As You Like It

 

This was a pretty good Shakespeare play. I didn't like it as much as Hamlet but it was cute. It definitely is better than the weak film adaptations it has been given. This play deals with Rosalind who dresses as a man Ganymede. She agrees to help the wrestler Orlando if he pretends she is Rosalind. Ganymede gives him love lessons with him being completely unaware of who he really dealing with. The play ends with the other couples of the play getting married as well. I have to admit that I've just tossed Shakespeare to the side my whole life as something I couldn't possibly understand or some overrated author. I may be in my late 30's but there's still time to catch up.

Searching for Dragons

 I thought that the sequel to "Dealing with Dragons" was cute. This focuses on the "King of the Enchanted Forest" Mendabar and Cimorene. Mendabar finds that Cimorene isn't the usual princess and falls for her. I found their discovery of the way to get rid of wizards to be whimsical. It has been also a gimmick in the third book which I'm reading now. They get set to rescue her dragon Kazul and also fight evil wizards along the way. So far this The Enchanted Forest Chronicles has been fun. I haven't really been much of a fantasy reader. The series has made me realize that perhaps it is a genre worth investigating.

The Last Mimzy

 

My problem with this best-of collection is that I think that Henry Kuttner did better. I know so because I read the short story collection, "Robots have no tails" and that was better. This does contain "The Proud Robot" which was in that book a funny story about an inventor who only creates wonders when he is drunk. Some of the stories here like "A Gnome there was" are just mediocre. However, there are some gems like "Mimsy were the Borogoves."  The lousy movie "The Last Mimzy" was based loosely on that. The story is much better. Also "The Misguided Halo" about a man who is awarded a halo he doesn't want is pretty funny. Writers like Marion Zimmer Bradley were influenced by Kuttner. This is a good book but I wouldn't stop here.

Dealing with Dragons

 

I decided to read something different for a change. I chose this young adult fantasy book and I liked it. I'm even reading the sequel now. I liked the first half of the book more than the second half. It's about a princess named Cimorene who can't stand leading the life of a princess anymore. She agrees to become the cook for a dragon. However, several men don't get the clue and come to fight the dragon.  The second half was about evil wizards but I liked the first half because it got to meet a cool atypical princess. Independence isn't a quality that you see in literature or movies about princesses. This was enjoyable.  

The Decapitated Chicken

 You know when a book is good when you actually read the introduction of the book.  This is one of my favorite short story collections and books period. Quiroga lived a bizarre life full of loved ones committing suicide, death, and madness. His stories reflect that.  People compare him to Poe but I think he was an original. The introduction said that he wrote around 200 stories. I own two books of his this and The Exiles (which I plan to read soon.)  I want to see more of those stories published. My favorite story here is Juan Darien about a tiger that grows up as a boy. His secret identity is uncovered.  Other favorites include The Feather Pillow about a woman's physical decay but there's a twist in the end.  I love short stories in general and I hate for them to be dismissed as a lower art form than the novel. 

Claudine Married

 

This is the third of the Claudine series. This book shows the beginning of the marriage to Renaud, who was probably based on Colette's former husband Willy. He took credit for the Claudine books initially. (I haven't seen the movie.) Claudine falls for a woman Rezi and her husband encourages the affair. I didn't like Renaud in the last Claudine book and I don't like him in this. The relationship between Rezi and her doesn't end on a good note. I was annoyed with the ending but it still maintained the usual Colette charm. Colette was nominated for the Nobel Prize just why didn't she win?

Robots have no Tails

 

One of my favorite genres is science fiction during the 1950s and 1960s. Henry Kuttner was a very good writer. I'm currently in the process of reading a very best of. "Robots have no Tails" is a short story collection featuring a genius scientist named Galloway Gallegher who does his best work when he is drunk. His stories revolve around him figuring out what the heck did he accomplish while he was drunk. The best story here is "The Proud Robot."  It's about a vain robot and Gallegher tries to figure out just why did he make this robot. There are other stories in this collection too that feature the robot Joe. This book is pretty funny. Henry Kuttner had an influence later on other writers such as Marion Zimmer Bradley. I've got to read more of his work. 

After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie

 

I love Wide Sargasso Sea so I've been reading Jean Rhys' earlier books lately.  If it wasn't for that book she would no doubt be a forgotten author. Her earlier books aren't as amazing as Wide Sargasso Sea but they do show potential and the genius that was to become. In this book, nothing much happens. An aging woman leaves a man who she admits wasn't that bad to her. She bums off family and past lovers. I get the feeling that this book was semi-autobiographical. Reading this I kept hoping that the character would get herself on her own two feet but she is a very dependent woman. I have no doubt this book describes the position of a lot of women around the time this was written and probably even now. 

The Death of the Heart

 

For years I've been reading books from the writer Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress) but I've heard people dismiss her as an Elizabeth Bowen want to be. I was curious so I read Bowen's most famous book.  It is good but I like Taylor more. My favorite book of hers A Wreath of Roses is kind of like a Hitchcock movie. I did like this book though and plan to read more by Bowen.  It is about an orphan who is sent to live with her half brother Thomas.  She takes to Eddie who is a flirt. Thomas' wife Anna has read her diary and the teenager has a breakdown. I love reading women's literature from the 1940s through the 1960s. Virago Modern classics and New York Review Book Classics publish a ton of good stuff from that genre. 

The Tunnel

 

This was all right.  It's an existentialist novel about obsessive love.  The narrator of this piece is an artist.  He obsesses about a woman and even when the feelings are mutual it isn't good enough.  I don't think that he is really in love with the woman.  He lives to obsess.  It drives him to murder the object of his affection.  Graham Greene and Albert Camus acclaimed this novel.  Indeed the author does remind me of the unlikeable narrator of "The Stranger" in many ways.  I love South American authors.  I need to investigate them more. 

Cat's Eye

 

People act like The Handmaid's Tale is the only book that Margaret Atwood has written.  She's written lots of books and is not a one-trick pony.  This book was good.  It's also Atwood's most autobiographical book.  A painter Elaine Risley reflects on her life.  The first part of the book is more or less an intellectual version of Mean Girls.  We meet the queen bee of the group Cordelia.  What I liked about the book is that Cordelia is more than a one-note character.  She may be snobby in the book but there are parts later in the book where she collapses like a real human does.  The second part of the book goes over Elaine's relationships with men, marriage, her art career, and college.  I thought it was well written but I enjoyed the first half more.  

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

 

This is a pretty good play about an abusive mother and the damaging effect she has on her two daughters.  One of which is an ambitious kid working on a science experiment at the moment.  What the mother does at the end of the play angered me.  I actually like what Paul Zindel did more after this play.  He went on to write a bunch of prize-winning young adult books.  When I was a teenager I wasn't really into young adult but I loved these books.  They were quirky and did a successful job at getting into the minds of teenagers.  This play succeeds on that level too and I am anxious to watch the Paul Newman movie.  

Sacred Families

 I read this book years ago and reread it again. "Gaspard de la Nuit" is one of my favorite stories of all time.  It's about a mother having to deal with her strange teenager whose favorite pastime is whistling a tune to himself.  He entertains himself wandering the street whistling this.   But there's more than one of him around.  This book was actually better the second time around I read it. "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" was just ok.  The second story "Green Atom Number Five" made more of an impression on me the second time around.  It's about a dentist who dabbles in art.  Their property starts disappearing.  There aren't many reviews for this book online which is a shame.  I really need to read Jose Donoso's other works.  He has something unique to say. 

Measure for Measure

 

This was an ok Shakespeare play.  I felt like reading one of his less famous plays this week.  It's a play about morality.  A deputy Angelo wants to get Claudio in trouble for getting a girl pregnant before marriage.  Claudio's sister Isabella who is a nun tries to help her brother only Angelo shows his hypocritical side by asking for sex for Claudio's release.  This play discusses what should be lawful and the age-old debate between hypocrisy and morality.  Angelo is really unlikable.  It looks like there are a few movie adaptations of this.  It wasn't Hamlet but it did have ideas.  I should explore Shakespeare's other minor works.  

A Wrinkle in the Skin

 

This was an ok post-apocalyptic book written in the 1960s about what happens after the world falls to pieces because of earthquakes.  There are only a few instances where I thought this rose above the normal science fiction book.  I like the friendship that Matthew has with the boy Billy.  I also like how the main character is driven to find his daughter after the catastrophe.  However, in the back of his mind he knows she's a goner.  I appreciate how the book didn't stumble to create a happy resolution for his unease.  I like how the character April gives a reality check to Matthew about the way that women are being treated in the post-apocalyptic world.  I'm not sure that such a speech would manage its way into modern science fiction books.  It didn't change my world but it was all right.  

The Lobotomist

 

This isn't my usual book but a family member recommended this book to me. The book is a biography of the lobotomist Walter Freeman.  He made major breakthroughs at the time on lobotomy although nowadays that is a practice that is rightfully condemned.  Although he did do thorough checkups on his patients years after the surgeries, it seems that he viewed them as specimens.  But it also seems that he also believed completely in what he was doing.  There are times when he goes too far like when he decides to use an ice pick during the procedure.  There are also instances when you feel for him especially the story of the death of his son Keen.  The most famous surgery he is remembered for is JFK's sister.   Towards the end of the book, you feel sorry for him when he just can't let lobotomy go even after it is way out of fashion.  It's his identity and he can't part from it.  The book is interesting because it provides a picture of a man who definitely was not a saint just a misguided man. Although there is much room for growth in the fight against mental illness at least this horrific practice isn't being used isn't more.

Curse of the Starving Class

One day I watched True West on television.  It wasn't planned.  It was just the best thing on that moment.  I became a fan of Sam Shepard immediately.  He was a versatile man, a talented playwright, and actor.  True West still remains my favorite but Curse of the Starving Class is pretty amazing as well.  It's about an alcoholic father and mother selling the family's farm behind each other's back.  The mother's having a fling with Taylor, a lawyer who also sold some worthless land to the father.  The two seem to not care about their two children Emma a girl just turning into a woman and their son Wesley.  Wesley desperately tries to fix things in the play without success.  The father tries to turn his life around but is it too late?  This play is ultimately about family and the selfish choices that sometimes family makes.  It would have been interesting to see the original production with Pamela Reed and Olympia Dukakis. 

The Green Book

 This was just an ok children's book back from 1982.  It's about a dying Earth and a family escaping and going to another planet.  There are some cool things in the book like sugar trees and moth people.  The problem with this book is that it wasn't a page-turner.  It wasn't exciting.  Still, like to read forgotten children's books but this isn't Ruth M. Arthur.  This is also labeled science fiction although it's far quieter than the usual science fiction book.  

More than Human

 

This science-fiction book by the great Theodore Sturgeon is one of my favorite books.  The main reason why is because of the middle part "Baby is Three" where a sociopath talks to a psychologist.  It's very engaging and each time I've read this section it's been a real page-turner.  Ultimately the book is about how six individuals build up a whole and finally the sociopath Gerry gains a conscience, the last part.  I like how he isn't left behind and there is still redemption even after all of his acts.  Each of the six individuals contains a gift, one is telekinesis for example and the twins deal with teleportation.  I have this rule to myself that I can only reread a book once three years have passed.  I broke that rule.  It's been one since I've read this book.  This should be recommended reading to anyone who doesn't see the artistic value that science fiction has.  This is proof that it can be literature.

Laughter in the Dark

 Nabokov wrote more than Lolita.  In fact, he got books published for many years.  I wonder if he didn't write Lolita if his books would just have faded into the abyss kind of like Jean Rhys' books did before Wide Sargasso Sea.   Laughter in the Dark is about a man named Albinus who has a good life: a great respectable wife and child yet he wrecks it all to have an affair.  The other woman Margot is easily one of the most obnoxious women I have ever read in literature.   Why he doesn't dump her to the side is mysterious and sometimes infuriating to the reader.  There's a scene where Margot purposefully sends a love letter to his house which sends the wife packing.  Why he didn't leave Margot then and there is beyond me.  Margot also carries on a relationship with an artist Rex and they try to live off all of Albinus' remaining income.  You feel sorry for Albinus but know also that he caused his own ruin.  He should have been grateful for what he had. 

Momo

I made the mistake of throwing this away when I was trying to free up space in my apartment.  I thought well the library has it anyway.  However, it's the Coronavirus and the library is closed.  Momo is not even on Kindle yet so I bought a paperback copy.  This time I will keep it.  Michael Ende hasn't had that many books of his translated even though he did a ton.  That's a shame because this is amazing just like The Neverending Story.  Momo is about an imaginative girl named Momo who finds her world destroyed when grey men convince adults that they need to save their time.  In other words, they are a time bank.  What they are actually doing is robbing people of their time.  Soon children are being completely ignored.  Adults aren't being social either.  Everything is rushed because they can't waste time.  With the help of Professor Hora and a turtle that can see in the future, Momo is determined to get everyone's time back to them.  This book is an excellent example of how life is about more than work and productivity.  It is also about enjoyment, creativity, reflection, and friendship.  Michael Ende is spectacular.  I really liked this the first time I read it at nine years old.

Lolita

I read this as a teenager but was way more disturbed reading it in my late 30's.  Humbert Humbert's obsession with a twelve-year-old girl is very unsettling.  After marrying and driving the mother to her death, the professor has a cross country trip with her daughter Lolita.  I almost quit this book, put it aside, and read the rest later.  Humbert has to be one of literature's most unreliable narrators.  He thinks that Lolita is seducing him. However, are two clear truths that come out later when she complains about the rape, and later when she says as an adult that he wrecked her life. Truman Capote (who was by the way very talented) said that Nabokov's only good book was Lolita.  I'm reading another so I know he was wrong.  I've heard Truman Capote put down other writers.  He strikes me as a very jealous man especially when it came to his friend Harper Lee.  Anyway, the Kubrick movie was ok.    If you want a happy read this definitely isn't it.  

Shiver

I read this horror comic collection in two days.  I found it really involving and actually liked it better than Junji Ito's books Gyo and Tomie.  I thought he mastered the short story.  I thought the short story here Painter was the best story in Tomie.  It was originally his first for the Tomie comic. I liked the stories about the grotesque model.  I was also impressed with The Long Dream which was a piece on a patient who experiences dreams that expand a length of time and eventually it takes a toll on his physical appearance.  I can't wait to read Ito's other short story collection Smashed. 

The Owl Service

I watched the Gillian Hills tv movie of this which was an awesome adaptation.  This book follows the myth of  Bloeuwedd.  It deals with three teenagers: the housekeeper's son Gwyn, Alison, and her stepbrother Roger.  It begins with a girl finding some plates of owls in the attic.  It also deals with the housekeeper's mother's past.  Alison starts to have a secret friendship with Gwyn.  Garner likes to deal with myths in his books.  I read another one of his.  I think Alan Garner is talented in mixing new fiction and mythology. I'm excited to read another one of his books in the future.

Raise the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymour: An introduction

I've now officially read everything that Salinger wrote.  Franny and Zooey is more acclaimed but I liked this one more.  This is another book about the Glass family.  I like the first part more as we learn about the Glass' radio program "It's a Wise Child" which was also discussed in Franny and Zooey.  They were precocious prodigy kids.  The main part though is about Seymour leaving his bride at the altar and the awkward interaction that his brother Buddy has with the furious guests there.  The second part "Seymour" is about his suicide and other things.  It's mostly ramblings.  I enjoyed the first part of the book more.  

Gyo

I've always been a huge bookworm.  However, when I was 18 I spent a year just reading comic books.  When I was 19 I missed normal books and I never really went back.  Still, for some reason, I read Ito's fantastic Uzumaki.  I wanted to explore even more of his books.  While Uzumaki is a much better read, Gyo is a good effort. It's about sea creatures like fish and sharks having legs and destroying Japan.  They also have a horrible stench.  I guess I have too much of a vivid imagination because I could imagine the stench far too well.  It kind of me nauseated.  Maybe I should give comic books a chance again.    

The Neverending Story

I love the movie The Neverending Story.  When I was in the third grade I went up to a teacher and asked if there was an attic or a basement at the school.  She told me, "Beth this isn't The Neverending Story."  I walked away sad.  This was my third or fourth time reading the book which I also highly recommended.  It's sad that the second part of the book was never done justice.  The sequel wasn't that good.  Bastian basically turns into a jerk.  The Childlike Empress gives him unlimited wishes.  He uses it on things such as good looks.  The problem is that with each wish he loses his memory.  He eventually becomes a boy who can't even remember his name.  Nevertheless, he is able to redeem himself.  I don't know why Momo (another book by Michael Ende) isn't on Kindle.  I'll have to wait for the book I purchased.  It's hard not having a library opened during the Coronavirus.

The Rats

This was an ok horror book.  My friend introduced me to him and I've never heard of Herbert but apparently, he is a best-selling horror writer worldwide.  But then I don't really know what's going on in the horror genre nowadays except for Stephen King.  I read half the book in two days.  It was kind of experimental in that every chapter had a different character and their confrontation with the murderous rats.  Then the book just focused on one character the schoolteacher.  I didn't think that he was the most interesting character and was disappointed.  It was an all right book but I haven't heard good things about Herbert's other books.  This will probably be my only read from the author.  

The Wanting Seed

This book would definitely not be written today.  It's not politically correct at all. It is about an overpopulated world.  Tristram's wife Beatrice-Joanna is having an affair with his brother Derek.  Homosexuality is encouraged in this world and Derek lies about his orientation to get ahead.  The worst always seems to happen to Tristram and soon enough he is tricked into signing himself to the army.  The book also explores cannibalism.  Yes, it touches sensitive topics but I felt more comfortable with reading this than A Clockwork Orange. Burgess was not afraid to push the envelope.

Voyage in the Dark

I decided to give one of Jean Rhys' early works a try.  This reminded me of a Precode.  It's about a chorus girl and her love affair with an older man.  There are also taboo topics like abortion discussed.  I wished that more was talked about Francine.  It's probably because I love Wide Sargasso Sea so much and wanted even more.  It was a good work though and it shows the potential that would later lead to her masterpiece.

The Amber Spyglass

SPOILERS:

I have mixed feelings about this book.  I'm still recommending it though because it is the final installment of the His Dark Materials trilogy.  There were good things about it.  I liked the subplot of Mary Malone, dust, and the mulefa.  I just didn't buy the romance between Will and Lyra.  They felt romantic feelings all of a sudden for each other in two pages.  Where did that come from? The series started out well.  The Golden Compass may have had an agenda too but at least there was enough action to overlook this.  The first book was just so imaginative and had ideas.  There was too much hate in this one. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray

This is Oscar Wilde's masterpiece.  This was also my third time reading it.  I always read something I didn't see before. It's the story of a handsome man who sells his soul to look forever young.  However, his life of sin is reflected on a painting that Dorian soon hides away in the attic.  Dorian's emotions range at the painting from indifference to horror to remorse (more like hypocrisy though).  Dorian's sins start with leading a girl to suicide to more serious ones like murder.  Dorian's friend Lord Henry has tons of quotes in the book.  (Most of them are women-hating.)   Dorian is poison leading most people who end up on his path to trouble.  I wish that Oscar Wilde wrote more novels for this is a witty but cautionary tale. 

A Clockwork Orange

I've been meaning to read a book by Anthony Burgess for some time.  He was one of the few who gave a good review to The Bell Jar at its time.  I read that he didn't like the movie of A Clockwork Orange because it glorified violence.  That made me interested as well. I'm not sure that I like this book.  Alex is very unlikable and especially are his acts. Nevertheless, it intrigued me.  It was very well written.  I already started on another Burgess novel The Wanting Seed,   The book can be frustrating to read since the author makes up some of the language.  Alex and his gang go out and commit acts of violence at night. He gets caught and has to serve time at an overcrowded prison. At the prison, there's an experimental treatment where the criminal becomes ill after watching acts of violence.  This, of course, changes Alex's lifestyle.  There's a controversial chapter that wasn't in the original American version where Alex basically grows up.  Few readers actually like this chapter.  The Kubrick movie didn't follow it.    

Station Eleven

I have to admit I read this book because of the Coronavirus.  My older sister was talking about how people were bringing up this book.  I told a friend of mine I was reading this and he said don't you want to escape right now? why are you reading it?  He proved a good point.  Still, I like it.  It's about a flu-like virus that brings about the end of the world.  But what I really liked was the story between the actor Arthur and all of the women that he loved and betrayed. The book goes between his death and then two decades later with Arthur as the main link to both plotlines.   I was interested in its depiction of tabloids and I also liked the character, Miranda.  Arthur isn't exactly a man to applaud for (he wants attention and he uses people) for but he's compelling nevertheless.  

Anna Karenina

When I was 13 the teacher said that we could only choose books from the school library to read.  I looked at all the books and it was a bad selection.  I purposely picked the hardest book to read which was Anna Karenina.  The teacher took me aside and said that I was special and didn't have to listen to that rule. :) Anyway I was talking to my brother in law and I told him that I thought it was just ok.  He said to me "You're just 13."  So I gave it another try now in my mid-30's.  Yeah, it's better than I remembered.  I still don't think it's the best book of all time.  What I really liked about it was the relationship between Kitty and Levin which is poorly represented in film.  I liked reading about their love.  I know Anna's the one with the tragic love and the bad reputation but still, I was involved with both love stories. 

The Turn of the Screw

Sparknotes had a new section of unreliable narrators and they mentioned The Turn of the Screw. I hadn't read it for years so I thought I'd give it another go.  We're dealing with Henry James, an author people either like or dislike.  I'm one of the few that like.  This is one of his better works.  It doesn't drag and gets to the point.  It's the story about a governess who thinks she's seeing ghosts of the children's past governess and others.  It's either that or she's losing it.  The boy Miles has been kicked out of school.  We don't find out why but she thinks he's an angel.  We aren't particularly sure if she's crazy or not.  Still, it's a fascinating story.  I need to watch The Innocents again, which was a movie version of this novella. 

The Sixth Heaven

This was ok.  I thought the book before it The Shrimp and the Anemone was better.  The characters were more interesting when they were children.  There's little plot in this.  In The Sixth Heaven Eustace tries to get a scholarship he worked for.  People don't think it's fair that he can get a scholarship and be in someone's inheritance.  Hilda works for a clinic for cripples.  I liked The Hireling and The Go-Between a lot.  I do recommend L.P. Hartley but it's probably going to take me a while before I read the third book of the Eustace and Hilda trilogy. 

The Rover

I found this play written in the 1600s just to be ok although many people on Goodreads don't like it. What I find most interesting about the play is the fact that it was written by a female playwright. She made her living off her writing and that was definitely groundbreaking for its time.  She's most known for her book Oroonoko though.  The plot concerns a girl Florinda who is arranged to be married but has fallen for another man Belville. It also is about her friend Hellena who is going to become a nun but falls for the main character the rover Willmore.  However a prostitute Angellica likes him too. Everything wraps up nicely by the end though.

The Other

I was introduced to the talents of Thomas Tryon in the movie I Married a monster from outer space.  Tryon was a versatile man.  He was not only a good actor but a good writer also.  This is the second time that I've read this.  It was also made into a pretty good horror movie in the 70's although the book is better.  If you're not into the evil kid genre then you won't appreciate this.  This is about a set of twins and a game that their grandmother Ada plays with them when they can get into the mind of other creatures, etc.  The game turns sinister.  Tryon also wrote the excellent Harvest Home which was made into a cool tv movie with Bette Davis.  I need to read more of his stuff.  The man was writing some of the best horror books in the 70's.  Tryon wasn't given his due.  I'm glad though that the New York Review Books collection has reissued this.  Hopefully, that will encourage a new generation of fans.  I'm also a twin so it's refreshing to see something different in the genre and not just another imitation of The Parent Trap. 

The Catcher in the Rye

I finished watching the hollow movie biography of J.D. Salinger Rebel in the Rye.  I decided to gave Salinger his due by reading The Catcher in the Rye again. This book pretty much started young adult fiction.  No one was really thinking of getting into a teenager's brain before that especially one that wasn't a go-getter. Holden's smart but he isn't going in any direction and he himself is very aware of this.  I really like his relationship with his sister Phoebe in this book.  The author himself was interesting as well as he quit publishing soon afterward and just became a hermit which made him more of a mysterious legend. A lot of the things Holden whines about were things I thought as a teenager as well, the questioning of society and how everyone seemed phony. A lot of books were influenced by this one the best of which was probably The Bell Jar. For a book written over forty years ago, it holds up rather well. 

The Glass Menagerie

I was frustrated with children's literature when I was 11 years old.  I was a shy loner and barely related to any of the books that I read.  They were all about slumber parties, things I didn't experience. I read "The Glass Menagerie" and finally found something that I could relate to.  I would quit children's books after that and didn't visit them again until my 30's. I really liked the line "It's unusual to meet a shy girl nowadays."  Shyness at least to me has become something less socially acceptable.   I like how the play doesn't wrap up in a happy cliche version even though the movie of the time chose this route.  Tennessee Williams was writing about his sister who he financially took care of for the rest of her life.  Tennessee Williams wrote other great plays some definitely more daring but this was the one that spoke most to the heart.  It's a treasure.

In the Blood

This was an ok play redoing Hawthrone's The Scarlet Letter. This deals with an African American woman on welfare who has five illegitimate children and the way society treats her.  The play ended on a big bang when she finally has it with the word slut.  (I'm not giving everything away.)  Warning this play is definitely for mature audiences.  

Lolly Willowes

This book made a huge impression on me in my early 20's.  An old maid is taken care of by her brother and his wife.  She has no intention of getting married.  She takes care of their children.  Eventually, though she has had it and to their surprise, she moves.  No one takes this seriously and soon her nephew comes to live with her.  She asks the devil for help and becomes a witch.  This probably made an impact when it was published on the women's movement and whatnot. I've never been a girly girl.  This book made me embrace my womanhood more.    

The Shrimp and the Anemone

The Go-Between was the first L.P. Hartley book I read.  It's still my favorite of his and I've read most of what he has written now except for all his short stories. It's about Eustace and his sister Hilda.  Hilda encourages Eustace to befriend a crippled old lady called Miss Fothergill.  It's something he doesn't want to do.  He would rather hang out with his friend Nancy.  But he ends up doing it and it pays in a big way.  I started reading the sequel "The Sixth Heaven."  It takes place in the adult years.  I have to admit I was hoping for another book of these characters in their childhood.  This book takes a delicate look at describing the confusion children face figuring out the adulthood world.   

Emily Dickinson

I watched Cynthia Nixon play Emily in A Quiet Passion.  Of course, I've heard about Dickinson my whole life but I don't think I've actually read a poem.  I'm a newbie to poetry.  I'm still trying to figure out all that it means.  Still, I'm impressed.  Emily Dickinson sure was an interesting person a spinster, a reclusive woman who hid her talents from the world.  I think she would be satisfied that she became a legendary poet.  There are many subjects that Emily writes about - nature, death, love, and religion.  I haven't read the whole thing but plan to.  I'm going by little by little.  I recommend this website to get all that her poems mean - http://bloggingdickinson.blogspot.com/.  

The Good Demon

This young adult book was ok.  It's about a lonely messed up girl.  She misses the girl who possessed her which is definitely a different take on possession.  She becomes friends with the reverend's son despite the fact that the father took her demon away from her.  The friendship between the two is the best thing in the book. The boy though is self-righteous at times but then that's his upbringing. I think that Goth kids would dig this book.  

Mrs. McThing

I read Loretta Mason Potts recently and watched the movie Harvey.  I was curious about Mary Chase so I read her play Mrs. McThing.  This isn't as good as Harvey but I liked it more than Loretta Mason Potts.  It's about a boy who gets replaced by a stick - a perfectly behaved little boy.  The mother wonders what's up and finds the person behind it all is a woman called Mrs. McThing.  Also there's a subplot about the real boy joining the mob. The play didn't change my life.  However it was cute, imaginative, and kind of whimsical. 

The Ruby in the Smoke

I read this book and the other Sally Lockhart books when I was a child.  I completely forgot the title and the author.  It wasn't until I was reading Pullman's The Subtle Knife that I remembered it.  The listing of his other books was in the back of The Subtle Knife.  I was like hey that's the book I've been looking for all these years.  Well, it stood the test of my childhood.  This book was still good.  Sally's father dies a suspicious death.  While she finds clues to her father's death she gets employment from a photographer.  She also finds out about the opium addiction going around, finds out about a rare ruby, and also has a ruthless villain Mrs. Holland on her trail.  I'm looking forward to watching the tv movie that was made years ago of this. By the way, Sally is not the typical flawless heroine which kind of threw me off but at least it's different.  

Anne Sexton Transformations

I've been reading poetry lately.  It's a new thing I'm doing and it's not easy.  I've never really been a poetry reader.  The education I received stopped covering that after sixth grade.  So far I've found that I really like Anne Sexton.  She's easy to understand.  Her best work is about her battle with mental illness but Transformations was ok.   It's a book based on the Grimms' fairy tales.  While she covers familiar fairy tales like Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel she also does fairy tales that aren't really known like The Wonderful Musician and One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes.  Most of the time variations on fairy tales are tiresome but this one was all right.

Mishima a Biography

Yukio Mishima was a fascinating guy.  This book was written by a friend of his, John Nathan. He did translations for Mishima.  He's more familiar with the author than the usual biographer.  Mishima went from being a sissy boy to becoming a buff man who trained his own army.  Then he committed harakiri, ritual suicide.  His books indicate that this man was always very troubled.  The first book he got published was "Confessions of a Mask", about his hidden homosexuality.  I've read it and "The Sailor who fell from the Grace of the Sea". Both are disturbing and not for the faint of heart.  Despite it, Mishima tried to be a regular Joe.  He had a wife and family.  He tried to present himself as "normal" but there was always something off.  The one thing I really admire here about him is how he always kept his deadlines.  Most writers can't say that.   

The Subtle Knife

I didn't find the sequel to The Golden Compass as interesting as the first book.  I rated them the same on goodreads regardless.  I like the introduction of the new character Will.  I found him intriguing especially the whole dynamic of him and his mother.  I like the friendship between Lyra and him.  It just wasn't as much of a page-turner as the first one.  Still, I'm going to finish the trilogy.  I already started The Amber Spyglass.