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.