Saturday night Cat and I were eating dinner.
Cat: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could eat our dinner and have someone rub our feet at the same time?
Me: Like table midgets?
Cat: Exactly. All the best restaurants would have them, then we could eat our enchiladas and have foot rubs!!
Love her.
I looked over at a sweet, elderly lady across the aisle and noticed we’re reading the same smutty book. She’s further along than me and has a few pages folded over.
hubba hubba nana.
There are bookcases everywhere in our house. The living room, office, kitchen, Cat’s room, my bathroom and of course, the master bedroom. I’ve seriously pared down my book collection. I donate a lot to libraries and periodically box up stuff once I’ve read it. But there are some books I like to have out - for reference, to re-read. These are those books. These too.
Haley - you’re free to borrow anything you’d like. Except the smut. That you can borrow when you’re 21.
My favorite book ever, ever is Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I don’t even remember how many times I’ve read it - usually 2-3 times a year since I was 11. I have an unabridged 2nd edition, a lovely pop-up book, a battered paperback that’s my everyday copy to read. But my favorite copy is a 1st edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham. I love this book so much.
This copy from 1910 is in excellent condition. But what makes it so special are the illustrations. Don’t get me wrong, I love the original ones done by John Tenniel, but Arthur Rackham is my favorite illustrator.
The detail drives me crazy - I get caught up in all the little flourishes and color.
I love the griffin and mock turtle. And the Dutchess. And the Caterpillar. And of course Alice, best of all.
So I finished The Book of Lost Things. In 3 days. And the only reason it took me so long was that I had to sleep and work.
The best part was seeing the main character, David, evolve and grow in the book from a boy to the beginnings of manhood. The retelling of fairy tales in familiar, but often sinister ways was the main charm of this book. If you’ve ever read the unvarnished Grimm’s Fairy Tales, you’ll recognize some of the story plots of some of the lesser know (but actually more grusome) tales.
One theme that really struck a chord within me was books are things that need us to fully become alive. A book is nothing but potential until someone starts to read and then its words echo on in our minds and then memories for ages.
Another cool thing at the end of the book are all the fairy tales that were used. So not only do you get to read an absolutely neat story, but you get to refresh your memory or learn a few new stories to add to your arsenal.
Young or old; boy or girl - I guarantee you’ll enjoy this book.
It’s been a while since a book totally pulled me in by reading the first few paragraphs, but The Book of Lost Things is a lot of fun! Glenn totally found a winner in this book.
I hope he likes what he’s getting to read for January. It’s Vince Flynn’s Act of Treason
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
Okay - this was the first book Glenn gave me to read. It took me a while to get into reading it. Once I did, though, I burned through it pretty quickly. My impression was there was a lot of descriptive passages that bogged it down for me. I wanted action and adventure, not tactics and historical context. Wait a minute… I know what you’re thinking… “how can an Arthurian saga be told without including all the history of the period?!?” You would be correct, but at times sentences seemed as long as the chapters… so I found myself skipping a paragraph here and there to get back to the characters in the story.
I really enjoyed how Mary Stewart portrayed Merlin not as a wizard, but as a very intelligent person who knew how to read people. Absolutely there was mysticism and visions, but there was also fabulous feats of people engineering that makes more sense of Merlin’s enduring legend that just magic alone.
Book Score: B
Would I recommend?: Yes, depending on the person and their interest in Arthurian legend
Okay - so check this out!
Glenn had the best idea for us. On the first of every month, we’re going to give the other a book to read. The rules are simple - it has to be something the giver has read or is in the process of reading. And the book has to be able to be read in a month.
So on November 1 - I’m giving him Mark Twain’s Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer to read. He’s giving me The Crystal Cave. I’m looking forward to this book project - it’ll give me a chance to read some stuff recommended by my sweetie and may have the opportunity to give something to Glenn he normally wouldn’t read.
I’m at a loss as to what to read next. Now that the final Harry Potter book was release this weekend (and read) - I don’t know where to look for the next book to read. Should I go for a biography? or something considered classical literature? maybe something trashy? I may read Peony in Love by Lisa See while I figure out which way to turn - I loved her first novel - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan so maybe the second will deliver as much as the first.
I hate zombies. Hate them. Some people have a thing against clowns. Some folks - it’s dolls and ventriloquist dummies. For me it’s zombies.
I think my fear all started with a recurring zombie nightmare that started in my late teens. The theme would always be the same. But the first nightmare was the most horrific…
I am running through a graveyard, complete with requisite fog on the ground and above ground headstones, weatherworn and crumbled by time. As I’m running, hands break up through the ground, grabbing for my feet as I run over. It’s not long before the zombies are above ground, giving chase through the cemetery. I start to run slower and slower until the rhythm of my feet on the ground provide the tempo for “American Woman” by the Guess Who to start. And as I’m running away from the zombies with “American Woman” in my head, the hammering of my heart always wakes me up at this point.
To this day I can’t hear that song without feeling something bad is about to happen.
Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield
