Week in Reading: June 15 (the start of #BlumeALong!)

I've got some work travel planned for this week, which means my posts here will be rather sparse. Instead, I plan to use my train time in the best possible way: with a book in my lap. I'll finally be reading Neil Gaiman's Stardust, which I've heard good things about, and I'm finally starting The Shore on my Nook because Shannon said it was excellent. After polling Twitter for recommendations of smart, feminist romance novels, I'm also bringing along When the Marquess Met His Match, the first of the American Heiress in London series by Laura Gee Guhrke (recommended by Jenny from Reading the End).

#CloudAtlasAlong: Parts 3 & 4

Weeeee're back! I'll admit that after reading the first two sections of Cloud Atlas for last week's discussion, I was pretty much hooked, so I carved out my Saturday morning for a trip to the coffee shop and a chunk of Cloud Atlas reading. It didn't disappoint. I'm loving how Mitchell is nesting these stories within each other, and my note-taking is getting out of control as I flip back and forth to reference things I think I remember (or maybe don't). This book also has me a-Googlin' far more than I have for any book in recent memory, and I've learned so many new things (which I love).

Again, spoilers abound, so if you haven't read the book (or at least up to An Orison of Somni), consider yourself warned.

#CloudAtlasAlong: Parts 1 & 2

It's here! The first of five posts on David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas for the #CloudAtlasAlong, hosted by S. This is my first foray into Mitchell's work (I know, I know, but I've always been oddly intimidated by his writing, for some reason?). I've since learned that Mitchell references his earlier works in each of his subsequent novels, so perhaps starting in the middle of his ouevre (Cloud Atlas is the third of his six published novels) isn't the best plan, but I'm sticking with it.

A little background on the book: Cloud Atlas was published in 2004, and was shortlisted that year for the Man Booker Prize (as well as the Nebula and an Arthur C. Clarke award in the same year). The novel was adapted for film--with, I think, limited success--in 2012.

[Spoilers follow, such as they are, so if you haven't read the book--look away.]

Septemb-Eyre: Chapters I-XI

A quarter of the way through Jane Eyre, and I can already see why so many people hold this book so dear.

Poor, poor Jane, and her poor, unfortunate circumstances. First, she is orphaned and locked in a cupboard under the stairs by this horrible family named the Dursleys and locked in the nursery by this horrible family named the Reeds who are forced to look after her against their will. When she turns out to be a wizard refuses to be silenced or back down against Dudley John Reed*, she is sent to a school for wayward girls where they must eat terrible porridge and freeze their toes off and get beaten with brooms.

Even though things are looking up at the end of Chapter XI, I've got a sneaking suspicion this state of happiness is not meant to last in Jane Eyre's world.

What struck me most about Jane throughout each of these trying situations was her terrible, incredible sense of justice. She argues with the Reeds, with her teachers, and with her dear friend Helen that she could not possibly back down in a situation in which she felt herself to be in the right:

"You are good to those who are good to you. It is all I ever desire to be. If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way; they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should--so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again."

Now that is a 10-year-old who knows her own mind. But then again, she doesn't, always, for she continually puts so much stock in what others think of her; her sense of justice is completely tied up in her sense of how other people view her.

I've never read this, but I have a feeling that may get complicated for her down the road, single, unattractive, passionate girl that she is.

And also, what's up with the "circumstance of ghostliness" that accompanies the "curious cachination" (love that turn of phrase, even f spellcheck doesn't think "cachination" is a word)? Is Jane Eyre a book I could have put on my RIP VIII list?

For those reading for the first time, what did you find most noticeable about Jane?

For those re-reading, what stood out to you the second time through?

Reminder: If you're reading ahead or you've already read the book, please try to avoid spoilers for those of us who are new to the story!



Next week: Chapters XII-XXI.

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*I mean, really, the Reeds must be the original Dursleys. What part of Bronte's description of John Reed does not remind you of Dudley?

"John Reed was a school boy of fourteen years old...large but stout for his age, with a dingy and unwholesome skin; thick lineaments in spacious visage, heavy limbs and large extremities. He gorged himself habitually at table, which made him bilious... He ought now to have been at school; but his mamma had taken him home for a month or two, 'on account of his delicate health.' Mr Miles, the schoolmaster, affirmed that he would do very well if he had fewer cakes and sweetmeats sent him from home; but the mother's heart turned from an opinion so harsh, and inclined to the more refined idea that John's sallowness was owing to over-application, and, perhaps, to pining after home."

Septemb-Eyre: Roll Call!

After years of owning but not reading Jane Eyre, I'm finally taking the plunge. Like the good little blogger I am, I've managed to (somehow!) find 15 fellow bloggers and reviewers to read it along with me. So, here goes nothing!

First things first, it's not too late to sign up.
New readers, re-readers, Classics Club members, non-CC members... the more the merrier.

Schedule
September 2nd: Kick-off post, introductions, why you're reading, etc.
September 9th: Chapters I-XI
September 16th: Chapters XII-XXI
September 23rd: Chapters XXII-XXIX
September 30th: Chapters XXX-End

In my edition (the Penguin Classics Deluxe paperback), that works out to about 110 pages per week. We can so do this. Since there are some of us who haven't read the novel yet, please try to avoid spoilers past the section we're talking about each week.

And Introductions
Since there are so many new and new-to-me bloggers participating in this event, I'm hoping we can kick off with a little introduction -- who are you, where can we find you on the interwebs, why are you reading (or re-reading) Jane Eyre?

I'm all over social media myself, but of late, am most active on Twitter (@ofabookworm) and Tumblr (ofabookworm.tumblr.com). I'll be tweeting my reading with the hashtag #SeptembEyre.

I've owned Jane Eyre for years, and when my husband and I merged our book collections, we realized that we owned no less than four different editions of the novel--despite the fact that I've never read it and he hates the book. I decided to finally read it after approximately 1.2 million people on the Twitter were horrified that I hadn't read it, and told me all the reasons I should. It's also one of the books on my Classics Club list, so I consider this one of those multiple-birds-one-stone situations.

Besides some vague rumors (something about a man named Rochester, and someone living in an attic, I think?), I actually know very little about the book, so I'm hoping to go in with an open mind and see what all the fuss is about.

Here we go...

If you're participating, link up to your intro post here, and happy reading!

Septemb-Eyre Update: Logistics!

A few logistics for the Septemb-Eyre readalong...

Join us!
It's never too late to sign up. If you'd like to read Jane Eyre with us over the month of September, you can sign up for the readalong here.

Schedule
I was apparently looking at an August calendar when I picked dates for this, not a September calendar, and I'm guessing most people don't want to run posts on Saturday. How does Monday sound instead? That gives us all the weekend to catch up on reading and respond with thoughts on each section. That moves our schedule a bit and takes us right up to the end of the month...

September 2nd: Kick-off post, introductions, why you're reading, etc.
September 9th: Chapters I-XI
September 16th: Chapters XII-XXI
September 23rd: Chapters XXII-XXIX
September 30th: Chapters XXX-End

(That said, if a different day of the week works better for you, feel free to post whenever and just link up to the appropriate linky... this is supposed to be fun, not work.)

Hashtag Central

Join me on Twitter (@ofabookworm) and Tumblr (ofabookworm.tumblr.com) with the hashtag #SeptembEyre as we read along. 

What am I missing?

Harry Potter Readalong, All the Gifs, Book 6, and an Apology

But first, the apology! I've dropped off the face of this readalong's earth, and it's all because of Doctor Who. I started watching the series (starting from 2005) about the same time that we all started reading Book 5, and Doctor Who quickly took over my life. It was (is?) all I do when I get home from work.

I did manage to catch up on Book 6 (and by "catch up on" I mean "read all of") during last weekend's readathon, though, so here I am! I'm SO excited to have made it back to the real world (or the Harry Potter world, depending on how you choose to see it) in time for the last book. And the end of the sixth book. BECAUSE DUMBLEDORE. Even though I knew this was coming, it was still ALL THE FEELS.

Actually, I may have had even more feels this time through than in the re-reads of Books 1-5 because this was the first book I was reading for only the second time (rather than the 4th or 5th or seventy-gabillionth time, I'm looking at you, Sorceror's Stone). So while I knew what was coming, I was still fuzzy on recalling all of the other details surrounding that awful, awful moment. I'd sort of even forgotten the whole Draco-is-supposed-to-do-this bit, at least until I got to about chapter 5. But I digress. Because I had been so keen on simply finding out what was going to happen in my first (and previously only) read of the sixth book, I missed a lot, which mean I had a lot more to rediscover in this book than in the others that I've read over and over again.

I've decided that the Malfoys' storyline, while brought on entirely by their own greed and self-servance (not a word, but it'll do), is also kind of heartbreaking. Narcissa (such an obvious name choice, JK) really just wants what is best for her son, and her son really just wants what any teenage boy wants--to prove he's not a child anymore, and to impress his parents (and everyone else, while he's at it). I still hate the whole lot of them, and Draco is utterly atrocious in this book (illegal curses? Come on, Snape, even you can't turn a blind eye on that one), but at least we get to see some Malfoy heart. Such as it were. 

(Question, though--if the dementors have run off, but Lucius is in jail at Azkaban... who is guarding Azkaban? And is it really as bad as it once was if the dementors aren't there to make it terrible?)

Other things that are brilliant about this book: Luna's Quidditch commentary (though I do rather miss whats-his-face from the earlier books, as he was rather funny); Fleur's undying love for Bill and Mrs. Weasley's eventual acceptance of Fleur through the olive branch that is actually a tiara (perfect!); Harry and Ginny finally getting it on in their awkward teenagery ways. I also really love Harry's continual standing up to the Minister of Magic, proving himself Dumbledore's man through and through. Warms my heart, that does.

So, I'm uber-excited for the last book, which I really, truly did not like the first time I read it, but given all the tings I realized I'd forgotten in the sixth book, I'm going into with an open mind (and lower expectations than the first time, because let's face it, I had set the imaginary bar pretty damn high when I read the seventh book the first time.) 

ONWARD!

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PS - In honor of my newfound Doctor Who addiction, all gifs above are Doctor Who themed. Sorry I'm not  really all that sorry about that.

HP#4: The Big Reveal, or, Dumbledore is Amazeballs

HPatGoF is inteeeeense, y'all. I did not remember how absolutely suspenseful the last few chapters were; even knowing how the book ends, I stayed up well past my bedtime this week to finish this section. And my, does it tug the heartstrings. There's no gentle lead-in to Diggory's death. It's just, boom, we're noble and heroic and we will share the championship FOR HOGWARTS! and then boom, Portkey and then boom, Avada Kedavra, dead.

Also, I love that we get to see Dumbledore's true badassery in this section, as he immediately figures out the Moody situation and deals with it without delay. Harry says Voldemort is back? Ok, then, let's get real about this and see what we can do to stop it. Oh, and Minerva, while we're sorting things out, go get that black dog from my office and tell him we'll be right in. Moody is really Crouch sipping Polyjuice Potion to make him look like Moody? Truth serum, stat. He also wears his scary face and brooks no nonsense. I like that in a wizard.

There is so much set up for Book 5 in the last few chapters of Book 4, it makes me all tingly inside. Not set up like Book 4 loses its way, but Voldemort comes back, we learn who really is a Death Eater (no surprises there, quite), the Weasleys are called upon to be awesome yet again, Snape goes off on some undefined errand for Dumblydorr, the mystery of Crouch is revealed, Sirius shows himself to his fellow Voldermort-haters, and we just know that things are going down. It's like it's impossible to read this scene without hearing dramatic but excited music playing in the background.

I know there are a lot of things that happen that are fascinating that aren't directly related to Voldemort's return to power (Fred & George's money, for one, and the tournament itself, for another), but I am easily distracted by dramatic crescendo-ing conclusions, and now I'm all giddy for the next book. 

Harry Potter #4: Part the Third, or Percy Is a Swine-Nosed Imp

This week, I finally got my act together and took notes while I was reading so that I wouldn't get to the end of the week and suddenly find all the thoughts leaking out of my head. Unfortunately for me (or, actually, for you fellow readalongers), these notes didn't prove all that coherent. Case in point:

"Percy is a swine-nosed imp."

I didn't even reference a page number, so I have no idea what got me all bent out of shape about Percy (this time).

In other news, this week, we learn all about how Rita Skeeter is the absolute worst, and how Albus Dumblydorr is all about second chances: Hagrid (we knew that already), Lupin (who couldn't love Lupin?), and, it turns out, Snape (ugh, Snape).

Snape is still an asshat, Karkaroff is up to no good, and that mermaid scene underwater is actually kind of creepy, because, well, friends and loved ones knocked out and floating under water under threat of death or other imminent demise if not rescued within one hour.

I'm really glad Harry got extra points for honor, because even though they all laugh it off and pretend like of course Hogwarts wouldn't actually let someone die/disappear/be eaten by merpeople if they weren't rescued within an hour... the clue does actually say that that something "black" will happen. So good on you, Harry, for being a hero, because if we've learned anything in the last 3 books, it's that sometimes the wizarding world is more harsh than we might expect.

Other things I thought about:

- How many dots must show up on the Marauder's Map at any one time? This goes back to the maths (I blame the readalong for this obsession with the maths), but really, if it shows everyone, doesn't that make the map a little crowded? And... wouldn't it mean Harry could figure out where the other Houses' common rooms are, because there would be clusters of students there?

- Myrtle complains to Harry that sometimes she gets flushed out into the lake when someone isn't paying attention. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? First of all, gross, Hogwarts, that's pollution, you can't just flush your crap into the lake and then expect students to go diving into it to rescue their loved ones. Second of all, gross, Myrtle, just leave the toilet if someone starts using it. Third of all, I thought ghosts couldn't be affected by material things (they can't eat real food, for instance), so how could the water force her to move against her will? I don't know why I am so hung up on this, but I am.

Things are getting iffy with Crouch and Bagman, Moody is up to something, Sirius is suspicious, Hermy-own-ninny and Skeeter are going to duke it out, and the great maze challenge is upon us. I'm so excited for the rest of this book.

Harry Potter, Book 4: Triwizarding, Awkward Teenage Arguments, and SPEW

Note #1: I really should start taking notes while reading, because I always have all the thoughts and then it comes time to sit down and write my weekly post and *poof!* Thoughts be gone. (Maybe this is the result of too many Memory Charms!?)

Note #2: I'd really, truly forgotten how much I like this book.

When we last left off, Hogwarts had just announced the Triwizard Tournament and everyone was plotting how to get around Dumbledore's Age Line to put their name in the Goblet of Fire. Now, the other competing schools have arrived and SURPRISE! Harry Potter's name has come out of the Goblet of Fire.

I mean, obviously we knew this was coming (even those of us who hadn't read the book, right?), because how could there be anything amazing happening at Hogwarts without Harry being a part of it? (JK also gave it away a little bit by calling the book "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," if you ask me.)

Which, of course, is pretty much Ron's take on things, because he immediately starts snubbing Harry and acting totally immature and jealous, even though I really do feel bad for him because once, just once, he just wants something amazing to happen to him. Hermione sums it up when she says he just feels overshadowed. Again.

And, once again, Hermione proves herself the most intelligent witch/wizard around--this time, including the professors--because obviously Harry could not have hoodwinked the Goblet of Fire into thinking there should be four competitors on his own, and even more obviously, he could not have tricked Dumbledore's Age Line without Dumbledore's knowing it. Why is it that only Hermione (well, and Harry) seems to be able to see this? 

There is Moody, of course, who also sees this is highly suspicious, but he sees everything as highly suspicious and is immediately dismissed as a paranoid whack-o. Oh, actually, maybe that's why everyone else dismisses any possible foul-play or danger-intending when Harry's name comes up.

Of course, Harry battles a dragon and pretty much plays Quidditch with it, Golden-Egg-Snitch and all, which is amazing, and Ron forgives him and everything is right as rain again (except for that whole someone-trying-to-do-Harry-in-bit). Which I'm grateful for, because pretty much every scene in the entire series in which HRH aren't speaking is my least favorite scene of them all.

NOW... Golden Eggs! Sirius returns! House elf liberation! Awkward romances!

Harry Potter, Book 4: There Is More to the Wizarding World Than Hogwarts

Well, there is more to the wizarding world than Hogwarts, Diagon Alley (and Knockturn Alley), and Platform 9 3/4, anyway. This is by far my favorite part of book 4 -- Rowling's reveal of other parts of the wizarding world. And this reveal comes long before the Triwizard Tournament sheds light on other wizarding schools; the Quidditch World Cup is teeming with new wizard-y things we didn't know about before this book:

• Professional, post-graduation wizards who are not professors, including Bill and Charlie, Percy's new appointment to the Ministry, Mad-Eye Moody's work as an Auror, etc.
• More about the Ministry of Magic than just the Minister and the occasional ax-man, including a Department of Magical Games and Sports, Aurors (wicked cool profession, no?), the Improper Use of Magic Office, the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Department of Mysteries, and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad.
• Other wizard schools, including Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
• The awesome and wonderful and amazing extent the wizarding world goes to to make sure Muggles don't know about wizards at all. Although I do have to wonder if those Memory Charms do lasting damage... seems to me that messing with memory that often is a dangerous thing.

Don't let the Muggles see you.

Also, aren't the Weasleys just the grandest? I was crying from laughing when they plastered their "normal" letter with postage to get it to the Dursleys, and then Mr. Weasley's attempts to fix the living room, and standing up for Harry when his uncle is (yet again) a total jerk to Harry, and then when they get all mad but secretly love it when Dudley eats the tongue-growing candy, and then when Arthur is so awesome with the big scare at the World Cup.

Which brings me to the darker side of the wizarding world that is revealed here--house-elf slavery, Death Eaters, dark marks, painful scars, extreme mudblood loathing. There's a lot of set up in this first chunk of HPatGoF, but it's all pretty spectacular set up.

Hermione after learning her food is made by house elves.

I'd forgotten how much I love this book! (And, let's face it, what I crush I have on Cedric.)

Harry Potter Readalong: This One Is Still My Favorite

Disclaimer: I fell behind in my reading last week and haven't quite caught up, so some of the thoughts below are based on my skim of the end of the book and/or my memory of the story from my first 47 reads of it. I've got a three-day weekend coming my way, though, so I'll catch up for book 4!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is still my favorite. Sure, the first half is a little slow, but it's also the first time Rowling dives into really setting up more than an obvious good-guy-bad-guy plot, so we can roll with it, right?

Some thoughts on the good guys and bad guys:

I dig Lupin, and hate that he has to leave Hogwarts, because he really is the best DADA professor they've had to date.

Also, does anyone else find that there are times in this book when we can almost side with Snape? I kind of dig it. He's slimy and despicable but also rather pitiable, and god knows the man must be lonely, and imagine if you were Snape and HP comes along and does whatever the hell he wants and gets away with it... yeah, I'd be irked, too. But then he's all willing to throw Sirius back under the bus (A BUS FULL OF DEMENTORS) because of some petty high school nonsense and suddenly I can't side with him anymore, even though he tries to protect the fearsome trio, so screw you, Snape, for being so damn complicated.

And my big revelation of Book 3: I'm not actually a huge fan of Sirius. I mean, sure, his life sucks and he was totally framed for something he didn't do and has since become the most reviled wizard in the wizarding world, and that's completely unfair, but he also kind of acts like a jerk (Shredding the Fat Lady? C'mon!). I guess he comes around eventually with the whole fill-in-parenting thing (the permission slip for Hogsmeade is a nice touch), but I just don't think he's doing himself any favors here.

Other things that generally rock about this book:

• Patronus Charms (Spells based on happy thoughts? How's that for a good dose of positive thinking therapy?)
• All the Animagi. So many Animagi.
• The Marauder's Map

Harrius Potter Readalong, Book 3, Part 0.63

This week's readalong post is supposed to be the first part of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but work got the better of me this week so I've only read about 63% of the first half of the book.  I'm also pretty beat from said work this week, have family in town this weekend, and feel a migraine settling in, so apologies in advance for the lateness and brevity of this week's post.

Things I love about HPatPoA and most definitely contribute to it being my favorite:

• The inflatable aunt. 'Nuff said.
• The Knight Bus: First of all, it's the Knight Bus instead of the Night Bus, which, while a touch more obvious than some of Rowling's other wordplays (Diagon Alley and Knocturn Alley, anyone?), I still dig it. Also, it has beds that are apparently not anchored to the ground as they shift around while the bus moves, and the driver doesn't seem all that good that good at actually driving.
• The Book of Monsters that tries to eat its readers. Let's figure out a way to do this on books in our Muggle world, yes? And they say publishing is a dying industry...

I'll be back next week for the end of HPatPoA with more thoughts than my current state allows, and will hopefully be able to articulate, after re-reading this one for the umpteenth time, why, exactly, I've always thought of it as my favorite.

Harry Potter Readalong: All the Gifs, Chamber of Secrets Part Deux

The end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! I wish I could say why I've always considered this one my least favorite of the series, but alas, I cannot. I actually rather liked it this time through. Perhaps our tastes change, or perhaps it's been long enough since my last re-read of the series that I've forgotten how they all fit together and upon finishing it will once again revert to my previous opinion of this being my least favorite of the series except the last one. Who's to tell how the mind of a Harry Potter fanatic may work?

Spoilers:

We dove into the second half of this novel with only one Petrification, but it's only a matter of pages before Colin Creevey gets the hairy eyeball. Or snaky eyeball. Then it's Hermione (gasp!), who of course gets hit right after figuring out everything, which leaves Harry and Ron on their own and reminds us how much better the three of them are as a "three of them" instead of the "two of them."

Some questions:

Do all of the students at Hogwarts wear pointy hats? Did I just miss this in the first book when they talked about uniforms, or was this just students of yesteryear? (page 243 of the hardcover: "A boy of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointy hat.") Or is JK just checking to see if we are paying attention? None of these kids have been wearing pointy hats in my imagination. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

When Harry and Ron go to visit poor Petrified Hermione, they find a torn piece of a library book in her poor Petrified hand. Was anyone else astounded to think that Hermione would tear a piece of a library book out? She is so much more of a badass than I sometimes give her credit for.

And lastly, I swear I did not know that this book ended on a conversation about phone conversations, or I wouldn't have been so hung up on the lack of phone conversations at the beginning of the book. I promise. I'd like to retract my previous statements about how Harry needs to get with it and share his phone number and give him 10 points for thinking of it himself. Now I'll be looking through the rest of the books as I re-read to see if they ever actually do call Harry...

So, to sum up Chamber of Secrets: Not sure why I thought this was my least favorite, though verdict is still out until I finish the whole series. Dobby is still awesome, Lockhart is now doubly awful because he can't even remember who he is. Harry does know how to use a phone, and we can all look forward to less back story in the rest of the series... right?

Harrius Potter, Book 2 Part 1 (I think?)

So apparently I am not so good at readalongs, because last week I plum (plumb?)  forgot to read the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and then I also forgot to write about how I forgot to read it and THEN I had a crazy day at work on Friday and went to NYC for the weekend so I never even visited other people's posts. Sorry, guys.

(Also, while I am confessing my Harry Potter sins, I am just going to go ahead and admit that I *always* spell "sorcerer's" wrong the first time and then spellcheck goes all squiggly on me until I fix it.)

But here I am, ready to talk about the first part of Chamber of Secrets (which I spell correctly on the first try)! I've always thought of this one as my least favorite of the series (besides the last one, which we will come to in due course), but I rather like it this time around. Maybe it's because it's my so-called least favorite and therefore also my least re-read (again besides the last one).

Anyway, this is where we first meet Dobby, and I seem to be in the minority of readalongers because I actually like the poor guy! Or if I'm being really honest and admitting that I only like him because of later books, I can at least honestly say that I don't dislike him. I feel bad for the poor guy! Shutting his fingers in the oven and ironing his ears and generally self-mutilating and unable to use his awesome magic for himself?

Besides dear ol' Dobby, other thoughts on these chapters:

Why don't wizards have phones and email like Muggles? I get that they can Apparate, and send mail via owls who somehow seem to know where everyone in the wizarding world is at any given moment, but even with all that fancy magic, sometimes a quick call or email would come in hella handy. Like, you know, when Harry is locked in his room and can't unlock Hedwig to send a letter. Couldn't he just call Hermione who also lives in the muggle world?

I spent a good part of the mandrake-repotting herbology class trying to remember if I should remember Justin Finch-Fletchley's name with no luck. Also, Lockhart is the worst. Colin Creevey isn't so much better, come to think of it. Onwards to petrification!

War and Peace: This is Finally Happening, For Reals.

In an effort to address two of my resolutions this year, I am joining up in My Friend Amy's War and Peace readalong. Because I promised myself I'd read this before I turned 26 (coming up in November), and because I also intend to participate in more readalongs this year, because I always enjoy them so much. And also because I don't know that I could get through a book like War and Peace without some sort of schedule, structure, and encouragement.

But where does one even begin? I've followed along as other bloggers have read the tome, and even as some other bloggers have started and abandoned it, and everyone seems to have different advice. Treat it like any other book. Make sure to read the historical context. Keep Wikipedia handy as you go to reference names and dates. Keep a character list handy to reference names and dates. Etc, etc, etc.

I read Anna Karenina last year, and actually found that it was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated it to be, so perhaps I am ramping myself up for nothing in starting War and Peace. Or perhaps they really are different, after all.

Have you read it? If so, what is your advice for a newbie reader with little-to-no knowledge of the context of the novel? Are there any essays or criticisms I should read before starting that do not spoil the story?  I'll be reading the Peaver/Volonkhonsky translation (pictured above) - is that a good one?

---

War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy, trans. Richard Peaver and Larissa Volokhonsky | Paperback | 2008, originally published 1869 | 1296 pages | Buy from an independent near you

Harry Potter Readalong... and so it begins!

This is the second of who-knows-how many posts in the Harry Potter Readalong, hosted by Alice at Reading Rambo. See other readalongers' posts here.

So. The great re-read of Harry Potter has begun! We're exactly nine chapters in, and my first observation is that I forgot that only half of the first book actually takes place in Hogwarts. Rowling takes her time setting this all up! But not in a bad way, just in a way that makes us love Diagon Alley and Gringotts and all the wizarding world by the time we finally get to it!

Really, though, I do love the beginning of this book:

The Boy Who Lived (how dramatic!)

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that there were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Right from the bat, we do not like these people! So snotty! So "thank you very much" and pinky out while drinking tea! And, of course, we know to expect something strange and mysterious, in part because we know they'll hate it, and in part because there is a picture of a boy flying a broomstick and catching a golden ball with wings on the front cover. Obviously, there will be lots of this:

The first few chapters of this first book are really some of my favorite, because we get to be on Harry's side and hate the Dursleys but also laugh at them, because they are downright hysterical caricatures of people when you get to know them, blustering along in their blustery ways. But! Then Harry (and us readers!) get to go to Diagon Alley, and Gringotts, and Platform 9 3/4, and Hogwarts! And it's pretty fun to snub the Dursleys like that.

Also, I forgot how Hermione really isn't a main character this early in the book. Like, at all. She's around about as much as Neville, and even then, she's not particularly likeable. Luckily we all know she gets to be super-important and super-attractive and featuring in Burberry ads by the time they are done making the movies.

Next Friday... the end of the first book! My, time flies.

Harry Potter Readalong: An Illustrated Introduction

Harry Potter, I am re-reading you. In toto. All of you. In order. For the first time. And I am excited! (NOTE: This is not my first read of the series. Or my first re-read of any individual book. Just my first re-read of the whole series in order start to finish.)

There will be a lot more like this as we progress, I promise you that.

I'll be participating in Reading Rambo's Harry Potter All the Gifs Readalong, which basically means there will be a lot of gifs and a lot of my looking for clues of horcruxes and Dumbledore's awesomeness and generally oohing over how adorbs Dobby is and a lot of remembering how I spent most of my adolescence waiting for an owl of my own (I read the first book when I was ten so my eleventh birthday was simultaneously the most stressful and disappointing birthday ever, because, spoiler alert, I never did get an owl).

Introduction-y bits: I am Kerry, from Maryland, and my Instagram account is pretty much all pictures of books I am reading, books I think are pretty, bookstores I like, and/or my dog wearing silly sweaters.

Other things of relative import that sort of qualify as introduction-y:

I once read Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis, which is Harry Potter in Latin. Now I can only read the first sentence (and by "read", I mean "have memorized in English and can therefore sort of translate.")

I read the first book when it first came out, which meant I waited for each and every single solitary book to follow, which meant I went to a lot of midnight book releases. I even worked at a local bookstore for one of them, and wore a homemade glitter-y Harry Potter tank top to work that night while decorating the store in all HP everything (including a snitch and a broom hanging from the ceiling).

Notice that we made the drink cooler into Hogwarts Cafe.
No corner of the store escaped undecorated.

Also, when the sixth book came out, my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I were too broke to buy two copies, so we bought one and read it out loud to each other since we didn't want to wait for the other to finish it before starting. #truelove

When my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I talk like our dog (that's a normal dog-owner thing, right?), we speak in Dobby's voice, because Indy and Dobby have the same crazy expressive ears. 

Indy will be going as Dobby for Halloween next year.

So, full nerd-dom confessed, I am setting out to re-read the whole series which I conveniently own in a boxed set with what promise to be some very fun fellow readalongers. Read on!

Way Late and a Dollar Short: Grapes of Wrath Readalong Wrap-up

This is the fourth and final post in Devourer of Texts Grapes of Wrath readalong. It was supposed to go up last Tuesday, but then Sandy came along and took out my power, and then I forgot to write it when my power came back on (a mere 24 hours later, so no complaints there). But better late than never, they say!

So... when we last left off, The Grapes of Wrath was generally sad, depressing, and a bit preachy, with occasional bits of humor and/or hopefulness thrown in. But we all knew all along that those bits of humor and/or joy were just a tease, and things were never going to end well for the poor, kind Joads.

They didn't. As if destitution, poverty, and hunger weren't enough, Steinbeck throws in [spoilers: highlight to read] some serious flooding and a stillborn baby for good measure. Oh, and union strikes and scab workers and the rest of it.

And we're left with an utterly depressing picture of humanity and all of its wrongs, of the big corporations and their desire for profit at the expense of human life, of the power of people when they come together as a group but their utter powerlessness when they focus only on what is best for themselves, of the rights of workers and farmers and farmhands and salesmen and shop clerks and everyone else to make their way in the world.

I didn't think of it at the time, but The Grapes of Wrath proved the perfect pre-election read as things wound up to what culminated in an Obama victory last night. Though, as I've mentioned, Steinbeck can go all preachy-like at times, standing on his workers'-rights-soapbox or his corporations-are-evil soapbox, his less-than-subtle hints at the importance of banding together, and looking out for those less fortunate than ourselves, accepting those not like ourselves, and preserving a sense of human dignity throughout it all were key themes in the 2012 election.

Those messages, sometimes delivered subtly through Ma's strength or Rose of Sharon's naivete or Tom's stoicism and sometimes hammered into our heads with Steinbeck's in-between chapters, are the silver lining here. Through all of the sadness and hardships thrown on the Joads, they can, at the very least, teach us something about ourselves and our country today--a pretty hefty tribute to pay to a seventy-year old novel.

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Thoughts from other bookworms:
Devouring Texts
Reading Rambo
What Red Read

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The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck | Originally published 1939 | 619 pages | Buy from an independent near you

The Grapes of Wrath Readalong: Part the Third

This is the third post for a readalong of The Grapes of Wrath hosted by Laura at Devouring Texts.

This section contained what might be my favorite scene of the novel so far (except for maybe the turtle, because who doesn't love the damn turtle?P): the scene with the little kids scaring each other about the toilet, not understanding how it works:

"Winfield was embarrassed. His hand twisted the flushing lever. There was a roar of water. Ruthie leapt into the air and jumped away. She and Winfield stood in the middle of  the room and looked at the toilet. The hiss of water continued in it. 'You done it,' Ruthie said. 'You went an' broke it. I seen you.'"

Ain't that hilarious? Can't you just picture the two of them in a room full of toilets, and bossy Ruthie giving Winfield a hard time about the water in the toilet, not understanding? And can you imagine what it must be like to encounter a toilet for the first time, not knowing what it is or how it works?


It's a good thing we get a bit of humor, because the rest of this section felt thick with sadness, as the realization that there really is no work settles down upon the Joads:

"Tom looked about at the grimy tens, the junk equipment, at the old cars, the lumpy mattresses out in the sun, at the blackened cans on fire-blackened holes where the people cooked. He asked quietly, 'Ain't there no work?'"

And even when they find relief in the government camp, complete with running (hot!) water, there is a sense of doom and gloom that seems to hang over the people there, the idea that their stay is temporary, meant to end, and a constant, nagging knowledge that work is not available no matter where they turn.

And the persistent hunger that seems to haunt each family, the hunger that the Joads have not yet known but we are quick to gather they will know, someday not too far away, and Steinbeck's ranting and raving about the food that grows and goes to rot because it cannot be profitable, while not a mile away, children die of starvation and the coroners lie on the death certificates and make up causes of death. Oh, Ruthie and Winfield, I hope you live.


When they do settle into the government camp, fortunate enough to have found a spot after weeks on the road and days spent being mocked and taunted by locals, Ma (still my favorite, really) is able to think, really think, about all that has happened:

"Funny, ain't it. All the time we was a-movin' an' shovin,' I never thought none. An' now these here folks been nice to me, been awful nice; an' what's the first thing I do? I go right back over the sad things--that night Grampa died an' we buried him. I was all full up of the road, and bumpin' and movin', an' it wasn't so bad. But now I come out here, an' it's worse now. An' Granma-an' Noah walkin' away like that! ...I didn't give 'em brain room before, but now they're a-flockin' back. An' I oughta be glad 'cause we're in a nice place."

I've been afraid Ma would break, and now I'm even more afraid, that after all of the hardness and meanness she and the Joads have seen in the people around them, she will break under the sadness of the world and of her broken family. But then Pa steps in and they remember together and Ma snaps back to herself and makes "somepin nice" for the family and probably helps Rosasharn stop crying (again) and everything else she does.

Is anyone else struck by the continued importance of the issues that Steinbeck raises, albeit not-so-delicately at times? There are certain parallels that one could draw between the small farmers and the big corporate farmers of the 1930s with the small businesses and the big corporate businesses of 2012. And though we may not like to admit it, the Californians fear of the "damn Okies" doesn't sound so far off from the issues of immigration we face in the United States today.

And so, on to the last quarter of the book. I'm still scared of what is going to happen to the Joads, with the threat of violence and hunger and otherwise painful deaths in the air. Don't worry, I have ice cream and tissues at the ready.

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Thoughts from other bookworms:

Devouring Texts
What Red Read

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The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck | Originally published 1939 | 619 pages | Buy from an independent near you