From the outside looking in it’s all very romantic; the era, the aesthetic, the traditions and social cues and orderly courting etiquette. They always leave out the details, the raw bits that make it real, like you aren’t seeing through a glass darkly and only remembering the good parts.
Where is it written about the fickle light of a torch or an oil lamp? The weight of holding up layers of garments when running? The animals inside the keep for the winter getting into your food stores or eating the parchment you were working on? No one ever mentions that the red ink stains your fingers like blood every time you pen him a letter. Home alone is a battlefield all its own, much like the one he is away on.
I am becoming very much annoyed with the women in the papers writing about the “good old days” as though it were a fantastical holiday and not a struggle to maintain any sense of cleanliness or sanity or peace. Days and weeks and months spent waiting. Walking the halls and fields and grounds and woods searching for the site of him home at last. Even if only his ghost.
A lovely book about H.H. Holmes and his crimes. This book has so much interesting information about the man, the crimes, as well as the place and time that the events took place. The author does an amazing job of setting the stage in this respect. I’ve always been super interested in H.H. Holmes anyway, and this is DEFINATLY one the best books on the market about him. Everything this author writes is amazing.
I had never read this book until recently, even though I’ve loved the animated movie since I was little. This book was originally written/published in 1872. Pictured here is my antique copy, which does have illustrations but is also abridged. I recently listened to the unabridged version on Audible, and it was fantastic. They had kept so much of what happened in the book when they made the cartoon, so it was nice to have the visuals already. The story itself is charming, wholesome, magical, and overall a really great story for any age.
The Grisha Trilogy was one I had wanted to read for a long time and I forget where exactly I had heard about it. It kept getting pushed to the back burner behind other books I wanted to read, but after seeing that a Netflix show was being made, I made it a priority. The world was well created, the villan was well developed, and the ending wrapped everything up well and wasn’t a disappointment. It wasn’t my most favorite YA fantasy series that I’ve ever read, but it was defiantly worth the read, and not only had interesting characters, but had enough twists and turns. to keep me intrigued. The Netflix show (what is out so far) was really well made and seemed to stay in keeping with the series. The show also included a parallel story line that take place in the same world, but is a separate series by the author, which I haven’t read.
It was the kind of place you didn’t go to because that’s where bad things always happened. But she liked it bad and wanted something to happen to her. Badly. So that’s where she went. It was dark and dingy, damp, and dirty. A place that attracted the devious, the depraved, debauchery, and the Devil himself. Moonlight didn’t touch there, and it has even more rarely seen sunlight. The rats and men were nearly indistinguishable. It was a place where people threw out their trash, which included corpses. Usually women. Usually raped or mutilated. The police call it “Deadman’s Den” Because you’re a dead man if you set foot there at night. But she knew the night. Had been acquainted with Death. On knowingly familiar terms with bad guys and the Boogyman. And she liked it bad. And she wanted bad things to happen. She sighed with contentment as she stepped into its darkness, And disappeared.
Finally starting a classic that’s been on my TBR list for what seems like forever. Some notes: A) Stephen King books are usually a hit or miss for me; some I love, some aren’t anything to rave about. B) The Stanley Kubric film is a cinematic masterpiece in and of itself; including watching a forwards/backwards overlay. I’m a big fan. C) I’ve never personally been to The Stanley Motel in Colorado, but my parents have and they said it definitely had the vibes and King’s inspiration for the book was quite obvious. D) The hazelnut coffee in my new Tinkerbell thermos is a win.
AEL Library & Archives 