lunababymoonchild

I know not if there is a reason Why I am so sad at heart. A legend of bygone ages Haunts me and will not depart. The air is cool under nightfall. The calm Rhine courses its way. The peak of the mountain is sparkling With evening's final ray. The fairest of maidens is sitting So marvellous up there, Her golden jewels are shining, She's combing her golden hair. She combs with a comb also golden, And sings a song as well Whose melody binds a wondrous And overpowering spell. In his little boat, the boatman Is seized with a savage woe, He'd rather look up at the mountain Than down at the rocks below. I think that the waves will devour The boatman and boat as one; And this by her song's sheer power Fair Lorelei has done. The Lorelei, Heinrich Heine

The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli

Thank you Clavain

The much anticipated and longed for sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. Set more than 15 years after The Handmaid's Tale there are signs that the Gilead Regime is rotting from the inside. There are three main characters, all women (of course) with Aunt Lydia still in charge. Naturally, Aunt Lydia is dictating, to a certain extent, the events but she is portrayed as a lot smarter than the average dictator. Insofaras she knows that Gilead is about to fall and, although she is taken by surprise occasionally seems to know exactly what to do to rectify the situation. This is as good as the press says it is. Highly recommended.

This popped up on my FB and while I hadn't given it much thought it does bring up a good point : Why are Books That Shape? Any thoughts?

Yes, I am Momac. It's very satisfying. Currently reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, her long awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale (it's great!).

The Institute, Stephen King

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood

Number 41 in a series of 75. Maigret is on the trail of a murderer who, until the last minute was a man that spent a lot of time sitting on benches outside shops, observing the comings and goings. The prose is superb, characters believable and a plot that keeps the reader guessing until the end. Along the way there are some unexpected revelations. This is a short book, some 184 pages, but worth the read. Highly recommended.

Three little Piggy’s Wallow in the swill Who’s going to show them What happened to Jill? Little Jack Horner Scourge of the sauna Who’s going to tell him Bo peeps round the corner. Piggy’s in the middle Cat’s on the fiddle Who’s going to stop them The answer’s a riddle? Three Little Piggy’s, Steve the burgh, Hellopoetry.com

Machiavelli, The Prince

A history of the Borgias. Italian family in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who were notorious for their debauched behaviour, amongst other things. This centres around three of the most notorious : Rodrigo Borgia who became Pope Alexander VI, his son (yes, really) Cesare Borgia, and Rodrigo's favourite daughter Lucrezia. Well written, well researched and absolutely fascinating. Recommended

Georges Simenon, Maigret and the Man on the Bench

Short is correct this story is only 18 pages long. But it is well written, clear, compact and compelling. It's one day in the life of a morphine addict using HF's own addiction experience to tell it. Highly recommended but not for the faint hearted, addiction is brutal.

Short Treatise on the Joys of Morphinism, Hans Fallada - ebook