Friday Poetry: Langston Hughes

Hello my fellow readers!

I am back home now after an amazing holiday, I am slowly getting used to the time difference.

I have a lot of book reviews to write over the next few days, so I will be playing catch up blog wise but hopefully I will get there. Usually I post my Friday Poetry entry in the morning so apologies this is late in the day.

The chosen poem this week is by Langston Hughes, Hughes is best remembered as a pioneer of American jazz poetry. Jazz poetry has jazz like movements in rhythm, repetitive phrasing and the appearance of improvisation.

To You

To sit and dream, to sit and read,

To sit and learn about the world

Outside our world of here and now-

Our problem world-

To dream of vast horizons of the soul

Through dreams made whole,

Unfettered, free – help me!

All you who are dreamers too,

Help me to make

Our world anew.

I reach out my dreams to you.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Happy Friday!

Mini update

Hello my fellow book dragons.

I just thought I would do a little update on what I have read so far whilst on my holibobs.

Some are on the summer reading challenge list some are not.

Awaken the Darkness by Dianne Duvall

I read this on the plane and really enjoyed it.

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Loved this so much!

Fireside Gothic by Andrew Taylor

This one I borrowed off Lord Book Dragon and it was a nice discovery. I definitely plan on reading more by Andrew Taylor

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Hmm still not sure on this one. Just could not get on with Henry James’ writing style.

I’m about to start reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

Reviews will follow next week when I’m home and back to my laptop.

Happy Reading.

Maui

Hello my fellow book dragons!

It might be a little quiet at the moment because Lord and Lady Book Dragon are currently on holiday in Maui.

The good news is that Lady Book Dragon is doing a lot of reading by the pool and on the beach. There will be a lot of book reviews going up once we are safely back home. Lady Book Dragon has even had to borrow one of Lord Book Dragon’s books to read as she was struggling to find reading material!

But for now enjoy a few snaps of our hols.

Happy reading.

No One is too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg (Review)

No One is too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

About the author

Greta Thunberg was born in 2003. In August 2018, she decided not to go to school one day, starting a strike for the climate outside the Swedish Parliament. Her actions ended up sparking a global movement for action against the climate crisis, inspiring millions of pupils to go on strike for our planet, and earning her the prestigious Prix Liberte, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Greta has Asperger’s, and considers it a gift which has enabled her to see the climate crisis ‘in black and white’.

Blurb

The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young activist who has become the voice of a generation

Review

This book kept being pushed on Waterstones and I finally succumbed and bought it. I’m not entirely sure I agree with the fact that Greta and other children are on school strike but I agree with the point they are trying to push.

This did not take me long to read and to begin with I was hooked on Greta’s speeches but as the book went on I got a bit bored of the repetitive nature of the speeches. I know this repetition is due to help drive the point home to us all especially politicians but reading it in each speech one after the other was probably not the best thing for me to do. However, I do agree with all of her points and I love the passion she puts behind her words.

Greta’s speeches are powerful and very mature for a girl of her age and I am really pleased I have read this book and have recommended it to several family members. I have given this little book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

Purchase links

Waterstones

Book Depository

Friday Poetry, 5th July 2019

Happy Friday!

I have chosen a poem about summer and when it rains in summer.

This poem is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). Longfellow was an American poet and educator. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and was one of the Fireside Poets from New England.

Rain in Summer

How beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and heat,

In the broad and fiery street,

In the narrow lane,

How beautiful is the rain!

How it clatters along the roofs,

Like the tramp of hoofs

How it gushes and struggles out

From the throat of the overflowing spout!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hope you all have a book filled weekend.

fullsizeoutput_f5f

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (ARC Review)

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

About the author

Lisa was born in London in 1968. Her mother was a secretary and her father was a textile agent and she was brought up in the northernmost reaches of London with her two younger sisters. She was educated at a Catholic girls’ Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school at sixteen she spent two years at Barnet College doing an arts foundation course and then two years at Epsom School of Art & Design studying Fashion Illustration and Communication.

She worked for the fashion chain Warehouse for three years as a PR assistant and then for Thomas Pink, the Jermyn Street shirt company for four years as a receptionist and PA. She started her first novel, Ralph’s Party, for a bet in 1996. She finished it in 1997 and it was published by Penguin books in May 1998. It went on to become the best-selling debut novel of that year.

Blurb

You thought they were just staying for the weekend. They looked harmless enough – with only two suitcases and a cat in a wicker box.

But soon things turn very, very dark. It happens slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly.

Now you and your sister must find a way to survive…

Review

Firstly, a massive thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for letting me read this book for an honest review.

From the very first few pages of this book I was gripped, it was truly amazing and kept me guessing right till the end. I could not put this book down and if it wasn’t for sleep and work I probably wouldn’t have.

This book switches from the past to the present and slowly the reader works out the connections and how it all fits together, but there are always certain elements left out so it is not all completely clear till the very end.

Libby is the character in the present who on her twenty-fifth birthday inherits a massive house in Chelsea that will change her life forever. However, Libby is adopted and knows nothing of her childhood – can this house tell her more about her past and where she came from?

The other main characters are the people from the past Henry and Lucy Lamb who were children in the Chelsea house all those years ago. The story is told between Libby, Lucy and Henry.

This story is incredibly well written and an amazing thriller, Jewell has a real gift for keeping you on your toes. At the beginning of the story I was not entirely sure what was going on and I did find it a little confusing but I stuck with it and it all made sense and I soon adjusted and got used to how the story flitted from one character to another. However, I imagine it is a book that once you have read it and know the outcome you do not need to read it again because knowing the ending spoils the reading experience.

I found this story really creepy and because I could not work out the ending my imagination ran wild with other possibilities which seemed to make it even creepier! I thoroughly enjoyed all the elements of this book and plan on reading more by Lisa Jewell. I was so happy that by chance I saw this book on NetGalley and my request was granted.

I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys a good thriller.

Purchase from:-

Waterstones

The Book Depository

Mid Week Quote: Song of Solomon

Hello everyone!

This month I celebrate my second wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, so I have chosen a quote from the Song of Solomon because we had a reading from the Song of Solomon for our wedding.

The Song of Solomon is unique in the Bible as it does not talk about God, the law of God or the covenant of God instead it talks about the love between two people.

“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.”

Song of Solomon

Happy Wednesday

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (Review)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

About the author

Capote was born in New Orleans in 1924 and was raised in various parts of the South. He left school at the age of fifteen and worked at the New Yorker which provided his first and last regular job. Capote wrote many novels in his lifetime and died in August in 1984.

Blurb

It’s New York in the 1940’s where the martinis flow from cocktail hour till breakfast at Tiffany’s. And nice girls don’t, except of course, Holly Golightly. Pursued by Mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires, Holly is a fragile eyeful of tawny hair and turned-up nose, a heart-breaker, a perplexed, a traveller, a tease. She is irrepressibly ‘top banana in the shock department’, and one of the shining flowers of American fiction.

Review

This is a book that I have been meaning to read for a very long time but have never got around to it. I only wanted a thin book to read and when I went mooching through my many book piles I found it. I did not realise that this book also has three extra short stories, so that was an added bonus.

I enjoyed the book but I also found it rather annoying at times and frustrating. Holly is making the best of things and trying to improve her life till she gets her dream life and she really does not care who she steps on to get there, that also includes her friends.

Holly has many men falling over themselves to be with her and she uses them to her own ends. Her neighbour, who is also the narrator, she names Fred although that is not his real name but we never find out his real name. Fred is rather strange in my opinion and at times a little creepy. He is obsessed with Holly, to the extent he goes through her rubbish to see what type of person she is, that in my opinion is stalker behaviour.

I found Holly to be really selfish and uncaring and I really did not like how she treated people, she didn’t even bother to learn Fred’s real name and tended to treat him like dirt. However, at times she did suddenly show a caring and considerate side that showed you she wasn’t all bad.

I have not seen the film but really want to, especially after reading the book, I imagine the movie to be very glamorous possibly more than the book. Audrey Hepburn makes anything look glamorous and the character Holly does nothing but smoke and drink which will be interesting to see on screen.

I enjoyed the story but it did annoy me at times and for that reason I only gave it 3 out of 5 Dragons. I recommend it to everyone as a must read as Capote is an excellent author.

The three extra short stories were lovely little stories, especially the last one which brought a tear to my eye.

Purchase from:-

The Book Depository

Waterstones

ABC Book Challenge, E

It’s that time again!

It is time for another instalment of the ABC Book Challenge, this weeks letter is E.

If you want to look at my previous posts please follow the links below:

A | B | C | D |

Books I have loved beginning with E.

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Eric by Terry Pratchett

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Books on my TBR list beginning with E.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Eternal Love by Timothy Zurcher

The Evacuee Christmas by Katie King

The Expansion by Christoph Martin

As you can see not many books beginning with E on either list, maybe not many books are titled with a letter E or maybe I subconsciously do not like the letter E? Who can be sure?

If anyone has read any of these books and would like to drop me a comment please do?

Also if anyone else is also doing the ABC Book Challenge please drop me a link to your blog.

Happy Reading.

Summer Reading Challenge: Past Love

I am slowly getting to the end of the list!

I am thoroughly enjoying reading the books but can not wait to go on holiday and really get into my reading.

The next prompt Past Love: reread a book you loved when you were younger.

This prompt was easy because I asked my big sister what book I loved reading when younger and she told me she remembered reading this book with me. This book is the beloved children’s story Matilda by Roald Dahl.

I must admit I am very excited to read this book again. Thank you big sister for your excellent suggestion. Big sister is also a fellow blogger if you wanted to check out her blog follow the link Woolly Wednesday.

Here is my much read beloved copy of Matilda. I’d better be careful because it is starting to fall apart.