Top Ten Best Books to Read Round Halloween!

Top 10 Tuesday by The Broke and the Bookish-top 10 books to read for Halloween! (For those of us who aren’t into horror!)

 

1. Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

-Mysterious sightings of a woman in green believed to be the queen of the fairies, creepy goings-on round the keep…and minstrel songs of fey folk sacrificing Tam Lin on Hallow’s Eve.  “But the night is Halloween, lady,
The morn is Hallowday,
Then win me, win me, if ye will,
For well I think ye may.”

 

2. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart

-I once described this book as the modern negative (in terms of what’s dark is light and vice versa) of Jane Eyre, and I still think it’s an apt description.

 

3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

-Demons named the Archbishop of Canterbury and other titles!  The Dance of the Macabre!  Magical ghosts!  What more do you want?

 

4. Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennet  (Minikin Snickasnee really should have been in my list of favorite names!)

-It’s not easy being a wicked witch’s daughter.  It’s also not so easy dealing with the host of magical creatures on call through her magical powders…or going to school.

 

5. The Magic Thief by Sarah Prinneas (Crows!)

-This breaks from the exact Halloween tradition a bit, but crows!  And magic!  And mystery!

 

6. Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones

-Having to dress up like the dark lord or a wizardly guide can be irritating.  Having to do it for different groups all tourist season can be murder!

 

7. Chronicles of Chrestomanci v. 2: Witch Week and Witches of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones

-Witches, witches everywhere, with everyday horrors rubbing shoulders with magical happenings, flying statues, and of course-cats who run the household.

 

8. Hexes, Inc. by Vivian Vande Velde

-A collection of stories all about people who try ordering hexes from the company.  Naturally, everything ends well…*scoff*

 

9. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard

-Death and murder everywhere converge in two confused, comical performers.

 

10. I don’t care if it’s cheating-http://shoebox.lomara.org/ by ladyjaida and Rave.

-Wizarding ghost stories, Dumbledore pranks, and Marauders, oh my!

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Similar Posts:

https://wheresmytower.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/top-ten-literary-character-names/

–-https://wheresmytower.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/top-ten-favorite-secondary-characters/

Top 10 Books I was forced to read:

This is a meme from The Broke and the Bookish: http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/

I no particular order, these are books I was assigned to read in school and that I loved.

 

 

1. Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llewelyn (undergrad)

-This tale of Brian Boru is both accurate enough that I could read it for an Irish history course, and so moving and glorious that I often reread parts.

2. Idylls of the King by Sir Alfred Tennyson (high school)

-I love Arthurian lore and am a fan of Tennyson’s verse.

3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (high school)

-This not only captured my attention for witty and romantic reasons, but was often read aloud in excerpts during class.  (Mr. Collins’ proposal was coerced out of my future fiance when he fell asleep and dropped out of his desk in class.  Although I had no interest in him at the time, I do treasure that memory now.)

4. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (undergrad)

-Again-I adore Arthurian lore, and this legend in particular has a special place in my imagination as mixing decapitation and romance so colorfully.

5. Candide by Voltaire (undergrad)

-We don’t know what you’re doing with your monks, indeed!

6. Canterbury Tales by Chaucer (high school and undergrad)

-Ah, elegance, raunchiness, and insults wrapped up with a sarcastically pious bow.  Who can resist that present?

7. Caucasia by Danzy Senna (graduate school)

-This novel really hits on so many racial and coming-of-age notes, it’s remarkable.  Plus, it’s secretly a version of “The Juniper Tree.”

8. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (high school)

-*begins to eat muffins*

9. King Lear by Shakespeare (high school)

-This is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy.  Have you READ the jester’s insults?  They are his absolute best, which is saying a lot.  Plus, fake madness.  I love a good fake madness, and in here it beats Hamlet’s.

10. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (high school)

-Now, if we came from back there, and it is morning, than the sun would be over there.  And if the sun is really over there, then…it’s the afternoon.

 

Any thoughts, additions, or objections?

China grounds world’s first CAKE DRONES

China grounds world’s first CAKE DRONES over fears they might fall on someone’s head as novelty delivery service goes from sweet to sour | Mail Online.

“The Incake bakery recently purchased three mini-drones and used them to carry its products  from its main branch to customers on the outskirts of the city.

Measuring three-and-a-half feet wide and weighing 22lb, the remote-controlled drones also were mounted with twin cameras to identify customers. 

However, despite its apparent success, Incakes fleet has now been suspended following concerns by the local civil aviation authority.

Officials said all unmanned aircraft need approval before they can be used for business.

Incake said its service will be suspended until it gets the relevant permits.

Incake describes itself as a high-class modern bakery. Orders for its £200 cakes can only be taken online.

The bakery claims its selection of cakes are devised by a ‘British top-class cake master’, called ‘Mr Vincent’.”

 

I don’t think this really needs anything added.  Cake drones!  Possible cakeshops as spy front!  a “cake master” called Mr. Vincent who may also be planning world domination!  Possible death-by-cake!  THE CAKE-DRONES ARE A LIE.

Vlad the Impaler’s Just Desserts

Lately, in honor of a birthday wish, my friends and I decided to celebrate Vlad the Impaler: inspiration for Dracula, terrible warlord, motto: “To the PAIN!–AND DEATH!”  

Now, most people take these images and honor him by creating things along the lines of:

My friends and I chose a different direction:

Note the peaked red cap!  The bloodied face!  The bodies on spikes!  The battlefield dirt and decomposing flesh!

This is our design.

…And it was delicious.

Yes, That’s a Giant Colin Firth Floating in the Serpentine || Jaunted

 

Yes, That’s a Giant Colin Firth Floating in the Serpentine || Jaunted.

 

This is just beautiful.  THIS is how you do a proper Christmas in July!!

Mark Twain on Plutarch

Mark Twain’s annotations.

Classic Books Annotated by Famous Authors – Flavorwire.

Arrested Development 4×11, “A New Attitude”

Attested Development: And listen to the sound…of SPOILERS.

This is the best episode this season.  This is what I expect of Arrested Development: the most messed up friendship beginning ever.  Also, Sally’s sly instead of perfect!  Ann’s conniving instead of egging!  Gob both makes progress, yet screws things up awfully!  Tony Wonder matches him wonderfully.  This episode is awesome.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

1. Okay, what is that stuffed animal in the corner of Tony’s place?  A bear?  If so, why is it so short?

2. George Michael really doesn’t have that much cause to complain here.  After all, this time Gob just kissed him, instead of getting to third base like last time they hung out.

3. I’m assuming Tony’s fake chin-hair is composed of lucky rabbits’ feet.  That might come off as he’s eating a frozen treat sometime and he can accost the sellers of said treat with the fact that “It tasted like a foot!”

4. Gob totally listened to Michael when he used to go on about being the only one with the “sweet sting of sweat on his brow”!  Aw, brotherly love surfaces.

5. Destroying Our Life is the name of Tony Wonder and Gob Bluth’s new DVD.  They will put their initials, WB on it all showily and then get sued by Warner Brothers.

6. Clearly, Sally is not the great marketer if she needs that much money to brand a magician gay.

7. Who wants to bet Tony likes to make love to “Your Body is a Wonderland”?

8. Ah, the Explaining-the-Fuck-Out-of-Everything disease.  Tony, I’m afraid you’ve been infected by Ron Howard.

Arrested Development 4×10, “Queen B”

Attested Development: Whoever goes after Lucille will be one SPOILERY cookie.

 

Huzzah-Lucille Walter has taken the stage!  Always practical, Lucille.  One must think of video editing even while being assaulted, drinking is always an act, and even society matriarchs must notice the help when they also perform prisonly duties like cavity searches.  Also, it is important to keep brothers from colluding.  If Tobias’s last episode taught a few lessons, Lucille’s is Chock Full of Smokes of Wisdom.  (Never confide in therapists who imitate their wall posters of Bob Fosse seems like good advice.)  This is the cheese fondue of this season: everything Lucille touches becomes fun and tasty, with plenty of characterization to bite into, humor with a biting crunch, and a storyline to savor.  Lucille’s tactical maneuvers and personal realizations gave this episode a solid frame, with enough rebounds and wit that even this long episode felt short.  Plus, Lucille Bluth sings!  Honestly!  For Tobias!  To be a Villain!  It is hard to get more perfect than that.  This is firmly my second favorite episode of the season.

 

OTHER THINGS:

1. Lucille had a house she could go under?  With an ostrich-what?  Ostrich purse?  Boots?  Stuffed Animal?  Brooch?  Boa?

2. I really wanted one glorious news-shot of Lucille Bluth on the ship-sinking-like-Titanic, splay-armed to keep her balance out front akin to Kate Winslet in Titanic and giving Lucille2 the bird with both hands.  Can this still happen somehow?

3. In my mind, Buster carrying out threats against himself means tearing is room apart, a la kitchen-tearing when Rosa lost his parakeet, and perhaps doing something dastardly (meaning hilariously inappropriate) with his hook as part of the display.

4. How do we suppose Lucille even knew about the Gangie movies?  She never seemed a theater or newspaper-reading type.  Have people been mentioning this to her for awhile and she’s just sensitive to it now?  Did Maeby make sure she saw a picture of it, just to poke the bear or from boredom?

5. Perhaps now she can have more dates with Wayne Jarvis!

6. Lucille advising Buster to say it was an eel by his leg seems like Ursula using her eels to manipulate things.  Hee.

Arrested Development 4×5, “A New Start”

Attested Development: Daddy needs to get his SPOILERS off.

More than any other, I feel this episode really lives and dies with your attachment to Tobias’s character.  Why more than the others?  Because this entire episode is all about re-establishing and entrenching Tobias’s former gags and tendencies, just without other family members.  The bookend scene of a show filming him as a child predator is really funny, just straight Tobias misspeaks and an event we could all picture happening in the earlier seasons.  The other scenes took Tobias and surrounded him with depression, serious issues like drugs and prostitution, and a woman even he’s even more toxic to than Lindsay.  This…does not make for great comedy.  They didn’t even really go for the dark comedy gold, probably because it would have been too great a departure, and tried to lighten things up with the occasional one-off gag.  Basically, I wish they’d just put his India bits in “Indian Takers” and added the Predator show scenes somewhere else.  I didn’t really need much else in there.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

1. I really would’ve figured Tobias more for a street performer of some ridiculous stripe than the picture-with-me thing.

2. I like to think Tobias got his shemale shirt after seeing Lindsay wearing one in a bar (without realizing it was Lindsay).  Then, when Lindsay found it, he pretended he’d gotten it to match hers, as another romantic gesture.

3. Tobias’s physical injuries are only funny if they make everyone gather around at the hospital.  Leave his bones alone now, please.

4. Whyyyyyyy were there never any hot cops or Gothic Asshole leather daddies seen to change course and drive after Tobias due to his new license plate?

Attested Development: Thoughts on Arrested Development Season 4 as a Whole

SPOILER-FREE:

My pleasure in viewing this season was like going up one of those tall, bumpy slides you love to go down.  The first episode left me just sitting on the bottom of the slide going, I’m FINALLY here-where’s the whoosh, the thrill?  Then the next two episodes pushed my pleasure up a bit.  “The B Team” leveled out for me a bit again, but then Tobias’s “A New Start” started curving up the slide again, although I was still really close to the bottom.  I wasn’t ready to declare disappointment but also not feeling it.  Luckily, “Double Crossers”  brought in a Gob who entered with bees, and from there things shot right up into whoosh/thrilling territory (for me and my viewing partner)!  This upswing got me up to the top of the slide (with little leveled-off bumps in parts of The Lindsay and Tobias episodes).  Then, ironically, “It Gets Better” just leveled it off at the top of the slide.  And after that, the episodes went down as the stairs leading up to the slide.  So, bit of a complicated viewing shape, with a less than satisfying beginning and end, but overall a really tall slide, fun, and thrilling.

 

A Few Reasons I Loved It:

-Gob’s always been the best with real character growth and his arc here tops them all!

-I’ve always wanted to see a Lindsay whose storyline is truly separated from Tobias’s.  I’ve felt that, while many of his transcended their relationship-the Blue Man Group, Kitty, etc.-even when Lindsay was trying to get away from him, she never really had anything that was wholly her own.  It was sad.  Now we get to see her figure things out without her husband and even, eventually, making decisions on her own.  It’s wonderful and I appreciate it to death.

-Obviously, the return of several missed and beloved gags.

-The satisfaction of noticing the details, creating theories, and always, always, always getting payoff.

-That special pleasure that happens when things things start coming together, because it sparks all the magic of when you realized that was Really Happening in the first three seasons.

-The acting, it feels just like what we’ve been missing.

 

A Few Reasons Not to Love:

-The real heart of the show before really lay in the dynamic between all of these messed-up characters and is, by definition, mostly gone from episodes that focus only on individuals.  One of the reasons the start of drawing all the connections made the episodes suddenly magical for me is that with the interconnections comes interaction between the characters, and that alone basically always pays off.

-While following the straight man is the obvious way to do it when you’re dealing with all the kooks together, having him without his kooky family will automatically lessen his comedic value by a lot.  Therefore, giving Michael the bookend episodes of this season was a huge mistake-we both looked to get the ball rolling and wrap everything up, with the character with the least humor in his arsenal.  Also, while I heartily approve of the new character in his storyline, we’re not going to care enough about any new character to truly want to end the series with them taking precedence over the other characters we’ve known and loved for years.

-The lack of several sorely missed and highly anticipated gags.

-Without the strict timeframe of real TV, a few of the scenes felt too long and lessened the comedy of the moment while overall making the writing feel slightly less sharp.

-I may be alone in this nitpick, but I felt that Ron Howard got too much time and focus.  I love his narration and appreciate him appearing, but…he’s not who I’m here for and every time he’s onscreen he’s cutting out other interactions that I had stronger connections to and found funnier.

-The first few episodes really did feel like I, as an avid fan, still had to work to stay engaged and find the humor.  And while there were payoffs later, the true brilliance of the first three seasons was how the writers managed to have huge interconnecting story payoffs later while still giving full-on funny stand-alone episodes every time.  So without that second part I can still fully appreciate the long-game writing and acknowledge it’s still the best on TV, but…I felt it was more ambitious before.

More thoughts on individual episodes to come!