As usual, this series is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week, I'm listening ten books I've recently acquired, and by "recently" I mean "since the beginning of the year." I basically scanned my TBR shelves and pulled off ten things I could remember acquiring since Christmas :-)
Brick Shakespeare: Comedies by John McCann, Monica Sweeney, and Becky Thomas. Cowboy bought me the tragedies version of this as a gift a few months ago (cuz it has Hamlet in it, of course), and although I haven't finished reading that one yet, when I found this in the clearance section of Barnes & Noble's website, I pounced. These are so funny! But not for children -- they don't bowdlerize the stories any. Sam is really annoyed that I won't let him read them yet, since he's obsessed with all things Legos. One day, kiddo!
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. I remember liking the Errol Flynn movie, and I always like a good pirate story! Found this at the library's last used book sale.
Cowboy Metaphysics by Peter A. French. I know this is gonna be fascinating, when I get to it! All about western movies and the kinds of ethical problems they grapple with.
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. I recently saw the BBC miniseries (my review here), and while I know the series is based on more of Gaskell's stories than just this book, when I saw this at the used book store, I grabbed it.
Ellen by Heidi Peterson. I've read her Tales for Little Ears, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she writes for older readers.
I, Claudia by Charity Bishop. I haven't read any of her books yet, but I will soon remedy that!
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I won this in a giveaway from Reading in the Dark, and I know it's about WWII, and that's really all I know about it.
The Slaying of the Shrew by Simon Hawke. I bought this at an estate sale, and it looks to be a whodunit with Shakespeare as the detective? And it's part of a series? I was intrigued.
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship by Colin Duriez. I don't even remember who recommended this to me anymore, but it looks so sweet and complex.
An Unexpected Cookbook by Chris-Rachael Oseland. I stumbled on this on Amazon toward the end of winter, when I was still deep in the throes of Hobbit Sickness (like Dragon Sickness, only you're obsessed with the Hobbit movies, not gold), and I am so glad I bought it. I've read a little of it already, and all the recipes here are hearty, simple fare that Hobbits might have eaten! All made with ingredients you could have acquired in a rural world like that of the Shire. We haven't tried any recipes yet, but I'll be sure to do so before I write up a full review on this book.
Oh, I have to get the Shakespeare. I will put it on my Pinterest Shakespeare homeschool year board. Yeah, those are definitely not for kids.
ReplyDeleteAnother Gaskell! I'm going to have to add that to my TBR list.
Slaughterhouse Five was a good read. Strange, but it kept my interest. It's satire.
Yes! Another Gaskell. Gonna be waaaaaaaaaay different than North and South.
DeleteI think I did know Slaughterhouse Five was a satire -- it gets mentioned in the same breath as Catch-22 a lot.
Ohhhhh, Simon Hawke?? I still have a shelf full of his books, cuz he did the Time Wars series, which was pretty fun, and his novel Psychodrome remains one of my favorites. I'll be curious to know how the one you have is.
ReplyDeleteAnd definitely looking forward to hearing about the cookbook! I'd love to try that one myself, cuz L always wants to eat like a hobbit. My favorite cookbook ever is the Game of Thrones cookbook (A Feast of Ice and Fire), which has given me more recipes I now make regularly than any other cookbook, so I suspect that this one might join that in possibly having a sorts of good recipes.
See, and I've never even heard of Simon Hawke, but the idea of Shakespeare solving mysteries and using bits of them in his plays is too fun to pass up, right?
DeleteThe cookbook uses mushrooms. Just so you know. Also potatoes, though. Life goes on. I will definitely report to you about the recipes!
Oooh, what a happy surprise!!! And thanks so much for linking over to StJ!! ;D
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, looking back over Ellen now, the word I'd use to describe it in its entirety is "gentle." I've learned to hit harder since I wrote it. Hopefully a lot harder. (But, of course, I am still proud of certain parts and very fond of particular characters. ;))
Hee, you're welcome! And you know, I love gentle stories. They can be a great balm. Not everything needs to be hard-hitting.
DeleteI've got to get the LEGO book for myself/classroom (I teach high school English... hello tax write off) and the Hobbit one for my brother (he's obsessed with anything LOTR). Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole bunch of these Lego books! Three or four Shakespeares, and then also fairy tales (also not for little kids), and Bible stories... so inventive! I could see high school English kids digging them.
DeleteI'm obsessed with all things LOTR too, so high five to your brother!
The Hobbit Cookbook? NEED. I read the friendship book of Tolkien and Lewis - really enjoyed it and learned a lot about each of them and their friendship!
ReplyDeleteJamie, this cookbook is really cool. Written very conversationally, and it makes me laugh too. She tries to base some of the foods on things Tolkien would have grown up eating too, since that's a lot of what he used in his books, which is nifty.
DeleteI kinda thought I might have heard about the Tolkien & Lewis book on your blog! Glad to hear you liked it :-)
Well this should give you a laugh. I THOUGHT, I clicked the link to your TTT, but I actually clicked the one below yours on The B&B, and not really paying attention that the background wasn't yours, I was truly stunned by your recent acquisitions...just didn't seem like you...AT ALL! Anyway, I'm so glad you know little of S5. That was me too when I read it, and I think it's best that way. Other good choices. I might promote you to True Tolkien fan yet. ;-) That made ME laugh.
ReplyDeleteJoseph, yup, that made me chuckle. I of course went back to TB&TB and looked at the ones both above and below me, and... the blog below mine is YA stuff, not so wild. The one above, though -- hooo, boy! No, no, and no thank you.
DeleteI'm working my way through The Silmarillion finally -- when I'm finished, can I have my gold True Tolkien Fan star? ;-)
Nope...there's a quiz.
ReplyDeleteYa know what? Those crafty bloggers at The Broke and Bookish, have it set up so the list shuffles each time you visit it...so I can't tell you which page it was, not incredibly shocking, sort of YA with a ghoulish twist.
I'm excellent at quizzes. How do you think I graduated from college with a 3.98 GPA?
DeleteDid they really? Oh, those wisenheimers! Well, anyway, YA with a ghoulish twist would be more likely than Florid Adult Romance, which is what the one I saw had.
To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Be it known that Hamlette, alternately known as blogger of The Edge of the Precipice, having honorably fulfilled all the requirements randomly imposed by this institution, the self-proclaimed authority, and trustees, do therefore confer the distinction of True and Faithful Fan of the Right Exalted Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, his distinguished works, and all such emblems of his genius, with all honors, rights, and privileges to the distinction appertaining. Given in the state of Virginia, on this 17th day of July, in the year of our Lord two-thousand and fifteen.
DeleteReason I'm giving in? I have to confess to something, that I'll guess you already know, that I didn't about the good Prof T. Did you know, he wrote, and illustrated a children's book...Mr. Bliss. I did not know this until recently, and thought you ought to know...in case you didn't. I ordered three copies, one for each of my Grandsons. They will be Christmas presents. Hopefully I can get a guest book review from each of the.
::Taps microphone:: First of all, I'd like to thank the Academy, because I've always wanted to say that. I'd also like to thank Joseph Who Is Clearly An Awesome Grandpa, and Professor Tolkien's Right Good Fans.
DeleteBut I actually didn't know that either. Gonna see if the library has it, and if not, off I go to Amazon...
Wow I actually didn't know about ANY of these books (or have only heard them briefly mentioned). I need to branch out more! I HAVE been meaning to get to Elizabeth Gaskell's books. I watched the North & South miniseries last year and any couple I maaaay even ship more than Elizabeth/Darcy is a book I need to read for sure!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, thought that about a lot of the TTT lists this time around. Blog after blog listing books I knew nothing about. Fascinating!
DeleteIf you love the North and South, definitely try the book! I really liked it (my review is here), and in fact, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it, something I pretty much never do.
Thanks for stopping by :-)
Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of intrigued by the Shakespeare book--so, basically, is it a collection of Shakespeare's actual writing, or is it an adaptation?
Jessica, it's kind of both. They don't use every single line from the plays, but what's there is his. Basically, they use Legos to illustrate the plays like a graphic novel.
DeleteMmmmmm . . . interesting. I kind of enjoy it when people do weird stuff like that with old, familiar stories . . . kind of jazzes things up a little :)
DeleteI've read a manga retelling of Hamlet and part of another graphic novel retelling -- this one is just plain cute cuz of the Legos, and definitely helps hold interest. Not to mention kind of clarify what's going on, visually.
DeleteHi, I'm a "lurker" here -- i.e. been following this blog for more than a year, but never felt compelled to comment (mostly because I didn't think I had a lot to add to the existing discussions). But, I just can't resist telling you, Hamlette:
ReplyDelete"Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship" is a lovely book. I read it this past February/March (after it had been on my mental "to-read" list for more than a year...so many books, so little time). I addition to the more typical biographical writing, it's sprinkled with vignettes that are fictionalized versions of certain events, built from what is factually known, which I found really neat, even though I'm typically a stickler for historical accuracy and wary of 'artistic license'. I don't know what your opinion is in such cases, but I hope you get as much enjoyment out of the book as I did. :)
Hello, Justice! It's always neat to hear from lurkers :-) I sometimes wonder about those people who are following my blog but never comment. Are they reading my posts? If they aren't, why are they following my blog? Hee.
DeleteI'm so glad to hear you enjoyed that book! I do like dramatized history -- often, it helps me understand people and their motivations and actions so much better. So now I'm looking forward to this book even more! Thanks :-) And please don't be shy about commenting! Even just hearing, "Hey, that book sounds good!" is nice :-)
Oh, by following I just meant "reading", not officially being a 'follower'. I keep this page in my web bookmarks for quick access. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't quite remember how I found your blog...it was shortly after I finished reading The Lord of the Rings (for the first time) last year, because I was on a bit of a literary 'kick' and you were in the middle of your LOTR read-along. I enjoy all your posts, though, because I like reading *about* literature even if I may never manage to get around to reading the books myself...
Aha! That totally works too. I'm honored to be in your bookmarks! And I'm glad you enjoy my posts. I hope you join the fun during my annual Tolkien Week blog party in September!
DeleteAll of these books look so good!
ReplyDeleteI know about Captain Blood, but I have neither seen or read it. I've been wanting to watch the film because Errol Flynn and Olivia D'Haviland are in it. What is it like?
Cowboy Metaphysics looks so interesting! Westerns deal with a lot of different ethics, so I'm curious what the author will bring up.
I've read North and South and Wives and Daughters, but Cranford is still on my TBR list. :)
A Hobbit cookbook! (gasps in delight) I can't wait your review!
Ekaterina, Captain Blood is a swashbuckler. Lots of sword fights and pirate ships and so on. I must admit that I saw both it and The Sea Hawk at the same time, almost 10 years ago now, so I can't really remember what happened in each of them -- they're muddled in a big nautical conglomeration in my head, hee. According to Wikipedia, it's about a bunch of prisoners who escape and become pirates, and it's the first time Flynn and de Haviland were paired on screen, and they were both relative newcomers at the time.
DeleteI've read N&S too, but not W&D or Cranford, but now I have copies of both of them.
I'll be sure to make a full report on the cookbook once I finish it :-D