Yes, I’ve made it to the end of the readalong! I spent the entire year with Jean Valjean and co., from the battle of Waterloo to the sewers of Paris and beyond. I appreciated Victor Hugo’s vivid and poetic language, his wide-ranging imagination, and his sense of drama. I truly feel I’ve been living part […]
At the end of my fifth year of blogging here at The Emerald City Book Review, I’d like to express my gratitude to all the readers and bloggers I’ve interacted with over the years. You are too numerous to mention individually, but if you’re reading this, please know how thankful I am for your presence. […]
E.H. Shepard, Drawn from Life (1961) Ernest Shepard, best known today as the illustrator of Winnie-the-Pooh and its companions, wrote two memoirs that have just been added to the lovely series of Slightly Foxed Editions. These small, colorful hardcovers, bound in the UK, are typeset in a clean, nicely balanced format that is a pleasure […]
As I mentioned in my post asking Is it time for a change?, I’ve been thinking about starting a new blog. And now I have! I’ve created Entering the Enchanted Castle as a place where I can go a bit beyond the “book review” definition to talk about other things on my mind. I’m sure […]
Naomi Mitchison, The Blood of the Martyrs (1939) Naomi Mitchison, who died in 1999 at the age of 101, was a prolific writer who dipped into quite an astonishing number of genres. She wrote historical fiction based in both prehistoric and historic times, contemporary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, travelogue, essays, memoirs, biography, plays … is […]
Somebody once defined a children’s book as “any book that a child will read.” Which could be nearly anything–some children will read very strange and unexpected things, while other books earmarked for children languish on the shelf. I think our usual definitions have to do more with what adults think children will read, or […]
This month I was happy to knock off three titles that have been on the TBR pile on my shelf for the past year. My progress has been slow, but every time I finally read one of these books that has been waiting patiently for so long, I’m glad I made the effort. Of […]