::Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey::

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, this is a fun read. It's a biography of the real lady of the estate, which was actually called "Highclere Castle." The writers of the show drew a fair bit of inspiration from Lady Almina's life. The fact that I found the most intriguing is that it was her husband, Lord Carnarvon, who funded Howard Carter in the excavations of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. It's a thrill when things I've studied and enjoyed come together like that.

::Night Fairy::

e spend a lot of time in the car. And that much time in a confined space does funny things to the kids. They find all sorts of creative ways to poke and prod and make each other yowl until I nearly steer off the road. So, audiobooks. I just keep them coming. This latest one was a surprise. I thought it would be decidedly girly, and cause my boys to protest. The silence in the backseat(s) suggested utter enchantment.

Which was confirmed when the last chapter came to a close and I heard a sigh drift up and over quiet heads. Five minutes later, another sigh.
Sigh.
Gabriel: "I just can't stop thinking about that book."
"You want to fly don't you?" I guessed. Because that's what I'd been thinking myself as we heard about our fairy-friend's adventures on the back of a hummingbird.
"Yeah. On a bat. That would be so fun."

::The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

ransportive. Is that a word? I want to go to Guernsey. I want to see these non-existent people face-to-face. I haven't been entirely here this week because I have been half-there.

I knew I was completely engrossed when I couldn't leave the audio cd's in the van, but brought them in to play while I cooked and cleaned. Sadly, that meant that I finished in a few short days. I feel the ache of ending.

In a Nutshell:

Winding up her book tour promoting her collection of lighthearted wartime newspaper columns, Juliet Ashton casts about for a more serious project. Opportunity comes in the form of a letter she receives from Mr. Dawsey Adams, who happens to possess a book that Julia once owned. Adams is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—no ordinary book club. Rather, it was formed as a ruse and became a way for people to get together without raising the suspicions of Guernsey’s Nazi occupiers. Written in the form of letters (a lost art), this novel by an aunt-and-niece team has loads of charm, especially as long as Juliet is still in London corresponding with the society members.~ Booklist

Quotable Bits:

"Isola doesn't approve of small talk and believes in breaking the ice by stomping on it.” 

“...but I much prefer whining to counting my blessings.”

"People don't know how chickens can turn on you, but they can -- just like mad dogs.” 

::The Book Thief::

'm always years behind. But I get there eventually. What a book. My heart's all rung-out.

Death: "I am haunted by humans."