My Recent Posts
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson - Review (For fans of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series)
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown - Review
What I Read Last Week
Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne
This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. 'Twas the week to get sick in my household - I came down with a cold last Monday, and it's still here. Despite this, though, life goes on. And more importantly, reading goes on! My Recent PostsFull House Reading Challenge Sign-Up (I'm so excited for this challenge!) Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson - Review (For fans of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series) The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown - Review What I Read Last WeekThe Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen (Another enjoyable tale of magical realism!) Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne What I'm Reading NowA Guide for the Perplexed by Dara Horn (I must admit that it's living up to its title. I'm rather perplexed by the story thus far.) What's Coming Up NextI've posted a few times on Smiling Shelves (most recently, in this post) about how much I want to be part of a book club. Well, it's finally happening! February 21 is our first meeting, and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak is our first book. I'm so excited!)
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The Boys in the Boat is the story of America’s 1936 Olympic rowing team. The event involves an eight-man crew, but the book focuses mainly on one of the eight. It’s Joe Rantz’s biography combined with the events leading up to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. I found that the parts focusing solely on Rantz could sometimes be tedious, but they all ultimately served the purpose of giving us a picture of the times. I know next to nothing about crew, and after reading the book, I can more or less say the same. Daniel James Brown does his best to explain the intricacies involved in putting together a crew, the discipline involved in rowing well together, and the mechanics of building the best boat. He really does explain it well, but I have to admit that not much of it stuck. That’s perfectly all right, though, because you can enjoy the events without mastering the behind-the-scenes details. My overwhelming emotion at the end of this book is respect for these boys and anyone who rows. It doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to row a boat down a river or lake, but I now believe that it is one of the most difficult sports to do well. In order to go fast, every movement has to be timed precisely and lined up exactly with every rower in the boat. And then speed up or slow down at the same time, according to the directions of the coxswain. What a feat! I most certainly plan to watch these events during the next Summer Olympics, now that I understand somewhat just how difficult it is. The ending of this book is astounding. It’s hard to believe that this is actually what happened because it reads like a movie. Mark Twain was right when he said that truth is stranger than fiction. Brown does an awesome job of describing the races in a way that keep you on the edge of your seat. This isn’t an easy task for a writer, but Brown succeeds every time. This is a story that deserves to be told, and Brown does it well. He introduces us to a crew of boys that you wish you could be friends with. He paints a picture of the times – America during the Great Depression and Germany as Hitler rises to power. This book holds an uplifting story of the power of hard work and dedication to your teammates. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t love Anne (with an e) Shirley, inhabitant of Green Gables, P.E.I.? She is one of L.M. Montgomery’s most beloved heroines, and it’s easy to see why. It also makes it pretty intimidating to try and tell her story before she arrives at Green Gables, but that’s exactly what Budge Wilson attempts to do. Before Green Gables begins with Anne’s parents, a couple who loves each other and their daughter with everything they have. Unfortunately, that doesn’t keep them from succumbing to the fever that rages through the town. Anne is then taken in by a local family with a lot of small children who needs the extra pair of helping hands. Anne’s life with this family (and the subsequent one, full of twins) is far from easy and far from happy. But as we would expect with Anne, she finds glimmers of hope and love to help her survive. Wilson really tries hard to portray Anne as a child, and she does a fairly decent job. We can see hints of the Anne who can’t stop talking, the Anne with a temper she can’t control, and the Anne who revels in nature. But try as she might, Wilson just can’t capture that elusive something that Montgomery’s Anne has. I give her all sorts of credit for trying, but she just falls short. Before Green Gables is not for the Anne purists. But it does still tell a good story, and it’s a perfectly plausible history of Anne pre-P.E.I. If you enjoy Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, you would enjoy this book – provided you come with realistic expectations. Just relax and relish the story of a red-headed girl named Anne (with an e). A bingo-based reading challenge? What fun!
I have to admit that part of my excitement for this challenge comes from nostalgia. When I was in fourth grade, our teacher had us do something similar. Whenever we finished reading a book, we had to pick a square on our bingo sheet. The square told us how to respond to the book we had read - everything from writing a journal as a character to coming up with an alternate ending to creating a diorama. The aim was to get a bingo by the end of the school year. That was no problem for me! This reading challenge reminds of that - but yet it's better! Now we're not aiming for just one bingo, but a full card. I am ready to begin! (And actually, I already have. Check out my Reading Challenges page to see what squares I've completed so far.) This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. My Recent PostsColor Coded Reading Challenge Sign-Up My thoughts on The Blue Castle and Anne of Avonlea (for the L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge and the Reading to Know Book Club) Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani - Review What I Read Last WeekThe Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman (Really, who can resist a title like that?) The Color of Rain by Michael & Gina Spehn (Amazingly powerful story!) The Underneath by Kathi Appelt The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde (All the zaniness you've come to expect from Jasper Fforde) What I'm Reading NowThe Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen What's Coming Up NextParis in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne (I had no idea this book existed until I found it on the library shelves, but boy, am I looking forward to reading it!)
A Guide for the Perplexed by Dara Horn I don’t know what I was waiting for all these years before I picked up an Adriana Trigiani book. Okay, I do know – I hadn’t heard of her before people’s BEA posts from this past year. But now that I know what I’ve been missing, it won’t be long before I devour every book she’s written. Big Stone Gap is the first book in the Big Stone Gap series. It follows Ave Maria Mulligan through her thirty-fifth year, when she goes from being the town spinster to being content with who she is. Of course, it turns out that who she is is different than who she thought she was (everyone follow that sentence?). Ave Maria’s mother left her a letter when she died, explaining that the father she grew up with was not her biological father. Ave Maria, who has always been so in control of her life that she could spend it focused on others, suddenly needs to discover who she really is. Ave Maria’s voice shines throughout the story, and this is what had me hooked by page two. I knew Ave Maria and was inside her head from the very beginning. There are moments when I’m glad I’ve been introduced to a series late, and this is one of them. I can go to the library right now and get the rest of the Big Stone Gap series, without waiting years between publication dates. On the other hand, some series need to be read slowly and savored, rather than devoured, and this is certainly one of those. I love Adriana Trigiani’s writing! You’ve got to slow down and read carefully or you miss some of the best phrases. To savor or devour. . .Oh, the dilemma! If you, too, are late to the Adriana Trigiani party like I was, please remedy that soon! Find a copy of Big Stone Gap or any of her other books, and introduce yourself to this amazing author and her irrestible writing. |
My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.
You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com. Archives
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