The Heart of a Woman

I feel as if I go through ebbs and flows with my blogging. I get really passionate for a little while, then I get busy and forget all about it. However, the other day I realized, I am reading all of these books and have no record of it save Goodreads, but because I read so much, how can I possibly remember the plot of all the books I've read? Now that I have included audiobooks, I am really going to forget. Suffice to say, here I am, giving this another go. With a new job and more time on my hands, I am hoping I stick with this much more. With the encouragement of my fiancé and the many books I have acquired in the past two years since I last posted, I think we may have a bright future ahead of us.

Now, all the books I am currently reading are not on the 1001 Book list. For instance, I just bought five books from Amazon and none of them are on the list. I will be reading them as I go along. Now, I won't be blogging about some of the mysteries I read that are a part of a series such as Agatha Christie's Poirot series but stand alone books unless there is a book I read that is part of a series that I think people would really be interested in.

I just finished this morning, The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou. This is my second Angelou autobiography. The first one, which goes without saying, was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She wrote a series of autobiographies starting with Caged Bird and ending with Mom & Me & Mom. I received a copy of this book from a former coworker and this book happens to be in the middle of her life and covers a three year span. Her son, Guy, is a teenager and she moves him out to New York City where she becomes engaged to a bail bondsman but ends up falling in love with an African freedom fighter named Vus.

In this part of her life, we see Ms. Angelou getting more involved in the struggle for Black America for equality and their rightful place in society. In her previous biographies, Angelou has never been so immersed in black society as she was in New York City. She lived in a black community in Brooklyn, (the books starts off with her getting a place in Laurel Canyon, all white community so her son would go to the best school) gets involved in the Harlem Writers Guild, and gets a gig at the Apollo Theater. In the first half of this book, Angelou is the embodiment of a strong, black American woman. She gets her own job, provides for her son, goes toe to toe with racists and gets a job at SCLC and meets Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. As strong of a woman as she is, when she meets Vus, everything changes. He doesn't want her to work, he wants her to be a "good African wife". Angelou is in love with him at first and while she is not used to being home, keeping house and not working, she preservers. Guy has a father figure, Vus is a great provider who is out fighting for the African cause, to bring down colonialism and to help his brothers escaping from South Africa.

Angelou is bored in this period and I am amazed at her transformation. I always took her to be someone who would never take the backseat to a man, but I can imagine, at least in the beginning, this was a new role for her. She was no longer the breadwinner, but was on an allowance and being an exemplary African wife supporting her freedom fighter husband who provided for her and her child. Guy even called Vus "dad". This was my least favorite part of the book only because I was getting angry at Vus' treatment of her. He didn't want her to work, didn't want her to act in a play but only agreed to because another man said she should, and doesn't even pay the damn bills. Yet, she stays with him! And he whisks her off to Cairo, where he continues to cheat on her, still doesn't pay the bills, and allows her to get a job because a MAN said she should. That infuriated me. I realize it is a different culture but I felt personally victimized by her husband, as if he was doing all of this nonsense to me (which goes to show how GREAT of a writer Maya Angelou is). I love the way the book ends which leaves me wanting to read the rest of her books.

She is a great writer and I think everyone should have a required reading list with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on it, which would hopefully spurn others to read the rest (I read so many books, I can't keep up). I gave this book four stars on Goodreads (you can find me there). I am trying to be more discerning with my ratings. I find I give five stars to lots of books, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have. Great writing and such a quick, easy read.

I am currently listening to another biography on audiobook called Marie Antoinette: The Journey. This was the book that the movie starring Kirsten Dunst was based on. It's good so far, I won't be reviewing it but it's a pretty good listen. My next book is Watership Down, suggested by my fiancé. It's a little over 400 pages so I hope it's a good one. I also have the third book in Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac to read to finish out the novel and then I have Glamorama which I have been trying to read for almost a year but the book is terrible. Why it's on the 1001 list, I can't even describe. I am halfway done but refuse to abandon. It will take me another year to read, I bet.

Until next time, happy reading!

The Forsyte Saga - Part 1 - A Man of Property

The next book that I decided to pick off the list of course had to be a monster of a book. Fortunately, this book is actually a collection of smaller books (three books and two "interludes") so I am able to finish one book, read another book in between and go back to The Forsyte Saga. Written by John Galsworthy, it is the story of three generations of Forsyte's. A group of farmers who become wealthy, the definition of "new money". In their acquisition of wealth and property, they have forgotten what it means to be truly happy. The book even says of the Forsytes, only twenty pages in, of their emotional sentiment "There was little sentimentality among the Forsytes. In that great London, which they had conquered and become merged in, what time had they to be sentimental?".

The Forsytes are a large family. So large in fact that there is a family tree in the beginning of the book that was so very useful when trying to figure out who was the son of who or married to who or what. We are introduced to the majority of the family, but this book is concentrated on these family members: Soames and Irene Forsyte, "Old" Jolyon and "Young" Jolyon Forsyte, June Forsyte, and Philip Bosinney, June's fiancée. All six characters intertwine with tragic results. June is the daughter of "Young" Jolyon, who abandoned her to take up with his mistress about 20 years prior. He has two children with her and eventfully marries her once June's mother dies. Her grandfather, "Old" Jolyon, is the one who raises her and will leave his fortune to her. Neither of them has any contact with the younger Jolyon. He has basically been excommunicated from the family. 

Soames is the son of James Forsyte, "Old" Jolyon's brother. He is married to Irene, who has become good friends with June. They are close in age and have a lot in common. Irene is unhappy in her marriage with Soames, even though he tries to show his affection by buying her expensive clothes and even has the grand idea to build her a house in the country. He thinks by taking her out of the hustle and bustle of London and without all of the distractions, she will learn to love him again. The building of a country house is brought about by June, who's fiancée, Bosinney, is an architect. June has promised her grandfather that she will not marry him until he makes about 400 pounds a year. If he is able to pull off this house for a family member, he might get the business to make him a fortune. Soames decides to go with Bosinney, though they are fighting with each other over money right from the beginning. 

While all of the house building is happening, "Old" Jolyon has become lonely in his old age. He has no zest for life. He comes to this realization while attending the opera alone "More poignantly than ever he felt that it was all over and done with him. Where were all the women, the pretty women, the house used to be so full of? Where was the old feeling in his heart as he waited for one of those great singers? Where that sensation of the intoxication and life and of his own power to enjoy it all?". He tries to blame these opera failings on Wagner. However, he knows that there is a deep down desire to reconnect with his son, even after all that his son has done (abandoning his family, etc. etc.). He reminisced when his son remarried, he sent him a check for 500 pounds. His son sent the check back, thanking him for the money. "Old" Jolyon puts it in the trust for the children and every year added to it. He hadn't corresponded with his son since then. He plans on changing that.
As the novel evolves, relationships begin to blur and troubles begin to arise. Soames has noticed that Bosinney has been spending more and more time at the house with Irene and less and less time with June. June has also noticed this, but at first ignores this because Irene is supposed to be her greatest friend. However, as time progresses, it is hard for either of them to ignore that something indeed was going on between Bosinney and Irene. Irene has always been cold to Soames, but has become increasingly and (alarmingly) colder. She rejects even to go walking with Soames. June, on the other hand, can't even get an afternoon with Bosinney. Finally, they attend the opera together, un-chaperoned and June can't stop herself from saying something to Bosinney, that he no longer allows June to do nice things for him anymore. When Bosinney doesn't reply, she says "You know I want to do everything for you - that I want to be everything to you" and demands that Bosinney take her to see the house he was building for Soames on Sunday (knowing very well that Swithin (her Uncle) and Irene were going to be there) and Bosinney rejects her. This is one of the final times that June and Bosinney will spend together.
The crescendo up to the climax is a slow, but steady and worth while wait. I don't want to reveal all of the spoilers, but so far, this is my favorite novel. I have already read the second book and the two interludes, so I really need to catch up with the blog entries. I will hopefully post the review of the first interlude by the end of the week.

Other books I have read have been another Hercule Poirot novel, this time Mrs. McGinty's Dead and another Martha Grimes's Richard Jury novel. Plus, Gone Girl, which I really didn't like but I read it for book club. Screw Gone Girl. Screw it. Terrible ending. Just awful.

Okay, I am done being a curmudgeon about Gone Girl. Currently reading the third book of the The Forsyte Saga, To Let. Can't wait to check off this monster of a book!

Until next time (and book suggestions are always welcome!)

Happy Reading

The War of the Worlds

Sorry for such a delay in posting. As I was logging on to post about The Forsyte Saga, I realized that I had starting my post for War of the Worlds and apparently never finished my post. Tonight I will finish War of the Worlds and post The Forsyte Saga later this week.


"What was needed now was not bravery, but circumspection". The unnamed protagonist says this while thinking about his wife and his cousins. He does not consider his cousin to be a brave man, but now was not the time for bravery. These words really tell you all you need to know about the mood of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Considered at the time as a scientific romance, known today as science fiction. I can only imagine as a reader in the turn of the century, wrapping my head around what Wells was describing. Even now, with all of the alien movies that I have seen over the years, I am in awe of Well's very detailed orientated descriptions and imagination. It is also interesting to note, that if you have seen the movie version of this film starring Tom Cruise, it is very true to the story, of course, with a little adaptations here and there. A lot of people's problem with the movie was that it didn't have a Us vs Them story line. However, I feel like a lot of the integrity of the book would be lost, and that raw, true human emotion would not be there.
 One of my favorite things about this book is that Wells captures and relates them to pen and paper. There is this one passage in the book where the unnamed protagonist, after the aliens have started their initial attack, but before news of their doings has spread to his village, borrows a horse and dog cart from the village inn landlord. The narrator says "At the time it did not seem to me nearly so urgent that the landlord should leave his [home}" after the landlord, not knowing of the aliens or the imminent danger ahead, asked him why he was leaving his home. This is one of those moments where in this world, in this reality, it is every man for himself. The narrator could have warned him of the aliens and what they were capable of doing, but instead he says nothing and promises to return the dogcart by midnight and the bewildered, unnamed landlord gives him the dogcart with no further questioning and not realizing he has no means of escape when the time came.
Another interesting subject that Wells brings up is religion. The narrator, after the attacks from the aliens have been going on for a few days, meets an unnamed curate, who is slowly losing his sanity. A few of his more interesting quotes "Why are these thing permitted? What sins have we done?" and "All the work- all the Sunday schools- What have we done- what has Weybridge done? Everything gone- everything destroyed. The Church! We rebuilt it only three years ago. Gone! Swept out of existence! Why?". The curate, who as I mentioned, slowly becomes unhinged and a hindrance to our narrator, is asking why God is punishing his people, when they have done all that has been asked of them. I don't know too much about Wells and his stance on religion, but I believe I can infer that he was somewhat skeptical. Especially with his treatment of the curate. The narrator tells him that he saw a fellow minister get killed by the aliens and the curate responds "Killed!" he said, staring about him. "How can God's ministers be killed?". The chapters involving the curate are quite interesting and are actually some of my favorites in this book. I could go on for pages about these particular chapters.
The book really captures the isolationism of people and what can happen during calamities. No one is named, everyone is referred to by what they do, such as the landlord and the curate. It is as if names do not matter now. The narrator's main objective was to reunite with his wife and to survive. There were times that he has even given up on whether he should even try to continue searching for her, because she was more than likely dead. But he needed something to live for. He never had the desire to gang up with other survivors to kill these aliens. That thought never even crosses his mind. His only thought is to survive. And isn't that what everyone is trying to do?

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would so I give it four out of five stars. It was good and I highly suggest you see the Tom Cruise film. A great adaptation of the book.

As of right now, I finished the first book of The Forsyte Saga "A Man of Property". I will be breaking up the different sections because 1) this book is 900 pages long 2) it was written in different books but they decided to lump them all together. So, I am reading a few filler books in between. Currently reading a Martha Grimes' Richard Jury novel. But I do promise to get my next review up post haste!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

I would just like to say that what I wanted to write for this blog was ??? and call it a day. That is how I felt about this book. It took me two weeks to read 196 pages... and if you know me, I never take that long to read when I have the time. I read a book in between (Museum of the Missing) because I needed to clear my head of what I was reading. With that, I will try to give you some sort of review of this novel.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce apparently "represents the transitional stage between the realism of Joyce's Dubliners and the symbolism of Ulysses, and is essential to the understanding of the later work" (from the back of the book) and apparently the main character, Stephen Dedalus shows up in Ulysses, another book that's on the list, which I have no desire to read anytime soon. The book starts with "Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy name baby tuckoo..." (Joyce, pg. 4). I should have known where this book was going. This book is suppose to be about self discovery, figuring out what is important and trying to find your place in the world. However, for me, the stream of consciousness technique coupled with the jumping of years, was very hard to keep up with it.
This stream of consciousness was more of moments of reflection, where Stephen reaches his epiphany... questioning his family, religion, faith and education. There were some parts of the novel that I found myself enjoying, but those were short lived. There was one chapter (and mind you, there are only five) which was a sermon, telling those who have committed sin to repent, or face damnation in hell. That chapter was one of the most arduous for me to read. I do not have a Catholic upbringing, nor am I very religious, so it pained me.
I don't really have much more to say on this book that would be of any intellectual value. I am sure Joyce would think of me as Lady Gaga would think of those who don't get her "art", that I don't know what good literature is. To him I say "whatever, I hated your book".
If you too want to read a book that is suppose to be about self discovery with a disjointed timeline, this book is for you!
I gave this book three out of five stars because the parts that were good, were GOOD.

Currently reading a short story, Marquis de Sade's Betrayal. My first Sade book. He has two on the list, but this one is not. I just ordered three more books, but I need a 1001 book to read next. Should I start The Forsyte Saga? The Three Musketeers? The Portrait of a Lady? I need some input!

Until next time,

happy reading!

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

I can't believe as the summer is winding down that I am 1) writing another post in a week and 2) read two books so far this week. This post is going to be short and sweet because this collection of short stories that I read is not on the 1001 list. However, two other of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books are: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles. I have read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes but not yet The Hound of the Baskervilles. I own two books that contain the complete stories and novels of Sherlock Holmes and I am going through it in order. I am super anal when it comes to reading series, You should've seen my reaction when I read Nineteen Seventy Seven and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, both belonging to series. I freaked. Now because of that, I have one more short story collection to read before I can start volume II, to which I can read The Hound of the Baskervilles. The only thing that I knew about Sherlock Holmes while I was growing up was from the PBS series, Wishbone, when Wishbone presented The Hound of the Baskervilles. I always knew the characters of Holmes and Watson, and the many adaptations from The Great Mouse Detective to the Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law characters to my personal favorite, the BBC mini series of Sherlock. If you haven't seen Sherlock yet, drop everything you're doing, no but seriously, stop taking care of your kids, don't go to work, pull to the side of the road and binge watch this series on Netflix. NOW! Well, after you finish reading this post...

However, I am getting way off topic. Back to the matter at hand. What I am trying to say is, for someone who doesn't read a ton of Sherlock Holmes, I feel like I know a lot of these stories because of the many adaptations. In The Memoirs, *spoiler alert* (not really, because EVERYONE KNOWS THIS), the final short story, entitled, The Final Case, is where Professor Moriarty and Sherlock both kill themselves, or where Watson deduces, Sherlock rids Moriarty by killing himself in the process of killing Moriarty by throwing themselves over the Reinbach Falls. However, don't be sad, while this is one of my favorite of the short stories in this collection, since this is where we meet Moriarty, Sherlock doesn't die. The next collection of short stories is called The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock LIVES. Now we can all go on with our lives.

Now that I got the ending out of the way for you, what I like about this collection is that we see a softer side of Holmes. We see where he is not always right. We meet his brother Mycroft (whom I love) and we see more emotion from Holmes. Unfortunately, you also can read Doyle's boredom with his character. Some of the short stories are very formulaic, with 10 pages of the problem being presented to Holmes and the other ten pages consist of him telling them how the mystery is solved. Then, Doyle was basically forced to write more Holmes stories and novels after this. But like I said, there are some good cases in here none of the less. This is a great, easy read. However, to my great annoyance, I have been watching the Poirot series on Netflix, and I have read almost 2/3 of Agatha Christie's Poirot mysteries, SO, in my head, when Sherlock was talking, I kept giving him the voice of David Suchet's Poirot, which annoyed me to no end. Damn you, Agatha Christie, for being heavily (and I mean HEAVILY) influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. DAMN YOU!

I give this 4 out of 5 stars because it's a super easy and fun read.

Now, the next book I am reading, The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce is going to, literally, be the death of me. I have been avoiding James Joyce like the plague. Mostly because I don't get his writing style. It makes absolutely no sense. If I survive, I'll be sure to let you guys know, in what is sure to be the BEST review EVER!

Until next time... (if I live)
Happy Reading

The Jungle

When most people think of The Jungle, they first say "oh, isn't that the book about the meat packing industry?" And that is if they know the book at all. While the first third of the book is a graphic look of the meat packing district as it was in the turn of the 20th century, the book deals with more issues than just the poor working conditions and severe health code violations that were rampant in the business.

On it's surface, the novel is about Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who comes over with his fiancé, her step-mother, cousin and numerous half brothers and sisters. It chronicles their life, struggling to survive, keeping jobs, falling prey to con man and other issues that continue to arise. However, the family saga is just a back drop to the main story of real life corruption, poor working conditions, the plight of the immigrant families and the lack of safety nets. The author, Upton Sinclair, was in real life a Socialist, who went undercover for a Socialist newspaper in Chicago and actually worked in a meat packing factory for seven weeks to write this novel. It was a serialized piece, and didn't appear in novel form until later. Sinclair uses this story of the poor immigrant family to expose what was happening in these industries that the American public had no idea what was happening or how their meat was brought to the table. 

The opening of the novel begins with Jurgis and Ona's wedding feast. The wedding feast, back in the old country, is supposed to be a time for celebration. However, in this new American life, it is a constant source of worry and stress for our protagonist family. The wedding feast is an expensive one, but it is a tradition that Jurgis and Ona's step mother, Elzbieta, refuses to abandon. If they abandoned it "to do that would, not merely to be defeated, but to acknowledge defeat and the difference between these two things is what keeps the world going"(pg. 7). Everyone attending the feast is poor, and everyone is expected to pay for themselves. This is called the veselija. A hat is passed around and the guests throw in what they can. Jurgis and Ona are depending on this money to pay the vendors and on a surplus to get them through. However, when they have passed the collections, they find there is not even enough money to cover the wedding costs. It is observed that people come in from the street where the eat and drink and leave before leaving any money. Elzbieta says it will ruin them, but typical Jurgis says "I will work harder".
Jurgis always says that he will "work harder" every time that a financial hardship arises. Unfortunately, Jurgis hasn't figured out that the system is working against him,  his family, and all of the workers. There is no social safety net, health benefits, or vacation time given. If you missed a day of work, not only were you unpaid, but you were at risk of losing your job. There were so many unemployed, that even if you were a good, hard worker, the company would not hesitate to find someone to replace you. They need bodies and if someone could perform the work marginally well, you were out of job. Now, if the boss liked you enough and disliked your replacement enough, you may be lucky enough to get your job back, at the expense of the person who replaced you. This was a vicious cycle, but everyone in the packing industry abided by it. You did not want to be the unlucky soul who got sick, hurt themselves on the production lines, or even worse, get black listed.
As you might have imagined, all of these happen to our immigrant family. As I have previously stated, Sinclair uses this family to rail against the work conditions, lack of the social safety net and lack of morals among the industry. Sinclair throws everything against this family. Could they really be that unlucky? This is where I think the story fails. If Sinclair wanted to write this investigative piece, he could have done that either using real names and people or actually make us care about these characters. Throughout the evolution of this "novel" (a term that I use loosely), my disdain for Jurgis grows. As much as I want to feel for him and his family, Sinclair makes me turn against them because to get more of the investigational journalism into the story, he makes these improbable events happen to Jurgis all the time. Then, to top it all off, he decides that Jurgis sees the light and socialism is the answer. He leaves a bunch of story lines open. I had a hard time concentrating at the end because it became less about the family and more about the savior that is the Socialist movement.
Overall, I think the novel is worth a read because it is an eye opener about what was really going on with our food and these immigrant workers. It shows the rise of the union and why they were such an important part of the labor movement. I just think that Sinclair's passion for Socialism and the need to expose every part of the industry and political corruption in one book to one family really muddles the novel. I give it three out of five stars.

Another book has been checked off the 1001 list. I am currently over 100 books from about 1290ish, so I have plenty of reading to do. My next book is The Nanny Diaries for my book club, which I am already half way done with so I am going to need to find my next 1001 book. I have the Forsyte Saga, but I am not sure if I want to tackle a long read this late in the year when I still have another 13 books to read towards my goal of 35 books read in 2014. I have so much going on and so little time. Any suggestions for my next read would be awesome! Just refer to the 1001 list and tell me what you think I should pick up next. If you say Charles Dickens, go home.

I am so glad to be writing in my blog again. I will definitely keep it up this time around (I did say this before). I promise!

Until next time,
Happy Reading

Some Election Day Thoughts

I thought I would deter a moment and give my thoughts regarding election day. Please go out and vote! I know people out there think that their vote doesn't count (unless you're in Ohio, because apparently you're the only state that matters in this election), however now is not the time to be apathetic! Americans didn't get the freedom that we have today by luck. Brave men and women died for our country so we could have the right to vote. Susan B Anthony fought for women's rights and we need to continue to show appreciation for what has been done for us. Imagine if you lived in North Korea, Afghanistan or Syria. Good luck voting and your vote truly doesn't count. So no matter who you are voting for, please make sure you educate yourself on the candidates in the national and local elections even the question ballots. Don't vote along party lines even if you don't like the candidate. If you're a registered Democrat, it's okay to vote Republican, if they share the same values and stand for what you believe it. The polarization of our politics is what is really bringing this country down. We are so concerned with voting with the party just to make people happy, even if we don't believe in it.
So go out there and vote, no excuses and play like a champion.

That is all.