May 2013
10 posts
2 tags
2 tags
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tenthousanddaysandnights:
“Dark Arcadias”
The son of Diana Wynne Jones talks about his mother’s work.
2 tags
etirabys:
Cat as an adult would be a reserved, polite, anxious sort of Chrestomanci. And then you make the mistake of trying to boss him around and you can’t budge him at all on important things. He’d always be sort of wearing a humble look, and people would sometimes mistake him for a servant, and he does that because it just makes it easier for him. He could never pull of Christopher’s style,...
3 tags
lesrevesdangereuses asked: I completely agree with what you said about House of Many Ways! Even though I liked it a lot, there was something missing. I agree with your opinion of Charmain.
1 tag
September 2012
2 posts
Fall reading: The Robber Bridegroom
Because what says autumn like murderous dudes killing their ladies? Recently I have been appreciating murder ballads. I know, I know. How exceedingly gruesome of me. But if I ever was in a band, I would vote that all the songs we ever played were murder ballads. There are some great ones. Like every song Johnny Cash ever sung, basically. Not too long ago, I saw a link to the music video for...
The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood
So I just finished my first graduate class. I made an A. Take that, graduate school! You will rue the day you first denied me admission. I just finished Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride. What a chore that was. I picked this book up, years and years ago, at a Friends of the Library book sale. I tried to read it and failed. For years it malingered on my bookshelves. I moved it once,...
August 2012
1 post
The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
People. This book. This book. This book was the one, alone among the stack of books I took with me to the beach, that kept me trapped inside our beach house, glued to the completely gross, worryingly damp, uncomfortably sandy, and unquestioningly lumpy couch while the rest of my family went merrily on their way to spend a day at the beach. This book was so good that I completely failed to leave...
June 2012
3 posts
Top Ten Tuesday: Summer reading
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Books on My Summer Reading List So I took my handmade mermaid tail for a test run in the pool this weekend! My nephews were not noticeably impressed. (If it’s not a superhero they are not impressed. Perhaps if I had been Aquaman I would received a better response.) And while watching me flop...
My fella and I had a bare spot of earth in our backyard. I say had because I got overzealous with a bag of wildflower seeds a few months ago and now I have a lovely patch of wildflowers (surrounded by bare earth) in my backyard! Lovely pink Icelandic poppies and cornflower and Queen Anne’s lace and black-eyed Susan, and those little wildflowers that look like miniature foxgloves in a...
5 tags
Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat, L.M....
Oh dear. It has been over a month since I actually wrote anything in this little corner of the internet. That is not to say I haven’t been reading. In fact I’ve read some very very good things. Like theQueen’s Thief books, which I loved so darn much that I haven’t been able to return the books back to the library yet. But I’ve been busy becoming a mermaid. You...
May 2012
1 post
14 tags
Having just read Fire and Hemlock, I am at the point in my reading cycle where I generally find that after reading a Diana Wynne Jones book that no other book can please me except another Diana Wynne Jones book. Other books feel a bit stale in comparison. It’s my personal sort of addendum to Jenny’s Law. Diana Wynne Jones is better on a reread, and rereading Diana Wynne Jones is...
April 2012
4 posts
9 tags
Fire and Hemlock Read-along: Musings about "Tam...
Kristen M. of We Be Reading is hosting a Fire and Hemlock read-along! This will be a reread for me, since I first read Fire and Hemlock the summer before my freshman year of college. I had just finished Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin and was busily zipping through every “Tam Lin” and “Thomas the Rhymer” retelling I could lay my hands on. I did not love Fire and Hemlock the...
4 tags
Thursday Tea: The Owl Service, Alan Garner
The book: I kept seeing The Owl Service being mentioned various places and in other books, though which books they were I cannot for the life of me recall, and so I finally got my act together and requested a copy via interlibrary loan. The Owl Service is a retelling of the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, a woman created from flowers. The book, according to Alan Garner, is an “expression of the...
12 tags
Oh, guys. Oh, you guys. I just had a birthday and it was the hardest birthday ever. I feel as though I am getting so gosh-darn OLD. I am just three years away from staring at a high school reunion invitation in the mail! Where has the time gone? What have I done with myself? Where are my esoteric graduate degrees and my publishing contracts? I swear, I do not normally panic over birthdays,...
7 tags
Thursday Tea: The Castle on the Hill, Elizabeth...
The book: The Castle on the Hill, by Elizabeth Goudge. It is wartime in Britain, and Miss Brown’s boarding house and childhood home by the sea has just been destroyed by Hitler’s bombs. Miss Brown is sitting in the middle of London, wondering what in the world she is going to do and overcome with the fear that she is no longer part of world, a “piece of the puzzle.”...
March 2012
4 posts
6 tags
Unexpected Magic, Diana Wynne Jones
I have had this collection of short stories by Diana Wynne Jones for I-don’t-know-how-long. I don’t know where it came from or when it appeared on my bookshelf! But I picked it up for Diana Wynne Jones March hosted by Kristen of We Be Reading. The very first story in this collection is the essay “The Girl Jones” in which Diana Wynne Jones writes about a childhood...
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Thursday Tea: The Armless Maiden
The book: I am reading the Terri Windling anthology The Armless Maiden and Other Tales for Childhood’s Survivors. The stories, essays, and poems in this collection are some of the most haunting I have ever read. I can’t read this anthology straight through - it hurts to read too much at once. I just finished Terri Windling’s essay “Afterword: Surviving Childhood.” ...
6 tags
Recently read
I am reading Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand right now. I was utterly perplexed by the second chapter where we jump from Victorian England to present-day…Maine, I believe? Am growing dubious about this book, but will persevere. It is a library book and due soon and I need to get it out of my house. I love those Pre-Raphaelites somethin fierce and I am annoyed at being forced to spend time...
8 tags
This morning the air smells like cherry lip-gloss. All the cherry trees are blooming! Spring is in the air! It’s a whole lungful of spring, too…not just a whiff! I have lovely white and yellow jonquils and purple and white and yellow crocus and a lawn full of bluet and dandelions and dead-nettle. My fella’s birthday is tomorrow! I am glad that the world is sprucing herself...
February 2012
7 posts
10 tags
I am in a vicious, vicious mood today. I am snarly and growlsome and filled with rage. It is the epitome of the sneaky hate spiral. I am reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. This has nothing to do with my mood. It has rather more to do with the patrons that enrage me by their constant staring while I check out their books. Their eyes burn holes in my head. Look, people, there is...
6 tags
Teaser Tuesdays
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: • Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title...
11 tags
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Books I’d Quickly Save If My House Was Going To Be Abducted By Aliens (or any other natural disaster…you get the drift. ) 1. My worn-out copy of Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin. My copy has a bent and pealing spine, water stains, and dogears. It has traveled with me throughout my adult life...
6 tags
The Rosemary Tree, Elizabeth Goudge
I read The Rosemary Tree this past weekend. I read parts of it in my newly-painted sunshiney yellow kitchen eating chocolate-covered strawberries, and I read parts of it in my cozy reading chair with tortoiseshell cats curled up on my toes. That is because this is the sort of book that goes exceptionally well with cozy nooks and sunshine and strawberries. Elizabeth Goudge is my new favorite...
5 tags
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
I Capture the Castle Read-Along, hosted by Iris on Books “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink…” Blerg. I am kinda late on posting this. But sometimes I find it hard to write about books that I absolutely love. And this is a book that I love, love, love. Sometimes I think this is the book I love most in the world. It’s definitely up there at the top of my list. I...
7 tags
Some things I've read:
I went to see One for the Money last Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ranger lacked an essential bit of Rangerness, in my opinion; his actor talked to fast and too much. I always imagined Ranger more cat-like: lots of slow blinks and feline disdain and enigmatical. Though, Ranger was never my favorite character! I much prefer Morelli, especially in the later books, with him being driven to...
6 tags
Greensleeves, Eloise Jarvis McGraw
One morning last week I woke up babbling about weed gardens and I realized I had to read Greensleeves again. I held my breath as I searched our academic library’s catalog, but thank goodness, we do have a copy, and it showed up on my desk on Friday after lunch. I suppose I should explain that I really did not get this book, the first time around. Two years ago, when I read it for the first...
January 2012
8 posts
7 tags
The Nightingale, Kara Dalkey
The Telling Tales Challenge 2012 “The Nightingale” is one of my favorite fairy tales and was originally written by Hans Christian Anderson. It is the tale of a Chinese emperor who learns that the most beautiful thing in his kingdom is the song of the nightingale. The Emperor orders his subjects to locate the nightingale, and it is revealed that a kitchen main is the only...
1 tag
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie…meaning YOU pick whatever topic your heart desires! Did you miss a topic you wanted to participate in or have a really specific topic that will probably never be a general Top Ten Tuesday topic? This week is for YOU! This is an old Top Ten that I meant...
4 tags
The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Sarah Addison Allen
Seventeen-year-old Emily Benedict comes to live in Mullaby, North Carolina, after her mother Dulcie’s death. She moves in with her grandfather, an elderly giant who checks the washing machine regularly for messages from his dead wife. What Emily learns when she comes to Mullaby is that her venerated, respectable mother is hated by the town for an incident that happened twenty years ago....
2 tags
Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta
I read Jellicoe Road yesterday and it was amazing. I started reading in the morning and I got so sucked in that I snatched paragraphs while stuck in a long line of traffic. (I don’t actually advocate reading while driving. It’s not very comfortable. The light would turn green and cars would inch forward a few centimeters and I wouldn’t notice and the people in the car...
9 tags
A Wolf at the Door, ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri...
The Telling Tales Challenge 2012 I read my first book for the Telling Tales Challenge over the weekend, a collection of short stories aimed at younger readers and edited by the magical duo of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. There are thirteen stories in this collection, all written by luminaries such as Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, and Gregory Maguire. All the stories are retellings of fairy...
2 tags
Imaginary Travels
Fantasy writer Theodora Goss recently gave away severaly copies of her latest work, The Thorn and the Blossom, on her blog. She chose the winners by having everyone write from a prompt - “imaginary travels.” I didn’t win, but I did get an honorable mention, and writing the prompt was a wonderful experience. I couldn’t get the words out fast enough. I suppose I’ve...
5 tags
Stone Soup Books in 2012
I don’t normally make reading goals. Reading is pretty much like eating, for me. I have to eat to live. But I don’t really go about planning my meals. I usually just glance in the pantry and grab whatever looks good. I potter around the grocery store and fill my buggy with whatever catches my eye. Sometimes I eat a lot of Tuna Helper. I am not much of a Food Experimenter; I tend...
8 tags
Recently read
I meant to do a lot of reading over the holidays, but circumstances were against me. I meant to read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but I didn’t. I did read two books from my stack of Elizabeth von Arnim books, Elizabeth and Her German Garden and Introduction to Sally. The first was a delight - full of descriptions of the delights of gardening and terrifically funny, especially Elizabeth’s...
December 2011
5 posts
My Friend Amy's interview questions
My Friend Amy has revived this old interview game! These are the official rules: - Leave me a comment saying, “Interview Me.” Please include your e-mail address if it is not in your profile. (lol how old school) - I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.) - You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. - You will include this...
5 tags
Recently read
It’s that time of year again when our academic library goes dormant during the break between semesters. However, I’m still required to be here. So I am getting a lot of reading done. I mean about a book and a half per day. I’m working on reducing the size of the Mount TBR next to my nightstand. I’ve read three Mary Stewarts: This Rough Magic, Touch Not the Cat, and Madam, Will You Talk? They...
11 tags
Recently read
It has come to my attention that I ought to read Eva Ibbotson. How have I not yet read Eva Ibbotson? I’ve been reading the descriptions of all her books on GoodReads and she sounds delightful, like a wonderful mixture of Diana Wynne Jones and Kate Seredy and Elizabeth von Arnim (of whom I have decided, based on the strength of The Enchanted April, that I also need to read more of)....
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The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim
Sometimes I wonder how many perfect books are left in the world for me to discover. Every time I finish a truly spectacular book, I feel as though some star somewhere blinked out. I had a feeling The Enchanted April would be one of those books, and I thought, “I can only ever read this book for the first time once.” Lotty Wilkins sits at her club, drearily watching the rain outside,...
15 tags
Top Ten Tuesdays
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Childhood Favorites 1. Anne of Green Gables (and all the rest), L.M. Montgomery The White Way of Delight. Anne’s apology. Patty’s Place and Redmond. Gilbert and Anne, in Hester Grey’s garden. Walking the ridgepole. The puffed sleeves. Every description of Prince Edward Island...
November 2011
8 posts
18 tags
Top Ten Tuesdays
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Books on my Winter TBR List 1. The Nightingale, Kara Dalkey PaperBackSwap’s final gift to me. I’ve been a member for two years now, and I’m finally at the point where I just don’t have any more books I want to give up. Kara Dalkey’s addition to Terri Windling’s...
I read this morning on Pamela Dean’s blog that Terri Windling is going through a hard time and a fundraiser has been started to help her and her family. There are such a lot of amazing things being auctioned off, everything from character naming rights to signed artwork to manuscripts and rare books. Terri Windling is my biggest inspiration, and I want to be just like her when I grow up. I had...
1 tag
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every...
13 tags
Top Ten Tuesdays
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Authors I’d Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner Oh my God this would be so much fun. I’d totally put all my favorite children’s authors at the kiddie table, and all my favorite grown-up writers at the Big Table. The conversation at the kiddie table would lean heavily towards discussions...
14 tags
Annnnnnnnnd here it comes, the annual crisis two weeks into November that sends my NaNoWriMo novel to a screeching halt. Last year it was a cat emergency. This year’s theme seems to be aghasting family drama, the like of which my family has never encountered before. Well, Thanksgiving will be interesting. Dear Lord. Well, it was fun while it lasted. So long, NaNoWriMo and my peace of...
