#rose styron

[poem-today]

A poem by Rose Styron

December 24th

The world tonight is clear, if only for an hour

Orion's belt encircling us, the far indigo ocean thundering near

and I remember rain the alley no shortcut home.

Rose Styron

Image: Photo of Orion's Belt by Sue Pike

[kanejw]

What was read 2023

The Lottery & Other Stories - Shirley Jackson (1949~)

A Life Standing Up - Steve Martin (2007)

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy (1985)

Licks of Love -John Updike (2000)

Lovesickness Collection - Junji Ito (2011)

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes (1966)

The Anarchy The relentless rise of the East India Company - William Dalrymple (2019)

The Wisdom of Insecurity - Alan W.Watts (1951)

War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (1869)

The Course of Love - Alain de Botton (2016)

Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald (1934)

Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (1980)

Moby Dick - Herman Melville (1851)

A Faint Heart (1848)White Nights (1848) A Little Hero (1857)An Unpleasant Predicament (1862) The Crocodile (1865) Bobok (1873) A Gentle Spirit/The Meek One* (1876) T1877) Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett (1929)

Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk (2005)

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco (1980/3)

Diary - Chuck Palahniuk (2003)

Darkness Visible - William Styron (1990)

The Poorhouse Fair - John Updike (1958)

The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner (1929)

The First Forty-Nine Stories - Ernest Hemingway (1939)

Mythos - Stephen Fry (2017)

The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck (1931)

The Road to Wigan Pier - George Orwell (1936)

The House of the Dead - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1861)

Walden - Henry David Thoreau (1854)

The Gambler - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866)

Normal People - Sally Rooney (2018)

Joy in the Morning - P. G. Wodehouse (1947)

After Dark - Haruki Murakami (2004)

The Lodger - Marie Belloc Lowndes (1913)

The Thing Around Your Neck - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009)

The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe (1979)

Family Happiness - Leo Tolstoy (1859)

The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy (1866)

The Kreutzer Sonata - Leo Tolstoy (1889)

The Devil - Leo Tolstoy (1911)

Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre (1938)

True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey (2000)

Foucault’s Pendulum - Umberto Eco (1988/9)

Inferno - Dante Alighieri (~1308-1321)

Iliad - Homer (Samuel Butler translation 1898)

Carry On, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse (1925)

The Passenger - Cormac McCarthy (2022)

Stella Maris - Cormac McCarthy (2022)

Fear: Trump in the White House - Bob Woodward (2018)

Rubber Balls and Liquor - Gilbert Gottfried (2011)

kiss me like a stranger* - Gene Wilder (2005)

The Adventures of Auguie March - Saul Bellow (1953)

Rickles’ Book A memoir - Don Rickles (2007)

The ‘Rosy Crucifixion’ Trilogy. Sexus - Henry Miller (1949)

The Heart of a Dog - Milhaud Bulgakov (1925)

Dracula - Bram Stoker (1897)

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (1939)

Albert & the Whale - Philip Hoare (2021)

A Waiter in Paris - Edward Chisholm (2022)

The Road to Oxiana - Robert Byron (1937)

[elys-writing]

The suitcase will be left on the side of the bus stop, just far enough out that rain will begin to stain the leather. You will not see the man as he leaves, simply the shadow of a raincoat. As you slow down, your shoes wet from rain, you will watch your bus roll away. You will take a seat under the small shading, huddling away from the rain. After a moment, you will notice the suitcase. Your hands will shake as they clasp the handle and pull it away from the rain. The shaking of your hands will knock the fragile lock open, revealing the contents.

Inside will be five item’s, and you will think for a second about how much empty room has been left in the suitcase. Then the picture will attempt to take flight with the wind, and you will be distracted. The photo will be a polaroid, faded with smeared handwriting on the bottom. You will be able to faintly read the words ‘i love you’ in all lowercase beneath the photo. The photo itself will be something you would not wish me to describe, due to its pornographic nature. Needless to say, you will be very pleased that it did not fly into some unwitting civilian’s path.

You will place the now damp photo back into the suitcase, and place the silver pocket knife on top of it to keep it from flying away. The pocket knife itself will be quite rusty, yet functional. You will slice your thumb with it, small drops of blood will blossom around the thin cut. You will of course be surprised by how sharp it is, then remind yourself to get a tetanus shot.

Next to these is a chocolate bar. You will not touch this bar, there is simply no need too. Whatever the first chocolate bar that popped into your mind is, it is very likely that it will be that type of chocolate. However if you did not think of a melted cookies and cream Hershey’s bar, you are incorrect. Instead you will pick up the poetry book. It will be one of those poetry books that lists a poem for each day. Despite the book being damp and old, you will flip to today’s poem. Today’s poem will be the one listed for December 24th. It will be quite appropriately titled December 24th, written by Rose Styron. You will skim it, and find it quite beautiful. However you will soon set the book down, and you will forget the poem entirely.

Finally will be the old coat, which will be far too neatly folded for you to wish to pick up. Instead you will simply read the tag. The tag itself will tell you that the coat is extra large, and was made 20 years ago in 1985. You will appreciate the fabric for a moment, as it will be quite soft and warm.

After this, you will have a moment of humility. You will realize that you have been going through a stranger’s possessions. You will hurriedly close the suitcase and place it where it originally sat, only you will move that placing in your mind so that the suitcase is no longer in the rain. Soon your own bus will arrive, and your cheeks will be red with cold. You won’t look back at the suitcase, and in doing so you won’t notice that it has vanished.

[antonio-velardo]

Antonio Velardo shares: In the Company of Rose Review: A Singular Woman and a Life Well Lived by Glenn Kenny

By Glenn Kenny When the theater and film director James Lapine first met Rose Styron, he knew her as William Styron’s widow. He learned there was a lot more to her. Published: June 29, 2023 at 07:00AM from NYT Movies https://ift.tt/HC7iOjG via IFTTT

[tamsoj]

Miracle of midsummer, the trust of dark sails us beyond this harbor.

Rose Styron, from “Goodnight, Great Summer Sky”, originally published in By Vineyard Light (Rizzoli International Publications, 1995).

[jshoulson]

Today’s Poem

Goodnight, Great Summer Sky --Rose Styron

Goodnight, great summer sky world of my childhood and the star-struck sea.

White chaise from that ancestral southern porch my raft, white goose-down quilt my ballast, under Orion on the green-waved lawn I float, high— new moon, old craft tide strong as ever to the sheer horizon.

Over the seawall, on the dock Andromeda their strict and jeweled guard as tall Orion—seas and lawns ago— chose to be mine, our children sleep: Alexandra, Tom under their folded goose-wing sails true friends in dream, the folly wrangle of their sibling day outshone by starlight.

Calm island evening, never-ending sea— our lovers’ rages, too, are quiet, drowned.

Miracle of midsummer, the trust of dark sails us beyond this harbor.

[violettesiren]

The world tonight is clear, if only for an hour

Orion's belt encircling us, the far indigo ocean thundering near

and I remember rain the alley no shortcut home.

December 24th by Rose Styron

[39adamstrand]

Since the publication of Darkness Visible in October 1990 -- in which William Styron described his own battle with depression and suicidal impulses -- its author had become “the guru of depression;” he listened to and counseled others who shared his illness and tried to help them stave off suicide the way he had (his widow, Rose Styron, said that people would call the house at all hours when they felt suicidal, and Mr. Styron would talk with them). Styron knew he was a role model, and in a 1999 NPR interview, he declared, “I’m in very good shape, if I may be so bold as to say that. It’s as if I had purged myself of this pack of demons.”

Then in 2000, the depression took hold again. “When he crashed again the worst thing for him was that he felt guilty for having assured everyone at the end of Darkness Visible that life would be good forever,” Rose said. “He felt terrible that he had misled people. He was so sad.”

On 5 June 2000, the 74-year-old Styron composed a suicide note, directly addressing the readers who had found comfort and courage in his writing, “I hope that readers of Darkness Visible — past, present and future — will not be discouraged by the manner of my dying,” the note began. It ended with encouragement: “Everyone must keep up the struggle, for it is always likely that you will win the battle and nearly a certainty you will win the war. To all of you, sufferers and nonsufferers alike, I send my abiding love.”

Styron won that battle. He would live another 6 years, dying from pneumonia on 1 November 2006.

[judyconda]

Summer Solstice By Rose Styron Suddenly, there's nothing to do and too much— the lawn, paths, woods were never so green white blossoms of every size and shape—hydrangea, Chinese dogwood, mock orange spill their glistening— Inside, your photographs and books stand guard in orderly array. Your half of the bed is smooth, the pillows plump, the phone just out of reach beyond it. No one calls early—they remember your late hours. The shades are down, so sunlight's held at bay though not the fabulous winged song of summer birds waking me as ever, always in our favorite room, our season. Yesterday's mail on the desk newspaper, unread. Plans for the day hover bright out all our doors— Don't think of evening. Photo credit to: Victor Nizotsev: Magic Realism #fairytaletuesday #fairytale #poetry #poet #poetic #poets #poetsofinstagram #poetryofinstagram #summerseason #summer #summersolstice #litha #junesolstice #springsummer #Spiritique #mindfulness #Spiritual #Spirituality #mystical #mystique #mystic #mysticisim #renaissance #renaissanceart #folk #folklore #folkart #folkspirits #folkmystic #pagan https://www.instagram.com/p/CfEHl4lJ-jF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[camelliacats]

Under Pressure

Another cute oneshot.

Fic: "Under Pressure" [FFN] [AO3]

Pairings/Characters: established!Neville Longbottom/Victoire Weasley, with cameos from Bill & Fleur

Rating: K+

Words: ~1,120

Additional info: romance, cross gen, fluff, Next Gen era, 3rd person POV

Summary: Neville's got horrible timing, and he's rubbed off on Victoire.

"Two of us barelegged,

our backs to the ocean:

thieves' afternoon"

—Rose Styron, "Thieves' Afternoon"

                  "I kinda wish we could stay out a little longer," Neville said as he and Victoire watched the sunset.

                Victoire smiled. "I agree. Our little vacation away was nice, and it was even better to come home and realize my family's out." She glanced up the beach, in the direction of her parents' home, Shell Cottage. She looked back to her love. "Sometimes it feels as though we don't get enough time in the world."

                Neville nodded. "With Madam Malkin calling on you for everything—"

                "—and you away most of the year, teaching Herbology—"

                "—it's crazy," he finished. Neville tugged her hand to pull her arm behind him, and they held each other at the waist. He rested his chin on her strawberry–blond hair and relaxed. Though he'd been with Victoire for a few years now, he never much enjoyed the atmosphere with Bill and Fleur around. It didn't matter that Victoire had made the first move in her seventh year or that Neville hadn't acted on it until she was a year out of school or that Neville had been divorced for a long while before Victoire had ever crossed his mind in a romantic way—Neville would always be too old in Bill's eyes and would always be too plain in Fleur's.

                Of course, what really mattered was Victoire and what she thought of him. Neville's stomach did a happy flip. Victoire always made him feel handsome, strong, and brilliant, as though he could take on anything in the whole wide world.

                He felt a finger poke him in the chest. Victoire stared at him. "You're thinking of what my parents are going to say tonight, aren't you?"

                He sighed. She always knew what was on his mind, too. "I can't help it. I get nervous around them. You know that."

                "And they always seem to have something up their sleeves, I know. You'd think," Victoire continued, tightening her arm around him, "that they'd let me make my own decisions at age twenty. Especially when I'm on the verge of moving out."

                "That is a nice place above Madam Malkin's shop that she's offering you."

                Victoire stuck her tongue out at him. "Why can't you be like normal boyfriends, who'd jump at the chance to have me move in?"

                Neville hid his fluster behind a choked laugh. "B-Because, if I were a normal boyfriend, I wouldn't have lasted this long with you."

                "Are you saying it takes that much energy to keep up with me?"

                "Something like that," he replied, a charming twinkle in his eye. He looked down and felt his grin widen. He loved getting lost in those sky blue eyes of hers.

                Victoire stood on her tiptoes then and chastely smooched him. "Then I'll have to help you regain that energy."

                Neville rolled his eyes at her impishness and sat down on the sand. She joined him, and they stretched their legs out, letting the tide come in to lap gently at their bare toes. It was very peaceful. "Hey, Vic?"

                "Hmm?"

                "I have something to tell you."

                "Oh, me, too."

                He gave her a funny look. "You do?"

                "Yeah. Is it that much of a surprise?" One corner of her mouth pulled up incredulously.

                "No, no, just…" Neville suddenly didn't feel as comfortable as before. It was one thing, having courage to pull Gryffindor's sword out of the Sorting Hat to kill Nagini. It was another thing, however, desperately needing courage now. He'd seen Victoire at Hogwarts. He knew she'd chewed up hearts—though not numbly. Contrary to popular belief, Victoire was not the heartless banshee people often saw her as.

                She frowned. "Well, I should've told you a long while ago."

                His heart sank. Oh, no—she was going to make him another name on her list! Maybe—maybe if he got his words out right now, everything would be all right. "Vic—"

                "Neville—"

                "—will you marry me?"

                "—I'm pregnant."

                The couple blinked and stared at each other. They'd said their sentences at the same time, so it came out as something like "I'm will you pregnant me?"

                Victoire gaped at him. "Did you really just…?"

                He was astounded. "Wha…! How did that happen?!"

                She snorted. "Well, remember when I visited you at the end of the school year back in June, and we spent that one amazing night when you were trying to pack up—"

                "OKAY! Point taken. I know of the owls and the pixies." He shook his head to rid himself of his disbelief. "I just… You're two months along?"

                In answer, Victoire beamed at him. No wonder she had a glow around her—before the sun had started leaving the sky. Now she got all in his face. "Nice that you waited this long to say those four little words."

                "Yeah, well…thanks for waiting so long to say two words that change everything."

                Victoire laughed and snuggled into him. "Hey, we both just made some earth-shattering statements." She hugged his arm. "Plus…I wanted to be sure."

                He let a minute pass. "I've been sure of what I asked for two years."

                Victoire tilted her head up and touched his cheek, turning his face to hers. She kissed him—softly at first, then deepening it. When she broke for a breath, she smiled against his lips. "You always did drag your feet. Not that I mind."

                He chuckled. "I think my teaching you patience is what makes us work."

                "Perhaps. But I already knew we were perfect together. Now…" She turned her gaze back to the sunset. "Now everything's more perfect."

                "Maybe."

                "What does that mean?"

                Neville looked up the beach. "I just saw a light go on in Shell Cottage."

                Victoire groaned. "Crap…"

                "Yeah, that's what I thought." They stood and begrudgingly made their way to the house, Victoire's head on Neville's shoulder the whole time.

                "What are you wishing for—boy or girl?" she asked quietly.

                Neville thought for a moment. "…a 'yes' would be nice."

                Victoire raised her eyebrows. "It was nice of you to ask, but you already knew I'd say yes, Nev." She pecked his cheek. "But it's poor form to propose without a ring, luv."

                They stopped at the door, and Neville fished his grandmother's white gold ring from his pocket. He put it on Victoire's finger. "Even I'm not that stu—"

                "Hold that thought, Longbottom," Bill said as he opened the door, Fleur beside him. Bill looked as though he wanted to club Neville, but Fleur appeared ecstatic, her eyes as shiny as her daughter's new ring.

                "We should have stayed out longer," Victoire whispered to her love.

                "Yep," Neville squeaked.

XD CUTE! I really just wanted to have some fun with the two of them—it's been so long since I wrote them! Xo But Neville…he's adorable when he's flustered. And Vic—so cute when she's charming! And then Bill and Fleur—of course Fleur would be excited, knowing she gets to plan a wedding. Poor Bill…he's probably alone against Vicnev now…! XD Oh, and the quote is an excerpt from a poem by Rose Styron. Her poems are BEAUTIFUL, but old—they're from the '70s. I love her stuff! X3

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew

2017 note: My heart. :') Writing and rereading/editing Vicnev… Godric, this pairing is like coming home to me, so comfortable. There's an ease about them that just works, y'know? -w-

[lifements-blog]

Reto de Lectura Rory Gilmore

Sé que llego tarde a este reto de lectura pero nunca me había animado a tomarlo, lo descubrí hace años no recuerdo donde y ahora que me topé con el de nuevo en  BlackWhite Read Books y queria intentarlo.

Gilmore Girls fue una gran parte de mi adolescencia vi todos los capítulos más de una vez y me identificaba con Rory, su amor por la lectura y su vida cotidiana, es una serie que siempre vivirá en mi corazón y es más que una serie para mí, me enseño muchas cosas y me ayudo con muchas más.

El reto de lectura consiste en leer todos los libros que Rory leyó a lo largo de la serie, los cuales son muchos, entre ellos existen muchos clásicos como Alicia en el País de las Maravillas y El Diario de Anna Frank, la mayoría de libros en esta lista no están siquiera en mi lista TBR la cual es otra de las razones por las que quiero intentarlo, la lista consiste de 339 libros por lo que no me pondré propósitos irreales como leerlos todos durante este año (2016), en dos años o en cinco, simplemente me propondré terminar esta lista algún día y divertirme con ella.

Marcare mi progreso en este post y quizá haga una reseña de ellos, los mencione en mis libros del mes o en GoodReads pero primordialmente será aquí.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Inferno by Dante

The Divine Comedy by Dante

1984 by George Orwell

A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman

A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Adventures of Huckleberry by Mark Twain

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Babe by Dick King-Smith

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney

Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner

Candide by Voltaire

Carrie by Stephen King

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

Christine by Stephen King

Complete Novels by Dawn Powell

Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker

Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Cujo by Stephen King

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Deenie by Judy Blume

Don Quixote by Cervantes

Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

Eloise by Kay Thompson

Emily the Strange by Roger Reger

Emma by Jane Austen

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Ethics by Spinoza

Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Extravagance by Gary Krist

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore

Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein

Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce

Fletch by Gregory McDonald

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg

Gidget by Fredrick Kohner

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare

Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare

Henry V by William Shakespeare

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

How the Light Gets In by M. J. Hyland

Howl by Allen Ginsberg

I’m With the Band by Pamela des Barres

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy

It Takes a Village by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Marathon Man by William Goldman

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir

Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor

Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh

My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken

My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest

Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen

New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Night by Elie Wiesel

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell

Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Old School by Tobias Wolff

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Oracle Night by Paul Auster

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Othello by Shakespeare

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

Out of Africa by Isac Dineson

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Property by Valerie Martin

Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Quattrocento by James Mckean

Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman

R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

Rita Hayworth by Stephen King

Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert

Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi

Sanctuary by William Faulkner

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman

Selected Hotels of Europe

Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Several Biographies of Winston Churchill

Sexus by Henry Miller

Shane by Jack Shaefer

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton

Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Small Island by Andrea Levy

Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore

Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos

Songbook by Nick Hornby

Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Stuart Little by E. B. White

Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust

Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett

Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber

Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry

Time and Again by Jack Finney

To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Archidamian War by Donald Kagan

The Art of Fiction by Henry James

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bhagava Gita

The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

The Collected Stories by Eudora Welty

The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Da Vinci -Code by Dan Brown

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

The Gospel According to Judy Bloom

The Graduate by Charles Webb

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Group by Mary McCarthy

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

The Iliad by Homer

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal

The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield

The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Love Story by Erich Segal

The Manticore by Robertson Davies

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin

The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay

The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan

The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan

The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker

The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition

The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shining by Stephen King

The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht

The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker

The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath

The Trial by Franz Kafka

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson

The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Year of Magical Thinkinf by Joan Didion

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Ulysses by James Joyce

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Unless by Carol Shields

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Walt Disney’s Bambi by Felix Salten

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker

What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles

What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

(Post original en: http://lifements.blogspot.com/2016/01/el-reto-de-lectura-rory-gilmore.html )

[puchkinalit]

Le choix de Sophie

1947. Stingo débarque de son sud natal à New York avec l’ambition de devenir écrivain. Il emménage au Palais rose, une pension de famille surnommée ainsi car toutes les chambres sont peintes de cette couleur inhabituelle. Il y fait la connaissance de Sophie et Nathan, un couple furieusement (et bruyamment) amoureux. Sophie est une polonaise catholique rescapée du camp d’Auschwitz et Nathan, un Juif new-yorkais brillant mais sujet à de brusques revirements de caractère. Stingo devient leur plus proche ami et le confident de Sophie qui lui raconte peu à peu son quotidien dans le ghetto de Varsovie puis dans le camp de concentration. Mais le comportement de Nathan devient de plus en plus inquiétant et dangereux et Stingo devient de plus en plus amoureux de Sophie... Le Choix de Sophie est un somptueux roman américain, un chef d’oeuvre, une fresque sur le mal à travers le nazisme mais surtout une étude de l’être humain à travers trois personnages confrontés à toutes les émotions, l’amour, la haine, la folie, l’envie, la faim, la sexualité, la mort... Un roman fleuve qui se déploie sur plus de 900 pages et qui tient le lecteur sous son emprise jusqu’au point final.

8,5/10

Le Choix de Sophie / William Styron.- Gallimard (Folio).

[greekowl87]

Fic: Runaway Christmas Pt 10

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part VIIII

A/N: It feels rushed and not my best work but I hope you enjoy. 

Disclaimer: Still don’t own anything. Just borrowing.

Mulder leaned back into his basement office chair and rubbed his chin in thought. He had gotten to their x-files office early by himself. Scully had to go to Quantico for the morning to follow up one of their cases but she promised to be back in time for them to go to lunch and finish up at the office early so they could head to Bed, Bath, and Beyond before going home. Although they both had been avoiding the topic, preferring to fantasize the joy of having their son again, but if Will was going to live with them, things would change dramatically.

Like their caseload.

Skinner had been more than understanding so far (which surprised Mulder to no end). They could technically argue age for both of them (it wasn’t 1999 anymore) and could start loaning out their talents to their respective fields with more regularity. For Mulder, that meant profiling again, and for Scully, that meant forensic science, both merely for consultation. Their old boss demonstrated his cleverness further by justifying the x-files too by making their talents used primarily to look at those abnormal cases that others could not. Both Mulder and Scully had to give it Skinner. The assistant director had effectively taken the need of field work out of the x-files so that they could stay around Will more while justifying the existence of their department.

Mulder played the idea of him resigning from the FBI and Scully going back to medicine again like it had been before. True they had been happy, but the darkness came and invaded their life again, ultimately leading to their brief break up. If it was not for rejoining the FBI and regaining their work, he did not really know if they would have found each other again.

He shook his head and took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, and rolled up his shirt sleeves. There were two profiling cases waiting on his desk to be looked at but all his attention was focused on his son. Drumming his fingers, he dialed Scully’s number.

She answered on the first ring. “Scully.”

“Scully, it’s me,” he said softly.

Her tone softened instantly. “Mulder, I thought we agreed we wouldn’t see each other until lunch. It is only...9:43. Don’t tell me you miss me that much?”

He smiled into his phone. “Always, you know that.” She chuckled indulgently on the other end. “What’s wrong?”

“You know me that well?”

“Almost 25 years, Mulder.”

“Fine. I will do well to remember that later tonight.”

“Mulder!”

“What do the kids say? Sorry, not sorry. Anyways, I was thinking…”

“Why am I not surprised,” she mumbled.

“Just hear me out. What harm could it be, if we, use the main resources available to us as federal employees to look up a certain someone…” his voice trailed off. He really wanted to take advantage of his role as an FBI agent and pull up any records on Will’s foster parents or anything that might give them an edge in court.

But Scully had been the cooler head. “Mulder. No. We both agreed. We can’t risk it. What if you get caught? That bodes bad for us and our case.”

Scully, his conscience and voice of rationalism. God, he loved that woman. “Fine. But are we still going to Ikea…”

“Bed, Bath, and Beyond,” she corrected. “And yes. We have to figure out what we are going to do for the spare bedroom at the apartment. I haven’t even thought of the house.”

“This is really going to happen, isn’t it?” he whispered. He dare not think otherwise.

“We’re going to do it, Mulder,” she whispered back. Ever since Scully had her conversation with Will, she had grown more confident and optimistic. “How did it go with Skinner this morning? Any more field work?”

“Unless absolutely necessary. We still have the x-files, now consulting on all things weird in profiling and forensic science,” he answered proudly. “See, told you?”

“You told me nothing. Look, Mulder, I have to finish this autopsy. I’ll be back at 12:30. Lunch at that little coffee shop down the street?”

“It’s a date.”

“Oh, and call the lawyer and set up the appointment for the judge for Friday,” she reminded him. “Will has his meeting with him today.”

“Yes, dear.”

“Shut up, Mulder.”

Scully hung up and he chuckled to himself. Things were going to be all right. He just had to keep telling himself that.

. . . .

Will did his best to ignore Mrs. Styron’s glare as she reviewed his case file. She had pulled him from school early so they could make it to their meeting with the judge in the early afternoon. He sat, playing on his phone, his feet resting on his skateboard, rolling it back and forth. “I wish you had dressed a bit more professional, William,” she reminded primly.

“Well, I had no idea that you were coming to pick me up from school,” he retorted.

“I told you a week ago!”

Will did not bother to reply. He slumped against the wall and smiled when he saw a new text message from ‘DS’. He had put a little doctor emoji next to the initials to indicate who it was. He opened the message and saw a picture of various medical instruments.

He texted back. ‘What are you doing?’

The reply was instant. It was a selfie of Scully wearing a medical mask in what looked to be a medical lab with the text ‘Making my patients laugh to death.’

Will put a hand to his mouth to keep from chuckling out loud. Mrs. Styron looked at him pointedly and he smiled half heartedly. “Funny cat video.”

“Put away your phone, Will,” she sighed, shifting her gaze back the folder.

Will ignored her and texted back. ‘Bet you’re killing them.’

The reply came quickly. ‘Haha. You have a good day. Good luck with the judge.’

Will smiled, his heart caught in his chest. As he was about reply back to Scully, a new text popped up with ‘FM’ and a little alien emoji next to the initials. He opened the new text. ‘Scully reminded me. Good luck today bud.’

He was at a loss for words. These two strangers had somehow made him feel like he belonged like he was a part of their family. And while everyone else doubted, he knew deep down, they were his birth parents. He just knew. He hesitated before starting a new text, typing ‘DS’ and ‘FM’ into the bar. He typed, ‘Thanks mom & dad’. He stopped and let the text sit. He actually wrote that. Mom and dad. His real parents. He thought about deleting it but it felt right. He sent the text before he could second guess himself.

“Will,” Mrs. Styron called. “It’s our turn.”

Will slid his phone into his bag and picked up his backpack and skateboard under his arm. Mrs. Styron guided him into the judge’s chambers. Judge Hartwell rose from behind his desk and nodded towards them. “Just come from school, Mr. Van de Kamp?”

“Um, yes, sir,” he humbly answered.

“Well, I appreciate you coming in this afternoon,” he motioned towards two chairs that sat in front of his desk.

Mrs. Styron guided Will to the chair and sat opposite of him. Judge Hartwell tented his fingers in the front of his face. “So, it’s been almost a month William since that commotion in my courtroom. We’ve discovered your birth parents, and to my surprise, you managed to stay out of trouble. Congratulations is due.”

“Thank you?” Will replied uncertainly.

“But,” the judge sighed, opening two files, “we have a new quandary. Not everyday is a child in the system lucky enough to have to sets of people who want to adopt him, especially the original birth parents. But you have two sets of people who want the very best for you. I assume you know about the Gardners’ petition?”

Will nodded reluctantly. Since he had learned of the news, things had grown tense at the foster home. He was avoiding his foster parents like the plague. He stayed out later, wandering around Washington D.C. or just skating, not going home until he had too. “I do.”

“And Mrs. Styron has told you about the DNA tests with Agents Mulder and Scully? There is no doubt they are your biological parents.” Will nodded eagerly. The judge paused and drummed his fingers on the table. “What do you want, Will? Has your decision changed at all?”

He shook his head instantly. “I want to live with my birth parents.”

“Will,” Mrs. Styron chastised, “you can’t rush this decision.”

“I’m not rushing it,” he retorted. “I know it’s right in my heart. I want to live with them. No offense to the Gardeners or anything but I know where I belong.”

The judge nodded slightly, writing something in one of the files. “Keep in mind, William, that this does not guarantee your placement with the FBI agents. There are still things to consider.”

“Like what?”

“Living situation for one,” the judge shrugged. “The courts and CPS will be following up within the month on that. But in light of the background checks coming clean, I will allow visitation between you and them, William. No strings attached. Your case worker doesn’t have to be there, nor your foster parents. You can come and go as you please. Just don’t abuse the privilege.”

Will grinned. “For real, sir? That is so awesome!”

“Judge Hartwell, are you sure that is in the best thing for Will,” Mrs. Styron argued, “besides being very unorthodox.”

“If the boy is serious about living with these people, Mrs. Styron,” the judge patronized, “he deserves to get to know his birth parents at least. I have not been a judge sitting on the bench in family court for nothing. I do know a thing or two. Have a little faith. Everyone deserves their own miracle. Now, William, now that I have your answer, I will be talking to both parties during the next month while CPS conducts their business, okay? During that time, you are allowed to visit your birth parents as you please. Don’t abuse the privilege. And continue to stay out of trouble. You hear me, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mrs. Styron, I expect you and the Gardeners to abide by this arrangement and not interfere with this.”

“It won’t be a problem, Judge Hartwell,” Mrs. Styron said tightly.

“Good. I’ll be in touch, William, stay out of trouble.”

Will and Mrs. Styron got up to leave the judge’s chambers. He could not stop smiling.

. . . .

Scully got back to their basement office a little before noon, having finished her autopsy early. Mulder rose and greeted her with a kiss before they headed down to a local deli for lunch. He ordered their food as Scully secured a table them. She dug through her bag, searching for her phone when she noticed that she had an unread text message from Will. She had rushed back from Quantico that things like checking her phone had slipped her mind. She noticed the text was addressed to both her and Mulder.

“Mulder,” she called, as he came bearing their lunch. “Did you text Will this morning?”

“Just to wish him luck with the judge,” he shrugged. “Why?”

“He sent us both a text.”

Mulder drew out his own phone and frowned. He would have heard if he got a new text message but noticed he had left it on silent again. “For the record, Scully,” he said, holding up his phone. “I miss the old days when phones were bricks and all you could do was use them to call people.”

“Do you know how old you sound?” she asked. She bypassed the text message and opened the selfie she had sent Will earlier. “I even tried sending him a selfie.”

“A selfie,” Mulder chuckled examining the picture. “How current you sound with today’s lingo.”

She pushed him gently. “Shut up, Mulder. I just texted him because I could. I sent a picture of me working. He has a horrible sense of humor, just like his father. I don’t know, there is something just so normal about it. I know we missed a lot, but I don’t know. It just feels right.”

Mulder smiled and deposited her cobb salad and sprite in front of her and settled for his reuben, fries, and iced tea. She picked a couple of fries off his plate as she opened the message will had sent earlier. He took a bite of her salad in retaliation. He was distracted hearing her sharp intake of breath. “Oh my God.”

“What? Was it something he texted?” Scully had tears in her eyes as she showed Mulder the message. “He called us mom and dad, Mulder. Our son called us mom and dad.”

Mulder gently claimed her hand, squeezing it. “He’s going to come home, Scully. I promise.”

She nodded and attempted to eat some of her salad. Her heart was drumming in her chest and it did not feel like it could slow down. He kept a hold of her hand as he began to eat his own lunch. She nodded towards his phone. “Mulder, your phone is ringing.”

“So it is. Mulder,” he answered. “Mr. Brickman, what a surprise to hear your voice?”

Scully sat up straighter at the mention of their lawyer. She watched Mulder’s face during the brief exchange. “Really? Are you sure? Like this is legit? That’s wonderful news. Better than wonderful, it is amazing. I’ll tell Agent Scully.  Thank you, Mr. Brickman. Yes. Have a good afternoon.” He hung up the phone and gently caressed Scully’s cheek. She arched an eyebrow at the rare public display of affection. “Will met with the judge today, made his intentions known. We have a month before the next hearing and child services will be checking out our living situation. But the judge said he could visit us, without that she devil he calls his case worker or the foster parents, whenever he wants.”

“So, we don’t have to hide it?”

“No,” he smiled.

She reached up and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “What do you say we bring him with us to Bed, Bath, and Beyond tonight and grab dinner too?” she suggested softly.

“I think that is a brilliant idea, Agent Scully,” he chuckled.

[antonio-velardo]

Antonio Velardo shares: In the Company of Rose Review: A Singular Woman and a Life Well Lived by Glenn Kenny

By Glenn Kenny When the theater and film director James Lapine first met Rose Styron, he knew her as William Styron’s widow. He learned there was a lot more to her. Published: June 29, 2023 at 07:00AM from NYT Movies https://ift.tt/HC7iOjG via IFTTT