Saturday, October 31, 2015




Happy Halloween!






Here are Five Fascinating Facts about Alfred Lord Tennyson.  Tennyson lived in the 1800's and was a poet. A lot of his poetry had a classic mythology theme.  He tried plays but they didn't do too well.  Still today people frequently us a term from In Miriam 27:  "Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."

The Kraken by Alfred Lord Tennyson
                          
Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth:  faintest sunlight flee
About his shadowy sides: above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumber'd and enormous polypi
Winnow with enormous arms and slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire should heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Friday, October 30, 2015

It is out -- The New York Times Best Illustrated books of 2015.  Check it out here:  NY Times.

Here is some of the illustrations:




Thursday, October 29, 2015

Have you ever thought about what constitutes a true literary fiction as opposed to other fiction?  I hadn't done anyserious thinking about the subject but I would assume a literary novel would be an in depth look at some subject or there would be lessons learned.  What do I know?  Anyway here is an article by author Warren Adler that addresses the subject of What is a Literary Fiction?



Tuesday, October 27, 2015


Children's author and illustrator Vera B. Williams died at the age of 88.  The literacy world has lost a great author.  RIP Vera B. Williams  The link is Vera about Vera.    She was the author of A Chair for my Mother.  In 2004 she was the 2004 U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Anderson Award.




Monday, October 26, 2015

I'm so thrilled!  You may ask - what has you so excited today?  I received in the mail from author Reynold Jay several of his books one of which was a proof of the very first in The Wurthington Diary series, The Little Girl Doll.  I have read 1-6 and they are great books for kids and adults.  What is cool is there are two different versions of each, one for a younger audience and one for the older.  The difference is the length of the book so that the younger readers or the younger children being read to won't get bored.  I've always read the ebook versions and the illustrations are great BUT the actual paperback books are not only enchanting stories but works of art.

I really encourage parents, especially, to check these books out.  They would make awesome Christmas gifts but also if you want to encourage a young child to get interested in reading - these books will do it.  These are the sort of books you want to hang onto and hand down to the next generation.

Sorry for the background on the pic, I'm redoing my floors and thinks are kind of a disaster, lol.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Great interview with Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton about their partnership in writing children's books and how they each got started.  There is also an autobiography of Julie Andrews.  Here is the site that has a list of her books :  The Julie Andrew's Collection


Thursday, October 22, 2015


Jamaican poet Claudia Rankine is on a short list for the TS Eliot poetry prize.  Some of the other poets are Sean O'BrienTacey Herd and Les Murray.  You can see the complete list at the bottom of the Guardian article about Claudia Rankine.


Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Here it is 30 Great Opening Lines in Literature starting with Jane Austin and ending with Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  The arrow for the next button is upper left.  It might be just me but it took me a few to find it.  I haven't had enough Diet Coke this morning to rev the engine.  lol



Friday, October 16, 2015

This is so cool.  My interview with Freya from Freado.com is up.  Check it out here  Life as a book blogger

Monday, October 12, 2015

Shaquille O'Neal has written a child's book.  Little Shaq The basketball star has done all kinds of activities since retiring from basketball and now he can add author to the list.  Check out the link for more information on his book.


I've always thought he has the cutest grin.  

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Belarusian writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich has won the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature.

Announcing the prize in Stockholm, the chair of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius, called her writing "a monument to courage and suffering in our time".
You can learn more about Svetlana at her website.  Voices from the Big Utopia




Thursday, October 8, 2015

I hate to admit  it  but I've never read any of the Harry Potter books.  I've seen all the movies and I know the books are great so I don't know why I haven't.  Maybe their daunting size?  lol

Anyway for Harry Potter fans everywhere J.K. Rowling now has interactive ebooks.  Check it out here  Harry Potter comes to life with interactive ebooks


Monday, October 5, 2015

Discussion between Stephen King and Lee Child on you tube.  It is long but it is worth listening too.



Sunday, October 4, 2015

I wanted to make a list of spine chilling books to read in October.  Sooooo naturally I had to go to the people.  I posted a poll on my facebook feed and here are the responses I got.  By far it was unanimous that Stephen King's books came up the most.   If you are looking for some scary reads to get you in the mood for Halloween - here ya go!!!!

It by Stephen King 
Pet Cemetary by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Watchers by Dean Koontz
Needful Things by Stephen King
Hell House by Richard Matheson
Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
The Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
The Girl Next Store by Jack Ketchum
Naomi's Room by Jonathon Aycliffe
The Collector by John Fowles
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski


READ 1 OR 2 IF YOU DARE MUAHAHAHAHA

Thursday, October 1, 2015

WOW, this is such an awesome idea!  Cudos to the estate of Roald Dahl and to McDonald's in the UK for their Happy Readers program.   I've never heard of any McDonald's in the US giving out books.  We need to get with it!