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
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
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
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
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
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 …
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
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
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
I'm always pleased to join in with March Magics, which celebrates favorite authors Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett. Both departed this life in the month of March, leaving us readers sad yet grateful for all the wonderful books they gifted us with over many years. For this 11th session of MM, I picked up … Continue reading March Magics: Meeting some new friends
