(Updated with one new important piece of treasure! See end of post!)
There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life that he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.
~Mark Twain
Indeed. This boy has not stopped digging. I search for treasure everywhere and one of the most profitable dig sites of late has been the internet. Where else can one find so many people with both similar and different interests with whom to exchange the precious jewels of ideas and interests or the cherished gift of a good conversation? This is of course not the only place for treasure to be found but it is indeed a good one. Just this week I have found several nuggets in the form of posts that have thrilled me and I want to share my treasure with you.
(Quixotic’s dog Jessie…his(oops, her) expression cracks me up)
First, an introduction: Found under her screen name Quixotic on my blog list, Elaine is a kindred spirit whose blog is a very recent discovery. Why is Quixotic a kindred spirit you might ask? Well, all you have to do is check out the these gems (the following highlighted items are links to posts on Quixotic’s site, so go visit):
Books and Poppets: It took me a few visits before I noticed a group of familiar looking characters surrounding the stack of books in that top picture. Those are Lisa Snellings-Clark creations of which I have a few myself. Click on those pics and check out some of those fantastic titles!
Serenity: Enough said.
Neil Gaiman: Again, do I really need to say anything?
And that is just a start! Click on those links above, comment, and while you’re at it check out Quixotic’s answers to the book meme going around that I posted on last week.
Continuing with the distribution of my recent accumulation of wealth I wanted to point all you of the book fans to this wonderful post. Victoria is one of the five women who contribute to the site Eve’s Alexandria. In response to Danielle, of A Work in Progress fame (introduced last week for those paying attention in class), and her expressed interest in Speculative Fiction,Victoria posted a list of books she thought would be great for beginners in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. In addition to suggesting some great books she is asking for your feedback and also posted links to some other lists that have loads of fantastic books to stock your ‘to be read’ shelves for years unending. I’m practically throwing gold at you. Leave me here talking to myself and get over there and post!
As I scrolled down I noticed that one of the other ladies, Nic, posted a worthy review of the book series that first got me interested in reading fantasy, The Riddle-master Trilogy. The first book, The Riddle-Master of Hed was given to me as a gift by my brother and I fell in love with the series and with fantasy fiction because of it.
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Treasure can also be counted in the form of things that we come across in our daily lives that we can have and hold and that thrill us in the possessing. The best of these physical treasures are those we come across unexpectedly.
While wandering through Barnes and Noble yesterday I absent mindedly turned my head and discovered this:
The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury, illustrated by Dave McKean. Knowing how much I admire the work of Dave McKean (have you forgotten my 12 mile long Mirrormask post?) this was an unexpected treasure that I immediately took home.
Ray Bradbury’s classic short story “The Homecoming” has been a literary Halloween treat since its publication in Mademoiselle in 1946. The tale of an ordinary boy in an enormous family of ghouls attending a special reunion on All Hallow’s Eve, it is at once haunting, humorous, and heartfelt.
This book is the second in a series of books entitled the WISP series (Wonderfully Illustrated Short Pieces) that introduce classic short stories to a new generation of readers with award-wining illustrators and unique collectible packaging.
Although occasionally containing a few too many run-on sentences this is a fun little book that left me feeling a bit sad at the end. I won’t tell you why as that would ruin the tale. It is almost needless to say that the illustrations are wonderful. Dave McKean simply shouldn’t stop illustrating books. I should be able to walk into a bookstore and find a new McKean illustrated book every week. He is phenomenal. The book itself is wonderfully constructed. It is a small, almost DVD jewel case sized book with a terrific dust jacket. One thing I love is when you take the dust jacket off a book and it has some little illustration or embossment on the cover beneath. This book has completely different images from those on the dust jacket on both the front and back covers. It is a good find!
Tell me about nuggets you have found online. I’d also like to hear of your most recent treasure that you stumbled upon. It may be a book or an antique or a picture or something you thought you had lost that you then found. This type of treasure is truly cherished most in the eye of the beholder and I would love to hear from you.
Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone and remember when you visit these blogs that I link to, say ‘hello’ and enjoy.
Update: Today is Suzanne’s (of Thus Says Suzanne) Birthday!!! Happy Birthday Suzanne! Suzanne is the sister of Mosker whose fault it is that this blog litters the internet landscape. Suzanne is in the process of putting together a play room in the hopes of doing some type of foster parenting with young girls. As such one of her projects is a really cool idea: The creation of a massive Barbie house with individual rooms made out of IKEA boxes. You can read about this here. We at the Anderson house couldn’t resist getting involved so we have 3 virgin rooms waiting for us to put our HGTV education to work. Interior design, here we come. I will of course post pics before we send them back to Suzanne. I hope you have a wonderful day Suzanne!!!
Thanks for the mention 🙂 Jessie is a girlie girl by the way!
Loved Victoria’s post, will certainly drop a comment on that later (i.e. when I have had another cup of tea, mornings are not my best time). Had to laugh at the mention of Terry Goodkind – I was only ranting at my mother about him last week – or rather ranting about the fact that the local bookstore had lots of Terry Goodkind, hardly any Neil Gaiman and no copies of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Disgraceful. (Mind you, it should be noted that this bookstore feels it necessary to put a note on the shelf under “The Da Vinci Code” reminding people the book is a work of fiction…)
I think the best things I have stumbled across online this last week have been this blog and On My Desk. That and I have been reminded of the existence of Jonathan Carroll’s blog.
Your newly acquired book looks great – very inviting. Love Dave McKean’s work. Clearly you were just meant to take it home. Actually, it may have to wing its way to my home courtesy of amazon…I really am going to have to move house very soon – no more room for books!
Mostly my excellent discoveries are done through you, Carl… That’s right, I let you do the legwork. 😉
That’s what I’m here for Anne…that and all the money I make for doing this (laughs hysterically). Thank you.
On My Desk was just a fantastic idea. Wish I’d have thought of it. More than once I have posted pics of artists’ work spaces in posts about them because that aspect of the creative process really interests me.
Tell Jessie I’m sorry if I offended her (correction made). She can send a message over the doggie grapevine and have Razz bite me this morning if she wants.
I’m hoping Jeff goes over to Victoria’s site to post. He loves George R.R. Martin and really likes Terry Goodkind as well. Although he doesn’t equate one’s ability with the other he still likes them both. I’m sure some of the authors I like are people that others think are complete crap. No biggie. I do hate it when bookstores don’t have and abundance of the books that I think are amazing and then have tons of stuf like Da Vinci Code or the latest Danielle Steele laying around.
I was excited to learn that Carroll has a new book in the works…though I haven’t actually read all of his current works (which I should get to). Discovered him because of a quote on the book Land of Laughs by Gaiman. That is indeed a great book. Have discovered lots of authors that I like because of Gaiman quotes: Susanna Clarke, Gene Wolfe, James P. Blaylock, Jonathan Carroll, Hope Mir-Lees…just to name a few)
Thanks Quixotic.
Jessie forgives you. She’s good like that. 😉 Taika (the pupcat girlie) is a less generous soul.
I kind of like David Eddings, or at least I did when I was about 13, so that may have changed. I don’t know if I have the time/inclination to find out by revisiting his work anytime soon.
I know a lot of people find my addiction to Dean Koontz novels fairly tragic. Still, I’m not a snob – I like what I like.
Awwww Carl, you are so sweet! I plan to have a great day (of course I plan for that every day, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t). Can’t wait to see the preview of the Barbie rooms. And, we can blame Mosker for my blog too.
For you readers out there Suzanne recently wrote a fiction/nonfiction post that I encourage you to chime in on!
i’ve been so bad about posting..
i spend all my free time reading & drawing lately.. some good, some not-so good (both the books & the drawings).
i do have a couple good book recommendations tho..
Map of Bones, by James Rollins (messed up theology, but a fun read)
Rogue Angel: Destiny, by Alex Archer (pseudonym for a couple authors).. definitely the best book i’ve read all summer!
Those aren’t bad ways to spend your free time Angela, not at all. You’ve done some amazing drawings lately. For those interested, go here. And thanks for the book recommendations!
Here is another good book conversation post, about reading habits, on Amanda’s Weekly Zen.
oh yeah.. and i still have trouble viewing your site half the time on this stupid browser at work.
😛
I’m sorry that happens Angela! Maybe they banned me at your workplace! 😉
Hidden treasures are for me old postcards and old books. Looking at them is like jumping into another world.
I love both of those as well May. There is a really cool antique store in Fulton, Missouri ( a few hours away from Kansas City) that Mary and I visit occasionally and they have an enormous box of old postcards, most of which have been used and are from the early 1900’s. It is cool to see what people wrote back then, their penmanship, etc.
Books, old and new, are fantastic!
Too bad that that store is somewhat far from here (I live in Southern Europe)…
In my town (100’000 people) there isn’t a single store which sells old postcards. But I don’t mind, actually I prefer buying these things at open air markets. I love the type of people there and the prices are lower. The only problem is these markets are held occasionally. Perhaps that’s part of the search of the hidden treasures.
My postcards date between 1900 and 1950. The great majority of them is written on the back side because I, too, enjoy reading what people used to write.
I feel simply overwhelmed by the number, which keeps growing, of books I want to read.