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.