White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
The library book club, which meets above the witchcraft supply store here in Grass Valley, met yesterday. They did not like the book Continue reading White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Category: English Literature
The House on the Borderland by Willaim Hope Hodgson
I bought this book because of the cover. Not the cover pictured here on the left but a different cover. I get regular posts about retro-science fiction/fantasy book covers on Instagram. A while ago, there was one featuring a cover for William Hope Hodgson’s novella, The House on the Borderland. The cover featured a bunch of nude human figures all reaching for a glowing sphere … Continue reading The House on the Borderland by Willaim Hope Hodgson
Wise Children by Angela Carter
I’m going to come out and say it, I think Angela Carter is one of the most under-rated authors of the 20th century. Up to now, I’ve known her work through her wonderful short stories and their various adaptations. Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves based on Ms. Carter’s The Bloody Chamber was rewatched so many times, my VHS copy faded away. Years ago, I … Continue reading Wise Children by Angela Carter
Best Party Ever!! The Vampyre by John Polidori
In 1816 Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont and John Polidori spend a stormy week together in a villa near Lake Geneva, a party for the ages as they say. Stuck inside due to unseasonal rains and they pass their time together by telling each other scary stories. There was probably some drug-taking involved and everybody was basically lusting after everybody else but … Continue reading Best Party Ever!! The Vampyre by John Polidori
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Heathcliff is Miss Havisham. I don’t know how many times I have read Wuthering Heights, but it’s been a few. More than three at least. I’m a fanboy. I read it again on Monday as my way of celebrating Emily Brontë’s 200th birthday. I honestly thought there would be more hoopla; maybe a public read-a-loud somewhere. But if it was going to be just me, then … Continue reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Jane Austen Read All-a-long Book 4: Emma
I gave up. Full confession. I tried, I really did. I even broke down and got an audio version to listen to during my commute to and from work. But I just couldn’t take it. I think it in part an effect of this little reading challenge project I set for myself. This was the fourth Jane Austen book in as many months for me. … Continue reading Jane Austen Read All-a-long Book 4: Emma
Jane Austen Read All A-long: Mansfield Park
This is a “two-gasp” Jane Austen novel. While reading it, I gasped twice. Jane Austen has this way of suddenly throwing her reader for a loop with just a tiny slip of narrative so affecting it makes this reader gasp out loud. She is a master of plotting. My gasping came during the novel’s first half. First when young Fanny Price is forgotten by her … Continue reading Jane Austen Read All A-long: Mansfield Park
Sunday Salon: Why the Booker Short List Ruins my Reading and Other Bookish Items
I’m one of those people who get excited over the Man Booker Prize. Almost every year, once the long list is announced, I head over the my local library to get as many of the nominated books as I can. Typically, there are a few not yet available in America, and there are a couple my library doesn’t have yet. So I check out two … Continue reading Sunday Salon: Why the Booker Short List Ruins my Reading and Other Bookish Items
Jane Austen Read All A-long Book Two. Did YOU P&P?
This has been a big month for Jane Austen fans, Austen in August and all. It was month two/book two for the Jane Austen Read All A-long. I finished Pride and Prejucdice earlier this week–loved it again. I think of the six books, this is the one I will be keeping around to reread in retirement. I could have nearly called this a Re-read All A-Long … Continue reading Jane Austen Read All A-long Book Two. Did YOU P&P?
Autumn by Ali Smith
This is a troublesome book. Ultimately, I enjoyed it, I was moved by it, I came to see its excellence. But it was a bumpy road getting there. I’ve been reading the Booker Long List blind for the most part. I got as many of the books as my local library allows without reading anything about them, or much about them. (There are a few … Continue reading Autumn by Ali Smith
New Favorite Book/Old Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This is at least the third time I’ve read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, maybe the fourth. So I can’t really say it’s a “New Favorite Book” but I can say that it certainly holds up to re-reading. So that’s what I’m going to discuss here, the pleasures and perils of re-reading. There are some books that can be correctly understood in completely different fashions each time you read … Continue reading New Favorite Book/Old Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Austen Read A-Long: Pride and Prejudice
How is everyone doing so far? I should be completing Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice late this evening or tomorrow night. My reading time has been limited this week by the start of school. As the old prostitute said, it’s not the work, it’s the commute. Mine was made worse when the district I work for decided to start school later. Something about improved learning for high … Continue reading Jane Austen Read A-Long: Pride and Prejudice
May Contain Spoilers 