Now I didn't see "At home in Mitford" Listed for TV. I also loved all those books. Will read them over once in awhile.  Father Tim was never a Young Handsome man but loved him the way he was. Don't tell me the had a HUNK playing him.  If it was on Allmark. then it will be out on DVD. Library will have it I should think. They usually buy such as that.
I didn't like Andie McD. In the Ceder Cove Series either.

Jan Karon is an author that always makes me feel  "at home". Just a week or so ago my DD passed along Come Rain or Come Shine.   That is about the son finishing his Vet schooling and setting up practice as well as getting married.   FlaJean,   I'm sure you would enjoy that one.    The other one I read recently was In The Company of Others.   That was about Father Tim and Cynthia's trip to Ireland.....another good one.
  I did enjoy News of the World.  I sent that one on to my brother.
  Dream When You're Feeling Blue WAS a good story.    Speaking of WWII stories did everyone here read the novel about the young women and men who went to work at the Oak Ridge Tennessee plant where the work on the Atomic bomb took place.   That was a good one and another was The All Girls Filling Station.   Both of those had quite a bit of history of the war years woven into them.
 

MaryC, I'm glad you mentioned that.  I'm going to look up Jan Karon and see what books are available that I haven't read.

For those who have read The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg,  I highly recommend that you get her book of short stories  "Ordinary Life" and read one of the stories titled Martin's Letter to Nan.  It is priceless!

Oh, thank you, Mary C.   I was wishing for a sequel from his viewpoint.

CallieOK,   I think you will enjoy it.

mary - Martin's Letter to Nan, sounds good!  I'm really curious as to what he has to say, in answer to all those long descriptive letters she sent to him!  I hope to get Ordinary Life, this weekend.

I'm almost finished with Brought to Our Senses, by Kathleen Wheeler.  It's a very good book, but exhausting to read!  I would love to discuss it further with any of you who have read it?  Tome and mary, I think?

"Ordinary Life" e-book was available to borrow from my library so I checked it out and have already read "Martin's Letter To Nan".   You're right, Mary C; it was priceless.   
(I actually had two reactions and would prefer to wait for others before I "spout off" with the other one.)

Tome hasn't read it yet...will request from library.

mary and Callie - Yes! "Martin's Letter to Nan", was perfect!  As you know, when I wrote my comment on The Pull of the Moon, I liked the story, but I was also annoyed at Nan's self indulgent little vacation.  Her letters to Martin were filled with all of her wants, needs, longings and disappointments, with not much concern as to poor old Martin, sitting at home wondering what happened?  We'll never know, but maybe Elizabeth Berg later regretted writing something that was so totally self centered?  Putting Martin's response in this 2002 book of short stories, was the perfect way to address the original story.  Also made me think of that old book titled, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus.

I am reading Eliz. Berg book "Say when" The title did not seem familiar but the more I read it seems I have read it before.
I just looked to see if the ones you mention above where at the library. Not in Large Print. I just got the regular print and hope print i is dark enough. Most of Bergs books usually out in LP.  Not many doing it now. My library seem to be just putting more and more into The E book section. I just have to many already on my Ipad and Tablet.
I spent the 6 hours last week watching the Thorn Birds . Now I didn't know that one had been made of the Parts not shown in the Original movie. Just picked it up and so will watch it tonight. Nothing on TV .
Suppose to cover the 20 years that they did not see each other from her having that son and him growing up and dying.

JeanneP,   It seems to me that the ebooks are a perfect solution for those who need the larger type.   I use the larger font when I read from my Kindle.   It seems comfortable.

Marilyne,  Yes, I did read Brought to Our Senses.  It was a thought provoking book, especially from the standpoint of those of us in our later years.   I often think of how it would be to be aware that I wasn't really handling things too well, etc.  I speak often with ladies at the nursing home who already have some memory problems and yet they know that they aren't   processing  things as they once did.  I can see them trying to adjust to that and it is a sad thing.  Of all the things about getting older,  that is one that I hate the most!!!

The other short story in that book that I really had to chuckle about was the very first called A Love Story.    That was about Mavis McPherson who rather than going on a nice simple retreat just locked herself in the bathroom with comforts and food to last her.  Her conversations with her dear husband through the bathroom door were something.   It was a little like Nan's story but Mavis had her husband right their outside the door making things a little clearer for her.

I'm reading the first of the Laiden Universe SciFi by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller called Crystal Dragon and a 1913 book by Burton E. Stevenson called The Marathon Mystery. I am enjoying both very much.

In Crystal Dragon, I really like how the authors depict a man, M Jela, on very short rations and water slowly succumbing to dellerium from lack of same. Of course, he is rescued at the last minute, he is the main male character after all., and gets assigned to a "black ops" spy mission. The female lead, Cantra, gets caught up in the intrigue (accidentally of course). This is another good depiction of someone trying every which way to extricate herself from the situation.

The Marathon Mystery reminds me very much of the 40's - 50's detective/newspaper reporter type movies.

I'm reading Anne Hillerman's latest book "Song of the Lion" which continues the mystery stories that her father, Tony Hillerman, wrote about the Navajo Indian Nation.  These books explain so much about the native people and their beliefs while weaving the information into a good story.

mary - Brought to Our Senses, was such a sad story, from beginning to end.  I had mixed emotions about Janice, (whether I liked anything about her?), but it was so painful to read about her lingering for such a long, long time. What a chaotic life, for everyone in the family.

MarsGal - Marathon Mystery, sounds interesting.  If you mean it reminded you of the old Film Noir detectives from the 40's/50's, like Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, I think I might enjoy reading it.  I know that my husband would like it.

FlaJean - I remember that you mentioned the Tony Hillerman books about the Navajo Nation once before, and I added them to my "want list" at that time.  Unfortunately, that list was soon forgotten, but I'll add them once again, and hope to get to them this time.  

Callie and mary - How did you like Elizabeth Berg's book of short stories, Ordinary Life?  I liked, "Martin's Letter to Nan", the best of the bunch - probably because of just finishing, The Pull of the Moon.  Having Read all the short stories, as well as many of EB's novels, I can see where the same general themes are repeated in many of her books.  The gruff, cold, father appears in lots of the stories and novels. Not quite abusive, but unable to communicate with wives and daughters. 

All of the her books that I've read so far, the main character always has daughters and sisters, no sons or brothers. There is always that back and forth dynamic between the wife and the husband.  The lonely wife wanting more closeness, and the husband not getting the message.  I still have some of her novels to read, and some that I would like to reread.  One that I read many years ago, that I want to read again, is What We Keep.  One I haven't read, but will start today, is Until the Real Thing Comes Along.

I just picked up "Ordinary Life" Print is not good but will at least read the" Martins Letter to Nan" if not the others.

The monthly recommendation list from BookPage arrived in this morning's e-mail.

One of the books is Jan Karon's "To Be Where You Are",  the 14th book in the Mitford series.  (Dooley now has a 4 year old child!).
It isn't yet available in e-book from my library but there's already a waiting list....and I'm now on it.

No comments on Martin's Letter To Nan, yet?

I found an interview with Elizabeth Berg on "The Pull of the Moon".  She said she saw Nan as a 50-year-old woman who is mildly overweight and full of despair about things she couldn't articulate.
Berg originally thought the content would deal with the psychic avalanche of menopause.  However, it became a polemic against the way women continue to be misunderstood and mistreated and how aging women aren't valued and often seem all but invisible.

Hmmm....from my viewpoint at almost 82, I guess I missed something 30+ years ago.  Never had a problem "articulating" and don't remember a "psychic avalanche" (probably wouldn't have recognized it if I'd had one.   )

   

Quote from: Marilyne on August 26, 2017, 06:57:21 PM
mary and Callie - Yes! "Martin's Letter to Nan", was perfect!  As you know, when I wrote my comment on The Pull of the Moon, I liked the story, but I was also annoyed at Nan's self indulgent little vacation.  Her letters to Martin were filled with all of her wants, needs, longings and disappointments, with not much concern as to poor old Martin, sitting at home wondering what happened?  We'll never know, but maybe Elizabeth Berg later regretted writing something that was so totally self centered?  Putting Martin's response in this 2002 book of short stories, was the perfect way to address the original story.  Also made me think of that old book titled, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus.

Callie - You must have missed my comment on "Martin's Letter to Nan" . . . see my quote above from Aug. 26th.  I was hoping to see more comments,  but maybe our readers don't have her book, Ordinary Life yet? I hope we see more.

"The psychic avalanche of menopause"?   Sounds pretty scary! I don't remember suffering such an avalanche, but maybe it's been so long ago, that I've forgotten? lol

Marilyne,  I did see your response but must not have caught your meaning when you wrote "poor old Martin.....sitting at home wondering what happened."
After I read his letter to her,  I did not think of him as "poor old Martin".   He's just as defensively self-centered as she is and some of his comments infuriated me.
However,  I think Berg brought home the points she wanted to make about women being misunderstood and seen as invisible.
Wonder how we would have turned out if we had been thinking like this at that age?

Callie - You're right!  I just reread Martin's letter, and he is totally clueless as to a lot of Nan's issues.  I think that's what I meant by "Poor old Martin, etc" . . . that he doesn't get it at all, and is only seeing things from his side.  On the other hand, Nan has high expectations and needs, that will never be met. As I already mentioned, I think there is a lot of truth to the "Mars/Venus" analogy . . .  I've been married for 61 years, and I'm still sometimes amazed that my husband and I see the same situation from totally different perspectives.  I see some of Martin's personality traits in AJ, and also see some of Nan's traits in myself!

I do think that today's young wives and mothers are much more assertive and demanding than we ever were in our generation.  Consequently, the men seem to be more "tuned in" to the what women want and need in a relationship. My son and dil, as well as other relatives in that generation, seem to be in sync on most issues.

Since I can check out more than one e-book at a time, I rechecked "Pull of the Moon" after I finished Martin's letter and did some comparisons.  (It was a slow afternoon  )  You are so right about the Mars/Venus analogy!!
However, when I read Berg's comments on her idea for "Pull of the Moon",  I decided she had deliberately written Martin that way to make her point about women being mistreated, etc.

I also saw some of my late husband in Martin - although he would never have said anything was his "right" or that I "owed" him. 

Callie and Marilyne, Good to read your comments about Nan and Martin.  I had similar thoughts on of them.  I did think they were both quite occupied with their own wants and needs though to give credit where credit is due, Martin didn't present his complaints until Nan had had her little rant in her letters.  I agree with you that some of those personality "flaws" are present in myself and Al.   Right or wrong IMHO most men are just tall boys that need taking care of......some more so than others.   I've seen with our sons how much more self reliant they are than their Dad.   I hope that you gals could have read the first story in that book.   I mentioned it in an earlier post.   It was about the woman who took to the bathroom for her retreat and to "think".   That was much more amusing and real in the way she and her husband worked through her feelings.    Another story in same short story collection was about the young woman who didn't want to go to her parents home for yet another Christmas celebration because of her father's coldness.  She felt that he had never treated her mother or any of the family too well.   In the end of that story she seemed to come to the realization that her father really did care for his family (and Mom knew it) but just didn't have the ability to communicate those feelings as she would have liked.   Interesting thoughts there about how men and women express themselves.       

mary - I did read the Berg story of the wife who locked herself in the bathroom.  It was call "A Love Story".  At first I thought it was a bit far fetched, but then as I read more, I could see the point that EB was making.  Like many of her books and stories, it's all about the push and pull between husbands and wives, and the different ways that couples reach mutual understanding or acceptance.     

The other one you mentioned, about the woman who was reluctant to go to her parents home for Christmas, because of her cold father. That particular "father theme"  is repeated over and over in EB's books.  I know that she grew up in a military family, and moved a lot throughout her childhood. Her real father's personality must have been similar to those that she repeatedly writes about . . . cold and distant. Her very first book, Durable Goods, I think is patterned after her life as a child in a military family.  I thought it was an excellent story, and is one of my top favorites of all her books.  I recommend it.

I did pick up the book with the "Letters to Nan "in . will read that part first.
I am still reading her "Say When"
Can't wait to read. Jan Karon. "To be where you are". Love those books. Now I wonder if Father Tim still alive. He was not well in the last book I read and he must be getting old now. Hope he is. He is main part of stories.
Seems like when I try reading in bed that I now last about 10 min.
I am drinking a new tea I have that is good to keep Blood Pressure steady.
think is sure put you to sleep. Sleep about 9 hours.

What is the name of the "new tea" you are drinking?

Triple Leaf Tea.Inc.  A Chinese company that has been just one family for generations they say. I found it in Meijers Grocery store. Seems to have helped me getting up during the night . Says it is also helps kidneys and liver. I take a low dose Blood Pressure pill that I would like to get off. This tea does provide a Natural Diuretic. Watching it as  that is why I take the BP med But that is what is making my Sodium show low. 

Jeanne, that's the manufacturer, but what is the Generic name?

Is it in a Purple box and labelled  Blood Pressure?

Speaking of stories of family relationships etc., I just finished an older book of Anna Quinlan called One True Thing.   Somehow I had missed that one earlier.   It was very good and thought provoking.