Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
I successfully finished the War through the Generations World War II reading challenge this December, but I haven’t been able to blog properly in the last ten days or so, with the holiday rush. Hopefully this entry still makes it.
For 2009, I’ve read:
1) The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
2) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
This month, I finished Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli, and A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
“It’s so dreadful to be poor!” sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
“I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
“We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other,” said Beth contentedly from her corner.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, “We haven’t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time.” She didn’t say “perhaps never,” but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was.
Who can forget these first few lines from the opening chapter of the much-loved classic, Little Women?
Louisa May Alcott really has a knack for writing Christmas stories, and I discovered a couple of them this week (erm, while getting my hair done at the salon) — The Quiet Little Woman, and The Abbot’s Ghost (books 204-205 of 2009) .
It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!
I’ve been having trouble updating my blog because of the sheer busy-ness of the season, with Christmas parties left and right, endless shopping and giftwrapping, and I’ve been attending the dawn masses (at 4:30 am) at church as well (today was the last one!).
I’ve been poring through some Christmassy picture books for the holidays, (i didn’t realize I had so many on my shelves!) so here’s another picture book roundup, flash review style.
(Oh, and this doesn’t include How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which I already reviewed a few months back).
Continue reading “Christmas Picture Books (The Flash Review Roundup)”
I’m not a hardcore fantasy reader — I usually balk at unpronounceable names, epic quests and battles, made-up languages, and maps of imaginary lands — although I pick up a fantasy book with all of the elements mentioned above once in a very long while.
Last month, I received a copy of Stuart Hill’s The Cry of the Icemark (thank you Scholastic!), and it isn’t normally my type of book but it came so highly recommended that I bumped it up my TBR. At 400+ pages, it’s not a quick read, but it’s certainly one I enjoyed.
Continue reading “Blood! Blast! And Fire! (The Cry of the Icemark)”
I’ve been meaning to catch up on some reviewing backlog, because the to-be-reviewed pile doesn’t seem to be going down. I was saving some books for thematic reviews but the stacks have been driving me crazy, and I’m way off my target for this year, hence I’ve decided to write some flash reviews for the quick reads.
Here’s how it works: I give a summary of the book, my take on it, plus a rating.
Deep breath. Here goes: