Hard Times

Hard Times. Charles Dickens. Penguin Publishing (first published in 1854). 321 pages. Source: Audio Library

First sentence: Now what I want is facts.  Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life.

Plot: The 'terrible mistake' was the contemporary utilitarian philosophy, expounded in Hard Times (1854) as the Philosophy of Fact by the hard-headed disciplinarian Thomas Gradgrind. But the novel, Dickens's shortest, is more than a polemical tract for the times; the tragic story of Louisa Gradgrind and her father is one of Dickens's triumphs. When Louisa, trapped in a loveless marriage, falls prey to an idle seducer, the crisis forces her father to reconsider his cherished system. Yet even as the development of the story reflects Dickens's growing pessimism about human nature and society, Hard Times marks his return to the theme which had made his early works so popular: the amusements of the people. Sleary's circus represents Dickens's most considered defence of the necessity of entertainment, and infuses the novel with the good humour which has ensured its appeal to generations of readers.

My thoughts:  This is a hard one for me as are all Dickens novels.  The story that I in my head most followed was that of poor Louisa.  The youngest daughter of Thomas Gradgrind.  She was married off to a man twice her age and went to live in a home where there was no love at all.  Louisa had never had a love interest but when James Harthouse arrives and tries to win her heart she runs back to her father and tells him what an error he made in having her marry the old Mr. Bounderby.  

Mr Bounderby is furious that Louisa left him but he is determined to find the man who has robbed his bank.  The thief all along is Louisa's older brother who has fallen on Hard Times and has taken money consistently from Louisa to cover his debts.

This story was a little hard to follow at first but I soon had it figured out in my head who everyone was.  I'm glad that I have read this one but it's not my favorite Dickens novel.

Anges Grey

Anges Grey. Anne Bronte. Wordsworth Classics. Originally published 1847. 168 pages. Source: Purchased from Betterworldbooks.com.

First sentence: All true histories contain instructions: though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity, that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely for the trouble of cracking the nut.

Plot: At age 19 Anne Brontë left home and worked as a governess for a few years before becoming a writer. Agnes Grey was an 1847 novel based on her experience as a governess. Bronte depicts the precarious position of a governess and how that can affect a young woman. Agnes was the daughter of a minister whose family was in financial difficulty. She has only a few choices for employment. Agnes experiences the difficulty of reining in spoiled children and how wealth can corrupt morals.

My thoughts:  I like Bronte's style of writing.  After the last book I read this one was a calm and enjoyable read.  Not all of the situations that Anges was in was calm and enjoyable but over all I enjoyed this one. 

Anges was a very kind young woman. She had no skill or trade in which to earn money to help support her family so she convinced her mother to help her secure a position as a governess.  Having no real knowledge of raising children other than her own experience as a child she found her first position.  It was not a favorable experience as the children were greatly spoiled and she had no control over them at all.

Her second situation was somewhat better as the children were much older.  The issues she dealt with were along the line of lack of character building.  She did have some villagers that she was able to minister to through acts of kindness.  The new parson was very kind and Agnes had some very tender feelings for him.  But she was tormented by Miss Murray in that Miss Murray wanted every man to love only her.  

Anges returned home after the death of her father to help her mother with a school she had started in order to make a living.  Anges was sad to be leaving Mr. Weston, the parson, but she had hopes of seeing him again.

This was a nice read and I wish I had taken the time to sit and enjoy it more.  It took me a lot longer than it should have being as busy as I was in March.  I would read this one again.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude.  Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Harper Publishing. Originally published in June of 1967.  457 pages. Source: Audio Library

First sentence: Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonial Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

Plot: The brilliant, bestselling, landmark novel that tells the story of the Buendia family, and chronicles the irreconcilable conflict between the desire for solitude and the need for love—in rich, imaginative prose that has come to define an entire genre known as "magical realism.

My thoughts:  My mind is numb from this one.  It was the longest most drawn out nothing that I can ever remember reading.  I know I have vowed not to continue reading a book I didn't like but I thought at some point it had to get better.  IT didn't.  

Generations and generations, seven I believe, in a town founded by patriarch Jose Arcadio Buendia, live really messed up lives. This story didn't really seem to have much purpose.  I wasn't sure what I was supposed to take away from it.  

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland). Lewis Carroll. Suzeto Enterprises (the publisher on Kindle).  1865 (original publication date). Source: Kindle

First sentence: Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book' thought Alice 'without picures or conversations?'

Plot: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. (Goodreads)

My thoughts: There is much more to the actual Adventure's of Alice in Wonderland than the one I remember as a child. Maybe it's because they had to make it so children would actually enjoy it.  The story in full seems to be way more advanced than most children would read.  It should be in the category of teen to young adult maybe.

Alice falls through a rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange land where she has many weird and unexpected experiences.  Eating and drinking could make her grow into a giant or shrink down to ant size.  A floating, grinning chestshire cat, a mad hatter, a white rabbit, a queen constantly screaming "off with her head", and playing cards a the queens servants.  Yep, kind of a weird tale and I agree with it being literary nonsense...

The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale. Diana Setterfield. Atria Books. September 12, 2006. 406 pages (Source: Purchased from BetterWorldBooks.com)

First sentences:  It was November.  Although it was not yet late, the sky was dark when I turned into Laundress Passage.

Plot: All children mythologize their birth... So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's colletion of stories, which are as famous for th myster of the missing thirteenth tale as they ae for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself - all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret.  Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life.  She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain.  Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized.  It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity.  She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children.  Diana Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfifed back upon the shore of your everyday life.

My thoughts:  I don't know where to begin with this one.  This is an amazing author.  She kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time!  Once I thought I had the mystery solved but I was wrong.  I like that in a good story.

I struggle with reviews on how much to tell without spoiling it for a potential reader.  Margret is what I would consider an introvert.  She helps her father in his book store, she reads, and writes a few books.  She is called upon by Ms. Winter to write the correct version of her life because she has told many false stories over the years.  Come to find out her story isn't one she would have wanted known while she still had lots of life to live.

While listing to Ms. Winter's story Margret is dealing with her own life issue of being a twin.  Her sister dying in infancy.  She feels the loss deep into her bones.  She is grieving for the other half of herself that she never new.

I will be looking for more books by Diane Setterfield!

The Sunday Post #3

Not sure why my post didn't post on time so here it is anyway! :)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffenated Reviewer. (I am going to do mine on the first Sunday of each month.)  It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week  month on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.  Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week month ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

Last Month on Books In My Life

• The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate
• The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
• Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography by William Anderson
• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

In My Mailbox

Amazingly I did not order any books this past month.  Being on vacation, getting Grandma settled in the retirement home, and reorganizing my life has left little time for purchasing any new books.

Up this month on The Books In My Life

Challenge Updates

Pages read in February: 1,701

2018: 3,299

Challenge to date pages: 96,532

Nothing, nada, zilch, zero!

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography by William Anderson

Nothing, nada, zilch, zero!