Bookworms Carnival: Poetry

I am delighted to welcome the Bookworms Carnival to my site for a special carnival of POETRY.

As you probably know, Savvy Verse and Wit has been sponsoring a month-long National Poetry blog tour! In addition to the poetry links below, make sure you check out that link for a detailed listing of all the ways that poetry has been honored this month around the blogosphere. Continue reading »

Recent and Upcoming Bookworms Carnivals

In the past month, there were two great Bookworms Carnivals. The first one was about paranormal fiction, hosted here. I admit that I’m not interested in vampire books, but if you are, go check it out! The other carnival was all about local authors, hosted by Ali at Worducopia. This was lots of fun because it links to reviews for a variety of books from many genres.

A few more are upcoming, with at least one that you can definitely submit something too. Continue reading »

The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman + Happy Halloween

I admit: The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman is the first Neil Gaiman book I’ve read. And it is a clever one. While it’s clearly a children’s book, it has an element of spookiness to it and somber, spidery illustrations that make it just right for adults too. Continue reading »

Really Old Classics Challenge

Children 2,000 years ago read and memorized Virgil and Homer, and Aesop’s Fables were common knowledge. Even 200 years ago these classics were widely read. Now, there are thousands of new books published each year. But what about those really old ones? Have we read those yet? Any of them?

That’s why I’ve decided to host the Really Old Classics Challenge (including classics from pre-1600s), a ten-month challenge (October 2008-July 2009). I myself haven’t read many of the really old ones (Homer, Virgil, Chaucer, Dante, etc.), so this is a project I’m adopting for myself primarily, in addition to my How to Read and Why personal challenge. But I thought we could all use a little motivation, a reminder, to pick one the old classics. Continue reading »

Bookworms Carnival: You Are Never Too Old

The August Bookworms Carnival is up at The 3 R’s. This month’s theme is “You Are Never Too Old.”

I submitted my review of The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne.  I love Winnie-the-Pooh, and I look forward to rereading it many times with my son!

I also wrote a post recently about the picture book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I love that picture book!

I have also reviewed number of other children’s books and stories, but not all of them are books that I enjoy as an adult. View summaries of all of the children’s books I’ve reviewed on Rebecca Reads in the Child/Young Adult category.

I’m going to New Zealand for nine days! If all goes well, I have a couple of posts scheduled to appear. I probably won’t be visiting your blogs or responding to comments in the next few days. I’ll try to make up for it when I return!

Bookworms Carnival: Relationships

The July Bookworms Carnival is up at Mixed Metaphor. This month, it is about relationships. Jenn gives us a rundown of a number of books reviewed about relationships.

I submitted my post about The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, which discusses the relationship between husband and wife in the late 1800s in New York City. I loved this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Other books I’ve reviewed relating to relationships:

• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (memoi; father-son relationship, in the midst of learning the father’s Holocaust experience)
• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (short stories; individuals’ lack of relationships, i.e., their isolation)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (novel; sisters)
• March by Geraldine Brooks (novel; parent and husband)
• Personal History by Katharine Graham (autobiography; wife to mentally ill man)

Trying to list works I’ve reviewed about relationships is hard; I’ve read so many more books, but I’ve only been reviewing online for a few months. I’ll get more books reviewed as time goes by!

Go check out the carnival for other relationship books.

A Few Fairy Tale Reviews

I loved the Bookworms Carnival on fairy tales, and I put so many books on my TBR list. After reading through HTR&W‘s prologue all about irony and metaphor, I’ve turned to some of these great fairy tales this week for an escape to the world of imagination.

My community library only has a few of the ones I wanted to read and books cost twice as much here in Australia than in the USA, so I was limited in which ones I read this week. Anyway, here’s what I read, with my six-word reviews. Continue reading »

Bookworms Carnival: Fairy Tales

The Twelfth Bookworms Carnival is up at Things Mean a Lot. This time, it was all about fairy tales and fables.

I’ve just begun blogging, so this was the first Bookworms Carnival I was aware of. I have to say I really got excited about the idea of a theme to my reading and I’m still looking forward to reading more fairy tale books. There are so many reviewed at the Carnival, I’ll be busy for a while!

I submitted my first post right away and started reading more, submitting two more posts. I know now that I should wait until the end and submit my favorite post, because that is what it came down to! There isn’t space for all of them. I’m already looking forward to finding themes in my reading for the coming month.

Here were my submissions:

• Aesop’s Fables
• Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
• Fairy Tales and Fables by Eric Carle