Whoa, it's been a long time since I did a Spin! They are such a good way to commit to at least one book off the tbr. The rules for the Spin are here if you are not familiar with the Classics Club. In a nutshell, you make a numbered list of 20 books from …
On Reading Horror, Especially HP Lovecraft #MondaysBookishMusings
Sometimes I wish we didn't categorize books. For the longest time I refused, almost viscerally, to read Horror. Fear, gore, unsavory hideous characters is what I thought. Then, while participating in a reading challenge of New England authors, I forced myself to read The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, by the (in my mind) notorious, …
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Lois the Witch (1859), Elizabeth Gaskell
One of my favorite discoveries from last year's Victober is this short story of the witch hunts that plagued early America. It's chilling and realistic in the way it treats all the parties concerned. I was impressed that Gaskell knew so much and created such a sad and compelling story. ....there was much to tell …
Alexander’s Bridge (1912), Willa Cather
"Remembering Hilda as she used to be, was doubtless more satisfactory than seeing her as she must be now—and, after all, Alexander asked himself, what was it but his own young years that he was remembering?" Willa Cather's first novel is a sobering view on the inability to let go of the old and live …
A Walk With Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love and Faith, Lori Smith (2007)
I hope that somehow this proximity to Jane’s life will help me understand my own. This was the perfect nonfiction book to cap the 250th celebration of Jane Austen's birth and my re-reading of her various books, short stories and juvenilia. The Premise Lori Smith is at a painful and difficult time in her life. …
The Christmas Banquet, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844)
Who is this impassive man? We seem to know him well, here in our city, and know nothing of him but what is credible and fortunate. Yet hither he comes, year after year, to this gloomy banquet, and sits among the guests like a marble statue. Ask yonder skeleton–perhaps that may solve the riddle! This …
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Happy 250th, Jane!
I posted a story on Instagram today about Sense and Sensibility being my comfort book. I didn't realize this is the date of Jane Austen's 250th birthday. Then I saw all the tributes and want to share mine. If Jane Austen knew when she started writing as a young girl that not only would she …
Welcome to my Blog!
Hello and welcome to my book blog! I am an eclectic reader of the classics in literature, religion, and natural history. Old books are like a time machine and I love the feeling of being dropped into the past as words fill me with sights and sounds, of thoughts and sensibility, of interiors, food, clothing, …
The Gauntlet (1951), Ronald Welch
If you are a young boy time traveling to 14th century Wales, you might as well find yourself the heir to a great Norman family learning all the necessary skills and duties of a leader, with experiences so intense your life is threatened and you have something astonishing to tell your friends and family when …
Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne (1873)
I thoroughly enjoyed the escapades of Phileas Fogg and his trip around the world as he tried to settle a wager of completing his trip in 80 days. With his loyal manservant, Passepartout we are treated to an exciting, armchair-traveling journey that spans the globe, cultures, modes of transportation, class and race from the perspective …
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Classic Laurie 