All Hallows Eve
It was a dark and stormy night, or so the stories went. I remember as a youngster sitting around the warm inviting campfire after an afternoon of pumpkin picking and early evening hay rides through dark pastures of neighboring farms. There was just a hit of chill in the air and the breeze blew lightly under a half-full moon.
An Elder would begin the story softy, leading us into it, and gradually build up to that one final line that scared the knickers off all us kids.
We’d scream, grab each other, look around, hear a hoot owl hoot, and then giggle at our silliness; yet not turn loose of each other until we were safely back in our own warm homes. But then came bedtime, baths taken, jammies on and lights out.
“Creek!”
What was that?
Looking around I’d see shadows on the wall that weren’t there before.
What is that? Who’s in the closet? Who’s under the bed?
The shadows would move as I moved.
“MOM!” I’d scream.
She’d appear at the door and calmly state, “Now go to bed and quit this foolishness.”
I’d try to be brave. Really, I would. Pulling the covers further over my head, and curling up in a fetal position so my feet would not be anywhere near the edges, but those shadowy dickens just seemed to reappear as soon as mom left the room again.
Now, of course, I grew up realizing there were no monsters in the closet or under the bed except old dirty socks and a few dust bunnies but come All Hallows Eve, when I tuck my daughter into bed I turn every light on, say a prayer over her, check her closets and under the bed, twice at least, smudge the room and just in case….I load my .22.
~ DorthaKay Brown "Usti sasa" ~ Sept. 13th, 2007
Dates to Remember
October 16, and 30 (Tuesday Evenings) 7:00 P.M. Parkside Writers Group
October 10, (Wednesday) 10:00 A.M. Morning Book Club
October 19, (Friday) 9:30 A.M. Story Lady
October 31, (Wednesday) 6:00 P.M. Vesper Hall – Trick or Treat Street
November 13, and 27 (Tuesday Evenings) 7:00 P.M. Parkside Writers Group
November 14, (Wednesday) 10:00 A.M. Morning Book Club
November 16, (Friday) 9:30 A.M. Story Lady
This Month’s Spotlight
By Mat King
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I received this book as a gift, for my birthday. It is a national best seller, and proudly displays “Oprah’s Book Club” on the cover. That pretty much stomps on any chance I would have pulled it off the shelf on my own, but it was a gift, so I read it.
Now, I enjoy post-apocalyptic type novels. There are some great authors in this arena like Orwell, and Vonnegut. Overall I liked the book and it has great potential. That being said it has some quirks and annoyances…
.
There were a couple of logistical issues. The most noticeable ones were the lack of chapters, and the lack of quotations during dialog. I get the no chapters, as there wasn’t really anywhere in the story to effectively section it off. There were no clearly definable stages or “parts” to the story. It really flows like one (very long) chapter. The lack of quotation marks, is annoying at first, and really distracting to me, but you get used to it over time. The way this story is written is a bit odd to me, it’s written in what I would call a “Montage” style, a series of scenes strung together. Like stop-motion photography, but in writing… or in an adventure movie where they have that “Epic Travel Scene”, which includes lots of music, but no dialog, and shows clips of their journey.. (including several panoramic fly-over shots of the stars trudging through snow covered mountains, or dune filled deserts.) The logistics are minor.
The biggest negative, for me, is the story. It seemed to fall flat. There wasn’t any escalation in the plot to allow for a climax. The story seemed to drag on, a man-vs-everybody/life-in-general type story. But there were so many antagonists that there weren’t really any clear challenges to overcome, then it ends. Now from the perspective that this is how life is, it’s poetic… but from the standpoint of a novel it just didn’t do it for me. The book seemed to end without accomplishing anything, without overcoming anything, but simply surviving. I didn’t feel a profound development of either the father or the son… it just felt like the story didn’t end, it just stopped.
There are some interesting insights that make the book worth reading, and it’s message, that a “good guy” doesn’t have to necessarily be perfect or a pushover, is heartwarming.
This would make an excellent intro to a series, as the entire book is really a character development story.
Title Author
The Fields Conrad Richter
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Orion Gail Giorgio Brewer
Perfect Marne D Kellogg
The Fountain Darren Aronofsky
Bookseller of Kabul Seierstad & Christophersen
Gettysburg Gingrich & Forstchen
The Indians Won Martin Cruz Smith
B is for Burglar Sue Grafton
Kentucky Heat Fern Michaels
Magical Wind Christine Feehan
Bugs on the Farm (CD) Carrie Blake-Brekke
Night Moves Nora Roberts
Secrets of Paris Luanne Rice
Stone Heart Luanne Rice
Clash of Kings George R. Martin
Storm of Swords George R. Martin
Left Behind (HB/DJ) Lahaye and Jenkins
Series Books Author
Red River of The North Series Lauraine Snelling
The Mode Series Piers Anthony
The Gor Series John Norman
Diagnosis Murder Series Lee Goldberg
The Hardy Boys Franklyn W. Dixon
Harry Potter (HB/DJ) J. K. Rowling
Terror Series Don Brown
From Sue Grafton Mystery Series, A-H (HB/DJ)
Any Titles by Pearl Wilcox
Any Titles by Emily Loring
Gardening Book on Clematis
Doily Patterns for Beginners
School Zone: Start to Read Books
Any Titles by e.e. cummings, David Ray, and Ted Kooser
Biographies for children:
Annie Oakley
John D. Rockefeller
William Seward
James Cook
George Dewey
Winston Churchill
Sitting Bull
Andrew Carnegie
Chris Finney
Wild Bill Hickok
Don’t Forget!
The next time you are in our store, check out the bulletin board. We have space to post announcements for customers as well as notices of events. Feel free to bring in your own announcements to post. We’ll be happy to host your information, as well.
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