The poem I have chosen for today is a new poet for me. Harold Munro (1879-1932) was an English poet. As the owner of the Poetry Bookshop in London, he helped many poets to get their poetry into the public light.
Overheard on a Saltmarsh
Nymph, nymph, what are your beads?
Green glass, goblin. Why do you stare at them?
Give them me.
No.
Give them me. Give them me.
No.
Then I will howl all night in the reeds,
lie in the mud and howl for them.
Goblin, why do you love them so?
They are better than stars or water,
Better than voices of winds that sing,
Better than any man's fair daughter,
Your green glass beads on a silver ring.
Hush, I stole them out of the moon.
Give me your beads, I want them.
No.
I will howl in a deep lagoon
For your green glass beads, I love them so.
Give them me. Give them.
No.
Harold Munro
I have been busy with Lyra’s Pawsome Books over the last couple of weeks. I have a Christmas stall next week to get ready for and of course I am busy making sure I have plenty of stock for my Etsy site. I know I am still in the very early stages of my little business but I am really enjoying thinking up ideas for products and putting them on my Etsy site.
I have started working on developing Christmas and Birthday cards which I hope to release in the next few days and I am finding the making of the cards and wrapping of the books quite therapeutic in an evening.
Anyway, here are the latest products on my Etsy site.
This book box was inspired by some of the things that I love at Christmas. I love curling up with a Christmas themed book and a mug of mulled wine near Christmas and perhaps some chocolate to snack on later. I also love a Christmas candle and hot chocolate in the evening.
– Brand new paperback book (genre of your choice) – Cat themed puzzle book – Dancing Cat pen holder – Bookmark – Dreamies (flavours vary) – Hot chocolate spoon – Tea bag – Coffee bag – Popcorn – Lotus biscuit – Border biscuits (flavours vary) – Cat shaped post it notes (colours vary) – Black biro
This book box was obviously inspired by Lyra. There are lots of cat themed goodies within this box including a bag of Dreamies for your feline friend. My personal favourite item is the Dancing Cat pen holder and I must admit I have had to stop my husband from pinching them for himself. A percentage of the proceeds from these box sales is also going to Lyra’s favourite charity which is Cats Protection.
I love this weeks topic because I do like a book set in the future as generally they are Sci-fi books and I love Sci-fi.
Worst Martian Playlist by Corriea Garrett– I read this book in one sitting and I absolutely loved it. In fact I now want to reread it. It was a random find for me from a post I saw on a fellow bloggers site and I am so glad I found it.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – Andy Weir is definitely one of my favourite authors and I just find his books keep getting better and better. I love the characters he creates.
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey– I include all of The Expanse series here because I just love the series. It is probably my favourite Sci-fi series.
The Martian by Andy Weir – I love this Book!
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex – I saw the film of this first and loved it and for our first Easter together my husband bought me the book to read.
I could have chosen a lot more books but I went for my favourites. What are your favourite books that are set in the future?
Please drop me a link if you have taken part in Top 5 Tuesday and I will head over for a visit.
On the 11th November 1918, the fighting ceased on the Western Front, marking the end of WWI. 11th November is known today as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.
Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) was a poet and a soldier who enlisted to fight. This poem was written in 1914 just as the war was about to begin.
The Soldier
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Rupert Brooke
My chosen quote today is by Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909-2012) who was an Italian Nobel Laureate, honoured for her work in neurobiology. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine jointly with Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor. On 22 April 2009, she became the first Nobel Laureate to reach the age of 100.
“Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.”
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!
I hope everyone has been having a good week so far. I have had a very busy week so far so I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow. I have been very grateful for my bits of reading time I have managed so far this week.
What I am Currently Reading
I am thoroughly enjoying this book so far and find it so interesting. I have a list of women I want to do further research on and learn more about the amazing things they accomplished.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I really enjoyed this and plan on reading the rest of the books about Mrs Harris. Mrs Harris is a wonderful character who you can’t help but love.
What I Think I will Read Next
I have decided that my November TBR will be made up of the books I bought in Bath and I will see how many I manage to read before December. These are just some of the books I bought because the books from Persephone books are not included.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
A ruthless international cartel seeks world domination…
Framed in the doorway of Poirot’s bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man’s gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell.
Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about `Number Four’.
Review
I haven’t read many Agatha Christie novels this year which is bad because I am trying to read all of her novels in order of publication so this one has been on my TBR pile for a very long time.
My first impression of this book was wow what a lot of characters! Christie is a master of juggling many plot lines and lots of characters but this book is overflowing with characters. I know Christie liked to include a lot of characters because this was perfect for creating red herrings but it seemed like every chapter there were another new load of characters to get to grips with. To be honest I struggled at times to keep up with all the characters in this book but I think I managed it.
In this story Hastings has returned which I am very pleased about because he always makes me laugh. He is always convinced he knows more than Poirot but of course he has no idea at all. It is also very clear that Poirot has been missing his good friend Hastings.
The story begins with a strange man somehow turning up in Poirot’s bedroom and collapsing but not before giving Poirot a vital clue which will set the scene for the rest of the book. As the story continues Poirot finds just how far the Big Four are willing to go to take control of the world. The story sees Poirot travelling all over the place and encountering any number of characters from Professors to Government officials, from Criminals to Nobility.
The one thing I did find with this story was it didn’t flow like Christie’s usual books and it felt at times like it was pieced together. After some research I found out that this book was actually made up of 12 short stories that Christie had written and published in a magazine. This made a lot of sense for me because once I knew I realised that this was why I struggled with the pace of the book and sheer amount of characters.
Although I felt the amount of characters was overkill and struggled with the lack of fluency with the story I still thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. Poirot was on his usual fine form and Hastings was still his bumbling self and I loved every minute of it. I give this book 4 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
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. She also wrote the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap. She also wrote 6 novels under the name Mary Westmacott.
Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good start to the week. I have had a mixed day of teaching and running choir club. Some students were very hyper and difficult to work with today and some were brilliant. The really good thing was the reading I managed to do during my lunch break and between teaching.
My chosen book today has been on my TBR for a long time but it is one I also swear that I have read. However, my reading records which are quite extensive and started whilst I was a child would show that I haven’t actually read it. To me it is a mystery. Either way I plan to read it very soon.
“We agree that we are overworked, and need a rest – A week on the rolling deep? – George suggests the river -“
And with the co-operation of several hampers of food and a covered boat, the three men (not forgetting the dog) set out on a hilarious voyage of mishaps up the Thames. When not falling in the river and getting lost in Hampton Court Maze, Jerome K. Jerome finds time to express his ideas on the world around – many of which have acquired a deeper fascination since the day at the end of the 19th century when this excursion was so lightly undertaken.
Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Lady Book Dragon 