At the finish line...

As we have finished with the month of May, so have we finished with the Book Binge. I did not read many books this month, but was okay with the amount anyway.

My books and ratings were:

1. The Red and the Black - Stendhal 4/5
2. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 4/5
3. The Virgin in the Ice - Ellis Peters (reread)
4. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson (reread)
And working on 5. The Sanctuary Sparrow - Ellis Peters

Also finished is the Spring Reading Challenge!

My plan for this challenge was to read 15 books during the months of March, April, and May and while I didn't reach my goal, I got pretty close. I'm in the middle of book 14 and will finish it hopefully tomorrow.

My books and ratings were:

1. The Saffron Kitchen - Yasmin Crowther 3/5
2. St. Peter's Fair - Ellis Peters (reread)
3. Dealing With Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede (reread)
4. Cast Two Shadows - Ann Rinaldi (reread)
5. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 4/5
6. The Leper of St. Giles - Ellis Peters (reread)
7. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard - Kiran Desai 2/5
8. The Last Silk Dress - Ann Rinaldi (reread)
9. The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera 5/5
10. The Red and the Black - Stendhal 4/5
11. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 4/5
12. The Virgin in the Ice - Ellis Peters (reread)
13. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson (reread)

And last of all, finished with the Heart of a Child Challenge!

For this challenge we had to reread some of our favorite books from our childhood.

My books were:

1. Dealing With Dragons - Patricia. C. Wrede
2. The Last Silk Dress - Ann Rinaldi
3. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Wow. A lot of wrap ups!

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

treasure island
robert louis stevenson
259 pages
c. 1883
completed 5/28/2008

*may contain sploilers*

This is my favorite book in the whole world. I probably read it for the first time before the age of 10. I think I probably haven't read it in a few years, but I read it just now for the Heart of a Child Challenge (see sidebar). And I loved it just the same as when I read it the first time about 13 years ago.

The story is intriguing the whole time. You always wonder what's coming next. Who is the Captain really? What is it that Black Dog and Blind Pew are after? Is Long John Silver, the pleasant and helpful ship's cook the same one legged man that Billy Bones was so afraid of? Is Dick in the beginning and Dick in the end the same person? Why would the doctor give up the stockade?

This is just one of those simple, great adventure stories. The adventure never ends. Sure, most of the characters are not very well rounded (except maybe Long John Silver), but you still care for them. Even one or two of the pirates (for some reason I have a special place in my heart for Dick, the young pirate who was so in awe of Long John. And I try to believe he didn't die of his fever when left on the island).

I don't know. I could talk about this book forever, but I'll just leave it at this. It gets the job done.

5/5

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

wuthering heights
emily bronte
c. 1847
247 pages
completed 5/14/08

*may contain spoilers*

Read for both the Decades Challenge and the 1% Challenge (see sidebar), mostly because I'm surprised I haven't read this before. This is one of those books I feel I should have read long ago, but somehow missed.

Probably about halfway through the book I started writing down some thoughts, mostly about the characters. Basically my main thought was 'I really hate everyone in this story.' I hated Heathcliff and Catherine. I thought they were the most awful, hateful people. I was not at all sorry for the pain and torment they put each other through. I did not care at all for their love for each other. I almost feel you can't classify it as love, seeing the torture they inflicted on each other. It nothing more than obsession.

For all the other characters, my opinions of them changed all the time, except for I think Joseph and Mr. Lockwood. I couldn't stand Joseph, and I liked Mr. Lockwood, though to be fair he didn't do much. Edgar and Isabella I started out detesting for their weakness, but in the end they grew on me. The same with Hindley and Hareton. Their boorishness made them unlikable, but occasionally their actions showed a softer side of them. With Linton, though I felt sorry for him because of his poor health and was heartbroken when he was taken from Edgar and had to be delivered to Heathcliff, it was hard to remember this pity when everything he did was out of selfishness, fear for his self, and self pity.

I was appalled through most of this book at Heathcliff's actions. His cruelty was despicable. I've read many reviewers write that his unending love for Catherine should redeem him in the readers eyes, but I saw nothing redeemable or admirable in their love for each other. He was scorned by her and he took his revenge out on everyone else around him.

This was not what I expected coming into this book. I knew it was a love story between Heathcliff and Catherine, but I didn't realize that their love would be match by their hatred. This story just held you because you felt so terrible for these other decent people (Edgar, Isabella, Cathy, Nelly, even Linton and Hareton) and you just had to know what other torture would be inflicted on that at Heathcliff's mercy.

4/5

The Red and the Black - Stendhal

the red and the black

stendhal
c.1830
485 pages
completed 5/7/08

*may contain spoilers*

I am pretty sure I liked this book.

I was never sure of Julien's character. I had trouble deciding if I liked him or not. I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to like him. There were times when he was super shy and bumbling and terrified of everything, or where he was so passionate and completely in awe of someone he respected. But there were other times when he was so selfish, so arrogant, and full of so much self love and self pity. Stendhal kept referring to him as 'our hero' so I think I should like him, but I don't know.

I was never sure if he was actually in love with Madame de Renal or Mademoiselle de la Mole or just obsessed with the idea of possessing their love, the love of those in a superior class. I felt bad for both women. I didn't really like either of them, I thought they were too weak and petty and small minded, but I did feel for them. They had such passion for this man and were risking so much for his love and he could really take it or leave it. He loved them when he wanted to, not constantly.

His hypocrisy irritated me. He held the upper class with such disdain, as I think most peasant like him did in those days, yet he so much wanted to be a part of them.

I think there is probably a lot of this book that I didn't get, especially some of the French politics and Julien's psychological structure. As for the story itself, I enjoyed it.

4/5

The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera

the whale rider
witi ihimaera
c. 1988
150 pages

*may contain spoilers*

This was my "Native People's" choice for the Expanding Horizons Challenge (see sidebar). Being from the US and living in an area of the country where there is a heavy Native American population, I decided to read something about a different Native people, the Maori's of New Zealand. I know very little about their culture and history and so it was fun to learn about something new.

I had seen the movie of this book a few years ago. I remember liking it a lot, but I didn't remember too much about the story.

I loved that the whales had a voice and characters. They had their own thoughts and feelings. The author's voice, how he brought the legend of Paikia to life was very well done, showing us the parallels between then and now.

I also thought the author's voice was interesting. It wasn't just an omniscient speaker, it was a character, Uncle Rawiri. Though I thought it was interesting that he wasn't an important character, just someone who was there and witnessed what happened.

This was a beautiful little story. I want to go watch the movie now.

5/5

The Last Silk Dress - Ann Rinaldi

the last silk dress

ann rinaldi
c. 1988
325 pages


*may contain spoilers*

This was my second book for the Heart of a Child Challenge (see sidebar). I read this book for the first time when I was probably in fourth or fifth grade. And I loved it. My aunt had given me two other Ann Rinaldi books before I read this one, but for some reason I couldn't seem to get into them. It was until I read this one that I discovered how much I loved historical fiction and Ann Rinaldi. I eventually went back and read the other two and loved them. I am still collecting Ann Rinaldi's books. I know they are YA books, but it's not fair that just because I'm grown I can't read and love the books she wrote after my time.

It's probably been years since I read The Last Silk Dress. There were events that occurred that I didn't remember, so even though I knew the basic story and what would eventually happen there were still some surprises for me.

One thing I noticed this time around, however, was that I like Susan less now. Before I thought she was strong and high spirited, and I still think that, but I think now that she's more of a typical Southern Belle then she'd like to admit.

It's hard to rate something that you've been reading and loved for years, something that's a part of your childhood.

5/5

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard - Kiran Desai

hullabaloo in the guava orchard
kiran desai
c. 1998
224 pages

*contains possible spoilers*

This book was my Indian choice for the Expanding Horizons Challenge (see sidebar). Ok, I really wanted to like this book. Mostly because I loved the title. It was quirky! People don't use the word "hullabaloo" enough. Unfortunately, that was basically all I liked about this book.

I'm not even kidding, this book is not even 250 pages and it took me a week and a half of reading basically an hour and a half a day. I just didn't like any of the characters. None of them were sympathetic. Everyone was lazy and self centered. I was just so irritated with everyone!

Also, I thought the writing style was very childish. I felt that this voice and style of writing would not even be found in a YA novel, but in something written for advanced elementary school children. I consider myself to be an intelligent person and so I would expect what I read to think of me as such.

2/5

Time for the old switcheroo...

I really like to do things in order. I like to write down a set list of things I need to do and check them off one by one as I get to them on the list. Somehow I've gotten a little behind in my Expanding Horizons Challenge (see sidebar) and so in order to make sure I finish the last two before the end of this month, I had to bump them up on my "In Line to be Read" list. And so now my Spring Reading List (see sidebar) is a little out of order. Boo.

To spring forward...

Spring is upon us! March is here and outdoor life is beginning again. And so is the Spring Reading Challenge!


The rules are simple. Just make a list of the books you plan to read during the months of March, April, and May and start reading.

My list will be:
1. The Saffron Kitchen - Yasmin Crowther (which I'm already halfway through reading)
2. St. Peter's Fair - Ellis Peters
3. Dealing With Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede
4. Cast Two Shadows - Ann Rinaldi
5. Love in a Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
6. The Leper of St. Giles - Ellis Peters
7. The Red and the Black - Stendhal
8. The Last Silk Dress - Ann Rinaldi
9. The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera
10. The Virign in the Ice - Ellis Peters
11. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
12. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard - Kiran Desai
13. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
14. The Sanctuary Sparrow - Ellis Peters
15. Madame Bovary - Gustav Flaubert

15 books, that's 5 books a month. Slightly ambitious for me, but isn't that part of what makes something a challenge? Many, if not most, of these are books being read for other challenges, but it's kind of nice to map it out so clearly.