I would spend every waking moment doing this…
Winslow Homer, The New Novel (1877).
if only I could.
The New Novel by Winslow Homer, 1877
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Tag Archives: Fiction
Wherein These Literary Movie Trailers Fight to the Death
Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law.
Wuthering Heights, starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson.
On the Road, starring Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund.
Voices from the Grave #35: Arthur Conan Doyle Interview
An interview with Arthur Conan Doyle, 1927.
A Year in Books/Day 205: Four Little Blossoms at Oak Hill School
- Title: Four Little Blossoms at Oak Hill School
- Author: “Mabel C. Hawley”
- Year Published: 1920 (The Saalfield Publishing Company)
- Year Purchased: Circa 1920
- Source: My Grandma
- About: When this book was published nearly a century ago, it wouldn’t have been considered naive or innocent, but a reflection of mainstream normalcy: what childhood was, or aspired to be. As such, the plot isn’t important. All you need to know is in the characters’ names: Bobby, Meg, Dot and….Twaddles. The Blossoms are siblings, and range in age from 7 to 4 (Dot and Twaddles, you see, are twins). Nothing much happens, just the usual sweet or sly childhood shenanigans one associates with a bygone era. The Four Little Blossoms’ benign adventures lasted for seven books. Published between 1920-1930, they were part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate assembly line. Other, more famous series from Stratemeyer include the Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys Mystery Stories, Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, and Dana Girls Mystery Stories.
- Motivation: This unimportant little book has, by extreme happenstance, been in the family for over ninety years, having been owned or read by four generations. Who knew that it would hang around so long? I wonder if this is the orphan of a once complete set, or if this is the only Four Little Blossoms book my forebears bought?
- Times Read: Dozens? As one of the first “real” chapter books I owned, at 3 or 4, I used it to move my skills beyond the Little Golden Books stage.
- Random Excerpt/Pages 10 and 11: “The Blossoms lived in the pretty town of Oak Hill, and they knew nearly every one. Indeed the children had never been away from Oak Hill till the visit they had made to their Aunt Polly, about which you may have read in the book called “Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm.” They had spent the summer with Aunt Polly, and had made many new friends and learned a great deal about animals. Meg, especially, loved all dumb creatures. And now that you are acquainted with the four little Blossoms, we must get back to that chimney.”
- Happiness Scale: 10, because it helped me become quite a fine reader
A Reading List a Mile Long: Bas Bleu Autumn 2012 Edition
The temperature remains high, at least where I live, but autumn is sneaking around the corner. Although I find scant joy in the companions of cold weather-believing that you should visit ice and snow if the fancy strikes, and not the other way around-there are some compensations that arrive with this particular changing of the seasons, among them: hot mulled cider, hot chocolate, gingerbread cake, holiday cookies, ice skating, scarves, boots, crackling fires, the ability to watch Miracle on 34th Street ten times without being judged (too harshly), silly parades, a changing landscape and, of course, the built-in excuse to hunker down and read as many books as possible. That last one is the best. The Autumn 2012 edition of Bas Bleu is crammed with enough delicious books and literary-related goodies to last the next two seasons. Check out my jumble bag of favourites below, complete with handy links. Continue reading
I’m Reading a Dirty Book (and, no, it’s not Fifty Shades of… Anything)
I’m reading a dirty book and, no, it’s not Fifty Shades of…Anything. It’s worse. I picked it up last week at the dollar store. During check-out I hid it in the middle of a pile of cleaning supplies, but the cashier wasn’t fooled: she gave me side eye. Owning it makes me blush. I would never, ever be seen in public with it under my arm or nose. We’re friends, though, right? Right? Okay, good. I’m a bit shy about this sensitive subject, so I am going to divulge my secret in a photograph. Deep breath. Here it is: Continue reading
Quote
“Perhaps there is another kind of writing, I only know this one: in the night, when fear does not let me sleep.”-Franz Kafka
Shopping for the Bookworm: Truman Capote Edition
I love Truman Capote. He makes me giddy. His writing-when he was at his best, when he cared enough to really try-is sublime. I could listen to his voice all day long. No, I could listen to his voice all the live long day. Enjoy these Capote-themed goodies from Etsy.
Truman Capote Necklace by Art History Nerd-$25.00
I adore the photograph embedded in this necklace. It’s probably my favourite of Capote. If I wore this piece, I’d spend too much time fiddling with it like a toy.
Truman Capote Quote by hendersweet-$3.00
A nice little card with a quote from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Truman Capote Print by Senioritis-$15.00
Colourful, kitschy print (11×17).
Vintage 1970s Cosmo featuring Truman Capote Article from Shop Buy Love-$24.99
This July, 1972 edition of Cosmopolitan features the article Truman Capote by Truman Capote.
House of Flowers Soundtrack from The Vinyl Frontier-$25.00
This is the soundtrack to the Truman Capote/Harold Arlen musical, House of Flowers. Starring Pearl Bailey, it was recorded in 1954.
The Grass Harp by Truman Capote from Bound By Books-$10.00
A Penguin Books edition of The Grass Harp.
A Year in Books/Day 202: Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- Title: Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
- Illustrator: Harry Clarke (from the 1919 edition published by George C. Harrap and Company Ltd.)
- Year Published: 1987 (The Franklin Library)
- Year Purchased: 2005
- Source: Barnes & Noble clearance rack
- About: It’s Poe, people. We all know Poe, don’t we? His stories are such an immutable fact of our culture that we’re practically born with them embedded into our consciousness. Continue reading
A Year in Books/Day 201: George Eliot A Life
- Title: George Eliot A Life
- Author: Rosemary Ashton
- Year Published: 1996 (Penguin Books)
- Year Purchased: 2007
- Source: A discount bookstore in New York.
- About: I have a lot of nice things to say about this biography, but the words refuse to line up in the right order. If I wrote down what I was thinking, it wouldn’t make any sense to you. Actually, I tried. About five times, and it didn’t make any sense to me, either. In an effort to get my point across in a straightforward way, and not drive myself crazy whilst doing so, I’m going to toss some descriptive and applicable words at you: Thoughtful. Intelligent. Careful. Illuminating. Human. Measured. Absorbing. Interesting. Appropriate. Subtle. George Eliot is one of my favourite English-language novelists of the 19th century. Her books bear reading and stand up to repeated visits. So does Ashton’s biography.
- Motivation: I like George Eliot’s work. I love biographies to the point of near obsession.
- Times Read: 2
- Random Excerpt/Page 72: “Her isolated position high up in her foreign attic, poised between a past life of much frustration and under-achievement and an unknown future, encouraged her penchant for thorough analysis and turned it inward. Sara had worried about her state of mind and her ability to cope alone. Mary Ann replied that she did quite enough worrying on her own account. Solicitude which expressed itself in criticism was not helpful.”
- Happiness Scale: 9
English: George Eliot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 