Swept Up By The Words

 Gone with the Wind

Author:

Margaret Mitchell

Publisher:

Macmillan Publishers (1936)

Number of Pages:

1037

Review:

"Hunger gnawed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: 'As God is my witness, and God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill - as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again.” In honour of my vacation to the beautiful states of Georgia and South Carolina I decided to review one of my all time favourite novels: Gone with the Wind. There is nothing I love more than a love story, but this love story is so complex and full of tough emotional situations, tragedy galore and *spoiler alert* a not so happy ending that when I first heard about it I wasn’t sure I’d like it at all. Mind you I’ve never seen the movie *insert gasp here* and what I’ve heard of the novel/movie was always second hand information that wasn’t always accurate so you can kind of see why I was hesitant to start this 1000+ page novel. However I did pick up a copy and I promise you I am not exaggerating but I finished the novel in 2 days! I loved it even more than my love for my cell phone *insert second gasp here*! I just hope this review can do this novel justice.

Scarlett O’Hara has never known hardship in her 18 years of life. Her father, an Irish immigrant who came to America and set up a well running and wealthy plantation named Tara, has never let his girls lift a finger or known the hardships of life, thus leaving Scarlett to grow up very prim, spoiled and selfish and indulged by both her mother and head slave Mammy. She soon finds herself developing strong feelings for Ashley Wilkes and when she confesses her feelings to him he admits that despite his attraction for her he doesn’t see how their personalities could ever fit together; he then admits to her that he is engaged to Melanie Hamilton. Heartbroken, she is teased relentlessly by the charming and dashing Rhett Butler who having heard her confession of love praised her for her gumption. She often makes crude remarks to Rhett unbeknownst to her that Rhett is in fact developing very strong feelings for her. In a fit of rage and jealousy Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton in the hopes that it would make Ashley jealous. It doesn’t, but it does amuse Rhett tremendously. In the union with Charles she unwilling befriends her new sister-in-law and rival Melanie, who is as sweet as icing sugar. However her life changes drastically when the American Civil War hits her state of Georgia. Her husband is killed in action; her mother becomes ill; her father dies and her beloved Tara becomes run down and neglected. Hungry and desperate she finds a stray cow that she uses to rejuvenate her land and vows never to go hungry again. Despite her hatred for her sister-in-law she accepts Melanie and Ashley into her home in hopes of luring Ashley into loving her, and also for the extra hands on the farm. It is while on a trip to Atlanta that she befriends and seduces Frank Kennedy a wealthy business man. Honing her skills as a negotiator and ruthless business woman she manages to make a fortune in Atlanta and, leaving Tara behind for Ashley to look after, she takes over Kennedy’s business. Eventually Frank dies and in steps Rhett who after seeing her grow into the woman she’s become he offers her a proposal of marriage. She accepts. A lot happens after her marriage to Rhett but I'll leave you to figure that all out yourself.

What I love most about this novel is Scarlett herself. She is one of the strongest and fully developed female characters about which I have ever had the pleasure of reading. She’s also a woman living in a very male dominant society. It’s unheard of for a woman to be strong and callous as she in her time, after all "a woman [who] could handle business matters as well or better than a man, [was] revolutionary [for a time when women were reared] in the tradition that men were omniscient and women none too bright." Where Melanie was emotional and ever trusting Scarlett was cold-hearted and determined to succeed. 

She starts off a young idealistic child and grows into a hard brutal woman which given her circumstances one can only understand why she is the way she is because after all “Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.” But she is also deeply flawed. Her schoolgirl crush is often confused with love, and having never experienced real love before, when she realizes what it really is to love and be loved it was already too late. Rhett once said: “I loved you but I couldn't let you know it. You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett." And she really was. Perhaps it was a survival mechanism, I just think she never had a chance to realize and accept real love because she doesn’t even know what love really is. I mean who does? Sometimes we all make foolish mistakes but it’s her mistakes and her accomplishments that make Scarlett so relatable and I can see a lot of myself in her. That drive for success, the ruthless personality that can only come from poverty, that desire for love, anyone in her situation could have and quite possibly do end up exactly like Scarlett.

Even though this novel takes place in a time well before our own I truly believe that it’s a story that can be put into any time frame. It really is a universal story that could happen within our very own backyards. And despite the length of the novel it is a quick read because it captures your whole attention from the very first paragraph.

Mitchell has a way with words that’s timeless. Her characters are rich in depth and emotion; even the minor characters are present as whole beings in this novel, a very rare thing to find in fiction these days.  Her prose is one of the best writing I’ve read in a long time and despite this novel being an early modern classic it's written in a way that any Joe from the block can read it; it’s not like a Tolstoy novel where you need a dictionary on hand at all times, this novel is very readable.  I think this is why it stands the test of time and is constantly on the readers’ favourites lists at local libraries; it just has this way of being relevant to any generation. It is a remarkable read and I encourage every reader young and old to pick up this novel and read it. You will not be disappointed. Don’t be like Scarlett and think to yourself: “I won't think of it now. I can't stand it now. I'll think of it later.” Instead pick it up as soon as you can and devour it, you brain as well as your heart will thank you. 

Top Twenty Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)

I am in search of a new Dictionary. Now I know you all might be thinking, why even bother buying a dictionary when all the words and their definitions are pretty much available on practically a billion websites? Well, I find that a paperback dictionary is a lot more practical for me to use because I am not always beside a computer (or a phone for that matter) while I read and my old dictionary is always available at hand for my use while I'm in my room which is where I do most of my reading anyway, plus computer screens hurt my eyes a lot, and I tend to get distracted. I might tell myself I'm going to search up this new word I had no idea existed but 2 hours later I'll find myself on ebay bidding on a candy wrapper from 1922 and I still wouldn't have any idea what  schadenfreude means. (Schadenfreude: pleasure derived from another's misfortune.)

Well in my quest for a new dictionary I've been thinking about words that are not listed in the dictionary (yet) but that are often used incessantly like derp or cinephile and thus led me to a list of my 20 favourite non-dictionous words that I decided to share with you all.

1. fugly: something that is f**king ugly
2. ginormous: bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous
3. aight: a lethargic way of saying alright
4. confuzzled: confused and puzzled at the same time
5. woot: an exclamation of joy or excitement
6. swagger: used to describe a person possessing a sense of style, sophistication and confidence about how they present themselves to the world
7. chillax: chill out/relax, hang out with friends
8. cognitive displaysia: the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway
9. gription: the purchase gained by friction
10. moobs: man boobs
11. urkin: when various sports programs decide to play commercial breaks at the same time as the other networks thus leaving viewers unable to switch games during commercial
12. phat: pretty hot and tempting
13. phonecrastinate: to put off answering the phone until caller ID displays the incoming name and number
14. bogo: buy one get one...
15. slickery: having a surface that is wet and icy
16. guido: a sad excuse of a man
17. quisling: to convince yourself that you are a zombie (one of the walking dead)
18. knackered: to be exhausted
19. snirt: snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed
20. lingweenie: a person incapable of producing neologisms

How cool is this list people? Let us hope that a few of them will end up in the dictionary soon.

Netflix for Novels?

I've recently moved into a very crowded and *cough*messy*cough* little apartment and as sad as it may seem I simply have no room (or money) to support my very expensive reading addiction. I love going to my local library to browse new titles, check out new books and find those few obscure titles I never would have read had I not visited the library that day, however lets face it, I like to take out a lot of books at once, I'm not good with deadlines, and my library can be a bit inconvenient, you never get the bestsellers or blockbusters when you want them because they're almost always checked out and the waiting lists are huge. The closest library to me is a good 20 minutes drive away. Now with limited means (as well as limited gas) I cannot afford to drive back and forth from the library to home when I need to preserve my gas for work. I really can't buy any books because, right now I have no where to store them. I also can't bring back my books on time because I honestly don't know how I can get them all read in time for me to return them (nor can I remember to return them. Sometimes I think I have the worst possible memory in the world). The last thing I want is to rack up a huge debt in library fees and believe me it's happened before *sneeze*$100*sneeze*. So you all can probably assume I'm the worst library borrower in the history of borrowers. So what's a girl to do?

Well, I happened to stumble upon this very cool renting program. It's called Book Swim and it's basically a program where you can rent books for as long as you want and then return them when you're finished with them. Much like the same concept as Netflix, but what Netflix did for films, Book Swim is doing the same thing for books. The fees are reasonably priced: for less than $1 a day you can take out 7 books at a time and keep them for as long as you like, and yes this includes the bestsellers that you'd probably have to wait months to get your hands on. They're mailed right to your doorstep so there's no need for you to even leave your house. You just choose which books you want to rent online and have them send it out to your home. Once you've finished with your novels simply place them back into the pre-paid envelope and choose your next set of novels. 

While some of you have the patience to wait for the novel you want to read either through saving up to buy the novel, or waiting for it on a waiting list, I find I am not that patient. When I want to read something, I want to read it now! And I especially cannot wait at all to get my hands on a new book of a series I am reading. So while this option maybe costly to a few, to others, especially those living in small towns where their books may be limited, it is a god sent.

If course, you can always buy an e-reader, but lets face it, it's not the same as reading a real book now is it, no matter how anti-glare the screen may be.

Anyway I just thought I'd share this with you in case you were looking for an option on renting books. By the way, they rent college textbooks too, and if you've ever bought textbooks you know how expensive they can be. I love this idea and fully support it. You don't have to agree with me of course but I bet in your mind you're thinking the same thing as me: Why oh why didn't I think of this first?

Happy Reading!!!

So It's Been Awhile...

Yes I know I haven't been blogging for a while. My main (and lame) excuse is that I haven't really been finding a lot of time to read. Aside from my regular book club novels I've been putting off reading because of work. I'm currently changing jobs. My project at my former job has now ceased thus forcing me to look for other employment. On top of job hunting, I've been writing bits and pieces of my novel so that's been keeping me occupied as well, but I will start reviewing what I have been reading soon, I promise.

Can't wait to get back on track once again. Also have you all seen the Breaking Dawn Trailer?? If not I've taken the liberty to post it below.

Ahhhhhh I'm so excited. Can't wait until November, but until then I always have Harry Potter to keep me company.

*Le Sigh!

She is the one!!!!

You might remember her as the crazy girl with the meatball hair... well, I'm here to tell you, you better refresh your memory because Sailor Moon is back, and she fights for love and justice, if you don't remember her, she will punish you. Okay, she might not punish you but she sure will entertain you!!! You have no idea how excited I was (and still am) to hear that Sailor Moon is coming back! Yup you heard me, it was announced that Kodansha USA is set to re-release the popular comics in bi-monthly editions, complete with new cover art, the prequel: Codename Sailor V, as well extensive bonus materials and detailed translation notes.

Now I don't know how many of you were fans of Sailor Moon but I must say it was an obsession of mine for the longest time. I could not get enough of that cry baby and her totally awesome friends. I wanted to be her, if only for the fact that she gets to date that super dreamy hunk of a hunk Darrian. *Sigh* some girls have all the luck.

If you are a Sailor Moon fan like myself, you probably have the comic books already, but don't let that stop you from getting the newer updated versions. I myself, will be getting all of the new ones. I figured I might as well seeing as I've been missing a few of them from my collection. I cannot wait to rediscover my love for Sailor Moon and I know many of you love her as well. So if you never had a chance to collect any of the comics before I suggest you tear your eyes off the computer screen, stop watching uploaded episodes on youtube, get your butt off your bed and pre-order these phenomenal new comics. You will not be sorry.

Happy Reading!!!

The Can't Wait To Wake Up So I Can Read Some More Story.

Bedtime Story

Author:

Robert J Wiersema

Publisher:

 Random House Canada (2010)

Number of pages:

496

Review: "Turning to the first chapter, I couldn’t help myself: with the first sentence it was like I was eleven years old again, reading in the apple tree or the hayloft at my grandparents’ place in Henderson." Parents will always see their children as their little boy or their little girl. It is a fact that neither you nor I can escape. Our parents until they die will view us as the little people they’ve birthed and raised. So when I was browsing the shelves of the library and happened to stumble upon a novel called Bedtime Story it caught my interest. When I started to read the synopsis I was hooked, no doubt about it. Not only was this novel going to remind me about my parents and their unrelenting love of reading to their children, but I love novels with two separate plots written in one book, it’s like a bonus: two stories in one. So of course I jumped at the opportunity to read Bedtime Story and I must say Mr Wiersema would have made my father proud.

Christopher Knox began his writing career with a bang. He had a hit novel, a popular column, and the ambition to be the best writer in his generation. 10 years later he finds himself living above the garage of his home, estranged from his wife and still trying to write his second novel. The only thing that keeps him sane is his daily routines, one of which involves reading his young son a bedtime story every night. When David’s 11^th birthday rolls around, Christopher presents him with a novel written by one of his favourite authors from his childhood called To the Four Directions. At first the novel was discarded by David but soon he becomes so enthralled in the novel he cannot distract himself away from it until one day David has a massive seizure and falls into a catatonic state. At first devastated Christopher tries to make sense of the seizures that usually fall around the time he would read a bedtime story to David. When Christopher falls into his story routine at the hospital David’s seizures rapidly decrease yet he still remains catatonic. Christopher realizes that the novel is somehow connected to David’s inability to snap out of his coma and sets on a mission to find out what is happening to his son, all the while he is unaware that his son is trapped within the pages of the novel, trying desperately to stay alive, and find his way back to consciousness.

I absolutely adored this novel, I couldn’t put it down.  I was David; trapped within the words of Wiersema (I didn’t get a seizure thankfully). This novel, right from the very first sentence, captures your whole attention and sends the reader on an adventure of mystery, action and suspense. It also shows the true love a parent can have for their child. Where David’s mother tries desperately to come to terms with the fact that her son may never get out of his catatonic state, his father tries desperately to find a solution using theory, magic and psychics. There is a story in here that will appeal to both children and adults.  There’s David’s narration of his quest to find the healing stone that will appeal to a young adult reader while Christopher’s quest to find a cure for his son will surly capture the attention of the adult reader. And, while these days with television and the internet, it sure is nice to read a novel that advocates the joys and pleasures of reading, especially among young males. I honestly hope that our generation and the generations to come will fall in love with reading again, especially boys. There is so much joy to be had being captured for a few hours by a book. Anyway I do hope you all will get a chance to read this one. It really is worth a look.

The Goddess of Annoyance.

The Goddess of the Sea

Author: PC Cast

Publisher: Berkley (2003)

Number of Pages: 368

Review: “I will wait for you for an eternity.” How long will you wait? “For an eternity.” Wait, how long again? “A @&*%!$^ ETERNITY!!!”  I love romance novels. They’re what I pick up for a quick read, or if I feel lonely, or bored or just want something entertaining for a few hours. Romantic novels usually put me in a good mood and I feel happy or excited, or gushy, however this was not the case with PC Cast’s Goddess of the Sea.

Christina Canady aka CC is alone and drunk on her 25^th birthday so she decides to celebrate by casting a circle and summoning the powers of ancient goddesses to ignite some magic into her life. What she doesn’t expect to happen is for her Airplane to crash while being transported to the Middle East for duty, and she certainly didn’t expect to be turned into a mermaid which is exactly what happened. After finding out that she’s switched bodies with a mermaid and that the mermaid, whose body now belonged to her, has an evil step brother out to conquer her and marry her, she seeks the help of the goddess Gaea. Gaea then gives her the ability to stay human for 3 days and every third day she must return to water so that she can transform into her mermaid self.  Once the sun rises she’ll be given another three days to stay human. Her task is to find a human to fall in love with her and then she’ll be able to remain human forever. The only problem is, the goddess has taken a modern woman and dumped her in the middle ages. Not only will finding a man be difficult for her and her modern ideals but there’s a mistrusting priest out to sabotage her every move, a daft and sexist knight who lacks potential as a permanent mate, and a mysterious young merman lurking in the shadows who promises to love her and wait for her for an eternity. Torn between her need to be human and her love for the sea (and its creatures) CC must risk everything to save herself and those she loves from her evil step brother, the sneaky priest and ultimate doom.

I really wanted to like this novel. I actually enjoyed the beginning of it a lot. CC came off as an independent strong likable character. She knew who she was and wasn’t one to be pushed around. Even with such strong attributes she wasn’t able to stay likable in my mind. What came off as strengths soon turned into annoyance, many times the dialogue between her and her Goddess Mother was strained, predictable and annoying.

I also didn’t like the way men were portrayed in this novel. Sure sometimes man can be barbaric but when every male character in the novel (be they men from the past or present) are no more evolved than chimpanzees that becomes a problem for me relating to the story. I am a feminist but in no way do I like to read material that makes men out to be boorish buffoons.

The plot was also redundant and forgettable as well as the horrible writing. Of course this is a PC Cast novel and she isn’t exactly known for quality writing, however before trying to read the House of Night series, I wanted to dip my tresses into the pool that is PC Cast and came out thoroughly cold and disturbed. If the House of Night series is anything like this novel I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it. So if any of you are avid fans of PC Cast please let me know if her writing is actually worth the effort and that perhaps this one novel might have been the anomaly in the collection. Thanks in advance.

Happy Reading!!!

What is the Opposite of Sweating?

Shiver

Author:

Maggie Stiefvater

Published:

Scholastic (2009)

Number of Pages:

400

Review:

“I listened for a long time. I prayed for them to stop, to leave me alone, but at the same time I was desperately afraid they would. Long after the other voices had dropped away, Sam kept howling, very soft and slow. When he finally fell silent, the night felt dead.” Werewolves, vampires, zombies, OH MY. It seems that every young adult book we pick up to read these days (you know the ones that make it on the best sellers list) are the ones that feature at least some gothic or mythical creature within its fine paper walls.  While I’m all for gothic literature and my love of vampires haven’t deteriorated yet, what I’m not for is the clichéd gothic literature that is coming out these days.

I remember a time when vampires and werewolves were supposed to be scary, feared, or even mocked. But ever since Twilight (perhaps before that but Twilight is responsible for this craze) these creatures are not scary anymore. In fact they’re wimpy, and love sick, and pathetic. While men are usually like this on a whole, it’s the women of the stories that disappoint me the most. And while I did love this novel Shiver (I loved it to death) I can’t get over the fact that Grace was portrayed as this over obsessive character, and obsessed she was.

The novel starts off with Grace as a young child sitting on her tire swing minding her own business when she gets attacked and dragged by a pack of wolves. All of the wolves are attacking her except one, a lone wolf with sad yellow eyes. The lone wolf eventually fights off the others and brings her back to safety. Fast forward to present times Grace is now 17 years old and desperately in love with the wolf (A WOLF) and the wolf is in love with her, the only problem is Grace doesn’t know that her wolf is actually a boy by the name of Sam who in the summers enjoys his time as a human, but in the winters he prances around in his wolf costume 24/7 (in other words he’s a werewolf). It isn’t until Sam it shot that their two worlds collide and the love story begins.

Bella is to Edward as Grace is to Sam. These two love stories could be identical with their sense of longing and foreboding and the yearning and the desire, young passionate love that lasts forever. It is stories like these that make me a neurotic love torn spinster. I have yet to feel that obsession these children feel for each other but I’m an older gal, and I know the difference between fantasy and reality (and although this kind of love is romantic, it can’t be healthy) but I’m worried about the young girls (and boys) who are reading these stories and thinking this is what love is supposed to be like. These children are going to be crushed when they find out that their potential spouse isn’t going to be as obsessed about them as these characters are about each other (I know I always am). Yet publishers keep accepting these story lines about obsessed teenagers with no concern about their effects on the young minds reading them. It’s like reading Gone with the Wind when your 14 years old and then spending the rest of your life trying to find a Rhett Buttler. It’s just not going to happen yet these kids are growing up with this notion that they’re going to find their Sam or Grace and they’re just setting themselves up for disappointment.

Anyway back to the review. The novel itself is brilliant. The plot line is redundant but there is a twist, where werewolves back in the 90’s changed because of the moon, these humans of the 21^st century change because of the weather, as the temperature drops so does their ability to stay human. The narration moves between Grace and Sam, this is no one sided love story; the reader gets to experience both tales of this extremely fanatical love. But what I loved most about this novel has got to be the prose and this is why I deemed it brilliant. Where Meyers was more simplistic and juvenile with her writing, Stiefvater is very poetic and cadence, almost musical. “I didn't think I belonged here in her world, a boy stuck between two lives, dragging the dangers of the wolves with me, but when she said my name, waiting for me to follow, I knew I'd do anything to stay with her.” It just flows; from sentence to sentence the whole novel was like floating above water. I couldn’t put it down because I didn’t want to leave the pool; I just wanted to wade there for as long as I could, soaking up every word.

Sam was probably my favourite character, only because when he was narrating I was sure to get some intoxicating prose. “I could still smell her on my fur. It clung to me, a memory of another world. I was drunk with it, with the scent of her. I'd got too close. The smell of summer on her skin, the half-recalled cadence of her voice, the sensation of her fingers on my fur. Every bit of me sang with the memory of her closeness. Too close.” I said intoxicating, I didn’t say grammatically correct. I guess I’m just a sucker for prose.

All in all, this novel was worth the read. Was it my favourite, definitely not, but I can’t say I wasn’t entertained, which is saying a lot because there are some books out there I wouldn’t poke with a nine inch pole *cough cough* MOBY DICK (I read it, didn’t like it... sue me)!  I do fancy fluffy novels now and then and for those of you who happen to like fluff then I urge you to get a copy and make your home within the pages of this book.

Happy Reading!!!

The Ereading Experience

I've just finished reading my first book from my brand new Kobo ereader that I got for Christmas (thanks mummy and daddy)

and I cannot begin to explain how amazing my experience was. For one, I flew through the novel I was reading and I found out that I actually read a lot faster on the Kobo than if I were to read from the novel itself. I don't know if this is because I've trained myself to read off of computer screens rapidly over the years of essay writing, to work emails and such, but I did find I went through this book faster than if I had read it in proper novel form.

I also loved the fact that I could change the font size and style if I so pleased. Kobo allows it's users to change the font size depending on how big or small they want the typeface to show up on screen. I went with the smallest size of font because my eyes adjusted to it better than if I were to use a bigger font size. I also like the fact that I can choose which font I want to use to read my novel in. Sure there's only two fonts I can choose from but both fonts are generic and not annoying which is very important when reading a book. It also allows you to adjust to one type of font so every book you read will be within your comfort zone.

I found I was able to juggle better between two novels as I was reading. I had one novel for Go Train rides:

and one novel for Bedtime

all contained in a neatly packaged device. I couldn't be happier with my ereader. The ink screen is easy on the eyes, there is no glare, and the navigation button is easy to use. In fact there is nothing complicated about using the Kobo ereader. It really was an amazing experience.

The Publicly Loved (But Secretly Annoying) Book

Secret Daughter

           

Author: 

Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Published:

Harper Collins (2010)

Number of Pages: 

342

Review:

“Adoption only solves childlessness not infertility.” Celebrities make adoption look like a breeze. You go to a foreign poverty stricken country, point to the child you want and within a few weeks that child is yours. What the public fails to see is the struggle parents have bonding with the child. It isn’t easy to be a parent in the first place, imagine being a first time parent to a child who doesn’t look like you and worse of all who doesn’t respond to you. But what about the biological parents of this child? Are they really so heartless that they can give up their baby or is there no choice in this decision? Perhaps giving the child away is much more advantageous to the child then it is to selfishly cling to the kid and bring them up in that poverty stricken world. However, this sense of loss and abandonment can haunt the parents for the rest of their lives. These are the dilemmas that surround the story of Secret Daughter.

In rural India Kavita and her Husband are expecting their second child, a child that Kavita both loves fiercely and fears, for if this child is a girl her husband is sure to do something drastic. Across the ocean, Somer and her husband wait patiently at the gynaecologist’s office hoping to hear that after suffering through several miscarriages that she’ll be able to try reproducing again; only instead of hearing good news Somer learns that her ovaries have stopped producing eggs and that although she is only in her 30s she never going to give birth. Kavita gives birth to a beautiful baby girl, a girl she had no hope of keeping, so she gave up the child for adoption rather than have her husband kill this one as he did the other. Somer adopts Kavita’s baby and struggles to find that bond so many mothers have instantly with their children. Although separated by an ocean these two women both struggle with the same issues when it comes to raising a family and find themselves to be connected by a little girl named Asha.

The power of a mother’s love is present in every letter of this novel. The things women will do for their children are devastating, unforgiving, unconditional, and overwhelming. I have so much more appreciation for my mother after reading this novel. Where Kavita smothers her only remaining child with love because of regrets and a feeling of loss, Somer smothers her child because of her fear of a dream, a dream burning within Asha to find her biological family.  Somer fears that if Asha does find her biological family she will lose Asha forever, a fear with which many adoptive mothers probably live.

When I was reading this novel I had a lot of resentment towards Somer. She married into an Indian family (her husband Krishnan is Indian) but she never allowed herself to embrace his culture. In fact she repressed her husband from expressing his culture. I found this very American idea of assimilation to be insulting to me who was born in Canada but still maintains a very South American culture. It wasn’t until I got another prospective that I started to realize my initial hatred for Somer was unnecessary. In truth Somer never got the chance to embrace the culture because her husband never showed her what being Indian was like. He immediately changed his ways of living the minute he stepped on American soil. He gave up every part of him that was Indian and showed Somer that he was indeed American. It wasn’t until he went back to India that he did a complete 180 and changed into someone Somer couldn’t even recognize and what’s worse: he didn’t even educate Somer about his culture. It was complete culture shock that damaged Somer and made her resent her Indian husband and later her Indian daughter.

Another thing I found to be annoying was the fact that the men really didn’t have much of a voice in the novel. Jasu (Kavita’s husband) the hard working husband of Kavita was often seen as the bad father who was trying to mend his ways. Krishnan was the one suppressing who he really was, always with a bottle of hot sauce to pour over his bland food as if it’ll spice up his bland life, and Vikram, the son of Kavita and Jasu, who although growing up in such horrible conditions and then finds himself settling into a life of crime doesn’t even have a say in the novel, in fact by the end he’s pretty much a forgotten memory. 

One thing I really liked though was the symmetry of India. The reader through Kavita got to see India in a very negative disgusting light. Living in the slums of Mumbai, the lack of proper housing, corrupted legal forces, and crime knocking on every door all of these situations were replaced when Asha arrives in India with the splendour of Indian weddings, the amazing tastes of the cuisine, and the glamorous clothing and houses.  The two sides of this country were portrayed with a beautiful sadness.

Perhaps if Gowda had focused a bit more on Somer and less on Kavita I’d have warmed up to Somer more than I had; this was probably one of the more major flaws of the novel, the fact that the author spent so much of it focused on Kavita and her struggles the other characters are often left as a side story, or insignificant. I’d have also enjoyed it more had the men been given a stronger voice. Yes this is a story about strong women, but I felt the men to be neglected, supporting characters that weren’t really supporting. However the novel was emotionally poignant and beautifully so. Her writing was easy to capture your attention. The novel captures what it means to be a mother but more importantly it captures what it means to be a family.

Happy Reading!!!

Jane Austen Quotations

Jane Austen is probably one of my favourite authors of all time and when I found a list compiled of many of her most famous (and infamous) quotations I just had to share it here. So for your reading pleasure I hope you enjoy reading Miss Austen’s words and sayings as much as I did.
I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”
– letter of December 24, 1798
“You will have a great deal of unreserved discourse with Mrs. K., I dare say, upon this subject, as well as upon many other of our family matters. Abuse everybody but me.”
– letter of January 7 1807
[To her sister Cassandra, on the birth of a son to one of their sisters-in-law:]“I give you joy of our new nephew, and hope if he ever comes to be hanged it will not be till we are too old to care about it.”
– letter of April 25, 1811
[On another of their nephews, then about three years old:]“I shall think with tenderness and delight on his beautiful and smiling countenance and interesting manner, until a few years have turned him into an ungovernable, ungracious fellow.”
– letter of October 27 1798
“I had a very pleasant evening, however, though you will probably find out that there was no particular reason for it; but I do not think it worth while to wait for enjoyment until there is some real opportunity for it.”
– letter of January 21 1799
“At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow at the melancholy idea.”
– letter of January 16, 1796
[At a ball, where being introduced is a prerequisite before a gentleman can ask a lady with whom he is unacquainted to dance:]“There was one gentleman, an officer of the Cheshire, a very good-looking young man, who, I was told, wanted very much to be introduced to me, but as he did not want it quite enough to take much trouble in effecting it, we never could bring it about.”
– letter of January 8 1799
“Next week [I] shall begin my operations on my hat, on which you know my principal hopes of happiness depend.”
– letter of October 27 1798
[Love advice to her niece Fanny Knight:] “There are such beings in the world — perhaps one in a thousand — as the creature you and I should think perfection; where grace and spirit are united to worth, where the manners are equal to the heart and understanding; but such a person may not come in your way, or, if he does, he may not be the eldest son of a man of fortune, the near relation of your particular friend, and belonging to your own county.”
– letter of November 18, 1814
“He seems a very harmless sort of young man, nothing to like or dislike in him — goes out shooting or hunting with the two others all the morning, and plays at whist and makes queer faces in the evening.”
– letter of September 23, 1813
[To her niece Anna, referring to characters in a novel that Anna was then writing:]“His having been in love with the aunt gives… an additional interest… I like the idea — a very proper compliment to an aunt! I rather imagine indeed that nieces are seldom chosen but out of compliment to some aunt or another. I daresay Ben [Anna's husband] was in love with me once, and would never have thought of you if he had not supposed me dead of a scarlet fever.”
– letter of late 1814
“At the bottom of Kingsdown Hill we met a gentleman in a buggy, who, on minute examination, turned out to be Dr. Hall — and Dr. Hall in such very deep mourning that either his mother, his wife, or himself must be dead.”
– letter of May 17 1799
“As an inducement to subscribe, Mrs. Martin [the circulating-library proprietor] tells me that her collection is not to consist only of novels, but of every kind of literature, &c. She might have spared this pretension to our family, who are great novel-readers and not ashamed of being so; but it was necessary, I suppose, to the self-consequence of half her subscribers.”
– letter of December 18, 1798
“He and I should not in the least agree, of course, in our ideas of novels and heroines. Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked”
– letter of March 23 1817
“I could no more write a [historical] romance than an epic poem. I could not sit seriously down to write a serious romance under any other motive than to save my life; and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first chapter.”
– letter of April 1st 1816
“I have read [Byron's] The Corsair, mended my petticoat, and have nothing else to do.”
– letter of March 5, 1814
[On the appearance of a second printing of Sense and Sensibility:]“Since I wrote last, my 2nd edit. has stared me in the face. [...] I cannot help hoping that many will feel themselves obliged to buy it. I shall not mind imagining it a disagreeable duty to them, so as they do it.”
– letter of November 6th 1813
“I… do not think the worse of him for having a brain so very different from mine. … And he deserves better treatment than to be obliged to read any more of my works.”
– letter of March 23 1817
“I often wonder how you can find time for what you do, in addition to the care of the house; and how good Mrs. West could have written such books and collected so many hard works, with all her family cares, is still more a matter of astonishment! Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb.”
– letter of September 8 1816
[On arriving in London:] “Here I am once more in this scene of dissipation and vice, and I begin already to find my morals corrupted.”
– letter of August 1796
[On visiting a fashionable ladies' boarding school in London:]“the weather…left me only a few minutes to sit with Charlotte Craven. She looks very well, and her hair is done up with an elegance to do credit to any education. Her manners are as unaffected and pleasing as ever… I was shewn upstairs into a drawing-room, where she came to me, and the appearance of the room, so totally unschool-like, amused me very much; it was full of modern elegancies, and if it had not been for some naked cupids over the mantlepiece, which must be a fine study for girls, one should never have smelt instruction.”
– letter of May 20, 1813
“Unluckily however, I see nothing to be glad of, unless I make it a matter of Joy that Mrs. Wylmot has another son, & that Lord Lucan has taken a Mistress, both of which Events are of course joyful to the Actors.” [i.e. participants]
– letter of February 8th 1807
“Poor woman! how can she honestly be breeding again?”
– letter of October 1 1808
[On Mrs. Deede's giving birth to another child:]“I would recommend to her and Mr. D. the simple regimen of separate rooms.”
– letter of February 20, 1817
“I believe I drank too much wine last night at Hurstbourne; I know not how else to account for the shaking of my hand to-day. You will kindly make allowance therefore for any indistinctness of writing, by attributing it to this venial error.”
– letter of November 20 1800
[At a ball:] “Mrs. B. and two young women were of the same party, except when Mrs. B. thought herself obliged to leave them to run round the room after her drunken husband. His avoidance, and her pursuit, with the probable intoxication of both, was an amusing scene.”
– letter of May 12 1801
“Fanny and the two little girls… revelled last night in Don Juan, whom we left in hell at half-past eleven. … The girls… still prefer Don Juan; and I must say that I have seen nobody on the stage who has been a more interesting character than that compound of cruelty and lust.”
– letter of September 15, 1813
“You know how interesting the purchase of a sponge-cake is to me.”
– letter of June 15, 1808
[On preparing for the move from Steventon to Bath:] “You are very kind in planning presents for me to make, and my mother has shown me exactly the same attention; but as I do not choose to have generosity dictated to me, I shall not resolve on giving my cabinet to Anna till the first thought of it has been my own.”
– letter of January 8 1801
“Dr. Gardiner was married yesterday to Mrs. Percy and her three daughters.”
– letter of June 11 1799
“My mother looks forward with as much certainty as you can do to our keeping two maids… We plan having a steady cook and a young, giddy housemaid, with a sedate, middle-aged man, who is to undertake the double office of husband to the former and sweetheart to the latter. No children, of course, to be allowed on either side.”
– letter of Jan 3, 1801
“I cannot anyhow continue to find people agreeable; I respect Mrs. Chamberlayne for doing her hair well, but cannot feel a more tender sentiment. Miss Langley is like any other short girl, with a broad nose and wide mouth, fashionable dress and exposed bosom. Adm. Stanhope is a gentleman-like man, but then his legs are too short and his tail too long.”
– letter of May 12, 1801
[On buying a "sprig" for her sister's hat:] “I cannot help thinking that it is more natural to have flowers grow out of the head than fruit. What do you think on that subject?”
– letter of June 11 1799
[On the Peninsular War:] “How horrible it is to have so many people killed! And what a blessing that one cares for none of them!”
– letter of May 31, 1811
“You express so little anxiety about my being murdered under Ash Park Copse by Mrs. Hulbert’s servant, that I have a great mind not to tell you whether I was or not”
– letter of January 8 1799
“Kill poor Mrs. Sclater if you like it while you are at Manydown.”
– letter of February 9 1813
“I learnt from Mrs. Tickars’s young lady, to my high amusement, that the stays [corsets] now are not made to force the bosom up at all; that was a very unbecoming, unnatural fashion.”
– letter of September 15 1813
“You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.”
– letter December 24 1798
“I shall not tell you anything more of Wm. Digweed’s china, as your silence on the subject makes you unworthy of it.”
– letter of December 27, 1808
“Your silence on the subject of our ball makes me suppose your curiosity too great for words.”
– letter of January 24, 1809
“Fanny Austen’s match is quite news, and I am sorry she has behaved so ill. There is some comfort to us in her misconduct, that we have not a congratulatory letter to write.”
– letter of June 20 1808
“Miss Bigg… writes me word that Miss Blachford is married. but I have never seen it in the Paper. And one may be as well be single, if the Wedding is not to be in print.”
– letter of late 1814
[On having a little extra spending cash:] “I sent my answer… which I wrote without much effort, for I was rich, and the rich are always respectable, whatever be their style of writing.”
– letter of June 20 1808
“I find, on looking into my affairs, that instead of being very rich I am likely to be very poor… as we are to meet in Canterbury I need not have mentioned this. It is as well, however, to prepare you for the sight of a sister sunk in poverty, that it may not overcome your spirits.”
– letter of August 24 1805
“We found only Mrs. Lance at home, and whether she boasts any offspring besides a grand pianoforte did not appear. … They will not come often, I dare say. They live in a handsome style and are rich, and she seemed to like to be rich, and we gave her to understand that we were far from being so; she will soon feel therefore that we are not worth her acquaintance.”
– letter of January 7 1807
[On the weather:]
“We have been exceedingly busy ever since you went away. In the first place we have had to rejoice two or three times every day at your having such very delightful weather for the whole of your journey…”
– letter of October 25 1800
“How do you like this cold weather? I hope you have all been earnestly praying for it as a salutary relief from the dreadful mild and unhealthy season preceding it, fancying yourself half putrified from the want of it, and that now you all draw into the fire, complain that you never felt such bitterness of cold before, that you are half starved, quite frozen, and wish the mild weather back again with all your hearts.”
– letter of January 25th 1801
“I am sorry my mother has been suffering, and am afraid this exquisite weather is too good to agree with her. I enjoy it all over me, from top to toe, from right to left, longitudinally, perpendicularly, diagonally; and I cannot but selfishly hope we are to have it last till Christmas — nice, unwholesome, unseasonable, relaxing, close, muggy weather.”
– letter of December 2 1815
“The Webbs are really gone! When I saw the waggons at the door, and thought of all the trouble they must have in moving, I began to reproach myself for not having liked them better; but since the waggons have disappeared my conscience has been closed again, and I am excessively glad they are gone.”
– letter of September 28 1814
“By the bye, as I must leave off being young, I find many Douceurs in being a sort of chaperon [at dances], for I am put on the Sofa near the Fire & can drink as much wine as I like.”
– letter of November 6th 1813
“I bought a Concert Ticket and a sprig of flowers for my old age.” [She was then 37.]
– letter of November 3rd 1813
“[I] am very well satisfied with his notice of me — “A pleasing-looking young woman” — that must do; one cannot pretend to anything better now; thankful to have it continued a few years longer!”
– letter of April/May 1811
“Our ball was rather more amusing than I expected. … The melancholy part was, to see so many dozen young women standing by without partners, and each of them with two ugly naked shoulders! It was the same room in which we danced fifteen years ago! I thought it all over, and in spite of the shame of being so much older, felt with thankfulness that I was quite as happy now as then.”
– letter of December 9, 1808
[Jane Austen had a running joke with her family about her marrying the poet Crabbe, whose poetry she admired:]“No, I have never seen [news of] the death of Mrs. Crabbe. I have only just been making out from one of his prefaces that he probably was married. … Poor woman! I will comfort him as well as I can, but I do not undertake to be good to her children. She had better not leave any.”
– letter of October 18, 1813
“I am to meet Mrs. Harrison, and we are to talk about Ben and Anna [a young engaged couple]. “My dear Mrs. Harrison,” I shall say, “I am afraid the young man has some of your family madness, and though there often appears to be something of madness in Anna too, I think she inherits more of it from her mother’s family than from ours.” That is what I shall say, and I think she will find it difficult to answer me.”
– letter of November 3rd 1813
“Ben and Anna walked here… and she looked so pretty, it was quite a pleasure to see her, so young and so blooming, and so innocent, as if she had never had a wicked thought in her life, which yet one has some reason to suppose she must have had, if we believe the doctrine of original sin.”
– letter of February 20, 1817
“I do not like the Miss Blackstones; indeed, I was always determined not to like them, so there is the less merit in it.”
– letter of January 8 1799
“I will not say that your mulberry-trees are dead, but I am afraid they are not alive.”
– letter of May 31 1811
“Expect a most agreeable letter, for not being overburdened with subject (having nothing at all to say), I shall have no check to my genius from beginning to end.”
– letter of January 21 1801
For more on Jane Austen please visit: http://www.pemberley.com/
Happy Reading!!!

A New Year...

A new reading list. Happy New Year my fellow fiends. As this year begins I intend to do a lot more reading probably with my brand spanking new Kobo. That's right I gave into the technological age and bought myself this little gadget with the money I got for Christmas. Now don't panic I will still buy books, only now I'll be more selective as to what titles I'll buy. As for the trashy romance novels I like to read once in a while, or those chick lits that I've yet to warm up to, those are the kinds of books I'll save for my Kobo.

I hope the New Year kicks in with a bang for all of you and that you continue to read all of your favourites and make new favourites this year too.

Happy Reading!!!

PS: I have noticed that some of my posts look a little wonky since I've updated the template. I sure hope blogger fixes that soon. I wouldn't want my page to look like a Van Gogh painting... or a Picasso for that matter.