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The One Genre

 God* comes to you and tells you that, from this day forward, you may only read ONE type of book–one genre–period, but you get to choose what it is. Classics, Science-Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Cookbooks, History, Business … you can choose, but you only get ONE. What genre do you pick, and why? Classics/Literature. Many [...]

Best of Times, Worst of Times

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it [...]

[282] The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

I have closed my study door on the world and shut myself away with people of my imagination. For nearly sixty years I have eavesdropped with impunity on the lives of people who do not exist . . . I have seen their dreams. [113] Wildly popular and prolific author Vida Winter has entranced readers [...]

Update on Reading Deliberately

The Monday Musings question yesterday on war reminds me that I have never reviewed A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I am planning to squeeze it in so it will satisfy Category 2 of the Reading Deliberately plan. Oliver Twist is still on. 1. Jane Austen—Completed. Read Emma and Persuasion. Completed with honor! [...]

Books on War

With yesterday being Anzac Day, I thought I’d ask a theme question this week. Are you a reader of war books? And if so, do you have any favourites? Although I rarely migrate over to the other fence of fiction, I do find myself browsing through the history section when I experience the craving for [...]

[281] Love in a Fallen City – Eileen Chang

” She stood still a long way off and just bent her head. Shih-fang bowed slightly, turned and left. Ch’ang-an felt as though she were viewing this sunlit courtyard from some distance away, looking down from a tall building. The scene was clear, she herself was involved but powerless to intervene. The court, the tree, [...]

Reading Notes: Eileen Chang

Owing to her poignant, complicated domestic background, Eileen Chang’s prose reflects a jaundiced and misanthropic view of her world. Chang rose to prominence in Shanghai during the 30s and 40s when the city was under the threat of Japanese occupation. But she cared less writing about patriotic theme as some of her contemporaries had criticized [...]

[280] The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters

“This is a weirder thing even than hysteria. It’s as if—well, as if something’s slowly sucking the life out of the family . . . The whole bloody business baffles me! There are things that have happened, over at Hundreds, that I can’t explain. It’s as if the house is in the grip of some [...]

[279] Holy Fools – Joanne Harris

” The abbey is perhaps the only refuge where the past may be left behind. But the past is a sly sickness. It may be carried on a breath of wind; in the sound of a flute; on the feet of a dancer. ” [1, 5] ” I was young; intoxicated, to be sure, by [...]