Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne My rating: 5 of 5 stars I can’t say enough about what an enjoyable journey this was. The characters were vivid and charming, the plot brisk (once it got going), and the language and descriptions were superb. Phileas Fogg, the main character, proved “equal to the …
Scrivener A scrivener is a scribe, copyist, or clerk, someone who deals with paperwork or words. I’ve always liked this word because of the sound of it. It sounds like ‘scribble’ which is what I imagine most scriveners doing. Indeed scribe, scribble, and scrivener all trace their origin from the same latin roots, scribere ‘to …
City of Ember is a delight. Though much of the narrative is filled with tension it has a homey quality to it that makes the story curiously gentle in the telling.
Every good story has a hero. Those heroes are not perfect, but they are quite often more noble than many of us. And that’s a good thing. Because a literary hero quite often becomes a friend, at least for the time that we read the story and perhaps long after. And friends can pull us …
Today’s word is one that has a strong literary connection, much like Bandersnatch from last week. This week’s word is: Quixotic The word describes someone who is idealistic to a fault or at the very least, highly impractical in their pursuits. It derives from the lead character in the 1605 book by Miguel Cervantes, El ingenioso …
One of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite authors. I think it speaks for itself. The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes …
Today you get two words, actually, both of which made their debut in the same work of fiction. The first is: bandersnatch This is a creature known for its ferocity, speed, long neck, and snapping jaws. It was invented by Lewis Carroll and first used in his 1872 work, Through the Looking Glass. The description of it …
Chapter titles and tables of contents: do we really need them? I recently had an exchange online with another writer who was convinced they were completely unnecessary. She rattled off a list of books which I hadn’t heard of. None of them contained tables of contents. So I poked around on my book shelf …
