01
Sep 2010
My husband picked out The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson for me at our local library. The only reason the book caught his eye was that I’m a big fan of gargoyles (and grotesques) so he thought I might enjoy it. I picked it up and almost put it down again because it was a love story. And I don’t usually read romances.
Yet the word ‘gargoyle’ is compelling to me so I checked it out anyway.
I got home and gave myself a deadline of 2 chapters. That way I could l tell my husband ‘thank you very much but the [ ... ]
Category: Fiction
4 Comments
24
Aug 2010
“I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for SUPREMELY frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.” (Mary Shelley, 1816)
Category: ABC Wednesdays
8 Comments
17
Aug 2010
“E” is for Emily Dickinson which mixes quite well with Lyn’s “E” is for “English Teachers”.
For it was in high-school a really sensitive, introverted teen-age girl was introduced to Emily Dickinson and her world.
Category: ABC Wednesdays
4 Comments
17
Aug 2010
When I started High School (some 25 years ago… gosh where did the time go?) I was introduced to the world of good and the not so good English teachers. Unfortunately the first couple of years the teachers which took my class fell into the latter category. I still remember their faces, and if I search the dark corners of those little grey cells I find their names. But overall they remain unremarkable.
In my 4th year at High School I got a ‘good one’.
And that changed my whole perspective on boring English. My teacher, Mr. B, was short in statue but [ ... ]
Category: Ramblings
7 Comments
10
Aug 2010
I think, baring some yet to be discovered tribes in the deepest parts of the Amazon, I was the last person on Earth to read the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
I borrowed a copy from a friend at the place where I was working then returned it completely read in about 3 days. For me the Da Vinci Code isn’t a great piece of literature — it’s a good paced story reasonably told which opens up the mind to possibilities. Of course, it’s written as fiction so we all *know* it’s made up. But it does pose the question [ ... ]
Category: ABC Wednesdays, Book Reviews
13 Comments
04
Aug 2010
Cats are where it’s at…
and that’s where I’m going to stop trying to write a Dr. Seuss type of blog post. Instead I’ll blog about a few of my favorite famous, fictional cats, because my own cats are in the process of writing a blog with me, so everyone will have to wait to meet them.
Category: ABC Wednesdays
6 Comments
29
Jul 2010
I ordered this book from my local library for my husband because I saw it mentioned somewhere by someone and I actually remembered the title 10 minutes later. It’s not a new book and I had to wait several weeks for the librarians to dig it out of the county store as it was buried amongst all the other ‘old’ and obscure books. You can find second hand copies on Amazon I believe and if you’re interested have a word with your local library because they may just have a copy lurking in the basement somewhere.
Don’t be fooled by the [ ... ]
Category: Paranormal
One Comment
21
Jul 2010
When I was 8 or 9 my parents’ friend came to visit us from Canada. I loved it when he’d visit because he always brought presents. Not little tourist trinkets either — he shopped at Harrods. On this visit he gave me a red, leather bound book of Alice in Wonderland.
I’d never owned a book anywhere near as fancy as that. And I’m not sure if it was for that reason, or for something completely different, I never read it.
Alice in Wonderland moved with me through house moves and sat, quite proudly on my bookshelf. Unread until about 5 [ ... ]
