Monthly Archives: October 2013

Happy The Death of Santini Day!

Posted on October 29, 2013 by badkitty1016

  Just wanted to show everyone that my copy of Pat Conroy’s latest opus, The Death of Santini, has finally arrived.  Bethany emailed me first thing this morning and said she was already reading it, having pre-ordered it for her Kindle. … Continue reading →

Posted in Pat Conroy | 1 Comment

Yarn Along (by Bethany)

Posted on October 23, 2013 by lfpbe

The minute after I took this picture, I ripped all of this knitting out and started the project over. I’m like one of those Buddhist monks who spend years creating intricate mandalas out of colored sand and then, when they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Yarn Along | 2 Comments

That’s right, I’m skipping ahead. Pre-Reading Notes on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment (by Jill)

Posted on October 20, 2013 by badkitty1016

I can’t do Paradise Lost yet.  I just can’t.  I’ve started it.  I blundered through Book One and the first couple pages of Book Two.  But I, too, am afraid of John Milton and I need to plan out my … Continue reading →

Posted in AP English - 18 Years Later, Fiction - general, Fiction - literary, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Reviews by Jill | 3 Comments

The Best Paragraph Ever (by Bethany)

Posted on October 20, 2013 by lfpbe

One of the many books in my on-deck circle is America and Americans – a collection of John Steinbeck’s nonfiction and letters. Since most of the essays and other works in this volume are very short, I often pick it … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, John Steinbeck | Leave a comment

The Return of the AP English Challenge: Final Thoughts on Anna Karenin(a) (by Jill)

Posted on October 17, 2013 by badkitty1016

I don’t think I’ve ever put off writing about a book for as long as I’ve put off finishing up April’s AP English Challenge selection.  I started Anna Karenin(a) on April 4th, and finished it on June 13th, effectively derailing … Continue reading →

Posted in AP English - 18 Years Later, Fiction - general, Fiction - literary, Leo Tolstoy, Reviews by Jill | Leave a comment

What do you mean, no Dementors? Jill reviews J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy

Posted on October 10, 2013 by badkitty1016

  I don’t know if I’ve ever shared with our loyal readers the only reading/book buying rule I have never broken since I made it up in the early 2000’s.  This rule states that if I must buy a book … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction - general, J.K. Rowling, Reviews by Jill | 6 Comments

I Will Not Be Afraid of John Milton. I Will Not Be Afraid of John Milton: Pre-Reading Notes on (Gulp!) Paradise Lost (by Bethany)

Posted on October 10, 2013 by lfpbe

This time I have a good reason for not finishing a book in high school. Really, I do. In mid-March of my senior year in high school, I got the chicken pox. Adult chicken pox. It was the sickest I … Continue reading →

Posted in AP English - 18 Years Later, Authors, Book-related personal narratives, John Milton, Poetry - Epic, Poetry - General, Reviews by Bethany | 6 Comments

Thoughts on The Turn of the Screw (by Bethany)

Posted on October 8, 2013 by lfpbe

I don’t think I understood the concept of ‘intertextuality’ back in A.P. English. Of course I knew that authors could make allusions to other works, but I think I saw this as a relatively unusual occurrence, and I certainly didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in AP English - 18 Years Later, Authors, Fiction - general, Fiction - literary, Henry James, Reviews by Bethany | 4 Comments

A Review of Justin Cronin’s The Passage (by Bethany)

Posted on October 8, 2013 by lfpbe

I’ve decided that I’m fine with vampires as long as they don’t have sex. Blood and violence and killing and wandering around in the middle of the night pouncing on things: those can be the ingredients of top-flight fiction. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Fiction - general, Justin Cronin, Reviews by Bethany | 6 Comments

PAT CONROY MONTH!, October Style: Thoughts on The Boo (by Bethany)

Posted on October 7, 2013 by lfpbe

PAT CONROY MONTH! went by way too fast. I spent much of the month catching up on reviews of books I read over the summer, but I did read two of Pat Conroy’s books – The Lords of Discipline and … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Nonfiction - Education, Nonfiction - General, Nonfiction - Memoir/Biography, Nonfiction - Military, Pat Conroy, PAT CONROY MONTH!, Reviews by Bethany | Leave a comment