Today’s BBAW subject is to share a book or genre that I have tried because of the influence of another blogger. Blogging has greatly changed my reading patterns and choices, and in the past year I think blogging has brought me the unexpected treasures of graphic novels and classics. (more…)
After my first Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I added probably about 100 hundred blogs to my reader. Last year was year two and I found myself similarly overwhelmed with wonderful new blogging friends. I’m finding that this year, I’ve been more on the periphery because I’m busy with other things in life, and I’m trying not to let blogging override my life! Nonetheless, I am quite excited to celebrate book blogging and my fellow book bloggers this week. (more…)
I went through a summer children’s and YA binge during my blogging break. These books did not take long to read, and I read them for the pure entertainment value. They also are not ones that I’ll remember for long, although they were enjoyable. It may be that I am not thinking much of them because I was in a not-thinking-much mood; after all, these were my breaks from Victorian literature.
If you are looking for a light fantasy read to fit a craving, maybe one of these will bit the bill.
I share brief thoughts below on the following books:
Victorian London was smelly, and that is where Ms Picard begins her nonfiction summation of the city from 1840-1870 (Victorian London by Liza Picard, published 2005). From her detailed descriptions of the polluted Thames to the horrors of being a “maid of all work” to the entertainments of the great capital, the city of London in Victorian times becomes both delightfully and (more frequently) disgustingly palpable.
Ms Picard determined to rely solely on nonfiction sources for her descriptions, and there are plenty of first-hand accounts of the grime of the city to make the telling engaging and interesting. Her book, which is just about 300 pages, is nonetheless comprehensive in surveying a general way of life (both the necessaries and the wants) for the rich as well as the poor in those interesting years in the city. (more…)
Please note: This post may contain “spoilers,” particularly for Huckleberry Finn.
Rereading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (written 1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (written 1876-1885) as an adult reminds me just why I love Huckleberry Finn so much more. Tom Sawyer is a book I have always had fond memories of because of the clever adventures, the old American frontier setting on the near-to-me Mississippi River, and the creative personality of the rascal Tom Sawyer himself. But the satiric look at society in the companion novel, Huckleberry Finn, and the depth of inner conflict that Huck struggles with in that novel makes it a far more satisfying read as a whole. (more…)
K4 curriculum: Miquon, LoE Foundations, American history, living books for science, Salsa Spanish
