Whatcha readin'?

[Rusty James]

I've got three on the go right now...
"Another Life" by Andrew Vachss - this is the last novel of the Burke series.
"The Journeyer" by Gary Jennings - I can only get through a chapter or so at a time; a fascinating read but a bit dry in places (hence the need for other books to read).
"Strange Things Happen" - just started this one over the weekend

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Also always reading a slew of different things at a time. Right now:

* I Me Mine, George Harrison
* Climate Cover-up, Hoggan + Littlemore (reviewing for Amazon Vine)
* Knitting Without Tears, Elizabeth Zimmerman

[63falcon]

[quote="smudge"]I'm working my way through Trollope's Barchester novels again. (For the uninitiated, imagine Jane Austen, but with a good sized dollup of Victorian political satire). It's exceedingly english.

63falcon - I'd be interested to know more about the Monacan book you mentioned. I'm pretty ignorant of anything outside the Powhatan group. I believe there was trade between them and the Monacans - would love to know more.

ETA: And thank you LL for the thread. Stonkingly good idea.[/quote]
Hello, Smudge. Finally back at work and on Lunch, just now can respond (was using my boyfriend's computer when I posted on Sunday!). The book on the Monocans, a Siouan language folk who probaly entered Virginia much later than the Algonquian speaking 'Powahatan' tribes of the Tidewater, is titled "Indian Island in Amherst County" 1993, by Dr. Peter Houck. The author was no historian or writer, just an MD who was curious about folks in his practice who have Native American characteristics/physiology, but would be rather dodgy about that subject. Dr. Houck's book and research has had the good effect of rallying these folk, who now have Tribal Status in the Commonwealth, a yearly gathering, and tribal museum. On the flip side, the book dealves into the awful and understated Office of Eugenics that existed in VA from the 1920's until the late 50's, and unfortunately provided more than a little basis for what went on in Germany in the 30's. There is also another book, "Roanoke" more about The Lost Colony on Roanke Is. NC through the letters of John White, Annias Dare, Sir Walter Raleigh etc., which explores a theory of the colonists ending up w/ the Monocans or the Orinocos of West Central VA. There is also a chapter in "War Against the Weak" Edwin Berg all about the Moncans and what went on in my home county in the hands of Woodrow Wilson's Progressives (some of which touched me personally as a child)..........
Is anyone STILL awake here after this tome
Sorry Smudge! My Southerner verbosity and a pet subject! Amherst Co. Virginia is beautiful , check out its website...

[smudge]

Thanks for the great recommendations and the background info falcon! (No snoring from me). My local library here in the London 'burbs will have fun tracking them down

Edit: BTW 'southern verbosity' - I think it's genetic. I know I've inherited it despite growing up in the UK.

[TOWOS]

[quote="smudge"]BTW 'southern verbosity' - I think it's genetic. I know I've inherited it despite growing up in the UK.[/quote]

Hi Kate!

So has Stewart, despite growing up in Lebanon...

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Ha! I'm a 7th generation Southerner, on both sides (and of pure Brit descent, pretty much, before that - except for my paternal grandmother's lineage, which contains some Powhatan ancestry.) Consequently, I'd be interested in any Powhatan-reading recommends...

And not loquacious at all, here. Nor is anybody in my family (I can't even type this with a straight face. My mother has eight (!) sisters and I've just learned not to even try to talk - good luck getting a word in...)

[ltwoman]

American by birth, Southerner by choice, Virginian by the grace of God! (I'm from Williamsburg.)

[smudge]

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]Ha! I'm a 7th generation Southerner, on both sides (and of pure Brit descent, pretty much, before that - except for my paternal grandmother's lineage, which contains some Powhatan ancestry.) Consequently, I'd be interested in any Powhatan-reading recommends...

And not loquacious at all, here. Nor is anybody in my family (I can't even type this with a straight face. My mother has eight (!) sisters and I've just learned not to even try to talk - good luck getting a word in...)[/quote]

Re. Powhatan readings. Apart from general historical stuff, I'm still trying to track down the volume of reproductions of documents from the Jamestown and other colonies (which was in the Uni library back when I had access to such things). I don't have a name for it, and it isn't a comfortable read as you might imagine. In fact, it's ghastly but educational. Christian Feest's (?sp) "The Powhatan Tribes" is another one I read a good few years back (same library). Excellent. Also for folks who have an interest in the here and now, http://www.powhatan.org

(Inherited 'Southerner Verbosity' alert - or in this case 'more information than anyone needs' alert) Some of my rather unenlightened (or frankly, racist) female ancestors a few generations back successfully proved eligibility for membership of Daughters of the American Revolution. Flushed with success, they went back further to try and gain access to the hallowed halls of the Colonial Dames. They proved this too, but had some difficulty on a personal level dealing with the fact that their researches also proved that they were descendants of Powhatan. I wish I'd been a fly on the wall when the realisation dawned......

Hey Dive - I guess we're 50th cousins or something

Apologies for the threadjack LL. Do we need a VA pre-colonial history thread?

[63falcon]

Oo-oo, I was feeling so homesick-thank you all actually! A fun threadjack for me.....tad selfish there....

A couple of the actual "Powahatan" tribes are know as Mattaponi and Pamunkey. Both still have compact tribal lands along rivers of those names in E. VA.. There is a lot written about those folks. Will pass on any I stumble across.

Virginia is home, but I am Southern on Mom's side via North Carolina, and Scots to boot. When Dr. Spruill landed in Newport News back in the late 1600's, all the British there kindly pointed to NC, and away from VA!! No Scottish need apply...some thgings never change, heeheehee....
Now someone suggest a book! Whew!

[smudge]

(EDIT: I just started a topic for pre-colonial history of the Americas, should anyone want to continue the exchange of information. I stuck 'OT' in front of it, just in case anyone thought Mr Copeland had written a book or an opera about this stuff. )

Attempting to get this thread back on track (because keeping on topic is what we all do so well here ), I re-read 'I, Robot' last week. Asimov is a favourite author of mine, but there's no point reading him for great characterisation and dialogue. He's a clunky bugger on that front. The ideas are wonderful though. It occurred to me that 'I, Robot' is a brilliant collection of detective short stories. They are 'what dunnit?' rather than 'who dunnit?'. Oh, and don't let the movie put you off - it bears no relation to the text.

(If you like dreadful puns, and sharp, direct allegorical tales, his 'Buy Jupiter' short story collection is a must. Plus 'Nightfall', which is available in several collections is the scariest story I've ever read.)

[luddite lady]

No need to apologize smudge and falcon. Thread jacks are part of what makes this site rocks. And I absolutely love your new thread title smudge. And your justification for the OT designation gave me a good chuckle too.

Now about the southern verbosity... My background is a real mixed bag (including a pinch of Iroquois, BTW). But I don't have an ounce of Southern US blood in me. So what's my excuse?

[63falcon]

Are you at all of either Celtic or Slavic heritage, because my kin can be stoic but when ya' get them on the right topic, Whew!!
Ya' know, that new Bowie bio isn't all bad just a bit of a re-hash. Good pics of my man Iggy tho'!

[Shangeris]

I just started reading Strange Things Happen a couple of days ago.

I'm late, I know.

I'm only at page 90 or 93! I missed the whole STH thread

[smax]

great thread.

finishing 'Porno' by Irvin Welsh,

re-re-re-re-reading Boswell's London Journal and John Evelyns Diary

and the Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth by Frances Wilson (which is pretty much the dissertation i wrote at uni about william and dorothy's very close, some might say too close, relationship and about dorothys writings which in some cases were a strong inspiration for williams poetry {meaning he nicked a lot of her stuff and couldn't write live or write without her})

[DirtyMartini]

[quote="smax"]and the Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth by Frances Wilson[/quote]

Ooh, thanks for mentioning that, smax. Fascinating history, and Dorothy's spontaneous journal entries kick William's over-crafted ass. "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is a grade-schooler's nightmare, but Dorothy's daffodils entry of that day in her journal is alive and gorgeous. I'll have to find a copy of this one.

About to start Traveling Souls: Contemporary Pilgrimage Stories edited by Brian Bouldrey or some old issues of Creative Nonfiction.