Spooky Stories With Spark

A small book, The Ghost Stories of Muriel Spark has eight short stories of the paranormal and supernatural. Some were much better than others and there were only a couple that I really liked.

The Girl I Left Behind Me is the one that I believe I have read before. It's a fantastic ghost story. It's very short so I can't really give any summary without giving anything away. It felt like something that could be retold around a campfire. I think this was my favorite of the bunch.

I almost liked The House of the Famous Poet but it was a little vague in some parts and I couldn't be totally sure of some of the things that happened. It is set during WWII in London.

Another Pair of Hands is a ghost story without any scare to it. I liked it as a short story but not as a ghost story. There's just nothing spooky about a maid whose work improves thanks to some help from the dead cook. The same with the story The Executor.

The final story was The Portobello Road which was the longest story and the most haunting. It was the most well-formed story with the strongest characters. It's the story of how the relationships of a small group of friends change over time.

This was my first short story anthology for the R.I.P. IV Challenge. I was a bit disappointed that these were not all stories about ghosts when they were billed as thus. The ones about ghosts were better than the ones not. I know that I have more scary stories ahead from Joe Hill but there's still something about these older stories and their subtlety. It's kind of like the difference between classic horror movies and those today.

With a few goosebumps,
K


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For the Love of Green Knowe

I just finished reading the sixth book in L.M. Boston's Green Knowe series last night. She started writing the books in 1955 (at the age of 62) and the final one came out in 1976. I read them all in just under three months and was fascinated by this series where nothing remains the same except the sturdy old stones of Green Knowe.

The first book, The Children of Green Knowe, introduces us to the stone house which dates from Norman times. Though it has had many names over the years, it has always come back to being called Green Knowe. The book starts with a young boy named Toseland who is coming to live with his Great-Grandmother Oldknow. He has lost his mother and his father has remarried and moved to the East so he is feeling a bit alone. But although there are only two living people in the home, it is alive with the spirits of those who have come before. The "ghosts" that Tolly befriends are three children -- Toby, Alexander and Linnet -- from the 1800s who have left behind some of their treasures in the home. They are shy at first but eventually become Tolly's playmates as he learns to accept them.

This was a delightful book that I would have loved as a child. There was nothing I would have wanted more than to live in an old house with friendly ghosts and hidden treasures. And I loved that the children from the past were actually Tolly's ancestors so that there was even a sort of love between them all. Mrs. Oldknow was also a lovely character -- the kind of grandmother who wants you to go exploring but then always has a warm drink and a snack ready right when you come back. Her connection with Green Knowe and with the family history are based in love and it's obvious that she wants Tolly to continue the tradition.

The second book also featured Tolly and was a look back into another period in Green Knowe's history. The Treasure of Green Knowe introduces Tolly to Susan, a young blind girl who lived about 150 years before the other three children. Her father was a sea captain and he brought a young freed slave back with him to help his daughter out from under the suffocating care of her mother and grandmother. In this story, Tolly actually travels back in time when he must help someone in need. The past and the future become one and Tolly learns even more about the home and finds a hidden treasure that helps Mrs. Oldknow remain in the home. Though I didn't love this book as much as the first, it was still a very good read and a good continuation of the story.

The next two stories, The River at Green Knowe and A Stranger at Green Knowe, happen at times when Tolly is away from the house. In the first of these, Mrs. Oldknow has let the house to an archaeologist/historian named Sybilla Bun. She invites her niece Ida to the house for the summer and also two refugee children, Oskar and Hsu, whom they call Ping. The kids are basically left on their own to explore and they spend the summer getting to know the area around the house and down the river. This was the most boring of all the books as there wasn't much of a plot -- just the summer meanderings of some children. They had small adventures and experienced the magic of Green Knowe but there just wasn't the same sweetness that the stories with Tolly have.

The other story is set in the following summer when Mrs. Oldknow is back in the house. Oskar had been adopted and Ida is busy with her family but she feels badly for Ping who is still in the orphans' camp so she writes to Mrs. Oldknow to ask if Ping can visit. Since Tolly is away in the East for a visit with his father, Mrs. Oldknow agrees and invites Ping for the summer. Right before Ping heads to the country, he goes on a field trip to the zoo and is fascinated by the gorilla, Hanno. Coincidentally, Hanno escapes and ends up in Green Knowe where Ping keeps him a secret. This of course was a silly set-up but the story was sweet as Ping's status as a refugee is compared to the story of Hanno's capture in the wild. I thought this one was okay and Ping was a good character but most of what I enjoyed were the chapters about Hanno's family in the wild. I'm surprised that Boston had such a well-informed picture of the gorilla family structure and behaviors a full ten years before Dian Fossey first published her research in National Geographic and gained visibility for these gentle giants.

The fifth book, An Enemy at Green Knowe has Tolly back at Green Knowe but also Ping as Mrs. Oldknow adopted him at the end of the previous summer. They are starting to enjoy getting to know each other when a strange "researcher", Melanie Powers, moves in next door and asks if she can search the house for some possible manuscripts left by the alchemist Dr. Vogel who lived in the house as a tutor hundreds of years earlier. It is obvious from the start that Ms. Powers is not who she claims to be and that she is also up to no good. Tolly, Ping and Mrs. Oldknow do everything in their power to thwart her and eventually come up against some pretty evil stuff. This story was a bit of a shocker with all of its Satanic and witchcraft references and plagues and such. This would never make it past the hyper-vigilant parents of today. Ms. Powers makes Voldemort seem a bit milque-toast!

The final book was one of my favorites in the series, The Stones of Green Knowe. This is the story of Roger, the child who lived when Green Knowe was being built in around 1050 A.D. He unearths some ancient and magical stone chairs hidden in the trees on a hill and finds that they give him the power to travel through time for brief periods. His greatest concern is that Green Knowe survives and so he travels forward in time to see if the house is still standing. He manages to find almost all of the children we have met before -- Alexander, Linnet and Toby, Susan and Jacob and finally, Tolly. This story had a satisfying sense of closure and was sweet in the way it brought all of the children together.

This was a strange "series" with each book having an entirely different focus and tempo. From exploration and ghosts to witches and time travel, this series has something for almost every child. I didn't feel that anything was too dated in the stories because they are really about emotions and relationships and imagination. This was a fantastic find and I thank those bloggers who brought this series to my attention.

Dreaming of ancient stones that feel like home,
K


Support our site and buy The Children of Green Knowe, Treasure of Green Knowe, The River at Green Knowe, A Stranger at Green Knowe, An Enemy at Green Knowe and The Stones of Green Knowe on Amazon or find them at your local library.

"The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth all the effort."

As the second book in the Discworld series, The Light Fantastic continues the story of the wizard Rincewind and the tourist Twoflower. This is also the second book that I've read and I think that Terry Pratchett did even better with this novel than with the first. It had more of an overall purpose and really did a good job of expanding on the characters introduced in the first story.

In this story, we pick up with Rincewind as he is falling off the edge of the Discworld and Twoflower is leaving in a bronze spacecraft. Suddenly, a magical shift happens and both of these men are returned to the land. They meet back up and find that they are being tracked. They journey through the land, meeting new friends and avoiding capture -- all while trying to figure out what part they have in saving the Discworld from the large red star that is heading their way.

I really enjoyed the development of the Rincewind character in this book. There are a few more books that feature him so I will definitely continue on his track. Right now, though, I think I might start a new line -- either the Witches series (Equal Rites) or the Death series (Mort). Death is a hilarious side character in these first two books and I would love to see what Pratchett does with him as a main character.

Exploring this web of a series,
K


Support our site and buy The Light Fantastic on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Banned Books Week or My High School Reading List

Celebrate Banned Books Week (Sept. 26 through Oct. 3) with a racy read!

Why not try The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Apparently there's some foul language in there. I dare you to find it before you fall asleep while wading through another tedious "dustbowl" passage.

Or break your teeth on William Golding's Lord of the Flies. We are supposed to skip it "because the book is 'demoralizing inasmuch as it implies that man is little more than an animal'." It doesn't matter that this exact sort of human behavior has been proven in sociological experiments, eh?

If you have time for a chunkster, grab a copy of Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Strangely, it's not the portrayal of slaves as mentally slow and happily subservient that got it banned but the use of the "n" word. Which is more harmful -- ideas or words?

Want to delve into the world of politics? Try All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. Grab a copy before it gets labeled a "top secret" strategy guide for corrupt politicians.

Looking for something satanic? Try J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series or J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Satanic without any mention of Satan ... hmm.

Or for fun, grab anything from Kurt Vonnegut, D. H. Lawrence or Ernest Hemingway. There's a good chance that it was challenged or banned.

These are just a few of the banned books and authors that I have read over the years. I didn't love all of them but I survived the encounters without becoming a Satan-worshipping, foul-mouthed degenerate. Go figure.

Hoping someone will challenge more good books that need exposure,
K

Poe Fridays: The Premature Burial

This week's Poe Fridays short story is the paranoia-inducing The Premature Burial. You can read it here.

The first half of the story gives supposedly real examples of people that have been buried alive. Some made it out safely and some didn't. The second half is the narrator's own story of how he suffered from catalepsy, a condition that mimicked death, and was in constant fear of premature burial by someone who didn't know of the condition. Apparently, this was a common fear at the time this story was written.

To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality. That it has frequently, very frequently, so fallen will scarcely be denied by those who think.

I thought this was a bit of an exaggeration but apparently there were hundreds of such cases and there was a Victorian Society for the Prevention of People Being Buried Alive. This is also the era when they were fitting coffins with safety devices such as bells that the buried person could ring if they were indeed still alive.

I can only assume that this was a real fear for Poe as he wrote about it more than once. Yet in this story the narrator overcomes the fear after an incident where he believes he has been interred prematurely. Poe gives the opinion that the fear of death is crippling and that life is better lived without that fear. I doubt he ever lost his own fear of death though.

For next week, I've chosen the poem The Haunted Palace.

Admitting to a fear of small spaces, especially ones under dirt,
K

"Unrepaired and swollen with rain, the gate in the orchard wall refused to move ..."

I wanted to love Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott. It has so many elements that I enjoy in a historically based mystery and the research was thorough. Yet, one simple thing derailed my enjoyment of this book -- the voice and perspective the author chose to use.

Ghostwalk begins with the discovery of a body -- that of a historian, Elizabeth, who was working on a groundbreaking biography of the revered Sir Isaac Newton and his involvement with alchemy and possibly with murder. Her son Cameron discovers her body and also her nearly finished manuscript. He contacts his ex-mistress, Lydia, and tells her that his mother wanted her to finish the book. He offers to hire her as a ghostwriter. Lydia accepts and moves into the small cottage where Elizabeth worked and lived. Almost immediately, strange things begin happening to the manuscript and to Lydia. Her only chance at finishing what she promised to do is to find out what Elizabeth discovered and to pacify the ghosts of the past.

This was an interesting premise and like many recent fictions with historical backgrounds, the past scenes ring true. However, the present in this book seemed less tangible due to the choice of having Lydia as a first person narrator, writing a disjointed account of the matter to the obviously dead Cameron. With phrases such as "we didn't know that then" and "I didn't think anything of it then" sprinkled liberally through the novel, the foreshadowing is very heavy handed and frequent. This was a first novel and I think that I would still read Stott's next book because she had an interesting premise here and because she wouldn't be able to use the same point of view again. Her research was interesting and of course I loved the Cambridge setting.

This was another read for the R.I.P. IV Challenge. I wish I had read more outstanding books for this so far but I'm also saving some of the ones I hope I will love for October. It feels a bit strange to be writing up this review at the end of an eighty-seven degree day full of sunshine and summer smells. I hope the Seattle weather decides to return to provide me with some grey days soon -- preferably with a menacing atmosphere.

Working through a season of ghosts,
K


Support our site and buy Ghostwalk on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Variety is the Spice of Picture Books

A relatively new author/illustrator for Z and me is Dan Yaccarino. His style of illustration is very unique with simple lines but an incredible use of color. But the thing that we love most about his work so far is the fantastic variety of topics he writes about.

The first Yaccarino book that we brought home was The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau in April. This was an Easter basket present for Z that was a little bit selfish because I love Cousteau! It's a biographical picture book about overcoming adversity and using the opportunities that one is given. Jacques Cousteau was a sickly child who was encouraged to swim but his own curiosity led him to look beneath the water. When he was severely injured in a car accident, he again turned to swimming to restore his health and strength. From there, he began mixing his love of gadgets with his love of the ocean and invented things like the Aqua-Lung and the underwater camera housing. He became the world's most well-known ocean scientist and shared his experiences with the world through film. The book has beautiful flowing lines and a non-standard picture book color palette. It also has something I rarely see in a picture book - a list of books for further study. But some of my favorite things in the book are the quotes from Cousteau sprinkled liberally throughout the book.


"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

"When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself."

The next Yaccarino book that we discovered came from the library about a month ago -- Every Friday. This is about a boy and his dad who make a special trip every Friday. It's based on Yaccarino's New York City tradition with his own son. Every Friday morning, a boy and his father set out on a leisurely walk to the local diner for a father-son breakfast. They use this special time to talk and bond. This book is incredibly sweet and simple but with a very important message about parents taking one-on-one time with their children. Z loved it -- and not just because the waitress says "Let me guess ... Pancakes, right?" We (Mom, Dad and Z) head to our local cafe almost every weekend and Z's standard (and only) order is strawberry pancakes!


This book was an Oprah's Book Club Pick and made it to the New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Children's Books for 2007 list.

The final book that we brought home was one that I noticed at Half Price Books when I was looking for something different for Z. This is New Pet from Yaccarino's Blast Off Boy and Blorp series. These are higher Early Reader level books and there are three in the series so far -- this is the second one. It's has the unique concept of a student exchange between Earth and planet Meep, drawn in retro 1950's sci-fi style. Blast Off Boy is missing his dog but fortunately(?) his exchange family brings him "a giant, slobbering green monster", a pet schloppo named Twinkles. He's a bit overwhelmed by this strange pet. Meanwhile, back on Earth ... Blorp tries to make friends with the Smith family dog but Scooter is scared of the alien child and so Blorp adopts a stray hippopotamus instead. Both boys learn about choosing the right pet but also about making do with the one that chooses you. Z of course likes the fun alien drawings and the fact that none of these pets are cats.



If after these tempting images, you still have trouble convincing your child to try a Yaccarino book, you can let them know that he is also involved with two popular children's television series, Oswald (creator and producer) and one of Z's favorites, The Backyardigans (character designer).

Enjoying this illustrator for all seasons,
K and Z

Support our site and buy The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, Every Friday and New Pet (Blast Off Boy and Blorp) on Amazon or find them at your local library.

"The guard at Exeter warned him he would have to change at Dulverton ..."

To Serve Them All My Days, my second experience with R.F. Delderfield, was a mixed but pleasant one. The story and the setting were quite enjoyable but in reading two of his books so closely together, I also noticed his non-favorable portrayals of most women.

During World War I, Welshman David Powlett-Jones is injured and shell-shocked and has returned to England to recover. He has an unconventional doctor who decides that the best cure for "P.J." is to be immersed in a quiet, self-contained community with a strong sense of usefulness and responsibility. There is an opening for a history master at Bamfylde School, a small public school in Devon, and though he has no experience teaching and no degree, the headmaster Algy Herries sees something in young David that qualifies him for the position. Through the years, P.J. faces many trials and hurdles but finds that Bamfylde is in fact his salvation and his cure.

I feel that this book is foremost an ode to public schools. Bamfylde was modeled on West Buckland School which Delderfield attended for a few years after spending time in a string of poorer schools. It's obvious that he cherished his time at the school and that he strongly believed that these institutions, when properly run, could instill young men with character and integrity, qualities important to the future of England. To this end, Delderfield populated his novel with many beloved characters such as Headmaster Algy Herries and Powlett-Jones. Those dissonants who value test scores more than community never truly become a part of the Bamfylde family and they are removed from the story in many different ways.

Though Delderfield gives insight and intelligence to many of his male characters, he is not as generous with some of the female characters. I noticed the same shortcomings in God is An Englishman. In both of these books, the strongest female characters willingly give up their positions in business and politics to have families and seem somewhat satisfied to have the burden of thought and responsibility taken from their shoulders. They also tend to be overly willing to physically satisfy the protagonists with no expectations of commitment -- in other words, these ladies are cool with one-night stands. One character in this book is somewhat redeemed by receiving a position of authority at Bamfylde but instead of holding the opinion that this gives her a chance to exercise her mental faculties and use her education, she is said to love the job because of her connection with the children. She is praised for her intuition and kindness but only rarely for her brains. I know that this is a view that would be more acceptable in the early twentieth century but the novel was written in 1972 and could have been a bit more generous toward women.

The second purpose of this story is a criticism of Britain's political and diplomatic decisions between WWI and WWII. The political portion of the story is less prominent but it is obvious that Delderfield felt that Britain made poor choices after World War I and missed opportunities to prevent the disaster of World War II. He seems to feel that there were certain lessons that should have been learned from historical events even before the first World War. Knowing very little about the options open to England during these twenty years, I can't say if Delderfield's views are universal or if they belong to a certain political persuasion.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is a well-formed story of one man's recovery and rebirth through the traditions of England. I really fell in love with David Powlett-Jones, cheering his successes and mourning his losses. The novel was occasionally confusing with the scores of nicknamed youths that passed through Bamfylde but Delderfield does a good job of reminding the reader of the previous role that each boy had in the story. Delderfield's love of the boys and the teachers is contagious and provides a touching tribute to this time in British history.

Out of curiosity, has anyone seen the BBC's To Serve Them All My Days miniseries from 1980? I'm deciding whether to watch it or not.

Ever more an Anglophile,
K


Support our site and buy To Serve Them All My Days on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"Even now, I can remember the first time I saw the house as clearly as if there were a video of it playing in my head."

I'm not sure where I heard of Lucie Whitehouse's The House at Midnight but it was familiar and when the book was available to me, I grabbed it. It promised some suspense and twists and turns and I needed something lighter and modern to read. I've been spending too much time in dreary Victorian England lately!

This novel is set in London and the English countryside. It focuses on a set of friends, a few years out of Oxford. Some have careers and others are still finding their way in life. When Lucas' beloved uncle commits suicide, he inherits Stoneborough Manor and eventually invites everyone out for a group reunion. The narrator is Joanna, a struggling journalist and Lucas' best friend. There's also a drug and alcohol fueled ad executive, a feminist social worker, a gay businessman and a fashion designer and her recent boyfriend. This is a hodge-podge group of people that never seemed to grow up and each time they gather, relationships become complicated, secrets are formed and throughout the book everything escalates to a far-fetched point.

I have to say that I wasn't in love with this book. None of the characters are really sympathetic and they all seem far too unsettled and flighty for near-thirty year olds with Oxford educations. Also, the tension keeps building and yet the climaxes (except the final one) are rather tame and dull. One big reveal was obvious quite a while before it happened. The final and most irritating thing was the fact that there was no true end to the story and we were left without closure in the middle of a pretty dramatic event. I didn't dislike this book but it wasn't all I had hoped it would be or perhaps just was led to believe it would be.

I read this at this time as an R.I.P. IV Challenge read. However, now that it's done, I'm not sure it should count. Everything that it promised-- a haunted house, ghosts of the past, etc. --were actually symbolic. There was murder and some "haunted pasts" and unsettled feelings but nothing really juicy. I thought I was getting a house with evil influence but all I ended up with were a bunch of immature, privileged brats who dug their own graves.

Moving on to more haunting homes,
K


Support our site and buy The House at Midnight on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Roald Dahl 2009 Shortlist

As this might be my favorite award ever and it's in its second year, I wanted to make sure and bring to your attention the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2009 Shortlist. The purposes of this award are to

> promote laughter and humour as a feel-good factor when reading, by encouraging families to read together and discover the pleasure of humorous (funny) books. This in turn will reinforce the message that reading together promotes family well-being.

> draw attention to funny books as readable and enjoyable books. We hope that the prize will enable these books to gain a profile that makes them more accessible to children and young people. The prize will work to achieve this through a range of activities supported by libraries, teachers and parents.

> reward and encourage authors (and illustrators) who write and illustrate books using humour in their stories, poetry and fiction. By creating these awards we hope to promote a vibrant area of publishing often overlooked by other awards.

The shortlists are for "funniest book for children aged six and under" and "funniest book for children aged seven to fourteen".

Go take a look at the lists and find your child or grandchild (or secretly yourself) a new and very funny kid book! I like shortlists because there's more chance to find the right book for you or your family.

And don't forget that you still have a week and a half left to celebrate! September is Roald Dahl Month. Head to the website for activity sheets and more to celebrate the gift of humor that Dahl gave to all of the world's young readers.

Looking for a good childish laugh,
K

BBAW Giveaway Winner

Thank you all for entering our BBAW giveaway. We wish we had a big fat inheritance and could gift this to each one of you! We put everyone's names into a spreadsheet, sorted them alphabetically (because we're crazy) and Random.org chose our winner. So, without further ado ...

Congratulations to the winner of the $25 (USD) gift card at the online bookseller of her choice ...

Lizzy Siddal of Lizzy's Literary Life

We will contact her by email and we wish you all the best of luck with any other giveaways you may have entered. We hope you've had a great week and that you will stick with our blog. We have a lot of fun with it!

Slappin' 'em down,
K and Z

BBAW: Blog Goals

Wow! This has been an action-packed week what with reading a plethora of posts and interviews, entering a few contests and discovering a ridiculous number of new-to-me blogs. I was a blogger newbie last year and was too nervous to participate at all except for entering a couple of contests. This year I feel comfortable being a part of this great event. I didn't mention it earlier but I was nominated in a couple of award categories -- Best New Blog, Best Kidlit Blog and Best Writing -- and I really, truly appreciate those that thought enough of We Be Reading to nominate us. I think that Book Blogger Appreciation Week is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the diversity in the book blogging community and I look forward to its continuing growth and evolution.

Without further rambling, here's the final writing topic.

Write in 50 words or less … what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?

In a few more than fifty words ...

What I like the most about our blog is the wide variety of books that we present. I hope that there's something here for almost everyone -- a one-stop shop, so to speak. I will keep going with the same broad focus and hopefully be able to add more actual participation from Z as he gets a bit older and more thoughtful about what he reads. I also want to keep participating in the community -- meeting local bloggers and maybe some non-local ones. I would also love to start attending more author events. It's not always the easiest with a youngster but I'm sure I can figure it out! And really I just want to keep this blogging thing mellow and not stress about it. Is that a plan or what?

Thank you to all of our regular followers and all of the new ones and also to all of the writers of the blogs I follow. You all make my book world a more well-rounded place!

Sharing our love of books with all who will listen,
K and Z


Notice!! It's the last day to enter our BBAW giveaway for a $25 gift card! Get your entry in before midnight Pacific.

BBAW: Book From Another Blog

I'm loving Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Today's writing topic is this --

Today we encourage you to blog about a book you read only because you discovered it on another book blog. Preferably, this will be a book you loved! You might also write a bit about the blog you discovered it on!

I am actually reading an entire series of children's books that I had never heard of before I read about them on book blogs ... the Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston. There are six books, written in the 1950s and 1960s, and I am going to start the last one soon. They are all very different but good in their own ways. The first is definitely the best though.

Eva at A Striped Armchair checked out the fourth, fifth and sixth books in February and read them for the first time in March.

Jenny of Shelf Love wrote about the first book, The Children of Green Knowe, in April.

I will be blogging about the entire series when I finish it but the first book was one of those ones that I wished I had known about when I was a kid. I would have loved it! It's a ghost story with no scare to it. I loved books like that and always hoped to have my own benevolent ghost in the house but I guess they rarely show up in 1970s apartments.

Back to the Knowe,
K