Category: Kristine Hughes

On The Shelf – NOOK Color Kicks Off Our Author Recommendations

I was once out shopping with a friend when I spotted a killer pair of Ralph Lauren sunglasses. When I told her that I really liked them, but that at the same time I already had many pair of sunglasses and didn’t need yet another, she sniffed and pronounced, “My dear, it’s not a matter of need. It’s a matter of want. Buy them.”
While I’ve lived by her words many times over the years, I must admit that I dragged my feet when e-readers first came out. Why buy something that’s the size of a book, that you can hold in your hand and read like a book when you could just read a book? And why pay for a book, when you could get it free at the local public library?
Then, Barnes and Noble came out with the NOOK color, an Android tablet fronted by a 7-inch color touchscreen with 8GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot for cards up to 32GB. It functions as both an e-reader and a web browser. All for $249.00 – much cheaper than an iPad or notebook. Curious, I went on the Barnes and Noble website in order to invesigate and found that it offered lots of capability. The NOOK sounded like a good deal. It sounded like something I didn’t absolutely need, but certainly wanted. And what do you know – Greg took it upon himself to surprise me with one for Xmas. Here are a look at the features:
1. You can download books into the NOOK in seconds. Using the NOOK to read a book is so easy, you don’t even need the instructions. Just tap on a book cover and it opens. A swipe at the corner of the screen turns the page, just like a “real” book. When you’re done reading, turn the NOOK off and when you turn it on again, it remembers what page you were on and opens to it. Downloaded books are stored on your “shelves,” which you can customize. My NOOK shelves are named tbr and done. Yes, tbr, as in to be read. No more tottering piles of tomes by the side of my bed. Still a pile, true, since every book ever written is not offered as a NOOK download as yet and since some books, especially non-fiction titles, were simply not meant to be read in any other format than that of a good, old fashioned hard-bound book. I plan on using my NOOK for fiction only. But that may change.

2. The NOOK has built-in wifi that allows you to browse the web. The only thing that’s a tad difficult to do is to click on individual results, as the screen is pretty small. There’s a plus (+) and minus (-) icon that comes up fairly intuitively in the lower righthand corner of the screen that allows you to magnify the screen when you’re performing a function that requires data entry. And you can call it up any other time you need it. Having web capability in an e-reader is a plus – you can shop for more book titles, check your email, Google to your hearts’ content, etc. It’s handy, especially when on the road.
3.  NOOK’s built-in MP3 player lets you listen to audio books. Boy, did I get excited over this one! I cannot wait to do this – I can “read” and do needlework at the same time – oh, joy! But now we open another can of worms – can I download any audiobook? And a cursory browse on the web shows that I may be able to download e-books, including audio books, from my public library. Technology begets further technology and now I’ll have to spend time investigating these options, but it’s nice to know they’re available.
4. You can subscribe to magazines and each issue is automatically delivered to your NOOK each month. Or you can buy single issues. Have yet to try this . . . . as with non-fiction books, I think reading magazines in this format may take some getting used to.
5. The NOOK’s LendMe function means that books can be shared once with a friend who also has a NOOK at no cost, for up to 14 days. From the B and N website: “NOOKcolor makes it easy to borrow books from friends for up to 14 days. Just pull up your list of contacts, then browse a friend’s NOOKcolor library to choose the book you want to borrow. Within seconds, NOOKcolor will send an email to your friend with a request to borrow that book. Once they give the ok, the book will appear right on your NOOKcolor in seconds ready for you to download and enjoy.” This sounds pretty exciting, until you realize that the number of lendable books is fairly limited. While I have current titles on my tbr shelf (Ruth Rendell’s Portobello), and have even pre-ordered titles, (such as Maeve Binchey’s Minding Frankie, due out on March 1), only two of the titles on my shelf have a LendMe icon – The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer (my cost – .99) and Barchester Towers by Trollope (my cost – $1.99). LendMe might not be as fabulous as I first thought. Even Austen’s Pride and Prejudice isn’t lendable.
6. The NOOK is supposed to last 8 hours on a charge. The more you use the web, the more power you use up. Even when used just for reading, I find a single charge lasts around 6 hours.
As an e-reader the NOOK color is fabulous. How did I get by without it? True, I’m now spending money on books that I would have gotten free from the library, but then again, I’m not 187th on the list for new releases. Even so, I’m sure I’ll still be borrowing books from the library, the old fashioned way, but the NOOK is a useful tool and a wonderful addition to my bookshelves.
Understandably, the appearance of my NOOK has prompted much book browsing for me of late, in addition to reflections about favorite authors whose work I haven’t read in a while. And Victoria has a Kindle, which she uses often. She and I met at a Barnes and Noble store here in Florida recently and&nbsp
;spent some time discussing favorite authors, old and new, and we’ve decided to bring you our author recommendations in forthcoming On The Shelf posts, beginning on January 31st. It is our fondest hope that you’ll find a few new favorites amongst them, too.

The Royal Wedding on the Telly

With just 90-something days to go till the Wedding of the Year/Decade, you can bet that news outlets and television stations on both sides of the pond, and elsewhere, are plotting their strategies and schedules for the weeks and days leading up to the big event at 11 a.m. on April 29th. So far, TLC is the only channel that’s given out any information on their royal line up – during the five days leading up to royal wedding, TLC said on Wednesday that it will air specials featuring archived and other footage, interviews and a round-table discussion with experts on royalty. The U.K.-themed week, in partnership with ITV Studios, also will include a show focusing on both British and American hoarders and “extreme” collectors of royal memorabilia. One hopes they’ll focus on the lady featured in our right sidebar and not on, er, one.

TLC also plans live coverage of the wedding, with a condensed version of the event set to air April 30-May 1. But you won’t have to wait till April – beginning next month, TLC will show “The Queen,” a new two-hour special that explores romance, weddings and divorce among members of Queen Elizabeth II’s family. The special will air Feb. 13 (9 p.m. EST). The program will be preceded by repeats of two specials about William and his fiancee: “William and Kate: A Royal Love Story” (7 p.m. EST) and “William, Kate and Royal Weddings” (8 p.m. EST).

For TLC, home of “Four Weddings,” “Say Yes to the Dress” and other wedding-themed shows, the week long coverage is intended to enhance viewers’ “overall royal experience” of the Westminster Abbey ceremony, said programming executive Nancy Daniels.

“This is without question the most widely anticipated wedding in a generation,” Paul Buccieri, ITV Studios America president and CEO, said in a statement, promising American viewers “intimate access to this landmark event.”

Right . . . . . Just you, me and a couple of million others . . . . . Reports are that Rupert Murdoch’s British Sky Broadcasting Group is negotiating with royal officials to show the nuptials on television, and the talks, which involve the BBC, also are said to include a plan to possibly shoot the ceremony in 3-D and broadcast it to cinemas throughout the world. Which will delight the folks at Royal Caribbean Cruises, who plan to broadcast the wedding live across all 40 ships in their fleet on 29th April.

Stay tuned . . . . . .

Do You Know About the Forsyte Saga?

While Downton Abbey has recently premiered on Masterpiece Theatre, we thought we’d tell you about another great period drama, The Forsyte Saga. Whether, like me, you prefer the older version (1967) or the new (2002), settling in to watch the Forsyte Saga is like snuggling up with a brandy in front of the fire – comfortable, cosseting and considerably entertaining. Like all good costume dramas, the Forsyte Saga provides romance, drama and skull duggery based on a series of three novels – The Man of Property, In Chancery and To Let -and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932. The twenty-six episodes cover the history of the aristocratic Forsyte family between the years 1879 and 1926. You should be aware that the 2002 version only covered the first two of Galway’s novels and only ran for seven episodes. The plot revolved around the feuds and machinations of the Forsyte family and their London merchants’ business, with each episode culminating in a melodramatic cliffhanger ending. Together with the fact that the original version was filmed in black and white, the series has a decidedly “soap opera” feel to it, and we say Bravo!

The Forsyte Saga chronicles the ebbing social power of the upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and begins with Soames Forsyte (right, played by Eric Porter), a successful solicitor who buys land at Robin Hill on which to build a house for his wife Irene and future family. Little does he suspect (at first) that Irene has only married him for his money. Beneath his very proper exterior lies a core of unhappiness and a string of brutal relationships. Eventually, the Forsyte family begins to disintegrate when Timothy Forsyte, the last of the old generation, dies at the age of 100. Soames’ cousin Jolyon abandons his distraught wife and won’t see his children again for some years, whilst architect Philip Bosinney, besides having an affair with Irene, plays fast and loose with Soames’ money while building him a house.

A much darker and condensed version of the novels appeared in the movie That Forsyte Woman (1949), which starred Errol Flynn as Soames, Greer Garson as Irene, Walter Pidgeon as young Jolyon, Robert Young as Philip Bosinney and Janet Leigh as June.
 

In his novels, Galsworthy documented a departed way of life, that of the affluent middle class that ruled England before the 1914 war. Galsworthy’s masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women. Honestly, you’ll find yourself cheering for the good guys, absolutely loathing Soames and losing patience with the aristocratic ladies who fail to hear you yelling at the screen, “For God’s sake, speak up, walk out, do something!”

One of our favorite acresses, Susan Hampshire (Monarch of the Glen), plays Fleur in the original version.
The series attracted no less than six million viewers on its first showing and when repeated on BBC1 the following year, a staggering 18 million people tuned in. The success of the series, which won a Royal Television Society Silver Medal and a BAFTA award for Best Drama, prompted the BBC to plough further resources into similar blockbusting “costume” dramas, a strategy that led to the production of such series as The Pallisers and Upstairs, Downstairs.

You can watch a bit of Episode One here.

Artie-Facts

When in London recently,  I once again visited Mark Sullivan Antiques in Cecil Court. And once again, Mark told me that I’d just missed seeing the current Duke of Wellington by a few days. Sigh. Mark and I chatted for a bit about Florida and we finally got down to the business of Artie-Facts, also known as Wellington commemoratives or memorabilia. There was nothing on hand that was as earth shattering as the Staffordshire figurine I’d purchased from Mark in June (above), so I was just about to reluctantly pass on buying anything when Mark told me that he had a few pieces in the basement that he’d been saving for a dealer, but seeing as how I was regular customer and the dealer was not, he’d bring them up for me.
The first item was the tankard below, made by Lambeth Potteries.

The second item was this small bust of the Duke of Wellington

Reader, I purchased both. And, inspired by the display of commemoratives on show in the basement of Apsley House, I’ve grouped them all together with those pieces I already own in a lighted cabinet in the living room. You can read about my Wellington collection in a prior post here.  

Downton Abbey – The Series That Refuses to Die

This topic will simply not go away. Are you ready for the latest? ITV has just announced that Downton Abbey – Series Two has been commissioned. The new eight-part series is expected to be broadcast next Autumn.
Unbelievable, right? Can you think of anything more unlikely – or unlikable? Well hold on to your mob caps, Downton Abbey will then return for Christmas 2011. The Christmas special will continue where the second series ends. I promise you I’m not making this up.
Gareth Neame, Executive Producer and Managing Director of Carnival Films says, “The public’s reaction to the first series of Downton Abbey was gratifying. With a combined audience of 12.8 million people tuning into the last episode we are delighted ITV have decided to return with all the main characters of Downton at Christmas.”
If that’s not bad enough, Laura Mackie, Director of Drama, ITV said: “Julian has come up with a fantastic story that will give the audience the chance to enjoy the experience of the festive season at Downton Abbey. We’re delighted to have this as part of our Christmas schedule for December 2011.” I can’t be certain, but with Fellowes writing the script, it’s a good bet that the Christmas special might feature three ghosts. And a crippled youngster named Tim. Maybe even a kid who gets his tongue frozen to a pole. A lamp shaped like a woman’s leg would be too much to hope for.
Here’s something else that’s funny (ironic, not ha-ha), “Downton Abbey premiered on ITV1 on 26th September 2010 with an aggregate audience of 11.8 million and finished on 7th November with an aggregate audience of 12.8 million (ITV1+HD+Repeat+ITV Player) making episode seven the biggest audience for an episode of a new drama series on any channel since 2003.” I am still shaking my head over these numbers.
For an absolutely screamingly funny (ha-ha, not ironic) take on Part Two, read The 7 Reasons That Series Two of Downton Abbey Will Be Even Better here.
And to round out the bashing, you can read Rachel Cooke’s reasons for being bored with DA in the New Statesman here. She sums them up rather well. If nothing else, DA has/is/will be breaking new television ground as no other show has before – it will be the first time in history that some part of the millions of those who tune in will be doing so in order to watch a programme they loathe. But which, you have to admit, can’t help but to be screamingly funny.

In the interest of both turn-around and fairplay, you can read Julian Fellowes’s take on all the DA bashing here.