Ring Them Bells!

Not sure Mr Dylan had quite these bells in mind, but that’s his loss if he didn’t…

I love fantasy author Robin McKinley’s books Blue Sword, Sunshine, The Hero and the Crown (and a few by Peter Dickinson, her husband, too); do you?? If not, you should! And here’s a perfect opportunity: Check out the sale and auction of signed and dedicated books, special doodle-licious books, and other goodies. All proceeds will go to the New Arcadia Bell Restoration Fund. Ends 9 October 2011.

Point your broswers thusly: http://robinmckinleysblog.com/bells/

God’s Ring Fingers, This Book Is Great!

24th DAY OF FEBRUARY, Feast of Saint Matthias, who preached to cannibals

Dennis called on Sunday, and let us know, among other things, that we should be expecting an agent from Los Gatos and her clients on Tuesday, between noon and 1:00p; since Dennis wasn’t feeling at all well, I was nominated to fill in…

Come Tuesday noon, the house was spiffed, Her Majesty en crate, and the vehicles outside the fence. What’s a girl to do? Grab a book, of course. On the side table in the living room was Seumas MacManus’ The Story of the Irish Race. I picked up where I’d left off, and pretty soon got lost in all the place names. Hoping against hope, I checked in the library, but no world atlas. OTOH, up one shelf and to the left from where the map sorts of books live are the (generally) Irish/Ireland books, and stuck in there was a little gem (besides that it’s a Newbery Honor Book).

I pulled Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman, off the shelf, because it didn’t look familiar, but definitely sounded interesting. Boy, was I ever right this time!!

Catherine, the daughter of a minor knight and his lady wife, is in her thirteenth year, in the year of Our Lord 1290, in England. The book begins thusly:

12th DAY OF SEPTEMBER
I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family. That is all there is to say.

Once I picked myself off the floor and carried on, there was quite a bit more hysterics following. I got quite a bit into the book, as our house viewers didn’t arrive until 1:30 or so, and discovered there was quite a bit more to Birdy’s life than silliness: when she finally gets to witness a hanging in a village, whether her curses actually work, dealing with her mother’s miscarriage, the wedding of the abomination (her brother, Robert)…

As soon as my Dennis impersonation duties were completed, back to Birdy I went, and finished up this evening. Oh my, well worth the effort! And I do wonder how she made out once she left home.

I can only hope that Saint Matthias had a fork with him…

Lists of Best Books of 2008

From npr.org, last last year:

Best Books of 2008


OMG! My checkbook just snapped shut (and amazon.com is doing its best to pry it open         ;-)

Golf: Your Salvation?

Today’s Quote of the Day on my iGoogle page is about golf and work; it’s from Bob Hope, so, of course, it’s funny.

Golf also makes a rather humorous appearance in the first story in Debbie Macomber’s On a Snowy Night. Let’s just say it involves an ice storm, two formerly best friends, and the contents of a golf bag… It’s hysterical!!

Jerry’s Getting More Intelligent All the Time!

From Quotes of the Day, today:

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.

- Jerry Seinfeld

The Most Wretched Twilight Zone Episode

:::shudder:::

This one gives me the heebeejeebees just thinking about it…

Time Enough at Last

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Now playing: Fleetwood Mac - I Don’t Wanna Know
via FoxyTunes

Books Are the World

The quote on The Literacy Site today:

There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.
-Jacqueline Kennedy

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Now playing: Dan Schutte - Wake from Your Sleep
via FoxyTunes

One Down; How Many to Go?

This sounds interesting; here I go to Amazon to add it to the wish list…

From NPR’s Weekend Edition last Sunday:

Rehabbing a Villain from Henry VIII’s Court

In King Henry VIII’s vicious court of intrigue, Jane Boleyn kept her head low and followed the money.

Married to George Boleyn, brother of Anne, who would eventually become Henry’s queen, Jane won a place in the heart of the Tudor regime as Anne’s sister-in-law. Jane enjoyed many perks of court life, but she also had ringside seats to the dramas that unfolded in the king's court.

Author Julia Fox meticulously details Jane's life — and her role in the scandals that engulfed the court — in her first book, Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford.

For centuries, Jane Boleyn has been reviled. When Queen Anne was accused of adultery with several men, including her own brother — Jane’s husband, George - Jane was interrogated. Jealous of the close relationship between George and Anne, Jane provided testimony that helped lead to the siblings’ executions. Or so the story goes.

But Fox challenges this picture of Jane as a vindictive and opportunistic young woman. Re-examining the historical record, Fox suggests that Jane had no reason to risk her privileged life with George for penniless, landless widowhood. And she chronicles how Jane clawed her way out of obscurity and back up the court’s social ladder — attending to Henry VIII’s third, fourth and fifth wives.

It was Jane’s service to Henry’s fifth wife, the teenaged Catherine Howard (who was also Anne Boleyn’s first cousin) that proved her undoing. Jane passed messages from Catherine to her secret lover, Thomas Culpepper. Jane was eventually interrogated and executed for her role as go-between.

Liane Hansen spoke with Fox about Boleyn’s life and her place in history.

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Now playing: Ray Repp - I Am the Resurrection
via FoxyTunes

Is This Guy Following Me Around???

From Quotes of the Day, today:

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?
- Henry Ward Beecher

Which of C.S. Lewis's Narnia Books Are You?

I’m not quite sure at all how this one worked out the way it did…

You scored as The Horse and His Boy. You are the horse and his boy. This is my personal favorite Narnia story. Though not as well known, the story is an important link to the other chronicles and a good read. Interesting fact: The Horse and His Boy is the only story to take place entirely in the lands surrounding Narnia. The Horse and His Boy 92% The Last Battle 67% The Silver Chair 67% The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 50% Prince Caspian 50% The Magician's Nephew 33% Voyage of the Dawn Treader 25% Which of C.S. Lewis's Narnia Books Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

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Listening to: Orleans - Dance with Me
via FoxyTunes

Which Narnia character are you?

I’d have had to go out and shoot myself if I’d been Susan…

You scored as Peter. You are Peter, the High King, just, loyal, and courageous! Peter 89% Polly 89% Susan 67% Eustace 67% Jill 67% Digory 56% Lucy 56% Edmund 33% Which Narnia character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

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Listening to: Peter, Paul And Mary - Wedding Song (There Is Love)
via FoxyTunes

"Challenged" Books Lists

:::sigh:::

From the ALA (American Library Association)

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990 – 2000

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990 – 1999

A Wrinkle in Time? Julie of the Wolves? James and the Giant Peach? Banned, in essence?? Where would my childhood have been (hell, I read them to this day) without these, and books like them?? More amazing than I know what to do with...