Mirkwood Reflections

It's one of those weeks when the library showers abundantly upon me! Drums of Autumn , the fourth Outlander novel, came to me in audio CD form. I've been waiting for it for weeks (via interlibrary loan)! I adore listening to Davina Porter read Gabaldon and popped the first CD in the computer right away. Also in from interlibrary loan: The Real Oliver Twist: Robert Blincoe: A Life That Illuminates a Violent Age by John Waller (a compelling history of the lives of workhouse children in the industrial revolution). This title was mentioned in the fascinating At Home by Bill Bryson. And since I recently read Oliver Twist, this caught my attention. North by Northanger (or, The Shades of Pemberley) by Carrie Bebris - 3rd in a series of mysteries featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis - this was recommended by the instructor of The Art of Reading course I just completed. I've been wanting to re-read Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion ...

December was a productive month for reading fiction! I managed nine books! Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson - 12/1/2011  Good - Thriller Christine has amnesia - the kind in which every day starts as a blank and she can't remember two decades of her adult life. The premise was intriguing, but the added mystery kept me guessing right until the end. Enjoyable! The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn - 12/10/2011  Good - Historical fiction A meandering first-person look into the passionate crooked mind of Emily Dickinson. I wanted to like this novel more than I did. I wanted to like Emily Dickinson much more than I did. But she comes off as selfish, insane, and immoral, though with a muddled note of genius.  From what I can tell, this is more fiction than it's not anyway. Henry Tilney's Diary by Amanda Grange - 12/11/2011  Excellent - Historical fiction Starting at age 15, Tilney writes of his family life and eventually meeting Catherine ...