Somewhat regular Nightstand posts will replace the Currently Reading page, since I can’t seem to keep that page updated. I am reading: Wicked (Gregory Maguire, 1995) –the “real” story of the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s been around for a lot of years, and I think I’ve been reading it on and off for… Continue reading On my Nightstand
Sunday morning edit: I wrote and published this at 3:00 AM, which is apparently a bad idea from a spelling perspective. All fixed now, hopefully. Marbles, jump-ropes, paper dolls. For the child Elaine they are the props of a childhood marked by anxiety as she navigates the playground with its baffling rules of engagement, at… Continue reading Sunday Classic – Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
Betty Smith’s story of Francie Nolan’s growing-up years is the story of Francie’s mother Katie, her father Johnny, her brother Neely, and her aunts, uncles, and neighbors – but it’s also the story of Brooklyn in the early 1900’s as seen through the eyes of a child, a teen, and finally a young adult. Like… Continue reading Sunday Classic – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
Please join me on May 30 from 4 to 5:30 Eastern Time for a virtual discussion of Parts 1 - 7 of Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye. You can save your spot one of two ways: Facebook: Find my page Bookish in the Mitten on Facebook, which is fb.me/MittenBookish, and register there. Email me using the… Continue reading Announcing our first Bookish Book Group!
For brevity, I am not including links; you can Google the titles and authors: The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas: This is about mother, sons, and betrayal if you believe the dust jacket, but really the underlying theme is boundaries – honoring them, protecting them, and destroying them. Reading this book might lead… Continue reading Five for Friday – Mothers
One of Detroit’s own (although he now lives in New Jersey). Jeffrey Eugenides is a respected novelist and educator. Of his three novels, two are set in Detroit and its suburbs, and some of my enjoyment while reading The Virgin Suicides (1993) and Pulitzer Prize winner Middlesex (2002) is due to Detroit's prominence in both… Continue reading Michigan Monday – Jeffrey Eugenides
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. You probably know you’ve seen it somewhere if you are reading this blog. You may even know it’s the first sentence of Rebecca, the ultimate gothic novel written in 1938 by Daphne du Maurier. The cast of characters includes: penniless, naïve young woman, overbearing employer, dashing… Continue reading Sunday Classic – Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier)
Magical Realism – a literary device or genre in which the author sends a breath of whimsy into the ordinary world they have created. . . . Imagine walking down a city sidewalk. Your arm brushes against the low-hanging branch of a tree, which causes blossoms to fall from the tree. As they fall, the… Continue reading Five for Friday: Magical Realism
. . . join an online book discussion of Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye? I'm trying to gauge interest. You can view and answer the question on my Facebook page if you want, or you can comment here. Feel free to ask any questions, also.
Bookish in the Mitten 