I doubt I've ever seen more mileage gotten out of an air rifle!P.G. Wodehouse is a master at squeezing the most out of a very little bit. The reader of even a handful of his stories gets a sense of deja vu, but since those stories are always light, airy and full of fun, that's not such a bad thing. In this collection of stories, based around a few of Wodehouse's recurring characters, it's the title story that struck a hilarious blow to my funny bone. Lord Emsworth is a hopelessly doddering old duffer with the tiniest bit of spark left in him, just enough left to make you love the old fellow. A chunky section in the middle of the book is filled with a slew of Wodehouse golf-based one-offs, which are fine. I prefer his Blandings Castle work or the Jeeves and Wooster material, but the golf stuff has its moments, especially if you like the game. The remainder of the book is rounded out with tales of Ukridge, his overly confident ne'er-do-well character who never notices that he never does well. I wasn't a huge Ukridge fan, but these few stories revolving around his costly shenanigans actually improved my opinion of him. All in all, Lord Emsworth and Others bounced between 3 and 4 stars, a respectable rating. Though, I would not suggest the uninitiated embark upon Wodehouse with this collection.

The Warden centers on Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to the purposes of the foundation. On discovering this, young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he regards as an abuse of privilege, despite the fact that he is in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. It was a highly topical novel (a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate), but like other great Victorian novelists, Trollope uses the specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality

Barry Laverty, M.B., is looking forward to his first Christmas in the cozy village of Ballybucklebo, at least until he learns that his sweetheart, Patricia, might not be coming home for the holidays. That unhappy prospect dampens his spirits somewhat, but Barry has little time to dwell on his romantic disappointments. Christmas may be drawing nigh, but there is little peace to be found on earth, especially for a young doctor plying his trade in the emerald hills and glens of rural Ireland.Along with his senior partner, Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, Barry has his hands full dealing with seasonal coughs and colds, as well as the occasional medical emergency. To add to the doctors' worries, competition arrives in the form of a patient-poaching new physician whose quackery threatens the health and well-being of the good people of Ballybucklebo. Can one territory support three hungry doctors? Barry has his doubts.But the wintry days and nights are not without a few tidings of comfort and joy. Between their hectic medical practice, Rugby Club parties, and the kiddies' Christmas Pageant, the two doctors still find time to play Santa Claus to a struggling single mother with a sick child and not enough money in the bank. Snow is rare in Ulster, and so are miracles, but that doesn't mean they never happen. . . .

Louis Trevelyan's refusal to trust his wife, Emily, destroys their marriage.

In the mid 19th Century, an enigmatic young woman moves to Yorkshire with a young son. Distancing herself from everyone in the village and their prying questions, she remains totally aloof until a charming neighbor farmer gets her to reveal her past through his persistence. Only then does she reveal she is hiding away from a womanizing, belittling husband.

Executive Producer and Writer Gwyneth Hughes' adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's literary classic is set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, and follows Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) as she attempts to claw her way out of poverty and scale the heights of English Society. Her story of "villainy, crime, merriment, lovemaking, jilting, laughing, cheating, fighting, and dancing", takes her all the way to the court of King George IV, via the Battle of Waterloo, breaking hearts and losing fortunes as she goes.

The early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of eighteen to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.

The numerous adventures of a friendly staff at a country veterinarian practice in 1930s to 1940s Yorkshire.

A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squire—though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.   • Includes a chronology, suggestions for further reading, notes, glossary, and an appendix of Fielding's revisions   • Introduction discusses narrative tecniques and themes, the context of eighteenth-century fiction and satire, and the historical and political background of the Jacobite revolutionFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Iago convinces Othello, The Moor of Venice that his wife, Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago is an evil, manipulative character with his own agenda. A plot of jealousy and rage transpires in this classic Shakespearean tale.

Two young gentlemen living in 1890's England use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") on the sly, which is fine until they both fall in love with women using that name, which leads to a comedy of mistaken identities...

Jane Austen's classic novel about the prejudice that occurred between the 19th century classes and the pride which would keep lovers apart.

1946 London. One evening, novelist Maurice Bendrix runs into his old friend, mild-mannered government minister Henry Miles, who he has not seen in two years. Maurice met Henry and his wife Sarah Miles in 1939 when they were neighbors off the Common, Maurice using the notion of Henry as research for a character for one of his novels. The reason they have not seen each other in such a long time is that last meeting is when Sarah, without warning, abruptly ended her affair with Maurice, an affair of which Henry had and has no knowledge. This meeting at least brings Maurice back into the Miles' realm and again seeing Sarah. Maurice is as dismayed to hear as Henry is dismayed to tell that he believes Sarah currently is having an affair. Beyond still being in love with her, the deeper reason for Maurice's dismay is not only Sarah having professed her eternal love for him during the time they were together, but her vow that she would never sleep with another man, her and Henry's marriage, while one of emotional need, not of romantic love or sex. Stemming from a conversation between the two men, Maurice employs a detective agency to discover the nature of what Henry believes is Sarah's affair. In the process of discovering what Sarah has been doing, Maurice may discover what happened to end their affair and if she has been true to her word of her eternal love and sexual faithfulness to him.

The last members of a dying Native American tribe, the Mohicans -- Uncas, his father Chingachgook, and his adopted half-white brother Hawkeye -- live in peace alongside British colonists. But when the daughters of a British colonel are kidnapped by a traitorous scout, Hawkeye and Uncas must rescue them in the crossfire of a gruesome military conflict of which they wanted no part: the French and Indian War.

A young governess is hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew at their family country house after they fall into his care. Soon after arriving at the Bly estate, she begins to experience strange occurrences and a grim history starts to unravel.

Cullen Bohannon, a former soldier and slaveholder, follows the track of a band of Union soldiers, the killers of his wife. This brings him to the middle of one of the biggest projects in US history, the building of the transcontinental railroad. After the war years in the 1860s, this undertaking connected the prospering east with the still wild west.

Katarina 

Period Shows with Good Writing and Acting

Living in the Past

movie

tv show

book

Stephanie C

Some of these are fun, some made me think, some are both. 

SciFi that I Like

2000 comedy film by Peter and Bobby Farrelly

That’s Some F**ked Up Sh*t Right There 

Action? Check. Adventure? Check. Good writing? Not necessary. 

Where All the Women Are

In the past few months, I've developed an obsession with gay romance novels. Some are more explicit than others, but I just love the vulnerability that these relationships display. A vulnerability that men are rarely allowed in cis het romances.

My New, Gay Romance

Scottish-born American naturalist and author (1838-1914)

1986 science fiction action film by James Cameron

Want to Read

TV Too Funny for Words

Not always great writing, or acting, but fun. 

American fantasy comedy-drama television series

Fantasy that I’ve Enjoyed

All different genres, styles, and quality. 

American science fiction television series from 1987–1994