Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 83

International Book-Giving Day Exists!

My friends, I have discovered a glorious truth:  International Book-Giving Day is a real thing!  It has a website and everything.

You may have noticed that I love hosting giveaways.  There is no way I was going to let an event like this go past without giving away some books.  Not now that I know it exists.  So, yes, I'm going to host a book giveaway here on The Edge of the Precipice.  It'll start later this week, and I'll draw the winners on Feb. 14.  Stay t...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The King of the Golden Hall (TTT 3, 6)

Here we are at last! Edoras! It doesn't really look in the movie the way Tolkien describes it (there's not much grass that I can see, for one thing), but it's so awesome in both that I totally don't care.


Are you reminded of Obi-Wan Kenobi when Gandalf and company first arrive at Edoras? Gandalf tells the guard to go announce their arrival, and then he stares hard at the guard until the man slowly says he will go announce them. It always reminds me of Obi-Wan saying, "These aren't the droids y...

"Jane of Lantern Hill" by L. M. Montgomery

Rejoice with me, my friends!  I've finished reading my allotment of entries to judge for the Five Poisoned Apples  contest, and I am now going to devour some books, starting with this one that I began simply weeks ago.

There's something so comfortingly optimistic about most of Montgomery's novels, isn't there?  I mean, many of them begin absolutely horribly, with some wonderful girl stuck in a grim life, surrounded by people who don't love her or understand her or take care of he...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The White Rider (TTT 3, 5)

And so Gandalf returns, with Tolkien melding the scenes of Christ's Resurrection and Transfiguration into one when a returned-from-the-dead Gandalf appears to his followers in shining white robes with eyes "piercing as the rays of the sun." This is the only place where the book that is "neither allegorical nor topical" (p. xvi) strikes me as a bit heavy-handed with the religious imagery (even more so than in "In the House of Tom Bombadil")... and I don't mind it a bit! Huh.

So... Gandalf is ba...

Another LOTR Read-Along: Treebeard (TTT 3, 4)

This is such a relaxing chapter after all the tense excitement of the last few. I think my favorite image is Treebeard standing under his waterfall shower as Merry and Pippin go to sleep.

"The lights died down, and the glow of the trees faded; but outside under the arch they could see old Treebeard standing, motionless, with his arms raised above his head. The bright stars peered out of the sky, and lit the falling water as it spilled on to his fingers and head, and dripped, dripped, in hundre...

"No Middle Name" by Lee Child

It's official:  I want to be Jack Reacher.

That basically never happens to me.  Only once in the bluest of blue moons do I encounter a fictional character I want to be, but Jack Reacher is one of those.  I've read two novels about him, The Enemy  and The Affair.  And now I've read this collection of short stories, which span his life from his teen years to present, and zowie!  I loved this book.  And this character.

Rather than try to review each story, I'll ju...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Uruk-hai (TTT 3, 3)

This is one of the most tense chapters for me. Poor Pippin and Merry, in the grip of a foe so fierce even Boromir couldn't withstand them. What chance do two little Hobbits have?

Anyway, this is the chapter where I really start to be a Pippin fan. Up to now, he's just kind of there, being a bit silly and adorable now and then. With Merry knocked on the head and mostly out of commission, Pippin steps up and shows he has considerable wits and courage of his own. He cuts his wrists free and then...

My Life in Books Tag + Vlog

I've seen this tag all over the place, most recently on Coffee, Classics, and Craziness.  Though I haven't been tagged with it, I thought it would be a fun one to do with a vlog!  Ever since I posted those vlogs for the AMA answers on my other blog, I've been looking for something else to do a short vlog for.  My phone camera wasn't behaving the greatest, though, so I ended up answering only three questions in vlog form, each one individually with little, short videos.  Wh...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Riders of Rohan (TTT 3, 2)

The title of this chapter has a smiley face beside it in my copy. It's another of my favorites, as you'll see by how many fave lines I list below.

I'm always so glad that, immediately after taking away my Boromir, Tolkien introduces another of my favorite characters. I am, of course, referring to Eothain, that paragon of charm and tact and good cheer. Open-hearted, kindly, friendly Eothain.



You're right, I'm totally not referring to Eothain. He's kind of a jerk. I mean Eomer, of course! Wonderf...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Departure of Boromir (TTT 3, 1)

You'd think this would be my least-favorite chapter, right? Except it's so glorious and brave and wonderful, that I don't hate it. At all. It just makes me cry and mourn and frown and glower a lot.

Even in death, Boromir is still magnificent. He's "pierced with many black-feathered arrows" and "his sword was still in his hand" (p. 404), which means he went down fighting to the last, and oh my goodness, how much I love him here. He killed at least twenty Orcs, trying to save the Halflings that...