Perhaps it is ill-advised for me to participate in this spin, as I have several lengthy books on the go and several absorbing life changes on the go as well. On the bright side, I filed my taxes today so maybe I'm not as behind in life as I feel I am. We take the… Continue reading Classics Club Spin #37
Category: General bookishness
“the one charge you cannot deny”
160 years ago this week, Richard Harding Davis was born. He became an American war correspondent for over three significant wars in his lifetime, also writing short stories and championing Theodore Roosevelt's campaign for the United States presidency. I stumbled upon his work accidentally, finding a copy of Once Upon a Time in a thrift… Continue reading “the one charge you cannot deny”
“rode madly off in all directions”
On this day, March 28, in 1944, Stephen Leacock, humorist and professor of Political Economics at McGill, died. One day last summer, I was possessed of the need to determine where the phrase “he rode off in all directions” originated. A quick Google search introduced me to Stephen Leacock, writer and economist of the last… Continue reading “rode madly off in all directions”
5 Irish Fiction Recommendations for St. Patrick’s Day
I guess a St. Patrick's Day post is a tradition now. Anyway, this is the fourth year in a row for me, which is probably the longest I've ever stuck with anything in my life. I've done a post about green books, books with "green" in the titles, and Irish mythology books, so now I… Continue reading 5 Irish Fiction Recommendations for St. Patrick’s Day
Classics Club Spin #36
In my absence from the blog for the better part of three months, I missed the last Classics Club Spin (#35) and don't want to let another one go by without participating. I have worked through a few titles on my list in the meantime and their reviews are on the docket... if I can… Continue reading Classics Club Spin #36
Titles on Trend: Another Seven or Eight (or Nine) Books of Lives and Deaths and Full Names
As much as I’m treating this as a title “trend,” having found a clustering of similarly titled works throughout the last couple decades or so, it is by no means an exclusively modern phenomenon. The titling of classic works frequently followed a similar formula—for instance, the full title of the Dickens novel commonly called Nicholas… Continue reading Titles on Trend: Another Seven or Eight (or Nine) Books of Lives and Deaths and Full Names
Bloomsday Quotes Quiz: Which Lynch?
Classics Club Spin #34
After not completing the last spin on time, due to feeling a bit behind and swamped with books, I'm actually in a place where I'm feeling ready for the next one. (We're overlooking the fact that I'm still behind on reviews.) So here goes! I took all of the titles I have left (minus one… Continue reading Classics Club Spin #34
The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Blog (and Life) Update
Lately, I have not been feeling A-OK. I have not even been feeling just "OK," nevermind the "A" part. "Fine" as a back-up term is usually fittingly nondescript and noncommital but even it has not been able to save me this week. Also, I ran out of coffee on Monday. Not saying I was suffering… Continue reading The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Blog (and Life) Update
Classics Club Spin #33
This is my second Classics Club spin since joining, so I'm quite excited to see what I get to read next! I have been steadily working through the books on my list (plus a backlogged review), but I still have the vast majority of them to go, so let's do this. My method of picking… Continue reading Classics Club Spin #33