Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

As I mentioned in this post ,  Rebellious Writing is hosting their It's So Classic blog party until the end of August, and I decided a fun way to participate would be to share my top favorite literary classics.  As you can see, there are only five of them in this post, because I have this weird thing where I don't like claiming that any book is a favorite until I've read it at least twice, and a lot of the classics I've liked have yet to be re-read. :-P  Also, I'm restricting my post contributions for this event to classics of the historical fiction variety, which obviously excludes Narnia and Middle-earth and so on.  But five his-fic offerings will do for now, don't you think? So, here they are.  The classic (non-fantasy) books that I've loved the most so far.  (This list will probably surprise exactly no one, but there's nothing for it.  I'm Predictable™.) #5. The Age of Innocence  {Edith Wharton} I'm in the midst of re-reading th...

{The Plot} Widower Ben Whittaker joins a senior intern program at an up-and-coming online clothing store.  He finds himself working directly under the company's multi-tasking founder, Jules Ostin, who is facing challenges in both her business and her family life.  Initially unsure about her new employee, Jules soon discovers a kinship with him as he exhibits an exemplary work ethic and offers her support and wisdom that she desperately needs.  {My Thoughts} My oldest sister introduced us to this movie, and I'm glad she did.  I've seen it a few times now and like it very much.  It's an excellently made film.  (Nancy Meyers, who did the Steve Martin remake of Father of the Bride and the Lindsay Lohan remake of The Parent Trap , did this one as well, and I'm not surprised.  The movie displays all the trademarks I've come to expect from her:  a general level of reasonable family-friendliness, sharp scripting and production, and a...

This month, Rebellious Writing is hosting a classic-themed blog party in celebration of their two-year blogiversary. (Congrats, RW!) The idea is to get talking about classic literature: What makes it great? What can we learn from it? What do we love about it? So, while I am not really a huge classics fan in the sense that I don't read tons and tons of them, I was excited to join in when I first heard about it through Hamlette's announcement . (Thanks for spreading the word, Hamlette!) And since the party is conveniently running all the way through August 30th, we all have plenty of time to figure out if and how we want to participate. :) I have another post for this that I hope to be releasing soon, but for now, here are my answers to the tag questions the party hosts have put out.  (For this party, I'm restricting my answers to books that fall into more of the historical fiction category of classics than classics of the fantasy or sci-fi or children's v...

Lately I've been immersing myself in Narnia quite a lot.  I recently re-read The Magician's Nephew , and I've been listening to my preferred audiobook version of The Horse and His Boy practically on loop while at work. It's reinforced for me what truly excellent examples they are of stellar storytelling.  And since Narnia is one of those passions that I don't spotlight as often as I could wish on this blog, here are some of the writing-related things the books have got me mulling over lately.  ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼  Brevity & Focus ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼ The Narnia books are not 400 pages each, and they don't have to be.  Lewis knows the story he's trying to tell, and he doesn't need to bulk it up with irrelevant, extraneous words just for additional length.  But that doesn't keep him from incorporating small, tangential subplots sparingly and tastefully .  Not every plot point that's brought up in the Chronicles is fully fleshed out, and (fro...

Eloise at Christmastime (2003) This was very fun and sweet, and I'm sure it'll be a nice, cozy one to come back to now and again.  Thank you, Natalie , for introducing me. ;) Mary Poppins Returns (2018) So, I'm not a Mary Poppins person.  Not really, at least.  I enjoyed an audio version of one of the books, and I've loved Saving Mr. Banks for a long time, and I like some of the movie's music, but that's about been the extent of my affection for the story/character/etc. for some time. But then I watched this, and . . . well. ;) I approve, fam.  I approve wholeheartedly. :)  I greatly prefer Emily Blunt in the role, and I love how the Banks children are all grown up yet are still the same people they were as children, just with more life experience, more disillusionment, and so on.  (AND JACK AND JANE?!?!  THE CUTENESS WAS REAL AND PLEASE, SIR, I WANT SOME MORE.)  Plus, Michael's kids were adorable . The song "Where the L...