Twelve Months of Classic Literature: Shakespeare

The Classics Club is hosting a new year long Meme called Twelve Months of Classic Literature.
The January question asks us to reflect on the life and times of Shakespeare.

My lazy summer schedule has not allowed for serious reflection on any topic whatsoever. But I felt the urge to participate, so I've decided to go for the cheats post on Shakespeare.

In 2007, Mr Books & I had a wonderful 2 weeks travelling around the UK.
We both love seeing Shakespeare performed live, so I arranged tickets for us to see The Merchant of Venice at the new Globe Theatre in London for Mr Books birthday.

We also spent a day in Stratford-on-Avon where we soaked up as much Elizabethan culture as we could handle!

The first 4 photos are of the Gower Memorial in Bancroft Gardens in Stratford (1888). Shakespeare sits on top of the pedestal and is surrounded by bronzes of Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, King Hal & Falstaff (Philosophy, Tragedy, Comedy & History).

The half-timbered house in Henley Street (below) is supposedly where Shakespeare was born in 1564. It has been lovingly restored whilst retaining original details like sloping, uneven floors, narrow steps, dim lighting and low beams. Each room is furnished in the style of the time with lots of information points for the dedicated. The gardens (in September) were a glorious riot of colour.

New Place on Chapel Street was Shakespeare's home from 1597 until his death. Sadly the house was demolished a hundred years later, but the foundations & grounds can still be viewed. Nash House (next door) is now the entrance to the site. It was owned by Thomas Nash who married Shakespeare's granddaughter, Elizabeth. It has a display of furniture and information about the history of Stratford. The second photo (below) also shows the beautiful Guild Chapel in the background overlooking New Place.

The original Globe Theatre, in London was built in 1599. The modern Shakespeare Globe was opened in 1997, about 230m from the original site. We payed a little extra to sit in one of the bays (they're undercover & we didn't want to trust to the English weather!), but you are allowed (& encouraged) to move around before, during and after the performance. 

It was incredible to be so close to the action and was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. For anyone travelling to London from overseas, I cannot recommend this experience highly enough. It was easy to book the tickets online, before our departure. And we were very fortunate that Mr Books all-time favourite Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice) was being performed the week we were in London.

I must confess that I don't enjoy reading Shakespeare anywhere near as much as I enjoy watching Shakespeare.

Since my highschool days when I watched numerous versions of Romeo & Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth & King Lear for my studies, I have seen untold numbers of Shakespearean performances on stage, in the park and at the movies.

Some of the highlights have been Romeo & Juliet in the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Kevin Spacey as Richard III at the Sydney Opera House, Baz Luhrman's movie of Romeo & Juliet and The Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theatre.

Do you have a favourite performance?

First Day of School

During my preschool teaching years I used to bemoan the fact that most of the starting school books available to me were written by American or UK writers. None of the books that I read to my classes accurately reflected what would happen as they went off to school.

The closest thing I had to a home grown Aussie school experience was Hazel Edwards "Look, There's A Hippopotamus in the Playground Eating Cake."

This book is part of her delightful series about an invisible friend, a hippo, who likes to sit on the roof and eat cake. He doesn't get into trouble, he doesn't get scared and he's always there when needed.

I used to read this book, year after year, as a springboard to 'what will happen to me at school next year' discussions. It's a great story that appeals to 4 year olds, but I did get tired of reading the one book over and over again.


Until now!

This year we have been inundated with new books about Australian kids starting school.

My First Day of School by Meredith Costain & Michelle Mackintosh uses the Victorian term Prep, which is not that surprising as both Costain & Mackintosh are from Victoria. However, it does highlight the unusual nature of Australia's education system that has evolved different terms, curriculums, frameworks and teaching training standards across each state & territory in Australia!

Headings such as 'coming in, leaving mum, rules, in trouble, partners, mats, hungry, storytime, hometime' assure us that every 5 yr old concern will be addressed.

The questions are answered in a fun, light-hearted way with lots of practical advice.
It finishes with "I think I'm going to like this place called school."

Starting School by Jane Godwin & Anna Walker is written from multiple points of view - in fact, from the entire class!

Each child gets to highlight the thing about school that interests or concerns them the most.

Godwin also uses chapters headings to structure her book - 'getting ready, things we need, first day, in the playground, doing work, packing up & hometime' are just a few.

The book finishes with "What do you like about school?"

First Day by Andrew Daddo & Jonathan Bentley is a simple, fun story about getting ready, with mum, for the first day of school.

As we go along with their breakfast, dressing, packing, school selfie & goodbye's at the school gate routines, we realise that the first day of school can be just as stressful on mum.

"Remember what we always say: the best bit about waving goodbye is the next wave will be hello."

And the last line continues the affectionate, positive attitude "And the next day will be even easier!"

An Aussie Year: 12 Months in the Life of Australian Kids by Tania McCartney & Tina Snerling is a seasonal approach to school, celebrations and the everyday things kids can do.

January talks about swimming at the beach, picnics, cricket, thongs & sunscreen, Australia Day & the tennis.
February focuses on going back to school, Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year and more swimming.

There is a bio at the front on each child that is featured throughout the book and a map of Australia at the back.

Wombat Goes to School by Jackie French & Bruce Whatley follows the further adventures of their (now) very famous wombat.

This time wombat manages to find a tunnel that brings him to school. On his quest for carrots & grass he frightens children, disturbs the peace (& the Principal) and generally makes mischief.

The illustrations combine with the text to make for a very humorous day at school.

First Day by Margaret Wild & Kim Gamble was first published in 1999 (but I somehow missed it at the time.)

The cover and format of the book does not immediately attract me to it.

Which is a shame, because it's a lovely story once you start & the illustrations become more endearing as the characters come to life.

It's also a lot wordier than all the other offerings.
It highlights the multicultural perspective as well as showing us an adult going back to study for the first time since her own school days.

"On the first day of school...Alex hopes she will make a friend, Salma wants to learn to write NOW, Stephen is a little scared, and Penny is as wriggly as a tadpole. Khalil is the best a tying shoelaces, and Jun just wants to count...10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ZERO! But what is the little dog, Josh up to?"

This week kids all over are Australia are heading back to school or starting school for the first time.
We're also heading into new territory as our eldest booklet begins his senior years with all the HSC stress that can entail!

Good luck one and all.
May the 2014 school year be a bright, happy & productive year.

And a special shout out to my former colleagues as they head back into another hectic preschool year - I hope you find these book reviews useful.

New Baby Books

A number of Australian author/illustrators have put out beautiful baby books in the past few months. I thought it was time to highlight my favourites.

Alison Lester uses lovely soft pastel water colours to illustrate her Kissed by the Moon book. The story within is a simple lilting text full of wishes for the new baby...

"May you, my baby,
sleep softly at night,
and when dawn lights the world,
may you wake up to birdsong."

I love the gentle rhythm, the attention to nature and the hopeful attitude that flows through the poem.

On the Day You Were Born by Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks is illustrated in a much brighter, more vibrant fashion. Earthy colours dominate as daddy takes his new baby exploring.
The world is seen through the new baby's eyes, or perhaps filtered through the new father's love.

This is a story of inclusion, sharing and togetherness.

"My daddy said,
on the day you were born...

...I put you back in your mother's arms,
and that night we were the world,
the three of us together."

To complete my roll call of Australian grand dames of children's literature we have Mem Fox & Emma Quay and Baby Bedtime.

This is a story suffused with baby love from start to finish. Quay also uses her gorgeous pencil/pastel drawings of a mother elephant with her baby to help the love flow from page to page.

Fox has created a gentle, easy rhyme to share with your baby.

"I could gaze at you all night.
I could whisper lots of stories till the darkness turns to light."

The first 2 books are probably more for the new parents, than the baby to start with, but the Mem Fox book (along with her other baby favourite, Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes) is perfect to share with baby from the beginning.

If you'd like to see my full list of books to share with your baby - click here.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Regular viewers of my blog may have noticed that I've been playing around with backgrounds and layout lately.

When I was doing my 2013 retrospectives, I realised that in July of this year, I will celebrate my 5 years of blogging anniversary.

It seemed like the right time to refresh the way my blog looks.

If I could just work out how to centre my blog name and/or find a banner I like then I would be satisfied with the new look. Any ideas?

But now it's time to get on with all the backed up reviews from my summer reading.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton won the Booker Prize in 2013. Which means that I can tick this book off my Eclectic Reader Challenge - Award Winning category.

It's also a chunkster, fits the historical fiction/whodunnit genre and it's a book that uses a structural conceit based on astrology.

These are three big crosses in many people's books.
But I'm happy to tackle a chunkster given time and interest and I love historical fiction. As for structural conceits - sometimes they can be annoying, but sometimes they work. Enough has been written elsewhere about this, so I won't go into details except to say that I was okay with it. In fact, I barely noticed the astrological divisions and I didn't feel that I needed to have a working knowledge of astrology to understand the book either.

There are also a number of reviews out there complaining about the wordiness of this book.

Yes, it's wordy, but I didn't think so in a bad way. For me all the words created an incredibly rich, detailed picture of the place, the people and the drama.

The place is Hokitika on the western coast of the South Island of NZ - a place I have visited way back when in 1993. Not quite the goldrush era, but the weather hasn't changed that much in any time!
I could still feel the cold and the wind and I could taste the briny air along with the characters.

It was in Hokitika, that I also bought a beautiful pounamu drop pendant "smooth, milky-grey stones that, when split, showed a glassy green interiors, harder than steel." (pg 99) that Te Rau Tauwhare hunted for.

The people include all the usual suspects to be found in a booming gold-rush town. Miners, Maori's, business men, hard-working Chinese, sailors, prostitutes, drunks, adventurers and con-artists.

The beginning could be a little off-putting for some, as 12 Hokitika locals meet in secret to piece together their knowledge of certain mysterious and sinister events. A stranger enters their midst and becomes their sounding board.

I was mesmerised from start to finish. I was able to keep track of the long list of characters thanks to the chart in the front of the book. I loved how Catton weaved together all the various elements, revealing just enough juicy titbits to keep me guessing.

I enjoyed the sense of time & place and I loved how the ending revealed the love story hidden in the mystery.

The Booker award is given each year to a book, that in the judge's opinions, is the best novel published in the Commonwealth, for that year. They pride themselves on promoting quality literature for the average intelligent reader.

This is not high literature or literature with a capital L; but The Luminaries is entertaining, well-written & deserving of awards & praise.

The Luminaries also fulfills one of my countries visited (New Zealand) for Giraffe Days Around the World Challenge.

Heart Beat by Elizabeth Scott

I've been reading some fairly heavy chunksters this year. So when one of my reps gave me a ARC of Elizabeth Scott's latest YA book this week, I found myself drawn in.

Heart Beat is full of teen angst & issues a la Jodi Picoult.

Emma's voice feels authentic and likeable despite her pain and anger and grief.

Her mother has just died, but is being kept 'alive' on life support for the sake of an unborn baby.

Emma feels left out of the decision making process and becomes estranged from her step-father.

Her anger becomes self-destructive as she gradually fails her subjects at school & begins hanging out with the wrong kind of people, including bad boy Caleb.

Emma's voice gets a little annoying by the end & it seems to take her a long time to work out a few home truths, but hey, most people I know fail to see what's right under their noses in the real world!

You can probably predict how this will end, but the predictable happy ending doesn't stop this book from being an entertaining, issue-based story with a little romance.

Heart Beat is due for release in March through Harlequin Australia.

Better Late Than Never...

My Top 10 reads for 2013 in no particular order are:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

The Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan

The Great Gatsby by F S Fitzgerald

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

I love that the simple act of writing these titles down, caused me to smile with delight all over again, as I remembered each story, how I felt about them and where I was when I read them.

Each of these books shares a story with me about a part of my life. My personal story and the written story have become entwined.

That's why these books have become favourites.

They are now a part of my personal narrative & my life journey.

That's why I read - to find stories that will travel with me for my lifetime.

I wonder what new friends I will discover in 2014?

Summer in Sydney

Summer holidays can be very distracting.

Even though Mr Books & have been back at work 2 weeks, the kids are still on holidays, hanging around the house, looking to be amused and occasionally refereed!

Thankfully Mr Books works from home. But it does mean that his work schedule is regularly interrupted and our family life is far from normal and routine.

Which is a good thing right?








We all need a break from our day to day routine.
It's good to shake things up, do things differently & have new experiences (Sydney in January is Festival month - shows, events, exhibitions that provide 4 weeks of non-stop experiences if you so wish! Check out my other blog to get a taste of The Sydney Festival).

However all of these new experiences and breaks from routine have left me very little time for blogging.

I have several half-baked reviews sitting in the wings, waiting to be finalised. I've trolled some of your sites during the quieter moments, but I haven't had the time or inspiration to leave thoughtful comments.

School goes back next week.

We have new uniforms, bags, books, pencil cases, shoes and haircuts!
Routine, everyday life is just around the corner.

And, just quietly, between you and me, I'm ready for it.

I've missed writing and I've missed all of you.

P.S. Please remind me of this sentiment when we're in the middle of HSC hysteria with our eldest later on in the year!

Wondrous Words Wednesday

I'm currently devouring The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. It's an absorbing historical mystery whodunnit.

Yes, it's big and yes, it's wordy, but I'm loving it for that very reason.

Given the number of astrological elements that give structure to this story, I'm surprised that I'm over half way through before striking a word that confused me completely.

On pg 531 we find "But the doubled fish of Pisces, that mirrored womb of self and self-awareness, is an ourobouros of mind - both the will of fate, and the fated will."

Firstly, I should point out that this sentence is NOT indicative of the rest of the story. This was the first section that waxed lyrical about the astrological signs. So please don't be put off by this example - it doesn't reflect the writing style or the story from the other 530 pages!

Ourobouros (or ouroboros) is an ancient symbol of a snake or dragon eating it's own tail. It signifies birth, death, renewal and the cyclical nature of self & nature.

As you can imagine, most cultures, religions and philosophies have adopted this symbol at some point to symbolise eternal life, unity of all things, the balance of opposites, the beginning & end of time, infinity & wholeness.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Bermuda Onion.

2013 - Remember when...?

Everywhere I go, every blogger I read seems to be doing a 2013 retrospective. 

I've never really seen the point, as I love all the books I read - in different ways and for different reasons, otherwise I wouldn't have read them (especially now that I employ the "stop reading if I'm not enjoying it" policy.) 

But Nancy at Ipsofactodotme has a different take on the whole "remember when" post.

Take the first line from the first post of each month of 2013 to see what it reveals about your reading & blogging habits.

January - "I've struggled with this book." (A Moveable Feast)

February - "I came across this Huffington Post article called 16 Fiction Book Characters Myers-Briggs Personality Types." 

March - "I'm stuck. I've been trying to track down an old picture book that I loved to read during my preschool teaching days."

April - "This was my book for the Classic Club Spin. And what a lovely choice it turned out to be." (The Magnificent Ambersons)

May - "Wondrous Words Wednesday is a lovely meme hosted by Bermuda Onion each week to highlight new (to us) words that we come across in our daily reading."

June - "I went to many events at the recent Sydney Writers Festival, but my favourite was the Pride and Prejudice lovefest on Sunday morning."

July - "My rereading of Tess for the Classic Club Spin (after about 20 years) was a curious thing." (Tess of the D'Urbervilles)

August - "Another month another readalong. I seem to be a little obssessed with readalongs and the classics right now! That's a good thing right?"

September - "I'm a little excited. This month over at The Classics Club they have selected my question for the September meme."

October - "My Cousin Rachel was my lucky number #4 for the latest Classics Club Spin." 

November - "I've been building up a healthy pile of Aussie books for AusReading Month (see yesterday's master post below) which I already know is Mount Impossible, but I'd rather have too many books on hand than not enough!" 

December - "I've had a great time putting together AusReading Month and I've been thrilled by the number of participants for this inaugural event."

Two things really - I obviously LOVE the Classics Club in a slightly embarrassing way and two - I participate in more readalongs and book events than I thought I did!

I wonder what 2014 will reveal?

P.S. This is my 400th post - wahoo!

Archie and Archie by Ruth Rendell

A number of adult writers now write books for a younger audience including Kathy Reichs, John Grisham, Philippa Gregory & Neil Gaiman. But this is the first time that Ruth Rendell has ventured into the wilds of writing for younger readers.

She has just published a lovely little hardcover book full of stories about her cat Archie, the neighbours dog, Archie as well as numerous other cats & dogs who live in her street.

Initially, Rendell planned the book to be read by new-to-English adult readers and illiterate adults, but the marketing is now pushing this as a younger readers early chapter book.

Which explains a lot about the curiosities within this sweet little book.

The narrator voice sounds rather old-fashioned, the writing is very precise and clear and there are no children present anywhere, at all. Each vignette is beautifully crafted, delightful and quaint in a very English way.

I suspect adult lovers of cats and dogs and Ruth Rendell will snap this little treasure up, but I'm not a 100% sure that younger readers will appreciated the ye olde world charm so evident in this book.

Top 10 Bookish Resolutions

This week's Broke & Bookish Top 10 Tuesday is your 10 bookish resolutions or goals for 2014.

I need something to get me motivated today, so this is perfect.

So without any further ado....

1. To make a dent in my TBR mountain.

2. Play less fb scrabble so that I have more time to read!

3. Read more biographies

4. Work my way through What Color is Your Parachute? 2013 - it's time to re-think my working life.

5. To open up my 'writing in progress file' to see what my picture book stories look like after a 6 year break!

6. Only read books that I want to; avoid books I feel that I should read, but don't really have any interest in.

7. Reorganise my bookshelves

8. Look into Book Crossing or street libraries as a way of releasing my excess books into the wild.

9. Attend the Sydney Writers Festival in May.

10. Find a way to motivate/excite my youngest stepson (aged 13) to read more (any thoughts?)

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky was my pick for the Classic Club Spin #4 .

I knew that reading 985 pages by the 1st Jan would be a big ask, especially with Christmas, New Year's Eve and an interstate holiday to keep me otherwise occupied.

So I don't feel guilty about admitting that, tonight, I'm only up to page 341. For those of you who now the story, this brings me to Ivan's tirade/poem about religion, God and Jesus!

I'm thoroughly enjoying the story. I finally got a good run at it today - NYD, lazing by the pool at a very peaceful resort in Bunker Bay, WA (see photo below).

The brothers are diverse personalities with just a few relationship issues!

Their father's scenes read like an old Laurel & Hardy set piece, but instead of custard pies being tossed around, it's vodka shots being tossed back.

Dostoyevsky has a lot to say about the state of Russia, Europe & religion. Some of these sections get a little long winded and seem a tad self-indulgent (nowadays they'd be heavily edited).

I prefer his discussions and observations on human nature. Truth, lies & the meaning of life are pondered by his large cast of characters. Their concern with relationships, security, right & wrong move the story forward and provide much of the drama in the story.

Although it is over 130 years since The Brothers K was published, it is still possible to recognise many of the characters and their personalities.

I guess that's what makes this huge book a classic. Dostoyevsky's characters still have something to say to us today. Their problems and concerns are universal, with a novel twist supplied by their specific setting and times.

You don't need to know a lot about the history of Russia to appreciate The Brother's K, but it does help.
Most editions come with footnotes or notes at the back to provide some of this detail. Some translators also discuss why they chose certain phrases or words over others.

I chose the Penguin Classics David McDuff translation in the end and found it easy to read. If you'd like to check out other translations of this book go to Compare Transations.

I will add another review later in the month when I finally finish the book.

Happy New Year one and all.
I hope 2014 is a year of joy and peace and full of many, many good books.