#bookrecommendationcorner

Okay. Time for another Vernian adventure.

Okay, so this one is a bit of a difficult pill to swallow. Don’t get me wrong, the whole adventure is amazing! And at some points I really had to take a deep breath from how much fun I was having ... But oh my god, Axel, I want to hit him so bad on the nose.

The entire narrative is in the first person, and ... to put it mildly, I’m not that fond of the first person narrator....

For those about to go forth into this book, I want to advise - patience. It’s a very slow read, and I had entire pages full of annotations because of the technical terms (which was fun), but also notes on how much I want to strangle the narrator ... 

But seriously, highly recommended for any true avid reader! This showed me that despite slow-going narratives, the story is very gratifying and lovely.

Tons of natural descriptions, a lot of science-y calculations and terminology, amazing sequences of fauna and flora ... LOVE IT!

And falling in love with an enigmatic Icelandic giant named Hans doesn’t hurt either.

Just take a deep breath and plunge into the centre of the earth (see what I did there? XD)

Stay safe!

Side note:

Before i dive into this delicious recommendation, I just want to apologize for being absent for so long ... Work has been crazy these past few months, and I’ve been reading nonstop (YAY!) ... But now I’m back (with a vengeance ... kidding!) and ready to recommend even more amazing books!

Wow. Just wow. Fascinating from start to finish.

Okay, full disclosure: Before starting to read the book, I have seen the most recent film adaptation by Kenneth Branagh, but ... and I swear this is true, even though it’s silly to my own ears - I can’t remember who the killer is!

So I did read the entire thing.

And oh my freaking goodness.

This is just diving into a whole different realm, back to the past, exploring human psyche, nature and class ... Just lovely!

Full of little French quirks (written by an English lady, so that’s funny), lots of twists and turns ...

I’m not going to embellish. I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone who’s going to embark on this wonderful adventure.

All I can say is, if you’re ever going to start reading Agatha Christie (like I’ve done since I finished this one), this is the perfect starting point to her wonderful world.

Stay safe everyone!

This is such a classic.

I’ve been wanting to read this for a while, but haven’t had the time or found it in my local boostores... I’m only familiar with the animated short by Walt Disney - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad .... not a good intro into this lovely world created by Grahame.

To those unfamiliar with this literary gem, here is a little taster:

It’s a lovely fantastical story about a group of animals living on the riverbank of an English countryside - mainly, a Mole, Water Rat, Badger, Otter and a maniacal yet loveable Toad. It tells their adventures and deals with the human invasion of Nature, and includes wild adventures involving carts, motor cars, Weasels, and a washerwoman.

As a literary scholar (not really, I have a BA in English Literature and Linguistics), this was a bit of a challenge. As opposed to James Joyce who needs a refresher course in punctuation, someone had to tell Grahame that too many commas confuse the hell out of the average reader and make it impossible to understand some sentences.

The imagery makes everything come to life, the Animals’ personalities are just too cute to describe (I’m trying not to have any favorites, but, come on...) and the interactions are just hilarious ... how come Toad doesn’t learn from his mistakes?!

If you have any comments, notes, or favorites in this adorable little tale, I’d be happy to read them in the comments!

Welcome to my little slice of heaven.

Books and reading are my life. If I don’t have a book on me, something is definitely wrong. 

I’m a school librarian at the end of my studies, and with a little time freed up, I’ve decided to give back to the community by writing recommendations to every book I finish.

If you have any book recommendations of your own, I’d love to read them in the comments and take them into consideration - just beware that my current ambitious list contains over 400 titles ... YIKES!