Literary Links: Doctor Who

Dr Who The Five Doctors. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/158_2476120/1/158_2476120/cite. Accessed 27 Oct 2017.

On November 23, 1963, Doctor Who debuted on the BBC. And so began the televisual adventure that has kept fans enraptured for over fifty years, through twelve different regenerations of the Doctor. The 13th and first female incarnation, Jodie Whittaker, will take her place in the TARDIS for the upcoming 2017 Christmas Special (some people are disappointed that the Doctor is a woman, and some people are sad that the Doctor is still not ginger - redhead, as we would say stateside).

Since that fateful November day, it has delighted Doctor Who authors and showrunners to make homages in the Whoniverse to that date - characters have been born (most notably Clara Oswald) and died, the Doctor or his companions have had to return to that date to complete a mission, and in 2013 it was the date the special 50th anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor, was broadcast simultaneously in 94 countries.

Who's your favorite Doctor? Let us know in the comments!

November 23, 1963: Doctor Who materializes on BBC [Wired]

First Time Entering the TARDIS - An Unearthly Child - Doctor Who - BBC [YouTube]

Doctor Who classic episode #1: An Unearthly Child [Guardian]

Here’s how Radio Times introduced the first ever episode of Doctor Who [Radio Times]

1963: First Episode of Doctor Who Airs [History Hit]

Wear a Bow Tie Day and Other Wholidays [Geek Mom]

Don't forget to check out our Whoniverse LibGuide, your source for Doctor Who in our library catalog!

Anglophile's Delight: Britannia Rules at the Library

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war,

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands,--

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

~William Shakespeare, Richard II

Tea, The Office, fish and chips and The Beatles. That's only a sampling of all the wonderful things our friends across the pond have to offer. If you're interested in knowing more about the British way of life, then you're probably an Anglophile.

~"How To Be an Anglophile" on eHow 

There's no exact scale of Anglophilia, no telling what triggers it in people. Maybe you got sucked in by foodies like Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, and now you know the difference between high tea and afternoon tea, and like to bring trifle to potlucks. Maybe you just like to watch Premier League football. Perhaps it was a love of English literature that awakened the Anglophile in you - Trollope? Hardy? Sue Townsend? Harry Potter? Or was Masterpiece your gateway to the British Isles? Doctor Who? James Bond?  (Full disclosure: these actually contributed to our own Anglophilia.) We're not alone in our admiration - Voltaire was an early adopter, and Germany, despite its knotty history with England, shows even today a deep reverence towards the very English Shakespeare - though Christopher Hitchens made some scathing remarks about Anglophiles. Whatever brought you to appreciate all things English, or to want to read about Anglophilia, you can rest assured that the library catalog supports your quest - except in spelling, because generally we stick to American spelling ("color" rather than "colour", etc.).

You can find a plethora of items in the library catalog on British history, genealogy, folk tales, art, empire, novels, guidebooks, war, monarchy, television, and the like; for our list below we've chosen a few more obscure titles, for the discerning Anglophile. Hope you find something to  add scope and depth to your admiration, or at least to entertain you enough that you don't turn Anglophobic!

Food

The Great British Tuck Shop by Steve Berry [eBook]

Great British Bake Off 2013 by Linda Collister

National Trust Kitchen Cookbook by the National Trust

Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking by Kate Colquhoun

Afternoon Tea at Home by Will Torrent

The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Andoree

Chocolate Wars: The 150-year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers by Deborah Cadbury


Music

British Invasion: How The Beatles and Other UK Bands Conquered America by Bill Harry

Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock by John Harris


Language

How to Speak Brit: The Quintessential Guide to the King's English, Cockney Slang, and Other Flummoxing British Phrases by Christopher J. Moore

That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us by Erin Moore


Sport

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

Red or Dead by David Peace

Mad For It: Short Stories On Football's Greatest Rivalries - Part 1, Manchester Utd. v. Liverpool : Seeing Red by Andy Mitten [eBook]


Historical

Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence, the Cold War, and the Twilight of Empire by Calder Walton

Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy by Paul Thomas Murphy

The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj by Anne de Courcy

Arcadia Britannica: A Modern British Folklore Portrait - 125 Color Photographs by Henry Bourne

Bloody British History by Geoff Holder

Tea & Antipathy: An American Family in Swinging London by Anita Miller 

Lost London by Richard Guard

Prairie Fever: British Aristocrats in the American West, 1830-1890 by Peter Pagnamenta 

any book by Liza Picard

Miscellaneous

Bright Particular Stars: A Gallery of Glorious British Eccentrics by David McKie [eBook]

Hedge Britannia: A Curious History of a British Obsession by Hugh Barker [eBook]

How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books by Joan Bodger

The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall

Ghoul Britannia: Notes From a Haunted Isle by Andrew Martin [eBook]

The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock by Lucy Worsley

Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe

London Fog: The Biography by Christine L. Corton 

Vision: 50 Years of British Creativity by Melvyn Bragg ... [et al.] 

How To Do Things With Books in Victorian Britain by Leah Price

 

P.S. Everybody's heard of some famous Brits - typically at the Benedict Cumberbatch, Margaret Thatcher, Gordon Ramsay, J.K. Rowling, Stephen Hawking, Princess Diana fame level - but why not wow people with some slightly more obscure pop culture icons, all of whom you can find in the library catalog: Jeremy Paxman, Stephen Fry, Sandi Toksvig, the Mitford sisters, Marco Pierre White, Viv Albertine, Alexander McQueen, Gertrude Bell, and Tracey Emin, just for starters?

What to Read While You're Waiting for the Royal Baby to Make an Appearance

Some of us have a fascination, perhaps unhealthy, with the monarchy.  My mom and I got up at 5 a.m. in the 1980s to watch Diana & Charles, & then Andrew & Fergie, get married; we spent part of our vacation in 1997 watching Diana's funeral on TV.  I watched William & Kate get married in 2011 while wearing a fascinator and drinking tea.  So, as you might imagine, I am currently in royal baby mode, anxiously awaiting the arrival of William and Kate's bundle of joy.

However, as of this writing, Kate has settled into her family's house in Bucklebury (doesn't it sound like a town in Tolkien's Shire?) & the world's press, camped outside St Mary's Hospital in London, is just waiting to announce something.  I, of course, am checking the news at least twice a day (at a conservative estimate) to see if the momentous wheels of the royal birth have started turning.  (Seriously!  There's a whole procedure!)

In the meantime, if you are also impatiently waiting for the birth of the royal heir, maybe you'd like to check out some royal reads to distract you.

William and Kate: The Love Story by Christopher Andersen

Prince William: The Man Who Will Be King by Penny Junor

Camilla and Charles: The Love Story by Caroline Graham

After Diana: William, Harry, Charles, and the Royal House of Windsor by Christopher Andersen

A Dress for Diana by David Emanuel & Elizabeth Emanuel

The Real Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Andrew Marr

Bright Young Royals: Your Guide to the Next Generation of Blue Bloods by Jerramy Fine [eBook]

What Would Grace Do?: How to Live Life in Style Like the Princess of Hollywood by Gina McKinnon

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba

Wait For Me!: Memoirs by Deborah Mitford [Dowager Duchess of Devonshire]

Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy by Paul Thomas Murphy

Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart

From Splendor to Revolution: The Romanov Women, 1847-1928 by Julia P. Gelardi

The Kings' Mistresses: The Liberated Lives of Marie Mancini, Princess Colonna, and Her Sister Hortense, Duchess Mazarin by Elizabeth C. Goldsmith

The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen, and the King's Mother by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin, Michael Jones

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood

Queen of the Conqueror: the Life of Matilda, Wife of William I by Tracy Borman

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones


If you are crafty, you can while away some time with these:

Knit Your Own Royal Wedding by Fiona Goble

Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches by Sally Muir & Joanna Osborne (knit a corgi for the royal baby!)

Dotty about Downton

Tonight marks the penultimate episode of PBS' Masterpiece Classic Downton Abbey, Season 3!  Can you not get enough of the drama?  Ready to watch Season 4 already? (Or perhaps you haven't watched Season 3 yet - place your hold now!)  ABC Library can help.  We have several items in the catalog you can use to while away the long hours between episodes, pique your interest in Edwardian England, and feed your daydreams about Matthew Crawley.

Read:

The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir that Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell

Real Life Downton Abbey: How Life Was Really Lived in Stately Homes a Century Ago by Jacky Hyams [eBook only in our catalog]

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon

The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook: From Lady Mary's Crab Canapés to Mrs. Patmore's Christmas Pudding - More than 150 Recipes from Upstairs and Downstairs by Emily Ansara Baines

Servants' Hall: A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs Romance by Margaret Powell

Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney

Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor by Rosina Harrison

The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm and The Great Silence: Britain from the Shadow of the First World War to the Dawn of the Jazz Age by Juliet Nicolson

Bright Young People: The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age by D.J. Taylor

The Titled Americans: Three American Sisters and the British Aristocratic World into Which They Married by Elisabeth Kehoe

Habits of the House by Fay Weldon

Park Lane by Frances Osborne

Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide

The Edwardians by V. Sackville West

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy

Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes


Watch:

Upstairs, Downstairs (original series)

Manor House

House of Eliott

The Forsyte Saga

Before there was Downton Abbey, screenwriter Julian Fellowes collaborated with director Robert Altman on an upstairs-downstairs drama called Gosford Park, starring a regular who's who of of English actors, including Maggie Smith!  Also check out The Remains of the Day.

Exotica

Perhaps lists of book award winners and nominees intimidate you. Certainly, some of those literary works are less enjoyable and more, well, literary than you bargained for. There are a few in my reading past that I definitely don't understand the appeal, critically or otherwise. (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I'm looking at you.) However, prize lists can be a great place to discover an author outside of your normal reading habits. They can be gold mines for first-time or foreign authors, many of whom won't show up at your local big-box book store.

I recently read Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch, which is on the Man Booker prize long list and the Orange prize long list. Carol Birch is not a first time author, but is a British novelist (one of the requirements for both prizes). Written in a deceptively simple style, the story drew me right in. The story has been compared to both Dickens and Melville's work, neither author being on my favorites list, though I think that the similarities are mainly superficial. It reminds me, and others as well, of Yann Martel's Life of Pi, with rather dreamy interludes, though at the end you are not left to muse about the nature of reality. Instead, the nature of friendship and sanity are examined, leaving the reader with both a sense of melancholy and relief. I won't say more about it, though I highly recommend it, with one caveat: squeamish readers need not apply.

Royal Wedding

We've caught a bit of royal wedding fever here at abcreads.

Check out some royal wedding related items in the library catalog!

Here are a couple of links you may enjoy:

The Royal Wedding (official page)

Today Show's Wacky Royal Wedding Memorabilia

BodenUSA's Conjugal Compendium
(includes downloadable Wedding Broadcast Bingo!)

HuffPost Style's Royal Wedding: A Complete Guide

The Royal Wedding: William & Kate

Royal Wedding app from iTunes

Yahoo's Royal Wedding blog (sign the guestbook!)

Anglophenia's Royal Wedding Insider (they have a countdown widget!)

edfm's Royal Wedding page

The Union Flags are already hung along Regent Street in London in celebration!  Closer to home, the Cherry Hills Library will be having a Royal Wedding Party on Thursday, April 28, from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and the wearing of millinery is encouraged (wear your own or make your own fascinator at the party).  There will also be a craft for guests under the age of 10.  You can register for this event online or at the library's Information Desk.


Local purveyors of high tea enchantment St. James Tearoom will have their Royal Wedding Celebration on the evening of the 29th.

Here's a nod to those of you who might not be so enthused by the upcoming nuptials: