About stories of all kinds
Well, the end of the term draws nigh and my life has ignited in one blazing pile of papers: articles, assignments, essays, and sheet music. As my life goes up in the proverbial flames of the fireplace that is university, what better time to review a Cinderella story? Or at least rake out the ashes… Continue reading Ashes to Ashes: Review of Cinder
You know those books that come out and they're a great hit and suddenly they're everywhere, in every store, and everyone is raving about them? And for one reason or another, you just don't subscribe to the hype--either you're busy reading something else, or you just don't have time, or aren't in the mood for… Continue reading 7 Popular YA Book Series I Never Got Into
Admittedly, it was the cover of this book that got me. Reading the synopsis, I wasn't too sure it was up my alley--the story of a young woman's experience in a new blended family--but the cover kept me coming back to it. It's interesting because this book is so focused on appearances and how they… Continue reading Boy, Snow, Bird: Mirror Reflections
When I first started writing stories, I probably had a setting, a few characters, and an inciting incident. Nothing more. I did not know the meaning of the word “plot,” as noun or verb. I embodied the method of "pants-ing" and, consequently, didn’t finish a single story until I was in my early teens. It's… Continue reading The Plot Thickens: A Writer’s Guide to Looking Like You Knew What You Were Doing All Along
We’ve all heard of them—Crime and Punishment, Treasure Island, Pride and Prejudice, and their fellow classics—but what of the others? The overlooked works by authors of an enduring treasure? It’s a different feeling altogether when you’ve associated an author with one or two works for as long as you've known about them and then learn… Continue reading 12 Books by Famous Authors You’ve Never Heard Of
Volunteering at my local library, I got to check out all the new books as they came out. I remember when I first laid eyes on this one and singled it out as "of interest," but that category was so full already that I didn't pick it up immediately. Fortunately, it reappeared on my radar… Continue reading The Reappearance of Mrs. Houdini: A Review
What makes great literature great? What comprises great literature? Why are some works still relevant, while others have been relegated to the studies of period specialists or the perusal of those who enjoy archaic culture? Why do we even study literature? Coming to the end of the material from my first year English on-line literature… Continue reading On-Line English Literature Discussion: Great Literature
Long before I started this blog, I had ideas for posts about books I've read. And here we are three years later and I'm finally finishing this review of two books I read back-to-back in the summer of 2016: Black Rabbit Summer and Black Rabbit Hall. I wanted to do this review/comparison because I thought,… Continue reading Chasing Rabbits: Black Rabbit Summer and Black Rabbit Hall
Ah, time travel: creator of paradoxes, destroyer of timelines, and conveniencer of plots. I like a good time travel story, whether it be the new Who (Moffat loops and all) or the good old Back to the Future. Time travel tends to frequent science fiction, but is also exploited for its potential in the historical… Continue reading Time in Flux (Capacitor): Ruby Red and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
"Will the real John Donne please stand up?" This was the question that greeted the class on the forum during our study of the works of John Donne. If you know anything about John Donne, it's probably that his Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions: Meditation 17 is the text from which Ernest Hemingway got the title… Continue reading On-Line English Literature Discussion: John, I’m Donne
Fictitiously Yours 