Rosemary Sutcliff, Sword at Sunset (1963) Can a story still be compelling when we already know how it ends? In the case of the Arthurian legend, the appeal never seems to wane. Something about this doomed hero, who will be betrayed by friend and wife and sister and son, yet still strives for goodness and […]
Recently I went through my Goodreads “want to read” list and took off almost 200 books. Now I have a little over 100, which feels more manageable. I removed books that I’ve already read (duh), books I own (I don’t need a virtual reminder when I have a physical copy), and books that have […]
On this blog, I’ve mentioned how I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and tried to apply some of its principles (some of my tidied bookshelves are pictured below). On my new blog, Entering the Enchanted Castle, I describe some ways tidying up really did seem to change my life, and why it’s […]
I’ve been doing a lot of rereading this year. Sometimes I have the urge to revisit beloved favorites such as Robin McKinley’s classic fantasies; sometimes I’m reading books that have sat on my shelves for a while to see if I really want to keep them. Such was the case with The Three Damosels by […]
Well, this has been a year. Due to the emotional roller-coaster of my personal life (now thankfully settled down), I did not get as much reading done as usual. But when I was able to muster up the time and energy to open them books were always there for me, with their messages of wisdom, […]
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. […]
On my other blog, Entering the Enchanted Castle, here’s something new: The way of the wise fool. I hope you’ll check it out!
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 […]