  The mysteries are interesting, the level of clues and red herrings keep me listening to the end.  And the historical detail is -- well, brings that time and place alive.  
Another review note -->  Gervase Fen, the Oxford Don who does amateur detecting in Edmund Crispin's books is a bit of an "ass" as a Brit would put it, but ... this particular book, Glimpses of the Moon, has an element of comedy to it that makes it a particularly fun read or listen ...

Happy Reading!

Sue

PS -->  Looks like I need to come back real soon and deal with all the stuff over in the right sidebar.  **sigh**  I almost need a secretary to keep me on my toes and get things done in an orderly and timely fashion.  It was easy to do that when I worked as a secretary -- no real distractions and I had a wonderful "tickler" system set up.  Here in my own home office, way too many distractions, too many things I want to be working on all at the same time, and no real plan of attack to get them all done.  **bigger sigh**  I'm constantly impressed by a few people I've encountered on the web who produce lots of Internet content and get it out regularly ... and it is always super impressive!  WOW!  Big cheers to those who make my web experience fun and informative.  :D

PPS -->  Before you go, you need a photo added to the post, right?  Well, here is one that maybe you could use as a writing prompt  -->

or perhaps this one: 

If you do use either as a writing prompt, I'd love to see what you come up with.  The "boy and his cat" is Jake and Kitty.  They generally appear at my SuseADoodle Do blog to do the Vanna White thing and point at a card in the photo of the post.  But Jake loves to be with his kitty and they do many things together.  The monster does not have a name yet;  maybe you would like to make a suggestion in the comment box?