February may be the shortest month, but with all of the arctic temperatures and blizzards we’ve been experiencing here in the Hudson Valley, it felt interminable! Those wintry feelings probably have a large part to do with my amazing book haul for this month, yay for silver linings! There are three categories of books that … Continue reading
Thank the Goddess! It would appear that we are finally, perhaps teetering at the edge of the dark woods of Winter, staring blearily in to the grayish, cold, yet still promising, sunlight of Spring! After all the pummeling snow that the North East received this year, 30 degree days seem like a gift from Persephone herself. … Continue reading
There’s a a spectacularly eerie song, called “Danse Macabre” composed by Camille Saint-Saëns, that is woven through the narrative of Samantha Shannon’s The Bone Season. You should definitely listen to it if you’re thinking about reading this book. It’s fevered, emotional, dark, at times frenzied, rich and innovative; a tone poem set for orchestra that is … Continue reading
The title of Susan Dennard’s A Darkness Strange and Lovely essentially sums up my literary experience of this enriching sequel. While I read her first book, Something Strange and Deadly, and thoroughly enjoyed it, I knew at the end that there was much to be explored and I found myself waiting on tenterhooks for Part … Continue reading
I’ve been meaning to do it for ages, but this year I finally made the commitment and signed up to try and write a novel, or at the very least get one started, in a month. Gulp. NaNoWriMo (the affectionate shorthand for National Novel Writing Month) offers a Camp version in July. The timing was perfect! … Continue reading
Wowza. We can’t believe it, but it’s been a year since we launched Gathered Nettles! In order to celebrate, we’re feasting on pancakes and have put together a list of the authors we’ve become acquainted with in the past year who have totally rocked our world. This inspirational Top Ten honors the reason we, as … Continue reading
There seems to be a recent trend on the internet and in the lives of readers wherein long-time fans of books are recreating (or inventing!) favorite scenes that feature descriptions of food. Whether it’s coming up with recipes inspired by the food in books (see my sister’s recent discovery of the new Downton Abbey Cookbook), … Continue reading
While exploring Portland with my sister in preparation for her Great Oregon Move, we had to make a stop (well, several stops admittedly) to Powell’s Book Store. We spent hours in the YA section, and the Fantasy section before stumbling upon the Poetry stacks, which featured a nook dedicated to literary magazines. Perusing the hodgepodge … Continue reading
