A Jane Austen knockoff or associated book is always a gamble. I’ve read collections of her witty quotes, which are fine, if nothing special or new. Or I’ve read fanfiction-style “sequels,” most of which are terrible. My oldest childhood friend M, also an Austenite, bequeathed me this volume of good manners, according to Regency era. It is truly a delight and a gorgeous book to have in a personal collection. In Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners, Josephine Ross walks you through customs of the […]
Yes, I read the diary of Tom Riddle.
I’ve had a library copy of Trump: The Art of the Deal sitting on my coffee table for what feels like forever (like this Administration, am I right?), because I’ve decided that my latest article needs to look at Donald Trump as the prototypical yuppie, before this archetype hit it big in the 1980s and reached its literary apotheosis in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (which I reviewed for CBR5 and will be re-reviewing it for CBR9—so excited, you guys, and I don’t mean this […]
I miss Mister Rogers. And we need his kind of love so desperately.
I was a PBS kid growing up, because my mom was not a fan of violent cartoons. Therefore, my childhood was peppered with Arthur, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, (later, my favorite) Wishbone, and, of course, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. I remember being a tot in the late 1980s singing along to “Won’t you be my neighbor?” As I told my friend F, I have been disappointed by every single adult in my life at least once (which is […]
A delightful set of magical fairytales.
I have read one of Beedle the Bard’s now-famous Tales, “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” because it plays such an integral role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s such an exquisite, simple tale, that I wondered how the rest of the tales would fit in to make a volume. As it turns out, Rowling does her best when she is telling stories within stories. I highly recommend this particular collection. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is an anthology of folksy tales, […]
Lots of fabulous beasties to be found here!
Last fall, The Chancellor and I saw the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film in the new series, and we were underwhelmed. As much as I enjoyed the beasties, I didn’t find the story to be all that great or exciting. Plus, there were some troubling aspects that I thought were too mature for young kids and also possibly sneakily homophobic? Also, major ugh to Johnny Depp? On the bright side, Colin Farrell is positively a silver fox now, so enjoying that […]
A crash course in quidditch
A few years back, when I had just defended my dissertation, Barnes and Noble was running several sales which I fell for. One was a three-pack of Quidditch through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Tales of Beedle the Bard. As a Harry Potter fan, I thought, “These sound fun! Let’s buy them!” plus, you know, post-dissertation glee made me really spendy. I finally sat down and read all three this year, so I will place them each in the order […]
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