The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

the castle of otranto
horace walpole
c. 1764
128 pages

I read this book as one of the two to be used for my RIP Challenge. I chose this book as it is said to be the first of the gothic fiction genre. I read this one first because it was considerably shorter. I am proud to say I completed my challenge, though I was definitley not a huge fan of this book. Maybe the genre itself I could get more into, but this one in particular just didn't do it for me.

The story itself is fairly simple. And short. Guy dies and in order to save the family line his evil father decides to put aside his own wife and marry his son's bride. However a lot of supernatural stuff stands in the way: spirits, a giant, a mysterious peasant, etc. So, what I didn't like was that at the end you find out that really this guy is mostly evil because his grandfather stole this castle from somebody. This guy didn't steal anything, his grandfather did.

The ending came about pretty aprubtly. I hate that. If all this stuff has been happening, you shouldn't take a page and a half to explain and end the story.

2/5

Wise Children - Angela Carter

wise children
angela carter
c. 1991
240 pages


This book is number 96 on the London Observer's "100 Greatest Novels" list, and more than likely, had it not been for me finding that list and deciding that I was going to read them all, I probably would never have heard of this books, much less have read it. And so I would like to say, "Thank you, London Observer!"

I was greatly surprised and delighted by the book. It is so much different from the things I normally read. As we have pretty firmly established, I am a historical fiction girl, and by that we generally mean British history around the time of Henry the VIII or American History around the time of the American Revolution. And this, instead, is Britain and a small bit of America in the 20th century revolving around the theater.

The characters of Nora and Dora Chance are hilarious. They are funny and sad, smart and frivolous, and Dora tells the story of their lives so colorfully and shamelessly. I absolutely loved them, and definitely plan on looking into reading more by Angela Carter.

This book did bring to a head a question I have started to develop after reading other books, generally by British authors, but...do the British have a different idea of what constitutes incest? Is it okay for people to...do stuff with their aunts and uncles? Hmmm...maybe this is a question for my sister's British boyfriend.

5/5

Wicked - Gregory Maguire

Wicked

Gregory Maguire

c. 1996

450 pages





I wanted to like this book so much. I really did. I’ve read other things by Gregory Maguire (and by other things I mean ONE other thing, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I believe I enjoyed, if I remember correctly) and have others I would like to read (Mirror, Mirror and Lost), but I just did not like this book. I read it, once again, mostly because Kim gave it to me. As a six month anniversary present, no less. We were going to go see the play during our fall break from AmeriCorps, but never got around to it.

Anyway, back to the book. I think maybe there was just too much going on, too much politics and terrorism for me to keep a real grasp on what was happening. And then I would get bored and skim over passages and then I would be even more confused.

Not to say the book was completely awful. Others may revel in the political themes. I for one enjoyed when they were at Shiz and even some whan Elphaba was in the Emerald City. I do have to say, and this will be a SPOILER for any who have not read this, I missed the fact the Fiyero died. I really did. I know that he went bak to Elphaba’s apartment and he was attacked, but it totally did not register for a while that he had died. I really just thought he’d gotten beat up until I was talking to my sister and she said he died. And event then I didn’t believe her because she never finished the book. And they kept talking about the mystery of his death, that his body wasn’t found and so it wasn’t until the very end of the book that I finally accepted that eh was dead. I was right there with Elphaba believing he was coming to her in the form of the Scarecrow. And was probably just as dismayed when I finally had to accept that he wasn’t.

2/5

It is always possible to stretch oneself...

Due to the fact that Monday is October 1, I have decided to try something new. I am not normally one to revel in Halloween and all its mysteries. Last year, for example, practically the whole corps at my NCCC campus turned up at the RendezVous in full costume for a night of ridiculous drunken fun. I was there, no doubt. In fact, two of my housemates and I were the first ones there. However, the three of us point blank refused to dress up. This year I think dressing up may be fun and just might happen (though what I'll be I haven't yet decided). Another something I have decided is I'm going to try something new with reading. Wow, that sounds super lame. As Kim was nice enough to point out to me last night. I'd had a really good day, too, and she ruined it by calling me lame. Anyway, being as it is Halloween time and I read something of this sort on someone else's book blog, I have decided to have my own personal RIP (readers imbibing peril) Challenge. (You can find the real RIP Challenge here at Stainless Steel Droppings). For myself, all I want is to be able to read two horror books by Halloween. This really does not sound like much, but for me, one who is really not a fan of the horror genre in general, this is quite a challenge for me. Especially since that only gives me a month and I don't read very fast. My two books will be: 1. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury 2. The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole Despite a few apprehensions and Kim calling me lame, I'm actually quite excited!

Sex With the Queen - Eleanor Herman

Sex With the Queen
Eleanor Herman
c. 2006
322 pages

Still with the history. Don't make fun. I picked this book up a Barnes and Nobles just as something to skim for a bit while waiting for Cynthia to finish browsing and ended up buying it instead. I had seen Elenor Herman’s first book on this sort of subject, Sex With Kings, and had thought of skimming it before, though never had actually picked it up. Now I’m not so sure I actually will.

Not to say that this was an uninteresting book. Basically it’s just a book thorugh history about Queens and sex, whether with their husbands or with secret lovers. Some of the accounts were of people I’d never heard of, generally in countries such as parts of Scandanavia or Eastern Europe. There was a lot of fairly inside information. And a lot was incredibly interesting, delving this far into the personal lives of these figures. My main complaint with the book is this: A lot of the accounts were somewhat similar and so there were times I could easily get bored. Princess has to marry someone super unfortunate, she falls in love with a new hot guy, they start getting down and dirty, and so he’s eventually either murdered or executed. One somewhat selfish issue I found by the end of this book was I was tired of deciding I liked someone only to have them killed. Though this is a problem one will always find when reading anything, especially history.

And one last thing, I find it is interesting to note that there are many accounts throughout history of kings being homosexual. And not just the creepy ones, something I think is often portrayed. For instance, someone as manly as King Richard the Lionheart of England was supposedly doing King Phillip the Fair of France back before the Crusades. And I believe the book Sex With Kings is peppered with these homosexual accounts. However, in Sex With the Queen, there is only one report of any royal lesbian action. This is not really a complaint, for who can complain because a history books lacks mention of something that didn’t happen, just something interesting I observed.

4/5

A prospect of purchase...

I think I deserve a present. I am trying to come up with some kind of reason as to why I deserve this present...something along the lines of, "it's been a really hard year in AmeriCorps this year," is all I can come up with at this point. At any rate, I have decided my present is going to be the purchase of two new books, one in particular that has been quite difficult to find. I have looked at just about every Barnes and Nobles I have come across, but I have just been completely unable to find a copy of The Alexiad by Anna Comna. The only place I can find it it off amazon.com. I think I have mentioned before my obsession with book lists. There are two main book lists that I am attempting to read. One is the complete title list of all Penguin classics (Penguin being the publishing company) and the other is the London Observer's 100 greatest novels list. I have not completed anything off these lists yet this year (though I am trying with Benjamin Constant's Adolphe), and so both of my new books will be off these lists. I am reading them in order, Penguin in alphabetical by title, and the Observer in countdown fashion. Eventually I will get to the greatest novel of all time. And so. In 3-5 business days I will be the proud owner of The Alexiad by Anna Comna and Angela Carter's Wise Children. This prospect makes me happy.

A Respectable Trade - Phillippa Gregory

a respectable trade
philippa gregory
c. 1992

488 pages




Was I in any way kidding when I said most of the books I read are historical fiction? Apparently not.

This is not the first novel I've read by Philippa Gregory, in fact I have now read four and some. Before this I have completed The Other Bolyne Girl, The Queen's Fool, and The Constant Princess, as well as attempting The Wise Woman and Wideacre, neither of which I enjoyed resulting in me not completing them. I do think I should try The Wise Woman again, however.

It think that out of the four I've read this was my least favorite. Perhaps it was the lack of courtly drama, but it just did not move for me the way the others did. I couldn't get too invested in any of the characters. I liked Francis and Mehuru okay, but was not enthralled with what happened to them.

It was interestig listening to Sarah's hysterics. I don't think you often hear people claiming that they are better suited for handling money and business because they were born lower than that with whom they are arguing. I also was intrigued since this is an area of history I know very little about. Growing up in the US I am fairly well versed in the slave trade that climaxed at the civil war, but I know extremely little about the British point of view, how slavery was used and eventually abolished in Britain and on the West Indies plantations.

The book was decent. I do not entirely understand how Mehuru grew to love Francis, but really who can explain love. I also though the ending came about real quick. Things were moving along slowly, then all of a sudden Francis was pregnant, all of a sudden shit hit the fan with Josiah and the Hot Springs, and then BOOP! Francis was dead.

3/5

It was a small matter of discouragement...

Things seem to be looking up slightly. I have been able to read a little more. Possibly because I am stuck at Camp Hope(less) in Violet, LA every weekend instead of out and about with my girl like the last two rounds. Really, whose idea was it to put her in Pittsburgh? I am still trying to set up this blog quite the way I want it to be. As always I am having some difficulties. Mostly I'm not sure how many lists I should add. I love lists. I am, in many ways, unfortunate. I am discouraged however. I am in the business of volunteering. One does not aquire much money out of this. And because I have to travel so much I really can't utilize local libraries and the like. And so I am forced to spend the little money I have. Or sit in Barnes and Nobles for hours reading books in rediculous installments.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling

harry potter and the deathly hallows
jk rowling
c. 2007
784 pages






Ok, I will be for real real and not for play play and admit that not only do I absolutely love Harry Potter, but I was so totally at Barnes and Nobles at midnight getting my book. I still have my little paper bracelet on my wrist saying I preordered my book, though I suppose that's kind of gross. I did not in any way want to put that book down until I finished it. Sunday afternoon I was done, and crying. In a small attempt to save a little of my dignity, I want all to know that I did NOT dress up for the event.

There's so much that I could say on the subject of the last Harry Potter book. First let me say that I hope no one who has not finished it is reading this as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. For the Harry Potter books in general, I absolutely love how much attention to detail there is. There's no way any of these books could be ones where you just skim over some of the descriptions and rely on the conversation to move the story along. Otherwise you miss things. Important things. Things that don't show until a few books later. For example the flippant way Sirius Black was introduced in the very first chapter of the very first book: Hagrid mentioning he had borrowed his flying motorcycle. Sirius did not become an actual character until two books later.

For this book in particular, I am torn in two ways. I feel that it what was told in the story was imperative. There was no way around it. However, I did miss the familiarity of the school year and the simple concerns of adolescents paralleling the overwhelming fear of a much bigger evil.

I have heard many people complain that there was no full turn around for the Malfoys, that there was no real act of redemtion. Yes, Narcissa pronounced Harry dead when she knew he wasn't, but that was in no way an act of repentance for the evil she and her family had been involved in, it was an act of concern for nothing other than the well-being of her son. I think many people felt the Malfoy's should have realized their wrong doings and joined the fight against Voldemort, but I definitely did not see that. They chose the dark side. They believe in what he stood for. A redemtion would make no sense.

There was one small moment that I felt was wrong when I read it, and that was the death of Fred Weasley. I read what was written on the page and thought to myself, "no, she means Percy." It should have been Percy. He had just returned to his family after almost three years of neglect. Yes, part of me wanting it to be Percy and not Fred probably stems from Fred being my favorite characted. I wept. I have never cried while reading a Harry Potter book (or really any book), but when Fred died I couldn't hold it in. And so there may be some bias in my opinion, but the beautiful irony would have been there, Percy's return to his family only to die beside them, fighting what he had for so long refused to believe.

One last problem I had with the book was that I wish we could have seen more of the coping and rebuilding. Though that I suppose would have been anti climactic.

I loved this book. I thought it was an incredibly end to an incredible journey.

5/5

Or Give Me Death - Ann Rinaldi

or give me death
ann rinaldi
240 pages

c. 2004








This book tells the story of Patrick Henry's family and the deteriorating sanity of his wife through the eyes of two of his daughters, Patsy and Ann. The first half of the book is told from Patsy's point of view and the second half from Ann's.

And again I'm reading childrens books. It's possible I need to work on that. I've been reading Ann Rinaldi's books for years, since I was 8 or 9 I believe. Since the time I SHOULD have been reading them. But I loved them so much and so I continue to add to my collection.

I am in many ways a nerd, and have always loved reading and learning about history which is why many, if not most, of the books I read are historical fiction, and this book is no exception. My favorite part of Ann Rinaldi's books are the end. After she's written her story, she writes and author's note where she goes through everything she's written and separates the fact from the fiction so the reader knows what actually happened and what the author has imagined.

I wasn't thrilled when halfway through the book it switched narrators. I kept forgetting and thinking that Patsy was talking which was somewhat annoying, though I imagine my own fault. The story itself was a little slow; quite a bit was spent worrying about who would inherit the "bad blood," though that did lead to quite a bit of character development. I went through the book quickly and for what it was quite enjoyed it.

4/5