Reading Life

Followers

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Funke's story is about the power and  magic of books. They bring great joy to a family, Mo, Teresa, and Meggie,  and yet they also bring great calamities. When Mo, also called Silvertongue, reads he accidentally transports fictional characters and objects to his own world. Conversely, Mo also inadvertently draws people or things into the book's world. 

To his sorrow, and without meaning to, Mo has read his wife, Teresa, into the dangerous world of Inkheart. He has accidently sent a hapless fire-eater into his own world and let loose some of Inkheart's most dangerous villains. 

Mo pities t
he fire-eater, Dustfinger, who longs to return to the pages of Inkheart. Dustfinger hates, the speed, and the crowds of the contemporary world.

Though Dustfinger traitorously works with the arch villian, he later tries to free Mo's family from the clutches of Capricorn and his men. Along with two companions, Farid and Gwin, Dustfinger bravely returns to Capricorn's village. 

Mo has two competing desires. He fervently wants to free his wife, Teresa, from Inkheart's pages but he also wants to keep his daughter, Meggie safe. 

Capricorn wants Meggie to read another villian to life, the nefarious Shadow, so that he can execute prisoners. Fengolio, Inkheart's author, desperately wants to re-write his own fictional work. 

This is a heart-stopping race to the finish for Mo, his family, and his friends.  This novel has lots of action but also beautiful passages and characterization.



Thursday, October 31, 2019

Travel

Sadly, Shuri Castle that dates from the Ryukyu era has burned to the ground in Okinawa. The World Heritage site was mostly made of wood.
Photo by Galen Crout on Unsplash

Shuri Castle was probably built during the Gusuku period and used as a palace of the Ryukyu kingdom between 1429 and 1879. 
Throughout history, the castle has been burned and rebuilt many times. Hopefully, the castle will be rebuilt after the most recent fire. 

By 663highland - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6988105


Friday, October 25, 2019

Failure isn't always bad

 Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash


This article, "Why We Should Learn To Embrace Failure" really resonated with me today. Elizabeth Day writes in The Guardian how we should learn to embrace failure. Failure is a starting point. There can be no success without it.

Day, a journalist and fiction writer, runs the podcast, How to Fail.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jul/15/divorce-miscarriage-jobs-learn-to-embrace-failure-elizabeth-day

Day recommends Tim Harford's Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure. 

Parents may want to look at Jessica Lahey's The Gift of Failure.

While its hard to look at failure as a gift, its ultimately more healthy to look at failure as an opportunity.