Month: June 2013

by

Mo’ Books, Mo’ Problems: Update 1

Mo Books Mo Problems

Welp.

I thought it would be fun to keep track of my progress through this Stack O’ Ridiculousness from the library.  Not in quite the maniacal detail-oriented fashion of my last Library Mishap, when I had nothing to do with my long, empty weekend afternoons but count page totals, write daily updates, and eat fruit salad with a level of enthusiasm mustered only by pregnant ladies.  But I was looking back at those updates and thinking of what fun it was to challenge myself to get through a seemingly impossible reading task, and then actually get through it.  So, here’s how things are going with the library stack:

  • Finished Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, which was a fun bit of fluff.  Got it in just by the deadline.  And then there were seven.
  • Returned The Accursed, somewhat disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to read it (and that there are 81 people on the waiting list for it), but downloaded it to my Nook and am saving it for a business trip I have later this month.  And then there were six.
  • Am about halfway through Eighty Days and loving it so far.  I keep interrupting hubby at whatever he’s doing to read him funny sentences or bits of historical trivia I find particularly fascinating.  My favorite so far: Puck Magazine’s advice to readers.  “When a charming young lady comes into your office and smilingly announces that she wants to ask you a few questions regarding the possibility of improving New York’s moral tone, don’t stop to parley.  Just say: ‘Excuse me, Nellie Bly,’ and shin down the fire-escape.”

I haven’t had much time to read this week, since it’s been one of the busiest weeks I’ve had at work… well, ever.  The end of May and beginning of June has been just one thing after another.  I’ve worked late quite a few nights and even missed Peanut’s bedtime a few times, which breaks my heart.  But reading keeps me sane, so I still do it – a few pages over my morning tea, a lunch break snatched if I can, and at least a chapter before bed each night.  I’m not going at my normal breakneck pace, but I’m going.  I really need a day to just chill out, though, so on Saturday I’m planning to sit with Eighty Days for hours and hours (once again, thanking my stars that I have such a good napping baby) and let Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland do the crazed running around.  By Sunday, I should be on to Maisie Dobbs.

by

Reading Round-Up: May 2013

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for May, 2013…

The Chalice (Joanna Stafford #2), by Nancy Bilyeau – The second in what I believe is going to be a trilogy starring aristocratic young nun Joanna Stafford finds the monasteries dissolved, Joanna and her friends trying to live in the real world again, and Henry VIII in search of wife number four.  When some high nobility come to Dartford and sweep cousin Joanna off to London with them, she will become embroiled in political intrigues and be forced to assume her role in a prophecy that promises to change the course of history.  Just like its predecessor, The Crown, this was a quick, engaging and fluffy read – especially if you don’t mind the occasional typo or historical inaccuracy (which, I admit, do bother me).  This would make for a good beach read, as long as you don’t expect too much from it.

Fire in the Blood, by Irene Nemirovsky (audiobook) – I loved Nemirovsky’s unfinished masterwork, Suite Francaise, so I snatched this up at the library when I came across it on the audio shelf.  It’s in far rougher form than Suite Francaise, but with some beautiful writing and fascinating characters.  I loved the portrayal of Silvio, a French hermit who wishes nothing more than to be left alone with his wine and his thoughts, but who is constantly dragged into family dramas.  His musings on life and love were masterful.  I think I would have enjoyed the print version very much, but the narrator of the audiobook was superb.  He was Silvio.  Highly recommended.

The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings #3), by J.R.R. Tolkein – Finally, finally, I’ve completed the long trek that is the Lord of the Rings trilogy!  I’ve been meaning to get to this for ages, and while I enjoyed each volume, The Return of the King was my favorite.  It was nonstop action, thrilling and exciting, and so very satisfying to finish.  I’m planning a bigger post on my impressions of the series later this month.

The Iron King (The Accursed Kings #1), by Maurice Druon – Is this month King-themed, or something?  I had never heard of the Accursed Kings series, which were published in the 1950s in France, until I read an article about their recent reissue.  The book opens with a great drama: the Grand Master Templar and three of his compatriots are being burned at the stake.  As he dies, the Grand Master levies a curse on the Iron King, Philip the Fair, and his line.  The curse begins to take effect almost immediately: Philip’s three daughters-in-law are suspected of adultery, and his ineffectual sons can’t seem to control their wives.  Meanwhile, Philip’s cronies drop one by one, and his hot-blooded daughter Isabella, the unhappy Queen of England, is plotting against her sisters-in-law.  The series covers the Hundred Years’ War and this account of the beginnings of the war was exciting, well-plotted, and historically accurate.  My favorite kind of historical fiction!  I’m now waiting for the next book in the series to come out, and I’ll be snatching it up ASAP.

Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter – This would make a phenomenal not-too-fluffy beach read.  A beautifully written story, spanning some fifty-odd years and the space from Italy to Hollywood, Beautiful Ruins introduces a cast of lovably broken characters and follows their life stories.  A dying Hollywood starlet, an idealistic young Italian hotelier, a grizzled veteran turned writer, a Hollywood producer and his disillusioned assistant drift through their own life movies, bumping into one another as they go.  Lovely story and beautiful writing.  Fully reviewed here.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain – The book jacket described this book as “Catch-22 for the Iraq War,” and it got so much good press that I had to check it out.  File this one under “incredible but uncomfortable.”  Ben Fountain holds a mirror up to the American media culture as he depicts a squad of soldiers, the heroes of a battle in Iraq, on the last stop of their victory tour.  They are mobbed by well-meaning citizens who thank them for their service in kindly but clueless ways and are forced to rub elbows with the Dallas Cowboys owner and his cronies, all of whom want a piece of the glory – which, for Bravo squad, isn’t really glorious at all.  Ben Fountain perfectly captured the fawning media attention and opened a window into a soldier’s mind.  I squirmed, but they were worthwhile squirms.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1), by Rick Riordan (audiobook) – I wanted something light and fun and Potter-esque for my drives to work this month, because things have been kind of overwhelming, so I grabbed the first two Percy Jackson books.  I’m not wild about the audio production, but the story is gripping and such fun.  Percy and his friends are half-bloods, or demigods – sons and daughters of a Greek god and a mortal.  The gods are still very much alive and active and causing trouble.  When the book opens, Percy doesn’t realize his true parentage, although it’s obvious to the reader from the very beginning who his dad is.  (I won’t give it away, for those who haven’t read the book, but the symbol of the series makes it pretty obvious even before you crack the spine.)  I’m already halfway through the second in the series – on audiobook again – and Percy and pals are making my commutes so much more fun.

Most of May, I thought, was pretty slow on the book front.  But looking back, I’ve done some good reading – even despite some long workdays and some weekends given over to entertaining this month.  In addition to these, I’ve been working my way through Villette for the #villettealong, but as of May 31st I hadn’t finished it, so it will appear in my June round-up.  The beginning of June looks much the same as the month of May – lots of work hanging over my head, so reading time is at a premium.  But once I get past this week, I think things will quiet down for awhile, and I’m anticipating some good, relaxing bookish afternoons ahead.  I have a big library stack to get through, so I’ll need them.

by

#Villettealong: Volume III

Villette (Source)

“Lucy, I wonder if anybody will ever comprehend you altogether?” asks Paulina in Volume III of Villette.  Indeed, for most of her acquaintances, Lucy is content to remain an enigma.  But even an enigma needs some lovin’ – and that’s the lesson of Volume III.

The Story

By now, Lucy has realized what she probably knew all along: she and Dr. John are not meant to be.  While he has shed his first, less fortunate infatuation, Dr. John has found a new angel to idolize, and Lucy finds it within herself to approve of his choice.  Meanwhile, Lucy is undergoing a love metamorphosis of her own, finding herself more and more attracted to M. Paul.  Where he once put her off with his appearance, now she finds him pleasant to look at.  Where she once was irritated, dismayed, or upset by his irritable mood swings, now she finds him ready to be soothed and consoled.  She grows to appreciate his intellect and to overlook his possessive, imperious side.  But alas – forces outside the two of them see that Lucy and M. Paul are growing closer, and deem any kind of match completely unsuitable, because Lucy is a Protestant (and vocal about it, too).  M. Paul, guided by his teacher, Pere Silas, first attempts to convert Lucy to Catholicism.  When she refuses to go along with him, M. Paul must decide whether to accept Lucy as she is – reforms and all.  And even if he so decides, what of the “three-headed Basilisk” that wants to keep them apart?

Concluding Thoughts

Lucy never gives us a peek into her past; there is no explanation given for how she came to develop the character that stands before the reader, coolly setting forth events, throughout Villette.  Nor, irascible as she is, will she humor us with any kind of closure about the future.  Lucy demands that the reader fill in the blanks about both her past and her future.  While most of the sub-plots are neatly wrapped up for the reader, Lucy makes us work for resolution to the main story.

I liked Volume III the best out of the three volumes.  Perhaps it was because I had fallen back into a rhythm with Charlotte Bronte’s prose – Jane Eyre is my favorite book, it’s true, but it’d been awhile since I’d last read it – and found Lucy’s voice more readable.  Then, it was in Volume III that I recognized more Bronte style in the prose and in the plot: a heroine determined to be independent but to welcome love should it come her way; a leading man who grows on the reader as slowly as he grows on the protagonist; lots of weather, too.  No one does the old-grouch-with-a-heart-of-gold bit as well as Charlotte.

Overall Impressions

Obviously, I was going to compare Villette to Jane Eyre and… I’ve got to say… while I enjoyed Villette immensely, Jane Eyre still holds the prime place in my bookworm’s heart.  I think, however, that Jane and Lucy would have gotten along famously.  Both forced to make their own ways in the world, both not much to look at but with deep wells of emotion beneath their calm exteriors.  And both would agree on what, I think, is the central concern of each of their stories, articulated so beautifully by Lucy:

The love born of beauty was not mine: I had nothing in common with it: I could not dare to meddle with it, but another love, venturing diffidently into life after long acquaintance, furnace-tried by pain, stamped by constancy, consolidated by affection’s pure and durable alloy, submitted by intellect to intellect’s own tests, and finally wrought up, by his own process, to his own unflawed completeness, this Love that laughed at Passion, his fast frenzies and his hot and hurried extinction, in this Love I had a vested interest; and for whatever tended either to its culture or its destruction I could not view impassibly.

Thank you, Beth, for hosting this read-along and giving me the excuse to finally pick up a book I’ve long meant to read.   Everybody else: if my spoilery posts didn’t completely give things away and put you off (a thousand sorries), you can buy the book here (not an affiliate link) or from your local indie bookstore.