Kay Drew's Views

I am sorry for any mistakes – spelling, grammar, punctuation, or   otherwise   - bit I can’t see. I am having an optical migraine. I have no pain, but I can’t see, therefore, I am typing by memory of where the keys are. Today, I will write about a fascinating article I just read. It was written by Ricky Gervias and is about the differences between American and British humor. You can read the article here . At, least that’s what he claimed the article was about. But, there was more to this thoughtfully, witty, informative piece. It gave some insight into bring British from the British standpoint. He spoke of the fears and apprehensions British people face about their lives as well as their futures – fears of losing it all, the day taking a down turn, and expecting that prosperity won’t come to one another (even if there is a possibility of it coming). He admits he likes being told to ‘have a good day’, even if it is a meaningless phrase that the British try to avoid...

Again, I am so sorry for not posting in ages! I have been sick. I have new puppies (who were sick). And, every time I logged in here, I got logged out of another place. I also had many deadlines to complete. But, never fear, here I am and here I shall stay! For the rest of the year, I’ll be posting daily as I did at the beginning of this blog. I plan on keeping this blog regular during 2012, as well! I say it right now, I enjoy reading children’s books. I loved ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Jo’s Boy’s as well as the Harry Potter series and the Amelia Notebook novels which were put out by American Girl. Somehow, I got myself hooked on ‘The Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series, as well. I don’t know why I read them. I really dislike all of the characters and find them all annoying as well as slightly disturbing. The situations they get into are a bit nerve-wracking and hair brained. I often find myself wondering if these things could really happen or if children really act like these ch...

I am so sorry for not writing in so long! I've been super busy and the month just slipped by. Before any more time has passed us by, let's get to the topic. Books! Seeing as this is a literary blog, I thought I'd focus on some of my favorite books and their plots. I am an eclectic person and my taste in novels reflects it. While I do enjoy fantasy novels (reading them as well as writing them), I also enjoy the classics as well as chick lit. So, here is my list, with a little commentary about the story - these aren't in any particular order: 1.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien - OK, I'll admit it, I love the whole trilogy, but if I have to choose just 1 book in this series, it would be this piece. This is where everything culminates, the ante has been upped, the heroes are at their most vulnerable states. Here, we 'see' the battles won, our hero's go home, the King crowned, love found, and people leaving. It's a h...

I feel like I should add a concluding post about "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" now that I've finished the novel. All in all it's a brilliant book filled with twists and turns as well as surprises. I finished reading the book wanting more. In fact, I didn't want it to end I enjoyed this piece so much! I want to spend time with these children and get to know them more. It appears this novel will have a sequel because we're left with the teenagers in a boat with their headmistress stuck in their bird form. Where are they going, I don't know. Will they find the other headmistresses, I sure hope so. Will Miss Peregrine ever be in her human form, I want to find out. Where is our villain and what is he up to - I can't wait to find out. There are quite a lot of other questions that came to mind while reading the book, but because it's been a few weeks, I don't remember them all. I want to know more about the kids from the home. ...

It's been a long time since I was impressed by a novel, but at the moment I'm in the midst of reading an exquisite book that mixes fantasy and history that has a dash of horror thrown in for good measure. Miss Peregrine's House for Peculiar Children is the title of Ransom Riggs's novel about Jacob, a teenager who witnesses the brutal death of his grandfather. The story doesn't end there, though. The loss of the grandparent is just the beginning of Jacob's spine-tingling journey. As the months go by, Jacob is lead to Wales. There, he discovers the truth behind the stories his grandfather used to tell him. He learns that reality is stranger than fiction and that monsters just might exist outside of the psyche.  What he sees and experiences, I'll let you find out for yourself. This book is too brilliant to spoil; besides I haven't finished it yet, thus I'm still experiencing Jacob's journey. I will warn you, this book is very hard to p...

To continue with the idea of surprises in stories, I'm going to focus on Kindred by Octavia Butler. Now, for anyone who hasn't read the book, I will be revealing much about the story (including the ending).  This is fair warning to you all, if you don't want the end ruined, click away from this entry. Thank-you. Kindred is this story of an African American woman, Dana, living in 1976 California with her Caucasian husband. While moving into their new apartment, Dana suddenly finds herself whisked back through time to the Antebellum South and in the presence of her ancestors. She unwillingly travels back in time on 6 separate occasions. During her time on her ancestors plantation, Dana learns firsthand what it was like to be a slave all the while trying to keep her ancestor - Rufus - alive long enough for Hagar (the direct descendant) to be born. Her job is not easy because Rufus tends to get himself into a lot of trouble. Every time his life's in danger, she gets ca...

All right, to continue with the surprises theme, I'm going to look at another television show because I see a great transition from my last blog entry to this one. You might wonder, 'What is she talking about?' or 'Where is that transition?' I'll tell you. It's the Others. These Others are different from Lost's. They didn't live on an island. They weren't crazy and take people. Nope, they helped people. They all have special gifts that they used to communicate with the dead or solve mysteries. They lived in a college town and most had jobs and tried to live normal lives, even though they had special connections to the supernatural world. It was a short run show that was brilliant written and crafted. It came out the same year as Nicole Kidman's movie, The Others, but it was quite different from the film, even though Ms. Kidman's movie got more hype. The Others, the movie, was just about ghosts while the TV show dealt wit...