I love the water. Sitting on the beach, watching and listening to it, that is. Being on the water - well, that's another story. Let's just say that I feel much better if I stay on land.

So if I want to experience life on the water, I need to live vicariously. And that's just what reading allows you to do. I recently read two books (very different from each other) about life on a boat. One is a classic, written in Victorian England. The other tells of a more recent adventure.

On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat by Nathaniel Stone is an inspiring book. Studying maps as a child, Nat figured out that the eastern United States is essentially an island. And in his 20s, he decided to row around that island - from the Hudson River to the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a trip of nearly 6,000 miles, and it was all done by rowing. It makes me exhausted just thinking about it. But Nat found that he liked life on a boat, even turning it into a tent for the second half of his voyage so he didn't have to leave it. More importantly, though, he discovered so many friendly people that cheered him on and helped him out. This book gives you hope for mankind and an uncommon perspective on the United States.

The second boat trip book I read was Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!) by Jerome K. Jerome. I think you can gather the general style simply from that amusing title. Three young British gentlemen (and their dog) decide to escape the daily grind by taking a leisurely boating trip down the Thames. It goes without saying that it ends up being anything but relaxing. Nothing goes right, not even making a good breakfast of scrambled eggs. Their antics are hilarious and full of slapstick humor that will have you laughing out loud. Picture Bertie Wooster on a boat, combined with two of his useless friends and without Jeeves to help him out, and you have a pretty good idea of this book. This is a boat trip that I would certainly not want to participate in, but would greatly enjoy watching the show from the shore.

Whether you are on the water or just the beach this summer, you can experience two boat trips that you may not want to live through - but will definitely enjoy reading about.

I first read The Great Gatsby in high school. I loved it, and looking back now, I honestly don’t know why. The ending is terrible and so sad! Not my sort of book at all. I think it was Fitzgerald’s writing and his picture of life in the Roaring ‘20s that hooked me. Which is why I thought reading some of his short stories would be safe. It would allow me to live in the ‘20s without the tragic ending.

Well, that turned out not to be entirely true. Tragedy is part of life, and Fitzgerald certainly writes about life. But he views life also as an amusement. He sees what is funny in a situation and includes that to balance out the sadness. And he is one of those writers that knows how to craft the perfect turn of phrase, one that leaves you thinking, “That couldn’t have been said any better.”

Tales of the Jazz Age holds a variety of stories. The first section includes stories similar to The Great Gatsby, realistic stories that take place in the everyday, crazy life of the Roaring ‘20s. The second section is entitled “Fantasies.” The title is quite accurate, because Fitzgerald certainly let his imagination fly. The third section is more miscellaneous, classified by Fitzgerald as “masterpieces.”

Fitzgerald annotated the table of contents, which was honestly one of my favorite parts of the book. It always adds something to a story or book to know a bit of the background. I’m not a big short story person, but I will gladly read an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story anytime. The characters and plot are often larger than life, but the heart of each story is something we can still relate to today.

I read Little Women for the first time when I was in middle school. The copy I own belonged to my grandmother, and it has full-page, full-color pictures. It's a beautiful edition. And it held a beautiful story. The March girls live sweet lives, always trying to do their best, but inevitably getting into "scrapes." Especially Jo. She was my favorite of the girls - so spirited, and she loved reading and writing. I've reread Little Women a couple of times, but I honestly found it a bit boring. I gravitated instead to Alcott's Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.

But somehow, I had never read the sequels to Little Women until just this month. Little Men and Jo's Boys have exactly what was missing in Little Women (and what Eight Cousins has in abundance) - lots of boys. Jo and her husband, Professor Bhaer, open a school for boys, both rich and poor. We are introduced to musical Nat, mischievous Tom, and troublemaker Dan, among others. We also get to know Meg and Jo and Amy's children, a wonderful continuation of the stories of the "little" women we already know. Suddenly, there are scrapes galore.

You know, I first thought that these books didn't really dive too deeply into life. They tell of short episodes in these characters' lives. Difficulties are usually settled by each chapter's end. These are books made up of anecdotes.

And yet, aren't anecdotes what make up each of our lives? Little difficulties happen and are solved quickly all of the time. Our lives don't have an overarching plot, complete with climax and resolution. Why do these characters need that?

Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys are stories of love. Love for God and love for family shines through clearly on each page. In the end, I think that's what drew me into these books and now gives them a treasured place on my shelves. After all, love is truly what life is all about.

Let me start by saying that I read Great Expectations not just one, but three times. Three. The first time was my choice. I knew it was required reading in high school, and I decided I wanted to read it for myself first. That way, dissecting it in school wouldn't spoil the book for me. This tactic worked very well for Pride & Prejudice. Since the moment I first read P&P, I have been an ardent Jane Austen fan and will be until the day I die. I was hoping for a similar result with Charles Dickens.

It didn't. I did not particularly enjoy my first reading of Great Expectations. It's a long book, and not really a happy one. Creepy even, occasionally. Not a book I really wanted to revisit. But I still had to read it for my high school English class. So I did.

And then came college. I was an English minor, so I read a lot of works that I wouldn't have had much experience with otherwise. Every good English minor is required to read some Charles Dickens. What was the assigned book? That's right. Great Expectations. 

I've read it three times. I don't ever want to read it again. And unfortunately, that feeling seeped over into every other book written by Charles Dickens. I have studiously avoided all of his other works (even the harmless little A Christmas Carol). 

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I don't understand this book.

I mean, I get the general gist and the point the author is trying to make. What I don't get is how the majority of this book helps to make this point.

It starts with a battle royal - black kids beating each other while the white leaders of the town laugh and egg them on. It ends with a race riot. And in between, the main character (who has no name) learns what life is like for a black man in a white world.

Maybe it's because I expected the whole book to be the invisible man metaphor, like the prologue set it up to be. Just a metaphor, very profound, but not really personal. And then it turns out to be the life story of an actual guy and his repeatedly being betrayed by the white men.

Except he rises pretty far in the clandestine organization called the Brotherhood. And he becomes pretty confident in who he is and his ability to lead and make a difference. So why completely abandon that in despair and become "invisible"?

It's very possible that I just don't have the perspective to truly understand this story. After all, I'm a white girl who lives in a small town. And it's possible that in the 62 years since this book was published, things have changed so much that it's out of date. Things have certainly changed somewhat, but I think the recent events in Ferguson show that the problem is definitely not solved.

So I'm sorry to say that I don't really understand this book. I was hoping to write a deep, reflective review. I was hoping to gain wisdom and a new view into a world that is different than mine. I was hoping to be changed by this book.

I'm sure the fault is mine. This book is a classic, after all, so it has much merit. And the message is an important one. I'll just need to learn it better in a different book.

I love the idea of a Classics Club survey. But 50 questions is a lot. To solve this problem, I decided to just answer the questions I wanted to and skip over the rest. Hopefully that's allowed. :) So here are my thoughts about the classics in 50 questions (or less . . . much less):

1. Share a link to your club list.
You can find that here.
2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club?
I joined at the end of August in 2013. I've read 8 books so far (a bit behind where I wanted to be).
3. What are you currently reading?
The President's Lady by Irving Stone
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it?
The last Classic Club book I read was Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. And technically, I didn't read it, I listened to it. I loved it. Lewis Carroll has such an imagination!
5. What are you reading next? Why?
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Because that was my spin book. :)
6. Best book you've read so far with the club, and why?
Hands down, that would be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. If you want to know why, you'd have to check out my post about it. I can't put it better than that.
7. Book you most anticipate (or anticipated) on your club list?
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. For obvious reasons.
9. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list?
I think that would be The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, which clocked in at 1,462 pages - but was a surprisingly fast read. Longest classic left? See previous answer. :)
10. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?
It's not exactly a biography, but I just finished reading A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro. Shakespeare wrote four plays that year, and it puts them in the historical context in which they were written. Absolutely fascinating!
11. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any?
My copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was passed down to me by my mother, and my copy of Gulliver's Travels belonged to my grandmother.
12. Favorite movie adaption of a classic?
The 1995 BBC version of Pride & Prejudice. You really can't do that book justice without making the movie 5+ hours long.
13. Least favorite classic? Why?
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I had to read it both for high school and for college, which pretty much ruined any enjoyment I could have gotten out of it.
14. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? (This could be with the club or before it.)
Shakespeare. Definitely not my favorite reads in high school, but I fell in love with his language in college.
15. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?
Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice. I think I've read that book too many times (if there is such a thing.)
16. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
Fanny Price from Mansfield Park. Quiet and shy.
17. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like?
Elizabeth Bennet. Ah, the wit.
18. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?
Elinor Dashwood from Sense & Sensibility. Practical, but loving. (I'm sensing a Jane Austen theme here. Where's the question about which classics you've read most frequently?)
19. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading? Or, would you avoid the augmented manuscript in favor of the original? Why?
Anything by Jane Austen. I would absolutely devour it.
20. Favorite children’s classic?
How about favorite children's classic series? That would be a tie between Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and the Anne books by L.M. Montgomery.
21. Who recommended your first classic?
My mom. She got me started on the Chronicles of Narnia by reading them to me while camping out on blankets on the floor. Fun!
22. Favorite memory with a classic?
See previous question. :)
23. Classic author you’ve read the most works by?
Ah, there it is. Jane Austen. I've read all of her books, plus the unfinished ones and stories, and pretty much anything she ever wrote.
24. Classic author who has the most works on your club list?
Mark Twain has three - Prince and the Pauper; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court; and Tom Sawyer.
25. Classic author you own the most books by?
Not counting the complete works of Shakespeare. . . probably Anthony Trollope. I only have one of his books on my Classics Club list, but I own eleven of them.
26. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included?
Anything by P.G. Wodehouse. His books are so much fun.
27. How many rereads are on your club list? If none, why? If some, which are you most looking forward to, or did you most enjoy?
None. I'm trying to broaden my horizons and read classics I haven't read before.
28. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
War and Peace. I have a plan.
29. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
Dante's Divine Comedy. It's going to be awhile before I get to that one.
30. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club?
Motivation to read wonderful books!
31. How long have you been reading classic literature?
Well, if children's classics count, then pretty much my whole life. I didn't realize they were "classics" back then, but isn't that kind of the point? Books that speak to you, that stick with you for a long time - these are the books we hope to discover when we read classic literature. And there are so many books out there to discover!

When I was creating my list for the Classics Club, I knew I wanted to include something by Sir Walter Scott. I've already read and enjoyed Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, and I knew Scott had plenty of other books to discover. I did some investigating and settled on Waverley. It was about the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Ever since I traveled to Scotland in 2007, I've been curious about the Jacobites.

Little did I know when I picked Waverley that I was choosing a momentous book in literary history. Waverley was Scott's first novel. Previously, he had only published poetry. Waverley and its successors were international bestsellers. It established the novel as a serious form of literature. And it created the genre of historical fiction. Before Waverley, there had been history and fiction, but it took Sir Walter Scott to combine them into historical fiction and make the genre widely popular.

Waverley tells the story of Edward Waverley, the nephew of an English lord who, pretty much through his own naiveté, finds himself fighting on the side of the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart. Like Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey, Waverley read too many romances as a child, and now he is drawn to the romance of Scotland. He finds love and a brotherhood that changes the course of his life.

Despite being about a rebellion, there isn't a ton of action in this book. It's rather slow-paced, with plenty of notes in the back to refer to in order to figure out exactly what Scott was trying to say. This book isn't for everybody; some would probably find it boring. But I definitely enjoyed discovering Scotland in the mid-1700s and experiencing this piece of literary history.

Things are happening in the blogosphere, and I fully intend to participate!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

This always seems to fall into the crazy weeks of August when I'm trying to get ready for school to start. Last year, I hesitated about participating because I didn't think I would have time. Well, I made time and ended up reading more than I expected. So I plan to do the same this year. Bout of Books, here I come!

I'm not doing quite as well at keeping up with my Classics Club List as I had hoped. I began last year on August 28 (the day before my birthday), so I figured I could just read 10 books by that date each year. Well, it's August 7, and I've only read six so far. I'll have some catching up to do in this next year! And these spin lists are incredibly helpful for chipping away at my list.

1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
3. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
4. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
5. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
7. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
8. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
9. The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
10. Autobiography of Anthony Trollope by Anthony Trollope
11. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. Erewhon by Samuel Butler
13. The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
14. Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald
15. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
16. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
17. Waverly by Sir Walter Scott
18. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
19. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
20. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Just the title of this book alone conjures up images of adventures galore. Surely you can’t get around the world without some adventure, can you? Certainly not. And Phileas Fogg and Passepartout are no exception to this. Steamships and trains are not quite as reliable as one would expect them to be, leaving Phileas Fogg to find some creative solutions to their travel dilemmas. Following their journey around the world, despite the obstacles in their way, was certainly the most enjoyable aspect of this book.

The most surprising aspect of this book to me was the lack of emotion. Phileas Fogg was so straight-faced. Nothing fazed him. Everything had been anticipated. Did he ever smile? Or laugh? Or worry that he couldn’t win the bet, even for just a second? Apparently not. His reactions – or lack of reactions – to everything took some of the on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense out of the book. To a certain degree, I appreciated that. This could have been a very stressful book to read (if you get overly involved, like I tend to do). Instead, I could just sit back and follow the adventures without being concerned. I have to admit, though, that that disappointed me a little. An around-the-world race should be a breathtaking , heart-stopping reading experience. Apparently Jules Verne and I have different opinions of this sort of reading experience.

Despite Phileas Fogg’s stoicism, I did enjoy reading this book. Passepartout was amusing, a occasionally clownish foil to Phileas Fogg. The actual journey and the places they visited were fascinating, even if they weren’t fully described. It’s always interesting to get a contemporary glimpse of a place a hundred years ago. Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is also on my Classics Club list, and I’m looking forward to seeing his take on that sort of voyage. In the meantime, I’ll just keep plotting my own around-the-world adventure.

By the way, two female reporters did attempt to follow in Phileas Fogg’s and Passepartout’s steps. You can read all about their journeys in Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman. And you can read my review of said book by clicking here.

So I’ll admit up front that I didn’t know what to expect when I read The Count of Monte Cristo. I certainly didn’t expect it to be 1,462 pages long. Yikes. Thankfully, it is a fairly quick read, and it was no hardship to get through a hundred (or more) pages in a day.

It also tells an awfully good story, one that keeps you turning the pages to the very end. The very, very end – things weren’t wrapped up until the last page. It was this plot and story that kept me going until the end, not the characters. Nothing wrong with the characters, certainly. They were diverse and interesting, but mostly in it for themselves with little care for anyone else. Even the Count himself – formerly known as Edmond Dantès. And it was as Edmond Dantès that I fell in love with him a little in the first hundred pages. When he was thrown in prison, my heart broke for him and Mércèdes. But when he got out of prison, he was a totally different person, motivated by revenge, rather than sympathy or love. Therefore, he lost much of my sympathy.

Honestly, though, I couldn’t put the book down, despite all of that. The Count’s plans were so elaborate and fascinating that I just had to keep reading to see what would come of it all. And I wasn’t disappointed once.

All in all, I’m glad I tackled this monstrously long classic. Alexandre Dumas, you do know how to tell a good story.

This was my Classics Club spin book.