Wandering Wednesday, September 29

An odd mix of articles for this week, a few quite old (sorry) and some just gleaned today! 

  • Literary mashups. Whether you like them or not, it seems they're spreading, and according to the Guardian, children's classics are next.
  • Author Lauren Willig on editing her first novel for mass paperback -- and what she chose to change.
  • The Paris Review blog on welcoming a new translation of Madame Bovary.
  • Allegedly, people (always? often? usually?) read page 99 of a book to get a sense of whether they want to purchase it or not.  Now there's a test for authors to see if their book would pass.
  • An appropriate article for Banned Books Week: what are books good for?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende

Image
Title:Inés of My Soul
Author: Isabel Allende

Genre: Fiction (Historical / 16th century / South American)
Publisher/Publication Date: Harper Perennial (7/1/2007)
Source:TLC Book Tours

Rating: Liked a great deal.
Did I finish?: Yes.
One-sentence summary: The life of a 16th century Spanish girl, who rose from poverty to riches following the conquistadors of Chile.
Reading Challenges:Historical Fiction

Do I like the cover?: Yes but it's not my favorite among the various editions (the 2006 hardcover is stunning).

I'm reminded of...: Laura Esquivel, Sandra Gulland

First line: I am Inés Suárez, a townswoman of the loyal city of Santiago de Nueva Extremadura in the kingdom of Chile, writing in the year of Our Lord 1580.

Did... I feel a bit uncomfortable with the wholly pro-conquistador plot line?: YES, but the perk of these P.S. editions is the extras.  This book includes an NPR interview with Isabel Allende who talks about keeping Inés' voice authentic to the era and having to, essential…
Read more

Weekend reads, or social distancing...

Image
One million library holds arrived this week. Which is nice because my community, like so many, has requested people exercise "social distancing" to help prevent a wider spread of COVID19.

I plan to participate in next weekend's #StayHome24in48, a little readathon for all of us who need some bookish time alone/together. Are you going to?

I have one million reviews to write for Historical Novel Review but I still plan to read something. I'm leaning toward Sarah Gailey's Upright Women Wanted. What are you reading this weekend?


Read more

Chronicle Books Haul-idays Giveaway

Image
Post a list of Chronicle Books valued at up to $500 that you’d like to haul in, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing to WIN your list of books! And, one of your readers who comments on the post will win the list too!  Interested in creating your own list?  Do so here.

How can I resist?  I can't.  And I didn't.  My wife and I love food, crafts and travel -- which Chronicle does brilliantly -- so most of my list is made up of that -- although you'll see a few naughty narratives and some sober story-telling.  Comment with anything you find interesting -- if I win, one commenter wins too!



Some Austen mashups....

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen & Ben H. Winters; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
and some gorgeous escapist fiction...

Windflower by Nick Bantock and Edoardo Ponti
as well as some sexy escapist fiction...

Smut: Volume 1…
Read more

Audiobook Review: Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon by Maria Grace

Image
Elizabeth's stomach churned. To be so ambushed, first thing in the day.

Austen's classic novel of manners, marriage, obligation, misunderstandings, poor judgments and well-founded ones is well-served by Maria Grace's imaginings of how society would respond to a world with dragons. It is not merely a retelling with lizards thrown in but a story with new threads of tension and complications that make Lizzie and Darcy's dislike of each other novel and real -- and something that must be urgently overcome.

Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (Jane Austen's Dragons, Book 1) by Maria Grace; Narrated by Benjamin Fife
Self-published, 2019
Review copy for Audiobookworm Promotions
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Pride and Prejudice isn't my favorite Austen novel which means I seriously love P&P re-tellings and variations.  (Ayesha at Last is one of the best bestest, btw, so if you haven't read it, read it now!) I found myself inst…
Read more