by Syie James
Oh my, this book was lovely. Syrie James does her very hardest to convince you that this is Jane Austen's very words written down on paper, and she did a wonderful job. She must have read Jane's books many times, because she had the Regency language down to an art.
I really came to know and love Jane Austen more, even though a lot of it was only probable. I really wanted this story to be real, I loved the characters . . . especially Mr Ashford.
I would advice people who have not read Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice should read them before devouring this book, as it gives away some of the plot, since Jane is working on them through most of the story.
I hope others enjoy this book as much as I did. Except for the ending, which was historically accurate and made me wish history had been different, I still thought this book was great, and I'm glad my mother found it while we were perusing a bookstore on my birthday.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A Great MOLDY Book
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Therapist Returns
Wow. I'm sorry that I've been out of touch so long, but I have been conducting some serious undercover research on one of the new symptoms of MOLD. My findings have been somewhat disturbing.
It started when I received a copy of one of my regular patients essays. A regular high school book essay, or so it appeared. But this particular essay seemed to demonstrate a rather flawed view of reality. It was on a book called The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. An excellent piece of literature, but complete fiction. This essay recognized it as fiction, which is odd for a victim of MOLD, but it also recognized it as a deliberate literary distortion. Which is to say, the patient read the book and not only identified the story as "make-believe", but realized that the author had purposefully twisted an otherwise believable story to make a point! AND THEN THEY IDENTIFIED WHAT THE POINT WAS!!!
It was incredible. Throughout my career, I had never seen anything like it. Usually those with MOLD read commercial fiction, books that are blatantly fantastic, and then identify those stories as fact. Or at least, they treat them as seriously as if they were fact. I had never encountered an example of what would happen if a MOLD patient actually read something that was more 'realistic' than not.
And so I have been conducting secret research on the phenomena of what happens when a victim of MOLD encounters a work of literary fiction. It was not easy. It involved more essays, numerous interviews, elevator shafts, the infernal No Child Left Behind Act, eccentric English professors, secret documents, an unpleasant brush with the FBI, an annoying reporter from the New York Times, and hidden recording devices. The results have been amazing. I have discovered that the mind of a MOLDy individual processes literary fiction differently than a 'normal' individual. It would seem that the mind of a MOLD patient is preset to understand the allusions, analogies, and obscure intentions of the authors of novels like Life of Pi. In other words, they actually know what the author is really saying, as versus what is actually written in the pages of the book. I have discovered that MOLDy people can do instinctively what science has dubbed impossible.
They can crack the infamous literary code.
This discovery could revolutionize the study of MOLD as we know it.
Keep standing by.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Darkings
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ella Enchanted
.jpg)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is a wonderful tale about an obedient girl. Or, more so, a tale about a fiercely independent girl forced to be obedient due to a curse placed upon her by the fairy, Lucinda. When Ella is but a babe Lucinda bestows her with the "gift" of obedience that enforces even the simplest of commands. As Ella grows older she resents her curse and is constantly finding ways to bend orders to her will. When Ella is about 14 years old her mother dies leaving her heartbroken, if not for Prince Char. Even through her sadness he entrances her, and vs. versa.
Enter evil step family.
Well, not quite. They aren't family yet but they will be. The evil mother convinces Ella's father that she must be sent to finishing school to improve her oafishness. Her Father willingly agrees. When Ella arrives at the school she becomes finished (through direct orders) and miserable. So she runs away in an attempt to find Lucinda and beg her to remove the curse. On her way she runs into Char (almost literally) who with his guard escorts her to a Giant Wedding where she believes she will find Lucinda. This she does, but with mysterious consequences. Now what happens next, only Ella can determine.
Ella Enchanted is my favorite retelling of Cinderella. Many have read it, many have loved it, and I highly recommend it to fans of fairy tales, and kick butt heroines.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
MOLDy Banners and Affiliates
Here are some banners I've have created for blogs and websites. If you would like to support this site, go ahead and copy and paste the code into an "HTML/Javascript" page element. It's that simple.
Phew, that was a lot of coding.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Your new patient
Hello, my name is Taiger.
Hello, Taiger!
I've been a bibliophile for about thirteen years now, and I guess I've gone a bit insane.
*cackles of laughter* Haven't we all?
And guess what . . . I LIKE IT!
*rambunctious cheers*
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Waiting Room 2
Hello! Welcome again to The Waiting Room (yes, it is important enough for capitalization...hmph). Anyway, here are more books. Reader reviews of the books listed are always appreciated!
New Releases:
The Summoning (Darkest Powers, Book 1) by Kelley Armstrong
My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.
All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.
Lost and Found by Andrew Clements
Although it's a drag to be constantly mistaken for each other, in truth, during those first days at a new school, there's nothing better than having a twin brother there with you. But on day one of sixth grade, Ray stays home sick, and Jay is on his own. No big deal. It's a pretty nice school, good kids, too. But Jay quickly discovers a major mistake: No one seems to know a thing about his brother. Ray's not on the attendance lists, doesn't have a locker, doesn't even have a student folder. Jay almost tells the school -- almost -- but then decides that this lost information could be very...useful. And fun.
As Ray and Jay exploit a clerical oversight, they each find new views on friendship, honesty, what it means to be a twin -- and what it means to be yourself. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and true-to-life, this clever novel is classic Andrew Clements times two: twins!
Coming Soon:
What If... All the Rumors Were True by Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara James (July 8)
After a year at Hillsdale High, Haley thinks she knows what she’s in for as she starts her junior year. She knows what to expect from the it girls, the brains, the rockers, and the artists. She knows how to handle drunken disasters, shoplifting scandals, IM warfare, and out-of-control false rumors. But none of the lessons learned during her sophomore year can prepare her for this dilemma: what’s Haley supposed to do when everything they’re saying about her is true? (A Choose Your Destiny Novel)
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eion Colfer (July 15)
Artemis's mother has contracted a deadly disease -- and the only cure lies in the brain fluid of African lemurs. Unfortunately, Artemis himself was responsible for making the lemurs extinct five years ago. Now he must enlist the aid of his fairy friends to travel back in time and save them. Not only that, but he must face his deadliest foe yet...his younger self.
