Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker

 

Title:  Mr. Rochester

Author:  Sarah Shoemaker

Narrated by:  Simon Shepherd

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Length: Approximately 16 hours and 43 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.com

Who is your favorite literary hero? 

Edward Fairfax Rochester is a second son.  His mother dies when he is young, and his absentee father sends him off to school at the age of eight.  He has to make his way in the world and learn what he can.  Will he ever return to his beloved Thornfield Hall?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read Mr. Rocester by Sarah Shoemaker for the October JASNA Book Club meeting. All of book club seemed to enjoy this well written novel and it provided good discussion comparing it to our other read, the original Jane Eyre.  Mr. Mason’s characterization seemed to be the main difference between the two books.

·       This novel was the story of Mr. Rocester’s life from childhood through adulthood.  It reminded me of Jane Eyre or a Dickens novel.

·       I kept wondering would a father really send a very young son away and not see him for a decade?  I know Victorian times were different, but it seemed odd.  Rochester was an unloved child just like Jane Eyre.

·       I thought his work at the mill had shades of Bronte’s novel, Shirley.

·       He had a lonely life when so many people died young in the Victorian age.

·       Mr. Rochester is astonished by slavery, but still used it to make a profit.

·       I liked that this wasn’t just a retelling of Jane Eyre through Mr. Rochester’s POV.  Most of the novel is his life before he meets Jane and then events of the novel through Mr. Rochester’s time.

·       I didn’t like that the mind games he played with Jane.

·       I did enjoy that a new character, Gerald, who was not in the original novel, was seamlessly added to the story in a way that adds to the drama and furthered the action.

·       Rochester was a good guy in this novel and his actions for locking Bertha away are explained.

 

Overall, Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker was an excellent retelling and a must read for any fans of Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

 

Title:  Jane Eyre

Author:  Charlotte Bronte

Narrated by:  Thandiwe Newton

Publisher: Audible Studios

Length: Approximately 19 hours and 10 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.com

What classic have you read more than once?

Jane Eyre is the story of a young woman in Victorian times; from her unloved childhood, time in a boarding school and first job outside the school as a governess at the mysterious Thornfield Hall.  Will she find herself and love?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book in October for the JASNA Northwoods Book Club.  We had a great discussion on this book.

·       I first read this as a teen and have read it multiple times since then.  It is a classic book.  I will continue to reread and love it throughout my life.

·       This was a great audiobook version.  Thandiwe Newton had good characterization for all the characters.

·       Poor Jane.  Her childhood and the complete lack at love make me so sad.  Her parents died when she was an infant.  Her uncle took her in and loved her, but he died when she was one.  His widow could not love Jane and treated her terribly.

·       I did not like the way Mr. Rochester treated Jane and played games with her.

·       I do like how independent Jane is and how by the time she returns to Mr. Rocester, she has her own independent means.

·       I’ll admit, I always forget how much of the book is set with the Rivers family.  I like that she split her inheritance fairly.

·       Why is St. John pronounced Sin-Gin?  I have wandered this through many adaptations and this audiobook.

·       I love Gothic romance and all the mysterious happenings at Thornfield Hall. 

·       Mr. Rochester for all his faults, does treat Jane like an equal and usually talks honestly to her.

·       It is horrible when St. John proposes to her with absolutely no love for Jane, but the want for a useful partner for his missionary trip.  I’m glad Jane said no!

·       What is your favorite adaptation? One of my favorites is the 2006 miniseries starring Toby Stephens.  Why is Rocester always hot in adaptations even though he is described as not good looking in the novel?

Favorite Quotes:

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

“Reader, I married him.”

“Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!”

Overall, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a masterfully written classic with one of the best heroines in literature.

 

Influence by Ruth Mitchell

 

What classic novel would you like to be retold in a modern-day setting?

April Rain was a superstar singer when she fell in love with a surfer boy one summer.  Her father and agent persuaded her to break things off with Freddy.  Five years later, Freddy is a superstar while April is a “has been” that has focused on college rather than her career. Freddy has moved next door for the summer.  Freddy and April are assigned to write a duet for the marriage of April’s sister and Freddy’s best friend.  Will these two find a second chance at romance?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a great modern-day retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. It was true to the original characters with a good contemporary story that made sense.

·       The story is a romantic comedy.

·       It is told through a dual point of view and is a second chance romance.  I liked that Freddy and April narrated the book and I enjoyed getting Freddy’s point of view, which you do not get in the original novel.

·       I read this delightful book back in September.

·       This is the first in a series of modern-day retellings of Jane Austen’s novels and I can’t wait to read the rest.

·       The story was clever, funny, and romantic.  I enjoyed the witty banter.

·       I loved April’s Dad.  He was a washed-up actor who is very into himself.  It was so true to the original character!  The author did a great job of modernizing all the characters. 

·       I loved the romance between Freddy and April.

·       I also enjoyed that April was the inspiration for many of Freddy’s songs.

·       This book is set in California.

·       The story was very engaging, and I read it quickly.

·       This would make a great movie!

·       It was a clean read.

Overall, Influence by Ruth Mitchell is a very engaging, witty, and romantic retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Book Source:  Thank-you to @literally.ruth.mitchell @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. 

 

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

 

Title:  Venetia

Author:  Georgette Heyer

Narrated by:  Gemma Whelan

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 46 minutes

Source: Checked out through Amazon Music with physical book purchased years ago at Walmart.

What author do you think deserves more adaptations of their work?  I feel like Georgette Heyer’s works are ripe for development into movies or miniseries.  With the love of Regency shows such as Bridgerton and all the Jane Austen adaptations, why are Heyer’s works not being adapted?

Venetia is twenty-five years old, beautiful, smart, and independent.  At her father’s death, she cares for the estate and her younger brother as she waits for her older brother to return from Europe.  Venetia wants to marry for love but starts to believe she will be a spinster.  Her neighbor, Lord Jasper Damerel, returns to the neighborhood after a long absence and sparks fly between the two.  Damerel is a known rake.  Can a rake and a respectable woman find love?

My thoughts on this book:

·       Venetia by Georgette Heyer was the What the Dickens July Book Club pick.  I read most of it in July but finished it up in September.  There was a good discussion on Facebook on the novel, but sadly, the book club is on hold right now.

·       The audiobook was a delight to listen too.  Gemma Whelan was a good narrator.

·       All the characters were wonderfully written.  I like how Damerel and Venetia both defied expectations.

·       Damerel isn’t just a rake, but a well-educated man who’s respects Venetia for her mind and truly enjoys spending time with her disabled, but intelligent brother, Aubrey.

·       Venetia doesn’t fall for Damerel’s seduction, but instead has witty discussions with him and truly befriends him.  I love how she cares for Aubrey.

·       I loved Aubrey – he cracked me up!  He had a dry humor, was intelligent, and just said things bluntly they way that they were.

·       Venetia’s older brother, Conrad, sends home his new young bride, Charlotte, but she brings her mother, Mrs. Scorrier.  What a villain!  She makes life a terrible trial for Venetia and Aubrey.

·       Venetia bluntly talks about orgies at the end – I was confused.  Did they have a different meaning in Regency times?  I looked I up and it meant a wild and drunken party.

·       Wow – what a surprise at the end.  I didn’t see it coming.  It did allow the two main characters to get together.

  Overall, Venetia by Georgette Heyer is a delightful Regency romance with great characters. 

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

 

Title:  Greenlights

Author:  Matthew McConaughey

Narrated by:  Matthew McConaughey

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 51 minutes

Source: Checked out through Amazon Music with physical book checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library.

What public figure would you like to read more about?

Actor Matthew McConaughey has kept diaries for most of his life.  He sat down, reviewed them, and wrote this unique memoir on his life from childhood, through marriage and becoming a father.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Greenlights was the October selection for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  I had to miss the meeting due to work but did get the book read.

·       The audiobook is read by Matthew McConaughey himself which I really liked.  He has a distinctive way of talking and I always enjoy when memoirs are read by the author themselves.

·       McConaughey had a crazy childhood. His parents divorced each other twice and married each other three times.  There was a lot of violence in his childhood home.

·       The memoir tells his story in a unique way including vignettes, poetry, words of wisdom/bumper stickers, etc.

·       This memoir was a little too personal at times.  He freely talks about his wet dreams and masturbation, and I really didn’t want to know about that.

·       I liked the details on his movies.  I would have liked even more discussion of his movies.

·       It was interesting how he used to live in a camper and traveled cross country in it for years.  He had many adventures.

·       This memoir as very funny.

·       He didn’t talk much about the time right before the book was published.

·       McConaughey also had a lot of self-help tips.  I didn’t like them as much as the personal stories of his life.

·       The greenlights are the title are things that move you forward in life.

Overall, Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey was an interesting memoir about a great actor.  I was entertained, but it’s not a book for everyone.ctor.  I was entertained, but it’s not a book for everyone.

Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas

 

What is a current topic that you would like to learn more about?  With immigration constantly in the news, I thought it was a great time to read Dear American, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas.

Jose Antonio Vargas was sent by his mother from the Philippines to America to live with this Grandfather at the age of twelve.  He later discovers that he is not a legal immigrant and that there is no pathway for him to become a legal citizen.  In this memoir, he details his journey.

My thoughts on this book:

·       This is a book that all Americans should read.

·       Most Americans don’t realize that our immigration system is so broken that there is no “line” or easy or straightforward way to become a legal citizen.  If you grew up in the United States, but you weren’t here legally, you have to leave and go to another country for ten years to start the legal process.

·       Rhetoric that really bothers me is “my ancestors came here legally.”  I’ve noticed that most of the folks who say this have not actually researched how their ancestors came here or whether it was legal.  They are white, and they just assume it was legal.  They also minimize the fact that until the 1920s, you just had to show up, pay a minimal fee, and be healthy, which is not the process now.

·       I like how Vargas ponders that it is just fate where you are born.  You don’t work to be an American citizen if you are born here.  Why is there so much hate and anger against those born in different places?

·       I displayed my own bias while I read this book.  I thought that Jose Antonio Vargas was Hispanic by his name.  I didn’t think about how Spanish colonization in the Philippines resulted in Spanish names for the population.

·       It is hard to make it as an undocumented immigrant, but Vargas has people who cared about him and helped him out.  He has spent his life thinking that he can’t ever settle down because of his status.

·       He became a prominent journalist.

·       Jose Antonia Vargas is illegal, but the rest of his Filipino family came here legally.  It stinks that his grandfather and mother had him brought illegally as a child and put him in this legal limbo.

·       Illegal immigrants pay taxes, but don’t get any of the benefits.

·       It is good to read about people’s experiences as it helps to put things in perspective.

·       As a gay man, Jose Antonio Vargas would be persecuted in the Philippines.

·       Will we ever actually try to fix our immigration laws and the process to become a citizen? 

Overall, Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas is a book that all United States citizens should read for a good perspective on the broken immigration process in our country.

Favorite Quotes:

“What you done to earn your box? Besides being born at a certain place in a certain time, did you have to do anything at all?”

“I had to interrogate how laws are created, how illegality must be seen through the prism of who is defining what is legal and for whom.  I had to realize that throughout American history, legality has forever been a construct of power.”

“The Naturalization Act of 1790, our country’s first set of laws dealing with citizenship, said that an applicant had to be a ‘a free white person’ of ‘good moral character’ to be a US citizen.”

“Our country’s mainstream news organizations often fail to report basic facts about how much undocumented workers pay into a government that vilifies us. Whether because of ignorance or indifference, or both, failure to report these facts and provide context has perpetuated the myth of the ‘illegal’’ and who is taxing social services and taking away from ‘real Americans.’”

“According to the SSA itself, unauthorized workers have paid $100 billion into the fund over the past decade…Annually, undocumented workers pay $12 billion to the Social Security Trust Fund.”

“The mainstream media’s coverage of immigration is lackluster at best and irresponsibility at worst, promoting and sustaining stereotypes while spreading misinformation.”

“Between 1965 and 2015, new immigrants and their offspring accounted for 55 percent of US population growth, according to the Pew Research Center.”

Book Source:  Thank-you to #morrowpartner @deystreet for a review copy of this book. 

The Red Cottage by Hannah Linder (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What color is your house or place of residence?  What color would you like it to be?  My house is a very light beige, almost white with white trim and dark green on different siding on the top of the house.  I would like a blue house, but I live in a house on the historic registry, so a color change is not in the future.

Meg Foxcroft lives with her Uncle in the apothecary and loves Tom McGwen.  They dream of living in their own cottage painted red.  After Meg is brutally attacked, she loses all her memories and wakes up in the arms of young Lord Cunningham.  Will she regain her memories? Why was she attacked?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel had two tropes I enjoy, the amnesia and second chance romance tropes.

·       It was a clever mystery that was full of suspense.  I really wanted to know how this book would end!

·       I loved how Meg and Tom had to rediscover each other and their romance.  They had great chemistry. 

·       I liked that Tom remain devoted to Meg throughout the novel.

·       The story had a lot of twists and turns and started off with a bang.

·       It is set in 1818 Cornwell and has Gothic Regency vibes.

·       This was a clean read with a kisses only romance, but there was also sexual assault, prostitution, and violence as part of the storyline.

·       The story had a good ending that tied up all the storylines.

Overall, The Red Cottage by Hannah Linder was an engaging Regency romance and mystery with Gothic vibes.  I loved and really enjoyed this story!

Book Source:  Thank-you to @hannahlinderbooks @barbourbooks @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. 

The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard

 

Have you had a favorite pet in your life? 

I have had a lot of pets over my lifetime that I have loved, but one of my favorite pets was my cat Rufus.  He was my college cat.  He arrived bedraggled at my Mom’s house one summer right before I started graduate school.  He was a small kitten with fleas, ear mites, and a wounded leg.  I wasn’t sure he was going to make it, but he grew into a sassy cat who could do tricks like fetching items and shaking his paw.  He wasn’t sure about my husband Ben when we first got married, but later he would trout around with him on rounds around the house.  He especially loved when we had kids and let them all carry him around and play with him.  He really loved them.  He sadly died when he was fourteen and I still miss him.  I called him my “soul cat” as he always knew when I was down and would comfort me. 

Grimalkin dies after a happy life as an indoor cat in 1902.  After this, he becomes a ghost cat for the rest of his nine lives and he see all the changes that happen over the next 120 years in Edinburgh.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       “A cat has nine lives.  For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.”  This is an old English Proverb which described Grimalkin’s afterlife.  Cat-sith explains this to Grimalkin after his first death that he has eight more lives.  Cat-sith is a fairy creature form Celtic mythology.

·       This was a fun book to read in October in the Halloween season, but it is a good read for any time of year.

·       I loved the concept.

·       I enjoyed Grimalkin’s relationship with Eildidth, the maid, who discovered him as a kitten and cared for him. As a ghost, he watches her grow older.

·       Grimalkin the cat is the POV for this novel.  He is an orange marmalade cat.  I enjoyed imaging him and his adventures.

·       I loved seeing the changes in history and time over the course of the novel.

·       There were also great footnotes in the book which described the reality or true history.  I really enjoyed the footnotes.

·       There was a great change from 1902 to 1922 with coal heat, electricity, cars, etc.

·       717 Marchmont Crescent in Edinburgh is the setting.  Grimalkin strays from here but always returns.

·       The story ends with the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.  I loved the other true history like the publication of Peter Pan.

·       This story was humorous and sad.  It was a sweet and slow read.

Overall, The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard is an enjoyable historical fiction novel that shows the changes over 120 year period in Edinburgh through the eyes of a ghost cat.

Book Source:  Thank-you to @netgalley for a review copy of this novel. 

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong

 

Title:  The Haunting of Paynes Hollow

Author:  Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by:  EJ Lavery

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and24 minutes

Source: Thank you @netgalley for the review copy. 

What is your favorite ghost story? The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is one of my favorite ghost stories and Halloween favorites.  I was excited to hear that a new novel, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong, was a modern reimagining of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Samantha Payne’s estranged grandfather has passed away.  She is surprised to discover that he left her very valuable property on Lake Ontario in Northern New York state.  He has left numerous stipulations including that she has to stay in the family cottage on the property for a month.  Her father took his own life there when she was a kid after being accused of murdering a local youth.  Sam needs the money to pay for her mother’s medical care.  She decides to live in the property with her aunt, but when strange things start to happen, is she losing her mind or are there creatures out there too terrifying to contemplate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       There was a sense of dread and unknown throughout the novel.  Is Sam crazy?  Is she the one doing everything?  Is someone setting it up to spook her?  Is it really a ghost?

·       They visit an old cottage and discover old books left behind when the cottage was abandoned including Twilight, Shopaholic, The Time Traveler’s Wife.  This does tell a certain point of time and I was reading them all.

·       I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook.  It was a riveting story with a great narrator.

·       The story had a great ending.  The story and explanation for it all really worked for me.

·       I enjoyed the Dutch folklore that was part of the story.  I have Dutch ancestors myself that lived in the state of New York on the Hudson River for two hundred years until they moved to Michigan.

·       This story has both horror and supernatural elements.

·       This story had great characters.  I loved Sam, her Aunt Gail, Ben (caretaker and brother of the murdered boy), and Josie (deputy).

·       The story was creepy and atmospheric.  It was perfect for Halloween.  I started it for the holiday but read most of it this month.

·       This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will definitely be reading more.

Overall, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong was engaging horror story, with great atmosphere and characters.