lunababymoonchild

And now, A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East, Laszlo Krasznahorkai

I thought they’d rip your arms off to christen your son too. My mother took us to church when we were small, I was six, my brother three. My father refused to go. There was what we called Sunday School then where the children were taken out of the main church and taught Christian things in an adjoining hall. This was more than fifty years ago and I haven’t been back since (I refused to go when I was six, on the grounds that my daddy didn’t go so I didn’t have to. I hated it) so don’t know if that’s done today - with all the child abuse allegations I’d be surprised if that practice continued. I did go to Chapel for a friend’s wedding around twenty years later and a baby there was allowed to scream through the whole service (I would have taken the baby out. It appeared that I was the only one who was irritated by that). As an adult I would not be prepared to let my child out of my sight while at church, so there’s that too. I wonder if it would be prudent to wait until Adrian is a little older and better able to refrain from crying all the time to attend church on a regular basis. Or read him some stories/watch a tv programme on the subject to get him familiar with a church atmosphere, or visit when there isn’t a service. He obviously didn’t feel comfortable and that’s why he cried.

Last Christmas - Wham

Reading Heartbeats, Bjorn Borg

Empire of the Vampire, Jay Kristoff This is the first book in a trilogy and at 725 pages is absolutely epic. It is also a different take on vampires. The story begins with a man, introduced as a murderer, who is being held against his will in a castle and is certain to die. His jailer, who claims to be a historian, has been sent by a superior to document the captive's life story. The purported reason for this is to discover what happened to the Holy Grail. It quickly becomes apparent that both characters are vampires, but of different kinds and on opposing sides. The prisoner is aligned with good, while the vampire historian is on the side of evil. As the narrative unfolds—told in a non-linear fashion—we learn about various types of vampires and the fate of the Holy Grail, more or less. The writing is excellent, and the characters are believable, provided you are open to the existence of vampires. The plotting is excellent. There is some swearing and profanity, but it doesn’t get in the way of the characters or the story, and there is also criticism of the Christian-like religion that those, like the prisoner, follow. The book also has illustrations in it, specifically, drawings If you like epic and long stories, if you like vampires, if you don’t mind swearing (which is in keeping with the story), and can take a little criticism of the Christian-like religion, this is for you. I loved it! Highly recommended.

Just ordered Heartbeats, the autobiography of Bjorn Borg. A childhood hero of mine, I’m very much looking forward to reading it.

I’m sorry to hear that. I hope that you’ll consider the next category in the new year.

I read this year and loved it.

Moby Dick? As mentioned, I read James Herriot as a teen and he had me laughing out loud. Animal Farm? Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson?

Why not? I have a Tarka the Otter omnibus and a James Herriot omnibus that I have my eye on - and no, that’s not why I chose the category 🙂 I read James Herriot as a teenager. They will have to go some to beat The Wind in the Willows, though. I am also considering Watership Down.

Looking forward to your review

Empire of the Vampire, Jay Kristoff.

Halloweird, Classic Stories from the Season of Samhain, edited by Johnny Mains and published by The British Library. I became aware of this book as a result of BooksDoFurnishARoom mentioning it at the end of his last review. I’ve already described the physical properties of the book, so I shall concentrate on the content, although I’m sure that BooksDoFurnishARoom will provide a more erudite review. The book starts with four poems, all of which I have never heard of, by three poets that I’ve never heard of. The poet that I have heard of is Rabbie Burns, the national poet of Scotland. His poem, "Halloween," is nine pages long and is written in the dialect spoken at the time. I took to reading this out loud to try and make some sense of it, and had to stop for a break. It was glorious, though, and I will be rereading all four. I found the short stories absolutely absorbing and was very pleased to see a short story within the book by one of my favourite authors, Edith Wharton. The stories range from 1884 to 1976, and I would say that they are ghost stories (although at the time some were classed as horror stories), and each one is prefaced by a short, one-page biography of the author. The British Library specialises in re-printing material that “brings forgotten stories and original non-fiction to new audiences.” British Library Publishing Home page - and has many volumes to choose from, both e-books and paper. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Thank you @KEV67 for a full answer. I love Stephen King, whatever he writes, so will probably get to that one eventually.

Would you recommend?

They absolutely are. I’m reading Halloweird right now and it’s amazing! One of those books I rarely get: the paper is high quality, as is the print, the end papers are pretty and all that’s missing is the ribbon marker. It has poems in it too! I learned by reading this that Rabbie Burns has a Hallowe’en poem that I didn’t know about. It’s long and in his special (difficult!) dialect. I had to read it out loud and take a break half-way! It’s very wonderful! As I read it 🙂 I paid a lot for this book but it is totally worth it.

Currently reading Halloweird:Classic Stories from the Season of Samhain, edited by Johnny Mains. Only read the first poem and part of the second poem so far.

Mine are dog-eared to death and held together with sellotape! There is The Gruffalo to look forward to and The Wind in the Willows (not that I’m biased ;-))

Another Shiny book!

Halloweird: Classic stories of the season of Samhain edited by Johnny Mains, have bought this, it looks delicious!

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. It’s got illustrations as well!

Mole and Ratty have come to stay! The book itself is very small but the page edges are gilded and it has a ribbon marker. It’s golden and very shiny. Am in love!

Decided not to read the other two thirds of The Celibates Trilogy just yet and gone for a comfort read : Ann Cleeves, Red Bones (Shetland 3)

Pierrette, Honoré de Balzac, It is about domestic violence, which appeared in 1840. It is part of the Human Comedy and is situated in the part of the Studies of Manners, in the second book of the Scenes of the Life of the Province and in the subgroup entitled The Celibates - taken from Wikipedia. I read it as part of the trilogy called The Celibates. I was absolutely appalled by it. I did not know before I started reading it that it recounted, in detail, the emotional/mental abuse and total neglect of an otherwise much-loved child, the Pierrette of the title. So appalled, that I was on the point of abandoning the novel just when it moved into other areas. I did keep reading and finished the novel. It was very well written and totally realistic. And, as in real life sometimes, the abusers were not punished. I found other parts of the story difficult (essentially, Pierrette's life) to follow as it took place in 1800s France, about which I know nothing - institutions were mentioned that I couldn't guess at and didn't want to research at the time as I wasn't sure that I wanted to finish the novel, for example. I've read de Balzac before and enjoyed him. I wish I'd read the synopsis of this one before I read the novel, then I would not have been taken completely by surprise as to the subject matter. I usually enjoy struggling with my fiction, but not like this. Recommended, but cautiously.

It’s been more than 30 years since I last bought a book for an infant but I do remember the very young looking assistant who sold it to me saying that it was so much better to read a book that you enjoyed because you’re going to read it over and over again, and that has stayed with me. From my own childhood, I absolutely adored the Ladybird series of books (I have no idea if they are available today or if they might be too old fashioned) and still have them.