I Think I Know No Finer Thing Than Dogs

Week 5 Poem


Through prejudice perhaps my mind befrogs,
I think I know no finer thing than dogs:
The young ones, they of gay and bounding heart,
Who lure us in their games to take a part,
Who with mock tragedy their antics cloak
And, from their wild eyes' tail, admit the joke;
The old ones, with their wistful, fading eyes,
They who desire no further paradise
Than the warm comfort of our smile and hand,
Who tune their moods to ours and understand
Each word and gesture; they who lie and wait
To welcome us - with no rebuke if late.
Sublime the love they bear, but ask to live
Close to our feet, unrecompensed to give;
Beside which many men seem very logs -
I think I know no finer thing than dogs.

Hally Carrington Brent

The Sugar Queen

This is the second book by Sarah Addison Allen and I was just as impressed with this book as I was with Garden Spells. Allen's writing flows well and she lets you see into the heart of every character. I was very moved by the different stories. In fact, I was so moved by the story of an elderly woman who mourns a relationship from her twenties that I actually had to put the book down and walk away for a few minutes. It was too much. The main character, Josey, is fairly irritating and you want to smack some sense into her but everyone she meets through the story is so intriguing that you have to just keep going and hoping she'll change.

The book opens with a woman hiding in Josey's closet; a closet with a secret stash of sweets. The stash is many shelves large and is so important to Josey that she lets the woman stay for fear that someone will find out about her sweets. The big surprise twist at the end was a little predictable but I got the impression the book was writting in such a way that you're supposed to figure it out before the author tells you.

This was wonderful and quick read. I stayed up past midnight one night finishing it because I simply could not put it down. That's a big deal considering I get up before the sun!

Week 4 Poem

Far From The Madding Crowd

It seems to me I'd like to go
Where bells don't ring, nor whistles blow,
Nor clocks don't strike, nor gongs sound,
And I'd have stillness all around.

Not real stillness, but just the trees,
Low whispering, or the hum of bees,
Or brooks faint babbling over stones,
In strangely, softly tangled tones.

Or maybe a cricket or katydid,
Or the songs of birds in the hedges hid,
Or just come such sweet sound as these,
To fill a tired heart with ease.

If 'tweren't for sight and sound and smell,
I'd like the city pretty well,
But when it comes to getting rest,
I like the country lots the best.

Sometimes it seems to me I must
Just quit the city's din and dust,
And get out where the sky is blue,
And say, now, how does it seem to you?

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

I have been a big Stephen King fan in a long time. In fact, I pretty much swore off his work for years, and I do mean YEARS. (lol) However, whether you are a Stephen King fan, or a former fan who lost interest in his flights of fancy, and long winded (VERY long winded at times) prose, I think you will enjoy Lisey's Story. It is about a woman who's husband has died. The husband was a very famous author and the woman is dealing with the passing of her husband she loved very much. Since this is Stephen King who is doing the writing, there is of course the weird, the macabre, and the other worldlyness he is famous for. However, the story is wel written and he keeps his flights of fancy to a minimum. I would highly reccomend this book.