Rose City Reader

Monday, April 2, 2018

Mailbox Monday: The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney

In 1996, Seamus Heaney's The Spirit Level won the Costa Book of the Year Award (fka the Whitbread Award). I'm working my way through the winners, particularly slowly the poetry winners, so finally ordered a copy.

What new books came into your house last week?

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Happy Easter!

Friday, March 30, 2018

Book Beginning: Larry's Party by Carol Shields

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

By mistake Larry Weller took someone else's Harris tweed jacket instead of his own, and it wasn't till he jammed his hand in the pocket that he knew something was wrong.

-- Larry's Party by Carol Shields. Terrific first sentence! Larry’s Party won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1998, now called the Baileys Women’s Prize.

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Teaser Tuesday: Letters of Note

Seeing a picture of you in today’s newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail, reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral.

I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you will find them successful.

-- From Queen Elizabeth's letter to President Eisenhower, January 24, 1960, in Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience, compiled by Shaun Usher.

Letters of Note is just as absorbing as Lists of Note, Shaun Usher’s first irresistible compilation of ephemera. Letters is a collection of over 125 facsimiles of correspondences of consequence, usually because a famous person wrote the letter, or because the letter itself is historically important. All are fascinating.

My favorite is the note that John F. Kennedy scratched into the shell of a coconut when his WWII boat was hit by a Japanese destroyer and his crew was stranded in the Solomon Islands. He gave the coconut message to island natives to deliver to the PT base at Rendova so he and his crew could be rescued.