The Pen and Inkpot

This is the second book I have received from the company Once Upon a Book Club and I was a little hesitant to read it. The novel is a romance war novel which seems a little out of place for a young adult novel but I found it quite enjoyable. It was the heartwarming story of one woman's journey towards independence, friendship and first love. An inspirational and insightful novel about life away from the battle fields of World War II crossed with the point of view of a girl pining for a man she can't have. "In Another Time" made for an interesting combo. It is 1942 and Maise Mcall is doing her part for the war as a lumber jill for the Women's Timber Corps. Out in the Scottish highlands, she has gotten independence, friends, a few more muscles and some nasty blisters. Felling trees is hard work compared to her normal life back home, but Maisie won't turn back. A small pleasure that the ladies at the WTC are provided is the local dances. Dancing with her ...

This is a popular YA novel that I thought looked sweet and decided to read. I'm not usually into romance novels but this one was ok. It was unique and quirky and explored much deeper topics than just two teens falling in love. Eleanor is the strange one. New in town, wearing funky clothes with red, frizzy hair. She couldn't stick out more if she tried. Park is quiet and reserved. Black t-shirt and headphones on, hoping no one sits in the seat next to him on the bus. These two very different individuals meet and slowy fall for each other. Late night chats and a love for comic books bring this couple dangerously close. If they take another step they could just...                                                                              fall. This novel did lots of things we...

I always think of poetry as a very broad term and the writer can seem to get away with writing whatever they like in whatever structure they like these days. The only problem with that is now we don't know how to start writing a poem when there are so many styles to write in. In this post I will give you a few tips on how to write poetry that is unique and sounds good when spoken aloud.  Iambic Pentameter If you have read any of Shakespeare's works, you may have picked up his use of iambic pentameter. In simple terms, iambic pentameter is stressing certain syllables in a line of poetry. There are five sets of two syllables and in each set of two syllables there is usually one strong and one weak beat.  For example: I soar / a- cross / the sky / a- bove In this example, the bold syllable is stressed more and throughout the line, the stressed syllable alternates with a weaker syllable. You don't have to follow iambic pentameter exactly (I don't), I jus...

Madeline was diagnosed with a rare form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency when she was a baby. In other words, she is allergic to the world. Unidentifiable triggers cause bouts of sickness so she has stayed in her house for the past seventeen years. When Olly and his family move in next door, Madeline watches from her window, entranced by Olly's freedom and appreciation of the world. When they start messaging online, it doesn't occur to her that she would be given the opportunity to meet him, or that they would fall in love. You would think that a story from the point of view of someone who cannot ever leave the house would be quite boring. But you would be wrong. Madeline sees the world from a different point of view and she helps the reader see like this too. 'Everything Everything' is a very original novel unlike anything I have read before. The story was told in a variety of ways including emails, drawings, schedules and other miscellaneous scraps of the ...