Wednesday, October 26, 2011

WWW Wednesday

MizB of Should Be Reading sponsors this weekly event so we can share what we're reading!

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


Currently Reading:

Roots by Alex Haley
Less than 100 pages to go!

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graheme
Reading with my son...

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift


Recently Finished:

Dracula by Bram Stoker
I read this as part of a Read-Along sponsored by Ally of A Literary Odyssey and am glad I finally took the time to read it, particularly in October!


Coming Up Next:

Matched by Ally Condle

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Friday, October 21, 2011

Group Read: Dracula


Allie from A Literary Odyssey is sponsoring a Group Read of Dracula.

This is one of those books I've always meant to read so I was excited to read to especially since I read both Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the first time this year. And reading it in October? Bonus!

It did not disappoint! I was immediately drawn into the story as Dracula invites unwitting Jonathan to his castle and will not let him leave. And that's only the beginning of the fun!

Of all the characters, I especially enjoyed Mina and her strong-willed personality, determination, and devotion to Jonathan. I Liked that the book wasn't all doom and gloom and that everyone wasn't killed in the end.

All in all, I have to say it was an enjoyable read and I would re-read it again in the future!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

WWW Wednesdays


MizB of Should Be Reading sponsors this weekly event so we can share what we're reading!

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


Currently Reading:

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Roots by Alex Haley

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graheme


Recently Finished:

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I read this for 3 challenges: Wordsworth Classics, Celebrate the Author, and 1001 Books You Must Read. It's the story of a handsome young man who has his portrait painted and finds that the portrait ages but he does not. It takes place over many years and he still looks the same age as he was when the portrait was painted. It presents some interesting ideas such as what would you do, how would you act if you knew that you would never age. Also had some tones of Edgar Allan Poe.


Coming Up:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

WWW Wednesdays


MizB of Should Be Reading sponsors this weekly event so we can share what we're reading!

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


There may seem to be a lot because I haven't done this for a few weeks.


Currently Reading:

Roots by Alex Haley
I told you this would take me awhile; I just haven't had a lot of time to read! I have passed the halfway point though!

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This is my October choice for the Celebrate the Author challenge; I thought I should get started on it so that's also cut into my time reading Roots.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
I had a hard time getting into it at first but I am wholeheartedly enjoying this one!


Recently Finished:

Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
I read this for the Memorable Memoirs Challenge. I have been intrigued by this since it came out amid all the great reviews. Not knowing anything about Cleopatra, I was excited to read it and was not disappointed!

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
I read this for the 1001 Books You Must Read Challenge. This definitely ranks right up there with one of the strangest books I have read in awhile. I am glad I listened to it on audio because I think I would have gotten lost in the language if I read it in actual book-form. Having said all that, once I got beyond the strangeness of the language and got into the story, I did enjoy it!

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More Stories by Roald Dahl
I read this with my 9 yo son. It was the last book I read for the Celebrate the Author challenge for the month of September. It was a collection of short stories that varied from a hidden treasure to a man who cheats at cards(I'm oversimplifying). The stories were all good.

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde
I read this for the Celebrate the Author challenge. I was looking through one of those books that is a compilation of "children's literature" from my childhood and found a short story by Oscar Wilde!

Coming Up:

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

The Wind in the Willows by Graheme Greene (with my son)

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Book Review: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit


Bookish Ardour has sponsored The Century Challenge this year. The books selected will be decided by publication year and have to be read in order from the time period chosen.

I've decided to participate at the Decade level which means I read 10 books from one decade.




I rea
d this for my "1975" choice.

From Wikipedia:
Winnie Foster comes from a well-bred, clean, healthy, straight-laced family who keep her locked away behind a four- foot iron fence that surrounds their home. They are the oldest family in the town, and own the surrounding woods. When running away from her confinement and into the woods one morning, she finds a beautiful tree from which a spring of water pours, with a teenage boy, who is almost a young man drinking from it. This discovery leads her to learn of a boy named Jesse Tuck and the rest of his family (Mae Tuck, Angus Tuck, and his brother Miles), who are immortal as a result of drinking from this spring eighty-seven years earlier.

My Thoughts: I have been curious about this book for a long time because my maiden name is Tucker which means my son has also been curious as that is his name! We listened to this on a road trip and it didn;t disappoint! We enjoyed the mystery of how Winnie figures out what the Tuck's family secret is and her delight in discovering that they have figured out how to live forever but then her realization that this may not be a good thing. I think we all take life itself for granted at some point, that we are invincible, but when faced with the option of living forever, is that something we would want? Added to that is the factor that this family was "stuck" if you will, at the age at which they first drank from the spring. An interesting book and very thought-provoking.

Book Review: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier


Bookish Ardour has sponsored The Century Challenge this year. The books selected will be decided by publication year and have to be read in order from the time period chosen.

I've decided to participate at the Decade level which means I read 10 books from one decade.




I read
this for my "1974" choice.

Summary from Wikipedia:

When acting headmaster Brother Leon overextends his ambition by committing the students to sell twice as many boxes of chocolates at twice the price in the annual school chocolate sale, he reaches out to Archie and The Vigils to lend support for the effort. Archie is seduced by the promise of having the headmaster's implicit support for the group, and agrees. As if exulting in the potential of his power, Archie assigns Jerry to refuse to sell any chocolate for ten days. Jerry complies with the group, but then persists in his refusal to sell even after the ten days have passed. Both Brother Leon and The Vigils are incensed by Jerry's resistance, which threatens their ability to control the student body.

Jerry's refusal to take part is seen by many peers as heroic, but at Brother Leon's insistence The Vigils put their full force behind the chocolate sale, and in doing so set Jerry up as a villain to be harassed and bullied. Jerry is haunted by prank calls and his locker and possessions are vandalized. Archie enlists the school bully Emile Janza to brutally attack Jerry, but Jerry maintains his defiance. In a final show of power, Archie and The Vigils concoct a final event for the chocolate sale: a boxing match between Jerry and Emile in which each student chooses which blows will be laid by combatants. The match is halted by Brother Jacques, but not before Jerry is brutally beaten by Emile. Floating in and out of consciousness, Jerry says to his only friend, Goubert, that there was no way to win and that he should have just gone along with what everyone wanted him to do. Though Archie is caught and confronted by Brother Jacques, Brother Leon intervenes on Archie's behalf, implying that the next year Archie's power will be sustained by this new headmaster.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that I struggled with one...maybe it was because I have heard so much about it, that it's a classic, that many high school students have read this; I don't know. But I just didn't get all the hype about it. I get the idea of good vs evil displayed by Jerry defying the school but who's good and who's evil? At some point, I wondered what was the big deal? It's a chocolate sale, for goodness sake. While I liked the idea of someone standing up for what they believe in, doing what they think is right, this book just wasn't for me , I guess. Without giving anything away, the ending had a "Lord of the Flies" feel to it that I wasn't crazy about and it all seemed very rushed at the end like there was a time-limit. Not one of my favorite reads...

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I'm still plugging along with Roots by Alex Haley. Here's my teaser:

"Kunta's reverie was interrupted by a terrible sound. He stopped in his tracks. No, it was impossible! But there was no mistake; it was the baying of hounds."
~from Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, p. 261