My 2006 Reading List (w/ Reviews & Some Spoilers)
1. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
3. The Light Princess by George MacDonald
4. The Golden Key by George MacDonald
5. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
6. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
7. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
8. Sisters by Tim Stafford
9. Monster by Frank Peretti
10. Persuasion by Jane Austen
11. First Impressions by Debra White Smith
12. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
13. The Poet & The Murderer by Simon Worrall
14. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
15. The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
16. A Molly Mystery: A Spy on the Home Front by Alison Hart
17. A Duck Goes to Natchitoches: My Life Story by Vincent Bonnard née Quelquechoes
18. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
19. Madea’s Uninhibited Commentary on Life and Love by Tyler Perry
20. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
21. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
22. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields
23. Lost by Gregory Maguire
24. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
25. Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien
1. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis: Lewis writes about another world beyond the doors of a wardrobe. I know I read this book every year, but it never gets old. I always get excited at the very thought of the story and what it means to me. You wouldn’t think I could possibly find something new in this fast read, but I did. For the first time, I was struck by the importance of the eldest Son of Adam being named Peter. As Aslan walked with Peter before his sacrifice on The Stone Table, Aslan gave him battle plans and left other instructions. Wow - just like Peter in the Bible, you think? And this time, Jadis the White Witch’s origin intrigued me. I’m following up on Jinn and Lilith, and it is affecting my reading list. I’m sure you’ll eventually see Lilith by George MacDonald (one of C. S. Lewis’ influences) on this list.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl: The now-classic tale of a boy and a chocolate factory owned by an eccentric. I have not read this book since I had to read it in Mrs. Morgan’s 3rd grade class. It didn’t really make an impression on me then. Funny things you remember from childhood, I remember the word “ass” being it the book. It was definitely fun to pick up this story with an appreciation for books I had not yet acquired during the previous reading. This time I giggled. I giggled a lot. I even read some out loud to my Mom just so she could giggle with me. I decided to read it because it will be discussed during this month’s (February) book club meeting at the Auburn Public Library - the topic being Oscar nominees. I think I actually want to rent the new movie just to see how true it is to the book. I don’t think Gene Wilder’s version strayed dramatically from the novel although there are a lot of differences. I was glad to see that the book’s boat ride was as scary as the first film’s interpretation - thanks to Wonka’s wonderfully bewitching rhyme.
3. The Light Princess by George MacDonald: As you’ve read before, George MacDonald was one of C. S. Lewis’ greatest influences, and that is why I had to pick up some of his books. Sadly, our library only had what they consider to be his “children’s literature” (I hate that term, don’t you? As if an adult couldn’t enjoy the story - ha! And yet we should all be children at heart). At first, I found it rather tedious. Not only was I exasperated by the flighty princess (no pun intended) but by the random lyrical structure of it all. I’m glad to say that the exasperation passed, and I was completely wrapped up in this fairy tale. For once, love proved to pull someone’s head out of the clouds and gave the princess her gravity.
4. The Golden Key by George MacDonald: Tangle and Mossy look for the land from which the shadows come. It was definitely better than The Light Princess. Somehow it sucked me in from the beginning. Was it the rainbow? The magnificent golden key? Maybe it was Fairyland. Everything was beautiful and descriptive. Oh, how I want to meet Tangle's beautiful grandmother. I want to bathe in her pond and smell of grass and lavender. The foreword in this particular edition of The Golden Key says not to try to read meaning into the story - just to take it as it is, but I cannot help but think that Mr. MacDonald has some beautiful message about life and death in that tale. Awesome story. I feel like a better person for having read it.
5. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith: The first book in a series about Precious Ramstowe and her detective agency that she bought from the sale of her father’s cattle. Just a well-written book … and should I say it? Unique. You could say that there was one BIG case that could have dominated the story, but it didn’t. It was hardly ever mentioned. And it wasn’t really a case. Precious is a very likable, very strong, very clever woman. She’s always active and always practical concerning her sleuthing techniques. Botswana was a great change of background too. It’s great to know that a man can successfully write a real woman in Precious, and I cannot wait to read every single one of his books.
6. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff: A sequel of sorts to her first book 84 Charing Cross Road. Helene visits London for the first time thanks to the success of her previous book. She visits places only true literature lovers would appreciate. If I ever make it to London, I will take this book with me and do my best to retrace her every step. I am convinced had I ever met Helene we would’ve been great friends. We have so much in common. To quote my Aunt Merry - I wonder if people would like this book if they didn’t love London the way we do.
7. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: This is the tale of a great friendship made through the postal system and the love for books. I found it very appropriate that my copy was secondhand and came through the mail. Once again, I felt a great sadness when the book ended. I will read this book again and again.
8. Sisters by Tim Stafford: The story of the Women Suffrage Movement told through four generations of the Netherton family - mainly Susan and her niece Lucy. The Nethertons are surrounded by the likes of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Carrie Chapman Catt, Lucy Burns, and Alice Paul, and each family member has a different role and view of the movement. It was interesting to see that some of the women thought of the movement more as a social club than a revolution. Stafford portrayed the confusion between fighting what you believe is right and what society tells you in proper. His character, Susan, was an inspiring image showing the balance of femininity and suffragist. Rebecca symbolizes the staunch suffragist hurt by the laws of man, and Lucy, having only herself to consider, gives her all to see the Susan B. Anthony Amendment passed in Congress and the Senate. As the book was a Christian Fiction novel and written by a man, I was cynical to read how the author would present the movement and the women involved. I was glad to see that he was well balanced in his characters; and as a Christian, I was touched to see that Mr. Stafford compared the movement to Christ’s mission. “They believed in God’s dignity to every person and His concern for the sufferings of the unprotected.”
9. Monster by Frank Peretti: OK, I cannot contain my excitement about this book. It was fast-paced. It was well written. It was awesome! The cover of my edition says "left to his own devices man will always create a ... MONSTER". Beck and Reed Shelton along with a couple of their friends planned to take part in a survival weekend, but they weren't prepared for the real threat waiting for them in the woods. After one of the people in their party is abducted, the hunt is on for the monster, but are they hunting for the right thing? If you pick up this book, don't even think about putting it down. It's impossible!
10. Persuasion by Jane Austen: (#32 on Harvard’s Top 100 Books) For the moment, this has to be my favorite Austen novel. It may be because I view myself as an “Anne” no matter how much I would love to be an “Elizabeth”. Anne may be Austen’s most perfect character, but she is susceptible to persuasion. And as always her heroes have faults, but they are so easy to love. It is a toss up between Colonel Brandon and Captain Wentworth for me. True, Darcy may have a magnificent estate, but I think I would be more smitten by Bingley (also more persuadable). Colonel and Captain seem so much more passionate. It would definitely be difficult to love in that era.
But I’ll stop drooling over Austen’s men and get back to the book. It may be just a book, but at least, it makes a great point that true love can endure unseen for years and over oceans and misunderstandings. True love waits.
Another good point, 28-year-old Anne Elliot finally married in an age when that had to seem extremely old. And if Anne can survive that long and survive gracefully in that era, I can survive mine.
11. First Impressions by Debra White Smith: In Debra White Smith’s Austen series, she retells Jane’s stories in a modern-day setting. In First Impressions, she tackles the most beloved of Jane Austen’s couples - Darcy and Elizabeth - through their modern counterparts - Dave Davidson and Eddi Bostwick. Their similarities are very blatant as they take part in a community production of Pride & Prejudice and are cast in the lead roles.
Many times, I wanted one of the characters to have an epiphany of their situation. Why couldn’t they realize that their lives were following the play quite closely? Most of them even shared the same initials as the character they were portraying in the play. (Yes, even Dave Davidson’s real name turns out to be William Fitzgerald Davidson. Fitzwilliam Darcy, anyone?) But I was glad to see that Elizabeth’s modern-day counterpart turned out to be a lawyer. Very fitting, don’t you think?
I know. This is a book. It is only a book, and I should take it for what it is - a work of fiction. With that said, it is a great summer read. Eddi and Dave will have your heart thumping and your toes tingling as much as the original couple. It is a nice, light-hearted read for an Austen-enthusiast with an open mind.
12. The Color Purple by Alice Walker: (1983 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel) “I think it pisses off God if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” This book is an exercise for your heart. At times I thought my heart would wither away and die, and in other moments, I thought my heart would burst. The women face the toughest of struggles and the most frightening of nightmares in this book, but they are all strong women - even Celie - no matter how weak she considered herself.
At first, it was difficult to read the way Celie speaks, but it is also easy to fall into cadence with her rhythm. The moment I picked up the book I could not put it down. You draw strength from characters like Sofia and Shug. You even learn that it is possible to sincerely forgive and almost love the person who denied you so much, the person you wanted to kill once you discovered the truth. It gets an A+.
13. The Poet & The Murderer by Simon Worrall: I found the title very deceiving as it seemed to promise that a fraudulent Emily Dickinson poem was directly linked to the murders committed by Mark Hoffman. Mark Hoffman had forged other great Americans such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Boone. There is no reason this book could not have been titled “The President & The Murderer” or even “A Few Great Americans and One Really Bad One”. The book starts out as deceiving as the title. The author introduces Mark Hoffman as he is creating the fake Dickinson poem in the basement of his home. He goes on to tell of the poem being put up for auction at New York’s branch of Sotheby’s. Daniel Lombardo, a librarian at Amherst, with the help of the community buys the poem for a pretty penny. When he is tipped off that the poem could be a forgery by the imprisoned Hoffman, Lombardo begins to investigate. He is able to link the poem to Hoffman; and only after threatening Sotheby’s with a public announcement does the auction house return the money to Amherst.
That is the last time the reader hears of Mr. Lombardo or our beloved poet. Instead, the author plunges into the beginnings of Mormonism, its twisted beliefs, its connection to the occult and how it affected Mark Hoffman. Mark put all his faith into science and mathematics and all of his passion in destroying the Church of Latter-Day Saints. The book becomes redundant and tedious. There is no order. In the middle of all Hoffman’s forgeries and dealings with the LDS, the author interrupts the flow with information about Emily Dickinson’s life only to jump back to Hoffman forging “The Oath of a Freeman” (the first publication in America).
The author finally reaches the point where Hoffman is so sure of himself that he starts taking big chances and making big mistakes. To get out of money troubles and suspicion with the church, he successfully bombs and kills two people. While planting his third bomb, he accidentally sets off the bomb and injures himself.
There is no other connection to Emily Dickinson to Mark Hoffman other than the forged poem that got lost in this wearisome book. The author tries to tie it up nicely by comparing Emily’s writing as revealing truth about herself and Hoffman’s poem only created deception.
14. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: Jane Austen’s first novel to be accepted for publication is a satire on gothic novels of the time. It features Catherine Morland, an unlikely heroine who lets such novels effect the way she perceives everyday life.
The book is divided in two parts. In the first part, Catherine has left Fullerton to visit Bath with the Allens. In Bath, Catherine befriends Isabella Thorpe who happens to be the sister of one of her brother’s dearest friends. James Morland and John Thorpe appear later only to add more simple thinking and vanity. The moment when the three gang up on poor Catherine to cancel her meeting with Eleanor Tilney caused too much aggravation for this reader. I was ready to fling the book across the room.
The second part ushers Catherine to Northanger Abbey with her new friend and the man she loves - Henry Tilney. Although the abbey is not what Catherine expects after the descriptions in her novels, her imagination still runs wild. She is even convinced that General Tilney has been hiding Mrs. Tilney ever since a fake funeral years ago. The resolutions seem so swift and easy. The second part lacked excitement.
Even the best authors have a flop every once in a while - this was Jane Austens. Yes I know it was meant as satire, and the things that aggravated me most were perfectly placed. Still it lacked the excitement and eloquence of Austen - excluding Tilney’s views of a good book or the hypothetical events of a visit to an abbey. I give it a C.
15. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: Inspired by the Vermeer van Delft painting of the same name, Girl with a Pearl Earring is a fictional history behind the painting. I read this for as Auburn Public Library’s assignment for June with the intentions of comparing and contrasting it with the film. The obvious differences between the movie and the book are that the movie was made to show us the living world of Vermeer’s pictures while the book’s purpose was to allow the readers to paint that world in their mind’s eye. Of course the book was better. Both were told from the point of view of Griet, the girl & the maid, but the book allowed us to understand her and know her family. Viewers of the movie would not know that when Cornelia broke the tile Griet’s father had given her she was not only hurting that strong bond with her father but with her older brother, Frans, as well. Readers clearly understand why Griet hides her hair under a full cap. She’s restraining her other self. Movie watchers also do not get to know Griet’s sister Agnes or the eldest and kindest Vermeer child, Maertge (among other characters). The book also gives the reader a wider variety of Vermeer’s works.
That being said, I do like the film Vermeer better than the book Vermeer. His film counterpart may belong in his own world just like his book version, but he seems kinder and more sensible. The film Vermeer seemed truly concerned for Griet - her honor and her well-being whereas book Vermeer dismissed her as often as he dismissed his own family. He only looked at her “that way” when van Ruijven wanted her. He may have appreciated her eye for art and color, but she was just a maid. Obviously in his world, maids do not pose with mops but wear pearls. I thought his last wishes were insensible. The earrings would not remind Griet of happier times. It was useless. It was almost selfish. But in the film, the earrings were returned to Griet in a more unceremonious manner. Tanneke gives them to Griet at the marketplace only because Catharina cannot stand the sight of them. Too bad movie Griet did not get a chance to slap Cornelia again.
16. A Molly Mystery: A Spy on the Home Front by Alison Hart: I was very excited to see that the American Girls have started a mystery series for their characters. Being a fan of Molly, I sought her book out only to read it in one sitting. I wish these were around when I was collecting Molly books. Actually my other favorite Molly book was a recent production when her aunt becomes a WASP, which was incorporated into this new book. Once again, Molly is spending some time with her Grammy and Grandpa Culver on their farm. She’s made friends with their neighbors - the Schulzes. The trouble begins when the Schulzes receive a letter from their friends the Kruegers who have been taken to an internment camp. That same night Molly’s Aunt Eleanor stops in their nearby airfield only to be suspected of carrying Anti-American propaganda by the Silver Shirts, and when Anna’s older brother Max is arrested for being the one behind it all, Molly takes it upon herself to solve the mystery like Nancy Drew and her favorite detectives on the radio show The A-1 Detectives. An awesome addition to The American Girl series!
17. A Duck Goes to Natchitoches: My Life Story by Vincent Bonnard née Quelquechoes: I bought this children’s book in a quaint bookstore on Front Street in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I saw it in the window of the shop before it was even opened, and I knew I needed that book. It was actually written by a local artist whom I refused to seek out after several people told me about her eccentricities. Who knows why that stopped me? I just wasn’t feeling like meeting a new eccentric person I suppose. It’s not the greatest children’s book of all time. It’s not even the best-illustrated one, but it is a great memento of the trip. When ever I pick up the book again, I can read about and look at illustrations of Front Street and Cane River (which is really a lake) and say, “I’ve been there.”
18. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen: Another story of a sister with sense and a sister without. OK, that could be too harsh to our dear Marianne, but really - she does get on my nerves at times. A fan of the movie - I was shocked to learn that Sir John’s wife was living and that there were TWO Miss Steeles. Let me tell you - two Miss Steeles is one hundred times worst than Lucy Steeles alone. The book was awesome and supported my feelings that Elinor and Colonel Brandon are the ideal couple in these situations that tie them together. But alas, Ms. Austen did not mean for it to be. Maybe that was Jane Austen’s way of saying “Men and women can be friends - just friends.” And if that’s what she meant - YOU GO, GIRL! Still, I think Colonel Brandon has yet again won my heart - even over Captain Wentworth. He is a very patient, kind, and thoughtful man. Jane Austen - why did you create this wonderful breed of men to torture me in this sex-driven world of today? (Although I must admit, she did create quite a number of libertines, didn’t she?)
19. Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Life & Love by Tyler Perry: Also known as “Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Her Earrings Off!” I love Madea, and I’m in love with Tyler Perry. I guess they are both something you have to see to believe because I just didn’t enjoy the book as most as the plays or the movies. But that doesn’t mean that Madea’s advice wasn’t priceless. Sex is to a man as a Frisbee is to a dog. Hold your Frisbee! And there are three places that Madea does NOT want to go: Hell, the dentist, and the gynecologist - they are three in the same.
20. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Harper Lee describes her only book as a simple love story, but it is much more than that. To risk sounding cliché, it is a classic story of childhood and growing up. I can relate to Scout growing up around a bunch of adults. You take on their ways and understand more than you should at such a young age. Yet, you still have your innocence about you, but you can sense what is right and what is wrong. Somehow you still believe that folks are just folks. You have an imagination that runs wild, and Boo Radley is no one to fear.
I love this book. I love the love story between Scout and Atticus. Who doesn’t want Atticus Finch as a father? He treated his children with the respect he gave EVERY human being. He was loving, caring, and stubborn - the perfect Southern gentleman! This character contradicts every thought I have about men and lawyers, but somehow I believe I could find someone like this. Atticus’ closing statements during Tom Robinson’s trial are awesome and inspiring. All men are created equal, but the white jury had already made up their mind based on their idea of black men. But Atticus pointed out that white men were not excused from the faults they cast upon their darker neighbors. I think Scout finally picked up on this when her teacher was sickened by the treatment of Jews under Hitler’s reign, but the same teacher expressed after Tom Robinson’s trial that “they” got what they deserved. Hypocritical.
Even with the ignorance of Southerners portrayed in this book, Harper Lee offered a different side to Southerners. Southerners like Miss Maudie and Mr. Dolphus Raymond and the Finches who saw no difference in race and were persecuted for their different ways of thinking. I cannot wait to read Harper Lee’s biography “Mockingbird”. TKaM was written in 1960 and was awarded the Pulitzer in 1961 - in the midst of the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. I cannot imagine what kind of controversy this must have been in the South. Not only was this book written by a Southerner, it was written by a Southern WOMAN! Harper Lee is definitely a hero of mine, and I would love to have a chance to meet her!
21. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: Another story of a young, inexperienced governess sent to a lonely mansion in England to care for two young charges - a boy and a girl, brother and sister. It begins as a narrative, a ghost story told around a fireplace at Christmas. What is it with the British and their ghost stories at Christmas? But I digress. The storyteller is in possession of the young governess’ journal. She left it to him. The reader never discovers how the storyteller and the governess are connected, and the governess remains nameless. In the beginning, the reader quickly learns that the governess has an imagination and often runs away with it. With the two whimsical children, Miles and Flora, one could easily be swept up in another world - especially when the circumstances of their last governess’ fate are revealed. The relationship between the late governess, Miss Jessell and the infamous valet, Peter Quint is full of debauchery and acted out in front of the children. The governess begins seeing the ghosts of the immoral duo. Are these children possessed? Has the governess read one too many gothic novels? Or is she just insane? I love ambiguous endings!!!
22. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields: I guess “a portrait” is a good way to describe this book. It can hardly be biographical while the subject of the book is alive and refuses to confirm the author’s research. But Mr. Shields did a great job of accumulating and combining stories and facts of the history around Nelle Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He builds his book around her childhood with her manic mother, her close siblings, Truman Capote, and of course, her father, A. C. Lee. Mr. Shields uses American history to lengthen and to educate his readers on what was going on while Nelle was in college and writing her famous novel. A lot of time is focused on her collaboration with Capote in his research of In Cold Blood - something I’m interested in, but also a lot of Mr. Shields research was provided by information left behind by Capote. While I’m almost ashamed that I bought this book (in fear that Mr. Shields might be trying to make a quick buck on Ms. Lee’s mystique), all in all, I’m glad to “know” that Harper Lee is who I imagined and wanted her to be - strong but silent, witty but human.
23. Lost by Gregory Maguire: Wow! This is definitely going to be one of the top five of the books I’ve read this year. I bought it last September while I was waiting for Mr. Maguire’s Son of a Witch to come out, but I never got around to reading either of them. Another reason I bought the book, the back cover claims that the book resembles A. S. Byatt’s Possession (another absolute favorite of mine). It also promised to weave tales of Dickens, Scrooge, and Jack the Ripper - even more of my personal weaknesses. This book exceeded every expectation that I put upon it. It is the story of Winifred Rudge, author and descendant of Ozias Rudge (possibly Dickens’ inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge), and her quest to finish a novel involving the ghost of Jack the Ripper. But it also so much more than that. Maguire has mastered storytelling-upon-storytelling using the innocence of fairytales and nursery rhymes to the eloquent and thought-provoking words of Iris Murdoch to cruel and harsh reality of life.
At first, Lost is not as dark as Wicked, but after you reach the halfway point, you fall and spiral out of control like Alice down the rabbit hole. You learn that the most fearsome ghosts are within yourself - Scrooge of Christmas Past, Scrooge of Christmas Present, and Scrooge of Christmases Yet to Come. Even the fantasies of childhood come at a price in the real world - as Winifred proves through the suicides of Alistair Grahame and two of Barrie’s original Lost Boys. After realization and the reader’s emotions have come full circle, the reader gets the ghost story she was originally looking for and a less than fanciful and redemptive ending.
24. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster: It was a fun book to read - to confirm the symbology in books I've already read and introduce some titles I've never heard of before (and plan to add to my reading list). Mr. Foster not only points out the symbology in literature but in our every media - movies, tv, songs - now where have I seen this before? He makes the point that there is only one story. Often times, seasons mean something, scars stand for something else, that woman could be a Christ-figure, and yet - Irony can trump everything. A great book for book lovers.
25. Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien: This book makes me wish that I little ones to write to Father Nicholas Christmas and his helpers - especially Polar Bear. The book spans letters from the 1920s to 1943 that “Father Christmas” wrote to the Tolkien children. The pictures that F. C. and P. B. and Ilbrenth, the elf, draw are so beautifully colored and designed. Tolkien creates even more languages in this book - Artick and the Goblin Alphabet. LotR fans will even see one line of elvish. This will definitely become an annual read.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
3. The Light Princess by George MacDonald
4. The Golden Key by George MacDonald
5. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
6. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
7. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
8. Sisters by Tim Stafford
9. Monster by Frank Peretti
10. Persuasion by Jane Austen
11. First Impressions by Debra White Smith
12. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
13. The Poet & The Murderer by Simon Worrall
14. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
15. The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
16. A Molly Mystery: A Spy on the Home Front by Alison Hart
17. A Duck Goes to Natchitoches: My Life Story by Vincent Bonnard née Quelquechoes
18. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
19. Madea’s Uninhibited Commentary on Life and Love by Tyler Perry
20. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
21. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
22. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields
23. Lost by Gregory Maguire
24. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
25. Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien
1. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis: Lewis writes about another world beyond the doors of a wardrobe. I know I read this book every year, but it never gets old. I always get excited at the very thought of the story and what it means to me. You wouldn’t think I could possibly find something new in this fast read, but I did. For the first time, I was struck by the importance of the eldest Son of Adam being named Peter. As Aslan walked with Peter before his sacrifice on The Stone Table, Aslan gave him battle plans and left other instructions. Wow - just like Peter in the Bible, you think? And this time, Jadis the White Witch’s origin intrigued me. I’m following up on Jinn and Lilith, and it is affecting my reading list. I’m sure you’ll eventually see Lilith by George MacDonald (one of C. S. Lewis’ influences) on this list.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl: The now-classic tale of a boy and a chocolate factory owned by an eccentric. I have not read this book since I had to read it in Mrs. Morgan’s 3rd grade class. It didn’t really make an impression on me then. Funny things you remember from childhood, I remember the word “ass” being it the book. It was definitely fun to pick up this story with an appreciation for books I had not yet acquired during the previous reading. This time I giggled. I giggled a lot. I even read some out loud to my Mom just so she could giggle with me. I decided to read it because it will be discussed during this month’s (February) book club meeting at the Auburn Public Library - the topic being Oscar nominees. I think I actually want to rent the new movie just to see how true it is to the book. I don’t think Gene Wilder’s version strayed dramatically from the novel although there are a lot of differences. I was glad to see that the book’s boat ride was as scary as the first film’s interpretation - thanks to Wonka’s wonderfully bewitching rhyme.
3. The Light Princess by George MacDonald: As you’ve read before, George MacDonald was one of C. S. Lewis’ greatest influences, and that is why I had to pick up some of his books. Sadly, our library only had what they consider to be his “children’s literature” (I hate that term, don’t you? As if an adult couldn’t enjoy the story - ha! And yet we should all be children at heart). At first, I found it rather tedious. Not only was I exasperated by the flighty princess (no pun intended) but by the random lyrical structure of it all. I’m glad to say that the exasperation passed, and I was completely wrapped up in this fairy tale. For once, love proved to pull someone’s head out of the clouds and gave the princess her gravity.
4. The Golden Key by George MacDonald: Tangle and Mossy look for the land from which the shadows come. It was definitely better than The Light Princess. Somehow it sucked me in from the beginning. Was it the rainbow? The magnificent golden key? Maybe it was Fairyland. Everything was beautiful and descriptive. Oh, how I want to meet Tangle's beautiful grandmother. I want to bathe in her pond and smell of grass and lavender. The foreword in this particular edition of The Golden Key says not to try to read meaning into the story - just to take it as it is, but I cannot help but think that Mr. MacDonald has some beautiful message about life and death in that tale. Awesome story. I feel like a better person for having read it.
5. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith: The first book in a series about Precious Ramstowe and her detective agency that she bought from the sale of her father’s cattle. Just a well-written book … and should I say it? Unique. You could say that there was one BIG case that could have dominated the story, but it didn’t. It was hardly ever mentioned. And it wasn’t really a case. Precious is a very likable, very strong, very clever woman. She’s always active and always practical concerning her sleuthing techniques. Botswana was a great change of background too. It’s great to know that a man can successfully write a real woman in Precious, and I cannot wait to read every single one of his books.
6. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff: A sequel of sorts to her first book 84 Charing Cross Road. Helene visits London for the first time thanks to the success of her previous book. She visits places only true literature lovers would appreciate. If I ever make it to London, I will take this book with me and do my best to retrace her every step. I am convinced had I ever met Helene we would’ve been great friends. We have so much in common. To quote my Aunt Merry - I wonder if people would like this book if they didn’t love London the way we do.
7. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: This is the tale of a great friendship made through the postal system and the love for books. I found it very appropriate that my copy was secondhand and came through the mail. Once again, I felt a great sadness when the book ended. I will read this book again and again.
8. Sisters by Tim Stafford: The story of the Women Suffrage Movement told through four generations of the Netherton family - mainly Susan and her niece Lucy. The Nethertons are surrounded by the likes of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Carrie Chapman Catt, Lucy Burns, and Alice Paul, and each family member has a different role and view of the movement. It was interesting to see that some of the women thought of the movement more as a social club than a revolution. Stafford portrayed the confusion between fighting what you believe is right and what society tells you in proper. His character, Susan, was an inspiring image showing the balance of femininity and suffragist. Rebecca symbolizes the staunch suffragist hurt by the laws of man, and Lucy, having only herself to consider, gives her all to see the Susan B. Anthony Amendment passed in Congress and the Senate. As the book was a Christian Fiction novel and written by a man, I was cynical to read how the author would present the movement and the women involved. I was glad to see that he was well balanced in his characters; and as a Christian, I was touched to see that Mr. Stafford compared the movement to Christ’s mission. “They believed in God’s dignity to every person and His concern for the sufferings of the unprotected.”
9. Monster by Frank Peretti: OK, I cannot contain my excitement about this book. It was fast-paced. It was well written. It was awesome! The cover of my edition says "left to his own devices man will always create a ... MONSTER". Beck and Reed Shelton along with a couple of their friends planned to take part in a survival weekend, but they weren't prepared for the real threat waiting for them in the woods. After one of the people in their party is abducted, the hunt is on for the monster, but are they hunting for the right thing? If you pick up this book, don't even think about putting it down. It's impossible!
10. Persuasion by Jane Austen: (#32 on Harvard’s Top 100 Books) For the moment, this has to be my favorite Austen novel. It may be because I view myself as an “Anne” no matter how much I would love to be an “Elizabeth”. Anne may be Austen’s most perfect character, but she is susceptible to persuasion. And as always her heroes have faults, but they are so easy to love. It is a toss up between Colonel Brandon and Captain Wentworth for me. True, Darcy may have a magnificent estate, but I think I would be more smitten by Bingley (also more persuadable). Colonel and Captain seem so much more passionate. It would definitely be difficult to love in that era.
But I’ll stop drooling over Austen’s men and get back to the book. It may be just a book, but at least, it makes a great point that true love can endure unseen for years and over oceans and misunderstandings. True love waits.
Another good point, 28-year-old Anne Elliot finally married in an age when that had to seem extremely old. And if Anne can survive that long and survive gracefully in that era, I can survive mine.
11. First Impressions by Debra White Smith: In Debra White Smith’s Austen series, she retells Jane’s stories in a modern-day setting. In First Impressions, she tackles the most beloved of Jane Austen’s couples - Darcy and Elizabeth - through their modern counterparts - Dave Davidson and Eddi Bostwick. Their similarities are very blatant as they take part in a community production of Pride & Prejudice and are cast in the lead roles.
Many times, I wanted one of the characters to have an epiphany of their situation. Why couldn’t they realize that their lives were following the play quite closely? Most of them even shared the same initials as the character they were portraying in the play. (Yes, even Dave Davidson’s real name turns out to be William Fitzgerald Davidson. Fitzwilliam Darcy, anyone?) But I was glad to see that Elizabeth’s modern-day counterpart turned out to be a lawyer. Very fitting, don’t you think?
I know. This is a book. It is only a book, and I should take it for what it is - a work of fiction. With that said, it is a great summer read. Eddi and Dave will have your heart thumping and your toes tingling as much as the original couple. It is a nice, light-hearted read for an Austen-enthusiast with an open mind.
12. The Color Purple by Alice Walker: (1983 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel) “I think it pisses off God if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” This book is an exercise for your heart. At times I thought my heart would wither away and die, and in other moments, I thought my heart would burst. The women face the toughest of struggles and the most frightening of nightmares in this book, but they are all strong women - even Celie - no matter how weak she considered herself.
At first, it was difficult to read the way Celie speaks, but it is also easy to fall into cadence with her rhythm. The moment I picked up the book I could not put it down. You draw strength from characters like Sofia and Shug. You even learn that it is possible to sincerely forgive and almost love the person who denied you so much, the person you wanted to kill once you discovered the truth. It gets an A+.
13. The Poet & The Murderer by Simon Worrall: I found the title very deceiving as it seemed to promise that a fraudulent Emily Dickinson poem was directly linked to the murders committed by Mark Hoffman. Mark Hoffman had forged other great Americans such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Boone. There is no reason this book could not have been titled “The President & The Murderer” or even “A Few Great Americans and One Really Bad One”. The book starts out as deceiving as the title. The author introduces Mark Hoffman as he is creating the fake Dickinson poem in the basement of his home. He goes on to tell of the poem being put up for auction at New York’s branch of Sotheby’s. Daniel Lombardo, a librarian at Amherst, with the help of the community buys the poem for a pretty penny. When he is tipped off that the poem could be a forgery by the imprisoned Hoffman, Lombardo begins to investigate. He is able to link the poem to Hoffman; and only after threatening Sotheby’s with a public announcement does the auction house return the money to Amherst.
That is the last time the reader hears of Mr. Lombardo or our beloved poet. Instead, the author plunges into the beginnings of Mormonism, its twisted beliefs, its connection to the occult and how it affected Mark Hoffman. Mark put all his faith into science and mathematics and all of his passion in destroying the Church of Latter-Day Saints. The book becomes redundant and tedious. There is no order. In the middle of all Hoffman’s forgeries and dealings with the LDS, the author interrupts the flow with information about Emily Dickinson’s life only to jump back to Hoffman forging “The Oath of a Freeman” (the first publication in America).
The author finally reaches the point where Hoffman is so sure of himself that he starts taking big chances and making big mistakes. To get out of money troubles and suspicion with the church, he successfully bombs and kills two people. While planting his third bomb, he accidentally sets off the bomb and injures himself.
There is no other connection to Emily Dickinson to Mark Hoffman other than the forged poem that got lost in this wearisome book. The author tries to tie it up nicely by comparing Emily’s writing as revealing truth about herself and Hoffman’s poem only created deception.
14. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: Jane Austen’s first novel to be accepted for publication is a satire on gothic novels of the time. It features Catherine Morland, an unlikely heroine who lets such novels effect the way she perceives everyday life.
The book is divided in two parts. In the first part, Catherine has left Fullerton to visit Bath with the Allens. In Bath, Catherine befriends Isabella Thorpe who happens to be the sister of one of her brother’s dearest friends. James Morland and John Thorpe appear later only to add more simple thinking and vanity. The moment when the three gang up on poor Catherine to cancel her meeting with Eleanor Tilney caused too much aggravation for this reader. I was ready to fling the book across the room.
The second part ushers Catherine to Northanger Abbey with her new friend and the man she loves - Henry Tilney. Although the abbey is not what Catherine expects after the descriptions in her novels, her imagination still runs wild. She is even convinced that General Tilney has been hiding Mrs. Tilney ever since a fake funeral years ago. The resolutions seem so swift and easy. The second part lacked excitement.
Even the best authors have a flop every once in a while - this was Jane Austens. Yes I know it was meant as satire, and the things that aggravated me most were perfectly placed. Still it lacked the excitement and eloquence of Austen - excluding Tilney’s views of a good book or the hypothetical events of a visit to an abbey. I give it a C.
15. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: Inspired by the Vermeer van Delft painting of the same name, Girl with a Pearl Earring is a fictional history behind the painting. I read this for as Auburn Public Library’s assignment for June with the intentions of comparing and contrasting it with the film. The obvious differences between the movie and the book are that the movie was made to show us the living world of Vermeer’s pictures while the book’s purpose was to allow the readers to paint that world in their mind’s eye. Of course the book was better. Both were told from the point of view of Griet, the girl & the maid, but the book allowed us to understand her and know her family. Viewers of the movie would not know that when Cornelia broke the tile Griet’s father had given her she was not only hurting that strong bond with her father but with her older brother, Frans, as well. Readers clearly understand why Griet hides her hair under a full cap. She’s restraining her other self. Movie watchers also do not get to know Griet’s sister Agnes or the eldest and kindest Vermeer child, Maertge (among other characters). The book also gives the reader a wider variety of Vermeer’s works.
That being said, I do like the film Vermeer better than the book Vermeer. His film counterpart may belong in his own world just like his book version, but he seems kinder and more sensible. The film Vermeer seemed truly concerned for Griet - her honor and her well-being whereas book Vermeer dismissed her as often as he dismissed his own family. He only looked at her “that way” when van Ruijven wanted her. He may have appreciated her eye for art and color, but she was just a maid. Obviously in his world, maids do not pose with mops but wear pearls. I thought his last wishes were insensible. The earrings would not remind Griet of happier times. It was useless. It was almost selfish. But in the film, the earrings were returned to Griet in a more unceremonious manner. Tanneke gives them to Griet at the marketplace only because Catharina cannot stand the sight of them. Too bad movie Griet did not get a chance to slap Cornelia again.
16. A Molly Mystery: A Spy on the Home Front by Alison Hart: I was very excited to see that the American Girls have started a mystery series for their characters. Being a fan of Molly, I sought her book out only to read it in one sitting. I wish these were around when I was collecting Molly books. Actually my other favorite Molly book was a recent production when her aunt becomes a WASP, which was incorporated into this new book. Once again, Molly is spending some time with her Grammy and Grandpa Culver on their farm. She’s made friends with their neighbors - the Schulzes. The trouble begins when the Schulzes receive a letter from their friends the Kruegers who have been taken to an internment camp. That same night Molly’s Aunt Eleanor stops in their nearby airfield only to be suspected of carrying Anti-American propaganda by the Silver Shirts, and when Anna’s older brother Max is arrested for being the one behind it all, Molly takes it upon herself to solve the mystery like Nancy Drew and her favorite detectives on the radio show The A-1 Detectives. An awesome addition to The American Girl series!
17. A Duck Goes to Natchitoches: My Life Story by Vincent Bonnard née Quelquechoes: I bought this children’s book in a quaint bookstore on Front Street in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I saw it in the window of the shop before it was even opened, and I knew I needed that book. It was actually written by a local artist whom I refused to seek out after several people told me about her eccentricities. Who knows why that stopped me? I just wasn’t feeling like meeting a new eccentric person I suppose. It’s not the greatest children’s book of all time. It’s not even the best-illustrated one, but it is a great memento of the trip. When ever I pick up the book again, I can read about and look at illustrations of Front Street and Cane River (which is really a lake) and say, “I’ve been there.”
18. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen: Another story of a sister with sense and a sister without. OK, that could be too harsh to our dear Marianne, but really - she does get on my nerves at times. A fan of the movie - I was shocked to learn that Sir John’s wife was living and that there were TWO Miss Steeles. Let me tell you - two Miss Steeles is one hundred times worst than Lucy Steeles alone. The book was awesome and supported my feelings that Elinor and Colonel Brandon are the ideal couple in these situations that tie them together. But alas, Ms. Austen did not mean for it to be. Maybe that was Jane Austen’s way of saying “Men and women can be friends - just friends.” And if that’s what she meant - YOU GO, GIRL! Still, I think Colonel Brandon has yet again won my heart - even over Captain Wentworth. He is a very patient, kind, and thoughtful man. Jane Austen - why did you create this wonderful breed of men to torture me in this sex-driven world of today? (Although I must admit, she did create quite a number of libertines, didn’t she?)
19. Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Life & Love by Tyler Perry: Also known as “Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Her Earrings Off!” I love Madea, and I’m in love with Tyler Perry. I guess they are both something you have to see to believe because I just didn’t enjoy the book as most as the plays or the movies. But that doesn’t mean that Madea’s advice wasn’t priceless. Sex is to a man as a Frisbee is to a dog. Hold your Frisbee! And there are three places that Madea does NOT want to go: Hell, the dentist, and the gynecologist - they are three in the same.
20. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Harper Lee describes her only book as a simple love story, but it is much more than that. To risk sounding cliché, it is a classic story of childhood and growing up. I can relate to Scout growing up around a bunch of adults. You take on their ways and understand more than you should at such a young age. Yet, you still have your innocence about you, but you can sense what is right and what is wrong. Somehow you still believe that folks are just folks. You have an imagination that runs wild, and Boo Radley is no one to fear.
I love this book. I love the love story between Scout and Atticus. Who doesn’t want Atticus Finch as a father? He treated his children with the respect he gave EVERY human being. He was loving, caring, and stubborn - the perfect Southern gentleman! This character contradicts every thought I have about men and lawyers, but somehow I believe I could find someone like this. Atticus’ closing statements during Tom Robinson’s trial are awesome and inspiring. All men are created equal, but the white jury had already made up their mind based on their idea of black men. But Atticus pointed out that white men were not excused from the faults they cast upon their darker neighbors. I think Scout finally picked up on this when her teacher was sickened by the treatment of Jews under Hitler’s reign, but the same teacher expressed after Tom Robinson’s trial that “they” got what they deserved. Hypocritical.
Even with the ignorance of Southerners portrayed in this book, Harper Lee offered a different side to Southerners. Southerners like Miss Maudie and Mr. Dolphus Raymond and the Finches who saw no difference in race and were persecuted for their different ways of thinking. I cannot wait to read Harper Lee’s biography “Mockingbird”. TKaM was written in 1960 and was awarded the Pulitzer in 1961 - in the midst of the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. I cannot imagine what kind of controversy this must have been in the South. Not only was this book written by a Southerner, it was written by a Southern WOMAN! Harper Lee is definitely a hero of mine, and I would love to have a chance to meet her!
21. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: Another story of a young, inexperienced governess sent to a lonely mansion in England to care for two young charges - a boy and a girl, brother and sister. It begins as a narrative, a ghost story told around a fireplace at Christmas. What is it with the British and their ghost stories at Christmas? But I digress. The storyteller is in possession of the young governess’ journal. She left it to him. The reader never discovers how the storyteller and the governess are connected, and the governess remains nameless. In the beginning, the reader quickly learns that the governess has an imagination and often runs away with it. With the two whimsical children, Miles and Flora, one could easily be swept up in another world - especially when the circumstances of their last governess’ fate are revealed. The relationship between the late governess, Miss Jessell and the infamous valet, Peter Quint is full of debauchery and acted out in front of the children. The governess begins seeing the ghosts of the immoral duo. Are these children possessed? Has the governess read one too many gothic novels? Or is she just insane? I love ambiguous endings!!!
22. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields: I guess “a portrait” is a good way to describe this book. It can hardly be biographical while the subject of the book is alive and refuses to confirm the author’s research. But Mr. Shields did a great job of accumulating and combining stories and facts of the history around Nelle Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He builds his book around her childhood with her manic mother, her close siblings, Truman Capote, and of course, her father, A. C. Lee. Mr. Shields uses American history to lengthen and to educate his readers on what was going on while Nelle was in college and writing her famous novel. A lot of time is focused on her collaboration with Capote in his research of In Cold Blood - something I’m interested in, but also a lot of Mr. Shields research was provided by information left behind by Capote. While I’m almost ashamed that I bought this book (in fear that Mr. Shields might be trying to make a quick buck on Ms. Lee’s mystique), all in all, I’m glad to “know” that Harper Lee is who I imagined and wanted her to be - strong but silent, witty but human.
23. Lost by Gregory Maguire: Wow! This is definitely going to be one of the top five of the books I’ve read this year. I bought it last September while I was waiting for Mr. Maguire’s Son of a Witch to come out, but I never got around to reading either of them. Another reason I bought the book, the back cover claims that the book resembles A. S. Byatt’s Possession (another absolute favorite of mine). It also promised to weave tales of Dickens, Scrooge, and Jack the Ripper - even more of my personal weaknesses. This book exceeded every expectation that I put upon it. It is the story of Winifred Rudge, author and descendant of Ozias Rudge (possibly Dickens’ inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge), and her quest to finish a novel involving the ghost of Jack the Ripper. But it also so much more than that. Maguire has mastered storytelling-upon-storytelling using the innocence of fairytales and nursery rhymes to the eloquent and thought-provoking words of Iris Murdoch to cruel and harsh reality of life.
At first, Lost is not as dark as Wicked, but after you reach the halfway point, you fall and spiral out of control like Alice down the rabbit hole. You learn that the most fearsome ghosts are within yourself - Scrooge of Christmas Past, Scrooge of Christmas Present, and Scrooge of Christmases Yet to Come. Even the fantasies of childhood come at a price in the real world - as Winifred proves through the suicides of Alistair Grahame and two of Barrie’s original Lost Boys. After realization and the reader’s emotions have come full circle, the reader gets the ghost story she was originally looking for and a less than fanciful and redemptive ending.
24. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster: It was a fun book to read - to confirm the symbology in books I've already read and introduce some titles I've never heard of before (and plan to add to my reading list). Mr. Foster not only points out the symbology in literature but in our every media - movies, tv, songs - now where have I seen this before? He makes the point that there is only one story. Often times, seasons mean something, scars stand for something else, that woman could be a Christ-figure, and yet - Irony can trump everything. A great book for book lovers.
25. Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien: This book makes me wish that I little ones to write to Father Nicholas Christmas and his helpers - especially Polar Bear. The book spans letters from the 1920s to 1943 that “Father Christmas” wrote to the Tolkien children. The pictures that F. C. and P. B. and Ilbrenth, the elf, draw are so beautifully colored and designed. Tolkien creates even more languages in this book - Artick and the Goblin Alphabet. LotR fans will even see one line of elvish. This will definitely become an annual read.