Shelf Candy Saturday No. 238: The Man Behind the Book, by Henry Van Dyke

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!

*Late Edition*

This is my weekly feature

showcasing beautiful covers!

It also provides information, 
if available, on their 
very talented creators!

Here's my choice for this week!

The Man Behind the Book:
Essays in Understanding
Henry Van Dyke 
Trade Paperback, 388 pages
University Press of the Pacific
January 23, 2004
   Literary Criticism, Literary Essays
 

My Thoughts About This Cover

This is an incredibly GORGEOUS cover, with a design strongly influenced by the late 19th-century Art Nouveau style. This design is bold, with sinuous plant forms undulating and flowing all over the cover. The color scheme is limited to three colors, but is still highly effective. This design pulsates with life! Each form is clearly delineated, and each makes the eye move smoothly from top to bottom of the cover.

I love the way the title is framed by the vines, as well as how beautifully the grapes and tulips are integrated into the overall picture.

The font used for the title and author's name is a classic one, and unremarkable, really, but, framed by the plant forms, it becomes very remarkable indeed! I love that the subtitle has been done in upper and lowercase letters. That differentiates it perfectly from the title.

In short, this is an AMAZING cover! I would love to be able to give the name of the designer, but I'm sorry to report that I have been unable to find the name of that very talented person, as this book is out of print.

I am very much interested in the content of the book, too, by the way. It contains a collection of literary essays on several topics, as well as on the classic novels Tess of the D'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder, and Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather. Of course, I'm going to check Alibris and Abebooks, as these online stores specialize in out-of-print books!

What do you think of 
this week's cover?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!

The Book Lover's Den #4: In Defense of One Much-Malgned Contemporary Author

Welcome to my new Friday feature!

In each bi-weekly post, I will be 

exploring my thoughts on several 

book-related topics.  

I first encountered Twilight, the first book in The Twilight Saga, on Amazon sometime in 2006. When I opened the Amazon reader and dove in, I was immediately hooked! Fast forward to 2008, when I attended the midnight party for Breaking Dawn, in a local bookstore, even though I had already bought the novel.

It's more than obvious from the above that I have had "Twilight fever" since 2006, and I love this series as much today as when I first began to read it.

In light of all this, it really hurts and puzzles me to see Stephenie Meyer's writing, especially her prose style, being criticized. Most fans are aware of the vitriol with which author Stephen King has unfairly attacked her.

I find it hard to understand these criticisms. For instance, I have heard about her prose style being described as 'simplistic'. This charge is leveled by those who state that Meyer doesn't use 'advanced vocabulary' in these books. Well, I beg to differ. 

There's a series of four books whose sole aim is to help high school students acquire vocabulary in preparation for several important exams, such as the SAT, ACT (these two are college entrance exams), GED, and SSAT. The first of these books is titled Defining Twilight. The series was authored by Brian Leaf, M.A., who is currently Director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Massachusetts.

 

Stacking The Shelves #24: The Ghosts of Rue Dumaine, The Martian Chronicles, In Other Worlds, One Lucky Vampire, Immortal Ever Afte,r Last Blood, Rise of the Gryphon

This is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer, Lili,

Stephanie, Helen, and Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews!

As the title implies, this is all about

sharing the books you're adding

to your shelves, be they physical or virtual.

For the complete rules, and to sign up,

just click on the link above.

This week's haul!! 

  

Books Purchased

I've just interviewed the author of

this novel, which is set in

spooky New Orleans, a city known for

strange and unusual happenings,

including, of course, hauntings!

Since it's a romance as well as a suspense

novel with supernatural

overtones, I just had to get it....and

it's perfect for the season!!

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository UK

I finally received my collectible

copy of this great SF classic!!

It's a 2001 reprint of the original edition,

which I featured in one of my

recent "Shelf Candy Saturday" posts.

I can't believe it's really mine!!!

Amazon US

I discovered this one in a small,

recently opened Books & Books store

right across the street from my day job!!

It's a collection of essays

about the science fiction genre,

from the author of the classic

The Handmaid's Tale! 

I was also immediately attracted

by the very surreal,  gorgeous cover!

Amazon US/Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Lynsay Sands is one of my favorite

paranormal romance authors!

Her vampire novels are so funny!

If you think it's weird to mix vamps and

humor, give her novels a try!

Like Kerrelyn Sparks, another favorite

of mine, Sands loves to

present humorous tales of

vampire romance!

Happy Halloween for sure!

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository UK

This is another novel in Sands'

acclaimed Argenau series!

As in the one above, the vamp

hero is lucky to have found a human

female who loves him and will

join him in eternal matrimony!!

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository UK

This novel is, I think, the last one in

The House of Comarre series.

I've only read the first one,

and will get to the rest of them!!

Each of these books has a

stunning cover (I featured one of them

in my SCS feature some time back).

The characters and plots are

very intense!!

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository UK

I own a few Sherrelyn Kenyon novels,

but have to confess that

I haven't read any of them....

From what I've heard, she's a terrific author,

so I have to try and

start one of these books, whatever

the series might be.

This one combines mythology

with lots of action and

a powerful female protagonist.

And of course I love that cover,

with the gorgeous sword!!

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository UK

 What do you think of my haul?

What fascinating book(s)

did you add

to your shelves this week?

 

Stacking The Shelves #17

This is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer, Lili,

Stephanie, Helen, and Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews!

As the title implies, this is all about

sharing the books you're adding

to your shelves, be they physical or virtual.

For the complete rules, and to sign up,

just click on the link above.

This week's haul!!

 Books Purchased

I've been wanting to get this series,

and now I have!

Angels are so fascinating to read about...

The plots of these novels are all

so very intriguing, and

those covers just appeal to

the bibliophile in me!!

So I knew it was just a matter of time

before I got all three of these.

Now I need the fourth book,

Endless, which will be out in October!!

Embrace

(The Violet Eden Chapters #1)

Jessica Shirvington

Hardcover, 369 pages

Goodreads

Amazon US

The Book Depository UK

Fishpond

Entice

(The Violet Eden Chapters #2)

Jessica Shirvington

Hardcover, 438 pages

Goodreads

Amazon US

The Book Depository UK

Fishpond

Emblaze

(The Violet Eden Chapters #3)

Jessica Shirvington

Hardcover, 464 pages

Goodreads

Amazon US

The Book Depository UK

Fishpond

Stacking The Shelves #14

This is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer, Lili,

Stephanie, and Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews!

As the title implies, this is all about

sharing the books you're adding

to your shelves, be they physical or virtual.

For the complete rules, and to sign up,

just click on the link above.

This week's haul!!

Books Purchased

I featured this beautiful cover

in one of my "Shelf Candy Saturday" posts.

The story is absolutely enchanting,

so I rushed over to Amazon to buy it!

Yes, there's a vampire in it.

And love.

And...I'm going to love it, I know!

Goodreads/Amazon US

Lynsay Sands is one of my favorite

paranormal romance authors!

She writes funny vampire books, and

I totally enjoy her plots,

which feature very lovable characters

I won't soon forget,

especially those from the Argeneau family!!

Goodreads

Amazon US

The Book Depository UK

Fishpond

Goodreads

Amazon US

The Book Depository UK

Fishpond

This is actually two books in one:

Bourne and Tributary are really novellas,

and part of the wonderfully

exciting, as well as romantic,

River of Time Series, by another of

my favorite authors, Lisa Bergren!

I have read the first two books

in the series, Waterfall and Cascade,

which I totally loved!! 

Goodreads

Amazon US

The Book Depository UK

ANNA KARENINA: A Review of Sorts...

 

 

When I first saw this read-along, hosted by Steph @ Five Alarm Book Reviews (who recently decided to take down her blog), I had mixed feelings about it... I wanted to participate, yet, I hesitated, because of my own personal experiences with an unfaithful husband.  I finally  decided to plunge in, for the simple reason that I had never read Tolstoy, and I do enjoy literary challenges!

I realized, only too late, that I had made a mistake.  During the first two weeks, I was pretty much able to follow along, even answering the excellent questions posted by Steph on her blog, and then linking up to her posts.  I also visited other participating blogs and commented on their posts.

By the third week, I was in trouble... I was actually forcing myself to keep reading.   I was never able to get past Part 5, quite honestly.  The problem was the very same one I encountered when I attempted (and did succeed in doing so) to read Wuthering Heights: I had to follow the activities and life choices of characters whose ethics and morality were totally skewed, selfish, and evil.  I could neither relate to nor sympathize with these characters.  I could not like them, because their actions were too self-serving and despicable.   They only cared about themselves, their own desires (in the case of Vronsky and Karenina), or thirst for revenge (in the case of Heathcliff).

Follow My Book Blog Friday Hop #16

Happy Follow Friday!!

This weekly feature is hosted by

Rachel at Parajunkee's View 

and 

Alison at Alison Can Read. 

Rachel not only has fabulous features,

but is a web designer

'par excellence'!!

Alison has a beautiful and very

interesting blog!

You can find the rules at the links above.

Join in the fun and make new blogging friends!!

This week's featured blogs are:

Celestial Reviews

and

from the shadows i review!!

This week's question is:

If you had to spend eternity inside

the pages of a book,

which book would you choose,

and why?

Needless to say, I have quite a few books I'd like to spend eternity in!  However, there are two fantasy series in particular that I would have no trouble living in forever!  I really can't choose between the two, so I'm declaring a tie.  The two series are The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter books.  Both of them depict very compelling worlds, filled with wonderful characters and adventures!


Tolkien's world, for example, has such vivid, believable characters that a reader immediately falls in love with!  I adore Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Legolas, Arwen, Galadriel... I especially love Gandalf, because he's the kind of wise, gentle, yet powerful grandfather I wish I could have had... I would love to have him as a tutor in magic!  Frodo is such a steadfast, loyal, and totally determined character, one with integrity and courage.  What a role model!  Aragorn, of course, is also a role model of courage, as well as true humility.  And Legolas, ah, Legolas!  He's a member of a magical race dedicated to beauty.  I see him as an artist, as well as a courageous warrior.  Arwen is a wonderful counterpart to Aragorn, with her steadfast love, and Galadriel is a truly mystical character.


Of all the beautiful places in Middle Earth, none can compare in beauty and mellow grace with Lothlorien.  That is precisely where I would love to spend eternity!  To hear the wondrous singing of the elves, to bask in the gentle breezes of the magical trees...that would be true happiness for me! 

Lothlorien

My other favorite fantasy world is that of the Harry Potter series, whose characters and setting I also love!  My favorite characters are Harry (of course!), Hermione Granger, Dumbledore, and Hagrid.  The place I would love to live in is Hogwarts, naturally.  I wouldn't mind being an eternal student there!  The classes are so wonderful, after all!  I would love to live in the dorm, and try to find my way around the school, with all of its mysterious passageways and tricky ladders, as well as funny, helpful ghosts!  I would love to play Quidditch (even though I'm terrible at sports), and wield my wand!  And what about those neat-looking robes?  I'd love to wear them all the time, except during the summer, of course. 

What can I say about Harry?  He's the classic 'underdog', bullied not only by Snape (the slimy rat!), but Draco Malfoy, too.  Throughout the books, Harry retains his courage and determination, in spite of it all.  He battles not only Voldemort, but his own inner demons, as well.  I greatly admire him!  Hermione is such a smart, totally resourceful character!  She nevers falters in the midst of all the mayhem.  I would have paired her off with Harry, since they're both not only great magicians, but also totally honest people committed to the same goal -- the downfall of Voldemort.  As for Dumbledore, ah, here's anothe surrogate grandfather... Wonderful, wise, gentle Dumbledore...he could be Gandalf's twin, and I'm sure Rowling was inspired by Tolkien's character.  Dumbledore was a great father figure to Harry, and I wish I could have been tutored by him, as well!  As for Hagrid -- he's a rather large guy, but with such a gentle, loving heart...he's been misjudged and unfairly disciplined, as happens too often with those who least deserve it.   I admire and love him for not becoming bitter.  Instead, he remains his gentle, sweet, loving self throughout. 

Hogwarts

What magical book or books

would you all

love to spend eternity in?