update: read-a-new-book month

did you know september is read a new book month?  i wrote about it on my company's blog here and included a list of thirty-one recommendations of new books.  they're mostly geared toward grade eight and below, but there's no shame in reading a book geared toward a younger audience, i say. personal favorites on that list include peter pan (of course), the graveyard book by neil gaiman, and the invention of hugo cabret by brian selznick.  so good.  if you haven't read them, i highly recommend checking them out.  there are also a lot of other books on the list that i'm interested to look at.  my "to read" list is about a kajillion miles long right now, but i'll get to them eventually.

right now, i'm reading the house with a clock in its walls by john bellairs, which will be followed by we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson.  it's spooky story season, don't you know!  what are you all reading, or what are some favorites you like to recommend?  make my "to read" list longer!

books and biscuits: anne of green gables review

go peek at my review of anne of green gables over at books and biscuits!

books and biscuits: review of jacob have i loved

head on over to books and biscuits for my review of jacob have i loved, as well as a description of my pickled lime shame.

books and biscuits: blancmange

head over to books and biscuits for a recipe for a fluffy almondy cloud of deliciousness, also known as blancmange.  (so amazingly delicious it's a little ridiculous.)

books and biscuits: little women review

go look over at books and biscuits for a rambly review of little women!  (whoooo's excited for blancmange next week?  i am, i am!)

wild card: the little prince

this book didn't really fit in over at books and biscuits, because there's no food, but i've had this book on the brain for a while now. so here you go!

Title: the little prince
Author: antoine de saint-exupery
Genre: fantasy
Audience: technically it's a children's book, but i recommend it for adults
Rating: ★★★★★

books and biscuits: rich damp cake with green sugar (peter pan)

He stood for a long time lost in thought, and at last a curdling smile lit up his swarthy face. Smee had been waiting for it. "Unrip your plan, captain," he cried eagerly.

"To return to the ship," Hook replied slowly through his teeth, "and cook a large rich cake of a jolly thickness with green sugar on it. There can be but one room below, for there is but one chimney. The silly moles had not the sense to see that they did not need a door apiece. That shows they have no mother. We will leave the cake on the shore of the Mermaids' Lagoon. These boys are always swimming about there, playing with the mermaids. They will find the cake and they will gobble it up, because, having no mother, they don't know how dangerous 'tis to eat rich damp cake." He burst into laughter, not hollow laughter now, but honest laughter. "Aha, they will die."

head over to books and biscuits for a recipe for rich damp (chocolate!) cake with green sugar.  nine out of ten lost boys agree, it's completely delicious.  (and no one really cares what slightly thinks, anyway.)

wild card: book anxiety

i have book anxiety. there's a bookcase in my front room, and more often than not, that bookcase goes through a thorough inspection whenever someone new comes over to my apartment. i always feel a little anxious about it, because in all honesty, i don't have a very large collection of books that i own. the same goes for movies. most of the books that i own were given to me or were given as gifts or were purchased because they were my absolute favorites and i borrowed them so many times that it was stupid that i didn't have them.

a book is a Very Important thing to me. a book on a bookcase says something about the person who put it there. it says "this is me, this is what i do, this is what i like, this is something important to me." and, in some strange way, they're like pets to me. you bought it, you have to take it off the shelf and exercise it every once in a while.

and i have commitment issues.

i'm a borrower. i'm a very frequent patron of my local library and read quite a lot, but my home library is... sad. small. however, i received $60 of gift certificates to various booksellers for my birthday this year and am now faced with the task of overcoming my fear of commitments and expanding my library a little. i purchased four books yesterday-- two classics that i know i love, one book i know i'll love based on previous books i have from that author, and a cook book that i have been lusting after for a month. (links go to the books) only $25 left to agonize over.

books and biscuits: peter pan review

look over at my other blog here for a review of peter pan!