Book # 66 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

With so many books to choose from it is always hard to decide which one to read next. And if I am not careful I could end up reading all the books I know that I'll enjoy first and then be left with a bunch of books I'm not really looking forward to reading at the very end (umm. like To the Lighthouse). So I devised a rough method for choosing what to read next. However I don't always stick to that plan if a good reason presents itself for reading a book earlier. Case in point, last week Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, passed away. Since I've been reading so many articles about him and his most famous novel I figure I can skip right to it.

Before we had started reading these books, I had never heard of Things Fall Apart or Chinua Achebe. Even though it appears that this book is pretty well known and frequently taught in schools I was totally ignorant of it.  The book tells the story of Okonkwo a man who lives in the village Umuofia in Africa. He is well respected and pretty successful having three wives and a farm. Okonkwo is a bit of a difficult person to like. He expects a lot from his family and isn't afraid to beat someone if they don't live up to his expectations. Having had a lazy father, Okonkwo is inspired not to be like him and has found a way to succeed within the society that he lives in. The first two thirds of the novel tells of various events in his life and of various African traditions. There are stories that involve the local medicine man, the crazy Oracle, various spiritual rituals and about conflicts between different tribes. One especially memorable storyline is about Ikemefuma, a young boy that is taken from an other village in order to prevent a war. The elders decide to have Okonkwo take care of the boy until they know what to do with him. Time passes and Okonknow begins to see Ikemefuma as a son and wishes his own son was as ambitions and talented as Ikemefuma. And then... well the story turns out pretty sad.

Then Okonkwo accidentally kills someone and is banished from his village for seven years. When he returns he finds that missionaries have arrived in Africa and have begun to change the culture of Umuofia. Okonkwo finds that while he was successful in the past, he is unprepared for the changes to his society. His oldest son converts to Christianity and Okonkwo disowns him. Everything he has worked for slowly disintegrates and things fall apart.

After reading it I could see how the book could be taught in schools. There are many different aspects that can be analyzed and discussed. It is also a fascinating look into a culture that isn't very well known. The book has a bunch of interesting characters and I was shocked out what happened to a few of them. Okonkwo is so well written that I both really liked and disliked him at the same time. He is a hard man, but that's how he needed to be and was what was expected of him in his village. Sadly all the qualities that allowed him to flourish in a purely African culture work against him once Europeans start to influence their society. I'd recommend it to anyone that needs to write a book report. A.

Book #50 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling

Progress Book #23.57 of 100

This has always been my favorite book of the series.  Everyone is happy and even though there are dark forces, it’s a good year for Harry at least until the end of the book.  The novel starts with Harry at home with his Aunt and Uncle just waiting for Ron’s invitation to go to the Quidditch World Cup.  Once the invite is received, Harry just waits for Ron to come pick him up.  As Ron, his father and twin brothers arrive unexpectedly in the fireplace chaos ensues.  One of the twins “accidentally” drops a candy which causes Harry’s cousin Dudley’s tongue to grow five feet.  They needed someone to test the candy and felt Dudley deserved to be the guinea pig.  Fred and George are easily two very likable characters.

At the Quidditch World Cup the Dark Lord’s mark thrown up in the sky causing panic.  The ministry quickly says it’s nothing to worry about and refuses to believe Voldemort has returned. 

Back at school it’s an exciting year for Harry and his friends since Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament.  Harry is entered into the tournament and has to compete against Viktor Krum from Durmstrang, Fleur from Beauxbatons and Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts.  The tournament has dragons, mermaids and a maze.  Like I mentioned above most of this story is during a happy time of their lives.  Harry has Sirius as a father figure and Ron and Hermoine doing everything they can to help Harry prepare for the tournament. 

I’ll give his book an A 96%        

Book #50 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Progress Book # 23.43 of 100

In this book some of my favorite characters are introduced.  Professor Lupin, a close friend of Harry’s father is the first real support person to make time for Harry and helps him train to fight evil. It’s year three for Harry, Ron and Hermione.  The novel starts out with Sirius Black escaping Azkaban prison.  In the massive manhunt the guards of Azkaban called Death Eaters surround Hogwarts.  The Death Eaters are drawn to Harry multiple times, but Lupin helps Harry fight them off.  The Weasley twin’s give Harry the Marauders Map allowing him to see where anyone is at any time on Hogwarts.  With the map Harry is able to sneak out of the castle and visit the nearby village of Hogsmead- where there is a candy store and a pub that they get to drink butterbeer.  I enjoyed this novel because we find out that Harry does have family that cares for him.  There is also a scene where Hermione socks Draco Malfoy, which he more than deserves for being so mean to everyone.

This one gets an A-94%    

Book # 50 Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets

Progress Book # 23.29 of 100

I remember liking this book the least of the whole series (due to the snakes) but actually really enjoyed reading it.  Something new I picked up this time was how funny the whole Mandrake storyline was.  The Mandrakes are a plant that will help cure people petrified by the unknown problem.  To be effective they have to reach maturity.  They start at crying babies, then get start getting older.  A sign that they have almost reached maturity is when they lock themselves in the greenhouse and throw a part like teenagers- it’s funny.  It’s year two at Hogwarts and Harry, Ron and Hermione are growing up.  In this novel moaning Mytrle, Ginny Weasley and Dobby the house elf are introduced as secondary/main characters.  We learn why Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, discover more about Lord Voldermort’s past, and that Harry can speak with snakes. 

I will give book two an A- 91 %

Book # 50 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Progress Book # 23.14 of 100

In anticipation of a trip we are going to take I decided to read the Harry Potter Series next from our book list.  This will be the 3^rd time I’ve read the series, most recently just a few years ago for the final film.  I am a big fan of this series and the films.  I was introduced to them back in college as a part of the Project Literacy team at UCLA.  When my friend Keeka told me about this volunteer project she was a leader of it seemed like a great thing to join.  The mission was to get kids more interested in reading.  Once a week we would head over to the Mar Vista housing projects and tutor and try and get younger kids into reading.  I was assigned to Angel and together we decided he might be interested in magic books.  Thus began Harry Potter.  With only a little time each week to read, we didn’t get through much of the first book, but as soon as I started the book I was obsessed and went through the series fast.  At that time I think there were only 4 books out.  When we graduated two years later I gave Angel all the books that were written at the time.  I wonder if he ever read them all.  

This is a coming of age story of an orphan named Harry Potter.  The first book sets everything up.  We learn about Harry and are introduced to the magical world.  The world includes flying, mail delivering owls and chocolate that helps cure illness.  It’s a fun enchanting world.  In this novel Harry along with his two best friends Ron and Hermione discover that Voldemort has returned and is doing everything to try and regain his strength and support to finish his conquest of supreme power.  This is the set up of the whole series as Harry who shares a special bond with Voldemort will be pitted against him as good vs. evil.    

I enjoyed this book again, while it’s not my favorite of the series, I’ll still give it an A 93%

Book # 26 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Part 1
Last week I was looking at how just how big War and Peace is. The book is massive. It'll take a while to read it... so instead of writing something after reading it, I'll make a sort-of reading diary while I go along. So after 100 some pages my only opinion is that this will take awhile. I didn't know anything about the book beforehand, and now I know that it is about aristocratic families in Russia during the invasion by Napoleon. So far I've only been able to read in half hour increments, otherwise I'd fall asleep. I figure at this pace I should be done in three months.

Part 2
Three weeks and 450 pages later.... I'm limiting my reading to half an hour a day and the story isn't really interesting enough to make me want to read more. So far the story has mainly centered on three young Russian noblemen during peacetime, then wartime, and then peacetime again. One gets married, another loses his wife, another stays in the military... Somehow none of it is especially interesting. Maybe the next 900 pages will be better.

Part 3
Finally at the halfway point! After a few hundred pages of "Peace" now it is time for some "War". Darn that Napoleon.... Also how could Natasha betray Nikolay like that!

Part 4
I was right. It did take about three months to get through it.  For such a long book I have surprisingly little to say about it. The novel is certainly epic in scope, and while the story is never boring it is rarely compelling. As the book progresses entire chapters are devoted to Tolstoy's opinions on topics that are pretty boring. Actually the last 40 pages are entirely devoted to Tolstoys' thoughts on how historians interpret history, free will, and why certain people such as Napoleon are able to rise to power. And *Spoilers* in the end the two surviving main male characters end up marrying the two main surviving female characters and start families and have a bunch of babies. I admire the scope and I do feel that I learned more than I need to know about Russia in the early 1800's though. I'll give it an A-

Book # 27 The Chronicles of Narnia (Part 6 of 7) - The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis

 After reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader I was looking forward to finding out what happens next in the Narnia series. In The Silver Chair Eustace, the cousin from the previous book, is transported back to Narnia along with classmate Jill Pole. They find out that King Caspian is now an old man and that his son, Prince Rilian, has been missing for ten years. Using instructions from Aslan, Eustace and Jill travel north to look for Rilian and meet Puddleglum, a pessimistic marsh-wiggle. Adventures follow... involving giants, another evil witch, underground mole people, talking owls and so on.

Overall I really enjoyed this installment. It may not have been quite as good as the previous book, but it moved along quickly and I thought Puddleglum was a funny new character. I'm sure Lewis meant for the whole encounter between the children and the Lady of the Green Kirtle in the Underworld to symbolize the conflict that exists between mankind and the devil... and for Aslan's Country to represent Narnian heaven. I'm hoping the next book brings closure to the series. This one gets an A-.

Fun Book #6 Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Did I mention I have the best husband ever?  He is always on the lookout for new releases for a few series that I read.  So last week I finally caught a cold, all winter without one, and then I finally get it when it starts to turn warm outside.  I sent him out to get my medicine, which he did, but he also came back with a surprise.  This book, the 18th book in my series that was just recently published and I didn't even know that it was out.

These books were a pleasant discovery at the Festival of Books back when they were still at UCLA.  I used to love going to the mystery book tents and just picking a new book.  Joanne Fluke was there signing her newest book and they had fun covers so I grabbed the first one and she autographed it.  By the next Festival of Books, I had caught up and read like all 12 at the time.  They are a fun series that center around Hannah Swensen and her Cooking store in a small town in Minnesota.  She solves murders and bakes yummy cookies.  All the books also have about 20 recepies so you can bake what she is making.

Since I'm caught up with all of the novels I only read them when a new one comes out, about once a year.  I thought in the last book it was decided that Hannah was in love with Norman and it was set that they would just end up married, but in this book she is back to being torn between Norman and Mike.  I was surprised, and hope that Joanne will make a decision soon since it's overdue.  Besides that it was nice to be back in Lake Eden with all of the familiar characters and faces. 

This book will get a 93% A 

Fun Book #5 The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James

Thanks to my friend Annalea and her publishing internship in LA a few years back I was introduced to Syrie James with her first novel The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen.  I remember enjoying that one and as soon as Daniel saw this new one he knew it would be a winner.  So on Valentine's Day- I got this new one.

A missing novel never published, scavenger hunt in a big English estate to find it with a handsome stranger= a great book.  Right away I knew this book was going to be a really fun read.  First Samantha finds a the letter hinting that their is a missing manuscript, and her being a Jane Austen scholar she has to find the truth.  The search begins and when they find the manuscript they read it, so we get to read it too.  It's a story within a story.  I really enjoyed the missing "manuscript" story. When the novel would go back to present day, it was good too.

This is definitely a book I would recommend to any other Jane Austen enthusiast.  It gets an A 95%

Fun Book #4 The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

This novel takes place in 1982 and is centered around 3 people graduating from Brown University, Madeleine, Mitchell and Leonard and what they do next.  At first I didn't really like this novel, probably because I couldn't really sympathize with Madeleine.  I didn't like her choices.  Then in the middle of the book I started thinking that I really liked it.  I felt like I was learning a lot.  I was enjoying the ideas and theories that Mitchell and Leonard had and thought it was going to end in a way that I would be happy with.  I loved that Mitchell goes to India and volunteers for Mother Teresa and learns a lot about himself along the way.  Then I finished the book and was like "WHAT?" really loud in my head. 

It was okay, and I do fell like I learned a lot, especially about manic depression.  I enjoyed the whole part of Mitchell and his friend Larry, but never really connected with Madeleine and her part of the story.  She seemed totally selfish towards Mitchell and her family.  She does go above and beyond for Leonard, but doesn't do that for anyone else

I'll give this book as B- 83%.    

Book # 88 The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Progress Book 23 of 100

This book leaves a visual impact on the reader.  It takes place in the future where the world has gone back to old fashioned thinking and ways.  Women are inferior to men, they cannot have money, and have basically no rights. Their place is next to their husbands, or in the kitchen as a cook, or as Handmaid's who only purpose is to bear children.  Anyone who opposes this is executed or sent to a colony where they clean toxic waste.

The main character is called Offred and she is a handmaid.  She wasn't always one though.  The writing style of this novel is from her point of view as you see what her thoughts and memories are.  It was hard to understand what was going on, since her memories aren't in any order.  Nothing was in real time and it was a little frustrating to read since as a reader you just wanted to know everything.  I will say it probably made me read the book faster.  Also, there was a twist near the end that I didn't expect and was really new and interesting.

Overall the main ideas of the society and future world was very disturbing. I even had a few nightmares while reading.  Since it sticks out so vividly I'll give this book a solid 85% B 

Book #9 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Progress #22 of 100

Before reading this book I was sure it was something I’ve already read in school, and I’m sure we watched the movie.  The book I was reading looked so familiar I was sure it was the same version we read in school.  That being said I remembered nothing about this story.  I thought it would start to become familiar the further I read, but it didn’t.  So this was just like reading a completely new story.

The novel is a seen through the eyes of young tomboy named Scout. Scout lives with her brother Jem, their father Atticus Finch and their housekeeper Calpurnia.  It's a coming of age story set in the South over a few years.  Together Jem, Scout and their summer friend Dill get into all sorts of adventures while learning life lessons along the way.  The novel deals with many serious topics including race, equality and honor.  

In the first part of the novel Scout, Jem and Dill are obsessed with their recluse neighbor Boo Radley.  They play a game they have made up all day.  Jem runs to the house, touches the wall and runs back.  They want to catch a glimpse of him and try everything they can.  At one point Jem is almost killed.  After that incident Jem begins to grow up and start to understand adult issues more.  This hurts Scout who is still a little kid and doesn't see the realities of the world yet.

The second part of the novel is centered around a court case where Atticus is the lawyer for the accused. 

The whole time I was reading it didn't get familiar at all.  There were some really memorable scenes such as Calpurnia taking Scout and Jem to her chruch and Jem helping a neighbor get over an addiction.  It was a very touching book and deserves an 95% A 

Fun Book #3 The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy by Regina Jeffers

I had high expectations of this book, since I have read two others by Ms. Jeffers The Phantom of Pemberley and Captain Wentworth's Persuasion and I remember enjoying them.  As soon as I started reading this novel I discovered there was a book before this that I hadn't read.  There were a few characters that I kept getting mixed up with other characters.  Every P&P sequel usually has the main people, so they are easy to distinguish, but since this takes place at least 4 years after P&P ends there are others to introduce.  Since I'm pretty familiar it's usually pretty easy to get right into things, but there was a new family friend that I kept getting mixed up with Elizabeth's sister Mary, since this friend was also named Mary.  I think about 100 pages in it finally clicked.

Anyways, as mentioned above this takes place a few years after P&P.  Elizabeth and Darcy have one son and Jane and Bingley have a few children.  Georgiana Darcy has recently married their Cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam who has gone to France to fight Napolen.  To prepare for his return Georgiana has left Pemberley to ready their Scotish estate.  After not hearing from her for a few weeks Darcy begins to worry.  From here the novel gets pretty crazy and far fetched.  At one point Wickham tries to kill Darcy, and later the novel even has cannibalism.  It just went too far and didn't meet my expectations.  It's not a P&P sequel I'll be rereading anytime soon.

I'll give this a B- 80%

Book # 50 Harry Potter (Book 1 of 7) - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I'm guessing that of all the books on this list Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the one that most people will have read. This is the third time I've read it and I don't really have any new insights into it this time. I loved it before and it is still enjoyable on yet another readings. In only three hundred pages this book sets up all of the elements that play out through the entire series. This book introduces Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dumbledore, Snape, Voldemort, Quidditch, Hagrid, Hogwarts, Malfoy, Platform 9 3/4, the Sorting Hat, and the Houses of Gryfinndor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Like all good fantasy stories it also has goblins, a dragon, trolls, a unicorn and even centaurs. The only quibble about the novel is that Rowling's writing style can be just a bit plain. Maybe I've only noticed that because I've also been reading C.S. Lewis lately and Rowling isn't quite at that level in this book. Volume one gets an A.