Friday, December 28, 2007

And Then It Was Teatime


Tea, reading, and conversation go so perfectly well together in literature and real life that teatime has become just another term for get together. And if that sounds a contrivance, take an enjoyable walk across the sundry scenes of teatime depicted in some of the much celebrated works of English literature, as compiled by Laurie Nienhaus in her latest book And Then It Was Teatime (Gilded Lily Publishing, Florida, 2007).

And Then It Was Teatime includes a collection of choice excerpts from literary works along with several sketches, illustrations, and vignettes that produce the ambience of timeless classicism. The scenes painted in the words of famous authors relate to tea-its making, serving, effect, taste, aroma, and its place in one’s very sensibilities. Through the common flair of this universal drink, the author connects her readers to the history of ideas and the view and norms of our past. A remarkable job of its own kind!

In the pages of this book, one finds an appeal to a more peaceful demeanor: teatime had and still has its set of manners to be observed by men and women. It is a social platform for conversation and, as one writer points out, teatime signifies a time of peace. The cup of beverage cherished by millions of people around the world is a powerful therapeutic means for dissipating their worries, anxieties, apprehensions, and bitterness. And Then It Was Teatime instantiates this quality of tea in only 100 pages.

Laurie Nienhaus’s book renovates the passion for two fine things in its readers: a nice cup of tea and fine literature.

Availability

http://www.glily.com/andthenitwasteatime.htm

Author Website

http://www.glily.com/

4 comments:

Saima said...

Hi, Good Morning, well Im not sure if its morning for you, but Im in Toronto, so its morning for me. I was just browsing the net, and came upon your blog. My friends and I are interested in joining or starting a book club here in Toronto. I noticed that you have reviewed quite a few books, and you also have books of your own. Can you recommened a few books we could start out with, something that would really get everyone interested and make them want to stay in our group. We tried a few books, but we found that the language that was used was rather difficult to understand (and we are all University graduates, so its not that we are not intelligent). I would appreciate some feedback, as you seem to have really good insight. Thanks so much!

Saima

Ernest Dempsey said...

Hello Saima and thank you for your message!

I’m glad you took a look around my blog. Sure, I’d love to suggest good readings. Can you tell me what kinds of books you are interested in (poetry, fiction, political, biographies, etc.). I am a lead member of a New York based publishing company World Audience Publishers and we have many titles in print. I can arrange for your group/club to buy our titles at discount rates. I can also suggest other titles that may be of interest to your group once you tell me your favorite categories. Also tell me the names of some of the books which you people found hard to understand. Some books really are tough!

Best Regards

Ernest

Saima said...

Hi, Thanks for getting back to me so soon. My friends and I like to read fiction, and biographies. Some things we have read in the past and enjoyed include, Tehmina Durrani's Blasphemy, and My Fuedal Lord. We also really enjoyed The Kite Runner, and A Suitable Boy. Some of the books we tried to read, but found either too confusing to understand, or lacking substance was "The Swallows of Kabul" by Yasmina Khadra, and "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. But like I said, the majority prefer to read fiction and biographies. I myself enjoy reading poetry as well. If there is anything you could recommened that would be great. Also thank you for your offer of getting us the books at a better price. Once we have a book club up and running, I will make sure to let you know what we are looking for.

Thank you again for your help, I know this is not really your realm of work.

Ernest Dempsey said...

I see that your reading interest is centered on non-western writers. I have heard about the books you liked but my taste is very different. I mostly enjoy classics and contemporary American fiction/poetry/story books. I reviewed a novel by Yasmina Khadra and found it very poorly written. I simply didn't choose any other books written by non-western writers.

If you guys can enjoy books with English (American/European) settings and characters, I can give you a great list. Pasted below are a few links to books you'll greatly enjoy as they are easy to read and are thoughtfully written without linguistic quirks. It's good that you read poetry. Why not listen to a poem in my voice on Youtube. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7UdbvDeufY. This poem is part of my poetry book recently published in New York.

Let me know when you set up the book club.

Regards

Ernest

Book Links

http://www.lulu.com/content/441991

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/141377010X/ref=cm_arms_pdp_dp

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0970194730/sr=8-1/qid=1149137311/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9767278-4152866?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/pubs_bks_Maddaloni_Level.html

http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/pubs_bks_Romano_Storm.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0977079414/qid=1144838070/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-9724660-3863057?s=books&v=glance&n=283155