Silver Leaves

"Down they all went, and at the bottom they found themselves in a most delightful grove of trees; 

and the leaves were all of silver 

and glittered and sparkled beautifully. 

~ The Twelve Dancing Princesses 

SBS: Dream of Jade: The Emperor's Cat by Lloyd Alexander

(Again, not my picture)

    In our house the name Lloyd Alexander is linked with good books; children's books that are good for grown-ups too! Dream of Jade: The Emperor's Cat, by Lloyd Alexander is a charming book, with a cat. But it's not just any cat. Dream-of-Jade talks, and the Emperor is the only one who listens. All the others scoff and make fun of her. This book has a great theme, which doesn't smack you in the face like some other books. It's subtle and enjoyable to read out loud. :) The illustrations are dreamy and soft, yet pay attention to details. They are like Dream-of-Jade's voice. I wonder if that's a coincidence? 

Have you read Dream-of-Jade?

On another note, Blogger Stats says I finally got one view on my The Edge on the Sword  and Pendragon's Heir posts, and the same on my Mr Bliss post. So if you are new to my blog, do go read them please! If you don't like this sort of post, please comment and say why. You could comment anyway, even if you don't have a problem too :) 

SBS: Pendragon's Heir

(I love that font, by the way)

   Hopefully hopefully hopefully this summer I can get some more readers for my blog. I might do some guest posting and such, if I can. The thing is, does anyone want to read about good books and see pictures? Oh, and music. ;) It should be a no-brainer. But sadly, in this world, I don't think it is. 

   Pendragon's Heir, by Suzannah Rowntree ranks high, quite high, out of our family's favorite books. I believe our library does have a copy of it, though I'm not 100% sure. It is a really good retelling of the myths of Arthur (?). Pendragon's Heir is a great example of chivalry, honor, a brave woman, good morals, and a bit of magic. Well, okay, more than a bit, I guess. My sister is forever recommending it over at her blog too.  

Do go read it. If you are in the area you could borrow it from us, too. :)

Maybe I can get three readers for this post? 

SBS: Mr Bliss

(Not my picture. This is the cover.)

    According to my Blogger stats, no one read my last SBS post. . . which is strange, because I saw my sister reading it. So... maybe the statistics are a little confused. 

    Mr Bliss, by J.R.R. Tolkien, is one of the best children's books out there. One thing I think every good children's book should have is the ability to be enjoyed by adults, too. Mr Bliss certainly has that going for it! :) Mr Bliss is the main character, who ... well, just go read the book. I don't think our library system has it, but you can find it on Amazon or Thrift Books for about $7. 

Till next time, Archie, Teddy and Bruno! 

Ha. 

Enjoy reading Mr Bliss. :) 

Summer Book Series: The Edge on the Sword

(the book without its dust jacket. I have problems with the dust jacket. You also get a sneak peak of what is to come!)

   Well, here we are, with the Summer Book Series, hereafter referred to as SBS. I'll note now that I am not going through these in a list of highest recommendation down. I don't recommend The Edge on the Sword more than Pendragon's Heir, for example.

   The Edge on the Sword, by Rebecca Tingle is a newly discovered book in our family. I was skimming the shelves in the library not too long ago looking at the latest and eye-catching cover designs. (If you'd like to see what I do for designing, check out my sister's blog post here.) Anyway, The Edge on the Sword caught my attention and I picked it up and read the fly-leaf. AEthelflaed. The name jumped out at me, for a recent Queen of Northshield was of that name. Could it be her time-period? Was the AEthelflaed of the book a feminist, was she stubborn? So we checked it out, and upon reading it, we bought it. Why? Well, to begin with, AEthelflaed was an almost stubborn girl who grew to be a strong (not feminist) woman character, and by strong I mean she learned to defend herself and yes, she had to use those skills (not to spoil it for you). Also strong emotionally and physically (though that is somewhat implied by her fighting). She travels with her guardian, one of her fathers' best soldiers. At first their relationship (ugh, I don't like to use that word) is awkward, but as AEthelflaed grows up and realizes why her father had this man keep watch over her she appreciates him more. I'm trying really hard not to spoil it for you. So if you'd like to know more, I suggest you check it out from the library or buy a copy. The writing style is catching and will keep you in the book. Don't start reading it right before bed. :) 

   Have you read The Edge on the Sword? What did you think? 

Summer posting schedule

(This tree frog was happy to sit in the rainwater in the loader of the bobcat)

I think I've figured out what I'll do for posting this summer! I have a list of ten books I think everyone ought to read, and ten children books as well. I'll do a review of the adult (I need a better word for this....) book on Monday, and the childrens' on Friday. The Wednesday post is to be decided. Maybe photography or art or music or something. I'll start the new series on Monday.

The Book of Knowledge Series Comes to a Close / Summer Schedule

("Violets. Eeyore. Eeyore.Violets.")

     It is with some sadness that I conclude the Book of Knowledge series here on my blog. I did end up enjoying writing about what I read and that is something I didn't think I'd enjoy at the beginning of the semester. Hopefully next semester I can do it again, and my writing style will mature some more.
    As for the summer, I would like to continue writing here so as not to lose the habit of writing. But what shall I write about? I thought maybe I could pick ten books I think everyone should read and write a post on each book explaining why everyone should read it. Would that get monotonous, do you think? I'm also going to try to get more readers. . . something I'm not sure how to do. Summer is looking like an especially busy one, so I think I'll cut back to one or two posts a week.

   Adios to the Book of Knowledge series! 

  Olivia