Furrawn > Recent Status Updates

“They were also restricted to just the one mouth and nose, but were given instead an additional eye, making for a grand total of two. A strange-looking creature indeed. But truly excellent at believing the most preposterous things.”

“Because the next day is when we begin to make choices, sometimes unconsciously, about how we’ll respond to change, what we’ll carry forward and what we’ll leave behind. The next day is when we start to form the next version of ourselves.”

I love so much that she began the book with Mary Oliver…

“Often when I’ve found myself in unfamiliar waters, I have reached across time and space to find something to buoy me in words written by someone else, sometimes someone who lived and died before I was born, someone with whom I have nothing obvious in common. In those moments, I am glad that these people took the time to write about the things that mattered to them.”

“Got some calluses. I don’t think your lying about working hard, at least.”

It should be YOU’RE. This was published in June 2025. How has this not been fixed yet?

“A magical jeweler’s loupe which allows her to see and manipulate the filaments of magic that make up the world to create even more complex inventions.”

She used the loupe to solve the puzzle of the ring, but using it to create more complex inventions after solving the puzzle of the ring? When? When did she do that in book one? This recap tells more than was in the book. Why?

Still in the recap:
“Hers is to collect three magical items and learn valuable lessons on her journey that will help her defeat the enemy bent on destroying her.”

WHAT??? Three items? Did anyone read about three magical items she had to collect in the first book?

“Revolutionary spirit ignited, Harm realizes she can’t just save her and Molly. She has to figure out how to tear the whole power structure down. And to do so, she’ll need an army. When Prince Duncan offers his help, she wants to trust him...”

This recap bothers me. Harm did not want an army at that point in the book. Did whoever wrote the recap not read the book?

“It’s good to have at least one walk a day,” said Jane, after a few steps. “Though I don’t really like to go for a walk without a dog.” “Why is that?” “A dog gives a walk a purpose.” “How?” “Well, you are making someone else happy.”

“We need a new universal moral code.” Jane suddenly laughed. “I’ve just thought—every single major religion gives lip service to the Golden Rule—Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So it’s easy—there’s our universal moral code. We just have to find a way to persuade people to honor it!”

“She was everything; his heart, his words, the name of every love in every book he would ever read; the heroine of every novel he ever taught; the princess, the sweetheart, the witch, the queen, the song.”

I get that maybe the “carton” is intentional to be witty, but then one would ideally use italics or quotation marks for the word carton or something to imply deliberate intent. My opinion, of course…

I LOVE the book so far…

“… contain a coffee can full of very fresh eggs, fresh enough to still have bits of chicken crap sticking to them, a big square of cornbread, and a jar of olive oil. “… Grandma waved a hand dismissively. “It’s spring and all the chickens are laying like anything. I sure can’t eat all the eggs. Just save the carton for me.”

Eggs were in a coffee can not a carton… Also where’s the coffee?

The letter from Daan- I’m inextricably held prisoner by this book now… I feel as though I see it all unfold… I’m there… Reading all of Sybil’s letters…

20 sentences on page 154.
19 sentences on page 155.

This is not a book. At best, it’s a novella.

"I smell it." Yana pulled on her tunic and shoes, and Pia did the same. She followed her mother out of the house, but then Mamma began to run, and Pia could not keep up.

Changing perspective like that? Seems like what I’d expect from artificial assistance. Not saying it was used… but this is poor quality writing.

Over 40 characters introduced and counting…

Awful. Did Follett really write this? About FORTY characters introduced so far. Also, the hardcover is huge print and margins. This isn’t 688 pages of story. Maybe 250? Maybe less. S t r e c h e d o u t

“The treehouse libraries were very beautiful—each was built to look exactly like a book had been placed, half-open, across the top, its spine creating the topmost edge. They were grand, with multiple stories, and decorated for their particular element. The water one, for example, had chairs and shelves forged in the shape of waves, and its walls were covered inside and out with paintings of water wielders…”

“Aristotle warned that inequality brought instability, while Plato believed that demagogues exploited free speech to install themselves as tyrants.”

Don’t go into this lightly. It hits hard. It’s not irrelevant to the current times we live in…

What a fantastic book. I began reading it yesterday evening. I will warn you… You will want to read Proust, eat French food, and run to Paris by the end of the book.

Frankly, running to Paris seems like a good idea… Books are sometimes our sanity and our peace in dark moments…

“This wizard, about twenty years ago now, started looking for followers. Got ‘em, too- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit of his power, ‘cause he was gettin’ himself power all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn’t know who to trust- didn’t dare get friendly with any strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was taking over. ‘Course some stood up to him- ‘an he killed ‘em.”

I decided I needed the familiarity of a beloved group of books with a classic tale of an evil villain who wouldn’t go away and the goodness in people who refused to go dark.

“It wasn't till the people who'd declared themselves in charge decided to declare Saccobanda unverifiable and sent officials to take her away for being neither what they thought a person should be nor what they thought a horse should be, officials who looked appalled at what they'd been tasked to do, but still did it, determined, implacable…”

“Every classic old horse story I’ve ever chanced upon in this brave new UNLIBRARIED world deals with the bloodiness of humanity to other creatures as well as each other and more often than not ends in dutiful sadness as if the story, not totally broken, is at least broken in.”

I changed my reading challenge down to 50 books from 200 because I honestly don’t know if I’ll read more or less as my country falls apart and goes evil.

One thing I know is knowledge, truth, and reading are resistance… Keep resisting!

Ali Smith’s Gliff feels like it was written about my country… I feel both sad and understood.

“In times of war, people do not behave according to a normal code of conduct. Some will display extraordinary bravery, beyond what you’d expect of them. Others extraordinary greed, or cowardice or depravity. The war brings out the best or the worst in all of us.”

NEVER begin a book with an overwhelming glossary. That belongs at the back of the book.