Tuesday’s Thought For The Day!
book reviews
Prince Caspian – The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
One of my favorites from the Narnia series, this story had me laughing out loud, angry, and sad, all in one setting. The thing I enjoy most about C.S. Lewis and his writing is how he just puts it out there. Right there; yes, for you to see, and contemplate, and enjoy.
Okay, enough reminiscing.
There are some great lines in this story, as well as the others, that make me remember them long after I read them.
Chapter 3: “The worst of sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early.”
The Pevensies wanted to go back to Narnia, but they did not know what that would cost them. Prince Caspian is the rightful heir, being denied his throne by his uncle. It is a quick story, with all of the allegories you come to expect from Mr. Lewis. And I have to honestly say; Reep-a-Cheep is likely my favorite “character” out of all of them! Well, except for Aslan, of course!
If you have seen the movie, I have to say it is quite different from the story, but I do enjoy the movie as well. How did you feel about this installment in the Narnia series?
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Life As I Know It Is Officially Over…
…because after having 10 weeks off from college, and almost 2 more weeks to go, I will again have class starting as I continue working on my MBA.
Accounting. Accounting for Managers, to be exact. I could have cried when I opened the book. Not counting the index, and numerous appendixes, this book is 1145 pages long.
So I am pretty sure that when I say I am going to have 6 long weeks of nothing but accounting, I am probably 110% correct. I like working with numbers, and I have taken enough accounting and financial classes that I am not concerned about the work load, but I am very concerned about what kind of life I am going to have outside of working full-time, homeschooling a teenager, and a Master’s level Accounting class.
Yes, “What was I thinking is running through my brain non-stop right now!” When I disappear for awhile, do not panic 🙂
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Be Still My Heart – A Sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Yes, it is true. I was amazed to learn that the sequel that Harper Lee wrote was actually the first book she had written. Her agent recommended she write a backstory to Scout, and that is how we got the wonderful “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Harper said she had long believed her first story had been destroyed long ago, and never really gave it another thought. She was recently made aware by her lawyer that she found her first book. Ms. Harper has had a select few friends and family members read it, and they told her that she does indeed need to publish this book.
This new story is called “To Set a Watchman”, and revolves around Scout returning to Maycomb, Alabama to see her father, lawyer Atticus Finch.
I don’t know about you, but I will certainly stand in a line to get this book when it is released in July, if it is necessary.
What do you think about this long missing book?
You can read the news release on CNN here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/living/feat-harper-lee-new-book/
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An Irish Country Wedding – Patrick Taylor
Another splendid installment in the Irish Series (as I call it). We get to be witness to Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly and his marriage to Ms. Kitty O’Halloran.
Berry is debating leaving this practice to pursue a specialty, as the young new Doctor is finding his way among the residents of Ballybucklebo.
We get to watch a young Doctor manipulate the small town he is taking care of; as he helps the white weasel escape the Bishop’s grasp.
And he helps another couple buy their first house, Bishop be damned.
Barry is learning there is much more to taking care of the residents, but does he let them go in order to pursue his dreams of specialty?
I hope someone besides me has read these great stories!
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Inkheart – Cornelia Funke
One of my favorite series, Inkheart wraps it all up into one: A book about books.
Mo has a gift; a gift of reading the characters right out of stories. Just like he read his wife Resa right out of his life, and into this world where she is captive;she lost her voice, but is searching for her husband and daughter.
Meggie is trying to figure out the whole story of why her Mother has been gone so long, and why her father refuses to tell her anything. But there are others who already know about Mo’s gift, and need to use it to their advantage. The fact that Meggie has this gift will follow her wherever she goes.
I am trying to avoid spoilers, but if you have read this whole series, I would love to hear what you thought about it!
You cannot help but get caught up in the secondary characters in this story; they all take you right back to your favorite stories.
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The Horse and His Boy – The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
Book number three in the Narnia series, by the numbering on the books I have, is “The Horse and His Boy.” This is also the only book I seem to have missing from my collector’s box that holds all 7 of these books. I haven’t the slightest idea where it went, who may have had it last, or how I managed to lose a book!
With that being said, this is actually my least favorite book out of the 7 in the series. This is a novel that can stand alone, and there is no need to read, or have read, and of the other books to enjoy this one. I did like this story, I just did not find it as interesting as the other 6 stories. This story is set in Narnia for its entirety, and focuses on a boy running away from home, who meets a horse who is also running away from home.
Shasta discovers his adoptive father is going to sell him as a slave, and learns from Bree, a horse at the stable, that Bree has been treated badly by this same adoptive father. A plan gets underway, and soon both Shasta and Bree are on the run, trying to get to Narnia and the High Kings and Queens there; yes, the Pevensies. (And yes, of course the horses talk, it is Narnia!)
They also meet a girl and her horse who are running away from home; she being a Princess forced to marry against her will. Once they reach their destination, they both learn things about themselves that will change their lives forever. These two eventually get married, and have a son who becomes the most famous King of Archenland.
The thing I liked best about this story was the cat who seemed to follow Shasta all through his journey. Sometimes a lion chasing him, and sometimes a cat comforting him; Aslan always makes his presence known.
Which Narnia story did you like the least? I know it’s hard to choose when they are all great stories, but they can’t all be your favorites, or are they?
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Whose Bad Idea Was This?
Making a television series out of a terrible book is a waste of time, money, and talent. Okay, maybe I am being a bit harsh, but I literally about fell out of my chair when I saw today that J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy” is being made into a television series.
If you liked this book, you may want to stop reading now. I have this book still on my bookshelf for two reasons:
1) I cannot bear to throw a book in the garbage (I am going to repurpose it).
2) I do not want to donate it to my local library and risk anyone else reading this rubbish.
From what I am understanding, Michael Gambon, aka Professor Dumbledore, has a leading role. What? Why?
I see this as a bad idea for several reasons:
He is Professor Dumbledore. He should not be recycled into your next book.
People will expect a Dumbledore-type character, which he is not playing.
People will think (Okay, I am thinking) you could not find anyone else to act in this television series.
Okay; I just did not like this book. I wanted to like it; I tried to like it. But I could not. She could have written it under a pseudonym like she did with “The Silkworm“, and not knowing it was J.K., I still would not have liked it.
I am really curious if I am the only one who finds so many wrong things going on here. And I would really love to hear from someone who liked this story. Honestly. I want to know if I missed something, judged too quickly, or just did not get it.
Anyone?
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Books I Wish Were Made Into a Series
You have read a book so wonderful that you just could not wait to read the next one, right? Me too. Then I search and ask, only to find out that there is not another book to follow up the one I just read.
What?
How could this book not have had a follow-up story? You want to know what happened to the characters beyond the last page of the last chapter, but it was never written.
I would have loved for Harper Lee to have written a follow-up book for “To Kill a Mockingbird“. What did Scout do when she grew up? How was her life changed by what she experienced from that court trial? What happened to Boo Radley? What about Jem and Dill? I am still amazed that this is the only novel Harper Lee ever wrote.
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte is another story. Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff had a rough go of it, but what happened to Mr. Lockwood?
“The Catcher in the Rye“, “The Bell Jar“, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower“, and I could go on all day long!
Did you have a story that when you closed the book at the end, you wondered what happened to the characters with whom you had just invested so much of your time and feelings?
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Editing For Dialect
My biggest concern when editing a story that uses a specific dialect, is that not everyone may understand that is what is going on, and think I am a terrible, hack-job editor.
I am currently editing a story that uses dialect different than you find in the majority of English written books. The dialect being used is not a heavy accent that portrays someone who lives in the Deep South, or New England, or the likes. It is not a play on the words so much, as it is that there are words missing.
Words are missing because the characters in the story use English as a second language. I am sure we have all had the pleasure of meeting an interesting person who did not use English as their main way of communicating. So you have a conversation that seems almost abbreviated, with the ‘extra’ words that are used in the English language not being used when someone is using English as their second language.
Have you heard that the English language is the hardest language to learn? It is true. More than any other language, the English language has so many “rules and regulations” concerning the use of it, that it can be difficult for pretty much anyone to use it correctly, even if it is the only language they know.
So for an example, what you might read is the following; “She found him at bus station.” If I were writing the story, I would say “She found him at the bus station.” I see nothing wrong with writing a story this way, when it is necessary to set the scene and make it authentic.
I am currently editing a story by a very talented author, and it took about 3 sentences into the second chapter where the characters were having a conversation for me to realize that what I thought were errors, were intentional. The main characters use English as their second language. I think if the author did not write it using this dialect, it would take away from the story.
Which brings me back to my main concern; will everyone who reads this story understand that it is supposed to be written in that style? I think I am pretty safe, as it is a very in-depth story and one that will interest a specific genre.
If you are a writer, do you use dialect in specific novels you write to lend authenticity to your story?
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