Review: The Seagulls Woke Me, Mary Stolz

I usually read The Seagulls Woke Me when I have just finished Greensleeves and cannot bear to leave it absolutely behind right away; they are both books about girls who get away from (or find?) themselves.  The Seagulls Woke Me is a good transition from Greensleeves to, you know, regular life.  It helps me to [...]

Read Full Post »

Review: The Brontes Went to Woolworth’s, Rachel Ferguson

Haha, at last I have my hands on some books from the Bloomsbury group, and all because my mother is a difficult person to buy for.  Not one but three of these lovely books did she receive – Miss Hargreaves, A Kid for Two Farthings, and this one, which is the one I very much [...]

Read Full Post »

Review: Darkchild, Sydney van Scyoc

Phew.  Nearly didn’t make it.  Actually I am not absolutely convinced I did make it – I was planning to read Daughters of the Sunstone (a trilogy) for the YA/juvenile fiction book of Jeane‘s DogEar Reading Challenge; I thought it was juvenile fiction because when I looked it up in the library catalogue, it was [...]

Read Full Post »

I don’t know why I lie to myself

All these past weeks, when everyone has been deciding on their challenges for the New Year (is anyone else totally ready for 2010?  This has never happened to me before, but I find myself wanting to write 2010 as the year for everything, and then when I have to write 2009 instead, I feel cranky [...]

Read Full Post »

Review: The Mask of Apollo, Mary Renault

I have this strategy – I’ve mentioned it before – where when I really like an author, I save some of their books.  I haven’t read two (2) of Salman Rushdie’s books.  Martin Millar has written a number of books that I haven’t read, and I haven’t made the small effort it would take to [...]

Read Full Post »

Review: Can Any Mother Help Me?, Jenna Bailey

In 1935, a mother wrote in to a British motherhood magazine saying this: Can any mother help me?  I live a very lonely life as I have no near neighbors.  I cannot afford to buy a wireless. I adore reading, but with no library am very limited with books.  I dislike needlework, though I have [...]

Read Full Post »

Review: Stern Men, Elizabeth Gilbert

Ruth Thomas lives on Fort Niles, an island off the coast of Maine, where the main occupation is lobster-hunting.  Raised mainly on Fort Niles by her father and her neighbor Mrs. Pommeroy, Ruth’s upbringing is punctuated with time spent in Delaware boarding school.  Upon her graduation she returns to Fort Niles determined to start a [...]

Read Full Post »

Miscellany

We had a sad end of Thanksgiving – my family dog died quite suddenly on Sunday.  She was a lovely dog, really just the best dog you ever met.  We got her when I was eleven, and she was three months old and very fluffy.  For the longest time we couldn’t think what to call [...]

Read Full Post »