"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

I started a new job about a year ago and found myself among a group of women with very different literary tastes. I was so excited to find that one of them appreciates classics and "old literature" as much as I do - she and I have spent hours talking about books like Dracula and authors like Charles Dickens. Another coworker is slightly obsessed with all things Harry Potter. A literary soul sister for me there! A third coworker has very different literary taste than I do. Her all-time favorite book (according to her) is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. For the last year, she has told me repeatedly how wonderful it is - sad, but wonderful - and how inspired she is by Walls, her life, and the way she's risen above the trials of her childhood.

I won't deny it. I have a rebellious streak in me and whenever anyone - and I mean anyone - tells me that I have to read a certain novel or I have to watch a certain movie because it is just that good . . . I resist. The independent streak is also a bit of a prideful streak that has, somewhere along the line, convinced me that popular opinion does not necessarily suggest good opinion. So until someone convinces me that their opinion is actually good, I tend to assume otherwise. I trust my coworker's opinion and love her dearly, but I resisted picking up a copy of The Glass Castle for all these months simply because it was so strongly recommended. And maybe also because when I gave this same coworker my copies of The Middle Place and Shattered Silence to read (because of course I have great taste when it comes to literature!), she admitted that The Middle Place didn't really appeal to her. A clear sign that our taste in books is vastly different.

Anyway. I finally finished The Glass Castle this afternoon. And did I enjoy it? Yes and no. Jeannette Walls has a unique story and her childhood was as strange and difficult as any I can imagine experiencing. But I still didn't love the book. Memoirs are one of my favorite genres, but this one dragged a little. It's not a long book, so I still got through it fairly quickly, but I was anxious for it to end. Or maybe just anxious to find out how Walls finally rose above the trials of her youth to become a successful adult. I find it especially interesting that Walls rarely, if ever, expresses genuine love for another human being. It makes me wonder if she really has hardened herself to love and affection or if it is only her writing style that makes her seem a bit cold. I am constantly looking for warmth in the characters I read and in Walls, that warmth is lacking. Regardless, her experiences make me appreciate the warmth and comfort of my own life. Reading about the hardships of others always makes me appreciate my childhood, my family, and the little blessings that I normally take for granted.

I am glad I finally took my friend's suggestion and read this book. If you're thinking of reading it, I won't tell you not to. I'll just tell you that you should really read The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan next. Or something even more light-hearted. Like a Calvin and Hobbes comic book perhaps. I think I have one nearby - that's where I'll be for the next hour or two.

"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

I wanted a quick read from my list and the movie "Stardust" is one of my all-time-favorites, so I decided that the book should be just the quick literary fix I was looking for.

After finishing the book, I had a long talk with my dad about it. He had recommended that I read The Graveyard Book, also by Neil Gaiman, so I figured he'd probably read Stardust, too. The agreement we came to is that the novel is fun, magical, and enjoyable without question. And . . . that the movie took this short little gem of a novel and expanded on it to make something even better.

I almost wish I had read the book first. Almost. Because the Robert De Niro character in the movie is not found in the book and he is by far my favorite. But maybe if I had read the book first, I wouldn't love Captain Shakespeare as much - who knows. Either way, I did see the movie first, so my expectations about the book were slightly skewed.

If you haven't seen or read either, I have no idea which one to recommend first. They are both wonderful. The movie, if you can believe it, is a bit more innocent. Seems like Hollywood would take the less-than-innocent parts of the book and expand on those, but it actually improved on them in many, many ways. I think both choices are excellent and I'd like to high-five Neil Gaiman for creating a story so imaginative and wonderful that it could be expanded upon! That is not always the case. But Gaiman does it masterfully! I need to finish The Graveyard Book now - before someone makes a movie out of it.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas

I finished! I finally, finally finished!!! It might be a miracle. I almost couldn't believe it when I ran out of pages. And the first thing I had to do was call my sister because this is one of her all-time-favorite books. Her first question was, "Did you love it?!"

The answer is . . . well . . . no. I didn't love it. But I did immensely enjoy the second half. The first half was so long and boring that I almost stopped reading, determined never to go back. However, the I-can't-leave-a-book-unfinished side of me resisted that temptation and started again a few months later. Confession: I may have read the first half in its unabridged form and the second half abridged. But that's ok. That may have been what it took to get me through. To be honest, though, I'm not 100% sure what I read. I read both halves on digital readers, but not on the same digital reader, so the editions were different. I didn't have the energy to go back and find the exact copy I'd been reading before and regardless, I still finished.

My greatest praise for this novel is that the ending is truly, truly satisfying. Having seen the movie many times, but knowing that the book was extremely different, there was still a part of me that was waiting for that movie moment to fall onto my page. It never did. The screenwriter of the movie took the bare bones of the novel and created something almost entirely new. But Alexandre Dumas created something better, something more realistic, something that only true adventure stories can give.

"The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara

 I am very unsure of how to review this book. I did not enjoy it, which is why it took me pretty much all of 2013 to finish it (plus a little of 2014). I struggled through and only found myself truly captivated in the last four chapters or so. However, I am glad I read it because in some way, I feel like those few chapters made the rest of the book worth struggling through.                                                                                                                             I have been meaning to read this for almost as long as I can remember because it's a novel that has always been on my mother's shelf. The movie "Gettysburg" is based on this book and having seen the movie, it was kind of fun to read and see the movie in my mind during certain parts. It's almost word-for-word. Because of that, I think the novel is actually a better screenplay. The writing is very choppy and Shaara's style is very fragmented. Most of all, I don't like that he gives personalities to actual characters from history. Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres, but in my opinion, Shaara took it a little too far. The research he did and the accuracy of his re-telling of the events at Gettysburg are, unarguably, phenomenal. I just don't like the characterization because no one can really know what Robert E. Lee was like or what Joshua Chamberlain was thinking during the attack at Little Round Top. A little characterization is necessary, of course, but The Killer Angels takes it to a whole new level.

After having said all of that, I will repeat myself. I'm glad I read it. If nothing else, reading this novel gave me a better appreciation for what the men who fought at Gettysburg must have experienced and what they must have witnessed in just a few short days. I can't imagine living through that horror and reading about it made me want to visit those historical sites again. More than anything, I want to stand on Cemetery Ridge and look out across those fields. The Killer Angels may not have been the best way to learn about the bloodiest battle in our nation's history, but regardless, I learned. And now have the desire to learn more and see more. I love America and I am grateful that we are a nation not divided into North and South. We have those men to thank for it!

2014 Reading List

2014 Reading List:

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (3/30/14)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (4/2/14)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (7/18/14)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (4/16/14)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (4/-/14)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (5/27/14)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (10/-/14)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (12/-/14)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (5/23/14)

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
Stardust by Neil Gaiman (3/20/14)

The Story of My Life by Hellen Keller

Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
Something by John Grisham (haven't picked one, but I've found that any Grisham novel is a pretty good choice)

Yes, I do realize that Sherlock Holmes alone could take me the entire year to read, but I'll do my best to get through as many of the stories as possible. I also realize that listing the entire Harry Potter series for this year might be considered lazy since I've read all of them once or twice or three times before. But it's been a couple of years since I last read them, so guess what - it's time for a repeat! I'll also be finishing the books I didn't get to in 2013. So the seemingly shorter list for this year might be just as challenging as last year's, after all!

2013 in Review

Well, I almost made it through the entire list for 2013! The only ones I missed? 

The 5000 Year Leap

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Divine Comedy

Jesus the Christ

The Killer Angels

The Majesty of God's Law

Orson Hyde

19 out of 26 isn't  too bad! Especially considering that I've been pregnant for half the year and working harder than ever before. I added in a few extras (or a bunch of extras) and started reading four of the unfinished books, too. Those will be my first to finish in 2014 and hopefully I can get to the other three, as well. I think my only failure is that I still haven't read my grandma's book, Orson Hyde! It needs to be on my nightstand in 2014! Maybe then I'll finally quit slacking. 

My favorites for the year? Dracula is definitely at the top. Along with The Book Thief and Mere Christianity. 

My least favorites? A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Period. How surprising that a Twain novel was my worst read for the year, but I guess reading, like life, is as full of surprises as anything else.

Here's to another great year of reading!

2014, here we come!

"East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

I am not a John Steinbeck fan. I have read several of his books and have always thought they were overrated. My sister, however, recommended East of Eden for my 2013 reading list. She assured me that she was pleasantly surprised by how different this novel is from Steinbeck's other works and thought I would feel the same way.

She was right. As always. East of Eden surprised me. Its characters are better than I expected and the storyline kept me interested, with the exception of a few inevitably boring parts, from start to finish. Lee is a new favorite character and my opinion of Steinbeck as an author has been flipped on its head. Does this make me want to go out and read or re-read the rest of his novels? No. But I am glad I read this one.

May I share my favorite passage from the novel? The end of Chapter 34, one of the rhetorical sections of the novel, reads:

"We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is."

How very true. And the novel addresses this very idea on so many levels. Lee is all virtue. Kate is all vice. But even within two completely opposite characters, Steinbeck reveals some vice in one and some virtue in the other. He does it well. And I'm not disappointed in my last 2013 book. I didn't finish the list, but I got pretty close! Thanks to my sweet husband, who bought me a Nook for Christmas, I just might have an easier time getting through the rest of the list and hopefully making it through my new (YAY!) list for 2014! Making books more readily accessible is a beautiful thing. Thanks, hubby!

"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Re-reading Little Women was a wonderful experience for me. The movie has always been one of my favorites and I read the book when I was no older than 12, but after all these years it was fun to go back and read it again.

My confession: I still prefer the movie and always will. But combined with the book, there is so much more depth to the characters that I can't help but love both. And hope that if I have little girls someday, they'll love both versions of the story as much as I do.

For years, my own mother has referred to me as "her Jo" when Little Women comes up in conversation. Jo is one of my literary heroines and I really do want to be just like her. The novel is simple, beautiful, and charming in so many ways, but dear Jo is always a little rough around the edges. I think that's what I love about her. She isn't perfect, but she's so real and so many of the things she feels are very similar to my own feelings. Absolute devotion to family, a craving for books, and a deep desire to write something meaningful. She is lovely, isn't she?

The thing I loved the most about reading the novel again was how much it made me laugh. Especially when Laurie is involved. I listened to most of it on CD in my car and laughed out loud at so many different spots. And now that I'm done, I guarantee that I'll be watching the movie again within the week. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, I recommend both. And after you're done, I'd like to know what you think of the ending. Are you forever torn, like I am, about Jo's fate? Or do you think it's just right?

"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain

If you're a great Mark Twain fan, like I am, but looking for one book of his that is worth skipping . . . this is it.

It's strange to admit how bored I was reading this book. I absolutely love Mark Twain and am always amazed by his genius on the page, but I guess no author can have every piece be great. And now I know that Twain is no exception. Halfway through I debated putting it down and never going back, but decided I'd finish even if the only way to do that was by listening to the audio version while I was doing other things.

It took a few days but without the audio version I don't know if I ever would have made it through. I do have to say, though, that my sweet husband was listening to something else on his headphones close by and surprised me by saying, "How's the book?" I told him how boring it was and he said, "The writing is beautiful, though." Did I marry the perfect man for me or what?!

And he's right. The writing is beautiful and Twain does not disappoint in that regard. And the whole concept of the story is admittedly genius, as well. Regardless, it will not be added to any of my "To Re-Read" lists. My copy will go lovingly back on the shelf and maybe someday I'll have a kid with a sense of adventure who won't mind the Connecticut Yankee's ramblings quite as much as I did.

"The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis never fails. This was a quick and easy ready and I really enjoyed it. For some reason I was expecting something a little more like The Divine Comedy but was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful, profound, and inspiring The Great Divorce was.

This very short book is presented as one man's dream of Heaven and Hell and the great chasm between the two. Most of the book is observations of others and how they make their choice concerning where they will spend the eternities. I loved how honest and full-of-truth everything was . . . but also how fanciful and imaginative. My favorite thing is Lewis's emphasis on choice.

We have all been given the opportunity to live this life and to choose how we will live it. But I truly believe that this book captures another profound reality - we will all have the opportunity to choose how we live in the next life, as well.

Apparently C.S. Lewis wrote over 30 books? I want to read them all. Try this one if you need something super light and easy. It didn't take me more than a couple of hours and they were hours very well spent!