Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Well, what can I say about this book? I chose this book for one of my book discussion groups and thought it was time for us to read a "classic" again. I'm not sure this was the right choice, but I got thru it.

Mrs. Dalloway is about Clarissa Dalloway and one day in her life. She has planned a party for the evening and we hear about her day and how it progresses to days end with the culmination of the party. Throughout the book you meet many people. Some of those you like and some you don't. Some you don't even care about. I would say to me the most interesting characters were Septimus Warren Smith and his wife Lucrezia.

This book was very hard to read. I find it difficult to get thru a book without chapters and this book didn't have any separations at all for the whole 194 pages. Also, there isn't much dialogue. It is mostly descriptions. The thing that bothered me most was that often you did not know whose point of view the story was coming from because of the lack of any kind of separation. I went thru the SparkNotes so I could at least keep everything straight. It helped tremendously.

The consensus with the book club was that it wasn't that great for them either. One woman did finish it and the other didn't.

Hurricane by Karen Harper

I've found a new author I like. I love it when I do that--especially when there are several titles that I can read right in a row.

Hurricane was very action packed. It's the kind of fast paced thriller that I love. It has suspense and a little love interest thrown in for good measure.

I have to admit that hurricanes fascinate me. I can't imagine going thru one, but I often think about seeing the ocean right before one hits. The beach to me is paradise. As a matter of fact, I finished this book last night and I dreamed of being on a beach. If only it were true because right now looking out the window snowflakes are falling.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Wow! What a book! I usually don't pick up children's fiction or even young adult fiction unless one of my children is reading it or I want them to read it, but this book has interested me for a long time now. It's the winner of the Caldecott award and well deserving of it!

The story is of a young orphaned boy who is left by his uncle to maintain clocks in the train station while he goes off to who knows where. The boy keeps the clocks in order hoping no one realizes his uncle is gone and has been for awhile. The boy has a few remnants of his fathers--one being a notebook of drawings and an automaton his father was trying to repair. He is determined to make it work which takes him on adventures thru the train station and into the surrounding neighborhoods. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens in the end!

I have to say though, the coolest part of the book is the illustrations. They are fantastic. Much of the 500+ pages are illustrations which makes for a quick read but well worth the time! If you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think!

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

The other weekend I was home and had nothing to read. This is so unusual. I work at a library-- how is it there is nothing in my bag? Well I had brought home a copy of the Good Earth for my son because he was reading one of Buck's children's titles and thought hey he might like this. Well, needless to say, once he saw how big it was that was out the door.

Anyway, I picked it up. I just have to say I loved it. It was a selection I had to read in high school and had at the time thought it was a decent book. It had stayed with me thru the years--at least the fact that I had read it. This time through though was different.


It is a novel set in China starting out with a son who lives with his father on land that they own. It would seem that was the most of their possessions. The son is finally ready to start a family, but with little money and possessions his father had to go to the great house in the city and purchase a slave for him to be his wife. She was kind and a hard worker. She produced three sons for him and 2 daughters. He was satisfied with her.

He loved his land and wanted to expand his possessions. After many trials and almost starvation he was eventually able to. As life goes, money sometimes creates new problems and the rest of the book describes how he was able to amass wealth but the problems that came with it.

It truly was an amazing book. I couldn't put it down.

Welcome

Welcome to my new journey! I am going to try to keep this up to date and hope someone out there finds it useful. I love to read! I read every chance I get.