Pirates: Books for Talk Like a Pirate Day

Sep19


Of piratical books there is no end. However, here are a few of my favorites. Here’s a more exhaustive list of pirate fiction.


Picture Books:
Obadiah the Bold by Brinton Turkle. A young Quaker boy on Nantucket Island decides to become a pirate when he grows up, but he’s dissuaded after he’s forced to walk the plank (pretend) by his older siblings. Semicolon review here.

Classics:
The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes. Semicolon review here.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Classic story of the boy, Jim Hawkins, and the pirate, Long John Silver.

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

Children’s Fiction:
Mystery in the Pirate Oak by Helen Fuller Orton. I used to read Ms. Orton’s mysteries when I was a kid of a girl. Good children’s mystery books.

Captain Kidd’s Cat. The True Chronicle of Wm. Kidd, Gent. and Merchant of New York as narrated by His Ship’s Cat, McDermott, Who ought to know by Robert Lawson. Not as well known as Lawson’s other animal-narrated historical chronicles, Ben and Me and Mr. Revere and I, but this story of Captain Kidd is written in the same style and just as fun and informative. By the way, I think I may be related to Captain Kidd. At least I have some Kidds in my family tree.

Ghost in the Noonday Sun by Sid Fleischman. Oliver FInch, because he was born exactly at midnight, has the ability to see ghosts. And the pirates who kidnap him need his help to to get to a treasure guarded by . . . ghosts, of course. Fleischman wrote lots of funny adventure stories just right for a rollicking good time.

Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson. I thoroughly enjoyed this pirate tale from last year. Semicolon review here.

Jade by Sally Watson. This one falls in the category of great story but hard to find because it’s out of print. In fact, Sally Watson is an author worth keeping in mind at used book sales and the like. Her books, first published in the 1950’s and 60’s, seem to be available here in reprint editions. Jade is the story of sixteen year old Melanie Lennox, an anti-slavery crusader, who joins the pirates who capture her ship so that she can continue her fight against slavery on the high seas. If anyone has an extra copy of this book lying around, I’ll certainly take it off your hands. I have fond memories of it from my childhood.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome.

Young Adult Fiction:
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. Air pirates in an alternate world. Semicolon review here.

Pirates! by Celia Rees, reviewed by Carrie at Mommy Brain. YA fiction about a couple of girl pirates and about the evils of slavery.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.

Nonfiction:
Sea Queens: Women Pirates from Around the World by Jane Yolen, reviewed by Matt at The Book Club Shelf.

Semicolon Author Celebration: Samuel Johnson

Sep18

Today is the birthday of lexicographer, essayist, novelist, literary critic, and eighteenth century celebrity Samuel Johnson. He was born in 1709, so next year will mark the 300th anniversary of his birth. Commonly known as Dr. Johnson, he was the subject of James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the most famous biographies ever written in the English language.

More about Dr. Johnson.

Quoth Samuel Johnson:

“I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.”

“A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.”

A lady once asked him how he came to define pastern as the knee of a horse: instead of making an elaborate defence, as she expected, he at once answered, “Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.”

“A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.”

“Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.”

“But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.”

“I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.”

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

“I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works.”
More quotations from Dr.Johnson.

Some of Dr. Johnson’s more creative definitions:

LEXICOGRAPHER: A writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge.

NETWORK: Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.

OATS: A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.

PATRON: n. One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is repaid in flattery.

Samuel Johnson, the critic:

Samuel Johnson on Lord Chesterfield: “This man I thought had been a Lord among wits; but, I find, he is only a wit among Lords!”

On Thomas Gray: “Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull everywhere. He was dull in a new way and that made people think him great.”

On poet Christopher Smart: “Madness frequently discovers itself merely by unnecessary deviation from the usual modes of the world. My poor friend Smart showed the disturbance of his mind, by falling upon his knees, and saying his prayers in the street, or in any other unusual place. Now although, rationally speaking, it is greater madness not to pray at all, than to pray as Smart did, I am afraid there are so many who do not pray, that their understanding is not called in question.”

On John Milton: “Scarcely any man ever wrote so much and praised so few.”

Happy Birthday, Dr. Johnson!

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays

Apple Songs

Sep17

Last year in September I did a whole series of posts on apple-related things, and I invited others to link to their own apple-y posts. Somehow this post was leftover, but it’s still good even after a year in cold storage.

Can you name the apple songs that feature these lyrics? Can you name the composer or the artist who made the song famous? Guesses go in the comments, and if you get one or more right (without googling), buy yourself an apple!

1. I just got word from a guy who heard
From the guy next door to me
The girl he met just loves to pet
And it fits you to a T!

2. I feel like this is the beginning
Though I’ve loved you for a million years
And if I thought our love was ending
I’d find myself drowning in my own tears:

3. “The oriole with joy was sweetly singing;
The little brook was burbling its tune.
The village bells at noon were gayly ringing
The world seemed brighter than a harvest moon.
For there within my arms I gently pressed you
And blushing red you slowly turned away
I can’t forget the way I once’t carressed you
I only pray we’ll meet another day . . .

4. And I wake up in the morning with my hair down in my eyes and she says hi
And I stumble to the breakfast table while the kids are going off to school, goodbye.
And she reaches out and takes my hand and squeezes it and says how you feeling hon?
And I look across at smiling lips that warm my heart, and see my morning sun.

5. I can tell you’ve been hurt by that look on your face girl.
Someone brought safety to your happy world.
You need love but you’re afraid that if you give in,
Someone else will come along and sock it to ya again.

Book Meme

Sep16

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I’m not sure I want to do the whole nuclear holocaust thing in my reading.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

I’m tempted to bring to life Mr. Darcy or Meriadoc Brandybuck or even Lord Peter Wimsey, but that would involve me in marital issues, and I avoid those. I only have eyes for Engineer Husband.
So, I’ll have tea with Katherine Forrester VIgneras from A Severed Wasp by Madeleine L’Engle, Aunt Betsy Trotter from David Copperfield, and Father Tim from Jan Karon’s Mitford books. It might turn out to a rather Mad Hatter/March Hare sort of tea party, but fun. Oh, I just thought, let’s invite Miss Marple, too. I like old folks.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?
Ulysses by James Joyce.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?
I really don’t know. I haven’t actually read every word of Moby Dick, but I taught it in a class anyway. I guess that counts. I didn’t tell the kids that I’d read the whole thing. In fact, I think I admitted to skimming parts.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?
Yes, but I’m not sure which ones. I forgot that I forgot.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalise the VIP).
What Joe Biden should read: All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren.
What Sarah Palin should read: Some YA fiction, particularly this book, to see what she’s up against in the secular, liberal mindset.
Ender’s Game might be a good primer on war games for both of the VP candidates.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?
Russian. I really think Russian novels lose something in the translation.

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?
I’ve discovered lots of new-to-me books and authors:Jamie Langston Turner, Athol Dickson, Barbara Pym, C.J. Sansom. I’ve become re-aquainted with contemporary chlidren’s literature and YA literature.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

Window seats. Lots of lighting, overhead and floor and desk lamps. Computer with internet access for blogging while you read. Walls lined with books. All of the books by all of my favorite authors in hardback library binding editions. And they’re all shelved in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name. It’s the librarian in me.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I got this book meme. Please forgive, and feel free to copy and play along.

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays

Random Harvest by James Hilton

Sep15

I read Lost Horizon a long time ago, and I’ve seen the movies. I enjoyed the book and the movies. Random Harvst by the same author is a different book, but it has the same feel to it. The characters have, and give the reader, that same longing to return to a simpler time and place; it’s a romance in the best sense of the word, just like Lost Horizon.

In fact, either finishing Random Harvest or a hormonal flare or both made me feel incredibly sad and nostalgic tonight. Then, I had a discussion with Eldest Daughter about politics and nuclear weapons and the war in Iraq and American imperialism and the global economy (yeah, all that), and that made me even sadder. So this review may or may not be truly indicative of the quality of the book. When you factor in romanticism and politics and hormones, anything can happen.

Random Harvest is an amnesia story about a man who loses three years of his life when he is wounded during World War I. The man, Charles Ranier, finds himself in Liverpool on a park bench and remembers everything that happened to him before he was wounded but nothing of the past three years, the ending of the war, and his return home. I’m not sure, but I think Hilton was trying to say something about the collective amnesia of the British people on the brink of another war because they had purposely forgotten the lessons of World War I. The book indicates that the pursuit of riches and economic power and the crusading spirit of the socialists are both inadequate substitutes for personal relationships and commitment to or faith in something beyond the here and now. Actually, I’m not sure Mr. Hilton was embedding such a didactic message in his book, but that summation approximates the message I got out of the book.

Mostly, Random Harvest is just a good story. There’s an impossibly romantic surprise ending, and I didn’t catch on to it until the last few pages of the book. So the finale was quite satisfying. And the story itself moved along somewhat slowly, but with enough going on to keep my interest, and just enough philosophical speculation to make me think a bit without straining my brain too much.

And the writing is very British and very 1940’s. Here’s a sample quotation that made me think of blogging:

“Those were the happy days when Smith began to write. As most real writers do, he wrote because he had something to say, not because of any specific ambition to become a writer. He turned out countless articles and sketches that gave him pleasure only because they contained a germ of what was in his mind; but he was never fully satisfied with them himself and consequently was never more than slightly disappointed when editors promptly returned them. He did not grasp that, because he was a person of no importance, nobody wanted to read his opinions at all.”

Smith would have been a perfect blogger.

Random Harvest was a fun, sort of melancholy-producing, book, and if you like amnesia books set in the 1920’s, written in the 1940’s, you should try it out. Other time-bending, amnesia books with a similar feel to them:

A Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan. Semicolon review here.

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey. Not exactly an amnesia story, but it reminds me of Hilton’s style somehow. Semicolon review here.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin. More modern and young adult-ish. Semicolon review here.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson. Also YA and more of a twenty-first century feel. Semicolon review here.

Anne Perry’s William Monk detective series features Mr. Monk as a late nineteenth century private detective suffering from amnesia. His assistant/love interest/foil is a nurse named Hester.

Any more amnesiac selections that you can remember? Mr. Hilton’s birthday was on the 9th of September, by the way. I forgot.

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays

After Ike Photographs

Sep15

This picture is my house and front yard in Camino South subdivision, Clear Lake, Houston, TX. The branch extending over the house is what’s left of a large shade tree that was in the center of my front yard.

rillphoto

The other picture is, I think, taken from my cul de sac down the street, Wavecrest or maybe Beachcomber.

wavecrest

I’m really thankful. With so many trees, everything could have been so much worse. Computer Guru Son took the pictures and sent them to me in Fort Worth with his cell phone. Ah, the wonders of technology.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

Sep14

The Official BBAW Giveaway List

If you follow along for the festivities of BBAW at My Friend Amy, you will find many chances to win LOTS of goodies! Like what? Well have a look below. All of these things will be given away between September 15-19. There will be a huge variety of ways to win them and giveaways will be announced constantly throughout the week. So be sure to check in often!

A HUGE thank you to Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group USA, Harlequin, The B&B Media Group, Shera of SNS Blog Design, WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, Catherine Delors, Pamela Binnings Ewen, Andromeda Romano-Lax, Cecelia Dowdy, Sormag, Book Club Girl, Savvy Verse and Wit, Cafe of Dreams, Fashionista Piranha, and Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?.

Daily Raffles:
Monday–Books and Chocolate sponsored by My Friend Amy and Hey Lady! Whatcha’ Readin?
Tuesday–Books and Going Green sponsored by My Friend Amy
Wednesday–Books and Coffee sponsored by My Friend Amy
Thursday–Books and Charity sponsored by My Friend Amy and Fashionista Piranha
Friday–Books and Movies sponsored by My Friend Amy

Win a Book Club Girl Hostess Survival Kit!
Do you find it’s your turn to host book club and not only do you not know what to serve but you don’t know what books to offer up for the next month’s selection?! Let Book Club Girl come to your rescue with the Book Club Girl Hostess Survival Kit.

One lucky winner of the kit will receive:

* A basket of cheese, crackers, cookies and wine for up to 12 people
* 5 great book group books to vote on for your group’s next pick. And Book Club Girl will then donate 12 copies whichever book is chosen for your entire group to read.
* 12 Book Club Girl mousepads to give out as party favors that night
* 12 Book Club Girl bookmarks to mark everyone’s favorite passages
* 12 Book Club Girl coasters to protect your coffee table from all those wine glasses!

TWO SORMAG Goody Bags containing books and more!

A Special Pamper Me Basket from Cafe of Dreams!
From Avon Foot Works
~ Inflatable watermelon shaped foot tub
~ 3.4 FL oz Watermelon Cooling Foot Lotion
~ 3.4 FL oz Watermelon Exfoliating Foot Scrub
~ 12 count Watermelon Effervescent Foot Tablets
~ An ARC of So Long At The Fair by Christina Schwarz
~ A variety of Hot Chocolate and Tea mixes

A pre-made blog template from SNSDesign!

A Subscription to Poetry Magazine from Savvy Verse and Wit!

BOOKS
Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors
The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen
The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax
John’s Quest by Cecelia Dowdy
Confessions of a Contractor by Richard Murphy
Acedia & Me by Kathleen Norris
The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer
Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
A Tale Out of Luck by Willie Nelson with Mike Blakely
The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The Smart One and the Pretty One by Claire LaZebnik
Gunmetal Black by Daniel Serrano
Isolation by Travis Thrasher
The Miracle Girls by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt
Every Freaking! Day With Rachell Ray by Elizabeth Hilts
Dewey by Vicki Myron
The Shiniest Jewel by Marian Henley
Keep the Faith by Faith Evans
The Book of Calamities by Peter Trachtenberg
A is for Atticus by Lorilee Craker
After the Fire by Robin Gaby Fisher
Mike’s Election Guide by Michael Moore
War as They Knew It by Michael Rosenberg
Fixing Hell By Col. (ret.) Larry C. James
Wild Boy: My Life with Duran Duran by Andy Taylor
The Last Under-Cover: The True Story of an FBI Agent’s Dangerous Dance with Evil by Bob Hamer
Border Lass by Amanda Scott
Insatiable Desire by Rita Heron
Hungry for More by Diana Holquist
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Trespassers Will Be Baptized by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan
Never Surrender by General Jerry Boykin
Dream in Color by Congresswoman Linda Sánchez, Congresswoman Loretta Sánchez
Beyond Belief by Josh Hamilton
Cobain Unseen by Charles R. Cross
Doing Business in 21st Century India by Gunjan Bagla
Branding Only Works on Cattle by Jonathan Salem Baskin
Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady, Orrin Woodward
How to Hear from God by Joyce Meyer
Knowing Right from Wrong by Thomas D. Williams
Pope John Paul II: An Intimate Life by Caroline Pigozzi
Pure by Rebecca St. James
He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobson
So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore by Wayne Jacobson and Dave Coleman
Move On, Move Up by Paula White
The Rosary by Gary Jansen
Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
Right Livelihoods by Rick Moody
by George by Wesley Stace
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
Trunk Music by Michael Connelly
Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh
Dead Boys by Richard Lange
The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters by Lorraine Lopez
Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn
Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky
With Endless Sight by Allison Pittman
Harlequin Titles: To Be Announced

Many other blogs are giving away books and prizes for BBAW as well! You can see the links to all of these giveaways here.

Interested in gaining entries into the daily raffles? Post this complete list on your blog with links and you’ll earn two extra entries!

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays

Sunday Salon: James Hilton, Wodehouse again, and Hurricane Blues

Sep14

We’re still in Fort Worth, refugees from Hurricane Ike. Computer Guru Son stayed in Clear Lake where we live, and he’s in one of the few places in all of Houston that still has electrical power. It’s strange since Clear Lake was right in the path of Ike, but the power lines are buried underground. So I suppose that’s why we have electricity when no one else does.

Son took some pictures yesterday afternoon, but then he discovered that while he has electricity, he no longer has an internet connection. So I can’t show you what it looks like down where I live. He says that all the traffic lights are out (no power and lots of wind damage), everything’s closed except for HEB, and people are driving like crazy fools with no traffic signals. Some places such as Nassau Bay, Kemah, and Seabrook are still flooded, and police are allowing no one into those cities. Engineer Husband says NASA officials are “assessing the damage” and hope to reopen Johnson Space Center by the end of the week.

And what hath all this Ike news to do with reading, you ask? Well, I’ve had time to read while waiting to return home. We hope to leave tomorrow morning to go back. In the meantime, I’ve read Random Harvest by James Hilton, the same author who wrote Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Hilton actually lived in Hollywood during the 1930’s and after, and all three of the above named books were made into movies. I’ve only seen the two versions of Lost Horizon. Mr. Hilton also won an Academy Award for his work on the screenplay of Mrs. Miniver, a movie I did see last year and enjoyed in spite of, maybe because of, its unabashed patriotism.

I also started on a new-to-me Wodehouse romp, Bertie Wooster Sees It Through. I’m fairly sure I’ve never read this particular Bertie-and-Jeeves adventure; at least the first few chapters don’t seem too familiar. So far Bertie’s been almost trapped into an engagement with a distant cousin, Florence, refused to shave off his moustache in spite of Jeeves’s disapproval, and spent a night in the pokey as the result of tripping a police officer. I’d says he’s off to a good start.

I may or may not have an internet connection for the forseeable future. I would imagine that restoring power to Houston is more urgent than restoring my connection to the worldwide web. If I’m not here in writing, I’m here in spirit. Keep on reading.

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays

Charlie Gibson, Sarah Palin, and Barack Obama

Sep13

Charlie Gibson asks Sarah Palin if she’s conceited enough to think she can serve as vice-president:

GIBSON: Governor, let me start by asking you a question that I asked John McCain about you, and it is really the central question. Can you look the country in the eye and say “I have the experience and I have the ability to be not just vice president, but perhaps president of the United States of America?”

PALIN: I do, Charlie, and on January 20, when John McCain and I are sworn in, if we are so privileged to be elected to serve this country, will be ready. I’m ready.

GIBSON: And you didn’t say to yourself, “Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I — will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?”

PALIN: I didn’t hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn’t that take some hubris?

PALIN: I — I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink.

So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

Charlie GIbson asks Barack Obama how he feels about his historic nomination to be the Democratic candidate for president:

GIBSON: Senator, I’m curious about your feelings last night. It was an historic moment. Has it sunk in yet?

OBAMA: No. You know … you have been working so hard, 54 contests, so many months, meeting so many people, and then to suddenly walk into an auditorium with 17,000 people and realize you’re the Democratic nominee. That’s a pretty big dose to swallow all at once, but I will say that talking to my grandmother last night probably drove it home.

GIBSON: What’d she say?

OBAMA: Here’s a woman, who, well, she just said she was really proud. And, I thought back to all the work she’s put in, all the sacrifices she made, ah, she’s now a little too fragile to travel and so she watches it on TV and she’s going blind, so to hear in her voice, what this meant to her, that was a pretty powerful moment.

GIBSON: Public moments are not your own. There’s a million people pulling you in a million different directions, but when everybody clears out, the staff is gone, you’re in your hotel room at night and you’re alone — do you say to yourself: “Son of a gun, I’ve done this?”

OBAMA: You do say to yourself, “My, how far we have traveled.” And, and I say a little prayer to not only thank God for the blessings, but also to make sure that you’re worthy of the honor.

Fair? Not even close. But Ms. Palin just keeps on ticking. I don’t think the press is going to be able to do anything about her popularity because no one really believes that they are fair and unbiased anymore. So we, the voters, take their interviews and their editorials and their punditry with a grain of salt and draw our own conclusions.

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays