author & ghostwriter
Jane Austen knew that people become addicted to the thrill of fiction. She was more clever than Pride and Prejudice; she understood humans and how they behave. Northanger Abbey was more relatable to me than Pride and Prejudice.
Reading an average of ten books a month (I'm a fast reader) and not having reviewed them all, I'm going to have a weekly feature called Top Three Books.
Sciolino paints a different perspective of Paris. This perspective is from the river, that ancient body of water pulsing through Paris like a vein. She has traveled far and wide in search of Seine lore. She's learned about the river goddess Sequana and experienced a flood during her time in Paris.
Men and women alike mocked ladies who wanted to write a book. If their tales were indeed written, many were never published. If they were published, most women so feared the condemnation of society that they did not publish with their names. Instead they chose the appellation By a Lady.
We need to remember what a story really is. A story isn’t confined to paper, or an audiobook’s voice, or the screen of your Kindle.
Ignore the naysayers and read The Four Winds if you want a story packed with drama and a struggle to survive. There are proud moments; there are fearful moments. There are also moments in which you’ll be thankful that you weren’t alive during the Depression.
I blame all of the cartoon adaptations that have popped up over the years. These adaptations present children with a softened version of the story, so it is a surprise when one opens the long novel and discovers elements of darkness or sketchy behavior.
When a famous Russian pianist is found dead in Windsor castle the morning after a lavish party, the police first assume that it was a suicide. Soon, a new theory surfaces involving politics and Russian spies.Â
Aware that I haven’t the slightest idea of how to write a mystery, I began searching for good ones to read. Ever loyal to the classics, I am reading Agatha Christie–but since what I’m writing is present-day, I’m also looking for modern mysteries.
I know I have written about the book Neverwhere in the past. It’s one of the few books I classify as favorites. Those stories become favorites because something about them remains in me. It might be a character, or a place, or a phrase I must repeat every few years. Sometimes, I will have forgotten … Continue reading NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman
How can a young lady fall for a white bear? Why, if she would only take the time to look into his eyes, she would discover that the frightening bear is more human than he appears.
When Andrew learns that Mary Hatcher is already engaged, he feels relief. At least there won’t be another flirt in his library. This relief is short-lived, though; unknowingly, Mary begins to win him over.
Mariella Hunt 