Dana Swier Huff's Blog, page 90

A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599

James Shapiro's A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 describes the events surrounding one of Shakespeare's most prolific years, beginning with his finishing Henry V, through the composition of Julius Caesar and As You Like It, ending with the composition (and revision) of Hamlet. I had not read much before wishing we had a book like this for each of the years of Shakespeare's career. Shapiro deftly connects historical events such as the threat of Spanish invasion, a botched...

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Susanna Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell breaks all the rules. It's over 800 pages long. One of the title characters isn't properly introduced until over 200 pages into the novel. Clarke develops the history of her world largely through incorporation of 185 footnotes. Generally any one of these things would cause me to gripe about a book, never mind all three. However, I'm not the first reviewer to say the novel, even at over 800 pages, seems too short—I wanted more. The late...

Kindle TBR Pile

Most avid readers I know have a TBR (to be read) pile. I mostly keep my TBR pile on Goodreads. I sometimes remember to put these books on my Amazon Wishlist. I have recently acquired a Kindle, and my department at school gave me an Amazon gift card in honor of my being selected as the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE) Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Since purchasing my Kindle, I have downloaded several books, all now in my TBR pile.

I really added Horns at Steve's request, as he has ...

Kindle

I have been saving funds earned as an Amazon affiliate to purchase a Kindle, and if you have visited recently, you may have caught my post about whether to buy a Kindle or a Nook. I settled on a Kindle after doing the research. The iPad is far outside of my price range for a e-book reader. I purchased the Kindle, but I had to wait some time before it shipped, and I'm not sure of the reason.

The Kindle arrived on Dylan's birthday (April 16). Steve unboxed it before I could get home from work...

Multiple Copies

Emma's recent comment on my review of The Annotated Pride and Prejudice inspired this post. I don't own multiple copies of many books, but I do own multiple copies of a few. Perhaps it is telling in terms of my literary interests?

I own two copies of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

The image on the left is the US cover of the novel, and the reason I have a copy of that edition is that I use it to teach the novel. The image on the left, which is my favorite of t...

Crime and Punishment

Though I wasn't due to finish Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment via DailyLit until next week, I decided to go ahead and finish today. I really wanted to like this book. It's one of those books you hear a lot about. It's one of those books people like to say they've read. I should preface this review by saying that I've read very few Russian classics. I tried to read Dr. Zhivago; my sister Lara is named after Yuri Zhivago's love interest. I couldn't get into it, even though I loved...

Pride and Prejudice

[image error]I first read Pride and Prejudice during my first year teaching (which was 1997-1998, and I know it was 1998 when I read the novel). I fell in love with Jane Austen that year. Despite my affection for Ms. Austen, I had not re-read any of her novels, though I have watched adaptations in film. I decided I was overdue for a re-read of Pride and Prejudice, and this annotated version of the novel appealed to the scholar in me. I had hoped to learn some new interesting things or gain new insights...

Pride and Punishment

[image error]I first read Pride and Prejudice during my first year teaching (which was 1997-1998, and I know it was 1998 when I read the novel). I fell in love with Jane Austen that year. Despite my affection for Ms. Austen, I had not re-read any of her novels, though I have watched adaptations in film. I decided I was overdue for a re-read of Pride and Prejudice, and this annotated version of the novel appealed to the scholar in me. I had hoped to learn some new interesting things or gain new insights...

Kindle or Nook?

I want an e-book device, but I have decided that an iPad is definitely out of my price range. I don't like rushing out and buying a new gadget because it seems as though it always has some kinks that need to be ironed out, and sure enough, I've been reading about problems with wifi and temperature issues in the iPad. I waited until the second generation to purchase an iPhone. I have been extremely happy with my iPhone. The iPad is an awfully pretty device, like most Apple products, but until ...

Once Upon a Time Challenge

I always love Carl's challenges, even though I don't often finish them. I am participating in his Once Upon a Time Challenge; I'm committing only to the Journey, as I am in grad school (huge time-suck), and I'm already participating in other challenges (of course, this one may overlap).

Perhaps it's cheating, but I plan to finish Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for this challenge. I think I began it maybe four days before the challenge began, but honestly, the dates are so close, and the book i...