Magus of Stonewylde :)

Over the last couple of weeks I have been off work with a shoulder injury. I had an operation on it about a year and a half ago and the problem has recently recurred leaving me having difficulty driving. The painkillers I have been prescribed also make me very drowsy so I am currently stuck at home as we live approximately 3 miles from the nearest bus route and my OH is at work. With all this free time on my hands I have recently been doing a lot of reading and I am now in the process of re-reading the Stonewylde books :)



I think I might have blogged about these books when I first read them but at the time I was so caught up in the story that I devoured the books one after the other. Upon re-reading these books I have been pleasantly surprised to realise that they are even better than I remember and there are allsorts of details and plot twists that I had forgotten about :) I read Magus of Stonewylde and Moondance at Stonewylde this week and have just started re-reading Solstice at Stonewylde today :) If you haven't already heard of these books and love a cracking story that you can get completely caught up in, then there is a treat in store for you :)

The books are about a young girl who is ill with an undiagnosed illness and unable to cope with living in inner-city London. After making friends with a doctor who is treating her, she moves with her mother to a secret community hidden away in Dorset and once there the adventures begin. Arriving at Stonewylde is like stepping back into another place in time for Sylvie and she soon starts to recover. She meets the Magus of Stonewylde, who is the charismatic leader of the community and she also meets Yul, one of the Villagers, who has never left the community and challenges Magus's authority. The community follow the "old ways" and celebrate all the different festivals, such as the Equinoxes and Beltane, the mythology of which is woven into the story.

Personally, I loved the evocative descriptions of the countryside around Stonewylde and the village itself. Kit Berry described it all so perfectly that I could "see" it all in my head as I was reading the story. I also can't think of many books that have made me care so much about the characters, you really want everything to work out for Sylvie and Yul and the inhabitants of Stonewylde (well, most of them!) At one point I was so angry at one of the characters that Mr P was laughing at me getting so wound up! Seemlessly blended as part of the story, there are descriptions of the various festivals that the community celebrates and the significance behind each one.

I think I've probably babbled on enough now, but I would definitely recommend these books to you (pagan or non-pagan) as these are such fantastic stories. If you'd like to know more about these books, there is a Stonewylde website, which can be found here: http://www.stonewylde.com

I'm off now to get back to Solstice at Stonewylde, I'm at one of my favourite parts of the story :)

The Road Not Taken

Yesterday was National Poetry Day so I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you a couple of my favourite poems (they're pretty short!)

First up is "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
-I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Next up is "Aede Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" by W.B. Yeats. I had to study this poem at university and really love the final lines:

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

I didn't really like poetry much when I was younger but have found over the last few years that I have a new appreciation for it :)

Do you have a favourite poem you'd like to share with me?

Thank you :)

Thank you for all your kind wishes and sympathy about my dental troubles. I know I've been a bit whingy recently so it has meant a lot that you have taken the time to sympathise and wish me better :) I'm feeling a bit better today and am starting to feel a lot more like myself :) The antibiotics have kicked in and the painkillers I have got are keeping me reasonably pain free :) I'll be back at the dentist on Thursday for my stitches out so fingers crossed I shan't have too much trouble after that. The dentist said I can expect to hear from the hospital in about 3 to 4 weeks so I'll just have to see what they say about the bits of roots in my jaw bone.

Whilst I've not been feeling well I have been reading an absolutely fantastic book that I saw mentioned on http://teawithwillow.blogspot.com/. It's called "Magus of Stonewylde" and it's the first book in a series by Kit Berry. Thank you Tea With Willow, I really enjoyed this book :)

It is not the sort of book I would normally read but when I read the glowing 5 star reviews for it on Amazon I thought I would give it a go and I'm really glad I did because it is an excellent book. It's about a young girl called Sylvie who has been ill for most of her life. Her and her mother are invited to go and stay at Stonewylde, which is a secret alternative community in Dorset who follow a pagan way of life, focusing on nature and the seasons of the year. I don't really want to say too much about the plot because I wouldn't give it justice, but here is a link to the book on amazon and if you scroll down you will be able to read more about it as well as lots of reviews from other readers:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magus-Stonewylde-Book-1/dp/095514390X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231596869&sr=8-1

I also finished watching the first disc of the Cranford series and it's now ready to be posted back to lovefilm so I can get the next disc. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one. I might be a little bit sad but I really liked the fact that Cranford is meant to be 12 miles from Manchester as the little town where I live is also 12 miles from Manchester (although in the opposite direction). Cranford was based on Knutsford, which is a place I've never been to despite it being fairly close to where I live. I've heard there are lots of lovely shops there so maybe a visit there will be in order....

xxx

Book to Movie Challenge

I'm too late to 'officially' take part in this challenge (it actually took place last year) but I thought "what the heck" and have decided I'm going to do it anyway just for the fun of it :)
The idea with this challenge is that you pick (and read!) at least 3 books that have been made into a movie. This sort of thing is right up my street :)
I first saw this on SMS Reviews blog, which can be found here and is well worth a visit if you're a bit of a bookworm (like me!)
I think a little bit of a background might be in order here... when I was 18 and at 6th form, for some reason best known to the college, they decided that all 6th formers had to take an A-Level in General Studies. This caused uproar amongst the students as we all thought it was a huge waste of time as there was no syllabus and it was just pot luck as to which questions came up in the exam. Luckily for me, one of the essay questions was a discussion about books that had been turned into films and which was better, the book or the film? Being an English and Media student, this question was perfect for me. I am sure it was the reason I got my one and only 'A' grade A-level in General Studies and has sparked a long time interest in books that have been adapted into films.
Ok, enough rambling. Down to business. Here is my list:

1. Anywhere But Here - Mona Simpson
2. Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman
3. Da Vinvi Code - Dan Brown
4. How to Make an American Quilt - Whitney Otto
5. Mermaids - Patty Dann
6. Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
7. The River King - Alice Hoffman (this is actually a re-read but I love this book and I just found out they made it into a film, so let me off with this one!)
8. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares
9. A Slipping Down Life - Anne Tyler
10. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit
11. White Oleander - Janet Fitch
12. Where the Heart is - Billie Letts
    

Looking at my list in black and white, I can see that a lot of my books / film choices are girly chick flicks but I like chick flicks!!! I'm not sure if I'll get to read all of these by December 31st so if I don't finish by that date I think I might just carry on!
I've also decided that wherever possible I'm going to try and watch the film (after I've read the book) so I can compare the two. There are a couple of books on this list where I've already seen the film (Mermaids and Practical Magic) so I think I might find it strange reading the books as I'll be imaging Winona Ryder and Nicole Kidman as the characters!

Triple 8 Reading Challenge

Here is another of the old posts....

Triple 8 Challenge

This is a reading challenge and I think it looks really interesting. I've always been a voracious reader and usually I tend to read whatever takes my fancy at that particular moment. This challenge could inspire me to try other genres or authors that I wouldn't normally read so I think I'm going to give it a go!
I need to do a lot of thinking about which 64 books I'm going to choose (if I'm committing myself so publically to reading something I want to be sure it's something I'll enjoy!) but here are my categories....

1. Crafts (hey, I might as well feed my craft book addiction at the same time!)
2. Books I really should have read by the age of 29 (this would be all the classics etc that always appear on top 100 lists)
3. Childrens / young adult
4. Historical fiction
5. Fantasy
6. 8 authors I've not read before
7. Non-fiction - I love non-fiction books!
8. Ordinary fiction books! Bit of a cop out I know, but I still want to be able to read the type of books that I've always enjoyed!

I have already started on this challenge and these are the books I have read so far for each category:

Crafts

1. Lotta Jansdotter - Simple Sewing
2. Diana Rupp - Sew Everything Workshop (love this book!)
3. Jan Eaton - 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets and Afghans
4. Jane Brocket - The Gentle Art of Domesticity (this have turner into one of my very favourite books!)

Books I really should have read by the age of 29....

Children's / young adult

Historical Fiction

Fantasy

8 authors I haven't read before

Non-fiction

1. Melvyn Bragg - The Adventure of English

Fiction

And that's as far as I've got. As you can see, I need to get myself into gear! Any ideas for books would be greatly appreciated!