Dana Swier Huff's Blog, page 87

Emily's Ghost

Denise Giardina's novel Emily's Ghost is the third novel about the lives of the Brontës that I've read this year. The other two were Jude Morgan's Charlotte and Emily and Syrie James's The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë. Perhaps because Wuthering Heights is my favorite novel, I felt Emily's presence lacking a bit in these other two novels as they were both told from Charlotte's point of view. Giardina's novel is told mainly from Emily's point of view, but also includes the perspectives...

Booking Through Thursday: Una's My Beach Buddy

This week's Booking Through Thursday question asks: "Which fictional character (or group of characters) would you like to spend a day at the beach with? Why would he/she/they make good beach buddies?"

I've been thinking about it for a couple of hours, and I keep coming back to the same character: Una Spenser from Ahab's Wife. Now, I realize this is a really unorthodox choice. After all, she probably isn't the first person to come to mind when you think of the beach. Then there is the...

Celebrating Georgette Heyer

In honor of Georgette Heyer's birthday on August 16, Laurel Ann of Austenprose is hosting a month-long celebration of Heyer's work. Yours truly is participating with a review of Charity Girl, which will be my first Heyer read. Please join us at Laurel Ann's for the festivities.

In other book-related news this week, on this date in 1054, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invaded Scotland to aid Malcolm Canmore against Macbeth, an event depicted in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Can't wait to teach that one ...

Salem Trip

I originally hadn't planned to post this video of our trip to Salem, MA., but I will share it for a short time. I created it in iMovie using photographs and video taken with our iPhones and Flip camera. It's a little distorted to fit here, but not substantially so. It clocks in at about 11 minutes.

Trip to Salem, MA., July 2010

Post © Dana Huff

Salem Trip

Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood who, along with their younger sister Margaret, are children of their father's second marriage. When their father dies, their older half-brother John and his wife Fanny decide not to provide for their younger sisters and step-mother, leaving them in much reduced circumstances. Fanny does everything in her power to make her husband's family feel unwelcome, especially in light of Elinor's attachment to ...

The Meaning of Night

The story of the writing of Michael Cox's The Meaning of Night is an interesting one. Diagnosed with a rare cancer, Cox began to lose his sight. He had begun the novel in the 1970′s, but cancer gave Cox a new sense of urgency. He finished the book, which in my paperback version stretches to nearly 700 pages.

The Meaning of Night is the story of Edward Glyver's quest for revenge against Phoebus Daunt, who robbed him not only of his Eton education, but all he holds most dear. The book begins...

Mark Twain's Unexpurgated Biography Published

Much speculation has surrounded Mark Twain's autobiography because of the stipulation in his will that it not be published until 100 years after his death. Many have wondered exactly what he said that was so controversial. Readers won't have to wait much longer. The New York Times reports that the first of three volumes is set to be published by the University of California Press this November. You can preorder it on Amazon right now. No word yet on when volumes 2 and 3, which are said to...

My Life in Books: To Kill a Mockingbird

My first encounter with To Kill a Mockingbird came in sixth grade. As a reward, our classes were allowed to watch the movie during school. It was such a great story. Two years later, I was looking at the books my language arts teacher had on her library rack, and I picked up the copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. With the unerring sense of an English teacher sniffing a student interested in a book, she was at my side in a moment asking me if I would like to read the book. I sheepishly put it...

Booking Through Thursday: Sharing Books

Do you have friends and family to share books with? Discuss them with? Does it matter to you?

My husband and I only occasionally read the same books, but we manage to talk about books all the same. Or rather, I make him listen to passages I'm reading, and I discuss. He listens well! We have a lot of books in our home, and we both enjoy reading.

I sometimes talk books with my daughters, but they don't always really want to talk about books with me—I think because I'm an English teacher. All of ...

Is Reading on the Kindle Slower?

Yesterday, PC World reported findings of a study conducted by Dr. Jakob Nielson that suggests people read slower on e-readers like the Kindle and iPad than they do paperbacks.

I know for a fact I read faster on a Kindle, and therefore, I was surprised by the results. Until I took a good look at the article. Nielson's sample consisted of only 24 people. In addition, the readers sampled read short stories by Ernest Hemingway. I think if we really want to learn whether or not people read more...