Thomas the Tank Engine Collection (1945-1960)

Thomas The Tank Engine Story Collection. The Reverend W. Awdry. (The Railway Series Since 1945). Based On the Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry. 2005. Random House. 512 pages.

This story book collection contains fourteen previously published books starring Thomas and his friends. The titles included in the collection: The Three Railway Engines (1945), Thomas the Tank Engine (1946), James the Red Engine (1948), Tank Engine Thomas Again (1949), Troublesome Engines (1950), Henry the Green Engine (1951), Toby the Tram Engine (1952), Gordon the Big Engine (1953), Edward the Blue Engine (1954), Four Little Engines (1955), Percy the Small Engine (1956), The Eight Famous Engines (1957), Duck and the Diesel Engine (1958), The Twin Engines (1960). These were all originally published in the UK.

Each book contains a handful of stories. For example, Gordon the Big Engine contains four stories: "Off the Rails," "Leaves," "Down the Mine," and "Paint Pots and Queens." Henry The Green Engine contains five stories: "Coal," "The Flying Kipper," "Gordon's Whistle," "Percy and the Trousers," and "Henry's Sneeze." Tank Engine Thomas Again contains four stories: "Thomas and the Guard," "Thomas Goes Fishing," "Thomas, Terence, and the Snow," and "Thomas and Bertie."

There were certainly plenty of stories to choose from in this collection. It would have been nice to have an index to each and every story instead of just an index of the picture books. I began the book enthusiastically, appreciating the stories and the little details. By the end of the book, however, I was a bit tired of trains. I liked the writing, for the most part. There were very rhythmic places in the text that felt just right.

A conversation between Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel:

"Why don't you go fast? Why don't you go fast?" called Annie and Clarabel anxiously.
"Wait and see, wait and see," hissed Thomas.
"He's a long way ahead, a long way ahead," they wailed, but Thomas didn't mind. He remembered the crossing. (139)

These stories may have been updated since their initial publication. I've heard that in the original stories, Sir Topham Hatt is just called "The Fat Controller." There is a "complete collection" of Thomas stories now out of print that may be be closer to the original. (It has all twenty-six picture books.)

From "Off the Rails"

 A family of toads croaked crossly at Gordon as he lay in the mud. On the other side of the ditch, some little boys were chattering.
"Gee! Doesn't he look silly!" "They'll never get him out." They began to sing: Silly old Gordon fell in a ditch,
fell in a ditch,
fell in a ditch.
Silly old Gordon fell in a ditch,
all on a Monday morning. (266)

From "Gordon's Whistle"

Gordon was cross.
"Why should Henry have a new shape?" he grumbled. "A shape good enough for me is good enough for him. He goes gallivanting off to Crewe, leaving us to do his work. It's disgraceful!"
"And there's another thing. Henry whistles too much. No respectable engine ever whistles loudly at stations. It isn't wrong," said Gordon, "but we just don't do it." (202-3)

Read Thomas the Tank Engine Story Collection

• If you have a little one who LOVES Thomas and friends
• If you have a little train-lover
• If you are interested in reading classic or vintage picture books

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Black Moth (1921)

The Black Moth. Georgette Heyer. 1921/2009. Sourcebooks. 355 pages.

One of my goals for 2013 is to read through Georgette Heyer's romance novels chronologically. Her first romance, her first novel, is The Black Moth. I definitely enjoyed The Black Moth. I enjoyed the characters, the dialogue, the plot, the richness of the details.

The Black Moth is the story of two brothers. John Carstares (sometimes called Jack Carstares OR Anthony Ferndale, also Earl of Wyndam) took the blame when his younger brother, Richard, cheated at cards. The older brother left the country in disgrace, the younger brother took his place in the family and in society. He married and had a son. But is Richard happy knowing that his "happy" life is founded on a lie? Is he happy with his oh-so-beautiful wife, Lady Lavinia? He certainly doesn't like her family depending on him all the time to save them from debt and disgrace. (Why does her family like to spend so much money, to gamble, etc?! Why is the whole family so me-me-me?!) The Black Moth follows the personal lives of BOTH brothers.

John, meanwhile, has returned to England and has become a highwayman. He is extremely particular in who he robs, mind you. And though he might appear a villain, anyone who spends more than a few minutes in his company will think him a good gentleman. His true identity is uncovered by one of his closest friends (from the past), Sir Miles O'Hara; I love Miles and his wife, Molly. Carstares is given plenty of time to appear heroic in the novel. For he saves a young woman from true harm, from being kidnapped...he's wounded in the process. And as he's recuperating in her family's home, the two fall in love with one another. But that love isn't without complications, of course, for his true name would bring disgrace and perhaps ruin her reputation. Unless his name was cleared first...but he couldn't ask his brother after all these years....

I enjoyed reading about both brothers. Poor Richard has quite a wife!!! One can't help enjoying reading about Lady Lavinia. She's so dramatic and selfish and silly. Her scenes with her two brothers and her scenes with Harry Lovelace offer something certainly! And one of Lavinia's brothers is certainly a CHARACTER. His 'real' name, I suppose, is Tracy. But he, like our hero, likes to have plenty of names to match any and every situation. He is John's rival for the affections of Diana.

This one has drama, romance, and some action...

A scene between Lavinia and her brother, Tracy, (Duke of Andover)

She stamped angrily. 'Oh, where's the good in being flippant?'
'My dear Lavinia, where's the good in being anything else? The situation strikes me as rather amusing. To think of the worthy Richard so neatly overturning all my plans!'
'If it had not been for you, I might never have married him. Why did you throw them both in my way? Why did I ever set eyes on either?'
'It should have been a good match, my dear, and, if I remember rightly, no one was more alive to that fact than yourself.'
'Still,' he continued reflectively, 'I admit that for the smart lot we are, we do seem rather to have bungled the affair.' (63)

A scene between Lavinia and her husband, Richard...

'Richard, I was coming in search of you! Tracy has invited me to Andover for a week--he purposes to ask several people to stay, and there will be parties--and entertainment! You will let me go? Say yet, Dicky--say yes, quickly!'
Carstares bowed to his Grace, who stood watching them from the stairs. The bow was returned with exaggerated flourish. Carstares looked down at his wife.
'So soon, Lavinia?' he remonstrated, and indicated her mourning. She shook his hand off impatiently.
'Oh, Dicky, does it matter? What can it signify? I do not ask you to come--'
'No,' he said half-sadly, half-amusedly. 'I notice that, my dear.'
'No, no! I did not mean to be unkind--you must not think that! You don't think it, do you, Dick?'
'Oh, no,' he sighed.
'Good Dicky!' She patted his cheek coaxingly. 'Then you will allow me to go--ah, but yes, yes, you must listen! You know how dull I am, and how silly--'tis because I need change, and I want to go to Andover. I want to go!'
'Yes, dear, I know. But my father is not yet dead six  weeks and I cannot think it seemly--'
'Please, Dick, please! Please do not say no! Twill make me so unhappy! Oh you will not be so unkind? You will not forbid me to go!'
'I ask you not to, Lavinia. If you need a change, I will take you quietly to Bath, or where you will. Do not pain me by going to Andover just now.'
'Bath! Bath! What do I want with Bath at this time of the year? Oh, 'tis kind in you to offer, but I want to go to Andover and I want to see all the old friends again. And I want to get away from everything here--'tis all so gloomy--after--after my lord's death!'
'Dearest, of course you shall go away--but if only you would remember that you are in mourning--'
'But 'tis what I wish to forget! Oh, Dicky, don't don't, don't be unkind.'
'Very well, dear. If you must go--go.'
She clapped her hands joyfully.
'Oh thank you, Dicky! And you are not angry with me?'
'No, dear, of course not.' (66-7)

 Read The Black Moth

• If you enjoy historical romances (this one is set in the Georgian period)
• If you enjoy clean historical romance
• If you're a fan of Georgette Heyer

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (2012)

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death. James Runcie. 2012. Bloomsbury. 400 pages. (Grantchester Mysteries Series #1)

Canon Sidney Chambers stars in six cozy-mystery novellas set in Britain around 1953-1954. There are six mysteries to be solved; some mysteries include a dead body, others do not: in some it's a case of jewelry theft or kidnapping. Though there are six separate mysteries to be solved, there are a handful of characters whose lives we follow from story to story. Readers get to know the people closest to Chambers, and we also get to see into his personal life. There are two women that intrigue him: the first the widow woman introduced in the first story; the second is a glamorous, sparkly woman introduced in the second story. Amanda, the second woman, gives Sidney a Labrador--a dog he names Dickens.

For readers who enjoy cozy mysteries, cozy historical novels with plenty of detail and well-drawn characters, Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death is well worth considering. I didn't love all six stories. But I can easily say that I LOVED about three or four of them. The stories are all different from one another. It was easy to love Sidney Chambers.

My favorite stories were "The Shadow of Death," "A Question of Trust," and "A Matter of Time."

"The Shadow of Death"

Canon Sidney Chambers had never intended to become a detective. Indeed, it came about quite by chance, after a funeral, when a handsome woman of indeterminate age voiced her suspicion that the recent death of a Cambridge solicitor was not suicide, as had been widely reported, but murder. (1)

"A Question of Trust"

It was the afternoon of Thursday 31 December 1953, and a light snow that refused to settle drifted across the towns and fields of Hertfordshire. Sidney was tired, but contented, after the exertions of Christmas and was on the train to London. He had seen the festival season through with a careful balance of geniality and theology and he was looking forward to a few days off with his family and friends. (82)

"First, Do No Harm"

One of the clerical undertakings that Sidney least enjoyed was the abstinence of Lent. The rejection of alcohol between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday had always been a tradition among the clergy of Cambridge but Sidney noticed that it neither improved their spirituality nor their patience. In fact, it made some of them positively murderous. (148)

"A Matter of Time"

It was the seventh of May 1954 and Sidney had, at last, perfected the art of boiling an egg. (218)

"The Lost Holbein"

Locket Hall, with its grand E-shaped exterior of Ham Hill stone and mullioned windows, had been built at the beginning of the sixteenth century and was one of the finest stately homes in the vicinity of Cambridge. (282)

"Honorable Men"

Sidney was talking to himself again. 'Vanity, vanity, all is vanity, saith the Preacher,' he muttered as he walked towards the Arts Theatre for the first rehearsal of a modern-dress production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. (331)

The second novel in the series, Sidney Chambers and The Perils of The Night, will be released in May 2013.

Read Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death

• If you love mysteries
• If you love cozy mysteries
• If you love historical fiction set in Britain (1950s)
• If you enjoy character-driven novels
• If you like novellas

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2013 Challenge: L.M. Montgomery (January Challenge)

Host: Reading to Know
Name: L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge
Date: Just January 2013
# of Books: 2+

One of my BIG goals for the year 2013 is to read L.M. Montgomery's works chronologically. (Perhaps with the exception of her short stories which I will fit in wherever I can. I do want to read her short stories, but I'm not as anxious to make sure I fit them in chronologically between her novels.) Reading to Know is hosting her L.M. Montgomery challenge this January. 

Reading
1) L.M. Montgomery Short Stories, 1896-1901
2) L.M. Montgomery Short Stories, 1902-1903
3) Anne of Green Gables, 1908
4) L.M. Montgomery Short Stories: 1904

and if time allows...

5) L.M. Montgomery Short Stories: 1905-1906
6) L.M. Montgomery Short Stories: 1907-1908

I also plan on watching film adaptations of Anne of Green Gables.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

L.M. Montgomery Short Stories, 1896-1901

L.M. Montgomery Short Stories, 1896-1901. L.M. Montgomery. 142 pages.

This short story collection features nineteen short stories by L.M. Montgomery. Stories in this collection include: "A Case of Trespass," "A Christmas Inspiration," "A Christmas Mistake," "A Strayed Allegiance," "An Invitation Given on Impulse," "Detected by the Camera," "In Spite of Myself," "Kismet," Miriam's Lover," "Miss Calista's Peppermint Bottle," "The Jest That Failed," "The Pennington's Girl," "The Red Room," "The Setness of Theodosia," "The Story of An Invitation," "The Touch of Fate," "The Waking of Helen," "The Way of Winning Anne," and "Young Si." While I didn't absolutely love each and every story in this collection, I enjoyed almost all of the stories. A few I really did LOVE.

I really did love "The Jest That Failed" perhaps because it reminded me a little of Edith Wharton's Roman Fever. In "The Jest That Failed," a few mean students decide to play a trick on Grace Seeley, a poor classmate that they look down upon. Wouldn't it be absolutely hysterical if Grace thought the most popular senior boy, Sidney Hill, was asking her to the prom? But their trick doesn't work like they hoped!

I also enjoyed "An Invitation Given on Impulse." This is how Montgomery described the heroine, Ruth Mannering..."If they had thought about it at all, they would probably have decided that they did not like her; but for the most part they simply overlooked her" and "painfully shy and reserved." This story is how one of the more popular girls decided to go with her impulse and invite "poor Ruth" to her home for the holidays instead of her best friend. This visit transformed Ruth in oh-so-many ways, and for the first time the girl catches a glimpse of what friendship is all about.

"Kismet," is an interesting story of a failed marriage that has been given a second chance...depending on the results of a horse race! This husband and wife meet accidentally after years of living separately. Both are surprised to see each other again, neither thought the other would be at the races. Conversation is strained at first, but, eventually these two happen upon an agreement. She's bet her money on one horse, he's bet on another horse...can these two make a success of it?

There is a wide variety of stories: some Christmas stories, some happily-ever-after romances, some tragic romances, some comedies, some rags-to-riches, some coming-of-age stories. They do range in sentiment. Almost all of the stories are interesting, however. All of them display human nature at its best and give a glimpse of Montgomery's greatest gift: her way of capturing human character and spirit with very few words.

Read this short story collection:

• If you're a fan of L.M. Montgomery
• If you enjoy short stories
• If you'd like to enjoy short stories but are somewhat resistant or hesitant to pick up short story collections
• If you enjoy a wide variety of stories: rags to riches, coming-of-age, family-friendly "feel-good" pieces, love stories--happy and tragic, ghost stories, comedies, etc.

 
© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews