Reading Under a Blazing Sun

The Sunday Express is concerned about the growing heritage stone theft and reminds us of the Thornton theft:

Thefts have reached an “epidemic” level with slabs, some of which date back to Roman times, being ripped up from churches, graveyards and pavements across Britain.
Even gravestones are disappearing, including those from a Grade II listed chapel at Thornton, near Bradford, where the Brontë sisters were baptised. (Caroline Wheeler)

The Times reviews Deborah Lutz's The Brontë Cabinet:

"The dog, an oversized bull terrier, was powerful and aggressive and most of the inhabitants of the parsonage were terrified of him. He had an unpleasant habit of lunging at people’s throats as well as stretching himself out on clean bedspreads, much to the chagrin of the scrupulous housekeeper who threatened to banish him from the house unless he changed his ways." (Read more) (Paula Byrne)

The Telegraph talks about Thackeray's Vanity Fair and its Waterloo inspiration:

The modern conception of Thackeray is as a sort of public school old boy: the portly, outdated father of slapstick. But readers of his time appreciated his subtlety and sensitivity. Charlotte Brontë called him “a Titan… a purely original mind,” and praised the “sane energy” of his writing. (Jonathan McAloon)

The Star Tribune talks about British Landmark Trust's Tixall Gatehouse:

Within a roughly two-hour drive of Tixall we could have explored the Brontë sisters’ parsonage at Haworth, popping up in the middle of the bleak town cemetery. (Raphael Kadushin)

The Independent (Ireland) lists several of the best of the worst Fifty Shades lines:

"But why England? I ask her. 'It's the home of Shakespeare, Austen, the Brontë sisters, Thomas Hardy. I'd like to see the places that inspired those people to write such wonderful books.' It's obvious this is her first love. Books." (...)
"She's an incurable romantic who loves the English classics. But then so do I, for different reasons. I don't have any Jane Austen first editions, or Brontës, for that matter, but I do have two Thomas Hardys." 

The Sydney Morning Herald reviews The Simple Act of Reading, edited by Debra Adelaide:

A common thread is the ecstatic thrill of being transported into other (more exotic) worlds; David Malouf's first meeting with Jane Eyre was so deeply felt that he was acutely sensitive to the frosty cold of Rochester's Thornfield mansion even as he was reading the novel under a blazing sun ("What extraordinary creatures we are that we can be, on the same occasion, in two quite different places …") (Thuy On)

Scroll.in (India) on college admission interviews:

After a happy childhood of little or no serious reading (unless you think that comics like Tinkle,Champak and Asterix belong in the same company as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Muktibodh), I was stumped by a pointed question during my interview to study English at St Stephen’s. “But you haven’t really read any of the classics. Why do you think you’ll read them now?” I did not have a satisfactory answer to give then, and I don’t think I have one today. But in true Delhi jugaad spirit, I had borrowed and quickly read Jane Eyre two weeks before my interview. Of course they never asked me anything about it. Having established the fact that I didn’t read books, they wanted to know what did I do with my time? (Mridula Koshi)

Culture Map-Houston thinks that Poldark will also be a US success:

He does dark and brooding so well. That long dark curly hair and sexy stubble – he’s a 21st century Heathcliff. (Clifford Pugh)

Sunday's Zaman (Turkey) reviews the Secret in the Attic series by LA Peacock:

In “Jane Eyre,” Mr. Rochester had a truly scary secret in his attic, and one that was to put a stop to his marrying his beloved Jane. The secret in Uncle Harry's attic is much less sinister. In the dark and among all the dust is an old trunk. This trunk contains historical items and a time-compass. (Marion James)

Le Nouvel Observateur talks about Laura Ingalls Wilder:

Alors que sa mère s’évertuait à lui répéter qu’une « femme bien élevée n’attire jamais l’attention sur elle », Laura Ingalls Wilder a finalement captivé l’attention de milliers de lecteurs, et de nombreux critiques la placent en tête des héroïnes littéraires aux côtés de Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë et Colette. (Fanny André) (Translation)

Blasting News (Spain) lists five books that your sons have to read. Including Jane Eyre:

Aunque un poco extensa para el ojo juvenil, "Jane Eyre" es una novela llevadera y lo suficientemente fragmentada como para no atorar a los lectores jóvenes. Particularmente aconsejable para las niñas entrando en la adolescencia, esta "novela de aprendizaje" cuenta la historia de la joven Jane desde que es una pequeña, que concluye en que la única forma de evitar ir al infierno es no morir, hasta que se convierte en una adulta curiosa e inteligente. Así, Jane Eyre nos da una mirada en primera persona sobre el laborioso proceso de convertirse en adulto. (...)
Además, Jane Eyre abarca una particular concepción de las relaciones de pareja, en las cuales la igualdad, el cariño, la reciprocidad y el compañerismo deben ser primordiales, y en las que jamás debe haber una atadura que prevenga el alejamiento, cuando una de las partes se vea dañada. (Laura Fernández Storari) (Translation)