"But of course! Nothing says 'romance' like a kidnapped injured woman!" *

I WANT:

This. The illustrated version.

Because I read this article in The Guardian.

Now I also want to read this:



And this, Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market."
(Or maybe I will just listen to it.)

I want to know more about this man, who sounds like a real character. To say the least.
He LOOKS crazy, doesn't he?
Has anyone written a biography?
Must find out...


Also want:
To read some of the stories in here:

How could I have missed Carter? Her books look weird and clever and funny, and they have been promptly added to my must-read list.


I loved the film of “The Princess Bride” and want to read the book now.


And how could Neil not tell us the actual name of the story from Lucy Clifford? I just finished The Haunting of Hill House and could do with more "strange and disturbing." He spookily riffed on "The New Mother" in his creepy-oh-so-creepy Coraline, so maybe that’s what he is talking about...

So I want to read Stardust, and I might even want to see the film, if only to check out the can-can-dancing pirate.

And of course, it probably goes without saying that I want (you know, PLATONICALLY):


I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't?!
Gosh, I love me some Neil and am happily engaged in reading his journal archives right now. So smart. So funny. (Have I mentioned so smart?)

********************

*Yvaine, in the movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust

It never rains but it pours...

Currently in my bag:
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
Matilda Bone - Karen Cushman


On my nightstand:
The Midwife’s Apprentice - Karen Cushman
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms - Gail Tsukiyama
The House of the Scorpion - Nancy Farmer
Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo
Summertime - Raffaela Barker


Waiting for me at the library:
Beneath the Skin - Nicci French
The Nubian Prince - Juan Bonilla
Farthing - Jo Walton
The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

*************

In other news, today is my last Saturday at the library.
I am a little sad, but mostly relieved. Maybe now I can finish up some of those projects around the house I never seem to have time for.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHHAHAHAAHAAA!!!!!!!!!

"October comes with rain whipping around the ankles in waves of white at night..." *

It has suddenly – literally overnight – become autumn.

The Baby is decked out in corduroys and a striped sweater. I had to dive into my scarf drawer last night to wrap up my throat to go out (my neck and ears are perpetually cold).

My drink of choice now is hot tea, although the boys clamor for hot cocoa.

We got three squash and another head of cabbage from our CSA; we are having baked butternut squash and sautéed spinach and zucchini pancakes for dinner tonight, maybe with the last of the tomatoes. I am riffling through Nigella right now to decide on a dessert: gingerbread maybe? Lemon syrup loaf cake? Plain ole pumpkin pie?

Now I wish my oven were in my kitchen and not in my basement (which was a blessing all summer).

I am finally again looking at the yards of fabric that are almost my living room curtains. I need to buy curtain rings and do some ironing but otherwise the cozy suede-y chocolate brown drapes will be up soon, blocking out drafts.

The porch furniture can be stacked up and covered for the winter now. And we had to go buy a new rake as our old one had mysteriously disappeared and the leaves are beginning to drift down.

I do believe this weather is what has restored my reading mojo. What better to do in cool weather than curl up in bed under a down comforter and read, cup of hot tea close at hand?

I tried to go buy a sofa today but I couldn’t seem to get to IKEA so that will have to wait, but this weather calls for a sofa as well, stocked with cozy throws and preferably in front of a nice fire (I am pricing vents and gas logs...)

Bring on the fall, I am ready.

*******************

* Louis MacNeice [one of my favorite poets]
"Autumn Journal", IX