Challenge Complete: Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book

Last summer Gina at Book Dragon's Lair solicited our top five comfort reads--books that we love and could read over and over again. She gathered all those together to make up the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book Challenge.

The rules were simple:
*Go to her site (click link above).
*Select five books from the list that you've never read before.
*Read them.
*If you like, post reviews about them. But if not, she'd like to hear about why you chose the books you did.

Here are the books I decided to read for the challenge:
1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (7/18/12)
2. Venetia by Georgette Heyer (4/7/12)
3. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun (5/22/12)
4. The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman (5/24/12)
5. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (5/4/12)

 

In short, here's what influenced my choices: the Gaskell book had been on my long TBR list for quite a while. I love Georgette Heyer's books (both Regency romance and mysteries) and Venetia is one I haven't gotten to yet.  I originally chose The Spy Wore Red  as my third book because it takes place during WWII, one of my favorite periods. But I had to change to a Lilian Jackson Braun book.  I could have sworn that The Spy Wore Red was available at my library when I made this list.  It is no longer.  The Lipman book just sounded good when I read the synopsis. And Anne of Green Gables was one of those books that it seems like everyone in the world has read but me--I decided to change that.

 

 

North & South: Review

North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell has been on my long Victorian TBR list for quite a while.  But my main reason for picking it up this year was the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book Challenge hosted by Gina at Book Dragon's Lair.  Somebody (or more than one somebody) out there in Gina's circle considered this book to be one of their top five comfy reads.  A book that they return to again and again.  And since I hadn't read it yet and our directive was to pick five books off the list that we'd never read and give them a test drive...I promptly put it on my list.  I have to say: I just don't get it.  

Not the book.  I get that it's an important book about social concerns of the industrial revolution.  The differences between the mercantile/industrial North and the mixture of the intellectual and rural nature of the South.  The questions of authority and obedience.  But a comfortable book?  Not for me, I'm afraid. (And, I'm quite sure there are those who may not find my choices as cozy as I do...).  I think I'd read all 800 pages of Middlemarch again before tackling a North & South reread. 

I don't find anything comfortable about the class struggles between the mill owners and their workers.  The hardships that both sides face as they try to keep the mills running and keep their families together and fed are very real and very difficult.  I don't find comfort in the characters either.  Margaret Hale is an annoying heroine.  In a time period when women were supposed to be thinking about home and hearth and finding themselves a man, she is "offended" (her word) when two men of her acquaintance make her offers.  She is so shocked by the unexpected proposals that she is at best curt and at her worst rude.  She is stubborn and very self-satisfied in her opinions--and very prickly when Mr. Thornton doesn't agree with her.  Thornton is the more promising character.  He's willing to consider what Margaret says--even when she's being her most stubborn and rude.  And beyond Margaret and Mr. Thornton, the other characters are just kind of.....there.  Dickens is quoted on the back of the Penguin edition as saying: "An admirable story....full of character and power."  If full of character = lots of different characters, then I'm absolutely on board with that statement.  Otherwise, no, I don't think the characters are full of character.

I've seen a lot of comparisons between this book and Austen's Pride & Prejudice.  Austen is the better writer.  She approaches her subjects with humor and gives her characters a zest that is lacking in Gaskell.  Gaskell gives me the feeling of having an IMPORTANT MESSAGE and she doesn't want that to get lost in a lot of appealing characterization and interactions between the characters.  And we certainly wouldn't want any real romance to gum things up.  Thornton spends a great deal of time thinking about Margaret, a few excruciating moments proposing to her, and then there's a lot of frustrating nothing until the final pages.  The best part of the book for me was the first third or so--before the Hales get settled into Milton.  There was a lot of promise in those early chapters that I wish I could say had been fulfilled.

Three stars: for being an "important message book" (I get that, I do), for the promising early chapters, and for the few quotes that I gleaned (especially the "there's nothing like a book" reference).  I'm also making allowance for the fact that I had a preconceived notion that I was settling into a comfy book--and was disappointed.  It's possible that a straight read based on its Victorian classic status might have produced different results.

Quotes:

She had, however, of late settled upon her own health as a source of apprehension; she had a nervous little cough whenever she thought about it; and some complaisant doctor ordered her just what she desired--a winter in Italy. (p. 15)

Of course, as your feelings are so decided, and as the conversation has been so evidently unpleasant to you, it had better not be remembered. That's all very fine in theory, that plan of forgetting whatever is painful, but it will be somewhat difficult for me, at least, to carry it into execution. [Henry Lennox] (p. 31)

But the future must be met, however stern and iron it be. (p. 60)

I dare say, my remark came from the professional feeling of there being nothing like leather. [Mr. Hale--about books; reminding me of my statement that "there is nothing like holding a real book in your hands"] (p. 86)

That's what I call a fine girl....Who would have thought that little hand could have given such a squeeze? Bu the bones were well put together, and that gives immense power.  What a queen she is!...That girl's game to the back-bone. Another, who had gone that deadly colour, could never have come round without either fainting or hysterics. But she wouldn't do either--not she! And the very force of her will brought her round. Such a girl as that would win my heart, if I were thirty years younger. [Dr. Donaldson] (pp. 126-7)

The Inn at Lake Devine: Review

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman is narrated by Natalie Marx.  Natalie's family is Jewish.  And in the "enlightened" times of the 1960s, racial barriers are falling.  Supposedly.  But when Natalie's parents are looking for a place to spend their vacation in the summer of 1962, they receive an answer from Vermont that sounds very much like a challenge to Natalie.  The guests of the Inn at Lake Devine are all Gentiles--they're the ones who "feel most comfortable here and return year after year."  After her mother shows her the letter, Natalie becomes almost obsessed with the Inn.  She is determined to cross the threshold as guest. 

What follows is a wonderful novel coming of age novel.  It is all about growing up with racial and religious differences.  It's an insightful commentary on the prejudices and bigotry that kept Jewish people and others out of certain establishments and forced them to create their own places.  It shows how one girl's determination can bring understanding to at least a few people.  And it does it without being heavy-handed, without hitting the reader over the head with platitudes.  It even manages to produce a lovely romantic story along the way.

I picked this one up for the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book Challenge.  Not my normal reading fare, but a wonderful story and a very quick read.  Natalie is a marvelous central character--someone that I wish I knew in real life.  And the supporting characters are just as finely drawn....there are no cardboard cutouts here.  Real people facing real problems....and dealing with events in a very realistic way.  Highly recommended. Four stars.

Quote:

That's how it was on Irving Circle and how I was raised: You made the best out of what was within reach, which meant friendships engineered by parents and by the happenstance of housing. I stayed with it because we both had queenly older sisters who rarely condescended to play with us, because Shelley was adopted and I was not, because Shelley had Clue and Life, and I did not. (p. 11)

The Cat Who Saw Red: Review

The Cat Who Saw Red is the fourth book in Lilian Jackson Braun's popular "Cat Who..." series.  Once upon a time I read one of these books (The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, the second book)--I got it through the Mystery Guild book club--and thought it a decent read.  But I never really bothered to go on with the series.  It's an interesting concept.  You have Jim Qwilleran, a news reporter for the The Daily Fluxion, and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum.  Qwilleran used to be a crime reporter--quite a good one--until a rough divorce resulting in depression and a problem with alcohol caused him to lose his job.  When the series begins, he has taken a job with The Daily Fluxion and is working his way back to respectability.

This book finds Qwill (as he's known to his friends) assigned to cover the restaurant beat.  And for his first story, he decides to interview Robert Maus, a lawyer known for his culinary skills and also the owner of Maus Haus--a boarding house for artistic and culinary types.  As a result of his initial contact with Maus and, coincidentally finding that an old flame is a boarder in the house, Qwill takes up residence in the coincidentally vacant apartment #6.  He's hoping to see more of Joy Graham (never mind that she's now married), but soon he's interested in more than just stirring up the embers of old love.  He learns of an unsolved "suicide" from years ago and then odd things begin to happen--Joy's cat disappears and then Joy herself.  The young houseboy, William, becomes a source of gossip and information until he too disappears.  There's also the mystery of who is sabotaging the reputation of Max Sorrel's restaurant, The Golden Lamb Chop.  Sorrel is another inmate of Maus Haus--and someone has been spreading rumors that his meals are made with less-than-savory ingredients.  Are all of these incidents connected....or are the disappearances unrelated?  Qwill and his detective-minded cats will soon find out.

As you might have guessed from the sprinkling of the word, there are a fair number of "coincidences" in this one.  You also have to suspend your disbelief regarding cats and how much they really might know about human nature.  But once you get past that, this is a pleasant little cozy mystery.  Fairly well-clued and a bit of suspense thrown in (albeit in a nice, soft-touch sort of way).  Qwill is a fairly likeable guy and I do like his interactions with the cats.  I picked this one up primarily for the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book reading challenge and I can certainly see why this would be considered comfort reading.  Nothing too challenging here.  Just a nice little murder with cats as the window dressing. Three stars.

Favorite Quote:

..if you've never been cussed out by a Siamese, you don't know what profanity is all about! [Jim Qwilleran] (p. 4)

Anne of Green Gables: Review

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery is, I am quite sure, a much more delightful book than what my review may say.  Not that it wasn't a good story.  I did enjoy it--but I think I would have enjoyed it more some other time.  I've mentioned before here on My Reader's Block that I think that some books are meant for specific times in our lives--not necessarily the same time of life for everyone. I never really got into the "girl" books when I was growing up (Little House on the Prairie, the Anne books, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Pollyanna, etc....and all those horse-centered books).  There was a point in college when I read Pollyanna and I must have hit it just right because I thoroughly enjoyed it (it helped that I could picture Hayley Mills in the part).

This is a very nice story of Anne (that's Ann with an "e") being adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert at the turn of last century.  Not that they intended on adopting an orphan girl....no.  They had decided to get a boy who could be trained and be a help to Matthew on the farm.  However, their instructions to a friend who was already on her way to adopt a little girl of her own was garbled by the messenger and it is Anne who Matthew finds waiting at the train station to be picked up.

At first Marilla is determined that Anne must go back to the orphanage, but it doesn't take long for this talkative "queer witch of a girl" to cast her spell upon everyone she meets.  And Anne becomes part of the Cuthbert family.  The book follows Anne from that point all the way through her certification as a teacher herself.  She gets into scrape after scrape--making friends and learning all along the way.

In some ways, Anne reminds me of Pollyanna with her generally sunny disposition and the way she wins people over despite their reluctance or mistrust of her character.  But then she has the stereotypical temperament of the redhead--flying into a rage over Gilbert's calling her "carrots" and then holding a grudge over it for about four years.  She feels all of her emotions (not just sunny, positive ones) very deeply.  I do appreciate Anne's enthusiasm and way of looking at life--but her loooooooooonnnnnnngggggggggg monologues on how much she talks and she knows that she shouldn't and she'll really try and stop really got on my nerves a bit.  Probably wouldn't have bothered me as much if I'd read this sooner.  Personal rating three stars for a nice, solid story.  But I can certainly see why this is a classic and why so many people love it (and the series).

Quotes:

It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it?

 True friends are always together in spirit.

People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven't you? 

For a moment Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze and a rosy flush stained the paleness of her face. It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities. Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps. . . perhaps. . .love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.

All life lessons are not learned at college, she thought. Life teaches them everywhere.

Ruby Gillis thinks of nothing but young men, and the older she gets the worse she is. Young men are all very well in their place, but it doesn't do to drag them into everything, does it?

Don't you just love poetry that gives you a crinkly feeling up and down your back?

...because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile. [Anne Shirley] (p.13)

It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will. [Anne] (p. 30)

I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage. [Anne] (p. 32)

Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I'd look up into the sky - up, up, up - into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer. [Anne] (p. 41)

All things great are wound up with all things little. (p. 108)

It's all very well to say resist temptation, but it's ever so much easier to resist it if you can't get the key. [Anne Shirley] (p. 111)

You know there are some things that cannot be expressed in words. [Anne] (p. 113)

“Miss Barry was a kindred spirit after all," Anne confided to Marilla, "You wouldn't think so to look at her, but she is. . . Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” (p.125)

...somehow it it's hard to carry out your resolutions when irresistible temptations come. [Anne] (p. 157)

 It must be a great deal better to be sensible; but still, I don't believe I'd really like to be a sensible person, because they are so unromantic. [Anne] (p. 160)

It's always wrong to do anything you can't tell the minister's wife. [Anne] (p. 182)

...she makes me love her and I like people who make me love them.  It saves me so much trouble in making myself love them. [Mrs. Barry] (p. 222)

Venetia: Review

From the back of the book:

She wasn't looking for love..Her beauty rivaled only by her sensibility, Venetia Lanyon is nearly resigned to spinsterhood, thanks to the enormous amount of responsibility she inherited with a Yorkshire estate, an invalid brother and the lackluster efforts of two wearisomely persistent suitors. Then she meets her neighbor, the infamous lord Damerel, a charming rake shunned by polite society--exactly the type of man that a woman of quality should stay away from.

He wasn't looking for redemption...Though his scandalous past and deepest secrets give Venetia every reason to mistrust him, a rogue always gets what he wants....

Georgette Heyer writes really fine Regency Romances. Her books have it all: witty dialogue, the life and doings of the ton, creditable characters that are some sometimes a bit larger-than-life (but not too, too much larger), a great concern with social standing which always, always puts a twist on the romance in question. Venetia has all that and more....a frank sexuality that runs through every encounter between Venetia and her rake. Note the word frank, which is entirely different from blatant. For blatant, Heyer is not. There is nothing beyond kissing going on here and the scenes between Venetia and Lord Damerel fairly smoulder with the unspoken. And she does represent the mores of the time quite openly--and makes clear what kind of position a young woman who has made herself appear fast or, dare we say it, wonton may find herself in. Reputation is the coin of the realm when it comes to being marriageable--which of course is a girl's primary concern.

Venetia Lanyon is viewed as an innocent by her acquaintances (I can't really call them friends, because none of them seem to know her very well). She is a young woman of twenty-five who has been kept secluded in the country, never brought out into society, and only the company of a scholarly, invalid brother and two very dull suitors and various martronly women to "brighten" her days. Everything she knows about life she had learned from the books she has read and one would think her very naive and unworldy as a consequence. But, when meeting Lord Damerel, her family's neighbor and a notorious rake, for the first time she seems well aware of what and with whom she is dealing. In fact, Venetia is the most self-possessed and assured character in the book.

Venetia is a very complex character and may seem to be a bit too self-possessed for the time period. But Heyer gives us a very plausible back-story to give truth to her situation. She has, it is true, been buried in the country by a father who apparently wanted to be alone with his grief after her mother's death. But, once her father died and her elder brother took off with the army, Venetia is left to manage the estate and oversee the care of her younger brother. This allows her to be far more independent than most young women of the time. What is astonishing is not so much that she is independent and independently-minded, but that those who have supposedly known her from birth don't really understand her character.

Naturally, the course of true love cannot run straight (lest we not have a story) and everyone, including the rake himself, throws stumbling blocks of conventionality in the path. But Venetia is having none of that. When plans go awry, she simply comes up with better ones. Because, contrary to what the back of the book says...an intelligent and determined woman always gets what she wants.

Heyer, as always, has done her research well and writes the period like she was born then. Her characterizations are superb--you love Venetia and her rake as well as her touchy younger brother and her devoted Nurse. You will also love to hate Conway's (Venetia's elder brother) horrible mother-in-law and will be just as exasperated with Venetia's lackluster suitor's as she is. And that's because Heyer makes her characters real. A very enjoyable Regency Romance--picked up primarily for the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book Challenge, but fulfilling several others as well. Four stars.

Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book Challenge

You knew I'd start racking up challenges for 2012 as soon as I put up the Challenge Addict post, didn't you? Well, you were right. Here I am signing up for my very first challenge for next year. A couple of months ago Gina at Book Dragon's Lair solicited our top five comfort reads--books that we love and could read over and over again. She gathered all those together to make up the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book Challenge.

The rules are simple:
*Go to her site (click link above).
*Select five books from the list that you've never read before.
*Read them.
*If you like, post reviews about them. But if not, she'd like to hear about why you chose the books you did.

Here are my picks:
1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (7/18/12)
2. Venetia by Georgette Heyer (4/7/12)
3. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun (5/22/12)
4. The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman (5/24/12)
5. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (5/4/12)

I plan to review and will post links here as I do. But, in short, here's what influenced my choices: the Gaskell book has been on my long TBR list for quite a while. I love Georgette Heyer's books (both Regency romance and mysteries) and Venetia is one I haven't gotten to yet. The Spy Wore Red takes place during WWII, one of my favorite periods. [Update: had to change to a Lilian Jackson Braun book.  I could have sworn that The Spy Wore Red was available at my library when I made this list.  It is no longer.] The Lipman book just sounded good when I read the synopsis. And Anne of Green Gables is one of those books that it seems like everyone in the world has read but me--I'm going to change that.