A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

from goodreads

3.5 stars

I have a confession to make. I am vain and like pretty things. When I was going onto my library's website to put a hold on this book I totally chose what edition I wanted based on the cover. The cover was so beautiful and I said to myself "I want to be seen reading a book that looks so great". Man did that ever backfire. When I picked it up the book was huge. And that is when I realized. This book was actually two books in one. It had both A tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. As I started to read I found my wrist starting to hurt and my arm going a bit numb because of the heft of this book. I had to return it and get a different copy.

So lesson most definitely learned. Don't be vain. Especially when choosing book editions!


Synopsis

This book is set in London and Paris, hence the two cities in the title. It looks at how the reign of terror was really not as black and white as the new fraternity made it out to be.

My Thoughts

I had heard so many people say they loved this book and it is their favourite Dickens, so I went into it expecting a great heart wrenching story. And while there are some great moments in the story, it was not my favourite.

As with any Dickens there was a great tangled web of characters. Everyone was related in someway. Dickens definitely uses the whole six (or less) degrees of separation in his novels. But I felt that the characters were rather bland and that the revelations were not as surprising. I kind of figured a lot of things out before they were revealed.

We all know that Dickens can be wordy and that some of the things he refers to are his contemporaries and not ours. Sometimes that can make things confusing. I found at times I was confused about what he was talking about or referring to. He called inanimate objects, she or he. And so it took me a while before I could figure out that he was talking about a gun, or a political movement and not a person. Other times I was just lost and had to reread to know what was going on.

I did like the themes of the book. It looks at the whole concept of sins of our fathers. Should we be condemned or punished for things our forefathers did, especially when we ourselves do not share their views or have not had the chance to prove ourselves? He also allowed us to look into crowd mania and how when we are by ourselves we wouldn't do acts of violence or allow them to happen but as a crowd we get caught up in the hysteria of it all. Especially when there is an us vs. them mentality. We have seen this play out in many countries and politics lately.

I loved that this was a historical novel. Sometimes when we think of authors and time periods before the 20th century we just sort of lump them all together. Shouldn't Austen and Dickens be contemporaries? Of course not, but we just don't think about it. Time and things changed at a snail's pace back then. So when I was reading this I always had in my head that Dickens was really looking back and making observations of the past. This happened 90 years before he wrote this. Was he reflecting on his own time with what happened in the past?

On the whole this book is worth reading. I just felt that the emotional intensity that you find in some of his other books just wasn't there.

Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde

from goodreads

3.5 stars

I am sure you already know this by now, but I love books. I love to read and I am willing to read just about anything. I love seeing books lined neatly on the shelf. They are there waiting for me to discover their hidden secrets. I love beautiful covers. I love being part of a greater reading community. Books truly open up new ways of thinking, new ways of feeling and new ways of being. One day you could be a voyeur of a loveless marriage, the next you could be solving a mystery, the next you could be battling an ogre and the next you could be learning how to fix your leaky pipes.

One thing that I have not been liking about books of late is the lack of editing that some have. Sentences don't make sense. Sequences are out of order. And words are misspelled. Things that could and should have been easily caught. I dislike books of little substance that they are publishing just as a gimmick or because it is based on a popular show or movie. Books shouldn't be published just for publishing sake. They should have substance and a real purpose. They should leave us with a sense of wonder or profound thought. We should feel something after reading, something other than feeling nauseous.

So here here to good books and good editing. Here here to books that help build a fulfilling life.

Synopsis

Princess Imogene is not the perfect princess her mother wants her to be. When she meets a frog who claims to be a prince her world changes... literally.

My Thoughts

This book was really cute. It was a fun and unique take on the princess and the frog. I read this book out loud to my kids and they enjoyed it.

I felt some parts dragged on and could have been condensed somewhat.

I appreciated the fact that we see what the family when they find out something is going on with the princess. Sometimes books focus so much on the main character that you are left wondering "what does their family think happened?" Now we get a glimpse.

This was a nice read but it was not a super memorable story. It is the perfect book to read when you aren't sure what else you should read.

The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth by Katherine Woodfine

from goodreads

4 stars

Man, Have I been busy! The past two weeks have just been a whirl and my list of books to blog about is getting looooong!

What have I been doing? Well nothing super interesting but very productive. I have been going through the kids toys. We have been bursting at the seams and I decided that enough is enough. I took all the toys from the play room and we went through them all and decided what to keep and what not to keep. We threw out broken toys, got rid of dvds they don't watch anymore. Now when I go down to the play room it is actually pleasant. We are going through the rest of the house now looking for missing pieces or other toys that they are done with. What has been really nice is the kids have willingly parted with things. I did not give them an ultimatum or quota. I just said we have too much, just keep what you absolutely love to play with.

I invited my friends/acquaintances to do the same thing and they are going to drop off toys at my house this week and Saturday we are going to have a toy swap. I am setting my house up like a toy store and they can come and take whatever they like. The stuff left over is going to the thrift store. It's kind of exciting.

I also took a few days out last week and went up to my parents house and helped go through the rest of their stuff. My parents are in a retirement home now, due to health reasons. They still had some stuff left in their basement (we are renting their house to a friend of the family's). So my sister, who lives close by, and I tackled what was left over, the majority having already been gone through. Two van loads and a trailer later and the stuff is gone. That was nice to see!

Now I am not saying I am minimalist, but I will say that there is such a thing as too much stuff. Why spend your time and energy on the mountains of stuff you have when you could spend it on yourself, your family and other things you enjoy. That is my mission this year, to really get rid of the things that don't bring us joy and to simplify. Just think of how much time I will have to read then! All of it guilt free too.

Synopsis

This is the second of a series of mystery novels. Sophie and Lil are on the case as they hunt down a missing jewel that has a mysterious and ominous past. Their search brings them close to the ominous Baron.

My Thoughts

This was a great sequel to an awesome debut novel. This book had everything, suspense, murder, intrigue, misdirection and fun.

There were two separate story lines for a lot of the book and I loved how the author brought them together in a natural way that did not seem contrived or stretching at all.

Once again this book allowed us a glimpse into history and society of a bygone era but did so in a way that was engaging. History is fun to learn when it is part of a great narrative.

This book some more mature themes. It talked about arranged marriages, marriages of girls to much older men, the use of murder to quiet people. So for that I would say it would be a book that would be better suited for 12 and up.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series. This is definitely a series that will so be worth the read.

Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally

2 stars

Sometimes I feel that the movie makers have access to my to-reads list and decide those are the books that they need to turn into movies. While I enjoy book adapted movies I do not like it when I read the book while the movie is out. I feel like people who see me read the book think I am jumping on the book/movie bandwagon even though the title may have been on my list for a year or so.

Now I know in reality people aren't judging me. I know that the majority of people out there don't care what I am reading. But, it is hard to get the thought out of my brain.

This year there have been a lot of books like this. What I have tried to do is read them before the movie is released so at least I am a bit ahead of the curve. It also means I will not have to read a copy with the movie poster as the cover. Shudder. Seriously is there nothing worse than that? I guess this is my book snobbishness coming out but if one doesn't have some sort of standards one doesn't have anything.

Synopsis

Oskar Schindler helps save Jews from Cracow from extermination.

My Thoughts

I usually like the book better than the movie, but this is one case where the opposite is true. Save yourself the time and trouble and just watch the movie.

This is a book that just didn't know what it wanted to be. Was it a historical fiction, as it was touted to be, was it a biography or memoir, was it a straight history text? I just couldn't figure it out.

There were some sections that read as a beautiful narrative. There were other sections that almost seemed like an outline waiting to be fleshed out. And then there were other sections that were written as a section from a history textbook. The different writing styles mad the story overall really disjointed.

There were a lot of names that made the narrative confusing. This was especially so as some people were mentioned and then not mentioned again until a hundred pages later. There was no closure with lots of the characters. We never knew if some got out or were killed. Why mention them at all? Along with this the timeline jumped around adding to confusion.

The one thing that was good about this book was that it showed what people were up against and showed the complex system in place to control the Jewish population. It showed why many Jews didn't fight back. It showed how unbelievable the treatment of Jews really were.

The story of Oskar Schindler is important to know, but, learn about it through the movie adaptation.