Just finished the classic Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and I am proud to say that although I have discovered Dickens later in life, I am really enjoying his works.
Oliver Twist is born into poverty and raised in an orphanage, where he famously asks for more gruel and is quickly moved out of the orphanage and into the home of a coffin maker as an apprentice. The other children apprenticed to the coffin maker make Oliver's life a nightmare, and he decides to run away to London. Once there, he meets the Artful Dodger who introduces Oliver to a man named Fagin, and a life of pick pocketing.
This is a story of redemption as with most Dickens stories, things always work out in the end. I rooted for Oliver the whole way though and was glad to see how it worked out. It was a good ending for him, but a pretty depressing end for the rest of the characters.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Hey, what's on the shelf? Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
From Amazon.ca:
This story is set in Jamaica in the days of pirates. Captain Hunter decides that he is going to go after a fortune stored on a warship in the port of Matanceros. He cobbles together a motley crew and goes out for the treasure.
This story is a fast read, and it's pretty good. A pretty good bubble bath read.
From Amazon.ca:
This story is set in Jamaica in the days of pirates. Captain Hunter decides that he is going to go after a fortune stored on a warship in the port of Matanceros. He cobbles together a motley crew and goes out for the treasure.
This story is a fast read, and it's pretty good. A pretty good bubble bath read.
Holy crap
Not that anyone reads this, but holy crap. I haven't updated in ages. I should really get on that, but with planning my wedding I've been a bit AWOL. Not super happy with my book numbers this year either. I'm only at about 21 for 2010. Usually I shoot for 50.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Hey, what's on the shelf? Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
From Amazon.ca:
1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara, and the convent of Santa Caterina is filled with noble women who are married to Christ because many cannot find husbands outside. Enter sixteen-year-old Serafina, ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, howling with rage and hormones and determined to escape. While on the other side of the great walls, counter-reformation forces in the Church are pushing for change, inside, Serafina's spirit and defiance ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the whole convent.
SACRED HEARTS is a novel about power, creativity and passion - both of the body and of the soul. Hidden history brought alive by a wonderful storyteller, renowned for her Italian Renaissance novels.
I like Sarah Dunant's work normally, but from the back of the jacket I thought this was going to be about Serafina, although she actually plays more of a supporting role to Zuana, another sister in the convent. Serafina comes in screaming her head off because she's unwilling to become a bride of Christ since she has a lover on the outside.
I thought a lot of the situations weren't very plausible, and the plot moved at a bit of a snail's pace for me.
1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara, and the convent of Santa Caterina is filled with noble women who are married to Christ because many cannot find husbands outside. Enter sixteen-year-old Serafina, ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, howling with rage and hormones and determined to escape. While on the other side of the great walls, counter-reformation forces in the Church are pushing for change, inside, Serafina's spirit and defiance ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the whole convent.
SACRED HEARTS is a novel about power, creativity and passion - both of the body and of the soul. Hidden history brought alive by a wonderful storyteller, renowned for her Italian Renaissance novels.
I like Sarah Dunant's work normally, but from the back of the jacket I thought this was going to be about Serafina, although she actually plays more of a supporting role to Zuana, another sister in the convent. Serafina comes in screaming her head off because she's unwilling to become a bride of Christ since she has a lover on the outside.
I thought a lot of the situations weren't very plausible, and the plot moved at a bit of a snail's pace for me.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hey, what's on the shelf? Alice Hartley's Happiness - Philippa Gregory
All I really have to say about this one is WTF?
From Amazon.ca:
Social mores come under bestselling author Philippa Gregory's acute scrutiny in this reissue of a long-unavailable novel of betrayal, revenge and liberation! Alice Hartley can no longer arouse the interest of her pompous husband, the adulterous professor. Despite her efforts, she still leaves him cold. Just as she is compelled to face this chilling truth, she meets Michael, a young student with an excessive libido. In Michael, Alice discovers an endless supply of all she has sought: revenge, sex and a large house suitable for conversion. Soon the house is thigh-deep with women joyfully casting off the shacles of their oppression. Sadly, some narrow-minded neigbours and numerous forces of the law seem completely impervious to all those healing vibrations!
Okay, seriously, from reading the above, you'd still never imagine the things that happen in this book and I am wondering if Philippa Gregory partook in some drugs to come up with this storyline. Like it says above, this is a rerelease, and on the inside of the jacket it says that this book has been made into a miniseries on the BBC!
It's a short read at just 249 pages, and at some points you have to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. I don't think I regret reading it, or feel it was a waste of my time, but.. yeah.
That's all I have to say about that.
From Amazon.ca:
Social mores come under bestselling author Philippa Gregory's acute scrutiny in this reissue of a long-unavailable novel of betrayal, revenge and liberation! Alice Hartley can no longer arouse the interest of her pompous husband, the adulterous professor. Despite her efforts, she still leaves him cold. Just as she is compelled to face this chilling truth, she meets Michael, a young student with an excessive libido. In Michael, Alice discovers an endless supply of all she has sought: revenge, sex and a large house suitable for conversion. Soon the house is thigh-deep with women joyfully casting off the shacles of their oppression. Sadly, some narrow-minded neigbours and numerous forces of the law seem completely impervious to all those healing vibrations!
Okay, seriously, from reading the above, you'd still never imagine the things that happen in this book and I am wondering if Philippa Gregory partook in some drugs to come up with this storyline. Like it says above, this is a rerelease, and on the inside of the jacket it says that this book has been made into a miniseries on the BBC!
It's a short read at just 249 pages, and at some points you have to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. I don't think I regret reading it, or feel it was a waste of my time, but.. yeah.
That's all I have to say about that.
Hey, what's ont he shelf? Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
From Amazon.ca:
Margaret Mitchell's epic novel of love and war won the Pulitzer Prize and went on to give rise to two authorized sequels and one of the most popular and celebrated movies of all time.
Many novels have been written about the Civil War and its aftermath. None take us into the burning fields and cities of the American South as Gone With the Wind does, creating haunting scenes and thrilling portraits of characters so vivid that we remember their words and feel their fear and hunger for the rest of our lives.
In the two main characters, the white-shouldered, irresistible Scarlett and the flashy, contemptuous Rhett, Margaret Mitchell not only conveyed a timeless story of survival under the harshest of circumstances, she also created two of the most famous lovers in the English-speaking world since Romeo and Juliet.
My first thought is what? There's a sequel! I must get it!
This book was a great read, and being a classic novel I was expecting it to be a bit dry, but I found myself at the end of this massive tome (1448 pages) looking for more. I was completely swept up in the civil war and the world of Scarlett and Rhett. All of the characters were vivid and interesting.
No wonder this is on the list of books to read before you die. I have the DVD on reserve from the library.
Margaret Mitchell's epic novel of love and war won the Pulitzer Prize and went on to give rise to two authorized sequels and one of the most popular and celebrated movies of all time.
Many novels have been written about the Civil War and its aftermath. None take us into the burning fields and cities of the American South as Gone With the Wind does, creating haunting scenes and thrilling portraits of characters so vivid that we remember their words and feel their fear and hunger for the rest of our lives.
In the two main characters, the white-shouldered, irresistible Scarlett and the flashy, contemptuous Rhett, Margaret Mitchell not only conveyed a timeless story of survival under the harshest of circumstances, she also created two of the most famous lovers in the English-speaking world since Romeo and Juliet.
My first thought is what? There's a sequel! I must get it!
This book was a great read, and being a classic novel I was expecting it to be a bit dry, but I found myself at the end of this massive tome (1448 pages) looking for more. I was completely swept up in the civil war and the world of Scarlett and Rhett. All of the characters were vivid and interesting.
No wonder this is on the list of books to read before you die. I have the DVD on reserve from the library.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Hey, what's on the shelf? The Broken Window - Jeffrey Deaver
From Amazon.ca:
"Lincoln Rhyme and partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose masterful staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information...
When Lincoln's cousin is arrested on murder charges, the case against Arthur Rhyme is perfect... too perfect. Forensic evidence from Arthur's home is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of Lincoln's estranged cousin is sealed.
At the behest of Arthur's wife Judy, Lincoln begrudgingly agrees to investigate the case. Soon Lincoln and Amelia uncover a string of similar murders and rapes with perpetrators claiming innocence and ignorance despite ironclad evidence at the scenes of the crime. Rhyme's tem realizes this "perfect" evidence may actually be the result of masterful identity theft, AND manipulation. An information service company -- Strategic Systems Datacorp-- seems to have all the answers but is reluctant to share its information. Still, Rhyme and Sachs and their assembled team begin putting together a chilling pattern and consistent trace evidence, and their investigation points to one master criminal, whom they dub "522".
When "522" learns the identies of the crime fighting team, the hunters become the hunted. Full of Deaver's trademark plot twists, THE BROKEN WINDOW will put the partnership of Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs to the ultimate test."
Okay, so apparently this is the 8th book about Lincoln Rhyme. And I think that the reference to Deaver's trademark plot twists is interesting, because I didn't find it twisty at all.
I actually found this book quite boring and I was ready for it to end. It's a good idea, and is totally possible today with all the information floating around, and malicious people who would love to get their hands on it, but I really have to give this book a meh.
I was tipped off to Jeffrey Deaver one day while commuting. A lady in a wheelchair asked me what I was reading and we got to talking about books, and she recommended Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series. She said that it was very inspirational for her since Lincoln Rhyme is a quadriplegic. I thought it was pretty cool that Deaver did that. You don't see a lot of qadriplegic cops in crime novels, so I thought that was a good idea.
I'd pass on this book though, and I'm not planning on picking up any of Deaver's other work.
"Lincoln Rhyme and partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose masterful staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information...
When Lincoln's cousin is arrested on murder charges, the case against Arthur Rhyme is perfect... too perfect. Forensic evidence from Arthur's home is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of Lincoln's estranged cousin is sealed.
At the behest of Arthur's wife Judy, Lincoln begrudgingly agrees to investigate the case. Soon Lincoln and Amelia uncover a string of similar murders and rapes with perpetrators claiming innocence and ignorance despite ironclad evidence at the scenes of the crime. Rhyme's tem realizes this "perfect" evidence may actually be the result of masterful identity theft, AND manipulation. An information service company -- Strategic Systems Datacorp-- seems to have all the answers but is reluctant to share its information. Still, Rhyme and Sachs and their assembled team begin putting together a chilling pattern and consistent trace evidence, and their investigation points to one master criminal, whom they dub "522".
When "522" learns the identies of the crime fighting team, the hunters become the hunted. Full of Deaver's trademark plot twists, THE BROKEN WINDOW will put the partnership of Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs to the ultimate test."
Okay, so apparently this is the 8th book about Lincoln Rhyme. And I think that the reference to Deaver's trademark plot twists is interesting, because I didn't find it twisty at all.
I actually found this book quite boring and I was ready for it to end. It's a good idea, and is totally possible today with all the information floating around, and malicious people who would love to get their hands on it, but I really have to give this book a meh.
I was tipped off to Jeffrey Deaver one day while commuting. A lady in a wheelchair asked me what I was reading and we got to talking about books, and she recommended Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series. She said that it was very inspirational for her since Lincoln Rhyme is a quadriplegic. I thought it was pretty cool that Deaver did that. You don't see a lot of qadriplegic cops in crime novels, so I thought that was a good idea.
I'd pass on this book though, and I'm not planning on picking up any of Deaver's other work.
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