X Marks the Spot (52 Weeks of Books Challenge Week Fifteen)

I'm sitting in my living room, sipping on some Dr. Pepper, catching up on this season of The Voice, and writing this review. Today is a good day.

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883

(cover art from early 2000s Kingfisher Classics Edition)

Summary:

Treasure Island is the classic adventure story of pirates, treasure, and betrayal on the high seas. Published serially in 1881 and 1882 in a children's magazine, its popularity got it published in novel form in 1883. Its depiction of the pirate life in the 18th century has had a huge influence on how we view that time period today.

Why I Read It:

I saw a lot of the classics on Google Play Books, and went a little crazy with the downloading. Treasure Island was one of the victims.

Opinion:

Sometimes I have a little bit of trouble with the classics, but I am willing to concede it could be because my reading tastes have skewed towards more modern writing styles.

That is not a problem I've had with Treasure Island, though. I had a much easier time because the original format was serial, its original audience was older children, and because I knew the arch of the story when I started reading it. Most of the time, knowing the arch makes it a lot harder for me to invest in a story, but the hard part for me to put the story down at night without knowing what was going to happen next. I wanted to see how Jim survived to the end. I wanted to see just how horrible Long John Silver got before the end.

And when a writer can keep a girl hooked, that's probably a good thing.

Conclusion:

Classics are usually classics for a reason. That is as true for Treasure Island as any other. I don't know why I didn't read it when I was younger.

52 Weeks of Books Challenge? What is that? What book is Cat reviewing next week?

Read up here! Link: http://www.catpollockwrites.com/p/blog-page_30.html

Comments

My Writer's Toolbox: Thesauruses I Love

I don't know about the rest of you writers in the crowd, but there are times when I struggle to get the right words to come out onto the page. The debate over using thesauruses amongst authors can be fierce. My personal opinion is that there is definitely a place and time to use them (they've saved me from missing deadlines on a few occasions), so long as a writer is careful not to overuse them. Because I do consider them an essential in my writer's toolbox of resources, I thought I would share the ones I make the most use out of and where you can find them. 1. Webster's New World Thesaurus (credit: @catpollockwrites IG, posted 8/24/2017 ) When you were in grade school, did your teachers ever hand out those monthly or bimonthly Scholastic book catalogs with all the age-appropriate books coming out that they wanted you to buy? That, my friends, is how I got a hold of my thesaurus. It's almost like mid-thirties me traveled back in time and whispered int

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now, that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted

I've been hesitant to write this post. That is due, in large part, to how angry I get some days after reading book review requests. I curse, I rant, I snark. My cat will tell you it's not a pretty sight. But I also feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what it is that makes me feel those feelings AND how to not stir them up. I'm not the only reviewer that gets frustrated when I see certain things in my emails from authors looking for a review. And I know I'm not the only one who gets triggered enough to ignore or delete those messages. I never feel good about doing it. It's just that I'm hitting the proverbial wall here and I want to hit it a little less often. So if you're an author looking for loving advice on how to approach reviewers (especially this one), read on. Review Requests I Always Delete Before I get into what to do, I wanted to take a minute to look at what not to do (and how I handle it). Want to know what immedi

Cat Pollock Writes

Search This Blog