BOOK CLUB & REVIEW: THE GARDEN OF EDEN and ANY ROGUE WILL DO

The Garden of Eden

Written by Ernest Hemingway

DNF @12%

I had not heard of this novel, The Garden of Eden until I joined KCTS 9’s book club. I had come across this discussion on Hemingway and women. PBS aired Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 6-hour documentary on Hemingway, and put on a virtual event with the filmmaker and two professors that teach Hemingway. It was really fascinating, and made even more interested in watching the documentary. In the talk, they mentioned one of the professors would be at the book club to facilitate the discussion. As you can see, I did not finish the book. I appreciate Hemingway’s writing and like that he really went out of his comfort zone exploring gender and sexuality. Yet, I found it hard to keep my attention on the book. I wasn’t that interested in the characters or the story. I did attend the book club, and it was really fun. The facilitator was amazing with her questions, and giving insight in the novel. I will be attending next month as well, and hope I can finish the book this time.

I am actually attending a Hemingway Trivia Night via Zoom tomorrow so that should be fun. I don’t expect to win as I didn’t get a chance to watch the documentary yet. I have seen a few programs on him so maybe I won’t be in dead last.

I also attended a fun book club called Read Cute, that will be reading romance books. Each month there will be a different sub-genre to get a taste of romance books. I have been into romance novels since I read Sweet Valley High as a preteen. Over the years, my taste has jumped around, and I wasn’t really into historical romances till about a decade ago. As I read a lot of dark and heavy books, I need to add some lighter HEA novels to keep sane. I am picky about what I read and like so often it’s trial and error for me. While I didn’t talk much about romance books to others, I soon started to be honest with myself and be proud of what I read. I have not always felt that I am intelligent, so I tend to want to flaunt the classics and other books that are considered “smart”. Then I realized some people think the Da Vinci Code is great literature, and only read books curated by celebrities…so who I am to stay closeted with my romances and contemporary fiction with romance as a backdrop. I have always been vocal about my love for romantic suspense and will probably never get tired of them. Historical fiction covers kind of scared me away. It wasn’t the bodice ripper part, but those poses with the weirdest hairdos. As the women and men change over time, the stories have more to them and I am now a true fan. SO welcome to my site of eclectic books…at least there is a review for everyone, and often even in one post. I have already reviewed Bethany Bennett’s Any Rogue Will Do but I will repost as I add an update to my review.

Any Rogue Will Do (Misfits of Mayfair: #1)

Written by Bethany Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
2020; Forever/Grand Central Publishing

Any Rogue Will Do is a fun historical romance about second chances. Charlotte gives her season a honest fair shot. When she is made a laughingstock of ton, by a man she admired, she decides she will now do things her way. An unwanted suitor tries to essentially blackmail her into marriage, but she gets in front of it by claiming to be engaged to another man. That man is enemy, and the man that led her to be talked about in ton, Ethan. Ethan feels bad about what happened so steps in now to help her…but soon their feelings start to come back, or maybe they never left. It is a simple story we have seen so many times before, yet Bennett was able to make it fun, and her characters endearing. I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

UPDATED: I attended a book club that had this novel as their next section. I decided to go as I wanted to talk about this book to others who read it. As I logged into Zoom, OMG, the author was there. Not a lot of people talked so I got many chances to gush at Bennett and ask questions. She is super delightful, fun and just as endearing like her characters. As she talked about her next book and working on her third, I am so ready to read them! The third won’t be out for a year is I will have to savour West-End Earl. Any Rogue Will Do is a phenomenal first novel and I am rooting for Bennett to have a long writing career.

I received a complimentary copy of this mass market paperback from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

{Read The Garden of Eden for KCTS-9 Book Club & Read Any Rogue Will Do for Read Cute Book Club}

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Book Review: Classic Redone

My own image

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A GRAPHIC NOVEL

Written by Harper Lee
Adapted and Illustrated by Fred Fordham
2018; Harper/Harper Collins (288 pages)
RATING: 5 STARS

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of my favourite books. As cliche as it sounds, this book changed my life. It made me aware that the colour of one’s skin can be enough for someone to hate you, that truth and justice wasn’t always going to be fair and the good guys don’t always win. Lee’s writing also inspired me as a writer. When I saw that Lee’s book was getting adapted into a graphic novel, I had mixed feelings as I didn’t know how faithful it would be to the original story. Were they going to add or take big things out. Phew, Fordham did an amazing job! Not only were the illustrations great, but the story is faithful to the book and hits all the great scenes. This is one I hope to buy as it a must for any collection, especially fans of the writer and the book.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Book Review: When Two Great Female Writers Collide

*originally published on 04/20/2016

Image: Goodreads

ELIGIBLE: A MODERN RETELLING OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

(Austen Project: #4)

Written by Curtis Sittenfeld

2016; Random House (492 Pages)

Rating: 2 STAR

I love the humour and writing of Jane Austen.  I love the humour and writing of Curtis Sittenfeld.  What did not work for me was Sittenfeld writing an Austen retelling.  I like Pride and Prejudice but it is in no way my favourite novel of Jane Austen.  I have not read too many of the “sequels” or retelling novels.  One of my favourite contemporary romantic comedy is Bridget Jones’s Diary.  It is very different than P&P but it has Austen’s humour and it is far removed enough that even if you don’t like Austen (and there are such people, bless them) you might still like Bridget.  While I do not love all the P&P characters they are endearing in a quirky way.  The characters and plot in Eligible are like an episode of what I imagine the Kardashians are about.  I really don’t like Mary and Mr. Bennet and I adored them in the original.  I read this extremely long winded book out of respect for Sittenfeld – I have read all but one of her novels and loved them (highly recommend American Wife).  Sittenfeld has her own mixture of writing and I love and anticipate it, so maybe I am taking this book too hard.   Maybe she’s doing something super clever and I don’t get it…right?

Hmmm…anyway, this is a standalone novel, but it is the fourth book in the Jane Austen Project.  A contemporary writer is taking on one of Jane Austen’s novels.  Val McDermid did one for Northanger Abbey and now I am scared.  A friend, who loves McDermid, tried it and couldn’t get into it so now I don’t know what to do.  I honestly don’t know whether to recommend this book to anyone nor do I feel comfortable dissuading people.  A great author who I will always read wrote a modern retelling of a book I think is so-so by an author I adore  – I did not like it and skimmed some paragraphs but did finish it.  I am ending my review here.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Book Review: Chevalier Double Release for 2016

*originally published on 04/10/2016

Image: Goodreads

AT THE EDGE OF THE ORCHARD

Written by Tracy Chevalier

2016; Viking/Penguin (289 Pages)

Rating: 4 STARS

In the mid-1800s James and Sadie Goodenough settle in the swamps of Ohio as that is where their wagon got stuck. As James, his wife and five children start to cultivate the land James looks into buying samplings of apple seeds and this starts his obsession with his various apples trees.  As James tends to his orchard, Sadie is inside the home drinking apple jack to deal with life on the frontier.  She is stewing over her unfulfilled life, and mentally torturing her children in spite and for sport.  James and Sadie are at each throats and nothing seems to make them happy.

Fifteen years later we follow the youngest child, Robert as he tries to get away from his past and family.  He tried to mine for gold in California but finds himself selling seeds for a naturalist.  He seems to have found himself back in the family business.  Can Robert run away from his past and will his future hold something different and happiness for him?

I have read about four books by Tracy Chevalier novels – all historical fiction – and have loved her characters, plots, eras and the way she describes everything.  I have not read Chevalier in a few years but have missed the experience so I grabbed a hold of this opportunity to read and review At the Edge of the Orchard and in a way it was what I expected and a surprise.  As always, once I start reading a Chevalier book I am hooked till it ends.  This time I was surprised that this subject matter was very interesting to me and I kind of want  to know more about farming and growing in the mid-1800s.  I just enjoyed everything about this book, except in my copy of the book the switch between characters’ voices is sometimes not clear…minor matter for me.

***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***

Image: Goodreads

READER, I MARRIED HIM 

Edited by Tracy Chevalier

Contributing Writers: Tracy Chevalier, Joanna Briscoe, Susan Hill, Elizabeth McCracken, Nadifa Mohamed, Audrey Niffenegger, Patricia Park, Francine Prose, Namwali Serpell, Elif Shafak, Lionel Shriver, Salley Vickers, Emma Donoghue, Evie Wyld, Helen Dunmore, Esther Freud, Jane Gardam, Linda Grant, Kirsty Gunn, Tessa Hadley, Sarah Hall

2016, William Morrow (304 Pages)

Rating: 4 STARS

“Reader, I married him” is the most famous lines from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.  The story behind this line is briefly discussed in the introduction of this short story anthology, but it is recommended that you read Jane Eyre first. Various writers were given the line “Reader, I Married Him” and asked to write a short story in ode to Jane and the novel. Although, Susan Hill has not read Jane Eyre but her story is fabulous, in my opinion.  At the back of the book there is a small biography of each writer and most have a sentence on what Jane Eyre means to them.

I did read the entire anthology though I did skim a few that did not hold my interest.  The ones I loved were written by Joanna Briscoe, Helen Dunmore, Emma Donoghue, Susan Hill, Francine Prose, Sally Vickers, Audrey Niffenegger and Tracy Chevalier.  The standouts being Niffenegger, Prose, Hill and Dunmore.  All the stories in the anthology were well-written and done with passion, but depending on writing style and interest different readers will be attracted to different stories.  I recommend this book to all fans of Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte…but also to those who like these authors or want to try a new author.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

BOOK (& Theatre) REVIEW: Pride and Prejudice

*Originally published on 2016/02/18

When it comes to Pride and Prejudice I have read the original novel, read some retellings and sequels based on P&P, watched the black and white film to BBC’s mini-series to the Keira Knightly version, and I have seen Hollywood and Bollywood films based on the P&P premise. And, today I add the play adaption of P&P.

Image: Arts Club

When I saw that the Arts Club (Vancouver, BC) was going to put on an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice I knew that this was something I had to attend.  I have enjoyed almost every production the Arts Club has done that have been adapted from books, movies and other plays (The 39 Steps, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Graduate, etc).  Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors, and even though P&P is not my favourite novel it is still a classic for me.  Austen has great characters and just amazing wit.  At times P&P plays like a melodramatic love story and for me it is a true romantic-comedy. Janet Munsil’s adaptation and Sarah Rodger’s direction brings out the humour of Jane Austen’s writing and P&P’s essence.  The actors as a troop did a wonderful job in heightening the humour that the audience was not just laughing but had that amused look to them that Austen would approve of.  I had a great time and 2.5 hours went by quickly.

Image: Goodreads

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Written by Jane Austen

1813; Penguin Classics (279 Pages)

Genre: classics, Britain, romance, humour, literary

RATING: 3.5 STARS

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

Mrs. Bennet has five unmarried of age daughters and when Mr. Bingley comes to the country she hopes his fortune will be her good fortune.  Thus begins the comedy of romance – as Jane and Mr. Bingley fall in love but have as many forces that want them separated; the Bennet heir wants to marry one – any – of the Bennet sisters but finds that no one wants to make that sacrifice; Mr. Darcy finds Lizzie tolerable and Lizzie finds Darcy insufferable; Miss. Bingley wants Darcy and her brother to marry Georgina; everyone is taken by Wickham but Darcy and Wickham is friendly to anyone but Darcy; Lydia and Kitty flirt with any man; Mary prefer books; and Charlotte is plain.  As courtships begin and end we are not sure who will be with you by the end, but we know Mrs. Bennet will try her hardest to get everyone paired off.

One of the reasons that this novel is not a five star book for me is because I am not in love with Darcy.  I find him a bit too much work.  I also find Lizzie a bit too judgmental of people so do not connect as much as I would like with her character.  Yet, I like them together and am satisfied with their story.  It is the secondary characters in this novel that makes it endearing to me – Mr. Bennet is just so lovely and I think Charlotte is the grandest friend.  I could go on about the other characters but you get the picture.  This is a love story that is more than just a romance as the wit and insights that Austen writes are just brilliant.  While I enjoy the story and would read some of the fan fiction and watch any movie adaptation it is not a reread for me.  I have read Emma a few times and want to read Sense and Sensibility again…but P&P has been read and I am done with visiting the story of P&P in that form.

Book Club Review: More of a Fluffy Girl

*Originally published on 2015/09/09

Image: Goodreads

AN OLD-FASHION GIRL

Written by Louisa May Alcott
1870; Puffin Books (288 Pages)

RATING: 3 STARS

Polly is invited to stay with wealthy friends in Boston and finds herself to be an old-fashioned country girl. She is not worldly about parties, boys or acting like she has money.  She would prefer to help her elders, read books and spend her time with hobbies.   Polly seems to be helping each of the Shaws more than receiving their patronage.

I LOVE Little Women so was excited to read another book by Alcott but I found this one to lack the heart and story of Little Women. An Old-Fashioned Girl I think is more simplistic and fluffy. You never get to really know Polly like you do the characters in Little Women and the storyline does not have much climax.  It is a fair book and if I read it as a child maybe I would have liked it a lot more.

We read this for our face to face book club and on the whole we found it a bit too simplistic and a bit dull.

{Read for F2F book club}