Wednesday, January 12, 2011

All good things...

     What are you guys reading lately?  I hardly cracked a spine during December, but my page-turning cravings are back full force now.  I dove into The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll; it's been on my shelf for some time, and I finally felt up to the task. 

     I acquired this book over a year ago; after parking the car, my beau and I were walking through the garage to get into the house.  The golden-edged pages caught the light, glimmering at the corner of my eye.  I picked up the book, asked where it came from (it was quite odd, since he's not much of a reader).  Apparently someone had left it at his workplace and then never returned for it.  Instead of throwing it out, he took it home and left it with other unused, forgotten things.  He told me I could have it.  I walked into the house with the heavy book in my arms, hugging it to my chest as a precious treasure. 

     Alice in Wonderland was the first piece of work in the heavy volume.  I have a smaller copy bound with Through the Looking Glass (the sequel), so those two were old friends to me.  I then encountered Sylvie and Bruno.  It took me a little while to understand the story, but once it was made clear I found myself absorbed.  I've become quite fond of the characters, and though it's impossible, I find myself trying to guess at the path the story will take.  Sylvie and Bruno had to end, of course, but flowed easily into Sylvie and Bruno Concluded.  I'm perhaps halfway through, and already disappointed that it will have to end. 

Thursday, January 6, 2011

New Year, New Spines, New Poll.

     Well.  Here we are again.

     The past few weeks have been chaotic, messy, heart-wrenching.  All that is over, the waves have calmed.  Now is a time for tranquility and healing. 

     It's a fresh year, and therefore time for a fresh start.  I've made personal resolutions, but I want to make one for Cracking Spines, too.  I feel as though I've been hiding behind the technicalities of the written word.  I've read a few older posts, and they're... well, they're boring.  There's no feeling to them.  So I resolve that this year, Cracking Spines will be reformed, reshaped.  I'm going to share the personal, the beautiful, the emotive side of reading.  I want to share with you, the readers, the Spine Crackers, the things that made me fall in love with reading, with opening a book and discovering the mystery of the pages.

      In honor of this resolution, there is a new poll!  You're in control, you're the boss now-- what am I reading in February?  Here are the options:

  1. The Complete Poems and Plays of T.S. Eliot
  2. The Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Anonymous)
  3. The Dead Sea Scrolls (Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr, Edward Cook)
  4. Living a Jewish Life (Anita Diamant, Howard Cooper)
  5. The Case for the Real Jesus (Lee Strobel)
  6. Grania (Morgan Llywelyn)
  7. The Great Influenza (John M. Barry)
  8. Small Avalanches and Other Stories (Joyce Carol Oates)
     Ready?  Go!