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Here’s a love letter someone wrote to his beloved: My own sweet bright light, Sally: These trees are still young and new but already strong and sturdy — and with a long life-span ahead of them. JUST LIKE OUR LOVE They are also bathed in a golden glow — as I am, when I’m in your presence. Your love bathes me in warm, golden wonderfulness. Here’s another, from the same fellow to the same lady: The King loves his Queen — and decrees that she shall receive all his kisses, touches, hugs and love forevermore In return, he wants herDown the rabbit hole….

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That’s a memorable line of dialog — perhaps the most memorable — from any of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, and fortunately, it’s spoken in the television adaptation of A Game of Thrones, in exactly the right way. That moment, early in the book, jolted me a bit as a reader as a genuine surprise. Martin would, in my opinion, go to this type of well a few too many times over the rest of that first book and in the three that came after, so much so that I remember reading A Feast forDown the rabbit hole….

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I need to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s again, because I’ve only seen it once and it’s just silly to allow a film you loved the one time you saw it to go unwatched again. I’ve just read a new book called Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., by Sam Wasson, about the making of the movie. Interestingly, the book takes a wider view of the making of Breakfast, by showing us the lives of the principals involved in the film leading up to the project that would bring them all together. He gives biographical sketches of Truman Capote and Audrey Hepburn, ofDown the rabbit hole….

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A few years ago, I started seeing mention of a new fantasy author in some of the blogs I read, a guy by the name of Patrick Rothfuss. His debut novel had just come out, called The Name of the Wind, and by the time I heard of this, Rothfuss was apparently starting to have some trouble with the sequel to his first book. I remember reading this in the context of the fan ire that bubbled over towards George R.R. Martin, whose ongoing struggles with the fifth book in A Song of Ice and Fire is a constant topicDown the rabbit hole….

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I like it when I encounter a book that takes a different approach to its subject, or to framing its narrative, or both. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is such a book. It is just that: a collection of brief pieces, organized alphabetically, about various events, attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and remembrances by this particular writer. It’s the kind of book that maybe couldn’t have been written (or perhaps collated is the right word) in any other era than the one it sprang from. Published in 2005, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life reads, in many ways, likeDown the rabbit hole….

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George RR Martin announces that A Dance with Dragons has a release date. I’d love to be one of the fans of A Song of Ice and Fire screaming “HUZZAH!!” over this, but…well, I’ll read it, sure. I won’t buy the hardcover right off the bat, but I’ll read the book. Sometime. But it’s been so long since the last one came out that I really don’t remember a lot of what was going on, so I feel the need to do a complete re-read before I get to Dance. And I can’t forget that I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic aboutDown the rabbit hole….

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Mellon!, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. This is where I was when I sat down to read more Lord of the Rings yesterday. Those who have read the book will recognize the artwork there as the inscription upon the Doors of Durin, which lead into the Mines of Moria if one knows the password. Today, I got up to the Mirror of Galadriel. God, I love this book. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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OK, so I’m re-reading The Lord of the Rings. And just in time for my entry into the book proper — I read the Prologue last night — I find this quote in a SF Signal post about re-reading books: Of course there’s the Lord of the Rings, which is very different when you come to it at different times of life. I go back to it every six or eight years, give or take, and part of the experience is spending time with the version of myself that read it last. True words, those! Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….