Book Review- Captain Wentworth's Diary

For the Shelf Love challenge and the Mount TBR Pile challenge I read Amanda Grange's novel Captain Wentworth's Diary.

Synopsis from Goodreads: The retelling of Jane Austen?s novel Persuasion from the point of view of Captain Frederick Wentworth. During his shore leave from the Navy, Frederick Wentworth falls in love with the elegant and intelligent Miss Anne Elliot only to see his hopes of marrying her dashed by her godmother. Eight years later, Wentworth has realized his ambitions. A wealthy captain, he has pushed his memories of Anne to the furthest recesses of his mind until he sees her again. And though Anne's bloom has faded, Wentworth is surprised to find that his regard for her wit and warmth has not.

I've always loved Persuasion and Anne Elliot. Wentworth was always so-so for me though. With this book though I feel like I can like him more now. I like how the book shows his friendship with his brother who is only casually mentioned in the book. That makes sense though sense he is there when Wentworth is courting Anne the first time. Which brings me to another aspect of this book I love and that would be how they show Wentworth's and Anne's courtship. The whole thing about Persuasion is how it's is their second chance at a love that neither of them has lost and while of course Captain Wentworth's Diary of course follows along with Persuasion in that respect it also goes back to their first chance. It was sweet to see their original courtship though I did think it was a little over the top in some respects. I thought it captured each character from the original story well. Overall it was quite enjoyable. :)

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Book Review- Farmer Giles of Ham

For the library reading challenge I read J.R.R. Tolkien's children's story Farmer Giles of Ham.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Farmer Giles of Ham is a light-hearted satire for readers of all ages that tells the tale of a reluctant hero who must save his village from a dragon. It is a small gem of a tale that grows more delightful with each rereading.

I wasn't intending at all to read Farmer Giles of Ham this year but I saw it at the library and it was Tolkien so I had to grab it. It's such a delightful little tale and one that Tolkien originally told as a story to his children. This version that I read included the original way Tolkien told the story and then his fleshed out version that became the book so it was fascinating to see how the story evolved. It's very clever and fun and Farmer Giles made me think of a hobbit, which is always a winner with me. Overall I enjoyed this light little tale. While Tolkien wrote incredible epics he also wrote delightful children's stories and that is evidenced by Farmer Giles of Ham.

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Book Review- Colonel Brandon's Diary

For the Mount TBR challenge and the Shelf Love challenge I read Amanda Grange's novel Colonel Brandon's Diary.

Synopsis from Goodreads: At the age of eighteen, James Brandon's world is shattered when the girl he loves, Eliza, is forced to marry his brother. In despair, he joins the army and leaves England for the East Indies for the next several years. Upon his return, he finds Eliza in a debtor's prison. He rescues her from her terrible situation, but she is dying of consumption and he can do nothing but watch and wait. Heartbroken at her death, he takes some consolation in her illegitimate daughter, who he raises as his ward. But at the age of fifteen, his ward goes missing. Devastated by the thought of what could have happened to her, he is surprised to find himself falling in love with Marianne Dashwood. But Marianne is falling in love with the charismatic Willoughby...

As with Mr Darcy's Diary, I really enjoyed looking at what could have been in our Austen hero's diary. Sure it's just speculation but it's well done speculation. The book begins with Colonel Brandon as a young man falling in love with Eliza, his fathers ward and the heartache and disappointment that therein followed. Then it skims over his career in the militia until we reach the events of our old favorite Sense and Sensibility.
I've always loved Colonel Brandon; he's the true hero of Sense and Sensibility, let's face it. This brings his story to life. After reading it I felt even more how perfectly him and Marianne were suited to each other. Overall it was quite well done and enjoyable. :)

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Blogging about Blogs Tag

Heidi at Along the Brandywine tagged me in the Blogging about Blogs tag! Thank you Heidi! If you're not reading Heidi's blog yet go check it out now! With a blog name as awesome as that you know it's got to be good. :)
So on to the tag!

Rules

Thank the person who tagged you

Answer the questions

Tag some blogging friends

Questions

Blog that makes me laugh- Off the top of my head definitely Wonderland Creek.... just read THIS POST and you'll see what I mean! 

Blog that makes me think- Coffee Soothes the Soul

Blog that teaches me things- Coffee Soothes the Soul

Blog with beautiful headers- A lot! Meanwhile in Rivendell, Wonderland Creek, Yet Another Period Drama Blog and Along the Brandywine to name just a few. 

Blogger who takes great pictures- Sunday Best and All the Rest

Blogger whose recommendations I trust- I'm always afraid to say I 100% trust someone's recommendation just because but these are the bloggers I mostly trust. ;) Olivia at Meanwhile in Rivendell, Hamlette at Edge of the Precipice and Hamlette's Soliloquy, Sophia at Ravens and Writing Desks, Ashley at A-Z, Naomi at Wonderland Creek, Heidi at Along the Brandywine Amy at Yet Another Period Drama Blog Becky at Becky's Book Reviews and Julie at Smiling Shelves. If your blog didn't make it on this list don't think I don't trust you, or that I hate you or that I don't read your blog... These are just the ones that came to my head first. I still love you! ;) 

New blog I'm enjoying- Lover of Lembas

Blog I've followed the longest- Probably Unscripted whose owner also has another blog called Purple Ink Studios now which she keeps slightly more updated. 

Blog I've started following the most recently- Lover of Lembas

Blog that is always a refreshing happiness- Meanwhile in Rivendell, Wonderland Creek and Along the Brandywine. 

Blog where I revel in the words- Coffee Soothes the Soul 

I hate tagging people (I'm lazy that way) and I know most of the people I want to tag have already been tagged so if you're reading this consider yourself tagged... you deserve it! :)

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Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to Reading this Year

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie! I'm going to go with the top ten books I'm looking forward to reading this year. There were some that I was really looking forward to that I've already read (I'm specifically thinking of Code Name Verity and Mr. Darcy's Diary here) but for the books I have left that I'm hoping to get read this year these are the ones I'm most looking forward to.
So in no particular order....

1. The Scarlet Pimpernel series by Emmuska Orczy- I've read and re-read The Scarlet Pimpernel but this year I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series. 
2. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery- I've read some rave reviews of this one from fellow Montgomery lovers so I'm excited to read it! 
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer- This is going to be the year I read it... and hopefully the rest of the series too! 
4. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton- I've read some great things about this book.
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevesky- I was pleasantly surprised by The Brothers Karamazov last year so now I'm excited to read another Dostoevsky book. 
6. Waverley by Sir Walter Scott- My re-read of Ivanhoe last year really got me interested in reading more of Scott's books so this is next! 
7. Matilda by Roald Dahl- I'm not sure how I missed this book as a kid as I read many of Dahl's other books but nonetheless I did. This year I'm fixing that! 
8. Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot- I'm really not sure how I've not read this book by now but I'm reading it this year.
9. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield- One I've been meaning to read for awhile and my parents got it last year so once my sister is done reading it (that may take awhile) I'm going to read it! 
10. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain- I got this in the Broke and Bookish secret santa so I'm excited to read it this year. Multiple people have recommended this book to me before. 

There's a lot of books that I'm looking forward to RE-reading but I decided to limit myself today. :)

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It's Monday! Reading too fast!

I'm currently four books ahead with my reading goals according to Goodreads. I've been reading quicker books though and I've had enough downtime at work to read. I don't know if either of those will last. :) I've also been going on some amazing nature walks with my brother and they always seem to be a couple hours away so that has given me some extra time. Why nature walks in the winter? Good question and one I keep asking myself too. ;) I'm horribly allergic to poison ivy so winter is just about the best time to go and not come back scratching for weeks. Hopefully soon I'll share some pictures of the sights but here's one for now and more to come soon. These walks have been absolutely beautiful and it's Kansas... which just goes to show that Kansas is NOT flat and boring!
With this speedy reading though I am finding myself behind on book reviews. :( I'm slowly but surely trying to catch up.

Currently Reading

• The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin 
• What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality by Kevin DeYoung
• Messenger by Lois Lowry (audiobook) 
• The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens 

Finished this Week

• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (audiobook)
• Hannibal by Ross Leckie
• Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange
• Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange

Coming Soon

• Mr. Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange
• Henry Tilney's Diary by Amanda Grange 
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Reviews Posted this Week

• The Complete Stories of Flannery O Conner by Flannery O Conner
• Hannibal by Ross Leckie 

P.S. If you are participating in my re-reading challenge or classics challenge posts, link up reviews are now up and you can see the links on the sidebar.

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2016 12 Month Classics Challenge Reviews Link up

Sorry this took me so long to put up!
To keep track of your progress through the 2016 12 Month Classics Challenge I'm posting this link up for your reviews. You can do a review per book, batch reviews or even just an end of the year wrap up post but I do need something so I can know how many books you read plus it's fun to see what you think of the books. If you don't have a blog or Goodreads or something else like that you can always leave a comment.

So here's the link up!


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2016 Hard Core Re-Reading Challenge Reviews Link Up

Sorry this took me so long to put up!
To keep track of your progress through the 2016 Hard Core Re-Reading Challenge I'm posting this link up for your reviews. You can do a review per book, batch reviews or even just an end of the year wrap up post but I do need something so I can know how many books you read plus it's fun to see what you think of the books. If you don't have a blog or goodreads or something else like that you can always leave a comment.

So here's the link up!


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Book Review- Hannibal

For the Mount TBR challenge I read Ross Leckie's historical novel Hannibal.

Synopsis from Goodreads: An epic vision of one of history’s greatest adventurers, the almost mythical man who most famously led his soldiers on elephants over the Alps. In Ross Leckie's unforgettable recreation of the Punic wars, it is Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, who narrates the story, and who is carried by his all-consuming ambition through profoundly bloody battles against the great Roman armies of early empire. In a breathtaking chronicle of love and hate, heroism and cruelty, one of humanity's greatest adventurers is brought to life, and learns through suffering that man is but a shadow of a dream.

When I picked up this book I kind of missed the big letters on the front that said "the novel" and I assumed it was non-fiction.... it wasn't. However, it was still a well done historical novel.
In this novel, Leckie attempts to show the hatred and ambition of Hannibal that led him to Rome. I think he does an incredibly good job of brining to life Hannibal and what he could have been feeling. That was definitely one of the best part sof the book. I really enjoyed how Leckie showed the deep love Hannibal and his wife had for each other. It obvious they cared for each other deeply. As far as the historical accuracy, I'm no historian but it seems to be pretty historically accurate from what I know of Hannibal and from what I've looked up.
Now let's get to the bad. If this was a movie it would be rated R for the violence/gore alone. I know it's the time period but it was absolutely gross how they would kill captives and torture people and Leckie described it quite vividly. Hannibal also ordered such things. That wasn't my favorite but it does make sense that he would as it was what they did in that time period. Now gore I can handle but then we come to the other reason it would be rated R... sex. We get a description of Hannibal's wedding night, multiple scattered crass comments to do with sex, an attempted rape and a not vivid description of an actual rape. I don't appreciate those at all and it definitely lessen my enjoyment of the book.
Overall I really can't recommend it because of the above negative listed. I rated it three stars on Goodreads for now.

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Book Review- The Complete Stories of Flannery O Conner

For the Mount TBR challenge, Shelf Love challenge and the Classics Club I read The Complete Stories of Flannery O Conner by Flannery O Conner.

Synopsis from Goodreads: O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death—is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. 

As the synopsis hints at, O Conner wrote some very weird stories. For the first half or so I had a hard time getting past the weirdness. Thankfully at about that point my mom handed me an article about O Conner's stories and after that I felt like I could better understand what she was trying to say in her stories. I've probably expressed here multiple times before that I'm not a fan of most of the classic American authors because they write such weird and abstract stories that were normally amoral. O Conner's stories were weird and abstract also but they weren't amoral. In fact that was what they were about... morals, hypocrisy and actually a lot about racism. As that article I read stated, O Conner's favorite victims were the middle aged, good-natured, well meaning, church going ladies. She also liked to poke fun at the "intellectuals" as well though. Her stories aren't written to make you feel comfortable at all but instead have you squirming in your seat. Each story is unique and thought provoking and I definitely think I'll be re-reading them in the future.
Recommended? For sure!

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