Whew. It’s been a crazy couple of months. I’ve read some great books and thought I’d pull out my journal and recap them all, Reader’s Digest Condensed style, rather than a big long review of each.
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| A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens |
Do you ever read a book and then think, “dang, I’m a better person for having read that!”? That’s how I felt after finishing A Tale of Two Cities.
Now, I have an embarrassing confession. Before reading A Christmas Carol in December, I had NEVER read any Dickens. For a prolific classics reader, that is a wee bit hard to admit. Charles, where have you been all my life?
While A Tale of Two Cities was much harder to wade through than A Christmas Carol, I quickly became addicted to the writing, story, characters and time period. It was an added benefit that I didn’t know anything about it (again, embarrassing to admit), so the whole story was an amazing surprise. If you haven’t done so, READ THIS. You can die (someday in the faraway future, of course), knowing that you have read one of the greatest stories of all time. Get your patience on, though. It will kick your fanny at the beginning.
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| Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson |
| I had seen this book in quite a few places and made a mental note to check it out – and then the Costco Connection magazine came in the mail and Penny had picked it as her monthly choice. So, I now I had to get it. This was a perfect tale of a small, beautiful English village (why don’t we have villages in Utah?), lots of tea drinking and reading of classics, some romance and lots of clever wit. If you are looking for a great read (by a first time author), then settle in with the Major, his proper ways, his irritating son and some enviable landscape. |
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| Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King |
Now, this is not for the squeamish, easily upset or faint of heart. So, if you don’t enjoy (I don’t want to say ‘like’) the darker side of fiction, stop reading now and skip to my next read.
If you are still here, you must be a fellow fan of the macabre. And who does that better than Stephen? Full Dark, No Stars won’t disappoint even the most die-hard King fan. Made up of short stories, it’s not one of those books you can gush about to anyone. It’s rough. Killing your wife, getting shoved in a drain pipe, hearing rats in the walls, chatting with the devil rough.
Now, if you have a long ride ahead of you or maybe a tough workout, treat yourself to some thrilling stories. Before you know it, you’ll have run 10 miles.
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| Kim by Rudyard Kipling |
My inspiration for reading Kim, by Rudyard Kipling came from Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. Two of the characters in that story love, love, love Kipling. Another embarrassing thing to admit (lots in this post) is that I have never read anything by Kipling. I have seen Jungle Book, but that doesn’t count.
Kim is Rudyard’s most famous book (besides his children’s stories). It is mentioned twice in my fiction journal and has been made into a movie twice (one with Errol Flynn).
It was interesting to note in the introduction that Kipling’s father called the work “so Indian, so remote, and in appearance so uncaring for the ordinary reader “. While kind of harsh, he wasn’t far off. Without a good footnoted version to explain the various cities, religious and political events of the time, I would have been lost.
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| Delores Claiborne by Stephen King |
| More time with Stephen this year. While Full Dark, No Stars is truly just that, Delores Claiborne is more of just an old-fashioned good read. If you haven’t read any King, you are missing out on one of the greatest story tellers of all time. Now, while Delores Claiborne is no picnic, there isn’t the extreme horror you’d expect from King. It’s just a keep you on the edge of your seat, with your mouth hanging open, good story. I listened to this while walking and extended my hour walk to almost two hours each time I listened. |
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| Absalom! Absalom! by William Faulker |
| Wow. I did it. I made it through a William Faulkner novel. And it was understandable. Even though Faulkner’s intent in writing the book was to make a statement on human memory by continually retelling the same story from different points of view and time periods, the story was still obtainable to the reader. The characters were bright and true, ones that will stick in your memory long after you’ve finished. The conflicts in the story are very indicative of the time (pre and post Civil War) and brought some interesting controversies to mind. If you are looking to tackle a Faulkner novel, Absalom!, Absalom! is a good place to start. |
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| Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson |
| Hmmm. Not sure what to say about his one. Do you ever read one of those books that everyone raves about and then at the end wonder if you missed the whole thing? That’s how I felt about Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. Was it my mood? Was it what I had for dinner? Not sure, but I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I didn’t understand the characters or what the main problem was that was driving (or not driving) the women in this story. They were all highly dysfunctional, without a tangible reason for being so. I would love to hear from others who have read this. Did I miss the boat entirely? |
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| A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness |
| Witches, daemons and vampires – oh my. This new book by Deborah Harkness has it all – including a beautiful cover. Unfortunately, that’s where the good stuff ended – at the cover. What a disappointment. And, I broke my New Year’s resolution to only read books from my TBR shelf (there are 100 or so there) and NOT buy anything new for a while.
Where was the witchiness in the story? It was all about a vampire. Ugh. I think after Bella, Edward, Bill and Sookie – and now Matthew, I have earned my PhD in vampire. And, oh the vampire. He was of course very huge and handsome, and at 1,500 years old, he had been around the world a few times. But, it was unbelievable and trite how ‘connected’ he was. He knew almost every famous scientist (he was pen pals with Charles Darwin) and author during the time he had been alive (he even had a book in his library called “Will’s Plays”. Really? He was on a nickname basis with Shakespeare?). He was also part of every major event during his lifetime as well – on more than one continent.
I finally gave up with the poor writing, over the top cliche characters and weak/smart women after I had gone through 450 pages (it was almost 600 pages). And it was an expensive book! Don’t blow any resolutions over this one. Wait for the movie.
But, I still want to be a witch.
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| Ruby in Smoke by Phillip Pullman |
| Lovely, just pure lovely. One final embarrassment and then I’m done with that for a while; I’ve never read anything by Philip Pullman. And I still wouldn’t have if Audible.com hadn’t suggested this one. I have never heard of the Sally Lockhart series, but now I’m hooked. This small story was about a smart orphaned girl with a crazy background and parentage. Oh, and it had a mystery (with a huge jewel), AND it was set in Victorian times. Doesn’t get much better than that. I listened to this (awesome British narration), but I would like to read the next one – so I can enjoy it even more. |
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That’s quite a lot to digest in one post. I will defintiely have to read A Tale of Two Cities. As for the rest, time will tell.