National Poetry Month and More

The beautiful village of Grasmere, Scotland

In honor of National Poetry Month, I begin today's post with a poem by William Wordsworth of Scotland, "Composed by The Side of Grasmere Lake, 1806."


CLOUDS, lingering yet, extend in solid bars
Through the grey west; and lo! these waters,
steeled
By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield
A vivid repetition of the stars;
Jove, Venus, and the ruddy crest of Mars
Amid his fellows beauteously revealed
At happy distance from earth's groaning field,
Where ruthless mortals wage incessant wars,
Is it a mirror? --or the nether Sphere
Opening to view the abyss in which she feeds
Her own calm fires?--But list! a voice is near;
Great Pan himself low-whispering through the
reeds.
'Be thankful, thou, for, if unholy deeds
Rave the world, tranquility is here!"



We had the opportunity to visit Grasmere, a village in the Lake District of Scotland, last summer, the year that we took our survey tour of the United Kingdom. Although we didn't get to spend much time in the Grasmere area, we did get to see the graves of the Wordsworth family and heard many stories about them. We learned that Wordsworth became the poet laureate of Britain in 1843, but he did not write any more poetry after the death of his beloved daughter, Dora, in 1847. Wordsworth only lived three more years after the death of Dora. Incidentally, Beatrix Potter, the beloved children's author, was also from the Lake District area.

The past week has been full of memorable events for us, one a happy event, and one a difficult event. Our daughter became engaged on April 11, and my husband was in a wreck when a teenager pulled out in front of him. Fortunately, no one was injured but the incident totaled our 1997 Toyota Corolla, a reliable car that we've had for over 15 years. Now we have to figure out what we are going to do about getting another car. It's all going to work out. I'm trying to focus on the happy event and not the frustrating one.

A few days ago I finished reading the national bestseller, The Winter People, by Jennifer McMahon. This book was written last year, 2014, so it may be new to you. It was in one of the bags of books that I brought home from my parents' collection in Georgetown, Ky recently. I read the back of the book as I always do to get an idea of what the book was about, and I decided to read it based on what I read. Who wouldn't want to read a book set in Vermont with stories of "strange disappearances and old legends?" Who wouldn't want to read a good ghost story that will leave you feeling somewhat nervous and uncomfortable? This book is smoothly written and hooks the reader from the very beginning. It's a ghost story about people who come back alive after their deaths. I don' want to give too much away, but McMahon wisely crafts her characters as she tells various parts of the story that take place in 1908 and in the present time. In the present time you will meet Ruthie, Fawn, Alice, and Candace. In 1908 you will meet Sara Harrison Shea, Martin, and Gertie. As you read you will see how all of these characters are connected.

The book that I'm going to stat this weekend is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Somewhere along the way I missed the memo on this classic, so I look forward to giving it some attention. This book was also in one of the bags from Kentucky, so again, I didn't spend any money on a book. My goal is to try to read a book that is free to me whenever possible.

I will now list the next ten books that I've read since 1984. You'll note that I've read quite a few of Barbara Kingsolver's books and I've enjoyed every one of these by this author from Kentucky. Kingsolver is one of the few authors that I've ever written a letter to, and I did get a response. It was a form letter stating that she didn't have time to respond to all of her mail, but her signature is her very own!

1. On Writing by Stephen King
2. Between Sundays by Karen Kingsburg
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
4. The Bean Trees by B. Kingsolver
5. Flight Behavior by B. Kingsolver
6. Pigs in Heaven by B. Kingsolver
7. Prodigal Summer by B. Kingsolver
8. The Poisonwood Bible by B. Kingsolver (on my top-ten list of novel)
9. The Lacuna by B. Kingsolver
10. Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella


I would love to get your feedback on today's post. Have you read any of the books that I've listed or discussed? If so, what did you think of them?

Happy Reading,
Melissa