"But I do go in for books. I love to own books. Though I read few books twice, I have filled every shelf in my house with books, have had more shelves made and filled those too. My books surround me like a cocoon. When I run my finger along the backs of my books they feel like the ribcage of an old familiar lover. Visit my shelves and you will learn much about me."— Joe Bennett, Beside Lovers
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Book Lovers
Labels:
books,
literature,
peach blossoms,
photography,
quotes,
seasons,
spring
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Getting New 'Eyes' & Wisdom Whilst Reading...
Although, I must say, John Connolly's sense of creativity makes me wonder about him a little much! If you like Lewis Carroll, and Grimm's grim fairy tales, then this is definitely the book for you... it's odd. Amusing? Yes. Gripping? Sure. But also quite oddly done...
As for me, not sure if I'll finish it. (Pro'l'y will.) But still not sure, as I'm only a couple chapters in so far and it's getting more & more interesting (yes) but also weirder & weirder (!) Kind of reminds me of Sylvie & Bruno
All that being said, there were several good quotes to be found & noted in the first pages. I thought the following one was the best, and good enough to share:
"I think the act of reading imbues the reader with a sensitivity toward the outside world that people who don’t read can sometimes lack. I know it seems like a contradiction in terms; after all reading is such a solitary, internalizing act that it appears to represent a disengagement from day-to-day life. But reading, and particularly the reading of fiction, encourages us to view the world in new and challenging ways…It allows us to inhabit the consciousness of another which is a precursor to empathy, and empathy is, for me, one of the marks of a decent human being."– John Connolly (The Book of Lost Things)
That quote was the best part of the book so far....for me anyway.
Well, besides the fact that books talk in this story! Just imagine what it'd be like to hear books talking! It boggles the mind to think of all the widely different things they'd be clamoring to say to us!
Fun to think of. :)
So, what do you think? Have you read this book (or any of Connolly's other popular fiction works)?
The quote I shared has several little holes in it's 'fabric', I know. Not everything in the world can be solved by sitting down and delving into a fictional book to make 'extracts' from it! In fact, many, many things can't be accomplished to any success that way. Book-worming is fun, but it should be used as a tool for learning & the ''getting of wisdom'' (Proverbs 4:5).
P.S.~ Thanks everybody for sharing your top book choices with me!
I received quite a few wonderful recommendations. Many of which I hope to read & review very soon. :]
Labels:
book reviews,
books,
fairytales,
fiction,
fiction story,
hobbies,
my day today,
reading,
words
Thursday, June 16, 2011
1 Book, 2 Books, Red Book, Blue Book....
This shall be a post for my own personal gain!
Just warning you! ;)
I would like to asking my reading friends what are the top 3 books you've read & enjoyed this year?
The ones that you can think of first, and you enjoyed reading the most.
The reason I ask is because...
So, pretty please, tell me your book favorites in the comments, ya'll!
Or, if you have a Shelfari account like I do, you can just recommend the books right to me through that. :)
Just warning you! ;)
I would like to asking my reading friends what are the top 3 books you've read & enjoyed this year?
The ones that you can think of first, and you enjoyed reading the most.
The reason I ask is because...
- I'm a book worm! Bookworms crave more books! One or two is never enough...
- I'm on a challenge to read more books this years than I ever have before (way over 250 hopefully!)
- I genuinely want to know what you guys like to read. :)
So, pretty please, tell me your book favorites in the comments, ya'll!
Or, if you have a Shelfari account like I do, you can just recommend the books right to me through that. :)
| {I need this clock. I think it would help me keep track of my time better...} |
Labels:
best loved books,
book reviews,
books,
people,
polls,
randomness,
reading,
recommended reading
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Thyme.
{Or, Time}
There's just never enough of it, is there?
;)
P.S. ~ Just finished a great book, A Jane Austen Education
.
You should read it too!
Labels:
best loved books,
books,
favorite things,
flowers,
funny things,
gardening,
herbs,
humor,
seasons
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Charles Dodgson's Art
Maybe you know him only by the name "Lewis Carroll" (his pen name),
and maybe you don't know about him at all...
That's alright! Let me enlighten you about one of my favorite authors, poets, and photographers: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson a.k.a. Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland
You may mentally chide me for even referencing it ( I would too!), but Wikipedia really summarizes it best:
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pronounced /ˈdɒdsən/ dod-sən; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ karr-əl), was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy, and there are societies dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life in many parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand.He really was an interesting person. I have read several biographies on him and what truly amuses me the most is just how widely all of his biographers differ in opinion on his life & person! You have everything from some claiming he was an insane, drugged-out pedophile all the way to saying that he was a genius and a saint! (Personally I don't believe either of those extremes.)
The fact that he was a mathematician is generally not known as well as his authorship. But he was indeed all those things--a man of many interests, if not many proficient talents. He was smart & witty, if extremely shy/reserved in person. He seemed to prefer the company of children rather than adults (which I can sometimes identify with quite well.) He found his lyrical, comical literary voice first through telling stories that baffled, amused and entertained his little friends...and then later the wider world.
One thing is for sure: if you are going to study literature, and especially English lit, you can't ignore Lewis Carroll. He left a mark on our world.
Now, onto the most interesting pieces of his history that I've been digging up about him...
...his photography.
In addition to being a poet, deacon, mathematician, & all those other things, Charles Dodgson was a photographer. In his time, I suppose he would have been considered just another amateur, but I think his work had a timeless, lasting & highly artistic quality about it. For a while, I couldn't seem to locate any of these photographs of his that were talked about so much, other than the one of Alice Liddell (the girl whose name & person inspired Alice from his books) leaning up against an ivy wall as a ''beggar child''.
But now....I am proud to say, I have scrounged up several more photographs that he took, and now, I present them to you here:
{Click to make some larger.}
![]() |
| Alice Liddell (right) and older sister Lorina (left). |
![]() |
| Alice Liddell |
![]() |
| young Alice Liddell |
![]() |
| "The Beggar Girl" aka Alice Liddell |
![]() |
| Alice Liddell as a young woman. |
![]() |
| Self portrait of Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson. |
![]() |
| Edith, Lorina & Alice Liddell (L to R) |
![]() |
| Mrs Liddell, her girls, Charles Dodgson & another young friend. |
![]() |
| Edith, Lorina & Alice |
Are they not just beautiful?
Looking at them makes me wish I had a old tintype camera to play with, and that I still had my film Canon SLR too! Ah, well. I still have my appreciation for the arts, my tiny Canon digital, and my love of photography. :) That's enough for now.
Labels:
Alice in Wonderland,
artists,
biographies,
books,
famous people,
fictio,
historical research,
history,
life,
little things,
photography,
poetry,
poets,
reading,
research,
true stories,
vintage,
words
Saturday, May 14, 2011
[Titled]
I hate titling things. Isn't it hard sometimes? I think it is, but I don't know just why that is.
Maybe it has to do with finality. Once you put a name on something
and slap a label on it...
or punch in those last words up top...
or finally think you've found those few, descriptive words that are just right...
...everything seems thrown up into the air! What you thought might be the "just right" mix of words to describe something overall...suddenly just won't cut it. It's not enough!
Just think about it. Think of a favorite book or essay or blog/blog post (of yours or someone else's) and how much you enjoyed reading it. How much it spoke to you, how much it said in that (relatively) small space of page or screen. It was a lot, right?
Now, try to remember the title of it.
Was it one word, a few, or a long phrase?
Examples....
A Far Country
Water for Elephants
"The Open Window"
"Information Overload"
'Cold War'
Very often, the title doesn't quite fit. Maybe the writer just didn't spend much time thinking about it.
However, sometimes whatever those few, special words the author, songwriter, blogger, or filmmaker chose do fit. And fit absolutely, perfectly. So much so, the title itself becomes a direct part of what people remember about the piece!
Whenever I read any of Andree Seu's columns for WORLD magazine, I usually remember the title distinctly, in addition to the content. (Often, the accompanying neat illustrations are imprinted in my head very well too; but that's a whole another post.)
Titles have a tendency to define and characterize things. Just by mere association, or by the poignancy of the words. It's strange to think about it, but I would even go so far to say that the difference between a well-chosen title and a poor title is what makes or breaks many books, movies, songs, etc.
Hmm, and you know, names are very much like titles too...
Have you ever met someone with such a strange, wild, unusual name that you couldn't get over? Through no fault to them, it may have turned out to be impossible for you to get used to saying and hearing their name! (Much like an unwelcome nicknames are to ourselves.)
On the other hand, a beautiful or grand name inspires admiration sometimes. Which is funny because our given names are bestowed upon us, we don't have much of a choice in the picking, unless we want to change them later on. Whether you are happy with how your 'title' describes you or not, you're stuck with it pretty much! And you become known by what you are name (or titled). Sometimes that is a very good thing, and sometimes it is not so well for us...
Thankfully, there is something interesting (and very different) about God and how He names us.
While we may have individual names with differing meanings, He calls all of his children very specific names collectively. Names like...
It is amazing, and strangely wonderful! To think that this mighty, loving, just, and powerful God of the whole Universe adores His creations: us. Even though He deserves all the greatest and best titles in the whole world...He takes time to name us, too. Each, by name, and as a whole.
Baffling, amazing and yet totally God's way. :)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
So, what about you? :)
What are you called? How do you think what you've been named has defined your existence? (Or how has it not?) What would you like to be 'titled' if it came right down to it?
Maybe it has to do with finality. Once you put a name on something
and slap a label on it...
or punch in those last words up top...
or finally think you've found those few, descriptive words that are just right...
...everything seems thrown up into the air! What you thought might be the "just right" mix of words to describe something overall...suddenly just won't cut it. It's not enough!
Just think about it. Think of a favorite book or essay or blog/blog post (of yours or someone else's) and how much you enjoyed reading it. How much it spoke to you, how much it said in that (relatively) small space of page or screen. It was a lot, right?
Now, try to remember the title of it.
Was it one word, a few, or a long phrase?
Examples....
A Far Country
Water for Elephants
"The Open Window"
"Information Overload"
'Cold War'
Very often, the title doesn't quite fit. Maybe the writer just didn't spend much time thinking about it.
However, sometimes whatever those few, special words the author, songwriter, blogger, or filmmaker chose do fit. And fit absolutely, perfectly. So much so, the title itself becomes a direct part of what people remember about the piece!
Whenever I read any of Andree Seu's columns for WORLD magazine, I usually remember the title distinctly, in addition to the content. (Often, the accompanying neat illustrations are imprinted in my head very well too; but that's a whole another post.)
Titles have a tendency to define and characterize things. Just by mere association, or by the poignancy of the words. It's strange to think about it, but I would even go so far to say that the difference between a well-chosen title and a poor title is what makes or breaks many books, movies, songs, etc.
Hmm, and you know, names are very much like titles too...
Have you ever met someone with such a strange, wild, unusual name that you couldn't get over? Through no fault to them, it may have turned out to be impossible for you to get used to saying and hearing their name! (Much like an unwelcome nicknames are to ourselves.)
On the other hand, a beautiful or grand name inspires admiration sometimes. Which is funny because our given names are bestowed upon us, we don't have much of a choice in the picking, unless we want to change them later on. Whether you are happy with how your 'title' describes you or not, you're stuck with it pretty much! And you become known by what you are name (or titled). Sometimes that is a very good thing, and sometimes it is not so well for us...
Thankfully, there is something interesting (and very different) about God and how He names us.
While we may have individual names with differing meanings, He calls all of his children very specific names collectively. Names like...
fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:13-14
His precious Bride Isaiah 54:5
crowns of Creation Hebrews 2:7
loved Sons and daughters 2 Corinthians 6:18
Baffling, amazing and yet totally God's way. :)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
So, what about you? :)
What are you called? How do you think what you've been named has defined your existence? (Or how has it not?) What would you like to be 'titled' if it came right down to it?
Friday, April 22, 2011
I'm in Love....Yep.
Cybele's Secret
&
Wildwood Dancing
Did you hear? I know there's this little bird...he gets around....or maybe you haven't heard?
Well, in any case, let me be the first to tell you: I just fell in love. It's true!
I fell in love with Juliet Marillier & her books....specifically Wildwood Dancing
and Cybele's Secret
. I discovered them whilst perusing blogs...and I found this one blog of especially note (for it's prettiness & creativity!)....Fairytales, French Fries and Baby Kisses by name....kept by two sisters, I believe. Lovely blog. :)
And.....and.... way down hidden amongst older posts, I found this post which was more than enough to pique me curiosity. So, I looked them up at my library, found out that we have almost all her books (yay!) and checked out the two books above to start with.
What did I find?
I rediscovered two things through this book........ my love of fairytales (I love love love them!)
and ......my love of Romania. That's right! These are Romanian fairytale stories!
Needless to say, there's not much else to say......I've read each book twice already since Wednesday, and I've got the others on hold at the library......
Thank you, Bethany & Esther. :)
Labels:
artists,
best loved books,
blogs,
books,
character,
Europe,
fairytales,
fiction,
fiction story,
flowers,
little things,
reading,
recommended reading,
reviews,
Romania,
thought,
travel
Thursday, April 14, 2011
I am Very Grateful for...
excellent books of poetry to devour late at night
the bright sunshine warming my back
new films to look forward to
the miniature spring flowers coming up everywhere!
quotes that tickle my brain
...and last but not least:
new Scripture to keep close & write down.
In that day you will sing:
“I will praise you, O Lord!
You were angry with me, but not any more.
Now you comfort me.
See, God has come to save me.
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
The Lord God is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.”With joy you will drink deeply
from the fountain of salvation! *
What are you Very Grateful for?
Labels:
books,
bunnies,
family,
favorite things,
flowers,
joy,
life,
little things,
my day today,
nature,
news,
nothing to report,
photography,
reading,
reminders,
seasons,
weather,
words
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)




















