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These are two separate exhibits, in different parts of the building, although books from one have occasionally migrated to the other.
For anyone interested in seeing lists of titles included in both displays, along with book cover images and links to publisher blurbs, they're online at my library's website: Dust Bowl Fiction and Downton Abbey Display.
And! I have a new image at the top of the blog, a photo of Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, taken during our visit there in September 2014. An early name for Bamburgh was Bebbanburg, which fans of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon novels will recognize as the home of Uhtred. Check out my husband's Flickr page for more dramatic pics of Bamburgh.
I'm not sure if I like this shift in your blog's header from the 19th century to Viking times, Sarah! We 19th-century fans are currently stuck in a desert somewhere south of Downton Abbey, between the pre-Normans and WWII. It was bad enough when HF was all Tudor all the time...
ReplyDeleteBut I absolutely love the photo of Bamburgh and will have to put that on my list of places to visit once we're settled in the UK. It's going to be a very long list....
Well, the 19th century has had a fair run as the header image :) I know what you mean, though, and I'm not giving up reading that setting!
DeleteHope you'll get to see Bamburgh in person. The castle has a definite presence. There's a car park more than halfway up the hill, which I recommend because it's a long way up from the bottom. And I remember some rooms to rent inside the castle - I didn't ask the prices!
I've been wondering when you'd change your header image - nice photo, and of course it's special to you. (Ever think of changing the color of the outside borders too?) -- Your displays look great, mine right now is "Mrs. Ott's Picks" which I had to explain to a fourth grader (using a sports analogy!).
ReplyDeleteThe previous image had been up there for overlong! I've been thinking about a larger overhaul of the blog look. What's up there now is one of Blogger's out-of-the-box templates, customized with widgets and different images. Maybe I'll have more time this summer to tweak it.
DeleteAnd thanks! Hope your students are finding some new reads through your display. Many of the ones on my current display have been in the stacks for a couple of years, not getting much attention, but the checkouts start happening once they become more visible.
[ "An early name for Bamburgh was Bebbanburg, which fans of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon novels will recognize as the home of Uhtred. Check out my husband's Flickr page for more dramatic pics of Bamburgh." ]
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you -- thank your husband for us also.
Pushed send too soon. Please also tell your husband how much I appreciated his beach shots below the castle, especially the first one. It immediately brought to memory mind the scenes of Uhtred's fairly disastrous landing in whichever volume it was when he tried to take the castle.
ReplyDeleteThe North in European history has been neglected to a degree it seems, other than by specialists, so I always love it when the times and places get some historical fiction play.
Such a good non-fiction work about the North is Michael Pye's The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us What We Are, from last year. It was one of the most notable books I read last year too, outside the research for eras of our own The American Slave Coast. Put it in my long essay on geography and history for our annual Best Reading Of **** Roundup for our private list serve subscribers.
I'll pass your compliments along to Mark - glad you liked the Bamburgh pics. There was a long dirt path that led from a parking area across the street from the castle around the back, to the beach below.
DeleteWe didn't see any other American visitors during our trip to the North of England. I skimmed through the guest book at one B&B we were at near Hexham, and we were the only ones over several years. Fine by us... but visitors are missing out!
I'll look for Michael Pye's book. My library doesn't own it, but others in the consortium do.
Having just finished "Warriors of the Storm", the latest installment in Cornwell's "Uhtred" series, I appreciate your updated header :) Cornwell is on form, as ever- will miss that grumpy old reprobate Uhtred when he's gone. There is a British TV series based on the books called "The Last Kingdom", but I haven't seen it as yet.
ReplyDeleteThen there's Kathleen Herbert's "Northumbria" series set in an even earlier but equally bloody period - Bebbanburg certainly features there. I wonder how just many novels Bamburgh has inspired?
Pleased you like the new header, Annis! We saw the first few episodes of the Last Kingdom TV series and enjoyed them. The acting was very good, and the scenery gorgeous. Generally speaking, though, I find violence easier to read than to see on the screen :)
DeleteGood point about Kathleen Herbert's novels featuring Bebbanburg. It's been so long since I've read them that I hadn't remembered that.
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Being a big Cornwell fan, I like the new header. Re. the Dust Bowl list: I'm a retired HS librarian in Oklahoma, and a former student has just published her debut novel. The Edge of Nowhere by C.H. Armstrong is set in 1930s Oklahoma. I would love to know what you thought of it. So far the reviews have been good, but many of them are from friends and former teachers so perhaps not as unbiased as they might be.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda! I'll look out for The Edge of Nowhere. If it had been out when I was pulling materials for the display together last fall, I would have had the library order a copy - I ordered everything relevant that I could find. There aren't as many novels set during the Dust Bowl as I would have thought.
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