As we are nearly done with winter, I am almost ashamed to admit that I am still working on this past summer’s summer reading list.

Almost.

We all know I read far too many books at one time, but it’s not like I’m going to stop any time soon. It is what it is my friends.

So, I am indeed still working my way through those books, but I am happy to say I had some down time recently to finish Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Marquez, who passed away in April of 2014, was a Colombian novelist perhaps best known for this book as well as Love in the Time of Cholera. (I’ve also read that book, and would urge you to pick up a copy. It is lovely and sad all at once, and full of Marquez’s lush and evocative imagery.)

One Hundred Years of Solitude was first published in 1967, but its widespread critical acclaim and global popularity were major factors in his receiving the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature.

This book tells the story of the rise and fall of the town of Macondo, an isolated outpost in colonial Latin America. Tucked away in the Colombian jungle, the town prospers under the leadership of the Buendia family. As time and generations pass, so do the family’s good standing and power. They fall prey to their own selfishness and lust, whether it be for other people, wealth, luxury, or even knowledge (several characters spend the majority of their lives locked up in a dark room with a bunch of parchments).

The town and its people are fictional, but to me the hallmark of Marquez’s style has always been its vibrancy, and it is especially on display in this book. The immediacy of his descriptions pulled me right into the time and place he creates with Macondo.

This is a book you can sink your teeth into; not something you can knock off in an evening and a few cups of tea. There are creation and national myths throughout, as well as religious, philosophical, and literary metaphors. Time is also a tricky thing throughout. The only other work I can call to mind where time is more fluid is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Believe me, that is saying something.

This was the second work of Marquez’s that I have read, but I am sure it will not be the last. My only regret is that I did not have the privilege of reading more World Literature when I was in school, because now I have so much lost time to make up for.

I’ve been waiting until I could find the time to actually finish re-reading The Hobbit to make this post about “The Battle of the Five Armies.”

And, you know, to stop crying over Thorin Oakenshield.

I haven’t been this upset over the ending of a book since I first read A Tale of Two Cities and cried my heart out over Sydney Carton. Thanks a lot, Thorin. And Fili. And Kili.

Perhaps the worst thing of all is that Bilbo leaves his new family behind in Erebor and returns to the Shire all alone, where people now see him as “strange” because he dared to go beyond the borders of their safe and comfortable little corner of Middle Earth.

I wonder what they would all think if they knew he fell in love with a dwarf. We’re not even going to argue this point, because if you have actually seen “The Battle of the Five Armies” then you know precisely what I am talking about. Thorin loved him right back, if you ask me. It was pretty obvious. As obvious as Legolas and Gimli (and if you can’t see that either then you need some very strong glasses). Naturally, everyone in the theater cried when the two parted. It did not help that Richard Armitage looked too handsome to be real in that death scene either. Pretty sure my friend and I cried as hard as poor Bilbo.

One of the things I liked best about the film was how it fleshed out the friendships in the Company, and how these characters were all given so much more life than the book gives them. There are many things I like about Tolkien, but he has this infuriating insistence on downplaying the dwarves. He says they are not heroes, and that Thorin and Company are “good enough, for dwarves.”

It’s blatant racism. Even most of the other characters either treat them as lesser beings, or talk to them as if they are children.

I could go on at length about how dwarves are indeed heroes, and how the other races aren’t as great as they proclaim themselves to be. But that would be counterproductive. I will say, that if anyone finds themselves agreeing with the narrator in this book, or Gandalf, or anyone else who thinks dwarves are actually made of stone, then please think again. They are a people without a home (they often lose their homes in tragic, tragic ways). Yet somehow, they endure. Thorin loses his home and lots of family and friends when Smaug comes. He turns to Thranduil in his hour of need,and is turned away like unwanted baggage. Thranduil doesn’t even point them in the direction of fresh water. They wander. For decades. They try to take back Moria, and Thorin loses his grandfather and brother. Then his father goes wandering, is imprisoned, and loses his mind. Thorin is king, and still trying to find a home. He does. He brings his people to the ruins of Ered Luin, where they eke out a living by finding what work they can. Thorin is a blacksmith for people who do not appreciate fine crafts the way dwarves do, and he is almost certainly underpaid and outright cheated. But he endures it because his sister, who has lost her husband, has two young boys who need to be fed. So now Thorin is a king, a blacksmith, and a father figure. And none of his other kin lift a finger to help him, because he doesn’t have the Arkenstone, a symbol of the king’s right to rule.

That is his life for over a century. And somehow, he still has hope that he can take back his kingdom.

Nope. He and his people are unfeeling lumps of stone. Certainly nothing heroic there.

You see? I could go on. Believe it or not, that is the short version of my rant.

This last film was also great because, as painful as it was to see Thorin fall under the spell of the gold sickness, Richard Armitage played it out superbly, and the writers handled it very well. Thorin was indeed sick, and they did not demonize him, as many productions do to those who suffer from mental illness.

It’s also sad that this was indeed the last time we all got to visit Middle Earth. At least, in film. Of course, there are lots of Tolkien works that could be adapted, but between “The Lord of the Rings” films, and now “The Hobbit,” lots of people my age have spent the past fifteen years of their lives looking forward to the next installment in these series. It takes me back to when “Harry Potter” came to an end. I find myself asking “What now?”

Of course, there’s always The Silmarillion. Someone get on that. Or make a movie about Celebrimor and Narvi. Please.

Now I leave you with a smattering of quotes from the book. If you are intending to give this a read, I recommend the illustrated version. Jemima Catlin provides the artwork, and it’s a lovely book to look at. Reminds me of an illuminated manuscript. We need more of those.

“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.” –Gandalf

“Confusticate and bebother these dwarves!” –Bilbo

“As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and a jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.”

“There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself.” –Gandalf

“You will have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs, and a good many other things, before you get to the journey’s end.” –Dwalin

“Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.”

“There is nothing like looking if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

“No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it.”

“Never laugh at live dragons.” –Bilbo

“While there’s life there’s hope!” –Bilbo

“I have heard songs of many battles, and I have always understood that defeat may be glorious. It seems very uncomfortable, not to say distressing. I wish I was well out of it.” –Bilbo

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” –Thorin

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!” –Bilbo

If I recall correctly, I vowed to myself this past January that I would read fifty books this year.

As usual, I bit off more than I could chew. However, I read as much as I could find the time to, and I’m proud to say that I not only worked more new books into my rotation this year, I also managed to discover a new series to obsess over that isn’t set in Middle Earth or Westeros and doesn’t feature a boy wizard. Though, to be fair, it does include Sherlock Holmes.

2015 is looking like it’s going to be a far better year than 2014 was, personally speaking, so maybe I might actually have a shot at reaching my goal this coming year.

Here is a list of what I managed to read this year–we’re talking start and finish, since there are several books I am currently making my way through. I recommend all of these, just to be clear, but there are some I enjoyed much more than others. Right now I am trying to finish The Hobbit and process the emotional devastation of “The Battle of the Five Armies.” New reads are marked with an asterisk. Also, I didn’t include them, but I read some magazines throughout the year, my favorites being Vogue, Food Network Magazine, and National Geographic.

1) Downton Abbey Season 2 Scripts*. I eagerly await the publication of Season 3.

2) The Annotated Persuasion

3) The Annotated Sense and Sensibility

4) The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola*

5) The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 by Harvey Sachs

6) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman*. (An excellent read.)

7) The Annotated Northanger Abbey

8) 11 Doctors, 11 Stories*. (Also includes Neil Gaiman)

9) Who-ology*

10) Saudade by Miriam Winthrop* (A wonderful book, and I’m happy to say it led to a new friendship for me this year!)

11) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling*

12) Rick Steves’ Portugal*

13) and 14) Attack on Titan Volumes 1 and 2* (The manga and the anime are both excellent. Some call this Japan’s version of “The Walking Dead,” and I can see that, but this story has a more positive spin on things, though the gore and horror is on par with the things Rick Grimes and his group have suffered thus far.)

15) The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel*

16) Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire* (This puts a spin on the classic “Cinderella” tale and is equal parts brutally honest and whimsical.)

17) Beowulf, as translated by J.R.R. Tolkien

18) The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman*

19) The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King* (I cannot stop reading these Mary Russell books. And I will not hear her called a Mary Sue. She is just as intelligent as her husband, Sherlock Holmes, and the only reason she gets any flack for her intellect and her humanistic capacities is because she is a woman. Oh, and she’s a feminist like me.)

20) A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King*

21) Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman*

22) A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

23) The Quotable Doctor Who*

24) 101 Great American Poems*

25) Lidia’s Common Sense Italian Cooking by Lidia Bastianich* (Her programs are frequently on PBS and Create TV, and I want nothing more than to move in next door to her and to cook all day long.)

26) Several volumes of The Walking Dead

27) Astrophel and Stella by Sir Philip Sidney

28) The Road to Nyn by Brian Michaud* (He’s a local author and a rather talented one at that. This book is set to be part of a series too, for those who are like me and can’t stop at just one.)

29) Lust for Life by Irving Stone

30) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

31) Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie*

32) Marvel’s 1602

33) The U.K. to U.S.A. Dictionary*

34) Well-Read Women*

Keep it like Scrooge.

Post-ghosts Scrooge. Not Original Recipe Scrooge. Just to clarify.

Every year, I come back to this book, not only because it is my favorite Christmas story, but because this is the best representation that comes to mind when people start talking about what Christmas means to them.

In this case, it’s Scrooge’s example that calls Christmas to my mind. Lots of people tend to think of him as the flinty old miser sitting by himself and taking his gruel on a foggy Christmas Eve. They forget that he’s only like that in the beginning. By the time we come to the end of the tale, Scrooge vows to be a better man and to keep Christmas in his heart. He decides that he’s going to be a good man, and a far more loving and generous person.

That’s Christmas.

Yes, it’s a time for decorating the tree, and singing carols, and eating like hobbits (seriously it’s the perfect day for Second Breakfast). But the point of all of those things, and everything else we do at this time of year, is that we’re surrounded by the people we love.

Each year, I find myself concentrating on something new when I pick up this book. This year it’s Scrooge’s promise to better himself.

That’s not just a Christmas thing, either. Be good to one another, and strive to be kinder than you were today.

Merry Christmas.

“She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.”

Jane Austen’s Persuasion has long been my favorite book, and for many reasons, but every time I read that passage my love for this story only grows.

Many people interpret that passage as a sign that Austen was inspired to write this novel as a means of portraying the second chance for great love that she and her sister Cassandra never had–both women never married, due to a series of sad happenings.

While I adhere to that reading, I also see this as a denial of adult expectations. As we grow older, we are forced to become more practical: we give up on our dreams, our hopes for an epic romance, our unabashed joys and wonderment, our sense of adventure.

I see no reason to do that. If anything, as I get older I find myself more appreciative of the beauty I see around me, and the “little” moments that make me happy each day.

There is often an equation of gentleness with weakness, and this book’s heroine, Anne Elliot, thoroughly disproves that idiotic notion. Anne is nothing but gentle in her manner and actions, and yet her strength prevails. It’s Anne who shows the most emotional and intellectual fortitude during the novel’s darkest moments.

Persuasion is a great love story, and that alone would make it a good book. What makes it a classic are its underlying messages of hope and optimism. The world might be a harsh and ugly place, but we don’t have to be.

The time is fast approaching for last minute holiday shoppers to desperately think of gifts for their loved ones.

You know who you are, Last Minute Charlies.

For those who are wondering what to get their friends and loved ones:

Books!

You might think book lovers are hard to shop for, but there are some things that they are sure to love. (Just don’t get them a book they haven’t read yet that you think they might like. In my experience, nine out of ten times the gift giver is completely wrong, and then I and others like me are put in the awkward position of gracefully accepting something that we would probably never have picked out for ourselves. Just so you know.)

DO get the book lover in your life a book they have read. Get a special edition. Most likely, they will not have it, because they have probably been salivating over that edition for ages but were too afraid to shell out the cash for something they already had a less fancy version of. So treat them!

Collections are always a good idea, especially for those who like poetry. This is a thoughtful gift, and something the recipient can always come back to and peruse while thinking fondly of you.

As far as accessories, book lights are fantastic, because we don’t want to stop reading once the sun goes down! These are especially handy gadgets for readers who travel. Bookmarks–especially quirky, fun ones–are always welcome (I am ALWAYS losing mine).

And then there is the tried and true gift certificate. Don’t consider the gift card to be a last ditch effort: really, it is a little piece of plastic opportunity for us bookworms to go on a shopping spree we might otherwise not be able to indulge in.

So fear not! Shopping for your bookish cohorts is easier than you think.

NaNoWriMo is almost over, and to those who have somehow managed to keep up, congratulations!

Now we’ve come to the moment in the writing process that is in my opinion more tricky than those bits in the middle. Whenever I’ve found myself close to completing something, I suddenly find myself far less ambitious in the writing process. I figure: well, I’m nearly there, I can relax a little.

Don’t.

Keep going.

Yes, you are nearly at the finish line.

But you’re not there yet.

Take a break by all means to feast on Thursday, but don’t forget that you’ve still got a few days left to reach that 50,000 word count!

As soon as you’ve slept off your holiday banquet.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Halfway through NaNoWriMo, it’s easy to imagine that many writers have reached their Mid-Book Doldrums.

Most of you are probably thinking: “What did I get myself into? How am I supposed to keep this thing going?”

It can be difficult to maintain momentum throughout a story, especially in the middle of your work. (Though truth be told, I have found that the place where I usually face the most difficulty is just as I’m approaching the end. We’ll discuss this more next time, because I think that’s an even more dangerous place than the middle.)

Still, the trick to get through all of this really is to just keep writing. Now, that is far easier said than done, but there it is. Just keep going! Write, write, and write, and then worry about editing and revising and making things pretty later. That’s for your second draft.

I’ve gathered together some quotes from writers about writing, as that seemed like a good source of motivation for those who are currently stuck in the middle. Take a little break, read what others have to say about exactly what you are experiencing right now, and then get back to work!

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” –Ernest Hemingway

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” –Toni Morrison

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” –Stephen King

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” –Louis L’Amour

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.” –Neil Gaiman

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” –Jack London

“Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time–proof that humans can work magic.” –Carl Sagan

“There’s no such thing as perfect writing, just like there’s no such thing as perfect despair.” –Haruki Murakami

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” –Robert Cormier

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” –Martin Luther

“You can’t edit a blank page.” –Nora Roberts

“Books choose their authors; the art of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.” –Salman Rushdie

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne

We’ve all been there:

You sit down before your open notebook or your computer, all set to begin crafting your magnum opus.

Or, you know, the first draft of your current project.

But let’s call it your magnum opus, because we’re shooting for some self confidence here.

There’s always that moment, just before you begin, where the blank page, or the little blinking cursor, appears to be mocking you. How are you ever going to start this scary new thing? You know exactly what you want to write about, yes, but where on earth to begin?

The point is: you just need to begin.

I often find that I put far too much pressure on myself, and my work, when I begin a draft. I was always a good little student–I still consider myself a scholar–and I’ve always pushed myself to get things right the first time.

Drafts don’t work like that.

Just get something onto the page, and keep going. You can always come back later to revise. Right now, you need to establish the structure and direction your work is going to take, and then later on you can worry about making everything sparkle.

And in a way, NaNoWriMo is a perfect opportunity to hone this practice.

You’ve got thirty days to crank out 50,000 words.

So just get cranking!

The best thing to do is to find a routine that works for you.

Some people have a certain time where they are most productive. Others need to be in a certain place, or they have some sort of ritual that helps them to write.

I find that my daily walk/run helps a great deal. It relaxes me, and gets me nice and awake and ready to face whatever it is I have to do that day. Listening to music also helps. If I have my ipod and a nice notebook, I can write anywhere and at any time. I make a point to get at least some work done each day, and I find that most times I’m further along than I realized!

Lots of people have written books full of advice for writers who want to turn their craft into a discipline. These are all rather thoughtful and helpful, but the important thing is figuring out what works for you.

So:

Don’t let the blank spaces scare you. It’s your job to fill them up, so just do it.

Just keep writing.

Or, to those who are new to the experience:

Happy National Novel Writing Month!

From November 1st until November 30th at 11:59pm, writers here and around the world will be working towards their goal of producing a 50,000 word novel. Or draft. Or something vaguely resembling a story of some kind.

The point being, to write. To begin something and see it through to the end, whether or not you make that 50,000 word count.

Members can be found by region, and the Municipal Liaison for Taunton is a good friend of mine, Samantha Mattos. She has very graciously provided me with her email address to share with readers who might be interested in trying their hand at this challenge, or who are already hard at work and might have questions.

Samantha can be reached at dontpanicllama@gmail.com. She is also listed on the NaNoWriMo website as dontpanicllama for the Massachusetts/Bristol County region. She is not only an excellent writer, but a helpful cheerleader. Sam will see you through this.

To help foster creativity, and perhaps to commiserate a little, there will also be write-ins at the Taunton Public Library on November 6th, 17th, and 25th. For further information, feel free to contact Sam!

Next time: Some tips to get you through that beastly first draft!