Rosen-zeitung : zeitschrift des Vereins deutscher rosenfreunde - 1886 - via Internet Archive
Every year on this day (June 10th) I remember and mourn over Lidice and the fates of its children. Here are the children who attended the 1st and 2nd classes of the small village school with their teachers. Taken only a few days before their world ended.
These children were torn away from their mothers and most of them died in a gas car. The handful survivors were dragged into Germany to be transformed into Germans. These photographs were one of the things that helped to locate some of them down after the war.
Acquired this first edition of Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley at last month’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair - it was complete luck that I saw the volumes in one of the cases. The text blocks show their age, but they were beautifully rebound in leather around the turn of the 20th century.
It was such an overwhelming feeling when I opened one and saw the first page with the year and the publisher.
So many amazing things at this Fair! I highly recommend checking it out next year if you are in the area.
What I enjoyed most while reading Dracula:
everybody - no matter what situation they are in - is so unbelievable polite 😂 I love it
“There are choices,“ she thought, when she had sat long enough. “There are always choices.”
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
“You must go back with me to the autumn of 1827.”
Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
“If you are a figment of my imagination, some wild dream, I hope I never wake.”
My favorite time of day in spring and summer is immediately before and immediately after the sun sets. The light becomes dreamy, barely streaming through the trees and bushes outside my window, dappling my house in green and gold light while deepening the shadows. And from mid to late May, this light is accompanied by the heady scent of the lilac bush near my door, almost intoxicating in its strength.
I cannot imagine a better time or place to read The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. There is no easier time of day for me to believe that an otherworld is somewhere close at hand, that my own house is a house of dreams, and if only I could find the threshold, the right shadow or ray of light, I could pass through to a magic world.
Steeped in myth and fairytale, this book is full of yearning for magic. The characters consciously construct and try to follow the rules of the fairytales they know to find this magic and try to reclaim what they have lost. The relationships they form are a part of this construction and are far from healthy, but magic has a cost that must be paid.
Mixing my love of fairytales and gothic stories, with a house I long for, this book was truly everything I hoped it would be. I already want to reread it.
Me: "Who was the first man in space?"
Student: "Gargamel."
Your May reading list inspired question. Have you read The Czar's Madman? 🙂
I have not! Thank you for the recommendation. It definitely sounds interesting, though I am not sure I can find the book in a bookstore. Perhaps I might do a little search online? :)
“I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it.”
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway / annotations part one
The thing about Fanny Price is you could put her in any of the extrovert led novels and she'd solve the plot immediately:
"Catherine, that girl Isabella is sus, she's constantly saying things that she does mean. Do not trust her."
"Elizabeth, why did you not inquire further into the conditions on the will? Because that story of Wickham's is sus and he's sus and I really doubt that's the truth."
"Emma, Mr. Elton is flirting with *you*. Frank is sus. That dude is hiding something and I bet he bought that piano."
Fanny's superpowers are sitting quietly in a corner, being suspicious of charm, and listening.
Fanny Price as the sixth Bennet sister
- Author: Laura Shepperson
- First published: 2023
- Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
- Somebody else said this felt more like a fanfiction rather than a serious literary retelling and I have to agree, while I also add this particular fanfiction was super sub-par and messy. There is a plethora of characters who all sound exactly the same. ALL the men are awful. ALL the women are abused EVERY night by ALL these men. And ALL the characters are absolutely unbelievable within the context of the myth. These are yet again, 20th-century people. Furthermore, I was bothered by the usage of expressions like "madam", "land ahoy" and "ex-husband" in what is supposed to be an ancient Greek myth. And the Viking culture, from one of the minor characters, is supposed to come..... did not exist at the same time as the Ancient Athens. So bad.
- Author: Douglas Smith
- First published: 2008
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- There are very few books in English that focus on Russian nobility (while there are plenty on the tsars). Douglas Smith wrote Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy in which he showed how that nobility was systematically wiped out after 1917, however in The Pearl he plunges right into what was probably the most spectacular time for that same privileged class. The unusual story of a nobleman and a serf getting married serves the narrative as a sort of Ariadne´s yarn, as the book provides quite a detailed and fascinating description of the phenomenon that was the serf-theater. The author does not paint the affair as a romantic fairytale, acknowledging facts like Praskovia being figuratively her lover´s property, the age difference (which, back then, was not really seen as an issue), and the power dynamics. I found the subject very interesting and the writing clear and infused with enough poetry of language not to be dry and academic.
- Author: Mary Shelley
- First published: 1959
- Rating: ★★★★★
- In spite of the lack of action and being very, very wordy indeed, this book held me completely captive thanks to the beautiful language and especially the psychological depth. This ladies and gentlemen, would be a stunning candidate for a re-telling in a proper novel form.
- Author: Sara Sheridan
- First published: 2021
- Rating: ★★★☆☆
- The greatest enjoyment I had from this book was walking the Edinburgh streets in my mind because I had visited the city last year and fell in love with it. However, even though the writing is very good, the storyline failed to capture my attention and seemed, indeed, rather boring.
- Author: Jean Longnon, Raymond Cazelles
- First published: 1440
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Stunning presentation of a remarkable book. Besides beautifully drawn biblical stories some of the plates show life in medieval times, almost like a time capsule.
- Author: Isabel Allende
- First published: 1982
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- If I should compare this book to something, it would be to a lovechild of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman and books by Vaddey Rattner (though the pain in the latter´s books is inflicted by the exact opposite side than the one in this). While Isabel Allende´s style is not exactly to my taste, the family saga she wove in this book is fantastic from beginning to end, with its weird, unique, and, yes, even downright awful people. However, the sexual musings of the men were uncomfortable and unnecessary.
- Author: Laura Wood
- First published: 2023
- Rating: ★★★☆☆
- This is a great book when you just want something sweet and to relax. Full of tropes (including there was only one bed), and a little basic when it comes to the plot (the idea of a Victorian secret society of undercover lady agents made me want much more than what was delivered), but charming in the way it is uncomplicated.
- Author: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- First published: 2003
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Very impressive biography of a terrible person. I have not read much on Stalin (though I have researched the lives of ordinary people of Russia under his regime) so I have little to compare this to in terms of accuracy. However, the author, as always, never fails to present everything as the golden truth - including the mental aerobics of maniacs. Perhaps some skepticism and doubt would suit his over-confident narrative.
- Author: V.E. Schwab
- First published: 2016
- Rating: ★★☆☆☆
- This felt as long as a 30-year war. The first 300 pages are a painfully slow set-up, that is actually so elaborate (and full of passages that just did not need to exist, because they were extremely repetitive) that when something actually does happen near the very end, there is no surprise or twist at all. I mightily disliked most of the main characters (Lila is insufferable) and the villains had the actual best motivation out of everybody. Also, I felt that considering that the whole book kept talking about the Elemental Games, the games themselves had very little to do with the actual plot and left no impact whatsoever. I need to think on whether I even want to read the third book - but knowing myself I probably will, because I am a completionist.
- Author: Rebecca Ross
- First published: 2023
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- If you loved Lovely War, you will love this one. The romance is impossibly sweet and well-paced, and by the end of the book, you feel that the happiness or tragedy of your two protagonists is really your personal business. I loved the medium of letters and found the atmosphere of war slowly but surely marching on to you believable and realistic. I really, really liked this - and was bummed out to realize this is not a stand-alone! I want the second book now, please!
Another beautiful vintage edition of Jane Eyre for the collection
my five year plan? read a lot of books. visit museums. walk through woods. stand in a river. adopt a little kitty. drink lemonade while sitting in a rocking chair on my porch.