As I keep track of my reading, I have to make some decisions as to what makes it onto my list of completed books. Does it count if I skim or skip a substantial portion? What if I stop reading partway through and then take it up again — should I start over from the […]
This month, along with reviewing Oliver Sacks’s ground-breaking Awakenings, I was attracted by a number of new-ish releases, most of which I enjoyed to some degree. I found Quichotte by Salman Rushdie the most disappointing, and Once Upon a River the most pleasantly diverting. The Silence of the Girls provided a relentless dose of Ancient […]
I haven’t done a tag for a long time, but this one caught my eye — borrowed from Calmgrove, who borrowed it from Re-enchantment of the World. Countering the seven deadly sins, what are the bookish virtues we can consider? Chastity Which author, book or series do you wish you’d never read Lord of the […]
Number 5! That means I’ll be reading: I’m excited to finally read this Australian classic, with perfect timing for Brona’s Australian Reading Month in November. If you’re participating in the Spin, what did you get? How do you feel about it?
It’s time for the Classics Club Spin! Club members pick 20 books from their list and number them. A number is chosen and then the challenge is to read that book by a certain date (October 31, in this case). Even though I no longer have an official target date for my Classics Club list, […]
I used to be nostalgic for my childhood reading, when every new discovery was so fresh and exciting and the worlds on the page seemed vividly real. I still look back with fondness to that particular magic, but lately I’ve grown to also appreciate being a more mature reader. I understand more, I have more […]
Oliver Sacks, Awakenings (1999/1973) Of course I’ve heard of Oliver Sacks, author of many books with intriguing titles (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, An Anthropologist on Mars, Seeing Voices, etc.). But in spite of hearing that Sacks was a terrific writer about fascinating topics out of his practice as a neurologist, […]
Well, the end of this month was a whirlwind of excitement (in my terms, anyway) as I hosted Robertson Davies Reading Week, dedicated to spreading the word about one of my favorite authors. I found it great fun to share this event with some other enthusiastic readers, some longtime fans, some coming to his work […]
It’s hard to believe, but our week has already come to an end. It’s been fantastic to see some other readers giving attention to the marvelous books of Robertson Davies. Many thanks to my fabulous guest bloggers: Calmgrove on The Deptford Trilogy Lizzie Ross on For Your Eye Alone Consumed by Ink on High Spirits […]
Today, head over to Buried in Print for a consideration of Robertson Davies’s second-to-last finished novel, Murther and Walking Spirits — one that draws on his own family history in a remarkable way. It’s not a spoiler to tell you that the main character dies (this happens in the first sentence) but beyond that we’re […]