Book Review

The Bookshop
by Penelope Fitzgerald

This rather cynical book is about Florence Green, a middle-aged womam who decides to open a bookshop in her small coastal town, which is aptly named Hardborough. However, some of the townspeople, including the most influential woman in Hardborough, take against Florence's endeavor and subtly sabotage her business.
This novel is largely an examination of how pettily cruel people can be when someone in their midst dares to step out of the role assigned to them or to bring their neighbors something new. Despite the rather pessimistic subject, I really enjoyed this book. The writing is incisive and subtly humorous. And I both liked and sympathized with Florence - I liked her acerbic tongue and strong backbone.

Book Review

On Writing
by Stephen King

I'm not a writer, nor do I have any plans to become one, but I still enjoyed this book. King has a lot of good things to say about the creative process in general. He and I are in complete agreement on the writing every day, whether or not you feel that mystical bolt of inspiration. And I liked his comments about the nuts and bolts of story, character, dialog, etc. It was a kind of "under the hood" look at fiction for me as a reader.

Random theory

I have no idea why I was thinking about this while in the shower this evening, especially since the final book won't be out for a good long while.
( Crackpot Harry Potter Theory. Why yes, there are massive spoilers )