It was about the middle of August since the last blog I posted and I must say, I am exhausted by the end of the day to get much writing in but have read a lot and I have listened to several audio books. My workload has increased (which involves reading and analyzing material), leaving me little time to blog. Then I got to thinking about how to remedy this problem of not blogging like I want. Maybe write short bursts of posts? Or perhaps, blog once a week at the end of the week and post on Mondays? There are also book reviews to be written and posted. I want to continue to write and share what I’m reading and my thoughts about what I’ve read. I have thought of keeping some sort of journal to begin drafting blog posts. I have done that in a digital format before that worked rather well. Maybe that is what will remedy this problem. Whatever happens will happen and the best thing is not to stress it. Now you’re probably thinking I should just get on with it and right you are.

I have finished a few books and have listened to some interesting audio books. Here are a just few and at some point, I will be sharing some books reviews on them soon.  The three books as follows would make great fall reads. Are you familiar with any of these books or authors? Three of the books are classic literature.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Format: Hardback

This is my second read through The Historian because it has been years since I first read the book and the publishers have asked me to review the sequel. Yes, that’s right, there is a sequel coming out after all these years. The Historian was first published on June 14, 2005, and I read it a few years after it was published. My thoughts vary on the story, and they still do after reading it the second time. I guess you can say I have a love hate relationship with the dialogue, and a few of the characters. There is also the plot that needs to be discussed. However, there are other aspects of the story that I enjoyed and found many of the research, travels, letters and historical elements intriguing. More on this coming soon!

About the Book:

To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history…. Late one night, exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor,” and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of a labyrinth where the secrets of her father’s past and her mother’s mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.

The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself–to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler’s dark reign and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood

First published January 1, 1907

Format: Audiobook

Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the Danube River. Throughout the story Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment—river, sun, wind—and imbues them with a powerful and ultimately threatening character. Most ominous are the masses of dense, desultory, menacing willows, which “moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible.”

“The Willows” is one of Algernon Blackwood’s best-known short stories. American horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. “The Willows” is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction.

The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood

First published January 1, 1910

Format: Audiobook

“The Wendigo” by Algernon Blackwood follows a group of adventurers venturing into the Canadian wilderness. As they delve deeper, they encounter unsettling phenomena and eerie encounters. Soon, they realize they’re stalked by a malevolent force, the Wendigo, a mythical creature of Native American folklore…

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The Secret Garden is a favorite childhood classic story, and I was so delighted to listen to the story. I do have several favorite childhood stories and have been wanting to visit them again. Now I must chose another classic story to listen to next.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

First published August 1, 1911

Format: Audiobook

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle’s great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. At night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors. Outside, she meets Dickon, a magical boy who can talk to animals. Then one day, Mary discovers the most mysterious wonder of all—a secret garden, walled and locked, which has been forgotten for years and years.

The story of how Mary Lennox brought a secret garden back to life has been loved by generations of readers since it was first published in 1912. Now, with this very special deluxe edition of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s timeless classic, readers can continue to discover the magic of this powerful and deeply moving story.