This month was pretty average in regards to my reading. One book in particular was my Sisyphean task. And I blame it and it alone for my merely average list this month. But I digress. This month I read 8 books. A total of 2,575 pages. An average of 83 pages per day. So let's get into it.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (309 pages). I'm doing a reading challenge where one of the books is one you haven't read in over 3 years. Anne was (and always will be) one of my favorite book series of all time. I love all of her adventures. I love her growth. I love her quotes. If you don't know, it's the story of brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert who adopt young orphan Anne Shirley (when they really wanted a boy). But as fate would have it, they needed this delightful redhead more than she needed them. I finished in 3 days.
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey (301 pages). Maud is 82 years old and into early stages of dementia. But she is convinced that her best friend Elizabeth is missing. No one she tells seems to care. But as Maud continues to leave herself notes about Elizabeth's possible disappearance, she remembers her sister's disappearance shortly after WWII. I did not like this book at all. Honestly, it seemed like Maud had dementia at all times, whether it was her 82 year old self or her teen aged self. I spent most of the book just hoping it would end. I finished in 4 days.
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (591 pages). American Rebecca Porter decided to do something without her twin Lacey for the first time in her life- she did an exchange program with her university of Cornell and Oxford. Little did she realize that classmate Nicholas Wales was the Prince Charming she would find. Quite literally, as Nick was the future King of England. While Bex dealt with being both an American and a commoner in love with the future King, their relationship ebbed and flowed. But this was beachy chick lit at its best. So nothing can keep true love apart. Right? Honestly, Bex was a little bit Kate Middleton and a little bit Meghan Markle. The fact that this book was published a year before Harry and Meghan began dating is shocking. It seemed like a fictionalized version of their lives in a lot of ways. Only I liked Bex and Nick and Nick's redheaded younger brother Freddie way more than I like Harry and Meghan. I finished in 6 days.
The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale (288 pages). Delphine, Margaux and Lindsay met as teen aged students at the Paris Opera Ballet. After 10 years of being inseparable, one split second decision tore them apart and sent Delphine to St Petersburg for a new career. But after 13 years away, Delphine returns to Paris to choreograph for the Ballet. And must face the friends she left behind. The novel goes back and forth between the past and the present. I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. I finished in 2 days.
The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich (338 pages). In 1932, 14 year old Karl Adare and his 11 year old sister Mary hop a freight train to find their aunt and uncle in Argus, North Dakota, after their mother abandons them. Mary stays with their family, while Karl hops back on the train. Over the next 40 years, the novel covers their lives. Mary grows up to be perfectly sturdy and seemingly ordinary, while Karl ends up scattered and loses himself on a regular basis. Their beautiful cousin Sita plays a large role in Mary's life, as does Sita's former (and now Mary's) best friend, half Native American Celestine. As soon as I realized I'd read another book by this same author, I understood why I didn't like this book at all. Every chapter had a postscript chapter. And honestly, most of them left me wondering what I had just read. I finished in 4 days.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (151 pages). Mary Katherine, her sister Constance and their Uncle Julian are the only remaining members of the once large and proud Blackwood family. Merricat's weekly trips to the village are the only contact the family has with the outside world after Constance was tried and found innocent of killing the family with arsenic four years prior. They are happy in their self-imposed solitude. Until one day, their unsavory Cousin Charles arrives on their doorstep. Merricat does not appreciate his presence. And suspects he has ulterior motions. But when tragedy strikes, the true feelings of the village come out. And Merricat and Constance are forced to reevaluate their solitude and routine. Shirley Jackson is such an amazing and frequently overlooked author. I finished in 2 days.
The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White (456 pages). I did not purchase this book. After googling it, I'm pretty sure it arrived in the mail one day, completely unsolicited. And, in an effort to clear off my shelves, I read it. It was published in 1858 and it shows. The author was one of the co-founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and it shows. It was literally one of the worst books I've ever read. I only finished it because I started it. I finished in 9 days.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (141 pages, which included 56 pages of introductory essays and an afterword). I think everyone knows the story of Jekyll and Hyde- the easygoing doctor who drinks a potion that turns him into a criminal. What I found most intriguing was that every time Jekyll and Hyde are referenced in movies, Jekyll is always scrawny and Hyde is big and muscular. In the novel, Jekyll is larger and older, while Hyde is much smaller and younger. Just an observation. I also found it odd that in movies, when Hyde is killed, he reverts to Jekyll's form. That does not happen in the book. All preconceptions from movies aside, I enjoyed this book. I finished in 2 days.
This month's favorite was.....well, I decided it would be unfair to the other books to choose Anne (as she is more than a monthly favorite, she is a lifetime favorite). So I went for We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
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