Top Ten Books I Want to Read This Autumn

So my participation in Top Ten Tuesday is very random, depending on the appeal of the topic, and this time the topic is pretty appealing (mainly because I love autumn and I love lists), so I decided to do it. The meme is hosted by folks at The Broke and the Bookish, go check 'em out for more information.

 

It was easy to make this list because I am kind of hoping to get a lot of reading done this autumn, and I am already on a good path thanks to RIP VIII event. There is also the 24-hour readathon coming in October, so the reading scene looks pretty shiny indeed.

 

All the books are from my already existing shelves, 'cos that's how I roll (I really like to prioritise the books I already own, which is why I also find these lists and events very helpful).

 

 

 

1. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James -  short, spooky and classic.

2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - I failed to re-read this during the reading slump I had in summer, and actually this is autumn book instead anyway.

3. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - I mentally added this to RIP VIII list because it's appropriate and there's a readalong coming in October, and also it's a small book.

4. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb - I actually read a bit of this one recently at the point when I was between the books, and it was really good! Ships that are alive? Crazy. But potentially awesome.

5. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde - I loooove Fforde's Thursday Next books and after having seen a few good things about this book, I just decided to check it out. Curious to see how Fforde writes other things!

6. Dracula by Bram Stoker - it's going to be the Halloween read.

7. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) - so yes, this is bad, but I have never read those books. I just finished the first one last night. When I saw the news of the 15th anniversary edition covers in spring, I decided to get the series in autumn because I really love these covers. So I now own the first three books and will get the rest as well.

8. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - just because I want to read it.

9. NW by Zadie Smith - I still have a few Women's Prize books on my shelf, and I want to get done with the shortlist by the end of this year. (Shortlist minus Hilary Mantel's book that is since I just couldn't get into Wolf Hall, at all...)

10. Bullerby lapsed (Barnen i Bullerbyn, The Children of Noisy Village) by Astrid Lindgren - this is the star book of my childhood, probably. Well I had piles of favourites, but the very favourite must come from among Lindgren books, and it's probably this one. And I want to read it again (I think the number of my re-reads of this book must be over 30 by now).

 

Let's break it down:

* 5 Classics Club books

* 3 RIP VIII books

* 3 fantasy books (yay!)

* 1 Women's Prize book

* 1 children's book

Closing the lid of August

From last autumn.

It's AUTUMN! I am beyond pleased, because as for many, autumn is my absolute favourite season. Summer is actually my least favourite season, so I am double pleased that it is over.

 

How did it go on reading front? I was mega relaxed in my reading, even though I had (and still have for one more day) three weeks off from work. I used to think of myself as a fairly fast reader, but I'm thinking I might have to adjust that mindset - it took me 8 days to get through A Prayer for Owen Meany, and it's not like it's a bad book or anything! Maybe I'm just a slower kind of reader, afterall.

 

Let's get down to numbers. The books I read in August:

 

* J. Fforde "Lost In a Good Book"

* J. Austen "Mansfield Park" - Classics Club; Austen in August

* A. Bahdaj "Matk naeratuse eest" ("Podróz za jeden uśmiech")

* J. Rannap "Agu Sihvka annab aru"

* E. Raud "Roostevaba mõõk"

* J. Irving "A Prayer for Owen Meany"

 

399+439+214+106+159+637= 1943

 

Page count ain't actually too shabby, I used to be around 2000 pages a month in the beginning of the year, so I think I'm getting the mojo back.

 

The three books in funny languages (Polish, Estonian, Estonian) are children's books (actually I think they are more like middle grade) and I brought them to Finland from my childhood home. They have been ridiculously comforting comfort reads this month. I'll do mini reviews on the books I've read in summer (except for Mansfield Park) next week.

 

From last autumn.

So we had Austen in August event, which was successful for me since I only set one goal (read Mansfield Park) and I managed to meet it.

 

September and October will be ridiculously exciting because of RIP VIII reading event. I already started The Night Circus, mostly because I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany on 30th and I knew I wasn't going to finish another book in 1.5 days, so I figured I'll just start with the RIP stack. And, I did have a lot of reservations about this book, but has it managed to grab my attention! I bought it back in January and am glad I finally got the proper push to read it. So far, RIP has started very successfully for me. Next up, I think, will be at least a few Sherlock Holmes stories, and then I'll probably move on to Henry James.

 

 

Sunday Snippets #8 (on Monday)

From my childhood home.

I've been slacking with my Sunday posts mainly because I am lazy and don't get anything done. The fact that I am on vacation has little to do with it; in fact, if anything, I should get more posts up because of all the time I don't have to slave off working :p

 

Today started the last week of my summer holiday, I will be back to work next Tuesday (how I love it is not Monday this time - it's so nice to have that extra day in the beginning of a week). It has been a nice holiday, full of mainly just lazing around but also going to places and doing stuff.

 

Right in the beginning of the holiday the boyfriend and I visited a music festival here in Helsinki for a day, and it was an awesome day. I haven't been to many festivals mainly because those around here tend to take place in the middle of nowhere and I hate tents with passion, but this one was in the middle of the city, so yay.

 

It started raining on Monday and it rained straight through the first four days of the summer holidays, so that meant a lot of staying in and playing a computer game and reading.

 

Also, our Mammucat fell ill right before the start of the holidays, which meant we had to start treatment combined of pills twice a day, washing her hears once a day and putting some ear medicine into ears twice a day, so that pretty much meant that longer trips will not happen. She feels better now and we will go for a check-up to the vet tomorrow afternoon.

 

A solitary Mammu :)

 

A week ago we did visit my parents in Estonia, for about three days. Many of my relatives visited during the same weekend and it was nice to catch up with all my cousins. We returned with a big suitcase full of food, mainly from my mother's garden and greenhouse. Plus a big batch of chanterelles we picked from the forest - I love mushroom picking! And my dad is a pro and knows all the best mushroom places. In fact, one year I gifted him a huge bright yellow ceramic chanterelle for birthday. He loves mushroom picking.

 

This last Friday we took a small train trip to another town here in Finland, we started this tradition last year and both trips were very nice. We saw an awesome medieval church, an awesome museum are that consisted of a small wooden town of different buildings from past - like houses of leather makers, tobacco makers, bakery, string instrument maker, smith, etc. etc. In some houses people dressed in appropriate clothes were still working on the crafts and this place was awesome. We spent so long there that we didn't make it on time to the main tourist attraction of the town, an old castle. So we just admired that from outside. We also had a quite extravagant 3-course lunch in one of Finland's oldest restaurants, and had in total 4 hours in trains - and I am obsessed with trains. One year I told my boyfriend I want nothing else for birthday gift than a train ride. I got a pile of gifts, plus a train ride, so nothing to complain about. Anyway, back to food, after eating we spent an hour in a totally empty park; the boyfriend took a nap on one bench and I read on the other. Pretty much a perfect day based on my standards.

 

Glove maker's apartments.

On the town streets, there were plenty of visitors and this was the only
shot I got with only people with time-appropriate clothes on.

String instrument maker. I played violin for 9 years myself,
so this room I loved specifically.

In the front of reading, it has been slow but steady. I finished Mansfield Park for Austen in August event - so proud I actually managed to finish a book during the event! At parents, I organised all my childhood books and brought back some 10 or so that I want to read. These are such comfort reads, I've read three of them already. I am thinking I should do a post about my childhood reads, because being from non-English language environment (not to mention a post-Soviet country), my reading material as a child was very different from most I have read in other blogs. I made a post of the huge pile of books I got almost for free on Thursday, and I started A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, which I am reading now. It has been an odd experience in the way that being almost half-way through (and it's 600+ page one), I have absolutely no idea whether I like it or not. I realise it basically depends on the later parts of the book what I will think about it in the end. So it's exciting!

 

Robert's idea of a comfortable sleeping position?

C_Club #9: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Austen in August reading event)

After having finished my second Jane Austen novel, I am willing to take back all the prejudices that I used to have towards her and feel confident to say that I will intend to read all her bigger works - at first I only added two books to my Classics Club (CC) list and now I have read them both and can safely say I've not yet had enough of Jane Austen. It's no "chick lit of the past times", as I mistakenly thought. She was clearly a clever and eloquent woman.

 

I had heard of Mansfield Park as being the most boring and "meh" out of Austen's six biggest novels, and that was partly why this was the book I added to my CC list. I deliberately did not add the more popular ones, knowing that if I did like what I read from the two more controversial ones, I would get to the more popular ones anyway.

 

My guess is that the reasons why people are not that into Mansfield Park lie in characters and the pacing of the story. It is a slow roller, that is true, the romance is not that "in your face", and there are parts that can bore some people (for example, the whole fussing around with the play, which took several chapters). I personally am not disturbed by slower stories, maybe even quite the contrary.

 

When it comes to characters, and specifically the character of the female heroine Fanny, I actually liked her a lot more than I think I will like girls from Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility or Emma. I liked Fanny's quiet ways; she was almost invisible most of the time, but she had her values that she did not trade for anything. I think the mistake that is easy to make here is taking quieter personality for spinelessness. Fanny has a spine, and I would actually tip my hat to her (if I was wearing one) for what I think is her great survivability instinct. Here's what I mean: in the age of a child, Fanny was sent away from home, to live with relatives. Even if it was better for her, no-one asked whether she liked it or even, what she thought of it. In the family there were the children, and then there was Fanny, often an object of oppression and basically free workforce. I guess what I am trying to say is that Fanny never had the home field advantage, and in such situation, I think it's wiser to lay low and see how it goes, rather than show a lot of personality.

 

 

Illustrations from
http://www.mollands.net/etexts/mansfieldpark/mpillus.html

One can probably claim that Fanny is a bit boring in the sense that she is not noticeably strong heroine, but I disagree; Fanny, like many others, is a character similar to those we meet in life, and not everyone of us is always vastly unique, original, witty, snarky, et cetera. Life is full of different characters, some more outstanding than others, and although I certainly can value a very strong female character (think Marian Halcombe from The Woman in White), I am a bit disturbed by the fact that it is the characters with lots of extravagance that get most attention. I am a quiet, modest person myself, although with a lot of spine and stubborness ;), and I guess a part of me would like to think that in skilled writer's hands, a character like me would also form a (half) decent story.

 

In short, I did enjoy Mansfield Park, but partly because of low expectations to begin with; I am glad I am getting over my prejudices towards Austen, even though I know that she will never be my favourite author.

 

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Here are few other reviews on Mansfield Park that I have recently read and liked:

 

* Thoughts: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen by Adam from Roof Beam Reader

* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen by Eszter from Anneish Imaginary Adventures

* Mansfield Park by Mary from bibliographic manifestations

* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Review) by Ekaterina from In My Book
* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen by Brona from Brona's Books

 

 

Austen in August is hosted by Adam at Roof Beam Reader.

 

Austen in August Reading Event

It's Austen in August time! As the name suggests, this event is about reading Jane Austen (and texts related to Jane Austen) and it is hosted by Adam over at Roof Beam Reader (click here for master post).

 

I have "Mansfield Park" on my bookshelf, and I haven't read it, so why not? I read "Persuasion" earlier this year and totally didn't hate it (surprise!). I haven't read her other novels (yet? yet.)

 

I'll probably get to Austen in the second half of the month during my 3-week holiday from work.

Closing the lid of March

We can has some of that? Please???

*punches the writing slump in the face* there...

 

March is almost over, and spring is nowhere to be seen. What gives? I'm so tired all the time that it's not even funny anymore.

 

Just out of curiosity (and possibly in masochistic desire to shock myself) I went through all the Brain Food posts since the beginning of January (added the books I have gotten in the past weeks and have not put into a post yet) to make a little calculation of how many books I have acquired and how many of them I have read.

 

 

Books hoarded - 35 (of which 3 I received for free, 1 is a lent book, and the rest I [or my boyfriend] have paid for).

Books read - 13.

 

I think it could be worse. My Classics Club project includes many of the books that come from my already-earlier-existing library, so I am not reading only the new books. Most books I have bought are classics, plus I am also going through some of the novels longlisted for this year's Women's Prize. It is also noteworthy that the classics I buy are not necessarily meant for reading right away, but they are more like long-time investment.

 

Anyway, back to March.

 

It was surprisingly good reading month, mainly because I managed to balance nicely between the classics and other stuff. I read six books - three classics and three "others":

 

* J. Austen "Persuasion" (for Classics Club)

* G. Flynn "Gone Girl" (from Women's Prize longlist; however, I read it before I knew that it was longlisted)

* E. Hemingway "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (for Classics Club; for Modern March event)

* S. Lewis "Arrowsmith" (for Classics Club; for Classics Spin event)

* J. Picoult "My Sister's Keeper"

* M. Semple "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" (from Women's Prize longlist)

 

Page count - 236+466+490+450+500+321=2463.

 

In April, I will participate in Zoladdiction event. Although I initially planned to go for two Zolas, I have changed my mind by now and will be reading only "Germinal". I would like to dedicate more time to Women's Prize books - I have Kingsolver's "Flight Behavior" and Segal's "The Innocents" at home, plus this week the boyfriend ordered me Atkinson's "Life After Life" (can't wait to stick my claws into that one!) and Shafak's "Honour". I also can't wait to start Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall".

C_Club #3 - "Persuasion" by Jane Austen

How I managed to live 30 years without reading a single Jane Austen novel, I can't quite comprehend even myself, especially given the facts that 1) I have been bookworm since a wee tiny girl and 2) world literature was part of my university studies. However - it happened, I'm putting it out there, and luckily by now I have also started curing the situation, having finished my first ever Austen book, "Persuasion".

 

Not that I'm happy to admit it, but I was slightly prejudiced sceptic towards the whole Austen business. Somehow that idea that Austen is the chick-lit of the Regency era England had taken hold in my head (let's blame it on the hype). At least when it comes to this novel... I was wrong! And I'm glad. Austen was obviously a highly intelligent and sharp writer (let's not listen to Mark Twain*, though maybe he has a point when it comes to other novels; still, I cannot approve fist fights between dead people). When I compare this novel with "Jane Eyre", one of the three Classics Club books I have read this year, it quickly becomes obvious that Charlotte Brontë's writing is much more accessible, simpler. After having been basically away from classics for quite a number of years, it was at first difficult to get into the long, heavily constructed (though by no means not clumsy) sentences and passages. But I got into the jive fairly fast (at about 1/4 mark of the book).

 

The whole Elliot family (with the exception of Anne) is nuts! If you'll excuse my semi-emotional outburst. Her father's a man with shallow values, cares only about social stand, good looks and nice garments; older sister Elizabeth is clearly her father's child, and younger sister Mary is the biggest whiner I've encountered in a written word for a while. Honest, the moment Mary opened her mouth somewhere in the beginning, I got this itching in my fist and although I don't approve the concept of a fist fight between a living individual and a fictional character either, I couldn't help myself - it's a character you want to punch in the face. A lot. Because she's just so... whiny, selfish, hypochondriac, hypocritical, overall lost in parenthood and marriage of a doubtful value (her husband had first proposed to Anne, who decided to not make him a happy man).



The letter scene. Lent from here.

Was it Jane Austen's intention to picture majority of the characters in such a charicatural manner? There is also Lady Russell, the one that gave Anne the advice of calling off the engagement with Frederick Wentworth. Even though Lady Russell is the most human person of the lot when it comes to treating Anne, she makes the mistake of giving advice. Giving advice is such a dangerous thing to do, as no matter what you advise, you will be co-responsible for the outcome. And there is the thing - maybe the advice was actually good. Maybe it worked out between Anne and Wentworth in the end exactly because there was such a long time gap. But then, you never know - there is no way to know if it wouldn't have been better and less painful if Anne hadn't called off the engagement. That is why major decisions such as that should be put on the shoulders of the decision-maker; the situation is way different if only one person is responsible, no matter what the outcome is in the end.

 

But I digress. Anne can sometimes seem almost too good, but overall I would label her a sensible, quite rational, feet-on-the-ground person. I have read some people criticising Anne for not standing up for herself more, but I disagree, mainly because that is also where I am very similar to Anne. It's recognising the situations, where use of energy is pointless because the other people just don't get you/the idea/what they are doing wrong. Instead, Anne goes through life in quite a preserving manner, faithful to her own ideas and truths, but not trying to push these on others. Somehow I imagined her having this hopeless smile and ironic glance in her eyes whenever a family member managed to call out the drama llama again.

 

I don't want to say a lot about Frederick Wentworth because he stayed a bit distant for me, and let's face it, this story is all about Anne. Before reading, I had caught glimpses of some mysterious "Wentworth letter" from the blogosphere and even though I am pretty much a completely hopeless person when it comes to romantic stuff as such - I have to admit that this was well done. (Even though we all know this letter was actually written by Jane Austen, who was a woman - hehe.) Overall, I didn't mind him, and I think in many ways he was a good match for Anne.

 

I enjoyed "Persuasion" quite a bit. It wasn't the romance story I had feared it would be; instead, it was witty, a bit sarcastic critique by Austen on some of the silliness and shallowness that was going on at the time. There was humour and writing was very elegant. At this point, I am not scared of approaching the other works of Austen (anymore), although I might leave the most famous ones the last.

 

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* “I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”  

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236 pages

Brain Food, V

More books... There is always more books.

 

 

From top to bottom:

 

* Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities" - I saw it on my friend's bookshelf and she kindly lent it to me, as this is one of the four Dickenses I need for my Classics Club reading list.

* Jane Austen, "Persuasion" - I guess this is as good time as any to confess I haven't read any Jane Austen... Nor do I have much inclination to, but I guess if I want to become a well-read person, one or two of her works should be dealth with.

* Charles Dickens, "Oliver Twist" - pretty, pretty, pretty. On Valentine's Day we went to bookshop with my boyfriend and he gifted me this book (plus I sneaked in that Austen as well, as Penguin Classics were still 50% off). Afterwards we also went to the game shop and I gifted him something he fancied so all's well.

* D. L. Bogdan, "The Forgotten Queen" - and here comes the start of baby steps to historical fiction. I won this book through a giveaway and it's about Margaret Tudor, the not-so-often portrayed Queen of Scotland. Read two chapters and luckily, didn't even feel like I'd want to stop. Promising start, at least.