Posted in Books, Classics, Literary fiction, Neil's Picks, Quick read, Quirky characters, Sense of place on February 6, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Most of us are introduced to John Steinbeck through his darker works, assigned to traumatize us in junior high or high school. I was required to read “The Pearl” first, and I promise you, the pearl costs the people who find it an awful lot. I won’t give away the plot of Of Mice and [...]
Posted in Bluesocks' Picks, Books, Classics, Quick read on December 20, 2007 | No Comments »
Cheryl reminds us of why it’s worth returning to this Christmas classic:
Christmas may be a humbug to Ebenezer Scrooge but it certainly wasn’t a humbug to Charles Dickens who wrote several fine tales of the holiday season. His best and most famous Christmas story is of course, A Christmas Carol. People have grown up watching [...]
Posted in Bluesocks' Picks, Books, Characters, Children's, Classics, Humor on December 18, 2007 | No Comments »
Morag offers us a Christmas classic from the junior collection:
If you are looking for a wonderfully funny satirical story to share with your family or church over the holidays – this story is recommended for ages 8 and up: a beloved wacky, witty, fast moving classic since 1972. Six wild children, the Herdman children teach [...]
Posted in Books, Classics, Clever dialogue, Jennifer D.'s Picks, Romance on November 28, 2007 | No Comments »
Well, it was inevitable. Any list of plays must feature something by Shakespeare. Even if the list were of bad plays, he would still have to be included. As much as I enjoy Hamlet, and Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, I chose to highlight a less obvious choice, Much Ado about Nothing. It is my [...]
Posted in Classics, Penelope's Picks, Sense of place, Westerns on October 16, 2007 | No Comments »
Will anyone be reading Westerns ten years from now? The boys who once saved their dimes for pulp Western magazines have become old men who read and reread Louis L’Amour in large print. Soon, they will fade from the scene. Their children and grandchildren would not be caught dead reading a book with a little [...]
Posted in Author obituary, Autobiography, Books, Characters, Children's, Christian, Classics, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Jessica's Picks, Language Focus, Literary fiction, Mainstream fiction, Nonfiction, Plot, Science fiction, Sense of place, Setting, Young Adult on September 7, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Madeleine L’Engle died yesterday at the age of 89.
How can I even begin to describe the impact that L’Engle had on readers? Or on me?
She wrote some of everything: novels, nonfiction, poems, plays. She wrote for everyone:
young children, tweeners, young adults, adults. She wrote in a variety of genres: autobiography, coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, science fiction, [...]
Posted in Books, Classics, Jessica's Picks, Language Focus, Quick read, Setting on May 18, 2007 | 7 Comments »
My first love was Mr. Rochester, the stony silent tragic fella from Jane Eyre. The plot of Charlotte Bronte’s masterpiece, for those of you who’ve forgotten, goes like this:
Mr. Rochester: I’m pretending I don’t like you.
Jane: I’m pretending I don’t like you, either.
Mr. Rochester: Oh what the heck, let’s get married.
Minister: And do you [...]
Posted in Books, Classics, Jessica's Picks on April 27, 2007 | No Comments »
Nope, not The Invisible Man, the science fiction book by H.G. Wells. This is a literary fiction book written by Ralph Ellison in 1952, one of the classics of the twentieth century.
Hey! You there! Don’t close that browser! I know you may have a bitter taste in your mouth about the classics leftover from your [...]
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