Monday Mailbox #8

I have a couple of books this week, gleaned from the library at work:

The Somnambulist, by Jonathan Barnes

Supposed to be a somewhat humorous detective/horror novel. I just liked the title font. 

Under the Boardwalk, by Carly Phillips

This one definitely not chosen for its annoying title font...mostly I just needed another beach read.

Review: A Truth Universally Acknowledged - 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, Edited by Susannah Carson

Why do I - why do we - read Jane Austen over and over and over? In this collection, edited by Susannah Carson, thirty-three writers try to figure it out. And some of them hit in on the head, and others really...really do not.

I approached this book, post-its and pen in-hand, like I would a text book or maybe a thesis paper. I wanted to learn from it, to have a conversation with it, with the writers. I wanted the validation of thought and passion that literary critics can sometimes give.

The problem I encountered, though, is that it lacks organization. What attempts to be an organic flow of information, opinions, criticism and thoughts jumps back and forth (as you move from one writer to the next) between focuses. They don't seem grouped in any particular way - and maybe this is supposed to be a comment on just how universal Austen is, but it doesn't work. On top of that, we are given author biographies in the back, but there's no context for the essays with the essays. With some, you can guess - we know when C.S. Lewis and Virginia Woolf lived/wrote, but some of the (for me) more obscure authors seem to float in time with no reference to the period in which they were written, and that can be very problematic. Especially when an author is writing about film adaptations with no reference past the 1980s. Or when another author makes reference to the way a class is taught that seems right out of the sixties.

Like Austen, each author comes with temporal and emotional baggage that can affect their vision. For instance, an author writing about Austen and modernism in 1920 is going to have a very different vision than the one writing about turning Emma into "Clueless."

That aside, I did enjoy the way some of these authors seemed to manage to put my feelings about Austen's works into words and theories that actually make more sense, almost as much as I enjoyed arguing with my pen in the margins. Did it make me want to hop up and immediately re-read Mansfield Park and Emma? Not really. But it definitely made me look forward to reading them again, new information and theories in-hand.

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith

Another delightfully quick read from Quick Classics and Steve Hockensmith, Dawn of the Dreadfuls serves as the introduction to the Pride & Prejudice and Zombies world. Recently, I read the end of the trilogy, and found Hockensmith's work both dedicated to the inspiration, as well as original in its execution (tee hee, execution).

I think I enjoyed this one of the three the best partly because I'd read the subsequent books and therefore knew how certain things would turn out, but also because this is really a world all Hockensmith's own. Sure, he has to make the story abut the exposition of Pride & Prejudice and Zombies but aside from that, he can pretty much do whatever he wants - create and kill whatever characters he wants, because they'll be of little consequence once the story is complete. Yet still this author retains a whimsy dedicated to the canon characters.

This, like its friends, is not a book for the faint of heart. I would also argue that, unlike its temporal successors (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Dreadfully Ever After), this one is not necessarily for the Janeites. Staunch believers in Jane Austen's word as holy grail will find the character development in this book to somewhat eclipse the natural order of things from the original. There is affection where there wouldn't be, and there is a kinship that shouldn't be. For this series, it works. But for anyone who identifies strongly with Austen characters as-written, not so much.

But that said, it is quite funny and very enjoyable. And while some will argue that book series are meant to be read in the author's order, I would argue that the dramatic irony retained by having read the 2nd and 3rd books prior to the first is actually worth it.

"Does this layout make me look fat?"

So... maybe you've noticed... I did some redesigning.

Mostly I was kind of tired of staring at the in-focus statue of liberty and the out-of-focus skyline that just ended abruptly mid-header. But also, the colors weren't quite right for me.

Maybe it's because summer-time is here and all I can think of is how much I wish I was on a shady porch in a rocker surrounded by dark shady magnolia trees and grand old southern oak trees with garlands of spanish moss, the paint peeling in the corners, the dappled sunlight painting a van gogh on the lawn, a pitcher of sun tea or lemonade at my side, and a lazy dog at my feet.

Sure, I'd be as out of place as a blonde Auntie Mame at Peckerwood, but then who doesn't enjoy being a little eccentric from time to time? That's right, boring people. So call this layout my blonde wig. I won't mind.

For the record, I stole the background image from my friend's Tumblr. She didn't design it so she said she didn't mind. Check hers out here.

Wordless Wednesday: What Others Are Reading

Review: Meowmorphosis, by Franz Kafka and Coleridge Cook

The Meowmorphosis

by Franz Kafka & Coleridge Cook

Quirk Classics

May 10, 2011

208 pgs

Anyone familiar with Kafka's original tale of a man who one day wakes up and finds himself transformed into an insect-like creature will see the irony of that same man being transformed into an adorable kitten instead. But for an imprint like Quirk Classics that has given us stories of robots, zombies, and sea monsters (as toppings to the classics), that irony seems somewhat out of place. 

In The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa is locked up and shunned by his family because he's been transformed into an ugly, multi-legged, black shiny beetle-looking thing. For Coleridge Cook to change it in The Meowmorphosis to an (albeit large) kitten and still retain the familial reactions of the original makes this less of a mash-up novel and more of a what-if novel that happens to yield the same results. I mean let's be honest - kittens are adorable. The reaction of his family should have been the opposite of that which they had to the bug. It should be their love and affection for him that kills him rather than their disinterest and/or hatred. The suffocation of love would make for an interesting quirk. Not changing the story really does not. 

Really the most interesting thing Mr. Cook does is insert 72 pages that weren't there before which tell the story of Kafka's The Trial, changing Josef K. from being the accused to being the accuser, and then making Gregor the accused. Without this addition, The Meowmorphosis would be a slim volume of little interest. With the addition, it's the story of a man-turned-cat who suffers at the hands of both his family in the human world, and the overly bureaucratic cat world. Neither version is particularly enticing. If Quirk wants to keep selling books I recommend they stay away from depressing writers like Kafka and stick with the horror mash-ups. Is there maybe a Vanity Fair & Vampires.... maybe Vampire Fair in the future? Hmm? I would read it. 

Monday Mailbox #7

Just the one this week, I'm afraid. Got this one (along, again, with their spectacular press packet) from Quirk via LibraryThing.com. It is - you guessed it - Kafka's Metamorphosis (classic story of a man who wakes up to find himself now a bug - though the translation of the word as bug is heavily debated) only Gregor Samsa has been turned into an adorable kitten. Review to follow in a day or two. 

Wordless Wednesday: What Others Are Reading

"Wordless Wednesdays: What Others Are Reading" is a new weekly segment making note of the books I've spotted other people are reading around NYC, whether on the subway, the bus, in the park or at work.

Monday Mailbox #6

Monday Mailbox is a weekly segment wherein I cover my most recent acquisitions, whether via purchase, library, early reviewers, Librarything.com Member Givaway Program or gift.
 A friend of mine gave me a B&N gift card for my birthday last week. It burned a hole in my pocket like no one's business. Fortunately, there was a B&N relatively close by, and I was able to save the rest of the pocket. I bought two books (and still have like $5 left to spend on a future purchase):

I should have bought Rebecca ages ago. Like 15 years ago. I happen to love the film--it's part of a long-running inside joke with my mother and my grandmother. It wasn't until I got to college that I realized the way in which du Maurier was attempting to pawn off some Charlotte Brontë as her own, but I kind of don't even care. Sure, Edward Rochester and Maxim de Winter are shades of the same character, but so what? It's a good time.

The Jungle Books (comprising of The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book) is a collection of stories that I've also been meaning to read for some time, and is just one of those things that I feel like every collection needs.

This may be it for me buying books for myself for a little while. I have a whole large shelf of books that need to be read, and every time I buy a new book I wish I was going to read it before all of the others. Best to curb that, if only for a short while.
On a special note, one of my co-workers found a copy of Dawn of the Dreadfuls in his laundry room, and has been reading it. At first he didn't think he would, but he picked it up on a whim, and found it to be "very very funny." He has offered to lend it to me, as he finished reading it this weekend. Having already read the two books that follow Dawn of the Dreadfuls in the Pride and Prejudice & Zombies series, I look forward to bringing it to a close, albeit a backwards one.

Review: Pemberley Ranch, by Jack Caldwell

Jack Caldwell's Civil War romance Pemberley Ranch is one of those books that proves, sans zombies, just how adaptable Jane Austen can be.

Set at the end of the American Civil War, Beth Bennet's family makes the decision to move from their Northern home in Ohio to a new and more promising homestead in the South. Still reeling from the death of her brother in the war, Beth vows to never forgive the rebellious South for her loss. But in a small town like Rosings, Texas neighbors will quickly become friends. Once Beth's older sister Jane marries Doc Bingley, the family circle quickly expands to include rancher Will Darcy... and things go... just as you might think they would go.

Described on the cover as "Pride & Prejudice meets Gone With the Wind," I would argue that it's much more like John Jakes' North & South than Gone With the Wind. The dynamics are closer. And as such, it's not only a lesson in literary adaptation, but a Civil War history lesson as well. This being the 150th Anniversary year of the start of the Civil War, the resulting reflection is appropriate.

This is obviously not quite a direct adaptation (Charlotte Lucas lacks a brood of younger siblings, one is able to muster some sympathy for Caroline Bingley, and the Hursts and the Gardiners are present in name only), but it nests comfortably astride both the worlds of Austen and of mid-19th century Texas, utilizing the somewhat less stringent societal rules of the South, but still making use of a decent amount of Austen's original text.

Caldwell even brings in characters from her other books including Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey), Edmund Bertram (Mansfield Park), Mr. Knightley & Mr. Elton (Emma) and a mention of a Miss Dashwood (Sense & Sensibility). At first I was surprised at the exclusion of a Willoughby or a Crawford, the likes of whom would fit perfectly into the ranks of (Kid) Denny and George Whitehead (this version's Wickham), but perhaps that would be too easy. In the end George, Denny, (Billy) Collins, and even Elton, were villainous enough on their own, thanks to Caldwell's fantastic transformation of the story into something very different and pretty special.

Screen Time

Next to autumn, summertime in New York is my favorite.

Sure, it's hot. Sure, the subways smell... less than savory. And sure, maybe you lose a flip flop or two to melting asphalt. It happens. 

But summertime is when New York wakes up and stays up. The height of allergy season is gone, the beaches are open, the parks are open late because the sun is up late and, perhaps my favorite part, there's always something to do outside. 

And my favorite part of summer evenings out-of-doors is the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival: Award-winning films, usually preceded by Looney Tunes.

The schedules has just been announced, and I'm totally stoked. 

June 20

One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest
Jack Nicholson leads a character-filled revolt against the evil Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) at a mental facility. Directed with a sly smile by Milos Forman and based on the Ken Kesey novel, it is only the second film to win the top five Oscars. (1975, Saul Zaentz Co.)

This is a great one, based on the book by the same title, by Ken Kesey. Kesey's study of and sympathy for the patients is key in the novel and, fortunately, was carried through to the film. And Nurse Ratched is terrifying. 

June 27

The 39 Steps

Hitchcock’s early British masterpiece thriller stars Robert Donat as the resourceful man wrongfully suspected of a murder. While on the run, he gets involved with spies, a beautiful woman, and a music hall performer named Mr. Memory. Special thanks to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts [BAFTA New York]. (1935, MGM)

Another fantastic adaptation. Granted, the 1978 version is more true to the novel on which it was based (The Thirty-nine Steps, by John Buchan) but you can't really fault Alfred Hitchcock or screenplay writer John Bennett - this film is a classic in every way.

July 4

Easy Rider
The iconic road trip film features Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as bikers traveling from LA to New Orleans in search of America, a great rock soundtrack, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Laszlo Kovacs’ perfect cinematography on location. (1969, Sony/Columbia)

This makes 2 for Jack Nicholson, but it's really a Fonda/Hopper extravaganza (they wrote it - with Terry Southern - and produced it and star in it. It's a great American late-60s counterculture film with a fantastic and memorable soundtrack - I don't care what you have planned for July 4th, this is better. 

July 11

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Bombshell Marilyn Monroe is gold digging (Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend) and gorgeous Jane Russell is looking for love (Anyone Here For Love?) on a ship to Paris in Howard Hawks’ sparkling, witty, and colorful musical comedy. (1953, Fox)

Based on the 1925 novel of the same name, by Anita Loos, this musical comedy is delightful. Perhaps not as borderline satirical as the book it was based on, but definitely amusing. Monroe (by the way, did you hear that Mariah & Nick named their kids Monroe (girl) and Moroccan (boy)? What is that? Anyway...) is perhaps remembered more in this film, particularly for her rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" but I don't know anyone who can forget the late Jane Russell and her mostly-nude male dance chorus in "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?", nor can you forget her phallic art deco earrings. It's a good time. 

July 18

In the Heat of the Night

Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are magnificent as a Philadelphia detective and a bigoted sheriff who work together to solve a complex murder in Mississippi. Earning the Oscar for Best Picture, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and features music by Quincy Jones and Ray Charles. (1967, MGM)

A remarkably poignant film for its time, it's also some of Rod Steiger's best work (in my opinion). Did you know that 6 Degrees of Rod Steiger is actually more playable, though less famous, than 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Yep. It is. Also, Sidney Poitier saying "They call me MISTER TIBBS" is worth seeing on the big screen. 

July 25

The Lady Eve
Barbara Stanwyck is in peak form as a con artist who sets her sights on a clueless brewery heir, played hilariously by Henry Fonda. With sophisticated dialogue, masterful direction by Preston Sturges, and an outstanding supporting cast, this is one of the greatest comedies on film. (1941, Universal)

Never seen the film or read the story (by Monckton Hoffe) but supposedly it's funny. AND it's the second film of the festival with a Fonda in it, while also being the second film of the festival that takes place on a luxury liner.

August 1
Cool Hand Luke

Paul Newman plays Luke, who is serving time on a chain gang and refuses to buckle under authority. George Kennedy provides Oscar-winning support, and Strother Martin is the sadistic guard who utters the immortal line “What we’ve got here…is a failure to communicate.” (1967, Warner)

Based on the novel by Donn Pearce, Cool Hand Luke is another classic. The plot itself is somewhat mediocre, but the cast really makes it fantastic. And Paul Newman...is Paul Newman. You could light the man on fire, and he'd still beat you in a staring contest. 

August 8

Airplane!
From the team who created The Naked Gun, this fast moving crazy comedy features Leslie (“Don’t call me Shirley”) Nielsen, Robert Stack, and Robert Hays who play it straight while the audience can’t stop laughing. Cameos by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ethel Merman, and Barbara Billingsley. (1980, Paramount)

This is one of my all-time favorites, and I'm sure that sentiment is shared by MANY. The filmmakers made a seriously smart move when they cast mostly actors who weren't known for, and hadn't really done, comedy. It made the whole thing ten times funnier than it would have ever been by using comedians. The tower? The tower!? Rapunzel!! Airplane II on the other hand, not funny.

August 15

High Sierra
Humphrey Bogart became a star in this momentous gangster movie, which started the world’s obsession with film noir. Bogie is a doomed ex-con killer on the lam with a heart of gold and Ida Lupino is his moll. Deftly directed by Raoul Walsh and masterly co-written by John Huston. (1941, Warner)

The screenplay for this film was co-written by John Huston and William R. Burnett, whose novel was the source material. Burnett also wrote the novel inspirations of Little Caesar and Scarface. That should be some indication of what this film is like. Dark, gritty, but with a heart of gold. Oh, Bogie.

August 22

Dirty Harry
Clint Eastwood is San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan, who has little regard for rules but always gets results. On the hunt for a maniacal serial sniper, he uses his trademark intimidation and .44 Magnum handgun. Feeling lucky? (1971, Warner)

This is the one film of the festival that I'll be skipping on purpose. I don't care for the genre and I really don't care at all for Clint Eastwood. But I'm sure some people will tell you it is one of the best films of the last 40 years, and that the criticism it has suffered is in the past. But I don't like it. Then, now, or later.

A separate film program in the summer is Movies Nights on the Elevated Acre as part of NYC's River to River Festival. The films are traditionally based in NYC (last year they did Muppets Take Manhattan!) and are usually preceded by shorts. They have three (also Monday) nights scheduled this summer:


June 20
Desperately Seeking Susan
(104 minutes, 1985) follows a bored suburban housewife (Roseanne Arquette), seeking adventure, who accidentally gets hit on the head, wakes up with amnesia, and is mistaken for a free-spirited New York City drifter named Susan (Madonna). 

Shorts include Eat my makeup! and Flying Saucey! by Marie Losier.

Should you be feeling disinclined to see One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest that evening, Desperately Seeking Susan may be the cure for what ails you - just as crazy, but far more lighthearted. 

June 27

The Godfather II

(200 minutes, 1974) chronicles the early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York as his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate. 

Preceded by shorts from Maria Niro (Waiting) Off My Chest and Fast Cut Chase Dream (Was It A Dream At All).

I would heartily recommend The 39 Steps but if you're looking for something more dramatic, this is the way to go. And honestly, if you haven't seen it...you should. If you need more convincing, look at it this way: The 39 Steps can be watched instantly on Netflix, this cannot.

July 11

Brother from Another Planet
(108 minutes, 1984) is about a mute alien slave who is chased through the streets of Harlem in this thought-provoking cult classic directed by John Sayles. 

Two shorts by Henry Hills accompany the feature, Gotham and Failed States.

I haven't seen it, but supposedly it's amusing. Hey, Fisher Stevens is in it. I think I'd rather see Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but it's nice to have options. And it does star the wonderful Joe Morton.

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Dreadfully Ever After, by Steve Hockensmith

Quirk Classics has performed a task that only a handful of women would generally commit to: create an Austen "what-if" novel (with a pretty polarizing "if"), and then write bookends: a prequel and then a sequel to that text. Now the first part of that task was relatively simple: Seth Grahame-Smith used the story and much of the original dialogue from Austen's Pride & Prejudice and put it all in a world riddled 
with zombies.

Like W. Bill Czolgosz's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim, the dreadful reanimation is caused by a cholera of unknown origin and, unlike in Czolgosz's novel, many of the living have gotten the necessary training (based in Asian culture) to defend themselves. That's all explained in Steve Hockensmith's prequel Dawn of the Dreadfuls, which I haven't yet read. But given the source material, a prequel would I think be relatively simple: throw together what you know about the canon characters, 
and what you know about the added "if" and give them a plot line to follow to those ends. Done.

A sequel on the other hand, is decidedly more difficult. Not only do you have to master the pre-written characters and be able to carry them forward in Austenesque fashion, and not only are you mixing the Austen plot with Seth Grahame Smith's plot and then adding the pieces from Dawn of the Dreadfuls, but you are also challenging the assumptions of every young woman (or, for argument's sake, young man) who has read the original, and who has invented the rest of the story. Tales do not always end just because the author has said "the end." No, these stories continue in the minds of the reader - a type of post-literary fantasy. It's where fanfiction comes from. It's where all of those Pride & Prejudice sequels following the lustful lives of the newly wedded Mr. & Mrs. Darcy come from.

It is in the spirit of curiosity that Steve Hockensmith has created the finale to the Pride & Prejudice and Zombies trilogy in Dreadfully Ever After. The story goes that after 4 years of marriage, Mr. Darcy is bitten by a Dreadful (don't worry, I promise Elizabeth notices... not like in that idiotic Mr. Darcy, where it took Lizzy 239 pages to figure it out...). All hope seems lost until Lady Catherine, still as hateful as ever of Elizabeth, concocts a shameful plan (let's just say it's something Jane could have easily written in her youth) for his salvation. Of course, given the zombie addition, there are endless parades of zombies 
and ninjas in the way of success, but those Bennet girls are wily - trust 'em to find success eventually.

The story is well executed and definitely makes for a quick read, especially if you can't bring yourself to read the gorier parts - it's not exactly for the faint of heart. But I have to say, for something written so specifically for the blood and gore, I actually enjoyed it. It stays true to all accountable versions of our beloved Austen characters, and even introduces some original flavor in Sir Angus and Bunny, and it's always nice to see an Austen villain get her comeuppance now and again.

Review: The Pumpkin Eater, by Penelope Mortimer

NYRB Classics
New Introduction by
Daphne Merkin
4/26/11

Penelope Mortimer, or should I say the character of Mrs. Armitage, is an illustration of a woman in chaos, the smudged pencil sketch or what the sound of "din" looks like. She's going through a breakdown and "The Pumpkin Eater" is her therapy, Mortimer's therapy. There can be no doubting that this brutally honest and amusing tale is, in a great part, autobiographical. And yet, Mortimer wields each word like a nocked arrow, making it touching, but without an ounce of sentimentality.

The mother (but not the caretaker) of countless children, the narrator seems lost in a world of "...orange squash, blackcurrant syrup, tins of soup or beans or salmon, disinfectant or instant coffee...", trapped in her mind like she's trapped in the glass tower her husband built for her. This dream-castle serves as both physical barrier (not to mention the Freudian implications of a large, fragile phallus in the middle of the countryside)  and delusional whimsy. Her husband's transgressions are unhidden, transparent, testimony for his wife's mental trials.

In all the chaos, you might think it would be difficult to find a thru-line, a string tied to a life preserver, tossed into an unforgiving sea. But it's there, in the form of the Armitages' daughter, Dinah. Insignificant at first, indistinguishable from the circus of little ones, Dinah's importance grows, and it is in her mother's awareness of this growth that the chaos finally subsides.

This tide-like narrative is somewhat reminiscent of another woman's chaotic semi-autobiographical novel: Zelda Fitzgerald's Save Me the Waltz. If Zelda had been a little less delusional, a little more honest, a little less oppressed, a little more depressed, a little less vivacious, and a little more prolific (okay maybe a lot more prolific), she might have been Penelope Mortimer or her literary twin, Mrs. Armitage.

But compared to Save Me the Waltz, Armitage's break is more present. The writer is more aware of herself, and there's an element of the story actually being composed, rather than lived--you really notice this in her treatment of Ireen, and in the way the character seems to ironically haunt the rest of the story. It's the kind of thing where you can hear the writer, amidst the depression and the victimizing) and pick out her victorious laughter in the midst of the din.                                                      

Monday Mailbox #5

Monday Mailbox is a weekly segment wherein I cover my most recent acquisitions, whether via purchase, library, early reviewers, Librarything.com Member Givaway Program or gift.



I recently purchased (from Ikea) some new book shelves. My first set of adult book shelves. Before, my books lived on a collection of thrift store or curbside shelves that a) were not cutting it and b) were hideous. So now I have new shelves and they are gorgeous. 


Perhaps the most interesting thing, though, about having new, expansive (not to mention expensive) shelves, is that there's SO much ROOM! I mean my collection is not small... it's not very large, but small it definitely is not. But on my previous shelves, there was negative room for anything. Volumes piled on top of volumes, squeezed into tiny corners, I mean it was a mess. But now... now I have so much space...and I find that I need more books! So getting some new books this week definitely brought me some good cheer, that I now share with you!

Sidenote:
Quirk's publicity packets
are decidedly impressive.

First off, I must share that part of my faith in humanity has been restored. No, I still haven't located whatever book got misplaced by the construction workers next door, BUT Quirk finally sent me the conclusion to the PPZ series, Dreadfully Ever After. I had just marked that one as a lost cause and BAM there it was at my door. A really nice surprise, that. 


For my birthday, my sister had planned on buying me something while we were in the Disney parks. But the thing was I didn't really see anything that I wanted. The fact is we grew up in Orlando. For us, going to Disney wasn't a privilege or a special treat... sure, we had special times(!!) but going to Disney was more like a right to us. So it doesn't have the same novel appeal (ha, novel) for me as it does for others. 


So after the parks, we went to Barnes & Noble where Rory had a gift card to spend (I also got one this week, and it's burning such a hole in my pocket!)... so I let her buy me a book (she also bought me soda, and got me into the parks, and got me a birthday pie later... it was a good birthday). She ended up buying A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book which has been on my to-read and to-purchase lists since it was published 2 years ago. I've been dragging my feet, mostly because I was debating whether or not I wanted the cover with the dragonfly on it. But in the end, I've got the paperback now, and I'm excited to dig into its 879 pages.


That same day, I purchased myself a copy of Jack Caldwell's Pemberley Ranch. When I showed it to Rory, she looked at me askance. I told her to trust me, that I had raised both eyebrows at myself, but the fact is that Laurie and Christina over at AustenProse liked it, and it's actually supposed to be good. So I figured I'd give it a shot. Because why the hell not?


And finally, I also purchased a journal (not a book, I know)... which I didn't realllly have the extra $10 to spend, but just had to because it is so goddamned cute. It's made by Chronicle Books, and the design is by Catherine Head. It's called their "Animals Around the 

World" journal, and when I was at B&N they only had one in stock and, according to the Chronicle Books website, it's currently out of stock. Probably because it's so adorable. I stopped journaling some time ago, but I'm actually using this thing. Again, probably because it's so EFFING adorable. 

Happy May!

After that 30-day meme and 2 reviews posted in quick succession, you'd think I deserved a little bit of a break from blogging...and I took one...but I felt guilty every day that I was not writing! 

Here's what you've missed: 

There was a Royal Wedding. We started watching the coverage at 4am. And then I fell asleep on the couch.

...and my mother so graciously took pictures.

My sister graduated from the University of Florida. 

that's me in the crazy glasses, Charles Nelson Reilly style.

My aunt gave birth to her third baby (his older siblings are now almost 13 and almost 10). 

Baby Daniel will be one week old tomorrow!

I had another birthday: 26 (Yeah, that happened...though...I've pretty much thought I *was* 26 for most of 25, so this was no big deal.) 

...so my sister and I went to Disney...and saw some terrifying things... like this doll(s)....

My mother and grandmother left for (and are currently on) a cross-country car trip.

this is one of only two pictures she's posted from the road. it's a great picture, but neither of them are in it! LOL

So, needless to say, our family has had a bunch to talk about over the last week and a half. And now I share with you. Congratulations, honorary family members: you've been caught up.
And now, back to the books.