Forgotten but Not Lost

I was organizing my to-read pile and came across a Laurie R. King book.  Yay!! I thought to myself, another Laurie R. King book!  Then I realized I'd already read it ages ago and forgot to write about it. Bummer.  Since it was quite a while ago I'll just give you the basics...

The book is The Moor by above referenced author.
It's about Sherlock Holmes.
It takes place on Dartmoor.
It involves mysterious happenings and giant glowie-eyed dogs.

If that all sounds familiar, that's because it is.  Sherlock and his partner Mary travel to Dartmoor to revisit the scene of one of his most famous adventures, The Hound of the Baskervilles.  Of course they encounter another creepy mystery which only they can solve.

Read The Moor by Laurie R. King.  I liked it as much as the original. TBC

Hyperbole and a Half

Allie Brosh is a smart, outrageous, hysterically funny, achingly honest, brilliant storyteller, but the best thing about her stories is that they are TRUE! Well, mostly true, except for a little exaggeration. After all, that's what hyperbole means, and it is perfectly illustrated in her first book, Hyperbole and a Half, unfortunate situations, flawed coping mechanisms, mayhem, and other things that happened.

Based on her award winning blog by the same name, Hyperbole and a Half  is the story of Allie's life, from childhood to present day, illustrated by Allie in her own unique style.  I won't even try to describe this uniqueness, just know that the stories and the illustrations are the conjoined twins of Allie's genius, and one would die without the other. (That last may have been a little hyperbole of my own...let's just say that the book would not be the same without the pictures!) Moving on...

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh is a riot!!  Read it now.  TBC

(Warning:  contains liberal usage of naughty words. If you don't like that sort of thing, this book might not be for you.  End of warning.)

And Speaking of England...

...here's another one.  Christmas at High Rising by Angela Thirkell is a collection of stories published between 1928 and 1942.  Angela Thirkell was a prolific writer, but I think she is/was popular mostly in England.  I can't remember how I found out about this book, but I know I had to order it through an Amazon seller that was in the UK.  When it arrived in its plain brown wrapper weeks later, and after Christmas, I had totally forgotten about it.  Happily, it was charming in every way.  Perhaps these books are available at a library so you don't have to wait. It would be worth a trip:) TBC

A Fine Romance

Things you need to do before you start to read A Fine Romance by Susan Branch:

Brew yourself a cup of tea.
Add some scones and tea sandwiches.
Grab a pencil and paper, because you will want to take notes.
Now you may start reading!

Susan Branch is amazing. Her many books are full of yummy recipes and inspiring ideas, but the incredible thing is she hand-writes and illustrates every single inch of every book. They are beautiful. She is also a self-professed lover of all things English, and that is what A Fine Romance, Falling in Love with the English Countryside is all about. She and her husband spent the months of May and June 2012 traveling to England on the QE II, exploring that timeless countryside and sailing back again to their home on Martha's Vineyard. And she documented this dream vacation as only Susan Branch can do, each page of her book a feast for the eyes and the frustrated Anglophile in us all.

So, if you love the English and their country, or if you just want to surround yourself with lovely things, you must read A Fine Romance. You just may fall in love.

(PS:  If you DON'T know her, check out Susan Branch at www.susanbranch.com.  You'll be glad you did!  TBC)