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. 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

 

Title:  Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Author:  Truman Capote

Narrated by:  Michael C. Hall

Publisher: Audible Studios

Length: Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is your favorite breakfast?  I love omelets, but oatmeal is the breakfast I eat the most.

 Young writer is trying to get his start in New York City when he meets his eccentric neighbor, Holly Golightly.  Holly is a young woman in her late teens who “socializes” with older rich men to make her living.  As the author gets to know her more, he finds surprising depth.  Who is she and what will she become? 

My thoughts on this book:

·       Michael C. Hall was a great narrator of the audiobook.

·       I read this in September for the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook.  I hadn’t read this for over 20 years ago for a classics book club I was in while I lived in Milwaukee.  It was great to read it again.  Unfortunately, the What the Dickens Book Club was paused, and we did not discuss this book.

·       This was a novella and a short read.

·       I was not sure if I liked Holly Golightly.  Is she a prostitute?  She seemed like a manic pixy girl to me.  She was very unique and different which drew men to her.

·       There was some rough language in this novella about those of different ethnicities and sexuality.

·       This story was set in the WWII era.  Holly’s brother Fred serves overseas.

·       Holly was a child bride after her parents died and she and her brother Fred were put with abusive relatives.  They ran away and made their own way in the world.

·       The story was sanitized for the 1960s movie starting Audrey Hepburn.  I need to rewatch it – it’s been a while since I’ve seen it!

·       I couldn’t hardly stand it when Holly throws her cat out and kicks it to make it run away before she leaves the country.  The cat in a way seemed to symbolize Holly.  She was “kicked” in life, but always lands on her feet.

·       The story was well written and had true observations on life.

·       I can understand Holly’s yearning for a better life.

·       This was first published in 1958.

Overall, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote is a unique story and a great snapshot in time of New York City in the 1940s.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

 

Title:  The Scarlet Pimpernel

Author:  Baroness Orczy

Narrated by:  Bill Homewood

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 54 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Hoopla.  Thank-you!

Who is your favorite action hero/heroine?  I have always liked Wonder Woman.  The Scarlet Pimpernel is an early action hero and the basis for many modern action heroes with secret identities.

During the French Revolution, one man from Britain in helping French men, women, and children to escape the guillotine.  He evades capture and is known as the Scarlet Pimpernel.  French agent Chauvelin is on the case and will do anything to hunt him down.  Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel, and will he escape?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this in September.  I was running behind as it was the August pick for the What the Dickens Book Club and there was a great discussion about it on Facebook.

·       This novel was published it 1905.  It was originally a successful play and then the author made it into a book. 

·       I loved the adventure in this novel and the great romance between husband and wife.

·       The audiobook narrator was excellent.  He did great voices and accents for all the characters.  I loved it.

·       Towards the end of the book, a Jewish character comes in and is not treated that well.  He is called all sorts of slurs. It was uncomfortable reading. 

·       I love my 1960s classic paperback.  I bought it many years ago at the Kalamazoo Michigan Public Library and book sale.

·       I didn’t realize this was a series!  I need to continue reading more in the series.

·       I had watched and enjoyed a couple of the movies in my teens.  I need to rewatch them.

·       This was a great adventure novel   I loved the hero and heroine.  I also loved all the Scarlet Pimpernels disguises.

·       The romance was unique.  Can an estranged married couple learn to understand each other and fall in love?

·       Marguerite is the smartest woman in Europe, but is married to dull, foppish, but extremely rich Sir Percy Blakeney.  Chauvelin blackmails her to help him look for the Scarlet Pimpernel or his brother will be excited.  I love her character.

Overall, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is an excellent historical fiction novel full of romance and adventure.  I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it!

Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery

 

Title:  Jane of Lantern Hill

Author:  L.M. Montgomery

Narrated by:  Lauren Saunders

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 1 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

Have you reread any childhood favorite books lately?  I haven’t read Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery since my teen years, and it was a job to read it again this month as part of the What the Dickens Book Club.

Jane Stuart lives with her grandmother, aunt, and mother in a sad and cold mansion in Toronto.  She discovers that her father is alive, and he wants her to visit him for the summer in Prince Edward Island.  Her world opens and is alive in PEI.  Why did her parents separate?  Will Jane find a way to live a happy life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved how Jane figured out how to cook, clean, and garden on her own and enjoyed doing it.  She enjoyed the small things of life and was a sensible girl.

·       This was a hopeful story that is written for younger audiences (tween and teen).

·       I loved the mystery of the parents’ (Andrew and Robin) relationship both as a kid and reading it again now as an adult.

·       Jane ages from eleven to thirteen in this book.

·       Grandma is a true villain in this book.  How lonely and sad Jane was growing up in her cold home.  I wonder if this character was based on anyone that L.M. Montgomery knew?

·       As I’ve come to expect from L.M. Montgonery the novel had beautiful descriptions of nature, the ocean, Prince Edward Island, the house.  I loved that the lantern hill house was “alive” and had “magic.”

·       It was also interesting reading the difference between Toronto (cold, dreary, etc.) and Prince Edward Island where everyone is loving.

·       This was a coming-of-age novel as Jane really grows up on the island.

·       The cats and dogs in the novel were delightful.

·       This novel was published in 1937 and was set in the 1930s, later than the Anne books.  It was interesting that cars and airplanes are mentioned.  Jane’s dad is a WWI veteran.

·       This story seems scandalous for the times that it was written with the parents being separated and talk of divorce.  Grandma and her aunt made me angry with their meddling in Jane’s parents’ marriage.  The ending is the dream of every divorced child in the vein of The Parent Trap.

·       The ending was good, but abrupt.

·       This is a stand-alone novel and was one of the first L.M. Montgomery books I read because of the movie.  I just recently rewatched the movie after I finished the book.  It strays a lot from the book but was still enjoyable.

·       I enjoyed listening to this book on audiobook and the narrator had a pleasant voice.

Overall, Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery is an inspiring and charming comfort read.

The Professor by Charlotte Bronte

 

Title:  The Professor

Author:  Charlotte Bronte

Narrated by:  Frederick Davidson

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 24 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Hoopla

What is your weirdest reading habit?  I used to love to read in trees when I was younger.

William Crimsworth is an orphan and becomes a clerk for a schoolmate’s brother.  He faces abuse at the job and decides to make a career change, moving to Brussels and becoming a professor.  Once a professor, he finds himself conflicted in love and caught in a bit of a love triangle.  Will he find love and a future in Brussels?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The Professor was the May pick for the What the Dickens Book Club.  We have an interesting discussion on Facebook on it.

·       I hadn’t read this book since high school.  In high school, I did my senior research paper on Charlotte Bronte.  I read all her novels and watched all of the adaptations of her work that I could get my hands on.

·       The book is the person narrative of William Crimsworth.

·       Most of the book takes place in Brussels.  French is spoken and not translated at times in the book.

·       The main character is very anti-Catholic and seems to look down on the Belgian people that he is teaching.

·       It’s kind of creepy when he and another professor rate and talk about their female students looks. 

·       It’s crazy to think that in the 19^th century, one could beat your employee with a whip!

·       I would rank this as my fourth out of four of Charlotte Bronte’s novels.  It’s worth reading, but it lacks the polish and passion of Jane Eyre.  This was the first novel that Charlotte Bronte wrote in 1845-46 before Jane Eyre.    Bronte used a lot of her own experiences at a school in Brussels for inspiration for this novel.

·       The audiobook was a bit dry and boring to listen to, and strangely about halfway through it, I suddenly couldn’t listen to it anymore.  Hoopla said it was no longer available through my library.  I have never had this happen before, have you?  I had to purchase it on Audible to finish it up.

Overall, The Professor by Charlotte Bronte is worth reading, but it is a bit dry and lacks the passion of Jane Eyre.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

 

Title:  Persuasion

Author:  Jane Austen

Narrated by:  Terah Tucker, Catherine Bilson, Graham Scott, Linda Barrans, Denis Daly

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 23 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite book that has an amazing friendship portrayal?  I love Anne and Mrs. Smith’s friendship in Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Anne Elliot is the middle-overlooked daughter of a baronet that has fallen on financial hard times.  They rent out their estate and travel to Bath.  Captain Wentworth, a man that Anne had broken an engagement with eight years before, has returned. How has time changed them and their relationship?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I started Persuasion in April and finished it in May for the What the Dickens Book Club.  I also read it to celebrate Jane Austen’s 250^th birthday.  I am trying to reread all six of her novels this year.

·       I loved the full cast audiobook!  It was so fun to listen to and brings an extra depth to the story.

·       As I started this book again, I immediately thought, poor Anne.  Her family does not value her at all.

·       I love when she visits her sister Mary, and everyone finds her a comforting person to talk to and lays out their woes.  They all have conflicting stories about each other.  It was so funny!

·       I like when Captain Wentworth notices other men, like Mr. Eliot, admiring Anne.

·       I love that Anne maintains her friendship with Mrs.  Smith against her family’s wishes.  Mrs. Smith is in poor position with her husband dying, no wealth, and poor health.

·       Mr. Elliot seems like a nice man until Mrs. Smith shares his real personality.  He did not like Sir Walter nor Elizabeth as a youth and openly mocked them amongst his friends.  Now that he is an older wealthy widower (although not old!), he sees the importance of titles and connections.  He tries to win the affections of the Elliots.  He is afraid Sir Walter will marry Mrs. Clay and disinherit him.  Anne is very conflicted as Mr. Elliot is attractive, interesting, and pleasing, but it disguised a “user’s” personality.  It’s a surprise when he runs off with Mrs. Clay in the end.

·       I can excuse Mr. Elliot as Captain Wentworth explains that jealousy of him is what finally prompted his  wonderful letter as well as Anne’s thoughts on the constancy of women.

·       Where do you think Anne and Captain Wentworth ended up?  Sailing the high seas?  Kellynch?  Other?

Overall, Persuasion by Jane Austen is still one of my favorite Austen novels.  I get something new out of it every time I read it.  I really liked reading it as a full cast audiobook this time around.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

Title: The Secret Garden

Author:  Frances Hodgson Burnett

Narrated by:  Alison Larkin

Publisher: Alison Larkin Presents

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 10 minutes

Source: Audiobook review copy from Alison Larkin Presents. Physical copy was purchased from one of my kid’s scholastic book orders a few years ago.

What book from childhood have you reread and enjoyed as an adult?  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was a favorite of mine when I was young, but I had not reread it as an adult until now.

Mary Lennox is a spoiled brat.  She was raised basically by a nanny in India.  After a sickness kills off her parents, she is shipped back to England to live with her uncle as Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire.  Unfortunately, he is also absent, and Mary is once again alone.  Luckily, she gets to know the people of the estate and learns to love the outdoors.  Will Mary be able to find happiness?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read The Secret Garden as the February selection for the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook.  It prompted a good discussion.

·       I loved the theme of the healing power of nature and how it is able to bring both Mary and Colin “back to life” as happy children. I loved the descriptions of the plants, flowers, and birds – especially the robin.  It was especially wonderful with the winter weather we had in February to be reading this book full of spring.

·       The parents were very frustrating in this novel and neglected their children.  Poor Mary and Colin are both basically orphans.  Mary’s parents basically ignore her existence as they are having too much fun with their friends.  Colin’s mother has died, and his father keeps him hidden away.

·       Luckily, Mrs. Sowerby, Dickon and Martha’s mother, provides a mother figure to both Mary and Colin.

·       It was discussed in the book club that fiction written during this time period did often feature orphans or kids trying to make it on their own.  I know as a child I enjoyed stories of children being independent.

·       I enjoyed both Mary and Colin’s transformations throughout the novel through the power of nature and love.

·       I loved listening to the audiobook version of this book.  Alison Larkin is one of my favorite audiobook narrators.  She has a lovely voice that is very enjoyable to listen to.

·       I love the 1993 movie adaptation of this novel

Favorite Quote:

“Where you tend a rose my lad, a thistle cannot grow.”

Overall, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a very enjoyable novel that brings the reader into the love and joy of nature and family.

Mountain Interval by Robert Frost

 

Do you enjoy reading poetry?  I haven’t read much poetry since college, but reading this collection made me think I need to pick up poetry again.

I read this collection of poetry in January for the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook.  There was a great discussion about it last month. 

My thoughts on this collection:

·       I haven’t read any Robert Frost poem since my college days.  I either read his poems as individual poems or as part of a “complete collection.”  This was the first time I read them in a collection as they would have been published.  It was very interesting.

·       The collection includes one of my favorite poems, The Road Not Taken.

·       The poems give the reader a sense of place and time – that you are living on a farm in rural Vermont in the early twentieth century.

·       I especially liked the poem where a city guy tried to rip Frost off and buy one thousand pine trees for a total of $300.  This would only be three cents per tree!  It was interesting how Frost made this experience into a poem.

·       Poems are a nice length to read and think about before bed.  With all that is going on in the world, they were a good escapism read.

Overall, Mountain Interval by Robert Frost was an enjoyable poetry collection and I highly recommend it.

Book Source:  Purchased on my kindle from Amazon.com.