Alphabet Reading Challenge

I found another fun challenge:
 Have you read a book starting with every single letter of the alphabet? Make a list of books you've read, from A to Z! (Bonus points to those who've read those tricky letters like X and Z.) Also, you're allowed to bypass "the" or "a" in titles, if you need to.

A: Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
B: The Book of Three Alexander Lloyd
C: A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
D: Dragon Rider Cornelia Funke
E: Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine
F: The Faerie Wars Herbie Brennan
G: The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
H: Hatching Magic Ann Downer-Hazell
I: Inkheart Cornelia Funke
J: James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl
K: Kat, Incorrigible Stephanie Burgis
L: Little Women Louisa May Alcott
M: Middlemarch George Eliot
N: No such thing as Dragons Philip Reeve
O: One Corpse Too Many Ellis Peters
P: The Princess Bride William Goldman
Q: Quidditch Through the Ages J.K. Rowling
R: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Douglas Adams
S: The Scarlet Pimpernel Emmuska Orczy
T: The Tale of Desperaux Kate DiCamillo
U: Uglies Scott Westerfield
V: Victory of Eagles Naomi Novik
W: Witch Week Diana Wynne Jones
X:
Y: You Wish Jason Lethcoe
Z:

No bonus points for me... Has anyone else read any books starting with X or Z!?

Irony

Personally, I often have difficulty in deciding just how humorous I want my writing to be. While it is very true that you don't want dry, dull text that doesn't grab the reader's attention, you also generally don't want to include jokes (there are many exceptions of course).

Fortunately, there are many different types of humour and several of these are extremely useful tools. Some of these types of humour include anecdotes, banter, burlesque (a form of satire), irony, parody, repartee, satire, sarcasm and wit (i.e wordplay).

Not all of these can be used when writing but several of them are invaluable. For example, how many books have been lightened up, even for a moment, by a little bantering between characters? In my opinion, Ranger's Apprentice, by John Flanagan is an excellent example of this. It keeps the reader engaged all the time, and yet is still able to convey a sense of passing time.

Given the title, you've probably guessed by now that I'm planning to talk about irony. Irony is 'using words to express something completely different from the literal meaning' or, in other words,
'The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.'

The following quotes seemed to express irony and its use in society.

'I never read a book before reviewing it. It prejudices a man so.'
Sydney Smith

'I read part of it all the way through.'
Samuel Goldwyn

'It is a secret in the Oxford sense. You may tell it to only one person at a time.'
Lord Franks

I really enjoy reading books with a bit of irony. For me, they make the story so much more enjoyable and much more riveting.

What do you think? Is it useful to think about such techniques or is it better to try and write without assessing too much?

Editing Puns

And for a short post today, here are a few puns from the IPEd website (Institute of Professional Editors). Enjoy :)

The Sanctuary Sparrow

I was sorting through some old files the other day when I came across a book report I wrote several years ago for a school assignment.
It presented me with a golden opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: writing a book review, and critiquing a piece of my writing…

The book is The Sanctuary Sparrow, a mediaeval murder mystery by Ellis Peters (a.k.a Edith Pargeter). It is one of the earlier books in The Cadfael Chronicles and I would definitely recommend it as something well written, enthralling and a little different from your run-of-the-mill murder mystery.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Date: 18th February
Book Title: The Sanctuary Sparrow
Author: Ellis Peters
Publisher: Macmillian London Limited

The book is about…

The Sanctuary Sparrow follows the story of a young man who is falsely accused of robbery and murder. He is pursued by a lynching mob and is only spared (for the time being) because he accidentally stumbles upon the sanctuary of a Benedictine monastery. One of the monks there, Brother Cadfael, believes that he is innocent but has only forty days and nights to prove it.

The setting of this book is…

This book is set in a small town called Shrewsbury in the county of Shropshire. The civil war between the Empress and the King is still raging, but further south. The area the book encompasses is currently under a fragile peace but there is an underlay of tension and uncertainty. All the same, the winter is over and for the moment, the people are making the most of peace.

The main character in this book is…

The main character in this book is Brother Cadfael. He is a Benedictine monk with uncommon skills as a herbalist and an interesting past. Before he ‘took up his cloth’, he had several other occupations. In 1096, he joined the First Crusade under the command of the Duke of Normandy, Robert II. He lived in both the Holy Land and Syria for several years and also earnt a living as a sailor for a time.
When he eventually managed to return in 1114, the woman he’d been unofficially engaged to had married another. Cadfael became a foot soldier and fought in a conflict in Normandy. On his return, the nobleman that he was working for kidnapped Prior Heribert of Shrewsbury Abbey in an attempt to foil a lawsuit. Cadfael decided to free the Abbot and ended up laying aside his arms and joining the Abbey.

Some other important people in the book are…

Lilliwin is a travelling jongleur. Without family or fortune, he is trying to make his way through a country ridden with discord. He is honest but will need to prove it in order to escape the cruel penalty for a crime he did not commit.

Name three other characters. Write one fact about each character.

1.    Brother Anselm is a Benedictine monk who is a skilled and meticulous instrument maker and repairer. He teaches Lilliwin to read music.

2.    Hugh Beringar is the Deputy Sheriff of Shrewsbury. He is a fair man and is one of the few people in his profession capable of believing the maxim 'innocent until proven guilty'.

3.    Master Walter is a rich goldsmith who is inclined to be suspicious. He is strong in his beliefs and protective of his fortune. 

The biggest problem in this book is…

The most important element to this book is, as one would expect, solving the mystery. Clearing the name of an innocent is something that Brother Cadfael strongly believes in and as a result, he drives the plot. Throughout, it is clear that the mystery needs to be solved and unfolded before authorities before it becomes too late.

Some important events in the book are…

•    Master Walter’s gold was stolen
•    Lilliwin found sanctuary
•    Cadfael discovered the dead body in the river
•    Dame Juliana had a stroke
•    Susanna fled to Wales but was arrested
•    Lilliwin was pardoned

At the end of the book…

The end of the book brought, of course, the solving of the mystery. Despite this, the ending was bittersweet. The murderer was in the process of fleeing to Wales and was planning on getting married before she was captured.

I thought this book…

I believe that this is an excellent book. It is well written with a captivating, intricately woven storyline. The scene is set exceedingly well and you really get a sense that you are, in fact, in a mediaeval town. The events that occur throughout feel as if they are perfectly plausible and the times themselves are depicted in a manner that is accurate and yet manages not to come across as being overly dark or depressing. There is an element of the moralistic in the book that I find interesting. In particular, Cadfael’s thoughts and observations on human weaknesses and flaws.

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Wow, there's something very refreshing about reading one's previous opinions!
There's a lot of nice phrasing which I really enjoyed such as 'Without family or fortune, he is trying to make his way through a country ridden with discord'. It's almost difficult to believe that I actually came up with that sentence myself, it could be on a blurb! :)
Because of the inflexible structure we were given, it sometimes has a bit of a clinical feel about it but that can't really be helped so I shan't worry about it (much...).
If I were to do it again, I would like to edit it a bit more to give it that extra polish.
 All in all, I think that it was a pretty good review. I really liked that it was informative without giving too much a way.

Life according to Literature

I discovered this lovely challenge on Catherine's blog and couldn't resist.
I believe that you're supposed to do this at the end of the year but never mind... 



Using only books you have read this year, answer these questions. 

Try not to repeat a book title. 



Describe yourself:  

The Colour of Magic (Terry Pratchett)



How do you feel: 

The Ship Between the Worlds (Julia Golding)

Describe where you currently live:  

A Room With a View (E.M. Forster)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:  

Through the Looking-Glass (Lewis Carroll)



Your favourite form of transportation: 

The Little White Horse (Elizabeth Goudge)



Your best friend is:  

The Reluctant Assassin (Eoin Colfer)



You and your friends are: 

The Kings of Clonmel (John Flanagan)



What’s the weather like: 

Middlemarch (George Eliot)



You fear: 

The Sea of Trolls (Nancy Farmer)



What is the best advice you have to give: 

Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)



Thought for the day:  

Thyme for Trust (Felicity Pulman)



How I would like to die: 

In Steel Grey Armour (David Ker)



My soul’s present condition: 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare)



To be honest, I stretched the rules a bit, I've only just started a Midsummer Night's Dream. The phrase was just so beautifully poetic that I had to use it!
If you'd like to, please complete your own and post a link in the comments, I'd really love to see what you all have to say!

Waiting For Inspiration

When having trouble starting something, how many people have told themselves comfortingly 'I'm just waiting for some Inspiration...'?
Told themselves that the ideas that have been jumbled up in their head in an incomprehensible tangle will sort themselves out because that bright idea, that revelation, is going to come?

I wanted my first post to be about something special, something unique.
What that was exactly, I had no idea. I still don't.

I guess that I simply hoped that I would 'think of something'.
The only thing that I was sure about was that I did not want to start with the traditional 'I started this blog because...'!

I wanted something out of the ordinary, something that would make people think. Was this too much to ask for?

It seems that it was. I have spent the best part of a week thinking and waiting until today, when I finally decided that I would sit down and force myself to write something, no matter how dreadful I thought it was.

Now all I need to do is ignore that side of me that is a hopeless perfectionist and post this. Fortunately, I can always remind myself that Jane Austen has shown shewn that one should not always trust First Impressions.