The Farm

I've been gathering my thoughts for about a week now to write about this book called The Farm.  The first page had me hooked.

"Johnny's earliest memory of the Farm was filled with snow and the sound of sleigh bells.  Riding through the soft-falling drift of white, he could see the fat rumps of the horses which drew the sleigh and the steam which rose from their wet coats as they plunged forward to drag it up the steep rise in the lane beyond the bridge over the brook...Then the sleigh came to a halt beside a white picket gate beneath the drooping black branches of the Norway spruce...Out of the house came a tiny old lady and three or four enormous people, and Johnny was swept in through a hubbub of greetings and noisy kissing into a room which was warm and had a delicious smell compounded of coffee and sausages, roast turkey, and mince pie." 

This lovely description had me all ready for a pleasant, cozy read about a boy growing up on a farm.  Instead, it was the history of an old farm and the author's family history as it tied into this midwestern America farm.  In the second chapter, I yawned and thought about stopping reading, but I kept going because that first page had been so good.  I'm glad that I kept reading.  It is a good author that can make their personal family history interesting to the general public.  Stories of all the family from the stern Colonel, the family patriarch, the vivacious grandmother, Maria, and the author's mother kept me interested until the very end.  

So, overall, this is a good book with well-developed characters and interesting, everyday adventures.  Although the writing style is pretty slow and I kept it for reading when I was fully awake, I am really glad that I stuck with this book.  

The Secret of Platform 13

After a particularly busy and stressful week, I was coming down with a nasty chest cold, so I brewed myself a pot of peppermint tea and went to the crate that holds our library books.  Nothing quite suited me, until my eye fell on a little title that I had picked up on a whim the week before.  The book was called The Secret of Platform 13.  I had first heard of the author from the lovely Penderwicks.  Jane, the middle sister, loved books by Eva Ibbotson, so I decided that I needed to read at least one of her books.  Sure enough, Jane's book recommendation was true and I like to think that The Secret of Platform 13 was what put me on the road to recovery.

The Secret of Platform 13 is the story of four very different magical creatures who come from a magical island that can be reached every 9 years for 9 days going through on the abandoned Platform 13.  On this island, harpies, ogres, feys, and witches live together in harmony, but there is one little twinge of sadness.  The human king and queen lost their son 9 years ago when the prince's three nannies lost him to an evil kidnapper named Mrs. Trottle.  So, an ogre, a little hag (our heroine), a very old wizard, and a fey travel through Platform 9 thirteen years after the boy was kidnapped to save him.  They discover, much to their horror that the boy who is the prince is quite awful and the boy that they wish is the prince is only a kitchen boy.

This story reminds me of Roald Dahl, E. Nesbit,  J.K. Rowling, and other British magic-writers.  I highly recommend this gripping, yet gentle little story for any age.

Lambs!

The lambies have started to arrive!  And, boy, are we excited!  I think that it's probably my favorite sign of spring.  The reason I'm bringing this exciting announcement into the blogging world, is because of the lambs' names.

You see, every year, we have a theme for all of the names (makes figuring out who's in what generation easier).  Last year, it was Greek gods and goddesses, this year it is...
authors!

So far, we have triplets named J.R.R.Tolkien (author of The Hobbit, etc.), William Shakespeare, and Jane Austen.  Except that they are so sweet and small at this age that we're calling them Tolkie (we hope Tolkien wouldn't be offended), Willie, and Jane.  Little does their proud mama know what famous people they have been named for!

Here are pictures from the day we let them out of the horse stall they were born in into the big world.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have of all three of them.

Meet Shakespeare...

Tolkien...he's the runt of the litter.  The little guy is so small and he
also has a problem with spacing out and then, whoops! Where
did Mama go?

And here is Jane.  I think she might be my favorite

An Update on Emma Graham

(See the first post)
Well!  I've just finished Cold Flat Junction and for some reason, this book set me more abuzz than the first book.  For one thing, I felt like the unfinished pieces were more apparent than in the first.  I desperately want to know why, WHY? the dreadful Davidows have to live with the poor Grahams.  The Davidows are a truly despicable mother and daughter who, for some inexplicable reason, are living with the Grahams and driving them insane with their awfulness.  I also am curious about the crazy great aunt Aurora who lives on the fourth floor and, it appears, drinks cocktails around the clock, prepared by Emma.  I also felt bad that the sheriff, Emma's only friend and confidant, grew slightly distant in this book.  And why is Emma's mother so stern and cold?  I'm sure there's a dark secret there.  I hope these questions get resolved by the end of the series.

This story is just a continuation of all of the themes and stories of Hotel Paradise.  But Emma is in deeper than ever and is discovering that the mystery that she thought she was solving has turned into three mysteries.  There's still more of Emma's incessant questions and the same quirky characters who help her find the answers to mysteries that have remained buried for years.

                                                         
I can't wait to read Belle Ruin!  I hope that it answers some questions and gives me more of the same wonderful writing.

The Life of Pi

This is a review of an old favorite, rather than a book I have just read.  This book definitely goes on my top ten list of books.  Life of Pi came out several years ago, and many people have kind of forgotten about how good it was.  I however, still think about it quite fondly and was just thinking the other day that I need to get it out and read it again.

Life of Pi is the story of an Indian boy, Piscine Patel.  The story is told by a much older Pi, now living in North America, to a young man who wants to write a book.   Pi's family, originally from India, moves to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship.  Pi is the son of a zookeeper and so, along with his family, come all of the zoo animals.  One fateful night, the ship that the Patels are on sinks in a storm, killing everybody except for Pi, a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra and, most frightening of all, a 450 pound Bengal tiger.  Now all four very different species have to figure out how to survive on a small life boat in the middle of the ocean.

Quickly, the tiger kills the wounded zebra, then the orangutan, and then the hyena.  This leaves Pi and the tiger to decide who is going to survive.  Both manage to survive together until they reach Mexico, where Richard Parker, the tiger, disappears into the jungle and nobody ever finds him again.  Pi, wounded and very thin, is recuperating in a hospital when Japanese officials come to his bedside to hear the truth about what happened.  Pi recounts his story to the officials, but nobody believes him.  Finally, he comes up with a much more ordinary story and tells it, pleasing the officials.  "Now, which story do you prefer?"he asks in closing to the young man writing the story.

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays

This was my latest classic read.  Next up is a collection of Shakespeare.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these plays.  The plays were well written, though of course, archaic, and it was fun to read a slightly new take on classic Bible stories that many people know so well.  Part of the reason I was so eager to read these, is that these plays are credited with being the sort of plays that would have inspired Shakespeare.

This is the edition of the book from which I read.

I also was interested in this book in light of Russell Crow's new Noah movie (I haven't seen it, but apparently it was very good).  The story of the flood is one of the plays included in this book and the take on the story, and the medieval exclamations that biblical characters made such as, "Ye gads!"  made me laugh.  It just goes to show that people have been changing and reinterpreting bible stories to suit their particular life experiences for a very long time.  What doesn't change is the attraction to the stories.  

The majority of the book is taken up with plays written about bible stories.  Most of the major stories in both the new and old testament are included.  Then, the last 30 pages are the Everyman play.  The Everyman play is the story of Everyman, an average human.  God says that people have become too obsessed with money and power and that they need to be taught a lesson, through Everyman.  So, God sends Death, the reaper, to bring Everyman to eternity, never to return to earth.   Along the way, Everyman makes a friend, called Fellowship, who promises to stay with him forever, until he realizes that Everyman is summoned by death.  Fellowship leaves.  A similar situation happens with Kindred and Cousin.  Next, Everyman turns to Goods (inanimate objects, representing worldly stuff), which does not comfort him. Finally, Everyman meets Good Deeds and others like him, has his soul purged of sin, and goes with his new friend, Good Deeds, to heaven to meet God.  This story reminded me very much of Pilgrim's Progress.

So, overall, I recommend this book.  I think it's a great place to start in reading medieval plays, because it shows the play-watching background that so many famous playwrights would have had.

A Happy Thought

Amen to that!  I'll be back with a book review tomorrow.