Updates

October 2013 Recap

What a month. Not only was I sick for a portion of it, but I ran phonathon at work, I travelled back to NC for my 10-year high school reunion, and have set up everything for a HUGE event on November 6th.

While all of this was going on the Boston Book Festival made its annual appearance in Copley Square. To be honest, I was so busy and so sick that I just couldn’t get excited about the Festival this year. Add in that there were no authors or panels that I HAD to see, so after coaxing myself down to the area I did a quick walk around and then abandoned it and went and had coffee with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while. I did however, get a discount on an AWESOME new t-shirt from Litographs. I wanted B&W but they sent a dark green, but that’s okay.

As you can see it is Wuthering Heights. I’m not sure how much of the text is on there, but there is quiet a bit on there. If you don’t know about my love for Wuthering Heights, you should check out the two awesome versions I’ve found over the past few years that I’ve got and have now started keeping an eye out for here and here.

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Books

Culture Corner – October 2013

2013 10-14 Tickets PleaseThis was a very cultural month or perhaps I made an effort more than I have the past few months. I’ve noticed a lot more public artwork around the city and haven’t taken a single photo of it, maybe I’ll try to get some for next month’s Culture Corner. Instead you get to relieve two amazing events and my virtual rock-starness.

 

Above you can see my tickets for the Harvard Bookstore Margaret Atwood reading and the Boston Lyric Opera’s performance of The Magic Flute.

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ARC, Books

Book 234: The Bookstore – Deborah Meyler

As with many galleys I end up with, I thought this book was a different book. However, I am glad to have read this one and for a debut novel it was really well written and I mostly enjoyed it. I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and received no compensation in return for my honest opinion of the book.

The Bookstore starts and ends with great potential, but never quite lives up to it. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the setting of the book, but there was just something missing from it. I’m not sure if it was the writing style, lack of a finite conclusion (even though I did like how it ended) or something else completely, but the entire time I was reading I couldn’t help feeling as if something were missing.

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Updates

August 2013 Recap

What a busy month! It’s amazing how even though I didn’t work a full week at work the entire month, it feels like I’ve done nothing but work! I guess that’s part of gearing up for the students to return. I did get the amazing postcard, below left, from my friend Courtney who clearly knows me better than she should!

However, reading was seriously delayed this month as I spent TWO WEEKS trekking through Les Misérables and then as soon as I finished I immediately jumped into Austen in August! And the most memorable aspect again was re-discovering the HORRIBLE typo (above right) that occurs in the last 10 pages of my edition of Pride and Prejudice. I mean of ALL the words to get wrong in THAT book, that is not the one you want to misspell. In addition to the original I read three Austen fan-fiction novels (The Missing Manuscript of Jane AustenThe Darcys and the BingleysThe Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen) and a Brontë fan-fiction novel, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë. And surprisingly three of these books were library books! 

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Books

Book 220: The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen – Syrie James

What a fun novel! I am so glad I stumbled across this novel and I cannot wait to read more of Syrie James’ works. I can’t remember where I first read about it or why I thought I had to read it, but I checked it out of the library last month and have waited patiently to read it as I trekked through Les Misérables I once again, however, tricked myself into not knowing ANYTHING about the book and did not realize that James wrote a novel in a novel so that was pleasantly unexpected.

I think what I enjoyed most about this novel was the contrast between the missing manuscript The Stanhopes and the modern story of those who find the manuscript. The two novels were intertwined enough to make it interesting, but not so much to make it confusing (I’m looking at you Ms. Atwood! [Even though I still love you and The Blind Assassin was phenomenal]).

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