My family and I are currently traveling up the New England coast. Our first stop was Salem, Mass. After that stop, we drove up the coast and landed in Freeport, Maine with a quick visit to Portland, two very different and unique places...
Salem, Massachusetts is well known for one thing: witches. Those who have never seen the town often picture a tiny hamlet cluttered with decaying centuries old buildings and quaint stores hocking tarot cards and crystals. That is what my family and I imagined as we navigated up the eastern US coast to the historic port city. It wasn't what we found.
It's hard to find ways to fill the time while driving and I am currently on a driving-heavy vacation up the New England coast. As the wheels rolled on we discussed many things including spirit animals and books....
After hours of scouring the interwebs this week, I've finally done it. I've found my 5 favorite bookish stories, including a real Agatha Christie mystery, a comparison of Plato and Dumbledore and Up lit. Not sure what that last one is? Read on...
There has been much talk lately about how books, particularly speculative fiction such as Orwell's 1984, are cautionary tales for the slippery slope the world is proceeding down. I need a break from that doom and gloom. So, let's talk about fictional worlds where I might actually like to visit or even live.
All good things must come to an end, even books. What happens when that end disappoints?
You've experienced it before. The book. The hype. Maybe it even becomes a movie. And then, for some reason, the meteoric rise of a novel has a Milli Vanilli level fall. (You 90s people know what I mean.)
I took a children's literature class in college. It was a bit of a departure from my typical Shakespeare and Russian literature type subject matter. I chose it as a relief from some of those heavier texts and deep down I probably thought it would be easy.
Independent bookstores, like people, have their own personalities. That's why I prefer these stores to the cavernous and cold Barnes and Nobles of the world. Going to a new indie bookstore is like making a new friend. And I made two recently in Washington, DC.
K.L. Kranes 