Wordless Wednesday: Northern California

Wine country in California.

More Wordless Wednesday here.

Photo by moi.

Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book. They can be debut authors, authors who seem to have taken a hiatus, OR for those who read classics authors you wish would have written another book before they passed. Here’s my list…

1) Jane Austen – Of course she tops my list! She was only 41 when she died and had completed only six novels and a few shorter pieces. She showed such wisdom and depth in her writing at such a young age, one can only imagine what she would have written if she’d had more time.

2) John Berendt – He has written two nonfiction books (including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and both have been wonderful in their own way. He captures the cities he writes about (Savannah and Venice) in such rich detail that I know I’ll read whatever he decides to write next.

3) Edgar Allan Poe – He was 40 when he died! He created the world’s first detective novel, wrote the infamous poem “The Raven” and has chilled souls for decades with stories like The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. I wish he’d had another decade and a few more bottles of cognac to fuel his writing.

4) Douglas Adams – The author of the hilarious Hitchhiker series died when he was only 49. I can picture him growing even funny with old age.

5) Harper Lee – Only one book and it’s one of my all-time favorites. Who knows what brilliance could have been found in a second book?

6) David James Duncan – The Brothers K was such an epic novel and I wonder if Duncan’s next book will have a similar scope or would be something more focused. Either way, I bet it will be great.

7) E.M. Forster – He didn’t die at a young age, in fact, he made it to 91, but I still would have loved another book from him. Howards End, A Room with a View, A Passage to India, each of his novels is written so beautifully. I could read 10 more books from him if I had the chance.

8) J. D. Salinger – The reclusive writer published only four books. I’ve read three and have been dreading reading the final one because I know it’s the last new book I’ll ever have from him.

9) David Benioff – I was surprised by how much I enjoyed City of Thieves. Benioff hasn’t written much else, but that’s because he’s busy writing HBO’s Game of Thrones and a few little movies, like Troy and X-Men: Wolverine.

10) Kathryn Stockett – The Help was just wonderful, as just about everyone and their mother (and grandmother) know by now. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next from the debut author.

101 Dalmatians

101 Dalmatians
by Dodie Smith
★★★★☆

The main reason I wanted to read this one is because it’s written by the author of I Capture the Castle, which I love. Pongo and Missis, a married pair of Dalmatians have a litter of 15 puppies that are kidnapped. Using the Twilight Bark system to contact dogs all over England, they search for their missing pups.

It was interesting to see the differences between this original story and the Disney adaptation (which I watched about a million times when I was little). The main two dogs are Pongo and Missis, Perdita is a completely different dog. When Missis has a huge litter, the owners decide to find a foster mother (Perdita) to help nurse the puppies. Also, Pongo’s master works in the financial industry, as opposed to being a musician. Obviously, finance isn’t as conducive to an animated musical as being a song writer is. I was surprised that Cruella De Vil is described almost exactly as she appears in the film, all the way down to her hair, half black and half white.

I’m so glad I read this after getting a dog. It was a lot more fun to hear how the dogs think while picturing my own pup. I love Pongo thinking about how he “owns” his human, instead of vice versa. He comments on how sometimes the humans were so clever they were almost canine.

Read this if you loved the movie and are in the mood for a sweet story. It’s not complicated or trying, it’s just a good little story. I also think it’d be a perfect book to read aloud to your kids or nieces and nephews.