About

I read a lot.

Favorites include The Charioteer, Greensleeves, The Color Purple, Neverwhere, Watership Down, most of Tom Stoppard’s plays, The Three Musketeers, The Chosen, The Ghost of Opalina, Jane Eyre, I Capture the Castle, The Blue Castle, Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, almost anything by Diana Wynne Jones, Gary Schmidgall’s splendid biography of Oscar Wilde (The Stranger Wilde), James Herriot’s books, Lolita, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (oo, I need to reread that!), Angels in America, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and mercy, just dozens of things I can’t remember in the slightest.

29 thoughts on “About”

  1. I saw your post at another site about wanting to buy a used copy of The Ghost of Opalina, and had to mention Two Lakes Press is promising to reprint it one of these days. Check out their site at: http://twolakespress.com/default.aspx

    Unfortunately, I’ve been waiting to hear something for about three years, and no news yet!

    Best,
    Alice

    Reply

      • Hey! Not only have I read – and re-read, and re-read – it but I’m engaged on a constant search to find a copy. Lucky you to have on! I’m subscribing to your blog *now* based solely on this proof of your excellent taste! Like you, I so wish Greensleeves was still in print. And cannot understand why the only Jarvis McGraw books still available are the bo-o-oring ones.

      • Good to see another Greensleeves fan! Hi! I will cross my fingers for you that you find a copy. 🙂

        Well, Mara, Daughter of the Nile is still in print, and that’s been one of my favorites for years. I thought it was so, so exciting! What are your other favorites of McGraw’s?

  6. Many times. I know. I wish some publisher would reissue it (same cover, though), and Eloise Jarvis McGraw would get all the money and accolades that Stephenie Meyer has. She deserves it. It made a neighborhood in late 1960’s Portland feel as intense and fully imagined as a fantasy world to me.

    Reply

  7. Oh dear. I just looked her up. Too late for the money and accolades. At least she did win the Newberry. Three times. I’d never even heard of the first two books she won it for.

    Reply

    • Yup, she died on the 100th anniversary of Oscar Wilde’s death (I know that because I’m a dork). I loved The Moorchild but I haven’t read her other two Newberry books; Greensleeves is by far the best of her books, I think. I loved poor Wynola.

      Reply

  8. Ooh, seeing this post makes me think of all the possible entries you could have for With Reverent Hands! I have looked for your email address but can’t find it. If you would like to email me at booklustblogger *AT* gmail *DOT* com, then I would be happy to send you a With Reverent Hands template 🙂

    Reply

  10. I think I just figured out why I’m stalking your page. We have a lot in common.

    Tom Stoppard is excellent, I Capture the Castle was entertaining, Diana Wynne Jones is fabulous, and so on and so forth.

    Also, you read a lot.

    Reply

  11. Hi Jenny,

    Apropos acquiring and buying books at dirt cheap prices. My wife haunts places like Friends of the Library, garage sales of all types, and the big sales in Macon and Atlanta.

    It’s amazing what you can find there. We collect all types of Catholic and Christian books and then give them to others.

    Adios,
    Charlie

    Reply

  12. OMG! Did I just click in here for the first time? I know that I didn’t see before that you love The Ground Beneath Her Feet. I adore that book and only see negative things about it everywhere! I’m so glad that you love it (and Amelia Peabody and DWJ, etc, etc).

    Reply

  13. Hi Jenny,

    thanks so much for your reviews, they really helped me in a couple of essays i wrote(cited you of course) for english literature.

    I would like to give something back. How does a custom wordpress theme sound? created exclusively for your blog. Free of charge of course.

    Feel free to get back to me on the email i used for this comment

    -Tom

    Reply

  14. Hey Jenny! I found you on Aelias Reads. I always like your comments.

    I LOVE Jane Eyre. It’s my all time favorite book in the entire world. You have very good taste. 🙂

    I just started up a new book/movie review blog, and I would love if you checked it out. Thanks!

    Reply

  16. What a great blog – and I love how you’ve categorised your reviews! I’ve been puzzling for months over whether genre or author or date or what should be the ordering principle on my blog – and eventually just ended up destroying the stupid category widget altogether in a fit of unbridled fury. But you have inspired me to try again.

    I am concerned about your by-line though: do you really read the end before the middle?! Surely you jest? That’s terrible – I can’t help but feel sorry for the poor authors who’ve taken such pains crafting their narratives just so – particularly those who’ve gone for the good old twist at the end.

    Reply

    • Thank you! You’re so kind! 🙂 I still don’t feel I’ve organized my reviews just how I want them, but I decided not to worry about it for the time being.

      Yes. I truly do read the end before I read the middle. I like knowing what’s going to happen, and I appreciate the author’s craft more when I read books out of order. However, since I respect the opinions of my fellow readers, I decided to try a whole month where I only read books in the correct order. At the end of September I’ll be reevaluating my accustomed reading method. But, honestly, I miss reading the end early, and I plan to go right back to doing it again as soon as October rolls around.

      Reply

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