Poetry Friday: Byron

She Walks In Beauty, Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

1% Well Read Challenge

The goal of this challenge is to read 10 books in 10 months from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. For you non-math people, 10 out of 1001 is approximately 1%, hence the title. The challenge will run from May 1, 2008 through February 28, 2009.

You may change your list at any time and cross-posting to other challenges is permitted. The only requirement is that your ten book choices must be on the ‘1001 List‘. Another helpful tool is an Excel spreadsheet by Arukiyoma that is found here.

Sign up is HERE at the 1% site.

Becky's Official 10
1) Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
2) Evelina by Fanny Burney
3) Cecilia by Fanny Burney
4) The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
5) The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
6) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
7) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
8) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
9) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
10)North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Becky's Alternate 10
1) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
2) Bleak House by Charles Dickens
3) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
4)The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot or Middlemarch by George Eliot
5) The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
6) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy or Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
7) The Awakening by Kate Chopin
8) A Room with a View by E.M. Forster or Howard's End by E.M. Forster
9) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
10) The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Becky's Alternate Alternate 10
1) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (if only I could find it not in the itsy bitsy teeny tiny print I might make it past the second chapter)
2) Pamela or Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (If I could find reasonably priced copies of either of these, it would be fun to try.)
3) The Monk by M.G. Lewis (Again, if I could find a reasonably priced, it would be fun to read this one.)
4) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen or Emma by Jane Austen
5) The Once and Future King by T.H. White
6) Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
7) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
8) Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte or Shirley by Charlotte Bronte or Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte or Vilette by Charlotte Bronte
9) Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
10) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Don't forget!!! LAWKI is coming soon!

Becky's Online Reading Group

The book should be available at your local library. Or you can buy it in hardcover or paperback for a fairly reasonable price.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Friday, May 9th, 2008; Ch. 1-3; May 7th through May 19th
Monday, May 12, 2008; Ch. 4-6; May 20th through June 25th
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008; Ch. 7-8; July 2 through August 4th
Friday, May 16th, 2008; Ch. 9-11; August 6th through September 5th
Monday, May 19th, 2008; Ch. 12-14; September 6th through October 24th
Wednesday, May 21rst, 2008; Ch. 15- 17; October 26th through December 21rst
Friday, May 23rd, 2008; Ch 18-19; December 24th through February 7th
Monday, May 26th; Ch. 20-21; February 9th through March 20th

April Firsts

These are just a handful of my favorite first opening lines during the month of April.

"I was sixteen years old the day I was lost in the forest, sixteen the day I met my death."

"Vitamins had ruined my life. Not that there was much left to ruin, but still."

"There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire. And while that is, as beginnings go, not entirely novel (for every tale about every young man there ever was or will be could start in a similar manner) there was much about this young man and what happened to him that was unusual, although even he never knew the whole of it."

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"

"What do you know about yourself? What are your stories? The ones you tell yourself, and the ones told by others. All of us begin somewhere. Though I suppose the truth is that we begin more than once; we begin many times. Over and over, we start our own tales, compose our own stories, whether our lives are short or long. Until at last all our beginnings come down to just one end, and the tale of who we are is done."

Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Year Down Yonder

Peck, Richard. 2000. A Year Down Yonder.
Review by Becky Laney.

A Year Down Yonder is the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. However, this is not a novel in stories. Nor is it narrated by Joey Dowdel. No, A Year Down Yonder is the story of Mary Alice, the little sister that is almost-but-not-quite all grown up. The year is 1937. The Depression is making life difficult both in urban and rural areas. It is economic necessity which prompts Mary Alice's parents to send their daughter away. (Joey is sent away also, but not with Mary Alice.) Mary Alice is being sent to live with the vivacious, one-of-a-kind, sometimes embarrassing Grandma Dowdel. How will this "city" girl fit in with these country bumpkins? Will they accept her? welcome her? Not if the Burdicks have their way!

A Year Down Yonder is a treat. It's rich in detail, rich in humor, rich in heart and humanity. The characters, the place all come alive. Richard Peck is a pro when it comes to capturing the good, the bad, the ugly, and the laughable. Mary Alice does have a few adjustments to make, but this book captures her unforgettable journey, her coming-of-age in small town America.

If you haven't read A Long Way From Chicago, this book does stand alone. In case you're wondering. But I would recommend reading both books. Both books are such a joy, a treat, a delight.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Book Awards Challenge Completed

I completed nine books from the 'official' listing + 3 books from my alternates list.

The challenge ends June 30, 2008. Twelve are required.

1. Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card (Alex Awards, 2000)
2. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Hugo, 1986; Nebula, 1985)
3. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (Hugo, 1987; Nebula, 1986)
4. The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Giblin (Robert F. Sibert Medal, 2003)
5. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Pulitzer, 1961)
6. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Pulitzer, 1937)
7.Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt (Booker Prize, 1990)
8. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (Newbery, 2001)
9. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery, 2004)
10. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (Newbery, 1995)
11. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Newbery, 1990)
12. Looking for Alaska by John Green (Printz, 2006)

Alternates

1. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (Newbery, 2003)
2. Holes by Lois Sachar (Newbery, 1999)
3. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery, 1998)
4. Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (Newbery, 1993)
5. Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt (Newbery (1983)
6. Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Newbery, 1943)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Long Way From Chicago

Peck, Richard. 1998. A Long Way From Chicago. Review by Becky Laney.

Prologue
It was always August when we spent a week with our grandma. I was Joey then, not Joe: Joey Dowdel, and my sister was Mary Alice. In our first visits we were still just kids, so we could hardly see her town because of Grandma. She was so big, and the town was so small. She was old too, or so we thought--old as the hills. And tough? She was tough as an old boot, or so we thought. As the years went by, though, Mary Alice and I grew up, and though Grandma never changed, we'd seem to see a different woman every summer.
Now I'm older than Grandma was then, quite a bit older. But as the time gets past me, I seem to remember more and more about those hot summer days and nights, and the last house in town, where Grandma lived. And Grandma. Are all my memories true? Every word, and growing truer with the years.

A Long Way From Chicago is a book that is practically perfect in every way. (It did win a Newbery Honor.) It's historical fiction. The book is set during the Depression. The title page calls it a "novel in stories" and that's a fair assessment. The book does consist of loosely connected stories or memories told within a framework of an old man recalling his youth fondly. There are eight 'memories' shared within the book that are the heart and soul of the book. Seven are the consecutive stories of his summer vacations. Each August (starting in 1929 and ending in 1935), Joey and his younger sister Mary Alice leave Chicago to visit their grandmother who lives in a small town in Illinois.

Here is how the first chapter begins, "You wouldn't think we'd have to leave Chicago to see a dead body. We were growing up there back in the bad old days of Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Just the winter before, they'd had the St. Valentine's Day Massacre over on North Clark Street. The city had such an evil reputation that the Thompson submachine gun was better known as the Chicago typewriter. But I'd grown to the age of nine, and my sister Mary Alice was sever, and we'd yet to see a stiff. We guessed that most of them were where you douldn't see them, at the bottom of Lake Michigan, wearing concrete overshoes. No, we had to travel all the way down to our Grandma Dowdel's before we ever set eyes on a corpse."

Joey's voice is of immediate interest to me. He's a great little narrator. The story is rich in detail, rich in character. Every person--man, woman, child--has depth. Peck is just a genius when it comes to writing, to capturing human personalities with wit and humor and heart. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with Joey, Mary Alice, and most importantly Grandma Dowdel. A woman that is one-of-a-kind. A woman that has spirit, gumption, personality, heart, and a mind of her own. A very strong woman who sees the world in her own unique way.

I definitely recommend A Long Way From Chicago!!! It was a fantastic book.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Introducing FIVE (yes, five!) new mini-challenges

I can't stress this enough. If you want to sign up please indicate which challenge(s) you want to join in your comment.

The rules for all the challenges are the same.

1) Read and/or watch TWO works by the author in question (Bronte, Dickens, Dumas, Gaskell, Twain)

For example:
Watching two movies
Reading two books
Reading one book; watching one movie

You can always read (or watch) more. But two is the minimum. I don't know that this has ever come up, but you CAN count abridged versions of the novels. You CAN also count audio books.

2) The challenge will run through November 15th, 2008. That gives us a full six months and a few extra weeks to read. I had considered going through December. However, I decided with the fall being what it is--Thanksgiving, birthday, Christmas, Librarians' Choices, and possibly (???) Cybils, that I would not be getting much read for challenges anyway. I figured that you'd be busy celebrating, planning, shopping, dealing with your own chaos and drama as well. So November 15th it is.

I'm going to be super-nice especially since it serves in my best interests. Any book you've read by any of these authors in the year 2008 can count towards your challenge. I've just read The Three Musketeers (this past weekend!) I'm so going to count that.

*Also re-reads are allowed if you like.
*So is overlapping with other challenges.

3) No blogs are required. No lists are required. You don't have to tell me which books for which authors you're going to read. But I would *appreciate* hearing from you which two books/movies you went with as your choices. I'd also *appreciate* some feedback. For example of how BRIEF that feedback can be you can write "3 musketeers; thumbs up" or "Jane Eyre, recommended" or "Great Expectations, boring" It can be really really really short and sweet. But I would like to know what you ended up with and if you liked it or loved it or hated it. If you do have a blog and want to write a review, go for it. If you give me the link, I will read what you have to say!

So (drumroll please) here are your five new choices for mini-challenge fun. Bronte Sisters Mini-Challenge, Charles Dickens Mini-Challenge, Alexandre Dumas Mini-Challenge, Elizabeth Gaskell Mini-Challenge, and the Mark Twain Mini-Challenge.

To sign up, leave a comment. Be sure to leave your name (or your online nickname is fine) and your blog address (but only if applicable). And please, please indicate which challenge(s) you want to join. "This sounds fun, I want to join!" is a great comment. But I won't have a clue which of the five it applies to unless you tell me.

UPDATE: THERE IS NOW A BLOG FOR ALL OF MY (BECKY'S) MINI-CHALLENGES. THERE ARE SEVEN FOR 2008 SO FAR. MORE WILL BE COMING FOR 2009. YOU MAY VISIT THAT SITE HERE. YOU MAY LEAVE LINKS TO YOUR REVIEWS ON SPECIAL POSTS THERE. (Each challenge has its own post.) YOU MAY SIGN UP AT EITHER SITE.