Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tiffany's reply

This is a "guest post" by my friend Tiffany, she lives in King George, Va and we met 12 years ago at Barnes &Noble in Melbourne, FL. She doesn't blog but has given her permission to reprint this email.

Emily,

Excellent my dear friend! Excellent. I am excited that you loved the book recommendation. But you know, it's not just that. I love when someone else gets that excited about a book- regardless of whether it's my recommendation or not. For, I love when I feel that way myself. Funny that you describe 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' as your 'car book'. When I use the term 'car book', it's to describe a book that I carry with me everywhere- because I cannot put it down. I find myself snatching paragraphs at stoplights, and getting honked at meanly for my troubles.

Oh! how I love Mary Russell. You must go back to the beginning and read them all, you know. If you go onto Amazon, you can look up the order of books in the series. Another great website is http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ , such a fun name. It's a great site devoted to mystery books of all breeds. It's a lovely place to spend a day- it's where I found Ms. Russell. They have a neat little area where you can search up exactly your type of mystery series- historical, specific location, etc.

You know, you would love the Maisie Dobbs series by Winspear. Also the Charles Lenox series by Finch. Maisie and Charles are favorites of mine as well- but Mary Russell has my heart. Mystery series are the satisfying snacks which I consume betwixt beefy literature. The number of snackies depends upon the heaviness of the main course. Example: 'Animal Farm' 'Mary Russell' 'Crime and Punishment' 'Mary Russell' 'Mary Russell' 'Maisie Dobbs' 'Jane Eyre' 'Charles Lenox' 'Sophie's Choice' 'Mary Russell' 'Mary Russell' 'Mary Russell' -and so forth, ad infinitum.

I am glad you enjoyed my autumn leaves. I hope they did not make you sneeze. I dried them out on top of my oven whilst baking banana bread- but one can never be sure with such unconventional methods. I was fervently hoping you would not open up a moldy letter. And it's absurd to complain about fall leaves in one's yard. The brightness of autumn's foliage is God's artistic compensation for winter- and should be enjoyed as such. Swearing at them, raking them up and bagging them- or burning them, is disrespectful. I ride over mine in my mower to chop them up, and leave them where they are -the better to replenish the nutrients in my soil and give back to the trees the energy they need. Afterall, the leaves belong to the trees and are part of their life cycle. The lady next door is a raker and burner- (despicable woman).

I think the tennis lessons are a wonderful idea. I took tennis as a child and liked it. My sister, Jessica and I, took lessons together. Additionally, it should open up more time for reading. But of course, it's the children's exercise that we are most concerned with.... I must confess that I savor cooking large one pot meals, precisely for the opportunity they afford for perching on the breakfast bar indian-style, book in hand. I make lots of of pot roast.

Well, it is my opinion that we just get back into letter writing. Don't you agree? I very much enjoyed the letter that you sent, and really enjoyed the email below. It was well-written, well organized, and struck the right note of witty highbrow humour (spelled with a 'u'). Autumnal vestage, indeed....

Here's to good friends, good books, and the written word! Cheerio and pip pip, Tiffany

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