October 2017 Book Report

The Outlaws of Ravenhurst (1923) by L.M. Wallace

L.M. Wallace was a nun and I could find very little bio info on her. She wrote this book mainly for Catholic children, but it’s a great read for everyone. In 17^th Century Scotland, there was war between Catholic and Protestant. The Catholic heir to the Gordon of Ravenhurst was spirited away to colonial America and raised until he could be returned to his rightful place. Absolutely a great adventure!

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The Marriage of Opposites (2015) by Alice Hoffman

Outstanding book of historical fiction regarding the great painter Camille Pissaro and the life of French-speaking Jews in 1800s St. Thomas. Pissaro’s parents defy their entire Jewish community when they marry and are outcasts for most of their lives.

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On Thin Ice (2017) by Anne Marie Rodgers

Jan and Elaine get their tea shop ready for the Valentine’s Day celebrations. One of the young men of their community appears to have been kidnapped and the cousins try to solve that mystery.

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Ross Poldark (1945) by Winston Graham

I was a bit dismayed when a friend at church recommended this series of books, and lent me the box of 12 volumes! TWELVE! I thought I would look through the first one and then give them all back saying it wasn’t my particular taste. Boy, was I wrong! They are addictive!! I gobbled this one down and am now working on the second one. It starts out just after the American Revolution when Ross Poldark returns to England, expecting to marry his childhood sweetheart. He discovers she is about to marry his cousin and things go downhill from there for awhile.

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A Light in the Window (1995) by Jan Karon

2^nd book in the Mitford series. Father Tim returns from his sabbatical in Ireland and is still waffling about the possibility of romance with his neighbor, Cynthia. Dooley is offered the chance to go away to a really good school. The Widow Mallory sets her sites on Father Tim and Percy’s Grill has to close. Great series.

More Magnetic Poetry

I had ONE comment from last week’s post asking for more, so thank you for the encouragement, Tracy. Here ya go:

#5

porcelain universe

   cold marble sky above

      blue corduroy ocean below

morning breeze brings peace

& we drink fresh coffee from a broken cup

haunted by a laughing velvet ghost

#6

at the book store

   sit & drink & hear

the latest in

   thick coffee philosophy

have some tequila

   and what the geeks talk about

almost makes sense

#7  (I gotta admit this one is REALLY weird)

no no

with full synergy power

   to pursue & embrace

this paradigm monster

   with opportunity

will sing globally

#8

the blues guitars must jam all night

the chick with platinum hair would

   dance to the sound of a cool time/buzz

the crowd would scream & almost explode

   with noise heavy as smoke

#9

my bosom friend

thy drunk farewell was loathsome to me

methinks thy thirst was quench’d with poison

hence your ghost shall be my lover

alas

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So there ya go folks. No more of these. I just might order me some of those kits, though. Then WATCH OUT!!

Hehehehehehe

Magnetic Poetry

I’ve always loved to play with words, and magnetic poetry was so much fun. I never really had a set, but there are various sites online where you can mess around with the words and have fun. One time I found a site that sold magnetic poetry kits in various genres. There was a list of words for each kit and I wrote several poems from each version. I had the idea of printing them up and cutting out the words separately and gluing them in an altered book. I may still do that. But for now I will share some of these poems. I didn’t mark them as to which version I used. There was original, Shakespeare, zen and some others. You might be able to guess which ones they are. There were no hyphens in the kits, so where I’ve put two words together, I’ve used the slant mark.

#1

bold little feline

always full of cunning grace

drink sweet milk from

                  special bowl

looks at me &

I can almost hear her talk

#2

I fly to dream/like

diamond paradise

bathe in dark red blood

drunk with moon/music

   goddess angel gaze down

she smile and whisper

   dance near evening flame

                    and burn

#3

imagine surreal harmony

through blue aesthetic smoke

            which feels empty

wild canvas creates

     an electric angel silhouette

           from angry paint

#4

I dream of Manhattan

& hurry downtown

   in cold glass taxi

the stars overwhelmed

   by neon sky of expensive smoke

my ugly garment

   a token of modern style

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Depending on what (if any) kind of reaction this gets, I might share some more of these next week. Toodles!