Sunday, December 25, 2016

BW52: 2016 is a wrap!



Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!  Our reading year is once again drawing to a close.  I'm happy to say this year is ending with much gratitude and grace and I am looking forward with optimism to many new adventures in 2017.  We sailed the waterways of the world, dropping into different ports of call east and west of the Prime Meridian, then jumped off ship to explore North and South America.  Many of you chose to chart your own course and followed a variety of rabbit trails.

Where did your reading take you this year?  

How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal?  Or did you get caught up in reading and forget to keep track like me?  *grin* 

What countries and time periods did you visit?

What were your most favorite stories?   Any stories that stayed with you a long time,  left you wanting more or needed to digest for a while before starting another?   Which books became comfort reads

What is the one book or the one author you thought you'd never read and found yourself pleasantly surprised that you liked it?

Did you read any books that touched you and made you laugh, cry, sing or dance.

Any that made you want to toss it across the room in disgust?

Please share a favorite cover or quote.


Congratulations on completing another reading year and thank you to all who followed our reading journeys.    Reading to me is as necessary as breathing and it is also comforting. It is an escape from the real world. I get rather crotchety without my books.  How about you?

I really appreciate you sharing your reading journeys with me. No matter what we read, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, literary or contemporary, historical or futuristic, a chunky book or a cozy, the most important thing is the reading.   I hope you had fun too as you followed your own reading paths and enjoyed your bookish journeys.  I look forward to 2017 and sharing another reading year with all of you.

Best wishes for a happy, adventurous, reading New Year!

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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

2017 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Courtesy of Lauren Conrad 

Are you ready to join me for another round of reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks?  The rules are quite simple and how you get there is entirely up to you.  It's going to be a gem of a year as we excavate for new as well as old reads.  Whether you like unearthing one book at a time or scooping up multiple books, burrowing in with a classic, digging into a chunky read or shining up one of those dusty books from your shelves, it all averages out in the end.  The goal is to read 52 Books. 

In the past few years, we've been across and around the world by foot, car, train, plane and sea.  To aid us in our journey this year, we'll be digging deep to discover the jewels of our reading world.  We have a variety of challenges to assist with our reading voyage this year including another round of 52 Books Bingo. 

Birthstone Bookology Reading adventure which will take us around the world and through different time periods from the ancients to the present.   You can go a variety of directions with this challenge. Read a book for each letter in the birthstone of the month.  Read a book with the birthstone or the color of the birthstone in the title. Find a book set in the time period or setting where the birthstone was discovered and/or mined.    

Dusty Mini challenge: Limit buying new books for 1 - 4 months and/or read 4 to 12 or more books gathering dust on your shelves prior to 2016.

Chunky Mini Challenge -  books more than 500 pages.

Well Educated Mind:  Continuing exploring the classics in 6 categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama, Poetry and Science.  

Plus we'll be doing a year long readalong of Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of Western Science as well as another round of 52 Books Bingo.  

The mini, weekly and monthly challenges are optional, Mix it up anyway you like.

So put on your hard hats, grab your shovels and pickaxes and get ready to explore.   


  1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. 
  2. Our book weeks begin on Sunday. 
  3. Participants may join at any time. 
  4. All books are acceptable except children books. 
  5. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc. 
  6. Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2017. 
  7. Books may overlap other challenges. 
  8. Create an entry post linking to this blog. 
  9. Sign up with Mr. Linky in the "I'm participating post" below this post. 
  10. You don't need a blog to participate. Post your weekly book in the comments section of each weekly post. 
  11. Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post to link to reviews of your most current reads.




Sunday, December 18, 2016

BW51: Happy Winter Reading Wonderland

Courtesy of Teresa


Winter is the king of showmen,
Turning tree stumps into snowmen
And houses into birthday cakes
And spreading sugar over lakes.
Smooth and clean and frosty white,
The world looks good enough to bite.
That’s the season to be young,
Catching snowflakes on your tongue.
Snow is snowy when it’s snowing,
I’m sorry it’s slushy when it’s going.




It is a Winnie the Pooh day today -  quite rainy and blustery,  which is quite appropriate as Winter approaches us in the Northern Hemisphere while it is officially summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Whether you are ensconced all comfy and cozy next to the fireplace or sprawled out on a sunny beach, both are perfect places to read or dream.   Can I have a rousing refrain of this year went by way too fast.  I'll be taking the last two weeks off from lessons to prepare for and celebrate  Christmas as well as work on plans for another round of 52 books.  Of course,  we are going to do it all over again.  I'll post the 2017 52 Books in 52 Weeks announcement sometime this week as well as the I'm Participating link for you to sign up.

It is also time for our Winter / Summer Solstice mini reading challenge. What words come to mind during this season?  Solstice is the two times a year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.  So if you want to broaden your scope, try looking up synonyms for not only solstice but also celestial, equator, or sun to name a few.  Be creative and use one of the words in the Nash poem above.  Look for a book in your stacks with the word you choose in the title.  

Have fun following rabbit trails to the book of your choice. 

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Sunday, December 11, 2016

BW50: Best of 2016



Time for our annual round up of best of the year fiction and non fiction book lists, from around the web.  Grab your computer, laptop, ipad or iphone, fix yourself a nice warm cup of tea or coffee and settle down in your comfy chair and browse through just a few of the web's offerings of the best of 2016.

NPR's Book Concierge - Guide to 2016's Best Reads

Harper Bazaar's 12 Best New Books of 2016

Bill Gates pick's Favorite Books of 2016.

Washington Post's Top Ten and Best Mystery and Thrillers and Best Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Chicago Tribune's Best Poetry Books of 2016 and Chicago Librarians Picks for the best of 2016

Huffington Post's Best Self Published Books of 2016

Council of Foreign Affairs anthology of nonfiction books from the east to the west, plus political and social, economical and scientific :   Best of Books 2016

The Economists wide array of non fiction and fiction - Books of the year 2016

New York Times - The 10 Best Books of 2016 from the editors as well as 100 Notable Books 



Happy reading!




P.S.  Yes, we are going to do another round of 52 books for 2017!  

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

BW49: Delectable December

Bake a Book 


Welcome to Delectable December, a month to celebrate a variety of events. From the arrival of Winter to Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, St Lucia Day, Boxing Day, and St Nicolas Day.  December is a wonderful time to curl up with a good book by the fireplace. Also a great time to gather in the kitchen, warm from baking and enjoy the results fresh from the oven. Experimenting with new recipes, fine tuning old, exploring foods unknown and chowing down on our favorite comfort food.

Every time I make stuffing or sauce for baked salmon or dressing for steamed artichokes,  hubby says this is the best one yet, what did you do differently this time. Make sure you write it down.  *grin*

Last week we talked about foodie books. Now we get to chat about cookbooks. Do you have a favorite cookbook or do you have a whole shelf of cookbooks to peruse?  Do you prefer surfing the web exploring sites such as  allrecipes.com or foodnetwork.com.  Do you print recipes and keep a favorites notebook.  Are you the create it from scratch type of cook?   Do you prefer to cook alone or the more the merrier?

Share your favorite cookbooks, recipes, cooking traditions or pictures of your cookbooks.


Happy cooking!





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Sunday, November 27, 2016

BW48: Foodie Books



Thanksgiving is over and even though our tummies are stuffed with turkey and more, we're heading into the season of food.  All kinds of Christmas and Hanukkah and winter celebrations on the horizon so figured I'd present a mini challenge.  Pick a book with food in the title or about food. It can't be a straight forward cookbook because that's just too easy.   You have several ways to go with ingredients, seasoning, artistic creations, sensations, and other gastronomical delights. 


There are plenty of fun non fiction titles -  Cravings, Fresh off the Boat, Relish, In Defense of Food, The Man Who Ate Food, Relish and Salt, as well as plenty of fiction titles such as 



When in Doubt, Add Butter 


Or one of my favorite series which you can argue isn't food, but talks alot about food, The Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle.



On What Grounds


Or how about this delightful book full of magical realism and yummy recipes


Pomegranate Soup


I'm getting hungrier by the minute.  *grin*   Find all kinds of interesting books searching on  Goodreads for Foodie Books, Popular Food Fiction, Food in Book Titles as well as Bustle's 13 Books All Food Lovers Should Read, plus Bon Appetit's 20 New Food Books to Read.

~cheers~ 

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Sunday, November 20, 2016

BW47: Happy Thanksgiving




I'm Thankful for You

By 

Joanna Fuchs



Thanksgiving is the appointed time
for focusing on the good in our lives.
In each of our days,
we can find small blessings,
but too often we overlook them,
choosing instead to spend our time
paying attention to problems.
We give our energy
to those who cause us trouble
instead of those who bring peace.
Starting now,
let's be on the lookout
for the bits of pleasure in each hour,
and appreciate the people who
bring love and light to everyone
who is blessed to know them.
You are one of those people.
On Thanksgiving,
I'm thankful for you.
Happy Thanksgiving!


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Sunday, November 13, 2016

BW46: Flufferton Abbey

In the Garden - George Goodwin Kilburne


I think we are all in the mood for something flufferton.  This post is brought to you by AggieAmy, one of our 52 Books Well Trained Mind Book a weekers, who kindly offered to guest post this week.


Flufferton Abbey is not a genre so much as a writing style.  A few genres lend themselves well to being Fluffeton books such as cozy mysteries, comedy of manners, romance, and historical fiction.  Everyone has their own specific thing they look for when they pick up a book and plan to spend time at Flufferton Abbey but there are a number of things that are expected:

  • A happy ending – If you are crying at the end of the book it does NOT qualify.  A Flufferton book has the couple getting together, the mystery solved, the situation put right tidily.  If anyone has died during the course of the book they had better have deserved it.
  • Setting – A lot of the charm in these books is being able to sneak away to someplace wonderful for a visit.  It’s easy to imagine that the cuppa tea we’re having isn’t really in our living room but the morning room of our manor house.  Gritty?  Realistic?  Downtown Detroit in the 1960’s?  Nope.  Not Flufferton appropriate. 
  • Characters – We love these characters.  They have charm.  They make us smile.  We wish we knew them in real life.   
  • Humor – A mandatory ingredient.  Some books have us laughing out loud in ways that make our family worry about our mental stability.  Some books have just an occasional chuckle.  All books have at least some. 
  • Re-readability - Absolutely.  These are the books that we've read so many times that there are sections we've memorized. 

Where to start:

Georgette Heyer

                The Grand SophyFredericaVenetiaSylvesterCotillion  

Jane Austen

                Pride and PrejudiceEmmaPersuasion

DE Stevenson

                Miss Buncle’s BookMrs. Tim ChristieKatherine Wentworth

PG Wodehouse

                My Man JeevesSomething Fresh

LM Montgomery

                Anne of Green GablesThe Blue Castle

Angela Thirkell

                High Rising

Stella Riley

                The Parfit Knight

Susan Branch – a nonfiction present day version of Flufferton Abbey





Which ones have you read?  What authors would you add to this list?

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Sunday, November 6, 2016

BW45: Bookish Babble



Come on in and have a seat.  I'm in the mood for some bookish babble.  Here in the U.S, daylight savings time is ending and we have finally reached the final act of the presidential election.  A modern Shakespearean tragedy in which we've been the captive audience of what seems to be the world's longest play. The curtain is slowly descending as the players take their final curtain call.  

Which reminds me, have you gotten a 52 books bingo yet?  Plays and fairy tale adaptations and non fiction reads will fill the bill.  In the mood to read presidential biographies, perhaps current affairs, foreign or domestic.  Or maybe you'd prefer a comedy or art.  The book blogging world is celebrating Non Fiction November so head on over to Doing Dewey for more fun and frivolity.

For a translated book, check out Halldor Laxness's Wayward Heroes which has been translated from icelandic and is now available through Archipelago books.  If you are squeamish about mysteries, try a cozy mystery instead. You can't go wrong when it comes to Arthurian stories with Mary Stewart or Marian Zimmer Bradley.  

My son has introduced me to Doctor Who and he insists I must call him The Doctor.  However, unlike me in which I'd watch every episode in order in a season, we've been doing it my son's way and sort of The Doctor's way, dropping in here and there. He's enthralled with the weeping angels right now and I haven't decided which Doctor I like the best yet.   I'm waiting for the 'mom, I gotta have this book' itis to begin.  Did you know Neil Gaiman, whose birthday is coming up this week on the 10th,  wrote three episodes for Doctor who - The Doctor's Wife and The Nightmare in Silver.  He just became a grandfather as well.

Mini Bingo challenge of the month - have a friend, family member, loved one or even query a stranger in the book store and ask them to pick a book for you to read. You may be surprised!  

Happy reading!  


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Sunday, October 30, 2016

BW44: November Notions




I have an idea and my idea is this, I have an idea. *grin*   Welcome to November Notions - a month full of what?  Ideas, imagination, suggestions, discernment, angles, wrinkles, twists, preconceptions or postulations?  Or better yet...nonsense!   This is your month to make of it what you will.  Whether you are interested in traveling down the path of nonfiction, riddles and rhymes, or climbing up the mountain of hyperbole, exploring fictional caves of mystery and suspense, or diving into the ocean of laughter and romance, the world is yours to travel.

I think my ship got lost somewhere in the middle of the South Atlantic, but I've finally found the Rio de la Plata and the friendly port of Buenes Aires.  We are going to spend the rest of the year exploring South and North America and follow in the footsteps of our author flavors of the month - Julio Cortazar and Laura Esquivel.

A few years back I read Cortazar's Hopscotch




 Horacio Oliveira is an Argentinian writer who lives in Paris with his mistress, La Maga, surrounded by a loose-knit circle of bohemian friends who call themselves "the Club." A child's death and La Maga's disappearance put an end to his life of empty pleasures and intellectual acrobatics, and prompt Oliveira to return to Buenos Aires, where he works by turns as a salesman, a keeper of a circus cat which can truly count, and an attendant in an insane asylum. Hopscotch is the dazzling, free-wheeling account of Oliveira's astonishing adventures.

And by free-wheeling, they mean a stream of consciousness book in which you can read in chapter order or follow the random pattern set out by the author.  Same as the title, you will be Hopscotching around. According to the Quarterly Conversation:


The most remarked-on aspect of Hopscotch is its format: the book is split into 56 regular chapters and 99 “expendable” ones. Readers may read straight through the regular chapters (ignoring the expendable ones) or follow numbers left at the end of each chapter telling the reader which one to read next (eventually taking her through all but one of the chapters). A reading of the book in that way would lead the reader thus: Chapter 73 – 1 – 2 – 116 – 3 – 84 – 4 – 71 – 5 – 81 – 74 – 6 – 7- 8, and so on. -

If you haven't read it yet, now is your opportunity.  But be prepared to set aside all expectations, take your time, have a glass of wine or two and enjoy.

Laura Esquivel, a mexican author, is most well known for her story, Like Water for Chocolate:






A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation, Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her, so that Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.
Esquivel has a revised edition of The Law of Love coming out May of 2017: 


New York Times bestselling author Laura Esquivel brings readers a tantalizing sensory experience with her wildly inventive novel of a love spanning many lifetimes. It’s the year 2200, and Azucena Martinez is a lonely astroanalyst living in Mexico City. She has finally repaid the karmic debts she accumulated during her previous fourteen thousand lives, and in recognition of her newfound purity of spirit, she will at last be permitted to meet her twin soul, Rodrigo Sanchez. But their perfect union is limited to just one night of bliss, as Rodrigo is framed for murder soon after and banished. As Azucena sets off in search for her lost love, she will trigger a chain of events that puts her in the midst of an intergalactic political uproar.

While you are meandering about the american continents, check out Top 10 Contemporary Mexican Novels,  22 Classic and Contemporary Female Latin Authors to read, as well as  10 Essential Latin American Feminists Writers and  Goodreads list of Latin American Literature

Happy exploring! 


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Sunday, October 23, 2016

BW43: Happy Birthday Robert Bridges



Robert Seymour Bridges
October 23, 1844 - April 23, 1930 


In Autumn Moonlight


In autumn moonlight, when the white air wan 
Is fragrant in the wake of summer hence, 
'Tis sweet to sit entranced, and muse thereon 
In melancholy and godlike indolence: 
When the proud spirit, lull'd by mortal prime 
To fond pretence of immortality, 
Vieweth all moments from the birth of time, 
All things whate'er have been or yet shall be. 
And like the garden, where the year is spent, 
The ruin of old life is full of yearning, 
Mingling poetic rapture of lament 
With flowers and sunshine of spring's sure returning; 
Only in visions of the white air wan 
By godlike fancy seized and dwelt upon. 

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Sunday, October 16, 2016

BW42: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley






I'm going to assume that everyone who has wanted to read Frankenstein has read it by now.  For those who have never wanted to read it, hopefully you won't be miffed by the telling of the story.  Yes, it is full of spoilers.  Who knows, you may be intrigued enough to finally read it. 


Synopsis: "Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders grave yards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her love Percy Shelley near Bryon's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity."


I was surprised by the story because I some preconceived ideas about it from various films I had seen over the years and those were shot all to heck.


The story starts with an Adventurer Robert Wallen, trying to reach the North Pole. He tells the story in letters to his sister, Elizabeth. Out in the middle of the frozen ice lands, they meet up with Dr. Frankenstein who is chasing the monster. Frankenstein takes over the narrative at this point, telling his story and how he came to be there.

He had created a monster. Upon creating this monster and shocking it to life, he became instantly disgusted with it and himself and abandoned it.

"The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and healthy. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep....

I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced it way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eye, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs." pg 58 -59


He leaves the house for a couple days and when he returns is overjoyed that the monster has left. The monster disappears for a period of time only to resurface angry with Frankenstein and kills his brother. Frankenstein knows the monster is responsible, however he is very depressed and travels up into the Alps to escape and sooth his weary spirit. The monster finds him and approaches and asks him to listen and help him. The monster has managed to educate himself quite well.

"Be calm! I entreat you to hear me, before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it. Remember, thou hast made me more powerful that thyself; my height is superior to thine, my joints more supple. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest me. Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection is most due. Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a friend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous." pg 102-103
The monster educated himself while living in a storage shed by a French family's house and spying on them. He managed to get a hold of three books and learned to read. The three books: Milton's Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Parallel lives and Johann von Goeth's Sorrows of Werter. The monster wants Frankenstein to make him a woman, a mate who will keep him company and he promises to disappear forever. After some thought, Frankenstein decides to so. He disappears to a tiny island and in the middle of making the monster's mate, is so overcome with disgust, destroys the mate halfway through. The Monster, who had been keeping tabs on him, kills his best friend, Cherval,  and Frankenstein is put in jail for the murder. When he is acquitted, he returns home to his father and his lady love who is still waiting for him.

Even though the Monster told him he would be there on his wedding night and kill him and despite the fact the good Doctor tells his lady love he has a terrible secret, but can't reveal it to her until they are married, he and Elizabeth get married. Frankenstein sends his new wife off to bed, while he paces the floor in the library, overcome with worry about Frankenstein.

"She left me, and I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house, and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary. But I discovered no trace of him, and was beginning to conjecture that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the execution of his menaces; when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It had come from the room into which Elizabeth had retired. As I heard it, the whole truth rushed into my mind, my arms dropped, the motion of every muscle and fibre was suspended; I could feel the blood trickling in my veins, and tingling in the extremities of my limbs. This state lasted but for an instant; the scream was repeated and I rushed into the room." pg 199


Yes, the monster killed Elizabeth and the chase is on. Dr. Frankenstein chases the monster until we get to the point where the doctor meets up with Robert Walden. He is in ill health and ends up dying. Robert discovers the Monster in the room with Dr. Frankenstein, saying goodbye to his creator. After a long and dramatic discourse over his body, jumps out the window and disappears into the night.

"But soon,' he cried, with sad and solemn enthusiasm, 'I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The list of that conflagration will fade away, my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell.' pg 225

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Sunday, October 9, 2016

BW41: My first Stephen King Novel

My first Stephen King Novel 


I generally steer away from horror novels, same as I do horror movies. Blood and guts slasher movies have never really been my cup of tea. Which is the reason I have steered away from Stephen King for many years. Too much for my very vivid imagination. Until I read Stephen King's On Writing and found myself quite impressed as well as intrigued. I decided to give one of his fiction books a try. I picked one up at the used book store and five minutes into the story changed my mind - too icky. Can't remember the name unfortunately because I took it back for credit. However, when Duma Key came out, I decided to give him another try. I read the back cover, picked a few random pages out in the book, liked what I read and decided to get it. Duma Key wasn't so much a horror story as it was a supernatural, psychological thriller. Totally captured my attention and kept me reading long into the night.







Due to head injuries sustained when a crane backed over Edgar's truck, his temper is out of control. His wife wants a divorce and none of his friends want to be around him - he's too unpredictable and mean. His psychologist suggests he find a quiet place and take up a hobby, find something that he has always wanted to do and do it. Edgar loved to draw when he was young but had given it up. He moves to Duma Key, Florida and takes up painting. Soon his paintings take an eerie turn and he discovers what he paints becomes reality. He is also being visited by ghosts of Elizabeth's past and he must try to figure out what her cryptic statements mean, ones she can't explain as she slips farther and farther from reality.

 I don't want to give away any spoilers, so will leave you with an excerpt from the first page.



"How to Draw a Picture (1) 


Start with a blank surface. It doesn't have to be paper or canvas, but I feel it should be white. We call it white because we need a word, but its true name is nothing. Black is the absence of light, but white is the absence of memory, the color of can't remember.


How do we remember to remember? That's a question I've asked myself often since my time in Duma Key, often in the small hours of the morning, looking up into the absence of light, remembering absent friends. Sometimes in those little hours I think about the horizon. You have to establish the horizon. You have to mark the white. A simple enough act, you might say, but any act that re-makes the world is heroic. Or so I've come to believe.


Imagine a little girl, hardly more than a baby. She fell from a carriage almost ninety years ago, struck her head on a stone and forgot everything. Not just her name; everything! And then she recalled just enough to pick up a pencil and make that first hesitant mark across the white. A horizon line, sure. But also a slot for blackness to pour through.


Still, imagine that small hand lifting the pencil...hesitating...and then marking the white. Imagine the courage of that first effort to re-establish the world by picturing it. I will always love that little girl, in spite of all she has cost me. I must. I have no choice.


Pictures are magic, as you know."




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