Saturday’s Spellbinder: The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

My TBR (To Be Read) list is so long, that once I get around to some really great book, I often feel I’m the last one at the party! And I’ve just done it again!

I’ve had what I thought was the full set of Michael Scott’s epic set for a couple of years or so, and I’ve had them on my TBR list for even longer, but I’d only actually read the first 15 or so pages of the first book: The Alchemyst.

I was deep into the second book in another trilogy, when—not having it with me one day, I picked up The Alchemyst and started over. That was seven days ago. Within about three days I’d given up the trilogy, knowing I would go back to it. Just to let you know, I walk in the early mornings as often as I can (make myself do it). I walk within the smallish community I live in, one time around about a half mile. I’m finally up to 3 times many days. And I read. Try to avoid parked cars, so I don’t walk up the back of them when I’m not paying sufficient attention. I finished today and told my husband, “I still think T. H. White’s the Once and Future King (the whole tale of King Arthur) is my favorite of all time books. But Alchemyst has GOT to be in my Top Ten now!”

Can’t wait to dig into book two: The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). But I have to finish the trilogy I was on, so I can pick up book two (for more than my short morning walk). And then book three. And four. And five. And even six. Yes, SIX! All published, starting from 2007, at about one a year.

Michael Scott lives and writes in Dublin, and is known as an authority on mythology and folklore. With the years and years of materials he’d gathered, thought about, found and written, my mind is boggled at the scholarly take on the mythology and folklore from many ethnic backgrounds in this tale. And that’s only the first of them. I loved how he wove together magicians, good and evil, with weird creatures from multiple backgrounds. Many I was familiar with, and greeted as if they were old friends when they were called on stage. Others were delightfully new to me, and I loved, feared, hated them equally with my “old friends.”

Some are “old friends” because they are historical characters or mythologies. Scott claims the only characters he “made up” are the teen twins, “normal” kids who get to explore times and historical characters we all might want to meet. And The Story! I cannot imagine what it would take to add this pair of twins, who learn what magic is, to the odd, interesting and international mix of characters, critters, and creatures from all times and backgrounds. Additionally, it has humor, spunk, mystery, tension, intrigue, magic and the lore of ages. Put this one high on your TBR list!!! I dare you to resist reading the rest of them . . . I’m starting Book 2, The Magician, on tomorrow morning’s walk!

See you next for Tips on Tuesday!

Thinkin’ on Thursday: Women’s Wise Words by the (Baker’s) Dozen

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

I’m thinkin’ about women: women of power—women writers, women movers and shakers, women artists of all types. I’m thinkin’ about women I’d like to emulate, follow, know, and have a sit‑down lunch with. Women whose wise words have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, made me think. Made me take action. Here are a few of the best of them:

A woman whose books touched me in so many ways: “[My mother] said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understand of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~ Maya Angelou

A woman whose songs touched me, and a whole nation, a whole world: “It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. They words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page. ~ Joan Baez

A woman whose voice and twinkle of the eye I still miss: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.'” ~ Erma Bombeck

A woman whose legend inspired me: “It is necessary to try to pass one’s self always; this occupation ought to last as long as life.” ~ Queen Christina of Sweden

A woman who made herself what she needed to be to flourish in her own lifetime: “It always seemed to me a sort of clever stupidity only to have one sort of talent—like a carrier pigeon.” ~ George Eliot

A woman who only became more beautiful as she aged: “I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they’re good—or there because they’re lucky.” ~ Katherine Hepburn

A woman whose strength grew over time into a towering figure: “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” ~ Helen Keller

A woman who inspires me to keep writing: “If you’re going to write, don’t pretend to write down. It’s going to be the best you can do, and it’s the fact that it’s the best you can do that kills you.” ~ Dorothy Parker

A woman whose words I loved even before I could read: “Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.” ~ Beatrix Potter

A much admired woman whose life matched her words: “You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A woman whose soaring voice made my soul soar as well: “There is a growing strength in women; but it’s in the forehead, not in the forearm.” ~ Beverly Sills

A woman whose strength encompassed a nation: “One only gets to the top rung on the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of abilities which you thought NEVER belonged to you—suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, ‘Well, I’ll have a go, too.'” ~ Margaret Thatcher

And finally, an unnamed woman who offers hope in times of stress: “Fear gives intelligence even to fools.” ~ Anonymous

See you next on Saturday’s Spellbinder!

These quotes came from a Treasury of Women’s Quotations, by Carolyn Warner, Prentice Hall, 1992, in 1998, through the hand of a strong woman whose friendship and laughter I still treasure: Connie Burrup.