Adventures in Reading
Last month's books
Welcome May!
The maypole represents celebration, unity, renewal, fertility, and the arrival of spring, symbolizing community and the intertwining of life's cycles.
Have a wonderful spring!
I read three books last month. The Lost Princess by Lorri Moulton, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, an the beginning of River of Dementia by my friend Pauli Pedersen.
A diversity in genre and writing styles and all of them held my interest. The Lost Princess is a fairytale and as is Lorri’s style, delicate in its simplicity, and entertaining. Knowing Lorri for a number of years as a faithful online friend, we often share our stories as we write them, collaborate on our marketing adventures, and make certain to give each other a good morning meme every day. Her books are an extension of who she is so it’s enjoyable to read her newest work. She also has these lovely Facebook parties where she posts beautiful dresses and you have to guess which teacups go with them. We’re celebrating May Day today! Stop by sometime and give her a like if you’re on Facebook.
I read Peter Pan because the next adventure of the Bard (i.e. the Bard of Shamrock Inn and the Bard of Sherwood Forest) will be taking us into Neverland and I wanted to read the original story by the author in order to ground my hero in Barrie’s world and not one fabricated by another rendition. I admit, I have never read the book, only see the play with Mary Martin and Disney’s rendition. The story was first written as a play in 1904 and then as a novel, Barrie is a Scotsman and so the story is written in a completely different style than any modern novel you might pick up. This is true about any book written in that era. Barrie uses the omniscient narrator, breaking the fourth wall to tell us the tale, which gives it its own personality. Surprising to me is the fact that Peter actually kills people, as do the pirates, in such a non-chalant way, that it contradicts anything Disney turned it into.
The third book I’m reading is River of Dementia, a book written by a friend whom I sat next to at the latest author event I went to. There’s a huge marketing group of authors here where I live and we do events all summer with each other. It’s not unusual for us to buy each other’s books. This memoir is completely out of my league but as a friend I am happy to read it. I’ve just started, but even though this is Pauli’s first book, the writing is phenomenal. She tells me she is in the midst of a novel, a mystery, and I can’t wait to read it. She has a wonderful way with words! The story is about her father and his journey through life, a journey that sadly ends in dementia, but it’s not the tragedy that makes the story so compelling, its the personalities of the family, the word smith of the author and the courage of the tale! I’m enjoying the book.
I’ve yet to choose my May reading. Books usually make their appearance spontaneously whether they are a friend’s, research for what I’m writing, or something that’s been on my bookshelf being neglected.
What are you reading?
Speaking of reading, Ian’s Realm’s 10th anniversary is free until May 4th. Feel free to grab a copy.
