February & March Book Reviews

 In the last two months, I have read some widely different material.  I decided that I wanted to read some well known "classics" that I never got around to reading, even as an English major.  I started with "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte and was sorely disappointed by this famous book.  Yes, the writing is extremely well done and I was impressed with the narrative voice (it's a story within a story as the narrator hears an account of the Earnshaws and the Lintons from his housekeeper), but the actual story is horrid, wrought with despicable characters with hardly a redeeming quality between the lot of them.  I felt like I had wasted my precious free hours when the book was finished.  You may disagree - I'd love to hear another perspective as I didn't have a literary class to work through the dreary bits with.


Next I listened to an audio recording of "1776" by David McCullough.  Is that still considered "reading" it?  I've never listened to books on tape before and let me tell you, it's a pure genius idea!  There are several blocks of 20-30 mins throughout the day where I am feeding Daphne or playing blocks with her on the ground where I can now feel like I am educating myself at the same time as I take care of her.  Genius I say!  Anyhow, there is a reason this book won a Pulitzer.  It was incredibly well done and I learned so much about the Revolutionary War, George Washington and the truly miraculous triumph of the Continental Army that was in such a horrendous state, especially in comparison to the professional and tightly trained British force.  I highly recommend this historical nonfiction.

 


In February, as I mentioned, Burke and I finished "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and in March we burned through "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."  I think book three or book four might be my favorite of the series.  J.K. Rowling is absolutely brilliant with the subtle clues she leaves during the book (and in the previous 2 books as well), leading you up to the last 100 pages where you simply cannot put the book down, unless of course your husband falls asleep on your lap while you animatedly read about Sirius Black's explanation about why he wants to kill a rat - who does that, huh Burke?!

I found myself laughing right out loud over so many scenes, from Professor Trewlany's divination lessons, to Hermione decking Malfoy, Ron's animosity towards Crookshanks the cat, the Marauder's Map insulting Professor Snape, Sir Cadagon challenging the Gryffindors to a duel and Neville Longbottom always forgetting the password.  Professor Lupin is another favorite character and such a great mentor for Harry.  (*Spoiler Alert* If you haven't read the books or seen the movies stop reading so I don't give away the very excellent surprise ending)  And, on a third read just as much as the first time, it made my heart so happy that in Sirius, Harry has found a little bit of "family" to look after him.  Too bad Lupin had to see the full moon & Pettigrew escaped or it would have been such a perfect ending to the book for Harry to leave the Dursleys forever.  On to book four!

Following my failed attempt to read John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" and the emotional turmoil that followed (blah), I moved on to another audio book, Adam Gopnik's "Angels and Ages" which compares and contrasts Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln.  Did you know these two men were born on the same day?  Gopnik's argument was all about the immense changes these two men made on society and even how mankind functions today.  He made some interesting points and I learned quite a bit about Darwin, but I got annoyed early on by the author's flagrant bias as an atheist trying to paint Lincoln as a godless, faithless man.  Perhaps it was the whiny quality of his voice and the emphasis he put on certain words, always seeming to belittle the perspective of those who favored creationism versus evolution.  Obviously, as a Christian and a firm believer in a loving Heavenly Father who instructed Jesus Christ to create all beings in the heaven and earth, I just couldn't swallow his anti-religion dogma.  However, it was interesting to consider another perspective and it inspired me to add "On the Origin of Species" to my "to read" list.  

This post ended up WAY longer than I intended.  I meant to do a short blip on each book.  My bad.