Saturday, March 03, 2007

Attempt # 2

Well - I'm back after a LONG hiatus and here's hoping I keep up with it this time!! I've discovered that I'm not much good at reviewing books. I get all tongue-tied and my mind goes blank. So, I've decided to simplify things for myself - after I read a book I'll post it and tell a little bit about it and whether or not I liked it. If I have anything additional to add then I will. =) I'll also stick a link in at the end to a review written by someone that knows how to write them =. How does that sound? I'm hoping to be able to turn this into a blog where everybody can contribute. This way all of you would be able to post your book recommendations and reviews!! But first I need to know if I'd have any takers. Would anyone be interested in that? Let me know!!

I've compiled (mostly for myself) a list of books I've read over the past few years. I'm sure I've forgotten some but I wanted to remember what I've read and maybe give you a few ideas. That list is on the sidebar. Most of them were really great reads. I'd stay away from FALSE MEMORY - it gave me NIGHTMARES. Yikes! Anyway - if you have any questions about any of those ask away!


STARTING WITH Jan. 2007:

*WUTHERING HEIGHTS - Emily Bronte

I set out at the beginning of this year to read some of the classics. I started with Wuthering Heights because I'd heard it was a great love story and also had some mystery to it. I didn't think it was a great love story AT ALL. I thought it was sad and I despised most of the characters but for some reason I'm going to give it a thumbs up. I found a review that expresses my sentiments about the book exactly. Click Here to check it out!






*JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte


I LOVED this book. Jane is a SUPERSTAR. This book was full of little nuggets of wisdom and the love story was fabulous. READ IT READ IT READ IT!!












*East of Eden by John Steinbeck


Fabulous book - wonderful writing. I loved every bit of it - the story, the characters, the beginning and the end.
Click Here to see a book review for EAST OF EDEN.











*SECOND GLANCE by Jodi Picoult


I had read two other Jodi Picoult novels prior to this one and really enjoyed them. Her books are always about controversial topics and really interesting. The first two really got to me as a mother (seriously, I was BAWLING like a baby in both of them!) but this one was just fun to read. I couldn't put it down. The controversy in the this one is based around eugenics. Eugenics is "the study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding". It is also a ghost story and a mystery.
Click Here for a review of SECOND GLANCE.




*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See


This wasn't my favorite book but I really liked it. I found it really interesting to learn about Chinese culture - especially the foot binding, nu shu writings, and the relationships between laotongs.
Click here for a review of SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN.

More soon to come! Please give me your input and let me know if you'd be interested in contributing!! Thanks!!

Brittanie

2 comments:

{B}dreamy said...

Woohoo! So glad you decided to bring this lil' (but not for long ;) blog of yours back to life! I was going to pester you about it, but now I see that that's unnecessary!

I love this idea, especially since I just joined a book club group and haven't read anything in years (besides textbooks)!!! But I used to LOVE reading and I'm looking forward to hopefully rekindling my former relationship with books!

As far as contributing, just tell me what you want me to contribute!!! Hahaha. I could tell you what books are my faves... but I was thinking I could just let you know what our book club is doing. Right now we're starting the Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner, so I'll let you know what I think about it!

Great idea Brit (and sorry if no one calls you that, oops :) !!!

PS- you should check out my cuz's site, where she writes about quotes and books to her fancy; she's a lit major, and I think you guys could feed off of each other, if you will... :) Anyway, her literary site is The Wonderful Pen at http://wonderfulpen.blogspot.com/. She just posted a list of books you might want to take a look at.

Cheers!

*B

Josette said...

Haha! I love Jane Eyre too. It's one of my favourite classics!