As I make my way through the latter books of the Oz series, I notice how Baum kept trying to get outside the confines of Oz. Perhaps he realized that giving it an all-powerful and all-knowing ruler put something of a damper on conflict and adventure, or perhaps the land had been circumscribed in a … Continue reading #Ozathon24: More adventures outside Oz
The third book of the Oz series starts with a storm at sea, seemingly far away from Dorothy (who lives in Kansas) and from Oz (which is surrounded by deserts). But we soon learn that Dorothy is journeying on a ship with her uncle Henry, whose health has been broken down by the hardships of … Continue reading #Ozathon24: Bringing the Sun Underground
With the third book of the Oz series, we have the return of Dorothy and her meeting with the newly discovered ruler of Oz, along with a plethora of new characters including a feisty chicken, a mechanical man, and the underground Nomes. With its blend of excitement, humor, and suspense, it's one of the best-constructed … Continue reading #Ozathon24: Ozma of Oz
Much as I love reading, L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz probably had a greater influence on me through the movie version, which I watched on TV every year -- this was before recordings made it easy to watch our favorite films at the touch of a button. It was a kind of … Continue reading #Ozathon24: Journey into the heart
I'm so happy to be hosting an Ozathon - that is, a book-per-month readalong of the 14 Oz books by L. Frank Baum. Even if you don't manage to read all the books, you're welcome to join any time and sample some of the series. I'm looking forward to this journey with you. See the … Continue reading #Ozathon24 begins: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
It's my pleasure this year to join in the readalong of Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish fiction hosted by Calmgrove, focusing on the works that I have never read or can't remember reading. So far, that means I've read four novellas published in the 1960s and 70s: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, … Continue reading #LoveHain: Worlds of Humanity
This is a re-post of my review originally published at Shiny New Books. And if you'd like to go on to read about the next in the series, over at SNB you can read my latest review of the Folio Society edition of The Farthest Shore, which posted today. In our upside-down world of reversed … Continue reading Beautiful Books: The Tombs of Atuan
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House (1959)Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963) Lately I seem to have been reading a lot of amazing memoirs by women, frequently dealing with psychological manipulation and coming out of a state of subjugation or abuse. (Tara Westover's Educated being the most recent example -- and it turned out … Continue reading Beautiful Books: Two psychological masterpieces
James Lapine, Putting It Together (2021) I think that putting on a theatrical production, particularly a musical, is one of the most remarkable things we human beings can do. It requires an almost unequalled level of cooperation and working together, with manifold roles that each have to be precisely and skillfully done while serving the … Continue reading Reading the Theatre review: Putting It Together
For this month's Throwback Thursday event, I'm linking back to one of my favorite reviews that hardly anyone seemed to notice on The Emerald City Book Review: my consideration of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, part of my Reading New England challenge year. Original 1938 production of Our Town This month, as I'm celebrating Reading the … Continue reading Throwback Thursday: Our Town
