Inside a Black Apple

>> Thursday, May 28, 2009

I love blogs and enjoy my daily reads immensely. One of the blogs I follow is called Inside a Black Apple and features a wonderful combination of art, food and the things that make life happy. In Emily's most recent entry she showcases her latest print that is available in her shop. Isn't it wonderful? And true?

 

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How Do You Survive?

>> Monday, May 25, 2009

It's a game. It's entertainment. It's a fight to the death. It's you and you alone. Trust no one.

But what about tiny Rue, who reminds you of your little sister - or Peeta, the boy who gave you bread when you were hungry, who claims to love you.

But there can only be one. There can only be one survivor.

How do you survive when everyone is out to kill you, when the very arena is set with death traps?

How do you survive the Hunger Games?


http://www.thehungergames.co.uk/about_the_book

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3 day weekends are for relaxing.

>> Friday, May 22, 2009

-Erin

I'm off to the lake this weekend!
sunset on lake keystone
And along with my ipod, my Nintendo DS and my sunglasses, I will be taking Agnes Grey. Though if I'm honest, I doubt anyone is going to let me read...we'll see.

Anyone have big plans for Memorial Day? Might they involve relaxing and reading? Hope so!

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The Road---Lisa's Review

>> Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Bleak hopelessness. Dark gray days. Darker black nights. Gnawing hunger. Lost dreams. Failed humanity. Emotional isolation. Ever-present fear. Bone-chilling cold.

Tender care. Glad self-sacrifice. Utter adoration. Candid conversation. Unmarred trust. Pure, raw, life-sustaining love.

The best and worst of life in 256 pages.

You gotta read this book.

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Series Only Break Your Heart

>> Monday, May 18, 2009

-Anna

I read the last words on the last page of The Hunger Games and immediately jump up and run to the computer to get online and see when the next book is due out. I spend the next 15 minutes ranting and raving to my sister because I can't find anything about when the next book is coming out and how authors should not start a series if they can't tell the readers when the next book is coming out. She gets online and finds it in about two seconds. I spend the next 15 minutes moaning because the next book is not due out until January 2010.

I then make the resolution that I am not going to start a series until at least two if not all of the books are out. It's just too hard. I cannot be expected to wait 8 months to find out what happens. But I will. I will wait. I will rush out to buy the book on day one of release. I will then proceed to devour the book like a ravenous beast. And then I will read the last words on the last page and immediately jump up and run to the computer to get online to see when the next book is due out....oh the vicious, vicious cycle of a series.

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I can read...

>> Sunday, May 17, 2009

On a plane. In a car.

On the couch. And in bed.

I can even read while walking.

But my favorite, absolute favorite place to bury myself in a book is when I can hear the waves hitting the shore and my feet are covered in sand...


Where's your favorite place to read?

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The Siren

>> Friday, May 15, 2009

-Anna

There it is, on the desk, the copy of Vanity and Vexation that I am currently reading. It's on the desk because I'm at work, and should, therefore, be working. But it is calling me. It is the siren. How long can I resist?

Hmmm, perhaps it is time for my mid afternoon break. Just 5 minutes...

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To The Library and Back: a trip on my bicycle

>> Wednesday, May 13, 2009

-Anna


I was determined to make it to the library today. All my requested books were in, I had two books due, and I had a small - ahem - fine to pay. My problem? No car. Dauntless, I decided to see if the left-outside-in-all-weather-unridden-
for-at-least-three-years-hand-me-down-bike-
from-my-sister was an option. My first thought was, no, the bike with flat tires and rusty chain is not an option. But on further inspection and after airing the tires, I felt it was good to go. So, I packed up my library books, a pump (just in case) and a bottle of water and pedaled off to the library. And though I arrived at the library red faced, sweaty and short of breath, I came home a happy and triumphant reader!

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Happy Mother's Day

>> Thursday, May 7, 2009

-Anna

As Mother's Day quickly approaches, I can't help but think about my favorite literary moms. I've long liked Lillian Gilbreth. Her calm poise, easy sense of humor and timeless ingenuity made her a lovable mom - plus I really like Myrna Loy's portrayal of her in the 1950's movie version. Anne Blythe became the sweet mother she had often longed for. Marmee March certainly deserves mentioning, holding her family together in the midst of war. And even though she is not the ideal model of motherly perfection, I can't help but also think of Mrs. Bennett. What a mother! She is a character I love to hate.

So, Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere, especially mine - and oh how thankful I am that she is more like Mrs. Gilbreth than Mrs. Bennet!

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What Now?

>> Wednesday, May 6, 2009

-Anna

I've finished Agnes Grey, so the question, of course, is what should I read next? That is the constant burning question. So, I spent some time browsing the local library's catalog and made a few requests.


First on the list: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book was recommended by a client; I don't know much about it except it's YA,utopia/dystopia and a New York Time's bestseller.


Next I clicked on the library's link to books and reading and found a list of Jane Austen read-a-likes. Though nothing, in my mind, can come close to the original, I thought it wouldn't hurt to see if any of the books were good, so I requested Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler and Vanity and Vexation: A Novel of Pride and Prejudice by Kate Fenton.


Then I went back to a favorite and added Robin McKinley's Stone Fey. Last, but not least, the next book in the Cecy and Kate Series, The Grand Tour.


I feel pretty pleased with my choices. Now the burning question is, can I read them all before they are due!

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Advice.

>> Tuesday, May 5, 2009

-Erin

I'm a photographer and often have the opportunity to photograph high school seniors. Recently one particular high school senior who happens to be a national merit finalist got accepted to Princeton (if you are unaware it is the 2nd ranked best school in the country only behind Harvard). Her dad said to me "Erin, when you have children, read to them."

I thought that was probably advice worth passing on...

(You can see this pretty girl here.)

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Remiss

Hi, my name is Lisa and I’m a lousy blogger. Yeah, I know. You didn’t even know I was a part of the Sage Room. You haven’t read a blog entry of mine since March…and now it’s May. I want to say I’m so busy reading, I seldom have time to blog. Isn’t that how any good book club member should be? The number of books I read each month is way higher than the number of blog entries I write! Well, it’s true, but only because the number of blog entries I wrote in April was zero! I’m sorry, Sage Room girls. This is my formal apology and pledge to do better. In fact, I vow to write another blog entry…well…soon.

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E's Review - The Road

>> Monday, May 4, 2009

-Erin

Rarely does a book move my soul taking me to places I have yet to go and leaving me wanting for more. In fact, I can count on one hand those books that have affected me like that. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is now one of those. It has found itself in my own hall of fame alongside Anne of Green Gables, A Tale of Two Cities, Harry Potter and Mere Christianity.

It is beautiful. And it is brilliant.

Something devastating has happened to the earth and we meet the man and the boy on their journey from somewhere down north to the coast. We have no idea whether the disaster was manmade or natural. And yet we don’t really care because the story of The Road is intimate, focused on a father and son who are “each the other’s world entire”.

Life on earth is dark and gray and full of experiences we can’t even begin to imagine and yet the boy has known nothing else. He has never seen a bird except for in books and has no concepts of boundaries and lines, what were formerly known as states.

And just as the earth is stripped of the ordinary things we are used to, so is the author’s writing style. He draws you in with the simplicity, yet powerful descriptions and conversations between the man and the boy. I experienced physical heartache and senses of relief along the road. And in a world so brilliantly described where no hope remains – “there is no later”, love and sacrifice and being a good guy are not lost. And that is what makes this story so beautiful.

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Breakfast, Coffee and Agnes Grey

>> Saturday, May 2, 2009

-Anna

It's a drizzly, wet Saturday morning, and by all standards, the perfect setting to sip on coffee and read 19th century British literature.

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The Road - Review by Anna

>> Friday, May 1, 2009

-Anna

I am pathetic when it comes to puns. Love 'em. So when Erin asked if I liked The Road, I couldn't help replying with, "Well it's appropriate that it's named The Road because I find myself in the middle." She gave me the smirk as confirmation that she "got" my little pun. Regardless of the bad pun, I do find myself in the middle.

The story is intriguing, the circumstances dark. While the suspense is real, there is no break from it, and as a reader, I very much needed a break from the horrors of surviving in a post apocalyptic world. I needed a break from looking over my shoulder, fearful of other humans; a break from starving; a break from freezing; a break from trudging down a long road; a break from surviving; a break from dying. I wanted a reprieve from the bleakness - a place of light - but in this world, even the light has shadows.

Yet, the fact that I feel all of this only proves that the book captured me. I didn't like the monotony of surviving day to day. I didn't like the grayness of every scene. But I was there, and I was hoping. I was hoping the same hope of the man and his boy. In my mind's eye, I see them as two bleary lights walking in a thick, gray fog, searching for a place of rest. But where is this place? Is there someplace down the road where things are better? Or is their only rest in each other? Is their only hope loving each other, retaining their humanity, being one of the good guys and carrying the fire?

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