more books, more burps ~

[lookingland]

one more day of evading the heat wave ~ allegedly we'll get a break tomorrow and it'll cool off a wee bit the rest of the week. i think this is about all i can stand of the 100-degree weather, thank you. i moved to minnesota so i wouldn't have to deal with this. pout.

yesterday i spent a lot of time at the library and in bookstores ~ just browsing mostly, though i did pick up a few things from the trash pile at Half Price Books for my reading pile. i saw a lot of things i want to read. the Flashman books are too expensive at the moment so i might get them from the library. i also want to read Geraldine Brooks's March and Eleanor Updale's third installment in the Montmorency series. this one i couldn't find anywhere, so i'll prolly have to order it eventually. the reviews have not been scintillating, but i still want to read it. evidently she's also written a fourth installment (who knew!) and it will be out in the spring.

i read a couple of books for young adults yesterday. i'm counting them toward my 50bookchallenge list since they were both at least over 100 pages long and not just picture books.

no. 24~ Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth by James Cross Giblin ~ yes, the title made me laugh on this one. even more ludicrous is that in the afterward, the author says he came up with it while in the shower. silly as that may be, this was actually a really good book (and an award-winner as well). it gives an excellent overview of the Booth family, particulars about their stage careers, and though is recommended for an audience 10-14, seemed pretty sophisticated (well, except the occasional vocabulary explanation, which made me smile). i was also pleased that in the end, the whole Good vs. Bad was tempered by the author's conclusion that Edwin spent a good deal of his youth drunk and disorderly and a good deal of his adult life spiraling in and out of marriage troubles, etc., while Wilkes, well ~ at least according to his family and judging by Edwin's defense, wasn't all bad.

all-in-all a good read ~ makes me want to go find a copy of The Mad Booths of Maryland.

no. 25 ~ Bull Run by paul fleischmann ~ now here's a book! written for the same age range as the one above, this is also an award-winner and quite the piece of writing. suitable for all ages, i think, this one's a series of monologues spoken by 16 characters on the eve of and through the first battle of Bull Run. the characters are evenly distributed between north, south, black, white, male and female. the author genuinely avoids all the lame Civil War clichés (no hardtack!) and manages to develop a wonderful sense of continuity from the disparate viewpoints. it's also wonderfully not biased (north vs. south, i mean). it's exactly the sort of book i read and think: now that's the sort of book i'm trying to write! twelve stars and three thumbs up (and a toe).

since i'll be here all day today, i have a feeling you'll be hearing from me again later this afternoon.

hope everyone is having a happy monday!

: D

Comments

[littlewings04.livejournal.com]

I grew up in Harford County, home of the Booths. It's weird, we used to hang out at Tudor Hall because folks didn't like coming back there, and John was always a sort of folk hero, especially when we covered the War in history class. I know it's not like that everywhere in Maryland, but Harford County is still fighting the War and isn't about to quit any time soon. He's a Confederate Martyr, really, and there's this whole mythos about him. He's an almost romantic figure and I've spent the greater part of my life rather obsessed with him. (Oddly enough, he was also my ticket into a 500-level Civil War class in college that I probably shouldn't have been in, but Dr Housely was too intrigued by the idea of growing up next to the old Booth place to resist.)

There's no real point to this, aside from knowing the land he came from as well as I know my own two hands. And there are days, sitting out on the Deer Creek, listening to the frogs and cicadas and the water, that I would kill a President to keep that land exactly as it is, too. John fascinates me because, really, he's like any number of boys I know back home, and I think that's why I am drawn to him so.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

what a wonderful post ~ thank you for sharing this with me!

i think it's certainly a fascinating history.

there used to be a monument of booth in one of the southern states (i fergit which). it was removed (i think destroyed) in the early part of this century when people started to think it might be considered bad taste.

it's hard to fault ol' Johnnie for his zealotry. i don't hate him any more than i love john brown. i think both men were crazy about their beliefs and they did what they thought was right ~ regardless of whether society agreed with them.

: D

[sparowe]

Have absolutely nothing of value or relevance to add, but wanted you to know that I'm reading. And have been thinking of you. :)

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

awwww thanks ~ !

i know i haven't been responding much lately either ~ but you seem happy and busy, which is all good!

: D

[sparowe]

More or less. Most people have four seasons, I have two: Faire Season and Not Faire Season. ;)

[pithhelmet.livejournal.com]

... the Flashman books are too expensive at the moment so i might get them from the library

I run into that problem with Flashman books myself. I've been able to snatch up paperbacks on paperbackswap.com occassionally, but the hardbacks with the covers that truly capture Flashy's spirit are devilishly hard to come by and traditionally out of my price range. Fortunately, the public library system has managed to fill in my gaps.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

yeah, i could prolly find some used copies for more reasonable prices, but i'd like to read just one before i start down a path that'll amount to an investment.

: D