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366 days ago, I listed the books that I had read in 2008 as a permanent record of my reading and as a means to find out how I was doing with my perennial resolution to read more. So, by…
Continue reading~ I’ve now got a pile of Christmas letters, and a pile of Christmas cards, and list of names. All I have to do is put the three together, address, stamp and post, and I’m sorted. Sounds simple when you…
Continue readingSo, the amazon kindle is now available in the UK and of course the hype has all been around whether this is the final end to the traditional book. To which, as any reasonable person will reply, the answer is…
Continue readingimaginary /i’madʒin(ɘ)ri/ adjective & noun. lme. [origin Latin imaginarius, from imagin-, imago: see image noun, -ary1.] ‣ A adjective. 1 Existing only in the imagination; not real or actual. lmE.
Continue readingposed the following question recently: Is magic the defining element of fantasy? Discuss. And in reply to this defined it thus: Impossibility-within-currently-known-laws-of-nature is the defining element of fantasy, and magic is the most prominent (but not the only) presentation of…
Continue readingThere are certain books, for which the publication of them, is an event. I’m just hoping that Diana Wynne Jones’s new book, Enchanted Glass is every bit as good as her last, House Of Many Ways, and not one of…
Continue readingWhen even former Booker and Nobel Prize winning authors are turned down (if with alternative names) for publication with the infamous, and pretty much standard, reply from major London literary agencies; âHaving considered your material, we do not feel, we…
Continue reading366 days ago, I listed the books that I had read in 2007 as a permanent record of my reading and as a means to find out how I was doing with my perennial resolution to read more. So, by…
Continue readingThanks to Jane for linking me to this review of the state of fantasy film adaptations. Itâs an interesting article, but one that leaves me in two minds. On the one hand I would like there to be more film…
Continue readingToday I went and bought more brackets to put up my oak shelves from the old house up in my study. Putting them up was straight forward enough, or at least it was once I had realised that racking is…
Continue readingNews that the sequels to Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights may not now be made disturbs me somewhat. Granted, they messed around with the story and changed the ending (although reports have it that the ending was to be moved the…
Continue readingI’d heard that it was a bad adaptation of a classic book, but being one of my favourite stories of all time I was intrigued enough to still want to see the film version of The Dark Is Rising. That,…
Continue readingTagged by 1. Pick up the nearest book. 2. Open to page 123. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the next three sentences. 5. Tag fivesix people. Since I’m at work my nearest book is New Hart’s Rules, which…
Continue readingStolen from What we have here are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThingâs users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you’ve read, underline the…
Continue readingThere are some books that you cannot wait for. I needed to go into town anyway and collect some more inserts for my photo albums. It wouldn’t have been right not to buy Philip Pullman’s new book, Once Upon a…
Continue readingThere are days when there is no other way to describe it but to say that the weather was grim. Today has been just such a day. Arriving at Emma’s it is cold and grey and miserable, and a thoroughly…
Continue readingI’ve been to Hemingford Grey a few times in the last year, and not realised that the manor house overlooking the river there is actually the former house of Lucy M. Boston and the setting for the Green Knowe stories….
Continue readingLast night I finished reading Ursula Le Guinâs Voices. I can remember being blown away by her original Wizard of Earthsea trilogy (and then latterly, quartet), but I was disappointed by the more recent fifth outing for the world, The…
Continue readingFriday 11 January 2008 10:55 “If you try and sell your house, estate agents will tell you to get rid of the books, they are viewed as tired and middle aged,” says Prof Sutherland. I canât imagine ever living in…
Continue reading365 days ago, I declared that I would read more. The difficulty is, that when you are not certain exactly how much you have read previously, its hard to keep a track of whether I am reading more. To this…
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