Jay Parini reviews Tinkers, the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Paul Harding, in The Guardian. I’m torn. The fact that Mr. Harding was a student of Marilynne Robinson is promising, but the comparisons to Faulkner are off-putting. I never have been able to slow myself down enough to ramble along Southern lanes with Faulkner. Would I find the ramblings of a Maine tinker any more accessible?
Instructions for a walking tour along the middle Thames downstream from Oxford. Doesn’t walking or bicycling along this route, where Kenneth Grahame was inspired to write The Wind in the Willows and Jerome K. Jerome set his Three Men in a Boat, sound absolutely delightful? I’d probably get lost or poop out, but on (virtual) paper it seems inviting.
Stephen R. Lawhead (author of Hood, Byzantium, and other beloved novels) has a new book out, The Skin Map. It came out on September 1, and I had no idea. The Skin Map is the beginning of a new series of fantasy novels, called Bright Empires, which ultimately will consist of five books. The concept sounds a little bit like LOST in its exploration of time travel and alternate realities. The second volume, The Bone House has a publication date of September, 2011. I think I’ll restrain myself at least until then. I dislike reading the first book in a series and then waiting a year to read the next one. If you’ve never read an books by Lawhead, and if you’re fond of things Celtic and somewhat historical/fantastical, I would suggest either Byzantium, my favorite, or the King Raven Trilogy about Robin Hood, beginning with Hood. His King Arthur books are good, too.
When homeschooling and nonsensical bureaucracy conflict. Why can’t this 15 year old boy play water polo with a high school club? Well, it’s mostly because the adults involved don’t want to make a decision in case someone gets something wrong. We had a situation similar to this one when Eldest Daughter first went to college at Baylor. The officials at Baylor were afraid to admit her because she would celebrate her eighteenth birthday a few days after school started. And seventeen year olds fell under different rules relating to supervision and financial aid. It was ridiculous, and we finally got it worked out. But it was a bureaucratic mess for a while.
A pastor’s list of 99 books that made my first 50 years worth living. I liked his list and may add some of the books on the list to my TBR list.
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominations. I wish I could read all of these in addition to all the Middle Grade Fiction nominees that I’m going to be reading. So many books, so little time.