Mid Week Quote: Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy Wednesday!

We are half way through the week and I have finally finished the first part of my first assignment, second part is in on the 28th November so fingers crossed it all goes well. However, this does mean I am not reading as much as I would like.

The chosen quote today is by Eleanor Roosevelt who was the First Lady of the United States for twelve years. She was well known for championing the rights of minorities, youth, women and the poor.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1960)

Happy reading.

Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare (Review)

Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare

About the author

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in English history. He wrote 39 plays, 154 sonnets and other verses.

Blurb

Venus and Adonis is Shakespeare’s narrative poem about the love of the goddess Venus for the mortal youth Adonis, dedicated partly to his patron, the Earl of Southampton (thought by some to be the beautiful youth to which many of the Sonnets are addressed). The poem recounts Venus’ attempts to woo Adonis, their passionate coupling, and Adonis’ rejection of the goddess, to which she responds with jealousy, with tragic results.

Review

I decided after reading Twelfth Night that I wanted to read more Shakespeare and so reading through his list of works I thought I would go for something that I have never heard of before from Shakespeare and this is what I chose. Sadly I was rather disappointed.

I will be honest it started off well, I soon got into the flow of the poem and was enjoying it, but then it just kept going. It seemed to go on forever and I will be honest before the end I kept checking to see how much more I had left to read and even contemplated giving it up.

This really was not for me and I think it was mainly due to length, I just felt that it could have been shorter and although the language was beautiful and a lot of innuendos were clearly in the text it just seemed to be a bit waffly for my tastes.

All in all this was not my cup of tea and I think I will stick with Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets in the future. Only 2 out 5 Dragons from me this time.

Purchase links

Waterstones

Book Depository

Friday Poetry: A. E. Housman

Happy Friday!

This weekend there are a lot of Remembrance services and parades happening so I have chosen a poem by Housman who wrote some of his most famous poetry during the Great War. This poem helps remind me just how young so many of the soldiers were.

Here Dead We Lie

Here dead we lie

Because we did not choose

To live and shame the land

From which we sprung.

Life, to be sure,

Is nothing much to lose,

But young men think it is,

And we were young.

A. E. Housman

Happy reading.

Christmas Reading List: Update

I am getting so excited for Christmas that I have started reading my Christmas reading list! I will be adding to this list, as at the moment it is way too short. I always go to the German Market in Birmingham to do some Christmas shopping and I always spend a lot of time in Waterstones and that is usually when I get most of my Christmas books, so watch this space!

So here is the list in no particular order:-

The Night I Met Father Christmas by Ben Miller

Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye

A Very Murderous Christmas by various authors

A Very Country Christmas by Zara Stonely

A Literary Christmas: An Anthology

I have just started reading A Very Murderous Christmas and so far it is proving to be very good.

If you have any Christmas books to recommend to me please drop me a comment.

WWW Wednesday: 6th November 2019

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and a 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?

What I am currently reading:-

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

As some of you may know I do love books by Elly Griffiths and this is no exception, I am racing through this book.

Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare

I’ve set myself the challenge to read more Shakespeare, as I have only read his work that I had to at school, so far this is proving to be an interesting if slightly long winded read.

Books I have recently finished:-

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Really enjoyed this and could not put it down. Fantastic read.

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

Another great read, that I polished off in a few hours.

What I think I will read next:-

This is always a tricky question for me as I generally always change my mind, so apologies if I don’t stick with my first choices.

Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye

A Literary Christmas.

That is another WWW Wednesday complete. Please drop me a link to your WWW Wednesday and please feel free to comment about any of the books listed.

Happy reading.

Mid Week Quote: Dana

Hello everyone!

Well this week I am back to teaching and half term already seems like it was ages ago. Due to this I have gone for an education quote for this week’s quote. This quote I completely agree with and try to always be improving my own skills and learning new things.

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”

John Cotton Dana (1912)

Happy reading

Book Haul 4/11/19

Guess what?

I’ve been buying books again!

Only four books I promise.

Two of the books I got because I found them interesting and linked to my Masters and the other two are pretty and Christmas books so I just had to get them.

Here they are:-

Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye

A Literary Christmas: An Anthology

Ancient Rome by Virginia Campbell

Ancient Greece by David Michael Smith

I cannot wait to start reading them!

Happy Reading!

Christmas Reading List

Hello everyone!

I have started to think of my Christmas reading list. I usually begin my Christmas reading on the 1st December but this year I am very tempted to begin earlier because usually I am so busy during the month of December. Also I just want to get into the Christmas spirit!

The first on the list is a book recommended to me by my best friend, who sent me a very excited text yesterday telling me I just had to read it.

The Night I Met Father Christmas by Ben Miller

The second book will be a new copy of The Nutcracker which as you know I read every year and every year I get a new edition, the prettier the better.

So let the planning and Christmas book buying commence. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Happy reading.