New Year. New Me. New Books.

Well, I kind of failed at writing regularly this year. Part of that is due to the fact that I really hate spoilers. Because of that, when I did try to write reviews, I felt like I wasn’t writing anything of substance in order to not give anything away. Then, since I wasn’t writing anything substantial, I didn’t feel like writing at all. So for 2019, I’m going to try a new format. First of all, I may not write about every book I read, focusing instead on the ones I can really dissect and write a significant amount. I’ll also write a short summary at the beginning and then tell whether or not I recommend it for anyone looking for reading ideas but no spoilers. Then I’ll get down to the nitty gritty in the rest of the post. I may also do book and movie comparisons and other similar things that aren’t just straight up reviews. Mainly, my goal is to write much more frequently while also providing better content.

For this post, I’d like to talk about reading resolutions. I’m one of those weird people who LOVES making new year’s resolutions. I don’t usually do those reading challenges where you find a book with a color in the title, etc (though I do have some on my pinterest board if anyone’s interested: https://pin.it/wemzpx2gcb2fpr), since I already have a long “to read” list. Instead, my goal for 2019 is to read at least 52 books (approximately one a week) and to try to broaden my horizons. For me, that means reading something besides fantasy, dystopian, or period romances! Two years ago, I started keeping track of every book I read each month. This started out as a fun way to see how much I actually read, as well as a way to not reread the same series so often (looking at you Harry Potter!). An unintended outcome was that it actually did help me branch out. Seeing everything in a list helped me see patterns and I could say “ok, I’ve been reading lots of fantasy, let’s find a memoir.” I’m not saying I’m now an incredibly well-rounded reader, but it is helping! So without further ado, here’s a list of all the books I read in 2018:

*Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine

*Zero Day, Jan Gangsei

**The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series, Greg Keyes

The Earl’s Betrothal, Karen Tuft

*Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert

*Psych’s Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified, Shawn Spencer

*Beauty and the Clockwork Beast, Nancy Campbell Allen

*Harry Potter series, JK Rowling

The Girls Next Door, Cheri J. Crane

The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

*A Cry in the Night, Mary Higgins Clark

Just Take my Heart, Mary Higgins Clark

A Stranger is Watching, Mary Higgins Clark

*No Place Like Home, Mary Higgins Clark

*The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, Phaedra Patrick

Rise and Shine Benedict Stone, Phaedra Patrick

A Heart Revealed, Josi S. Kilpack

*The Runaway Jury, John Grisham

The Vicar’s Daughter, Josi S. Kilpack

*The Help, Kathryn Stockett

*Ladies of the Manor series, Roseanna M. White

Keturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavitt

**Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

*The Book of Mormon

*Escaping Utopia, Janja Lalich and Karla McLaren

* = books I definitely recommend

** = I did really like the story but they do have strong language and/or sexual themes

So that was 2018! Looking forward to a new year and new books. Happy reading!

Harry Potter and My Soul

As promised (though coming much later than expected), here’s my Harry Potter post. My problem in writing this post was where to start? For me, as ridiculous as this may sound, Harry Potter is just a part of my everyday life. And I know I’m not the only one out there who feels this way. It’s CRAZY how completely this series has ingrained its way into the lives of millions of people throughout the world. Those of us who count ourselves as members of various fandoms usually find a common link as Potterheads. Aside from just being an extremely loveable series, they’re just also genuinely well-written. So, rather than gush on and on about everything I love, I’ll just share my favorite quotes from each series.

Book 1

• There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve - foot mountain troll is one of them.
• It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
• To the well - organised mind, death is but the next great adventure.
• Humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them.

Book 2

• It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Book 3

• You think the dead we have loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?

Book 4

• If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
• No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it. What's comin’ will come, an’ we'll meet it when it does.
• We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief… that we are all facing difficult times…Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.

Book 5

I don’t actually hate this book like many other people do, and certainly not for many of the same reasons. Yes, Harry is an angry teen, but seriously? Look at what he’s dealing with and look at the way he’s being ignored with no explanation by Dumbledore. I’d be angry too. My inability to get through this book is due to the death at the end. That being said, I don’t have any favorite quotes in this book.

Book 6

• Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
• It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.

Book 7

• Those who are best suited for power are those who have never sought it.
• Do not pity the dead. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.
• Of course it's happening inside your head, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

"Whether you come back by page or by the big screen,

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."

--JK Rowling

I Thought I Liked This Book. Turns Out I Don't.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, 817 pages

Two months ago I had been reading a lot of fantasy and decided that I wanted something different. A classic. I remembered that I liked Anna Karenina when I read it years ago but I could only remember the very basic storyline and so decided to read it again. As I started, I had this blog post in the back of my mind. The big question was how to condense an 800+ page book, full of various themes, and written by the famous Leo Tolstoy into one post. I went into it armed with sticky notes to mark passages I wanted to remember for later. I was mentally picking out themes as I went.

A month later, I was done. Not done reading, but done enjoying the whole experience. It would take another month for me to actually finish. So here we go. (Feel free to skip to the end if you want a one paragraph summary of my thoughts.) I feel like I can’t say anything bad about Tolstoy. If I don’t like something it’s obviously because I don’t “get it”. It’s like trying to criticize Shakespeare; you may not like reading it, but he’s a genius and therefore whatever he writes is perfect. So I’m going to throw this thought out there and you can decide for yourself if Tolstoy was less than perfect, or if I just don’t understand him.

The book is titled “Anna Karenina.” I believe titles are important and should reflect the main theme of a book. This one leads me to believe that the focus will be on Anna and how her choices affect her and those around her. My question then is this: Why is so much time spent on Levin and his love of farming? I really don’t want to read endless pages about theories of land development. And while some character development is appreciated, this book is not about him, it’s about Anna. It’s enough for him to mention his love of the country to people and show that he spends a lot of time in the country. Maybe Tolstoy wanted to make a social statement about peasants and landowners. Maybe he wanted to do something similar to Gone With the Wind or The Good Earth and talk about how much the land means to Russians. Either way, he should have just written a whole other book about that theme. Placed in this one, it just dragged out an already long book. The same is true when later, Levin gets involved in politics. Tolstoy should have kept Levin’s interactions with Vronsky which are much more central to the plot, and left out all the details of what each political party believes and how they’ll try to achieve their goals.

Levin’s relationship with Kitty is much more interesting and directly affected by Anna. In the beginning, due to Kitty’s crush on Vronsky, Anna and Vronsky are seen as awkward acquaintances who make Kitty and Levin feel uncomfortable. They are reminders of the past and Kitty and Levin avoid them in order to move on with their lives. As the book goes on though, Kitty and Levin’s marriage grows and strengthens while Anna and Vronsky’s relationship deteriorates. This creates a very interesting contrast to read about.  

*spoilers*

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This habit of the author’s to forget the title character culminates in the last 75ish pages. At this point the book does become exciting for a while as it portrays Anna’s descent into mental instability which eventually leads to her suicide. The chapter ends with her death and you’d assume that the last 50 pages would be about how the rest of the characters are affected by it. But you’d be wrong. Instead we read about a minor character who eventually interacts with Vronsky. Ok, so that was the character’s purpose: to provide an outside view of how Vronsky is dealing with the shock. Unfortunately all we get is one not very interesting page. I’m sorry, but I didn’t suffer through 800 pages for this. Then we move past Vronsky and on to...her husband's reaction? No. In fact we left him about 50 pages ago and never come back to him. Instead we’re back to Levin. And this time his struggle isn’t political or agricultural, it’s religious. Admittedly, the basics (I say basics because once again, his inner monologue lasts way too long) of his struggle and eventual conclusions are touching and thought-provoking. His consideration of and eventual move away from suicide himself also provides a nice contrast to Anna. However, there’s still no mention of Anna even though he’s in close contact with some of her relatives. I wouldn’t mind the world forgetting about Anna and marking her death as unimportant. It creates a tragic ending with a commentary on upper class society. She was a fallen woman and society most likely would have been happier without the awkwardness of her presence in their lives. But I refuse to believe that Vronsky, her husband, and brother and sister-in-law were so unaffected by her death.

Let's be real, I wanted this book to be Keira Knightley level glamorous.

tldr: I really like the actual story of Anna’s affair with Vronsky. Specifically the psychology behind everything: why she left her husband, how her husband reacts, how society reacts, why Vronsky gives up his great bachelor life for her, how the pressure from society affects their relationship, and her eventual descent into madness. I also like the comparisons between Anna and Vronsky’s relationship and Levin and Kitty’s. Everything else (comprising hundreds of pages) is irrelevant and in the end, the title character is forgotten by the reader. Possibly there are condensed editions out there that focus more on the plot I enjoy, though I do worry that shorter means less psychology....anyway...that’s my review. I would recommend skipping the book and maybe trying a film adaptation instead.

Coming soon: Harry Potter!

10 Books That I Mostly Liked

 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, 274 pages

I don't know a single person who's read this book and didn't like it. If you're one of the few who doesn't know the story, it's a retelling of Cinderella with a twist (which you learn in the first few pages so it's not a spoiler)--Ella is cursed to be obedient. Despite being a retelling it feels original with lovable characters including a heroine who has a dry wit I relate to. Excellent for all ages.

Zero Day by Jan Gangsei, 359 pages

This is a young adult thriller based around a terrorist group and the kidnapping of the daughter of the President of the United States. It was very gripping and I didn't want to put it down. I went into this book believing it was a stand alone book and from what I can tell, the author doesn't plan on making a sequel anytime soon. If that's true, then the ending is a not very satisfactory cliff-hanger. Personally I believe there will be a sequel and I still highly recommend reading it.

  The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series by Greg Keyes

This series includes The Briar King (552 pages), The Charnel Prince (518 pages), The Blood Knight (547 pages) and The Born Queen (448 pages). This was an excellent high fantasy series as a whole. The first two books weren't as exciting, though still interesting enough for me to keep reading. By the time I got to the third book though I was hooked and raced through it and the fourth one very quickly. While teens may find the story interesting, be aware that there are themes of sex and rape throughout the series, though never graphic or dwelt on in detail.

The Earl's Betrothal by Karen Tuft, 264 pages

A fairly typical Proper Romance--scandal, forbidden love, a brooding earl. I remember really enjoying it as I read it (it’s a period romance after all), but in the end, kind of forgettable. Not gonna lie, I actually had to look it up to write this review because I couldn’t remember what the story line was....

Eat Pray Love-331

I LOVE this book! It’s one that I like to read yearly because of the mental and spiritual boost it gives me. It follows a woman’s journey to experience both pleasure and devotion and to learn how to balance the two. She’s a Christian who believes in God but finds principles in Hindu devotional practices that help her in her own faith. This idea of learning from other cultures and religions to better your own is something that I’ve always loved. She also learns how to love herself and be happy in her circumstances which I think is especially important in the world today. I will warn that there’s occasionally some strong language, and she does talk about her sexual relationships (though not in graphic detail). If this doesn’t deter you, I highly recommend this book. And actually, I just might come back to this and write a more in-depth post about it for those who don’t want to read it.

Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified by Shawn Spencer, 285 pages

For all you Psych-o’s out there, this is the new episode you’ve been wanting but never thought you’d receive. Shawn Spencer's many skills include masterful writing that will definitely make you laugh and might even make you cry. Included are in-depth charts and pictures sure to make you into a passably amateur sleuth. If you don't believe me, believe this review by Pierre Despereaux: "With this book, Shawn Spencer joins the ranks of Monet, Rodin, and other artists whose work is vastly over-rated."

Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nancy Campbell Allen, 335 pages

This steampunk romance was amazing! The author did a great job incorporating steampunk elements into a period piece and the result left me wanting more! Vampires, ballgowns, airships, scandal and intrigue all coming together to tell a Beauty and the Beast story? I mean it would have been really hard for this to have gone wrong for me. If you want an introduction into the world of steampunk, I highly recommend this book.(Also, if anyone has other steampunk books they love, let me know!)