I read about this ages ago over at Sassymonkey’s blog, and I thought it sounded brilliant. The writer permitted his son to drop out of high school, drop out of high school, and stay home and watch films with him. And he knew all what films to watch, so he could pick out loads of really good ones. That’s genius. I wouldn’t ever know what films to watch, even if I were inclined to permit my offspring to drop out of school, which I really don’t think I would be. I am always a bit distressed – I have probably…
1 CommentAuthor: Gin Jenny
My mother mentioned this book as something she might want for Christmas, if it was any good. My mother is impossible to buy for so I made a specific effort to acquire it at the library and read it, to screen it for her. It’s all about how Edgar Allan Poe fakes his own death, and Charles Dickens comes to America, and there’s a conspiracy, and numerous Irish people, making trouble. People from the homeland are apt to behave in this fashion. (My people were Irish. I know British people object strenuously to claims of this sort, but I can’t…
2 CommentsI read about Charles Palliser on this website, but The Unburied, which is the book she actually reviewed, wasn’t at the library. So I got this instead. It is full of London, so I thought that would be a point in its favor. I think of London almost every day, because I miss it so much and I want to go back. And also it is gorgeous and perfect. London’s lovely perfection is not so much in evidence in The Quincunx. The protagonist, John Huffam, spends a lot of time being really unhappy in (Victorian) London, due to the seedier…
4 CommentsDoctor Who is absolutely brilliant. I don’t know why I never watched it before. What a weirdo I was until relatively recently, spending all my time not watching Doctor Who. So if you have never seen Doctor Who before, you should just go ahead and find it, and watch it. I’m in love with it. There are dozens and dozens of episodes to watch, so you can probably just start anywhere. I’m watching The Mind Robber right now, and it is charming. As I type this, the absurdly adorable Zoe and Jamie (they are traveling around with the Second Doctor)…
Leave a CommentI read about this on Foreign Circus Library, the name of which I simply adore, and which I’m glad I’ve remembered because for some reason it wasn’t in my bookmarks even though I really like the name. Silly Jenny. Anyway, this book sounded so appealing. A little Catholic orphan! A con man! Mysteries of parentage! However, having read a bit of it, I concluded that there weren’t really any mysteries of parentage, and so I didn’t peek at the end to see what the truth was, so I didn’t pay attention to any little clues that were dropped. Therefore my…
1 CommentSheesh, what is wrong with me? This is the second book in the past week I haven’t been able to finish. And honestly, not finishing books is pretty rare with me. I swear! If I make it past the first few pages, I tend to plow through to the end, because I want to know what happens, and because I am a completist. To give you a comparison, I read like four of Anne Rice’s vampire books, which I never liked in the first place, before realizing I’d rather gouge my eyes out than read any more of them. I…
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