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