Martin Chuzzlewitt

There are some Dickens books that everyone knows. There are some that everyone at least knows the title of. And then there are some that seem clearly forgotten. This is one of those.

Roughly 12 years ago, I decided to read Dicken's novels in the order he wrote them. I started with Sketches by Boz and continued forward. It's been a long project. Chuzzlewitt came up when I made my Classics Club list. 

Before reading this one, I looked up the serialization schedule. I tried to read it by that, meaning I'd read the first couple chapters and then take a short break - either reading a lighter book or taking a day off of reading in general. In doing this, the structure of the book suddenly opened up and made a lot more sense. 

I liked this one. The amount of sass in the narration was really fun whenever Dickens was writing about one of the villains. His critique on the US was also quite apropos and honestly probably still applies to today. Funnily enough, apparently, his US readers hated this book and essentially "canceled" Dickens after reading this because it wasn't to their taste. 

The characters were entertaining enough though there's definitely a point where you just want to punch a few of them in the face because their comeuppance doesn't seem to be coming quickly enough. Of course, in the end, it all comes together like any good Dickens novel does. I definitely enjoyed this one.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Huh. Apparently, I never reviewed this book even though I finished it last year. I'm not going to summarize this.

I went into this book with a lot of trepidation knowing the general thought on Russian literature as being "difficult." In general, I didn't find this difficult to read. It was much like Dickens. Lots of words and description, but if you're paying attention, easy enough. I did find that I had to focus though. I couldn't just sit and read for hours. This was a spend maybe 20 minutes reading a day type of book. 

Having never seen any of the movies and knowing only that the story involves Anna Karenina going outside her marriage with a man name Vronsky, I wasn't sure what I was going to read. I was not expecting the giant treatises on farming from Levin. 

In general, I really enjoyed the early part of the book. While I didn't necessarily agree with the various characters, it was pretty fun. Around the halfway point, I found the book to be more of a slog. While I don't mind morally corrupt characters, there usually has to be some other quality in the book to keep me interested in the story. This one, I just found it to be frustrating a dull. 

I especially hated now Anna was a horrible person for going outside her marriage, but her brother was hardly knocked down every time he cheated. Clearly that was a main part of the novel, but I still hated it. I can see why many people don't enjoy reading classics as you see a lot of those double standards. (I'm thinking Tess of the D'Ubervilles...)

Glad I read this, but I likely won't read it ever again.

2022 Wrap Up and 2023 Thoughts

Wow. It's been a while since I wrote anything here. I stopped reading for a while due to all sorts of reasons, and when I started back up, I wanted to read without the work of reviewing. But I'm back. I think.

Favorite books from 2022: 

- The Ladies of the Secret Circuis by Constance Sayers

- The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Most Weirdly Accurate to Life: 

- The End of Men by Caroline Sweeney-Baird 

Longest: 

- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Shortest: 

- The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Full list of what I Read

1. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman 
2. Carrie by Stephen King
3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
4. The Hawthorne School by Sylvie Perry
5. The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck
6. The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross
7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
8. The Sleep Solution by W Chris Winter
9. Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
10. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
11. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
12. Catching Fire by Suzanne Colling
13. The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
14. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
15. The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde
16. Questland by Carrie Vaughn
17. Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
18. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
19. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
20. The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud
21. The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud
22. The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud
23. The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud
24. On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Varyura Clark
25. Fencing With the King by Diana Abu-Jaber
26. The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers
27. The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu
28. The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird
29. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
30. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
31. Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
32. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
33. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
34. The Girl who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
35. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
36. Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T. L. Huchu

Coming up in 2023

I have two main reading focuses this year. 

First, I extended my Classics Club list to 2024. I'd like to finish as many of the books on that list as possible before the year's end. Currently through most of Martin Chuzzlewitt!

Secondly, I have an absolute backlog of professional development books that I am really looking forward to reading. I've just been so distracted by the wonderful shiny books on my Overdrive wishlist!

Have a great New Year all!

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

Title: Fair Play

Author: Eve Rodsky

Pages: 352

Finished: April 12, 2022

Premise: Rodsky begins the book discussing the domestic labor so many partners do all by themselves at home. This labor tends to go unrecognized and can eventually cause enough resentment for couples to split. Rodsky decided to figure a way to break this system and came up with the Fair Play game method. 

She breaks the domestic labor into 100 different tasks. Partners are to take time to discuss which of these tasks they value in  their home, discuss what full conception, planning, and execution of those tasks are, discuss what the minimum standard of care for those tasks are, and then deal them out in ways that make sense. Once one person holds a task, they hold all of that task from conception to execution with a minimum standard of care. 

Of course, no card is meant to be held forever and partners are encouraged to meet once a week to review and redeal as necessary.

Thoughts: I really like this idea. My partner and I are fairly equal in what we do around the house. The problem is we both handle everything, which means we both are doing full conception, planning, and execution of many duplicate tasks. This means we’re harried all the time AND things fall through the cracks when we assume the other has taken care of things. I think a system like the one described here where we know who is responsible for each task is fantastic and would really lighten our mental load. 

I also love the fact that the author stresses the Minimum Standard of Care. This means that both partners can do the task without it being a problem. I foresee that being crucial in the discussions.

I just need to schedule a time with my partner to talk about this now!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Title: The Road

Author: Cormac McCarthy

Pages: 241

Finished: April 2022

Summary: The Man and the Boy walk south on The Road, hoping to find food and a warmer climate before winter. In the post-Apocalyptic world, food is scarce and other humans are more likely to be cannibals than friendly helpers. Everything has the potential to be dangerous, and time is most definitely against them.

Thoughts: Bleak. So bleak. I did appreciate every time McCarthy put in a scene of reprieve from the struggle. Especially considering some of the scenes are so disturbing that I had to put the book down and walk away occasionaly. 

This was my first McCarthy novel. The lack of punctuation made for a difficult read, but it also really changed the tone of the book for me. Without those clues, I read most of the story in a monotone in my head. It seemed very fitting to the book. 

This was not a fun read, but it did hold my interest to the very end. 

The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross

Title: The Beast's Heart 

Author: Leife Shallcross

Pages: 416

Finished: April 2022

Summary: For countless years, the Beast has spent his days destroying everything in his forest until he dreams of the fairy who cursed him, leading him back to his castle. There, he learns to become civilized again, but realizes he will only be able to break the curse by finding someone who can truly love him for who he is. And thus, the tale of Beauty and the Beast begins.

Thoughts: What I Liked - The magic. One of the fun things about retellings of this story is seeing how the magic in the Castle manifests. This one seems to come about in three different ways. Unseen servant type magic, something from the fairy, and then magic from the character’s thoughts. 

I appreciated the use of the magic mirror to tell the story of the rest of Imogen’s family while she was staying with the Beast. Speaking of her family, I appreciated that the sisters were really goodhearted.

And I LOVED how, even though she was brought to the Beast’s castle under false pretenses, he immediately lets her go and she decides to stay. She’s not stuck there under duress. 

What I Would have changed - The Beast. He comes across as super whiny. As the book goes on, he seems to become less sure of himself and goes about everything in what feels like the worst way possible. His excuse is the curse and his explanation is past trauma, but it feels like he doesn’t even try to figure out a smarter way. Just falls into, “This is how I am.”

I don’t know that this is my favorite retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it was definitely a fun, lighthearted read.

Books, Books, and More Books!

No real summaries of any of these considering I read most of them in late December - early February. Here are some vague impressions.

Also, I don't have much to review currently as I've been very focused on children's literature for work and will not be reviewing that here. 

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

 - This mystery definitely kept me reading through the entire thing. I will admit that I was roped in by what seemed to be more of a supernatural story though it turned out not so supernatural in the end. I remember tearing through this around Christmas, but it wasn't very sticky. In fact, I honestly couldn't tell you how the characters solve the mystery. Nor can I remember their names. Fun book to read at the time, but clearly not memorable.

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

- Super atmospheric with a bit of Irish fairy tale woven in. It took me a bit to realize it's set in what's clearly a distant future where oceans have risen on Earth and land masses are essentially small islands. This feels right at home with books like The Night Circus or just about anything by Patricia McKillip and thus it's right in my wheelhouse. Reading it was like reading a dream. You just have to trust the story will take you where it wants you to go. 

Carrie by Stephen King

- One of those everyone knows something about this story even if they've never read it nor saw the movie. I'd always skipped this as I tend to not like horror. However, I didn't realize this was more psychological horror over paranormal/supernatural horror. Entertaining and quick read. Definitely felt for Carrie. Didn't realize how much of the novel was written as reports and news articles.

Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

- I missed this book as a teen which is honestly shocking because it would have been right up my alley. The main character is quirky. The dragons are great. This was a fun read, though definitely young. I could imagine myself reading this series to my kids as they get older, though I don't think I'd go out of my way to read them myself.

The Hawthorne School by Sylvie Perry

- Thriller set in modern day Chicago. A mom wants what's best for her 4-year-old and enrolls him in an alternative school. The Hawthorne school takes bits from Swedish Forest Schools, Montessori, and Reggio. And while things seem to be going well to start, she notices he seems off, discussing ceremonies in the woods and shunning his classmates. 

This was a weird one for me. The premise was interesting enough, but the reader figures out what happens way before the main character. THough to be fair, that's how cults work isn't it? People get sucked in and don't believe their friends' and loved ones' misgivings until it's too late. Quick read and great bit of brain trash.