I have been enjoying the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs immensely. I found episode two to be particularly emotional. I loved the original series. I was fascinated and intrigued by it, but never really moved. I am disappointed though that the three episodes are only an hour each. Only one more to go and then it is over.

I think South Riding is coming in May. Should I read the book first?

And because I haven’t had much to blog about recently, I thought I would just leave you with this picture of actor Neil Jackson who plays the chauffeur Harry Spargo in Upstairs, Downstairs.

  
After a very hectic spring so far and much work-related stress, I can’t wait to spend two weeks on an island in Maine this summer. Just us (plus Lucy), lots of books and no TV.

    

Knowing my readers, it is probably no surprise to any of you that there are three new episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs, the 1970s TV classic. What may surprise some of you is that the series finally makes it to the U.S. on Sunday. Hooray.

Not only do I own the complete original series and have watched it many times, but over the years I have also picked up whatever UD-related books I could get my hands on. At only three books it isn’t a huge collection but I think you will agree that it is pretty cool. A novelization of the show, a social history of the period with lots and lots of photos, and a cookery book by Mrs. Bridges.

First the question: Who is your favorite character from the original UD?

Second, here is a little quiz about the original series. No prizes this time, just the ability to call yourself a true Upstairs, Downstairs Fan.

1. Richard’s second wife Virginia, had two children (Alice and her brother whose name I forget). What was Alice’s dog’s name?

a) Bertie
b) Checkers
c) Lucy
d) Thimble

EXTRA CREDIT: Since I can’t remember, tell me Alice’s brother’s name.

2. Hudson has a creepy May-September relationship with one of the other servants. What was her name? (This doesn’t include the various episodes that dealt with his relationship with Mrs. B.)

a) Daisy
b) Sarah
c) Lily
d) Clemence

EXTRA CREDIT: In addition to the correct answer, there is a trick in the answers above. Can anyone tell me what it is?

3. Who was the family’s solicitor?

a) Sir Ponsonby Smithers
b) Sir Geoffrey Dillon
c) Sir Charles Freer
d) Sir Edward Elgar

4. Who cheated on whom?

a) Lady Marjorie cheated on Richard
b) Richard cheated on Lady Marjorie
c) Richard cheated on Virginia
d) Edward cheated on Daisy

EXTRA CREDIT: How did Elizabeth lose her virginity?

And who doesn’t love this spoof of Downtown Abbey/Upstairs Downstairs? I think Kim Cattrell plays Lady Grantham perfectly. She sounds just like Elizabeth McGovern.

I have chosen the winners of my English Lady book giveaway.

As promised, Simon T got first dibs on Provincial Lady. He chose the dust-jacketed version with the colorful cover.

Then choosing randomly:

Tessa Just Read gets the other Provincial Lady.

Birdie gets Someone at a Distance.

Amanda gets Crampton Hodnet.

But wait! I decided two people could use some book assistance:

For living on the other side of world and not having good access to books that interest her, Mystica gets an extra copy I have of an old Virago edition of South Riding.

Daniel-Halifax will get something off the MyPorch shelves once he emails me and lets me know what kinds of fiction he can’t get in Milan. I know, poor baby has to live in Milan. But I remember once paying an ungodly amount for a pulp edition of The Razor’s Edge in Rome so I don’t want him to go without sustenance. In your email to me just let me know what kind of books you like but can’t find.

So to all you winners, send me an email giving me your mailing address.  onmyporch [at] hotmail [dot] com.

And don’t forget about my Anita Brookner giveaway. You have until April 15th to sign up for that one.

    

I said I would give away a copy of the wonderful Mary Sarton novel The Magnificent Spinster. After additional thought, however, I couldn’t figure out why I shouldn’t give away two copies. It still leaves me a wonderful hardcover edition for myself.

So I chose two random numbers. I couldn’t figure out if all commenters were actually asking to be included in the giveaway so, with the exception of Susan in TX who declined explicitly, I put everyone’s name in the hat.

The winner of the newer trade paperback edition (shown here) is: Mother Etc.

The winner of the older mass paperback edition (the one that I actually read) is: Rachel of Book Snob.

So ladies, send me your mailing addresses via email to onmyporch [at] hotmail [dot] com.

Tho those who didn’t win, I have another giveaway going on and another one to be announced very soon.

 
I found three of these four books yesterday at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Used Book Sale. This was the first time I have been to the annual sale and I was quite happy as you can see in this other post. I have copies of each of these but given the rock bottom prices ($2 a piece) I couldn’t pass up buying them. Especially since I know it is hard for many of you to find them.

So, I am giving them away.

Here are the rules:

1. Simon T. gets first dibs at one of those Provincial Lady books. I know it is one of his favorite books and he may not have this edition. Simon: The multi-colored one has a dustjacket, the lavender one does not. Oddly enough, the one with the DJ is white not lavender. If Simon decides he doesn’t need another copy, I will give it away to someone else.
2. Sign up for the random drawing by making a comment on this post letting me know which one you most want and a second choice.
3. I will ship anywhere in the world except for the UK. These titles are too easily available there.
4. Deadline to sign up is Monday, April 4, 2011.

    
I know a lot of you have already made your trek to the Borders Books in your neighborhood to pick up a few bargains during their liquidation. I finally made my way over there. I think 40% list is as low as you can let it go if you want to get anything decent. As you can see I did fairly well.

Yesterday at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Used Book Sales I came up with these lovely pairings. Trust me, they weren’t displayed as pairs, after combing through tables and tables of books they managed to re-introduce themselves to each other in my rather large, heavy bag.

I don’t really collect Wodehouse, but would you pass them up?

I’ve always wanted to read The Old Wives’ Tale. And now I can get even further into Bennett’s head.

First I found the great vintage Penguin of  a book I already own in two editions. Then I stumbled across my very quick glance at the history tables.

I already own a very well worn and much read copy of this one. I still couldn’t pass up what appears to be a US first edition and a great old paperback.

     

Scrabble.

Lucy.

Dinner.

   

Why does March have to be so darn long? With only 8 days until April 1st and the end of the TBR Dare, I threw in the towel this morning. I actually made the decision to give up last night, but it wasn’t until this morning on the Metro that I took the leap and started reading a book that was not in my official TBR pile.

You may recall that when I first accepted the dare, I had over 300 books in my TBR pile. You may also recall that I subsequently decided that that was too easy and so I further limited my choices to the 40 or so books in my nightstand TBR pile.

And for the most part the TBR Dare has been wonderful. I finally got around to reading some truly wonderful books that would have gone unread for a much longer time if not for the dare. So what went wrong? It wasn’t the lure of other books so much as it was boredom of going back to the same pile of 40 books which had been whittled down to only 23. As I read the wonderful May Sarton novel The Magnificent Spinster last week I started to worry about what would be next. I just knew that there were no books in my nightstand TBR pile that would fit my mood when I finished the Sarton book. And then I realized that my despair over lack of choice was making me slow down my reading. And I don’t need any more reason to watch TV.

So last night, not in the mood for any of the four books that I have partially finished and somewhat bored, I decided I needed to choose something that wasn’t in my nightstand. But no biggy, my nightstand restriction was self-imposed and wasn’t part of the focal TBR Dare. I could go down to my library and choose from the 300* books in that TBR pile. Or at least that could have been the case. But this morning when I went in to choose something for the morning commute I was immediately drawn to a book that is not part of my TBR pile. A few weeks ago I got about 6 books from my book club. I was going to wait until April 1st to dip into them, but there was one that leaped out at me this morning. And I just knew that it was the one to fend off my impending reading slump. I wanted fun. I wanted American. And I wanted something that I knew, without qualification, I would want to devour in one fell swoop if I could.

So the culprit in aiding my downfall in the TBR Dare is also my saviour, and made me truly happy from page one: My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme.

So do I feel bad about my failure? No.

(*I just noticed that my first post about the dare I say that I have 400 books in my TBR pile. In my second post I say 300. I wonder which it is?)