N is for Never Let Me Go: Kazuo Ishiguro

This was a beautifully written, dark and despairing love story, and I enjoyed it.

I could have given up early on in the story because it was difficult to get engaged when I knew nothing of the world Katy lived in. I was confused about the setting, but when I got to the end, I realized how much I liked the way Ishiguro slowly revealed the world to his readers as the story went on. Kathy shared the world at her pace, and that worked really well for the novel.

There were so many times when I wanted to shake the book and yell at Kathy, which makes for a good read. I was engaged in what I was reading, and I could tell that by how angry I got when Kathy didn't do something because she was so meek and quiet. I wish so much that she had stood up for herself more.

Ruth was a difficult character. I understand why she's in the story, but I didn't like her one bit. She was frustrating and annoying and petty and rude, and I could never understand why Kathy didn't just let her go. I know Ruth was an important part of Kathy's story, and I know she was necessary for Ishiguro's plot, but she was not necessary in my mind.

I think the world Ishiguro created is a fascinating world. Terrible, but fascinating. His ideas are insane but real enough to be frightening. Is this something that could happen to our world? Probably.

The way Ishiguro told the story was interesting and kept me reading. Just when he was about to reveal something big, he'd jump back to Kathy's narration and pull us back out of the story. I had a hard time taking breaks from reading because each time a chapter ended, it was in a place that I knew the next chapter would keep going and something bigger would be revealed. It was a nice way to keep me in the story.

There were several highlight-worthy lines in this novel, and I'll share my favorite one:

“I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it’s just too much. The current’s too strong. They’ve got to let go, drift apart. That’s how I think it is with us. It’s a shame, Kath, because we’ve loved each other all our lives. But in the end, we can’t stay together forever.”

M is for My Antonia: Willa Cather

I am just not a fan of American Literature. It all is the same to me. Sure, there are different writing styles and different characters, but the main plot is pretty much the same: a family moves out west and has to struggle through hot summers and cold winters to survive on their farm. An animal dies, someone gets really sick, somebody dies, the food freezes, a bear attacks, etc., etc. And on and on it goes.

My Antonia was about the same. Jim moves out West to live with his grandparents, meets Antonia, they go through a really cold winter and a really hot summer, Antonia's father dies, she has to take over, etc.

While I don't like American Literature, I can appreciate the work of art that it is. It is a beautifully written novel. I can understand why it's a classic and why it's on so many reading lists. There are a lot of deep and important themes, that are still prevalent today. The idea that immigrants won't succeed unless they learn English is something a lot of people still feel today. And there is this feeling of dislike towards these people who can't speak English and have to suffer in different ways because of that barrier that is still around today.

Jim also talked a little bit about the chasm between country girls and city girls, and I think, to a certain extent, this is true today, less about country and city and more about class, but I think there's a lot to be said about that.

So while I liked the style of writing, and I see that there was great talent in Cather, this was just a dull book for me. There were a handful of funny lines, but those were few and far between.

R is for Redeeming Love: Francine Rivers

I was very hesitant about reading another Rivers' book. I didn't really enjoy the first one I read, and I'd heard a lot about her writing that I didn't think I would enjoy.

Knowing we have different beliefs, I approached this as a fiction work (as it's meant to be) and tried to set aside my beliefs (which is very difficult/impossible to do) and focus on the story Rivers told. I was impressed and impacted.

I know the story. I know how Hosea's tale goes. Yet I longed for something different. I begged Angel to stay and not leave him. But each time she did, and each time my heart broke a little more. That's one of the things I loved about this book: Rivers made me feel.

I started reading one Friday afternoon, thinking I would kill some time until an appointment and then maybe pick it up the next time I had extra minutes on my hand. I was so wrong. Right away, I was a part of the story. I was on Angel's team, cheering for her, crying for her, laughing with her. Rivers made her real. She was a real character with real emotions, real dialogue, real thoughts. It was easy to fall in love with a character who made you feel the things she was feeling.

Then, when Michael came in, I was hooked even more! He was perfect (of course, Rivers does a great job making him human too, showing us his flaws, his pain, and his sins-much more easier to love him too!)! He was everything I needed in a hero. He was bold when he needed to be, cautious when necessary, patient, loving, hardworking, and sinful. All things that we all are. And that was perfect.

Every roadblock that either Angel or Michael faced had me gripping the book so tightly. i wanted so badly a happy ending, and I was so disappointed in the end: for a while. Rivers kept me on edge the whole story, which was great, because going into the book I thought that I knew exactly what would happen. I'd studied Hosea pretty well. I'd done a report on the book and written a few papers on the topic, so I figured it would be fun to read a "modern" (rather, more modern than Hosea) re-telling of a familiar story. Wrong! Rivers sticks to the basics but adds so many twists that I was guessing the whole time.

Needless to say, I read this book in one evening because I couldn't stop. Wonderful book!

L is for Long Way Gone: Charles Martin

A friend recommended this book to me when I was using bookstore gift cards, so I purchased it, thinking I wouldn't be out anything if I didn't like it, and it seemed to get good reviews. Then it sat on my shelf for a few months until a vacation on a beach with a plane ride: perfect time to read all the unread books on my shelves. I picked this one up first on the plane, but when I read the book, I stopped. "A radical retelling of the prodigal son story..." No thank you. I'll save it for last. Then when I ran out of books, I had no choice but to return to Long Way Gone. And boy, am I glad I did. 

My hesitation was that so many people take Scripture and try to "modernize" it to make it more applicable or entertaining, and in doing so, completely miss the purpose of Scripture. I tend to stay away from any thing that claims to retell a story from the Bible. When I finally did read Long Way Gone, I didn't focus on the prodigal son story. There are some obvious connections, but I was able to just ignore those, look at the story as a story of fiction, and then, when I finished, I was able to look back and appreciate the less obvious connections and hints at the parable Jesus told. 

What a journey. It was such a difficult path that Cooper traveled, and my heart bled for him so many times. I felt his pain and several times I found myself wiping away tears. Several times I tried to yell at Cooper and tell him what to do, tell him to go home, but I couldn't. He took the path he needed to travel, and when he did finally find his way home, it was the perfect timing. His journey was exactly what he needed, and he came back stronger for it. 

I'm somewhat of a musician, and I loved the music of this book. Martin weaves music in so well and it's very beautiful. The songs he chose are great ties to the story, and I'm longing to hear Daley and Cooper perform, especially Long Way Gone; I'm sure that would be an incredible piece.

I loved the connection with Blondie. I thought that was a fun thing to add, especially the scene where his face changes to show how he had been with Cooper the whole time. 

One of the praises for this book really struck me as a theme for this novel: "Cooper and Daley's story will make you believe that even broken instruments have songs to offer when they're in the right hands" (Lisa Wingate, National Bestselling Author of The Story Keeper and The Sea Keeper's Daughter on Long Way Gone). This is what Cooper needed to discover. This is what his father tried to show him. This is what Daley learned. And this is what Cooper continued to teach. And it's true for us today. We are all broken instruments, sinful and unclean, and we can do nothing. We can do nothing apart from God. He's those "right hands" that we need in order to sing our songs, our songs which are not our own at all, but His. 

Really beautiful work. 

K is for Kill Me Now: Timmy Reed

I received the Advance Reading Copy in a giveaway, so I'm not sure if anything that I comment on is different in the final publishing.

I was at first turned off by the style of writing and the way the narrator spoke and acted. It was so against everything I stand for that I had a really hard time not putting the book down. I had to remind myself that that was the point of the book: the grunge and grime and all the dirty details of Miles' life.

When I was able to get past the grunge and appreciate the book for what it was, I did appreciate it.

Miles is so human and realistic and very easy to bring to life as you read. Reed creates the world and the person so true to life that it's almost impossible not to feel like Miles exists as a child you know from the neighborhood next door.

Usually in a book like this, the narrator goes through something which forces him to grow or learn something, and I found it really fascinating that Reed was able to pull this book off without anything like that happening. Each day, something happened to Miles and he "learned" something. He never really changed, and he never really grew up, but this novel takes place over just a few months in his summer. He doesn't have much time to grow.

I appreciated that ability of Reed's, but I also would have liked to see Miles learn something, mature, or grow up in some way, and I was a bit disappointed when the Miles at the end of the story is the same as the Miles in the beginning.

I was annoyed throughout the novel with the random words that were completely capitalized. This definitely took away from my enjoyment. It was distracting to me to have these emphasized words randomly throughout the book. I understand why Reed did that, but every time I came across a capitalized word, I was taken out of the story.

I also have a very difficult time placing Miles as a fourteen year old. The words he uses (for example "copacetic," even though he spelled it wrong: I'm not sure if that's supposed to point to his age or if that's a typo in the ARC copy) don't seem like his age or his personality. Or when he's talking about the TV and how he hate the machine but can't stop watching, that doesn't sound like his age or the personality we are led to believe he has. Sometimes it seems like his thoughts are too real or too deep or too old for the character Reed has created him to be. It's all very misleading to me.

I appreciated the last sentence and the irony of it. Reed did well there; it made me laugh but it also made me think about what I'd spent the past few days reading and made me ask myself why I read it.

J is for Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre was such a heartwarming read. I fell in love, I cried, I laughed, and I jumped. Bronte's method of writing was so captivating and real that I fully felt part of the story. 

I've always struggled with (and just now finally got over) the drawn out beginning. Jane has a really difficult childhood, and I sympathize. I feel badly for her because she does have it rather rough. But it goes on and on and on. Even when the school is reported and someone else takes over and things should start to get better for Jane, there's nothing but sadness for her, it seems. We don't hear anything happy about her life until she reaches Thornfield Hall. I suppose one could argue that her life wasn't happy or didn't start until she came to Thornfield.  

After I got through that beginning, I loved, loved, loved the novel. I love the way Jane and Mr. Rochester fall in love, and I love all of their interactions. I love that Mr. Rochester makes Jane think he'll marry Miss Ingram, because poor Jane becomes so distraught, but I like it because it forces her to admit her feelings and "stand up" to this guy. Of course, Mr. Rochester sees through every facade of Jane and knows all along what she's feeling. Theirs is such a lovely relationship. 

The twists and turns of the story made it hard for me to go to work and put the book down. I knew Jane and Mr. Rochester would end up together, but I didn't know how. And Bronte just kept leading me astray! First with Miss Ingram, then with Rochester's wife, then with St. John, and I never felt comfortable in their security. I really enjoyed that. Bronte made me long to keep reading, and I need that in a book. 

The big question in this book comes from Mr. Rochester in chapter XX: He asks Jane, "To attain this end, are you justified in over leaping an obstacle of custom-a mere conventional impediment, which neither your conscience sanctifies nor your judgment approves?" And again he asks, "Is the wandering and sinful, but now rest-seeking and repentant man, justified in daring the world's opinion, in order to attach to him forever, this gentle, gracious, genial stranger; thereby securing his own peace of mind and regeneration of life?" Is he justified? Is he right? 

I have to give some thought to this question. I appreciate a book that makes me think, and Bronte has certainly made me think. Certainly it would be right for Mr. Rochester to remain faithful and loyal to the woman he married, but at what point does Mrs. Rochester cease to be the woman he married? She's not in her right mind, but does that release Mr. Rochester from his vows? I just don't have an answer. I greatly appreciate that I have this serious question to consider because of a book.

Jane, later on when she's giving her own thought to the matter asks, "Whether it is better, I ask, to be a slave in a fool's paradise at Marseilles-fevered with delusive bliss one hour-suffocating with the bitterest tears of remorse and shame the next-or to be a village school-mistress, free and honest, in a breezy mountain nook in the healthy heart of England?" (chapter XXXI). 

My only regret with this book is that I didn't read it sooner. I fully understand why it's a classic novel and why it's on so many book lists. Really great novel and I highly recommend it.