A Fine Romance by Susan Branch

Dear Z,

Susan Branch is quite the lady. From her home in Martha’s Vinyard in Massachusetts she writes and watercolors many books, calendars, tea sets, and anything else cat or quaint and homey. I have seen her calendars grace the refrigerator of my mom and my aunt since I was little. A Fine Romance tells of how she met her husband and then of their 25th wedding anniversary trip to the English Countryside.

The entire book is her journal of their time in England for six weeks, staying with friends and in rental cottages. Mrs. Branch recounts us with the extravagant Queen Elizabeth II ship that they crossed the Atlantic on, visiting Beatrix Potter’s (who’s Peter Rabbit features in many of our childhoods) farm which is preserved since her death. They also visited various English gardens, and authors’ homes, including that of Jane Austen.

Mrs. Branch’s anniversary trip also happened to be during Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee Year celebration and watched all the country celebrate. The Union Jack was everywhere, as she illustrates for us readers at home. The book is handwritten with many of her own watercolor illustrations added. She fills her journal with her adventures as well as pictures of where they had gone, and exquisite English home recipes.

It is an adorable little book, perfect to whittle away the afternoon reading. It’s a great gift for anyone one who loves England, to sit and read while drinking tea, and a great addition to any bookshelf, though it might be more appropriate to keep it on a coffee table for all to enjoy at their leisure.

Until the Next Read,

A

From A to Z Books: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Dear Z,

This was a book I have had on my to read shelf for quite a few years now! After all who hasn’t gotten caught up in the magic of Middle Earth since the new Hobbit movies have begun? Again this was a book I had cracked open when I was maybe thirteen and just couldn’t get my nose in it. Bilbo seemed a rather odd creature, after all who says no to an adventure?! However this month when I decided it was time to pick it up once more I found the charm in Hobbits, the delight of dwarves, the mirth of elves, and the nose tickling wit of wizards to be quite to my liking. As I have said previously I am reading both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis over this Holiday season and each time I can’t quite decide which world to fall in love with more, though being in my grandparents house in the mountains of Utah I feel a bit more like I am away in a magical wardrobe.

The Hobbit is the prequel to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy which of course you have heard of unless you’ve had your ears blocked from popular culture for the past two decades. Tolkien is indeed a king of fantasy. He created a world filled with a dark powerful yet alluring magic one just can’t say no too. Even a certain Bilbo Baggins. This young Hobbit goes from a simple Hobbit and a very respectable one at that, thank you very much, into quite the hero! There are many a moment when he saves his twelve dwarf companions from dying or getting into quite the sticky wicket. The character development is a bit shallow for the dwarves but much can be seen in our young Mr. Baggins. For like Gandalf you’ve believed in him since the very beginning.

Now I normally don’t find it necessary to bring forth movie adaptations in these posts but the relationship between the Hobbit book and movie to be quite interesting. Normally when a movie is so strikingly different from a book I am quite put off, however I am finding myself in quite the blunder. I love them both. For it is like hearing a story from two different people. There is a poetic way to Tolkien’s writing that I believe would be extremely hard to capture on film. So I believe the filmmakers must indeed take the story and retell it as if it was their own to begin with. Just as every mother tells their children the same fairy tales with maybe a bit of their twist, but this doesn’t take away from the over all story. It is this type of story that I glean from The Hobbit. The Book and the movie are as different as can be but they tell a story recognizable either way and loved despite the ire that such film making has brought to many a book fan.

Now obviously if you enjoyed The Hobbit movie check out the book, it will tell you the story in a quite a different yet enchanting way. If you’ve ever fallen in love with fantasy this legend must some how make it into your bookshelf. I find reading Tolkien as inevitable to a book worm as Pride and Prejudice or Journey to the Center of the Earth. I feel though now all I can do is beg, please read it and fall in love with the fantasy genre all over again.

Until the Next Read,

A

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From A to Z Books: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Dear Z,

So today I finished the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Magician’s Nephew, by C. S. Lewis. The books aren’t thick and the story moves along at a nice pace all of which makes me wonder why when my mother bought me the Narnia box set I was never truly able to get into them until now. (The same sort of thing happened with Harry Potter, didn’t read it until I was 16). However I can say that the deterrent for the first book may have been that you have to be nearly done before entering Narnia at all. This however is worth it.

C.S. Lewis did not write, nor were the Chronicles of Narnia published in chronological order. This lead to much confusion in the books’ early circulations. Nowadays the books are sold numbered chronologically by event. In The Magician’s Nephew Narnia is literally born. We meet Jadis who is destined to become the White Witch we all know from the famous The Lion Witch and The Wardrobe. It is a very interesting thing to read The Magician’s Nephew with a bit of foresight involved. Little connections to things we all know and love about Narnia can be made every few pages.

So if for some reason like me you did not read the Chronicles of Narnia as a child I thoroughly suggest doing so now. They are simple reads, but the magic in them is fully captivating. Not to mention C.S. Lewis is right up there with Tolkien as a father of the fantasy genre. If you enjoyed the movies produced by Disney for Narnia and want the back story of talking animals, how Narnia was born, the first King and Queen, who exactly is the White Witch, and the creation of the Wardrobe then please do pick up The Magician’s Nephew. And if that isn’t reason enough to pick it up do so simply to feel the childlike wonder of believing in magic again. Not a bad feeling to have during the Holiday Season!

Happy Holidays (6 days until Christmas!)

Until The Next Read,

A

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From A to Z: Catching Fire (Hunger Games Trilogy Book #2)

Dear Z,

So I just finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second in the Hunger Games Trilogy. Good thing too since the movie comes out tomorrow. I know, I know I’m late on my game. I first read Hunger Games as a sophomore in high school, I don’t know why I didn’t get to Catching Fire right away, but hey I did get to it at least. And trust me I can barely not dive into Mocking Jay at his very moment.

Catching Fire I found to be very good. Katniss continues life as a victor of the Hunger Games with Peeta. Her personal and public life however is of course destined to be more complex than that. She ends up back in the games. She’s the Girl on Fire though, the Mocking Jay, a symbol to the people conducting uprisings happening everywhere.

There are so many twists and turns in this installment of the trilogy, and as a major Peeta x Katniss shipper I was very happy with it. So many important and therefore interesting parts of this novel are also huge spoilers and since this is such a popular series I would feel guilty leaking too much of the plot. Just know that if you want to learn more about who Katniss is as a person not as a survivor or as a tribute then that is what is gained in Catching Fire. That and a growing will of an oppressed people. I’ve been told that the last book is very disappointing and I do personally know spoilers for the ending however in light of just finishing this book and knowing Katniss as I do now, her true character, I don’t think I’ll hate it. I think it will be realistic. Well I’ll let you know more on that subject once I’ve read it and then maybe I’ll let a few spoilers leak. But for now everyone go watch the movie! I plan to this weekend. Tell me what you thought in comparison to the book. I thought the first movie did a marvelous job so I cannot wait. Till the next novel!

-A

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