Reading Journal

I just finished "The Crucible."

I wish I had more to say about that.

 Next book will be "Of Thee I Zing,' ©2011

I joined a discussion group on goodreads to help me get back into talking about books rather than just of them. I'm hoping to also get some perspective to aid in writing "The Victorians," possibly with my roommate.

Writing Journal

Whoops, I did-it-a-gain....

I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo.
Essentially the same thing, but in April instead of November.

This round, I'm aiming for a script (or series of scripts) drawing inspiration from Jane Austen and SNL's "The Californian's."
"Mr. Darcy!  What are yeeewww doing here?!"

Which means I'll be spending March doing research. 
Watching/reading Austen (as my recipe permits)
Watching The Californian's
Learning the geography of Austen's England.

As you can guess, I haven't touched "Family Lies" since I finished the draft.  Not true; I think I have once or twice.  I just don't think there was enough life in the plot.
Hopefully I can turn that around at Camp NaNo.

First up: deciding which scenes I want to rewrite, taken mostly from P&P and S&S. 
Elizabeth and Darcy's unexpected meeting at Pemberley
Lucy, Elinor, and Edward's first scene together.  (I may take some creative liberty and have the secret outed here.)

Reading Journal

Finished "Whitethorn Woods"
Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is straight up classic Binchy: ordinary characters in situations so contrived that you have to believe them. The back cover (of this edition) declares that the characters are "passionately opinionated men and women drawn into a timely conflict between the traditions of the past and the promises of the future." Personally, I'm inclined to disagree with that description. There are, indeed, passionately opinionated people, but the narrative follows mostly the lives of those in the book who are not. I found myself caring for the characters more than the resolution of what happens to St. Ann's Well.

The short story included in the paperback edition was so-so. It's been about a decade since I've read any of Binchy's short stories, so I can't make any comparisons there. It seemed as though she wanted or intended it to be a part of the novel, but couldn't find a way to make it fit.




View all my reviews

Started Arthur Miller's "The Crucible."  Seemed appropriate after having recently finished "The Scarlet Letter."

Reading Journal

I finished "Scarlet Letter."  It's been a while since I've read it, although I remembered most of the big plot points.  But, let's face it, there really isn't much plot to remember.  This is one of those books that's all about the narrative, and I liked it. 

So I started up the last Maeve Binchy book I picked up, "Whitehorn Woods."  Although I plan on reading while at the gym this evening, I'm currently not very far into it right now.  But, so far, it's been classic Binchy, which means it's spectacular.

Reading Journal

I finished my dad's book.
And I wish I could highly reccomend it.  I enjoyed it, but that's because I've learned to read through a lot of proofing goofs.  Unlike with fiction, they don't distract from the plot, so that helps. 

One weird thing is that since I grew up with my dad reading to us, I could hear his voice as I read his book.  It only became really weird when I switched to reading something else.

I'm still coming along with "The Scarlet Letter."  I haven't decided what I'll do for my new.  I've got quite a few to choose from, so that's exciting.  Especially because it hasn't happened in a while.

Oh, and I've decided a new hobby is going to the book section of the thrift stores and looking for vintage and antique books.  I've picked up some pretty random ones, including 4 volumes of a 14-volume series about how to raise children.  Based on what I could tell, it was published sometime in the late 1940's.  I've now made it my goal to (a) remember the name of the series and (b) get all of them.