Almost as Good as that last Scene in North and South

Did everyone have a nice Galentines/Valentines/President’s Day/”oh dear godtopus the Fifty Shades the Movie has been unleashed on us” weekend? Mine involved my siblings all in the same state for the first time in 2 years and snowstorms. So, all things considered, not bad.

But we aren’t here to talk about that, we’re here to talk about what I read over the weekend (because sadly for you, my Cannonball reviews have seemingly devolved into one long diary entry). I have DNF’ed The Line of Beauty and if any of you can explain to me how this book ended up on my to read list in the first place I’d love to know. I only read 75 pages, but NOTHING happened and there was NO character development so that book had to be put down and my misery needed to end. There will be no further review of that book.

But let’s get to the review of the book that I’m really here to talk about. It’s another audiobook, and we have Pajiba Love to thank for introducing it to me. In Pajiba Love there was truly delightful link to Richard Armitage discussing the process of recording an audiobook. Everyone needs to go check out the comments on that post, our own Mrs. Julien provides links to Matthew Macfadyen reading poetry and then that led me to Hiddleston reading poetry… it was quite the day, really.  What type of audiobook was this? A book of love poems. Read aloud to you with his voice. HIS VOICE. So, after some internet sleuthing I discovered that on Audible I could have the audiobook FOR FREE (and it still is, I believe until March 9^th (the same day as the Station Eleven Book Club Post!), so you can get it for yourselves*) and listen to Mr. Armitage read me fifteen classic poems. I was all in.

Which poems you might be interested to know? I’m here to help:
• “How do I love thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare
• “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
• “To Be One with Each Other” by George Eliot
• “Maud” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell
• “Bright Star” by John Keats
• “Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
• “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning
• “The Dream” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
• “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe
• “i carry your heart” by e. e. cummings
• “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron
• “Give All to Love” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I often have a tough time sinking into poetry and do best when I hear it aloud. So for that reason alone this is a good choice. I don’t know that I had ever really understood “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” before this. All I have left to say to you is – off you go, go luxuriate in some well read poetry; including my favorite love poem of all time “i carry your heart”.

*Malin if this is another one which doesn’t readily work for you I swear we may have to plan a siege of Audible’s corporate offices.