Feature Fridays

Today's classic feature is The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

From Goodreads:

In 1922, Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." That simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology.

Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach...Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

Read The Great Gatsby online at the Public Book Shelf.

If you've read it, take a quiz to test your memory here.

Was The Great Gatsby required reading in your high school? Did you like it? Have you read anything else by F. Scott Fitzgerald? Did you know he wrote the short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? Did you see the movie with Brad Pitt?

Do You Know About ETSY?

Etsy is a website for buying and selling only handmade and vintage items. They have a whole section dedicated to books!

Scroll down for Thoughts for Thursday

Thoughts for Thursday

Have you ever read a book more than once?
Why did you re-read it?
Was it better or worse the second time?

You can check BTT for other thoughts.

I remember re-reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, not because I wanted to, but because I didn't think I was prepared enough for an English test on the book. I don't think I've ever re-read anything for fun yet, but I am planning on reading Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell again. I remember that I loved it the first time and read it all in one day.



Excerpt from Back Roads:

"One day you're that guy who's happy he managed to survive high school and get that almighty piece of paper, and you're thinking you might try to get a job at Redi-Mix concrete where your dad's worked since the beginning of time. And at least you've got a family you can stand even if they are all sisters. One day you're that guy, and the next day you're assigned to a social worker and a therapist and given the choice of either being a LEGAL ADULT with three DEPENDENTS or an ORPHAN with NOBODY."

First Meeting!

Sunday, April 26th @ 6 pm @ Kate's House--5523 Walsh Street, 63109...food and drink provided.

Discussion questions for Water for Elephants can be found here and here. The questions contain spoilers, so you may want to wait until you're finished reading to look at them.

Weekly Word Wednesdays

prandicle
n.
small meal

"Due to recent price hikes, we will now be serving prandicles at the Overeaters Anonymous meeting."

Find and adopt other words at savethewords.org. Why?

Each year hundreds of words are dropped from the dictionary. Old words, wise words, hard-working words. Words that once led meaningful lives but now lie abandoned and forgotten. Do your part and help spread the word. Why are words important? Words are the cornerstone of language. The more words we have, the richer our vocabulary. Words allow us to communicate precisely. Without the right word to describe something, well…we’d be speechless!

P.S. Although "prandicle" is no longer in the dictionary, "prandial" still is. It is especially used in the medical community, as in "pre- or post- prandial" (before or after a meal). Example: Nurses may need pre- and post-prandial blood glucose measurements on newly admitted diabetic patients.

Have you checked out Word a Day? It's in the Sites to See at the left. Their theme this week is "a random walk through the dictionary."