I usually read The Seagulls Woke Me when I have just finished Greensleeves and cannot bear to leave it absolutely behind right away; they are both books about girls who get away from (or find?) themselves. The Seagulls Woke Me is a good transition from Greensleeves to, you know, regular life. It helps me to be less disappointed in other books. I am always pleased when I find a book that makes this nice transition for me. Tam Lin for Fire and Hemlock; Rebecca for Jane Eyre; if I ever find one for The Book Thief, that will be a…
21 CommentsAuthor: Gin Jenny
Haha, at last I have my hands on some books from the Bloomsbury group, and all because my mother is a difficult person to buy for. Not one but three of these lovely books did she receive – Miss Hargreaves, A Kid for Two Farthings, and this one, which is the one I very much most of all wanted to read. It is purple, you know. Says Bloomsbury: As growing up in pre-war London looms large in the lives of the Carne sisters, Deirdre, Katrine and young Sheil still share an insatiable appetite for the fantastic. Eldest sister Deirdre is…
9 CommentsPhew. Nearly didn’t make it. Actually I am not absolutely convinced I did make it – I was planning to read Daughters of the Sunstone (a trilogy) for the YA/juvenile fiction book of Jeane‘s DogEar Reading Challenge; I thought it was juvenile fiction because when I looked it up in the library catalogue, it was shelved in the children’s section. So when December rolled around I placed a hold on it (it was checked out), and I waited and waited and waited, and it never came in, and eventually I gave up and just checked out the first book of…
9 CommentsAll these past weeks, when everyone has been deciding on their challenges for the New Year (is anyone else totally ready for 2010? This has never happened to me before, but I find myself wanting to write 2010 as the year for everything, and then when I have to write 2009 instead, I feel cranky and cheated), I’ve been saying, I am not joining any. No challenges for me, I have said. I’m not joining the Women Unbound Challenge; I’m not joining Haloes and Horns, or Alyce’s Time Travel one, or the Graphic Novel one that Chris and Nymeth are…
28 CommentsIn 1935, a mother wrote in to a British motherhood magazine saying this: Can any mother help me? I live a very lonely life as I have no near neighbors. I cannot afford to buy a wireless. I adore reading, but with no library am very limited with books. I dislike needlework, though I have a lot to do! I get so down and depressed after the children are in bed and I am alone in the house….Can any reader suggest an occupation that will intrigue me and exclude ‘thinking’ and cost nothing? In response, a group of women formed…
25 CommentsI have been hearing about this book all over. The first line is captivating: “After she threw the baby in, nobody believed me for the longest time. But I kept hearing that splash.” So I decided to read it even though it is several things I tend not to like: a Southern novel, set in the Depression, and featuring The Mines. My final opinion is, The Well and the Mine is quite good for a Southern Depression Mines novel, which – it confirmed once more for me – is just not the best kind of book for me. Nine-year-old Tess…
25 CommentsSo this is my adult fantasy or science fiction book for Jeane‘s DogEar Challenge, and I have managed to finish it before the end of November, which I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do, what with all the applying to grad school I’ve been doing and whatnot. Chalice! I have figured out the key to Robin McKinley, and I will tell you what it is. In each of her books, she has a world that she’s created, and she plops you down right in the middle of the world. By and large, her books are not…
9 Comments