Book Reviews by Today, I Read…

Back Cover of The Lady Flees Her Lord

She’s desperate for peace and safety…

Lucinda, Lady Denbigh, is running from a husband who physically and emotionally abuses her because she is unfashionably plump and has failed to produce an heir. Posing as a widow, she seeks refuge in the quiet countryside…

He’s returned from the wars, wounded and tormented…

Lord Hugo Wanstead, with a wound that won’t heal, and his mother’s and Spanish wife’s deaths on his conscience, finds his estate impoverished, his sleep torn by nightmares, and brand his only solace. When he meets Lucinda, he finds her beautiful—body and soul—and thinks she just might give him something to live for…

Together they can begin to heal, but not until she is free from her violent past…

Three Quick Points About The Lady Flees Her Lord

• Point 1: The descriptions were lush and beautiful. I felt as though I were in the 19^th century countryside along with them and experiencing everything they were experiencing.
• Point 2: There were huge flaws in the character development. Lucinda (Lady Denbigh) is an intelligent and strong-willed woman who somehow manages not to do the first thing most intelligent and strong-willed women would do after fleeing Lord Denbigh and it rang false. Hugo has the weakest “fear” that rang even more false than Lucinda’s actions.
• Point 3: This book was written and edited in stages. As I was reading, I’d go through long stretches without a single noticeable grammatical or spelling error, then I’d come to a patch where there was literally one every other page. It was quite easy to figure out which sections were done at different times.

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Back Cover of The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairytales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

Three Quick Points About The Tales of Beedle the Bard

• Point 1: This was a quick read. Coming in at roughly 100 pages, with good spacing, margins, and font size, it could be lazily read in a couple hours or less.
• Point 2: Ms. Rowling channeled the bard himself. The book is not like reading a Harry Potter book, it’s like reading someone else’s text and stories whereas J.K.R. just interjects a few footnotes. (Totally cute.)
• Point 3: J.K. Rowling is a skilled illustrator. Illustrations appear throughout the book, and though they have the wispy quality of doodles, they are quite well done and add to the book’s atmosphere.

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For my inaugural addition to The Sunday Salon, I’ll be posting about the current book I’m reading, the books I’ve already read and are still in need of reviews, and the next books on my reading list.

I’m easing into the second chapter of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and I’m enchanted. The prose is lyrical and reminiscent of the old world fairytales; it’s difficult to believe this was written in the 20^th century.

This is one book that I’m anxious to finish and I’ll be snatching as much time as I can to do so.

Reconnecting with childhood has never felt so good. Continue reading »

In case the cat hasn’t been properly let out of the bag, I enjoy writing. But rather than let my writing pursuits seep into my reading pursuits, because I do like to keep them separate, I’ve created a sister site called (creatively enough) Today, I Wrote….

That’s the site where I will publish all of my writing book reviews, software tutorials, work flow examples, and other random bits of stuff about writing in general.

If you’re interested, please feel free to pop in and say hello and subscribe to the feed.

Sorry for the brief interruption; I now return you to your regularly scheduled book reviews.

What better way to get back into the blogging spirit than with a game of tag? Jace from Jace Scribbles has been tagged to participate in a highly interesting meme. (At least, highly interesting for avid readers.) Here’s the gist:

1. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, and turn to page 56.
2. Write out the fifth sentence, along with the following two to five sentences.
3. Pass this along to five blog friends. (What kind of meme would this be if you didn’t require the (un)willing participation of others?)

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