31 Days of Book Pics: Day Two-- Book + Movie

Sense and Sensibility is a very, very rare exception to the "the book is always better than the movie" rule. I'm not sure that the movie is better, per se, but I equally love them both, in spite of their differences.

The only other book/movie combos I can think of like that are The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. How about you?

Unfamiliar with 31 Days? Here's my post explaining all the details of my 31 Days of Book Pics Project. Find all of my #31bookpics here. And don't forget to share your own Book + Movie pics online with the hashtag #31bookpics!

Giving Books a Second Chance

When I was in 8th grade I first watched the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility. (Which I watched again on Saturday for like the 40th time. Still so good - as many of you agreed on Facebook.) 

After watching it, I went through a Jane Austen kick, and read most of her books in the next few months. I remember strongly disliking Persuasion, so I never re-read it until this year. But I absolutely loved it this time around. I might even give Anne Elliot a slight edge over Elizabeth Bennet for best Austen heroine! I think the difference was that my 14 year old self was appalled how "old" Anne was before finding love. (She's 28). My current self is like, "28? Oh to be in my 20s again."

That got me wondering - what other books should I try again? Sophomore year I took a strong dislike to Dickens. Maybe he's better with age? Or, I hated The Old Man and The Sea. Should I try a different Hemingway title?

When do YOU give books a second chance?

Bookworm Friday #6 - Judging Books By Their Covers: Persuasion

Time to get our judgy-pants on again! This time I'm looking at Jane Austen's Persuasion. I re-read this a couple of months ago for the Motherhood and Jane Austen Book Club, and I was surprised how much I loved it. I think Anne Elliot might actually slightly edge out Elizabeth Bennet for me at this point. As soon as I re-read P&P I'll probably change my mind again, but let's just say that I really enjoyed Persuasion.

I'm thinking maybe I just read it too young the first time around? So the eight wasted years seemed SO LONG. And the 28 year old heroine seemed positively ancient. Whereas now she seems quite youthful, ha!

Anyway, on to the covers. I like the two in the top row the best I think. The bottom right one just cracks me up. Why were books in the 60s so orange?!

Which cover do YOU like the best? Share in the comments or link-up your own posts below.

An InLinkz Link-up

P.S. Love judging books by their covers? Check out lots more of these posts here.

P.P.S. Six months of Bookworm Friday link-ups, awesome! I'm pondering changing it to just #bookwormproblems, since those seem more fun to write. Will any of you be crushed if the Judging Books by Their Covers link-ups go away?

The Best Books of the Year (So Far)

Mad About the Boy squeaked in under the wire to become my 60th read of 2014! I'm well ahead of my target of 104 books for the year, which is great, since inevitably my reading rate declines a lot around the holidays.

For my "best of 2014 so far", I decided to narrow my choices down to six books: the top 10% of what I've read this year. 

I opened my Goodreads and scrolled through my 2014 list, writing down the books that really stood out in my memory. So my shortlist was:

• Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
• 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker
• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
• The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Cress by Marissa Meyer
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Map Thief by Michael Blanding
• The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
• 4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie
• Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
• Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

(The last four books on my list I read in the last 10 days of June. I think it's less a matter of recent reads influencing my memory, and more a matter of a coincidental selection of better-than-average books in that timespan.)

That list of 12 is fantastic as is; but I still really wanted to narrow it down to the cream of the crop. So, without further ado, the Best Books of the Year (so far). 

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - This book has gotten tons of hype; deservedly so. Ursula Todd is born on a snowy night in 1910, and dies immediately. On that same night, Ursula Todd is born, and lives. As Ursula grows up, she dies and starts over again, repeatedly.  Some of her lives end dramatically, others violently, others quietly. I was obsessed with reading Life After Life, because I couldn't wait to see what would happen with Ursula's next life.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - Don Tillman is a social awkward professor (probably with Asperger's, although he doesn't have a clear diagnosis). Don is tired of being alone, and embarks on "the wife project" -- a scientific survey which theoretically ought to find him a perfect wife. But then he meets Rosie, who doesn't conform to the survey at all; and yet who enchants Don, and turns his life upside down. I listened to this one on audiobook; it was a superb production.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I had to put at least one Harry Potter on this list, since I just reread them all this year for the Young Adult Book and Movie Club. And this book is just irresistible. Finding out some of Voldemort's history, the teenage hijinks as Harry, Ron, and Hermione all flirt with love, and the darkening of the series atmosphere make book 6 fantastic.

Persuasion by Jane Austen - I've been re-reading Jane Austen this year for the Motherhood and Jane Austen Book Club, and I was surprised how much I liked this one. I read it about 15 years ago, and I think I was too young to appreciate how much hope there was in the story. (All I saw were the eight wasted years.) But this time around I'm old enough that a second chance at love at age 28 still sounds pretty youthful, and I appreciated Anne Eliot's character immensely. I think she gives Lizzie Bennet a run for her money!

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley - I've loved Flavia de Luce for a while now, and I just caught up on the series, devouring this one in one evening. And oh goodness, SO MANY THINGS I want to say about this book, but I can't, because SPOILERS. So I'll just wait here while you quickly breeze through the series. Because who doesn't want to read books about a feisty, snarky, brilliant 11 year old chemist with a penchant for solving murders?

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer - This one reminds me how much I like a good true crime book. It details the murder of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter by her Mormon fundamentalist brothers-in-law. And it provided some fascinating insight into Mormon history. I've read a few other Mormon books, and I had a Mormon roommate at one point, so I had heard snippets of a lot of it, but it was interesting to read such a sweeping saga all together.

Phew, I always feel slightly stressed out when narrowing down my "favorite" reads. But I think that's a pretty stellar list. Stay tuned for my best kids' books of 2014 next week! Eleanor and Juliet and I have been reading some great books.

What are the best books YOU have read this year?

P.S. Don't forget that the next #bookwormproblems link-up is THIS Friday.

This post contains some of my Amazon affiliate links. If you click through and buy anything on Amazon, I'll earn a few cents. Thanks for supporting Quirky Bookworm!

Short & Tweet: What I've Been Reading & What I Want to Read

It's only been two weeks since my last short review round-up, but I've read a few more books, and I realized I left one out (poor Marathon Conspiracy). So here are some quick tweet-style reviews of what I've been reading!

 

On the Map - Not far into this, but loving it already. A history of maps and map-making. #geographynerd

That Summer* - I like to call Lauren Willig "Kate Morton lite". This one's set in 2009, w/flashbacks to pre-Raphaelite artists in Victorian London. #fun

The Marathon Conspiracy* - Murder in classical Athens. Hilarious antics of detective Nicolaos & fiancee Diotima & his little brother Socrates. (Yes, that Socrates).

Mariana - This one's more paranormal/time-travel-y than The Splendour Falls. Still a nice romance. Why don't I have an aunt to leave me a fortune?!

The Illusionists* - About Victorian illusionists: a man with a past, a dwarf, a spunky girl. Odd, but I'm intrigued to see where it goes. #magic

And, here are some of the books next up on my list... whenever I get a chance to get to them! I might try and find a good version of Persuasion on LibriVox - any of you have a favorite narrator?

 

Venetia - Haven't read this one in 6 or 7 years. Time for a reread! I love Venetia's spunk. And Damerel's swoonworthiness. #iswearitsaword

The Good Suicides* - I liked The Summer of Dead Toys. Looking forward to another dark Spanish mystery. Hoping Detective Hector Salgado has better luck this time.

Persuasion - For the Motherhood + Jane Austen Book Club. (Did you catch our live chat about Mansfield Park? I hate myself on camera, ack!)  

What are YOU reading?

*I have ARCs for review. They aren't actually published yet...

This post contains a few affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Quirky Bookworm! And, I'm planning to link this up with Anne Bogel's Twitterature series! Check it out (but be warned... your TBR list will explode!).

Book Review: Longbourn by Jo Baker

"If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she'd most likely be a sight more careful with them." Alas for Sarah, she's the housemaid in charge of the Bennet family's laundry, and every Monday she has to scrub and launder until her hands bleed.

Jo Baker's Longbourn presents a grimy underside to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The Bennets' housemaids, Sarah and Polly, empty the chamberpots while housekeeper Mrs. Hill worries about what will become of them after Elizabeth Bennet turns down Mr. Collins--and all the servants sigh whenever the Gardiners, and their many messy children, come to visit. Baker brings to life all the things Austen left out: Mr. Wickham's slimy ways with those beneath him, the endless duties that await the overworked servants and how a housemaid's longing for a better life can change the lives of many people around her.

This vivid story of personal growth and love could stand independently of its literary predecessor. The inclusion of familiar bits from Pride and Prejudice, however, take Baker's novel to a new level, offering alternate insights into Austen's characters. Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins seem unexpectedly pitiable, while other characters come across as surprisingly calloused. Fans of historical fiction and Austenites alike will enjoy Longbourn .

Or maybe not? I don't know, I liked this mostly at first, but the more I think about it, the more it was a little disillusioning. And I've heard quite a bit of backlash from other Austen-lovers*, who really didn't enjoy it.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Should I recommend this to my grandma? Maybe? There are a few hinted sex scenes. And Mr. Darcy looks like a jerk! (Sniffle)

Have you read Longbourn? 

What did you think?

I originally wrote most of this review for Shelf Awareness. And the post contains my affiliate links.

*P.S. The Motherhood and Jane Austen Book Club has more than 750 members already! We're discussing Pride and Prejudice through the end of February, so you have plenty of time to join in still.