Two books- NEW YEAR

I have found the next two books in my 100 book challenge: THE NATIVE SON by Richard Wright and GULLIVER'S TRAVELS by Jonathan Swift. I have seen GULLIVER'S TRAVELS and I know the book and how it ends but I have not fully read the book. I remember when I first picked up DRACULA by Bram Stoker that I was surprised at how the the book was actually written using letters and journal entries, so I am curious as to the style of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. I will be starting these two books soon, but will probably not finish them until the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY BOOK READING

Don't do it. 3 reviews

While you are in the midst of a challenge do not make or accept other challenge requests. It took me forever to finish THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt because I was trying to read and still trying to read as many books as I can before the end of December. I started this extra challenge and have now finished three books including THE SECRET HISTORY. Now I am going to read some simpler books, well not that simple, the challenge still says over 150 pages. So her are the books I have completed in this December challenge so far:

1. THE JANUS STONE by  Elly Griffiths, this about an archaeologist named Ruth Galloway. It is a series book set in the UK. This is the second book in the series and Ruth was introduced to us after Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson finds a body in a salt marsh, near Ruth's house. She is a professor and is summoned to help with the case, when another little girl disappears and a long closed case is worked upon. In the tension that occurs in this book, Ruth and Harry have relations, leaving unbeknownst to the Chief Inspector, Ruth pregnant.
 In this book,  however,  Ruth is called to an interesting site by a man named Max who is also an archaeologist. They have discovered a body under a door jamb of an old house that is being demolished to make room for condo's. This is where we learn about the ancient Roman god Janus, who was the god of comings and goings. Apparently, in ritual fashion the Roman Empire, it was fashionable to behead children and lay them under the front door. We have a mystery in that the body is not that old and someone connected to the house had to have put her there over 50 years ago. What I like about the book is the information about the god's which happened to coincide with the SECRET HISTORY which was based on Greek mythology and writings. Both are about murders as well and what drives people to do psychotic things. I really like Elly Griffiths characters and would recommend this as a good read. I have already started her next book in the series as part of my challenge. It is called THE HOUSE AT SEAS END.

2. 1225 CHRISTMAS TREE LANE by Debbie Macomber. What can I say when it is close to Christmas I always read a Christmas book. I try to get in the mood. This is a book I am sure was made for television on the Hallmark channel, as Ms. Macomber has several that air around Christmas on that channel. I found it a little sugary but then it is Christmas in romance is in the air then so be it.
Fun little read.

3. THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt, First published in 1992, my copy was from 2002 and published through Borzoi Books a division of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. This book starts right of at the scene of a murder Bunny, a boy who attends Hampden College in Vermont, by his best friends. The books narrator is a young man trying to escape his family situation by moving as far away from them as possible and attending the college. His name is Richard Papen. He wants to be a Greek Scholar but the class is already full with five people, Charles and Camille, who are twins, Henry, the leader, Francis, and Bunny, the freeloader. The teacher of this course is Julius who is someone who thinks highly of himself and has many a high end friends. He also has an alternate personality that defines him as someone who would like to keep to himself. He is not the central character, but he plays some crucial roles, one being letting a sixth person in the class breaking his five person rule.

The first half of the book is the set up to the death and the search for the body of Bunny Corcoran. The second part is about the five people dealing with their culpability. I think this reads very much like a Greek Play: murder, incest, manipulation, god's and goddesses, homosexual encounters drugs, and alcohol.  None of these things are described in detail, most are insinuated, but they all play a role in this book. Probably the most seen are the drugs and alcohol, that causes most of the problems, especially the death of an innocent bystander, which becomes the cause of the fallout with Bunny.
The book is 524 pages long and except for a couple of slow periods in the book, it was a great read. As I said before you start out with a snippet of Bunny's demise, then you follow Richard and his observations, every once in awhile, we get more information about the death, until the actual time he dies. I liked the Greek comparisons, the way the story read and the way the story was not packaged up at the end with a neat little bow. It made the story real.

Extra challenge

I have challenged my family to a quasi-duel of book reading. The rules are simple: How many books can you read in 1 month, starting in December (tomorrow). It has to be a book with chapters, it cannot be a comic or anime. Sorry Anime (Manga) lovers, if I am going to read big tomes, I cannot allow think paperbacks, also no short stories. They have to be full-fledged novels. I will accept manuals or nonfiction, only if they can prove they read the whole book. I figured this will help me get me reading some of the other 100, with a few fast reads. My husband has picked up a Clive Cussler to start with, my son a Star Wars book, I am not sure what my daughter is going to read. My book of course is the SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tart and I already have my second book called THE JANUS STONE, by Griffith. We are going to have to write a critique or synopsis of our favorite book. So lets do it.

3 reviews for the price of one

I have read three books in succession, unfortunately not the any on the 100 list, but still worthy of mention.

The first book is called THE LAST ANNIVERSARY by Liane Moriarty, first published in Australia in 2005, first paperback published in 2006 by Harper. This is a mystery about a baby who is called Enigma by the people who found her teenage sisters Connie and Rose. The mystery is that the parents Alice and Jack Munroe disappear off the island leaving behind a marble cake fresh from the oven, an overturned chair, a tea kettle steaming and a small infant, just days old. There are drops of blood on the floor and everyone assumes the worst. This happens during the depression era, so no one knows for sure what happened. The sisters get to keep the baby and then we are fast forwarded to the present time. We have Connie dead and passing the torch. She leaves all these notes for everyone before she dies, including a girl named Sophie who is not related to the family, but at one time dated a member of the family. Aunt Connie does the unthinkable and gives this stranger her house and a note on how to treat the other members of the family. It is a fun book, but has several hard topics thrown in: Postpartum depression being the strongest, career woman dealing with being alone and wanting children, discovering your sexual orientation, aging, and traits that set you apart from others. All these topics were in the book and Ms. Moriarty handled them with with ease. I really liked the characters and the surprise endings were perfect. I liked this book so much I am heading to the library to read more of her books.

Book 2: THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny, copyright 2012 by Three Pines Creations, Inc. The book is a continuation of the Chief Inspector Gamache Novels, but is not set in Three Pines as the other books have been in the past. The setting in this book takes place in a monastery in the back woods of Canada only reached by a boat and belonging to the Gilbertine Monks.What is the specialty of this order: music, more specifically Gregorian chants or the voice of God. We start off with a mystery of the past, who has the oldest book of chants and how did the monk write the neumes or early movement of the hands to tell how the music should be sung. Again we are fast forwarded to present times, and a dead monk, who is the prior and the choirmaster of the order being murdered. Inspector Gamache and detective Beaufort are called to the scene, where they set about solving a mystery where there is a vow of silence and no one has been let in for hundreds of years unless they were joining the order. This of course narrows down the suspects to those in the monastery. But there are other problems that abound to lend confusion to the concentration on Gamache, those being Sylvan Francoeur who is the head of the Police and wants Gamache gone, who will stop at nothing to get rid of him, including trying to get Beaufort to switch allegiance. Then there is Beaufort who is in a secret relation with Gamache's daughter and has had an addiction to Oxycontin in the past, he is being seduced away from Gamache with drugs and doubt. So here we are in the middle of nowhere trying to solve a mystery that is rife with discontent, suspicions and heart break. I have to say I did not like the hanging ending, but that means and extra book and a better way to solve all the problems outside of the one solved in the monastery. A hard look at addiction, especially with Oxycontin. The adage Once an Addict, Always an Addict has some merit.  A good series, start with the first book.

Book 3: FIRST FROST by Sarah Addison Allen, copyright 2014, published by St. Martin's Press.
I have read all of ms. Allen's books and loved everyone of them. This book takes us back to two sisters Claire and Sydney, abandoned by their mother and left to live with their Grandmother Mary. That is all discussed in the first book about the Waverley sisters, but there are still mysteries to be solved about their grandmother and mother in this book. It is a magical book, not only in the writing but in the characters, their abilities, the Waverley house and of course the apple tree. In this book the main focus is Bay and her relationship with her Aunt Claire and her mom Sydney, her secret crush and her gift. Again this book is not only about relationships, but hard life decisions, doing things you do not want to do, blackmail and secrets. But the beautiful part is the individuals and their unique gifts, gifts that you can not run away from. It made me think of all the gifts that we ignore because we do not think that is what people want us to do. It makes me think that we need to embrace those gifts and make sure we shine. Great book. I loved the magic, especially the apple tree.

Next book picked

I have picked the next book from the list of 100 books and that it is THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. I have read the first few pages and we already have a murder in the prologue and then the first chapter is the meeting of the characters. Our narrator is Richard Papen who is ashamed of his family and goes to college in Hampden College in Vermont because he knows his family is too poor to get there. He manages to wrangle a scholarship and is off to school where he meets a group of people taking Greek, a class he wants but cannot get into because the professor only takes five people. So that is where I am at, I hope it does not take me until December to read.

I also am in the midst of a couple of books I started while waiting for my library selections to come in, THE LAST ANNIVERSARY, which is the book club choice for this month, and THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY which is in a mystery series that I like to read by Louise Penny.

Review: DRACULA by Bram Stoker

DRACULA by Bram Stoker published by Peter Bedrick Books in 1988.  The original copy was published in 1897. By the standards of today this book would be considered cumbersome, because we tend to look for a fast read and parts of this book cause us to reflect on the philosophy of the times. Especially in the last half of the book when our heroine Mina is described as having a masculine brain and our villain Dracula is said to have a child-like brain. Our Doctor Van Helsing waxes eloquently about these characteristics. I have to remember that at the time woman were thought to be without the ability to think for themselves. Knowing that our author was friends with writers such as Mary Shelley, we know that he had insight to the fact that women were capable of strategy and deep thought. There is a surprise from all the men when Mina announces that she knows the timetable for the trains that run and that she can use her brain to help them strategize the way to kill Dracula, though she has been bitten by Dracula.

That is just one theme that runs through the book. We have Dracula who has been around for some time, trying to conquer worlds. He is not always successful as we see in this book, that he has been forced back to his castle several times. This is the foreshadowing that knows that he can be defeated. But it also leads us to the fact that there must be several vampires (though they are not called that in the book,) or un-dead that Dracula has made in the past. We do not know if his death has released them from their bonds. We are introduced to the many ways to kill the un-dead, such as stakes through the heart, chopping off the head and filling it with garlic, plus some other methods. We are also introduced that the vampire bat can change shape from human to bat.

There are things that Dracula can do in this book that have not shown up in current stories of Dracula. For instance Dracula can shape shift into a wolf, reminding us of the werewolf. He can control not only humans but other species. The main thing that he can do that we do not see in other stories, is that he can actually come out in the daylight, There are conditions, but in a couple of scenes we have Dracula appear in the city, helping with his coffin, meeting people in his house. All these occur during the day. This makes me wonder, where did we get the notion that he sleeps all day. Our author attributed this to age of the vampire, because our first known new victim Lucy, must return to her coffin during the day-time.

I liked the format, though it took me a bit to recognize that when we shifted to other journal entries that I had to look at the dates of the entries. Jonathan Harkers initial entries start May through June 30th and are Chapters 1-4, Mina's letters to Lucy start chapter 5 and start May 9th. So the entries are not consecutive, not until all five main characters are together and Mina tries to keep everything ordered. Then towards the end of the book we have the split again as there are three groups heading in the same direction.

I really enjoyed the book, not so much the pictures in this edition. I think the pictures distracted from my vision of the story and the character Dracula, as I have said in a previous entry about the book, I guess I had a more Hollywood perception of Dracula.

What to read next

I am still working on DRACULA, but I need to figure out what is the next in this set of books to read. I was looking at my list and realized that the list has changed on Facebook since my first download, not by much, just a few books. My next book club book is THE LAST ANNIVERSARY , by Liane Moriarty. I do not know about you but when I see the name Moriarty I think of Sherlock Holmes. This book is a mystery centered around a baby called the Munro Baby.

I know I will finish DRACULA, soon but what to read next. I have several books at the library. I guess it will come down to which one happens to be in the library when I get there. So several of the books are unavailable due to using them for school. I may have to either download them or wait until summer. One is called NATIVE SON, by Richard Wright. Designated as a youth/ children's book, murder and death, don't we see that enough in the papers. I know it is an important book, but maybe teen/ young adult. I will have to read and see how it is written. This may seem like I would banish books, but that is not the case. I just work with children and know that they sometimes have messed up lives, that sometimes are too well echoed in books. I would want a book to disappear into to forget my woes, not one to throw it into my face. So again not sure why it is in the children's section of the library.

The Storied Life of A J Fikry

THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY, Gabrielle Zevin published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 2014. The life of A. J. Fikry told by using bits and pieces of short stories, novella's and novels to write letters about his life to his adopted daughter Maya. Mr. Fikry is a bookseller on an Island only reached by boat. He is a widow and would rather not deal with the public. His wife makes him a slogan for the Island bookstore "No man is an Island, every book is a world." She had modified a quote by John Donne. The store was his wife's idea.  After her death he definitely wants to become an island and live in the world of books. I think his introverted character sets the tone at the beginning of the book.

Out of his life goes a rare book and into his life comes Maya. There are many layers to the story and I think my only criticism is that the book seemed to be in chunks. One of my book club members reckoned it being like a series of short stories inside of a novel. I think the book could have been expanded as we jump from Maya as a two year old and the next chapter we jump three years. This made me have to go back at the end of the book and figure out exactly how old she was and how long she had been with her adopted family. 

Also in this book was the e-book versus a handheld book, and bookstores having to change in order to stay up-to-date with the current trends in reading. I am a person who likes to go into a store browse all the books, read the first pages, feel the book and make my decision. It is the same thing I do in the library. But I do have an e-reader and when I am looking at a book that is rather large, it is nice to have it in a smaller format, where I do not need to hold a heavy tome in my hand. Both forms have there place but my favorite form and that of A.J. Fikry is the book. That is until later in his life, when he found the e-reader helpful.

Again as I said there are many layers in the book and I was not pleased with the ending but it was a good story. It is a life and I want to go and read all the short stories and novellas that he referenced in his letters to Maya. I have already read one and will read the others if I can find them in the library. 

Dracula- still in process

Though I seem to have been reading this book for a long time, I only started reading it in October, and then lost the book while my husband was recuperating. It was going to be my must read while he was recovering. Now all the goblins, vampires and werewolves have put away their costumes and I feel like I should stop, but I cannot. I have left our first narrator on a precipice and have now entered into the letters his fiance is writing. This means I am not far into the book. However, the book is very cleanly written, though I do not care for the drawings in the book. Maybe, I have seen too many debonair vampires to envision the character drawn in the book I am reading. If I had seen his face I would have run at the first chance. It is my main read this week, so I should be finished by weekends end, unless the book vanishes again and hides in a room seldom used.

Review: On The Road

ON THE ROAD  by Jack Kerouac, published by Penguin Books in 2011. This book was first published by Viking Press in 1957, but the copyright is dated 1955. Jack Kerouac is in his twenties when he went on this adventure with his friends, whose names were changed in the book.  These were friends he met in college, and along his journey's with 'Dean', who was really Neal Cassady.

My comments on the book would be WOW. This book is manic. I was not born until 2 years after this book was published. I grew up with the beat movement in the background, but not in my life. It was a different time and it shows in this book about adventures. Looking at our current society where everything is in place, kids go to college, life is structured around teams and taking off and doing your own thing is not widely accepted. Though in my twenties, I had a mini adventure, traveling with my friend to Europe, riding on the train to sleep from one town to the next. We stayed in Europe for 1 month, leaving everything behind. I was enamored by just carrying around a suitcase and a bunch of traveler checks to see Europe. My daughter spent 6 months in Europe and the British Isles, traveling and working through out the country. That amazed me and made me happy to know I had the means to save her if she got stuck.

In this book Sal (Jack) has his aunt who helps him out when he gets stuck, but he is always on the move. Traveling by foot, bus, hitchhiking and sometimes by the car that Dean has procured to get him. They travel back and forth to California and New York. In the last part of the book they end up traveling to Mexico, where once again Sal is abandoned by Dean.

Dean is the manic component of this trip, just talking and feeling and saying whatever comes to mind. Enjoying the ability to roam, see people in his own personal way. Looking for things lost like his father. I kept thinking he is going to crack and drive off the road, he is so manic sometimes. I think I would get tired really fast and driving that fast may have had me get off at the next stop. But they had so much fun, partying all the way, breaking hearts and connecting with people.

Different times, different feelings, a new movement called the Beat movement, that celebrated life. Good book, full of history between the manic parts. I really enjoyed the book.

Working on Three

I am still working on ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac, so far I find it fascinating, especially the way he traveled. I am hoping to be finished by the end of the week. I have currently started THE STORIED LIFE OF A J FIKRY by Gabrielle Zevin, this is my book club pick. It means I get to have book club at my house, yeah. I love October book club, I get to decorate. The third book is another 100 book challenge book DRACULA by Bram Stoker, which I love so far, it has great characterization of the towns folk.

So those are my three for this month, I hoping to finish DRACULA by Oct 31, just in time for the ghouls to come out.

Review: Sycamore Ridge by John Grisham

SYCAMORE ROW, by John Grisham, published in 2013 by Doubleday a division of Random House books.

How do you connect to a book that starts off with a suicide in the South, that leaves a black maid over 24 million dollars and cuts off his own children? I knew this book would be full of southern drama. The main character is a white lawyer, Jake, who recently had his house burned down by white supremacists because he won a case for a black man. He is quickly thrown into a new case by a handwritten letter and a handwritten will that the man who committed suicide sends to him through the mail, that reaches him the day after the man kills himself. Jake is not happy because he is not sure he likes the fact that this man gave nothing to his children, but he knows that it would mean a case that may bring some money his way. All he has to do is make sure that the will is accepted and that the first will is thrown out, the one that leaves all the money to his children.

The story weaves in several facts, the prevalence of lynchings in the south, the suppression of blacks even though it is 1989, the hate crimes, such as burning down houses, making threats, and the portrayal of blacks as poor, alcoholic and conniving. The latter is not a fact but it is how the characters are portrayed and falls into the way racists see the African Americans.

I had a hard time with the book. Having just experienced death in the family and children of the deceased acting snarky, I wanted to see if justice prevailed. The whole book was centered around Lettie Lang a black woman who was the aide and maid to Mr. Hubbard when he was dying of cancer. Did she influence his changing of the will? Did she do this with special favors? Did she know about the will changes? In one part of the book, she is happy to be mentioned in the will but did not expect that she would receive it all. All she wanted to do was give the majority back to the family, but it was not up to her. The main focus was Seth Hubbard's mind working or was he muddled the day he made the new will.

I have to admit I am not into the ins and outs of tricks, games and tactics that lawyers use to skew the facts. At one point I was thinking can we please get this book moving. I just want to get to the end. About halfway through the book it starts to get interesting again. But I felt that some things were drawn out way to long. All in all a good book, not sure about the very ending. I did like the trial outcome and subsequent events that lead to a good resolution, but the last chapter was somewhat kitchy.

NO Posts

Sorry about the lack of posts, I have fallen once again behind in my reading. But, I am hoping to catch up on my reading in the next few days. As a reminder, I am reading ON THE ROAD, by Jack Kerouac and SYCAMORE ROW by John Grisham. It is a rainy day here and though I am substitute teaching today, this afternoon may be the perfect time to sit back and relax with a book. At least, I am hoping that this is a good day to relax.

Books Left to Read

I have 20 books left to read in the 100 book Challenge sponsored by Facebook and I think Random House books. I have finally grabbed a copy of ON THE ROAD by Kerouac. I did have to purchase it so it is the next book on the list to read. I also own a copy of DRACULA by Bram Stoker, so I am going to read that in October, Halloween is the perfect time to read this book. I am going to try to read 10 books before the end of the year, but there may be a problem with length and time, DON QUIXOTE for example is huge.

Books Left to Read of the 100:
ON THE ROAD
DRACULA
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
CATCH-22 (for some reason I think I have read this)
DON QUIXOTE
FAHRENHEIT 451
A FINE BALANCE
THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK (I started this but did not finish, will retry)
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
HAMLET
IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME
LES MISERABLE (Read excerpts in my French class)
LOLITA
NATIVE SON
THE SECRET HISTORY
SLAUGHTER HOUSE FIVE (Again I recall reading this but will read again)
TROPIC OF CANCER
ULYSSES
UNDER THE VOLCANO
AMBASSADORS (Another book I started and had a hard time getting through, I will try again)


My Book Club book for this month is SYCAMORE ROW, by John Grisham. This is one that definitely needs to be read before the end of the month. I also started two books at the end of August, so I will be reviewing those as well.

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS: finished

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS by Arthur Ransome was first published in 1930. My copy was on Kindle, this was because I could not find it as a book. I found the rest of the series but not this first book. I was told that the first book is always the least amount published because publishers are not sure how the book will take off. I have found this in many current series and go crazy trying to find the first book. But back to my review.

This book is set in the summer of 1929. The Swallow and the Amazon are boats that the children vacationing on this lake have named. The Swallows are on holiday with there mother, the youngest child and the nurse. The children are Susan, John, Titty and Roger they imagine themselves as explorers of far away places. There are several islands on this lake and their mother lets them take the Swallow and sail to one of the islands to spend a couple of weeks on the island. The youngest is eight. They have labeled themselves John is Captain, Susan is Second Mate, Titty is Able-bodied Seaman and  Roger is simply known as the boy. They are loaded with provisions, such as tents and camping gear. Sent on their way and pretty much left to their own devices. They call everybody not in camp natives, they call a houseboat a pirate ship and they name the islands after places that they would like to explore.

The Amazons are two girls from the Blackwell family. They are related to the man in the houseboat and also call him a pirate. They have done things to his boat, but the Swallows get the blame. The Amazons land on the island and say that it is theirs. So the two boats decide to have a "battle" to see who claims the island. All of this is in good fun.

This is a book that is definitely for children and is full of adventure. I do not think it is something a parent would allow in our current culture. Sending 4 children to be on there own for a couple of weeks, though the mom did visit once and awhile and she had in place a system to make sure they were okay, as the children were required to sail to a farmhouse for mil and eggs. But other then that they were alone on an island with many other boats on the water. This book reminded me of several other books of this era, where children had much more imagination and freedom to do many things without thinking about crazy people trying to hurt them. Good book.

New Book and review of the book THE ROSIE PROJECT

I have started, a little bit ago, a book that I had trouble finding in either the library or the book store. I can find the sequels to this book but the only place I could find SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS by Arthur Ransome is online. It is a children's tale of 4 children on a summer adventure. I am 53% thru the book according to my Kindle. So far it is a pretty fun book. I will let you know about the book when I finish, hopefully, in the next few days. It is a pretty fast read.

I have also been reading a book called THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion. This is a great book about a man who has Asperger's syndrome, I think, who has been told by several people that he should find a companion or a wife. The book is set in Australia, with some time spent in the States. That he needed to get out and date people. Here is a man who has a routine for everything and is awkward around social situations. I do not have Asperger's but I definitely can relate to awkward around social situation. I had many a day growing up when my mom would tell me to think before I spoke. Usually, because I would repeat something she would say to the person she said it about, so I was always in trouble. I also have a hard time in crowds, trying to be part of different conversations. But it seems that our character Dr. Tillman, had ways to deal with this problem.

Anyway, he decides that maybe he should find the perfect wife, so he makes a questionnaire that he will have women either fill out or answer when on a date. He tries it on women at speed dating site, telling them that he was going to ask a set a questions then they could talk about what ever they wanted, this did not go over so well and they ended up starring at each other. Some of his criteria he just used his eyes to figure out, like a woman's BMI, or how late they are when they are going to an event.

While this is happening he has a friend Gene who is married, but is sleeping with woman from all over the world. He has a map that he puts a pin into when he has met that goal. He tells Tillman that they he and his wife have an open marriage. They are Tillman's best friends and Claudia is the person that Tillman likes to discuss his ideas about everything. This is true especially since he started the WIFE PROJECT. Gene fixes him up with someone who does not fit the parameters of the WIFE PROJECT, her name is Rosie. She has no idea that she is meeting a man trying to find a wife and Tillman automatically rules her out when she arrives late for a date, part of his rules on being timely to an event.

They become friends and set about on a different project, the FATHER PROJECT. Lots of projects in this book, lots of changes in the characters as they maneuver through these projects. A really good book.

Publishing Information: published in 2013 by HarperCollins Publishers LTD. It was first published in Australia by The Text Publishing Company.

Book Review: The Count of Monte Cristo

I have finally finished THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexander Dumas. Mid-book I had to return my library copy and download it onto my Kindle, it cost .99 so not a bad deal. I love this book, it fit so well into my Sunday School lesson for adults. It was a good thing I finished before the lesson. We were studying about God and prayers being answered in God's time and that our prayers will always be there no matter where we are in life. So how does this tie into the book.

This book is about a young man who returns home excited to be marrying a young Catalan girl. He is youthful and happy and he is about to be promoted. Now there are several people who are just a little bit envious of Edmond Dantes. There is Danglers who wants the coveted position of Captain on the vessel, the captain has died at sea, but before he died he put Dantes in charge. Morrel the owner of the boat wants to keep Dantes on as Captain. Then we have Frederic who is the cousin to Mercedes. Mercedes is the love of Edmond's life. Frederic is also in love with Mercedes and would love to get rid of Edmond, but Mercedes says that if anything happens to Edmond she would die. Next in line is Caderousse, he is jealous of Edmond and his father and would love to extract all their money if he could figure out where they kept it. In other words he is a thief. The three of them meet for drinks while Edmond is meeting with Mercedes. They get Caderousse drunk and Frederic and Danglers draft a note saying that Edmond is a Bonapartist and is carrying a letter for the cause. Danglers then throws the letter away knowing full well that Frederic is so jealous he would do anything to get rid of Edmond. Frederic sends the letter to a man Villefort, who is in charge of the region, Villefort has aspirations of becoming the confident to the King, so he brings in Dantes. He asks Dantes if he has the letter, which Dantes then pulls out of his pocket. Villefort acting nice and assuring Dantes that all will be straightened out throws him in prison and essentially tells them to keep him incarcerated for life.

This is a great beginning for the book and it gets better as we continue into Dantes life in prison. Now this parts get a little long and I knew he would escape but I almost got bored at this part. In actuality this is a great writing device because Dantes himself was getting down and was resigning himself to be in jail forever, when he hears a scratching on the wall. Eventually, he meets the Abbe. They figure out an escape plan. The Abbe tells him of a great fortune on the Island of Monte Cristo. At first Dante does not believe him and then he realizes that the Abbe is not the madman that the guards believe he is.

Now we know an escape happens and the riches discovered, the rest of the book is full of twists and turns as Dantes in many disguises seeks revenge on the very people who put him in prison. He finds his father has dies and Merceded ha done the unthinkable and married Frederic. Frederic and Dangler are in Paris and wealthy. Caderousse is married and owns an Inn. Villefort is also in Paris and has a new wife. All of them, except Caderousse, have children that are at the age where they can marry. Dantes uses the vices of each person to extract his revenge.

This is a great book. It is also a long book, over 1000 pages. Once you get into the revenge part it moves really fast. Lots of good character development and interesting connections between all the characters.

1/2 way through

I am still reading the COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, by Dumas and only 1/2 the way through with only 4 days left to read the book. I have renewed it 3 times from my local library, which means that I cannot renew it again. I am hoping to be done however by the end of the weekend. I may have to have new glasses and a bottle of Tylenol beside me, the print is small.  The story however is rolling along and except for some confusion about who, where and when our main character reveals himself in the story. Sometimes there are stories within the story, so recently I have had to go a little slower. Kindness, revenge and stealth are some of the main characteristics of Dantes, who has taken to calling himself, 'Sinbad the Sailor.'

If I do not finish the book this weekend, I may try to find the book at another library or bite the bullet and just buy the book. Good eyesight will hopefully allow me to continue.

Book Review: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group(USA) LLC, in 2014. I really enjoyed this fictional story based on several women, two slaves and two southern women who did not follow the norm of the south in the 1800's. Though the slaves are fictional characters, the story follows them and their relationship to the women who would become abolitionist and banned from their own birthplace.

You are drawn immediately into the story, which starts off with Hetty Handful Grimke, daughter of the slave Charlotte. We meet her recounting the story her mother told her about the nubs on her shoulders being the place for blackbird wings, a story her mother was told when she was a little girl. Then we meet Sarah Grimke on the occasion of her 11th birthday, who had witnessed a slave being beaten as a child and had trouble talking from that point on. On her 11th birthday her mother presents her with her own personal slave, Hetty. Sarah immediately balks at the idea, even going as far as writing up an emancipation paper for Hetty, which her dad tears up.

Sarah's dreams of becoming a lawyer are encouraged and discouraged at the same time, she is told by her mother it is time to give up her dreams like all women do. Don't you just love the 1800's. Her mother who is known as Missus, she becomes pregnant with her last child and Sarah asks to be the Godparent, instilling in Angelina the same drive she was denied.

The story moves fast and I was happy to know that Angelina and Sarah Grimke were real people who did fight against slavery and fought for women's rights. I am currently looking for their biography so that I can read more about the sisters.

Great book, very vivid, full of lovely characters and descriptions.

Trying to finish

So I am not 1/2 way through THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexander Dumas. I had put it aside and had not read my requisite 4 chapters/day like I had previously stated that I would do while reading the other two books. I am on page 235 and there are 1179 pages in this book. While I was reading a young man who was incorrectly incarcerated at the age of 19 has grown to be a 33 year old. He made a friend in prison who tells him about a treasure on the Island of Monte Cristo. In order, to have a story something spectacular has to happen, because someone who is doomed to spend his life in prison does not fill 1179 pages.  There is an escape, a rescue and a plan hatched to find the people who set him up.

That is all I can say right now, except that it goes into great detail, so that you truly see what our main character is seeing and feeling. The characters so far are Edmund, the wronged, Mercedes his love, his father, the three men who set him up, Villefort the man who put him away, and the Abbe Faria who is incarcerated with him. I will let you know when I get to the 1/2 way mark and if I can tell you anymore about the situation.

Book Review: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I have finally finished ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, by Robert Pirsig. This book was published first published April, 1974 by William Morrow publishing. This was after several publishing houses had turned Robert Pirsig down. My copy was printed by Bantam books in 1984. There is an afterword in the back by Robert Pirsig written in 1984 for the book. I am sorry that his son Chris died, especially in such brutal circumstances.
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I have found this book in both the fiction and non-fiction sections of the library and book stores. To me it is non-fiction, I had a small debate about this recently at a book club meeting. The afterword has helped me realize that I was correct in that it is not fiction. This is a story about a journey, in which there is self-discovery and the understanding of the thoughts that exist in your mind. I have taken many a long trip, by myself , in a car, where I find my mind drifting into thoughts about existence, my life, my philosophies and how they relate to others. I have many days when I have a hard time relating to my children. My husband and I would take drives with our children and commence what we called the "car talk", this was our way of having a captive audience, trying to find out what was in their heads at the moment or trying to impart our wisdom.

We spend a lot of time in the narrators head, as he remembers Phaedrus and his connection to this 'ghost.' The ghost that was himself, which happened after his electroshock therapy. His thoughts and ideas wiped clean, but still in his mind. The journey on the bike and the maintenance of the bike, take us through thoughts on Quality. What it means and how to we try and fail at achieving it, mainly by letting ourselves get in our own way.

There were times I agreed and times I was confused by what the author was trying to impart. I did have to reread several passages, but when you put a book down for a couple of days, sometimes it is best to reread some pages. I love the journey that the father and son took, the father retracing his history, but not sure how to relate to his son, who was part of that history.

There is more to this book than I could possibly write here, but once I finish the 100 I am suppose to read I am going to read Pirsig's second book called LILA, which has to do with morals.

Book Review: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

 THE BOYS IN THE BOAT by Daniel James Brown, published by Penquin Books copyright 2013. Finished this book on Sunday, just in time for my book club. I really enjoyed the book for several reasons; I really enjoy reading history, especially those set in the time period of the Great Depression and War World II. This is the second book that I have read dealing with members of the American Olympic team and there traveling to Germany. I am amazed that Hitler was able to hide his agenda so well from everyone. There is a statement in the book that the Americans make on returning from Germany that the author puts in the book "As for this man Hitler....Well, I believe we should all like to take him back to America with us and have him organize there just as he has done in Germany."(page 360) Of all the books I have read and the documentaries I have seen, the killing and imprisonment of people in their towns were just completely ignored.

The other reason is that I like books teach me about things that I know nothing about, especially sports. I have friends who have done crew. In fact, one of my friends in book club, did crew and she was impressed by the how well the author did with the details. Knowing that they won in the Olympics,, Daniel Brown still had me on the edge of my seat with his descriptions of the races. Especially, the races at  home, but more specifically the race in Germany. Very well written.

Then there is the life of Joe Rantz, who beyond all the hardships he endured he worked his way through life without bitterness. He may have had some self doubt but instead of saying 'Woe is me,' he did all that he could to survive. It was a different world, but leaving your 13 year old to fend for themselves, egad. Could you imagine what kind of news story we would have about this?

A great book, I would highly recommend it.

Midway ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

I am drawn into this book and the philosophy found within its pages. Not all the philosophy for I found myself going along and then stumbling, thinking I was on board until that last section. I just finished a passage in page 189-190 of my book where he talks about the ego-climber versus the selfless climber and I am able to equate that to when I go hiking with my family. The ego-hiker to change the wording is interested in getting to the finish of the hike looking to see how fast they can go without taking in nature, and the selfless hiker I think wants to learn more about what he sees around him. Not try to get from point A to B without finding something in nature. I think my family is a combination of both, we start out as selfless hikers. We have brought books to identify plants, fungi and animals, cameras for documentation and we take our time, looking around. But by the end of the day, we have put our things away and work real hard to get back to the campground or car before the light fades among the trees. We have invited friends on our hikes but it becomes a race for them, they think a hike means to go as fast as you can to get to the end of the trail. They openly say "We beat you." We always say "We didn't know it was a race." It is especially bad for my kids who are torn between catching up with friends and hanging back with good ol' mom and dad.

I still have a bit to read but it is getting done, but maybe I want to be a selfless reader.

Timeline

I realized that it was June 6th and I have three books to finish before the end of June. I decided today to make a timeline for finishing these books. I know that I have to have the BOYS IN THE BOAT finished by June 22, so that means that if I read 1 chapter a day I will finish exactly on the 22. I think that I will read 1-2 chapters which will give me a little lead time, depends on the size of the chapters. I f I were to read two chapters I would finish in about 8.5 days. Now onto ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, I have approximately 19 chapters left in this book, which means if I read two chapters a day I will be finished in 9-10 days, I could read 1 chapter each day and still hit my goal, I will strive for two, again it depends on the chapter lengths. Then we have the book that is bound to kill my eyes, but is a pleasant read, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, a 118 chapter book, well 119 there is an epilogue, to finish this book by the end of June, I will need to read at least 4 chapters a day. Luckily, they are short chapters, unluckily they are small words. I would hate to see this book in large print format, you would probably need three volumes and a wagon.
Goal:
BOYS IN A BOAT- 2 chapters/day
ZEN- 2 Chapters/day
MONTE CRISTO- 4 chapters/day

All I can say is I hope my eyeballs are up to it, and it is a pleasant experience. Happy Reading

Struggling

So I thought that I would have ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, done by now, but what I did not realize is that there are some heavy duty explanations for life and how we regard life. There is a lot of talk about classic versus romantic philosophy, scientific method and get tied in with technology and motorcycle maintenance, so I have become bogged down. I need to be thoroughly cognizant in order to read this book. It is not a bedtime read, unless you want your mind to drift. So, my bedtime reading is now the COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, by Dumas. Again it is a large book, but it is broken down into small chapters so I have decided to try to read three chapters a night of this book. I also need to start my book club book, THE BOYS IN THE BOAT.
My goal for all three-end of June. Wish me luck.

Beginning: ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

I have just started reading ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, by Robert M. Pirsig, and I think from what I read so far that I am going to like this book. I wonder if I would have liked it when I was younger or now that I am an adult trying to impart wisdom to my children that makes me connect to the book. My husband said that he tried to read it when he was younger and he could not relate to the book, I think that now he may change his mind. Still too early to tell if I will be maintaining this opinion, as I am only on page 40 of a 380 page book.

Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

HEART DARKNESS, by Joseph Conrad published by Everyman's Library in 1967, my copy was from 1993. It was originally published as a series in 1899 and then later published as a book in 1902 (page:xxvi) in the Chronology section of the book. An introduction was written in 1993 by Verlyn Klinkenborg. In the introduction which I always read after I read the book, it was noted that 'it is hard to remember what a short book HEART OF DARKNESS really is' (page ix). I concur, I found the book extremely lengthy even though it is only 38000 words. I think it is because he uses descriptions and what I like to call 50 cent words, to give the book depth and flavor.

However saying that, I still miss things that could have been added. We come in to the book with 5 people on a yacht, the Director, the Lawyer, the Accountant, our original narrator and Marlow, who is really telling the story. ( I believe in my midway review I called him Malone, sorry about that bit of confusion.) Marlow is telling the story of his going to Africa to pilot a steamship to get a man named Kurtz, his ivory and his notes about the natives and the area. We get descriptions of how Marlow ended up going to Africa, his time waiting for the wrecked steamer to get fixed and then his voyage down the river to meet the man named Kurtz who everyone seems to think is brilliant. We finally meet the man at almost the end of the book and only really for a few pages. We feel this man's pain, craziness or sickness in the last words he says "The horror, the horror."

We get the title of the book in several forms in the telling of this story. It refers to the darkness of Africa's interior, the darkness of the hearts of the men exploiting Africa, the darkness Marlow feels in relation to his brief relation with Kurtz, the darkness that becomes Kurtz soul and finally on the last page when we are back on the yacht, the original narrator describes 'the black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky-seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.'

I am told that this book was the basis for APOCALYPSE NOW the movie, I probably should watch it and see if it helps explain the book.

Book: Review Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?

DOES THIS CHURCH MAKE ME LOOK FAT? by Rhoda Janzen, published by Grand Central Publishing, October 2012.
 This is a book not only about religion, but also relationships with each other, God, and cancer. As a cancer survivor and finding my strength through prayer, God and the people around me I loved this book. The humor is spot on, I remember my days of chemo, surgeries and radiation and feeling the warmth of God descending on my shoulders in those troublesome times. My family, friends and church family rallied around me, and through it all there were definitely humor. You have to laugh, or you cry.
Back to the book and enough about me. I loved the descriptions of the people, especially her boyfriend/husband and his family. The recalling of why she moved away from faith and the embracing of faith with the right person. I think it makes all the difference in the world if you have someone to share your questions and thoughts with, without fear of rejection. The world is full of God instances, you just have to be open to them, for instance, as I was reading this book I was also preparing a Sunday School lesson for adults. I had put down my lesson, and picked up my copy of this book and started reading, my lesson was about the Gifts of the Spirit and chapter 7 in DOES THIS CHURCH MAKE ME LOOK FAT? is about Mitch and Rhoda doing a questionnaire called "Know Your Spiritual Gifts". I thought it worked perfectly with my lesson, so I talked about the book during my lesson.

A good eye-opening book about the fact that you can go back to church, you can survive cancer and you can change your life with just a little faith.

Heart of Darkness-midbook

I thought that I would pick up the HEART OF DARKNESS and just zip through it, but I have had to reread several passages. This story is started by the narrator and then is relinquished to Malone, who sits on deck of the boat and starts to tell his story about traveling to Africa. The problem I have is that I was trying to read this book to my husband on a trip and kept losing who was actually talking. There are places within the reminiscence that it jumps back to the narrator. So I was finding that I had to stop and figure it out. It reads better if you do not read out loud. The story does not really start until we actually arrive in Africa. I will be finished soon, I am halfway through the book that is only 107 pages long. So unless you have not guessed it the literal heart of darkness is the interior of Africa, but there is a psychological heart of darkness as well.

Next Book Pick

So I go online to find what books I need to read to finish off my list and then to the library web-site to see what books are available. I only have about 22 books to go and 1/2 of them are either checked out or at another library. I picked three that were available, plus the book club selection. They are as follows:

THE HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad- very short, so this maybe a weekend read.
THE ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert M. Pirsig- nonfiction and according to the paperback cover ELECTRIFYING
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexander Dumas-Very long, may take all my renewals to finish this one.

The book club selection: DOES THIS CHURCH MAKE ME LOOK FAT? by Rhoda Janzen- This will be read by May 18th.

I think that at least three of them will be finished by the end of May, Dumas probably heading into June.

Happy Reading

Book Review: SISTER CARRIE

SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser, my copy published by Barnes and Nobles Publishing in 2005. SISTER CARRIE was first published in 1900, with a 1000 copies. I was republished in 1907. Let's cut to the chase, this book hit all the triggers that caused it to be banned for a bit. A lone woman traveling to Chicago, meets a man on the train and several chapters latter is living unmarried to said man on the train. She is essentially the kept woman. Her goal is not to meet Mr. Right, but to have things that she has not had before in her life, a job, money and importance. How does she succeed?

Well first she leaves her home, her sister's home, her life with Mr. Drouet and her fake life with Mr. Hurstwood. The whole time she is moving up the chain of luxury. We do not know much about her life in Columbia, but we do know she was not happy as she wanted to be in a big city. She hates the first job she gets for she feels that she is better then these girls who work in the factory. She has no skills, including finding work. As I mentioned before Mr. Drouet comes to her rescue. He makes the mistake of introducing her to Mr. Hurstwood, who sneaks in to woo Carrie while Drouet is way on business. Hurstwood does something that causes him to lose his job and he is on the run with Carrie. Carrie is clueless.

So what other things is this book about, what is the undertone? We definitely see a class struggle, especially in the streets of New York. The homeless looking for work, being denied, finding lodgings and soup kitchens to eat in, while the elite go to the theater and dinner at the Waldorf. Mr. Dreiser our author, based on this book, does not like the elite. He does not like that this woman character throws people out of her life to climb the ladder of success. Carrie is made to be awful shallow, and the men seem to like to prey on the innocent. In the end ideals, place and circumstances change considerably, leaving you to think is it all worth the trouble, this need for money at the cost of others.

This is a good historical novel, it shows us what the times were actually in the late 1800/1900's. We especially see the conditions is the major cities. I liked the book, but was not sure who to root for in this novel, all the characters lacked likability. I should find the movie and see how it is portrayed.

SISTER CARRIE ALMOST FINISHED

I am trying to figure out why this poor girl keeps making her situation worse. I have read several books recently from the 1800's with this same concept. Girl wants to have a man who meets the following requirements: well dressed and money, good looking helps but the idea is spend money on me, promote me in society and I am all yours. With MADAME BOVARY we had the farm girl with some education, getting pawned off by her father to the doctor. She married him because she thought she would have a better life, but then she got bored and depressed, along comes a young man who can be around her all the time paying her compliments and she starts fantasizing about him. But he leaves town and a more promising man comes along. In SISTER CARRIE, some scenario without the marriage, she comes to the big city of Chicago, too shy to go and ask for a job, wants something better than what her sister has, wanders the city, meets the man she met on the train. He sets her up with clothes, money and a place. She does not have to work, but she meets a man with more money, who just happens to be a friend of the man who has set her up. She feels he can give her an even better life. So Sister Carrie becomes the other woman.
But this theme does not stay in the 1800's even the movies we see today have that theme. Woman has a man who she is about to marry and then some other hunk walks onto the scene. She likes him better maybe not for money reasons, but still there is the idea of bettering ones position. Understood but it does seem to promote the idea that women cannot make up their minds. That old expression about women being fickle, probably promoted from the 1800's.

Starting: Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Sitting in the hair salon waiting for my color to set, I started reading SISTER CARRIE, set in Chicago 1889, 18 years after the Great Fire of Chicago. The place is being transformed and a young girl, of 18 is heading to the big city, much like Dreiser does in real life. According to the time line entitled The World of Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie, in this 2005 edition published by Barnes and Nobles, page x, SISTER CARRIE is based on Dreiser's sister Emma.

I managed to get to chapter 3 while waiting for my hair to do what my hair was supposed to do, 17 pages, small type. I really like this book, so far, as it shows what Chicago looked like at that time. It also is remarkable to me that a young girl, or let me say inexperienced girl is allowed to travel by herself, during the 1800's. I thought she would have been chaperoned, so maybe this is also a turning point in culture. I have been to Chicago numerous times and love being on the Magnificent Mile, so it will be fun to see what our girl Caroline will see and experience. She has already met, a possible rogue on the train. She is basing her judgement on trusting him, on the fact that he is wearing nice clothes. In the book MADAME BOVARY, we have a similar trusting of men, based on their clothes and positions in life. So I guess naivety abounds in the 1800's for young woman.

I cannot promise when I will be finished, there are 445 pages and 47 chapters, so I am trying to break it down in chapters/day. It seems like a pretty fast read, so I am hoping I can get in at least three chapters each day, with more on the weekends. If that is the case then I will be done by the end of April.

Also, thanks to all my readers, I appreciate the support.

Review: The Book of Tomorrow

THE BOOK OF TOMORROW by Cecelia Ahern, was printed in the United States of America in 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers. Originally published in Great Britain, 2009.
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I was right about the magic in the book. Do I tell you or let you figure it out yourself, hmm. Well, since she mentions it on the cover, there is a book which she picks up in a traveling library, nothing is written inside this locked book, until the day that Tamara decided to write in it herself. That is when she finds an entry in her handwriting describing what will happen the rest of the day, that she apparently wrote the night before. But this was the first time she actually going to write in the book. It even describes where she is sitting, while she decides to write in the book. This is not all that bizarre in this book story that Tamara is narrating. There is the nun who keeps saying she is 17, while Tamara corrects her and says 16. There is the story about how her parents met that changes except for one fact, Tamara's dad just had to have her mom. Then we have the Uncle and Aunt who as Tamara describes as the Deliverance Duo (page 18). Why is her mom always sleeping? Why will no one answer her questions? Who is Rosaleen visiting in the bungalow?

In the beginning you have the confusion of a young girl thrown out of her comfort zone, already butting against authority, into a world totally different from anything she has ever experienced. No money, no phone, no shopping, and no friends to turn to when she needs advice. It made me think of all the things that we give our children, what happens when we can no longer give them what they are used to having in their life. You can see the resentment that would build, add in the suicide of a parent, and boom you have the makings of a story.

Once I got past the deliberate confusing first chapters, I truly enjoyed the book. I loved the rebellious teenager, who really wanted answers to questions. You could tell by her concern for her mom that she was not totally self-absorbed.  I wanted to go back to Ireland and find the place that she was living. I love old castles and do not think of them as ruins. I kept thinking at the end of the story, they would decide to rebuild the castle. Ireland is always a magical place.

The Book Of Tomorrow- beginning the book.

THE BOOK OF TOMORROW by Cecelia Ahern, published by HarperCollins in 2011. Why a short review when I have not gone beyond page 73. I just wanted to let you know that if you start this book it is very confusing, at first do not give up. The book is set in Ireland and the narrator and central character Tamara Goodwin's father has committed suicide because he lost all their riches. Leaving Tamara and her out of it mother to fend for themselves, as houses and possessions are taken from them. The narrator explains in the first few chapters that we must really be confused and I think that is what our author wants us to realize, that everything is in an upheaval for this girl Tamara. But after a few chapters Tamara settles down to tell us her story. I stopped at chapter 8 last night, but wanted to continue, I will probably be finished before the end of the week. I do believe there is a little magic in this story and there may actually be a Book of Tomorrow.

Review: MADAME BOVARY, well well well

MADAME BOVARY by Gustav Flaubert, my copy is from the Everyman's Library and was printed in 1993. It was originally published in the Everyman's Library in1928. Gustav Flaubert finished writing his novel in April 1856, but it was used in installments in the La Revue de Paris, (page xxx in the Everyman's Library). Also on this page is the notice that Flaubert, his editor and printer were acquitted for offending public morality and Religion in 1857. Wow, talk about a change in morals.

My last blog talked about the fact that Madame Bovary, was pensive, bemoaning her fate for marrying a man she clearly did not love and wanting to be rescued by some handsome prince. I made a comment about her never really leaving her house so how could she go after what she wanted. Two pages later, she is pursued by Monsieur Rodolphe Boulanger. He recognizes that she is a bored and pretty housewife and means to compromise her and make her his. She is resistant at first and then ....
But he is not really in love and the greatest scene is him dumping out all his love letters and trinkets and realizing that she is no different than the other woman he has lead on. Then she turns her attention to Leon after being dumped. In addition, she is being maneuvered to spend money, and more money at the dry goods store, taking out debits that amount to 8000 francs, when the dry goods man wants to collect. Her life is turned upside down. She manages to ruin everyone she is connected to, or at least tries to and fails in some instances.

This is the second book about adultery that I have read, the first the SCARLET LETTER, showed remorse and it was assumed that her husband had died at sea. In both books the woman were not in love with their husbands. In MADAME BOVARY, we have a blatant disregard for husband and her daughter. She had no redeeming qualities. Though both had daughters, Hester was a loving mother, even though she did not understand her daughter, whereas Emma Bovary, would really have nothing to do with her daughter, having  Berthe in the care of the housekeeper after Berthe returned from living a year with a wet nurse.

Good book, too bad about the outcome for Madame, Monsieur and Berthe Bovary. There are a lot of references to the church, especially at the end. I can see why at this period in time the people thought the book was risque. It picked up steam as the book moved along and there were lovely bits of foreshadowing, especially in the method of death.

The next book is SISTER CARRIE and my book club book, THE BOOK OF TOMORROW.

Still plugging along

I have decided that until I finish MADAME BOVARY I will not start another book. I am currently 1/2 way through the book. I must admit that the small print is driving my eyes absolutely nuts. The next book I am reading is also small print and I am trying to figure out away to save my eyes. Maybe I will get one of those handheld magnifying glasses from the Victorian Age. It would be appropriate for the books I am reading.

There is a comment on the back of my MADAME BOVARY book, it is from the introduction by Victor Brombert: "Madame Bovary is a surprisingly romantic and deeply moving text, as wellas a work of pioneering modernity... Flaubert's anti-heroic heroine in fact acquires a haunting nobility through her relentless quest for the  absolute experience."

I have a problem with this thought, simply due to the last line: "through her relentless quest for the absolute experience." See so far in this book, she spends her time sitting in her room romanticizing about what it means to be in love, what she thinks should be love, knights in shining armor, good looking men, who save her from her dull life. She realizes that she is not in love with the good doctor, because he is tired at the end of the evening. She plays at both mother and wife, while secretly yearning to be away from both husband and child. To be with her current interest Monsieur de Leon, who is a clerk. She seems to be stuck in a rut of her own making, does she invite people over, no, some show up, but she never has a party. She expects others to throw parties and invite her. Granted she feels like they have no money, and they probably do not, however, she seems to feeding the town anyway, so why not come up with a party. Instead, like I said before that she bemoans her fate, a quest would indicate doing something, instead of pining away for what she believes she does not have from her husband.

Again I am only 1/2 way through the book, maybe in the second half we have a change.

AM note on MADAME BOVARY

I am really having a hard time getting into MADAME BOVARY, first their is a bossy widow wife and now she is gone and we have the young head in the clouds wife who is looking for Prince Charming. I love this time period when, women settle and then realize there is something better once they leave their family home. Also, the dad is like I do not need another mouth to feed, so let me help this process, the good doctor, does not even have time to formulate the question when her father is pretty much sealed the deal. We will see where this leads, there is suppose to be some very daring themes or thoughts in the book.

After this book, I will be reading the book SISTER CARRIE by Dreiser. I am thinking we will have the same theme, so I might compare and contrast. The book club selection for this month is called THE BOOK OF TOMORROW by Cecelia Ahern. Plus some side books, which have really been my downfall as I read those before I read MADAME BOVARY.

Review: THE LEWIS MAN, by Peter May

THE LEWIS MAN by Peter May, first published overseas in 2012, my copy was published by Quercus in the United States, 2014.

My husband loves chess, so while I was dropping my daughter off to go to the University of Nottingham in England, I kept seeing the signs for Peter May's book called the THE CHESSMEN. I was immediately intrigued because of the reference to chess, I am a little crazy that way when it comes to finding books. I asked at all the bookstores, including the one at the Heathrow, they just looked at me as if I were nuts. So I was on my own. I came home looked at my local book store, nada. Went online where I did find it, but realized it was part of a series. In fact it was the third book in the series. If you are like me, you do not start a book in the middle or end of a series. So I set about finding the first book, THE BLACKHOUSE. It was not in the stores, I find that retail stores never seem to have the first book of any series. However, my library had the first book, one copy which I had to have shipped to my branch. The opening caught me and it was here that I met the Inspector Fin Macleod for the first time. An inspector who comes back to his hometown to solve a mystery. His visit brings up bad memories and bad relationships, but this crime committed is similar to a crime in Edinburgh that has been unsolved for years. After reading this book, I knew that I had to find the next book in the series. I however, could not find the book anywhere, not in bookstores, not in the library, only on-line being shipped from the United Kingdom. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

Then about a week ago, I was in the bookstore and found THE CHESSMEN. Now I really had to find the second book, surely someone would have it. I looked in the bookstore and nothing. I looked online and still nothing in the States. Library, my last resource, boom, we have lift off. Only one place had it and so once again I had to order it to my local branch.
I love the way that Peter May opens a story, he kind of slowly pulls you into it and then you are hooked. In this story, we open up with a little girl heading into the bogs to help harvest the peat. We find her in the kitchen getting ready and we see what she sees, even what her father and brother do not wish her to see hidden in the bog. Then we jump headlong into the book who is this mysterious man, is he one of the bog men from hundreds of years ago that have been preserved in the peat, or something newer. Our Inspector Macleod has left his job in Edinburgh and has come back to fix up his family home, he is no longer with the police. But this does not stop him from looking into the body and asking some really important questions. Like who is Tormod, the father of  his love interest Marsaili, and how is he related to the body in the bog.

This book deals with not only solving the murder, but also dealing with someone who has dementia. Trying to get a person who is lost in their memories, who cannot function or remember to even get up and go to the bathroom, how can they possibly aid in the investigation. Another topic brought up is teenage pregnancy, how do you deal with a baby when you want to go to school and the whole world seems against you. Lots of good topics wrapped up in one pretty good mystery.

I cannot wait to read THE CHESSMEN, and yes I know it is not about chess. But that title led me to a great read. Look Peter May up, he also has another series, which I am going to start to read.

Review: AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST, by Alan Bradley

AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST by Alan Bradley, published 2015 by Delacorte Press an imprint of Random House. I love this series, it is about  precocious Flavia de Luce, who is a bit more than an amateur detective and has not yet come  into her teens. She is the daughter of deceased Harriet de Luce. In this story she is away from her home in England and her family Dad, two sisters, her favorite person Dogger. She wants nothing more than to go home, but not before she solves the mystery of the body in the chimney that falls out the first night she is at Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada. How did she get there, well you would have to read the first books in the series. Does she get her wish to go home? Well, that means you have to read this book. As with all the books, which are all different, no repeat plots except for finding a body in an unusual location. These books are funny and entertaining, with just a touch of sadness thrown in for Flavia. A wild chemist who dabbles with the idea of how to get back at her sisters or the people at school with just a smidge of chemistry. Her specialty is poisons.
I believe I wrote once before about this series, as a budding chemist growing up, I did not have a laboratory but a lavatory. I brewed all sorts of concoctions in my house. It is a wonder that I did not blow up the house or rot out the pipes. These books can be found in the adult mysteries, but I think a precocious 13 year old could handle them. I know I would have loved them. A quick read as you do not wish to put it down until you find out how Flavia deduces the murderer.
There are 7 books in this series so far, starting with THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE. There is also a story on Kindle, which I need to read yet called THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE COPPER CORPSE. Have fun reading.

Early morning post

I will be posting two reviews this afternoon, both fast reads. THE LEWIS MAN by Peter May and THE CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME to DUST by Alan Bradley. I am still reading MADAME BOVARY by Flaubert.

Review: Scarlet Letter

Well, it is about time that I write this review, I had the book finished but needed to think about it for a bit. I read the THE SCARLET LETTER, by Nathaniel Hawthorn on my Kindle. As I mentioned before I loved the introduction, because I felt that we were getting a glimpse into the author's process of writing. After reading the  book I discussed it with my husband who said it was required reading when he was nine. Maybe, nine year old children today can understand what happened in the opening of chapter 1 but I doubt it. How many nine year old children can grasp the concept of a baby in a woman's arms constitutes adultery? I do not believe in banning books, but I think maybe just a little older to tackle the concepts that start this book out. My husband said that when he read it, that he had trouble with this idea.

We have the lovely Hester put up in front of the town, infant in arms, fancy scarlet A, which Hester made herself, and the father of the baby hiding behind his position. Her crime having relations with a man when it is believed that the man who sent to her America has drowned at sea, it has been 2 years since she has seen her not very lovable husband. Then while she is on display, who should she see but her husband who has been living with the local tribe, saunter in and recognize her. This was a very effective scene. What suspense it must have held when this book was first written in 1850. Think of the scandal it must have caused. MADAME BOVARY was written in 1856, so maybe SCARLET LETTER, opened t, the door to non-puritanical thinking in books, that women actually had sexual thoughts.

But back to Hester and her daughter Pearl, the minister and her husband. The book progresses through years and we see Pearl who is a handful grow up. The people in the village do not know who the father is, but you do. The town loves the father and thinks the little girl is a demon, elf, or witch. We do have a cult in town, with the Mayor's daughter as a member. So it seems that witchcraft does not get you stoned, dunked or killed in Hawthorn's book. The husband who tells Hester not to reveal who he is, makes him seem a little slimy. He is also compared to the devil, because of his relationship with minister and the ministers decline. See the minister is always the hero with the town, no matter what he does.

So many wonderful concepts and ideas in this book. I remembered reading the book when I got to the end, but I do not think I enjoyed it when I read it before, maybe I was too young to get the nuances of the book. Wonderful read, can't wait to read MADAME BOVARY.

Less than 100

Okay I know that that title is non-informational does it mean number of books or number of pages and in what. So it means that I only have a few more pages in the SCARLET LETTER. I have been having trouble with the tablet that it is on, so I am not reading it as fast as I should. The problem with electronic books, for me, is that you have to remember to put them on the charger. SO I guess the problem is not in the tablet but in me. I will be finished by the end of the day, and then can write a better blog.

Next on the list: MADAM BOVARY plus a few fast reads. Since I finished my book club book, I am open for all possibilities. I will let you know what I decide.

Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

I just finished UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand, paperback version, published by Random House, Trade Paperbacks. Originally published in 2010, this copy was published in 2014.

Wow, so many emotions went through me as I read this book. I thought I would pick it up, read a few pages, put it down and just finish it before book club at the end of the month. However, what happened is I picked it up this weekend and could not put the book down. I wanted to be there to support the men fighting for there lives. I cried several times throughout the book. Anger for the treatment of the POW's. Two days later and I was finished with the book, but there are pictures and stories that will haunt me, just as pictures of captives in Germany make me sad. So thin, so gaunt, so hungry.

We always hear about the tragedies in Europe, but this book brought information that I never realized, one being the amnesty granted to war criminals, for the price having allies. I knew that we did something, but I did not realize it was that. It makes me sad to think that these people were allowed to live their lives as if they did no harm. But I think all war time crimes are intolerable, no matter who participates. All the people who go to war do it for the reason they deem important, it is always one groups and in some instances one persons philosophy that pulls whole nations into war.

When we fight wars is there ever, really a clear winner. In this book we "won", but so many died, so many lost their way, so many families changed. But then we saved so many people. War is always a bitter pill to swallow. Thank you Laura for bringing this side of the WWII to the masses.

1/2 way mark for the SCARLET LETTER

Okay, I am halfway through the book and I am happy that we do not live in those times. It is not that I condone people being adulterers but, her husband had been assumed dead and it takes two to tango. Her husband showing up just as she is put on display is a perfect piece of writing.  I love the intro by Hawthorn on how the story came to be and the process of being a writer. His talking about that certain light that makes fantasies a reality is perfect. I love light play and there are always shadows that make things hidden seem to exist on the fringe. Enjoying the book and will right more later.

The next book I am going to read after SCARLET LETTER is UNBROKEN by Hillenbrand and MADAME BOVARY by Flaubert.  One again is for book club and the other is one of my 100. MADAME BOVARY is also listed as a book that Rose read in THE HOUSE I LOVED, so I want to see why the connection between her and the book. I may have read it before but I am missing some brain facts. So once again into the breach.

Review: The Memory Garden, by Mary Rickert

THE MEMORY GARDEN by Mary Rickert is her debut book. it was written in 2014 and published by Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. 

The book is set on Muir Glenn Road where Nana lives with her adopted daughter Bay. We find that Bay was left on her porch in a box with a veil/caul on her face. This is remembered by Nana at several points throughout the book. Nana saves the veil as a protection for Bay against evil. Each chapter is headed by a flower description and how that flower can work, for or against you. The flower references are important because that is Nana's talent, she has a shoe garden, people leave her shoes and she plants flowers that should not be able to live. 

There are also ghosts, that Bay can see but does not realize that they are ghosts. She does not know about her abilities and Nana is afraid to tell her. There are also secrets, mainly about the ghosts, and Nana's three friends who find themselves back together after many many years. Nana wants very much to share what she can about Bay, talk about their friend Eve who died and forced them apart when they were teens. It is a book about forgiveness and wrong impressions. 

I loved this book. As an aging woman, it makes me want to look up old friends, find out why we drifted apart and reconnect with them. A wonderfully weaved story. Their is a discussion question section in the back of the book, which asks, who is alive at the end of the story? Read it and let me know what you think.

New Reads

These are the books I am currently reading: THE SCARLET LETTER by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This is being read on my Kindle. I am also reading a book called THE MEMORY GARDEN by Mary Rickert. Depending on how fast I get through these books I may add THAT SUMMER by Lauren Willig and UNBROKEN by Hillenbrand. You may recall that I decided not to read UNBROKEN until it was due for book club. That is our March book.

Anyway, we are in for a snow storm, so besides laundry and taxes, I will be reading and maybe doing a little writing of my own. I have some characters swirling around in my head. Happy snow day, sorry Boston, may not be so happy for you.

Review: The House I Loved by Tatiana De Rosnay

THE HOUSE I LOVED by Tatiana De Rosnay published by St. Martin's Press, New York in 2012. This book is set in Paris at the time of Napoleon's Empire and has to do with the modernization of Paris. The removal of small city streets to make way for the huge boulevards that we see in Paris today. When I was in Paris in the 1980's I stayed in a inn that was down one of these small streets, not all streets were widened. At the time I felt like I was going down an alley, it was so narrow compared to the other streets. I had not realized about the reformation and what it did to Paris. So here is the thing, I enjoyed the open spaces of Paris. This side street scared me, it felt so dark and devoid of sunshine. Maybe the street that this story takes place Rue Childebert is not like the street that I was on, maybe it was wider and there was some sunshine.

This book is a letter to Madam Roses late husband Armand, who was born, raised, married and died in the house. He felt the house would be safe from the destruction that was occurring Paris, due to it's location. Madam Rose is tells her life in this letter she is writing to Armand in the cellar of their house, where she has locked herself away.

I had every emotion possible while reading the book. I am still angry and sad. When I read the story I could see someone I know and love being like this, to a point. I do know that I wanted to shake Rose and her companions. I wanted the ending, well I cannot say more, for fear of giving away the ending. I do think the author's choice of books that Rose read and liked were appropriate for the book. It makes me want to read MADAM BOVARY, I think one of the 100, and THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, again. This will be a very interesting book club discussion, I cannot wait to vent.

1/2 way through

I am 1/2 way through THE HOUSE I LOVED, by Tatiana De Rosnay and I am already feeling a profound sadness. I keep reading and hoping that what I expect is going to happen in the end, does not actually happen. More thoughts once I finish the book, which I expect I will have finished by Sunday. Then I will be on to my next read. I am waffling on the book I want to choose. It should be one of the 100, so I can get through them. I told myself I would be done by the end of last year and here we are fully ensconced in this year. New goal- this year finishing the last 26, that is over two books a month and these are the long ones. Glad I got new eye glasses.

Review: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Fyodor Dostoevsky published by Bantam Books, my copy form 2003. The original book was published in 1866.

When I was in high school, __ years ago I took a course entitled "Soviet Studies." In this course I heard about this author and others like Solzhenitsyn  spent who spent time in Siberia, many for their political beliefs or writings. You just did not expose people to the possibility that something might be
amiss in Russia. We were required to read and do a book report on one of these authors, I chose the book ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH by Solzhenitsyn. A book that was much easier to get through than this book, mainly due to length. Both books are very impressive.

I think my hardest time with this book is rudimentary at best, the names and my confusion at times on who was speaking and who they were speaking to, for instance Raskolnikov has a friend whom he calls Razuhumin, but somewhere in the middle of the book he becomes Dmitri and that goes back and forth on who is speaking and how they are speaking of this friend. I had to get used to the familiar as well as the formal names, which changed sometimes in the middle of dialog. Also most people were discussed using their first and  middle (or unmarried names), such as four people with the name Ivanovitch. That was a fundamental problem.

About the story I was wondering who to champion, We have a murder by a man who thinks simply that a person's life is not worth anything if they are hurting others. He has written a paper about Napoleon and the people who are of impressive character who commit crimes and should be allowed to simply on their strength of character. When he commits the murder, he feels he is perfectly justified because he feels the old woman pawnbroker is stealing from people, of which he is one. He was a student who left university and is living in St. Petersburg's slum district. He has pawned some items with this old woman. When he kills her, he himself is in a frenzy and sinks into delirium, realizing that he must get rid of evidence. which he does not even bothering to look at what he has stolen from the pawnbroker. From this point on we have his conflict not only with self, but with how others perceive him, turning away from anyone who shows him the slightest concern.

I could go on forever and dissect the whole book, but then why would you read it. If you are interested in this time period, the politics of the time and the human condition in Russia, then read this book. It is long, but well written. So I asked a question who do I champion, I feel bad for Raskolnikov but he did kill two people, but his character is written so that you must really believe he had temporary insanity, but not quite. Then there is his friend Razuhumin, who wants to fix him and shows genuine concern. The lawyer who you get the feeling is someone you want to punch, but he is on Raskolnikov's trail the whole time. Then there are all the women who have to deal with these less than stellar people. The women who have to pick up the pieces of their broken lives to keep the men and their families going. Especially, the ones who turn to prostitution to feed the family.

A book that you should read, there are many similarities in today's world: hunger resulting in crime, drugs, alcohol and selling your soul for a lively hood.  Great book.

ALMOST FINISHED WITH CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

I have a deadline in my mind for this book and that is this weekend at the latest. My husband is on call and it is supposed to be cold, so it is hot tea and a blanket time. Yesterday I sat outside in 70 degree weather and read for about an hour. Lovely and weird weather for February. I have less than 200 pages to read in the book. Then I have to read my book club book and I am trying to decide whether to read THE SCARLET LETTER or DARK PLACES. Either way those are my next two books after CRIME and PUNISHMENT. My book club book for this month is THE HOUSE I LOVED by Tatiana De Rosnay, I enjoyed SARAH's KEY so I am hoping that this book is as well written. I have only read the first few pages and I want to go back to Paris and see where she is talking about in the book. Look for updates and reviews in the next few days.

And thanks to everyone who looks at my blog.

Review: Factory Man by Beth Macy

Factory Man by Beth Macy, published in 2014 by Little, Brown and Company.

If you like history, current topics such as globalization, free trade, demise of  industry in America, family dynasties and good all American story then this is the book to read. What I like most about this book is that I know all the places described and some of the people in the book. I have Bassett furniture that I bought at the outlet in Bassett, VA. My husband travels to Galax every month, so I know the people there. I met them as I have tagged along with him when I am free. I have never met the author, nor the central character JBIII, but I have seen the devastation that occurred when these factories shut down. Let's just say I was invested in the story.

I am a person who looks at labels to see if the item was made in America or more correctly the USA. I have been tricked a couple of times, when I assumed something that was an American company and did not know they moved their production. I buy cars that are predominately made in USA. I know that there are parts shipped in, but I want the American people to have jobs. I look at my tennis shoes and buy, when I can, ones with USA on the label. Let me tell you this is harder and harder to do.

As the book points out not everyone can be an economist.  We have become a service economy and those don't always last. I remember going someplace, not in America and buying an item touted as being homemade. I got it home and found the label, it was made in China, I was not in China when I bought it. I make sure I look at labels now. If I cannot find made in USA, then I support local stores to the best of my ability.

Enough of my soap box speech, this a good book that makes you look at the people we are hurting when we close factories and ship them someplace else. It is about a man who is a great character, and has a great character refusing to dredge up some family bitterness. I liked the book, you can tell Beth Macy is a reporter, she gives you the facts, the who, what, when and where.

I am remiss

I am in the process of reading three books. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, FACTORY MAN and
HEART OF DARKNESS. I should be done FACTORY MAN by Beth Macy before the end of January as it is my book club book. The other two are part of the 100 and I am pretty sure that I will have them read by the end of January or for CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by mid-February. The words in my copy are so tiny, that I have had to rest my eyes. I remember reading parts of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, in my Soviet Studies Class, awhile back. I remember that the excerpts be we read made me not want to visit Russia. The people all needing so much and starving in the streets while others passed. Wait maybe that was the newspaper I read yesterday. History sometimes repeats itself.
Enough of that I need to feed my dog and make dinner and read.