Our Mutual Friend

Finally finished! It's weird for me to take two weeks and spend it just reading one book, especially when my pile of to-reads from the library is stacking up. But, for Dickens, I couldn't help it. It takes a lot to read a Dickens book. It needs extra attention and the longer breaks I take from it, the harder it is to get back into the language and the complex plot. BUT, as I just said, for Dickens it's worth it.

I loved this book. There are so many memorable characters (always Dickens' strong point) and the plot here is incredible. So many stories lines woven together with such skill. There's a lot of both mystery and romance in this book. The love stories are so so good. So sweet, so heart-breaking at times. As for the mystery, well, it wasn't too much of a surprise (because I watched the movie first :D) but was still enjoyable. This is, arguably, one of Dickens' darkier and scarier works, especially as we get inside the mind of one Bradley Headstone, who is a truly terrifying character. I won't give away any more, but this is a bite-your-nails kind of read. I knew how everything would turn out and I still got completely into it and could hardly put it down.

Also, the most recent movie adaptation of this book (1998 from the BBC) is a little-known gem of British drama.

 If you love Austen movies this is one I'd recommend. It also plays out almost exactly as the book does. Almost all of the dialogue is Dickens' and the actors and actresses all do a great job portraying their roles.

And if you're hesitant to read a Dickens' novel (no easy feat) watching a movie adaptation first is a great way to get to know the characters and plot lines so you don't get lost while reading the book. It also helps me to know which scenes are not as important to the plot so I can skim when Dickens gets long-winded about society. Which he does. A lot. Anyway, it's a super movie and I recommend it. (Content advisory: There is one scene with nudity, so when you see Bradley Headstone heading into a river to wash off in episode three, close your eyes if you don't want to see his ugly backside. :D It's a very brief moment and easily fast-forwarded through)

Anywho, I'll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from Our Mutual Friend. Dickens is, after all, enjoyable quotable.


"No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot."

Mr. Boffin: But there's nothing like work. Look at the bees.
Eugene Wrayburn: I beg your pardon, but will you excuse my mentioning that I always protest against being referred to the beest?
Boffin: Do you?
Eugene: Ye-es. They work; but don't you think they overdo it? They work so much more than they need - they make so much more than they can eat - they are so incessantly boring and buzzing at their one idea till Death comes upon them - that don't you think they over do it? And are human labourers to have no holidays, because of the bees? And am I never to have change of air, because the bees don't? Mr. Boffin, I think honey excellent at breakfast; but regarded in the light of my conventional schoolmaster and moralist, I protest against the tyrannical humbug of your friend the bee. With the highest respect for you.

Eugene and Mortimer, on being told to pretend to be lime merchants while they spy in a tavern:
'You hear, Eugene?' said Lightwood, over his shoulder. 'You are deeply interested in lime.'
'Without lime,' returned that unmoved barrister-at-law, 'my existence would be unilluminated by a ray of hope.'

"There was an innocent piece of dinner-furniture that went upon easy castors and was kept over a livery stable-yard in Duke Street, Saint James's, when not in use, to whom the Veneerings were a source of blind confusion. The name of this article was Twenlow and he was in frequent requisition."

“[She wasn't] a logically reasoning woman, but God is good, and hearts may count in heaven as high as heads.”

One Miss Peecher, the schoolmistress:
"She could write a little essay on any subject, exactly a slate long, beginning at the left-hand top of one side and ending at the right-hand bottom of the other, and the essay should be strictly according to rule. If Mr. Bradley Headstone had addressed a written proposal of marriage to her, she would probably have replied in a complete little essay on the theme exactly a slate long, but would certainly have replied yes. For she loved him."

Jenny Wren: "You are wise as wise can be godmother (having been brought up by the fairies), and you can tell me this: Is it better to have had a good thing and lost it, or never to have had it?"

'No one is useless in this world,' retorted the Secretary, ' who lightens the burden of it for any one else.'

"And oh, there are days in this life, worth life and worth death."

Bella: "Dear John, your wishes are as real to me as the wishes in the Fairy story, that were all fulfilled as soon as spoken. Wish me everything that you can wish for the woman you dearly love, and I have as good as got it, John. I have better than got it, John!"

“Love, though said to be afflicted with blindness, is a vigilant watchman.”   

“A heart well worth winning, and well won. A heart that, once won, goes through fire and water for the winner, and never changes, and is never daunted.”   

“Are you thankful for not being young?'
'Yes, sir. If I was young, it would all have to be gone through again, and the end would be a weary way off, don't you see?...”   

Bella: "Give me a moment, because I like to cry for joy. It's so delicious, John dear, to cry for joy."

The Tea Rose

Goodreads blurb:
The Tea Rose is a towering old-fashioned story, imbued with a modern sensibility that is fresh, compelling, and perfectly pitched for these times. This sweeping epic follows young Fiona Finnegan's climb from the teeming streets of East London. Her dreams of leaving her home behind are shattered when her father, a dockworker and union organizer, is killed in an accident. Crushing poverty, the loss of her lifelong love, and the destruction of her family quickly follow. When Fiona discovers that her fathers death was no accident, but a murder engineered by a ruthless tea baron bent on destroying the union, she flees to New York to save her own life. There, the ghosts of her past propel her to the very top of the city's tea trade. A decade later, armed with tremendous wealth, she returns to London to reclaim her lost love and exact a breathtaking revenge.

I've been interested in reading a book by Jennifer Donnelly for a while, because I keep reading great reviews of her novels. I love a good epic historical fiction and this is a time period (and place) I'm fascinated by. I actually own another Jennifer Donnelly novel (Revolution), which I bought at a Borders going-out-of-business sale, but it ended up in my Christmas pile. I'm not feeling very patient right now, I decided to keep myself happy by checking this out from the library.

I think that, overall, I came away satisfied with this book. Barely. I'll talk about the negative first. Hello MELODRAMA! Good grief, but this novel was soap opera-y. All sorts of ups and downs and people sleeping around and people dying, but then coming back from the dead. Amnesia, changes of fortune, manipulative girls getting pregnant to trap boys into marriage...

Getting the picture?

It was just a bit much for me. And the romance-y bits were far too *ahem* detailed.

This is an adult book. I'm hoping that Revolution, being YA, will be less specific.

And it really was a shame because the things I was most looking forward to, the setting and the history, were so well done. The writing was beautiful and the characters fascinatingly complex. There was also quite a bit of mystery, with characters trying to solve the identity of Jack the Ripper, who is - in a word - terrifying. I stayed up too late several nights in a row, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep until I figured out just a little bit more of the puzzle.

So, to sum up here, The Tea Rose is a beautiful book with lots of interesting elements, but it is rather on the melodramatic side with plenty of adult-level romance. Not quite my thing, but not the worst book I've ever read.

The Killer Angels

From the back cover:

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life.

Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also the casualties of war.

The Killer Angels is unique, sweeping, unforgettable--a dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America's destiny.

Wow. You know, I'm not much for war, but this was a brilliant book. I thought it would be boring; instead, it was the most engrossing thing I've read all year. Jon's been telling me to read it for ages - I should have listened to him a long time ago!

I hate war and I find the civil war so frustrating. Why? Why did so many people have to die? Why was the south so stubborn - claiming that their cause was so noble? They said it was their rights they were fighting for, but in hindsight, it was obviously just one right that caused the war: the right to own slaves. I don't consider myself an extreme feminist, but sometimes when I look at wars like this I think, honestly... put men in charge of the world and how do they solve their differences? swords, guns, cannons, and mass slaughter... someone doesn't agree with you? the solution is to go on a killing rampage until the only people left standing are the ones on your side.

Rant over.

Anyway, this book helped me understand not only the Battle of Gettysburg (which I now consider myself an expert on - the important generals, the landscape, the turning points, the big battles and charges - I know them all) but the entire war. I was there. Michael Shaara's writing is so present, so alive and descriptive that I understand the emotions, the politics, the sights and sounds and smells, and most importantly, the people. And the writing is clever, witty, and funny at times. Some of the conversations the men have are riotously funny. And some of the events brought me to tears. I was completely caught up in the drama of this important battle. I feel like I have a better understanding of why the war happened and the mentalities behind both sides. And I'll concede that it's not totally fair to generalize that it only happened because the people in charge were men. :D

This is a compelling novel. I especially loved the very personal stories of men from both sides. There were many who fought against each other who were friends or even brothers before the war. The civil war is a complex and tragic thing and I feel like studying it has been a fascinating study in human nature. One thing's for sure; this book is anything BUT boring.

And to top it all off, after reading it, I watched Gettysburg with Jon, the movie based on this book. It's incredible. The emotions from the book are all captured on film, which was done entirely on location with authentic re-enactment groups from all over the country as the hundreds of extras. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it. And the music is incredible!!!

One other civil war related thing I watched after reading this book was an episode of American Experience (Jon's favorite tv show - shows what a cool history nerd I married :D) about General Robert E. Lee (which you can watch online here). Proof that General Lee maybe wasn't the perfectly pious grandfatherly figure he's portrayed as in the book. The Killer Angels, however well researched, is still a work of historical fiction after all. The facts and events are all correct, and many letters and journals were used to find specific dialogue, but most of the character's personalities were fictionalized.

So, I've been long-winded on this subject, haven't I? To sum up, this is a compelling book which helped me understand Gettysburg, the Civil War, and human nature better. I believe it fully deserved the Nobel Prize it won. If you haven't read it, put it on your to-read list.

Supernaturally

Goodreads summary (which doesn't give much of the first book away, so I'll go ahead and post it):

 Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees. 

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal. 

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but I think that by the time I'd finished this sequel most of the charm had worn off. Do you have any friends that are overly hyper and funny? In the right mood, they are hilarious, but prolonged exposure leads to irritation or worse. That's how I feel about Evie. Sometimes she makes me laugh out loud, but other times I'm so sick of her. She whines about things over and over and she thinks about clothes and shoes entirely too much for my taste.

If you can get past that, the plot is really very interesting. There were some shocking revelations that I've been waiting to find out. Lots of complicated layers. I think Kiersten White did a great job on the plot. It's not her fault that Evie gets on my nerves. It's just a personality clash. :D

Series Wrap-Ups

These books are both the final books in their respective series and since I don't feel like I have that much to say about them (I've been lukewarm on both series from the beginning) I figured I could lump them together for you here without getting into too much trouble. :D And since these are sequels I'm not going to provide official summaries because I don't want to give away any spoilers.

That said, my thoughts on The Forgotten Locket can be summed up in a few words: boring, overly-complicated, insipid (which means bland or without flavor). This was my favorite book in the series though, so you can tell from that how much I really didn't like the first two (The Hourglass Door and The Golden Spiral). This one finally dives into the time travel aspect of the plot, but it does so without helping readers along or explaining the complicated premise of Lisa Mangum's time travel theory. Since I'm not a huge fan and have only read the previous books once I felt completely lost at times. I felt like all the complications and time twists were a bit pointless and I could spot several MASSIVE GAPING logic holes in the plot. That, and I've never really loved the romance between Abby and Dante. Blame that on the fact that my past makes it unlikely that I will ever be swayed by a smooth-talking Italian. I disliked that some of the characters I actually liked (Abby's family and friends from the "real" world) were not in this book at all. Anyway, I felt like Lisa Mangum was trying to be overly epic and grandiose and "save the world!" but it come off too heavy-handed for me. A little comic relief would have helped, but there was none. I don't recommend this series. With all the great YA lit in the world, there's no need for you to waste your time on this series.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater is a significantly better book, just based on the quality of the writing and the plot. Despite that, I've never been overly fond of this series. It is about werewolves, so I'll just get that out of the way right off the bat. It's probably the last werewolf/vampire book I'll read (unless something new comes out with majorly positive reviews) because I'm way sick of them. I'm just... ready for something new. This book wasn't unpleasant to read, however. Maggie Stiefvater has a beautiful way with words and poetry and song lyrics have always played a bit part in her plots. I like that. Another pro for this book is that all the overly-mushy teenage obsessive teen love stuff is all out of this series' system. Grace and Sam have settled into something very real feeling and much more palatable to read. I liked the way it ended (which I won't go into details on). I'm glad I finished this one up, but I can't say that it's on my to-buy list.

The Magician's Elephant

Summary:
What if? Why not? Could it be?

When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be narrated by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch.

I read this back to back with Water for Elephants because I figured if I was going to read a book with "Elephant" in the title, I may as well read two. :D And let me just say, that this book is infinitely the superior.

Tiger Rising was a little disappointing, but The Magician's Elephant has that same Kate DiCamillo style that I loved so much in The Tale of Despereaux. Simple and beautiful and a masterful weaving together of multiple plot elements and characters. This book is very short too, and I think that children will love it. I've added it to my list of books to buy for my home library. I thought it was brilliant, though still not quite as good as Despereaux. Her writer's voice is similar, but without directly addressing her audience, which is what I think is so fun about Despereaux.  

Esperanza Rising

Summary: Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl could want: fancy dresses; a beautiful home filled with servants in the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico; and the promise of one day rising to Mama’s position and presiding over all of El Rancho de las Rosas. 

But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression.  When Mama falls ill from Valley Fever and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.

I thought this was a beautiful book! It's a sweet story about accepting what life throws at you without complaining and I loved all the historical elements. This is also based on the true story of the author's own grandmother. I thought the characters were all well-drawn, which made the story even more compelling. I wish it had been longer, actually, because I really enjoyed the whole reading experience. It's gone on my to-buy list (which, *sigh* is getting so long I've begun filling up an entire notebook with it, organized by genre).

Starcrossed

From Goodreads:
How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.
 
 Loved this book! It's original (nobody else has done a YA retelling of the Iliad - at least that I've heard of) and so well-written. Josephine Angelini was able to strike a good balance between giving me enough information to stay invested in the mythology and the story and allowing me to figure things out along with Helen. Helen is a fantastic character - I loved her from the start. I connect with shy people because I've always been one. Also, this is no cliche love at first sight story. Helen and Lucas hate each other for a good portion of the book and try to kill each other, actually. This changes gradually, based on friendship and other cool plot elements I can't mention because I'm anti-spoiler and I ended up loving their relationship.

The other thing I loved about this book is that there is sooo much more to this story than romance. I was completely into the plot and the mythology and the twists and turns. The secondary characters were all awesome and I felt like I got to know them well, which really added to my enjoyment of this book. I can definitely say I recommend this book. Check it out this summer if you get a chance!

The Goddess Test

From Goodreads: 
It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.


Another Persephone myth retelling (what can I say, I can't resist them!), although this was plenty different enough from Meg Cabot's Abandon to not feel like just a repeat. I have mixed feelings on this. Despite loving the subject matter, the execution just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I'm not saying this isn't a good book or that other people won't enjoy it, but it didn't quite work for me (until the very end - which I'll explain later). First off, I did like Kate. I liked her determination to save her mother and she had an obvious inner goodness that made her likable. Henry was boring. There's really no other word for it. Sheesh, I have never met a more insipid Lord of the Underworld. I didn't think it was possibly to make Hades so tame and dull and bland. Also, the tests were not what I was expecting. I can't say any more than that, but they were a disappointment. 


I judge books like these on how easy it is for me to suspend my disbelief and dive right in. Constantly throughout the first 3/4 of this book I felt myself on the outburst of crying out "That would never happen!" "This is soooo not Greek mythology" etc... Unexpectedly, there was a huge twist at the end that solved most of my disbelief problems. It was so cool that it makes this book weigh in closer to the 'good book' side of my scale than the 'bad book' side. I'm thinking that if the sequel, Goddess Interrupted, can do anything to make Henry more interesting it will be fabulous. We'll see. I don't think I'll have the willpower to stay away from it, even if I hear that it's bad. I think it's safe to say that I have an addition to greek mythology based fiction. :D

Vespers Rising

From Goodreads:
The Cahills thought they were the most powerful family the world had ever known. They thought they were the only ones who knew about Gideon Cahill and his Clues. The Cahills were wrong.
Powerful enemies — the Vespers — have been waiting in the shadows. Now it’s their time to rise and the world will never be the same. In Vespers Rising, a brand new 39 Clues novel, bestselling authors Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman and Jude Watson take on the hidden history of the Cahills and the Vespers, and the last, terrible legacy Grace Cahill leaves for Amy and Dan.

The 39 Clues continues! I'll admit that I've been looking forward to this, and the section written by Rick Riordan was really, very good. Emotional and heartbreaking even. All the other authors did a good job too. This is a bridge book between the last series and the new one that's starting soon. Leave it to scholastic to milk this for all it's worth. I'm pretty sure there will be another 10 books coming out for this new series. I love everything about these books: the mystery, the clues, the historical stuff, the travel, the family dynamics, all of it. I'd like to own this whole series, but for heaven's sake it would eat up my entire budget if I bought them all. Series like this make me very, very grateful for the library. :D I'll be checking out The Medusa Plot soon, hopefully! (Medusa!!! Will it have greek mythology in it?? I'm so excited!)

Just One Wish

Goodreads summary: Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it's all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery.

But Annika's plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curveball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly finds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right?

Janette Rallison's proven talent for laugh-out-loud humor, teen romance, and deep-hearted storytelling shines in a novel that will have readers laughing and crying at the same time.



Another foray into the oeuvre (there's your vocab word forf the day) of Janette Rallison, and once again she doesn't disappoint. It's light, fluff, chick-lit that at times requires a lot of work to suspend my disbelief, but somehow I just love it. Janette Rallison has a gift for empathy and reality and while the scenarios may seem very teenage-ish, I always find something to take away from her books. What more can I say? She's quickly climbing the ranks of my top favorite authors.

Where She Went

This is the sequel to If I Stay, which is kind of ironic because the fact that there even IS a sequel is a major spoiler for the end of If I Stay. I feel guilty posting spoilers, but it's not my fault that just because a book exists it's a spoiler. :D

I thought If I Stay was beautiful and poetic, and this sequel really lives up to that. I wanted to know more about Adam and Mia because the ending of If I Stay is so sudden. I just really loved the theme behind these two books - life, mortality, love, family, grief, adversity. It's really nothing like so many of the other YA books out there. It's serious, but funny. Clever but not in an irritatingly over-the-top way. There's something simple and attractive about these that I just love. The story is told very similarly to If I Stay, with a lot of flashbacks. There's so much character depth in this book. I love Mia's family and how they're still a big part of this book, despite, well... things. Anyway, Adam is the narrator of this book and (being a songwriter) his lyrics are at the beginning of each chapter. I've seen this device tried in other novels (Timeless by Alexandra Monir comes to mind - she includes lyrics written by her characters... oh, and so does Maggie Stiefvater in her Linger series), but none of them succeed like Gayle Forman. She really is a poet. Just a breathtaking use of words.

The only drawback to this book is the language. There's some serious swearing in here, including several casual uses of the "F" bomb. I so wish these could have been left out! It's the only drawback I can find to this lovely series.

My Double Life

Well, I told you I was going to read everything Janette Rallison's ever written, didn't I? Here's the goodreads summary:

Her whole life, Alexia Garcia has been told that she looks just like pop star Kari Kingsley, and one day when Alexia's photo filters through the Internet, she's offered a job to be Kari's double. This would seem like the opportunity of a lifetime, but Alexia's mother has always warned her against celebrities.


Rebelliously, Alexia flies off to L.A. and gets immersed in a celebrity life. Not only does she have to get used to getting anything she wants, she romances the hottest lead singer on the charts, and finds out that her own father is a singing legend. Through it all, Alexia must stay true to herself, which is hard to do when you are pretending to be somebody else!


This is Janette's second most recent release (it came out right in between the Fair Godmother books), so I figured this would be a pretty safe one to check out next. It's not quite as high school-y as her earlier titles. So LOVED it. Janette Rallison may not be an exact fit for everyone, but her writing style just clicks with me. She's just so funny!!! I'd put in quotes to prove it to you, but I'm not sure if they would be quite as uproariously funny not in context. Also, Janette Rallison really has a way of putting pure human heart into her stories. Even if they are about teenagers, I come away feeling like they were written just for me and I learned something new about myself. There's real emotion in these stories and I even teared up during one scene at the end. So, was it a bit formulaic maybe? Yes. Was it easily predictable? Also yes. Was the ending a bit too perfectly happy? Maybe, but I wouldn't change it. None of these problems matter because I loved every minute of my reading experience with this book and was a happier person for reading it.

On a side note, I was reading a past entry on Janette Rallison's blog (funny reading in itself) and she was addressing readers' complaints that this story just isn't plausible. Well, she apparently discovered that Liv Tyler discovered Aerosmith was her father in the same way Lexia discovers in My Double Life. Check it out here. Crazy, no?

Gone With the Wind

There is so much to say about Gone With the Wind that I'm not sure where to start. This book has it all: history, romance, family, compelling plot... It may be a long book, but I was completely engrossed the whole way through. There's no slow pacing or long, dull passages. I really should have read this years ago, because it is one of the best books I've ever read. Certainly in my top 10.

I've always been interested in the civil war, but I'm used to viewing the south as the bad guys. I think this book opened up my mind a bit. It was fascinating to put myself in the south and view the war and the changes they went through from their eyes. Now, I'm not saying that the south was purely the victim, that they didn't do anything wrong. I'm just saying that now I have a little better perspective on how the Civil War affected the whole country. I'm getting the bigger picture, which, surprisingly, even included a little better understanding of the Klu Klux Klan (which I don't approve of!!! I just think I have a better appreciation for why it existed). Anyway, if you'll forgive me for being an English nerd for two seconds, it reminds me of a literary theory I studied called New Historicism, which believes that it's important to try and understand history from all sides. The more stories you read about one event or time period, the closer you'll get to actually discovering the truth of what really happened. I think I might go on a Civil War kick and see what else I can find to read in this genre. Also, I plan to watch Gettysburg with Jon and a documentary PBS did on General Lee.

Moving on, the writing was gorgeous. I loved Margaret Mitchell's style and her dialogue. Rhett and Scarlett could be so funny at times, and at others so completely heart-wrenching. Mitchell paints a beautiful portrait of the South in this book (which may have been maybe a teensy bit romanticized, I thought). There are a lot of racist issues in here, but I thought Mitchell did a good job of trying to be fair-minded and see things from all sides. Mostly, I just enjoyed being there and experiencing everything, the good and the bad. The realities of war, soldiers, giving birth back then (oh horror), dealing with carpetbaggers and Republicans, adjusting to free blacks, all of these were portrayed with the good and the bad.

Now, Scarlett is a bit of a difficult character; she's kind of hard to like. She's such a mercenary, selfish creature for most of the book, and she's a horrible mother, which made it hard for me to empathize with her. I don't think the point is to like her, though. And I did find myself empathizing more and more with her as the book went on. Scarlett completely changes as the South changes, and I don't know that I can blame her for all her ruthlessness. What would I have done in that situation? If my loved ones were starving, wouldn't I bend a few rules of decency? I think the more I tried to understand her, the more I found her fascinatingly complex. She's shallow on the surface, but there are some surprises lurking under that shell.

And as for Rhett, well, I liked him. Tons. He's very much the classic Byronic hero: dark, troubled, a bit of a bad boy, no respect for authority, self-serving... but at the same time, loveable and honest and sympathetic. There's something irresistible about an unrequited love character. My heart went out to him. And you know, I thought one of the interesting ironies of the book comes from Rhett. At the beginning of the war and during the war, whenever Rhett would make remarks about how the South was going to lose and how the war was pointless everybody in the South would hate him. He was ostracized for being a Yankee sympathizer. Well, every time he'd talk, I'd think, "Ummm.... you guys better listen to him... He's right!" I think Rhett is a fantastic character. Fully-drawn and fully-enjoyable to read.

There were lots of other great characters too: Mammy, Melanie, Gerald O'Hara, Ashley (even though I thought he was a bit insipid at times). Really, I just loved the whole book. The ending left me wishing for a sequel, which actually exists. It's called Scarlett, but I've read dozens of reviews saying it's one of the worst books ever written and doesn't live up to the original. It wasn't written by Margaret Mitchell, but was published after her death. So, I think I'll just imagine up my own ending, and let this classic live as it is.

I also had to get the movie from the library and may I just say, "Frankly, my friends, I don't give a ... well, you know." Ok, just kidding. I had to find some way to work the most famous movie quote of all time into this post. I actually really liked the movie. It's a testament to the quality of this film that even though Jon and I often snickered at the cinematography, we both enjoyed it. There were a few scenes that were supposed to be dramatic that made us laugh, but besides that, the acting was truly great. I was most impressed by the pacing. Sometimes old movies can be so slow, but not Gone With the Wind. It's really no wonder that this got 10 academy awards. It's an awesome movie. Now if only Clark Gable were just a bit more attractive. Oh well. He was funny and quotable and that made up for it. I thought Scarlett was much more likeable in the movie than in the book too. Anyway, I'd love to see a modern remake of this story. I can just imagine how awesome it would be with modern cinematography.

Have I said enough? Probably. You're probably thinking, "Sheesh. No need to write a novel about a novel, Emily." So I'll stop, but not before recommending that you read Gone With the Wind. It's completely worth your time.

Across the Universe

Goodreads blurb: A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

OH.

MY.

STARS.

Yeah - this book blew me away. I finished it a couple days ago and I just can't stop thinking about it. I've even dreamed about it. Of course, I have a little corner of my heart reserved for sci-fi. I don't read much sci-fi, but I've always loved space and imagining what life would be like traveling on a spaceship. After reading Across the Universe, I can only hope that our world will never come to that. YIKES!

Beth Revis' writing is amazing. This whole book is just an incredible piece of work. It's a complete genre mix: sci-fi, dystopian, murder mystery, romance, time travel. The world is so well developed, and (unlike with so many other YA dystopian books) it is based on real science and technology. I can actually see how our world could evolve into the world in Across the Universe. This fact is both creepy and disturbing. The moral and ethical issues this book raises about our own world are seriously worth contemplating.

The characters are fantastic. I love that the story is told from both Amy and Elder's POV, because we got to know both of them - their thoughts, feelings, discoveries, and insights - so well. Their romance was also very organic (I hate when characters fall right in love for no apparent reason). There were some very natural ups and downs between Amy and Elder, but everything felt believable and true to character.

There are some incredibly intense themes in this book and one rather mature scene that Amy witnesses. Other than that, the book is actually very clean. And unpredictable. Holy cow. There are a couple big shockers in this book. One thing I loved about this book, though, is the natural ending. No massive cliff hanger, although there will be two more books in the series. I appreciated that. Let everything get messed up in the next two books - let the characters enjoy a little peace for two seconds for crying out loud!

Anyway, I've rambled on enough. I'll be buying this book and looking forward to more from Beth Revis.

Timeless

It was almost all I wanted it to be. Timeless is a fascinating new YA novel using one of my absolute favorite storytelling devices: Time travel. Here's the Amazon summary:

"In Timeless, we are introduced to Michele Windsor, one of the modern bluebloods of the historic Windsor family. Struggling to find her place in a world of prestige and old-fashioned values, Michele sifts through family relics in search of answers. When she discovers her great-great-grandmother’s diary and begins poring through its pages, she finds herself whisked back in time to the Gilded Age. There, Michele meets the man whom she always wished existed, but hadn’t dared to believe in. Inextricably drawn to each other, the two fall in love. But as Michele drifts between modern life and the world of the past, she begins to piece together an alarming family mystery -- one that may doom her life and the life of the man she loves. Timeless is a captivating romance and mystery spanning three decades of high-society life and intrigue in New York City."

Ah the history was great! I loved Michele's first-hand experiences of the Gilded Age, the 20s, and pre WWII eras. Music also played an important role in the story and that always makes me happy. Also, as a big fan of family history, I loved that Michele met and connected with several generations of her ancestors, who each played an important role in the plot. The story was great and had several fascinating plot layers. I also liked that there was no cookie cutter happy ending. The ending was complex and, of course, left it open for a sequel.

I just wish.... well, several things. I thought that Michele and Phillip fell in love so quickly and I wasn't really sure why. It wasn't very convincing to me. Another thing I thought was lacking was a bit of character depth. I wanted to get to know everyone in this novel better: Michele, Phillip, her ancestors, and the modern-day characters (such as Michele's grandparents and NY school friends). I think it would have helped me get more into the story, which could have been so much more moving than it was. All in all, the writing felt a little flat. It was lacking sparkle, pizzazz, originality. Too much cliche.

There are so many good things about this novel. It was sooo close. I'll definitely be checking out the sequel.

Before I Fall

I picked this up because I was very interested in its premise. This is essential the YA lit version of Groundhog Day, one of my favorite movies of all time. I wanted to see how the 'living the same day over and over' premise worked in a book. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book because it was full of objectionable content. Why? Why? Why do books taking place in high school have to be like this sometimes? Not every teenager spends high school drinking, smoking marijuana, speaking with foul language, and being immoral. I was so angry about all the bad parts, because this could have been a truly amazing book.

I was blown away by the beauty of the writing. Truly gorgeous. And the romance (the real romance) turned out to be very clean, very sweet, very sincere. I hated Sam at the beginning of the book, but I grew to really care for her. She dies at the end of the first day, by the way, and spends the next 7 days reliving the day she dies. I won't tell you how it ends, only that it's unpredictable, but fulfilling. There are some very important issues addressed in this book. It's heartwrenching and made me think seriously about my own life.

I am so angry with this book!!! It could have been an all-time favorite of mine. It has amazing qualities. Unfortunately, what's left lingering in my mind are all the bad parts (and the bad parts are nasty). I wish I could recommend it. I truly do. But I can't. I have read, however, that Lauren Oliver's new book, Delirium (which is a dystopian novel) is much cleaner. I'm excited to read it because I think Lauren Oliver has incredible talent as a writer.

Clair Poulson

I've always been a Clair Poulson fan, but I haven't read any of his books in years. After my grandma passed away, I inherited all her Clair Poulson books. Probably because everyone else already has them. See, Clair Poulson lives in the same town my mom grew up in and they all know him personally. His wife taught my mom piano lessons for years. A lot of the books I have now are signed by him too. :D In case you've never heard of him, Clair Poulson writes LDS mystery/crime novels. So, I went back and read one I remembered liking then read his two most recent. I'll Find You is pretty old (2001!) - ok not that old, but it did feel old because the characters wrote letters and didn't have cell phones and the internet was referred to once as being a bit of a novelty. Times have changed, no? I really liked both Dead Wrong and Deadline. I can tell that Poulson has improved as a writer and the plots were all very tight. A little predictable here and there, but I am a very good predictor of books. It's cause I've read too many! I especially liked Dead Wrong because a very important part of the story occurs in Boise! I don't read much LDS fiction, but I think Clair Poulson does it well. And it's always fun to have settings in Utah/Idaho, places that I really know well. Anyway, so if you like a good crime novel now and again, try something by Clair Poulson.

The Help

This is me jumping on the bandwagon, I guess. I sometimes avoid a book if it becomes too popular (I just like being contrary like that :D), but a good friend encouraged me to read this and I gave in. The conclusion? This is a seriously good book.

Not only is it touching, but it's shockingly real. It read like I was right in the story, and it made me wonder where I'd fall into that world if I actually did live in that time and place. This book made me examine myself, but it's also entertaining and sweet. I laughed out loud and cried out loud and all the other things I do when I really, thoroughly, enjoy a book. This book also very nearly caused me to skip eating chocolate pie this Thanksgiving. Read the book and you'll understand.

I recommend The Help without reservation.

Cecilia

I've been interested in Fanny Burney as an author since last semester at school, mainly because she's cited as being such a big influence on Jane Austen. I did a couple of big projects on her and now I feel like I know her life and her works pretty well. I read Evelina and loved it! Her other big three novels are Cecilia, Camilla, and The Wanderer. I've particularly wanted to read Cecilia and Camilla for a while, because Jane Austen writes about them in Northanger Abbey, using Catherine Morland to give a little speech on how novels were received at the time:

‘And what are you reading, Miss — ?’ ‘Oh! It is only a novel!’ replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. ‘It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda’; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best–chosen language.

So, now that I've read Cecilia, do I agree with Ms. Austen? I don't know...

It's not a bad book... for the first 500 pages or so. I really loved Evelina, but Evelina is also much shorter than Cecilia (about 500 pages shorter). Cecilia is 940 pages. Even Fanny Burney thought it was too long, but she was under pressure to release it and didn't have time to edit it as much as she wanted. Also, during the Regency era melodramatic literature was considered the best. While Evelina has some crying and fainting, it's minimal. Cecilia takes it to the extreme. I enjoyed the beginning of the story, but eventually it became too much for me. Cecilia is about a young and beautiful heiress who can only retain her fortune if her husband takes her maiden name as his own. The premise is interesting, but I quickly grew irritated with all the overly dramatic plot points. Fainting, screaming, crying, suicide, dueling, death, loss of fortune, and it goes on and on and on.

I can see now why Fanny Burney no longer resonates with modern audiences like Austen does. Austen pares down her stories to universally understandable situations and people. Burney, on the other hand, loads down her books with details and situations that are specific to her time period. That doesn't bother me too much because I've studied the period, but I don't really relate to these novels like I relate to something by Austen.

At the same time, I have serious respect for Fanny Burney. She had a knack for capturing each of her characters' individual voices and a knack for writing dialogue like she was writing a screenplay. She also had a serious gift with language and was good friends with Samuel Johnson (author of the first English dictionary), and my dear friend, the Oxford English Dictionary, cites Fanny Burney's novels often as the first use of many words and phrases we use today. And, there's no denying that, as Cecilia and Camilla are often cited as some of Austen's favorite novels, Cecilia influenced Austen. There are obvious parallels between Mortimer Delvile (proud, rich young man from arrogant family) and Mr. Darcy. And then there's the fact that most scholars agree the title Pride and Prejudice comes from a line at the end of Cecilia:

"Remember: if to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you will also owe their termination." (It really reads like that in the book too, with the bolded capital letters.)

So, to conclude this rather long book post, I'll just say that as an Austen/Burney nerd I found Cecilia worth reading, if not thoroughly enjoyable like Evelina.