Books post
Apr. 17th, 2007 06:36 pmPost for books I've read, books I should read, reviews, etc.
Books read since October '06: The Lovely Bones, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, The Five Love Languages for Singles, The Case for Faith, Jane Eyre
Books to read: Children of Hurin,Northanger Abbey, and other Austen works (see below)
Books to read again: Phantom of the Opera (started in December '06, picked up again June '07, and got halfway through before dropping it again. I could have finished it in California, but I didn't.)
Jane Eyre: started 4/17/07, finished 4/29/07.Quite possibly Most definitely my FAVORITE BOOK EVER. Now read twice officially, plus countless sections reread countless times.
Started Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens) early August '07. Might take forever to finish, but I like it so far.
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, October '07. Fall break reading :)
Winter break, '07-'08:
Listened to Rhett Butler's People on the drive to/from CA. Loved it, learned a lot from it (Civil War era history) and it evoked several instances of shock and awwwwwww! from me.
Attempted Our Mutual Friend again, but daunted by the language and waiting for all the seperate characters to come together in some way. Can't figure out what 2 of them have to do with anything.
Started Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. It was the alternative to OMF, and much easier to read. Teachers have faced the same struggles for many, many years. Interesting.
Jan. 26, 2008 (date Mansfield Park aired?) - mid-February - Emma. Tough at first, but I really got into it. Bought and watched movie 2/19/08.
Late Feb.- March 18th - Atonement Watched the movie March 19th. Liked the book better than the movie.
Spring break '08 - Northanger Abbey. Finished it in about 4 days. Cute, even though I'd already seen the movie.
March 26th - April 12th: Mansfield Park. I can't believe how the culture was in that time period! I love the book, however. It might be my favorite Austen novel.
Late April - Prince Casipian. Short, easy read, and I liked it.
May/June - Sense and Sensibility again. I missed a lot the first time.
July 8-11 - Les Miserables (abridged). Pretty darn good.
July 8-21 (finished a little after midnight) - Persuasion. Surprisingly good after my lack of interest in it. It made me squee. Now, I must figure out who my favorite Austen man is. I'm so sad I have no Austen books left to read!
Fall '08 (lost track of dates) read Jane Eyre again. 4th time, maybe?
November 28th - December 5. North and South. Reading it online, yay, since I couldn't find the book. See note in movies post. **Bought book 12/5, and read last 12 chapters in a day. Well, I was reading chapters here and there at work. Blasted wonderful internet! Very good book, recommended it to a coworker (Hilary). Ending was too short, as Reena and Michelle said.
Dec 31, 2008: Austenland, by Shannon Hale. Yes, I read it in a matter of hours. It was cute, and fun, though a tiny bit heavy on the similes.
January '09 - started P&P again. I missed a lot the first time around, and I loved it the second time, but stopped reading after a few days.I'll finish it again someday. Finished March 16th. Great book.
February - Reread Jacob Have I Loved for the first time since 7th grade. I had forgotten all of it except for the Jergens lotion and gloves part. The end was familiar when I got to it. Great book.
February 26 - ? Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
April '09 - Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo. Very cute. Made me want to go to England really badly.
June 2009 - Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
I also keep opening to random parts of P&P and reading them again.
July-Sept. 2009 - 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen. Appealed to my geeky side since it was quite biographical. Took a few months to finish, but I recommend it to all my fellow Austen fans.
August 2009 - The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James. Loved it. Also biographical, well, autobiographical, but written as a narrative with a few additions by the author.
Started Shirley by CB, but it's a little difficult to get into.
Sept. 2009 - Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte. Difficult to get into, but strangely addicting. Definite moments of feeling emotional for the characters, and a satisfying (for me) ending that I've read over and over.
Oct. 2009 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Jill lent it to me. It's a series of letters between a writer, her friends, and people on one of the [English] Channel Islands who formed a book club during the German occupation. Lots of WW2 history to go along with the story. I recommend it.
October-November 2009 Villette by Charlotte Bronte. I should have looked for a Penguin Classics version, or at least one that translated all the French passages. Aside from that, it was less difficult to get into than Shirley, but still boring-yet-addictive. I was guessing the ending until the actual end, or the last 100 pages or so. There was a definite "drop the book and squee" moment, and already I've reread most of a chapter.
12/13/09 - 1/3/10: The Professor by Charlotte Bronte.
December drive to/from CA, plus a day: Wives and Daughters (on audiobook) by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Feb. 2010 - Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Patillo. Slightly predictable, but I think I'll be reading anything else she writes.
??? I know there's something I'm missing here.
August 2010 - My Lobotomy.
Nov. 2010 after watching the miniseries, I finally read more of OMF. Much easier to understand now that I know what the heck was happening, and who all those people were.
December 2010: 1) Jane, by April Lindner. A modern retelling of Jane Eyre. Good, a few things I would have left out, a few things that made me laugh, a few that made me go NO WAY! It's considered teen fiction, though some things I think are too mature. Or, the story set in a modern world, too unrealistic and misleading. Or, just weirded out by the older man younger woman deal.
2) Firegirl by Tony Abbott. A kid's book, but pretty good.
Feb. 2011 Home by Julie Andrews
March 2011 - Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
May 2011 - A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz. Austen analysis + memoir = geekfest for me.
June/July 2011 - Great Expectations The first Dickens novel I liked from start to finish. Heck, the first Dickens novel I read cover to cover.
August 2011 - The Great Typo Hunt Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson. Took me a while to pick it up again after starting it who knows when. But, grammar nerd I am, I liked it. Once he gets into analysis of grammar mistakes, which sounds slightly misleading, I was hooked.
Sept. 11-27: N&S again.
Sept 30-October 16: Cold Mountain. Original receipt I stuck in the book (Borders, sniff!) says I bought it June 2007. Ha ha ha 4 years later I start it :) Great descriptions, some subtleties I enjoyed figuring out, and Civil War history I never learned about. I predicted the type of ending it would have, but didn't entirely expect it.
Oct 14-? Cranford
Lady Susan, Sanditon and The Watsons - the lesser/unfinished works of Jane Austen.
ACK have not kept up with this.
2012
Jane Austen Made Me Do It (read in 2011?)
Searching For Pemberley - Mary Lydon Simonson
June: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor - Stephanie Barron
July: Emma and Knightley - Rachel Billington
The Flight of Gemma Hardy - Margot Livesey
The Help - Kathryn Stockett (3 books in 18 days!)
2013
Oh man, have I really not read anything since last summer?? I think I have but forgot to add it to this list.
Feb. 23-March 5 - Blue Like Jazz which I highly recommend.
Have not been keeping records...joined a book club, read a few more on my own:
The Marriage Plot - Jeffery Eugenides
The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
Midnight in Austenland - Shannon Hale
I know there is one I'm forgetting here...
July, 2014 Son by Lois Lowry. Last book in the Giver series. Nicely ties up the other 3 books.
Books read since October '06: The Lovely Bones, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, The Five Love Languages for Singles, The Case for Faith, Jane Eyre
Books to read: Children of Hurin,
Books to read again: Phantom of the Opera (started in December '06, picked up again June '07, and got halfway through before dropping it again. I could have finished it in California, but I didn't.)
Jane Eyre: started 4/17/07, finished 4/29/07.
Started Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens) early August '07. Might take forever to finish, but I like it so far.
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, October '07. Fall break reading :)
Winter break, '07-'08:
Listened to Rhett Butler's People on the drive to/from CA. Loved it, learned a lot from it (Civil War era history) and it evoked several instances of shock and awwwwwww! from me.
Attempted Our Mutual Friend again, but daunted by the language and waiting for all the seperate characters to come together in some way. Can't figure out what 2 of them have to do with anything.
Started Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. It was the alternative to OMF, and much easier to read. Teachers have faced the same struggles for many, many years. Interesting.
Jan. 26, 2008 (date Mansfield Park aired?) - mid-February - Emma. Tough at first, but I really got into it. Bought and watched movie 2/19/08.
Late Feb.- March 18th - Atonement Watched the movie March 19th. Liked the book better than the movie.
Spring break '08 - Northanger Abbey. Finished it in about 4 days. Cute, even though I'd already seen the movie.
March 26th - April 12th: Mansfield Park. I can't believe how the culture was in that time period! I love the book, however. It might be my favorite Austen novel.
Late April - Prince Casipian. Short, easy read, and I liked it.
May/June - Sense and Sensibility again. I missed a lot the first time.
July 8-11 - Les Miserables (abridged). Pretty darn good.
July 8-21 (finished a little after midnight) - Persuasion. Surprisingly good after my lack of interest in it. It made me squee. Now, I must figure out who my favorite Austen man is. I'm so sad I have no Austen books left to read!
Fall '08 (lost track of dates) read Jane Eyre again. 4th time, maybe?
November 28th - December 5. North and South. Reading it online, yay, since I couldn't find the book. See note in movies post. **Bought book 12/5, and read last 12 chapters in a day. Well, I was reading chapters here and there at work. Blasted wonderful internet! Very good book, recommended it to a coworker (Hilary). Ending was too short, as Reena and Michelle said.
Dec 31, 2008: Austenland, by Shannon Hale. Yes, I read it in a matter of hours. It was cute, and fun, though a tiny bit heavy on the similes.
January '09 - started P&P again. I missed a lot the first time around, and I loved it the second time, but stopped reading after a few days.
February - Reread Jacob Have I Loved for the first time since 7th grade. I had forgotten all of it except for the Jergens lotion and gloves part. The end was familiar when I got to it. Great book.
February 26 - ? Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
April '09 - Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo. Very cute. Made me want to go to England really badly.
June 2009 - Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
I also keep opening to random parts of P&P and reading them again.
July-Sept. 2009 - 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen. Appealed to my geeky side since it was quite biographical. Took a few months to finish, but I recommend it to all my fellow Austen fans.
August 2009 - The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James. Loved it. Also biographical, well, autobiographical, but written as a narrative with a few additions by the author.
Started Shirley by CB, but it's a little difficult to get into.
Sept. 2009 - Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte. Difficult to get into, but strangely addicting. Definite moments of feeling emotional for the characters, and a satisfying (for me) ending that I've read over and over.
Oct. 2009 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Jill lent it to me. It's a series of letters between a writer, her friends, and people on one of the [English] Channel Islands who formed a book club during the German occupation. Lots of WW2 history to go along with the story. I recommend it.
October-November 2009 Villette by Charlotte Bronte. I should have looked for a Penguin Classics version, or at least one that translated all the French passages. Aside from that, it was less difficult to get into than Shirley, but still boring-yet-addictive. I was guessing the ending until the actual end, or the last 100 pages or so. There was a definite "drop the book and squee" moment, and already I've reread most of a chapter.
12/13/09 - 1/3/10: The Professor by Charlotte Bronte.
December drive to/from CA, plus a day: Wives and Daughters (on audiobook) by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Feb. 2010 - Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Patillo. Slightly predictable, but I think I'll be reading anything else she writes.
??? I know there's something I'm missing here.
August 2010 - My Lobotomy.
Nov. 2010 after watching the miniseries, I finally read more of OMF. Much easier to understand now that I know what the heck was happening, and who all those people were.
December 2010: 1) Jane, by April Lindner. A modern retelling of Jane Eyre. Good, a few things I would have left out, a few things that made me laugh, a few that made me go NO WAY! It's considered teen fiction, though some things I think are too mature. Or, the story set in a modern world, too unrealistic and misleading. Or, just weirded out by the older man younger woman deal.
2) Firegirl by Tony Abbott. A kid's book, but pretty good.
Feb. 2011 Home by Julie Andrews
March 2011 - Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
May 2011 - A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz. Austen analysis + memoir = geekfest for me.
June/July 2011 - Great Expectations The first Dickens novel I liked from start to finish. Heck, the first Dickens novel I read cover to cover.
August 2011 - The Great Typo Hunt Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson. Took me a while to pick it up again after starting it who knows when. But, grammar nerd I am, I liked it. Once he gets into analysis of grammar mistakes, which sounds slightly misleading, I was hooked.
Sept. 11-27: N&S again.
Sept 30-October 16: Cold Mountain. Original receipt I stuck in the book (Borders, sniff!) says I bought it June 2007. Ha ha ha 4 years later I start it :) Great descriptions, some subtleties I enjoyed figuring out, and Civil War history I never learned about. I predicted the type of ending it would have, but didn't entirely expect it.
Oct 14-? Cranford
Lady Susan, Sanditon and The Watsons - the lesser/unfinished works of Jane Austen.
ACK have not kept up with this.
2012
Jane Austen Made Me Do It (read in 2011?)
Searching For Pemberley - Mary Lydon Simonson
June: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor - Stephanie Barron
July: Emma and Knightley - Rachel Billington
The Flight of Gemma Hardy - Margot Livesey
The Help - Kathryn Stockett (3 books in 18 days!)
2013
Oh man, have I really not read anything since last summer?? I think I have but forgot to add it to this list.
Feb. 23-March 5 - Blue Like Jazz which I highly recommend.
Have not been keeping records...joined a book club, read a few more on my own:
The Marriage Plot - Jeffery Eugenides
The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
Midnight in Austenland - Shannon Hale
I know there is one I'm forgetting here...
July, 2014 Son by Lois Lowry. Last book in the Giver series. Nicely ties up the other 3 books.