Mirkwood Reflections

The Light Princess by George MacDonald 1/1/2015 Excellent - Children's - 110 pages (Print) A princess is cursed with a lack of gravity. I assigned this to Emily to read and decided to read it myself as well. I've always wanted to read MacDonald, but a difficult reading experience with one of his books when I was a teenager had prejudiced me against him. However, this wasn't at all hard to read! Very simple, but deep. Season of Storms  by Susanna Kearsley 1/11/2015 Good - Chick Lit - 501 pages (Print) Young actress Celia Sands is offered the lead in a play in Italy because she shares the name of the actress for whom the play was written. A couple friends rave about Kearsley and I've read two of her so far, both entertaining and light. Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life  by Brian Wansink 1/16/2015 Excellent - Non-fiction - 320 pages (Print) How to set up your living environments so that you naturally lose weight. Interesting ideas on...

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton - 1/11/2014 Good - Mystery - 497 pages (Kindle) Kinsey finds she is distantly related to a recently deceased homeless man I've always enjoyed reading about Kinsey Millhone's private investigations. This latest in the alphabet-named series was quite enjoyable. Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich -1/26/2014 Good - Mystery - 337 pages (Print) Dead old ladies are being found in dumpsters and Stephanie and Lula keep seeing a giraffe running the city streets. Another long-running series about an investigator - Stephanie Plum, inept bounty hunter. This one did not disappoint! Lots of Ranger. Yes ! The Annotated Sense and Sensibility edited by David M. Shapard, original text by Jane Austen - 1/31/2014 Excellent - Classic - 709 pages (Print and audio) I listened to the book but read the annotations in the print version. Sense and Sensibility is not my favorite Austen. I have no patience at all for the idealist heroine, Marianne. This is my 3...

Austen adaptations abound! I read this blog post which ranks 21 of them with clever explanations then thought to myself that my own list would look somewhat different. And then someone (yes, you, Austenacious !) asked me HOW my list would shuffle the films. So here I am in the wee hours of the morning, ranking Austen movies instead of sleeping.  Go read that blog post before reading mine because her comments are far more comical than mine could ever dream of being. Plus mine will make more sense if you look at hers first.  Two of the movies on her list I haven't seen -  Austenland , 2013 since it has yet to open in Michigan and  Bride & Prejudice  since Bollywood films make my skin crawl . Then I added one that she left out, which is at the bottom of my list. So, without further ado, I present to you my top twenty Austen film adaptations in reverse order of preference! Ta-dah! 20. Northanger Abbey 1980 - one of THE worst movies I have eve...

  Cranford  by Elizabeth Gaskell - 3/13/2013 Good -  Classic 138 pages, Kindle The old ladies of Cranford live their lives traditionally and quietly.  Book club selection for March. I took a while to get into this choice, but eventually liked it. I did find the narration to be uneven; portions of the book moved me to tears, others were skillfully drawn characterizations, but some were just dull. Heaven for Kids  by Randy Alcorn - 3/25/2013 Excellent - Inspirational 224 pages, Kindle Alcorn answers questions that kids might ask about what heaven will be like.  Loved this and read aloud it to the kids. The questions are practical and thoughtful and the answers are backed up with Scripture wherever possible. When not backed with Scripture, Alcorn admits it and gives his reasoning.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  by J.K. Rowling - 3/29/2013 Excellent - Children's 435 pages, Audio/Print Re-read of the 3rd Harry Pott...

OK, if you're not a vampire fan, skip this post. Yeah, just click the X now. :-) But if you're like me - a Jane Austen fan and intrigued by the Twilight series, you're probably still reading. Therefore, you may be interested in the new book by Amanda Grange, Mr. Darcy, Vampyre. Amanda Grange says, "The idea for the plot of Mr Darcy, Vampyre came to me when I was rereading some of the classic Gothic novels of Jane Austen's era. I was starting to write Henry Tilney's Diary , Henry being the hero of Jane Austen's Gothic novel Northanger Abbey , and I wanted to put myself in the right mood." (Lisa says: I cannot WAIT for Tilney's Diary !!!) "As I read The Mysteries of Udolpho , and as I followed the heroine over the Alps and into Italy, I found myself thinking, What if Lizzy and Darcy went to the continent for their wedding tour? What if they visited a remote castle and then went across the Alps to Italy? And what if, in those far flung location...

Rollicking readers - doesn't that sound intriguing? Rollicking Readers Book Club was started by my friend Darlene and me after we each watched the film Jane Austen Book Club . Despite our mutual dislike of the movie, we felt motivated to start our own club. One Austen work per month was our goal. Finished thus far? Emma , Persuasion , and Pride and Prejudice . Next up is Mansfield Park . Before this I'd only read Pride and Prejudice (which I adore). To be honest, I am finding most of Austen's other works to be a bit stultifying, but the company is great and the stories are romantic. Our meetings also include a viewing of the film version of each book and a lot of sassy conversation, as well as snacks! How can it go wrong? Our original intent was to read all of Austen's works; there are only six. But we're having so much fun, that we've already talked about what to do once we've made it through all of those. We intend to continue with other classics. Nine...

After watching The Jane Austen Book Club (which I really don't recommend), my friend Darlene and I decided we wanted our own Austen club and started one - The Rollicking Readers Club. So far we've read Emma and Persuasion . Pride and Prejudice is our next selection. I am becoming steeped in the world of Jane Austen, so I thought now would be an appropriate time to view Becoming Jane . What a charming movie! The filmmakers, along with some scholars, apparently imagine that Jane Austen had at least one star-crossed love affair. Becoming Jane is the fictionalized account of that love story. No one alive knows for sure what actually happened because much of Jane's correspondence with her sister was destroyed. Family legend includes some details, but they have been passed down orally and have no substantiation. But, whatever the truth, it is a well-told story. Jane is a single woman living with her family around the turn of the 19th century. She falls in love with a pennil...