lunababymoonchild

I wept today, For I saw the truth, But heard the lies once more. I thought I heard you say never again, I thought I heard the words “no more.” I guess my ears were wrong, for those were untrue. I would have to be blind, And I would have to be deaf, To believe the tales you whisper so softly. Some would call me naive, While others would stand behind me proudly, As I batter your name, what we had, and what could have been. The tears sting, But not as badly as the words you spoke. The wounds are deep, untouchable, and unfixable. I had faith in your dreams. I had hope for our future. I had happiness in my heart, in my smile, and in my eyes. But you tore it away, slowly but (and) forcefully. We grew cold. We grew bitter and selfish. Neither wanted to let go, because the loss of comfort would kill us both. We got past faking, We got past even attempting. It’s time to walk away. It’s time for the misery and silly games to come to a stop. I wish I could say everything will be just fine, But then, I would be considered the liar, And a hypocrite just like you. Lauren Humphrey, Hypocrite

Final Hours, Casey Cep

She Walks in Beauty She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! By Lord Byron (George Gordon)

I have now finished this third part of what is a series of 13 of what Richardson herself called chapters of one work called Pilgrimage. I regret leaving this so long as I enjoyed it just as much as the first two parts and already have the second book of the three next parts. I can't summarise it better than Dan, so I won't. It does need to be worked at so it depends on the individual reader and how much effort s/he is willing to make for what is a leisure occupation. But, DR is the first to write stream of consciousness and her prose is absolutely marvellous so it is, without doubt, more than worth the effort, imho.

I've been looking at this since it came out and wondered if I'd like it. I enjoy the Jem Flockhart series by E M Thomson which seems to be a similar kind of thing but set in London during roughly the same time period. Then again I wonder if it would be too similar. I shall ponder further.

Thanks very much everybody, just wanted to know

Honeycomb, Dorothy Richardson

Thanks very much for this review Viccie I found it very interesting. Never heard of the Bechdel test so had to look that up and I've never heard of head hopping so had to look that up too. Love how I get to learn stuff on this board! It sounds like a good book too.

Sonnet VI Then let not winter's ragged hand deface In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd: Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd. That use is not forbidden usury, Which happies those that pay the willing loan; That's for thyself to breed another thee, Or ten times happier, be it ten for one; Ten times thyself were happier than thou art, If ten of thine ten times refigured thee: Then what could death do, if thou shouldst depart, Leaving thee living in posterity? Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir. William Shakespeare

Could one of the moderators please merge this with the other thread? Sorry, I forgot to check! Ta

At 165 pages, in my copy, I'd say this was a short story. It's classed as a dystopian novel and has won an award. It tells the story of life through the eyes of a boy who turns twelve years old in, what seems to him (and portrayed to the reader), a perfect society. However, he is given his lifetime profession at his coming of age ceremony and since he's been chosen as the new Receiver his eyes are opened gradually to the imperfections that he wasn't aware of that run the society. The old Receiver becomes the Giver of the title. This is the first of a quartet that I bought in one volume and I look forward to reading the other three parts. This was well written and I did not spot the twist at the end. Recommended.

The Giver, Lois Lowry

So, how is your reading going? Is it according to plan? Do you have a plan? Do you have a list? Do you set goals? Do you keep a reading diary and if so, how - paper, digital etc I keep a spreadsheet of everything that I read and I also keep a database (it's an app) of all the books that I possess, read and unread. It gives me all sorts of information that I have found geekily useful including that I have so far read 405 books and possess 605 books, so the gap between reading and possessing is closing and much faster than I anticipated. I am now happy with my reading rate having previously thought it too slow and am embarking on my 29th book of the year (at 165 pages it's a short story really) at the end of the 28th week. Naturally, not all the books I've read this year take a week but that's the average. I seem to be interested in strong independent women this year, having read 4 non-fiction books about the lives of 3 out of the 4 that I'd never heard of. I've also come across a lot of books through browsing the internet, not all of them interesting but some were. I don't have a plan or a list, choosing what to read from the books I have available (although I still buy books) and my goal is, as it always has been, to read more books this year than I did last year. Not sure how that's going tbh, I haven't checked. I am, despite the above, more interested in enjoying my reading and making sure that I read a wide breadth of material across a broad spectrum of fictional and non-fictional books. I have enjoyed what I've read so far and look forward to reading more enjoyable books during the rest of the year. I'm also looking forward to hearing what everybody else is doing.

Subtitled : The real Anne Lister. This book is about a remarkable woman who lived through the mid to late 19th century and who left detailed diaries of her life. Some of the diaries were written in code so that Anne was free to say exactly what she wanted, and she had a lot to say. Anne was a lesbian, at a time in history when there was no language to describe her sexuality. She was determined to explore it and settle down with a wife. Nothing held her back, if she wanted to do something she just went ahead and did it. She was a polymath and studied extensively, absolutely anything at all which took her fancy. She also travelled widely, at a time in history when women were not supposed to travel and certainly not without a companion. This book is not only a window into the unknown lives of women who were lesbians it is also an accurate history of the time period by someone who lived through it. I'd recommend this book. It's well written and well researched and although Anne's diaries are explicit the book is not.

In Winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle light. In Summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day? Bed In Summer By Robert Louis Stevenson