A Reading Year in Review

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I had some pretty auspicious reading plans for 2011.  I set out to read one of my own books (TBR) for each book borrowed from the public library (WPL), I wanted to read one book of Canadian fiction each month and six Classics (published prior to 1900).  Let’s see how well I did:

 

Goal #1: One TBR for every one WPL book read.  The final tally?  It’s not good, folks....

 

TBR = 26

WPL = 38 and counting

   

The TBRs are sadly trailing by 12 books at year end.  I’ll rethink this goal for 2012, let me tell you! :)

 

Goal #2:  Read one book of Canadian fiction each month.  Hmm, well unless there are only eight months in a year, I sadly missed the mark on this one too.

 

Goal #3:  Read six Classic novels (published prior to 1900).  Well, you’d think with my Victorian Literature course, I’d win this goal hands down, but as I don’t count re-reads, which two of the three novels I read this Fall semester were, I also missed the mark here too, reading only 5 of the 6 novels I’d set out for myself.  Sigh.

 

There is a lesson to be learned here, no?  Perhaps don’t set such lofty goals?  Or do I set the bar too high for myself?  Here is my reading year in review:

 

2011 started out with such promise as I spent the first days of January reading a bunch of TBRs, but then classes started and didn’t leave me much time for reading, either TBRs or library books.  Then I happily discovered the Windsor Book Club, only all of the books they chose were none that I owned.  More library books were thusly read.  But I didn’t despair, using my summer vacation to read my own books, evening out the score a little bit, but then Fall semester hit, and my personal reading time shrunk to a microcosm and did I happen to mention that book club?  And then there was Christmas break, which should have seen me turning to my own books to even out the numbers, but alas, library books beckoned, and so there you have it, WPL wins out.  It’s true what they say:  the grass truly is greener....and a library book just seems far more appealing than one of my own, which is silly because I could read them at any time, on my own schedule, and not bound by due dates.  Perhaps I’m just too goal oriented! 

 

So what does all this mean for 2012?  Have I put aside my New Year’s Reading Resolutions?  Hell no!  Resolutions are meant to be broken after all, and of course, I never could pass up a good challenge. ;)  Lying in store for this next year is something a little simpler but no less difficult to accomplish ....

 

Simpler in that there’s just one goal.

 

Difficult in that it requires that I read one entire TBR shelf.

 

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Gulp.

From A to C, in no particular order, are such hurdles as A.S. Byatt, James Fenmore Cooper and Margaret Atwood (who I swore I would never read again, but then, she is CanLit royalty, so really I should give her another go).  Thankfully I have the delightful Jane Austen and enjoyable Agatha Christie peppered in the mix.  Hopefully I’ll be around this time next year to recap how all this reading went, cause don’t think for one moment I’ll forgo WPLing it (did I mention the book club thing?  Oh and there’s that grass is always greener bit, and, oh hell, who needs sleep right?)

 

LOL

 

Till next time, what are your reading goals for 2012?

L :)

J. D. Robb: New York to Dallas

One of the better In Death books to come along in awhile, J.D. Robb is back in full force with New York to Dallas.

 

Ten years ago, when Dallas was a rookie cop fresh out of the academy, she took down a serial rapist, pedophile Isaac McQueen.  Investigating a robbery that went south outside McQueen’s apartment building, Dallas notices what few others who encountered McQueen would likely miss – that there was just something off about this charmer.  Having been raped repeatedly by her father as a child, Dallas recognized the monster McQueen truly was.

 

Now, years later, McQueen has escaped from prison and has one agenda – to take down the cop who took him down. 

 

As luck would have it, or not, McQueen decides to take his brand of crime to Dallas, Texas, kidnapping his last victim from ten years prior, Melinda Jones, and keeping her hostage, taunting Eve Dallas to stop him a second time.  Eve must travel to Dallas a city rife with personal history, the city where she finally escaped her father and which still haunts her.  Added to this is McQueen’s junkie partner, one Sylvia Prentiss who turns out to have a far too personal connection to Eve and her past.

 

New York to Dallas is, quite simply, a page-turner, and delightfully returns to the series’ roots, that of discovering more about Eve’s mysterious past.  It’s J. D. Robb at her best!

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

 

 

TBR = 26

WPL = 34

 

Kathryn Stockett’s The Help

This book has been creating a lot of buzz among readers and bloggers, and for good reason.  It’s quite simply one of the better books I’ve read in awhile.  Maybe not the best, but definitely up among the top ten. 

 

Set in the early 1960s in Jackson Mississippi, the novel follows the daily lives of three women, two of them black servants.

 

There is Aibileen, who works for Miss Leefolt, a twenty-three year old budding society girl with a young toddler.  Aibileen has spent her domestic career raising white children, and it’s no different in Miss Leefolt’s house as she is more of a mother to Mae Mobbley than Miss Leefolt is.

 

Then there is Minnie, a smart-mouthed mother of five with an abusive, drunken husband.  Minnie has lost more jobs thanks to her sass than she cares to count.

 

Tying the story neatly together is budding journalist Skeeter who sees the civil rights injustices occurring around her and has the courage to fight back with the help of Aibileen, Minny and many of the other African American servants.  Over a period of months, Skeeter chronicles these women’s stories, writing a book that is sure to offend most of Jackson’s upper crust society mavens, but it is a story that must be told.

 

Stockett herself grew up in Jackson Mississippi, raised by her family’s black maid, and so much of her novel rings true.  But Stockett doesn’t just chronicle a dark time in America’s history and its treatment of the African American.  No, Stockett’s true gift is in her ability to breathe life into her characters making them as real as you and I.  The women’s stories are heartfelt, poignant, filled with terrible injustices as well as uplifting triumphs.  These women’s lives are irrevocably intertwined, and much needed lessons are learned on both sides of the racial coin.  A truly remarkable book.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

 

 

TBR = 26

WPL = 33

L Reads Alex Cross #9: The Big Bad Wolf

The ninth installment in the Alex Cross books, The Big Bad Wolf, reminds me why it is I still read James Patterson.

 

Alex Cross is now working for the FBI.  Facing two years of probation and a whole lot of orientation classes, Alex thinks he’ll finally get to spend some quality time with the kids.  But Alex is special, so special that he’s immediately pulled into a serial kidnapping case.  Well-to-do white women are disappearing at an alarming rate, and white slavery is on the rise.  The latest victim, Katherine Connelly, the wife of a judge, pushes this case straight to the top of the pile for the FBI.

 

Alex is on the hunt for the leader of the kidnapping ring, one nasty Russian, former KGB and now head of the Red Mafyia that goes by the code name: Wolf.  This is one seriously bad dude, and is one of Patterson’s better villains.  The novel is replete with twists and turns and creditable red herrings, all of which make for a fun rollercoaster of a read.

 

Not that there isn’t room for improvement, I mean, it is James Patterson.  The book started off a little clunky for me, as Katherine Connelly is ingeniously kidnapped by the poorly named villains, The Couple.  (eyeroll)  Patterson clearly doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking up clever names for his characters.  I liken it to the initial start of the rollercoaster ride, you know, that trek up that first incline.  About the time we reach the top, the Wolf in all his evil glory has been introduced and oh boy hold on cause here’s where Patterson shines, at least when all the stars align to give us a decent villain and a decent plot. 

 

The kidnapping ring gives Alex something to sink his teeth into, but as he’s jumped from the Washington PD to the FBI, he’s also hogtied by bureaucracy, and not all of the Feebees play nice with our Alex.  He is a bit of an upstart, after all, waltzing in and landing a big case without first paying his dues like the other agents had to.

 

And then there is the obligatory personal crises (or what I like to call filler) for our intrepid cop/psychiatrist/FBI agent.  In books past it was little Jannie with a brain tumour, the death of just about every woman Alex hooked up with, the kidnapping of fiancée Christine, even Nana Mama was playing the sick card for a book there.  In The Big Bad Wolf, we find Alex entangled in a custody battle with former fiancée over Little Alex, Cross’ toddler son.  Whatever helps Patterson reach his required word length, I guess.

 

But don’t let my cynicism steer you away, this truly is one of the better Cross books I’ve read in quite some time.  Here’s hoping I won’t have to wait so long for another as I reach for #10 in the series….

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

 

 

TBR = 26

WPL = 32

Windsor Book Club Reads: Animal Farm

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George Orwell’s satire on the Russian Revolution, and indeed all revolutions, is a classic that still resonates today.  When inebriated Mr. Jones once again forgets to feed the animals and milk the cows, they rise up and stage a revolt, kicking Mr. Jones and his wife off the property of Manor Farm which is quickly renamed Animal Farm.

Led by the pigs, seven commandments are painted on the barn wall, among them such sage rules as:

 

No animal shall sleep in a bed

No animal shall drink alcohol

No animal shall kill another animal

All animals are equal

Etc.

 

The animals agree to work as a cooperative, planting and harvesting food to be shared equally by all.  Under the tutelage of the pigs (who are the smarter animals of the barnyard) they attempt to learn reading and writing, but not all animals have the capacity for such knowledge, like the sheep who can’t manage to learn the new commandments, so follow the simplified motto “four legs good, two legs bad,” instead.  For a while, life improves for the farm animals, and it seems the revolution was a success, until one day the pig Napoleon stages a coup and becomes dictator of Animal Farm.  Under the leadership of Napoleon, the animals once more suffer from shortened food rations, neglect and other abuses, making one question the validity of the initial revolution.  The animals traded one master, Mr. Jones, for another, Napoleon.  Had anything improved?

 

The novel leads up to a rather brilliant and shocking conclusion and is truly Orwell at his finest.

 

What my fellow book clubbers that to say:  We had a great turnout for this month’s book which sparked some good discussion on both the historical aspects of Animal Farm (Communism and Stalinism) and the state of the world today (we’ve seen recent revolutions in Egypt and Libya, though time will tell if things will improve long-term in those countries or if Orwell’s message is a lesson still to be learned).  Most enjoyed the book, though clearly it’s not escapist literature and was perhaps too realistic for some.  Others pondered which animal they most identified with, with Boxer and Clover being popular choices for self-reflection.  I personally found myself leaning towards Benjamin, the Donkey who bore a very striking resemblance to A.A. Milne’s Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh books.  I’m afraid to delve too deeply into what that may mean.  The novel also prompted us to discuss the merits of education and freedom of speech, and having access to all sides of a story.  We are very lucky, living in Canada, that we are encouraged to develop and use critical thinking skills and be more than just sheep: “four legs good, two legs better!” (has to be one of my favourite lines from the book).  A thank you to our intrepid book club leader for the following movie still, highlighting another favourite quote from the book:  “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”  George Orwell, truly a genius!

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Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

 

 

 

TBR = 26

WPL = 31

 

L Re-reads a Classic: Mary Barton

Ever since reading North and South in an English Lit survey course, I have been in love with the writings of Mrs. Gaskell.  Many of her novels, set in the industrial north of England, showcase the horrors of the working classes, and speak to the need for employers (those “Captains of Industry” as Carlyle called them) to do everything in their power to improve the living and working conditions of their employees.  Her first published novel, Mary Barton, is no different.

 

John Barton is a working class father who dotes on his family.  As the novel opens, he is living in a time of relative prosperity.  His wife is pregnant with their third child (a son, Tom, died some years earlier) and his daughter Mary is not yet thirteen.  He has steady work in the factories of Manchester, and more than enough food and money to share with those less fortunate then himself. 

 

But as life doesn’t stay static, it is not long before John Barton’s fortune changes.  His wife and child die in childbirth, he loses his job, and sinks into a morass of opium induced disparity.  Lamenting over the ever widening divide between rich and poor, John Barton makes choices that put himself, his family and his closest friends at terrible risk.

 

Set in the early 1840’s, Gaskell is one of the first Victorian writers to shine a spotlight on the deplorable conditions of the working classes in Manchester.  At this period in England, trade tariffs where destroying the country.  Manufacturers could not afford to compete with offshore factories and so many factories turned out its workers, and though the middle classes had to tighten their belts some, the working classes all but starved to death, waiting for tax laws to be repealed and factory jobs to open up again.  A working class movement to improve living conditions and get the vote for working class men was afoot.  Called Charterists, these delegates of the Trades Unions travelled around the country trying to spark interest in their cause and effect change.  They failed, but Gaskell puts her main character, John Barton, firmly in the forefront of this political uprising and uses it as a backdrop of her novel that debates the working class problem. 

 

Finding the middle classes and Parliament unsympathetic to their cause, the Charterists in Gaskell’s novel take a drastic approach to punishing those who, in their opinion, have caused their strife.  A murder plot is hatched and lots are drawn, and poor John Barton, who would rather give his last mouthful to a hungry child and starve himself, than see another suffer, is charged with the murder of a factory owners son.

 

The murder plot is a rather drastic way to finally wake up the middle classes to see the working class side of things, which Gaskell finally allows to happen near the end of the novel.  But before we can get there, she diverts her readers with a romantic plot.  Young Mary Barton has grown into a beautiful woman who has caught the eye of two very different suitors – Henry Carson, the ill-fated son of a factory owner, and Jem Wilson, the son of her father’s best friend.  When Henry is murdered, Jem is charged with the crime, and Mary, knowing her father to be the guilty one, must find a way to save both men from the gallows. 

 

Both plots seem a bit incongruous, but Gaskell does a fine job of weaving the threads of the plot back together in the final chapters.  But though her solution to the problem of the working classes was not a popular one (she, like Carlyle, promoted emigration), her abilities to show the living conditions of the working classes were very much appreciated.

 

I first read Mary Barton one summer shortly after my survey course, but did not overly enjoy it, most likely because I didn’t have the historical background knowledge that infuses this book, and which makes it such a rich read.  Having a greater understanding of the plight of the working classes and the Chartist movement, my second reading of this book was so much better that I enthusiastically recommend it.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 26

WPL = 30

L Reads Alex Cross #8: Four Blind Mice

When last we saw Alex Cross he was vowing to leave his job as a cop, and it left me wondering what direction these books would take from here on out.  I should have known it’s never that cut and dried in a Cross book; the character is far too wimpy and wishy washy to stick to a decision.  So, here we are with Four Blind Mice, where Alex agrees to take on one last case, at the request of best bud John Sampson whose old army buddy has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  Unfortunately for our hero, although he manages to stop the bad guys in the end, he doesn’t do it in time to save Sampson’s friend.  Cue the violins.  Just one more death on Cross’ conscience.

 

Here’s the premise:

 

Three army Rangers are on a killing spree in the U.S. and framing a number of active and retired army personnel.  Soldiers who’ve fought for the freedoms the USA stands for.  It’s timely reading, considering I’m writing this review on Remembrance Day.  As Cross digs into the murders and tracks down the killers, he connects them back to An Lao Valley in Vietnam, where killers and those they’re framing for murder not only fought together but committed some pretty nasty war crimes too.  Hence the modern day killing spree – just one big cover up.  Here, though, is where I disconnect from the story.  Vietnam?  Really?  Four Blind Mice was published in 2002, thirty-plus years after ‘Nam.  So much has gone on, military-wise since, that Patterson has his pick of wars to write about.  I mean, there was the Gulf War in the ‘90s, the current Afghanistan/Iraq clusterfuck, the terrorist attacks on US soil (which he does give a nod too – Alex Cross looks up at a jet flying overhead and wonders if he’ll ever feel easy again seeing those planes flying by).  Instead, Patterson chooses to write about men who fought in ‘Nam, describing them like they’re in their thirties or forties, when really, they’d be quite a bit older than that by now.  It just doesn’t jive for me.

 

I remember reading a ton of Harlequins back in the ‘80s when the wounded ‘Nam veteran was a hugely popular hero.  I guess I’m a little surprised to find ‘Nam playing out so prevalently in a 21^st Century novel; it seriously dates Patterson as an author in my opinion.

Anyway, I’ll quit gripping now and just say this wasn’t the best Alex Cross book I’ve read.  But hope springs eternal, so maybe the ninth book is the charm.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 

 

TBR = 25

WPL = 30

Windsor Book Club Reads: Left Neglected

Sarah Nickerson is a busy wife, mother of three and high-powered business woman on the fast track to financial success.  A graduate of Harvard Business School, she and husband Bob live in affluent Welmont, a suburb just outside Boston, and both are barreling down the rat-race track, when Sarah’s life is irrevocably changed by a car accident that’s leaves her with a brain injury.

 

Suffering from Left Neglect, a brain injury whereby Sarah cannot recognize her left side, she must relearn to walk, read, and force her brain to remember the existence of the left side of her body.

 

The injury irrevocably changes Sarah, her family and her life.  She must re-evaluate what is important in this life, like family and health, and make some major changes in her work and home life.

 

This is the second book by Lisa Genova and is a heartwarming read about the human capacity to overcome tragedy and triumph; written with great insight, compassion and laced with a fair dose of humour to keep it all in perspective.  Simply a lovely read.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  This book sparked some really good discussion.  We had fun talking about gender roles and how women are still expected to be supermoms.  We acknowledged the book serves as a good reminder to stop and smell the roses, to live in the slower lane, and appreciate what you have, rather than working all the time to acquire more stuff.  And we debated on the merits of rural or small town living verses the big city for raising kids and spending quality time as family.  The overall consensus was that the book was quite good, though very light reading, and the only real criticism was that there could have been more character development throughout the book, and that it was difficult at times to identify with Sarah and her lifestyle, but other than that, it was quite a good read, really.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 25

WPL = 29

 

L Finally Finishes August’s CanLit

Jane Urguhart’s dense little novel The Stone Carvers really took a beating from me these past months.  As the title of this blog post suggests, I had intended it to be my August CanLit selection, but then my book club picked The Historian for its September read (a tome of 700+ pages) and I started back to school with an upper year English Lit course to read for.  Poor Urquhart just kept getting shunted aside.

 

I think had I the time to sit and read just this novel, I would have enjoyed it more.  As said above, it’s quite dense, with a lot going on and a lot of switches between place, time and character.  Picking it up and putting it down repeatedly did not help my following the story any, and so often after weeks of reading something else, I would return to this book, utterly lost as the next chapter dealt with an entirely different character, setting or situation then when last I had read it.

 

Not that there aren’t threads that weave between and tie things all together in a nice little package.  There are, but the novel’s continuity is in very broad strokes, while Urquhart’s writing is often far more minute.

 

This is a multi-generational story, much of which is set in Shoneval, a community in Southern Ontario.  The novel opens with Father Gstir emigrating from Bavaria to form a church in the middle of a forest, which later becomes the community of Shoneval.  His zealotry is inspiring, and local carver Joseph Becker is enlisted to help build the church.  More than half a century later, his descendants still reside in Shoneval and carve figures for the church. 

 

The story continues from there to chronicle the life of Klara, Joseph’s granddaughter who has his skill, but is unfortunately female.  Her brother Tilman rejects the family legacy, becomes a hobo and is absent for much of Klara’s life. 

 

When first introduced to Klara, we learn she is a spinster, working as a tailor and carver, living alone on the family farm.  Her story is a tragic tale of love lost – her fiancé, Eamon, fought and died in the Great War.  From the loss of Eamon, Tilman and her father and grandfather, Klara turns inward, becoming as frozen in time and existence as the statues she carves.  It isn’t until Tilman returns and she learns of a great war memorial being constructed at Vimy Ridge, does Klara experience a resurgence of desire and purpose in life.  She and Tilman travel to France to work on the structure and both finally find purpose and fulfillment.

 

An interesting read, that again, I wish I’d had the proper time and attention for.  I quite look forward to reading more by Urquhart as I suspect her novels are gems waiting to be discovered.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 25

WPL = 28

L Re-reads a Classic: Jane Eyre

There is no better film adaptation and no better Mr. Rochester, in my opinion, than the 1997 Samantha Morton, Ciaran Hinds TV version of Jane Eyre.  But then I’m rather partial to Hinds.  He does a wonderful Captain Wentworth in Persuasion (1995).  Sigh.  And as Mr. Rochester, he is delightfully surly, filled with pathos and burning desire for Jane.  Double sigh.

 

As the second novel in my Victorian Literature course I had the pleasure of re-reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, though I write this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, for although I love the Hinds movie version, and I love the parts of the book, much of it has always wondered off into too much Christian mumble jumble for me to truly love it.  It was with much hope then that with a close re-reading of the novel I would find a new appreciation for the book.  I did and I didn’t.

 

I still found moments in the book far too preachy for my tastes.  Little orphan Helen Burns is just too filled with goody two-shoeness at the beginning of the novel, and St. Johns Rivers is too much the religious zealot, and all the Christian hyperbole and rhetoric just makes me yawn and roll my eyes.  But despite all this, there is something in the romance of Jane and Mr. Rochester that brings me back for more, time and time again. 

 

For those of you who don’t know the tale (and honestly, have you been living under a rock?!), we are introduced to our intrepid heroine, Jane Eyre, at the age of ten, living penniless and parentless on the spurious charity of her uncle’s widow, Mrs. Reed, who turns out to be no fit mother to little orphan Jane.  The moment Mrs. Reed can farm out poor Jane to Lowood Institution, she does and there Jane spends the next eight years (six as a pupil, two as teacher).  Lowood, by the way, is one horrible, nasty place where the food, what little there is, is burnt more often than not, and the ill-clothed girls, when not at their studies from morning to night, are tramping miles in the frigid weather to Sunday services.  I jest not, though the old joke’s punch line “uphill both ways” resounds in my head.

 

At Lowood Jane meets fellow orphan Helen Burns who is far too good and angelic for this world and soon dies of consumption.  It is also at Lowood where Jane encounters the antithesis of Mrs. Reed in Miss Temple, a much gentler and kinder mother-figure who abandons Jane for marriage to a clergyman less worthy of such an esteemed woman, at least in Jane’s opinion.  This abandonment unearths the wandering spirit long suppressed in Jane, and she advertises herself out as a governess.  The only reply is from a Mrs. Fairfax at Thornfield Hall.

 

Ah Thornfield, home of the troubled Mr. Rochester.  We soon learn that little Adele, who Jane is hired as a governess for, is the daughter of his former mistress, because Mr. Rochester lived a life of unhappy dissipation for many years.  The why of which is eventually revealed in the form of a mad wife locked away in the attic.  Of course, Mr. Rochester falls in love with Jane, but their marriage is thwarted by wife #1.

 

The mad wife and her antics gives us a nice gothic twist to this tale, with bumps in the night, mad laughter echoing from behind closed doors, and so forth.  Delicious!

 

Broken-hearted Jane flees Thornfield and falls upon the mercy and charity of the Rivers family, clergyman St. John and his two sisters Diana and Mary.  This is the part of the book that is most boring for me, because I just want to see the lovers united.  But the reader’s forbearance is rewarded, as is Jane’s goodness when she receives an unexpected inheritance from a long lost uncle leaving her a woman of independent means, and she returns to Thornfield to find out whatever happened to that guy, Mr. Rochester.  Cue the violins and pass the Kleenex, because the lovers are about to discover they are both finally free and socially equal enough as to join hands in holy matrimony and live happily ever after.

 

Very big, satisfying sigh for all is once again right with the world, which calls for a pot of tea in celebration, so…

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 24

WPL = 28

L Reads a Classic: Oliver Twist

Once upon a time, in the ninth grade, I was handed a thick little book with an unprepossessing yellow cover.  It was the first book assigned for reading in English class that year, and I opened it with great expectation as I was an avid reader as a child and never considered school books a chore to get through.  This novel was by an author I had never read before, a classic novel about a boy named Pip growing up on the English moors and a dusty old broad who lived in her wedding dress and zzzzzzz.

 

Yup, the book was Great Expectations and it was a total snoozefest for a 14-year-old me.  I might not have done so great in English class that year, but I slept well.  Of course, it put me off Dickens for over a decade until I finally sat down and read A Christmas Carol one year.  My favourite movie version is the Alistair Sims black and white one from 1951.  I watch it every Christmas, so decided it was high time to read the book from whence it comes.  I loved the book so much I figured I should give Dickens another try…but I’m chicken you see.  Just didn’t want to be sucked into another bad read.  This year, however, I’m studying Victorian Literature at the U, with Oliver Twist on the reading list.  No opportunity to avoid Dickens now, thankfully, because much to my surprise, I quite enjoyed it.  I believe I’ll have to tackle Great Expectations again one day soon.  Who knows?  From my advanced years of maturity J I just might find I like it after all.

 

Back to Oliver Twist, this is Dickens’ first fully realized novel (his previous publication was the Pickwick Papers consisting of serialized sketches of loosely-related adventures that were suggested to him to write.  Oliver Twist on the other hand is directly out of his own head) and was first published in serial form.  Being an early novel of a young writer, it has its numerous flaws, and yet the trials and tribulations of poor, orphaned Oliver (“Please sir, I want some more”) are quite griping.  Born of an unwed mother, raised in the workhouse and tossed upon the streets of London to fall victim to pickpockets (like the Artful Dodger) and other unsavoury characters, Oliver manages to retain his inherent goodness and is suitably rewarded in the end.

 

What I love about this and other classic novels is how they’re woven into the framework of our modern day existence.  Who hasn’t heard of the Artful Dodger?  Little perhaps did you know he found poor Ollie starving on the streets of London and took him home to become yet one more of Fagin’s boys.  Of course there is also the iconic “please sir can I have some more?” from the movies, which is actually “I want some more,” an incredibly important distinction in the earlier Victorian period when man’s spiritual being was being ignored for the benefit of mechanism (it was the industrial age, after all).  I joke about this phrase, since it was in my head from the moment I picked up the book, only to discover it happens in the second chapter, probably about as far as most people get when reading Dickens haha.  But truly, the novel has much to offer in the way of suspense.  It is a story that takes many twists and turns and comes to a rather satisfying end, and as I’ve already mentioned, I very much enjoyed the reading of it.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 

TBR = 23

WPL = 28

Windsor Book Club Reads: The Historian

What a great book for Halloween month!

 

I LOVED this book and very highly recommend you read it.  Run, don’t walk to your library or local bookstore and pick up a copy.  Right now.  It’s okay, I’ll wait.

 

(Jeapardy theme)

 

Back?  Okay, without too many spoilers, here’s why you should read it and will love it as much as I did:

 

It’s effin’ awesome, man!!!

 

No, seriously. 

 

From the very first sentence on the very first page I was gripped by the story and it didn’t shake me loose until the final word on the final page, and I am left gasping for more.  The book is written from the viewpoint of an unnamed female narrator, a young woman of 18 who finds a book in her historian father’s library and is told a remarkable and at times unbelievable story.  At first, while traveling throughout Europe with her father, the young girl listens to her father’s tale about his university days where he is mysteriously given a rare book, a book whose blank parchment pages encase a disturbing woodcut at its very centre, an image of a dragon with looped tail that has evil ramifications.  Upon showing this book to his advisor (Prof. Rossi), he learns his is not the only book in existence.  Paul (the father) sits enthralled while his advisor tells him a strange and at times wildly unbelievable tale of finding a similar book and beginning to research the history of the Dracula myth and the man who started it all, Vlad III, or Vlad Tepes, or Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, whichever title you prefer to know him by.  At the end of the tale, Paul is given a packet of letters and maps detailing his advisor’s research.  Saying goodnight, Paul leaves and while walking along the sidewalk outside his advisor’s office, he senses some oddity in the atmosphere, but dismisses it.  The next morning, his advisor has disappeared, leaving behind a pool of blood, a missing dragon book, and many, many unanswered questions.

 

On the hunt for those answers, Paul follows in Prof. Rossi’s footsteps, continuing his research in the hopes of locating his beloved friend.  He soon meets fellow grad student Helen, who turns out to be Rossi’s daughter from a brief affair in Romania and the two work in tandem to unravel this mystery, traveling to wonderfully remote locales in Cold War Europe, places like Budapest, Istanbul, Romania, and Bulgaria, all on the trail of a man who lived in the 15^th century and who they fear may still be alive these many centuries later for all  of their research leads to the belief that vampires still exist today and the greatest one of them all, Vlad himself, is somewhere in Europe.

 

It is a remarkable story for this young girl to hear, and more remarkable yet when the tale barely begun, her father disappears himself, leaving behind a packet of letters for his daughter, further explaining his past and her parentage and laying the groundwork for her own research into the legend of Vlad Dracula in the hopes of finding her beloved father.

 

A beautifully written book in near complete epistolary form, the tale unfolds before you, the reader, as if you were that unnamed 18 year old girl, listening to this most amazing story.  The historical and geographic descriptions are breathtaking and you can imagine yourself walking beside Paul, experiencing his discoveries and travels first-hand.  And throughout it all is the mystery:  what happened to Prof. Rossi?  What has happened to Paul?  And the young girl, who upon first reading about her father’s encounter with Helen Rossi gasps “Helen, that was my mother’s name….”  And so the mystery thickens: is Helen her mother?  What has happened to her?  For she has been raised by only her father and a housekeeper most of her life.  Dun dun da.

 

This brief synopsis barely does justice to the intricacies and plot twists contained in this powerhouse of a novel, all of which is handled by a master of the written word.  Elizabeth Kostova truly has an amazing talent as both a writer and more importantly a storyteller.  She captures the nuance of the oral tradition of storytelling perfectly in her use of letters to tell her tale for you, the reader, are given the impression Paul is speaking directly to you, and not that you are merely reading a bunch of dusty old letters.  Truly remarkable! (I know I’ve used that word a lot, but I can’t help gushing, I loved this book so much!)  Quite frankly I am enamored of Ms Kostova and can’t wait to read her second book, The Swan Thieves as I trust it will be just as captivating as The Historian was.

 

Read it.  Do.

Now, turning to what my fellow book clubbers had to say:  Reviews were mixed on this book.  Some loved it as I did, others hated it and didn’t bother to finish reading it.  Reasons for the dislike?  There was simply no character development in the novel and readers could not get into or like any of the characters.  Lacking an emotional connection made for some pretty dry reading.  Others disliked the vampirism and occult subject matter, either for religious reasons or that such tales just were not their cup of tea.  Many readers did enjoy the historical detail of the novel, and the references to actual persons (like Vlad), places (like Saint Matthieu’s Monastery in France) and events (like the clashes between Christians and Muslims during the days of the Ottoman Empire).  Kostova clearly did her homework and enriched her tale accordingly.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 22

WPL = 28

L Reads Alex Cross #7: Violets Are Blue

Poor Alex Cross, he just can never catch a break.  Following on the heels of Roses are Red, which introduced The Mastermind, a particularly vicious psychopathic serial killer, Violets are Blue opens with the villain hot on Cross’ tale, out to destroy Cross and everything he holds dear.

 

In the midst of dodging The Mastermind’s disturbing phone calls, and trying to keep family and friends safe, Cross must uncover the murderers behind a series of gruesome and chilling vampire murders that span both East and West coasts and a dozen years. 

 

Added to all this is the conclusion Cross eventually reaches of The Mastermind being a close, dear and trusted friend and co-worker.  Betrayal is but one emotion Cross must overcome.

In typical Patterson style, the book jumps from plot to plot, mixing in a bunch of memories of characters, criminals and crimes from the previous six books.  I think I’m finally getting the essence of these novels, in that they’re meant to be Cross’ memoirs of the cases he’s worked, and so they read a little bit like the meanderings of the mind, jumping from subject to subject … or perhaps that’s too deep an analysis of what are nothing more than poorly written books.  I hope for better when I read an Alex Cross, and so I search long and hard for it amongst the cheesiness of Patterson’s phraseology.

 

Violets are Blue was, for me, the worst Cross book yet.  It was a boring read, one I struggled to get through.  The crimes and criminals lacked the usual thrill-ride I associate with the Cross books, making lackluster writing even more difficult to stomach.  The book does end however with Cross’ decision to finally give up police work.  Will he?  Won’t he?  What will the next book be about if Cross is no longer a detective?  It’s this kind of investment I now have in the character that will keep me reading, mores the pity. 

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 22

WPL = 27

Windsor Book Club Reads: The Hunger Games

Okay, so there has been a lot of buzz about this book, the first of a trilogy set in a dystopian future where North America ceases to exist and people now live in a country called Panem that is divided up between the Capital (a glittering city where the rulers of Panem live along with the haves) and twelve districts populated by the have nots, with poverty increasing along with the district number.  The general consensus seems to be that you either love or hate this book.  While it did start off extremely slowly for me (I’m getting a little tired of the dystopian future currently being portrayed in YA books and animated movies), by the second half of the novel, I was so caught up in the story it was very difficult to put down.

 

Initially we are introduced to 17-year old Katniss who lives in the Seam in District Twelve with her mother and younger sister, Prim.  Her father having died in a mine explosion five years ago, Katniss is left with the responsibility of feeding the family as her mother sank into a pit of abject grief, unable to look after her daughters.

 

District Twelve is one of the poorest districts, and so Katniss must sneak off to the woods everyday to hunt and forage for food, an activity that is punishable by death, but since there is very little food to go around and Katniss is able to trade her daily catch with the Peacekeepers of the District, her illegal actions are overlooked. 

 

There are hints of George Orwell’s 1984 and other books of that ilk in The Hunger Games, in that the citizens are monitored on a regular basis and must always guard their speech for subversive thought and behaviour is quickly stamped out with death.  Indeed, Katniss explains a district uprising or rebellion resulted in an entire district (thirteen) being irradiated, resulting in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death competition where the Capital pits two tributes (a boy and a girl) from each district against each other.  The victor returns home to great fame and fortune, including the ability to feed their families for a lifetime.  These Games are the Capital’s way of keeping the districts obedient and submissive.

 

Katniss, of course, is District Twelve’s female tribute, and once she reaches the Capital and the games arena, this book really takes off.  Its fast-paced action and compelling characters kept me turning the pages right up to the very end, and left me hungry for the second book in the series, which I promptly placed on hold at the public library.  The Hunger Games is an excellent YA novel that will appeal to adults as well as teenagers. 

 

What my fellow bookclubbers thought: It was unanimous this time, everyone loved the book, though some thought Katniss left a lot to be desired as a main character, being rather deeply flawed.  But sometimes those are the best characters to read about, particularly if they’re given a decent arc and grow and change significantly.  We’ll have to see how the rest of the trilogy plays out to see if she is redeemable or not.

 

The subject of kids killing kids really hung up some readers, but considering the escalating violence on the street between teenage gangs and even in urban high schools, Collins’ plot wasn’t too unrealistic to consider.  Still rather disturbing though. 

 

All in all it was deemed The Hunger Games was a pretty decent read.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 22

WPL = 26

She May Not Leave

New mom Hattie feels confined by her role of stay-at-home mom to newborn Kitty and advises partner Martin she is hiring an au pair and going back to work posthaste.  On the recommendation of a co-worker, Hattie hires Agnieszka Wyszynska, a Polish nanny working in England, sight unseen.  When Agnieszka arrives, she quickly whips baby Kitty and the household into shape, leaving Hattie and Martin to wonder what they ever did without her.  But as the cover blurb says…”be careful who you invite into your home” for Agnieszka is nothing like she seems and Hattie and Martin’s relationship pays the ultimate price.

 

The story is narrated by Hattie’s grandmother Frances who dips down memory lane on several occasions and discloses many family secrets along with her own brushes with various nannies and au pairs.  Frances’ matter-of-fact storytelling gives much depth and shape to this intriguing domestic story that has wonderfully gothic overtones, making it a delightfully British read.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 22

WPL = 25

A Little Restoration Drama Never Hurt No One

After reading Aphra Behn’s Ooronoko in an 18^th Century Literature course, and learning about her fame in Restoration drama, I quickly snapped up a copy of The Rover during a visit to Juniper Books on Ottawa Street.  Behn was apparently a prolific and popular playwright during the later 1600s and had quite an interesting life for a woman of those times.  She was a spy, was briefly married (widowed after less than a year), took many lovers and apparently suffered unrequited love of a gay actor.  Her plays are often bawdy in nature, not unlike Shakespeare’s of a century prior. 

 

In The Rover, a comedy, three virtuous sisters intrigue behind their overbearing brother’s back to meet suitors and marry for love under the cover of masqueraders performing in the city.  The usual mistaken identities, double entendres, sword fights, etc., ensue, making for a rousing play.  I quite enjoyed a reading of it, and would love to see it staged.  Could you imagine the costumes?  Delightful!

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 

TBR = 21

WPL = 25

 

L Spends Some Time with a Beatle

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

 

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly

Into the light of a dark black night”

 

Blackbird Singing: Paul McCartney Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999 was a real find for me at this year’s Raise a Reader book sale.  I spent a pleasant afternoon humming Beatles’ tunes as I sang through the lyrics published in this collection, as well as enjoying some of Sir McCartney’s poetic stylings.  From the call to keep pushing for change because change happens, if slowly, to the lament for deceased wife Linda, to short quirky poems like the one about Tchaikovsky who he labels “Tchaiko the psycho” heehee, the collection is quintessentially Paul. 

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 

TBR = 20

WPL = 25

 

The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club

 

Sushi! Yummy!

This book was a bit of a clunker for me.  Christy York sets out to write a book about Idaho and well that kind of motivation always frightens me.  I’m a firm believer in organic writing, in that you should write about what ideas are coming out of the ether as opposed to having an agenda and forcing a story.  Anywho….

 

The four women friends of the sushi club meet monthly for sushi and gossip, sharing of themselves and their lives and supporting each others endeavors:

 

Irene is an aging soap opera star, married to plastic surgeon Naji with an Islamic extremist brother who has never approved of Irene. 

 

 Mary is a 40-year-old virgin who’s just never found the right man and isn’t willing to settle for second best. 

 

 Jina is a twice married single mother who lost her second husband in a tragic accident on the Salmon River in Idaho.  Zach had the brilliant idea to traverse the river in a scow, like in olden days with his pregnant and unskilled bride.  Tragedy, quite obviously ensued.  Problem is, Jina has raised their son Daniel on her own and never recovered from the loss of Zach. 

 

Alice is the struggling writer who listens to everyone’s story then one day has the bright idea to write a book entitled The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club exposing Irene’s adulterous affairs, Mary’s frigid singlehood, and Jina’s tragedy that has left her frozen in time, and is ruining any chance at happiness with her current boyfriend, Mike.

 

The book is an instant hit, complete with movie deal, rocketing Alice to instant success but the three women whose stories are so brutally exposed are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.  They decide to take a rafting trip on the Salmon River and the close confines, not to mention the struggles of the trip, help the women put their lives and friendship back together.

 

Some interesting plot twists with Jina and Zach help make the trip and story bearable, but though Mary, Irene and Alice have problems to battle the book is predominantly told from Jina’s point of view and the focus Is very much Jina’s battle with the Salmon River, the river that took Zach’s life, and her struggle to overcome her fears.  It’s not a bad read, I just found the book a little contrived at times.  Unfortunately the highlight of the book was picking one more off my TBR bookcase (ouch).

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 

TBR = 19

WPL = 25

L Boosts Her TBR Stats With Some J.D. Robb Anthologies

I have recently entered renovation hell.  I live in a rowhouse and could no longer stand hearing noise filtering through from the neighbours’, most notably low-frequency bass, which I swear is enough to turn me into Grendel’s mother, on a bad day, not when she’s trying to lure unsuspecting Beowolf into her lair!

But in order to soundproof the common wall, I had to pack up my many belongings, truck them down to the basement, and stack and plastic wrap my furniture out of the contractors’ way.  This included my many, many, many books.  One good thing to come out of this, though, while pulling out enough TBR’s to last me a few months, I came across two older anthologies containing J.D. Robb stories from the In Death series featuring Eve Dallas and Roarke.  The perfect quick and easy light reading when all else around you is total chaos.

I shamefully admit I willingly buy these anthologies in order to have a complete set of J.D. Robb titles, but never read the other stories in them.  Well, maybe someday.  For now, here’s what’s been happening with Eve and Roarke:

In Ritual in Death, the story contained within Suite 606, which I think may have purposefully been released around Halloween, Eve must find the people who viciously murdered Ava Marsterson during a Satanic ritual in Suite 606 (so close to 666, get it?) of one of Roarke’s posh hotels.  As you can imagine, the fact that Roarke’s people and property have been targeted doesn’t sit well with the billionaire and sparks fly between husband and wife as each pursue differing angels to catch the killers.  A very fun Eve and Roarke story to say the least!  Micro J.D. Robb always tides one over while waiting for the next book in the series to be published.

While touristing on the Staten Island ferry with her family, Carolee Grogan visits the ladies and disappears, leaving nothing behind but a whole lot of blood – that belongs to another female victim.  Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD must figure out how Carolee disappeared and who the owner of all that blood is.  With nearly 4000 passengers and no way off the ferry, people don’t just disappear, yet somehow a killer managed to spirit himself, the body and Carolee Grogan, the only witness from the scene of the crime.

 

A pretty decent Eve Dallas story, though not as riveting or as well plotted out as Ritual in Death, still, Missing in Death is a pleasurable read on a hot summer’s day.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

TBR = 18

WPL = 25