An English Summer

With the start of the XXX Olympiad Games in London, in less than two days, all eyes will  soon be on England. But the truth is between the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton a little over a year ago and this magnificent production by PBS there are already a lot Anglophiles here in the good old USA.

Downton Abbey, is a beautiful  'period'  production shot on location. In 2011 it entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most critically acclaimed English language  television show" for the year", becoming the first British show to be recognized as such by the Guinness Book of Records.  So what are you waiting for?

This August, between watching  the outstanding athletic events going on at the  London Olympics, I highly suggest you find time to make yourself a spot of tea, relax and enjoy Downton Abbey.

To check out Downton Abbey Session One click here.

Click here to learn more about PBS Masterpiece Theater's Downton Abbey

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

This charming tale is made up entirely of the correspondence between Ms. Helene Hanff of New York and Mr. Frank Doel of London, England, an employee at Marks & Co Booksellers at 84 Charing Cross Road. What started as Hanff's search for inexpensive rare books evolved into a unique friendship that lasted 20 years, though the two never actually met. In an age of quick emails and text messages this book reminds us that there used to be another way to communicate, and that it was more thoughtful and personal than the path technology has led us down. And now I want to go write some letters.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

In the bucolic village of Bishop’s Lacey, England in the l950’s, there is a mad woman in the woods, a beloved puppeteer, a German obsessed with the Bronte sisters, a spinster aunt, malicious older sisters, a Philatelist father, and the mysterious deaths, of a child and a popular puppeteer.

Quick-witted, Flavia de Luce, a precocious heroine, is articulate, glib, and a self-educated chemist. She is quick thinking and “more often than not, busy fantasizing of new and interesting ways of bringing her enemies to sudden death.” Her philosophy: poisons were put on earth to be put to good use by persons with the wits but not necessarily physical strength. Flavia, a fully developed child character, must solve the riddle of both deaths. Canadian, Alan Bradley has written a thoroughly satisfying mystery.

Reserve this book here.