I hope you all have some good weekend plans. I have been doing lots of reading for my dissertation prep and I think I am beginning to get an idea on what to do.
My chosen poem today is by Robert Herrick who was a seventeenth-century ‘Cavalier Poet’. The Cavalier poets were named this because they supported King Charles during the English Civil War. Herrick wrote over 2000 poems during his lifetime.
To Daffodils
Fair daffodils, we weep to see
You haste away so soon;
As yet the early-rising sun
Has not attain'd his noon.
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the evensong;
And, having prayed together, we
Will go with you along.
We have short time to stay, as you,
We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,
As you, or anything.
We die,
As your hours do, and dry
Away,
Like to the summer's rain;
Or as the pearls of morning's dew,
Ne'er to be found again.
Robert Herrick
It is time for another quote. The quote today is by the author and lay theologian Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963). He is best known for his works The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?
Hello!
It is time for one of my favourite posts of the week again.
What I am Currently Reading
This is so good! Yesterday, I could barely put the book down, it was a struggle to put it down to teach and do some studying.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I enjoyed this book but it didn’t have the wow factor for me sadly. Review.
What I Plan to Read Next
Loads to choose from! I’m never sure what to read next but it usually depends on what mood I’m in.
So there is my WWW Wednesday. Please drop me a link with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit as I love to see what everyone is reading.
The theme this week is brilliant because I will be honest when I was little I didn’t do much reading until my big sister introduced me to some fantastic books and then I soon became a book addict. So here are 5 of the books that helped get me into reading.
I remember reading this book when I was rather young. It took me a long time to get through it but I loved it. I have read it many times since then and now I realise it is quite a short book but when I was young it felt like a very long book.
My sister bought me for Christmas one year when I was little, a big pile of individually wrapped abridged classics. The first thing that amazed me was that my sister had wrapped all these books as she hates wrapping presents. Then the excitement of having all these wonderful books to read hit me. After Christmas we went to Scotland to celebrate New Year with my other sister and during the car journey I read some of these books and A Tale of Two Cities was one of them and I loved it. I then promptly got the full edition and read it all and have read it many times since. This book cemented my love of Dickens and reading.
I always have to include Jane Austen as one of my authors who cemented my love of reading. I have read all of her books more than once and love them all even the annoying Emma. Pride and Prejudice was the second Austen I ever read and it is a firm favourite.
This was the first ever Terry Pratchett book I read. I got my mom to join a book club to get a limited edition of The Lord of the Rings and three Terry Pratchett books. I remember being curled up in the armchair reading this book thinking I will just read one chapter then go and practice the flute and soon realised there were no chapters and just kept on reading. I then became a Pratchett addict and have been ever since.
Finally, I have gone for my favourite trilogy The Lord of the Rings. I usually read another edition that I own which contains all three books in the one, so I count it as one book in my mind. I love The Lord of the Rings and have read it so many times. This trilogy cemented my love of all things fantasy.
So there is my Top 5 Tuesday! Please drop me a comment with your Top 5 Tuesday and I will head over for a visit as I love to see everyone’s answers.
Drawing on Maggie O’Farrell’s long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play, HAMNET is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.
Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.
Review
Always seduced by a pretty cover I got this book because of the special Waterstones edition that is very attractive.
I do love the work of Shakespeare and have been trying to read all of his works. Although I will be honest I always felt very sorry for his wife who was left behind all that time whilst he was in London.
Hamnet is based on Shakespeare’s son, Hamlet or Hamnet but really it is more to do with Shakespeare’s marriage. The story moves backwards and forwards to the present day and to the past based around Agnes and William as children and how they came about meeting and getting married.
Agnes or Anne as she is more commonly known, is described as a woman with peculiar talents. Agnes can see the dead and also see snippets into the future and she understands the properties of herbs and can heal people with them. This means that people both fear her and need her in equal measure.
William is introduced as the eldest son of a glove maker who does not get on with his father. His father sees him as a waste of space and does not understand why his eldest son does not want to take the family business on. William is acting as tutor to earn a living but is not enjoying it and is getting more and more depressed and frustrated until he makes the move to London.
The book shows us how Agnes and William cope as parents, living so far apart and having to deal with the death of a child. I found this section very emotional but I must admit I got very frustrated with William and Agnes at times and felt very sorry for their daughters.
I enjoyed the story and found that O’Farrell had taken an interesting take on the people we know so well from history and yet know so little. I will be honest I could have done without the chapter about a flea and just found it rather unnecessary. I also discovered there were a few sections that I found unnecessary and could have done without but overall I did enjoy this piece of historical fiction and give it 3 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Maggie O’Farrell (born 1972, Coleraine Northern Ireland) is a British author of contemporary fiction, who features in Waterstones’ 25 Authors for the Future. It is possible to identify several common themes in her novels – the relationship between sisters is one, another is loss and the psychological impact of those losses on the lives of her characters.
I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I haven’t managed much reading but I have managed to cook a roast dinner and end up with the meat on the floor so I made up for it by making a cheesecake. I have also done more studying and piano playing.
Anyway, here is what I have been up to on the blog
Happy Friday! I hope everyone has some good bookish plans for the weekend. As this Sunday is Mothering Sunday in the UK, I have chosen a suitable poem, well actually it is a hymn but I rather like it.
This hymn is by George Hare Leonard (1863-1941) who was a Professor of Modern History at the University of Bristol.
In the past servants were allowed to take the day off to see their mothers and go to church on Mothering Sunday. They would take cakes and treats and the special wheaten cake for their mothers.
Mothering Sunday
It is the day of all the year,
Of all the year the one day,
When I shall see my Mother dear
And bring her cheer,
A-Mothering on Sunday.
And now to fetch my wheaten cake,
To fetch it from the baker,
He promised me, for Mother's sake,
The best he'd bake
For me to fetch and take her.
Well have I known, as I went by
One hollow lane, that none day
I'd fail to find - for all they're shy -
Where violets lie,
As I went home on Sunday.
My sister Jane is waiting-maid
Along with Squire's lady;
And year by year her part she's played,
And home she stayed
To get the dinner ready.
For Mother'll come to Church, you'll see -
Of all the year it's the day -
'The one,' she'll say, 'that's made for me.'
And so it be:
It's every Mother's free day.
The boys will all come home from town,
Not one will miss that one day;
And every maid will bustle down
To show her gown,
A-Mothering on Sunday.
It is the day of all the year,
Of all the year the one day;
And here come I, my Mother dear,
And bring you cheer,
A-Mothering on Sunday.
George Hare Leonard
So what have I been up to during lockdown that isn’t reading wonderful books.
Studying
Over these last few weeks I have been doing a lot of studying and assignment writing but I must admit I am rather excited that soon I can begin work on planning what I want to do for my dissertation. The freedom of choosing my own topic is both exciting and terrifying!
Music
I have been regularly practising the piano and trying to do at least half an hour a day and I have been loving it. I must admit that for a few reasons I had fallen out of love with the piano and sometimes music in general but lockdown has done me some good and I have fallen back in love with it all. The challenge of learning new pieces is fantastic and the memory skills that had lapsed are coming back and it is all falling back into place. The Ukulele also continues and hopefully this year I will finally manage to take an exam.
Exercise and Walking
Exercise is still going and I am loving it. I am a complete kettlebell addict and I also love latin dance workouts. I am now finding myself looking forward to my exercise which I never thought would happen. It is a perfect break from studying and teaching and I love how each week I am getting better at the workouts and stronger. We continue with our walking but only when it isn’t raining. I am no good when it is raining as it sets off my asthma. I also love a good dance workout with glow sticks and the disco ball.
Cooking
I have now been planning all dinners a week in advance for over a month and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I no longer have to think what to make for dinner each evening but know exactly what I am making. This planning means I am trying lots of new recipes that we have never had before which has been great fun.
Not much going on really but I have been very happy. I have realised that usually I spend my time racing around from one job to the other and it is rather nice to have a quieter time which doesn’t involve so much racing around.
Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I have a quiet Wednesday morning for a change which is rather strange as I am used to a full morning of teaching saxophone and recorder. Maybe I will get some extra reading in instead.
My chosen quote today is by Confucius (551BCE) who was a Chinese philosopher and politician.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
Lady Book Dragon 