Twice-Told Tales and Other Short Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

4/10

I finished reading this doosy last night. It took me forever. But baseball playoffs always slow down my reading. It was a struggle if we're being honest. I had already read a Hawthorne short story compilation book several years ago and thought it was so-so and thus didn't have much confidence in this book going in. It was nice though to revisit some enjoyable stories like The Minister's Black Veil and Wakefield and to discover some new ones like Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure and a few others. But there were just too many duds in there for the book to be enjoyable.

One quote from "The Village Uncle" with a nice eternal families payoff at the end:

"But I loved to lead them by their little hands along the beach, and point to nature in the vast and the minute, the sky, the sea, the green earth, the pebbles, and the shells. Then did I discourse of the mighty works and coextensive goodness of the Deity, with the simple wisdom of a man whose mind had profited by lonely days upon the deep, and his heart by the strong and pure affections of his evening home. Sometimes my voice lost itself in a tremulous depth; for I felt His eye upon me as I spoke. Once, while my wife and all of us were gazing at ourselves in the mirror left by the tide in a hollow of the sand, I pointed to the pictured heaven below, and bade her observe how religion was strewn everywhere in our path; since even a casual pool of water recalled the idea of that home whither we were traveling, to rest forever with our children."

Merlin: The Lost Years by T.A. Barron

 4/10

Finished reading this with Mallory a week or so ago. Didn't love it. The writing was off-putting for some reason. Just short, abrupt sentences all the time. The story was ok, but the characters were pretty boring and I never had too much of a rooting interest in any of them, other than probably the bird, Trouble, and maybe the small giant, Shim. The story was also largely predictable with Shim's role in the conclusion spelled out well in advance. There are lots of books that follow this one. Not sure if any of those get better, but I am secretly hoping that Mallory doesn't request to have us read any of them because I am fine not pushing forward with this book series.

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

8/10

I finished reading this a few days ago. I liked the story overall. Good characters and a very interesting plot. Tons of N-bombs which was a tad bit unsettling but I guess gave it authenticity. Hard to imagine white folks saying that in front of black people so frequently and carelessly though. I was a little let down with the final courtroom scene. I thought it would be packed with more drama and intensity like in the movie. But it was more brief than I expected and not very noteworthy with no bombshells. Other than the exposure of the Defense's medical expert, I guess. Also, seems like the jury came to the wrong legal conclusion and voted with emotion. I'd be pretty mad to be the prosecutor and dominate the trial and have all the facts and law on your side and you somehow lose. I liked the book overall though, my favorite Grisham book so far.

Grisham books I've read, ranked:

1. A Time to Kill

2. The Pelican Brief

3. The Client

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

7/10

Finished reading this last night. It was a fun adventure. Never have I read so much authentic Scottish dialect, "bonny" and "unco" probably being my two favorites. It was pretty humorous most of the time. But this is a great buddy adventure with the two main characters really developing a true bond despite being completely different people with different backgrounds and viewpoints. It was fun to see them meet and how loyal they became to each other. I liked both characters a lot. While I liked the book overall, it did seem to lack some true excitement that could have pushed to book to a true classic. But instead it was a lot of slow crawling through heather and waiting around for the coast to clear as they made their journey through the north country. But there was still a fair bit of adventure and excitement overall.

Quotes:

"[Y]e are neither very wise nor very Christian to blow off so many words of anger. They will do the man...no harm, and yourself no good."

"There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility."

Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

9/10

Finished reading this with Mallory tonight. We enjoyed it very much. It was my first Star Wars book, but I enjoyed this one a lot so I will probably read several more in the near future. This one was a good first one to read as it spans the original trilogy with two characters whose stories are interwoven with Episodes 4, 5 and 6. The story had some fun moments when the story intersected with the movie and it was done really well when it happened. I was actually surprised that it didn't go over the top with it and kept true to its own story and characters overall. But it's always fun seeing a story told from a different perspective, kind of like Ender's Shadow.

The book was written well and the characters were good and interesting. I liked the development of the story with both characters dedicated to the Empire and one becoming disillusioned and joining the Rebellion and the drama that ensued. Just a fun story and I enjoyed discovering this new part of the Star Wars universe.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

8/10

I finished reading this a few nights ago. I enjoyed it. The characters were pretty well written, especially the main character. The premise of the story was a good one that was almost impossible to botch. I liked the style of the presentation, with the first-person narrator told through the three main female characters, but with one of the character's narration lagging behind but slowly catching up to the present. I also liked the amnesia style storytelling, Memento style, where the main character slowly pieces things together from her memory.

Some things that I didn't like was the ending where the killer just opens up and explains the entire murder in front of his wife. Just seemed too far-fetched. Also didn't like how the main character just shows up at the house to explain all this to the wife without even knowing whether the killer is still home or not. The language was also a bit too raunchy at times for my liking.

This was a good book that I looked forward to reading each night which is what it's all about.

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

7/10

I finished reading this tonight. I was waffling between giving this a 6 or 7 out of ten, which means it was ok but I didn't love it. I could have easily given it 6/10, but I liked the writing enough and the overall plot was interesting enough. But I can't stop thinking about how much of a wasted opportunity this book was. With such good writing and an interesting plot to write about, it feels like Conrad ultimately drops the ball on this one and fails to take the plot to more consistently interesting places and the characters are remarkably boring. Many of the characters are overall quite pointless as they appear and then are never heard from again. Some chapters were top notch only to be followed by a boring, pointless chapter (I'm looking at you, chapter about Verloc's mother-in-law's horse ride moving to her new home). The pace was quite slow, which was bothersome at times, but also really nicely done at other parts (I'm looking at you, chapter about Verloc's interaction with his wife after she learns of the bombing involving her brother).

I also came in to this book with low expectations because Conrad wrote one of my least favorite books of all time, Lord Jim. I haven't read Conrad for more than a decade because of how much I disliked that book. But this one was better and put Conrad as a writer back in my good graces.

Conrad books I've read, ranked:

1. Heart of Darkness
2. The Secret Agent
3. Lord Jim

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne

6/10

I finished reading this with Mallory tonight. It was ok I guess. Nothing special. Didn't hate it. Could have done without it. The story was ok, the characters were ok, the writing was ok. Felt fan fictiony for much of it. Don't love a whole story based on time travel. The best part of the book was probably the character Scorpius Malfoy. He did all the heavy lifting in this book and is the only reason to get this over the hump from a 5/10 to a 6/10. Maybe watching the play would be better.

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

6/10

I finished reading this book tonight. I wasn't in love with it. It had its share of good moments and its share of tedious moments. The book is split up into two sections. The first is the "Sons" section which covers the Morel family. The second is the "Lovers" section which covers one of the Morel sons, Paul Morel, and his relationships with two ladies who he bizarrely can't have normal relationships with because he is obsessed with his mother. I actually quite liked the first section. It had more of the Victorian feel to it that I like. The second section is pretty tiresome overall and is where my interest in the story and characters began to wane. It was odd how much Lawrence had to contrast love and hate throughout the entire story. Any time he would talk about love it would quickly change to how the characters hated each other. Just tough to relate to and understand.

I did think he was a good writer and the fact that it was semi-autobiographical kept my interest level up higher than it otherwise would have been. And the way the mother's death was handled near the end kind of salvaged the book for me and was superbly done. There were relationships in this novel that I would have liked to see more of. First, the Morel parents' relationship was fascinating and I really enjoyed the father character and missed his absence during the majority of the second part. The relationship between Paul and Dawes has a really interesting one and I like where the story went with that one but wish we had more of it. And Paul and Clara in the early goings was pretty interesting but then turned boring as they became a couple. I liked the teasing, debating Paul who seemed to enjoy getting under Clara's skin.

This book was ok for me and good enough to keep me interested in reading more of D.H. in the future, although I probably won't be sprinting to do so.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

10/10

Finished reading this with Mallory tonight. What a journey. I really liked this one and felt that it was really well done. It is slow moving at first, but I liked the idea of hunting down horcruxes. Seemed like a fun quest and I liked that they had to struggle their way through it rather than just finding instant success. Some nice twists and turns. I liked Snape's role in this book and it was fun to see his story develop. And the much anticipated final face-off between Harry and Voldemort did not disappoint.

I'm glad I waited to read these books with my daughter. I think it made me like the books much more than I perhaps otherwise would have as we got to enjoy discovering this world together.

Below are my rankings:

1. HP-7
2. HP-4
3. HP-3
4. HP-6
5. HP-5
6. HP-2
7. HP-1

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

9/10

I finished reading this a few days ago. I enjoyed this one. It was well written and interestingly presented. It had great characters and a great setting for a story: Nazi Germany. Most books have a few boring characters but I enjoyed reading about every character in this one. I think my favorite part of the story was getting to see that their were some real, true, decent Germans during World War II. Many of these folks also suffered greatly, but just obviously in a different way than the Jews.

I had a hard time buying in to the Death as the narrator thing but finally came around to it. I just kept thinking that it didn't make sense for Death to know all these details about Liesel so why is he the person narrating the tale? But that part is explained and I'm fine with it. Ended up being a pretty cool perspective to have Death sharing his thoughts about the human race.

I also really liked the ending and found it pretty moving. I was happy that Liesel and Max were able to be reunited again at the end and I thought it was done superbly by not overdoing it, but simply stating that they hugged and cried and fell to the floor. They both had lost everything and everyone and I was with them in that moment.

Good writing, good characters, good story, good book.

Three Plays by Thornton Wilder

5/10

I finished reading this about two weeks ago. Didn't love it. Our Town is supposed to be legendary, but it seemed just ok. It was creatively presented I suppose, but I could imagine being pretty bored if I had to sit through this play. But I probably would have loved it if I watched it in 1938 and was easily entertained. I would give Our Town 6/10.

The Skin of Our Teeth was one of the worst things I've ever read. Apparently people think this is really good too? Honestly cannot fathom how that is possible. So nonsensical and useless. Not going to waste any more time on it henceforth and forever. One of the easiest 1/10's of all time.


The Matchmaker was the most enjoyable; it was at least a little bit entertaining. It had some nice plot-weaving moments and had some fun characters. I guess this is where Hello, Dolly comes from. This was a nice one to finish the book off on. I would give it a 7/10. It also has this great quote: "Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she's a householder."

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

9/10

I finished reading this today. I figured I would launch into this disturbing tale on the immediate heels of the other disturbing tale, Lolita, which I had just finished. Although, this one is based on a true story which makes it more disturbing in a way, getting into the minds of such brutal characters. I have never ventured into true crime thrillers, but figured this one is a classic and the best choice for the genre. The storytelling is superb, perfectly paced, and brings to life the people and events of this horrible crime. To me, the most disturbing part, aside from the description of the grisly murders, is how unsympathetic these criminals are about the acts they have committed. There is this part where Perry Smith is describing in great detail the night of the murders and how they learned there was no money in the house. He finds a silver dollar in the daughters room and drops it. He tells how he had to get on his hands and knees to find this silver dollar and at that moment realized how ridiculous this whole thing was, killing a whole family and he's crawling around on the ground for a measly dollar. Then how they drove away from the house just laughing and in the best spirits. Crazy that there are people in the world like that. And the other people who were sharing death row with them at that time were equally devoid of human compassion. Capote does a great job telling this story and kept me invested and wanting to keep reading chapter after chapter, the sign of a great story.