![]() ![]() Lavinia embraced Avan after the destruction of the Ghost Tank, much to the latter's surprise, and her words implied she held feelings for Leon.įollowing the civil war, she stayed at Lanseal after the others graduated to help restore the academy. With the help of Avan Hardins and the rest of Class G, Lavinia was later able to defeat the Ghost Tank, finally avenging her friend and breaking free of her past regrets. Lavinia went on to serve as Class G's tank engineer, driver, and R&D specialist. However, Leon's death came before they could fulfill that promise, leaving Lavinia guilt-ridden. Leon Hardins, one of the survivors of the attack, assured Lavinia that as soon as she built a stronger tank, the two of them would defeat the Ghost Tank together. ![]() She blamed herself for being unable to keep that friend and the rest of their squad alive. Originally a mechanic, Lavinia decided to start piloting her own tanks after a friend of hers fell victim to the Ghost Tank while driving one of her tanks. She was plain-spoken but caring and liked to help those in need. Lavinia Lane was Class G's tank commander and mechanic, in addition to managing R&D efforts at Lanseal. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Why do I love this book so much? Oh, for so many reasons. A hilarious and ruthless parody of rural melodramas and purple prose, Cold Comfort Farm is one of the best-loved comic novels of all time. Armed with common sense and a strong will, she resolves to take each of the family in hand. When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex.Īt the aptly-named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders: cousin Judith, heaving with remorse for unspoken wickedness Amos, preaching fire and damnation their sons, lustful Seth and despairing Reuben child of nature Elfine and crazed old Aunt Ada Doom, who has kept to her bedroom for the last twenty years.īut Flora loves nothing better than to organise other people. The book is Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Following on from my earlier post, I now have my twelfth and final, personal Desert Island Book. If I am ever pressed to nominate my favourite book of all time, this is my choice. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() He is enchanted by Tiffany, mystified by her presence. She finds herself face to face with the Wintersmith-the personification of winter-who mistakes her for the Summer Lady-the personification of summer. But when she takes Tiffany to witness the secret "dark morris", the morris dance (performed wearing black clothes and octiron bells) that welcomes in the winter, Tiffany finds herself drawn into the dance and joins in, despite being warned earlier by Miss Treason not to do so. ![]() Tiffany Aching, now 13 years old, is training with the witch Miss Treason. In 2013 folk-rock band Steeleye Span collaborated with Pratchett, a fan of the band, to produce a Wintersmith concept album, released in October 2013. It received recognition as a 2007 Best Book for Young Adults from the American Library Association. Published on 21 September 2006, it is the third novel in the series to feature the character of Tiffany Aching. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of the books in the Discworld series. Wintersmith is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set in the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. ![]() ![]() As she journeys on a fantastical adventure like no other, she meets a host of wonderful characters on a quest to find that which was once lost. Moths appear from nowhere Owls light up the dark a Red Fox leads the way down a rabbit hole to a brand-new wonderland. ![]() ![]() Written to be read aloud, painted in brushstrokes that call to the forest, field, riverbank and also to the heart, The Lost Spells summons back what is often lost from sight and care, teaching the names of everyday species, and inspiring its readers to attention, love and care. A girl with no name finds a magical book of spells that conjures up a wild world. Moving, joyful and funny, The Lost Spells above all celebrates a sense of wonder, bearing witness to nature's power to amaze, console and bring joy. Jay to Jackdaw - with which we share our lives and landscapes. Kindred in spirit to The Lost Words but fresh in its form, The Lost Spells introduces a beautiful new set of natural spell-poems and artwork by beloved creative duo Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris.Įach "spell" conjures an animal, bird, tree or flower - from Barn Owl to Red Fox, Grey Seal to Silver Birch, Let the wild world into your eyes, your voice, your heart.' ‘.let these spells ring far and wide speak their words and seek their art, ![]() Signed by Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane. ![]() ![]() Without even noticing, just as astronomy entered a golden age most people cut themselves off from the sky, a cosmic isolationism that ended only with the dawn of space exploration.” ![]() New generations grew to maturity wholly ignorant of the sky that had transfixed their ancestors and that had stimulated the modern age of science and technology. As technology developed and the cities were polluted, the nights became starless. In the last few decades, a major fraction of the human population has abandoned a rustic way of life. In the last few thousand years they began building and emigrating to the cities. ![]() ![]() For a million years humans had grown up with a personal daily knowledge of the vault of heaven. “At the very moment that humans discovered the scale of the universe and found that their most unconstrained fancies were in fact dwarfed by the true dimensions of even the Milky Way Galaxy, they took steps that ensured that their descendants would be unable to see the stars at all. ![]() ![]() ![]() It sold over 400,000 copies in its first year of publication, with The New York Times calling it “a magnificent novel of America.” The book’s merits were so obvious that Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1940.ĭid you know…? The book also had another, very influential fan: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The camps Steinbeck visited, and the people he met there, fueled much of his vision for The Grapes of Wrath.ĭid you know…? The book was an immediate critical and commercial smash. ![]() The seven-article series, called “The Harvest Gypsies,” ran in October 1936, and described the desperate conditions migrant farm workers-most of them Dust Bowl refugees-often faced, including hunger, squalid living quarters, and wage exploitation. Applications are due January 27!ĭid you know…? The novel was inspired by Steinbeck’s journalism work, particularly for The San Francisco News, which commissioned him to cover migrant labor camps in California’s Salinas Valley. Below are ten facts about John Steinbeck’s masterpiece, which is available as part of the 2021-2022 National Endowment for the Arts Big Read. Since the day it was published on April 14, 1939, The Grapes of Wrath has captured the American imagination, pulling back the curtain on a way of life that most of us could scarcely imagine, and showing us the powerful ways that literature can touch society. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Read Endless Nights after reading the original series. Then, proceed to finish the original series (Vol. You can get a taste of the series' at its peak and then return to the beginning for more answers. This volume is where the vast scope of the universe is fully realized for the first time. Volume 4 Season of Mists: One of the best volumes of the series, this is Neil Gaiman in top form. You can get immersed in the series and then read volume 1 after this. This is a fan favorite volume and a fairly good starting point for new readers. ![]() Volume 2 Doll's House: This is where Neil severs the ties between the Sandman and the DC universe and the series begins to take form. This volume is comparatively weaker than later volumes as Neil was still trying to find his place in the DC universe while setting up major events to come. Volume 1 Preludes and Nocturnes: This is where Neil recommends starting. ![]() ![]() That doesn’t mean it has no power, that it wasn’t exactly what I needed when I discovered it. It is shameless in seizing the tropes of sisterhood and ancient world mythology, in celebrating women’s power. And the voices aren’t just created for Leah and Rachel, but for their slave handmaids, Zilpah and Bilhah. ![]() It gives women a voice in a historical era where they had little to no voice, especially in the Hebrew texts.There’s a whole other side that men ignored or buried, and I am here to tell you that side. It takes a story told as holy scripture, and it tells the reader, that’s not the whole story. It fills the most important purpose of any retelling or fanfic: subversion.The Red Tent is, I firmly believe, the best piece of published Bible fanfic out there. There’s not much to it, in the biblical canon. I grew up knowing the story of Jacob’s wives and children with the rest of the Old Testament tales, but in case you haven’t, here’s a refresher on Dinah, the narrator of The Red Tent. It was an exhilarating and enriching form of rebellion, as entrenched as I still was in a conservative, fundamentalist Baptist environment. It spurred my first awakening as a feminist. ![]() ![]() ![]() A Baptist preacher’s daughter lent it to me early in high school, and it was not just formative - it changed my goddamn life. ![]() ![]() ![]() As the two get to know each other their loyalties are challenged. With Tom and Karyn’s friends taking sides, Mickey is determined to make his sister’s attacker pay just as Ellie is determined to keep her brother out of trouble. Their worlds wouldn’t normally meet but then Mickey’s sister, Karyn, accuses Ellie’s brother, Tom, of raping her after a party. ![]() Ellie is from a privileged background, living in a nice house with her brother and parents she’s focused on getting good exam results so that she can go to university. Mikey lives on a council estate in a small seaside town with his alcoholic mother and two sisters and dreams of being a chef. It’s a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. This is a brave and unflinching novel from the bestselling author of BEFORE I DIE. ![]() When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. When Ellie’s brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel. If your brother’s accused of a terrible crime but says he didn’t do it, you defend him, don’t you? When Mikey’s sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. If someone hurts your sister and you’re any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() She lives with her family in Los Angeles, California, in a house full of books. She is the author of The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, Inkheart, Inkspell, the Ghosthunters series, When Santa Fell to Earth, and Igraine the Brave. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the magical ability to read him back, he sets in motion a dangerous reversal that sees the characters of Inkheart transported to a charmed Inkworld, about to be fought over by rival rebels and princes. In this second book of the Inkheart series, Cornelia brings us back to the deeply magical realm of. Cornelia Funke is one of today’s most beloved writers of magical stories for children. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater, torn from his world of words, the need to return has become desperate. The Inkheart series is a succession of 3 fantasy novels written by German author Cornelia Funke, comprising so far Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath.īook 1 : Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service. 9781912626847īook 2: Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of the extraordinary events of Inkheart, and the story whose characters strode out of the pages, and changed her life for ever. The gorgeous 2020 new covers of Cornelia Funke's internationally celebrated trilogy. ![]() |