Unexpected Magic: Celebrating the final edition of March Magics with All Good Things

March 19, 2023March 18, 2023 ~ Lory ~ 14 Comments

When Kristen of We Be Reading announced she'd be hosting March Magics (a celebration of favorite fantasy authors Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett) for one final time, I wanted to do something special. It was hard to choose what to read, from among both authors' voluminous and wonderful works. All good things, indeed! Somewhat … Continue reading Unexpected Magic: Celebrating the final edition of March Magics with All Good Things

#TDiRS22: All shall find the light at last

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 10 Comments

The Dark Is Rising series readalong has reached its end, with the final volume in the series, Silver on the Tree. Although the book takes place at midsummer, it seems strangely appropriate for me to finish reading it on the winter solstice, when The Dark Is Rising begins. (I can't help thinking of that as … Continue reading #TDiRS22: All shall find the light at last

Four for Dean Street December

December 18, 2022December 18, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 14 Comments

This month Liz of Adventures in reading, running, and working from home had a fun idea: to read books published by Dean Street Press in December. If you don't already know, DSP has been unearthing classic mid-century women's fiction, Golden Age detective novels, and other overlooked treasures and publishing them in attractive new paperback and … Continue reading Four for Dean Street December

#NonFicNov: Worldview Changers

November 23, 2022November 22, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 18 Comments

I love this new topic and I am looking forward to seeing what other readers have chosen! Here's the description: "One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is learning all kinds of things about our world which you never would have known without it. There’s the intriguing, the beautiful, the appalling, and the profound. … Continue reading #NonFicNov: Worldview Changers

#NonFicNov: Book Pairing

November 9, 2022November 1, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 17 Comments

I love this topic, as I look back to see what serendipitous fiction/nonfiction pairings emerge in the course of my reading year. Visit What's Nonfiction for the linkup. Once more, there were the obvious literary pairings -- Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar with the biography of Plath, Red Comet; Beverly Cleary's memoirs A Girl … Continue reading #NonFicNov: Book Pairing

Witch Week 2022

October 31, 2022October 28, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 2 Comments

It's here! Witch Week, a celebration of fantasy books and authors, is an event I cooked up in my first year of blogging and it's been going ever since, now ably hosted by Calmgrove and Lizzie Ross Writer. This year's theme is Polychromancy and here is the exciting lineup of posts: Day 1: Monday 31st October. Daphne … Continue reading Witch Week 2022

Witch Week is coming …

October 4, 2022October 3, 2022 ~ Lory

A friendly reminder that Witch Week is on its way, October 31 to November 5. This event, which I started in my first year of blogging, now ably hosted by Calmgrove and Lizzie Ross, Writer, celebrates fantasy books and authors during the week designated by Diana Wynne Jones as "a time when anything can happen." … Continue reading Witch Week is coming …

#TDiRS22: Into the darkness

September 25, 2022September 25, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 4 Comments

The second book of the Dark Is Rising readalong, hosted by AnnaBookBel, is The Dark Is Rising itself -- originally titled The Gift of Gramarye, but a publisher nixed that because of the fear that young readers would think the book was about grammar. Point taken, but in fact the chapter in which our protagonist, … Continue reading #TDiRS22: Into the darkness

#Narniathon21: The Last King of Narnia

June 26, 2022June 26, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 17 Comments

Rereading The Last Battle, our final Narnia volume in the Narniathon hosted by Calmgrove, was a peculiar experience. I loved this book as a child; I was a melancholic, disgruntled sort of girl, who felt at odds with my time and social setting, and it seems I found Lewis's picture of a civilization in decay … Continue reading #Narniathon21: The Last King of Narnia

#Narniathon21: Reading the Signs

March 27, 2022March 26, 2022 ~ Lory ~ 11 Comments

There is a scene in The Silver Chair that I think about a lot. It's when Jill, Eustace and Puddleglum, on a quest to find the lost prince of Narnia, are caught in a storm in the Northern Wilds. They are supposed to be looking for a ruined city of the giants, and for a … Continue reading #Narniathon21: Reading the Signs