The Parasite and Other Tales of Terror (Arthur Conan Doyle)

As we are still in the Summer Reading Prelude, this next story came to me via the post once again.  I must admit I was very excited, especially considering how interesting the last one had been.  I eagerly curled up in my favorite chair with a cup of tea.  There were quite a few tales to unpack in this collection, and I devoured each and every one.

I won't go into much detail about the stories, as I don't want to spoil them, but I can at least give you a short synopsis or teaser.  I started with The Parasite, a chilling tale of a scientist who first learns about the fascinating world of psychology, and decides to participate in an experiment involving hypnotism--to his great peril.  It was by far the longest title in the collection and a great start to the reading.

Fans of the supernatural and of psychic phenomena will also enjoy The Great Keinplatz Experiment, about a professor and his student who attempt an "impossible" venture where their souls leave their bodies, and How it Happened, which is being narrated through a medium who writes instead of speaking.

As you well know, last summer I went out to sea, so the tales J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement and The Captain of the Pole-Star were of particular interest to me with their nautical themes.  I especially liked the former, as it dealt with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the ship Mary Celeste, a real-life mystery that was never solved.

The rest of the stories were all equally good, with The Bully of Brocas Court turning out (for me) to be the scariest in the collection, as a boxer and his sponsor end up in a fight against a terrifying opponent.  The Mystery of Sasassa Valley was a suspenseful tale of two friends (Englishmen living in Africa) who hear a story about a demon living in Sasassa Valley and go to investigate.  The Ring of Thoth is a classic mummy story set in the Louvre, and finally, my favorite in the collection had to be Selecting a Ghost, where an insufferable homeowner goes to great lengths to make sure that there is a ghost in his new house.  While all the tales had some element of horror to them, this one was also surprisingly funny.

The collection as a whole was a very good one, and while I felt that How it Happened was the weakest of the collection, I thought on the whole, the stories were all very good and there was not a clunker in the bunch.  I can only say that I now greatly look forward to my next Conan Doyle adventure, and with Memorial Day quickly approaching, I know I have a whole summer to enjoy these delicious tales!

Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

The next time the Arabella docks, there's a wedding.  We all clamber down the boat onto the shore, hands laden with gifts-- golds, jewels, and pearls--for the happy bride and groom.  Up ahead is the best man.  But, what's this?  Someone steps from the shadow of a doorway and stops him before he can enter into the feasting hall.  Let's step a bit closer and see if we can hear what they are talking about.

The stranger from the shadows is a grizzled old sailor, or mariner, with a grip like iron.  He's clutching at the wedding guest's arm, and the guest is struggling to get away.  Let's step a little closer still, to see if we can hear what they're talking about...

The mariner shares his story, about how he was once sailing on a ship, and how the ship's luck took a terrible turn after he shot and killed an albatross that was flying around them and hanging out with the sailors.  Of course, no one could have realized the terrible bad luck that this would bring down upon their heads, but soon enough a thick fog blankets the water, and another ship appears, bringing with it two terrible passengers.

I read this back in high school and absolutely loved it.  Reading it again now was a special treat, as it had been...well, years since I had read it last.  The pacing, the tone the rhyming, it was all excellent.  Besides being an interesting story, this is just a genuinely fun piece to read.  4 of 5 stars on Goodreads.

What I'm Reading

What are YOU reading?  During this time of social distancing (or as my boss put it, physical distancing), many of us are locked up at home, looking for something to do.  What a great time to bust out your To-Read list!

Not actually me.  Sorry to disappoint!

As for me, I'm relying on a few different resources, including my own personal book collection, titles I grabbed from the library before we closed, and lots of ebooks.  I know I've been staunchly anti-ebook, but since getting a smartphone (welcome to the 21st century, Emmy!) I've started to appreciate the convenience of an expanded digital library.

My library (along with many libraries across the country) offers access to ebooks through several ebook systems.  I like to use Hoopla and Libby (by Overdrive).  I can check out books, audiobooks, movies, music, and comics through these resources!  And if you're interested in ebooks but don't want to use the library, I have two apps to suggest.

The first is Free Books.  And just as the title suggests, it's free books.  Most of them are classics or out-of-print, but MAN!  You can find some really cool stuff on here!  The best part is that you can download everything onto your device for reading offline, and its yours to keep.  I recommend starting with The Abandoned Room by Charles Wadsworth Camp.  It's a chilling story of murder, ghosts, and missing time.

The second is sort of a combo.  Project Gutenberg has an amazing collection of excellent Classics available to read for free on their website.  But, their app leaves a lot to be desired.  So, what I do is download the books I want from Project Gutenberg onto my phone, and open them with this app: ReadEra.  I've played around with a few different eReader apps, and this is my favorite.

Of course, I still prefer the feeling of paper pages between my fingers.  And I'm still reading physical books.  As I teased in the title of this post, I'm reading a lot right now.  If you want to see all the sweet details, follow me on Goodreads.  But, I'll share my Currently Reading list with you right now.

In an effort to find something a little more fun and happy, I picked up a few Wodehouse titles.  Got Mike at Wrykyn by PG Wodehouse sitting on the desk next to me as I write.  I'm also listening to the audiobook for another Wodehouse title: Uncle Dynamite.  The narrator is Jonathan Cecil, who's my favorite audiobook reader.  I was super excited to see that there are 30+ Wodehouse books narrated by him on Hoopla, so if you're interested, be sure to check him out!

And finally, I have one ebook in the works-- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I read it as a kid, but that was years (and many books) ago, so I don't remember much.  It's been fun getting to relive the experience.

Wise Blood Update #1

In my last blog post, I wrote that I was hoping to talk about the books that I'm reading.  In my original blog posts, waaaay back when I started writing in college, I would talk about the books I was reading, both on their own, and in the context of my own life.  I'd like to get back into doing that.

To start with, I thought I'd look at the book I'm currently reading (actually, listening to on audio!), Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

Before I say too much, I want to preface this post by saying that I have NOT finished the book yet.  I've read most of it, but not all of it.  So, please refrain from spoilers in your comments (if you so choose to comment).

To ease us back into things, and since this book is so darn weird, I thought it might be best to just show y'all the trailer for the 1979 movie, and see what you think.  (As far as I can tell, it's pretty accurate).  I'm trying to figure out a lot of it, myself.  I've been told that Flannery O'Connor writes comedy.  Meaning, that this is supposed to be a funny book.  From my reading, I can see that it's dark and strange, and there's a ton going on.  Sure, I get a few chuckles now and the, but this is no belly-laughing Wodehouse tome.

Still, watch the trailer and let me know what you think.  I'll be posting more from our good friend Ms. Flannery real soon.

A Return to the Blog??

So....It's been a while since I've actually, really blogged on here.  And I'm not sure how many of you readers are still out there. But, on the off chance that some of you lovely people are still floating around (and you know who you are!), I thought I'd try to resurrect the old blog.

I've recently come to the conclusion that I need to read more of the classics.  Modern books just aren't doing it for me the way they used to, and I'm finding that I'm generally frustrated with weak plot twists, poorly written romance, and just general drivel.  Not saying that all contemporary writers are bad, but lately, I've been picking all the bad ones.

Those of you who follow me on Goodreads (I'm linking my account if you want to follow me) might know that I'm in a book group called "Catching up on Classics, where we read...the classics.  (I'm also linking that here).  We have four or five titles a month, and it's really a lot of fun.

When I first started this blog, I would write about the books I was reading for school (and for fun).  I miss doing that, so this is going to be my attempt at starting up again.  Ideally, I'll write about the books I'm reading, including supplementary information, like videos, articles, and other readers' reviews.  It should be a lot of fun!

I miss blogging, and I miss you all.   If you're still out there (and again, my most devoted blogging friends know who they are!) I would love to start up the conversation again!