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"Firth" is still in use - Edinborough is on the Firth of Forth. "In flowers" -- interesting; there's a John Hiatt song that refers to "miss(ing) the bloody rose." Talk abou a reference that's been around for a very long time!

Thanks for this one, Martha - I'm going to keep it in mind for my next long vacation at home.

3)Mormaer—couldn't find. Anyone know?

According to Wikipedia, it's a term from the medieval Scottish Kingdom indicating a regional or provincial ruler. Not a term I had come across before, but makes sense in a book set in medieval Scotland.

4) Catch—I'm assuming from the book's context that an old meaning was to become pregnant but didn't find it elsewhere. And Lady Macbeth knew she hadn't caught when she was "in flowers." Any historical-novel readers find these before?

I've seen "catch" in books before, as well as still it hearing from older rural women occasionally. "In flowers" isn't one I've come across, though.

Thanks, Erinys. Language fascinates me. Someday I will run into the history that makes natives of the Eastern Shore of Virginia say, "I had fun to the fair" instead of "at the."

I didn't laugh out loud at something on every page of David Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed in Flames; sometimes I only smiled or giggled. Okay, I exaggerate, but, except for the last, way-too-long essay, I really enjoyed the book.

My absolute favorite part: David's partner has seen a skeleton in a shop window and wants it—the skeleton, not the window—as a present. David goes to buy it, but the shopkeeper refuses to sell. He asks her if she knows anywhere else where he could buy some other skeleton. She suggests that he check bulletin boards. He thinks, "I don't know what circles this woman runs in, but I have never in my life seen a skeleton advertised on a bulletin board. Used bicycles, yes, but no human bones, or even cartilage for that matter." (page 151)

It gets better.

He does find a skeleton and gives it to his partner who hangs it from the ceiling in the bedroom. David then describes how inanimate objects communicate. "It's funny how certain objects convey a message—my washer and dryer for instance. They can't speak, of course, but whenever I pass them they remind me that I'm doing fairly well. 'No more laundromat for you,' they hum. My stove, a real downer, tells me daily that I can't cook, but before I can defend myself my scale jumps in, shouting from the bathroom, 'Well, he must be doing something. My numbers are off the charts.' The skeleton has a much more limited vocabulary and says only one thing: 'You are going to die.'" (page 154)

And the book is informative. I didn't know that "every year five thousand children are startled to death." (page 9) Actually, that part's pretty funny, too, but you'll have to read the book to find out how.

I read this book on vacation a month ago. I did laugh out loud at almost every page. I love David Sedaris. I love hearing him on NPR too.

Martha, I have several of your books to return. I could bring over the Sedaris book "Dress ...in Denim" if you would like to put it on the bottom shelf. While it is a "keeper," I dont' mind it visiting your bookshelf. It can stay for quite a while.

Also I ordered two copies of "Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution." Mr. Bama is reading one copy right now and says it is a very good book. Since I ordered two (I might have turned on some sort of two-fer at Amazon because I intentionally ordered two copies of Herman Wouk's "This Is My God." Anyway, I'm going to give one copy to you, knowing that it goes to the bottom of the stack and might not even make the 50 page cut. (It has good photographic documentation that you can at least brouse.) What do I want with two of the same book? And who knows, you might enjoy it.

Probably be stopping by tomorrow. This baby keeping thing really keeps me at home as much as the broken ankle did. It is very tiring to strap that little bundle of joy in the car for a quick trip out.

Let me know if you want to read my Sedaris book. I really liked it. I have one more of his to read. My son gave me two of his books for Christmas last year.

Right now I'm reading "Devil Bones" by Kathy Reichs. It's so-so. While I'm reading it, I'm also re-reading "What It Takes." That book was written several, several years ago and examines the characteristics a person must possess in order to be an good Commander and Chief and hold the highest office in this land. When it was written, Obama was not on the National Scene and is not mentioned. It does, however, give a glowing report of Senator Joe Biden.

I'm almost finished with "The Bluest Eye", Toni Morrison's first novel. I have never read anything by her before...her writing is breathtaking.

Wow. I've been meaning to re-read that for 10 years now. You're an inspiration, Emma!

When I was in junior high, maybe high school, I read an excerpt of Song of Solomon in my mother's Redbook magazine. I thought it was a short story, had no idea it was a book.

Five or six years later I found the book, and instantly remembered the short story. There are things I read as a young woman that stuck with me, but most of them I read several times. I read that excerpt once and remembered it for half-a-dozen years.

Morrison blows me away and takes me away, all at the same time. (Although I remember loaning my copy of Beloved to Sister Francis, an English prof in college; she was not impressed - said the symbolism was "too broad." I've never felt quite the same about Beloved since...)

Mellow, please recommend what Morrison books you think I should read.

I have to finish this one tonight, to loan it to a classmate tomorrow night. And then it will be back to textbooks only (and a New Yorker article now and then) for the next few months.

Beloved is taught in any number of literature programs; I doubt you can go wrong there (Sister Francis aside!). The characters in Song of Solomon are unforgettable; if you like magical realism, "Song of Solomon" has it.

Those are the two I remember best although, honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with "Jazz" or "Sula" - basically, if it has her name on it, it's probably worth reading.

Great. Five re-reads on my list at once, dammit! And it looks like she has a new one coming out this fall.