Really liked The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. Fantastic historical fiction about a young Quaker woman immigrating to the American midwest from England and encountering runaway slaves on their journey north. I was disappointed to have it end! 1 day ago

This took a good 2 weeks to complete, being nearly 1000 pages long! But so worth it! I almost wished it were longer because there was so much more that could’ve been said.

I think the next book I read might have to be a bit lighthearted and shorter, because the effort this book took… phew! But again, worth it. :) 2 weeks ago

The Stone Bull. Old book, not a very good one. Couldn’t get it for my kindle so my mother loaned it to me. She loved it. Me, not so much. Girl tortured by living in her famous ballerina sister’s shadow, ends up unknowingly marrying the man who was infatuated with the sister and then having an affair with a man who also slept with her sister, gets to the bottom of a mystery of a death of a total stranger to “clear her sister’s name”. Too soap opera-like for me. Plus the writing style was awful. I didn’t like the Kitchen House and this author wrote in a similar style: “I don’t know what drew me down the path, but the next thing I knew…..”. So much like that. Give me a break. Is that supposed to build suspense? Meh. 4 weeks ago

After the lengthy insipidity of my last book, the merry brevity of this book was a welcome treat. A story about humans and humanity, not Toads and Weasels and monstrous contraptions on wheels that go poop! poop!. No.

A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens. I felt like an adult and yet a child again. Easy, pleasant reading.

This month and the next, in all their brightness and darkness are for you, Mister Dickens. 4 weeks ago

I remember reading this a long, long time ago and being so totally engrossed by OTHER THINGS could never finish it.

Between then and now, much has happened.

I picked this up the other day with the full intention of reading it fully and I’m happy to say that I COMPLETED IT.

In the same breath, I must also mention this most spectacular feature of the book, a claim not many other books have been able to make on me, and a distinction I hope will remain singularly with this edition; and it is this: it put me to sleep. Lord knows how much I struggled to stay awake reading long winding passages of descriptions upon descriptions, to which my response was to sprinkle liberally on each page tears of frustration. shudders Thank heavens this one is complete. I won’t dwell more on the difficulties of this book, and bless those who attempt to complete it. 4 weeks ago

I finished The Watsons a couple of days ago. Pretty good book, actually. It wasn’t complete but there is a bit at the end which summarises how Austen envisioned the ending that happily wrapped up the book very quickly !

It’s nice reading unfamous books by famous authors. It feels like you get to know their style a bit better and you can make your own opinion of a book without having the bias of knowing that it’s a classic. It’s sort of less pressure.

I recommend reading The Watsons. It’s comforting in its obscurity and briefness. 1 month ago

Today, I completed Persuasion.

I must confess I was quite misled by the title. I was expecting great stories of great characters who wielded the power of wriggling into people’s minds. Alas, it was unfulfilled.

It was, instead, a story of another persuasion. See what I did there?

Nevertheless, it was well-told. A story of a young – I could not help ascribing the MBTI type of INFJ – girl, and romantic dreams of eternal love. Such a sappy story, really! Fewer balls and stolen glances, and more soarings on clouds and flutterings of hearts.

I cannot complain, though, because it was a nice, sweet, light story that perfectly counterbalanced the heaviness of Emma which I had completed priorly.

I’ve begun The Watsons (also by Austen), but my relationship with Jane Austen is nearly over. The last 4 Austen books I’ve read are all on the Good Read list, thus my double inclination. The Watsons doesn’t claim a place on it, however, so my motivation is singular – merely for the purpose of completing a book would I read it.

Anyway, Persuasion marks the conclusion of finishing all the Austen books on the list and I can now proceed with other authors! Woohoo! 1 month ago

YES! I finished my 3rd Jane Austen book this month! (6 days, no lie!).

Emma was a voluminous read. 3 volumes, and much longer than Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility—at least, that’s how it felt. It told of 3 stories, and in great detail. I did enjoy it, but it felt a little too detailed in places. The principle relationships are thus and between Emma-Mrs Weston, Emma-Knightley, Emma-Harriet-Elton, and Emma-Frank Churchill (Mrs Weston’s stepson)-Jane Fairfax.

The characters were amazingly diverse and you’d be hard pressed to find that you couldn’t relate to any of them. I actually felt like I’d learned something from this book. There are quite a few life lessons and observations and does very nicely for character study.

SO glad to have finished it finally! 1 month ago

Its the end of March and I just finished my 5th book of 2013, so I’ll consider this my May entry. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Friends raved about it, and I usually LOVE historical fiction, but I thought it just too miserable. I know living in slavery on a southern plantation was not a bed of roses, but too many terrible things happen in this book. By the end I just wanted it to end. 1 month ago

It’s turning out to be a Jane Austen kind of month. Get out the tea things!

I just finished this book today (6 days, baby!). It was amazing. Not as amazing as Sense and Sensibility though :)

Spoiler for both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Highlight to revealIsn’t it funny though, that in both these books, the wild spirited emotional one seems to get the short end of the stick (Marianne has to give up her dream of having to be first violently in love before marriage, while Lydia violently loves Wickham but he doesn’t reciprocate), while the calm ones who feel not too strongly seem to get the man of everyone’s dreams (Elinor lands Edward and Elizabeth lands Darcy). Some kind of lesson?

Incidentally, I saw the Pride and Prejudice movie version a long time ago and Keira Knightley’s head kept coming up in my head as the face of Elizabeth during the reading. I think she’s captivating enough to play the lead role, but I’m having trouble remembering if Keira can do ‘gay and lively’ well. The guy who plays Darcy is truly not handsome at all, and neither is the guy who plays Wickham who is /supposed/ to be handsomer. Robert Downey Jr would’ve been a good Darcy I think, and if I had my way, Hugh Grant would’ve been Wickham.

It would be super cool if I finished another 2 Austen books this month as well, but that’s highly unlikely, given the number of days left! 1 month ago

What a most detailed account of the domestic follies and blisses of a particular family and its persons! I declare myself quite taken with it!

It is a most sensible account of the events as could be expected, having been delivered by a woman defined by very idea of sensibility. The good opinion of Elinor can bear no fault, and its faithfulness claims its due in the admiration of many who have been audience to it.

If, however, one small request could be made, if not of any great inconvenience to deliver, it would be to request the story as spoken through Marianne’s lips. It strikes me most forcibly that such an account would be as boundless in its energy and gaiety, as Elinor’s account is bound by sagacity. And, I dare say, would make a most compelling reading and would pair most complementarily with Elinor’s account, as a glass of wine would with cheese. This is my only request.

I must repeat again the wonderfulness of the narrative. A motion picture option would make the vessel of my happiness be in danger of overflowing, but this is a risk I am well-prepared to take, for of joy, as I suspect Marianne would similarly be inclined to agree, there can be no caution of moderation. 1 month ago

It was awesome!

I loved the language. I’ve read other Pratchett books (and own a couple), but I’d forgotten how he writes.

I really liked this one and I can see myself reading it again. I actually identified with some of the characters (the goblins, haha). The descriptions and perceptions were so real and human.

Pratchett’s books just do that to you. 2 months ago

The Good House by Ann Leary. Wife of comedian Denis Leary, Ann Leary is also funny. I wasn’t sure I was going to like a story about an alcoholic mother/grandmother who won’t admit she has a problem. I couldn’t put it down. And yes, I know its still February, but I’m on a roll so I’m going with my momentum and counting this as April! I know I’ll end up slowing down when gardening season hits!! 2 months ago

I know its not March yet, but I read more in the winter months and want to keep my momentum going…read Defending Jacob by William Landay. A great murder mystery with a compassionate parent-child element that really drew me in (I usually don’t read murder mysteries….) 3 months ago

I’ve already read one book in January, so I’m going to consider this one February. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. LOVED this story of the emotionally damaged girl with a gift of the language of the flowers. Even though she bounced from foster home to group home to life on the streets as an adult, her gift brought her success and courage to face her past and her failures. I could not put it down. 3 months ago

Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly. This one was just ok for me. Didn’t love it nearly as much as I loved the Lincoln movie. I started it thinking I would finish it before I saw the Lincoln movie. But there was so much slogging through the battles of the Civil War, that I read it very slowly. Booth was a very unlikable villain. Glad he got what was coming to him in the end. Think this book could have gotten the story told in fewer pages. 4 months ago