Elisabeth Grace Foley

Historical Fiction Author

Summer Reading

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I’ve been trying to figure out a strategy for getting all my library summer reads in one trip. It almost never works, for no two requested books ever take the same amount of time to come in. Add interlibrary requests to the mix and you’re in still deeper waters—and I have a knack for choosing hard-to-find books.

Anyway, this is what’s on my reading list for this summer. Only about half-a-dozen are library books, fortunately; the rest are on my Kindle:

Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed
Jim Waring of Sonora-Town by Henry Herbert Knibbs
Elsie: Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916 by Barbara Anne Waite
Fool’s Goal by B.M. Bower
High Rising by Angela Thirkell
Clearing Weather by Cornelia Meigs
The Divine Fire by May Sinclair
Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer
The Highgrader by William MacLeod Raine
The Lookout Man by B.M. Bower
Son of a Hundred Kings by Thomas B. Costain
The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier
Kathleen by Christopher Morley
The Casebook of Monsieur Jonquelle, Prefect of Police of Paris by Melville Davisson Post
When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Silverwood by Margaret Junkin Preston
The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington

As you can see, I’ve got a little bit of everything on there! What’s on your summer reading list?

Top Ten O. Henry, Revisited (with runners-up)

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Last year about this time, I did a series of blog posts spotlighting my ten favorite short stories by O. Henry, one of my all-time favorite authors. I had some rather grand ideas for the series, which included winding up with a poll to see which story was the reader favorite, but it so happened that I couldn’t get Blogger’s poll feature to work. So that fell a little flat. But it was an enjoyable challenge selecting my favorites and trying to write a little about why I liked them. I thought it would be fun to re-post the list this year, and as a bonus, add a few more favorites that come next in line.

As I explained last year, I left off Henry’s two best-loved stories, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief,” even though they’re both undoubtedly terrific, in favor of spotlighting some lesser-known gems. This was my list:

  1. Friends in San Rosario
  2. The Man Higher Up
  3. Calloway’s Code
  4. The Green Door
  5. A Chaparral Prince
  6. The Pimienta Pancakes
  7. Springtime á la Carte
  8. Art and the Bronco
  9. The Halberdier of the Little Rheinschloss
  10. The Love-Philtre of Ikey Schoenstein

And here are some of the runners-up—some that just missed getting into the top ten, or that I’ve come to appreciate more since making the list:

Have you read any or all of these stories? Which is your favorite?

Best Books Read in 2011

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Didn’t I just mention recently that I liked making lists? Well, the New Year is a great time for making lists! And what’s better than lists of books?
Consulting my record book, I find I read a little over 70 books in 2011 (excluding single shorts and books I’d read before). Here are my ten favorite reads of the year, in the order that I read them. There’s a little bit of everything in here! And an interesting thing about this list is that I read seven out of the ten for free or almost-free on my Kindle.
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

I was impressed by this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of a wealthy, influential family’s gradual decline during the industrialization of America at the turn of the last century, which seems to be a somehwat overlooked classic of American literature. Read my full review of the book here.

Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther

Different from the movie, but in some ways even better—short, beautifully written chapters that capture the little wonders and joys of everyday life. Read my full review here.

Once On a Time by A.A. Milne

A light-hearted, hilarious satire of the classic fairytale, filled with kings, princesses, spells and a villainous Countess who fancies herself as a poet. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than I did when reading this than I have at anything other than P.G. Wodehouse!

Land of the Burnt Thigh by Edith Eudora Kohl

A captivating memoir of two sisters’ adventure in homesteading by themselves in South Dakota in the first decade of the 20th century. I couldn’t put this one down—it reads almost like fiction, filled with colorful characters and adventures. Read my full review here.

Points West by B.M. Bower
This is one of my favorite Bower Westerns in spite of a few flaws. The only thing to really hold against it is a rushed final chapter that winds the story up much too abruptly. In this story the young protagonist leaves home after his father’s tragic death and the loss of his inheritance, trying to escape his troubles, but ends up plunging himself into even more difficult and dangerous situations. It’s written with the same mixture of appealing characters, humor and poignance that characterizes Bower’s best work. One supporting character in particular, Mrs. Harris, absolutely steals every scene she appears in. Whenever I start it over from the beginning I forgive the ending.
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock
Delightfully funny, sweet satire about the residents and happenings in a little lakeside town of northeast Canada, that keeps you laughing and yet wishing all along that you could live in Mariposa yourself. Read my full review here.

Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter

There’s much more to this charming book than the central plot, a little girl’s account of her adored elder brother’s romance. It depicts a really vanished way of life in the prosperous (you could almost say affluent), self-sustaining American family farm; and the life of a large, loving family with a faith put into daily practice and an appreciation for knowledge and learning that goes beyond the boundaries of organized education. And Leon Stanton shares the award for scene-stealing supporting character with the aforementioned Mrs. Harris.

Green For Danger by Christianna Brand

A great classic murder-mystery and WWII novel combined—the setting is one of the most outstanding features of the book. It takes place in a British military hospital in the thick of the Blitz; the murder victim is an air-raid casualty who dies on the operating table, the suspects are the attendant doctors and nurses. You can read my brief review on Goodreads here.

Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden

A fine adventure in historical nonfiction, filled with fascinating detail—the story of two girls from wealthy upstate New York families who traveled to rural Colorado to teach school in 1916, when the surrounding country still partook of much of the wild West. Read my full review here.

Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries by Melville Davisson Post

A collection of short mysteries in another unique setting, this time American—rural Virginia of the early 1800s. Similar to Chesterton’s Father Brown stories with their theological overtones and musings on justice, but from a Protestant perspective, and a vivid glimpse into a period of history that I’m less familiar with. Read my full review here.

Have you read any of these? What were your favorite reads of 2011?