The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Title: The Prince and the Pauper

Author: Mark Twian

Pages: 296

Finished: December 30, 2018

First Sentence: In the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to a poor family of the name of Canty, who did not want him.

Summary: This is one of those books that everyone seems to know the skeleton plot of. Pauper Tom Canty switches places with the Prince Edward Tudor by accident. They live the other person's life for a few weeks, and then manage to switch back where they learn how their experiences changed them.

Thoughts: Like my poor summary above, I knew little about this novel other than the switch. Again, like many classics, most of my knowledge comes from the Wishbone adaptations. (Thank you PBS and Wishbone!) The first thing I noticed was the fact that the prince in the novel was Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII. I had assumed it was a fictional prince, but this is actually a piece of historical fiction with real historical figures!

The novel itself is an interesting novel to read. I've read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn numerous times. In high school, I even wrote a paper on why Huck Finn is one of the best pieces of American Literature. So I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked this novel up. While it has plenty of Twain's sarcasm and irony, there's a very different feel to the novel. One of the main differences is the historical setting and subject matter. I always knew that the second half of Henry VIIIs reign was a brutal one, but I never realized how brutal. Of course, the novel may have taken liberties as it's clear Edward needed an example to move against as he grew up. Still, it was brutal, and we know that Henry the VIII executed plenty of people.

I noticed that this book didn't read as quickly as I expected it to. I was excited to have a sub 300 page book. I was especially excited to read a sub 300 page book written by Twain because I've flown through his novels before. I found myself finding excuses to NOT read when I had a chance. For whatever reason, the story just didn't grab me as much as I would have hoped. And I can't even figure out why.

Mark Twain considered this his best novel. I think I have to reread Huck Finn (It's been over a decade) to see how I feel.

This was my Classic Club Spin #19. My list is now halfway complete!

Yearly Wrap Up

I'm pretty proud of my reading this year.

Back to the Classics: I finished this challenge with ten days to spare. I stuck to my list fairly well, only changing out one book from the original list. As I look over the list, I find it's hard to pick which was my favorite. I enjoyed so many of the books I read for the challenge this year. I disliked Murder on the Orient Express, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Wide Sargasso Sea. I was fairly apathetic about Song of the Lark. But I relatively enjoyed all the others. I'd say 8 out of 12 is pretty fantastic!

Personal Reading Challenge 1: I made a goal for myself to read all of David Mitchell's novels in order because he considers his novels to be part of one Uber Novel. This was a very interesting exercise. Overall, I was underwhelmed while reading most of his novels. But when I finished the latest novel, I had the urge to go ahead and reread most of them over again. Maybe not Black Swan Green. That one was super dull. But Ghostwritten and Jacob de Zoet both need a reread, as I think a lot of stuff in those came back around in Bone Clocks.

Personal Reading Challenge 2: This is unfinished. I started reading books of of my To Be Read List. And by my To Be Read List, I mean one of my to be read lists, since I have various ones. I'm the type of person that, once I make a list, the chances of me actually reading from it are slim to none. So I started. This specific list is primarily readalikes to a book I read a couple years ago and loved. The first two novels on the list were fantastic! Then the next two books were rough. I didn't finish either of them. The last book I had planned on reading is on my nightstand, but for the moment, I think I'm going to return it and try again next year. I'm a bit gunshy at the moment.

2018 Nonfiction Challenge: My reading challenges seemed pretty light, so I added this one in late January and promptly fell off the wagon. Nonfiction just isn't in my wheelhouse. I'm okay with the fact I never finished it. Some ideas I had for this made there way into other challenges for next year and some are completely gone.

All in all, I feel pretty good about this. Even though I didn't finish all these challenges, I read many more books than were in these challenges. My parents and I did a book club. I read a number of children's novels for work. So I will consider this year a win.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Title: The Woman in White

 Author: Wilkie Collins

Pages: 502

Finished: December 21, 2018

First Sentence: This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve.

Summary: Walter Hartright meets a strange woman dressed all in white one night. After unknowingly helping her escape from an asylum, he takes off for Limmerage house in Cumberland to become the drawing master for two young women, Marian Halcombe and Laura Fairlie. While there, he falls in love with Laura, who as fate would have it, is engaged to be married to an evil man. And somehow, that strange woman in white is connected to Laura's future husband.

Thoughts: This book and the Moonstone by the same author are often considered the first mysteries or detective novels written. I've read both this year. Out of the two, I preferred The Moonstone.

I thought the characterizations were handled well. You can tell that Collins was a colleague of Dickens. Fosco and Mr. Fairlie especially were Dickens-like in my mind. (It's worth noting the book was serialized in a Dickens magazine when it came out.) Mrs. Catherick and Countess Fosco were perfectly odious creatures. Marian was... mostly okay. I disliked the whole constantly being down on her gender, but she was very competent which was lovely to see. Laura fell absolutely short for me, and I just couldn't understand how it was that Walter fell for her rather than the way more competent Marian. But whatever. I felt very sorry for Anne Catherick, and wanted to know more about her. Was she actually mad? Or did she become mad after being placed in an asylum for so long.

The plot started off slowly. Much like the Moonstone, I was wondering if the story was every going to get to a point of interest, but I kept going, and things did eventually pick up.

In terms of the mystery, I was very confused for a while. I'd made the mistake of scanning some summaries of the book. Due to the nature of those skims, I had some weird ideas in my head of what was going to happen. I kept waiting for those things to come to fruition, and I felt rather annoyed when they didn't. Lesson learned, don't read summaries until you finish the book.

All in all, I'm glad I read the book. It was significantly quicker than I expected it to be. I think I'll read more of Wilkie Collins's works in years to come.

Read for Back to the Classics 2018 AND (unofficially) for the current Classics Club Spin

TBR Challenge

I've always been interested in To Be Read challenges, but I often don't qualify for them. It's not because I don't have a back log of books to read. I have lists upon lists! However, I don't have a pile of physical books. I just don't. I love reading. But I don't have the budget or the space for a ton of books. I have allergies and asthma, so books in my house have to be in good condition. And I work at a library, so I can get anything I want to read in a reasonable amount of time. And many of these types of challenges don't count unless you have a pile of books. I suppose I could take a picture of the library stacks and say, "here you go! Here's my backlog." Anyway, Adam at RoofbeamReader has a to be read challenge that doesn't require a pile! So here I am, and here's my list. This list is comprised of books that are on my various to be read lists, books that my favorite podcast has read that I'd like to read as well, and some productivity books I've been meaning to read but just haven't gotten around to yet. I'm excited for all of them.

1. Firelord by Parke Godwin (1980) (400 pages)
2. Beloved Exile by Parke Godwin (1984) (432 pages)
3. Mosaic by Jeri Taylor (1996) (312 pages)
4. Rogue Saucer (1996) (271 pages)
5. Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip (2002) (304 pages)
6. The Man Who Invented Christmas (2008) (256 pages)
7. Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath (2010) (305 pages)
8. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (2011) (579 pages)
9. Swamplandia by Karen Russell (2011) (400 pages)
10. Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce (2012) (310 pages)
11. Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew (2015) (306 pages)
12. Deep Work by Cal Newport (2016) (304 pages)

Alternate 1: Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Alternate 2 The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip

Back to the Classics 2019

It's back! My most favorite challenge, Back to the Classics, is back for 2019! And the categories are really interesting this year! I had picked out a number of books I wanted to read for the challenge this year before the categories came out. It was a mix of books from my Classics Club list and others that had crossed my path and I wanted to make sure I got to them this year. I was able to fit almost all of them into this list! And without further ado, my list for the next year.

1. 19th Century Classic: Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens (1897) (660 pages)

A continuation of my desire to read Dickens's novels in the order he published them. If I read this one, I'll be able to cross this off my Classics Club list as well as my Dickens list. 

FINISHED 6/9/19 - Pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this. Neat bit of history too.

2. 20th Century Classic: The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsanay (1925) (301 pages)

I'm not sure how I found this one, but it came up in a list of readalikes for something I read recently. The title is intriguing, and one of the latest editions has an introduction by Neil Gaiman. The brief description I read makes this book seem like it's right up my alley! I'm very excited for this!

GAVE UP 12/16/19 - Found myself doing anything but reading this. DNF


3. Classic by a Female Author: Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876) (800 pages)

I remember watching an adaptation of this on Masterpiece Theatre when I was a teenager. Hugh Dancy was the main character and I was very attracted to him. The miniseries stayed in the back of my mind, and I came across it again while making my Classics Club list two years ago. I don't plan on watching it until I read this novel, and I'm very excited to do so! I've never read anything by George Eliot before.

FINISHED 10/29/19 - Wanted to like this much more than I did. Beginning and end were fine, but bogged down in the middle.


4. Classic in Translation: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (1883) (100 pages)

Original language is Italian. I'm a children's librarian, and one of my favorite things lately has been reading children's classics and comparing them to current children's literature. My only experiences with Pinocchio are the traumatizing Disney movie, the Pinocchio from Once Upon a Time, and a retelling of the story that I read from work called Out of Abaton: The Wooden Prince. I'm curious how the original holds up. Another crossover with my Classics Club.

FINISHED 2/1/19 - rather simplistic, ridiculous, and not very fun to read. Clearly a children's book.

5. Classic Comedy: Emma by Jane Austen (1815) (495 pages)

Jane Austen's novels quite often make me laugh out loud. In public. I've been wanting to reread all her works for a while now, and this year will be the year.

FINISHED 11/14/19 - While not my favorite Austen, one of my favorite books read for this challenge. I love Austen so much.



6. Classic Tragedy: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847) (450 pages)

I'm just going to say, I have not liked this book in the past. I don't like Cathy. I don't like Heathcliff. And yet, people I know and respect say this is their most favorite book ever. So I've read it multiple times to try and figure it out. Last time I read it was in my early 20s, so we'll see if any of it grows on me in my early 30s. I also had the other Bronte sisters on my Club list, so I added Emily Bronte to round the list out.

FINISHED 5/20/19 - I hate this book. I hate this book more than any other book I've ever read. 

7. Very Long Classic: East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952) (601 pages)

This is one of my dad's favorite books. I've enjoyed the Steinbeck novels I've read in the past, so it seems time for me to read this one. At 601 pages, it certainly fits (though so do at least two other novels on my list this year. Crossover with my Classic Club list.

8. Classic Novella: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (1958) (152 pages) 

Do you ever watch a movie that everyone says is amazing and feel underwhelmed? That was my experience with Breakfast at Tiffany's. Still, I always wonder how book versions will fare. So I'm willing to try this... particularly since it's under 200 pages. Crossover on classic club list.

FINISHED 6/21/19 - As underwhelmed with the book as I was with the movie.

9. Classic From the Americas: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967) (416 pages) 

This was on my list last year and I just never got around to it. My reading got stalled somewhere. Hopefully this is the year! This is a crossover with my classics club list.

FINISHED 6/18/19 - most surreal reading experience I've had in a while. Loved the book even as I disliked most of the characters and story...

10. Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania: The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea (1805) (372 pages)

Picking one for this category was difficult. However, these memoirs look really interesting. I'm curious what I'm going to learn from this.

11. Classic From a Place You've Lived: The Adventures of Augie Marsh by Saul Bellows (1953) (586 pages) 

I wasn't sure how broad or narrow to go. In the end, I decided to go by city. I'm from Chicagoland area so it's definitely something that will work. (I'm also a little annoyed that I read Song of the Lark last year because it totally would have fit here.) FAIL review here

New possibilities - Years of Grace written by Margaret Ayer Barnes - focuses on social manners of upper middle class society
Sister Carrie - looks like it broke tradition in many ways.
Native Son - A book about race relations and growing up African American in Chicago during the 30s.

Ended up finish Years of Grace on 3/17/19. Better than Augie March, though the bits I enjoyed most were the actual discussions of Chicago. 

12. Classic Play: The Winter's Tale by Shakespeare (1623) (300 pages)

This is on my Classic Club list, so it seemed fitting to add it here. 

December Reads

Little, Big by John Crowley - Personal Reading Challenge

The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester - Personal Reading Challenge

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain - Classic Club Spin #19

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - Back to the Classics

...

This is ambitious. I don't know that I'll actually finish these books. Little, Big is on interlibrary loan for me, so normal renewal rules don't apply. I'll read it until I can't anymore, then I'll move on to the others. I think my plan Little Big until I return it, The Woman in White, The Hourglass Factory, then the Prince and the Pauper. I'd love to finish them all by December 31st. Wish me luck!

Classics Club Spin #19

The Spin Number for Spin 19 is NUMBER 1! To participate in this spin, I have to read The Prince and the Pauper by January 31st. That doesn't look too difficult, so I'm going to add number 2 to this list as well - The Woman In White. Between the two of those, I should be set.

Every couple of months, The Classics Club blog hosts a book spin as a way to motivate us to read the books on our lists. Basically, we pick 20 books off our Classics Club list, put them in a post. Then the Club will pick a random number out of a hat, and that's the book we'll read between now and a specified date... in this case January 31st.

According to the spin guidelines, clubbers are encouraged to pick five books from their Classics List that they've been putting off reading, five books they can't wait to read, five books they're neutral about reading, and five free choice books. I modified the instructions a bit considering my list is now at 26 books and most of them fit in one of the first three categories. My list is 6 books I've been putting off, 7 books I can't wait to read, and 7 books I'm neutral about. That leaves only six more books from my Classics Club List that didn't make the cut for the spin. 

1. The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
2. The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
5. Possession by A. S. Byatt
6. A Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
7. The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
8. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
9. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
10. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
11. A Room With a View by E. M Forster
12. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
13. Daniel Deronda by George Elliot
14. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
15. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
16. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
17. Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
18. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackary
19. Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
20. Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Eight of these books are fairly chunky. With this being a monster long time to do the Spin, the hope is I get one of the chunky books. That being said... I'm hoping for numbers 2, 5, or 13. I'm dreading basically the 16 - 18 spread of red on my list. Happy Spinning! This post will be edited when the spin number is chosen.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Title: The Count of Monte Cristo

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Pages: 1472

Finished: November 17, 2018

First Sentence: On the 24th of February, 1815, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

Summary: Edmond Dantes comes home from his most recent voyage very triumphant. He's about to be made captain. He has a fantastic girlfriend who he decides to marry. He can provide for his ailing father. Unfortuantely, Edmond also has enemies - men who want that which he has. They hatch a plot to get Edmond out of their way, a plot that only moves forward when the cowardly procurer du roi decides it's for the best if Edmond is incarcerated in order to keep suspicions form the procurer du roi's own family. This is the story of how Edmond fell, and how he because the Count of Monte Cristo, hell bent on revenge for losing everything.

Thoughts: Oh my god! I finally finished it. I started this book in January and am finally done. Lesson to self: I read better by reading for longer stretches and then taking a break rather than reading a chapter a day.

One of the things that I found interesting about this book... when people found out I was reading this, they would fawn over the book. It's the best book they ever read. They LOVE the Count of Monte Cristo. It's so amazing...

I was underwhelmed.

AFTER HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!!

First, let me say, this is the type of book you need to read with a pen and notebook. You need to note who's who. This is very important because if you don't, suddenly you get really angry at a 200 page diversion to Italy with a young man named Morcerf who doesn't mean anything to you... until you realize you totally missed the name 300 pages back when it was mentioned in passing by someone else. Seriously? I totally missed that Fernand and Mercedes became the Morcerfs. Had I caught that, I would have enjoyed the whole Italy bit so much more.

I found myself very... frustrated. I'm not one for revenge which is basically this entire tale. Yes the Count planned everything to the tiniest detail. Yes it was meticulous. No, that doesn't make me like the book. Even with the stuff that has happened in my life that I'm not going to go into on an anonymous blog... I've felt a lot of anger, and then I just wanted to heal and move on with my life.

And maybe that's where this is falling flat for me. I felt so sorry for Edmond when he was sent to jail. I felt so sorry for Edmond when he got out of jail and discovered what happened. But then, he was rich and he had the world at his fingertips. I felt sorry for him that he never healed. It wasn't until Madame Villefort and her son died that he finally felt he'd taken things too far.

I was also really frustrated that he and Mercedes never got together. I mean, I get it, but it felt like such a rip off to me, that he went through all this effort only to not get with the girl. I suppose he gets with A girl... but it's not the one I was rooting for.

Most of all, the book is just LONG. I don't mind long books when I find them interesting. But I just didn't find this one interesting. None of the characters were all that likable. There were a lot of chapters that just didn't make sense until they did... but it was such a long time for them to make sense that I just felt an overall feeling of annoyance. By the end, I did want to see how everything would play out, but I didn't really enjoy it. Probably the story I was most engrossed in was Eugenie Debray and her music instructor/possible lover. The Romeo and Juliet story of Morrell and Valentine was insipid. The mystery of the poisoner was... really dull actually. The audience knew who it was from 600 pages ago, but watching everyone else bumble around didn't do anything for me.

I'm glad I read it. I have a better idea of certain allusions etc. But in general, this is not my favorite book.

Read for Back to the Classics: A Book That Scares You AND The Classics Club.

November/December Plans

Yesterday, I came across this blog post written by Joel at I'd Rather Be Reading. It was rather apropos, as I had a similar reaction to the fact that it's now November, and I have so many books left to read. (I also have so many life goals that aren't going to happen and don't need to be discussed in this blog. I made good headway with most of them, but there are a couple niggling ones that just aren't going to happen, and I'm a bit disappointed with myself.)

Anyway, without further ado, here's what I had planned to read in November, the status of each of those goals, and my future plans.

What Were My Reading Goals

1) Read 70 Books - I am at 55 books read as of today. Looking at Goodreads, I'm apparently 6 behind schedule which means to get to 70, I need to read 15 books between now and December 31st. I originally chose this goal because I easily hit it last year. Not so much this year. To be fair, this year also tried to kick the snot out of me... I'm okay with not hitting this goal.

2) Read 12 Classics for the Back to the Classics Challenge - According to the list I made last year, I am three books away from finishing this. However, my parents and I also do a book club that's classics focused. With the books we've read for that, combined with the books I've read for the challenge, I've made it. With that being said, I'd like to try and finish my original list if at all possible.

3) Read All Seven of David Mitchell's books in order - According to David Mitchell, his books are all part of one uber-novel. I'd read a couple of his books before, but decided to read them all again in order. I finished this challenge in July. It was an interesting experiment, but I found I didn't enjoy all his books the way I enjoyed the two I'd read before.

4) Read Five Books Off My Very Incomplete To Be Read List - I'm 3 for 5 on this one... and it's really 2 for 5. I stopped reading the third one because it was so bad. That being said, I'm not going to pick up another one. I'm happy with this list and happy with how it's going.

5) Doing Dewey Challenge: Read One Book from Every Dewey Century - Hahahaha. I added this because I was doing so well with my reading. I was actually running out of stuff to read, not that that was hard remedy. I work in a library. But I thought it'd be a great way to add more nonfiction in my life. As of right now, I've read 3 out of 10. I don't foresee myself making it any further than that.

All in all, I feel good about these goals. I feel like goals 1 through 4 were very realistic, and Goal 5 was added as an afterthought anyway. It makes sense that I won't finish it.

What My November/December Reading Plans Are:

• Finish The Count of Monte Cristo I've been working on this book since January. I thought I had a great plan for finishing it. I didn't. I'm about 250 pages from the end, so I should get it done by December 31st. (Finished 11/17/18)
• Read the last two books for my personal Reading Challenge. Both of these are sitting on my nightstand, and I plan on bringing both on our trip to Denver next week. I am positive that I'll finish both by New Year's Eve
• Read the last two books for Back to the Classics My last two books are The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. One of these is on hold for me at work; the other is on my nightstand. The plan is to read both of these, but if I'm pressed for time, I will eschew Solitude in favor of Woman in White
• Complete the last Classics Club Spin for the year (if there is one) I really enjoy this challenge every time it comes up. I enjoy it so much that I even have my list ready! There is usually one for November/December. Both of the above titles are on my spin list as well as 18 other books from my Classics Club. Hopefully, I'll get either one of these titles, or another slim novel. Unfortunately, I have some chunkters on there as well. If I end up with one of my other books I'm avoiding, likely neither of my Back to the Classics will show up this year.

With Count, the two books for my reading challenge, and at least one more classics, that brings me to 59 books for the year which is definitely respectable. I also should add, this doesn't count all the audiobooks I've listened to. Adding those brings me closer to the 70 range considering how many of the Rebecca Caudill Books I worked my way through this year.

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

Title: The Little Book of Hygge

Author: Meik Wiking

Pages: 221

Finished: November 13, 2018

First Sentence: No recipe for hygge is complete without candles. 

Summary: This non-fiction book is a love letter to the Danish concept of Hygge (pronounced Hoo-ga). Describing it is difficult because the idea is coziness and comfort, but also togetherness and well-being, and other things. Wiking, the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen explains what makes something hygge and how you can acheive hygge in your own life.

Thoughts: This book was on a display in my library. I saw it from my desk while helping patrons find books. I walked past it on my way to lead storytime. I picked it up and thumbed through it... and felt instantly at home. The way Wiking describes hygge is the way I describe what my favorite time of year is and why I like it. Also, I apparently innately practice hygge.. or acheive hygge... or make things hygge... I don't know the right way to say it... I apparently am hygge in the mid to late fall through to Christmas.

That being said, by the end of the book, the constant talk about hygge was annoying. And I thought back to a quote he said at the beginning of the book:

What might also be unique for Denmark when it comes to hygge is how much we talk about it, focus on it, and consider it as a defining feature of our cultural identity and an integral part of the national DNA. In other words, what freedom is to Americans, thoroughness to Germans, and the stiff upper lip to the British, hygge is to Danes.

And boy is it an identity. I really felt for people who have to listen to my countrymen talk about Freedom all the freaking time. It was a little annoying.

But I love the idea of hygge, and I think I'll be adding a candle or two to our house this winter.  

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

Title: The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle

Author: Janet Fox

Pages: 388

Finished: November 13, 2018

First Sentence: It is 1863

Summary: Kat and her siblings evacuate London during World War II. They end up at Rookskill Castle in Scotland, a castle of a family member and currently a school. Kat herself is very sensible. Everything has a logical explanation. So when they hear weird sounds and see weird things, the most she can come up with is that there's a Nazi spy. But as the days continue, things get weirder and weirder, and even Kat can't come up with an explanation.

Thoughts: I liked it. I feel I have to say this right out because after I read it, I found a ton of reviews about how awful it was. Whether or not it was good or bad, it was fun. To me. The book is part historical novel, part horror story, part mystery. Historical fiction isn't my favorite genre, but WWII evacuation type stories generally make their way past my wall.

The horror was... not all that scary, but I was okay with that. It was more of a mystery along with callbacks to an even earlier history. I thought the villain was decently creepy. The protagonist was annoying, but that was what she was supposed to be. I thought the hint at romance was subtle enough to keep this firmly middle grade rather than YA. I could definitely write fanfic off of it if I desired, but one could easily miss it entirely.

The book was compelling enough for me to continue reading it. I ended up reading 90% of it in one day thanks to the fact that my kid was sick and wanted to sleep on me.

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Title: The Time Machine: An Invention

Author: H. G. Wells

Pages: 125

Finished: November 7, 2018

First Sentence: The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us.

Summary: The Time Traveler tells a story to his dinner guests about his journey to the far future. We learn of the decent of Man into the Eloi and the Morlocks and how the Time Traveler learned of them.

Thoughts: Warning: Spoilers abound. The only thing I knew of this story was a Wishbone episode and the 2002 movie. Though I'd seen the 2002 movie more recently, the Wishbone episode is what sticks in my mind the most. I distinctly remember Weena, a torch, and the well.

Anyway, I had no idea just how in depth this book was. I had this image of the Morlocks being very clear "bad guys" and the Eloi being very clear "good guys." In fact, it's a deep look into how life adapts to its environment. We often think of evolution as becoming the best of a species, but that's not it. Life adapts to live in its environment. I just repeated myself.

Anyway, I felt sorry for the Morlocks. From what I was reading, they weren't actually harming him. In fact, they seemed merely curious. But he immediately decides they are bad and must be fought. Of course, it turns out they're the "intelligent" species left on Earth and they basically breed and care for the Eloi as though they are cattle. But they didn't act "evil" until the Time Traveler started attacking them. I don't know. Reading it with a 21st century eye, it just seemed really obnoxious that 18th century white man comes to a world and decides he needs to save people and explain everything and... yeah.

I don't read a ton of Science Fiction, but I was impressed at how different this was from what Science Fiction seems to be now. For a 125 page book, it moved at a fairly gentle pace. We meet the Morlocks about half way through. And the climax with them isn't nearly as hear-poundingly action filled as many current scifi books I've read are.

I'm glad I read it. I don't know how much I want to read more Wells after this, but I appreciated reading this one. Read for Back to the Classics: A Book about Travel. Also part of my Classics Club list.

The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Folk Tales

Title: The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories

Author: Harold Courlander, Madye Lee Chastain, and George Herzog

Pages: 160

Finished: November 3, 2018

Summary: A collection of folktales from West Africa ranging from the thoughtful to the ridiculous.

Thoughts: A couple months ago, I read the book Redemption in Indigo which is based off a Senegalese folk-tale. Of course, the book didn't say which tale it was based on, so I had to do some hunting. Which led me to a tale called Ansige Karoumba The Glutton that was in this book. 

Turns out, Ansige Karoumba is only the first quarter of Redemption in Indigo. But I did read the rest of the stories. And wow.

First of all, stories like this are interesting to read. West African has a lovely oral story tradition usually accompanied with music. So to write the stories down immediately changes them. (It's also why most Grimm tales might feel stilted. They're essentially edited transcriptions of oral tales.) Of course you had the trickster tales with characters such as Anansi. There were tales explaining the reaosn why things are the way they are. And there were the tales to make you think abou tthings. At times, I felt there was a culture gap. Some of them just seemed downright ridiculous, but I don't know how much of that was due to a culture gap or due to the fact that it was an oral story stuck on a page.

Overall, I'm glad I was able to add some new stories to my repertoire. 

November Reads

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells - Back to the Classics and Family Book Discussion

The Cow Tail Switch and Other West African Folktales

The Little Book of Hygge

Little Big by John Crowley - Personal Reading Challenge
The Children of Rookskill Castle
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

(The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester - Personal Reading Challenge)

(The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - Back to the Classics)

(One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Back to the Classics)

The first three books are fairly short, so I think I'll get through them rather quickly. For sure, I want to get through Time Machine before Thanksgiving as we're reading it before my brother's wedding. I picked up The Cow-Tail Switch because it has the folktale that Redemption In Indigo is based off of. I'd like to learn more about West African folklore. The Little Book of Hygge caught my eye on a display at work. I read a couple pages and immediately felt a connection with said book. It's quick, so I think I'll manage it. Little Big is another book recommended as similar to Jonathan Strange. It has a ton of very tiny print, so I'm hoping it goes well. 

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Title: The Scarlet Letter

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Pages: 272

Finished: October 25, 2018

First Sentence: A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments, and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.

Alternatively: It is a little remarkable, that--though disinclined to talk overmuch of myself and my affairs at the fireside, and to my personal friends--an autibiographical impulse should twice in my life have taken possession of me, in addressing the public.

Summary: Hester Prynne, a young woman in the end of the 17th century, is punished for committing adultery by wearing a scarlet letter A. Meanwhile, her actual husband comes back and promises to find out who committed this crime with her.

Thoughts: Wow... this one was tough. First and foremost, Hawthorne starts the story with a 40+ page introduction about the Custom House. It's (I think) primarily fiction even though the man worked at a Custom House. Full disclosure, after taking a week to get four pages into this, I gave up and moved on to the first real chapter. I got through the book with a mix of reading, sparknotes, and listening to the audio book and reading the book at the same time. In fact, that last method was the way I eventually did get through the introduction.

I liked the book, but it was rough. In particular, I liked how Hester Prynne decided, "Well fine, if I have to wear this letter, I'm going to make it the most beautiful letter ever and screw you all." I liked how she stuck to her convictions even if I didn't agree with her. Everything that happened to her was super unfair, but she was authentically herself. I liked how she managed to move past the letter to become the town advice woman at the end. Basically, I really liked Hester.

Not a huge fan of the doctor, but we weren't supposed to be a fan of him. I found Dimmesdale rather obnoxious and weak as well.

I'm also very grateful to shmoop.com for their chapter summaries and analysis. I'm very out of practice, and without the site, I don't think I'd have made it through.

The Classics Club 50 Question Survey

1. Share a link to your club list.
   My List
2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club? Joined in January of 2017. I've currently read 21 out of 50. 
3. What are you currently reading?
   I'm slogging my way through the Count of Monte Cristo. Outside of that, I have a children's fiction book The Children of Rookwood Castle happening as well as an adult Fantasy  novel called Little Big AND a nonfiction book entitled The Little Book of Hygge. 
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it?
   Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - It was a slow start, but in general, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting reading the book with the current political climate. I had an intense dislike for Farmer Boldwood. I described him to my parents as the guy you hit on at the bar who you realized you didn't actually like him, but now he thinks you owe him sex because you "lead him on."
   
   Also, not for the club: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This was a TOUGH read. Not before bed reading at all. When I had a really difficult time, I actually turned on the audio and read along with it. But I did enjoy the book quite a bit.
5. What are you reading next? Why?
   My next book is either going to be The Time Machine or The Woman in White. Both books are on my list for another challenge (Back to the Classics). The Time Machine is short, and I feel like I need that. However, I'm REALLY CURIOUS about The Woman in White. 
6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why?
   Oh boy. The Once and Future King, Gone With the Wind, and Wives and Daughters. The first two really kept me thinking about them long after I finished, and I just really enjoyed the last one.
7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list?
   Most anticipated that I've not yet read: Possession by A.S. Byatt and Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
   Most anticipated that I've already finished: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, and The Once and Future King by T.H. White
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why?
   Don Quixote by Cervantes - long and daunting, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - long and Russian Literature
9. First classic you ever read?
   Tough to answer. My dad read us the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and a bunch of Children's Classics when we were younger. We listened to To Kill a Mockingbird as an audiobook on a trip somewhere when I was 10. First adult classic I remember reading was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte when I was in 7th grade.
10. Toughest classic you ever read?
    Portrait of An Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce for my English Literature AP course. The Theban Plays were really difficult too.
11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry?
    Inspired: The Once and Future King. Scared me: Fahrenheit 451. Made me cry: too many to list. Made me angry: again too many to count
12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list?
    Currently Gone With the Wind, though once I finish Count of Monte Cristo, that'll surpass it. Longest left on my list is, I believe, Don Quixote.
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list?
    Either The Iliad or The Theban Plays. Left on my list, I think it's either Don Quixote or one of the Shakespeare plays.
14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?
    The Real Jane Austen: A Life In Small Things was absolutely fantastic. I'd love to read The Man Who Invented Christmas about Charles Dickens
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why?
    Pride and Prejudice because it's such a lovely bit of social commentary. It's fun and funny, and I love it to death.
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any?
    I'm fairly partial to my Everyman's Library edition of Pride and Prejudice.
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic?
    The 1995 A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Even with the changes and additions it added, I feel like it captures the spirit of the book and the personalities of the characters better than any other adaptation I've seen.
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film.
    Hm.... Everything on my lists has been adapted in one way or another and I can't think of another one off the top of my head.
19. Least favorite classic? Why?
    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I do not like Heathcliffe. I do not like Cathy. They're both horrible people, and yet for some reason people LOVE them. I don't understand...
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read.
    H.G Wells, Oscar Wilde, George Eliot (Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell). Parentheses are authors I hadn't read before I put them on my list, though I've since read them.
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why?
    Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. I remember watching a mini-series of this on Masterpiece Theatre years ago and enjoying it. I kept the book in the back of my mind ever since.
22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? (This could be with the club or before it.)
    I respect Emma by Jane Austen even though I don't like it. Emma is too similar to a friend I used to have and who I'm no longer friends with... I have never liked Wuthering Heights. I reread it every couple years because so many people talk about how it's their favorite book, and every time I find I dislike it just a little bit more. I'm curious what my reaction will be this next time around.
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?
    I have admired King Arthur since I was a kid. 
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
    Jo March and Lizzie Bennet
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like?
    Marmee March
26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?
    Fanny Price
27. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading? Or, would you avoid the augmented manuscript in favor of the original? Why?
    No. I like the endings of most of my favorite books, so I don't want to know anything different.
28. Favorite children’s classic?
    Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I'm also partial to Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.
29. Who recommended your first classic?
    I don't think anyone did recommend a classic to me. I know my parents read a lot to me and I just wanted to read classics.
30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature. (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.)
    I tend not to take anyone's advice. I'm a librarian, so I often will search readalikes or other things for my own books. The few times I've taken advice from people, I've been disappointed with what I read.
31. Favorite memory with a classic?
    We read A Tale of Two Cities during Freshman year. I was the only kid who enjoyed the book. I remember reading ahead because I was so enchanted with the story. It was about 2 in the morning when I finished, and I was bawling my eyes out. The next day, I went into class and started ranting very loudly to my English teacher about my feelings. He had to shush me because no one else was at the end, and he didn't want me to spoil the book for anyone else.
32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by?
    L.M. Montgomery thanks to the Anne of Green Gables Series and the Emily Trilogy followed by Jane Austen.
33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list?
    Charles Dickens
34. Classic author you own the most books by?
    L.M Montgomery followed by Jane Austen
35. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included?
    I didn't know what I was doing when I made my first list and added titles willy-nilly. I don't have any specific titles, but I do wish I had included something by L.M. Montgomery. There's a couple of modern classics that I've been interested in reading as well that I wish I had added such as White Teeth by Zadie Smith.
36. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last — meaning you have never read this author and want to explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication — who would you explore?
    I am currently doing this with Charles Dickens minus A Tale of Two Cities. I've done this exercise with Jane Austen as well. 
37. How many rereads are on your club list? If none, why? If some, which are you most looking forward to, or did you most enjoy?
    Fifteen! Really enjoyed Jane Eyre for the fifth time. I'm looking forward to The Handmaid's Tale
38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish?
    Catch-22. Did not finish and changed it out on my list for Fahrenheit 451.
39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving?
    The Bell Jar. I put it on my list because it felt like I should. But then it was labeled the female version of Catcher in the Rye... and I hated Catcher and the Rye. I identified with the main character so much that I couldn't put the book down.
40. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature?
    - Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge is a fun way to read more classics!
    - Reading Daniel Deronda.
    - One of the plays in our theatre subscription next year is "And Then There Were None," so I plan on reading that as well.
41. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
    Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
42. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
    Don Quixote by Cervantes
43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club?
    The Classics Club Spin is unbelievably fun! I've enjoyed it every time, even when I wasn't so excited about the book chosen.
44. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs?
    Karen @ Books and Chocolate - I ran across her Back to the Classics Challenge right when I was trying to find motivations to read more adult literature. (I also discovered Classics Club through her). I enjoy reading her reviews and learning about books I've never heard of!
    Adam @ Roofbeam Reader - I started following Adam when he restarted the TBR challenge. I didn't join it at the time, but I've been following along, and I enjoy reading his perspective on lots of different books. As a children's librarian, I see a disturbing trend of boys not liking reading. And many times their dads also don't like reading. So it's nice to see that there are adult men out there besides my own father and brother who read.
    
    Those are the only two I actually follow, but I find myself on The Once Lost Wanderer occasionally. People who like lists are kindred spirits...
45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber?
    Bad covers for Anne of Avonlea posted by Karen from Books and Chocolate.  I laughed so hard.
46. If you’ve ever participated in a readalong on a classic, tell about the experience?
    I participated in the Wizard of Oz readalong from Lone Star on a Lark. The readlong itself fell through, but I kept reading. Reading the books was a reread for me. I remember reading them before and being annoyed with many of the books in the middle of the series. Ten years later, I felt much the same way. That being said, I do believe I'd read them out loud to my child. Baum wrote lots of very strong girl characters at a time when girls weren't usually seen that way.
47. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why?
    I feel like I would have appreciated a Readalong for The Count of Monte Cristo, as I feel I need some motivation. I also think a readalong for Don Quixote would be interesting.
48. How long have you been reading classic literature?
    My dad's been reading classic literature to us since I was a child, so with that caveat it would be about 25 years. If I count by the first piece of adult literature I've read, it's, 18 years.
49. Share up to five posts you’ve written that tell a bit about your reading story. 
    My first ever post on this blog
    2017 Back to the Classics Wrap-Up
    10 Books I wish I Could Read for the First Time
50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!) What made me choose my first classic?
    The first adult classic I read was Jane Eyre. I chose it because my parents always told me they gave me my middle name after Jane Austen. So when I decided to read a classic, I wanted to read something after my name sake, but I got Jane Austen confused with Jane Eyre. For some reason I thought they were the same and that's what I started with. Oops...

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

Title: Shades of Milk and Honey

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal

Pages: 302

Finished: Stopped at page 27

First Sentence: The Ellsworths of Long Parkmead had the regard of their neightbors in every respect. 

Summary: Because I did not finish this, here's the discription from the flyleaf: Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality.

Jane and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men, and while Jane’s skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face. When Jane realizes that one of Melody’s suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right—and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

Thoughts: I found this title while searching for readalikes to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I LOVED Strange and Norrell. It was a fantastic Jane Austen meets Charles Dickens with fantasy infused. The wit and humor were there. The ridiculousness was there. It was a joy to read. So to find a book that mentioned both that AND Jane Austen (who is my favorite author) was amazing.

... Oh my goodness was the book underwhelming. The author, while clearly a fan of Austen, is not as good a writer as Austen. The sentences were clumsy and didn't read as true to the time. It was very clear the book was written in the 21st century. On top of that, even though I only read 27 pages, the characters were so suck in their stereotypes that I could barely handle it. Jane was a mix of Anne Elliot and Eleanor Dashwood while Melody was clearly a rehash of Marianne Dashwood. Also, Melody said "La!" at least three times. Enough that it was grating. The dialogue was uninspiring.

Perhaps this book is one that gets better as you go, but as I was hoping to use it as a break book for both Count of Monte Cristo and The Scarlet Letter, I'm not willing to do the work. Overall a grave disappointment.

October Reads

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - family book discussion

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Back to the Classics / Classic Club Dare

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal - Personal Reading Challenge

(The Time Machine by H.G. Wells - Back to the Classics)

I am going to finish Count this month. Even if it kills me. So with that being said, I'm going to try and keep the rest of my list small. Scarlet Letter is short, but even with the length, I expect it's also going to be a bit long. Shades of Milk and Honey looks like it's going to be right up my alley and I'm very excited for it. I might use it as my break book. 

If I finish the top three books, I hope to read The Time Machine to continue my Back to the Classics.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Title: Far From the Madding Crowd

Author: Thomas Hardy

Pages: 352

Finished: September 26, 2018

First Sentence: When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks, and diverging wrinkles appeared round them, extending upon his countenance like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun.

Summary: Bathsheba Everdene takes over her uncle's farm upon his death. While there, she attracts the attention of three different men. Over the course of a year, she runs the farm with an intelligent hand and wards off all her suitors, until she doesn't. Tragedy strikes and int the end, she marries the man she's supposed to.

Thoughts: I have so many. Oh my goodness. Let's start with Bathsheba. I actually really liked her for the most part. Often, when I read classics, I have a hard time believing the characters are the age they are because they act so much older than their age. To be fair, people back then had to grow up quicker, but it's hard for me to believe they are so young because I suppose I read things with a 21st century thought process. But Bathsheba read as young 20s to me. Between her thoughtlessness and her narcissism and just, in general. I didn't like how she thoughlessly sent that Valentine to Boldwood. Not at all. And I had some trouble with how she had a tendency to lead men on. But as I read it, I wondered how much of that had to do with the fact that it was a man writing her. I did appreciate that she knew she didn't want to marry anyone unless she loved them. Of course, I was frustrated that she fell for Sergeant Troy who's horrible, but she did love him. And she was faithful to him. I'm not explaining this well. I don't necessarily want her in a relationship that's horrible for her, but she tries.

Mr. Boldwood. Where do I start. Mr. Boldwood is that guy who you flirt with once and now he expects you to have sex with him. In 19th century terms. This guy infuriated me so much! I felt bad for him for a couple of chapters, but when he kept going on how she owed him, I got more and more frustrated. Suddenly, everything he did for her felt like a guy saying, "look, I helped you so therefore you should be my girlfriend." It was so absolutely disgusting. There was even a bit where it was mentioned that his strength of character bent hers to him that just felt so icky.

Sergeant Troy. Oh my god was he despicable. First and foremost, I did not expect him to actually love Fanny the way he clearly did by the end of the novel. He seemed to be blowing her off through the whole thing. I even expected him to have given her the wrong church in order to avoid the wedding. So I was annoyed that he clearly impregnated her and then came back to Weatherbury to flirt with Bathsheba. (Not that he necessarily knew he had impregnated her... but still.) So instead, he started leading Bathsheba on in ways that were so controlling. Then he agreed to marry her in Bath in a scene we don't know about, so we don't know who pushed whom into it. Then he left, and tried to get her back after abandoning her for a year. I mean, seriously, who does that?!?!

Gabriel Oak. Our stolid farmer who is clearly the one meant for her even though she refuses him the first time. He was not so odious as the others, but I have to admit, I don't know why he fell in love with her right away. Nor did I feel he had the right to get so annoyed when she showed preference to other men. By the end, he grew on me with how much he was willing to protect her even though really that's not his choice.

This is getting long and it's really rambly. I'm sorry guys.

Overall, this is not my most favorite classics, but I do think I enjoy it as one of the better ones I've read this year for my Back To the Classics Challenge. For a book written in the 19th century, there's quite a bit of women's liberation in this that's a bit unexpected. I wonder how it would have read if it was written by a woman. I did have to read passages out loud because I found myself skimming over the pages long descriptions and then not knowing what was going on. Overall though, I'm glad to have read this. I'm interested in hearing why this is one of my dad's favorite books. 

Dare to Get Your Goth On!

For the month of October, The Classic Club has dared us to read something scary. We can define scary how we want. Some people are picking gothic novels. Others are horror novels. I am picking a book that scares me due to how long it is.

For a couple months now, I've been slogging my way through The Count of Monte Cristo. Between the giant list of other books I'm reading, along with my other hobbies, I just am not getting through it. So I'm going to make October the month that I finish this book! (And then I can start the other book on my list that scares me - One Hundred Years of Solitude). Looking forward to finally finishing this!

Redemption In Indigo by Karen Lord

Title: Redemption In Indigo

Author: Karen Lord

Pages: 188

Finished: September 16, 2018

First Sentence: A rival of mine once complained that my stories begin awkwardly and end untidily.

Summary: Paama leaves her gluttonous husband to return to the quiet life of her family. However, when her husband follows her, she shows compassion even as he embarrasses himself three ways in as many days. It's not long before he leaves her in her home town to go back home. All this serves as the set up for the meat of the story. The Djombi (gods and other supernatural beings) note her compassion and decide she is the person to hold the Chaos Stick - the power currently being squandared by a Djombi who calls himself the Indigo Lord. Of course, once he realizes his power is gone, he will stop at nothing to get it back.

Thoughts: I'm just going to take a moment to wax poetical about Paama. She is amazing guys! She's kind and compassionate, but she clearly has learned her lesson and is done suffering fools. She's protective of her family. She's intelligent. And she's very principled, though willing enough to learn new things when necessary. I just love her so much!

The story itself takes a bit of time to work out. It's written as though a storyteller were orating it in a hall. The whole thing is a little jarring at first, but as I kept reading, it started working itself out. Mostly. With that in mind, sometimes the story follows another plot that has seemingly nothing to do with what we want. Things are skipped over, others drag on. Mostly, I didn't mind it. I did have a hard time picking out just when this was supposed to have taken place though. I never really managed to figure that out, but I suppose it wasn't all that important to the story.

This is a retelling of a Senegalese folktale. I had to do a bit of digging to try and find which one. There seems to be a folktale called Asigne the Glutton. I couldn't find the text online, but I was able to find a collection of West African folktales that contain this one! I look forward to reading it and seeing how they compare.

Read for my own Personal Reading Challenge.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Title: The Happiness Project

Author: Gretchen Rubin

Pages: 301

Finished: September 11, 2018

First Sentence: I always vaguely expected to outgrow my expectations.

Summary: Gretchen Rubin decides to take a year to become happier. She does so by coming up with resolutions that she believes will make her happier in various aspects of her life. Throughout the book, she also comes up with Happiness truths as she shares her journey.

Thoughts:  This was the right time to read this book for me. I've been seeing a therapist for almost three years now, and we've been really working at being more positive. I've been studying a ton of personal development books to help me find that positivity and that happiness. So instead of reading this book and immediately getting defensive, I found myself nodding my head to much of what Gretchen was saying. Many of the things she tried are things I've been working on too. How I interact with my husband and my kid. How I interact with other people. How I treat myself and my home. Most of it was in line with what she was saying. I'd already come up with many of these things by myself (with the help of my therapist and other books.) My goal wasn't to become happy, but it was a nice by product.

The one area that I was frustrated with was when she mentioned that she had no interest in meditating or going outside. To the point where she decided not to do them. And I guess the main reason that left me with a bad taste in my mouth is that I fought both meditation and going outside too, but once I started, boy did I feel better. In fact, I try to get every single person in my household outside every day because we all do better when we go outside. Meditation has been crucial to helping me focus too. That being said, I have a feeling she does meditate at times, just differently than I do. And that's okay.

In general, it was a nice enough book. I didn't really get much out of it other than the self acknowledgement that what I'm doing for myself has worked for other people too.

Read for my non-fiction challenge.

September Reads

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - Back To the Classics Challenge

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord - Personal Challenge

The Count of Monte Cristo - Personal Challenge

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - Nonfiction Challenge
Switch How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath - Nonfiction Challenge***

I really wish to finish Count this month if possible. That way I can give myself two months for the other book on my list that I imagine will be fairly slow. 

Out of this list, I'm most excited for Redemption in Indigo. It's a fantasy book inspired by a Senegalese folk tale! I know so little about any folk tales from the African continent other than broad strokes of Egyptian mythology. 

I'm curious about Far From the Madding Crowd as it's apparently on my dad's top five list. He's been less than complimentary about our previous book discussion books, so I hope this one sits better with him.

The two nonfiction books showed up on a list about productivity, and both caught my interest. Now's as good a time as any. 

The Count of Monte Cristo continues to be a slog. I find I can only read about a half hour of it before I lose focus. This seems to be working in my favor because it means I can handle two books at once. Half hour of Count, at least half an hour of something else. While I don't typically enjoy reading two books at once, this is allowing me to make progress rather than stalling forever on the brick.

***I've decided not to read Switch at the moment as I really want to finish Count.

Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip

Title: Od Magic

Author: Patricia A. McKillip

Pages: 315

Finished: August 22, 2018

First Sentence: Brenden Vetch found the Od School of Magic beneath a cobbler's shoe on a busy street in the ancient city of Kelior.

Summary: Breden travels to the city of Kelior in order to become a gardener at the Od's School of Magic at the owner's request. Meanwhile, the magician Tyramin creates a stir in the Twilight Quarter of the same city and the king  becomes more and more paranoid about the role of magic in his Kingdom of Numis.

Thoughts: Bad summery. Sorry. Good book though! First chapter was... slow. Even the second chapter took me a bit of time to get into. But once we were introduced to the Twilight Quarter and the intrigues kept mounting, I was hooked.

I was especially intrigued by Tyramin. I couldn't figure out who the man was, and the reveal at the end completely took me by surprise. I really enjoyed his daughter and all her attempts to throw people off the scent. I also really like how the Tyramin storyline and Princess Sulys's storyline connected at the end.

I really liked Princess Sulys and her knowledge of herself and what she wanted. I enjoyed the fact that she wasn't going to let her life happen to her even though she was a princess and had to do as her father said. If anything disappointed me about this book, it was that I felt her storyline didn't resolve as completely as some of the others did.

This is the second McKillip book I've ever read, and I find I'm really enjoying her writing. I definitely plan on reading more of her works.

Read for my personal reading challenge

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Title: The Call of the Wild

Author: Jack London

Pages: 70

Finished: August 18, 2018

First Sentence: Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego.

Summary: Buck lives a happy, cushy life with Judge in California when the Yukon Gold Rush begins. A duplicitous servant sells Buck north to help with teh dog sled teams. Thus begins a life of toil and hardship as Buck pulls a sled through Alaska, fights his way to the top of his team, and fights to survive the harsh weather in Alaska.

Thoughts: Do you ever have those books that you're sure you've never read before, but as you're reading them you vividly remember passages? This was me reading this book. I don't remember ever reading it, but very specific scenes stuck out. Primarily the scene where Dolly went mad, and the scene where Buck wants to be head of the pack and kept dancing around to get it. Turns out, we listened to this on a family car ride when I was about 10.

And I have to say, I'm a little shocked that we listened to this. If I was ten, my youngest sibling was 6, and she's an animal lover. Dogs are mistreated and killed left and right in this book! Holy crow! For a short novel, it took a lot longer for me to read because the emotional toil was so difficult and felt needlessly cruel. But then I remember my high school English class when we talked about Jack London. This is how he writes. Nature is what it is and if man doesn't handle it well, Man will die. Nature doesn't care.

In the end, the book was really well written and very realistic. That being said, it's not something I personally enjoy reading at this stage in my life.

Read for Classic Club Spin #18.