Books I've Read
Books Listed by Author
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z All
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
This is part of The Jeeves Omnibus I am reading, but has been published separately, so it get its own entry. One fun thing about Wodehouse's writings is the vocabulary. Plus, I still picture Jeeves and Wooster played by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Gyves (pg. 10) -- Fetter or shackle.
Diablerie (pg. 14) -- From the Old French for Devil, but in this case might mean mischievous conduct or manner
Raisonneur (pg. 29) -- a character in a play, novel, etc. who serves as spokesman for the author's views. Advises the protagonist.
Nolle prosequi (pg. 29) -- Latin, to be unwilling to pursue.
Very white of him (pg. 38) -- Decent of him, or generous, or forgiving. Common usage in the UK in the 30s.
frisson (pg. 43) -- Shudder, thrill, moment of emotional excitement.
Amour propre (pg. 60) -- Self-esteem.
Posish (pg. 64) -- Position, as near as I can figure.
Singer midget (pg. 76) -- An entertainment troupe of the 20s or so.
Costermonger (pg. 81) -- A vendor of fruits or vegetables. (Or is it vender?)
Pukka (pg. 89) -- Genuine, first class, superior.
mal au foie (pg. 111) -- Aching liver, general malaise, hangover...
Meum and tuum (pg. 143) -- Mine and thine.
Soigne (pg. 153) -- Polished and well-goomed.
Read:
3/2008Read:
10/2009Read:
3/2010Read:
11/2010Read:
5/2012
The Adventures Of Sally
I enjoyed this romantic comedy of the resourceful Sally back in the teens of the 20th century.
Quote:
"All through her stay at Roville, she had found in dealing with the native population that actions spoke louder than words. If she wanted anything in a restaurant or at a shop, she pointed; and, when she wished the lift to stop, she prodded the man in charge. It was a system worth a dozen French conversation books."-- from chapter two.
Quote:
" Mrs. Meecher sighed, for she had been a little disappointed in the old gentleman, who started out as such a promising invalid, only to fall away into the dullness of robust health once more. “He's well enough. I never seen anybody better. You'd think,” said Mrs. Meecher, bearing up with difficulty under her grievance, “you'd think this here new Spanish influenza was a sort of a tonic or somep'n, the way he looks now." -- from chapter seven.Quote:
"That's me all over, Mabel." -- from chapter nine. The title of a book by Edward Streeter. Now I have to read it. He also wrote Father Of The Bride.Words I Had To Look Up:
ingurgitating -- to swallow greedily or in large quantities, -
Read:
7/2022
The Girl On The Boat
Billie is quite an "engaging" girl. Who will she marry?
Quote:
“Something must have given you a shock,” suggested Billie kindly. --
Quote:
“Love!” said Sam. He jabbed at his soufflé with a spoon. You could see by the scornful way he did it that he did not think much of love. --
Read:
7/2022
The Golf Omnibus
This 467 page book contains 31 stories of golf, mostly related by The Oldest Member. Mostly seem to be written in the early part of the 20th century, yet stand up very well. Very good!
QUOTE:
There comes a mement in married life when every wife gazes squarely at her husband and the scales seem to fall from her eyes and she sees him as he is--one of Nature's Class A fatheads.==pg. 280 BONUS QUOTE:
..."You're sure you've no cigarettes? No? Well, how about a shot of cocaine? Out of that too? Oh, well, I'll be going, then. Pip-pep, Bates." --pg.288Read:
7/2003
The Inimitable Jeeves
Part of The Jeeves Omnibus. I may have read this a decade ago.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Sole frite augourmet aux champignons (pg. 163) -- Babelfish sez: "Plate fried with the gourmet with mushrooms"
Rank is but the guinea stamp (pg. 173) -- Rank is just a label, and not the worth of the man (woman, in this case) under it.
Miss-in-baulk (pg. 176) -- A term from billiards indicating a penalty without loss of turn
Vincente y Blasco What's-his-name (pg. 179) -- Spanish novelist, screenwriter, film director. Blood & Sand was one of his books, but in Spanish, don't cha know?
The local Mont de Piet (pg. 184) -- in France, a public pawnshop, authorized and controlled by the government, for lending money to the poor at a low rate of interest.
Mais oui, mais ouis, c'est trop fort! (pg. 189) -- Babel Fish sez: Yes, but ouis, it is too strong!
Laudaulette (pg. 211) - Small landau; automobile with a convertible top over the back seat-
Lemon squash (pg. 211) -- A drink made of sweetened fruit juice or fruit-flavored syrup diluted with water. Lemonade?
Charlotte Corday (pg. 240) -- A figure of the French revolution, assasinated Jean-Paul Marat.
Opprobrious (pg. 273) -- Expressing contemptuous reproach; scornful or abusive:
Encomiums (pg. 280 -- Warm praise, a tribute.
pris (pg. 287) -- Loving, in love with.
Marie Lloyd (pg. 288) -- English music hall singer with reputation for racy interpetation of lyrics.
Pink 'Un (pg. 325) -- Newspaper supplement, usually sport oriented, printed on pink newsprint.
Laburnum (pg. 325) -- A small tree with yellow flowers, also called "Golden Chain".
Read:
3/2008Read:
10/2009Read:
3/2010Read:
11/2010Read:
5/2012
The Man With Two Left Feet And Other Stories
There were several stories in this collection, including the title one, that I liked very much. There were so I did not. So it goes.
Quote:
"...it amounts to is that a man is young as long as he can dance without getting lumbago, and, if he cannot dance, he is never young at all." -- THE MAN WITH TWO LEFT FEETQuote:
'Read to me, Henry, dear. Read me something now. It seems ages and ages since you used to. Read me something out of the Encyclopaedia!' -- THE MAN WITH TWO LEFT FEET
Read:
8/2022
Interlibrary Loan
Interesting story, but the ending ties nothing up for me, just left me confused. Too literary for this feeble old brain. Hah, like my younger brain was any better!
Quote:
We went over to a table, where I held her chair until she sat. I took the one next to hers.
"You do know how to operate these four-legged chair things. I was beginning to wonder."Quote:
"It's not much of a life, being a library resource."Read:
3/2024
How Lincoln Learned To Read
Explores how twelve great Americans, one of which I never heard of (Princess Winnemucca) learned the stuff they needed to know to become who they are. Very interesting!
Read:
6/2011
DAW Science Fiction 30th Anniversary
Nineteen pretty good short stories of science fiction. My favorite was Passage To Shola, by Lisanne Norman.
Read:
7/2010
Snowjob
Small town police chief Reid Bennett helps out a former-Marine buddy accused of murder.
QUOTE:
"That thing's not bulletproof." "Neither are you," I reminded him...Read:
7/1999
Beware The Four
An increasingly strange tale of four teen who meet in Pittsburgh, PA. Several typos on page 118.
Read:
3/2012
Beware The Four--Book 2--Abracadabra 1, 2, 3, 4
The four 'eventually' meet up, just to have their memories 'erased' again! "Pop" seems to be doing better, even with his 'nickname' in quotes all the time.
Read:
5/2013
Fearless
In 1703 England a boy travels a long distance to find news of his shipwrecked father, and meet an extraordinary man who, among many marvels, built a lighthouse. Historical fiction, and very good. Learned a number of interesting things.
Read:
6/2016
The Ravenmaster's Secret
Takes place mostly in the Tower Of London in 1735 when the son of the castle's Ravenmaster is involved in a plot to help a prisoner escape. Pretty good story, and learned a bit more about the Tower.
Read:
6/2016
Santa Fe Rules
Movie producer Wolf Willett is surprised (!) when he reads his own obituary. I question ignoring the dog scratching at the door. A fast, interesting
QUOTE:
Oh, God, he thought, it's going to be somebody I know. He read on quickly. It was somebody he knew.Read:
11/1999
The Caine Mutiny
I withdrew this book from the library collection as no one has read it in thirty years. I decided I should read it because, well, it's FAMOUS! And glad I am that I did! I really enjoyed reading it,unlike that OTHER Pulitzer Prize winner I read recently.
Words I Had To Look Up::
billingsgate (pg. Note) -- Foul, abusive language.
lordosis (pg. 5) -- Excessive inward curvature of the spine.
vitiates (pg. 21) -- To reduce the value or impair the quality of.
tocsin (pg. 24) -- An alarm bell or signal.
trucklight (pg. 84) -- The aircraft warning lights on a ship, as far as I can figure out
.
dithyrambic (pg. 129) -- A wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing. From wild dances to honor the Greek god Dionysus.
Title B inventory (pg. 155) -- Items on a Navy ship valued at less than $1,000 (currently, not sure abou during WWII) each, such as binoculars, stop watches, test equipement.
prisonors-at-large (pg. 162) -- Prisonors who are required to perform their duties but not allowed to leave the ship.
alidade (pg. 303) -- An indicator or a sighting apparatus on a plane table, used in angular measurement.
JBD 640 (pg. 310) -- I cannot find any reference to a radio with this name.
Harold Teen (pg. 448) -- A comic strip about a teenager that ran from 1919 til 1959. It may have originated the word "gedunk".
pink tea (pg. 483) -- Formal afternoon tea usu. marked by a high degree of decorum.
Read:
10/2011
Taling To Dragons
Whoops, it's "Talking To Dragons"! The fourth and final book in the series, as far as I know. I read the series pre-1998, and now I've read the last book (which was published first) again. A boy is sent off into an enchanted forest by his mother, carrying a sword she provided. He meets a number of interesting beings along the way. I think I may just go back and read the other books again.
Read:
2/2015
The Grand Tour
I've read all Wrede's Enchanted Forest books and found them... enchanting. This book is very different, it it more of a Jane Austin with magical overtones. Very mannered, spunky heroines. Book two of a series, Cecy and Kate are now married and making the Grand Tour on their wedding trip. But magic and mystery intervene.
Words I Had To Look Up:
No one minds a touch of the farouche in a new bride. (pg.184) -- Either fierce, wild, or exhibiting withdrawn temperament and shyness coupled with an air of cranky, often sullen fey charm. Sounds like opposites, to me.
Made a cake of myself (pg. 177) -- Seems to be a Regency phrase, can't find a definition, but in context I take it as to do something foolish.
"Gammon", said Lady Sylvia. (pg. 99) -- Are they playing backgammon? Is it a pet name? An ejaculation?
reticule (pg. 90) -- a woman's drawstring bag used especially as a carryall.
commonplace book (pg,. 11) -- A kind of notebook, to my mind.
Read:
10/2009
The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle
A mute boy raises dogs in his family's kennel. Pretty long, pretty good, up to the ending.
I totally do not understand the paragraph on pages 192-193.
A review on Amazon.com says this is a retelling of Hamlet. Don't know, never read it. It certainly is a tragedy, though!
Words I Had To Look Up::
cold lightning...Only hot lightning makes thunder. (pg. 51) -- Cold lightning has a shorter duration than hot, but I'm not finding anything about the lack of thunder.
Leinenkugel (pg. 175) -- A brand of beer from Wisconsin. I read they introduced Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout in 2010, sounds impressive!
chiaroscuro figure (pg. 325) -- Several definitions, I'm going with "the quality of being veiled or partly in shadow".
Eight-letter word for 'Formed of fire or light.' Starts with E, ends with L." (pg. 395) -- Turns out to be empyreal.
Quote:
A little hay goes in, huge cowpies come out. How does that happen? -- (pg. 415) You can't explain that!
Read:
9/2011
19 books displayed
[Waldman - Weber] [Weber - Wells] [Wells - Westerman] [Westerman - Westlake] [Westlake - Willis] [Willis - Wodehouse] [Wodehouse - Wroblewski]