Tag Archives: Books

May 21, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite Covers

toptentuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. More HERE.

May 21: Top Ten Favorite Book Covers Of Books I Just Love

Oh, this is a topic just made for my book cover whore’s heart! I LOVE this topic. Except for the whole, HOW DO I PICK TEN BOOK COVERS, part. That part, she is hard, y’all.

So. Let’s see here. These are in no particular order.

15745753 0bb76d4faec7c964f064ab6db8e9b4a8 My100Adventures
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I just love the simplicity of this cover. It belies its enormous heart.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. Evokes the stark, cold, barren landscape of the Alaska wilderness, and the setting of the story, perfectly.

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Hovarth. I haven’t read this book, yet, so I don’t know how well the cover represents the book, but golly, do I love it.

relish 235e1d0b79825d8a1ec591b627c0431a milkweed
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley. One look at that cover, and you know exactly what it’s about. Food.

Every Day by David Levithan. I really feel this book evokes the feeling of falling, of confusion, of “where am I going to land next?” I imagine A must feel, as he goes day to day through his life.

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. I haven’t read this one, but I pretty much adore any cover that features flowers/plants in silhouette.

bonepeople neverendingstory
The Bone People by Keri Hulme. I have this one, but haven’t read it. YET (Chris). I have several of the Penguin Ink editions. I just think they are so COOL looking.

The Never-Ending Story by Michael Ende. One of my favorite books gets a lovely, lovely cover. I foresee me getting a new copy of this….

endersgame nightcircus
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I love this cover. It’s the cover of my copy. And look. The enemies gate is down.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Ah. That lovely clock. The stark colors. The passionate twirls and swirls around the title. I love it.

So, what have I learned here? 1. I don’t typically like people on my covers. If there are there, ALL of them is there. No headless women for me. 2. I like my covers to be a good visual representation of what I’m going to find in the book. And 3. I like them lovely.

How about you? What kind of covers do you like?

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March 25, 2013

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

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I Hunt Killers
By Barry Lyga
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published 4/3/2012
Pages: 359
ebook
Gift from a friend (Thanks Andi!)

I have so many thoughts on this book that, even a couple months after I read it and cogitated on it, I still don’t quite know what to say. It is a conundrum.

Firstly, let me tell you what the book is about, if you haven’t heard of it already.

Since I can’t seem to think of a way to describe it without giving too much away, here is the description from the book:

It was a beautiful day. It was a beautiful field.
Except for the body.

Jazz is a likable teenager. A charmer, some might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, “Take Your Son to Work Day” was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could–from the criminals’ point of view.

And now, even though Dad has been in jail for years, bodies are piling up in the sleepy town of Lobo’s Nod. Again.

In an effort to prove murder doesn’t run in the family, Jazz joins the police in the hunt for this new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

From acclaimed author Barry Lyga comes a riveting thriller about a teenager trying to control his own destiny in the face of overwhelming odds.

Goodness me, but I am unforgivably conflicted over this book. Or was. I had a hard time coming to terms with my feelings about this story. I admit to having that tendency (one I’m working on, believe me) of seeing someone as just plain evil, these people who just love to kill people, and not seeing them as having a mental illness. This is unforgiveable of me, and like I said, something I’m working on. The dichotomy of Jazz and his father actually perfectly mirrors this. Jazz’s father just seems to glorify in his evilness -he loves it – while Jazz struggles with the mental illness of this compulsion to kill. Billy Dent loves his “profession.” Jazz wants to do everything he can NOT to end up like Dear Old Dad. And, while not many people have to fight a compulsion to kill exactly, they do have other compulsions to fight; lying, cheating, stealing, eating, greediness, laziness, etc., etc. So I can see where readers could identify with Jazz – if they can get over the distaste of a character who daydreams about knives, blood, and what it would be like to marry the two. I was able to get over that distaste simply because Jazz is such a great character. Brilliant, charming, and more than a little troubled; Jazz is the ultimate conflicted, unreliable character. We all have a capacity for violence, for temptation, for desire, for love, for hate, and we all have the capacity to fight it…or not. It’s our choices that make us what we are. Jazz is constantly fighting his compulsion, he chooses to be good, he chooses to fight by catching killers. There is something amazingly enthralling about that. I felt… all the feelings… for Jazz, mainly because he never quite believes he IS good. I can’t wait to read the next book to see how he’s doing.

Barry Lyga did some intricate plotting with this novel. All the little details like the reason Jazz dates Connie, his best friend Howie with his blood disorder, Jazz’s crazy grandmother,

Favorite bits:

Jazz hadn’t given her many details of exactly what life in the Dent house had been like, but he’d told her enough that she knew it wasn’t hearts and flowers. Well, except for the occasional heart cut from a chest. And the kind of flowers you send to funerals.

Jazz spent a chunk of the day fantasizing about ways to kill his grandmother, plotting them and planning them in the most excruciating, gruesome detail his imagination would allow. It turned out his imagination allowed quite a bit. He spent the rest of the day convincing himself–over and over–not to do it.

“This is why I forgive, but I don’t forget. When you forget someone, the forgiveness doesn’t mean anything anymore.”

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November 21, 2012

Wordless Wednesday – Pondering

pondering which classics to read next….

More Wordless Wednesday fun here.

 

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October 2, 2012

Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day
by David Levithan
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published: August 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-307-93188-7
Pages: 336
Ages: 12 & up

Every once in awhile, a novel comes along that defies expectation. I have never read a book by David Levithan. I’ve heard of it. Friends have recommended him. Yet, I remained stubborn (why? I don’t know!) and didn’t read anything by him. Even after he wrote a book with one of my favorite writers; Will Grayson & Will Grayson with John Green.

I am such a fool.

I happened to see Every Day on NetGalley. The premise sounded so unique, so different, and so hard to pull off. A person waking up, every day, in a different body? Irregardless of sex, race, only age? I had to see if he pulled it off.

A, our main character’s name is A, has no one. No friends, no family, nobody. He wakes up every day in a different 16-year-old body and wears it for the day. A different house, a different body, different friends, schools, lives. Every morning he is someone else. Male, female, white, black, Latino, rich, poor, smart, stupid, hooked on drugs, ready to kill themselves. It’s always different. A is used to this, A gets along fine, breezing through different lives, trying not to make too much of an impact, A doesn’t want anyone to notice. No one does notice.

But then A meets a girl.

A’s life will never be the same. It takes less than a day for A to fall in love with Rhiannon. For the first time, A wants to see someone again. A wants to talk to someone again. A wants to be with someone again. A can’t stop thinking about her, can’t stop wanting to see her again, and can’t stop wanting to talk to her again.

Does A find a way? It feels like an impossible situation. How does A convince this girl, every day, that even though the shell is different, A is the same underneath. How does A convince her to take a chance? How do you talk about A without using pronouns?

It’s a mystery, best found out by reading the book.

As I was saying, I was a fool. In the wrong hands, this book could have been a hot mess. But David Levithan obviously knows what he’s doing. There are so many things Levithan deals with in this novel; sex, race, attraction, how you can’t pick who you love, living, dying, hate, love…. This story. It is ambitious. This book made me think, it made me feel, it made me shake my head in wonder. Levithan not only pulls it off, he pulls it off so beautifully. His writing is gorgeous! And addictive. I think I’ll go out and buy everything he’s ever written now and I will never doubt him again.

Favorite bits:

I want to give her a good day. Just one good day. I have wandered for so long without any sense of purpose, and now this ephemeral purpose has been give to me-it feels like it was been give to me. I only have a day to give-so why can’t it be a good one? Why can’t it be a shared one? Why can’t I take the music of the moment and see how long it can last? The rules are erasable. I can’t take this. I can give this.

and

There is a part of childhood that is childish, and a part that is sacred. Suddenly we are touching the sacred part-running to the shoreline, feeling the first cold burst of water on our ankles, reaching into the tide to catch at shells before they ebb away from our fingers. We have returned to a world that is capable of glistening, and we are  wading deeper within it. We stretch our arms wide, as if we are embracing the wind. She splashes me mischievously and I mount a counterattack. Our pants, our shirts get wet, but we don’t care. We are carefree.

also

What is it about the moment you call in love? How can such a small measure of time contain such enormity? I suddenly realize why people believe in deja vu, why people believe they’ve lived past lives, because there is no way the years I’ve spent on this earth could possibly encapsulate what I’m feeling. The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations-all of them rearranging themselves so that this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself have crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are just now arriving at the place you were always meant to be.

I love that last one. I have so many more that I could share. I don’t think I’ve marked up a book like this in a long time. Such a beautiful book. In so many ways. I hope you’ll read it.

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August 30, 2012

R(eaders) I(mbibing) P(eril): Year Seven

The leaves are turning shades of red and orange. The air is cooler. I made my first pot of soup last night. School started weeks ago. It’s time for this young girls’ thoughts to turn to vampires, werewolves, psychological terror, and grisly horror.

RIP VII is here.

I cannot believe it’s been seven years since I first took part in this magical, mysterious, and blood-curdlingly exciting event. Without a doubt, it is the highlight of my favorite season. My plans are to do Peril the First (read up to 4 books), Peril of the Short Story (I never succeed at this, but I always keep trying!), Peril on the Screen (hopefully starting with ParaNorman!), and Peril of the Readalong. Andi and I are hosting a readalong of The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, a bloody good spooky book, over at The Estella Society. And, despite the fact I’ve already reread The Graveyard Book this year, I will probably do that one too. It is, after all, probably my most favorite book, now that The Princess Bride seems to have been knocked from that pedestal (hangs head in pitiful sadness).

Come on over and join in. It is SUCH a good book and perfect for RIP.

Contenders, since no RIP post is complete without pictures of books, am I right?

And also on my iPod:

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, read by Simon Vance
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova , read by Justine Eyre, Paul Michelle (reread, if I can get my husband to read it too)
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, read by Steven Crossely (ditto the above)
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, read by Stefan Rudinicki (if I can’t get into the book. I’m determined to read this one this year!)
Dracula by Bram Stoker, read by Anthony Valentine (reread, since last years’ reread was so disappointing. I think this one is unabridged!)
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, read by Simon Vance (haven’t read this since college!)
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Scott Brick
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (got hubby reading listening to this now, may have to reread so we can discuss)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (this makes me laugh. I’ve never read this book and despair that I ever will!)

eBooks:

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (It may be a stretch, but I’m putting it down anyway. Those monkeys are hella scary.)
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes ed by Georgia McBride and Michelle Zink
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Peterson
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ratcliffe
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

And maybe also this:

Do I get a nose?

Now I think I’ll sneak off and start reading. If you would care to join in the fun (please, you should!), head on over to Carl’s blog and sign up. Happy RIP everyone!

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August 6, 2012

North & South: Discussion Post #1

Well. Like my co-host, I’m also behind. I’m at chapter 7. North and South and I…we’re not getting along so well. I am blaming this mostly on the massive push I put on last week to finish The Stand. I tweeted one day that following The Stand with North and South caused a bit of culture shock. Okay, a LOT of culture shock. I decided to read the audio, mainly because I have the ebook and I was also reading The Stand as an ebook, and because the woman reading the book has the loveliest voice ever-Juliet Stevenson. This may backfire on me however, because her lovely voice causes me to 1) zone out and 2) fall asleep. This makes driving difficult!

Anyhoo, I’m here to tell you what I think of the first section.

Here are the questions for today:

1. How are you liking the book?

2. What is up with Margaret’s father? Begin Heather’s diatribe here: Is it just me, or is he one of the most self-centered characters ever? He inflicts all this pain and confusion the women of his family, then can’t bare to hear them in distress. Good grief man, grow a few. (Feel free to leave that last part out, or rewrite it. I just had to get that out.) < –Andi chose to leave it because it’s a peek “behind-the-scenes” at what our e-mails usually look like. Ha!

3. What do you think of Thornton and his first impression of Margaret?

4. Feel free to ramble from here on and add your own link to the Mr. Linky… (Visit Andi’s blog to do that.)

Since Andi posted all that I wrote for my second question and it’s the one I feel the most like ranting about (look out world, I’m in an especially ranty mood today!) I’m starting there. What the heck is up with Pa Hale? You what to know what bugs me the most about him? I can totally understand his desire to stop being a pastor if he didn’t believe in the church any more, even if he still had his faith. I can understand wanting to move to a mill town, because he knew he could find work there for himself and therefore a way to provide for his family. I can even understand his being upset that he has caused his family such grief. HOWEVER. I cannot stand the way he is constantly “oh I can’t take this,” “I can’t bear to hear anything about your feelings,” “please, let’s not discuss it any more.” OMG MAN. GROW A PAIR and deal with what thou hast wrought. Also, I was surprised by his leaving the church because he didn’t believe in it any more. Was this a controversial thing for the time period? I’m not sure, I never had the opportunity to study this time period in college. By God I wish I had! That would be an exciting class! Anyway, he acts the way I would expect a woman in an Austen book to act; a la Mrs. Bennett.

Which, incidentally I wish I had asked this question: How does this compare to Jane Austen? I have heard it said that Gaskell is like Austen and quite frankly, I’m not seeing it. Well, except for, and this leads into question 3 anyway, the instant chemistry (?, don’t know what else to call it) between Thornton and Margaret. It reminded me so much of the way Darcy immediately took a dislike to Elizabeth because of her attitude. But really, that’s it. The writing reminds me more of Dickens.

Also, I really hated the way Margaret treated Henry Lennox. Someone really should train her in the art of tact. Although I got the feeling she thought she WAS being tactful.

Unfortunately, since I AM behind, I can’t go any further with my discussion. I will catch up this week!

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July 24, 2012

Audiobook Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night
By Deborah Harkness
Read by Jennifer Ikeda
ISBN: 9780670023486
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publication date: 7/10/2012
Pages: 592 (or 20 disks)
Series: All Souls Trilogy, #2
Source: the publisher was kind enough to send me a copy

You know that feeling you have when a book you’ve been looking forward to for months finally comes out and you have it in your hot little hands and… and… it disappoints you?

Yeah? You do?

That’s how I feel about this book.

You see, I read, and adored A Discovery of Witches last year. It had a few problems, least of which was its slight Twilight feeling, but I forgave the problems because of the characters, in particular, Diana and Matthew. I reread A Discovery of Witches by listening to the audio book and delighted in it even more. The reader was fantastic, the characters every bit as fascinating as I remembered; so my excitement for Shadow of Night was doubled. When I got it unsolicited in the mail, I was beside myself.

Then I started listening to Shadow of Night. I read it with Andi and we burned up the internets. Shadow of Night picks up right where A Discovery of Witches left off, so yes, this review does contain spoilers for the first book. Diana and Matthew have traveled back in time to 1591, Elizabethan England, in order for Diana to find a witch who can teach her how to use and control her magic and to hide from the Convention who so desperately wants to harm her and use her to gain control of a magical book called Ashmole 782. Diana and Matthew land in the middle of Matthew’s old life as a spy, member of the mysterious School of Night AND avowed witch hater.

Dum, dum, dummmmm….

So, um, yeah, that does sound exciting, yes? And it was…to a certain extent. It was all the useless details on dress, on food, on this famous person and that famous person and yes! Matthew knew that famous person too! This book is so bloated with useless, inconsequencial, and pointless to the plot information that it eventually became an eye-roll bonanza. If I heard one more time about Matthew’s garters, or all the many layers of clothing Diana had to wear, I was going to scream. I’m all for building the scene, but I can picture a few things in my head myself. I’m surprised my eyes didn’t roll out of my head. At one point, I emailed Andi to say it felt like someone just had to show off how much she knows about the time period. Harkness is a professor and researched the history of magic and science in Europe , especially during the period from 1500 to 1700. Andi agreed.

My biggest complaint is that this trip to the past few pointless. I don’t see where they did anything in the past they couldn’t have done in the present. They go back to find Ashmole 782 and, as a result of their visit, the book is damaged as it was when Diana found it in the present, so basically, they caused the damage. They do find a witch to help Diana, which takes eons (!) (it felt like, really, it was half the book) but I figure they could just as easily have found one in the present. The only thing they couldn’t have done is met the School of Night (again for Matthew) and HOLY RUSTED METAL BATMAN, I could have lived with out Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe is another beef, but a purely irritating one to even discuss. Let’s just say I didn’t like him and still don’t understand Matthew’s tolerance of him. If you’ve read the book, you’ll understand that I hope. There’s a lot of mumbo jumbo about alchemy, which honestly, I didn’t really understand at all. And if I hear one more reference to the Goddess Diana, I cannot be help responsible for my actions.

And then, there is the Big Thing that Happens at the End and then is Never Explained. *grumble* I really can’t say anything more about that. Spoilers!

That’s not to say the book didn’t have any merits. It did. I still LIKE Matthew and Diana. I probably don’t quite love them like I did, but I do still like them. I’m still invested enough to read the last book, which Andi and I have already agreed to read together as well. A new character was introduced, Matthew’s vampire nephew Gallowglass, who *really* captured my imagination (purr…), so much so that I would read a book dedicated to his character in a heartbeat. I enjoyed meeting Matthew’s father Philippe. And the witches from Elizabethan London were interested, especially Goody Alsop, if they did seem slightly pointless. Queen Elizabeth herself makes an appearance (of course she does…. eye roll) and she is just as I always imagined her and is a lot of fun. And Diana finally starts stand up for herself to the control freak Matthew.

In the end, this book really could have used some editing to cure the extreme case of MiddleNovelitis (trademark pending) this book had. Just a wee bit of editing really could have made all the difference. Okay, a little more than wee.

As for the reader, Jennifer Ikeda returns from A Discovery of Witches and she does just as great a job in this one as that. She has a nice, measured voice that is really pleasant to listen to. Plus, she has an excellent command of accents! In this book she uses American, English, French, German, Southern American, and Scottish; and that is just the ones I remember! And I can’t be completely sure if it was the fact that I was listening to the book or the fact that I was reading it with Andi, but I’m pretty sure one of the two (or possibly both!) kept me reading to the end. So thank goodness for Jennifer Ikeda and Andi!

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July 16, 2012

Monday Rambles

Oh my gosh you guys, where did the weekend go? Oh wait, I know. It went into making and canning a LOT of tomato sauce, making and canning my own pectin (!), and freezing corn for the winter. And also making a cake. An Orange Ricotta Cake. Witness:

The kids helped too! As I’m typing this, it’s still cooling, but I did sneak a crumb taste and I think it’s going to be pretty killer.

I also did some reading this weekend. I plodding on through The Stand. I am really enjoying The Stand when it’s with Larry, Franny, Stu, Nadine, Joe, Tom Cullen, Mother Abagail (LOVE HER), and the other good guys. When it turns to the Dark Man, Lloyd, and the Trashcan Man, it’s all I can do to pick it up. Since I’m reading the “director’s cut” of sorts, this makes me wonder…how much did he add to the story? Anyone brave enough to read both versions and know?

I’m also reading The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter (for my classics read this month), who is a lady I was surprised to find out. Gene is such a guy name! Anyhoo, I’m alternating between loving it and finding it slightly schizo. I should finish soon.

I’ve been listening to Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, while Andi is reading it and we’ve been discussing. And it’s been quite hilarious. The discussions, not the book. We are in agreement about so many things, which is typical as Andi has a strange tendency to read my mind. I haven’t even told her, but the other day I was listening as I drove to the library and the whole way I was thinking of what I was going to email Andi (don’t have to give away any spoilers). When I got back to work, I opened up my email to do just that, and she had emailed me EXACTLY what I was going to say to her. Freaky huh? Considering we’ve never actually “met?” I love it.

Let’s see…I think that’s all I’m reading at the moment. I’ve been crocheting like crazy, as I finally focused on a project. Here are a few samples for those who don’t follow me on Instagram:

I can’t wait to see it finished! Thank goodness I can crochet and read (on my Nook) at the same time!

Have a good week!

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June 26, 2012

Audiobook Week – So You Want to Review Audiobooks….

Tuesday: So You Want to Review Audiobooks…
Discuss the essentials of audiobook reviewing. What do you make sure to include? What do you want to see when you read other people’s reviews?

I don’t exactly consider myself any sort of authority on reviewing any kind of book, audio or not, so I am just going to discuss what I appreciate in someone else’s review. I guess these are the sort of things I try to put into my own reviews.

Story

Like all book reviews, I want to know what the book is about. Not too much, of course, just enough to give me a tease, a taste, a hint of what to expect from the book.

Narration

This, is essential. The main thing I look for in an audiobook review. Quite possibly the only reason I’m reading it. It. is. essential. I want to know who the reader is, first thing. Every time I go to my library’s website, I get so ticked off because they NEVER have the reader listed on ANY of their audiobooks. Next, I want to know if they did a good job. Did they use accents? Did their voice change for characters? Could you tell male from female? Did they transport you to another world? Will you listen to another book they read?

That sort of stuff.

Production Value

Production value has become so good that honestly, I don’t even think about it with new books. Older books, however, are another story. I’ve listened to books where I could swear I faintly heard a telephone ring. I’ve listened to books where I could hear every single breath the reader took. While this isn’t always distracting, it’s still something I’d like to know about it.

So, there you have it. The essentials of audiobook reviewing, in my humble opinion. What do you look for in audiobook reviews? What books have you been lead to listen to because of an audiobook review?

See Jen’s blog for more answers to today’s question and more Audiobook Week goodness!

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June 26, 2012

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

In honor of Audiobook Week, I’m rerunning a few of my favorite audiobooks. The Good Earth was a very pleasant surprise and showed me that maybe all those classics I’d been wanting to read might be made more manageable if I read them with the audio. I have a couple more Pearl S. Buck books on my iPod and I can’t wait to get to them.

The word epic was created for this book. No, not really… but it could have been. The Good Earth is epic in every sense of the word. The Good Earth tells the story of Wang Lung, a Chinese farmer and his family as they struggle to survive a peasant life in old China. It begins with Wang Lung looking at his old father saying, “I need a woman,” to him getting said woman, to them having lots of children. In between there are times of plenty, times of famine, births, deaths, and the acquiring of more land, more glorious land!  Wang Lung is obsessed with land! Okay, it’s about a whole lot more, but I don’t want to give too much away.

And the writing. The writing is so beautiful. Witness:

“There was only this perfect sympathy of movement, of turning this earth of theirs over and over to the sun, this earth which formed their home and fed their bodies and made their gods…Some time, in some age, bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses had stood there, had fallen, and gone back into the earth. So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. They worked on, moving together-together-producing the fruit of this earth.”

and

“Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver, out of the earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon. He took his life from the earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food, silver. Each time before this that he had taken the silver out to give to anyone, it had been like taking a piece of his life and giving it to someone carelessly. But not for the first time, such giving was not pain. He saw, not the silver in the alien hand of a merchant in the town; he saw the silver transmuted into something worth even more than life itself – clothes upon the body of his son.”

and

“But Wang Lung thought of his land and pondered this way and that, with the sickened heart of deferred hope, how he could get back to it. He belonged, not to this scum which clung to the walls of a rich man’s house; nor did he belong to the rich man’s house. He belonged to the land and he could not live with any fullness until he felt the land under his feet and followed a plow in the springtime and bore a scythe in his hand at harvest.”

Oh, I could quote the whole book at you. Every word, every sentence, felt so carefully constructed, so lovingly crafted. The main characters were so well written. This book was made for me. Or, rather, I was made for it. Either way you put it, I loved this book. The gardener in me loved the farmer in there. Wang Lung was born into a farming family and he embraced it. To say the land was the blood running through is veins is putting it VERY mildly. I have to say, loving land seems like such a Southern thing to me. That probably sounds narrow-minded, but I grew up hearing things like “Buy land, they won’t make any more of it,” and “Hold on to your land” etc, etc. My grandparents (who raised me) were Irish descendants, so I always assumed it was an Irish thing. Plus, I’ve never read a book set in China where someone was so obsessed with his land. Truthfully, I’ve never read a book where a character was so obsessed with land! I am thrilled to have finally read this book!

Fair warning, we’re probably getting into spoiler territory, but I have to get this off my chest.

The only thing I just couldn’t get over was the treatment of women. Wow, did the Chinese have a low opinion of girls and women. I felt for O-lan. Oh, how I felt for O-lan. Acquired from a great house where she was a kitchen slave, she did not find herself elevated very much upon becoming Wang Lung’s wife. He treated her like a possession. He consistently mistreated her. When she arises from giving birth to their first child, she comes back to the field to help. him. work. And does she get a thank you? No. She gets his silent admiration, which means nothing. He never appreciated her until she was gone. And that made me hate Wang Lung. There were many things I liked about him, but that. That was inexcusable. Makes me glad the revolution happened and I hope the Chinese have improved their attitudes.

Okay, rant over.

I listened to the audio production by Blackstone Audio. Anthony Heald read The Good Earth and did a marvelous job. I have never listened to him read a book before, but I will definitely seek him out in the future. I loved the way he did the old man, Wang Lung’s father. And he was able to feminize his voice for the women, despite having quite a deep voice. All in all, he made it a pleasure to listen to this book.

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