Dickensblog reminded its readers that the 150th anniversary of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens popped up recently. While I haven't quite figured out how to enroll in "Dickens for Breakfast," I did turn to my old favorite Librivox for the audio files. I've been listening to chapters while walking to and from the parking lots of my life. It's ( Read more... )

Oh no!  A misplaced click has deleted the nearly finished version of this post!. Just imagine that what follows once existed in a far, far superior form.

Here begins (again)  part of my attempt for more regular posts on this site.

I really am reading this for research. Some wonderful readers pointed out that a recent article needs a bit more of a ( Read more... )

I am teaching Roxana in an eighteenth-century English novel course and am slightly perplexed. I love the text and think there is a lot of wonderful discussions it could spark, but I was unsure how students would respond. Overall, it seems to have gone over well. Even students who didn't "like" the heroine found it interesting. Some especially loved ( Read more... )

Meme instructions: When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. (Preferably not "As you wish" or the Inigo Montoya speech.)

Everyone's used my favorites from the film, so I'm copping out and  using the book.

"People don't remember me. Really. It's not a paranoid thing; I just have this habit of ( Read more... )

Here's some of this week's additions to one of my favorite comic strips, Unshelved. These will probably go on the fridge or my office door soon.  Or, maybe I'll just attach it to every paper I assign.


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Since my defense, I've been in a bit of a fog. I've been slow with emails, writing, grading, etc.
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I turned in the defense version of my dissertation and finished grading student papers on Wednesday, so I felt that I could have a little treat. I read two, fluffy mystery novels in which I haven't any scholarly interest.

Weeks ago, husband and I were in Borders, and I picked up Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive. I quickly was drawn into the ( Read more... )

Over the weekend, the New York Times published some fun articles on a recent "literary" debate: Jane Austen - hot or not?
There's a cute editorial on why Verlyn Klinkenborg doesn't give a fig about  the whole thing, and an overview, with pictures, of the theories on what Austen looked like. At first I thought this had to be an April Fool's prank, ( Read more... )