Category Archives: Classic

A well-governed shark

Posted on June 23, 2019 by

It’s time for another progress report on my reading-the-sea project. For this post, I had planned to include notes on Melville’s Billy Budd, but I’ve been busy having fun instead — fun reading other books, that is, so BB will … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, History, Seafaring | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments

The voyage so far

Posted on May 16, 2019 by

As promised, here’s the first of what may be several updates on my tour of books set on water in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Initially I had planned to make these reviews brief, but, well, you know … … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fan fiction, History, Seafaring, Travel | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Sea Fever

Posted on May 3, 2019 by

Matching my current reading focus is John Masefield’s “Sea Fever” (quoted here, in full, from The Poetry Foundation’s website): I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, Seafaring | 10 Comments

Sea cruise, baby!

Posted on April 23, 2019 by

No need to get excited. I plan to travel virtually, in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Over the next few months I’ll be aboard stories set on ships (with perhaps a rowboat or two) that will take me up … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, History, Seafaring | Tagged | 8 Comments

“The chosen of All-Muggleton”

Posted on August 13, 2017 by

Packing for a lengthy trip that includes a great deal of moving on and off trains, buses, boats and trams (not to mention walking) presents a particular challenge for a reader who hopes to travel light: How many books should … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fiction, Humorous, Travel, Travel book | Tagged | 8 Comments

When you run out of Jane Austen and the Brontës, try Mrs. Gaskell

Posted on August 1, 2015 by

Three more books to discuss for the 2015 Reading Challenge. I have to start with three quotes: [Mrs. Forrester explained] … in her day the only use people made of four-syllabled words was to teach how they should be spelt. … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015 Reading Challenge, Classic, Historical fiction, Romance | Tagged | Leave a comment

Summer omnibus, part 2

Posted on September 15, 2014 by

More from my summer’s reading: Aaron Starmer, The Riverman (2014). In upstate New York, near the Canadian border, Alistair Cleary lives a normal life of taking dangerous dares and avoiding nosy neighbors. Then Fiona Loomis, not yet 13, asks him to write her biography. She tells him about an … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Classic, Graphic Novel, Historical fiction, short stories, YA Lit | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments