The Land of Laughs

After I read and loved The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll in January, Chris said I had to read The Land of Laughs next because it is his favorite Carroll. It took me a couple of months to buy it and a couple more to get to reading it (I finished it at the end of August) and now it's taken me a couple of months to get around to reviewing it. Normally this would be an issue because I have a very short book memory but not in this case because I literally haven't stopped thinking about it since the summer.

faux cover by Charles Vess

The Land of Laughs is a children's book by author Marshall France and it is Thomas Abbey's favorite book. Abbey, son of a movie star, is obsessed with the late France and his books and eventually decides to visit France's hometown of Galen, Missouri where his daughter still lives in order to research a biography he would like to write about France. What he finds in Galen boggles the mind and blurs the lines between fiction and reality.

It has been three months since I finished this book but I can't stop thinking about it and I already want to read it again. I can't explain exactly why I loved this book so much because it's really rather strange and sometimes violent and disturbing and the relationships are very dysfunctional and it's about books that I can never read. But it's also about the magic that is in the best stories and what would happen if that magic escaped and took form and that's pretty awesome if frightening.

Now that I've read Carroll's first and last (for now) books, I have to figure out which of his middle books to explore. Neil Gaiman recommends all of them so I guess I'll just grab whichever one I see next! I have a feeling that I'll love it.

Drawing out the goodbye,
K

Joining Up: #amonthoffaves

As I have had something of a problem with consistent blogging lately, it seemed like a good idea to join a couple of community events to restore my enthusiasm. December, A Month of Favorites will be the perfect way to share the highlights of my reading year, keep me posting, and, BONUS!, there's a chance to win a book (never a bad thing).

All December-long, Estella's Revenge, Girlxoxo, and Traveling with T will be sharing our fave bookish (and sometimes non-bookish) experiences from throughout the year AND we want YOU to join us! The schedule of topics is posted below – in some cases, we’ll be joining with other bloggers' events – and other times, one of us will be hosting a link-up. Plus, there will be 3 GIVEAWAY WINNERS for a book of your choice from Book Depository. Every time you post on one of the topics below, and join the Linky on one of our 3 blogs – you’ll be entered to WIN!
Hashtag: #amonthoffaves

So stay tuned for favorite book covers, new-to-me authors, winter reads, and more! This will be more fun as more people participate so if this sounds interesting, head over and get the weekly prompts.

Happy dancing for December,
K

Joining Up: #ThankfullyReading

I asked on Twitter today if anyone was hosting a day-after-Thanksgiving readathon because I have some books I want to get to before the December holiday season and luckily my need was fulfilled by Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves. She is hosting the Thankfully Reading Weekend from Thursday through Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.

There are no rules to the weekend, we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for the year. We thought it’d be fun if we cheered each other on a bit.

First, I want to read all of these beautiful little Penguin Christmas Classics to get me in the mood -- A Merry Christmas & Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott, The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and Christmas at Thompson Hall & Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope. I got these for review from and I definitely want to share them in a timely manner. I also want to start my next 100 Chapter Books Project read -- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I picked up this lovely Penguin Clothbound version used from Powell's (who would give one of these up willingly?!) and also downloaded the audiobook version from the library to listen to while I make brunch on Thanksgiving. And, finally, I want to read Advent by James Treadwell, which I received for review last year and just haven't gotten to yet.

I'll read a little and listen to the audiobook on Thanksgiving and then read when I can the rest of the weekend. We are just celebrating the holiday with our little three-person family and I don't do Black Friday shopping so it's a great time for me to get through these books.

If you would like to join in during any of the weekend, just head over to the event page and sign up!

Thankful for other readers,
K

A Little Update

Due to unforeseen circumstances/life/general malaise, I took yet another unanticipated blogging break. Just a common sentence in the story of my blogging life. But fear not, all is well with us. I think the time change and the severe temperature drop conspired to make me logy and lazy. I've been reading though and pretty soon I will tell you about --

Green Angel and Green Witch

Morrissey's Autobiography

The Land of Laughs

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Right now, though, I'm reading The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove. I saw lots of praise for this first-in-a-trilogy about time shifts in the world that leaves different regions in different historical eras. There is travel and exploration again in the world (1891 in the New England-ish region) as everything needs to be remapped and new histories correlated. It wasn't quite working for me but then I hit this passage, a discussion right after the parliament of New Occident voted to close their border to people from bordering regions and to deport those already there --

"This is what I don't understand,' the housekeeper said. "Surely people in New Occident see that almost everyone here was once from somewhere else --everyone has a foreigner in their past."
"Yes, but what we have seen today," Shadrack replied, "is what happens when fear overwhelms reason. The decision is illogical. It makes no sense to deport some of our finest laborers, merchants, and tradespeople, not to mention mothers, fathers, and friends. They will live to regret it."

This was so ridiculously topical right now that my interest is again piqued and I'll keep reading.

Back to blog another day,
K

Witch Week Guest Post

I'm at Emerald City Book Review today, talking about Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones. Come on over and comment (and enter the Witch Week giveaway)!

Here's the schedule for the week:

Oct 31, Ana of Things Mean a Lot with Fire and Hemlock
Nov 1, me with Power of Three
Nov 2, Jenny of Reading the End with Howl's Moving Castle
Nov 3, Cheryl of Tales of the Marvelous with The Spellcoats
Nov 4, Chris of Calmgrove with Deep Secret
Nov 5, Lory with Witch Week

By the elements,
K